`Silver Snow
Chapter Seven
I: Beloved Both
The Future – Ten Years Later
Countless well wishes and motivational words were passed within the family, the last moments of their time together slowly ticking away.
Miyuki glanced at Hibari with a soft smile, masking the ebbing sadness and pain.
That night, they met again.
They sat side by side in silence in Miyuki's room, looking at the calming view of the lake in contrast with their chaotic emotions. Her raging heart was threatening to explode in a burst of emotions so strong she found it so hard just keeping them in.
"I won't forget you." She finally said, letting out a sigh and allowing her head to gently rest on his shoulder.
"Hn."
And somehow, she didn't retort, didn't scold him for his one-syllable habit that usually irritated her. She was contented with that, contented with simply being by his side for the last night that she would be able to see him. Because it was these little things that caused her to fall in love with him.
"You know, I wish the younger you would be more sociable, because that will solve all the problems, wouldn't it?" She chided him playfully.
He raised an inquisitive eyebrow at her. "There's nothing I can do about that, baka. You're just going to have to find a way to make me fall in love with you all over again." A smirk was playing on his lips.
"Oh? Are you sure that it wouldn't be the other way round?" Her fingers entwined with his.
He simply glanced at her dismissively and began to carry her in princess style, walking out of her room. "So… would you like to tell me where you're kidnapping me to now?"
"I'm kidnapping you to my room."
"Tsk, I never knew you were that kind of person."
He ignored her comment as usual and placed her on the ground. "Cover your eyes." He instructed.
"And let you do what to me?"
But he had already gone to the other end of the room, reaching into his wardrobe. She closed her eyes and waited.
Shortly after, something soft was placed in her hands. …Fur? Her fingers traced the outline of the object, trying to make out what it was.
"Can I open my eyes now?" She said, trying to take a peek at the object only to feel his cold hands covering her eyes gently.
"Hn…"
"Please?"
He sighed, giving in and studying her expression as she took in the sight of the objects.
She looked down, using her hair to mask her face.
"Miyuki." He asked, a tinge of concern surfacing. It was only with her that he could let his guard down this much, to completely take of his mask as if it wasn't ever there. She was the only one who had managed to break this mask of his, this mask which took years to build.
"And I promised myself I wouldn't cry today, you idiot." She pressed them against her cheek. Because it was so, so sweet. She couldn't stop herself from crying when she looked at the two rabbit soft toys, both pure, snow white in colour. One was adorning a tiny, silk purple ribbon on its right ear and holding two silly-looking tonfas, and the other was adorning a blue ribbon, flimsy wings and a miniature bow. "How.. Why?"
"Hmph, you made them yourself, and gave them silly names like 'Miyuchi' and 'Hibachi'. Giving Miyuchi to me before a major battle which you couldn't attend because of your injuries, you told me 'please remember that I'm always by your side no matter what.' And so that gave me power and motivation. Because I promised you that I would never leave your side.
Now, I'm giving this one to you, Miyuki. Because you will always be in my heart."
She nodded, tears still streaming down her face, as he pushed her head against his firm chest, her fists tightly clutching the fabric of his shirt.
"I'll miss you."
Her hand reached into her bag and squeezed the rabbit tightly. What am I thinking? I had promised him, hadn't I? I had promised everyone that I was going to put in her best effort for the family.
And so I'm going to fight. I'm going to fight to win this war, to restore my family, to build a future. Then, I'll come back, I'll come back as a stronger person who would be worthy of being a member of this family. So wait for me, please. Wait for me to come back.
Her eyes were full of resolution as she looked at her family one last time confidently. "We will come back victorious, and protect everyone in the family."
They're Mafia, they fight.
The Present
"We don't have the time to linger around in the present. Find all the other members and we'll meet at the Namimori Shrine with the ten-year bazooka tomorrow. Miyuki-san, we haven't officially introduced you to the rest of the Vongola members in the present yet so would you mind waiting at somewhere you'd feel comfortable at for now…?"
"I'm fine. Please go ahead." She sent him a reassuring smile. That meant that she only had one place she could go to – the place she had rented near Namimori Middle. That empty, quiet place where no one else was. She felt herself already missing the warmth from Hibari and Kusakabe, but she had to live with it – the Hibari here wasn't the Hibari she had gotten close with step by step. She had to start anew, but that was okay, wasn't it? He would still be the Hibari she knew.
…Wouldn't he?
That thought alone, sparked an irresistible pull towards the place where she knew she would be able to find the Hibari Kyoya of the present – Namimori Middle School.
She effortlessly jumped over the fence of the school and dashed up the stairs. He'd be at the rooftop, wouldn't he? She would just take a little peek, that was all, just to see and remind herself how Hibari looked like in the present. Slowly opening the door to the rooftop, she glanced through the gap cautiously.
