hearts in chains: viii
He woke so early the following morning that it could almost be considered nighttime. The brunette recognized the hospital ward, and surveyed his surroundings. In the bed directly next to his on the right, the silver-haired, self-proclaimed right-hand man of himself was there, breathing lightly, as though he were on the brink of waking. It wasn’t surprising-Gokudera had never been a heavy sleeper. To his left, Yamamoto, looking equally as battered as his right hand, bandages littering his form from head to toe, visible as all of them were clad in only the hospital garb of the thin gowns. Directly across from him, Lambo was snoring away peacefully, regardless of the gash on his left arm that he was sleeping on. There were two beds on either side of him that were empty, and Tsuna surmised that they must’ve belonged to Hibari and Reborn, neither of them to be constrained to a bed for more than an hour or so, especially not with other people.
So then…it hadn’t been a dream. That scenery he’d found himself in when he’d regained control was real.
“So you’re awake,” A voice behind him said quietly, and he almost jumped, but forced himself not to through years of training. “It’s about time.”
“Reborn,” He let out a sigh of relief at his voice. “I figured you would’ve been gone a long time ago.”
“I had questions for you, stupid,” The man said, brutally elbowing him in the injured side. The youth rubbed the spot, wincing quietly, as screaming would’ve warranted another hit. “You weren’t really sleeping well, so I figured I’d wait for you to get up and tell me what the hell happened.”
His caramel eyes were downcast and his lips pressed into a thin line. “In the morning, alright? And not here.”
The man’s dark eyes narrowed, but he sighed and headed to the door. “Alright. But if it isn’t good, I’ll kill you.”
Tsuna winced a little when he slammed the door behind himself and laughed bitterly to no one. Oh, it’s ‘good’ alright.
…
From the chambers of the Vongola’s facility prison, several young adults stirred, their leader messaging them directly for the first time in weeks.
“To all of you,” Mukuro’s smooth voice fell into their ears, and they all perked up, pleased to hear of news from him. “My plan failed.” At this, they grew angry, and were ready to break out, falling on their second nature, which was to seek vengeance for those that had felled him. “However,” He continued, quelling their anger. “It seems I’ve been invited back, for whatever reason,” The long-haired young man laughed, a quiet ku fu fu floating into their minds. “Therefore, I will need all of you to cooperate with me. Something tells me that this will be interesting.”
“Yes, Lord Mukuro,” They all replied, smiling to seemingly themselves. It wasn’t like their master to come ill prepared, and without a plan. Surely this time, things would go their way.
…
By the time the sun had risen, Tsuna had gathered Reborn, Hibari, Gokudera, and Yamamoto, making sure that Ryohei kept watch of the door, not needing to know what was going on right now, and made sure that Lambo and I-Pin, who he’d made friends with long ago, did not interrupt their meeting.
When they’d all settled into various places in the room-Gokudera standing next to Tsuna’s leather chair, Yamamoto leaning against the windowsill, Hibari leaning against the bookcase across the room, and Reborn sitting on the table intended for decoration directly in front of his student-Tsuna had smiled in his quiet manner, greeting all of them gently and spoke.
“I want to thank all of you for your efforts in both retrieving me and returning me back to my powers,” He began easily, and the tension in the air lessened a bit, but as he sucked in a breath subtly from his nose, he knew it would be back, and five times as thick. “You all did your best. However,” And then their eyes sharpened, ready for whatever it was Tsuna had to say. “Our world is going to fall to war if we don’t think fast.”
As he predicted, the crackling silence fell in the room as most of them gasped, but Reborn and Hibari’s scowls only deepened, none of them pleased or pleasantly surprised at this. They figured that their boss, of all people, would’ve been the last to announce such a declaration of war…so something must’ve been up.
“Mukuro will be here in a couple hours’ time,” He said, and everyone fell into a state of shock and defense mode. “And none of us are to attack him.”
