If there was one thing Renato Sinclair had in spades, it was pride. And arrogance, but that tied into his pride so it was simply tacked on regardless.
There had never been a mission he had failed, and if there was then he went out of his way to either have a very good explanation why or he would keep at it until he succeeded.
Generally speaking though, the only time he 'failed' to kill a target was when the client got cold feet and called him off. Usually because said target or their famiglia tracked down the client and made them call off the hit.
In which case it wasn't his problem anymore, save to demand a very hefty severance pay for wasting his time. No one wanted to piss off Sinclair after the first two attempts and the example he made of them.
Back to his pride though.
Renato was many things, but a fool had never been one of them. He knew the client had been keeping something from the dossier he had been given, however his instincts hadn't told him it was a trap of any kind. More like a great annoyance.
Staring down the woman before him, who had been sending various alarms down his spine the second he saw her in person, Renato pulled the trigger without any iota of pity or remorse.
The woman managed to move just enough that he failed to get a proper headshot in, but she was still a dead woman regardless. She would simply have to endure a few more minutes of suffering that he would have spared her if she had stayed still.
The woman coughed, blood appearing in her hand from the punctured lung. She had very little time to live, and she glared at him with untold fury.
"You think you've won, Renato Sinclair?" she coughed.
"If you want to live a few minutes more, I wouldn't talk," he commented.
"If I'm to die, then I'm damn well taking you with me, hit man," sneered the woman.
Renato smirked.
"I'd like to see you try with that hole in your chest."
The woman tried to cackle at him, but considering she was bleeding out rather quickly she couldn't.
"Oh I don't need to be alive to insure your demise. You fools are all alike...you assume yourselves as kings simply because no one has ever challenged you since you made your mark on the world. You never show the proper respect to the old ones," said the woman. The light in her eyes was fading fast. She had a minute, maybe two before she was dead.
Her eyes cleared up enough for Renato to take her seriously as a threat. Something wasn't right... he could sense a power gathering behind her and it just needed a direction.
"I curse you, Renato Sinclair. I curse you to suffer as a feral beast. If you cannot find true love's kiss in the hands of a Sky strong enough to harmonize with you in three years time, you will be cursed to forever remain a beast in mind and body, only capable of mindlessly killing any you come into contact with."
Renato felt something latch on to his Flames, and suddenly he had a very foreboding feeling as to what the client had left out.
The woman let out one last gasp, before dying. Either way, she had gotten the final laugh.
Renato's first act upon receiving payment was to find a certain Mist known to have extensive knowledge of the underworld. His victim was a minor Mist, but she was still well known enough that she would have gotten on Viper's radar.
"Mu. Time is money, do not waste mine," said Viper.
"I need information on Madeline Marsetti," said Renato bluntly.
"...Didn't you already kill her? Why would you need information on a corpse?" asked Viper openly confused.
"My client left something out, and my target said something about a curse."
Viper looked right at him in disbelief, before sighing.
"You've really screwed up now. Madeline was a minor Mist flame of little skill and ability...and a descendant of gypsies," said Viper.
If Renato had any doubts that he had screwed up, they were gone now. Even he knew that a gypsy death curse was serious business. And every instinct he had was warning him he had royally screwed the pooch when that woman died.
"What exactly did she curse you with anyway?" asked Viper.
"She said I would become a mindless beast unless I found 'true love's kiss from a Sky strong enough to harmonize with me' in three years," said Renato.
"...You're fucked then," said Viper.
Skies had been trying to pull Sinclair in as their Sun for years since he started making waves. Not even the Vongola had any luck, though the Eigth had come close. Add into that "true love's kiss", which anyone with half a brain could tell you was a myth... Renato might as well write up his will now, because there was no way he was getting rid of that curse.
Renato said nothing, having come to that conclusion himself.
Finding a Sky strong enough to pull him in and hold him as a Guardian was a near impossible task in itself. But the mere notion of true love was something he had played around with as a way to pull women into his bed and never actually believed it existed. He was considered a playboy for a very good reason.
Hope was having a very good day, even if she found certain customers very annoying to deal with.
Working as a barista was tiring, but the tips more than made it worth the headaches. Even if she really, really wanted to punch the lights out of some people.
Most people would think having such an overstuffed tip jar to be a good thing. She found it very annoying because it was always far too heavy and it made the other servers jealous beyond belief. Especially when they couldn't hope to replicate whatever it was she was doing to earn so much.
