Authors notes: Double Upload.
I wasn't able to get everything that I promised to write into these two chapters. Chapter 39 was originally much longer, but a plothole forced me to cut half of it. I've decided NOT to re-write those parts and put them in, even though that means you guys won't get to see the things I promised at the end of chapter 37 (old version).
Hopefully, what I've managed to complete will still quench your appetite, since it all has bearing on the future of the story.
Hopefully, you guys won't think I've been eaten by a yaoi-fangirl, either. I truly questioned whether to upload these chapters as-is, but I figured that you guys have followed me this far... so you should know most things in my stories have reasons beyond fangirl couple-shipping.
And, hopefully, I've done my job to entertain. Only you can say if I succeeded.
Maverick grimaced at Elario's silence as he carried the pitiful man through the Men's Parlor, past the refreshment tables, beyond the Mafioso gathered around the giant televisions broadcasting the events inside the manor, through the instrumental quartet set up by the fountain, and into the rose gardens.
In his eyes, Elario truly was the most pitiful man in the world. He'd spent so many years fighting to become a Mafioso despite his father's disapproval. He'd worked hard to become strong, eventually finding acceptance as Luca's Sun Guardian, although the older generations continued to underestimate him. He'd cultivated his intelligence as the Secretary in charge of Don Vongole Academy and he'd always been vigilant toward opportunities to increase his reputation.
Maybe Papa had overlooked that? It wasn't that Elario was gay. He'd planned to marry Katie and do the one thing his father hadn't—gain entrance into the family rather than the Family. His hope had been to finally make the great Hurricane Hayato, Right Hand Man of the legendary Vongola the Tenth, do something more than criticize his son.
But that would never happen now. Even worse, Papa Tsuna had told Elario the one thing Maverick had been trying to keep from him: that his father had once been intimate with a man. According to Maverick's own father, who'd been honest with him when asked about his first love, it'd been during their younger days when they were having difficulty transforming from simple civilians into hitmen for the Vongola Family. At the time, they hadn't known who to trust outside their close-knit group, so they'd turned to each other for comfort.
Maverick knew his father looked back at those times as the folly of youth, and he'd always thought Mr. Gokudera would keep that particular series of rendezvous a secret. If he'd imagined that it would be unburied in such a public forum, he would have warned Elario ahead of time. It had to be devastating.
Seeing an exit from the garden, Maverick jumped over one of the manicured bushes to enter the grove of trees covering sector six of the Vongola estate. At the center of the sector was a glass sculpture of a winged man that had somehow been fused to the ground in a meadow where nothing would grow. Maverick didn't carry Elario so deep into the grove, though. When he could no longer hear the noise of the party, he jerked to an abrupt stop.
Maverick bent over, intending to set Elario on the ground, but Elario chose that moment to come to his senses. He firmly planted his feet on the ground and rammed his fist into the back of his kidnapper's head. Maverick didn't bother to wince in pain, nor did he grimace at the way Elario began pacing like a walking tea-kettle. He simply smiled and waited for the unavoidable explosion.
"What the fuck?" Elario's crude words sounded odd due to his angelic tone of voice. "Is this some kind of joke you planned with the Tenth? How could you do this to me? After all that work, now I'm going to be a fucking laughingstock. Do you have any idea what's going to happen now? My reputation is ruined. Everyone is going to think I'm just another of Papa's fag Mafiosos. I wouldn't be surprised if Luca disowned me. Think about it. The Cavallones are horse-breeders. They're as traditional as they come. Even if Papa and Dino are friends, it's not the same as being told one of his own Family members is gay. They're going to kill me for soiling their reputation. And I'm not even gay!"
"I love you."
"And what was that about Dad dating a guy?" Elario continued as he smoothed down the front of his three-piece suit. "That has to be a lie. Dad is a prude. I mean, I might be able to see it if Papa Tsuna was the guy, but even that is pushing it. Think about it. Papa has Xanxus. As cool as Dad is, there's no way he could compete. But don't take that the wrong way. I'm not gay. I really don't know where Papa got that. I've been completely loyal to Katie."
"There's so many things I've been afraid to tell you," Maverick said as he carefully pulled off his gloves.
"Speaking of Katie, how could she abandon me so easily? As soon as Papa mentioned that she should date Luca, she let go of my arm. She practically pounced on Luca. How could she do that? I treated her right. I went to the ballet with her and I took her to the opera. I took her to the movies and I bought her everything she wanted. I thought we were good together. She never refused to hold my hand or accept my kisses. Okay, I'll admit that I could have pushed harder to get her in bed, but she was always tired from working. I thought I was being considerate."
"Paralyzing Peppermint." With a single touch, he turned an ancient, towering olive tree into a giant stick of peppermint. The scent permeated the area within seconds, paralyzing any animal unfortunate enough to have a nose. That included Elario, who fell to the ground as the effects reached his single-minded little brain.
