Beauty and The Beast: A Varia's Tale
Summary:
"Only true love can break the curse."
The Varia were so sure they'd never escape their fate now. Why? One. Their boss was incapable of falling in love with women. Two. Because he loved tequila more than anything. Three. And because of reason two, he'd NEVER find love. Or so they thought.
They didn't expect Miss Vongola Decimo, afteral.
[Fem! Tsuna x Xanxus]
DISCLAIMER: I do not own anything of KHR which is the best mafia related anime and manga in this whole wide world. Only Amano Akira does.
Warnings: With the Varia comes colourful language :'3
7. Before the storm.
Previously,
"Get that fucking piece of trash out of my sight." Xanxus growled as he threw his bottle of champagne at the hourglass. "Now."
The white haired swordsman wisely picked it up without another word and pocketed it. He then turned to his boss and tossed an envelope with the black haired man's name neatly scrawled on it. "Some low ranking trash was brought in dead with this in his pocket."
Xanxus ripped it open. His scowl deepened as he read the contents of the letter.
'The game has just begun.'
He crushed the letter and burned it up with his flames. "What the fuck is the meaning of this?"
"The others say he was ambushed in the woods left to the Varia's mansion." Squalo said. "He was a pretty nasty sight. I must say, it looked like the work of…wolves."
The white haired swordsman frowned as he scanned the files in his hands.
This was a problem. The lack of activity for the past two weeks on the Varia's part was causing rising suspicions that "something had happened" to the assassination squad. And now, smaller groups were daring to rise and mess around with the Vongola because they believed the famiglia's powerhouse was down.
Sure, they were small fry who didn't matter but their increasing movement was the problem. Of course, Vongola could handle all their god-damned shit for all he cared. But if the small fry had the guts to pick on the world's largest and strongest famiglia, the big names would very much be planning on acting up too. And that was something to worry about.
Squalo slammed the files back on the table and rose from his seat.
He needed a fucking conference with the rest of the Varia, the Vongola and the CEDEF. And a dummy to blow off some steam on coupled with some shots of vodka. Maybe then he won't be under stress and he'd not have to worry about his hair falling off.
But then again, there was another problem in the grounds of the Varia manor itself.
As if on cue, the doors to the empty meeting hall where he had been musing to himself flew open. There stood one of the lower rank Varia who was trying to catch his breath. "Commander! Reporting that there has been another casualty–"
"Those FUCKING WOLVES!" Squalo roared, startling the poor member who turned as white as a sheet.
"C-Commander?"
"Did the victim turn up dead or alive this time?"
"Barely alive, b-but he'll make it through, commander."
"Voi. He better." Squalo paused. "And please tell me that he will be able to speak for fuck's sake."
The other man blinked.
The Rain Guardian rolled his eyes and waved his sword at him. "Can the fucking victim talk? Or will he end up in a coma? Or has his face been ripped out along with his tongue and his arms bitten off? OR–"
"Commander, this one has attained the minimum injuries than all previous ones so he can talk!" The lower rank Varia exclaimed quickly before he could lose his lunch from re-picturing the horrid fate that his unfortunate colleagues had faced.
"Good. I need fucking intel on those wolves. Dismissed."
"Yessssir!"
"And inform that Sawada brat to meet me in the training room at three instead." Squalo called out after the member. "I have some shit to deal with first."
"No Bester." Sawada Tsunayoshi huffed as she struggled to push the gigantic cat off her bed.
The beast gave a deep growl in response but the girl didn't flinch. As horrifying as it was to her that she had gotten "used" to the Varia, she had also gotten used to Bester who had claimed her bed as his own in the past few days. The girl slept the first few days of his sudden territorial claim with apprehension and fear that the creature would feast on her in her sleep but gradually, his presence turned rather comforting.
And moreover, he kept her very warm since the blankets did little to keep her away from the cold; even though it was currently the warmest season of the year.
"I'm just going to take a short nap, not a 'goodnight's rest' so you will NOT share the bed with me now." She continued to push the beast with no avail. "Honestly speaking, don't you have better things to do? Like perhaps, staying by your master's side instead of sleeping next to the person he hates with all his heart –if he even has one– ack!"