As she entered the apartment complex where she lived, she had to sigh.
He was back again. Most women would be thrilled to have such a handsome, sexy man living right next door to them. She would openly admit he was excellent eye candy and everything good girls shouldn't want in a man.
But his personality left much to be desired.
"Another day at work, Kitten?" purred her neighbor, taking her right hand and kissing it lightly.
"If you keep your snark and flirting to a minimum, you monumental pain in the ass, then I may feed you and deliver the 'ambrosia' you desire," she replied back without a hint of the usual lust he garnered with that move.
"Your words wound me kitten," purred her neighbor.
His voice alone was sin itself, and coupled with his looks meant he was never lacking in bed partners.
She was certain the only reason he kept flirting with her like this was because she refused to sleep with him. He wasn't used to having an actual challenge when it came to his women.
Renato's eyes glinted with dark amusement as he followed her into the apartment. She might find his flirting annoying, but after the first time she smelled his attempts at cooking she took pity on him. If only so he would tone down all the innuendo when they ran into each other in the hallway. At least it got him to quit stalking her at work, which she chalked up as a win.
He was still amazed she was able to brew a cup of "ambrosia" to the point he'd convert to whatever gods she worshiped for a steady supply of it.
Hope did not understand what his fascination with coffee was, nor did she care to. She was firmly a tea drinker, mainly because it didn't remind her of work.
Renato sighed as he drank his coffee.
"Marry me, kitten."
Hope gave him a flat look.
"If I actually thought you meant it, I would consider it," she shot back. "I refuse to be another one of your flings."
Renato gave her a pout when she said that...though they both knew he hadn't meant a word of it. It had become a game between them.
He went back to his own apartment once he finished eating. Hope watched him with some concern, as she sensed things weren't entirely well with her annoying neighbor.
She sighed...when was that fool going to notice the truth?
With Renato...
He left claw marks on his bedroom walls again. It was manageable at first, but things had gotten bad.
Every time he saw Hope, he wanted to ravage her, devour her, eat her alive... with or without her consent. It was becoming a problem every time he was close to her.
His 'animal instincts', as a certain annoying Storm had put it when he found out about the curse, were starting to take over completely. He barely had two months left before the unofficial deadline.
Renato never had any hope of breaking the curse on his body. He already had to hide the more...physical...aspects that had started four months ago.
He removed his fedora, revealing a pair of soft black ears that swiveled this way and that. His hearing had improved to the point it was almost painful, and his eyesight had sharpened considerably. The tail that wrapped around his waist in place of a belt was annoying, and very soft to the touch...more than once he had gotten a hard on simply from washing the damn thing from how sensitive it was.
Renato checked his teeth. He had noticed a bit of blood a few days ago, and now that he was looking for it he could see his canines were starting to sharpen into fangs.
He had started looking into what animal he was going to be cursed as for the short period of time he had left once the deadline ended. So far all he could narrow it down to was some form of large cat, likely a panther.
He just hoped Fon upheld his end of the agreement and put him out of his misery once his time was up. He refused to allow this wretched curse to rob him of his humanity...even if it meant arranging his own death once the curse ran it's course.
Renato clutched the frame of the door. His body was wracked with pain and agony as the curse tried to strip him of what little humanity he could retain considering the line of work he did.
Strangely, the first thing that came to mind as he fought the effects of the curse was his neighbor, Hope.
Every time he was around her, he felt somewhat lighter.
She wasn't some great beauty...she was very cute and definitely his type, but he had seen beautiful women before. They had all fallen to his charms and revealed their true nature underneath...all of them had been quite shallow in the end, making his interest very fleeting.
She wasn't rich or well off...she worked in a decently sized coffee shop and lived in a second-class apartment. She never wore the latest fashions or showed any interest in material things like jewels or technology. She was content living a modest life within her means.
She was rather blunt around him and made no bones she found him very irritating to deal with on his worst days. Rather than fall prey to his good looks and charm, she called him out on his crap and didn't hesitate to dump things on him like cold coffee or water when he got on her nerves too much. She had a fiery passion in her soul that appealed to him greatly...and she presented a challenge the likes of which he hadn't seen since he first hit puberty and learned how to entice women into his bed for a quick tumble.
There was a strange attraction towards her he couldn't explain. Either way he knew one thing...he wanted to at least properly kiss her before his time was up. He refused to have that sort of thing be his last regret in life.