"Let me start over," Maverick said, still smiling down at his childhood friend. "I love you. There's so many things I've been afraid to tell you. You're currently being affected by one of those things. You see, because I love you, my special abilities started going wonky around you. In the past, I could only created baked treats like gingerbread and muffins. Then I realized I could make Candy... Poisoned Candy, to be specific."
Maverick push Elario onto his back with the toe of his boot. Elario didn't look too pleased over the change in position. He stared up with wide eyes and lips parted in disbelief. He almost acted as if he were being attacked, but he should know better. After all, he was being loved.
"It's because of you. For a long time, I tried denying it to myself. I didn't want to be gay, because you're right. I'm just another fag in Papa's Family now. More importantly, my parents are both gay. If I became gay too, what might people say? They'd say my parents screwed me up. They'd look down their noses at Dad and Daddy, and I didn't want that. But then I finally realized that my parents don't have anything to do with it. I'm defective, and it doesn't matter if I deny it or accept it. It won't change anything because I can't stop myself from loving you."
Maverick placed a foot on either side of Elario's chest and dropped down to his knees to push a lock of silver hair out of Elario's face. "Do you remember the first time you told me about a girl you liked? The next morning, you went home with ten pounds of strawberry gummies. That was the first time I used my Poisoned Candy skill. I'm sorry I've been hiding it from you, but I was afraid that you'd hate me. You might remember all those times that you got sick after eating over at my house. And there was the times I poisoned the girls you liked, though it's not like I did it intentionally. It was you that kept making me jealous."
His smile widened as his fingers traced the outline of Elario's face down to the curve of his neck. It was so slender. His hands could wrap around it so easily. With the slightest, most gentle squeeze, he could feel Elario's heartbeat pounding in his hands.
"Why do you keep betraying me?" he asked as Elario's eyes began bulging. "You should have paid more attention. I was always right there beside you. Every time you cried about your father, it was on my shoulder you cried on. Every time you needed to get stronger, it was me that helped train you. Every time you needed a place to rest, it was my sword that guarded you. I took care of you. I made certain that every threat was eliminated before it could get near you and I never asked for anything in return. But once. Just once, I wanted you to notice me. Acknowledge me. You should have seen that I needed someone, too. You can't just use me, then expect me to stand by while—"
Maverick threw up his guard just as a body rammed into him at full speed. As he skidded across the ground, the Paralyzing Peppermint stick exploded into a fine dust that evaporated into nothing. He didn't try to replace it. He didn't even try to get up. He simply laid on the ground, staring up at the evening sky overhead, and tried to keep the smile on his face.
"Shit, he's not breathing." Uncle Ryohei's gruff voice rang through Maverick's ears and settled on his heart like a Ten-Ton Hammer. He couldn't react. Maybe it was because of guilt or maybe it was because of Xanxus' foot on his chest. He didn't care which, but he wished it would kill him. He wanted to die. There was no way he could live another day without going completely insane.
It didn't help when he heard Elario sucking on air and coughing from sudden resuscitation. Now, the worst possible outcome would come true. Elario would have to choose between loving a man or creating an enemy. Maverick refused to give him any other option. If he tried to 'forgive and forget', Maverick swore he would put all of his meager skill into capturing him and putting him through the worst tortures in the book. 'Forgetting' was one thing that couldn't be allowed.
Xanxus must have sensed his thoughts because the foot on his chest pressed down, leaving him wheezing when his lungs weren't allowed to expand.
"Looks like Tsuna was right again," Xanxus said. His face was turned toward Elario rather than Maverick. "So which is it going to be, brat? Are you going to keep pretending that you don't see anything? Or will you take responsibility?"
"For what?" Elario's words were taut and scratchy and not angelic at all. For Maverick, it felt like he'd committed more of a crime than murder would have been. He'd ruined Elario's pure voice.
"Are you fucking stupid? No, don't answer that. I'm going to assume that you're a fucking idiot for allowing things to progress this far, so let me make it nice and simple. Your childhood friend can't decide whether he wants to fuck you or kill you. That's why your choices are to be fucked by him or never see him again. Pick one. And, so help me, if you say you don't understand, I'll shoot you myself."
The resulting silence said more than enough.
Just as Maverick could have predicted, Elario couldn't choose. No, Maverick amended. Elario didn't want to choose. He was probably trying to think of some way that he could keep his childhood friend while also keeping things platonic. Elario really, really, really wasn't gay. If he'd possessed the smallest inclination, the decision should have been easy after Papa's staged drama in the Reception Hall.
"Hell," Xanxus spat. He glanced down at Maverick, but Maverick couldn't meet his eyes. In his heart, he'd already known how Elario would react. That's why he'd decided just to kill him. Things would have been so much easier that way. "Ryohei, drag that sack of shit out of here and go tell Tonno what happened. He's probably going to be pissed at me, but I can't let Maverick return to the standard rotation. Is that okay with you, kid? I could use a Cloud Guardian and you look like you could use an easy way out."