The Vongola Decimo found herself lying on her stomach across the bed with Bester's heavy paw resting on top of her back. She shot him an accusing glare to which he promptly turned his head away. "If you're offended by my opinion of Xanxus-san, you might as well eat me up instead of acting all chummy with me."
Bester turned to her with narrowed eyes and flashed his teeth at her, releasing another low growl as he did. The girl gulped and buried her face into the sheets as she flashed a "peace sign" at the creature.
"Sorry. I didn't entirely mean it." Tsuna's muffled voice sounded. The beast only huffed in reply. "So...could you like maybe get your paw off me now –eep!"
She froze as the beast lightly pressed his claws against her back. Bester would never attack her…right? But he was Xanxus's box weapon in the end so who knew the outcome after she had out rightly –perhaps?– insulted the Varia's boss.
The liger, on sensing her wariness, lifted off his paw and nestled closer to her. He huffed and rested his head infront of her hand, nudging it with expectation. Tsuna sat up and sighed before running her fingers through his soft fur. He smelled like whiskey, shampoo –which she found weird because she couldn't just imagine Xanxus giving his liger a bubble-bath– and a whiff of gun powder.
Her eyes felt heavy. The exhaustion, from not getting a proper sleep due to staying up late for the sake of reading on etiquettes, was getting to her. Viper had dumped a whole set of books on her bed after drifting in through the wall –Tsuna freaked 'cause she thought the woman was a ghost for a moment– and informing her about being thorough with it before their lessons. The illusionist then drifted out without giving her even a sliver of a chance to reply.
It all had to do with Reborn's "side-assignments".
"To be mafia, you have to know how to roll with your etiquettes or end up being the fool."
She could almost hear him say that.
There were going to be lots to do when she turned boss. All those meetings, negotiations, galas and everything else that tagged along with the "mafia-boss" title she would be carrying soon. But those were hardly her concern right now. She needed a power nap before Squalo's training commenced.
"Voi." Squalo blinked. "What the fuck happened to you?"
Sawada Tsunayoshi sniffed and tucked on the ends of her shirt. It wasn't her fault that she kicked a certain liger on startling awake at the sudden ring of the alarm clock. Bester had, however, not appreciated her action no matter how fond he was of her and so he pounced on her with a fierce growl. Clearly, he had a short temper like his master.
What happened next was a result of an instinct to save herself and thus, resulted in her dishevelled state.
"It was the alarm clock." She replied as she tried to smoothen down a lock of her brown hair.
Superbi Squalo stared at her with a blank look.
"Umm…" Tsuna chose to break the awkward silence. "Training?"
"…first, you deal with your hair." The man jabbed a finger at her. "It looks like a mushroom and it's fucking distracting."
"..."
Xanxus arched a brow as his liger gracefully stalked into the room.
But that wasn't what caught his attention. It was the chunk of burnt fur the beast was now sporting on his back that made him raise an eyebrow. The giant cat sauntered in towards the Varia boss and settled infront of the man, resting his great head on his master's head in the process.
Bester blinked innocently as his eyes met with crimson orbs.
"What?" Xanxus wore an expression that hinted his amusement.
The beast huffed and nudged his master with its nose.
The raven head snorted as he twirled the pinkish drink in the glass held in his hand. "You expect me to feed you flames to heal that?"
Bester seemed to nod its head.
"Even after you keep hanging out with that trash–"
–cue a deep threatening growl–
Xanxus paused and met the beast's eyes again. His next words were more of a statement than a question. "You mean to say she's not trash."
The great cat hummed in agreement.
"Well, stick your biased opinions up your fucking arse, Bester." The raven head rolled his eyes and elegantly took a swig of his drink. "You spend too much time with her so you would obviously think that."
Offended, the creature flicked his tail and overturned the table placed next to Xanxus's armchair. The Varia boss's eyebrow twitched in annoyance as his bottle of Lambrusco Rosé, 1907 fell to the ground with a crash, shattering into a million pieces and spilling out the contents. He narrowed his eyes as he shifted his attention over to Bester who wore a casual look and almost looked like he was smirking.
"I liked that bottle."
A rough nudge to his abdomen was the liger's reply.
"You don't care?" Xanxus paused before giving a harsh laugh and unceremoniously shoving the liger off his lap as he rose to his feet. He shot the creature a glare and turned his back to him with a scoff. "No need to come back running to me when you need help then."
