Independence
Title: Independence
Fandom: Katekyo Hitman Reborn!
Pairing: Mukuro/Chrome
Rating: G
Warnings: None
Word count: 2,407
There was one thing about freeing Mukuro that Chrome had neglected to think about. She spent all of her free time plotting with Mukuro, Ken and Chikusa, but it never once occurred to her what would happen after he was freed.
Chrome stumbled as the group neared their small apartment near the Vongola headquarters. The breakout had drained her of all the energy she had and that Mukuro could spare. Ken and Chikusa, supporting Mukuro between them, were dragging their feet as they walked forwards, one step at a time. Fran didn't show any visible sign of exhaustion, but she knew that he was just as tired as her. As they walked, the only noise they made were the shuffling of footsteps; even Ken had fallen silent.
Fran broke off from the group with only a silent wave and continued on to the Vongola Headquarters. The group entered their home, they lay Mukuro on the couch before collapsing themselves, their thoughts focused entirely on resting. Ken stopped where he stood, sprawling himself across the floor. Chikusa stepped over him without a word before settling himself down and leaning against the wall. Chrome, unable to tear her eyes away from Mukuro, slid to the ground next to the couch.
***
Chrome was awoken the next morning by an electronic beeping from her pocket. She pulled out the phone Kyoko and Haru had given her upon learning that she didn't own one. She quickly answered the call as Ken started muttering in his sleep.
"Hello?" She asked, quietly making her way out of the lounge room and into their small kitchen. "Boss?"
"Chrome?" Tsuna asked hesitantly, obviously not completely comfortable with calling her. Even though Chrome was one of Tsuna's guardians and she, Ken and Chikusa had followed when Tsuna's family had moved to Italy, the two groups didn't interact much. "Did the plan go well? Are you-" Chrome could hear a door banging open form the other end of the line, followed by shouting and laughter. "Lambo, I-pin, leave me alone, I'm busy!" His voice floated down the line, along with Lambo's extremely vocal complaints.
"Ah, sorry about that," Tsuna mumbled.
"It's okay," Chrome mumbled. "Mukuro-sama is here. Everyone else is still asleep. The plan mostly went well. We ran into some trouble, but we made it out fine."
"That's good to hear," Chrome could almost hear Tsuna's relieved but awkward smile. Chrome was about to reply when Tsuna muttered a quick "Sorry, hold on a moment". After a moment of hearing only muffled voices (one sounded a bit like Tsuna's tutor- and was that Tsuna screeching?) Tsuna returned the phone to his ear.
"Uh, do you mind if we come over?" Tsuna spoke quickly, as if he was forcing the words out before his nerve failed him.
"No, I don't mind," Chrome answered after a moment's thought, knowing that Ken in particular wouldn't be happy, but feeling the rare desire of cheerful human contact after spending most of the previous day breaking Mukuro out of the Vendicare Prison. And besides-
"Great, I'll bring some lunch!" - Chrome had tried Tsuna's mother's cooking a few times before and had thoroughly enjoyed it.
***
Chrome re-entered the lounge room to find Mukuro's eyes on her. She could feel heat rising to her face, and she dropped her head to examine her shoes. She opened her mouth, not sure what she was going to say, when Mukuro's voice interrupted her.
"So, Sawada Tsunayoshi had something he wished to discuss with you?" His tone was lightly amused, but whether it was due to the fact that Tsuna had called her or her reaction to his gaze, she wasn't sure.
"Y-yes," She mentally winced at the stutter, "Boss and the others are bringing some lunch here. I think they want to make sure we're okay."
"Isn't that kind of them?" Mukuro laughed lightly, not giving away his opinion on the fact that they were having visitors. Chrome looked down again, not sure how to reply.
A rustle of movement met her ears. She started slightly when Mukuro's fingers touched her chin, raising it so that her eyes met his.
"Come now, this is the first time I've seen you in person," His smile was playful, and she couldn't tell exactly how sincere his next words were. "It seems a shame to spoil the occasion by hiding your face, my cute Chrome."