"Wait—!" Elario shouted as Ryohei grabbed his collar and began dragging him off. Maverick clenched his eyes shut to erase the tears that formed. He'd dreamed of so many ways this could have ended, but his dreams hadn't come true. Instead, his worst nightmare had become reality.
"If you join me, you'll get to kill and torture as many people as you want," Xanxus added.
"Maverick!" Elario screamed across the growing distance between them. "I made up my mind! We can work something out! Damnit! Let me go, Uncle Ryohei!"
"Papa knew this would happen," Maverick mumbled to no one in particular. He felt like saying it aloud might make it easier to accept. "Papa said what he said to push me over the edge. It was the only way to save me. Even though I knew Elario would never accept me, I couldn't stop myself from hoping and waiting. And everything got so twisted." He winced as he heard Elario's voice calling out for him again. "I wanted to push him away so I would stop hurting, at the same time I was terrified of losing him. I loved him, but I came to hate him because I loved him. I... What do I do, Xanxus? How do I make him stay away from me when I can't stop myself from wanting to be near him?"
"Attempted murder is usually enough," Xanxus replied as he removed his foot from Maverick's chest. "Give the scumbag a few days to realize how close he came to dying. If he still has the guts to approach you after that, string him up for the birds. That's one of the perks of being a Varia. As long as he survives, the Family will forgive you no matter how sadistic you become."
"I haven't agreed to join." He slowly sat up and dusted the boot-print off his chest.
"Do you think you can refuse?" Xanxus gave him a cruel grin and rested his hands on his holstered X-Guns. "It's where you belong. Shitheads like Elario wouldn't know the meaning of pain and hardship if it bit him on the ass, but we're different. We know pain and suffering and we've faced the brink of insanity so many times that the line doesn't exist anymore."
"Sounds like fun, but I'm not in the habit of trading one bad situation for something worse. And going from Papa's best Snatcher to your Cloud Guardian sounds like pure hell. And why me? Why would you hand the power of a Guardian to someone half your age? What are you planning?"
"If you're curious, why don't you join and find out?"
"How about you tell me before I decide to say 'screw it' and skip town? Papa could always use another traveling freelancer like Shamal."
"Try it, if you think it'll work," Xanxus replied. "But it won't. Within six months, your ass will go back to stalking Elario and you'll probably kill him before the year is out. You won't be able to control it. " The blunt statement made Maverick pause, mostly because it was pure, unvarnished truth. Distance wouldn't be enough to protect Elario.
"Tsuna really wasn't kidding when he wrote your profile," Xanxus added. He gestured for Maverick to follow and summarily walked away. Maverick considered the option of ignoring the invitation, but curiosity got the better of him. If the Tenth took it upon himself to write a profile and give it to Xanxus, he wanted to know what was in it and why.
They didn't go very far. They went back out of sector six, across the hedges into the garden, and to the fountain now teaming with couples dancing to music from the instrumental quartet. Maverick froze under the amount of attention that landed on him. It was as if everyone knew exactly what had happened and had gathered to soak up details through the back of their heads, because they all looked at him without looking directly at him. The only exception was the very intent Storm Guardian watching openly from the other side of the patio.
All at once, Maverick was hit with the sudden realization of what he'd done. He'd tried to kill Elario. He'd tried to kill his best friend in the world, a guy who was more Family than a brother and more important than his own life. No matter what his intentions had been, he shouldn't have strangled him.
Wait. He should have strangled him. The only way to scare Elario away had been to do something that would actually scare him. And he'd needed to be scared away. Maverick wasn't certain he was capable of controlling his inner psychopath anymore.
But it was Elario! Elario was the son of the Tenth's Right Hand. He'd committed treason by trying to kill him. There were no excuses for that sort of thing.
Or were there?
It was too late to run. Mr. Gokudera stopped in front of him. Maverick opened his mouth to apologize, but nothing came out. He hadn't done anything wrong. Elario was the one at fault. He'd purposely strung Maverick along for how many years? Maverick knew he'd dropped thousands of hints of his feelings whenever he knew no one else would witness.
Then again, attempted murder really crossed the line.
"Where's Elario?" Mr. Gokudera asked.
All at once, there was a wall, Xanxus, between Maverick and his would-be victim's father. Maverick didn't question his luck. He tried to retreat back into the garden, only to be stopped when that same wall grabbed a handful of his dreadlocks and held on tight.
"He's alive," Xanxus reported.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"It means the little scumbag had to face the consequences of his actions," Xanxus replied with a broad smile. "If you have a problem with that, take it up with the Tenth."
"No need for that," he replied with a tired sigh. "I tried to keep him out of the Mafia, but he flushed my efforts down the drain. Now, I can't protect him anymore. I was going to ask you to make him strong enough to protect himself, but it looks like you're going to have your hands full with your own godson. I'll have to rely on Ryohei."