“You’re obviously out of your mind,” Reborn snarled at the youth, pointing his gun directly at his face. “Are you sure you’re Tsuna? Because we test this gun and find out.”
The brunette lifted his hand to stop his brutal words, and his worried eyes, coupled with that furrowed brow, told Reborn that this was no joke, and that, as true that the sky was blue, Tsuna was serious about this. “I know that none of us trust him completely, including myself. But I happened to find out that if we don’t join forces with him, things could become more out of hand than simply Rokudo Mukuro’s ideal revenge.”
What he was implying that they do was dangerous and risky. He wouldn’t tell them the details, no matter how much Hibari threatened and Gokudera pleaded to hear his reasons. When he felt as though he could do nothing to change his minds but do this, he stood up calmly, but his strict pressure, subconsciously warning all of them not to mess with him, pushed almost all of them to their seats, or at least made them lower their heads in respect. “Enough,” He stopped all the bickering in the room with a hand once more, and his eyes seemed to flicker a hard amber, the low almost-whisper of his voice in that commanding manner ending the noise. “All of you, heed my orders. Reborn,” He flicked his eyes to the dangerously brooding man at this point. “You stay here.”
With that, they all filed out, his men, minus Hibari, all mumbling quiet “Yes’sir”s to him as they left, but the one who refused to be affiliated with them threw something at Tsuna that he easily dodged with a sigh, knowing well that it wouldn’t be easy to quell either Reborn or Hibari’s anger, but he could take care of at least one by telling him at least a bit about what he was doing.
“You’re out of your mind,” The hitman muttered angrily, kicking the desk now that the brats weren’t there to see him lose his temper. “Who do you think you are?”
He chuckled at that. “Who’s fault is it that I’m like this, huh?” The man could say nothing to that but mumbled nasty things about him under his breath. Then, he stared straight into his eyes and said quietly, “Trust me with this, Reborn.”
“I don’t,” The dark-haired man glared sharply. “And I won’t…not unless you give me a good reason to.”
Tsuna winced a bit. He supposed it was his own fault. The last time he’d asked him to trust him, it had resulted in the hitman lying unconscious in the garden and himself being kidnapped. “Let’s just say that…either Mukuro’s with us, and the tide turns in our favor, or he’s not, and…well, you know the alternative.”
“What tide?” He narrowed his gaze, a scowl still set firmly on his lips. “Tsuna, if you don’t start making sense, I’ll beat some into you-again.” His pupil sighed, and gave him that face. “Don’t look at me like that. I want answers, or I’ll see to it that the first thing Rokudo sees when he steps on our land is the barrel of my gun.”
He heaved a sigh, already knowing that the hitman wouldn’t budge on this until he disclosed the full story. Settling into his chair, he told Reborn about the discussions he’d had with the other Mukuro inside his mind.
Although he looked no happier about it, he settled for grumbling an agreement with his charge, knowing that if anything, he would certainly be a formidable ally…if they could find some way to convince him to come to their side.
…
“Everything’s ready, I presume?” The white-haired man mused with a quiet smile, and anyone who didn’t know him better would never have thought that he was in the middle of choking a young man for insubordination and asking his ‘pets’ the question.
“Please, sir,” The dark-haired young man under his gloved palms gasped breathlessly, his eyes starting to strain with the pressure and tears welling up in them as his grip tightened. “I swear, I’ll never do it again-!!”
There was a silent cry as the air ran out his breathing pathways, a slow tear coursing down his pale cheeks. “You, of all people, should’ve known that I don’t do second chances for people that I don’t care for.”
“Yeah?” Irie mumbled to himself, running fingers tenderly over his arms. “I wonder who that could be?”