Chrome knew her face was bright red by now. Her mouth moved wordlessly as she wondered how she'd never realised that they'd never met face-to-face before. Mukuro, however, simply returned to the couch, trailing his fingers down her chin as he withdrew his hand.
Chrome heard herself mutter something about needing to go buy some food before fleeing the room. She swore she heard a soft 'kufufu' follow her from the room.
***
It took about half an hour of shopping before Chrome remembered Tsuna's plans to visit them. She quickly paid for the items she'd picked out then rushed back to the apartment, shopping bags swinging from her arms. She had just packed her purchases into the pantry and fridge when a knock sounded at the door. She hurried to answer it before Ken could beat her to it - and probably slam it shut again in their visitors' faces. She stood aside to let Tsuna, Gokudera, Yamamoto, Kyoko, Haru, Lambo and I-pin into the apartment.
Lambo and I-pin instantly rushed to hug her as usual - now eight years old, Lambo had taken a liking to her during their time in the future because she was the quietest member of the group and she and I-pin had been close since the younger girl had shared gyoza with her. Kyoko and Haru weren't far behind, still determined to become close friends with Chrome - she hadn't been able to admit that that had happened much earlier; she had a feeling that the girls understood, anyway.
Tsuna, on the other hand, greeted her before walking further into the room, seating himself in one of their cheap, wooden chairs - these would usually have been situated in the kitchen, but they always used the lounge room for eating, preferring a more casual setup. Tsuna's father had convinced his mother to move to Italy after Tsuna's graduation, and he had been named boss of the Vongola Famiglia not long after that. He had been surprised to learn that his mother had known about the Vongola all along, but had never mentioned it due to wanting to give Tsuna a place to live normally. Despite the new responsibility, he hadn't changed much since Chrome met him; while his maturity had grown hugely since taking over as boss, his awkwardness at acting as a leader was shown in his fiddling with his clothes and slightly hesitant speech.
Gokudera and Yamamoto simply followed Tsuna into the apartment. As usual, Gokudera was acting the perfect body guard, totally alert and scowling at anyone who gave Tsuna even a slightly unfavourable look. Yamamoto, however, treated the situation as a social outing, greeting everyone cheerfully and chatting away to Chrome.
Eventually, the group settled onto chairs or the floor, except for Gokudera, who stood behind Tsuna's chair. Ken had left the apartment, Chikusa following him, not long after the group had arrived. As if on cue, the chatter died down and everyone turned to face Tsuna. Realising that it was his time to explain why they'd come, he took a deep breath.
"Uh, it's good to see that you're not hurt," Tsuna seemed to be speaking to Chrome, but kept glancing at Mukuro, obviously not wanting to focus on him for too long. He then pulled out the food he had bought, stating without words that he wanted this to be a casual meeting rather than official Vongola business. After a quarter of an hour of eating and casual conversation, Tsuna cleared his throat.
"Reborn told me this morning that now that Mukuro is free, I need to decide on who is going to officially act as my Mist Guardian," Chrome couldn't help but let out an almost silent gasp as Tsuna swallowed nervously. Once again, she had gotten so used to living as Mukuro's vessel that she didn't consider what freeing him would mean. She wrenched her mind back to the present conversation as Tsuna started speaking again. "It's Chrome who has been unofficially named Guardian so far, but my dad did give the Mist ring to Mukuro. So I decided to talk to both of you about it. No matter what we choose, though, I want both of you to stay a part of the Family." This time, he focused equally on Mukuro and Chrome.
Chrome was completely lost for words; after a quick glance at her, Mukuro seemed to notice this and spoke up first.
"I think you already know my answer, Sawada Tsunayoshi. My only care about the mafia is taking over your body." Tsuna nodded; he had indeed expected a response like that. He turned now to Chrome.
"What about you, Chrome? What do you want to do?"
What did she want? She realised now that she had never really thought about it. Her priority had always been doing whatever Mukuro needed of her.
"Umm, I don't know, I don't mind," she replied finally. "Mukuro-sama would make a better Guardian than me, but I'll do whatever you want, Boss."
