DISCOVERY ➴ Chrollo x Reader

XLVII. Awake

My second day of work went much more smoothly, it was nice to serve drinks or food and to be able to chitchat with the people who appeared to be the regulars. I even dabbled a bit at baking by helping Mrs. Drouff out. It was a relaxing work, sure there were busier hours but nothing seemed to fray my nerves. Nothing neared the horrendous feeling of driving through rush hour with an impatient passenger. It was different... and it wasn't bad.

On the contrary, I found myself enjoying the day immensely, even when Mrs. Drouff disappeared for hours to take care of the inn next door. I didn't panic. The pub was nearly empty, everyone seemed to be working, everyone but a two or three customers.

I drew closer to one who had just entered, newspaper tucked under his arm, curly navy blue hair that reached his shoulders and almost covered his eyes. He was pale and skinny, and seemed to be deeply enthralled with the newspaper as I stepped towards him.

Upon closer inspection, his eyes were purplish, and he had such beautiful eyelashes, he was... so handsome...

His eyes snapped up from the newspaper and took me in as a smile stretched his pale lips. "Thank you, you're not unattractive yourself~" His voice was incredibly velvety, smooth, and my cheeks burnt with embarrassment as blood rushed to them.

"I- can't believe I said that out loud." I stammered as I awkwardly searched for my notepad to take his order. I couldn't draw my eyes away from his though, no matter how utterly horrified I was at my mistake.

"Oh, You didn't..." His polite smile turned into a wolfish grin, and I felt dumbfounded. Was this attractive man actually flirting with me? At a pub? In the middle of nowhere? I was wearing aunt Bertie's coat, for god's sake! Had I fallen into a different dimension? He didn't seem to mind my loss of words and what could only be as a vacantly confused stare. He offered me his hand with a rather over the top and incredibly posh flick of the wrist, "Daisuke Mori."

It took me longer than I will ever admit to realize that what he had just said was in fact his name, and I swallowed, a moment of hesitation crossing my mind as I took his hand, "Y/N."

He had awfully cold hands, but I shushed the thoughts of the feel of his creamy skin away, knowing full well he couldn't be a mind-reader but not daring to take chances.

"It is a pleasure," He continued with a kind smile, and I shuddered once I realized his charm reminded me of a certain priest, "I'd like a cup of coffee."

"oH! yes, sorry, yes... I'll be right back." I rushed back to the counter and prepared his drink as I chastised myself for what seemed to be a weakness for smooth talkers. It didn't help that they were usually of uncharacteristic beauty. I took several deep breaths behind the counter before approaching with his cup of coffee.

"Thank you, Y/N." He took his cup with one hand, his other holding his folded newspaper. I nodded, and before I could turn my back to him, he hid his smile with the white cup while requesting one more thing. "I'd also like a friendly conversation with a beautiful server."

It should be illegal for handsome men to sip their coffee while looking straight at you. I looked around, looking for an excuse to cut this nerve inducing interaction short, but alas, the universe wanted me to speak to this handsome man. "Alright, Mr. Mori, are you a local?"

He motioned for the chair across from him, and I sat at the edge of it, ready to leap to action if a customer walked in. "No, just passing by. Have you lived here for long?"

I gulped and decided I didn't have to lie, I could simply omit details. "I moved in recently, actually. So, you're travelling?" Making the conversation about him seemed like the safer choice, he nodded, sipping his coffee, and I continued, "Is it for work or pleasure?"

"Work, sadly, I'm a lawyer..." He sighed, but then with an eerily cheerful voice he added, "Specialised in violent crimes... like murder or arson!"

I shuddered, feeling it hit too close home, and felt sympathetic for him, defending criminals or even standing against them surely wasn't easy, "My, what a hard job you have."

He nodded, placed his cup on the table, and retrieved a business card from the front pocket of his loose white shirt. "If you ever need my services, all you have to do is call."

My eyes widened, and I quite literally felt a blockage on my throat as I tried to ignore the nasty idea that he had an idea of who I was and what I had done with Chrollo to get here. "A. Why would I need your services?" I forced a chuckle, it sounded more like a cough than anything. "Do you take me for a murderer, Mr. Mori?"

"Hmm, I believe in good people being swayed and forced to do bad things..." He smiled politely, and intently ignored my second question. Because he would've said yes? Because he knew. He knew. Oh lord. Was he going to contact the authorities? He couldn't know. How would he?

I forced a tight-lipped smile and took his card with a traitorous, trembling hand. "Thank you, I'll be sure to remember you when I kill someone." Blessed were the lords for the snark that overcame me during the moment of paranoia. He couldn't know. How would he?

"Mhm... or when you burn a car to the ground..."  My blood ran cold, and he smirked, finished his coffee and dropped his newspaper next to me on the table. "It was lovely meeting you, Y/N, thank you for the chat and the coffee." He left the pub soon after, but I sat frozen at that table, eyes fixed on the twelfth page of a local York New newspaper, which read: Y/N L/N Wanted for theft and arson, and in tiny letters explained how Falco was missing a single taxi and how he found it odd that I wanted to quit.

The rest of the day passed in a panicked blur, I kept staring at the door waiting for Daisuke Mori, the lawyer, to storm into the Feathered Snail followed by police officers. Nerves on the edge, hands trembling so much that some of the patrons asked Mrs. Drouff to lit up the fireplaces on my behalf. 

Once my shift was over, I ran to our house, banged the door close and called out desperately. "CHROLLO"

I checked the kitchen, which was cold and empty, "CHROLLO?" I ran for the living room, it all stood as I had left it. "Chrollo?"

Warm tears ran down my cheeks before I could stop them. Where the fuck had he gone? We needed to get out of here as soon as possible! He knew! He knew! The article had an old blurry picture of me, the one I absolutely despised, but that sadly had been used on my company ID.

He couldn't be too far. He always came back. He always did. As long as I stayed in place, he'd find me... I ran to the bathroom with some scissors and cut my hair, chunks of it, made it different, awfully different. It looked bad, the person staring back at me in the mirror wasn't me.

I stayed up all night, waiting for him to come back. He didn't. Was Mr. Mori offering me a helping hand? How many times had I thought it was too late to fix my situation when I could've, in fact, reached out and asked for help?

The sun rose and there was still no sign of him. I styled my awfully cut hair to resemble something decent, picked a few clothes off aunt Bertie's wardrobe and walked out of the house a shell of myself.

I had no idea what to do, so I'd stick to waiting for Chrollo to return... if I was arrested in the meantime... well... I'd have to accept it.

My head ached too much to think of anything better. Was there even anything better at this point? People used to talk about the point of no return as if it was something clear, nitid, well drawn... I couldn't even place it, but had a daunting certainty that I had crossed it...

Author's Note: Don't you love it when I follow a semi fluffy chapter with absolute chaos?

mandatory: DAI-CHAN SUPREMACY!!!!!!!!