Title: Wardrobe Malfunction
Prompt 3: Public Embarrassment
Notes: Entry for the previous (third cycle) of write_and_run on LJ. I recommend all fic writers take part in the fourth and following cycles because it's fun. Also the judges give helpful critique about how to improve your writing.
Also, this is set Post Future arc- TYL adults though, not the kiddos.
Disclaimer: I do not own rights to Katekyo Hitman Reborn, everything belongs to Akira Amano.
She glanced over a cup of vanilla cappuccino, looking directly at three men loitering outside the cafe. Like Chrome's drink, they were a mix of bitterness with their rough looks and smoothness in how they all wore identical tailored suits without a single crease or stain.
The baristas and shop patrons pretended Chrome Dokuro and her unwanted entourage did not exist. She for one was accustomed to being as see-through as glass. Hibari-san's men, on the other hand, were meant to be seen and feared.
A round yellow bird alighted on the window-sill outside. It blinked beady black eyes at Chrome, appearing to be innocent. She knew better though, Hibrid wasn't just a run-of-the-mill canary.
When the bird stretched it's wings and took flight, Chrome took it as her cue to leave as well.
Hibari-san had started to act rather strange as of late. She didn't know the Cloud guardian very well five years ago and less so presently. Chrome only knew enough to comprehend he was a creature of habit and avoided crowds.
Hibari-san hadn't changed overnight, such as suddenly becoming a strict vegetarian or renouncing violence. Nevertheless, visiting a crowded coffee shop still counted as very peculiar behavior for Hibari.
The bell above the door chimed and Chrome swallowed scalding coffee too quickly, resulting in a subtle recoil thanks to a burnt tongue.
He looked around. Tonfas hidden from plain sight, yet Chrome suspected he would pull them out if given a reason. Crowds still set him on edge, if the slight tightness to his jaw was any indication.
Hibari-san ordered a plain black coffee he wouldn't drink. Instead the man holed himself away at a far table. He was either a master of looking without looking or paranoia was contagious because Chrome felt a shiver roll down her spine.
She wrote off this behavior as him waiting for Mukuro-sama to suddenly seize her body so they could spar. Yes, Chrome decided; he was lying in wait for his favorite prey to appear.
In turn, Chrome felt a touch of envious because Mukuro-sama saw Hibari-san as someone challenging and interesting. And Chrome suspected the Cloud had a grudging respect for her master. She was only the barrier, the referee to keep them from tearing the other apart. When her defenses failed and they faced one another, Chrome felt she didn't exist in their world.
At that particular moment though, as she squirmed under watchful eyes; Chrome would have given anything to vanish.
'Don't look at him. Ignore it...' the young woman thought. She only lasted five minutes under scrutiny. Hurriedly, Chrome threw out the half full coffee cup, shouldered her purse and walked out into the sunlight.
"I have a theory" Mukuro began, his back against Chrome's as they sat underneath a shade tree. Chrome tilted her head to listen. According to his lamentations, ten years had changed the dynamics of their relationship; whereas Chrome liked to believe herself to be ten years wiser and less enthralled with the man seated behind her.
Her left eye closed as Mukuro reached to press a gloved finger tip to Chrome's forehead.
"I suspect Kyouya is going through puberty."
Chrome's eye opened wide as the woman sputtered incoherently for a moment.
"W-what?" she finally managed to choke out.
She didn't need to see Mukuro-sama's face to read his expression The smugness, the superior knowledge of walking the seven circles simply radiated through him.
"In layman's terms, he is a late bloomer. Kyouya has discovered the opposite sex and hasn't a clue as to how to handle it. Hence the stalking..you look a little pale my dear."
Chrome couldn't wrap her head around what Mukuro-sama said. Kyouya Hibari. Puberty. Sex. Those three things strung together made less sense than the mathematical formulas Gokudera-san scribbled out on scrap paper.
There was also the matter of Mukuro-sama's belief Hibari-san had either fallen for her or was at least curious enough to go against his anti-crowding stance.