Tsuna nodded, once again expecting a similar answer. "I'll give you some time to decide between you. If I could, I'd keep both of you as Guardians, but Reborn says that only one Guardian of each attribute is allowed."
'Official business' now dealt with, the group finished eating their lunch in idle chatter. Kyoko and Haru told Chrome about their plans to redecorate their rooms in the Vongola Headquarters, causing Lambo to interrupt, asking if they'd help him with his room, too, I-pin chiming in an agreement. Tsuna turned to remind them that the house was the Vongola Headquarters, and asked that they at least run the plans by him first. Mukuro had lay back on the couch, his eyes closed. Chrome knew that he was probably listening to the conversations surrounding him, though.
The get-together ended about an hour later when Fran entered the apartment, dragging Ken and Chikusa behind him (apparently they'd been waiting outside for Tsuna's group to leave), telling Tsuna that Squalo wanted to see him. Tsuna shuddered at those words, but started preparing to leave. Kyoko and Haru promised to visit again soon and invited Chrome to go shopping that weekend.
And suddenly, the apartment was quiet again.
Fran left again, mentioning that he needed to get back to the Varia. Though they still had Mammon, their memories of the future had led them to recruit Fran. As the door shut again, Ken stalked into his bedroom, muttering about getting some proper rest. Chikusa silently wandered into the kitchen to fix himself some lunch.
This left Chrome and Mukuro alone for the first time since that morning.
"Uh, Mukuro-sama?" Chrome spoke up softly, hesitantly. "Do... do you want to talk about what Boss asked us about?"
Mukuro simply beckoned her closer. "Come here, Chrome."
Chrome obeyed, shuffling closer to the couch. He reached out to touch her arm, and suddenly she was in the field inside his illusion where they first met. When she became Chrome, and shed her old life as a butterfly sheds its caterpillar self. She could feel a slight pull as her drew on her strength to supplement his own in creating the illusion.
"What's bothering you, my dear Chrome?" He asked softly, running a hand through her hair. Her hair that she had styled like his, her mind whispered. "You're not afraid that I'll have no use for you now that I'm free?
"No," she replied instantly. "I don't think you'd leave me behind." And she did believe that. He had never left her, Ken or Chikusa behind before.
This drew a surprised chuckle from him, but he said nothing more, waiting for her to answer his first question.
"Mukuro-sama," she muttered, unsure how to express her thoughts. "Things are still going to change, aren't they?"
"Change isn't always a bad thing," his tone was light, but there was intensity in his gaze. He was serious. Maybe even genuinely worried about her?
She shook her head, not completely disagreeing, but not able to explain herself. Ever since her family had abandoned her, she had been his Chrome. She was his connection to the outside world, he was her life. Everything she did was surrounded by the thought of him. She was Chrome - part Nagi, part Mukuro. But now...
She had started using her own illusions to keep herself alive the previous day to help Mukuro conserve his strength. And now he was free.
Mukuro stared at her for a minute as she tried to sort her thoughts out. Then, in a quick, impulsive move, he stepped closer to her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. A gasp escaped her, and she looked up at him, blood rushing to her face.
"Things will change," his voice was so smooth, so calming. "But you will always be my Chrome. And the world will always go on spinning, no matter what changes." Chrome could feel the weight of Mukuro's arm across her shoulder, warm and secure. She felt safer than she ever felt with her family. The two stood in silence for a minute before Mukuro returning to the issue Chrome had brought up before they had entered his illusion.
"You should take the position as Tsunayoshi's Mist Guardian. The independence will be good for you. But there is no need to worry; I will always be there to help you."
A smile crept across her lips as she turned into his chest, wrapping her arms around him. "Thank you, Mukuro-sama," she whispered into his chest.
"No, thank you, my sweet, dear Chrome," the words swept across the grassy plain, more felt than heard, reverberating through her entire being.
And for the first time since she met him, she was no longer part her, part Mukuro. They were both Mukuro-and-Chrome; two beings, but connected more closely even than when he had taken over her body or when she had his illusions inside her body, sustaining her life. They were independent, but yet closer because of it.
