Disclaimer ~ I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn
Prompt: Skull is an author with a deadline
Skull was acting weird. Well…Weirder than normal. Despite only being a team for a few short months, all of the members of the Strongest Seven agreed that there was something off with the only civilian in their midst. If it wasn't for their ability to sense flames, then Skull would have already been labeled as a poorly done imposter and dealt with accordingly.
Gone was the exuberant and hyperactive stuntman, instead replaced by a cross of exhausted college student and Verde. Purple bags had formed under Skull's eyes due to a lack of sleep. Easily noticed by the lack of makeup worn, and getting darker as each day passed. Skull locked himself in his room most of the day and night, but it was obvious whatever was happening to him wasn't letting him get any sleep during that time. Fon had taken a glance in his room the day before while trying to convince the younger to eat, and reported that energy drinks were scattered everywhere inside.
"We need to talk to him," Colonello exclaimed at dinner that night. He had finally reached his limit with keeping silent. "This is the fourth night he's skipped meals, Kora."
"How do you plan to do that?" Fon asked, ever the voice of reason. "You saw what happened yesterday when we tried," Fon reminded him. They needed to find a new table lamp after that little incident.
"He's getting worse. Today he was hiding in my lab. Didn't say a single word the whole time. He just watched me work. I didn't even know he was there until he got up and left," Verde told them. That had, quite honestly, freaked him out the most. Skull was the least subtle out of all of them. The fact that Verde didn't notice him at all in his own LAB went to show exactly how unusual the cloud was acting. The first thing Verde did after Skull left was check his security cameras. Skull had entered the lab exactly forty-seven seconds before Verde did. Then didn't move for the next six hours, simply staring at Verde the whole time.
"I'm worried. Do you think he has managed to sleep at all?" Luche asked.
"We have to corner him. If he doesn't have any way to escape, he will be forced to tell us what's going on," Reborn said. There was an almost maniacal glint in his eyes that the others politely ignored. They shared similar feelings after all.
The rest of dinner was spent creating an extremely over-the-top plan to catch and corner Skull. The trickiest part was planning it in such a way that wouldn't send Skull into a cloudy rage. He may not act like one in the typical sense, but Skull was still a Cloud. They hated being restrained. Even in the metaphorical sense. That's why this plan had to be perfect.
Except the three hours they spent hashing out every miniscule detail of said plan was thrown out the window upon finding Skull in the living room that evening. At first, they thought he was simply focused in whatever he was doing, typing away on his laptop without the slightest idea they had entered the room. But then they noticed his typing slowing down. His eyes closing then opening again slowly. Finally, it seemed that Skull had run out of energy. His body lost the battle with sleep, slumping to the side bonelessly.
"The exhaustion must have caught up with him," Lal said, picking up Skull's computer so Reborn could take a look at him properly. Reborn did a scan with his flames and nodded.
"There's no foreign substances in his bloodstream, nor any injuries. He's just tired," Reborn said.
"It's likely he is dehydrated and his blood sugar is probably low as well," Verde spoke up. There were nods all around, each of them already planning what they would do to ensure Skull was taken care of once he woke up.
Now that Skull had been looked over, Lal turned her attention to the computer in her hands. If anything could solve the mystery of what had been plaguing Skull the past several days, it was on the device she held.
The computer had entered sleep mode in the time it took for them to make sure Skull wasn't on the verge of dying, so Lal simply moved her finger across the mousepad to wake it up.
"It's an email," Viper announced, looking over Lal's shoulder.
"Sorry for cutting it so close to the deadline. Work has been crazy busy lately. But I finally finished it so don't worry! I'm pretty happy with how it turned out, but tell me if you think there's anything I should change or fix. I trust you to know what you're doing. Promise I won't cut it so close next time. XOXO You're favorite," Lal read outloud. "There's an attachment at the bottom labeled Title Pending - Final Draft," she said. Reborn sighed deeply, almost sounding defeated. Almost.
"All this time, his weirdness was because he's writing a book?" Verde asked incredulously.
"Looks like it," Colonello sighed, defeated. All this time, they had thought something was genuinely wrong. It was disappointing to find the answer to be so…mundane.
Viper took the computer from Lal, doing something that the soldier didn't quite catch. Viper shut the computer and sat it on the coffee table without a word. Nobody asked what the mist had done, already knowing they wouldn't get an answer.
It would be several weeks later that a book appeared in each of their rooms. Skull's squawk of surprise when he saw exactly which book Reborn held would forever live in their memories.
This chapter was HARD to rewrite. Mostly because I kept getting interrupted whenever I tried to work on it. But its finally done now! I can mark this chapter off the list of rewrites! Slowly but surely, I am making progress. And I still have one more chapter I plan to post today. As soon as I type it up, I'll be posting it. I actually just spent the past hour typing up this chapter while I fed my niece (who I babysit) some apple. Luckily typing up a story you have written is easier than writing it. I actually have some good timing because she's ready to be freed and become a terror once again, so I'm going to release her and then post this story.
I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter! I'll see you all on the next update! Please Review, Follow, and Favorite!