A Deal With the Devil
"….Huh?" Kyoko was dumbfounded. She was now unsure of what she had just heard.
….Did he just...no, no it can't be.
I must've heard him wrong….
She shook her head, reassuring herself that she just misheard him for a second.
"Excuse me, what did you just say?"
Tsuna scratched the back of his head, wondering if he had done something wrong with his declaration.
"Well this is a problem. This is the first time I've confessed to a anyone…"
Kyoko heard his light mumble and reality set in as the mafioso dealt the finishing blow to her mind.
"I said, be my lover." He kept his bright, charming smile.
The room fell silent, the guardians and Haru were trying very hard to absorb what Tsuna had just announced, loud and clear as day.
"EHH?" Everyone screamed in unison while Kyoko stayed frozen on her seat, bewildered and confused by the sudden development.
"T-Tenth, do you even realized what you've just said?" Gokudera gawked.
"Yeah, Tsuna...this is a big deal you know?" Yamamoto tried to remain composed but his smile was faltering.
"But I am serious." Tsuna said to the crowd and chuckled but soon stop as he realized that everyone except for him practically had their jaws dropped in shock. The young mafia boss sighed and went back to his seat. Kyoko breathed a sigh of relief as he had gone in a safe distance from her. She didn't even noticed that she had been holding her breath the whole time.
"Is it so hard to believe? It's just a temporary agreement anyway..." He frowned.
"What do you mean?" Kyoko lightened up at his statement. But upon asking about her way out of the situation, she realized that her gleeful reply made Tsuna's frown tugged into more of a sulk. She blinked and rubbed her eyes, the mafia boss who had just threatened her wouldn't be sulking would he?
Her eyes must be playing tricks on her.
Chocolate brown irises looked back at her with a tinge of sadness.
"Are you that happy to get away from me?" He trailed off. Kyoko did not expect his reaction but she pondered on it.
"N-No. I am really thankful for your help, and about the um…question you'd asked me before…I was just surprised." She replied with much thought behind her words, gently so as to get her intention across.
What am I doing explaining myself...?
Well he is a mafia boss so there is no reason for her to explain herself since he was not even serious. It's true that she was surprised but now that she think about it, of course he was just toying with her. Surprisingly though, a light chuckle escaped his lips as he beamed at her reply.
"You've not change after all this time, Kyoko-chan." Tsuna muttered silently. Kyoko caught his words and noticed how his gaze turned soft for a second as if it was longing for something in her. His voice returned back to normal, the tone that he used to speak whenever he is making a business deal.
"Well, you see, I am of the age to find someone to marry and the elders from the Vongola family, a group of people who'd continuously helped the boss of the family for generations, are pressuring me to find a woman and have the next heir. Or so to say, they mean that I could just drop dead anytime from assassination." He growled at the thought of those old fools.
"No wonder the mailbox were always flooded with photos of foreign women in the morning." Yamamoto chuckled happy-go-luckily, not really understanding what was happening.
"Ack, you idiot! You're not supposed to say that in front of the tenth! "Gokudera growled.
"So those damn old men are still at it? It seems….they really do have a death wish for messing with me."
They flinched as Tsuna clicked his tongue, irritation clearly shown on his face. The temperature in the room seemed to suddenly drop to zero straight away as the young mafia boss muttered some curses under his breath in some language unknown to the orange haired girl.
"But what does it have to do with me?" Kyoko asked.
"Oh,right." Tsuna blinked and snap out of his string of curses immediately as he was reminded of her presence.
"Basically, I want you to think of it as something like being a 'pretend' lover. At least to the mafioso other than the people of this house." The decimo paused, making sure his words is sinking in to the other teen.
"So, what do you say Kyoko-chan?" Tsuna said once again.
"No." The room fell silent as Kyoko answered plainly and swiftly without a second thought.
"Hahahaha! Tsuna just got dumped!" Lambo burst out laughing and soon, was rolling on the floor back and forth clutching his stomach for dear life.
"Lambo…." The brunet gave a warning breath as his brow twitched in irritation.
"You stupid cow!" Gokudera scolded as he hit the boy's head.
"Ow!" The lightning guardian whined. "It's not my fault, Tsuna is just trying to act cool and he got dumped!"
Lambo stopped sputtering his thoughts when he saw the storm guardian crack his knuckles in a warning. Tears welled in the lightning guardian's eyes.
"Gotta...stay...calm..." Lambo muttered as he hiccuped but it was to no avail as he started to throw a tantrum. "S-STUPID OCTOPUS GOKUDERA! WAAAAH!"