Bester rolled his eyes at his master's words. For a moment, it was as though their minds shared the same thoughts. And Xanxus was not at all pleased to know that the creature though him "immature". He was a fucking box weapon for crying out loud! Not like he'd even understand shit anyway.
As if hearing what Xanxus had just thought, the feline snorted.
The Varia boss threw a glare behind him. "And shut the fuck up."
"Ushishishi." Bel sat himself on the edge of the ex-Arcobaleno's bed. "What are you reading? Fairytales? That's so unlikely of you…"
"They are not every little child's fairytales." Viper rolled her eyes, but with the hood shielding her face, the prince had obviously not seen it. "This is research material."
The blond assassin cocked his head to the side. "Oh. That fairy?"
Viper's eyebrows rose at the amount of spite that accompanied his words. It was surprising but the illusionist had a wild guess and she could bet her money on the fact that she was right. "Do tell, your curse mark is acting up isn't it?"
Bel's expression darkened for a moment before it was replaced with his carefree one which came along with that disturbing grin of his. "The prince can't sleep in or pass on work to the low ranks without his back burning." He gave a nonchalant wave as he continued. "But it's fucking silly. And the prince chooses to ignore something so…estúpido."
"Prolonged ignorance to the pain from the curse mark and the reason the pain is triggered will only end up killing you faster." The illusionist droned and watched in amusement as the blond's grin slipped for just a brief second.
"Ushishishi." The Storm Guardian then seemed to become giddy with the new piece of information. "That means you will die first!"
Viper paused in her action of turning the page of the voluminous old book infront of her. "Excuse me?"
"Greed." Bel said in a sing-song voice before cracking up. "Your money will be the death of you-"
"I suggest you end your blabbering right there and now." The woman hissed and snapped her book shut. Then she put on a smug look. "And no. I can bet my fortune that I won't be the first to die."
Belphegor leaned forward with interest. "Oh?"
"Levi. His curse acts upon envy." Viper shrugged as she reopened the book and leaned back on her chair. "He tries to hide it but with Sawada Tsunayoshi around, his mark acts up. And also, every time the boss does something to some other person apart from the fool, he feels envious."
The prince hummed to himself. "Is it on his right arm? No wonder he's always rubbing it like a sore spot when he's sending glares to everyone in the room. But I don't think he'll be the first to die."
"Why not? It'll definitely not be that spawn of Rokudo Mukuro. He has become quite gluttonous these days, I admit, but if someone limits the food or takes control over what he eats, surely, he'll be the one to outlive all of us at that rate."
"You talk as though we'll all end up dying because of the curse." Bel deadpanned as he twirled a knife on his fingertips out of habit. "And no, I wasn't referring to the frog either."
"Our very own commander Squalo?" She suggested as she turned a pafe. Her pet frog who was nestled on top of the hood over her head shifted to a new position, catching Bel's attention in the process.
"With all his pride, he'll be the next one to die after you and Leviathan." The prince chuckled and earned himself a glare from the woman who seemed highly offended. He paused his twirling and flicked his knife at the illusionist who didn't even flinch. The frog jumped off in time as the knife whizzed past the top of Viper's head, missing the creature by mere millimetres.
"Boy, Fantasma does not appreciate that."
The Storm Guardian's grin grew wider. "Ushishish, boss will be the first to die."
"Really now?" She drawled, seeming mildly interested to know his reason.
"Have you ever witnessed a day he hasn't lost his temper?"
"He managed it nine years straight once upon a time."
"…he was fucking frozen for those nine years straight with a deep scowl etched on his face…"
Viper paused as though considering something. "Oh. Now I remember."
"You think his face muscles have therefore been permanently altered for him to forever scowl?" Bel asked in a curious tone as he cocked his head to the side.
"Xanxus laughs."
"When he's trampling over his work of chaos, yes he does."
"He smiles." Viper replied without missing a beat.
"With bloodlust." Bel corrected. "And most of his smiles are smirks, for your kind information."
The woman frowned. "Are you trying to imply that he's incapable of any other emotion and expression that is not related, in one way or the other, to anger?"
"Ushishishi…I guess I am." Bel laughed.
"Says the one who seemed that we would not be killed by the curse not too long ago." Viper scoffed.
"But tell me, do you really think he'll 'fall in love'?" The prince queried. "With the Vongola Decimo, no less?"