Another youth from the corner said nothing, only letting his soulless eyes roam the room. Yet another was trapped inside a cage of sorts, and under restraints as well, but the three of them made up his most important assets-these two for the power during the siege, and Irie for the tact. The last of them was probably the most defiant, which wasn’t to say that he hadn’t tried to break him in, but the boy was just so annoyingly resilient. He supposed it was because he’d been under his thumb since they were both children, and he seethed that there was something he couldn’t control to his utmost amusement, but sucked it up regardless-right now, he had better things to think about. For no, he settled for backhanding the redhead to the floor, where he winced and cradled his red cheek in his palms. “Hmmm. I asked you a question first.”
“Yes’sir, he droned sarcastically, tentatively climbing back to his feet. “Everything’s in order-the small forces of upper level troops are ready, your close personnel will be finished preparing shortly, and of course, I’ve checked the vitals and readiness for all three of us. All you have to do is say the word for these two, and they’ll go. As for me, I’ve finished doing a full map scan of everything belonging to the Vongola here in Italy, and more specifically, their headquarters. I’ve already had all of our weapons programmed, run all the possible routes and methods of overhaul there, and found the best two solutions-but neither are simple and easy. This is the Vongola we’re dealing with.”
“It’s more than enough,” The white-haired man smiled happily, spinning on his heel run a hand through all his pets’ hair. “After all, it’s only the four of us that I need, anyways. To hear you say a number more than zero pleases me.”
“Of course it does,” Shouichi murmured to the man that kicked him in hard enough in the shins to knock him over again. He winced, pushing his crooked glasses back onto his face before he got back up.
“We’ll move tonight, six o’clock sharp,” The childish man said before he strode away from the three of them back to his little couch and ate a handful of marshmallows and small cakes.
…
He’d arrived in his nice clothes, but they were still haphazardly placed on his thin frame. He looked as though he’d just woken from a nap, his robes and suit underneath slipping off or unbuttoned at the collar. An easy smile was on his lips, and he looked like he was coming to his own home, his dark car rolling up, the driver a sullen-looking man that seemed to be lacking enough sleep. They’d been allowed through the gate of the mansion, and now stood inside it, walking to the door with purpose. The long-haired, taller Italian man swept to the door with an air of arrogance; it could almost be smelt that he thought himself better than everyone. The spiky-haired man, only slightly shorter, was taking in his surroundings without saying a word, and although he didn’t seem as conceited as what they assumed was his Lord, he exuded a sense of power.
The two of them said nothing as the door opened, although Mukuro spared the time to chuckle lightly. It revealed the auburn-haired young heir of the place with a serious expression on his face. His guardians all hung close by, refusing to once again let their leader out of their sight. However, the one who was remarkably disguising his temper was the boy’s arguably closest companion, Reborn.
“Mukuro,” The youth said quietly, nodding his head to their guest. “Come in. All of you, calm down,” Tsuna ordered his men, leading the long-haired young man to his office. It was a quiet walk, tense with the previous intruder walking in next to their boss.
They made it there eventually, and Tsuna murmured quietly that all of his guardians, sans Reborn, were to stand guard outside the door and come in under no circumstances. There was no way they would be able to convince him with so many people breathing down his neck. This meant that Lancia was to join them there as well, both sides casting wary looks at the other.
There was silence for a couple of moments as Tsuna leaned against his desk and gestured for Mukuro to take a seat. “I must say, Tsunayoshi, this is most unexpected,” He drawled in amusement. “To what do I owe this pleasure?”
He laced his fingers together to keep his hands from shaking, and kept his gaze steadily on his recently former foe. “I require your assistance.”
He blinked for a moment, his mismatched eyes lighting up. “Oh? I hardly expected that, of all things.”
Reborn seemed to shift from his position leaning against the door where he looked at both of them, arms crossed, his aura making the very room feel as though it were a war zone, but he said nothing, only let the shadow from the brim of his hat fall over his glaring eyes.
“It sounds insane, I know,” Tsuna admitted quietly, but his brow was furrowed and his lips were turned down in a deep scowl. “And honestly, I really don’t want to do this, either. But we need your powers to take care of enemy that could be headed here any moment.”
