Accident 5: Où t'es, Papaoutai? (Part 1)
Mr. Lucassen was Whale Island's pure-hearted pastor. Mr. Lucassen was the resident good Samaritan among the villagers. Mr. Lucassen was the ideal husband to every married woman, and the ideal father to every daughter and son in the said island.
Little Kuroro clutched the stack of faded newspapers in his arms,trudging ever so slowly through the mud, barefoot.
"Kuro-chan!" His mother called out. "Dinner is served, my darling. Where have you ran off to again?"
"Chotto matte ne, Okaa-san!" Kuroro shouted, all too eager about tonight's dinner. His otousan promised he would come home early tonight from church. Finally, after months of waiting, Kuroro would be able to buy himself a fish-his very own pet fish!
The thought alone made him walk faster with excitement, though he was very careful with handling the newspapers so they would not have any speck of mud on them.
"What are you carrying this time, you silly boy?" His mother's voice echoed from the kitchen as Kuroro put down the stack of newspapers he was carrying, nearby another five neat stacks of newspaper. "I almost went out looking for you, never mind that my cooking is still-" Kuroro's mother emerged from the kitchen and instantly took in the sight of his little ten year-old boy, all muddied up from the waist down. Worse, he was beaming at her like he was proud of how dirty he looked.
"Goodness, Kuro-chan! You walked all the way again to the bookstore of old man Izumi, didn't you?How many times did I tell you to take the bicycle in the garage near you?"
Kuroro scratched his head bashfully, though half of his proud beam still remained. "But I didn't read books this time, Okaa-san! I didn't stay that long. I only went there to get the famous newspapers that were being talked about by everyone!"
Walking towards his mother and tugging her wrist, Kuroro waved excitedly to the neat stacks of newspaper that were now piles of six. "Look, Okaa-san: Otousan is in almost every headline! Don't you feel proud? Because I feel proud, Okaa-san...I'm so proud of my Okaa-san. Of our Okaa-san!"
His mother smiled serenely at his enthusiasm. His choice of words and the way he said them were definitely more different, more thoughtful than children his age, but Kuroro himself proved to be promising, even from just a young age. Just like his father who was not only a well-read man, but who also has the genuine kindness to match.
"Of course I'm proud," Kuroro's mother replied softly, bending down to meet his son at eye level. "But you know...I think I would be...PROUDER...if the little boy in muddy shorts would take a bath before eating dinner!" The mother blew a raspberry on Kuroro's face then ruffled his raven hair, making Kuroro giggle.
"Hai, hai!" Kuroro straightened up, still giggling as he dashed in the direction of the staircase.
"
Whoa, little kid, hold up," his mom called out even before Kuroro was able to make it past two steps of their stairs.
Kuroro looked back, smiling all too cheerfully. "Hai, Okaa-san?"
"Make sure you take a bath and not 'lose the soap again' by hiding it in the bathroom's secret compartment. Swear you'll take a bath." Raising her hand as if making a salute, Kuroro's mother straightened herself up and put on her best "tough man" voice, saying, "Swear you'll take a bath, on scout's honor!"
"Okaa-san," Kuroro laughed at his mother, whose chest was puffed out like a real soldier. "The scout's honor gesture is made with three fingers, not TWO."
"On scout's honor!" His mother insisted.
Kuroro laughed again, raising two hands in a salute himself and copying his mother's stance and voice. "On scout's honor, I will take a bath and I will not hide the soap, the shampoo, the towels or the rubber duckies. On scout's honor!"
With a warm laugh and a dismissive head shake from his mother, Kuroro smiled and continued dashing up the stairs.
The Lucassen family was Whale Island's role model family. The Lucassen family was blessed with anything a family of three could ever ask for. The Lucassen family, despite being envied by some, were loved by many for the Lucassens themselves genuinely loved the people too-and they never failed to show it.
Or maybe Kuroro got it all mixed up. Little and naive as he was back then, maybe the right train of thought would be, "envied by some, hated even more by many".
