Chapter 14

-chapter starts here—

Mukuro slammed open the door, taking a long yet deep sigh. Was it because of sadness, joy, confusion, any of that? He laughed, when had he gotten so... befuddled at anything? He took his first step out. Mm, the day that Reika had first come into the house. It had been so surprising, yet it made Mukuro felt a sip of...excitement as well? Second step out. The times where Reika was fighting. Elegant, strong, and nevertheless, that same clouded up expression that he himself used to have. It always gave him the urge to clear up her eyes, to let them stare at him, and let his own...way to influence her. And just then, her eyes had cleared, they weren't that same bold dark eyes that had stared at him the first time they met, it was shining, yes, shining, as if her eyes could take on any sort of pain that Mukuro was experiencing, and nullify it. Reika.

That girl wasn't perfect, no. She wasn't cute, she wasn't slim and delicate, she wasn't any of that sort. Yet whenever she stared at him, whenever she smiled, whenever she turned around and stalked away, Mukuro felt that...thumping. Not from his heart, no, but from his mind. His mind had been contaminated by this girl. Yet maybe contaminated is a harsh term, maybe...purify is more appropriate. Yes, that girl, though she had been though almost all the same disasters as Mukuro, she was still, well, on the bright side of things.

Keeping that girl in mind, Mukuro took a left turn, and scurried down the concrete road, small birds all turning their heads slightly crooked as they saw this figure storming down the street. Mukuro clenched his fists, and speeded up his pace. Faster. Faster. Faster. Almost slamming an old lady down, and murmuring "gomen", Mukuro finally arrived on the road of the dessert shop, where he knew that food-loving girl must be.

Rei-chan.

Rei-chan.

Rei-chan!

As he kept on thinking of that name, that name to seemed to have engraved itself into Mukuro's own throbbing center, his head became blurrier, his hands began trembling and even his legs began speeding up.

As his mind, legs, arms, body began trembling, Mukuro thought to himself, "Kufufu… that Rei-chan has got to pay, for making my body so excited, for making my mind as excited as this. And the fee will be…to have to stay with me, forever and ever, to never leave me…ever….ever…" With that in mind, he smirked and finally halted in front of the dessert shop. On the front window, tens of small desserts perched of all different kinds, chocolate pudding, chocolate cake, pineapple pudding, pineapple cake, pineapple eclairs...

He slammed open the door, opening his mouth gasping for air, his chest now throbbing from all the fast walking that he had been doing, but remembering what he was going to do, and how awkward he must've looked like, he calmed himself, forcing a smile to the old lady that was behind the counter, a small apron with pineapple designs engraved on it.

"Excuse me, did you see a sort of tall girl with a ponytail up? Her name's Reika." Mukuro stuttered, the shop owner looked at him in amusement, then burst out laughing, hands covering her mouth.

"Another admirer of Reika-chan here? She's in the back… go ahead. And good luck." Her raspy voice instructed, with a slight chuckle at the end.

Another? Mukuro smiled, gave a small exhale, and closed his eyes. Taking long strides, he lifted the curtain to see the girl curled up on a tired couch, taking nibbles from pineapple bread. As she heard the commotion, she lifted her head, and slowly, her eyes widened, and the ends of her mouth began lifting, as if a crescent expanding.

"Mumu-kun?" Her voice, energetic as always, as if always ready to have some fun, as if always ready to...make Mukuro feel better, as if she were always there.

"I'm sorry with that incident with Yumi… she's good, but she's not the one for me. And… I've come to realize…you know, that I needed a girl who was in love with pineapples." Mukuro began.

Reika lifted her eyebrows crooked in Mukuro's awkward description, "um….."

And Mukuro, finally realizing what he had burst out, exclaimed, "I mean, I mean , she's not perfect for me, but you are. I just…don't know how to explain it… I'm supposed to be this strong, fearless character, and… you. You just make me smile, make me feel warm, make me feel like I can forget about who I am, forget about who I'm trying to be and all that. And when I see you, no matter when you're strong, when you're teary, whenever I see you, I realize, I have that urge to take care of you, maybe bully you a bit, but that's a privilege only for me. I don't want anyone else to touch you. Do you…understand? I know, I know, I sound like the weirdest person ever, but I just wanted to say that. And you, for making me feel like this…should pay for it."

Reika laughed, her shoulders shaking and her hands clutching her stomach, "Mumu-kun, I… how do you want me to pay for it? Life-long pineapples?"

Mukuro laughed as well, a real laugh. One that made his shoulders loose, let his emotions out, and pulled the girl off the couch and into his arms.

"Life-long pineapples, and life-long you."

Reika smiled, standing up, and Mukuro's hands reached out, pulling the girl's shoulder into his chest.

"Mumu-kun..."

"Rei-chan..."

And so they melted, together, under the witness of the pineapple bread that was left on the tired couch, it's corners nibbled off.

- weird side story time!-

"Kufufufuu~"

"Kohohoho~"

"You have such a weird laugh."

"Hey! You have the weird one, who laughs like, Ku. Fu. Fu. Fu."

"Well who laughs like . . You're not santa."

"_ no pineapple bread for the rest of the week!"

"No, no ! Rei-chan~~~ come over here~~~~"

end-

author's note:

hope you guys liked the ending! And sorry for the SUUUUPER late update :P hahaha….please leave reviews w