Posted: May 26th, 2015
Times Edited: 1
Last Edited: July 5th, 2015
Thank you to users OceanRuins, Dustflame, Singular Poisonous Ashes, Gemini Wonderland, and EternityMusic4Me for reviewing!
~Purpose~
Warning: Foul language, changing POVs, and one hell of a surprise (courtesy of your authoress's overactive mind).
Flashback:
I did as I was told, albeit bitterly, thinking back to the times that I didn't have to worry about getting followed around constantly. I hadn't had to think about the consequences of me existing.
I hope it isn't that. Anything but that. I hope it's not my fault.
As soon as the thought was produced, I remembered that nothing had been my fault. None of this, nothing that I was suddenly involved in, was my fault.
My stupid father.
My whole life, my existence, was his fault.
Chapter Fourteen: Holly
While holly is not necessarily pegged as a flower, its meaning usually is synonymous with the beauty of one. The holly is a plant that is associated with winter time and is something that is used throughout not only the winter season, but especially around Christmas time. One of the most interesting facts about holly is that sometimes the wood is used to make chess pieces, which is great because the holly is actually a symbol of defense.
Meaning: "Am I forgotten?", defense, and/or domestic happiness.
Paulo intently stared up at the door where the blonde kid had stood only moments ago. The news that had just been explained to him in a rather rushed and conjoined matter only confirmed multiple suspicions within his own mind.
Enzo, being among his finest men and closest friends, was definitely not wired. Paulo always made sure to check all of his subordinates ahead of time, scoping out for places a wire would be hidden and even violating privacy to do so… with the safety of his business in mind, of course.
"I'd never pin him as being the one wearing a wire. The fucker's too scared of me to try it."
With the rest of this on the table, he could hardly even fathom finding the Star Child. It was his own personal mission; he had never written it down into official documents and he had never divulged the truth for his ruthless searches to anyone but Enzo and Rossie themselves. The Star Child was the key to ruling Japan in both Mafia and drug aspects, and having the police parked up the street did not calm his nerves in the slightest bit.
Even the thought of those pigs having a whiff of his business's scent was enough to make Paulo wriggle with the sickening potential of being locked up for hard time, but realizing that the only reason he did not achieve what he truly wanted solely because he was not careful enough was an even more infuriating thought.
"I know I'm risking too much," Paulo told himself inwardly, continuing to stare at the door as if it had answers that he knew he was going to get at sooner or later. "but I have to find the Star Child. With their superior knowledge of probabilities, they can predict how I can run both my business and the Mafia world to bring me to the top. I won't fail. I can't fail."
As if the door felt his needs, a head surprisingly peeked in.
"Boss, I have come across important news about your mission."
Rossie's mostly-bald head shone in the light as Paulo let out a gusty sigh. Regardless of being in his own establishment, it still felt as though he was being watched. His guard had been up, which was not necessarily a bad thing, but it was quite sad that he expected so little of his followers.
"Get the hell out with it then."
Paulo smirked with the usual high of his power; Rossie's eyes glazed with fear for but a moment before shuffling into the small, cramped office. He gradually allowed his hand to wander up to his chin and caress his small stubble of hair.
"Well, I've been researching around and looking for a sign of the Star Child, like you said to, boss. I hardly found anything, but I do have evidence that the Star Child is in Namimori as of tonight for certain."
Paulo's interest heightened tenfold; as if he had expected to find the Star Child anytime soon, let alone have any evidence to go on for the possible capture that they would have to carry out.
"Keep going!"
"R-right!" Rossie glanced at the door as if he had heard something. "Well, I have reason to believe that the Star Child will be on the move tomorrow and we only have time to nab him tonight, boss. He's going to be on the move tomorrow and I have no idea where to. This could be your only chance."
"Where the hell did you get your information from?" Paulo asked testily, feeling the sudden weight of responsibility for his own mission.
"Well, I don't have much to go on," Rossie admitted, but he quickly divulged the rest of his information. "but I do know that the Star Child is going to be moving around tonight. This-this is your only chance, boss. Send Enzo and I out to get him and you'll have him before the crack of dawn."
"The hell are you standing here for then?" Paulo demanded, swearing relentlessly at Rossie's stricken face. "Get the damn kid and get your ass back to me!"