On the day Kuroro thought he would be finally able to take home his favorite Indoor Fish for his upcoming birthday, quick flashes of cameras blinded his gray eyes. Black cars came out of nowhere, with various people peering out of the tinted windows. Some with huge cameras Kuroro has never seen before, some with microphones that were so near their mouths, Kuroro thought it was plastered to them.
"Mr. Lucassen! Mr. Lucassen! We received reports that you were running a cult, not a missionary church. Is this TRUE?"
"Pastor Lucassen, a woman who is claiming to be your mistress recently began calling us about the lawsuits she said she was going to file against you. Who is this woman? Do you know her? WHERE did you two meet and what did you DO?"
Kuroro felt the family car speeding up.
"Rumor has it that little Kuroro Lucassen has an illegitimate little brother now! Does the poor kid know about this himself? Let's find out!"
"The Lucassen's only child, Kuroro, has bought his very own Indoor Fish! But wait, did we just see two fish swimming in that bowl? Are you going to give the other fish as an acceptance gift to your half-brother, Kuroro-chan?"
"Kuroro-chan! How do you and your mother feel right now with all these controversies? Can you share to others how you are able to deal despite this...what others usually say, 'living hell' you are now in?"
A confused Kuroro began looking left and right at the sound of his name being repetitively called, multiple camera flashes from the outside bombarding his eyesight as he did so. He felt the family car speeding up.
"Ms. Lucassen is pregnant, isn't she? Is this the illegitimate brother everyone has been wagging their tongues about?"
"What if Ms. Lucassen is the one who actually had an affair, not Mr. Lucassen?"
"A magazine recently published that Mr. Lucassen and his wife are very good at taking care of OTHER people, but the opposite when it comes to their own genius son. Can you confirm this hearsay for us, Sir Lucassen and company?"
"Adorable Kuroro-chan is in the backseat with his new pet fish! Hi, Kuroro-chan. Say hi to the cameras for us! Now tell us: is it true that you admire your father so much you brought home every newspaper and article about him? What a good kid! Will you still continue to idolize him even after finding out he spent your past birthdays with other people, playing HOUSE?"
An even more confused Kuroro tilted his head at one of the car windows beside him, trying to understand what the men and women with all their flashy equipment were trying to say. Hesitantly, he-
"Danchou, we've arrived," a female's monotonous voice broke off Chrollo's reminiscent train of thoughts.
~X~O~X~O~
Glowing city lights at the other end of the street were clearly reflected on a pair of cold blue eyes. Now owner of the said eyes peered down, a Diamond Crypto Smartphone in hand.
"Shalnark has been messaging me non-stop on what time we could make it. He said he could not bear to start the ribbon-cutting ceremony without you, Danchou."
Chrollo rested his eyes on Machi's phone, vaguely noting how the phone chock full of security almost fit her secretive, no-nonsense, all-too-private personality to a T. "Are the others already there?"
"Yes, Danchou. Or so have I been told." Machi eyed her phone then tucked it away, now looking at Chrollo expectantly. "I have also been informed that Mr. Nostrade and his daughter are there."
Neon Nostrade. The corners of Chrollo's mouth almost turned up in a grim smile. Before it was that Kana woman and now this childish brat. Really now, Lady Luck.
"Danchou?"
"Machi," Chrollo said, cool and detached as ever. "Do go ahead and tell Shalnark to begin the ribbon-cutting ceremony now. I will be following shortly. He should know better than to make all his high-profile guests wait."
"Understood, Danchou," Machi nodded stoically. Heading out of the car and efficiently smoothing the gorgeous dark pink dress that matched her hair color, Machi nodded again in Chrollo's direction and headed towards the glass doors of the establishment Shalnark will now be calling as his own: DELIRIUM'S DEN.