Mukuro smiled and let a chuckle fall from his mouth once more. “The arrogant Vongola are asking for help from me? My, how the mighty have fallen.” Tsuna only frowned some more and narrowed his gaze, but let him go on to himself. “And how, exactly, do you believe that I will not turn on you and bring on your downfall?”
“I don’t,” He murmured, his caramel eyes shining a quiet amber in the dim lighting. “But I do know that if I don’t at least try, everything-for all of us-will be over.” He sighed slowly, and let his hands fall to his sides before standing up straight and walking so that he was no less that two feet away from Mukuro. “Besides, I will be loaning you my body, so that I can keep a close on you.”
Reborn glared, and stood up, whipping out his gun. “You didn’t tell me about that part,” His words were coated with acid, and even though they were practically whispered, it was as if he’d snarled. “You’re obviously out of your mind if you think-” Tsuna help up his hand and did not waver, the universal sign that he was completely serious. “No. I don’t care about your stupid ideas, and your trust-we don’t trust people like him.”
He said nothing, only continued to hold eyes with the long-haired illusionist in the leather chair. “What do you say?”
A gunshot fired, and narrowly missed Tsuna’s left ear, only dodged due to years and years of practice. “Don’t you dare ignore me.”
Mukuro stood slowly, and extended his hand with a smirk that said he was fit to be tied. This was, after all, not only a second chance, but another offer by his target. Again. Whomever it was that Tsuna was getting ready to face, they must’ve been a demon from hell itself-probably one of the only people more formidable than Mukuro himself.
“Who can say no to a face like that, Vongola Decimo?” Mukuro said, suave as always. They shook on it, leaving a fuming Reborn to take Tsuna by the collar and slam him against the wall, even with him watching in a perverse sort of amusement.
“You escaped last time-by luck,” The man murmured, his dark eyes furious with the idea that his charge could be so stupid. “If you fail this time, there’s no way Rokudo’s walking out of here alive.”
“You can trust me, Reborn,” Tsuna said quietly, unperturbed by the attack. In fact, he’d probably seen it coming. “Just please…trust me?”
His eyes were pleading for his approval behind that surefire gaze, and Reborn settled for kicking him rarely sharply in his shin and glared back at Mukuro one more time. “One wrong move,” He warned, and swept out of the room with that.
Looking at the wincing youth, Mukuro laughed once more. “What a lovely keeper you have.”
“The best,” Tsuna replied quietly, letting out a sigh. “He was serious, you know.”
“I’m sure,” He replied with a smirk. Falling to one knee dramatically, he took Tsuna’s hand from his own lap, his right one, and kissed the finger that bore his ring. “But I’ll serve you well, Decimo, if only during the time of this battle.”
He let out a bitter laugh, and let his head fall into his other hand, pressing fingers to his temple. “I promise, you won’t regret this.”
“Oh,” Mukuro looked up from his from his hand, mismatched eyes eying him in a foreign manner. “I won’t.”
From the window, a pair of gray eyes narrowed and he resolved to take care of this particular intruder before the rest of them could join in.
However, the air did not seem at ease…if one took special care to notice, in fact, the Vongola mansion was about to receive quite the shock, but not what they’d been expecting-from right under their very feet.
///
A/N: DUN DUN DUNNNNN. I’m like, the most terrible person ever, especially concerning freaking cliffies. For this, I apologize. Also, chapters get longer after this part! XDD
Chapter 9 Preview:
“Hey,” The boy asked, a worried frown on his face. “Hey, are you listening? You alright?” Even though they were probably the same age, he couldn’t help but wonder where this boy with such high-class clothes ruined in such a manner had come from. “What’s your name?”
“I don’t know,” He continued to smile, and then he laughed loudly. “I don’t know!”