"He's not-"
"He's not your godson," Gokudera said, rolling his eyes at the denial. "The great and powerful Xanxus wouldn't agree to be anyone's godfather. You're just bored and he looks interesting. Yoshi, do me a favor and give him a hard time. It's what he deserves for still trying to play it cool after all these years."
"I'm not playing it cool," Xanxus growled before Maverick could overcome his shock. Mr. Gokudera wasn't angry with him? Maybe he hadn't seen the damage yet? "He'll be part of the Varia as soon as I drag an agreement out of him." To make his point, Xanxus' fist tightened around Maverick's hair, driving constant pain into his scalp.
The pain was the last straw. Slipping a throwing dagger from the hidden sheathe on his hip, he gripped the hilt and swung it in a horizontal arc toward Xanxus' stomach. Unfortunately, Xanxus grabbed his wrist before the weapon could touch him, and squeezed. Maverick swore he could hear something crack under his skin as he lost his grip on the knife and it clattered to the ground.
"You'll have to excuse him," Xanxus calmly said to Mr. Gokudera. "People like us don't deal well with a broken heart."
"The main sparring ring is open if you need it."
Uncle Ryohei dragged him back and forth through the extensive Vongola grounds, searching for who-knew-what. Elario gave up on trying stopping him, being too busy having a silent meltdown.
Maverick's confession-turned-attack was the last straw on top of a particularly harsh day. First, he'd met his grandmother, who had been turned into a vampire because grandpa had tried to kill her. During the unexpected reunion, his Aunt—on his mother's side—let it slip that she wanted him to inherit the Kuneri Family, which meant he would soon need to return to Don Girarde as a student to begin training to become a Mafia Boss. Then, Papa Tsuna falsely announced that he was gay, right after telling him that his father was apparently bisexual. While he was still reeling from all that, his girlfriend had dumped him for his current Boss, Luca Cavallone. And, now, his life-long friend wanted to kill him.
"Here," Uncle Ryohei said as he deposited Elario atop an empty bar-stool next to an unattended liquor island. "You look like you could use a drink. Just don't tell your dad."
Elario couldn't respond. He opened his mouth, but his brain had completely shut down. No words would form in his mind, much less reach his mouth. He just stared into space as Uncle Ryohei filled two tall shot-glasses with clear V Special and slid one over to him.
"Go ahead," he urged. "You're old enough."
Elario stared at the drink. Without a word to his godfather, he picked it up and drank it, then slowly walked away while the taste of vodka and cherries still burned his injured throat. Uncle Ryohei didn't interfere this time, allowing him the opportunity to mindlessly wander while he tried to process everything. Although, if he was honest with himself, he knew he didn't need to process anything. He understood everything that had happened.
His grandmother was a vampire.
His Aunt couldn't be blamed for her inability to have children. With the help of science, she could probably overcome the problem, but why go through all that hassle when she already had a nephew of good breeding?
Katie had never loved him; he'd never loved her. Papa had been right on that account. He'd been using her to bolster his masculinity, since Papa wasn't the first person to label him as 'gay'. Elario knew his own faults. Due to an abnormally strong Sun Flame, he shined a little too brightly. No one could see his real self. Some people, like his father, barely took the time to look. Everything was expected; anything less than perfect was unacceptable. As for everyone else, they stared straight into the Sun until afterimages imbedded themselves into their brains and they only saw him as the embodiment of an overexposed picture... shiny and useless.
Maverick had been the one person that could see him, Elario, instead of the Sun. That's why, if Maverick had picked any other day to snap, Elario wouldn't have hesitated. He had already decided, should Maverick force the issue, that he would hand himself over to his childhood friend. It was profit and loss. The benefit of having Maverick in his life outweighed any discomfort associated with an intimate relationship.
But, that was before he'd been buried under duty and familial obligation. There was no guarantee that the Kuneri Family would accept a gay heir. That meant a relationship with Maverick would only put him in the cross-hairs of every dissenting Mafioso. Despite all his posturing, Maverick wasn't Xanxus, who was capable of dealing with Papa's more psychotic stalkers. Furthermore, Elario wasn't Papa, who was capable of publicly seducing a dozen women to hide his male companions.
That idiot baker should have given me more time to think of a solution, he thought. Elario cursed under his breath and gritted his teeth, feeling as if he was getting nowhere. To get back on track, he took a deep breath, counted to ten, and carefully turned his attention to his options.
Option: He could stay with the Cavallone Family or leave. Considering the circumstances, Luca Cavallone would accept his withdrawal from the Family. There were a half-dozen Mafioso capable of taking his place, so there shouldn't be any long-term consequences of leaving.