Before Chrome could formulate an argument to refute Mukuro's claims, he bridged the gap between them, their foreheads touching for a moment. Predictably, Chrome blushed and words failed her once more while the Italian chuckled softly.
Although Hibari-san's odd behavior puzzled the female Mist, Mukuro-sama took it one step further by prodding Chrome to engage in a social experiment. Despite her initial reservations, Chrome agreed because she wanted to see what Mukuro-sama had in mind.
The following morning Chrome waited at her usual table. As usual, three members of Foundation appeared and posted themselves outside the cafe. Hibird arrived and preened while looking adorable. Finally, Hibari-san entered the cafe looking significantly less fluffy and endearing than his canary.
She waited until Hibari ordered coffee and found his usual table against the wall. Feeling five minutes was enough time for him to get comfortable, Chrome stood up with her coffee cup in hand. Instead of making a premature departure, she turned around and approached Hibari-san's table.
To Chrome, the man radiated waves of 'do not cross'. For a split second, the young woman felt compelled to follow Hibari's unspoken command and leave.
In the end, Chrome pushed onward by pulling out the chair opposite of him. She did not ask permission, which probably rankled him all the more. Nor did Chrome offer him any excuses for intruding. All she gave him was a shy smile.
As silence stretched between them, Chrome attempted to act natural by drinking her coffee. Unhurried and outwardly relaxed, as if she were alone and not looking right at the man who had been stalking her for weeks.
Once her cup was empty, Chrome stood up and left without saying a word to Hibari-san.
After she had left the cafe, Chrome felt her knees were about to give out from trembling so much. Yet, underneath the fear there was an addictive rush.
"Think about how a lion tamer feel after removing his mouth from the animal's jaws. The relief of making it out alive, the pride of a job well done and the endorphins of a thrill rush." Mukuro-sama said, perfectly describing the sensation.
"Is this how you feel around him, Mukuro-sama?"
Mis-matched eyes blinked slowly and he didn't answer her question right away. Chrome tried rephrasing it. "When you two first met...did you feel this same rush?"
His expression went blank for a moment, then a humorless chuckle followed. Mukuro's laughter was as close to an answer Chrome could hope for.
She repeated the pattern for nearly a month.
Chrome felt that speaking too soon would upset the precarious balance between them. She didn't hold out hope of them being friends either. However, she was elated when Hibari-san finally spoke up.
"Why are you here?"
"I am here to drink coffee" she replied softly, lacking the glibness Mukuro-sama would have retorted to.
"I can see that" was Hibari's very dry reply. "Every morning you leave a perfectly good table to sit here and drink."
Chrome for one was impressed to hear Hibari-san start a conversation. Even if his 'ice breaker' sounded more like the beginnings of an interrogation, it was a step in the right direction.
"I wanted to be around another person" Chrome said, neglecting to be polite and offer to remove herself if he didn't want her companionship.
This ritual carried on for three months, only broken if Hibari-san had left the country for business. Chrome for one felt a touch claustrophobic and envious of his freedom. She had been in Namimori for months and Boss's contacts were sporadic at best, making the young woman feel utterly useless while in Japan.
Chrome also didn't know where Mukuro-sama was. Granted, he was almost always within her grasp through their shared consciousness. Still, her pride stung at being left out of the loop of Mukuro's plans.
"It's not the same as him actually being here." Chrome thought aloud about both men as she sat across from Tetsuya Kusakabe (who was Hibari-san's 'fill in' for their awkward coffee breaks).
Kusakabe-san was by far more polite and sociable than the one he was filling in for. Yet, conversation died whenever Chrome dared to bring up Hibari-san, namely when she asked about his business trips.
"That isn't for me to say, Dokuro-san" Kusakabe-san replied, holding a teacup too delicately for a man of his imposing stature and strength.
As an aside, Chrome thought it was rather nice to be called by her name rather than being called 'you'.
Sadly all good things come to an end and Hibari-san was never gone from Namimori for long. Luckily, Mukuro clued her in on a topic of conversation the Cloud could relate to.
