DISCLAIMER: I don't own KHR or any of the associated characters aside from my OCs.
Arcobaleno problems settled. The curse was supposedly broken. It was a week later when I realized, Mammon was getting taller. I stared at him in awe as he stood next to me at more than triple his normal height.
"... Mammon?" I waited until he stopped counting his money to ask, "Is your real form… taller than me?"
Snickering, he put out his hand, "If you pay me, I'll make an illusion so you'll seem taller than me once I hit my real height."
"Fuck off." I spat, storming down the hall to continue reporting in without him.
We had just come back from a hit so this was our usual thing. I honestly can't stand Mammon sometimes. So cunning. Then again, he probably thinks the same about me.
Entering the boss' office without knocking was my newest rude habit. The boss huffed at me. He had yelled at me the first few times and threw things after that but I was less and less agreeable after that so he let me be.
But this was the first time I was the one inconvenienced by opening without knocking. I froze in the doorway and clamped my mouth shut, eyes shifting around the room when I found him standing there with his pants halfway zipped up and belt loose. The towel around his shoulders and the dress shirt draped over the back of his chair was a signal that he had just finished bathing.
He snickered at me, possibly rolling his eyes but I was trying my best not to look at him, "Report?"
"U-Uhh… I…" I tried to collect my thoughts, "Hit was a success."
"Yeah?" He sounded fairly amused, "Did you forget how to give a report, Kira?"
Yes. I did. You know what? The unexpected sight blew away my train of thought and I stood in the doorway just staring and staring.
Annoyed, he made his way over to me. His hands were still buckling his belt. He reached passed me and slammed the door shut. A short moment later, his finger was hooked down into the collar of my shirt. He gave it a sharp tug, the top three buttons popped off and he peered down at my bare chest.
He hummed as I scrambled back away from him, slamming into the door on my way back, "No bra?"
I clutched at my chest, feeling extremely disturbed, "Wh-Why would you…?"
"Always with the virgin reactions." He said, making his way back to the desk like nothing had happened while towel drying his hair, "We're even now so give your report, Kira."
"Fucking jerk." I never unpressed myself from the door, ready to flee at a moment's notice, "Nothing out of the ordinary. Mammon chased him down and I bit him to death. No witnesses, body was dismantled and buried. No one will find it."
He nodded, waving me off.
I just stood there, frozen.
He dropped his towel on the desk and took up his shirt, turning those unnerving eyes on me once more, "What? If there's nothing more, get out."
Embarrassed, I ran for it. I heard him laughing quietly behind me but I still ran. I ran straight into Squalo and Lussuria who were just getting out of the training room. Morning sparring had just ended.
"Ara~ Welcome back." Lussuria grinned, pushing up his sunglasses, "Just reported in?"
"Y-Yeah." I tried not to let it bother me but images of the boss with his pants unbuttoned kept swimming around in my head, "Just… Yeah."
Squalo and Lussuria exchanged glances. They knew something was off. I couldn't hide anything from them even if I tried so it's not like it was particularly my nervousness that tipped them off.
"You know… It's really cute, Kira-chan." Lussuria cooed, "Those virgin reactions."
There it is again. Those words. That obscure insult.
Irked, my fist curled up, "What does that even mean?! How can you people not be embarrassed?! He was… He was…"
Squalo went bright red when he noticed my hands going for the missing three top buttons of my dress shirt, "V-VOI! He what?!"
Lussuria was now laughing at both me and Squalo, "It just means you're easily embarrassed and it makes it obvious that neither of you have any experience with sex."
We stared at each other, thought about it, blushed darkly and shook our heads. Neither of us were able to reply.
"How about you just do it with each other and get it over with?" Our Sun Guardian was not trying not to die of laughter, "Who knows, maybe you'll have some fun with it."
Fucking okama!
Squalo and I looked at each other and gagged on reflex, immediately turning away from each other. Memories of our first kiss came flooding back and I shook them out of my head vigorously. Absolutely disgusting. Or so I might say but I don't know what to think about it. I'm more irritated about how flustered and embarrassed I get when no one else seems to react the same way. Well, Squalo does but who cares about him.
I want to absolutely humiliate the boss. I want to make him turn red like I do so he'll know the feeling of utter humiliation. I mean, Lussuria too but specifically the boss for now.