“Well, where do you live?” He worried-it wasn’t right to get tangled up in the business of royalty. Everyone knew that you avoided their gaze, their touch, and most importantly, their words. The seemingly harmless lies were your downfall, and being trapped in a debt you could never repay was a nightmare to the peaceful villagers of this town. “You have to know something about yourself.”
“I don’t,” The boy laughed again, his lavender eyes wide with shock and amusement. “I don’t!” Then, there was silence for a moment before he asked, “Do you know who I am?”
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So then…it hadn’t been a dream. That scenery he’d found himself in when he’d regained control was real.
“So you’re awake,” A voice behind him said quietly, and he almost jumped, but forced himself not to through years of training. “It’s about time.”
“Reborn,” He let out a sigh of relief at his voice. “I figured you would’ve been gone a long time ago.”
“I had questions for you, stupid,” The man said, brutally elbowing him in the injured side. The youth rubbed the spot, wincing quietly, as screaming would’ve warranted another hit. “You weren’t really sleeping well, so I figured I’d wait for you to get up and tell me what the hell happened.”
His caramel eyes were downcast and his lips pressed into a thin line. “In the morning, alright? And not here.”
The man’s dark eyes narrowed, but he sighed and headed to the door. “Alright. But if it isn’t good, I’ll kill you.”
Tsuna winced a little when he slammed the door behind himself and laughed bitterly to no one. Oh, it’s ‘good’ alright.
…
From the chambers of the Vongola’s facility prison, several young adults stirred, their leader messaging them directly for the first time in weeks.
“To all of you,” Mukuro’s smooth voice fell into their ears, and they all perked up, pleased to hear of news from him. “My plan failed.” At this, they grew angry, and were ready to break out, falling on their second nature, which was to seek vengeance for those that had felled him. “However,” He continued, quelling their anger. “It seems I’ve been invited back, for whatever reason,” The long-haired young man laughed, a quiet ku fu fu floating into their minds. “Therefore, I will need all of you to cooperate with me. Something tells me that this will be interesting.”
“Yes, Lord Mukuro,” They all replied, smiling to seemingly themselves. It wasn’t like their master to come ill prepared, and without a plan. Surely this time, things would go their way.
…
By the time the sun had risen, Tsuna had gathered Reborn, Hibari, Gokudera, and Yamamoto, making sure that Ryohei kept watch of the door, not needing to know what was going on right now, and made sure that Lambo and I-Pin, who he’d made friends with long ago, did not interrupt their meeting.
When they’d all settled into various places in the room-Gokudera standing next to Tsuna’s leather chair, Yamamoto leaning against the windowsill, Hibari leaning against the bookcase across the room, and Reborn sitting on the table intended for decoration directly in front of his student-Tsuna had smiled in his quiet manner, greeting all of them gently and spoke.
“I want to thank all of you for your efforts in both retrieving me and returning me back to my powers,” He began easily, and the tension in the air lessened a bit, but as he sucked in a breath subtly from his nose, he knew it would be back, and five times as thick. “You all did your best. However,” And then their eyes sharpened, ready for whatever it was Tsuna had to say. “Our world is going to fall to war if we don’t think fast.”
As he predicted, the crackling silence fell in the room as most of them gasped, but Reborn and Hibari’s scowls only deepened, none of them pleased or pleasantly surprised at this. They figured that their boss, of all people, would’ve been the last to announce such a declaration of war…so something must’ve been up.
“Mukuro will be here in a couple hours’ time,” He said, and everyone fell into a state of shock and defense mode. “And none of us are to attack him.”
“You’re obviously out of your mind,” Reborn snarled at the youth, pointing his gun directly at his face. “Are you sure you’re Tsuna? Because we test this gun and find out.”
The brunette lifted his hand to stop his brutal words, and his worried eyes, coupled with that furrowed brow, told Reborn that this was no joke, and that, as true that the sky was blue, Tsuna was serious about this. “I know that none of us trust him completely, including myself. But I happened to find out that if we don’t join forces with him, things could become more out of hand than simply Rokudo Mukuro’s ideal revenge.”
