A/N: WHOA~ That last chapter earned the most reviews so far~ *O*
THANKYOU SOOOO MUCH~! I kept checking on the site with my phone in class, and my teacher got suspicious when I suddenly looked like I'm about to fly =..=;; LAWL, reviews really DO make my life that much happier~
So here goes the update this week~! Sorry if it was a long wait, but homework and all the school crap is literally sucking all creation and imagination out of me T^T
EDIT: Beta'ed by 'AmbiguousThoughts.'
Fran didn't know where exactly he was going, but he knew he just got to get away. The rain kept on falling as his mind tried to focus on keeping on moving and walking, tried to concentrate only on his legs – left, right, left, right… Anything to distract himself from thinking of his senpai and that silvernette he was hugging
The illusionist didn't really understand this feeling – this mixture of pain, hurt, jealousy and a little tinge of anger. But he knew he did not like it – not one little bit. Just the thought of the prince embracing someone else so intimately made Fran want to hit something – break something, just do something violent to express his anger.
The senpai was comforting that person... That idiotic-senseless-stupid-moron-senpai who doesn't give a damn about anyone but himself - was comforting that person.
CRACK.
The kouhai stepped on a can he happened to come across, crushing it until it was shapeless, and kept on walking, pacing quickly, one foot then another. It wasn't until much later, that the illusionist found himself staring into the dark, wet streets of Namimori, lit with bright lights from shops and stores – and realized he did not recognize a single one. The kouhai turned, from left to right and back, and discovered he forgot which path he took to come here. It was a busy crossroad, and he could not recall the way back to the hotel.
Shit.
He cursed mentally. Fran's body was soaked, and his sea foam-green hair was damp with the rain that didn't seem to be stopping anytime soon… It wasn't a great situation – especially not one to be lost in. Oh, how stupid of him to just mindlessly walk all around like that – he was in Namimori, Japan, not Italy – he knew better than to do that. It seemed like the concept of Bel took away many parts of his common sense.
Fran stood there, staring blankly and each path and wondered which way to go. But there was simply no hope whatsoever, all the paths looked the same to him, and when he thought he recognized a shop in a path, he also saw a store he never saw before in his lifetime right beside it. The kouhai was indeed, very lost – and what was more, his stomach was starting to complain with hunger.
Damn the stupid senpai and that stupid silver-haired person he was hugging. Damn it. They're probably still hugging each other for 'comfort' right now whilst I'm lost at a frickin' stupid crossroad. That brainless senpai probably doesn't even care if I live or die. Or maybe he would be too 'distracted' to even 'notice' that I'm gone. That idiotic fake prince.
The more Fran thought about Bel, the more his chest throbbed, and the angrier he felt. Fran was pissed off, and didn't like the way it hurt at the same time. He could understand being angry – but the pain? That wasn't something he should be feeling. Why should he be the one suffering when it was all the stupid senpai's fault? Why was his annoying heart aching like it was?
Fran kicked the puddle of rain on the floor in annoyance at both the senpai and himself.
Stop it. Stop it, stop it, stop it.
The illusionist clenched his teeth, his hands tight in a fist, before he inhaled and exhaled deeply, trying to calm himself. He found himself a pole before he slouched down, leaning against it – just sitting there, lost and unfound, hugging his knees as the night got colder by the minute. Fran couldn't stop the images of the prince delving into his mind, and he hated how he wished Bel would come and find him.
He's not coming. Fran kept telling himself. A fake prince like him would never come save me.
But then, Fran thought about when Bel saved him from the bastards that did all those disgusting things to him, and he sighed. He had to admit that he was touched - the prince is a prince after all.
But not this time. The illusionist solemnly thought. That so-called prince is apparently too busy saving 'somebody else'.
However, even if Fran did think that, he still could not stop hoping that the prince would come for him - that his senpai would come and take him back home like he did before. Pictures and images of the hundred ways Bel could come for him kept on running through his head like a broken video tape.
