"Boss?..." Hide froze and his mind whirled around millions of possibilities of who this might be. And if he had been regnorized already. Of course he would be! Simple red hair won"t hide his face!
"Boss? It"s you right?"
"..."
"Boss please, it"s Trigger. What happened!? Please boss it"s you right??"
"Trigger?..."
Hide regnorized that name. Of course he regnorized it. He was the one who gave me this name. Without any further hesitation and slight hope for this to be real Hide turned around. Facing the person who stood there with a begging gaze full of hope.
It really was Trigger. The golden blonde hair, slit golden eyes and dark skin, from the tip of his head to the bottom of his shoes. It really was Trigger. Hide felt his throat tighten as he gazed at the ragged look of his first ever subordinate.
"Boss! You"re alive! And free!"
The blonde man took a step forward and tackled him into a hug. They would have fallen if Hide hadn"t used his ability. He hugged his friend back as the man sniffled and cried into his shoulder like a child.
"Hey now.. Don"t cry Trigger. What will Annabeth say if she saw you like this?"
"Annabeth died Boss."
Hide"s grip on Trigger"s back tightened.
"Tell me more…"
"Not here… let"s get out of the island first."
Mutely Hide nodded. His mind trying to progress the thought of Annabeth"s death. Hasn"t he lost enough? Haven"t they lost enough? He mulled over the thought as the grief over his familigia"s death hit him full force.
He was so lost in thought that he hadn"t even noticed Trigger pulling him into the boat. Only coming out of it when Trigger started talking.
"Hide just… What happened to famiglia?"
"They died…"
By G.o.ds, his voice sounded so small…
"They died. Just because I was arrogant, because I f.u.c.king went against the one rule we all know should be followed at all costs."
"You trusted, didn"t you?"
"I did, and they paid for it. From what I heard from you. Annabeth too…"
He lowered his head, staring at the bottomless ocean beneath them. The boat was moving fast, maybe he could fall right now…
Suddenly hands roughly grabbed his shoulders and turned him towards themselves.
Trigger was glaring at him with those eyes again.
"oh… He must hate me now…"
"William! Look at me. What happened to Annabeth wasn"t your fault! Heck! What happened to the famiglia wasn"t your fault!"
"But I trusted Trigger!! I f.u.c.king trusted and they died because I trusted!"
"Do you trust me?"
Why…. Why is he asking that? Of course he did! They were.. they were…
Instead of answering Hide nodded again. His head still lowered, starting into the ground. Trigger"s voice was low now…
"Did you trust Annabeth?"
Another nod
"How about Edward? Lana? Even Dymitri!"
Hide just nodded again, unable to answer all those questions. When Trigger moved and slammed him into the wall.
"THEN f.u.c.kING LOOK AT ME! LOOK AT ME AND SAY IT!"
"YES! YES I TRUSTED THEM! I TRUST YOU! HOW CAN YOU EVEN ASK THAT!?"
"You finally looked at me…"
Hide blinked and stared at the small smile on Trigger"s face. There were tears gathered in his eyes and he looked rather silly like this but Hide couldn"t bring himself to say anything other than-
"T-Trigger?.."
"You"ve been avoiding my eyes since I told you about Anna"s death."
He let go of Hide and wiped away his tears sniffing a little. Then he turned golden eyes burning with determination and met with Hide"s own violet ones.
"Look William, what happened wasn"t your fault! You aren"t wrong in trusting us. That woman is the one at fault because she is the one that chose to break your trust!"
"B-But-"
"No buts Boss. That"s the rule right?"
Then his eyes softened with something behind them that didn"t irritate Hide to look at. It wasn"t a pity cause Trigger will never do that to him. It was an understanding…
"You didn"t grieve properly at all huh?"
Even his voice was soft and before Hide knew it. The tears were running down his face, leaving salty taste in his mouth as he licked his lips. His eyes stung too, he was bawling wasn"t he? Like a little kid, the great Don Hide was bawling his eyes out.