And there he was, lying on the rooftop with Hibird flying close by, as if he had no other care in the world. A relaxed expression was worn on his face – his eyes were closed, his lips pulled into a straight, soft line, and his hair lightly brushing past the corners of his face, along with the wind. Still so hopelessly careless when he was alone. And when he while he was with you, Miyuki. A memory whispered out to her, beckoning her to move closer. Her heart, full of reminiscence, seemed to remember this feeling, as it started to pull her, towards this man whom she knew, and yet was so unfamiliar with. Oh, the irony – that she had to fall in love with the him in the future before she even knew him in the past. A carefree laugh escaped her lips. I miss you. His lush eyelashes intricately overlapped each other, slightly damp from the tears of his eyes.
Lost in her thoughts as she absent-mindedly opened the door to her lonely apartment, her heart nearly jumped out at the loud voice that echoed in the room.
". YOU'RE FINALLY HOME, MIYUKI ESTELLA DE LUCA!" A blur of long, silver hair clouded her vision.
"Shishishi, we waited a reeeeeeally long time for you, princess." Wait, was that a tiara? Did he even have eyes?
"Ahhh~ Mi. Yu. Ta. N. I never thought you would be such a beautiful young girl." That was a fashion disaster.
Wait. Just wait a second. What on earth was going on? Calm down, reason things out. There's no reason to be so panicked, right? After all, THERE WERE JUST SEVEN PEOPLE SHE DIDN'T EVEN KNOW HAVING A PARTY IN HER KITCHEN.
"Trash, keep your volume down." Gangster?
"Boss, I'm so very sorry for any inconvenience caused. Do you need anything? I'll get it for you." Huh?
"Oi, I'm missing an important client and an opportunity to earn a huge amount of money while sitting here, mind you." Acrobaleno…?
"… EVERYBODY, SHUT UPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP. WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING IN MY APARTMENT, EATING MY FOOD, SITTING ON MY FURNITURE?"
"Miyu-tan, don't be so colddd~ After all, from records, you sound like a really nice girl underneath that strong façade of yours." The gay guy smiled freakishly at her.
She had just experienced an emotional ordeal, returned to the present after experiencing such a horrible and bleak future, and now these hooligans were crowding around in her kitchen. What was the world even coming to?
Oh no, no, no. This was all too much for her to handle.
"VOIIIIIIIIII. TRASH, STOP CROWDING AROUND HER BEFORE WE EVEN EXPLAIN TO HER THE SITUATION."
"Shishishi, princess, don't worry we'll treat you reeeeeal nice. Just go take a nap for the time being…" And that was all that was said before a hard blow was dealt to her head.
"Oh dear~ Miyu-tan's still not waking up. I told you to be gentle on her, didn't I? Now look what you've done!" Miyuki felt her head spinning like a tornado as her vision and hearing slowly came back to her.
"VOIIIIIIIIIIIIIII I COULDN'T HELP IT, WE NEEDED TO GET THINGS DONE FAST."
All at once, a surge of pain seemed to shoot through her head as her hands unconsciously clutched her head, letting out a moan. "The princess' awake." The self-proclaimed Prince grinned widely.
"What the…?" was the first thing she managed to murmur as she got up, causing the condition of her spinning head to exacerbate. She briefly glanced at the surroundings and realised she was in a lavish room with her head gently rested on a velvet cushion. The walls were painted with a pretty opal colour and seemed to sparkle in the brilliant light emitted from the chandeliers.
"VOIIIIII. We didn't mean to crack your skull, Miyuki. 'was no other freaking way to do a clean job. Hime wanted us to—"
"Hold on a minute. Firstly, who are you, where am I, and why the heck did you bring— No, scratch that, kidnap me here?" Miyuki looked at them with accusing eyes, demanding answers.
"Well we had no choice to. Since that bakahime looked so hopeful when we mentioned that we thought we had finally found you. She rarely even asks for anything because she feels so damn guilty for even being here." A seemingly affectionate tone leaked into the mysterious, cloaked acrobaleno's tone as she appeared nonchalant.
Just then, another distant voice echoed throughout the room.
"Minna, what's going on? I mean, you guys are always noisy but today is a particularly…" The girl at the hallway stopped at the sight of the one person who in the middle of the room – Miyuki. She stared at her, stunned, her blue eyes brimming with tears. "Estella."
It had taken a moment for it to settle in.
"Estella."
She knew that voice. That gentle, quiet voice that guided her through her first years during the difficult period that consisted of the same routine everyday – classes, trainings, drills. Because she had been through it too, and she understood.
How could she not recognise it?
The voice she came to love, the voice she came to miss, the voice she yearned to hear after such a long time.
But what a scourge of Fate would cause her beloved sister to end up in this state? Miyako was just sitting there, confined to a wheelchair. Even the long, brown hair that Miyuki had adored had been stained by the effects of some misplaced disease, tainting it a sickly silver. The faces of the strangers around her tensed and pain infected their originally jovial, teasing expression.
"O..onee-chan! I missed you." She whispered before her feet swept off the couch and dashed towards her sister, hugging each other tightly as though they had never seen in years. In this case, that was precisely the reason why. Sky blue eyes met sky blue eyes, their collision so beautiful, so pure. The tears couldn't stop streaming down the contours of her face as she asked her, "what happened?"