Fandom: Katekyo Hitman Reborn!
Pairing: Mukuro/Chrome
Rating: G
Warnings: None
Word count: 2,407
There was one thing about freeing Mukuro that Chrome had neglected to think about. She spent all of her free time plotting with Mukuro, Ken and Chikusa, but it never once occurred to her what would happen after he was freed.
Chrome stumbled as the group neared their small apartment near the Vongola headquarters. The breakout had drained her of all the energy she had and that Mukuro could spare. Ken and Chikusa, supporting Mukuro between them, were dragging their feet as they walked forwards, one step at a time. Fran didn't show any visible sign of exhaustion, but she knew that he was just as tired as her. As they walked, the only noise they made were the shuffling of footsteps; even Ken had fallen silent.
Fran broke off from the group with only a silent wave and continued on to the Vongola Headquarters. The group entered their home, they lay Mukuro on the couch before collapsing themselves, their thoughts focused entirely on resting. Ken stopped where he stood, sprawling himself across the floor. Chikusa stepped over him without a word before settling himself down and leaning against the wall. Chrome, unable to tear her eyes away from Mukuro, slid to the ground next to the couch.
***
Chrome was awoken the next morning by an electronic beeping from her pocket. She pulled out the phone Kyoko and Haru had given her upon learning that she didn't own one. She quickly answered the call as Ken started muttering in his sleep.
"Hello?" She asked, quietly making her way out of the lounge room and into their small kitchen. "Boss?"
"Chrome?" Tsuna asked hesitantly, obviously not completely comfortable with calling her. Even though Chrome was one of Tsuna's guardians and she, Ken and Chikusa had followed when Tsuna's family had moved to Italy, the two groups didn't interact much. "Did the plan go well? Are you-" Chrome could hear a door banging open form the other end of the line, followed by shouting and laughter. "Lambo, I-pin, leave me alone, I'm busy!" His voice floated down the line, along with Lambo's extremely vocal complaints.
"Ah, sorry about that," Tsuna mumbled.
"It's okay," Chrome mumbled. "Mukuro-sama is here. Everyone else is still asleep. The plan mostly went well. We ran into some trouble, but we made it out fine."
"That's good to hear," Chrome could almost hear Tsuna's relieved but awkward smile. Chrome was about to reply when Tsuna muttered a quick "Sorry, hold on a moment". After a moment of hearing only muffled voices (one sounded a bit like Tsuna's tutor- and was that Tsuna screeching?) Tsuna returned the phone to his ear.
"Uh, do you mind if we come over?" Tsuna spoke quickly, as if he was forcing the words out before his nerve failed him.
"No, I don't mind," Chrome answered after a moment's thought, knowing that Ken in particular wouldn't be happy, but feeling the rare desire of cheerful human contact after spending most of the previous day breaking Mukuro out of the Vendicare Prison. And besides-
"Great, I'll bring some lunch!" - Chrome had tried Tsuna's mother's cooking a few times before and had thoroughly enjoyed it.
***
Chrome re-entered the lounge room to find Mukuro's eyes on her. She could feel heat rising to her face, and she dropped her head to examine her shoes. She opened her mouth, not sure what she was going to say, when Mukuro's voice interrupted her.
"So, Sawada Tsunayoshi had something he wished to discuss with you?" His tone was lightly amused, but whether it was due to the fact that Tsuna had called her or her reaction to his gaze, she wasn't sure.
"Y-yes," She mentally winced at the stutter, "Boss and the others are bringing some lunch here. I think they want to make sure we're okay."
"Isn't that kind of them?" Mukuro laughed lightly, not giving away his opinion on the fact that they were having visitors. Chrome looked down again, not sure how to reply.
A rustle of movement met her ears. She started slightly when Mukuro's fingers touched her chin, raising it so that her eyes met his.
"Come now, this is the first time I've seen you in person," His smile was playful, and she couldn't tell exactly how sincere his next words were. "It seems a shame to spoil the occasion by hiding your face, my cute Chrome."