"Anyways, did you hear? Someone in the Vongola Alliance got lynched." Lussuria swayed the topic quickly, noticing the dark look on my face probably, "They say it was a higher up from the Visci Family."
"Visci? I've never even heard of them…" I snorted, "He probably deserved it."
"Well no one gets lynched for no reason." He shook his head at my attitude, "But of course you haven't heard of them. They're a family that joined our alliance years ago just for the sake of protection. They're weak and they haven't done anything significant for decades."
"So then why would they be targeted?" I feel something brewing and I like it. It looks like we'll be fighting again soon, "Well… As long as I get to bite someone to death, I'm satisfied."
I've got more important things to think about. Like how I'm going to make the boss fall over himself in embarrassment.
O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O
The Visci Family was totally eradicated the next day. Their last SOS message was sent to the Vongola Family. Apparently, there was a traitor amongst our allies. The Visci Family boss managed to say he was killed by someone in our alliance. We thought he was nuts until another small family was obliterated by the same traitor. The don of that family also left a message saying it was an ally that did him in.
No one left a name. It was strange. If it was an ally and they were recognized as an ally, why wasn't anyone able to name them? It was weird. Was this ally a person hard to name or someone no one would know anyways?
Thinking it was unavoidable now, Ninth called a meeting of all of the powerful families in our alliance. Meaning, the Varia was showing up full force. We were definitely expecting to kill someone. But the meeting itself was nothing like we expected.
Things twisted and someone came forth with evidence. False evidence.
"This was the only thing left behind at the Visci Family's estate." Someone held up a plastic bag and the contents shocked us.
Belphegor's knife was sitting inside.
He continued as a gasp rippled through the crowd, "The whole estate was burned to the ground but this is all we found. And the second location, we found a similar knife."
"That's impossible!" Bel was insulted, "I haven't left HQ in ages!"
And our Belphegor is a pro. There's no way he would make such a small mistake if he really was after the Visci. Someone framed him-they were trying to frame us.
"That's true." The Ninth said, troubled by the accusations, "The Varia moves only on approved measures. I haven't given them orders in a long while."
Not entirely true but we get it. The Ninth is trying not to reveal that we've been taking people out in recent times. After all, the Simon Family stopped the Inheritance Ceremony a while back so to avoid a repeat, we're snuffing the flames of rebellion. But now this makes sense, someone's trying to avoid being snuffed.
"Interesting." I heard the boss mutter from beside me and I couldn't help but smile too.
We were sitting in our natural order. Boss in the middle, Squalo on his right, me on his left, Lussuria on Squalo's right, Belphegor on my left, Levi on Lussuria's right, and Mammon on Bel's left. We do change it up sometimes but this is really comfortable for us.
"Then what's with this?" Another person came forward, throwing down a ziplock bag full of… underwear? Women's underwear.
Squalo's chuckle was low. He shook his head at the man who had come forward, "What? We don't have any women among us, trash. You've got the wrong evidence."
My eyebrow twitched but I didn't speak out.
I saw Lussuria squeezing Squalo's hand under the table and I knew… Holy shit. It's Lussuria's underwear. How did it get there then?!
Suddenly, Squalo and I were reminded of how Lussuria told us he went to a bar the other night. The result… was this stupid underwear theft… No. Lussuria probably took them off and threw them away after his night out. I shuddered at the thought.
"We're not done yet." The accuser came forward and displayed a picture of the Visci Family's don, "If you look closely at the corpse, this man was bitten to death."
All eyes came around to me. I knew from the picture, it wasn't my work. I naturally lean to my left when I bite them to death. This man was bitten on his left.
"It's not me." I whispered and boss nodded.
I couldn't help but think he would know which way I lean by now, considering I also tried to bite the boss to death by leaning left every single time. Wait. Maybe that's why I can't beat the boss. I'm predictable. Anyways, this isn't the time for that.
"This isn't a shock, Ninth." He continued, "Xanxus must want to weaken the Vongola Alliance now that he can't have it. He's trying to destroy us from the inside out."
The Ninth believed that one, "Is that so?"
Our boss was enraged about the false accusation and the Ninth's lack of trust in us but there was nothing we could do at this point. Every don in the room pulled guns on us and we threw our hands up, glaring around the table.
"Fuck." Xanxus hissed as we all stood up with our hands held up innocently in defense, "Fuck!"