What he was implying that they do was dangerous and risky. He wouldn’t tell them the details, no matter how much Hibari threatened and Gokudera pleaded to hear his reasons. When he felt as though he could do nothing to change his minds but do this, he stood up calmly, but his strict pressure, subconsciously warning all of them not to mess with him, pushed almost all of them to their seats, or at least made them lower their heads in respect. “Enough,” He stopped all the bickering in the room with a hand once more, and his eyes seemed to flicker a hard amber, the low almost-whisper of his voice in that commanding manner ending the noise. “All of you, heed my orders. Reborn,” He flicked his eyes to the dangerously brooding man at this point. “You stay here.”
With that, they all filed out, his men, minus Hibari, all mumbling quiet “Yes’sir”s to him as they left, but the one who refused to be affiliated with them threw something at Tsuna that he easily dodged with a sigh, knowing well that it wouldn’t be easy to quell either Reborn or Hibari’s anger, but he could take care of at least one by telling him at least a bit about what he was doing.
“You’re out of your mind,” The hitman muttered angrily, kicking the desk now that the brats weren’t there to see him lose his temper. “Who do you think you are?”
He chuckled at that. “Who’s fault is it that I’m like this, huh?” The man could say nothing to that but mumbled nasty things about him under his breath. Then, he stared straight into his eyes and said quietly, “Trust me with this, Reborn.”
“I don’t,” The dark-haired man glared sharply. “And I won’t…not unless you give me a good reason to.”
Tsuna winced a bit. He supposed it was his own fault. The last time he’d asked him to trust him, it had resulted in the hitman lying unconscious in the garden and himself being kidnapped. “Let’s just say that…either Mukuro’s with us, and the tide turns in our favor, or he’s not, and…well, you know the alternative.”
“What tide?” He narrowed his gaze, a scowl still set firmly on his lips. “Tsuna, if you don’t start making sense, I’ll beat some into you-again.” His pupil sighed, and gave him that face. “Don’t look at me like that. I want answers, or I’ll see to it that the first thing Rokudo sees when he steps on our land is the barrel of my gun.”
He heaved a sigh, already knowing that the hitman wouldn’t budge on this until he disclosed the full story. Settling into his chair, he told Reborn about the discussions he’d had with the other Mukuro inside his mind.
Although he looked no happier about it, he settled for grumbling an agreement with his charge, knowing that if anything, he would certainly be a formidable ally…if they could find some way to convince him to come to their side.
…
“Everything’s ready, I presume?” The white-haired man mused with a quiet smile, and anyone who didn’t know him better would never have thought that he was in the middle of choking a young man for insubordination and asking his ‘pets’ the question.
“Please, sir,” The dark-haired young man under his gloved palms gasped breathlessly, his eyes starting to strain with the pressure and tears welling up in them as his grip tightened. “I swear, I’ll never do it again-!!”
There was a silent cry as the air ran out his breathing pathways, a slow tear coursing down his pale cheeks. “You, of all people, should’ve known that I don’t do second chances for people that I don’t care for.”
“Yeah?” Irie mumbled to himself, running fingers tenderly over his arms. “I wonder who that could be?”
Another youth from the corner said nothing, only letting his soulless eyes roam the room. Yet another was trapped inside a cage of sorts, and under restraints as well, but the three of them made up his most important assets-these two for the power during the siege, and Irie for the tact. The last of them was probably the most defiant, which wasn’t to say that he hadn’t tried to break him in, but the boy was just so annoyingly resilient. He supposed it was because he’d been under his thumb since they were both children, and he seethed that there was something he couldn’t control to his utmost amusement, but sucked it up regardless-right now, he had better things to think about. For no, he settled for backhanding the redhead to the floor, where he winced and cradled his red cheek in his palms. “Hmmm. I asked you a question first.”
