[KHR!]: Slow Burn.
title: Slow Burn.
characters: Chrome, Gokudera. Side appearance of Yamamoto.
rating: PG
wordcount: 1003.
challenge/prompt: khrfest; III-56. Gokudera/Chrome - loyalty.
disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by their respective author. No money is being made from this fanwork and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
summary: At 11:54 PM, news has traveled across the plains of Sicily that Rokudo Mukuro escaped the clutches of prison. For real, this time.
notes: The details might be a little bit unrealistic, but let's face it, I'm writing for KHR. Some unrealistic details are inevitable and expected.
At 11:54 PM, news has traveled across the plains of Sicily that Rokudo Mukuro escaped the clutches of prison.
For real, this time.
+
At 11:55 PM, men of the Vongola have been dispatched from the main headquarters. A team of elites led by the Sawada Tsunayoshi himself has left the building in an attempt to control whatever damage has been unleashed at the wake of his outbreak. The Vendice are furious, and everyone knows that crossing them is the biggest mistake that one will ever make, but Rokudo Mukuro has always been an adventurous, reckless sort of man.
That, and the fact that he doesn't really care much.
+
At 11:56 PM, Gokudera is off the bed, picking up his discarded shirt from the floor and putting it back on. He has no time to go back to his own room and pick a more acceptable piece of clothing, so it will have to do.
She's watching him, he knows, her body still covered by bed sheet, and her hands under her head (he doesn't need to look at her to know). She's watching his reactions and his body language, reading through the subtleties of his expressions and his gestures. Even if he doesn't tell her, she probably already knows what he's going to say.
"Rokudo Mukuro escaped from the Vendicare," he says, raising his eyes too look at her. She isn't surprised - and neither is he. "I've been summoned to find him."
"I see," she replies softly. "And?"
He watches her face for a second before he looks down to button up his shirt. "Boss wants you to lay low for a little while."
It's a lie, and they both know it.
+
At 11:57 PM, he's out of the house and is walking toward the car. Yamamoto calls him.
"Gokudera! Did Tsuna call-?!"
"He did," he cut him short. "The bastard escaped."
"So you know." There's sharpness in Yamamoto's tone. It's laced with suspicion, with the underlying hopeful tone - he doesn't want to believe that it's true. "Is she-?"
"Chrome was with me," replies Gokudera sternly, because for one, he dislikes airing out his private affairs to just about anyone, regardless about the fact that everyone knows everything about him; and two, he can't erase his own thoughts regarding the matter, and Yamamoto just happens to be thinking along the same line as he. "The entire night, she was with me."
Yamamoto's silence says it all.
+
At 11:58 PM, he glances at the open window and finds her staring at him, eyes wide and defiant. He's instantly reminded of the little girl who had dared to declare herself as the next candidate for the Vongola's mist guardian, the one who had the audacity to kiss the boss' cheek. Sweet and innocent, quiet and simple, but harboring a deadly secret that no one was sure what to think of.
She simply had been dubbed as the Vongola's greatest accomplishment and their worst nightmare: the one who willingly let Rokudo Mukuro use her body in order to be able to work outside of the tank he's been imprisoned in.
She smiles softly, and he steps on the gas.
Before turning the street corner, he glances again. She's gone.
He inhales sharply.
+
At 11:59 PM, he is hit with the vaguest recollection of how they'd gotten this far.
He only remembers the tangling of limbs, wrinkled sheets beneath their feet, skin that is soft and smooth against his own scarred body, and eyes that look too far ahead. She sees things at a different angle, because she's been at the gates of Death before, literally just one step away from being completely gone from this world, before being pulled back to this world. She's much too otherworldly, floating over the edge and hovering where they least expect her to be. Like a ghost, she leaves a melancholy trail behind echoing footsteps in the dark.
Unlike her, Gokudera keeps his feet on the ground, never letting himself fall over the edge of a cliff because he doesn't quite know how to fly away from death. He lives in the dark, gritty, and muddled world that is of the Mafia, and stays there, for as much as he can help it, because he's needed here. He's always been needed here.
She smiles at him one time, and remarks that he's been thinking too much.
He always thinks, though. It's something that he can't help but do. Just like how he can't help but stare as the curve of her lips disappear into a firm line as she watches him watching her.
+
At 12:00 AM, he arrives at the Vongola's mansion, fashionably on the dot, and his tires blazing.
There's already a cavalry waiting, and Yamamoto looks grim as he approaches him. Tsuna has placed Yamamoto in charge of the protection of the headquarters, while Gokudera is to follow Tsuna, and track down the remaining members of Mukuro's gang. At the moment, the responsibility of his capture falls into the Vongola's hands.
"It's only to delay," Yamamoto says softly, making sure that his voice is out of earshot. "Tsuna already knows where he's headed - Fran has contacted Xanxus about it - but we have to keep up appearances. By all technicalities, Mukuro is the Vongola's man."
Gokudera's eyes furrowed. "And then?"
"And then," Yamamato sighs, "I guess we'll see where his loyalties lie now." Yamamoto is watching him, but Gokudera is determined to look away. "Him, and the rest of the Kokuyo gang, Gokudera."
Gokudera lights up a cigarette. "Don't tell me something I don't already know."