We're so dead. There's no way we're getting out of this one alive. It's… I turned to my left to Belphegor and Mammon, staring at them blankly as they gazed about in fear. I turned to the right. Levi and Lussuria were already speaking in the boss' favor, still trying to convince them of our innocence. Squalo was searching wildly for an exit and Xanxus… Xanxus was absolutely furious. He looked like he wanted nothing more than to burn this place to ashes.
I turned back to the Ninth who was holding up his hand for our allies to hold their fire. I didn't like the way he looked at us with those pitying eyes. If I had thought about it a little more, I would have known the Ninth had no other choice. By trying to take us prisoner, he was sparing our lives and stalling for time. He was only going to keep us captive but I wasn't able to think lofty thoughts. I swept the crowd and my eyes landed on Dino who was staring at me like I was a totally different person. I gritted my teeth.
We have to find a way out. We just need one moment. Anything.
"Dino…" I called out to him, "Please."
"Don Cavallone?" Everyone swiveled, eyes warily watching the third most powerful mafia boss in the room.
Dino's brown orbs stared back at me with fear and distrust. He didn't believe in us either. Of course not… Why would he?
"It wasn't me." I had to stick with it. I had to convince Dino, "Don't you know…? My brother… Kyoya is amongst the Tenth's Guardians. There's no way I would do it."
"Th-That's right!" Dino was suddenly in motion, making his way towards us in the center of all the guns, "Ninth! I can guarantee that Kira's the only one we can trust for sure! Please!"
Dino was a big, powerful ally and there's no way the Ninth would go against his wishes openly. This was in my favor.
The Ninth gave a sharp nod, "Fine. Bring Hibari Kira from there, Don Cavallone. The rest of the Varia will be captured on the spot!"
Dino made his way out, warily watching the mafiosos with their guns out. He offered me a hand and I took it.
"Sorry, Dino." I grinned and gave him a rough pull towards me.
"Good work, Kira!" The boss grabbed him as he stumbled forward, pulling his gun from his belt. He roughly shoved the muzzle into Dino's temple and spun him around to face the crowd, "Throw down your weapons!"
"Halt!" The Ninth put up his hands and motioned for the Guardians to drop their weapons, "Xanxus… Let's discuss this peacefully."
"Peacefully?! You should've thought of that before you pointed your guns at us!" Boss slapped a hand over Dino's mouth roughly as he tried to speak, "If you want him to live, throw down your weapons and let us leave!"
The officers were all in motion. Squalo slid to my side as Lussuria and Levi went for the door.
"Hold your fire!" Ninth ordered as people lifted their guns to stop us, "Throw down your weapons!"
Mammon swept out of the room first with Bel close behind him.
"How big can you make Aquilos?" Squalo asked, rushing Lussuria and Levi out too, "Can we get out of here?"
"Trust." I said, grabbing the boss' arm, "Come on!"
"Go first." Xanxus said, taking steps backwards one at a time.
Squalo grabbed him too, "Boss, you have-"
"Kira goes first!" He snapped, "Go!"
"Together!" I urged and he was finally hurrying towards the door with me, Dino dragged along with us. My ring was firing up as we made for the outside in a dead sprint.
Aquilos shot out through the door faster than we did, size expanding due to the attribute of the Cloud Flame.
"Everyone up!" I ordered, urging everyone on as boss kept our pursuers on edge with Dino as his hostage. I pushed Squalo up even as he complained about how the boss had ordered for me to go up first, "Boss, we're ready!"
"Take off!" He commanded, never taking his eyes off our pursuers.
"Aquilos, up!"
As the pursuers rushed to the door, Xanxus gave Dino a rough kick into them. Effectively blocking the doorway, he turned and jumped up with us. Squalo and I grabbed him and helped him up as we made our way further and further up into the air. They were finally shooting at us now that Dino was safe but it was too late.
We're free. We made it.
Everyone was scanning everyone else in our group and all at once, we heaved a sigh of relief. Everyone made it. Now, we have other things to worry about. We have nowhere to go. Even if we did have somewhere to go, this group is too… big. We'll be tracked down immediately.
"Let's split up. It'll be easier for us to work this way." Squalo said, smashing his cellphone into pieces and dropping the broken tech off the side of my bird.
The rest of us followed suit, smashing our electronics and dropping them randomly off to the side as we flew away from Vongola Main Base. The mood was now heavy. We had no way to contact each other anymore.