Option: He could stay with the Vongola Family or leave. Considering what he'd done, Papa wasn't likely to trade on Elario's loyalty in the near future. It might be a good idea to keep his cell phone charged, but Papa wouldn't require him to live at Headquarters and kiss his feet at every step. So, that meant he didn't need to worry about Vongola at all. At least, not yet. Maybe in ten years, after he took control of Kuneri...
Option: Accept the position of Kuneri the Ninth or refuse. Could he accept it? Could he accept responsibility for an entire Family when it meant breaking all ties to Maverick? Or could he choose Maverick, even if it meant ignoring the needs of his family? The decision was incredibly difficult to make. All of it really made him wish he could run... run away...
Option: Turn his back on everything and run away. Why not? It was one option he hadn't seriously considered until now. After all, this was his own life that was being decided. No one said that his only choices were Maverick and Kuneri. He could go do something else entirely. Maybe he could go to Mars with Hotaru. Or he could apply for a permanent position at Don Girarde.
But... When he thought of it like that, his stomach cramped with worry. It made him realize that he actually liked the idea of becoming Kuneri the Ninth. Deep down, he'd always expected to be offered the role of heir. He'd just never considered how that would affect Maverick, because he hadn't wanted to think too deeply about life after they became lovers.
The word 'lovers' brought a blush to his face. Damnit, he thought. Papa was right about that, too. Just like he expected to become the Ninth, he'd always expected to become more than friends with Maverick. He'd already passed the point where he could imagine a future without him.
"Damnit," he said with a slightly rasping voice. "If I was stronger, I wouldn't have to choose."
"Choose between what?"
Elario blinked at his grandmother. He didn't remember encountering her. He sat next to her in one of the stone trysting grottos hidden throughout the Vongola estate—a cave-like hideaway tucked at an unmarked, dead-end dirt pathway, with an entrance hidden by lush foliage. It was an odd little area that gave him the feeling of being a ghost inside a mausoleum. He could hear people moving around outside, but they were part of a completely different world.
Although, the crowd lounging on the grotto's stone benches kept him firmly grounded in this world. To his left, his grandmother sat with a man wearing a white bear mask. Her unwrinkled face shone with happiness as she waited for Elario's response, making her seem more like his sister than his grandmother, and the masked man beside her acted like a stone statue while he possessively held her hand. Beside him sat another man with a thick braid of hair going most of the way down his back and a pair of tea-shades covering the eye holes of his smooth, white mask. He stared out the grotto's broad entrance while he twirled a set of chopsticks between his fingers.
Looking to his right, Elario gulped. A woman wearing a white bird mask and a Vongola member, Bradley, had their faces buried in the neck of an unmasked woman in a red dress. And the woman in red seemed incredibly happy with their combined attention. Elario could practically see the steam rising from her flushed face.
"Ignore them," his grandmother said, pulling his focus away from the trio. "Are you back with us, dear? You were wandering around with your mind a million miles away. I was afraid you'd walk off a cliff if I left you alone."
Elario stared at her with the same lackluster expression he'd used on Uncle Ryohei. Only, this time, his brain was working. He stared at her, thought about how young she looked, and realized she was a vampire. Everyone except the woman in red was a vampire. They were strong... and he wanted to be stronger. He needed to be stronger.
"What do I have to do?"
"For what, dear?"
"To become a vampire," he replied. He expected them to laugh at him and treat him like he was a starry-eyed teenager incapable of understanding his own words. Instead, every eye turned toward him with deadly seriousness. Even Bradley and the bird-mask woman stopped what they were doing to briskly kick the prostitute out of the club.
"Why do you want to be a vampire?" His grandmother asked as her friends grew intent on listening. "Is this about that other boy? The one that carried you off...?"
"It's complicated, grandmother," he said.
"Call me Maggie," she offered. "It must be odd to call me 'grandmother' when I look like this."
"It's complicated, Maggie. It's not just about Maverick, it's about me. I hurt him because I don't have enough strength or confidence to properly control the Kuneri Family. At this rate, I'm going to be shoved around as a pawn for the rest of my life."
"And you think becoming a vampire will change that?"
"Yes," he replied instantly. "I know it will. Look at me. I've been learning karate since elementary school. I've been fighting to join the Mafia since I was in high school and I've been holding my own against the brats at the Academy since then. But I've hit my limits. The weakest Vongola hitman could put me into the ground, because I can't use my Flame. Not like they can."
"I can see why," she said with a wince of sympathy. "My dear, I've never seen so much potential in one person."
"I wasn't always so bad. Dr. Sakura says it's because I spent so long trying to impress dad. I kept making myself more and more powerful until I hit the limits that my body can handle. And now I'm completely powerless because a single millisecond of releasing my Flame is enough to turn me into a bonfire." He let out a sad chuckle. "The part that's so frustrating is, if my body could handle it, I'd be stronger than Papa and Xanxus and Dad combined. I'd be the most powerful man in the world, yet I'm getting pushed around by idiots that couldn't find the safety on their gun if their life depended on it."