He remembers her smile, the way she laughs when he does something utterly stupid, and he wonders just how much of that is fake and how much of that is really just pity. A small, annoying part of him hopes, that there's a part of it that's real, and he drops the cigarette and crushes it under his heel before he's even halfway done with it.
characters: Chrome, Gokudera. Side appearance of Yamamoto.
rating: PG
wordcount: 1003.
challenge/prompt: khrfest; III-56. Gokudera/Chrome - loyalty.
disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by their respective author. No money is being made from this fanwork and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
summary: At 11:54 PM, news has traveled across the plains of Sicily that Rokudo Mukuro escaped the clutches of prison. For real, this time.
notes: The details might be a little bit unrealistic, but let's face it, I'm writing for KHR. Some unrealistic details are inevitable and expected.
At 11:54 PM, news has traveled across the plains of Sicily that Rokudo Mukuro escaped the clutches of prison.
For real, this time.
+
At 11:55 PM, men of the Vongola have been dispatched from the main headquarters. A team of elites led by the Sawada Tsunayoshi himself has left the building in an attempt to control whatever damage has been unleashed at the wake of his outbreak. The Vendice are furious, and everyone knows that crossing them is the biggest mistake that one will ever make, but Rokudo Mukuro has always been an adventurous, reckless sort of man.
That, and the fact that he doesn't really care much.
+
At 11:56 PM, Gokudera is off the bed, picking up his discarded shirt from the floor and putting it back on. He has no time to go back to his own room and pick a more acceptable piece of clothing, so it will have to do.
She's watching him, he knows, her body still covered by bed sheet, and her hands under her head (he doesn't need to look at her to know). She's watching his reactions and his body language, reading through the subtleties of his expressions and his gestures. Even if he doesn't tell her, she probably already knows what he's going to say.
"Rokudo Mukuro escaped from the Vendicare," he says, raising his eyes too look at her. She isn't surprised - and neither is he. "I've been summoned to find him."
"I see," she replies softly. "And?"
He watches her face for a second before he looks down to button up his shirt. "Boss wants you to lay low for a little while."
It's a lie, and they both know it.
+
At 11:57 PM, he's out of the house and is walking toward the car. Yamamoto calls him.
"Gokudera! Did Tsuna call-?!"
"He did," he cut him short. "The bastard escaped."
"So you know." There's sharpness in Yamamoto's tone. It's laced with suspicion, with the underlying hopeful tone - he doesn't want to believe that it's true. "Is she-?"
"Chrome was with me," replies Gokudera sternly, because for one, he dislikes airing out his private affairs to just about anyone, regardless about the fact that everyone knows everything about him; and two, he can't erase his own thoughts regarding the matter, and Yamamoto just happens to be thinking along the same line as he. "The entire night, she was with me."
Yamamoto's silence says it all.
+
At 11:58 PM, he glances at the open window and finds her staring at him, eyes wide and defiant. He's instantly reminded of the little girl who had dared to declare herself as the next candidate for the Vongola's mist guardian, the one who had the audacity to kiss the boss' cheek. Sweet and innocent, quiet and simple, but harboring a deadly secret that no one was sure what to think of.
She simply had been dubbed as the Vongola's greatest accomplishment and their worst nightmare: the one who willingly let Rokudo Mukuro use her body in order to be able to work outside of the tank he's been imprisoned in.
She smiles softly, and he steps on the gas.
Before turning the street corner, he glances again. She's gone.
He inhales sharply.
+
At 11:59 PM, he is hit with the vaguest recollection of how they'd gotten this far.
He only remembers the tangling of limbs, wrinkled sheets beneath their feet, skin that is soft and smooth against his own scarred body, and eyes that look too far ahead. She sees things at a different angle, because she's been at the gates of Death before, literally just one step away from being completely gone from this world, before being pulled back to this world. She's much too otherworldly, floating over the edge and hovering where they least expect her to be. Like a ghost, she leaves a melancholy trail behind echoing footsteps in the dark.
Unlike her, Gokudera keeps his feet on the ground, never letting himself fall over the edge of a cliff because he doesn't quite know how to fly away from death. He lives in the dark, gritty, and muddled world that is of the Mafia, and stays there, for as much as he can help it, because he's needed here. He's always been needed here.
She smiles at him one time, and remarks that he's been thinking too much.
He always thinks, though. It's something that he can't help but do. Just like how he can't help but stare as the curve of her lips disappear into a firm line as she watches him watching her.
+
At 12:00 AM, he arrives at the Vongola's mansion, fashionably on the dot, and his tires blazing.
There's already a cavalry waiting, and Yamamoto looks grim as he approaches him. Tsuna has placed Yamamoto in charge of the protection of the headquarters, while Gokudera is to follow Tsuna, and track down the remaining members of Mukuro's gang. At the moment, the responsibility of his capture falls into the Vongola's hands.
"It's only to delay," Yamamoto says softly, making sure that his voice is out of earshot. "Tsuna already knows where he's headed - Fran has contacted Xanxus about it - but we have to keep up appearances. By all technicalities, Mukuro is the Vongola's man."
Gokudera's eyes furrowed. "And then?"
"And then," Yamamato sighs, "I guess we'll see where his loyalties lie now." Yamamoto is watching him, but Gokudera is determined to look away. "Him, and the rest of the Kokuyo gang, Gokudera."
Gokudera lights up a cigarette. "Don't tell me something I don't already know."
He remembers her smile, the way she laughs when he does something utterly stupid, and he wonders just how much of that is fake and how much of that is really just pity. A small, annoying part of him hopes, that there's a part of it that's real, and he drops the cigarette and crushes it under his heel before he's even halfway done with it.