It was around the eighth completed pile of paperwork, when somebody knocked on Xanxus' door. "Come in!" Xanxus shouted as he signed yet another piece of paper. The door slowly creaked open and a head full of teal hair peaked inside. "Fran" Xanxus said in surprise, "Come in, what did you need?"
Fran walked into the room cautiously and stood in front of Xanxus, making him brush a few piles of the paperwork out of the way. "Remember what we talked about a few months ago?" Fran asked, fidgeting quietly.
Xanxus was immediately on edge, "Of course, are you injured?"
"Oh, no. I just feel a bit off." Fran said, embarrassment colouring his voice.
Xanxus became aware of the way Fran was swaying, "I think it's in your best interest to sit down." He said, and he stood up in alarm as Fran turned a few shades whiter.
"I just came to tell you that I might have a minor- "Fran paused in his sentence and before Xanxus could do anything, his eyes rolled up in his head and he collapsed onto the ground.
"Fran!" Xanxus shouted in distress. He ran around the desk and crouched next to his unconscious Mist to check his pulse. It was strong but too fast for someone who was simply unconscious. "Damn it, you little brat. Let's get you to the Infirmary then."
Xanxus scooped Fran up into his arms and walked towards the Infirmary, bond-calling his guardians as he went. He frowned as he noticed Fran shivering, despite being in the thick Varia coat. Lussuria was already waiting in the doorway when he walked in. "How long has it been since he passed out?" Lussuria asked, professionalism leaking into his voice.
"You think I had time to look at a clock when I grabbed him?" Xanxus questioned, sarcasm littering his tone.
Lussuria sighed, "No, it would have been useful though. I would assume around five minutes. Did he say anything beforehand?"
"He said he felt weird and that he might have a minor something. I believe he was going to say fever though, judging by the shivering and hot forehead." Xanxus recalled, placing his precious burden on one of the beds.
Lussuria began to take off the heavy Varia coat, "I'll look over him, you can go and calm down the others." He amended his sentence after Xanxus deadpanned, "Keep them quiet at the very least, and out of the way."
Xanxus went to do damage control and Lussuria turned back to the disturbingly still Fran. He noted down what he saw as he took off his baby mist's shirt. High temperature, laboured breathing, chills and sweating. The skinny jeans were tugged off and he changed the teen into lightweight sweats. Lussuria took a step back and opened various drawers to grab a thermometer and stethoscope. The thermometer was unceremoniously shoved into Fran's mouth and he held it there with on hand as he listened to his patient's lungs. The thermometer beeped, Lussuria grabbed it and winced at the numbers displayed on the screen, 40.3°.
Lussuria calmly whirled around and walked over to the worried guardians, "He has a high fever, a result from the flu he recently got rid of." They breathed sighs of relief and looked to him for instructions. "Bel-Chan, I need you to grab the IV kit and start it up. Somebody put a pitcher of water in the fridge for when Fran wakes up." Levi rushed off. "Squalo, if you could gather a bunch of flannels and if you could get a bucket of water, Xanxus."
Belphegor had already gotten the IV in when Lussuria returned to Fran and was starting the drip. He walked around the Storm and picked up antibiotics to help with the flu symptoms. Lussuria passed it to Bel with strict orders to give Fran 300mg of it and grabbed a flannel from Squalo. Once Fran had been cared for the guardians all sat around the bed their mist was lying on, occasionally re-wetting a flannel.
They looked at Fran when he started to mumble, relief shooting through their veins. That was quickly replaced with horror when the illusionist started thrashing around on the bed to escape an invisible foe and cry out every so often in fear.
XXXXXX
Fran was being a good boy and sitting in his room quietly when the front door banged open. "Fran!" His mother yelled. He was a good boy and came out of his room to go to his mother who was yet again walking funny.
"You called, mum." Fran said as he walked into the drunk woman's view.
The woman's eyes narrowed as she stared at him, "Did you stay inside your room all day?"
"Yes, mama. I didn't make any noise either." He said quietly.
His mother backhanded the four-year-old, "I didn't ask you if you made any noise. Don't presume anything you freak."
"Yes mama." Fran said monotonously, not daring to touch his bruising cheek.
The woman smirked triumphantly at teaching the child to respect her. She walked into the kitchen and went to grab something to eat when she froze, "Freak."
"Yes mama?"
"Why, are there crumbs on the counter?" She asked, voice deceptively calm.
Fran cringed backwards at the tone, "When you had toast this morning, I didn't have any time to clean the mess up before I was sent to my room."
