Chapter 5

The Lily Needle

Disclaimer: This is merely a story based on KHR, and not from the actual KHR…

Claimer: I did write this story…

Descriptions about this fanfic:

Main Characters:

OC: Yumi

OC: Reika

Mukuro

Minor Characters:

Chikusa

Ken

I will try to update every Friday, plus or minus one day

Please enjoy, and feel free to comment and leave me ideas on how to continue!

"Oya oya, my attraction even bringing in the all mighty Reika?"

"…"

"Kufufu, you're not awake yet." The pineapple man slipped out of the silk covers, strode towards the long mirror upon the wall, and stared at the girl that was on the bed.

"Tell me about you, Pineapple fairy bad luck man."

"! Pineapple fairy?"

"You look like a pineapple fairy."

"… right."

"Pineapple fairy bad luck man, don't use that sarcastic tone on me!"

"Why? You're only my prey."

"Eh? Why are you so confident and arrogant? You could just as well be my prey."

"kufufu…let's see you try."

"Anyways…tell me about you."

"What…about me?"

No one had ever paid attention to Mukuro's past, not even the famiglia that had adopted Mukuro for experiments. No one.

"Everything. Your past."

So Mukuro told her everything.

From when he was a toddler and was always secluded and experimented on by his parents. When he was in the famiglia. How he escaped with Ken and Chikusa. How he got caught back into the prison. How he had gotten caught jail breaking, just to let his companions survive. How in the future, Tsuna and the Vongola family saved him. How embarrassing it was for him, the Mukuro Rokudo to need a trainer—Tsuna.

The girl didn't say a word during any of this, Mukuro turned to her to see if she had been listening, but indeed, she was. By the rim of her eyes, some droplets of salt water were dropping onto her lace material sleeping gown. Neither man nor woman remembered that they had slept on the same bed throughout the night.

"Gomene." Reika muttered, pushing the bed cover to the side and hopping of the bed. She bowed down slightly, her sleeping gown revealing a bit more of her skin. Mukuro only smiled silently as he continued adjusting his hair.

"Eto, this may be a bit daring, but from now on….please call me Rei." The girl kept on walking towards the boy, her tears never stopping, as if all the H2O in her body would leak out through her eyes.

"…Rei…kufufu." The boy murmured, but the girl heard nothing.

Why was this boy so strong? How could he have lived through…all this? Something tens, hundreds times worse than her own story, and she had been drowning within her own life. For the first time in her life, she felt like she knew what her powers could be used for—supporting, helping, protecting the boy that was in front of her. She knew that he probably wouldn't need her powers anyways, but together, they'd fight against fate.

Slowly, she reached out her arms, pulling Mukuro's back closer to her. She closed her eyes, and let the pineapple scent fill her nose, fill her body, ingratiate her.

"Rei-chan?" Mukuro recovered after a few moments, and Reika immediately let go of her hands.

"Gomene. Kohohoho, I… " Timidly, the girl brought her clothes from the bed and hurried outside to the couch.

Mukuro, still startled, fell backwards on the bed. Why was this girl so womanly at times like this? Wasn't she the battle-seeker? The stupid, school-aholic, battle-seeker? She was supposed to love to battle. But slowly, as he traced his own hip, as if feeling the touch of Reika earlier, chuckled. This girl was interesting, very interesting, maybe interesting enough to become a prey that he would seek for.

"Eto, Mukuro, I'm done."

The boy walked silently out of the room with a grin that seemed so misplaced upon the misfortunate boy.

"Let's go then, Rei-chan."

"See? You already have a nickname for me," Reika murmured as she locked the door and ran to catch up to the pineapple hair, "I need a nickname for you."

"…"

"Come on! Pineapple fairy bad luck man is good, but it's a bit long. You see, if I were to call out this on the street," Reika took a deep breath, then shouted into the empty street, "PINEAPPLE FAIRY BAD LUCK MAN!"