"In two months… No… It's too soon." Squalo buried his head in his hand as he thought about something more solid for us, "Maybe half a year? In half a year let's gather again but it has to be somewhere… they won't think to look for us."
"The waterfall where Flan was playing when we went to search for him in France?" Lussuria suggested, "It's hard to get there and they won't think to search for us in a place we have no attachment to anymore. Flan is with Rokudo Mukuro now so we have no purpose in his hometown."
I had to focus on maintaining my flame so the size of my bird didn't shrink but even so, herbivorous feelings swept over me. Half a year was a long time to go without seeing these guys. I'll miss them so much.
"Let's pair off then." Squalo's tone was the quietest I've ever heard it, "Bel, Mammon, and Levi, we'll drop you off first. Somewhere they won't think to look for you…"
"We won't stay in one place too long." Mammon seemed to have prior experience in disappearing from the world, "Leave it to me."
He nodded, "Kira, drop them off at the border to Austria. Then sweep out towards Ukraine. Lussuria and I will hop off there."
I agreed but… I didn't want to. My bird shrank when my ring was extinguished, resolve shattered. Anger gripped my heart. I'm no herbivore! This isn't goodbye and even if this becomes the last time we see each other, I'll get revenge. My ring surged to life anew.
"Whoever's with Kira will be the hardest to catch so you and the boss are paired, alright?" Squalo seemed to also have a lot of feelings going on but there was no need to share them.
We all felt the same. When we meet in France again, we'll be ready to destroy or be destroyed. This cruel turn of fate was just another challenge for us to overcome. Although, this is the first time I'll be away from Squalo-senpai for so long. It feels strange.
A heavy silence fell over us. For a moment, we were all just silent. This was a bad way to say goodbye.
Laughing quietly, Squalo put a hand on my head, "If it was going to be like this, we should've just fucked once."
Embarrassment didn't come shooting up at a time like this, I could only laugh with him, "We can still fuck."
"You're both disgusting." Levi spat, rolling his eyes, "Fuck elsewhere."
"Can you all just stop saying 'fuck'?" Mammon grumbled, "We have serious things to think about."
Squalo and I were now sitting back to back, leaning against each other as we plotted along.
"Remember to keep your rings hidden when we land." Squalo mumbled, "If someone recognizes them, we're busted. And don't forget to get new clothes as soon as possible. Throw these away. Dress like the locals. It'll make things easier. Don't use your real name anywhere. Try to use cash instead of credit or debit. So they can't track you."
"You're nagging, Squalo-senpai." I mumbled, my eyes on the boss, "Don't worry, boss. I'll take care of you. We'll be okay."
Xanxus didn't reply. He only snorted at me as if to say that was his line.
"Make sure to stick together." Squalo continued his rant, "Who knows how many fuckers are coming after us. Try not to travel around by trackable means. Take the bus or a taxi. Too many people get on those every day. They won't single you out. At least try not to get on a plane. They'll track you for sure."
"Senpai." I hissed weakly, just basking in his voice rather than the actual words, "Worry about yourself."
"If someone asks where you're going, don't tell them. Be vague. Even with the taxi driver. Tell them an address a block down from where you're actually going and then get out and walk. But don't walk right away. Make sure the taxi driver drives out of sight before you move locations." He grumbled, "And Kira…"
"Yeah?"
"You can't go to Japan. Don't even try to contact Hibari Kyoya."
"I'm not an idiot."
I could feel him nodding behind me, "Kira?"
"Yeah?"
"... Sorry about the Bucking Horse."
Ah. It's probably over. Whatever feelings Dino had for me… I had betrayed them. I used him as an escape hostage.
"Why?" I laughed quietly to myself more than anything, "I just… probably won't be able to settle my score that's all. I gave up a fight for our lives. I'd say it's an even trade."
"Even?" Squalo was laughing right along with me, "Yeah. Maybe the fight was worth a bit more, huh?"
"Yeah."
"... Kira?"
"... I'll miss you too, senpai." I grinned when embarrassment made Squalo scramble away from me and punch me in the back of the head.
Honestly, the way we ran away made us seem even more suspicious. Although it was definitely too late to do anything else now, we had too much pride to be prisoners. We refused.
We fell into silence but the promises were all there. We'd meet again soon. Soon.