AN: I wrote this for halloween, on DA and..it..just now occurred to throw it up on FF. Granted it's not the finest piece of fanfiction history and has more grammatical flaws than I could shake a stick at, but..I did write it all in one whack at about 7am. That's not an excuse, more of a warning. I don't hate the basic plot though (I love me some ghosties) so i figured I'd put it up even if people hate it.
It's a Gen fic, it MIGHT have some 6927, but ..it's kinda up in the air at this point. There might be some hinted gayness and het couples. I can't resist the urge ;A;. But nothing TOO out there and crazy.
WARNINGS; veryverymuch AU ..Ghosts? Paranormal Shizz. Mist people..who..are in themselves a warning. Cussing. Byakuran. Fran. Yes. they are warnings in and of themselves. I have no idea. Bad writing skills and grammar? Bad sense of humor. Also some italian, but I don't speak italian so if you do and my translator spat out something completely wrong feel free to tell me XD
Disclaimer;All characters belong to Akira Amano, not myself. I just like to fuck with them on a regular basis. VERY regular basis.
--------
He shivered.
His family, well...his mother and himself anyway, had just moved into a VERY nice house outside of town. They could afford it due to his fathers very well paying job that is not mentioned ever in the house hold for reasons unknown to himself.
The house was large. Two stories with an spacious attic and basement. So many bed rooms he hadn't even visited all of them yet besides the first normal-ish one he claimed to be his new bedroom.
There were 5 master bathrooms. Far more than needed for the two people now living there. (this was not counting the smaller bathrooms that generally just housed a toilet and a sink)
There were supposedly around 20 fireplaces. He hadn't seen them all, but judging by the houses old age he wouldn't have been shocked to find out they had put in more fireplaces to keep the heating bill as low as they could, since surely a house this large that could fit a small army would have been trouble to keep warm in the winter months.
There was a library that would probably wish if it could that anyone in the family actually read, given the laughably huge collection of old probably collectable books it housed.
The floors were marble or authentic hard wood. The bedrooms had top of the line carpeting, which was so superior that even though they hadn't had it replaced in over 20 years it looked absolutely stunning and spotless. After 20 years the floors look better than his old bedroom had looked in 5.
The house was on 10 acres. 5 of those acres were simply forest. 2 acres were riding land for the stables that the house also came with. 1.5 acre was a sprawling garden that would make most gardeners either wet themselves in envy or fear. .5 of the acres was a good sized pond, full of decorative expensive fish and water flowers.
The house also came with something else...
Tsuna shivered again. He was seated in the largest living room, on a rather outdated gaudy couch. His body position screamed unease. Hunched over, face wavering back and forth between annoyance, fear and a pale sickness.
It was so crowded, they were all talking, they were talking so fast, so loud, so close...
"SHUT UP!!!!!"
He screamed.
To an empty home.
"If we don't get another paying customer soon I'm quitting."
"Mammon-san..."
"Oi, shut up pyon!"
"Sister, the dog is being loud again..where's the spray bottle.."
"Oi!! Shut up frog!"
"Ken...be quiet"
"You shut up too Kakipi, pyon!"
Rokudo Mukuro looked around the well sized office. His employees were being particularly annoying today.
You see, Mukuro ran a special type of business.
The 'Six Realms Paranormal Research' or just, 'S.R.P.R.'
Their job was to investigate and get rid of or capture any sort of paranormal activities going on in peoples homes or businesses. For a price of course. It was afterall a business.
He only hired the best.
Of course himself as the leader. Given he had the most experience and was the most sensitive to any sort of paranormal activity.
His foot soldiers, though not sensitive (but made good lab rats and bait if need be) were Kakimoto Chikusa and Joshima Ken.
His most trusted employee, though sensitive was still a novice in the field, was Chrome Dokuro.
His technically second in command though only because they were a powerful psychic and almost as sensitive as himself, but annoyed him so much sometimes he wanted to throttle the girl, was Mammon.
She in looks was similar to both Mukuro and Chrome, but the mirror image of the sweet girl.
Greedy, short, androgynous and..well greedy.
Generally as long as she was keeping quiet she was a good employee. However when cases ran short and they weren't getting the 'right' amount of pay, she'd start running her mouth.
She was far less annoying than her younger brother, Fran. Who was taller, though younger than his sister. The siblings both donned triangular tattoes on their faces, Fran's beneath his eyes, Mammon's on her cheeks.
They also both shared a healthy dose of androgyny, to the point when they first arrived on the job there had been a running bet on which gender they were.
Fran was by far the worst of the two.
Young, fairly smart, a psychic in training (though very uncute, unlike Chrome who was far better. Far, far quieter.)
He had all the subtlety of a toenail, and very much liked to show it at every given moment.
Ken and Fran would get into fights almost daily, leaving Chikusa and Chrome to try and get them to stop. (Ken was either happy, or put out by the fact Fran felt very little pain, and that Ken could hit, smack, claw and bite as much as he wanted without much of an effect. Besides the slow, sarcastic drawl coming from Fran.)