Rossie quickly agreed with a hasty "yes, sir" and bustled out of the room, where his footsteps slowly faded into silence. Even though it was quite questionable how Rossie had come across such valuable information with such a small margin of time to carry out this mission, it was all Paulo had.
"There is no way in hell I'm letting the Star Child get away from me now."
I sat down on my bed, feeling worry encase me from my fingers to my feet. I had just sat in my home for the first time in at least a week and, as far as I was concerned, no one had seen me. I had seen the world that I was so rudely yanked away from; normalcy. I had never even stopped to think about what life would have been like if I had never been exposed to this dark side of the corrupt world I now knew I lived in.
If I had never been in the Mafia, would I have any idea how much of a necessity drugs are in my town alone? Would I even care? Or would I just be going on with my own selfish dreams of becoming whatever I wanted while these people are busy claiming unimaginable riches just from distributing product?
"Aye, missy, I gotta show ya the thing I was talkin' 'bout!" Silvano reappeared in a hurry, all signs of previous worry gone with the wind. "It ain't much, nah, but it oughta help if 'em cops get onto our case!"
The blonde groped around for the flashlight that he kept underneath his bed as I glanced at the dusty, near-broken digital clock beside us that read 2:52 AM. The memory of the responsibilities that I probably had tomorrow weighed down on me as I answered Silvano:
"I think I'm just going to go to bed."
"What?" Silvano shined the flashlight straight into my eyes and I ducked underneath my outstretched hand. "Missy, ya can't just go to bed! This is important! C'mon; it'll only take a second, too!"
I sighed heavily, swearing underneath my breath as I relented to Silvano's idea.
What the hell; it'll only take a second, like he says. We're not going anywhere else.
Silvano seemed elated at the prospect of this, and he quickly ushered me out of my bed once again and led me toward the corner of the room, right underneath where the door to go down the steps must have been. Even with his flashlight, I could hardly see a thing.
"Aight, missy! See this here painting?" Silvano shined his flashlight over what must have been a portrait of a garden or something pretty, but it only looked as though moisture had gotten to it. "I ain't know why we use that thing to block the hole, but it ain't failed us yet!"
As he spoke, he got down on one knee and began to push the painting to the side, allowing nothing but a dark hole to show. It was not a particularly pretty hole (or a large one, in fact) but I supposed that in a dire situation, we would be the first ones through it.
"See that? Aye, we gonna crawl through that at the first sign of trouble. Ain't gonna do it now, missy, don't get all riled up! It leads all sorts'a places, yeah, but ya gotta know where to go. I got that part covered though, so ya ain't gotta worry."
I squinted as hard as I could; I couldn't see into the hole in the slightest. The dark, enclosed space made me a little nauseous when I thought about it, even if I wasn't claustrophobic in any sense.
"How do you even see in there?" I asked, carefully trying to keep the worry out of my voice.
"Ya think I have this flashlight for nothin'?" Silvano asked, chuckling quietly. "Nah, missy. It's gonna be dark 'nd all, but we're gonna be goin' through it together if we needa use it."
I nodded slowly as Silvano moved the painting back into its original place in front of the hole. Regardless of the dusty and almost dirty atmosphere in the cellar, the once-beautiful painting stared back at me with a hidden meaning. The pinks that meshed together with the greens and made an unsightly color of brown did not make sense in my tired and overworked mind.
I had no idea at the time that it was alluding to two worlds clashing into one giant mess.
Shoichi kept his tired eyes trained on the energetic child that bounced relentlessly on his bed. So-called Fuuta hadn't stopped talking all night, and Shoichi had no choice but to sit there and listen to him. After all, Fuuta was only allowed to stay for tonight and then Shoichi's mother would kick him out.
"Ooh! Shoichi-nii, what should we do now?" Fuuta suddenly stopped bouncing on the bed as he pointed to the clock that read 3:24 AM. "I'm bored!"
"You should be asleep!" Shoichi felt his patience begin to waver with the stress of looking after a child who was probably more than a couple of years younger than he was. "Not many other kids would stay up this late just because!"
Fuuta seemed to ignore it as a loud buzz caused the both of them to stiffen, but Shoichi merely reached for his phone.