Chrollo stared at the extravagant letters being lit up with an even more extravagant lighting as he too, made his way out of the car after a few moments. With a respectful nod to his personal driver, Chrollo turned away. A handful of people, all dressed up in fancy, bold attires, walked past him.
As Chrollo walked towards the entrance, his head still swam with thoughts that he usually repressed until he was in deep slumber. The urge to continue unfolding his past like it was some movie almost felt like an urge too irresistible to resist.
-leaned his palm on the window pane, and was supposed to lean his other one until a scream, a sob, and the screeching sound of tires, colliding plastics and bending steel broke out, all melding into one surreal symphony that Kuroro wasn't certain he'd be able to forget for years, no matter how hard he tried.
This time, though, he didn't feel the family car speeding up.
Chrollo smirked, despite how his memories were taking a darker turn for the worse.
Because there was no more car. Neither was there a family.
Author's Corner: Lol, would you believe it: I actually wrote a chapter that was (1) serious , (2) relevant to the plot and (3) actually making sense, even for once! Deym, I'm so proud. *cue applause and party beat drops* XD
Okay, so before I explain some things about this chapter, let me thank my lovely Anon(mostly) reviewers out there first:
sunlightxiii =Yesh, I got a loyal reader! I'm so grateful, awww. Arigatou for listening to each chapter's theme song too. I do think my song choices fit well too,since I usually test it out by listening to it while I'm writing. If the atmosphere's off...nah-uh,change songs. But that might just be biased me. *facepalms*
Guest =Erena is a strong OC?OMG,I'm glad you think that! I honestly think that she's a Mary Sue...although a WITTY Mary Sue. XD And IDK if I should be glad or not that you hate Chrollo on this one. I mean, I really wrote Chrollo as this pompous jackass everyone would love to hate...then hate to love. XD I honestly think that if you also hate Chrollo,you could empathize with gutsy Erena. And nothing makes me happier than hearing from my readers that I made them feel/relate to this/that char/situation! :")))
Guest =Your Review encouraged me to get my lazy ass off the dining table(yeah,food is the real bae x) and sit in front of the laptop from 12 pm to 3:30 pm. Hope you enjoy this one! I really went over-fangirling with your thoughtful review, I swear. XD I'm glad I was able to made you engage in mental imagery, wow. And yeah, Hisoka is my husband. I call him Hisobae, to be honest. XD X)
And now, some points I'd like to explain about this chappie:
(a) I based this chapter on my real feelings and situation ever since last night. While there aren't dramatic car crashes and deaths in my life (lol,not even a single one x), Chrollo's difficult situation with his father in the past is also the same as mine. I even cried while I was typing the first half of the chapter. TOO MUCH FEELS. XD
(b) Now what's that difficult situation about Chrollo's past? You have to stick around for Part 2(which, btw, I WOULD NOT be posting in the next chapter,sorry ;)! If you're thinking that Chrollo became the jackass he was just because there was a cliche car crash and boom, again,there's more to it than that. The car crash is just the beginning of how shit went down. Ha , cliffhangers...how we love them! XD
(c) This chapter's playlist/theme songs are: "Papaoutai" by Pentatonix ft. Lindsey Stirling and "Buzzcut Season" by Lorde.
(d) This chapter's title, "Papaoutai", is a French sentence/statement for "Where are you, Papa?" And yes, it's actually a song. The original version of it is sung by Stromae, but I love Pentatonix' cover more. Either version gives me goosebumps all the same, because it's so catchy yet it's so meaningful it hurts. XD
(e) I based Machi's phone off the Top 10 Most Expensive Phones In The World list I found online. The one she was holding came fifth there, and reading the description, about the high-security of that phone, I thought it fits very private and distant Machi. Just Google it, too lazy to elaborate.
So yeah, that's probably it. It's already back to school month here in the Philippines (June) and hell days are upon us, but I guess I was spared a bit because my classes don't start until June 17...so I'm still looking for a beta reader that can pressure me to finish chappies in time (lol,screw Hisoka XD)! XD