Chapter 2

Crashing the Tea party

Alice looked at the cheerful teen in front of him who stared at his uncomfortable situation with a smile, and he gritted his teeth and choked out; "Why would you serve me something that you yourself won't drink? What was in that tea?"

The march hare leaned into the other to whisper a secret, "You mustn't tell anybody since it's a trade secret, but I can let you know if it's only going to be between the two of us. It's rose tea. Those wallflowers around us make a spectacle of the tea party. They only surround us and watch us from apart, envy in their fragrance. They don't dare approach, but simply stare longingly from afar. But when one of them works up their courage, it beautifies itself and becomes the belle of the dance floor.

It becomes so gorgeous and eye-catching that it becomes such a waste to stay hidden amongst the crowd. So, it becomes only fair that we pluck it from the group to showcase it.

Unable to bear the spotlight, unable to bear the separation from its roots, it rots- even when tended in the most extravagant, bourgeois vase containing holy, blessed water. But we can't just watch it die, can we? Thus, we preserve it by pressing it and extract from it- potpourri and nectar. We accept everything that it can offer until the flower turns to dust- tea dust.

The tea is now a part, an integral part of our party; In fact, you can say that it's the star of the show. Everyone wants a part of it, but only these goblets can have the privilege to court it and attain its essence."

"If it's such a big deal, why don't you take a sip?"

"Alice! Why would you even suggest that?

These teacups are most jealous beings. Why would they share the tea with someone else? If they didn't have any tea, why would they be called teacups?"

"Then what did you want me to do with the cup?!"

The white rabbit scowled at the march rabbit and gave the brunette an answer; "There's no right answer with this hypocrite, Alice. If you had valued your safety more than his approval, you should have spit back the tea into the cup once you tasted it."

"Calling me a hypocrite is cruel, Gokudera-kun."

"You won't take part in the tea party by indulging in the drink, but you have no issue in spreading the word and guiding the lost sheep to the herd, Oh false shepherd.

Alice, do you know how you can satiate that thirst? By quenching it and becoming a member of the tea party."

The boy looked at the white rabbit in shock and then swiveled around to face the other teen to accuse the other in shock; "Why do you want me to be a part of something even you wouldn't be a part of?"

Gokudera answered in his stead, "This guy is a willing victim of that incessant chatter the invitees invest themselves in."

"What chatter?"

The march hare replied, "It's from the voices granted to the inventory that lie before you. They engage themselves in idle prattle that boost their ego, ideas and ideals, satisfaction. They aim to promote their own standings and status while bringing anyone that's different from themselves or superior to them or if the other opposes and rejects their views... It's apparent when you could have at least observed the way they arrange themselves.

Look at that, there are cups that are designed with red camellia that huddle close to each other, while those with china roses are clustered together on the other side. They are of a similar shade but are separated by an impassable crevice.

Look at the cups with the button roses that have many layers and have a highly complex design, but even with their depth and expertise, they have marginalized themselves from the seemingly simple ones with wild roses engraved in it. Which side's judgment would you side with?

What about the cups with blue roses as compared with those with white roses? One side is of a rich variety, so unique that they've cultivated themselves as something that nature can never touch or truly own. They have made themselves unique and unreachable whereas the white roses have integrated themselves with purity so natural that they are earth's very children- the primordial form that's untainted and argue to be more true to themselves and the most gifted beings, blessed from their birth and born with a silver spoon.

They bicker and make idle prattle amongst themselves. They discuss, gossip and argue. They preach to the choir and admonish the nonbelievers and make them blind. They engross themselves in the small bubbles that they create. The tea cakes hear their conversations like it's the holy word itself. They drink it in and repeat and spread the seeds of the rose from the tea; which is funny for a plant that can never birth its own seeds. They warp the words they hear and spin tall tales that are more glamorous and blasphemous than its original form. And yet, this is the form that is believed over its actuality. They would swear by it.

...It's honestly tiring to watch.

Yet you don't see what is right in front of you. Do you pretend to be blind, or do you honestly not see?"

He refilled the cup that the brunette held in front of him and gave him a sly smile.

"You're even deaf to their voices.

Or is it that you advocate the saying of seeing no evil, hearing no evil and speaking no evil? Do you consider what they have to say in its various forms, evil? Even if it contains some sort of truth?"

He moved into the other's personal space and made the tie with the gordian knot lying on his chest, crooked. He whispered right next to the other's ear,

"Or is it that you simply chose to be ignorant of what's actually happening in front of you;

After all, it is bliss."

Gokudera slapped the teen's hands off the guest. He snarled, "Watch it, Yamamoto. You know that Alice can't hear their stupidity because he's a guest. It's better this way. If I had it my way, I wouldn't want to hear them talk to their death anyway."

"Aww... Is he still a guest? I thought that the tea would extend his stay a bit. If he stays for days, weeks, months or even; years, he's no longer a guest is he?"

The white rabbit aimed its paws right towards the other's extending arm and shot a blade of wind, that whizzed right at hand like an arrow, cutting it and making blood leak from it. He hopped to one of the filled cups and splashed its contents right at the hare's face and collected some of the dripping blood.

"Your disgusting tea isn't the only thing that he can drink, you walking blood sack."

While Yamamoto glared at the rabbit, Alice decided to take upon the other's offer and drank the cup's contents, while ignoring his mind that was disgusted at playing as a vampire.

Right then, before the two could get into a scuffle, the bushes rustled a bit, and a shadow approached in their direction. When the silhouette was more apparent, it whipped out a magnum gun and shot successive bullets towards the table and almost cleared out the entire surface. With the speed of the shots, the brunette almost thought that the man was firing with a rifle, not a shotgun. The table instantly became the messy ruins and the aftermath of a murderfest. The tea table looked like a crime scene now.

