Hello again fanfcition reader!
Wow… this marks as my second fic for Katekyo Hitman Reborn…
And I was undecided with the title until now... =D
And it's my first 1896 fic and set ten years in the future… =D
Anyway, I dedicate this to manganime98… =D
Thanks for letting me borrow your idea and for your inspiring story… =D
And I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn, period.
On with it!
There was a huge question in his mind as he walked down the hall of the Vongola headquarters:
Why am I walking to that herbivorous excuse of a boss' office?
All he knew is that it concerned one of the members of the 'family', as the herbivore called it, was in a pinch.
He understood that he was the strongest one of all the guardians in this so called 'family' they call Vongola and he didn't deny that fact, but did it really have to be him?
The bomber idiot herbivore was in another mission and the katana-wielding herbivore was also on a mission.
The Sun herbivore was on an out of town trip with his wife.
The cow herbivore was under qualified; that much he knew already.
And with that came another question in his mind:
Why did I even acquiesce to this?
He merely made his way to the boss herbivore's office.
Tsunayoshi Sawada, the one who used to be a loser in middle school, was now a respected mafia boss. Even the likes of him, Hibari Kyoya, the Cloud guardian had to admit that the herbivore had grown quite admirably, but he was still an herbivore.
"Hibari-san," Tsuna softly said; he must have sensed Hibari's displeasure at this current situation, "I apologize for taking your time off of the Federation…"
And before he could say any thing more, Hibari cut him short, "Cut to the chase, Sawada."
Tsuna smiled slightly, the corners of his mouth curved, "Same as ever, eh Hibari-san?"
The skylark merely grunted in response.
"I won't waste any more of your time," the herbivore suddenly became serious, "I will send you to Italy to help Chrome."
Chrome?
Ah that's right. He had forgotten about her as he listed the guardians and their respective reasons of absences when he walked to here.
"I refuse…" was his curt reply.
Tsuna narrowed his amber eyes, "You cannot refuse, Hibari-san."
True, he can't. Tsunayoshi was his boss after all. He began to wonder how the Storm idiot would react as he talked back to his beloved Juudaime.
"Give me one good reason why I should, Sawada…" Hibari said as he crossed his arms and leaned against the wall behind him. He knew the answer to this; it was his answer whenever he was asked to help a member of the Vongola in trouble.
Tsuna sighed, how many times must he repeat himself to this stubborn Cloud guardian? "Hibari-san, we are a family. Perhaps we are not related by blood, but the fact still remains that we are a family. We are a family Hibari-san, and that is what we will always be."
"You consider that girl, who's the half of that traitor," he said darkly, "a part of your family?"
"Chrome has been long freed from Mukuro's grasp," these words made Hibari grimace inwardly, "She's becoming Dokuro Chrome more and more as an individual rather than being a former vessel of Rokudo Mukuro. You've seen this with your own eyes right Hibari-san?"
Again, he didn't deny that fact.
"You were the one who pressed her to be an individual rather than a shadow of someone else," Tsuna stated, "Even though your methods were a bit harsh on her part, the fact is you were the one who witnessed her as she crawled out of her chrysalis."
Hibari smirked.
Since when did Sawada learn to speak in metaphors?
"Hibari-san…" Tsuna called out again, but this time, more authoritative and firmer. It quite fitted a boss of a famous mafia famiglia.
Hibari nodded nonchalantly and this made Tsuna sigh in relief, "Thank you, Hibari-san. I've already contacted Kusakabe-san to ready your chopper to fly off to Italy."
The Cloud guardian's eyebrow twitched, "You commanded the herbivores under my disposal? That's pretty brave of you, Sawada…" with a click, he took out his tonfas and said "I'll bite you to death…"
But Tsuna's expression remained unfazed. If it was him from ten years ago, he would've run off screeching, but it was different. From a long and arduous journey of ten years, Tsuna had learned that there was more to the lonesome and aloof skylark than his kamikorosu catchphrase and his overflowing murderous aura.
"Hibari-san, this is a serious matter."
Hibari lowered his tonfas and smirked, "Do you think I'm kidding Sawada?"
"No, but now is not the time…" Tsuna said.
He grunted and put his tonfas away and said, "Fine… I'll let this slide for now…"
The Boss nodded and said, "Like I've said, I'm sending you to Italy to help Chrome." When the skylark didn't retort, he continued explaining, "Gianini-san notified me a while ago about a distress call that came from a private Vongola source. There was no message; only a distress call and it came from Chrome…"
Hibari narrowed his eyes skeptically and asked, "How can you be so sure that it is her that sent that distress call?"
"Chrome's distress call was made by Gianini-san personally. It only responds to her flame; only she can use it," explained the Boss.
Hibari nodded and asked, "What am I dealing with?"
Tsuna was about to open his mouth when Hibari raised a hand in dismissal and said, "Never mind, I'll bite all of them to death…"
Tsuna let out a carefree smile and said, "I thought you would say that Hibari-san… But be careful nonetheless."
Hibari didn't answer and left with his hands shoved inside his pockets.