Chrome knew her face was bright red by now. Her mouth moved wordlessly as she wondered how she'd never realised that they'd never met face-to-face before. Mukuro, however, simply returned to the couch, trailing his fingers down her chin as he withdrew his hand.
Chrome heard herself mutter something about needing to go buy some food before fleeing the room. She swore she heard a soft 'kufufu' follow her from the room.
***
It took about half an hour of shopping before Chrome remembered Tsuna's plans to visit them. She quickly paid for the items she'd picked out then rushed back to the apartment, shopping bags swinging from her arms. She had just packed her purchases into the pantry and fridge when a knock sounded at the door. She hurried to answer it before Ken could beat her to it - and probably slam it shut again in their visitors' faces. She stood aside to let Tsuna, Gokudera, Yamamoto, Kyoko, Haru, Lambo and I-pin into the apartment.
Lambo and I-pin instantly rushed to hug her as usual - now eight years old, Lambo had taken a liking to her during their time in the future because she was the quietest member of the group and she and I-pin had been close since the younger girl had shared gyoza with her. Kyoko and Haru weren't far behind, still determined to become close friends with Chrome - she hadn't been able to admit that that had happened much earlier; she had a feeling that the girls understood, anyway.
Tsuna, on the other hand, greeted her before walking further into the room, seating himself in one of their cheap, wooden chairs - these would usually have been situated in the kitchen, but they always used the lounge room for eating, preferring a more casual setup. Tsuna's father had convinced his mother to move to Italy after Tsuna's graduation, and he had been named boss of the Vongola Famiglia not long after that. He had been surprised to learn that his mother had known about the Vongola all along, but had never mentioned it due to wanting to give Tsuna a place to live normally. Despite the new responsibility, he hadn't changed much since Chrome met him; while his maturity had grown hugely since taking over as boss, his awkwardness at acting as a leader was shown in his fiddling with his clothes and slightly hesitant speech.
Gokudera and Yamamoto simply followed Tsuna into the apartment. As usual, Gokudera was acting the perfect body guard, totally alert and scowling at anyone who gave Tsuna even a slightly unfavourable look. Yamamoto, however, treated the situation as a social outing, greeting everyone cheerfully and chatting away to Chrome.
Eventually, the group settled onto chairs or the floor, except for Gokudera, who stood behind Tsuna's chair. Ken had left the apartment, Chikusa following him, not long after the group had arrived. As if on cue, the chatter died down and everyone turned to face Tsuna. Realising that it was his time to explain why they'd come, he took a deep breath.
"Uh, it's good to see that you're not hurt," Tsuna seemed to be speaking to Chrome, but kept glancing at Mukuro, obviously not wanting to focus on him for too long. He then pulled out the food he had bought, stating without words that he wanted this to be a casual meeting rather than official Vongola business. After a quarter of an hour of eating and casual conversation, Tsuna cleared his throat.
"Reborn told me this morning that now that Mukuro is free, I need to decide on who is going to officially act as my Mist Guardian," Chrome couldn't help but let out an almost silent gasp as Tsuna swallowed nervously. Once again, she had gotten so used to living as Mukuro's vessel that she didn't consider what freeing him would mean. She wrenched her mind back to the present conversation as Tsuna started speaking again. "It's Chrome who has been unofficially named Guardian so far, but my dad did give the Mist ring to Mukuro. So I decided to talk to both of you about it. No matter what we choose, though, I want both of you to stay a part of the Family." This time, he focused equally on Mukuro and Chrome.
Chrome was completely lost for words; after a quick glance at her, Mukuro seemed to notice this and spoke up first.
"I think you already know my answer, Sawada Tsunayoshi. My only care about the mafia is taking over your body." Tsuna nodded; he had indeed expected a response like that. He turned now to Chrome.
"What about you, Chrome? What do you want to do?"
What did she want? She realised now that she had never really thought about it. Her priority had always been doing whatever Mukuro needed of her.
"Umm, I don't know, I don't mind," she replied finally. "Mukuro-sama would make a better Guardian than me, but I'll do whatever you want, Boss."
