"Bel-sempai...why are you just sitting there when we have a hostage situation." Fran said pouting at the irritated prince.
Angered, Bel threw a knife at the frog. He had been that way ever since they came back from the hideout. It was like Fran was pushing them to find Sharon or he would irritate them to death. Xanxus already threw 10 broken beer bottles at Fran, Lussuria shoved cookies down his throat, Levi had shocked Fran with 1000 volts of electricity, and Bel himself had thrown over 100 knives at Fran.
But, it seemed like Fran was determined to find Sharon no matter what. It was a new found determination that surprised the team members enough not to kill him. Just barely.
"If you don't shut up right now, we're NEVER going to find Sharon. Ok?"
Ushiushiushi, thought Bel, he would have to shut up now.
"..Mmmf.."
Bel turned to look at Fran, who was hilariously trying to stop his own mouth from talking.
"Gah, I can't do it anymore. Why can't you just use your fake prince sources and threaten everyone to look for Sharon?"
"What did you say, froggy?"
"I said use your fake prince-"
"...That's it. We're going to find Sharon to shut you up. Are you finally happy?"
Bel was glaring at Fran behind his bangs and dared Fran to say another word. He smirked and laid down on the couch thinking deeply. Where would that girl be, if not in the gigantic hideout? Perhaps somewhere else in the boat?
"Oh! I got a text message!~" Lussuria squealed, and jumped around happily. It was moments like these that he didn't feel like a useless housemaid that did all the work and never got any appreciation from the other members, and that he actually had friends all along.
"Yeah, so?" Levi asked, scoffing at the naiveness of his co-worker.
"It's from Stark himself, he says that he has gotten the idea for a game to play." Lussuria replied; his tone suddenly turning serious. Fran literally perked up and jumped towards Lussuria eagerly.
"Lussura-nii sama, can I see that phone for a little bit?" Fran asked unnaturally sweetlike. Each member tensed up and backed away from the weird behavior Fran was showing. It was like the end of the world, for he was nice and not sarcastically talking like normal.
"S-Sure, because you asked so nicely." Chuckled Lussuria, with a little bit of uncertainness and all that was in his head the entire day was that Fran finally called him "nii-sama"!
"Oh, and your cookies weren't that great." He added while walking away with the iPhone. As he pressed some buttons, he read over the text message from Stark again. Looking around, he plugged in a device that would track the IP address. It was quite techy, and not his style but all in the name of…friendship. Yup, it's only friendship not the other thing. Got that?
The loading bar started filling up, 10%-20%-30%-40%-50%, all the way to 100%. Then a gps screen popped up, showing the exact location of Stark's position. And probably Sharon's. He hesitated.
What if going there is going to jeopardize the whole thing? And Sharon gets caught in the middle of the fight and gets hurt? No, it would be horrible if that kind of thing happened. This will all depend on the game that Stark had started. A sudden flash in the screen jolted him into focus. Another message from Stark.
[From Stark:
You got 30 minutes to make it to the casino poker boards. Get here, and start wishing on your luck. Sharon depends on it.]
"Ushiushiushi, a poker game, huh?" Belphagor smiled, this was just the type of game he played. Actually he annihilated all of the other members when they played poker. Especially in blackjack, he dominated that one.
"So, we're playing cards to determine a girl's life? He will accept any kind of defeat will he, that Stark." Lussuria observed. What a strange man, to be part of the mafia. Usually they would extent to some kind of horrible treatment, but if it's like this..the Varia will have no objections.
"Reply back, that we accept." Xanxus ordered, he would finally have a chance to defeat Belphagor. This is going to be perfect, he didn't care about the girl at all. Just a chance to defeat Belphagor from his loss.
"Shall I put it as threatening or lightly?" Lussuria asked happily. After Xanxus thought for a moment of two, he replied "darkly".
Each of them all got up and dressed in their gambling clothes, and strolled towards the casino grounds. It was quite empty that day, with only the ringing of the slot machines echoing in the chamber. A couple of laughs were heard near the casino poker boards, and the Varia assumed that it was Stark and his crew.
When they were in view of the green table, they sat down with no comment. This was a very dangerous game, and no time for fooling around. The nerve of Stark to even tie up Sharon with a gun pointed at her head!
Opposite of what Stark and his goons had expected the Varia to act, they were calm and collected. Pride, strength, and just plain belief in their skills outshone from the bodies of the Varia. Finally, the dealer walked up towards the table.
Fran glanced at the mysterious man. The dealer was wearing a mask, so it couldn't be seen. The checkered decoration on the mask was quite intriguing. The more Fran thought about it, the more familiar the dealer was. However, he couldn't quite put his finger on it.
"Let's begin." The dealer stated, and started shuffling the cards. He stopped for a moment when Stark walked in with a huge smirk on his face. He chuckled and sat down with a thump.
"Enjoying the setting, boys?" He chuckled and made his way towards Sharon. Sharon muffled out an angry scream and turned away from the disgusting man. Stark glared for a minute before walking back to his chair. Suddenly his face became very serious.