Suddenly, the falling rain was shielded away from the petite body of the illusionist, and for one split second, Fran really did think that it was Bel. But when he looked up and saw an unknown figure, his ideal image was shattered.
The figure was tall and looked a bit older than Fran was, and he held a black umbrella which was the same color as the night sky. His smile was mysterious and creepy at the same time, not like the manic insanity of Bel's, but a more deep, more broken, and more sophisticated smile – as if the owner knew everything. The dark blue, weirdly shaped hair looked suspiciously like a pineapple to Fran, and against the dark night, that one red eye, in contrast to the other blue, shone and gleamed.
"Kufufufu… Oya? I recognize this uniform… The new mist illusionist of the Varia, I suppose?"
"So you're Rokudo Mukuro… I thought you were stuck like pickled pineapple in that Vindice water tank," Fran said, mono-tonally, as he poked at his mint chocolate ice cream in front of him.
"Kufufu… So you've heard of me." Mukuro smiled as he laughed that dark, creepy but yet alluring chuckle of his. "And you're the replacement of the arcobaleno in the Varia, I have heard?"
Fran nodded expressionlessly, droplets of water dripping of his hair. Mukuro silently licked his spoon of chocolate ice-cream, observing the kouhai, when all of a sudden, he noticed something on the thin, pale fingers of the younger illusionist.
"Oya? That's a pretty impressive ring you have there…" He tapped on the metal, smiling. "One of the hell rings. Kufufu… That means you must be quite the interesting illusionist… Ah, yes. Of course. After all, the Varia quality is not one to be beaten…"
Fran nodded once again, and Mukuro chuckled, liking the way Fran remained so indifferent. At the same time, Fran quietly noticed the numerous hell rings decorating Mukuro's long fingers and knew straight away that this was one of the most powerful illusionists in the world. He had heard of this name before, the name of the man who murdered a whole mafia family, the man who managed to escape the Vindice, the man who beat Mammon in the ring battle, the 'mist' of the tenth Vongola family… The infamous Rokudo Mukuro.
As Fran kept on poking his ice cream, he couldn't stop thinking about the strawberry flavored ones which were someone's favorite – someone in particular. The young illusionist sighed tiredly, now he couldn't even stop the thoughts about the fake prince from coming to his mind, and he was sick of trying. Fran eyed his clothes which were wet against his skin, and shivered as the cold wind blew on him.
The two illusionists talked from time to time for a while, and when Mukuro finished off his ice cream whilst Fran's melted into a sad abandoned pile, a sudden pang of a headache hit the kouhai - hard. It was like part of his head was being consumed by this numbing pain – a pain so deeply intense the young illusionist swayed. Fran closed his eyes, and held his head wondering what the hell was wrong with him now. All of a sudden, that frog-shaped hat seemed so heavy he couldn't stand it.
"Oya? Are you okay, young illusionist?" Mukuro, who noticed Fran's actions, questioned, and Fran waved his hand in an 'it's nothing' manner, whilst another clutched his forehead. Mukuro, however, was unconvinced, and decided to feel the young illusionist's forehead. His eyes widened when he felt the skin burn beneath his hands – definitely a violent, sudden fever.
Fran weakly pushed the hand away before he tried to stand up – for the sake of showing that he was okay. However, as soon as he was standing, he nearly flopped over right away – the dizziness was too much to bear. It was as if darkness was closing in on him. Fortunately, he fell right into Mukuro's waiting arms.
"…you seem to have caught a cold whilst sitting there in the freezing rain." Mukuro concluded. "I take this as my responsibility to send you back home, where are you staying?"
Fran mumbled something which he thought sounded pretty much like the hotel's name, but at that moment, he didn't really understand anything anymore. He felt cold, and the headache was merely killing him. Mukuro asked if he could walk by himself, and when he didn't answer, the taller illusionist just simply took it as a 'no' and scooped that small, wet body up into his arms. The body was burning, yet so cold, and Fran's lips were pale and quivering, almost running out of color altogether. The petite body reluctantly snuggled against Mukuro's chest, yearning for warmth.