Tsuna nodded, once again expecting a similar answer. "I'll give you some time to decide between you. If I could, I'd keep both of you as Guardians, but Reborn says that only one Guardian of each attribute is allowed."
'Official business' now dealt with, the group finished eating their lunch in idle chatter. Kyoko and Haru told Chrome about their plans to redecorate their rooms in the Vongola Headquarters, causing Lambo to interrupt, asking if they'd help him with his room, too, I-pin chiming in an agreement. Tsuna turned to remind them that the house was the Vongola Headquarters, and asked that they at least run the plans by him first. Mukuro had lay back on the couch, his eyes closed. Chrome knew that he was probably listening to the conversations surrounding him, though.
The get-together ended about an hour later when Fran entered the apartment, dragging Ken and Chikusa behind him (apparently they'd been waiting outside for Tsuna's group to leave), telling Tsuna that Squalo wanted to see him. Tsuna shuddered at those words, but started preparing to leave. Kyoko and Haru promised to visit again soon and invited Chrome to go shopping that weekend.
And suddenly, the apartment was quiet again.
Fran left again, mentioning that he needed to get back to the Varia. Though they still had Mammon, their memories of the future had led them to recruit Fran. As the door shut again, Ken stalked into his bedroom, muttering about getting some proper rest. Chikusa silently wandered into the kitchen to fix himself some lunch.
This left Chrome and Mukuro alone for the first time since that morning.
"Uh, Mukuro-sama?" Chrome spoke up softly, hesitantly. "Do... do you want to talk about what Boss asked us about?"
Mukuro simply beckoned her closer. "Come here, Chrome."
Chrome obeyed, shuffling closer to the couch. He reached out to touch her arm, and suddenly she was in the field inside his illusion where they first met. When she became Chrome, and shed her old life as a butterfly sheds its caterpillar self. She could feel a slight pull as her drew on her strength to supplement his own in creating the illusion.
"What's bothering you, my dear Chrome?" He asked softly, running a hand through her hair. Her hair that she had styled like his, her mind whispered. "You're not afraid that I'll have no use for you now that I'm free?
"No," she replied instantly. "I don't think you'd leave me behind." And she did believe that. He had never left her, Ken or Chikusa behind before.
This drew a surprised chuckle from him, but he said nothing more, waiting for her to answer his first question.
"Mukuro-sama," she muttered, unsure how to express her thoughts. "Things are still going to change, aren't they?"
"Change isn't always a bad thing," his tone was light, but there was intensity in his gaze. He was serious. Maybe even genuinely worried about her?
She shook her head, not completely disagreeing, but not able to explain herself. Ever since her family had abandoned her, she had been his Chrome. She was his connection to the outside world, he was her life. Everything she did was surrounded by the thought of him. She was Chrome - part Nagi, part Mukuro. But now...
She had started using her own illusions to keep herself alive the previous day to help Mukuro conserve his strength. And now he was free.
Mukuro stared at her for a minute as she tried to sort her thoughts out. Then, in a quick, impulsive move, he stepped closer to her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. A gasp escaped her, and she looked up at him, blood rushing to her face.
"Things will change," his voice was so smooth, so calming. "But you will always be my Chrome. And the world will always go on spinning, no matter what changes." Chrome could feel the weight of Mukuro's arm across her shoulder, warm and secure. She felt safer than she ever felt with her family. The two stood in silence for a minute before Mukuro returning to the issue Chrome had brought up before they had entered his illusion.
"You should take the position as Tsunayoshi's Mist Guardian. The independence will be good for you. But there is no need to worry; I will always be there to help you."
A smile crept across her lips as she turned into his chest, wrapping her arms around him. "Thank you, Mukuro-sama," she whispered into his chest.
"No, thank you, my sweet, dear Chrome," the words swept across the grassy plain, more felt than heard, reverberating through her entire being.
And for the first time since she met him, she was no longer part her, part Mukuro. They were both Mukuro-and-Chrome; two beings, but connected more closely even than when he had taken over her body or when she had his illusions inside her body, sustaining her life. They were independent, but yet closer because of it.