As she stirred sugar into her coffee, Chrome launched right into the topic by opening with a little white lie.
"Kusakabe-san mentioned last week you went to Malaysia. He said you were looking for a new Box weapon, if I remember correctly."
When Hibari-san put down his tea, Chrome half expected him to get up to find Kusakabe and 'bite him to death' for spilling a secret. Instead, the man folded his hands, looking directly at her.
"And if I was?" he asked, reluctantly opening up to the discussion. Chrome swallowed her nerves and forced herself to go on.
"I...I'm just a little curious is all. I've never seen your Cloud hedgehog before. From what I hear though, it's very powerful. So why are you searching for more?"
Unbeknownst to Chrome, she had unlocked Pandora's box. Hibari-san's current passion, aside from discipline and Namimori, was collecting box weapons. His expression remained the same stern and almost bored neutrality. He did however talk more once rings and boxes were mentioned. From their coffee breaks, Chrome heard about exotic places and improbable weapons and animals crammed inside little boxes.
He'd talk at length at the various boxes, most of which Hibari-san couldn't open due to only having two ring flames. Regardless of his inability to use most box weapons, Hibari-san poured a lot of money, time and air fare into this hobby of his. Chrome found Hibari-san's dedication to his collection...charming. Perhaps, the only thing likeable about the man, because it proved Hibari-san wanted something badly enough to invest everything.
"What is your second ring flame?" Chrome asked one morning, unaware she had stepped on a landmine. Still new to the art of making conversation, Hibari-san didn't smoothly change the subject or curtly suggest they move on to something else. Instead, Chrome felt a pulse of fear pump through her heartbeat as he glared at her.
Loathing. Yes, that's exactly the word she'd put to that look.
"Never mind..." she said quietly, hands folded near her lips as if to prevent another unintentional slip.
After ten minutes of unbearable silence, Chrome decided a change of scenery was in order. Caffeine induced confidence made her bold enough to ask, "If...it's not too much trouble, can I see Hibari-san's hedgehog?"
For a moment, Chrome's inner teenage-girl cooed over how cute Roll looked with it's tiny stature, large dark eyes and a long snout ending in a dot-black nose.
The cuteness wore off the moment Roll splintered off like atomic particles. The hedgehog quickly posed a threat to Chrome's well being after impaled a spike through her leather boot.
"Uh..." the young woman glanced around only to find Hibari-san walking thirty meters away.
"Ah, wait for me!" she called out while forming a trident to protect herself. Within minutes, Chrome found herself combating back numerous 'mini' Roll clones and dodging spikes. Chrome was at a loss for words when the hedgehog and it's progeny absorbed her Mist ring flames before they could form proper illusions.
She fought like a woman possessed as spikes populated all around, the clang of barbs against the prongs of her trident echoed in the training hall of the Vongola hideout. When she couldn't carry on any longer, Chrome Dokuro was sure she'd die on the spot.
She closed her eye and braced for impact, a minute passed. Then two...three...
Reluctantly a violet colored eye opened. Roll and the spears had vanished back into it's box and Hibari-san slowly approached her.
"Sawada called, there's a meeting in ten minutes."
"...o-oh..." Chrome replied, swallowing thickly since she was still recovering from the near-death experience. Little did she know that 'death by hedgehog' was the least of her worries.
Chrome hadn't given a single thought to checking out the state of her attire until it was already too late. Her blouse had tears along the side from where a spike caught. Ladders up and down her tights and Chrome's favorite pair of black boots were full of holes. At least her skirt escaped with a minor rip.
Face flushed, Chrome tried to keep to the wall and out of view of the conference call with Boss and the other guardians over in Italy.
'Please don't notice...' she begged in vain. Tsuna blinked for several second once his face appeared on screen and he could see into the intelligence room of the hideout.
"Uh...Chrome? Are you okay? What happened?"