"Tetsu, we're leaving…" he said pointedly to the man dressed in a suit and was standing by the doorway.
The man nodded and walked after Hibari. He was the ever faithful, Kusakabe Tetsuya, Vice chairman of the disciplinary committee of Namimori middle.
"And the next time you entertain the Sawada herbivore, I'll bite you to death…" Hibari said as he glanced at his right hand man.
Kusakabe chuckled nervously, "I understand Kyo-san…"
"Now to Italy…"
Chrome fell on the floor for the umpteenth time. She clutched her trident and panted.
Hibari on the other hand towered over her and bared his tonfas like fangs in front of her.
"You're a weak herbivore…" muttered Hibari.
Chrome felt slightly insulted. Sure she knew that she was weak, but she just came out of the hospital for pity's sake!
And since her usual reaction after an insult would be to break down and cry like the weak herbivore that he knew she was, Hibari turned his back on her and proceeded to leave.
But then the wind whistled, Hibari twisted to turn around and was baffled to see a three pronged spear head straight for him in the face.
Before the middlemost blade touched the tip of his nose, it stopped. He stared at the pointed end in a daze and felt stupid to not be able to deflect it.
Chrome raised her head and smiled triumphantly at the sight of Hibari's surprised expression.
Hibari made a move to raise his tonfas and push the trident aside, but the weapon fell on its own. It landed on the ground with a thud and a clang and was followed by the wielder herself; fell face first.
Knowing in full that the girl just got out of the hospital and was, more or less, forced into the battle, Hibari jumped to her side and caught her limp body with one arm.
Three years have already passed, Mukuro was freed from the Vindice a long time ago and she, Chrome, was kicked away by her beloved Mukuro-sama.
But despite her exile from her home since her second life as Chrome, the eye-patched illusionist still deeply cared for her former half. She didn't need to depend on him anymore, but if it wasn't for him, she would never cross paths with the Vongola, or be able to sustain her existence through the use of illusions.
She still cared for her former half.
But she was no longer a shadow of him.
She outgrew her pineapple hairstyle in a span of three years. She kept it down and tied it whenever in battle, like now.
She had also abandoned her Kokuyo uniform for a Namimori Middle uniform, for school days and casual clothes when not in school.
But she still kept her eye patch, refusing to replace her right eye with an illusion or with an artificial one.
He sighed and said. "Reckless, herbivore…"
Hibari's fingers twitched. He sat up and looked out the window.
"We're getting close Kyo-san…" Tetsu said.
He merely nodded.
A dream…
I was dreaming… about that time…
He closed his eyes and sighed inwardly.
"Tetsu," he called, "Brief me on the mission we're on now…"
Kusakabe nodded and said, "Tsuna-san said that we were supposed to help Dokuro-san who sent a distress call this morning."
Normally Hibari would snap at the vice chairman and tell him that he already knows that trivial thing, but somehow, he decided against it.
He needed a distraction; any distraction to keep him from thinking about the dream he had.
"Apparently, Dokuro-san accepted the mission to Italy that required meeting with Rokudo Mukuro's agent that resided here in Italy," Kusakabe continued as Hibari listened half-heartedly.
Rokudo Mukuro…
"But Dokuro-san left three weeks ago and her last report was a week ago," Kusakabe added, "Knowing Dokuro-san, she would not be so careless enough as to not report to Tsuna-san."
"I know…" Hibari said.
"Tsuna-san also received intelligence that she checked out of her hotel room a week ago before she disappeared," Kusakabe added.
"Who was the agent?" asked Hibari
"Nothing from Dokuro-san's reported the name of the agent…" Kusakabe shook his head slowly, "So it's possible that it was a trap."
Hibari simply looked out of the window. He suddenly felt lethargic for some reason. He leaned against the window and said, "Tetsu, don't wake me up," his eyes glinted dangerously, "Or I'll bite you to death."
Kusakabe nodded and began their descent.
Even now, Kyo-san hasn't changed at all…
Hibari let his eyes close shut.
He was displeased to say the least when he saw the purple-haired plaything of his sitting on the couch of his beloved disciplinary room.
"Get out or I'll bite you to death."
The girl simply looked up at him. On her eyes were glasses, but of course only the left eye functioned.
He took out his tonfas again and said, "I don't like repeating myself, herbivore…"
She stood up and bowed at the prefect, "I'm sorry Kumo-san…"
Kumo-san?
"But the other places are crowded with people;" she continued explaining "I couldn't study…"
"So you decided to crowd here of all places?" asked the enraged prefect.
"Y—Yes…"
He was tempted to bite the girl to death for even answering that rhetorical question. Then again, he didn't mind if one person studied in his sanctuary. She had gotten close to him after all.
"Fine…" he gave up, "But if you do so much as to make a sound, I'll bite you to death…"
She simply smiled and nodded, "I understand… Thank you Kumo-san…"
He leaned against his chair and sipped his green tea as he observed the reading girl, like he would study an opponent.
Her purple hair was trimmed and only reached a few inches past her shoulders and was curled at the ends. The glasses were only meant for her left eye that received much strain in the absence of her right eye. She was so absorbed with studying and she didn't notice the amused look on Hibari's face.