"And you're getting pushed around by that boy you like," she added. Elario didn't have the willpower to deny it.
"I want to be a vampire," he said. "Vampire are cut off from their Flames. That means people would see me instead of the sparkly person that my Flame makes them see. And your physiology is different from humans. I'm willing to work hard if it means I can overcome my current limits. Even if it means I top out as a mid-level vampire, it'd still be an improvement. I'd be able to use my strength instead of fearing that I could trigger instant self-immolation by throwing a punch. And the whole blood-drinking thing... I can accept that. The only reason I became a vegetarian was to piss off dad. And, hell, Maverick would probably serve himself up on a platter. I'd be able to accept him, too, because I'd be able to protect him instead of being protected. I'm so tired of watching while everyone around me acts like I'm some fool that only got into a Family out of pity. I want to be free. I want to be able to fight. I want to show them that Elario Gokudera isn't some kid that can't wipe his own ass."
"You want to fight...?" The man in tea-shades leaned forward and smiled. "You don't look like a fighter. You look like a choir-boy."
Elario smiled back. "I'm much more violent when you get to know me." He immediately blushed, uncertain what had possessed him to retort like that.
The man didn't seem to mind. If anything, his smile grew bigger. "Good to know," he said. "Most people don't think about it, but the alterations to a vampire's physiology affects more than their bones and muscles. Your brain chemistry changes, too. Are you okay with that, even if it means you'll become more like Xanxus?"
"Make me a vampire and I'll make Xanxus look like a school-girl." After a moment, he respectfully added, "Sir."
"Call me Aster." The man chuckled and stood. "Magnolia, sweetheart, you might want to go outside for this. Bradley, why don't you run along and report to the Tenth. Tell him that I'm taking complete responsibility for the Golden Child. And let the Kuneri Boss know that she'll have to wait a little while before she can begin training her heir, but she no longer has to worry that he'll implode. Neve, please find His Highness and give him an update. Elario, I'm going to give you one last chance to change your mind."
"I—"
"Take your time," he urged as everyone else excused themselves from the grotto, leaving Elario alone in Aster's company. "This is a big decision for you. If you do this, there's a chance that you'll go through a rejection. If that happens, we might be able to save your life, but your Flame could suffer irreparable damage. On the other hand, everything could go smoothly. You could become a vampire, but that also comes with its own problems. If you were ever cured, you might turned to ash the moment your Flame returns to your body. It also means you won't be able to have children through normal means."
The threat of sterility made Elario hesitate for the first time since entering the grotto.
"You'll have to wait until certain times of the year," Aster added. "Even then, it might take ten years of trying before you succeed. It all depends on the strength of your Change."
Elario sighed with relief. "I'm not going to change my mind. The more I think about this, the more I want it."
"You're lucky. Ten years ago, we would have been more worried about upsetting Vongola, but we're still short-handed after the Reaper fiasco. So... I'll make you a vampire. In exchange, you'll accept me as a Tutor while you learn all the technical stuff about being a vampire, including how to be an exorcist. You'll follow our rules and traditions where they apply and you'll swear an oath of secrecy. But don't worry. It's really not that different from joining a Mafia Family. There's a whole lot of give and take, where you'll do more taking than giving. Now. If you accept all that, then answer once more for posterity: do you want to be turned into a vampire?"
"Yes. Please make me into a vampire."
"Good. Next, I need you to stand up and undress from the waist up." Elario stood as he carefully loosened his tie, pulled it over his head, and dropped it on the ground. After that, he unbuttoned his suit's jacket, the vest under it, and his shirt, then pulled all three pieces off at the same time.
As he dropped the garments atop his tie, Aster smiled with satisfaction. "Very nice. I have no complaints, so we can proceed immediately. You should know that, due to your presumptive rank, you will be given the honor of being inducted personally by His Royal Highness Badru. You may kneel in his presence, but it will not be required. "
"How long until he gets here?" Elario scratched the back of his head, resisting the urge to cross his arms. In doing so, he tried not to show how exposed he felt without his shirt. He couldn't exercise like he did before his Flame grew too large, so his body had softened to an embarrassing degree. It didn't help that the hairs on his body were naturally thin and pale to the point of invisibility.
"He's already here," Aster said. Elario smiled, setting aside his unease, and opened his mouth in preparation of arguing that no one had entered, but he was frozen by the sound of a heavy-toned chuckled behind him. Elario slowly turned around, feeling as if he was in a horror movie, to find a onyx statue of a Godlet sitting on the bench he'd vacated.
"Come, little one." The statue held out his hand in invitation. Elario automatically reached up with his trembling hand to respond, but he paused before accepting. His hand was really trembling. And 'up'? When had he decided to sit down on the ground? What the hell was...
