109. Progression
I spoke to Xanxus for an excruciatingly miraculous long time.
The rest of the Varia had lost interest long ago and left us to our own devices; Xanxus and I conversed-- no, I was the one speaking. Xanxus listened.
He was abnormally quiet; Silent; Patient. Perhaps he didn't wish to listen, but did so out of-- I don't know. He wasn't yelling at me to shut up and go away. In contrast to that, I felt his gaze was pressuring me to keep talking.
It may have been the silence that scared me-- the fact that I had no means of escape, so my instincts urged me to buy time.
I wasn't sure if I would delve into my past in my speech. He would probably be uninterested. Would it make him annoyed? Would it be the trigger to cause my life?
Instead, I spoke of the future-- what Xanxus would be in ten years, things he already knew; then I told him of the resent-- the Arcobaleno, the representatives, and the battles that would occur.
Furthermore I spoke about my lung condition. The advantages I would hold over his head. I would die soon-- thus I would hold no long burden and hassle to care for.
He simple scowled to the end, and it didn't take long to know how much breath I was wasting. Occasional coughing interrupted my sentences; and I felt the burn of something more than thirst at my throat. With another cough, I found my throat drier than before, the pain a flare in my trachea-- and I could speak no more.
My last resort was to close my eyes. Bowing lowly, my forehead on the ground-- I apologized from the depths of my hearts; Begging for my life.
With a scoff, Xanxus looked away, disinterested. "You bring shame to the Flame of the Cloud," he spat at me. A look of contempt, disgust-- revulsion.
My eyes widen-- and I felt a little something crack inside.
I bit my bottom lip. Feeling a little tear fail to escape, a smile crawled up my face.
"I see," I chuckle.
-
Right after, Tsuna interrupted the stale atmosphere with a marvelous roll, barrel and face skid into the room, across the tatami to the side of me.
"Owwwch!!" Tsuna whined, raising his head and nursing a bruised nose, "Why are the Varia here?? Wait, Belphegor said something like the boss--"
Realizing the almighty presence of Lord Xanxus before him, Tsuna felt his heart stop in horror.
The next second he was freaking out, "Xa-Xanxus??" Shooting back and ducking away, he noticed me. Looking over slowly, he shrieked louder, "REI??"
Covering my ears nonchalantly I sighed. "Yes, yes, I'm Rei. How may I help you, dear sir?" I spoke in a monotone.
"Weren't you supposed to be in the hospital?!" Tsuna whined.
"We kidnapped him." Belphegor grinned.
I gave a thumbs up, "I got kidnapped."
"Rei!!" Tsuna clawed his hair in frustration.
-
"Dad, I wanna go see Rei-chan!" Sae whined for the third time that hour, "Can I go alone? Or with Rururi? Or with Jamal-san?"
Absent-mindedly, Yuuichirou turned back to his daughter, "Just a second, I'll call Nurse Fujimiya and-- Sae, wait!"
Charging out at the line she decided to register as an approval, Sae was gone in another second. Out the house, the gates, the streets and probably the traffic light across the other end. Yuuichirou's calls fell on deaf ears.
With a sigh, Yuuichirou pressed a hand at his forehead in annoyance. When did his children get so rebellious and my-paced? Who do they take after?
Freezing for half a second in realization, he groaned.
"Wait up, alright?" He turned to Sui, "I'll call the hospital. It'll just be a moment."
With a nonchalant hum, Sui nodded. She didn't look u, she didn't lose focus. Her eyes were fixed, staring intently at the laptop she was using. She was so immersed, so absorbed in what she was doing, her eyes barely blinked as the screen before her flicked black and a string of white numeric and letters flooded past.
Seeing that, Yuuichirou smiled with pride.
"Wow," he breathed, "You got through."
-
"Lussuria-san," I turned to the man as I saw him come through, "Do you mind helping me out back to the couch. I don't want to stay for what's next."
It was just a second after Xanxus blew a hole in the room, so Lussuria hesitated. A tall figure in a coat leaped down to the center of the room. Taking off his checkered hat with his checkered gloved hands, he giggled as he stood up.
"I'd completely forgotten your room number, hehe!" he sounded like happy drunk kid, "I was peeking around from outside looking for you guys, fufu."
Lussuria lifted me up and slung one of my arms around his shoulder.
"I am the planner of the battle of the representatives. My name is Funomichi, fufu." He greeted with a polite introduction, clutching his hat before his chest and holding a suitcase in his other hand.
"Geh, he's here already," I moaned.
"What, you know him?" Lussuria asked, helping me out of the room easily.
"I know he takes up ten pages to finish explaining things," I mumbled.
"Huh?"
"Nothin'."
-
"Ja,"
Hearing a familiar female voice made Shamal jump in surprise,
"mal,"
swerving his head aroudn in a panic, Shamal felt himself thrown forward as a figure crashed into him from behind.
"-san!"
Gathering his balance, Shamal sighed. Braving a smile on his face, he chuckled dryly, "Good day to you too, Sae-chan," he greeted, "What a coincidence meeting you in the hospital today."
Smoking in the outside perimeters of the hospital, Shamal would've loved to flirt with some girls. But honest to god Sae was one girl that kinda creeped him out. Not the other way around.
Sitting down on a bench, Shamal watched Sae sit down beside him.
"You here to see your brother?" Shamal decided to start a conversation.
"Uhn!" Sae nodded, "But Amanojaku-sensei told me I couldn't go in." She pouted after that, looking down.
"Well, too bad for you. Maybe next time you'll get to see him." Shamal assured, " but where did you learn that word?" Shamal wondered. Was it intentional, or was it childish babble? Amanojaku-- if Shamal recalled, was some demon thing from Japanese folklore or something-- not a word he'd heard often.
"From Rei-chan!" Sae perked up, "Rei-chan tells us really cool stories!"
"About an Amanojaku?" Shamal couldn't help the confused tone. What kind of story can someone make up for a Japanese demon?
"This one was about a game! People were trapped in a maze called the Amanojaku Labyrinth," Sae recalled, "And they had to clear missions and find keys to get out."
"Right out of a manga, eh," Shamal breathed out his smoke, then extinguished it as he remembered Sae was beside him. "Your brother sounds like he writes novels."
"But, but," Sae grinned, "Amanojaku is a demon that says things opposite to trick humans!" she turned to Shamal, "So all the game rules were exact opposite. No one actually had to find any keys at all. In the end, only the ones that realized that won the game."
"And what happened to the ones that didn't?"
Sae shrugged, "Rei-chan didn't tell us."
Shamal gulped. The ominous ending and the saintless smile Sae showed-- for a second Shamal believed Sae had told him everyone died. Perhaps it was just his imagination running wild.
"That aside," Sae inched closer, clutching Shamal by the arm.
Her voice was soft and husky-- and Shamal flinched. A deep, foreboding air filled his lungs-- a haunting presence was wrapped around his arm. A serpent-- snake, a poisonous reptile baring its teeth--
Bloodlust. Bloodlust that-- that reminded Shamal of the one and only Reborn himself.
It rattled him greatly. Fear overtook his senses, transformed into panic, and on instinct he shoved the young girl away.
But it was Sae-- and now she looked surprised, too.
"Ah--" realizing his mistake, he calmed down, "I'm sorry!"
It's just a girl, he reminded himself, A young girl. Perhaps, not harmless-- he gulped, putting on a smile as he desperately apologized to the girl on the verge of tears, but this girl--
She had the talent to be a hit-- No, not a hitwoman.
Specifically, she was a born assassin.
And upon realizing the fact, Shamal felt his heart sink in doom. Because of all people, she'd taken a liking to Shamal.