The female illusionist set her book aside and leaned forward. Her eyes burned making her wince a little, but she did not care as of now. A surprisingly wide grin equivalent to that of Bel's stretched out on her lips.
Viper. Greed.
"Want to place a bet?"
"ACHOO"
"Are you alright Fran dear~!" Lussuria asked in concern as he stopped beating the cake mixture for the moment.
The boy in question rubbed his nose and sniffed before fixing his enormous frog hat which had almost off when he sneezed. "'M fine."
"That curse is turning the manor into fridge despite the nice Italian summer." The Sun Guardian sighed. "You should keep yourself warm, Fran-kun~!"
"It's not the cold. Someone just spoke something nasty about me." Fran shrugged before going back to his apple pie which Lussuria had laid out for him. "I bet it's the fake degenerate prince."
The two had gotten quite comfortable with each other's presence although this familiarity was strictly limited to the kitchen where Lussuria enjoyed baking and cooking –as he claimed it gave his "motherly role" more distinction– and Fran gobbled up everything the flamboyant man would prepare, much to his delight.
Outside the kitchen's confines, Lussuria was still the "peacock drag queen" to Fran and the boy, the "annoying troublesome youngest son" to the older man.
The teal haired boy brought his hand up and scratched the back of his neck. "Damn, it always itches when I eat. Am I not washing my neck properly?"
"Language, Fran-kun~!"
"Can I get sundae too?"
Fran. Gluttony.
CRASH!
"VOI! Would you fucking stop that?!" Squalo roared as another wine glass shattered on his head.
He had just shampoo-ed his hair and conditioned it with imported hair products from Korea for fuck's sake! At this rate, he knew he might lose his sanity along with his hair and he did not fucking want the goddamned shit to happen.
Shark. Pride.
A pain seared through his left arm and Squalo cursed. Did it have to fucking act up whenever he mentioned or thought about his hair? It was beautiful anyway. Maybe the fairy was such a jealous bitch.
Levi narrowed his eyes. If only the boss would send glasses of wine flying his way and have them shatter on his head instead of the Commander's. Why was it always Squalo who received their boss's attention? What was so special about him? was it because he had long hair?
The man couldn't help but wonder if things would change if he too grew out his hair like the Commander's.
Leviathan. Envy.
The Lightning guardian scratched his right arm as an uncomfortable pain throbbed from the mark on his bicep.
Xanxus scowled. He did not like the report Squalo had brought to him regarding the meeting they would need to hold with the Vongola and also the information his Rain Guardian had gathered on the wolves from the latest victim.
The woods attached to the Varia manor never housed wolves as far as he was concerned. He knew it was that fucking fairy's doings. He had had a hunch all along so when he'd heard that the wolves were twice the size of a normal one and were white as snow, he immediately placed his finger on the fairy.
He needed to get rid of them before they got rid of more of his men. Those enchanted beasts or something of that fuck for all he cared would die in his hands. And then he'd laugh at her fucking face.
A surge of anger flowed through him. He won't let her play with him anymore like this was all just a game. As usual, he ignored as the mark on his chest over his heart burned.
Xanxus. Rage.
He would crush her.
A/N: Yeah yeah. Another chapter with no Tsuna and Xanxus interaction. But hey! They still talked about each other right? xD
This chapter is like the calm before the storm so I hope you bear with me until the next chapter is up :'3 And hey! It'll definitely up before this month is done and gone (._.)/
And yessss! Thank you so much for all the follows and favourites! My heart skips a beat every time one of you hits the follow or favourite button. No. I am NOT exaggerating. I am ever so grateful to all of you :')
As for the reviewers, thank you so much for taking time to type down your thoughts! You motivate me to the EXTREME xD
Nana, , Kitty Kat Vixen, FANactic Writer, Guest (Sep 21 c6), Kiome Shino you have my many thanks for your precious reviews ^^
Sorry if you don't like the fairy, but she happens to be an essential character for this fanfic xD Perhaps you might even start to like her in the future? Who knows :'3
For the review of Guest (Sep 23 c6), you had me shedding tears. I'm so glad you like it and thank you for your overly kind words (T^T)/
Next chapter? Expect FLUFF! Like finally xD ROFL
If you can, do drop a review. Thank you ^^