"Do not be afraid," the statue whispered, his deep voice sending shivers down Elario's spine. What was this? He couldn't stand and his chest felt so heavy. It was so hard to breathe.
The statue, Badru, ignored his confusion. He pulled him into his lap and wrapped his arms around him, while Elario stared out at Aster, who looked positively delighted by the quick progression. He felt the moment when Badru's teeth ripped into the flesh of his shoulder, then his entire body instantly went numb, rendering him incapable of shaking, speaking, or striking back. He could only listen to the rapid beat of his heart as Badru enjoyed his meal.
After a few moments, Elario grew conscious of his Flame. It was a little shocking to feel it, since he couldn't remember the last time it was a 'Flame' and not 'the mass filling every ounce of his body beyond capacity'. It had edges now and a shape, because it was slowly shrinking. It kept getting smaller and smaller until it was only a flicker of light dancing at the bridge between his soul and the universe.
And then it was gone.
Realizing he should be dead once his Flame went out, Elario gasped as a haunting chill crawled through his body. He felt so empty. Too empty. He craved warmth. He searched with his mind, seeking some hidden place within himself that might be hiding a residual flicker of the Sun. But there was nothing. He was alone in a void that his Flame would never again enter. In that moment, his senses expanded in every direction, giving him access to more sensations than he'd ever imagined existed. He could smell the time of day, he could hear the location over every living thing in the garden. He could touch their excitement and taste their age.
"Open your eyes." Elario slowly opened his eyes, not remembering when he'd shut them. The first thing he saw was a bright tower of Flame. It was so pretty with its prismatic sheen and silver sparks. And it radiated warmth. So much warmth.
"I want it," he whispered as if he were amidst a dream. He pressed a hand against the Flame and found it to be far more solid than it looked, yet it yielded when he poked it with his finger.
"Bite." Elario didn't need another invitation. He bit down, puncturing the protective layer so Liquid Flame could pour out. It filled his mouth and raced down his throat, warming places he hadn't known existed. Elario could feel his strength rising with every drop. He wanted more. And more. And more. He couldn't stop himself, so he kept drinking until something tore him away from the Flame and threw him on the ground.
The Flame in his stomach made him feel too good to get up. He reveled in the way the warmth spread through his body, traveling into his arms and legs, and through muscles long overdue to be used. He could feel those muscles tightening and hardening as the Flame transformed his body. He was Changing. He could feel it. His joints creaked as they were rebuilt. His bones ached until he gave in to the irresistible urge to stretch. His flesh trembled as the tendons and nerves multiplied.
And his teeth itched.
"Try to relax," Aster advised as he stuck a needle in Elario's arm and injected something that slighly burned. "The Change is happening a lot faster than normal because you gorged on a King's blood. It should finish in a few minutes."
Elario was surprised at the disappointment that surged forward at the knowledge. He didn't want it to end. Never, in his entire life, had he felt such pleasure. He felt like crying when he could sense Aster moving about, wiping the blood off his face and shaking out his discarded clothes, because it meant he could feel something beyond the transformation of his own body.
"Stop lazing around," Aster scolded. Elario growled under his breath and opened his eyes. Badru had already disappeared, which was probably best for Elario, considering how tempted he might have been to bite him again. Aster stood by the grotto's wide entrance, still shaking the wrinkles out Elario's white shirt.
"Come dust yourself off and I'll comb out your hair," he said. "You can't debut as a vampire like that."
Elario reached up with both hands, intending to scratch his head and stretch again, only to find that his hair was much heavier than it should have been. And he couldn't find the bottom. Grabbing hold of strands on either side of his head, he traced the length until he could hold it up in front of his face. It'd grown. He stretched out his arms, trying to see how long it was, but the strands stretched the entire length of his arm, back down, and disappeared down beyond his hips. Surprised, he tried to sit up, only to be yanked back down before rising up a single foot. His hair—! It was caught under him. He was laying on it!
He tossed his feet over his head and rolled backward to ensure he didn't get caught again. The result left him crouched with his new silver tresses splayed out across the grotto floor. He just stared at them with his mouth hanging open. His hair was so long! It could easily reach from his head to his toes and back again.
Aster took his surprise in stride, and took control of the entire situation. In no time at all, Elario found himself re-dressed in his white undershirt, although all the buttons had gone missing, his hair cut off at his ankles in almost an identical manner as his mother's hair, and the residual dirt dusted off his clothes.
"Good enough," Aster said as he wiped a spot of blood off Elario's jaw with a handkerchief. "It's a new world. Go explore on your own for a while. I must tend to Badru."
Elario hesitated, thinking he should do something to assist, but Aster didn't seem like he wanted help. There was something about him—something Elario couldn't name—that shouted 'hot and bothered', even though he looked calm and immaculate.
"Go," Aster urged. "I'm certain there's far more interesting things for you to be doing."
Option: Piss off his father.
Option: Kick Maverick's ass.