It was no surprise that the crybaby guardian suddenly whipped out a grenade and threw it in a fit.
"Huh?" Kyoko's mind blanked when she saw the round object without flying towards her. That's a grenade isn't it? A toy grenade, of course. Right..?
Seeing the object thrown at her, Gokudera who was nearest to her smacked the grenade with the back of his hand to the right where Yamamoto was. The green object then met with the rain guardian's blade and was cut cleanly in half. It dropped on the floor, the explosive content scattered on the ground and the shell rolled on the ground next to where Yamamoto was standing with a grin, the katana back in its sheathe.
"Sorry about that." Yamamoto chuckled while the storm guardian hit Lambo's head to shut his cries. Kyoko's eyes were fixed on the pieces of material from the grenade, trying to process the object which had almost ended her life. The storm guardian noticed her gaze and spoke.
"That was a time-delayed grenade. It's been cut where the material meets the detonator, it's harmless now." Gokudera then proceeded to bow slightly to his boss. At the gesture, the orange haired teen's sight was back on the brunet. She caught sight of a deep shade of orange that overtook the usual calm chocolate browns. However, the colour of his irises returned as soon as she'd noticed it. Tsuna sighed, not noticing the the puzzled Kyoko.
Is my mind playing tricks on me? And what was with the grenade just now?!
Her blood ran cold at the confusing events that'd happened before her.
"Well then….where were we?" Tsuna returned to face Kyoko with the same, indifferent smile. His smooth voice caught her in her train of caughts, stopping her from delving into problem much longer.
"I….decline your kind offer?" Kyoko decided to reply in a more polite tone.
"Why?" The once warm smile of the mafia boss was replaced with a serious expression this time. Kyoko pursed her lips, unsure of how to answer him and also considering her situation. The fact that she is dealing with a real mafioso, the boss of a family, no less, made her think through her words even more. The brunet propped a hand on his armrest and fixed his brown irises at her. Kyoko tried to dismiss the gesture as words rolled from her tongue.
"I'm really thankful for your help but this is the first time i've ever met you..."
Kyoko couldn't help but want to look away from his intense gaze, she has never been good at refusing a request but something about this person before her made it even harder for her to find a plausible excuse. Where had she felt this before?
"and I don't know anything about the mafia..."
She noticed the pools of deep brown eyes still fixed on her and couldn't help but feel even more aware of him. Kyoko continued to speak, carefully weaving her words and yet his gaze was still locked on her. Her lips were still moving, explaining her reasons to him. But why...
"also there are things that needs to be considered..."
Hers was the only voice that was echoing in the room and yet he just stared at her, not even stopping or responding to her words. Needless to say, Kyoko's was finding it hard to focus and using her mind to give a convincing answer. Questions started to pop in the back of her mind.
Why isn't he saying anything? Is this a test? What is he thinking? Is he trying to read me?
At first she thought it was a test of wits and tricks that sly, witted mafiosi would usually do.
"there are other ways in which I can pay you back my debt..."
He's staring.
Eventually, it became too much for her. She knew it was useless to guess what a mafia boss is thinking of. Eventually, Kyoko snapped. She paused and held a hand up in an attempt to avoid his gaze. It was stupid to pressure her brain needlessly by his...gesture.
"Excuse me, but..." Kyoko relented and broke off their gaze first, she could feel the edge of her lip twitched in irritation. "why...are you staring at me?"
He was calm, collected as he rested back on the comfort of his chair. Kyoko breathed out in relief as he had finally shifted his sight away from hers.
"First time huh..." He muttered under his breath.
Kyoko blinked as she could hardly catch his words but he only sighed in return, lost in his thoughts. At that moment, she wondered why he looked so disappointed and pained.
"In that case, you can just start knowing about us more from now on. Besides, it's not like I'll do anything to you. There's nothing wrong with that right?" He grinned slyly, giving her an answer with which she had no way of escaping from. She was about to speak when the brunet cut her in.
"This is your last chance to live without worries about your lifelong debt, Kyoko." Tsuna warned. "So I suggest you think carefully and answer with a simple 'yes' or 'no' this time."
Kyoko processed his words.
Maybe it's not that bad after all?
He did say he's not going to do anything to me and it's true that it will take a lifetime to pay the debt off...
"Alright, I accept your offer…Tsuna-kun." Kyoko finally gave in.
Everyone other than Tsuna were shocked by her sudden agreement as the young mafioso smirked devilishly.