The last thing Fran could remember before he lost his consciousness was the thought he had in his mind.
He wished it was Bel who was holding him.
At the hotel room, Gokudera was feeling a little calmer, but still devastatingly sorrowful. The tears endlessly streaked down those pale cheeks, even though those lips emitted no more sobs. Bel, on the other hand, sat right next to the Storm guardian, observing him but no longer hugging him.
Lussuria and Squalo sat on the opposite side, looking at the two Storm guardians together. Lussuria had now informed Squalo about the relationship between Fran and Bel, and indeed, Squalo did not like how Bel chose to stay with Gokudera instead of following Fran, anymore than Lussuria did.
Finally, after a long moment of silence and sadness, the white shark of Varia could no longer stand it. He abruptly stood up, and with his loudest volume, shouted. "VOIIIIIIIII~! What the hell are you guys trying to do, just sit here?"
There was no reply. Gokudera was in his own world and completely ignored Squalo whilst Bel was too absorbed in observing Gokudera that he simply did not notice. This annoyed the Varia commander very much, and he decided that he was going to sort things out his own way.
With that, Squalo pulled Bel out from Gokudera's side before he dragged the lazy prince out of the suite. Before he left, he motioned for Lussuria to work on Gokudera as well.
"VOIII~! What the hell are you still doing here Bel?" Squalo shouted as soon as the door was shut.
"Ushishi… What are you talking about, Squalo?" Bel asked, oblivious to the reason why Squalo was mad at him.
"Fran! You stupid prince!" Squalo shouted once again, but the prince just cocked his head to one side, not understanding.
"The un-cute kouhai what, Squalo?" By this point, the swordsman was on the verge of smacking Bel, but before he could proceed, a sound interrupted them.
"Kufufufu… Oya, oya, having a fight again? Typical of mafia groups like the Varia…" Mukuro walked in, smiling darkly, holding a petite body in his arms. At first glance, Bel couldn't care less to whom Mukuro was carrying, but when he caught a glimpse of that hat and that sea-foam green hair, he immediately threw three knives to Mukuro's direction.
"Oya, oya… How violent, Prince the Ripper…," Mukuro mused when he effortlessly caught the knives as if he had known all along.
"Give the prince his kouhai," the prince commanded, his face showing no smile – almost threateningly. But Mukuro wasn't going to follow orders. The illusionist turned to Squalo before he spoke in a serious tone of voice.
"You'd better let me in, before this little illusionist here dies." Squalo was unconvinced, but when he saw Fran's blanched face, he automatically opened the door and let Mukuro in. The prince quickly followed in behind, helpless and annoyed he couldn't even get a proper look at his kouhai with Mukuro in the way.
Inside, Lussuria and Gokudera was sitting, facing each other as if they were in a conversation before, but when the presence of Mukuro approached them, they looked up. Gokudera nearly snapped when he saw the illusionist, but he paused when he saw the state of the body Mukuro was holding.
Lussuria gasped. "Fran-chan? What happened to him?"
"He's very sick. He needs to lie down. Show me to his room," Mukuro spoke calmly, in contrast to Bel who was starting to get real pissed at not knowing what the hell was going on with his froggy.
"The frog sleeps with the prince in his room," Bel said through gritted teeth, but Mukuro simply ignored the prince's threatening tone. Instead, he walked right pass Bel and entered the room which seemed most likely to be Bel's room.
The prince was about to complain and throw a few knives, but when Mukuro laid Fran down on the bed and moved back, allowing Bel to get a good look, the prince was stopped dead in his tracks.
The kouhai was so pale it was as if he was lifeless. Those lips which used to be so plush and palatable, was now dry, cracked, and colorless. Fran's breath came in faint, short little pants. That pale, small forehead was beaded with sweat, and the illusionist's body was quivering and shaking – it was a worrying and scary sight.