A moody man, dressed in a black suit with a yellow ochre vest, wearing a fedora with a golden ribbon stepped forward at the now silent table. Alice looked at the man, bewildered at this turn of events.

"What does a man have to do to get some peace around here?"

"I think there's nobody to interrupt that peace now, Reborn-san. You've done a pretty banged up job silencing them with that right now." Yamamoto then turned towards the ruined party and bowed with all the grace and sincerity of a mocking jester, and then gave his regards "Rest in peace."

The man snorted at that and turned his dark, pitch black eyes to the newcomer and made a complaint- "Why did you accept that invitation? There's nothing but tea around here."

Gokudera whispered to him to make the introductions, "That's the master of the area, the Mad Hatter."

The man trudged on and sat in the chair that immediately transformed to an armchair. He narrowed his eyes and crossed his legs before resuming, "I prefer coffee. How shall you compensate me for my troubles?"

By his tone, he seemed to be demanding remunerations for his supposed grievances. It looked like he'd be making demands any second now.

"Aren't you a guest? Don't tell me you came to a party with no gifts for the host?"

When the brunette tried to refute something, he heard a muted bang and looked down; he saw Gokudera on his lap and stuffing floating in the air. The bunny's button eye shattered into shards and a bullet embedded itself in its place. If it ran its trajectory, his heart would be the one that cracked and croaked its last. He immediately turned pale white. The white rabbit turned its heterochromatic eyes towards him in reassurance.

"Silence. Else, I'll teach you the golden rule."

'Isn't it too late of a warning?!'

"You've got some nerve. You even made that flower for brains make it the best time for tea."

"B-but-"

Bang, bang. More cotton flew in front of him; this time, there were two clear holes right through the patches in the white rabbit's shirt. The patches were seared at its edges, and it made the brunette slightly infuriated.

"Silence"

Then the other calmly continued.

"You even sauntered up til here, making us host the party.

Blah, blah, blah. They talked my ears off. Even in death, they wouldn't keep their silence.

They ambushed all 360 degrees of the angles with roses to make people drunk in their scent. It's a poor substitute for good alcohol- it won't keep anything at bay, and it isn't any good of a distraction. It even tried to be a replacement for a good shot of espresso.

It can't be a good vie for my attention or focus. They've been pestering me for a good while now, just because I'm the host.

You better have a good excuse for requesting an audience for this sham of a party."

"Could you just calm down and hear me out-"

"Silence."

He felt Gokudera hold him back. The rabbit looked at him imploringly; the golden eye was seared out, leaving the black hole of the bullet sear noticeable. It seemed like the hatter had aimed at the rabbit knowing that it would try to block the next shot. The man had impeccable aim. Those black eyes looked straight at his auburn ones, taunting him.

Just then, the rose vines split up, seemingly unwilling to part with something, but, split apart like the red sea and released its captive princess, albeit reluctantly. From the greenery, skeleton corpses in ball gowns and suits emerged. The rose bushes scattered petals after their trails, like a besotted lover calling after them, willing them to come back to their embrace. The skeletons moved towards their table with the utmost of respect, like they were the butlers and maids of this aristocracy.

One of the skeletons, adorned in a cherry red ballgown dress, draped itself over Reborn, while the other scowled darkly, but did nothing against its bony arms.

The others touched the ruined table and melted along with the broken cutlery and dishes and changed the tablecloth's color to color, dark yet darker than any black that he'd ever see. Some of the skeletons turned into powdered white that shimmered over the cloth making it look like the starry skies in those memorable nights that only a few bothered to gaze upon.

The skeleton that wrapped itself on the master, plucked out blood red roses from its dress and placed them on the tabletop which transformed into a simple, yet elegant golden rimmed white tea set. Others changed into white lilies that surrounded the set. They were fresh blooms that seemed to grow from the table itself. The skeleton that served them broke apart and sank into the ground.

Three cups were filled up and served at their side. This time, Yamamoto picked one up and drank from it. The mad hatter himself quietly drunk from the chalice.

Having suffered from a bad experience, Alice wasn't willing to give the cup a try.

The area's master glared darkly at him, which prompted the other to drink from his own cup reluctantly.

'I thought he was mad before, and then he became mad now.' Truly, he fits his title.' he thought as he grumbled.

Unable to hold his silence and feeling begrudged at their treatment, he left his seat and tore the invitation letter into shreds right in front of the hatter's eyes.

"If you can only pay your respects to the dead, then I can very well leave you two to linger in this graveyard.

I don't wish to cling to the past and the glory of history."

He marched away from the place that let him leave, now that he was no longer a guest, having rejected the invitation.

As he wandered, his temper cooled down and his ears focused on the squeaky steps that shadowed his every footstep. There was the whistling wind that he couldn't ignore, its wolf whistles- the result of the rabbit turned into swiss cheese.

He made a pained request, "Won't you stop? Surely, you need rest?"

The fluffy feet stopped immediately, and he walked a few steps ahead, before giving in to his urges and glancing back.

In the damp forest, there lay two bunny slippers, abandoned in the silence of the woods.

He could very well leave the shoes behind and continue exploring. It could help the rabbit recover from its condition with the help of time.

But he removed his dress shoes and walked towards the slippers and silently slipped them on.

He then resumed walking through the woods, resolutely thinking that he was right to leave that way, even if his mind showed the somber look of the repenting mad hatter and the dazed, almost lifeless look of the march hare whose existence merged with the corpses that lingered in the beautiful, breathtaking rose garden.