Renato sank into his bed, as the pain started to abate just a little. The gypsy he killed was certainly a vindictive bitch to lay something like this on him. He almost wished he could bring her back to make her suffer twice as much agony as he was going through.
A week later...
Renato was sluggish, which was understandable with the amount of blood he had lost from an attack he should have been able to dodge...if that damn curse hadn't acted up at the worst time. His left arm had a nasty gash on it, on top of two bullet holes in his shoulder.
His Flames were keeping the worst of it at bay, but he was in bad shape.
The door opened, revealing a very upset Hope. Renato didn't even try to flirt...he was having trouble staying awake at the moment.
The hit man barely reacted to her gently guiding him into her apartment, and getting his shirt off. She hissed with sympathy at the sight of the wounds, but with quiet efficiency got some warm water and a clean cloth.
Renato faded in and out of consciousness as she carefully cleaned the wound, removed the bullets, and then got out some needle and thread.
"This is going to hurt. If you want some of my higher proof liquor to dull the pain I can get it for you," she offered in a soothing voice.
"I can handle it," said Renato, his voice slurring somewhat.
"I know you can, but that doesn't mean you have to when you have something to take your mind off of it for a bit."
He felt her press a glass to his lips, and when he took a sip it was some high proof scotch...the good kind. It helped to dull the pain a bit as she started to stitch up the gash on his arm.
"I am not washing off the blood you have on you. If you want to get cleaned up you'll have to clean yourself," said Hope flatly.
Renato managed to amble towards the shower, and after a few moments soaking in the heat washed off the worst of the grime. His shirt was a lost cause, but he had known that from the beginning. His mind was fully on autopilot at the moment.
He barely registered being coaxed into a bed, and was out cold within seconds of hitting the pillow. He didn't notice the warm body curled up against him, sharing body heat.
Renato woke up a few days later...and found a certain young lady sound asleep with her top half on the bed and the rest on a chair. He looked and noticed a small bowl with cool water and a cloth, and realized his head was slightly damp.
Hope woke up and yawned.
"You're finally awake? That fever was really worrying...it spiked far too much," she said tiredly.
"You...took care of me? Why?" said Renato openly confused. This wasn't how things normally went.
Hope would annoy him and turn down his flirting without hesitation. She fed him out of pity and made coffee just to shut him up. She barely tolerated his minor obsession with her from what he knew.
So why was she there?
"You're the idiot who was so out of it from blood loss and minor poisoning that you followed orders on autopilot. I'm just glad you weren't so out of it that I had to bathe you before you crashed in my bed," said Hope bluntly.
She picked something up from the night stand. It was two bullets.
"Here. I pulled these out of you two days ago when you nearly collapsed in my living room."
Renato stared at them, and at her.
"You're surprisingly calm about pulling bullets out of me."
Hope looked him dead in the eye with a flat expression.
"Omerta."
Renato very nearly went ramrod straight when she said that...if he wasn't feeling like crap and still very weak.
"Vindice?" he asked.
"Just because I work in a coffee shop doesn't mean I have no connection to the Cosa Nostra. And a friend of mine was more than happy to give me a full dossier on who you were when I mentioned you being my neighbor. Only an idiot would live next door to the next Greatest Hit Man and not take precautions like having a full first aid kit with some less than legal items in it," Hope replied bluntly.
Renato was floored...his cute, innocent little neighbor knew exactly who and what he was...and he had no idea she only barely skirted the definition of a civilian.
He fully expected her to kick him out now that he was awake. So he was very surprised when instead she came back into the room with some orange juice and a thick stew in a bowl.
"I'm not cruel enough to make you leave when you're nowhere near fighting strength."
"I thought you hated me."
"You're an idiot," said Hope flatly. "If you can't see the obvious right in front of you the entire time."
Honestly, how did Renato miss the fact she had been courting him as a potential Element? Was he that blind to the truth?
There was one thing that bugged her though...
"Why do you have cat ears and a tail?" she asked.
Renato sweatdropped and refused to answer...though he would deny purring when she gave into temptation and started stroking his ears just right. She was far too good at it, and Renato was a happy puddle of goo in her arms. If it was possible he would have curled up in her lap like a cat.
It was to the point his tail uncoiled from around him and moved in lazy patterns on the bed. When she reached for it, Renato almost felt his limited control snap like a brittle twig.
If only she was a Sky capable of breaking this damn curse...he'd happily follow her forever.