Beauty and the Beasts
*drumroll* It's time for…the Reader Appreciation Corner! Let's welcome our special guest this week………………………….SAWADA TSUNAKO! *waves flags*
Tsuna: H-Ha…Konnichiwa, minna-san(1)!
Me: So, first off, I would like to thank the 200+ readers I got the first day. *cheering in background* Never knew this story would be so popular. *sweatdrops*
Tsuna: *reading off a list* Eto…The author would like to thank x3iLoveAnime., First Lady Lestat, Snippets of the Dream Catcher, MakInAxAlicE, Dolphin River and Hailene.xfor reviewing.
Me: Thanks to Snippets of the Dream Catcher, Kirino Tsuki, MakInAxAlicE, Viviene, xKawaii-Neko-ChanX and ChibiChaos Mage of Chaos for making this story a favorite.
Tsuna: And lastly but not least, to ..x., Dark Queen Helba, Kyurengo, Matron, SeiryuNoAme, Snippets of the Dream Catcher, Hailene.x, Dolphin River, Jayungo and NeoGene for putting this story on story alert!
Me: Well, that's it for this week's Reader Appreciation Corner. This story is going to be updated weekly! Haha, except it hasn't been a week since the first chapter, but I think posting the new chapter on Saturday should be weekly enough.
Tsuna: But if the author doesn't keep to her promise…
Me: Please don't hurt me! *hands above head*
Tsuna: And now, for the disclaimer!
Me: KHR is not mine. T.T
2: Introducing the Beasts
"Ah, here we are!" Yamamoto chuckled as he set down the petrified teenager. Tsuna, her hair filled with all manner of leaves, scrambled off the dog Beast's back, her arms weak and trembling from the wild ride through the forest. But she had to admit, she enjoyed the feel of the Beast's smooth back underneath her and the feel of his sun-warmed hair against her cheek.
Quickly, she mentally slapped herself. He was a Beast. Beasts were dangerous. With this thought in mind, she picked her head up to survey her surroundings. They had arrived at the edge of a large meadow, although they were still in the trees. The sun, bright and warm in the pale blue sky dotted with fluffy white clouds, lit up the flowers in the meadow, as they waved softly in the gentle breeze that wrapped around them.
In the distance, she could hear the faint sounds of metal upon metal, as well as a soft creepy laugh. Yamamoto and Gokudera exchanged weary glances before Tsuna was swept up once again, this time by the silver haired one that she still hadn't decided the type of. Was he a raccoon? Or perhaps something more exotic. He ate bamboo after all.
Lost in her musings, Tsuna never seemed to realize that Gokudera was carrying her bridal style, as they were now traveling on a much smoother path. They never walked out into the sunny meadow, however, much to Tsuna's disappointment. The shade in the trees was starting to make her cold. She shivered slightly and squeaked softly when she felt Gokudera's arms tighten. With this, she noticed her predicament and could not help but blush deeply. However, the silverette didn't seem to notice her discomfort. He continued on, his eyes focused doggedly on the path, his breathing even.
They arrived at a very, very, very, very large tree and Tsuna was allowed back on her feet. She craned her head back, trying to see the top, but she couldn't. She stumbled backwards, having overextended and fell. Yamamoto, who had been right behind them, caught her before she could hit the ground.
"Be careful, Tsunako-san," he said with a bright grin.
"Oi! Shimagu(2)! Open the door!" Gokudera's sharp voice startled Tsuna. He didn't have a bad voice, Tsuna decided, getting over her initial fear of the Beasts. They haven't tried to eat me yet, at least…But then again, perhaps it was too soon to be forming opinions.
"THAT'S EXTREMELY RUDE! SAY IT NICER AND I MIGHT RECONSIDER!" An equally gruff and loud voice replied to the shout given off by Gokudera. The silverette rolled his eyes as Yamamoto took his turn at bat, with a broad and easy grin on his face.
"You don't even know what the fuck 'reconsider' means!" Gokudera shouted back. Tsuna flinched. The silverette sure had a foul mouth.
"Haha, come on, senpai(3)! We need to come inside!" Yamamoto laughed loudly once again and Tsuna jumped as the bark on the tree split down the middle, creaking open to reveal a set of stairs leading downwards.
"THAT'S MORE LIKE IT! TO THE EXTREME, YAMAMOTO!"
"SHUDDUP!" Gokudera shouted back, storming down the stairs. Yamamoto, laughing, took Tsuna by the wrist and started leading her into the entrance. There was a strange musky smell within the trunk, but it wasn't disgusting. In fact, it was earthy and rather homely.
As soon as Tsuna entered the tree, the "door" closed behind her and she turned around, blinking in surprise. The tunnel went dark briefly and Tsuna froze, afraid of tripping and tumbling down what suddenly seemed to be very, very steep stairs. She felt a gentle tug on her wrists, but Tsuna violently shook her head, then remembering Yamamoto couldn't see her. To compensate, she made a small noise of refusal and she felt the tug on her wrist stop as Yamamoto sensed her panic.