Option: Give Papa a piece of his mind.
Option: Talk to his Aunt.
He knew which of the options he wanted to take, but only one option gave him some time to get used to his body's Changes. So, he took the option to talk to his Aunt. Since she was a Boss, it was unlikely she would have left Papa's immediate vicinity. The outdoors celebration was mostly intended as a reunion for Vongola's subordinates. All the Bosses would be indoors, trying to count up the total number of members in Papa Tsuna's Family and trying to jocky for a good position in the global power-shift.
The Mafiosos outdoors were all Family, but none were able to recognize him. He could see it in their faces when he encountered them on the way through the garden. There was an initial spark of intelligence while they attempted to identify him, followed by suspicion when they couldn't. Not that he could blame them, considering he now had the height to look them in the eye. But it made him feel like an outsider and it made him realize how much his life was about to change. He was about to accept the position of heir for the Kuneri Family. In doing so, he'd have to reside at the Kuneri Base and he'd eventually have to live at the Headquarters in Russia.
The thought stopped him in his tracks. He couldn't possibly go that far without Maverick... Which meant he needed to make sure his Aunt would accept him as half of a permanent pair... Which meant he needed to bring Maverick under control, before he even tried to face his Aunt...
Which meant he had to go kick Maverick's ass and correct a few of the fool's misconceptions.
Once he made the decision, instinct took over. He walked at a quick pace down the garden path toward the estate's main sparring ring. At first, his gait was clumsy and awkward from the extra inches attached to his legs, but he had more than enough flexibility to compensate for the instability. When he tripped on air, a newfound reservoir of strength allowed him to rebound in the same breath. He was halfway to the sparring rings when everything snapped into place. He found his balance, memorized the length of his new stride, and knew exactly how much strength his body produced during normal activity. And, like any decent hitman, once he learned the basics of walking, he felt ready to dance with the devil.
A crowd of people dressed in suits and formal gowns surrounded the main sparring ring, but Elario didn't let that stop him. His body answered him with abnormal efficiency, allowing him to jump over their heads and land beyond the rock border keeping the audience from crossing into the fighting ring.
The scent of Flames permeated the area. Heavy flames. Airy flames. Smoky campfire flames and clean gas flames. It was confusing at first, since he'd always been taught that everything smelled edible to vampires, but every living thing in his immediate surroundings smelled like flames and Flames. He could even See the strongest Flames overlaying people's bodies like ghosts. It turned his environment into a living hell.
Hell. That was right. Now he understood. He was in hell because he was damned. Maverick smiled to himself as he looked around the suddenly silent circle. There was so much heat surrounding him. For the first time in a very long time, he felt excited. He felt excited because he was in Hell and monsters lived in Hell. Hopefully, they were strong monsters, because he was in the mood to dance all night.
"Elario?" Maverick gasped in sudden recognition. Elario turned his smile on him, only to be immediately distracted by the livid Flame next to him. It dripped off Xanxus like magma and smelled of sulfur, giving Elario the clue he needed.
"I think I get it now," Elario said with a light chuckle. "The stronger you are, the more you smell like Hell. I'm hungry for battle rather than blood." Elario blinked in surprise at himself and shyly covered his lips with a single finger. "Wow. I can't believe I actually said that out loud. But... Oh well. I guess I couldn't hide it forever."
"Elario..." Maverick growled, already reading Elario's mood. "I don't know what's happened to you, but I think you should—"
"Oh, be silent," he snapped. He felt like biting something when he actually looked at the man. Maverick was covered in bruises and abrasions, his knees were shaking from exhaustion, and every one of his dreadlocks had been shorn from his head, leaving him with a head covered with a pink lawn. In that instant, it took every ounce of self-control to smother the resulting surge of rage toward Xanxus, and scold Maverick instead. "You lost the right to think for yourself from the moment you tried to kill me."
"You can't—"
"I said, be silent." Elario's eye twitched. "Are you disobeying me?" Maverick's Flame quivered as he took a step back to sit on the ring's rock boundary. He, of all people, knew exactly what it meant for any of Elario's anger to surface.
"I'm sorry," Maverick replied meekly. At that, a crooked grin returned to Elario's face. They really made such a screwed up pair together. Maverick was always posturing and trying to turn himself into a sadist, when he was truly a masochist at heart. Meanwhile, Elario was everything that Maverick was pretending to be, yet no one ever noticed.
"I'll decide your punishment later. Right now, I have to clean up this mess you made." Elario turned his full attention to Xanxus, who was far too immaculate to be forgiven. "Dear Uncle, I do believe you were trying to steal something that's mine."
"You're the one that let me take him." Xanxus grinned at him, though he seemed more amused at Elario's new personality than the challenge of his authority. "I'm bored and I have some time to kill. So, how do you want to decide this?"
"There's nothing to decide," Elario replied. "Maverick is mine, so I'll be taking him back."