the wind's hymn | paused

Chapter 15

"Did anything interesting happen?--" Alec yawns, securing his flip phone in between his shoulder and ear as he pours steamed milk foam into his espresso, "--You don't wake up this early."

The soft light from the swollen sun filtering through the large double glazed window brightens the beautiful kitchen oak countertops--he still remembers Lyse sighing in admiration of her older sister's who married a wealthier man--and Wind carries the twittering of birds through the small gap into his ears, lifting his heart like the orange-pink bleeding into the reddish-orange sky.

"Are you sure you don't want to be paid for helping me tutor Tsuna? Don't tell me you don't need the money, you only keep enough for the bare necessities for every identity."

"My answer is still a no," the blond tucks a lock of slightly wet hair behind his ear, carefully carrying his baguette--Guinevere's recipe--and coffee to his low table. "I am not being paid to fulfil what I owe."

"This isn't about what you owe him!" Reborn hisses, "When you said you could cover the extra expenses of the trip I didn't think you'd cut into your budget!"

Alec purses his lips, setting himself down on a cushion over the portion of rug covering the hardwood floor.

"Send your current details, I'll pay. I'll forward the cost to Vongola, don't worry about Nono tracing you."

"...Alright." Alec reluctantly relents, spreading strawberry jam onto his cut baguette. "I'll... message you the details in our code soon."

"The Arcobaleno one or the general one?"

"Arcobaleno," he answers after a moment's pause. "There's something else you wanted to talk about, right?"

"It'll be chaos soon," Reborn's flip into a cheeky voice pulls Alec's lips into a smile as he shakes his head.

"I expect nothing less than the usual disaster-level chaos from you, Sunshine." He lets out a small laugh, eyes crinkling with his wide smile. "I worry for Tsuna sometimes, you'd have killed him with a stroke by now if I weren't here."

"Is that a challenge?"

Alec can imagine the Sun Arcobaleno's eyes gleaming and a smirk playing on his lips. He huffs out another laugh, drifting into a short pause when he furrows his eyebrows in thought before he sighs, mulling over his words.

"...I do think he forgets you're the World's Best Hitman and I'm a retired assassin," he confesses, holding the phone next to his ear, "I thought he'd be more careful after what I've taught and told him. He's either very trusting, trusting and careless or very careless. I haven't re-tested the extent of his thinking but he has improved. I just don't know how much exactly. I know he believes I came here to get away from Tokyo, and I did. It's what he now thinks after knowing I've killed three people recently."

"You want me to help him realise the gravity of the situation?"

"Yeah." Alec exhales softly, "I've talked to Kyo about assassins coming here. He and the disiplinary commitee can deal with the bodies in the scenario they actually get killed."

"You aren't participating?" Reborn asks curiously.

A smile curves the blond's lips, teeth peeking behind his lips. "Are you referring to Alexandre Mercier or Ghost?"

"Reassuring," the hitman mumbles, "I wouldn't even know unless you tell me like you did with Nono's sons. Maybe the next one dies after choking on his saliva. You only did that twice."

"Hey," Alec frowns, "I take my jobs very seriously. You know that."

"Mhmm."

"Oh, c'mon!" he complains, "You're not getting any ideas from me. I've become immune to your little trick."