"I knew this would happen…"Gokudera sighed and shook his head in defeat "There's no use arguing the tenth here so we might as well get back to work now that Miss Kyoko had given her answer"
"Hahaha, It's fine isn't it? The more the merrier after all." Yamamoto chuckled casually and Gokudera scowled in return before they retreated out of the room.
"Oh…It's getting late, I better go and prepare a room for her now…" Chrome commented absent mindedly.
"K-Kyoko-chan is going to stay here...Ah, wait Chrome-chan, I'll help you!" Haru couldn't contain her happiness and beamed as she followed the illusionist.
"Another person to steal sweets from!" Lambo grinned happily as all of them left the room to do their own things. It was just the two of them in the room now and Kyoko was watching the other teen warily. The brunet turned to smile at the orange haired teen.
"Now that we have ourselves a deal.." The mafia boss stood up and walked towards her with a smile.
"From now on…." Tsuna paused and bent over to meet her in the eyes, catching her off guard as he took the chance to grab a lock of her flowing orange hair and brought it up to his lips without hesitation, causing its owner to widen her honey brown eyes.
"You are mine, Kyoko Sasagawa." The young mafioso grinned deviously as he stood up and let her orange locks fall back in place. Kyoko sat frozen in her seat before noticing the brunet already on his way out of the room.
"Y-You said you weren't going to do anything to me!" She screamed and Tsuna stopped before the opened door to look back at her.
"Then here's my first advice for you." He slipped a hand in his pockets with the same grin still decorating his features.
"Don't ever trust a mafioso. Maybe someone like me...for example." The decimo said before making his way out.
"Y-YOU JERK!" Kyoko threw a pillow from the sofa but was too late as he had already left through the door. It was the first time she'd cursed someone so badly. She was tricked!
She slumped down to the marbled floor on her feet and cupped her cheeks. The warmth never disappeared along with her flushed face.
"What have I gotten myself into…?"
Tsuna shut the door to his room and with his back against it, he loosened his tie and breathed out a deep sigh. The strength he mustered left him and he slumped to the floor. He grabbed a fistful of his chestnut hair, a wry smile forming on his lips.
"What was I expecting?...of course she wouldn't remember." Tsuna muttered bitterly to himself.
"After all, I was the one who…" He stopped himself before the past flooded back to him. There's nothing he could do now and no way to change what has been done. A faint smiled formed on his lips as he recalled one of the few moments from his childhood, her innocent smile as she turned and waved at the sight of him.
"Tsu-kun!"
END
Extra Corner:
On one peaceful day, the vongola family were each doing their own work in one huge room. Kyoko and Haru were sorting out and helping the sky, rain,storm and mist guardian with each of their paperwork when a thought came to Kyoko's mind.
"Hey, why won't Tsuna-kun just pick a girl from one of the list he got? I'm sure some of them aren't as bad as he said."
She meant no harm from the question but all movement in the room suddenly stopped as her words echoed in the room, all eyes were on Kyoko with the exception of the sky guardian who merely went back to scribbling words on his paper silently.
"Uhh…well he have his own preference…." Haru muttered.
How dense are you, Kyoko-chan?!
"Well, we've tried before but he always find fault at every girl he sees." Yamamoto chuckled.
"Really?" Kyoko grabbed a list from the piles of letters that was specifically ordered by the decimo to be pulverized with not even a speck of ash remains. She stepped forward to the mahogany desk fit for a boss and place the picture before him. The mafia boss sighed and relented, placing his pen down with a deadpanned expression.
"…What about this one?"
"…Too skinny."
Kyoko narrowed her eyes and held out a row of pictures on his desk. He looked through from left to right, looking as bored as ever and pointed to them one by one.
"Too tall, plain ugly, stupid face, no to glasses girl there, too fat, too smart, spoiled princess, and…" He paused. "I'd rather die than meet with this one."
A nerve snapped in Kyoko.
"WHAT? You're just too picky! and what's with all of your excuses?"
Gokudera placed a new stack of paperwork on Tsuna's desk.
"So basically, Miss Kyoko, if it's not you…."
"If it's not me…?"
She tilted her head, wondering what he meant but the storm guardian stopped on his tracks as he felt a sudden chill down his spine of his boss's sharp orange eyes.
"I-It's nothing, miss K-Kyoko."
The orange haired teen blinked as she wondered what the storm guardian meant, meanwhile Yamamoto let out a light chuckle.
"Hahaha, anyways, review are always welcome people."
"Who were to saying that to…?" Chrome asked.
A/N: You see, 'extra corners' were made when I was 13 so the idea can be a little childish but I still kept them, its up to the readers whether they want to read them since they mostly don't really relate to the fic itself. See you in the next ch! :)