Chapter 26
Fon sighed for the countless time. "Viper dear, why are we doing this again?"
Viper hushed him abruptly and turned her focus back onto the couple in front that they were tailing. "Reborn paid my five million for this mission."
Fon hung his head in defeat. Whenever it came to money, his lover was never one to turn from it. There were times it made her cute but Fon certainly did not think now as one of the times. "I wish I could pay her to not do this. I would very much be the couple we are tailing instead."
Viper, with her face hidden beneath the hood was contemplating heavily over how she should approach Fon and lure him into going on a date with her. "Reborn you big idiot! How is this simple at all?!"
Meanwhile the couple ahead paused. Lal whispered to Colonello, "Are you sure they will be alright? It seems like Viper has yet to make a move."
Colonello glanced back briefly before nodding his head in agreement. "How about we set a lead for them as example? I think Viper and Fon have never gone out on a date before." Lal agreed without much resistance.
Without saying much, they slipped away to an ice cream stand by the amusement park. Viper nearly missed out on tailing them until Fon nudged her gently.
Fon observed Viper intently and was trying to figure out why Viper seemed so tense. At least he knew there was something annoying Viper. He suddenly remembered Reborn's words to him the other day. "When dealing with a woman, be sure to remember what you see is not always what you think it is. Often they lie and it is the job of a man to know when."
Fon thought it was only Reborn speaking of his love with Luce. She knew she was going to die but she never let anyone know and after her death, he missed her funeral as he had been the last to know. Luce's subordinates then told him she wanted to preserve her happy smile in his memories for as long as she could and Reborn would not be too sad to know of her death.
Reborn found out something was amiss only a few months after Luce passed on only because Luce had prepared boxes of letters to last her years after her death. She had gotten her subordinates to deliver them to Reborn dutifully. The contents seemed real enough for Reborn due to Luce's ability to see ahead of time. However, it was not enough to fool a hit man's instinct. Reborn knew something was terribly wrong after how Luce did not seem to reply to his queries directly after a few months. Her replies were always general chit chats and smoothly vague.
When Reborn invaded the mansion, he found out too late that Luce had passed on months ago. Not even given the time to grieve, Reborn sought Shamal out to erase his painful memories before it killed him. Now, Reborn was able to recall the love he had as well as the pain. He was able to deal with it better over time after accepting the arcobaleno curse. However, it was not enough to stop him from feeling the pain that came with the love he held for her even after her death.
Fon understood Reborn's pain better than anyone else. He had been very close to the man and Luce. Reborn was only doing this in his favor that they were both friends of sorts. Viper was the only one who was extremely evasive contrary to what most people think about Verde. It was easier to find the scientist than the illusionist. Even with Reborn's ability, it is hard to know what Viper is thinking most of the time.
Fon sighed as he followed Viper. He watched the couple in front of them sharing ice cream. Fon looked at Viper who was barely concealed behind the tree. She watched them intently and suddenly an idea struck him. "Two can play at a game," he thought.
He dragged Viper from behind the tree causing her to gasp in alarm. "Let go! What are you doing?! You idiot!"
Fon smiled when he saw the blush forming on her cheeks. "Even if this is a mission, I can't stand if we are going to waste a perfect opportunity for a date."
Viper's blush deepened and Fon led her to the ice cream stand. Their joint hands spoke volumes and Viper's heart raced. Fon was aware of her change in demeanor as well as the sly glances from the couple they were supposed to tail. "I see now, thanks Reborn…" the Chinese martial artist thought.
Viper stuttered when asked the flavor of ice cream she wanted. Fon chuckled and told the vendor to prepare strawberry flavored ice cream for her while he opted for mango. Viper muttered something about wasting money but Fon knew she was happy. The slight blush confirmed it.
Colonello and Lal smiled when they saw their friends finally making progress. "Well, it wasn't that hard." Lal elbowed her boyfriend. "This is their first time on a proper date so be nice!" Colonello rubbed his neck sheepishly and apologized. They then took their time to finish the ice cream.
While eating, Fon decided to tease Viper a little. "Hey, I think strawberry flavor is nice. Can I try some?"