Mammon generally did nothing to stop the fights. Mukuro was under the impression that Fran annoyed his sister almost as much as he did everyone else.
"Oya, everyone calm down. We have a customer coming in who called earlier. He should be here in...Hm, well actually he was supposed to be here around 20 minutes ago. Either way, he didn't give many details besides he mentioned what sounded like more than one ghost and much paranormal activity. In a large home. In the country. On property."
Mukuro lips curved up as he saw Mammon's interest perked. Large homes on property in Japan were rare and generally indicated someone of wealth. Not to mention the prospect of more than one ghost and an extended investigation meant a large pay check this time around.
"What else do we k-" Mammon's question was cut short by a quite bell ringing in the front of the store, which indicated a customer had just walked in.
A timid, "He-hello?" proved that point. Mukuro smirked wider and swung his black boots off his desk and made his way towards the door to help the young lad in.
"Aah..I hope this is the right place..."
Mukuro tilted his head, the boy in the front office was no older than 17 and looking very much like a nervous human Tarsier with brown eyes far too large and worried. On second thought, probably more like a mouse.
"Hello there, I am Rokudo Mukuro. Owner of S.R.P.R. Can I help you?"
Or possibly some unknown to man creature, whose already large eyes could become about 5 times larger.
"A-ah!..Um. Yeah. Er. I'm ..Sawada Tsunayoshi. I ..spoke to you on the phone earlier? I think it was you anyway, if I wasn't you I'm sorry I don't always remember names well-"
"Quite alright. I did speak to you, yes. Why don't you come to the back and we can talk a bit more about your problem?"
Mukuro was already leading the startled boy through the door to the back room before he had finished speaking.
(He could almost hear the animal planet special now, 'The Tsunayoshi is a small woodland creature with very large eyes that help to spot predators. Skiddish and timid the Tsunayoshi is on the bottom of the food chain, so he must always be on the lookout..')
Mukuro made his way back to his desk and sat down, leaving a very nervous Sawada Tsunayoshi in the middle of the room glancing around at his employees that were looking at him in varying ways.
One was looking at him as though he were a walking, talking coinpurse. One was looking at his choice of clothing, but due to the tape that had been put across his mouth was unable to make a comment. One was looking at him as if he wondered if he yelled 'boo!' if the boy would run and hide. One had lost interest and was just playing with his yoyo's. One was being the sweetest, best human on the planet and actually just paying attention.
Bless her soul.
"So?"
(' When surprised the skittish Tsunayoshi will leap several feet into the air..')
"Hiee!..Er. Um. Yes?"
"..The case? You're being haunted are you not?"
"Oh! Yes. Yes I am..though..oh god that probably sounds really stupid doesn't it? Just dame-tsuna imagining thing again..oh god I should just leave..."
Situations like these brought people together, for instance, both Fran and Ken wore similar expressions. An expression of 'please god leave me alone with him for 5 minutes and I'll have him crying like a school girl'.
Beautiful.
"Mr. Sawada. I assure you, we're professionals. Professionals who hunt..investigate the paranormal. We'll not be mocking you. Please continue...though I must warn you our..services will be a bit expensive. Though I'm sure that's nothing compared to a true safe feeling of mind. Right?"
While Mukuro wasn't after everything shiney quite like Mammon, he was a realistic man who knew they needed to earn money to survive.
Up until their last case they had been successful and well paid, so it wasn't an issue.
------
Their last case...The mere thought of it brought a semi-frown to Mukuro's face. What seemed to be a normal, run of the mill haunting in an apartment complex turned out to be far more.
A nervous boy, much like the one here now, had shown up. Green eyes behind large glasses had been frantic.
Before their arrival to his home, the 'white figure' he had seen had been peaceful, though annoying.
Upon their arrival the figure had seemed to take offence.
And fuck if he wasn't strong.
Ken, Chikusa and Chrome had passed out the first hour there.
Fran was..what seemed like struck down hard enough to even have the unfeeling boy down for the count.
Mammon was cut, severely, and was taken to the hospital to get a blood transfusion.
Mukuro himself was beaten and wounded. This man didn't seem human.
White as snow, with eyes like amethysts. A smile never leaving the creatures face.
Mukuro had never truly experienced a demon before that day.
The day after everything went down, he had returned to the apartment to make sure their scared redheaded client fine. During the very much onesided fight, their client hadn't seemed to have been hurt much besides some collateral damage.
It was probably stupid to return, weak and wounded.
But it didn't matter.
The ...thing was gone. As was their client.
He seemed to have been spirited away.
Mukuro still checked to see if the redhaired boy would pop up again. Checked with the police. Checked with the morgues. Checked with the boys family who was living elsewhere. He would have checked with the boys friends if he had any, but the only person who knew the boy much was a blonde transfer student. They were both working in mechanics so the blonde knew of the redhead, but unfortunately the blonde didn't know enough Japanese to converse well.
Nothing.
Just..gone.
It was fair to say that every member of SRPR was eager to get back out on the field and settle the score with whatever is out there.