“Yes’sir, he droned sarcastically, tentatively climbing back to his feet. “Everything’s in order-the small forces of upper level troops are ready, your close personnel will be finished preparing shortly, and of course, I’ve checked the vitals and readiness for all three of us. All you have to do is say the word for these two, and they’ll go. As for me, I’ve finished doing a full map scan of everything belonging to the Vongola here in Italy, and more specifically, their headquarters. I’ve already had all of our weapons programmed, run all the possible routes and methods of overhaul there, and found the best two solutions-but neither are simple and easy. This is the Vongola we’re dealing with.”
“It’s more than enough,” The white-haired man smiled happily, spinning on his heel run a hand through all his pets’ hair. “After all, it’s only the four of us that I need, anyways. To hear you say a number more than zero pleases me.”
“Of course it does,” Shouichi murmured to the man that kicked him in hard enough in the shins to knock him over again. He winced, pushing his crooked glasses back onto his face before he got back up.
“We’ll move tonight, six o’clock sharp,” The childish man said before he strode away from the three of them back to his little couch and ate a handful of marshmallows and small cakes.
…
He’d arrived in his nice clothes, but they were still haphazardly placed on his thin frame. He looked as though he’d just woken from a nap, his robes and suit underneath slipping off or unbuttoned at the collar. An easy smile was on his lips, and he looked like he was coming to his own home, his dark car rolling up, the driver a sullen-looking man that seemed to be lacking enough sleep. They’d been allowed through the gate of the mansion, and now stood inside it, walking to the door with purpose. The long-haired, taller Italian man swept to the door with an air of arrogance; it could almost be smelt that he thought himself better than everyone. The spiky-haired man, only slightly shorter, was taking in his surroundings without saying a word, and although he didn’t seem as conceited as what they assumed was his Lord, he exuded a sense of power.
The two of them said nothing as the door opened, although Mukuro spared the time to chuckle lightly. It revealed the auburn-haired young heir of the place with a serious expression on his face. His guardians all hung close by, refusing to once again let their leader out of their sight. However, the one who was remarkably disguising his temper was the boy’s arguably closest companion, Reborn.
“Mukuro,” The youth said quietly, nodding his head to their guest. “Come in. All of you, calm down,” Tsuna ordered his men, leading the long-haired young man to his office. It was a quiet walk, tense with the previous intruder walking in next to their boss.
They made it there eventually, and Tsuna murmured quietly that all of his guardians, sans Reborn, were to stand guard outside the door and come in under no circumstances. There was no way they would be able to convince him with so many people breathing down his neck. This meant that Lancia was to join them there as well, both sides casting wary looks at the other.
There was silence for a couple of moments as Tsuna leaned against his desk and gestured for Mukuro to take a seat. “I must say, Tsunayoshi, this is most unexpected,” He drawled in amusement. “To what do I owe this pleasure?”
He laced his fingers together to keep his hands from shaking, and kept his gaze steadily on his recently former foe. “I require your assistance.”
He blinked for a moment, his mismatched eyes lighting up. “Oh? I hardly expected that, of all things.”
Reborn seemed to shift from his position leaning against the door where he looked at both of them, arms crossed, his aura making the very room feel as though it were a war zone, but he said nothing, only let the shadow from the brim of his hat fall over his glaring eyes.
“It sounds insane, I know,” Tsuna admitted quietly, but his brow was furrowed and his lips were turned down in a deep scowl. “And honestly, I really don’t want to do this, either. But we need your powers to take care of enemy that could be headed here any moment.”
Mukuro smiled and let a chuckle fall from his mouth once more. “The arrogant Vongola are asking for help from me? My, how the mighty have fallen.” Tsuna only frowned some more and narrowed his gaze, but let him go on to himself. “And how, exactly, do you believe that I will not turn on you and bring on your downfall?”