Without waiting for Viper to respond, he took a lick from her ice cream. Viper's face turned the same shade of pink as the strawberry ice cream when he did that. Not one to lose, she licked Fon's ice cream too which surprised him. Fon looked at her for some time until Viper turned away and dismissed it with not wanting to waste money and complaining about how mango ruins the strawberry taste. Fon chuckled at her adorableness and the couple in front snickered. They were having fun in deed.
For the rest of the day while 'tailing' the couple in front, Viper and Fon had an enjoyable time together.
The last stop for the day had been the Ferris wheel that Colonello suggested to Lal who agreed readily. They both wanted Viper and Fon to work things out. According to Reborn, the decision Fon made greatly upset Viper. They wanted to give those two sometime to themselves to sort things out. Unknown to Lal, Colonello had other plans.
Once on board the carriage, Viper looked out of the window and refused to face Fon. At the same time, Lal was feeling a kind of nervousness in her chest. She was going to confess and tell Colonello how she feels about him properly. Colonello on the other hand was extremely nervous and fiddled with the small ring box in his chest pocket.
When the carriage was halfway to the top, Viper finally broke the silence. "Fon," she began softly, Fon waited for her patiently to carry on. "I know this is indeed selfish of me but when you made that decision without my consent knowing the risks of dying, I wished you would have let the relationship between the Decimo and his cloud guardian rot. I only wanted you and nothing else. I wanted you to listen to me and we could have found an alternative solution. I know I could have used illusions to fool the boy but you didn't listen to me! Not even once, you did not consider my feelings at all!"
Fon was slightly hurt by Viper's rant. He never meant to hurt her and the only way out of this deal was to follow Reborn and Verde's plan. It was going to be their only key to removing the curse on them and he could not risk it. "I'm sorry," he simply told her.
Viper shook her head to clear the tears gathering along her long lashes still hidden beneath her hood. "I know why you did it but I still wish you would let me know instead of keeping it from me. Do you know how worried I was when you collapsed? For the first time I thought that money wasn't important if it could guarantee your life! You need to take responsibility for this!"
Fon smiled and hugged her gently. Viper sobbed into his chest and she heard his strong heartbeat confirming he was alive and with her. "I'm so sorry, I will take responsibility. I won't hide anything from you again then. I love you Viper."
Far away from the top of a tree branch, Reborn and Verde sat and watched the progress through powerful binoculars. Verde sighed. "Humans and their strange emotions. I cannot understand any of it." Reborn scoffed. "It is better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all. I guess you will never know."
Verde eyed the hit man seriously. "You are right. However without knowing the joy of love I am spared the pain of separation unlike a certain someone." Reborn put down the binoculars and gave him a humorless laugh. "In a way you are right. This is why I won't allow idiots to ruin such a precious relationship with stupid reasons that can be avoided. As long as they are alive, anything is possible. Love becomes stronger through adversities. I only wish time had been on my side." Verde said nothing and continued observing Colonello and Lal through the powerful lenses.
Colonello had knelt on one knee when the cabin was reaching the top of the ride. Lal had blushed and stuttered. It seemed as if she was beyond the ability to form words in her happiness. From what Verde observed, the woman did not have a chance to confess her love for the man like she claimed she was going to before the man flashed the ring.
"It's just a ring. Metals will react to decompose and fade with time. How can this be a representation of a feeling so precious that even the great Reborn bows in defeat for it? Humans are difficult creatures to understand indeed," Verde sighed.
Secretly, in his somehow human heart, Verde was happy for all his friends who found love. It made them complete and Verde tried to deny the emptiness he felt. "Science is all I need," he convinced himself.
The sunset that day illuminated a pretty picture as a remembrance of the silent friendship forged between the cold hearted scientist and the steel hearted hit man. It was a moment that only both of them shared as ordinary humans, vulnerable to emotions.
To be continued…
Author's Note: Exams just ended for me and already this friend of mine bugged me to write his book… *sigh* I'm really busy as everything seem to be taking off really quickly. Anyway, the series would be coming to an end really soon. I hope this is a story worth reading
Next pairings: Xanxus x Squalo and Belphegor x Fran (Both TYL) [If I missed out anymore characters please PM me! I don't want to leave anyone unsatisfied…]