Slowly, along the wall, multi-colored mushrooms began to glow. Pink, orange, blue, yellow, green, purple and every color in between lit up the tunnel. Some of them were even pulsing, casting strange flashes of light against the smooth inside of the bark. Yamamoto turned around, smiling a little when he saw the rapt look of shock on Tsuna's face.
She was in awe, amazed that anything like this was possible. If the Beasts can come up with something like this…she thought as she took a step slowly, not wanting to leave the warm glow of the mushrooms. Then where did the belief that they were ferocious creatures come from?
"Oi! Yamamoto! Hurry up!"
"Haha, coming, Gokudera!" Yamamoto chuckled and began to pull Tsuna down the stairs. She stumbled on a few steps, but managed to catch her footing once again as they began to race down the winding steps. With each step, the air got cooler, with each step, the mushrooms grew brighter as they descended further and further underground. With each step, she got further and further away from home and she felt a pang of fear.
But then again…she didn't know what the Beasts wanted, after all. Maybe they just wanted to show her where they lived and then they'd send her back! Yeah, that was it!
We must be near the center of the earth by now, Tsuna mused as she began to feel her legs grow numb with the cold air. Yamamoto seemed as lively as ever, grinning broadly as he led her on.
When they finally reached the end, it was into a large room, lit up by lamps and the mushrooms from the staircase. There were two people in the room, one was Gokudera and the other was a tall, muscular boy with short white hair and big brown eyes, as well as a thick tail behind him and a pair of pointed ears.
He had his hands near his face, his arms bandaged, and he wore nothing but a pair of loose fitting pants, a belt tied around his waist to keep them up.
"Stop ignoring me to the extreme!" he was shouting at Gokudera, who looked up, spotted Tsuna, and broke into a wide smile.
"Have some respect!" Gokudera turned around as he took a hold on Tsuna's free hand. That's when the girl realized Yamamoto had yet to release her. His hand was warm and comfortable, she decided, while Gokudera's was firm, yet gentle at the same time. She noticed he had quite slender fingers, adorned with many silver rings, but she quickly pulled herself back to the present to examine the rest of the room.
Lamps hung from the high ceiling, while mushrooms protruding from the walls showered the place in a colorful glow. There was furniture in the room as well, wooden chairs and very comfortable looking plush chairs by a fire-less fireplace.
The cushions on the plush chairs were different; there seemed to be several of every color, and even a few with many, many different colors on them. From her position, Tsuna could see a hallway that extended and curved around a corner, with light flooding into it, meaning there were rooms that came off that hallway. She craned her head and noticed a small kitchen as well, with a small stove and a well.
"Don't be too greedy with her, now, Gok-kun~"
Tsuna shuddered delicately, as the voice that came from one of the dark corners of the room reached her. From the shadows, a slender blue haired male stepped forward. Are there only guys in this place? Tsuna thought, suddenly worried for her safety. But from the way she could see Gokudera stiffen, and the fierce look that Yamamoto suddenly had, Tsuna had a feeling that this wasn't what it was about.
But what did this stranger mean by greedy?
"Be quiet, Pineapple-head," Gokudera said, his voice rather low and threatening, his grip on Tsuna's wrist tightening. The brunette winced slightly and she immediately felt the fingers around her wrist loosen.
"You people are crowding."
A fourth boy appeared on the scene, from the hallway, his black hair overshadowing his eyes, a pair of dark cat ears pressed backwards in annoyance as a slender black tail lashed with anger. The light glinted off the weapons the boy had in his hands and Tsuna backed up, recognizing this boy as dangerous.
"Kufufu~. So eager to dance, Hiba-pii?" the bluenette chuckled, holding out his hand at his side as a trident suddenly appeared in his grip, smoke and mist forming the handle.
"Don't fight here, you two," Gokudera released Tsuna's hand and walked forward, his eyes flashing, ears and eyes twitching. "If you're going to fight, at least do it outside. Didn't you guys already fight today anyway?" he rolled his eyes before pulling two sticks of bamboo out of the bag he never seemed to let out of his sight.
"W-what's going on?" Tsuna blinked rapidly, as both the black haired boy and the bluenette relaxed, accepting the bamboo from the silverette.
"Oh, this is normal," Yamamoto laughed, also releasing Tsuna's hand. "Hibari and Mukuro don't seem to get along very well until Gokudera gives them their afternoon treat, haha!"
"Treat?" Gokudera narrowed his eyes, while Yamamoto chuckled.
"A-Ano…Yamamoto-kun…Who's who?" Tsuna asked quietly, completely confused. She assumed that the two fighting were Hibari and Mukuro, but which one was which?
"The one with the bandages around his arms is Ryohei; he's a kangaroo. The blue haired one with the pineapple hairstyle is Mukuro. He's an owl. Hibari's the one that just disappeared down the hallway and he's a cat. You already met Gokudera, and he's a red panda raccoon thing. Even he's not sure. I know; strange, right?" This last comment earned Yamamoto a piece of sharpened bamboo thrown at his head, which he easily ducked while laughing.