"Hey, it's nothing, Estella. It's just a disease the doctors never had heard of – it's not life threatening, it just restricts my mobility. And I've got a new hair colour, a change from my usually hazel hair, isn't it?" Miyako stroked Miyuki's hair reassuringly, her kind smile radiating warmth and comforting her. That was just like the Miyako she knew – always the silent one who gave support behind the scenes and was always comforting others even though she might be in a predicament that was against all odds. "You're still beautiful. You will always be, Onee-chan. Please tell me what happened, right from that day which we were separated from each other. I was always looking for you, even though they insisted that you were 'missing'. I wanted to see you again, so badly."
"I will tell you, Miyuki. I promise I will – but will you be willing to wait until I'm ready to do so? I know it's hard on you, I know that you have to know, but I just need a little bit of time, to set my thoughts straight and prepare my heart for this long, painful journey." Miyako's tone seemed to be concealing something much more major then she could express right now. And then Miyuki realised, that it was just like the expression she wore when she thought about her past, the horrible memories that clouded her mind. But she had Hibari there to save her, to comfort her, and she wondered if her sister had someone who could do that for her.
Because if not, then she would. Even if it meant abandoning her hard-earned position in her new family. She couldn't just leave her closest kin, her sister alone in the lurch. She had to help her.
She understood the importance of having someone beside you when you faced the tormenting flashbacks of when you were mistreated, when you were so desperate all you wanted to was to hurry up and die. She was sure that Miyako had experienced similar events after their separation. They were both outcasts of the De Luca family.
"Yes, I will."
-End of Chapter Seven
Chapter Seven.1 – Omake
Advertising Goes Haywire – Part II
Lost in her thoughts as she absent-mindedly opened the door to her lonely apartment, her heart nearly jumped out at the loud voice that echoed in the room.
". YOU'RE FINALLY HOME, MIYUKI ESTELLA DE LUCA!" A blur of long, silver hair clouded her vision.
"Shishishi, we waited a reeeeeeally long time for you, princess." Wait, was that a tiara? Did he even have eyes?
"Ahhh~ Mi. Yu. Ta. N. I never thought you would be such a beautiful young girl." That was a fashion disaster.
Wait. Just wait a second. What on earth was going on? Calm down, reason things out. There's no reason to be so panicked, right? After all, THERE WERE JUST SEVEN PEOPLE SHE DIDN'T EVEN KNOW HAVING A PARTY IN HER KITCHEN.
"Trash, keep your volume down." Gangster?
"Boss, I'm so very sorry for any inconvenience caused. Do you need anything? I'll get it for you." Huh?
"Oi, I'm missing an important client and an opportunity to earn a huge amount of money while sitting here, mind you." Acrobaleno…?
"… EVERYBODY, SHUT UPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP. WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING IN MY APARTMENT, EATING MY FOOD, SITTING ON MY FURNITURE?"
"Well, nothin' much, all we're doing is…"
"TASTING THE NEW PIZZA HUT CHEEEEZY PIZZA. It has 7 types of different cheeses, which are sure to make your mouth water as you see them. Quickly grab your phones and order now! Call 62353535~ Pizza Hut delivery!"
Definitions:
Bakahime: Stupid princess, an affectionate term
Author's Note.
HELLO MY DARLING READERS!
Now I would have to apologise again for my super long break due to a bombardment of exams and projects ): I really feel very guilty and I hope that I will be able to update more frequently now. My exams just ended today so I'm feeling really high and cheerful now (: So honestly it was kinda hard to write this emo chapter.
Actually, I have started writing this chapter quite a long time ago, but subsequently got stuck at multiple places and never really managed to decide on a direction that this fanfiction is going towards. And I finally decided on one. Like seriously, finally. Sigh, and I have no idea whether you guys will like it, so please tell me what you think in your reviews! Honestly, I don't really know how the fanfiction is going to continue developing in the future, but I'll see it as it goes. I mean, that's the way I've done things so far. It would be nice if you could suggest some ideas too. I have a rough gage of what I'm going to do but it's still kinda unrefined.
Story traffic right now: 2,979 hits, 16 favourites and 20 alerts. 30 reviews so far. This really really encourages me, guys. I got 10 reviews since the publishing of my latest chapter! I FEEL SO TOUCHED (': 'coz I will be super super super duper motivated if each one of you took a few minutes to leave a review for me. Reviews = feedback = love&motivation! (: AGAIN! OH YES I REALLY LOVE YOU GUYS T_T
This chapter is a little shorter than usual, but I'll leave it as it is so I can brainstorm on how to continueee 8D Oh and this chapter marks the start of a new arc! The present arc (okay not really) I don't know what to call it but I'll be using roman numerals to mark it this time. I will probably be separating the story into a few parts, into "arcs".
I sincerely hope you have enjoyed this chapter! :D
Please remember to read & reviewbecause if you don't read you can't review and if you don't review I'll be sad! D: (and lose the motivation to write.)