Fanfiction
Jan. 21st, 2013 07:26 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
thisgirlscribesTitle: Bleak Winter
Summary: Snow falls in Kokuyou, and the gang fight the weather to stay warm
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: None
Warnings: None
It's winter, and in Kokuyou, that means it's cold. Snow blankets the ground outside, turning the rotting theme park into even more of a hazard than it was – landmarks vanish in the cold, pitfalls are hidden. It's pretty, but lethal. Even Ken has trouble navigating the areas off the safe path, picking his way carefully through drifts of snow, staying up in the trees where the ground won't swallow him.
Mukuro's sofa nest in the auditorium is impractical now – a room too big and echoing to heat properly – and though the large building is safe from attack, there's precious few rooms that are completely weather proofed. All four of them are sleeping together in what was once an office, the desk and filing cabinets thrown out to make room for a pile of blankets and mattresses. They rely on body heat to warm the room, trips outside made with the door open as little as possible. Chrome is safely tucked in the middle when they sleep, and rarely comes out of the cocoon of blankets, heat being stolen from her small frame far too quickly. Chikusa keeps her company most of the time, leaving Ken and Mukuro the work of finding what food they can for the four of them.
They're nearly always hungry now – not that they weren't before, but without Ken's regular contribution of small animals to the pot, all of them are looking slightly gaunter around the edges. They could ask for help from the Vongola – and it might even be smart to – but all of them are too proud, and too wary to ask for help when they're this vulnerable. Mukuro buys (or 'finds') takeout for them once a week, filling the small room with the smell of yakisoba, of fried pork and rice, the warm food filling their bellies and making them all sleepy, staving off the hunger for a little while longer. Ken's catches are rarer, and vanish quicker – the day he comes back with two full-grown ducks is a good one.
Small squabbles break out occasionally – "That was my fork." "Goddammit Kakipii, just use your fingers!" – from being cooped indoors in such close quarters, but they never last long. They're all worn a bit too thin by hunger and exhaustion to devote much energy to arguing.
And then Chikusa falls sick.
He's always been the weakest of them – Chrome might be missing half her organs, but she's a sturdy little thing when it comes to the wire, and Chikusa's body is fucked up from the experiments he went through, halfway asthmatic and with bad circulation. They struggle on for a week or so, Chikusa's cough not getting much worse, but definitely not going away, until they wake up one morning and he can't stop the deep rattling hacking that wracks his body and make it hard for him to catch a breath. He's awake out of sheer stubbornness – and when he finally falls asleep again mind-afternoon, Mukuro makes an executive decision.
"We're moving."
~
The apartment is ridiculously small. Ken whoops with joy when he fails to find the bathroom on his first investigation, only to have it pointed out by Mukuro - and then informed that such a small space will make it that much easier to trap him in when he's dirty. Chikusa laughs quietly, only to set off another hacking fit, and Mukuro orders him into the bath to let the steam and heat help his lungs clear.
Mukuro had vanished for a few hours the day Chikusa had woken up with trouble breathing, and come back looking grim. They hadn't asked yet who he'd gone to, or what he'd done – they would eventually, but for now, Chikusa was first priority – but he'd told them they had money enough to rent an apartment now, and afford regular meals.
Chikusa looked better after the bath and some painkillers, though still coughing nastily. They'd had dinner, and talked quietly for a little bit, outlining their new situation. Kokuyou was still theirs, Mukuro assured them, but during winters they'd be taking to an apartment again until the theme park was fixed enough to accept plumbing and heating. Chikusa's illness seemed to have woken something in him; a steely glint in his eye when he spoke of plans that had Ken tensing eagerly, Chrome's eye shining, Chikusa sitting up attentively.
Their boss was making plans for the future – and it was their future, not the Vongola's.
Summary: Snow falls in Kokuyou, and the gang fight the weather to stay warm
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: None
Warnings: None
It's winter, and in Kokuyou, that means it's cold. Snow blankets the ground outside, turning the rotting theme park into even more of a hazard than it was – landmarks vanish in the cold, pitfalls are hidden. It's pretty, but lethal. Even Ken has trouble navigating the areas off the safe path, picking his way carefully through drifts of snow, staying up in the trees where the ground won't swallow him.
Mukuro's sofa nest in the auditorium is impractical now – a room too big and echoing to heat properly – and though the large building is safe from attack, there's precious few rooms that are completely weather proofed. All four of them are sleeping together in what was once an office, the desk and filing cabinets thrown out to make room for a pile of blankets and mattresses. They rely on body heat to warm the room, trips outside made with the door open as little as possible. Chrome is safely tucked in the middle when they sleep, and rarely comes out of the cocoon of blankets, heat being stolen from her small frame far too quickly. Chikusa keeps her company most of the time, leaving Ken and Mukuro the work of finding what food they can for the four of them.
They're nearly always hungry now – not that they weren't before, but without Ken's regular contribution of small animals to the pot, all of them are looking slightly gaunter around the edges. They could ask for help from the Vongola – and it might even be smart to – but all of them are too proud, and too wary to ask for help when they're this vulnerable. Mukuro buys (or 'finds') takeout for them once a week, filling the small room with the smell of yakisoba, of fried pork and rice, the warm food filling their bellies and making them all sleepy, staving off the hunger for a little while longer. Ken's catches are rarer, and vanish quicker – the day he comes back with two full-grown ducks is a good one.
Small squabbles break out occasionally – "That was my fork." "Goddammit Kakipii, just use your fingers!" – from being cooped indoors in such close quarters, but they never last long. They're all worn a bit too thin by hunger and exhaustion to devote much energy to arguing.
And then Chikusa falls sick.
He's always been the weakest of them – Chrome might be missing half her organs, but she's a sturdy little thing when it comes to the wire, and Chikusa's body is fucked up from the experiments he went through, halfway asthmatic and with bad circulation. They struggle on for a week or so, Chikusa's cough not getting much worse, but definitely not going away, until they wake up one morning and he can't stop the deep rattling hacking that wracks his body and make it hard for him to catch a breath. He's awake out of sheer stubbornness – and when he finally falls asleep again mind-afternoon, Mukuro makes an executive decision.
"We're moving."
~
The apartment is ridiculously small. Ken whoops with joy when he fails to find the bathroom on his first investigation, only to have it pointed out by Mukuro - and then informed that such a small space will make it that much easier to trap him in when he's dirty. Chikusa laughs quietly, only to set off another hacking fit, and Mukuro orders him into the bath to let the steam and heat help his lungs clear.
Mukuro had vanished for a few hours the day Chikusa had woken up with trouble breathing, and come back looking grim. They hadn't asked yet who he'd gone to, or what he'd done – they would eventually, but for now, Chikusa was first priority – but he'd told them they had money enough to rent an apartment now, and afford regular meals.
Chikusa looked better after the bath and some painkillers, though still coughing nastily. They'd had dinner, and talked quietly for a little bit, outlining their new situation. Kokuyou was still theirs, Mukuro assured them, but during winters they'd be taking to an apartment again until the theme park was fixed enough to accept plumbing and heating. Chikusa's illness seemed to have woken something in him; a steely glint in his eye when he spoke of plans that had Ken tensing eagerly, Chrome's eye shining, Chikusa sitting up attentively.
Their boss was making plans for the future – and it was their future, not the Vongola's.