-----
"So, Mr. Sawada tell me everything, you sounded as though you were being haunted by more than one spiritual entity? Are they full body apparitions? Violent whatsoever?"
Tsunayoshi had been given a chair by (the ever wonderful and kind) Chrome and was sitting infront of Mukuro's desk. A bit calmer, Tsunayoshi only fiddled with his shirt a bit and wasn't looking around like someone was going to jump out and yell at him. Though, admittedly, there was still a fair chance of Ken doing that.
"Yeah well..Um. They aren't...violent. Just..annoying. They talk a lot. Sometimes a few of them seem angry or upset. Generally towards just this one. Oh..there's 8 of them by the way. And I can see them perfectly, I mean..they're kinda see through, but I mean otherwise it's normal. I thought when I first saw one it was just another realtor or something, and then he walked through the wall.."
"Oh? That's very interesting..and a bit familiar. It sounds like we're dealing with something pretty strong.."
While Mukuro sounded normal, (well..Mukuro normal anyway.), he was a bit..not worried, but this seemed far too similar to how their last case started. Except with far more possible enemies.
"Y-you think so?"
"Yes I do, so can you tell me a bit about them? Their ages and gender?"
"Oh well.. Let's see..they're almost all in their around..20's-30's. A few are a bit older. Only one is a lady..."
"Good to know. And you mentioned they talked a lot? Could you please tell us what they were saying, if you can remember."
Tsunayoshi suddenly looked very sheepish. His face turned pink and he looked at his lap.
"I..don't know what they're saying."
"...But you can hear them correct? Is it muffled?"
"N-no. It's...really clear. Just like anyone else talking."
"Then how the hell can you not know what they're saying you dimwit, pyon!"
Tsunayoshi looked startled as he glanced over towards the blonde man.
"Ken."
Ken looked away, it was best not to piss off Mukuro.
"Sorry for that, he has low blood sugar. Get's cranky sometimes when he hasn't eaten. Please continue."
"Oh..um. Well you see..it's.....well...I ..can hear them. But..they're....-"
"They're what?"
"...Speaking a different language and I have absolutely no idea what they're saying."
Blank looks from throughout the room followed.
Fran and Ken both looked almost pained from not being able to say something cutting and rude.
Mammon sighed and started writing her resignation letter in her head.
Chikusa was still just playing with his yo-yo's.
"What language are they speaking?.."
Mukuro looked towards Chrome, who had spoken the question. She must like the boy to a certain extent if she was getting this involved.
"Oh! Um. I think it's..well it's not English I don't think..French or..German maybe?"
The question asking returned to Mukuro as he asked-
"Do you remember anything that's been spoken? Just a fragment? That might help us figure out what language it is?"
Honestly, now, Mukuro wasn't entirely certain the boy was telling the truth. 8 full bodied ghosts speaking a foreign language in the outskirts of Namimori? A bit unlikely..
"Er..actually I remember something..A young blonde guy says this to me all the time..something like ' kome..in minoskoolo topo'? "
Mukuro's eyes widened a bit.
"Come un minuscolo topo?"
"Ah! Yes! That!"
"What the fuck? Italian doesn't sound anything like German or French! What the hell was your grade point average, pyon!"
"Ken. Ignore him please Tsunayoshi-kun. What you heard, like Ken said, was in fact Italian."
"Oh..um. Mind if..i.. I ask what it means?..He says it..almost daily."
"It means 'what an ugly skinny rat.', pyon!"
"Ken."
"Eh?"
"I apologise for my unmannered dog. Employee. "
Tsuna looked back and forth at the two curiously. He was quite certain Rokudo-san had just called the blonde man a dog..and saying employee afterwards wasn't going to make him unhear that. He was stupid, admittedly, but not deaf.
"It means..'Like a little (or tiny) mouse.' "
"Oh...well..um. Least he says it nicely. I get the feeling most of them are just insulting me..I'm..pretty good at knowing when I'm getting insulted..life time of experience." Tsunayoshi looked a bit put out at the end of that statement but Mukuro moved on as though he hadn't heard.
"Well the good news is, I have decided to accept your case. If you wish we can go to your home right this minute and investigate!"
Mukuro still didn't totally believe the kid, but he needed a paying case and this kid wasn't the sharpest kid in japan.
"R-right now?! Oh. Um sure! Great!"
"Good! Alright then. Ken, Chikusa, go grab the cameras. Frog, Frogette, get the EVP meters and whatever else you need. Chrome darling, please, if you don't mind could you go grab my black bag? Alright everyone lets go. Sawada, you can come in our van if you'd like. "
Tsuna jumped up, surprised at the people moving into action and hurriedly nodded. Maybe things would finally be back to normal.
----
"I can feel it Tony. People are coming...Best not to be too mean to them. Unless they're mean to my mousey...Afterall we must protect the family, right?"
".....For the love of God, Giotto. For the LAST time. My name is NOT Tony."
"You look like a Tony."
"-..And you can forget about the 'last time' part. You tell me that everyday."
"I'm hoping it'll finally sink in."
"Mm.. Not likely."
-------------------------------- tbc.