"What did you do to him?" Bel questioned Mukuro, five knives ready in each hand. Mukuro, on the other hand, nearly laughed at that question.
"Oya? What did I do to him? Kufufu…" Mukuro laughed, so darkly it sent chills over people. "I did nothing. I found him sitting in the rain in the centre of town, and he seemed pretty lost. I took him to an ice cream shop, and I guess the fever kicked in." Mukuro paused, before he looked straight at Bel. "The question is, what did you do to him, Prince the Ripper?"
Bel was confused. "The prince didn't do anything to the kouhai."
"Oya? Is that so? Then why would he endlessly call your name out all the way I carried him here?" Mukuro left the question unanswered as he walked over to Fran once again. "You'd better change his clothes before he freezes to death… It's time for me to go. So long, Varia." And with that, Mukuro vaporized into mist and disappeared as if he was an illusion that had just faded away.
As soon as Mukuro was gone, Bel quickly moved over to the bed and sat next to Fran's shivering body. He ran his hands down Fran's freezing face and brushed a damp strand of hair off it. The prince didn't understand it, why would his kouhai walk out into the rain like that?
"Bel-senpai…" As if the kouhai knew, he took hold of Bel's hand and gripped it tight, not wanting to let go. Bel was surprised at how cold that frail hand was, but he intertwined his fingers with the illusionist nonetheless.
Squalo, who had been amazingly silent for a while was about to yell at Bel to stop sitting there like so uselessly and start changing Fran's clothes, but Lussuria saw the moment between the two, and decided to just pull the swordsman out of the way before he could interrupt. Gokudera, on the other hand, silently watched the two and knew right away that those two were more than just colleagues. It was kind of the same relationship he had with Yamamoto, and he understood how it felt.
Yamamoto.
When that name came to his min, he nearly couldn't suppress the tears which kept on trying to come out of his eyes. He blinked hard, before he silently walked out of the room, leaving Bel and Fran together – not wanting to interrupt them with his weakness. His love life was broken, but that didn't mean that he should ruin anyone else's.
As the door closed behind Gokudera, Bel and Fran were left alone in their bedroom. The prince took a little while longer to brush the hair out of Fran's face before he realized the kouhai should change out of those cold, wet clothes. With that thought, he tried to tug his hand out of Fran's, but the kouhai wasn't letting go. Weakly and suddenly, his eyes slowly opened, revealing those green, mesmerizing and emerald-like eyes. They sparkled, even when he was sick like he was.
It was one of the first things Bel liked and noticed about the kouhai.
"Bel-senpai…," Fran croaked, and hated how his throat felt like ripping apart. Whispering was an easier choice, but it was one that was barely comprehensive.
"You need to change clothes, Froggy," Bel spoke softly, wanting to soothe the kouhai, but not really knowing how to.
Fran nodded, and was appalled when he realized how much effort he needed to put in to do so. Bel wrapped one of his arms around the illusionist's slim waist and lifted him up into a sitting position before he rested Fran against the back of the bed.
The prince started on taking off Fran's clothes, and the kouhai didn't even try to argue. He allowed Bel to slowly take each piece of clothing off, one by one, until he was stripped bare of all clothing. The illusionist shivered as the cold wind blew on him, but he didn't have the power to complain.
Bel then used a towel to wipe the cold rain off from that pale flesh and pulled one of his big shirts on Fran. It hung a bit loosely on that petite body, but it was long enough to reach the kouhai's thighs. Then, Bel removed Fran's frog hat and used the towel to wipe his damp mint-colored hair.
Fran was dumbfounded. The prince never handled him this tenderly before, and furthermore, the prince never, ever, allowed him to take off his hat.
"This is an exception," Bel said, as if he was reading Fran's thoughts. "When it dries, you still have to wear this until you die."