Tsuna smiled weakly, a little overwhelmed. These boys seemed to have a strange family relationship. No, she wouldn't really call them a family. Right now, they were just Beasts who happened to be living in the same place at the same time, with knowledge of who went where at what time and what happened when.
Briefly, Tsuna contemplated running back up the stairs and back to the village, but then she felt someone's arm on her shoulder. It was Mukuro, she realized, upon seeing the flash of blue hair in her vision. He was tall, much taller than her, but his arm rested comfortably on her slender shoulders. He leaned his head down, and that's when Tsuna noticed his eyes were mismatched. The right one was red, while the left was blue.
"Would you like some tea, Tsunako-chan?" he said, smiling.
"S-sure…" Tsuna stammered, allowing herself to be directed to one of the chairs at the round table in the center of the room. Mukuro then motioned to Gokudera to get them tea, a command the silverette ignored. He stalked down the hallway in the same direction as Hibari, continuing to ignore Ryohei, who kept following him. Yamamoto had disappeared off into the kitchen and Tsuna could hear him rummaging around for food as her stomach rumbled softly.
It must have been hours since she left home this morning. She looked around, wondering if there was some place she could see the surface. As if reading her mind, Mukuro smiled slightly. "Down the hallway at the very end, there's a room where you can see the sun. It's quite far down, but there are windows and lamps to light the way. The place is built on the side of a cove."
"There's a cove near the village?" Tsuna blinked, very surprised.
Mukuro nodded, pressing the tips of his fingers together as he leaned back in his chair. "Hmm...The loud one brought back a deprived child this time," his eyes closed as he smiled rather dangerously. "Perhaps I should enlighten you, my dear?"
Tsuna shifted so she was sitting on the far end of her chair, before jumping to her feet.
"N-No, it's fine," she said before scampering away, her heart pounding. Glancing behind her, she met Mukuro's eyes and the bluenette smirked. There was something about this Mukuro guy that freaked her out. As she raced down the hall, she began to wonder how the Beasts had managed to do this.
The structure underground was surely the work of something other than just bare hands. The hallway was a perfect arch, with lamps positioned exactly five steps from each other all the way down the winding path. The dirt underneath Tsuna's feet was firm and packed; there was no fear of falling here.
As she walked, she peered through the various doors, not daring to go in quite yet. She didn't want to provoke the wrath of her kidnappers. But were they really her kidnappers? They acted too kind to her to want to eat her.
Walking helped calm her nerves, and allowed her a chance to muse. Briefly, she wondered if there could be anyway to dig herself out of the hole, but from what she could tell, the only exit was through the main room and the tree. As long as Mukuro was in that room…Tsuna flinched, not wanting to think about it. "He's a pedophile," Tsuna muttered under her breath as she walked, still peering into rooms.
So far, she had seen a library where Gokudera was, glasses slipping off his nose as he flipped through several thick volumes, a room where Ryohei was repeatedly punching a sand bag, an empty dojo that extended into a small cave with many different kinds of the glowing mushrooms, several bedrooms, a very bright and colorful bamboo garden, and quite a few bathrooms. She had also seen a pond with steam floating on the edge and she sighed, wishing she could relax in the pool.
But as she peered into the last room before the hallway opened up into the sunroom at the end, she noticed it was arranged like an office. There was a couch pushed to the right, facing a shelf of books, while a large wooden desk was facing towards the door and away from the big window behind it. Tsuna felt her breath catch in her throat as she caught sight of the ocean. Running forward and nearly tripping on the carpet on the ground, the girl pressed her face against the thick glass, her breath fogging her vision as she looked down.
The cliff extended into a cove, and there were rock walls all around her. Across from where she was standing, she could see another window. So this place extends even to there…She breathed a soft sigh of amazement. Beasts were clearly misunderstood. Their knowledge of underground architecture was unmatched, and from what she had seen so far (which wasn't all that much…) they were pretty human.
"What are you doing in my office?"
A flat, emotionless voice startled the brunette. She whirled around, her brown eyes meeting cold blue-gray eyes.
"Kamikurosu(4)." Hibari hissed, silver tonfas in hand.
Okay, so it's not quite as long as last time. And most of it is just me talking. Oh well~
And I apologize for leaving you at a cliffhanger. But if I kept writing, it would be too long!
Anyway, keep up the reviews and the favorites, because they make me happy!
Er, and yes, this story is not quite like Beauty and the Beast, because there's too many different characters that doesn't fit the characters in the Disney classic. But it's kind of the same, you know…Like…Tsuna gets kidnapped…and is being kept prisoner…
Yes, Mukuro is quite creepy. I apologize to Mukuro fans. *bows*
Suggestions are always welcome! And flamers will get a healthy dose of di-hydrogen monoxide! Heehee. Until next week~
Japanese - English glossary
(1) Konnichiwa minna-san! - Hello, everybody!
(2) Shimagu - Turf-top
(3) Senpai - Respectful way of addressing upperclassmen.
(4) Kamikurosu - I'll bite you to death