Trigger hugged him, crooning soft words of comfort. The b.a.s.t.a.r.d was crying too, Hide could tell because he was sniffling as well.
Hide was tired…
He was just too d.a.m.n tired!
And Trigger was here! The same Trigger who tried to protect him so hard. The same Trigger who swore loyalty to him first and followed through it no matter what. The Trigger who abandoned his old name so he could take their past and bury it where no one can reach!
Hide felt safe, he felt safe enough to cry, safe enough to show his weakness. This was Trigger after all and there were only the two of them on this boat. So Hide cried like he hadn"t done since that one fateful day. He cried for everything he lost.
His family, his brother, his innocence, and all their future. He cried for Eliza and his brother"s unborn child. He cried for Trigger and Annabeth. And finally, he cried for himself on this automated boat taking them home.
But where was home?
Home had been the mansion in the Underworld city surrounded by his famiglia (who was he kidding? They were his family!) .
Home had been the old childhood house in the countryside.
Home was…
… Home was Eliza and Louis"s little apartment in the Hawthorn city.
Hide wanted to go home to everyone. Can"t G.o.d allow him just that?
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
When they(mainly Hide) stopped crying, they were already nearing the Hawthorn city port close to midnight. So they got ready to stop and get off of the but.
And they were just doing that, tying the boat so it doesn"t float away.
Hide"s eyes were red and puffy(So were Trigger"s but who cares? He was a crybaby anyway.) They sting and he was hiccuping. The former Underworld King did not like this at all.
"I hate crying"
"Hey come on now. It"s good for you."
"it makes me look like a mess so no it"s not"
Trigger laughed as he sheepishly scratched the back of his head. And Hide himself hid a small smile.
Once done with the boat, they covered it and started walking away from the boat. It was past midnight now and n.o.body was here anyway.
They got into Hide"s car, and started driving. When Trigger decided to ask the question.
"Hey Boss. I heard you talking to Camelia"
"Oh?"
"Are you really planning to use Fleur famiglia"s name?"
"Yes, what about it?"
"Why not use ours Boss? We still have people in the other locations! If you use it and win, Cameli will be the new queen of the underworld-"
"Hush Trigger."
"B-But-"
"No buts"
Hide hushed the blonde man who looked slightly offended. With a sigh, he got ready to explain.
"Trigger, do you really think it"s a good idea to let it out that I"m free and not in prison yet?"
With a blush Trigger shook his head but he still looked little offended so Hide continued. Taking it as a sign that the stubborn man still haven"t understood.
"If people find out I"m free. They will know the person in the prison is not me but in fact my brother Louis."
"Wait….Louis is in the prison!?"
"Yeah he switched with me. Anyway stop interrupting me."
"Ｙ-Yes Boss.."
"So if they find out then they will start hunting me. Which we cannot afford with how Eliza is pregnant and we don"t have the manpower necessary to protect her as well as ourselves. Let"s not even mention the influence needed."
He left it at that and Trigger picked it up, while a little slow sometimes, Trigger was smart. There was a reason why he was his right hand man.
" So you"re planning on using Camelia"s family to win the tournament then challenge them into a fight with our own family name. And until the finals we have enough time to gather and contact the rest of the famiglia."
"That"s right. So now that you understood it, what can you tell me about the state of the Underworld after I was caught?"
Without any further word, Trigger started answering. Easily falling back into the right hand man role which Hide was proud of.
"After you were caught, the Underworld went into the dissarey. There seemed to have been clashes and almost all out war between many famiglia"s. The Fleur, Hoshiumi, Commercio family stayed neutral to all this. The news only reached Annabeth and I as well as the rest of the family on the day of your trial. So Anna and I started heading back to the city when we were suddenly ambushed and-"
He hesitated, pausing mid sentence. Taking a deep breath to calm himself, Trigger continued professionally.
" And Annabeth sacrificed herself to buy me a time to escape. I arrived back to the city on the 4th day after your trial. And have been neutral until now. That"s all boss"
"Thank you Trigger."