"Who would text me at this hour?"
A small, faint part of him wished that it was Hana. If he had even the smallest sign that she was still alive, he'd be satisfied. He tried his best not to think about her, especially with the kid distracting him, but without her, life seemed dull. Shoichi didn't have her usual fiery attitude to convince him that he wasn't a lonely piece of unread newspaper.
Instead, Shoichi was greeted with nothing but yet another scary message:
Private Number
3:26 AM
Go for a walk in the park. Now.
Shoichi dropped his phone in shock at this rate; absolutely not. Every time this damn number texted him, he was presented with weird shit.
"Shoichi-nii?" Fuuta asked, suddenly becoming calm and standing still. "What's wrong?"
"N-nothing," Shoichi wiped his red hair away from his face and his glasses quickly, staring at his phone. "I just got a… a text that is telling me we should go for a walk, but I don't think–"
"A walk? That'd be fun!"
Fuuta had already interrupted him and ignored the warning that Shoichi wanted to divulge.
"N-no, wait! I don't think it'd be a good idea!" Shoichi hurriedly tried to reason with Fuuta, but the kid had already opened the door to his living room with it in his mind that a walk was necessary. "Fuuta, come back! Seriously? Ah…"
Shoichi hadn't even been able to catch Fuuta until he stood outside of the apartment building in the parking lot, staring straight ahead. He didn't seem to have anything in particular on his mind, but Shoichi could hardly read him in the first place.
"Where do you want to go for a walk?" Shoichi asked, pointedly ignoring the worrying text that he had received. Every single time that number decided to contact him, something went wrong. He couldn't put his finger on it, but this time, it sounded serious.
"Anywhere but the park."
Fuuta slowly turned toward Shoichi but said nothing as he made a face. It wasn't any sort of particular face, but it was similar to that of a scowl. He muttered something under his breath, but said nothing as he slowly backed away.
"Shoichi-nii, I'm going to walk by myself!" Regardless of the tense situation, Fuuta's voice still had a cheery ring to it. "I'm going to leave early, so I'll take a walk and come back to say goodbye."
"W-what? Why would you do that?" Surprised, Shoichi stepped forward into the parking lot as well. "Where are y-you going to go?"
Fuuta turned back briefly before beginning to walk away again. "I'm going to find home!"
"What the hell does he mean 'home'? He told me earlier that 'home' was with me, which makes no damn sense, and now he's going to find a different 'home'? What's wrong with this kid?"
Against his better judgment, Shoichi glanced back at the automatic door to the apartment complex, but quickly jogged toward where Fuuta stood.
"I don't think you should follow me, Shoichi-nii," Fuuta's cheerful tone had dwindled down to a quiet, nervous whisper. "I don't know if you want to share a home with me."
"Why is he being so creepy about it?"
"I-I have my own home, but–"
"Shoichi-nii," Fuuta stopped him from responding with seriousness in his tone. "Would you hate me if I told you that I'm not a normal eleven-year-old?"
"You're obviously not!" Shoichi stated, surprised that the kid would have the audacity to call himself 'normal'.
Fuuta flinched and made a face before allowing his shaky voice to say more:
"What if… I could give statistics on anything you asked about? Would you hate me then?"
Shoichi's chest tensed up as he shook his head, forcing himself to listen to Fuuta and see what he was getting at. If anything, he wanted to know why Fuuta was such a weird kid.
"…Would you hate me if I told you I could predict the future? If I… knew the different paths the future could take? If I knew what could happen to us tonight?"
"Tonight? What the hell is he talking about?"
"A-are you trying to scare me? Because it's not w-working," Shoichi tried to put up a front; predictions are always possible. Hell, Shoichi could predict the future himself if he wanted to, but… to know what the future holds was out of line. There was no way that it was possible.
"I'm not trying to scare you," Fuuta insisted, but he quickly stopped when Shoichi's eyebrows meshed into each other in a thoughtful manner. "I just don't think that… that you coming with me will be a good thing for the future."
Shoichi slowly began to think again, and everything he seemed to come up with made hardly any sense. Fuuta stared at him and his eyes darkened until he took a deep breath.
"If you want to go with me, we have to go to the park, Shoichi-nii."