'I was formally introduced to Roll.' sounded as stupid as it was truthful. "Um..." Chrome began. She stopped attempting to explain herself as Ryohei and Yamamoto-san's faces appeared next on the large screen.
Like Boss, Yamamoto-san blinked and looked like he wanted to say something yet hesitated to. Ryohei-san on the other hand looked Chrome's ruined clothes, to Hibari, back to Chrome...
"What did you do to her?" he directed at Hibari.
"Ah, Hibari-san didn't...we were..."
The Sun guardian grabbed his computer monitor as if he could reach across land mass and oceans through it, "Who then? I will find them and..."
Gokudera-san appeared next. Unlike Boss and Yamamoto, he didn't bat an eye at first. Nor did he fly into a screaming fit to match Ryohei. Instead, the man glanced at Chrome, took a long drag from his cigarette then spoke up. "Let's get this over with..." Chrome didn't miss Gokudera glance to Hibari-san, yet was thankful no one else asked her about what had happened.
Once the video conference ended, Chrome resolved to tell Hibari-san she'd call Boss and clear up any misunderstanding.
Or she would have if he hadn't already left the room by the time Chrome turned around.
"Oh, so that's all" Chrome heard Boss say from the cellphone speaker. "I didn't think he would...well Hibari-san is weird but he'd never hurt someone...in that way. Still, it looked..."
"It looked bad." Chrome filled in before biting her bottom lip. The clothing damage looked much worse once the garments were off her body.
Chrome was determined to wear denim pants and steel-toed boots whenever she and Roll met again. Too late, the female Mist realized she was already preparing for future spars against Hibari-san's hedgehog.
Did this mean...she was looking forward to it? No. No, that couldn't be. Expectations mixed with the thrill of the unknown was reserved for first love. Not for fights to the death against an insectivore belonging to an ax-crazy man.
She set down the phone, stunned into silence. Whether Chrome wanted it to happen or not, she found herself looking forward to another meeting with Hibari-san. Even if it meant facing Roll.
"Chrome?"
The young woman looked in the mirror, just to make sure she hadn't suddenly transformed into Mukuro-sama. After all, he was the one who enjoyed locking horns with Hibari-san and probably would have petted Roll just to piss it off. Then again, her intial reaction was a strong desire to pet the box animal until it turned violent...
"I'm turning into Mukuro-sama" Chrome uttered in horror.
"Chrome...Chrome!"
Tsuna's shout brought the Mist's attention back to the phone, "Um...sorry Boss but something has come up. Goodbye."
"Wait, Chrome what's..." she turned off the phone in the middle of Tsuna's protests.
"This is all your fault"
Mukuro gave her a half-smirk, "Oh? How so?" Chrome gave him a look on par with Hibari-san's peevish glares.
This tickled the other Mist enough for him to utter 'kufuu'. Mukuro gently tilted the young woman's head back to look at him, "You aren't upset at me, my dear. You're angry at yourself more than anything for being in denial for so long."
Chrome decided she did not want to know when or how Mukuro-sama decided to play cupid. Face buried in the fabric of her white dress, Chrome only wanted her 'matchmaker' to disappear.
When it first started, Mukuro-sama called her and Hibari-san's interactions a 'social experiment'. However, when Chrome reluctantly described to Boss what was going on between her and Hibari-san, the brunette hit the nail on the head.
"So, does this mean you two are dating?" Tsuna asked, looking a little shell-shocked at Chrome's confession.
"I guess that's what you could call it" Chrome mumbled. Though for being a 'couple', Chrome knew she'd never convince Hibari-san to buy her a replacement pair of boots. However, she did get a new black blouse from him. Or rather Kusakabe-san handed it to Chrome while his silent and distant boss looked on.
Upon opening the box, Chrome pulled out a black silk blouse nearly identical to the one had she lost. There was one minor alternation though: the Namimori crest was sewn onto the breast pocket.
Notes: Special thanks to Sunnylore, Aimee and Rae for keeping me ground and on track with this fic. Much love to you ladies, thank you for the help and for putting up with my whining XD