"Here's the deal, gentlemen. You win at least 50 million from me, and the girl lives. You lose the whole thing and I get to kill you and the girl. Do we have a deal?"
After giving the notion to begin the game to the dealer, Stark settled himself into his chair. The cards began making their way towards the players at lightning speed. When the Varia glanced at their cards, they looked startled for a second. The cards all spelled out one message in each of their hands.
[We're here with you. Vongola]
"Chances are, we are going to win this thing." Stark stifled a laugh and stole a look at his cards. They were definitely going to make him win this thing. Xanxus glanced at the mysterious dealer, just what was his identity? Was it really that important that his face was to not be recognized?
"Mmmf!" Sharon tried to say, "Don't lose this damn game!"
Fran concentrated at the cards at hand. If the Vongola was truly there with them, it should be ok to relax a little. His hand wasn't that bad, and he could certainly win this blackjack game. The dealer coughed to get their attention and flipped over one of his cards.
One by one, the Varia each 'hit' and got new cards. Xanxus specifically grinned at his hand, before putting it back down. After betting huge amounts of money, it was finally Stark's turn. His look was of utter disappointment. The dealer had flipped over an Ace card, which could mean a blackjack. He was only so close, yet so far.
"Hit."
A card flew towards his hand. It contained a king, and with that Stark slammed his fists on the table. The Varia stifled a smile and waited for the dealer to announce for them to flip over their cards. Fran showed his hand first and grinned, so did Belphagor, Lussuria, and Xanxus. They all got blackjack, while mysteriously Stark had busted. He had to immediately withdraw from the game.
"Sh**!" In his rage, he knocked over the wooden chair and stomped towards Sharon. He grabbed the revolver and aimed it at her. She closed her eyes for the final moments, when suddenly a loud clang was heard.
It was the dealer, and in his hand was a sword. After he had disarmed and stunned Stark, he slowly took off his mask. It was Yamamoto, with a grin on his face.
Sharon gasped and quickly untied her hands to yank out her muffler.
"Yamamoto-kun!" She cried out happily and hugged him. Yamamoto greeted her and turned back towards the fuming Stark.
"You! Who are you?"
"Rain guardian of the Vongola mafia. Nice to meet you."
The rest of the Varia spent their day tying up the useless goons who were shaking in their pants. When they all went back up towards the surface, the sky was amazingly bright. Yamamoto helped Sharon up the stairs and she immediately burst into smiles. It's been days since she last seen the sunset, and quickly leaned over the railings. The sea seemed like it was happy to see her too.
Fran looked at her sadly, and sulked back towards his cabin. Suddenly, there were knocks at the door. He hoisted himself up from his bed and opened his door just a crack. Standing there was the rain guardian himself.
"Why aren't you celebrating with the rest of your Varia members, froggy?"
"I'm not needed, besides Sharon seems to want you there instead of me." Another great sigh escaped Fran's mouth and he sunk into his mattress. Yamamoto couldn't believe it, Fran was actually being jealous! In fact, the most unbelievable thing was that he had emotions to start with.
"Er, I suppose I didn't tell you this yet. One, I have a girlfriend, Mikki-chan. Second, Sharon's my cousin." He laughed to fill the surprised silence that emitted from Fran. He pulled up the green haired boy and dragged him towards the deck.
"She's waiting."
Fran took little steps towards the girl who was thinking deeply. It seemed as if it was a picture painted by a weird little feeling that kept nagging in his head. Details of Sharon's hair, face, and body kept popping up. The sun hitting the front of her face showing every tiny hair was very poetic. Sounds of the ocean crashing against the ship sounded like some love-sick soundtrack that you would find in the movie, Titanic. Shaking out of his illusions, he took another step towards Sharon.
This time, she had heard his footsteps and turned quickly towards him. She looked surprised, yet it became happiness. Motioning for her to come closer, she began to talk to him.
"You know who I was thinking would save me while I was being held hostage?" She began and looked expectantly at Fran. He shook his head as an answer.
"A green-haired boy, sarcastic yet a smart talker. Guess who?"
"…Me?"
"I didn't know why I depended on you. But one thing came clear, you certainly did save me."
"No, Yamamoto saved you. Not me."
"He was just quicker. But, I saw you get out of your chair as soon as Stark took the revolver."
She smiled and turned her body towards Fran, sticking out her hand. Fran stared at it, wondering what it meant.
"As a proof of our official friendship. Let's meet again."
Finally, he understood. With a sinking feeling, he took her hand and shook it. Neither of them knew what this would mean in the future. Would they ever see each other again after this mafia cruise? Certainly their feelings were a bit muffled. You might think that it was of love, but none of them felt like it was love. Perhaps, just them being happy that they found a friend who knew them for whom they were. Not how they made themselves look like in front of others.
Thank you for reading this chapter, which was prolonged for as long as 1 month. I'm terribly sorry, and if you are disappointed of the ending just use your imagination.