Shoichi stopped breathing for a moment, thinking about the text that he had received.
"Do… you know anything about the texts that I get, telling me what my next move should be?"
Fuuta had turned away, heading toward the park as he put his hands into the pockets of his oversized winter coat.
"No."
Regardless of his answer, Shoichi knew that he knew more that he was letting on, whether he wanted to admit it or not.
Shoichi had to exert most of his strength to keep up with Fuuta; regardless of the oversized coat and his short legs, the kid was fast. His speed must have come from either youth or just plain practice, but he hadn't let up until he reached the silent atmosphere of the park.
On any other night, a trip to the park would have been mere bliss; it was so quiet that even from paces away, Shoichi could hear Fuuta's labored breathing. The stars were in plain view in the sky, and even though the circumstances of the night were nerve-wracking, the night itself was almost peaceful. Almost.
Fuuta had stopped running for only a second before suddenly letting out a yelp, but ultimately resolving to struggling. A third person had appeared, holding the struggling kid so tightly around the mouth that the struggle could hardly be heard.
"Sho-chi-ii, r-n!" Fuuta's attempted scream was useless, as Shoichi had already turned on his heel and allowed his flight instinct to take over. He had hardly begun to pick up speed as someone clotheslined him and he fell to the concrete face-first.
The clash of glass and concrete shattered Shoichi's glasses on contact, but it was nothing in comparison to the shock of the attack.
As fast as it'd happened, it was over with a swift and calculated punch to the back of the neck and a getaway car revving up its engine.
Q&A:
WHAT WAS THE SURPRISE YOU ALLUDED TO IN YOUR WARNING AT THE TOP?
…The cliffhanger… -please don't kill me?-
Why do you enjoy cliffhangers?
Because it gives me more room to explain next chapter! I hadn't planned on this chapter being so short, but I guess it kind of works out in the sense that last chapter was 19 pages in Microsoft Word.
Is Paulo important to your story?
Just a little, yeah. There will be a point where he stops being so important, though. For now, I will occasionally give him his own little blurbs until that point because he does allow the story to progress forward and make a little bit of sense. Also, I noticed this especially while writing this chapter: I'm trying my absolute best to not make him like Xanxus. I write Xanxus extremely well (in my opinion) and I think that's beginning to shine through with Paulo and I don't mean to do that.
What even is your problem with short and painful chapters?
I have no idea. I just like to watch my readers cringe in pain. Also, if I continued on from this point, this chapter would suddenly take ten months to write and be over 10,000 words long.
Did you mean to make Fuuta creepy?
Actually, no. I'm sorry. I'm still trying to find my footing with him and I have realized that he comes off as a bit creepy. However, that should go away within the next chapter because I'll find my footing there.
What's up with Fuuta and Shoichi's scene?
I know it was a little choppy and awkward (especially the ending…) I wanted to put stuff in there that were spoilers or stuff that would definitely come later, so I kept having to sub things in and out. I'll work on editing this chapter definitely, but this is what I came up with thus far.
Why is Fuuta eleven? I thought he was nine in canon?
You're right. In canon, he was nine. However, this is about two years later and the canon you're referring to seems to have never happened. :)
But wait! Why is Shoichi getting targeted, too?
Lesson number two of the Mafia (besides "get the hell away from the windows"): never leave any witnesses. Don't ask me though; I'm just your lowly authoress with two police parents. :)
Author's Notes:
Summer is finally here! While I will be a tad busy, I will be considerably less busy than if I was in school.
I'm not really sure how I feel about this whole chapter. Like, I wanted to make it longer, but if I had, I would have had so much more work to do rather than go through it all in the next chapter. There was a surprising lack of Hana this time around, but I'll make up for that next chapter. I'll be sure to edit this chapter when I can.
Like my Fanfiction? Please tell me so! (shameless desperate Fanfiction authoress asking nicely for reviews because I can't really tell who actually likes this story and who reads it for a laugh because I'm terrible) ((if you can't review, shoot me with a PM! I always count those for reviews, and thank you for those who do this because I love you all!))
Also did anyone get The Office reference from this chapter and the previous one, specifically about the titles? I thought about making this title before the other one, but… I couldn't because then it would have been obvious.
~Teafully~