"No need to thank me Boss. I am your subordinate after all."
It pained Hide how forced and broken Trigger sounded after Annabeth"s death. His hand reached out and took the blonde man"s, while his other hand drove.
"Trigger, Whoever killed Annabeth and hurt you will pay back"
"Thank you.."
They fell silent after that. But Hide was glad that Trigger at least lived to come back to him. Annabeth was a good friend but she cannot compare to the bond he shared with Trigger.
And anyone who broke his brother in everything but blood will payback and they will payback thousand times more.
The demons inside his hand laughed.
"Yes, like that.Hunt them down like prey and burn them down. Just like that~"
"Hey Boss… What will you do after you reveal yourself?"
Trigger"s quiet voice rang through the car as he asked curiously. Hide smirked slightly.
"Well that"s something for then and not now."
"I guess…"
"Anyway, where are you staying again?"
"Oh, let me lead you."
Then the blonde man started babbling about a bunch of directions as he tried to tell Hide where he lived. With a long suffering sigh and regretting his decision to ask Trigger.
He hushed the other man with a look and turned on the GPS. Putting the name of the place they wanted to reach.
"Please turn right now"
With that taken care of, the silence besides the directions of GPS reigned the car.
Twitch..
Click..
Tap..
Pat… Pat...pat…
"What is it!?"
Hide finally asked Trigger as he drove. The man went "Eep!" and shrugged, mumbling something.
"Just say it."
"The silence is uncomfortable.."
The man mumbled and oh, how childish. Hide felt his eye twitch and ignored the man.
Then the other starts twitching again,tapping and just fidgeting without anything to do. Just as Hide was about to lose his temper, they finally arrived.
Hide pulled the car into the stop, parking it behind the dumpster as the two men walked towards Trigger"s temporary residence.
It was a modest 2 story building with rather plain designs, in a very plain and boring neighborhood. "It"s so una.s.suming" he thought sarcastically as he followed Trigger inside the house.
Locking the door behind them, Trigger walked towards the kitchen with Hide following after him. Looking at his boss the blonde man asked.
"Anything you want?"
"Do you have a coffee?"
Looking through the fridge, Trigger answered.
"Only instant ones."
"Then I"ll boil the water"
"And I"ll make us some sandwiches."
They both moved around to do just that as Hide got the water boiler and Trigger pulled out ingredients from inside the fridge as well as two packets of instant coffee.
Finished with the task of boiling water, Hide took out two mugs from the cupboard and put the instant coffee in the before pouring the hot water and mixing them together.
With his task done, he walked towards the table and set the mugs down. And sat down, soon after him Trigger finished with his task of making them something to eat and placed freshly made tuna sandwiches on the table between them.
Without further ado, the two starving men dug into the midnight snack(or does this count as early breakfast??). Taking a bite from his sandwich, Hide grilled Trigger with questions.
"Who are you in contract with?"
That has Trigger pausing from taking a bite from his sandwich and looking up at Hide. The blonde thought for a second before responding to his question. He swallowed down his food and-
"I"m in contact with the staff from the Switzerland Mansion, the j.a.panese Yakuza house that we own. And the Dawn mansion work staffs"
Hmm that was a rather short list, these people won"t be enough if they wanted to take back the Underworld. Thinking for a bit Hide turned to Trigger.
"get in contact with the headquarters in Mongolia, Italy and Britain. Arrange face tile with them of Thursday"
"Yes boss!!"
"Also, you will not accompany me to my meeting with Camelia on Wednesday. Instead I want you to guard Eliza. So I would be introducing you to her tomorrow. I will text you the address so come around by lunch."
"Okay boss. But are you sure Camelia won"t do anything?"
"Yes I am sure. She owes me a favor, I"m just using that. Also give me your phone number"
Taking out their phones the two exchanged numbers. Then Hide continued as they finished eating.
"I missed you brother.."
"I missed you too William"