"Kufufufufu…"

"Hm, how about Mumu?"

"Mumu…."

"Mumu-kun!" The girl broke into a set of hysterical laughs, "Kohohohoho~"

"Kufufu…"

"Kohoho…"

The two stopped laughing, and under the sunset, glanced at each other's faces.

"Rei-chan…"

"Hai!" The girl grinned, jingling the keys happily.

"Never mind."

It was then that both people reached the small shack in which Yumi was already waving gracefully at them. Reika's face darkened as she stopped in front of the shack with "Mumu-kun" beside her.

"You want to talk to her?"

"Sure. You go first, and don't get into a fight while I stop here for a while." The sweet smile again.

Why didn't Mukuro ever give her the sweet, the special smile?

Did she mean…really that little to him? Slowly, with all the depressing thoughts eating away at her, Reika continued down the path.

-m's pov

"Mukuro-san, ohayo!" The girl with the long brown hair smiled sweetly, and pulled out a few pineapple flavored bread from the counter.

"Yumi?" Mukuro hesitated, suddenly remembering the danger that this girl was to him, his career, and his life.

"It's okay, I'll pay these for you." She pushed the bread out even more, "are you okay?"

As if suddenly waking up from a daydream, Mukuro laughed and took the pieces of bread.

"Yes."

"Um, if it's okay, I want to ask you something…" A light blush brushed past the girl's tender skin, and her iris that was so clear anyways became more like diamonds now.

"Oya, okay."

"Mm…I…I like you…and if it's okay, could you please try to go out with me? As a couple?"

"You should know, you're just my prey."

"Hai… well, tomorrow, at Central Park, the first wooden bench, 3 PM….I'll wait for you there."

"I might not come."

"I know."

"Kufufu, if you say so. Jaa mata."

The boy turned away from the girl, a sudden badump badump began in his heart. No, no, she was just prey, the most dangerous prey that he had picked. But she said…that she'd be waiting.

- after training, back at the house -

Reika had called the Kentucky Fried Pineapples, or KFP, one of the famous fast food restaurants here. Oddly, the boy wasn't scrawled on the couch or the carpet in the living room, boasting to her. He just sat in his study room, not really writing anything, listening to anything, reading anything…or doing anything else but thinking.

"KFP here!"

Throwing her thoughts aside, Reika opened a creak in the door, stuffed out the money and received the warm bag of food, that, of course was full of the intoxicating aroma of pineapples.

She knocked on the door three times, as she had been instructed to, but never been obedient enough to follow before. No sound came out, but she took that as the silent "ok" and entered the room, with plates of pineapple dishes.

"Mumu-kun?" Reika felt rocks smashing her heart as the boy looked at her with eyes with no energy.

"Rei..chan." The boy managed a smile, but how fake it was, even the naïve side of Reika understood.

"Here's the food, but I'm not giving it to you."

A little bit more energy in his eyes.

"Ha?"

"I'm. Not. Giving. You. The. Pineapples."

A sudden burst of energy filled his eyes, whether it was fury or just plain energy, Reika couldn't tell.

"You're just my prey, and you're saying that. Oya. More bravery in you!"

"Is that good—or bad?"

"…" " Kufufu… for your interest, it will be good."

Reika laughed as Mukuro finally got his energy back, and handed him the warm meal with two hands.

"Eat together?"

"Oya oya, you're getting brave now." But other than that, the two ate in silence.

"Ah! So good." Reika slammed the box of food down on the table, burping simultaneously.

"Kufufu, you should at least pretend to be like a girl."

"Do you only like girly girls?"

"Not…necessarily."

"I'm going to sleep now…I like your bed." With a sheepish wink, she ran out of the room, and soon, Mukuro heard a flop on the bed, unintentionally chuckling to himself.

But tomorrow. Would he go—or not? But then he wasn't that kind of person to let his prey be on her own—because his prey meant that they belonged to him. What would he do?