"Are you calling my food a mess!" His mother shouted, fury thick in her voice. She advanced on the trembling child threateningly, "Well? I think you need another lesson in respect if you're going to give me this attitude."
Fran began to cry, "Mama, please. I promise I won't! I'll be a good boy!"
The woman ignored the pleas as she roughly dragged the crying boy into the kitchen, searching for something to hurt him with. Her eyes landed on a recently sharpened kitchen knife. She turned to the terrified child, "Stay!" and took the knife off the magnetic hook with a loud shing. Fran stilled as his mother stalked towards him with the gleaming knife, she stopped in front of him and lifted the knife bring it down on his face.
XXXXXX
Fran hadn't ceased wailing and writhing on the bed, unresponsive to the copious amount of rain flames Squalo was hurling around. He suddenly stopped, muscles locked in place, and let out the most heartbroken word they had heard, "Please." His body went limp in the guardian's hold and they hesitantly released his previously thrashing limbs. Fran's eyes fluttered open to reveal fever glazed eyes that landed on Lussuria's face. "Water." He coughed out hoarsely.
Belphegor rushed to grab a cup for the pitch of water after tenderly brushing his kouhai's sweaty bangs out of his face. "Do you understand me Fran?" Lussuria asked, doctor mode activated.
"Yeah," Fran said as he tried to hold the cup of water Belphegor handed him. His hand was shaking too much to hold it properly so Squalo reached over to steady it as he drank greedily.
"Am I in the 'firmary?" Fran asked faintly as he finished the cool water.
Levi smiled reassuringly, "We're here with you."
Fran's neck lolled in the Sun's direction, "Can I sleep now?"
"Yeah sweetie, you can sleep now." Lussuria cooed at the sick mist. Fran didn't need anymore prompting and shut his eyes tiredly, breathing evening out quickly.
XXXXXX
The knife came down on his face and caught him under his left eye, leaving a deep, bleeding cut in its wake. "We need to be symmetrical!" Fran's mother said insanely as she left a matching cut underneath his right eye. "Now go back to your room, freak."
Fran ran to his room and curled up in a ball sobbing when he shut the door. His face stung horribly, and the dark red blood made his tears turn an eerie red. "Why can't you love me mama?" He cried into the dark, "Why can't you be like the nice mums on TV?"
The scene changes.
A thirteen-year-old Fran walked into the tattoo parlour that was underneath an innocent looking dance studio. The guard looked at him suspiciously, but let him in after seeing his determination. The tattoo artist turned around from where he was arranging ink colours, "Welcome to Snake's tattoos. What can I do for you today?"
"I want something covered up. Can you do it?" Fran asked, injecting scepticism in his words.
The tattoo artist nicknamed Snake laughed, "Of course I can. What type of cover-up?"
"I want these highlighted in ink." Fran said as he pulled off the face mask to reveal two identical scars that curved underneath his eyes. "Can you do it?"
Snake walked over to the teenager to get a closer look at the scars and whistled, "Girlfriend troubles?" Seeing Fran's glare, he hastily backtracked, "They're quite deep, but I suppose I can."
Fran sat down on the chair underneath the professional looking lights, "I want them in a navy blue."
"No problems, you got money? The whole thing will cost fifty bucks." Snake informed his customer as he brought out the requested ink colour.
"I'll pay after you do this. A hundred if you get it done within twenty minutes." Fran bargained.
The artist didn't look up from where he was sterilizing the needles, "Cutting it close on the time-frame. What do you take me for bro, I'm a professional. If anybody can do it within twenty minutes, it's me."
Fran sat back in the chair and closed his eyes as the bright lights were switched on. The needle buzzed loudly as Snake leant in close to trace the scars.
Time skip
"What do you think?" Snake asked as he held a mirror in front of Fran's face.
Two curved, navy blue lines protruded from the corners of his eyes and Fran nodded in satisfaction, "Here's the money. Don't mention me to anybody."
"Of course." Snake said as he looked greedily at the money.
Fran turned on his heel and walked back up the stairs and into the dance studio. Warm sunlight touched his face and with a rarely seen smile, Fran walked out of the dance studio/ tattoo parlour.
XXXXXX
When Fran woke up coherently, the Varia shared a look over his head; They weren't to tell Fran what he was saying in his sleep. They watched with soft faces as Levi helped Fran drink another glass of water, and talked to him about meaningless things. Fran recovered a day later and still had no idea that he had been dreaming out loud, the Varia counted this a success and moved on, but never forgot.