The kouhai weakly nodded again, his headache making it harder to respond. Bel then pulled out some tablets Lussuria had given him before and filled a glass with water. Fran slowly lifted his hands to take hold of the glass but Bel ignored him. Instead, Bel popped the two tablets into Fran's mouth and carefully fed him the water. However, because the prince was not used to taking care of people, he was a little clumsy, and water slipped from the corners of Fran's lips. The senpai wiped that away with his thumb.
After Fran had taken the medicine, Bel laid Fran back down on the bed, brushed some strands of hair from that cute face once more before he started to move away. "You should sleep."
But before Bel could lift himself from the bed, Fran took hold of his wrist and pulled him back. Suddenly, Fran wanted to do something – try something out, and he knew that his weakness was an advantage in this situation.
"Don't leave me, Senpai," Fran croaked, his throat burning.
"The prince wouldn't leave his kouhai. Even though the froggy did run away to sit in the rain," Bel whispered softly, that little manic smile coming sweetly to his lips.
"Che, and whose fault was that?" Fran mumbled. "I was waiting for some warped prince to come save me."
Bel smiled when Fran said that. "The prince will save his froggy."
"But no. He didn't," Fran croaked quietly, and Bel cocked his head questioningly to one side. "That prince was too busy staying with another person."
It took Bel a while to work out that one, but when he finally got it, the prince snickered. "Ushishi… Is the little froggy, perhaps, jealous?"
"No," Fran replied quickly – maybe a little too quickly. Bel's snicker proved that he did not believe what the kouhai had just said. Fran looked away, embarrassed.
"Then, could the prince not do it again?" Fran mumbled, so quietly it was almost a whisper.
"Hmm?" Bel looked at his kouhai, confused.
Fran would've blushed if he had enough blood to. He summed up his courage before he whispered, "Don't do things that you do to me to other people, Senpai."
Bel didn't expect that one coming, and when he took in what his kouhai said, he smiled, before he lay down on top of Fran, hugging him tight as an answer.
"You promise, Senpai?" Fran knew he was being childish, but he wanted a confirmation. Anything which could assure him that he would not feel what he just did – that he would not have to 'hurt' like that anymore.
"I promise," Bel whispered into Fran's ears, and with that, the kouhai wrapped his arms weakly around the prince's neck. The senpai snickered and kissed Fran's cheeks before he moved down to nuzzle Fran's neck. The illusionist whimpered when Bel rested his lips on the curve of his neck - that hollow, sensitive spot.
"Nnnh- enough, Senpai, I'm tired," Fran whispered, feeling his headache start to overpower him once again. Strangely, Bel stopped, but only after a short, sweet kiss on the lips which earned a soft moan from Fran.
Bel rolled off to one side of the bed, still hugging Fran tight to his chest, smoothing Fran's hair.
"You'll catch my cold, Senpai," Fran mumbled, even though he didn't want to let go of the prince.
"It's alright if it's your cold," Bel replied sleepily, not even realizing how heartwarming that sentence was to his kouhai. Fran snuggled up closer to his senpai, allowing his leg to slip into the middle of his senpai's, curling up beside him.
It was warm, so warm beside Bel. It was the warmth that Fran came to like, and more frequently yearned for as time went by.
In Bel's arms, he felt like he was at a hearth. He was where he was exactly supposed to be, it felt so right to be there, and he couldn't ever stop wanting to be there anymore.
Fran slowly looked up at Bel, and saw the prince's sleeping face.
"Goodnight, Senpai," Fran whispered, not wanting to croak with his sore throat, and leant his head closer against Bel's chest.
To Fran's surprise, Bel, who was supposed to be sleeping, sleepily whispered back as he planted a soft, sweet kiss on top of the kouhai's head, and hugged the illusionist closer still, "Goodnight, Froggy."
Fran blushed at that - all of a sudden, he felt all filled up inside. He never wanted to leave Bel's arms, or be parted from him, ever.
And that's when Fran realized it.
He…was in love.
A/N:*sighs* And that's all for this week, my awesome readers~ Hope you like it! Please review~! And see you again the update next week~! ^^