“I don’t,” He murmured, his caramel eyes shining a quiet amber in the dim lighting. “But I do know that if I don’t at least try, everything-for all of us-will be over.” He sighed slowly, and let his hands fall to his sides before standing up straight and walking so that he was no less that two feet away from Mukuro. “Besides, I will be loaning you my body, so that I can keep a close on you.”
Reborn glared, and stood up, whipping out his gun. “You didn’t tell me about that part,” His words were coated with acid, and even though they were practically whispered, it was as if he’d snarled. “You’re obviously out of your mind if you think-” Tsuna help up his hand and did not waver, the universal sign that he was completely serious. “No. I don’t care about your stupid ideas, and your trust-we don’t trust people like him.”
He said nothing, only continued to hold eyes with the long-haired illusionist in the leather chair. “What do you say?”
A gunshot fired, and narrowly missed Tsuna’s left ear, only dodged due to years and years of practice. “Don’t you dare ignore me.”
Mukuro stood slowly, and extended his hand with a smirk that said he was fit to be tied. This was, after all, not only a second chance, but another offer by his target. Again. Whomever it was that Tsuna was getting ready to face, they must’ve been a demon from hell itself-probably one of the only people more formidable than Mukuro himself.
“Who can say no to a face like that, Vongola Decimo?” Mukuro said, suave as always. They shook on it, leaving a fuming Reborn to take Tsuna by the collar and slam him against the wall, even with him watching in a perverse sort of amusement.
“You escaped last time-by luck,” The man murmured, his dark eyes furious with the idea that his charge could be so stupid. “If you fail this time, there’s no way Rokudo’s walking out of here alive.”
“You can trust me, Reborn,” Tsuna said quietly, unperturbed by the attack. In fact, he’d probably seen it coming. “Just please…trust me?”
His eyes were pleading for his approval behind that surefire gaze, and Reborn settled for kicking him rarely sharply in his shin and glared back at Mukuro one more time. “One wrong move,” He warned, and swept out of the room with that.
Looking at the wincing youth, Mukuro laughed once more. “What a lovely keeper you have.”
“The best,” Tsuna replied quietly, letting out a sigh. “He was serious, you know.”
“I’m sure,” He replied with a smirk. Falling to one knee dramatically, he took Tsuna’s hand from his own lap, his right one, and kissed the finger that bore his ring. “But I’ll serve you well, Decimo, if only during the time of this battle.”
He let out a bitter laugh, and let his head fall into his other hand, pressing fingers to his temple. “I promise, you won’t regret this.”
“Oh,” Mukuro looked up from his from his hand, mismatched eyes eying him in a foreign manner. “I won’t.”
From the window, a pair of gray eyes narrowed and he resolved to take care of this particular intruder before the rest of them could join in.
However, the air did not seem at ease…if one took special care to notice, in fact, the Vongola mansion was about to receive quite the shock, but not what they’d been expecting-from right under their very feet.
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A/N: DUN DUN DUNNNNN. I’m like, the most terrible person ever, especially concerning freaking cliffies. For this, I apologize. Also, chapters get longer after this part! XDD
Chapter 9 Preview:
“Hey,” The boy asked, a worried frown on his face. “Hey, are you listening? You alright?” Even though they were probably the same age, he couldn’t help but wonder where this boy with such high-class clothes ruined in such a manner had come from. “What’s your name?”
“I don’t know,” He continued to smile, and then he laughed loudly. “I don’t know!”
“Well, where do you live?” He worried-it wasn’t right to get tangled up in the business of royalty. Everyone knew that you avoided their gaze, their touch, and most importantly, their words. The seemingly harmless lies were your downfall, and being trapped in a debt you could never repay was a nightmare to the peaceful villagers of this town. “You have to know something about yourself.”
“I don’t,” The boy laughed again, his lavender eyes wide with shock and amusement. “I don’t!” Then, there was silence for a moment before he asked, “Do you know who I am?”
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