"What's wrong Kumo-san?" she asked without raising here eyes from the book.
"You've become an independent herbivore…" he replied as he smirked smugly, "You're not like the little girl three years ago that followed that Mist guardian…"
Of course her shy nature hasn't changed or inched at all. She was still meek and shy, but strong. She was no longer the weak little girl that needed to be saved.
"Uh… Thank you, Kumo-san…" the girl shyly said.
In an instant, Hibari took out his tonfas. "I'll bite you to death…" he said darkly.
Of course the girl simply closed her book shut and summoned her trident.
And within a few minutes, the disciplinary room was a mess. The papers that used to be neatly stacked on Hibari's desk were now scattered all over the floor. Some of the bookshelves were toppled over and some were leaning against the wall haphazardly. Most of the pitiful books were mercilessly ripped and didn't escape being punctured by the Mist guardian's trident or by the chain attached to the Cloud guardian's tonfa.
The sun was gracing the western horizon and was starting to leave the skies. By now, both of the guardians were panting badly, but managed to even one another out.
The tip of the middlemost prong grazed Hibari's cheek, while the chain from his tonfa was tied on Chrome's left hand that held the trident, while the other tonfa was stuck on the wall behind him.
Again the trident in front of him started to fall. The prefect was once again alarmed by this. Fighting with the Mist guardian wasn't the best idea; she was still recovering.
He caught her before her body made contact with the floor but unlike him, she had bruises whereas the majority of his injuries were cuts and scrapes.
He sighed and gently removed the chains tied on her wrists.
Hibari opened his eyes and saw that they've already landed and Tetsu was nowhere to be seen.
He got down the chopper and looks around the Italian scenery.
True…
That Mist herbivore has been… a companion of some sort…
"Kyo-san!"
Hs head snapped to the direction of his subordinate's voice and saw him running towards the prefect.
"What is it?"
"Sawada-san sent us the location of the distress call," Kusakabe replied "And I asked around if they've seen Dokuro-san, but unfortunately, she hasn't been seen since she checked out of the hotel she stayed in…"
"So we have no lead at all…" Hibari sighed. He glanced meaningfully at Kusakabe who proceeded to tell him the location of the distress call's orient.
"It seems to be somewhere between Avelard* and Glacial* streets," Kusakabe replied in response to Hibari's question-out-of-a-glance.
"The Perihelion*…" Hibari muttered under his breath.
"Perihelion?" Kusakabe narrowed his eyes at the sound of the oddly familiar name, "You mean…?"
Hibari nodded, "Yeah... It's the same Perihelion that Sawada asked the Storm herbivore to annihilate…"
"But how could they still be intact?" mused out Kusakabe.
"Who knows?" Hibari shrugged as he took out his box, "They're illegal drug dealers after all…" he summoned his tonfas out of the box and said "Let's go… The Mist herbivore is in trouble…"
Hibari ran to the alley in between Avelard and Glacial Street. The alley is empty except for a manhole that was clearly loose and had indications of being removed countless times.
"I'll go alone…" Hibari said, "You wait here and prepare for departure."
Kusakabe nodded knowingly.
If Kyo-san wants to handle this alone then that means that he must have doubts…
Hibari opened the man hole and lowered himself using the ladder.
He ignored the stench of the sewage and the vulgarly displeasing appearance of the waste water that flowed beside him.
He vaguely made out a light at the end of the tunnel and he heard the sound of deep voices in gleeful laughter, indicating that the underground base was still utilized.
That Storm herbivore didn't do his job well…
He continued walking towards the faint light until he heard something that made him stop in his tracks:
He heard a whimper.
And the whimper was so familiar.
Chrome?
He dashed quietly closer to the source of the light.
"Hey!" a voice called out, "The tester isn't supposed to resist to the drug!"
Then there was a slapping sound.
"Get up!" shouted a bulkier voice.
And then there was a clicking sound.
"Heh, are we really going to lure the Vongola tenth boss using this girl?" asked a slightly less masculine voice, "She doesn't look like much at all…"
"Idiot, she has the ring and that's all we need as proof…" said the first voice.
"B—boss?" came a familiar voice.
The voice almost made Hibari jump; only one person addressed the Sawada herbivore as 'Boss'.
"Chrome…?"
"You… you guys are after… Boss?" she asked shakily.
"Hmmm? I thought we gave her a potent drug?" asked the first voice.
"We did," answered the third voice.
"Then how can she talk?" whined the first voice
"As expected from a Vongola…" the bulky voice said, "perhaps we should use it on her?"
Her voice quivered and shook. Hibari who was listening broke into cold sweat.
"S—stop!" Chrome begged weakly.
Again there was a clinking sound and Chrome's muffled shouts of protests and resistance.
And there was a shot silence followed by coughing.
Chrome's coughing.
"This is the new drug that we manufactured… It's a powerful poison that brings one to a slow painful death," explained the one with the bulky voice, "That way we can bring your death message to your beloved Boss…"
Then there was silence again and some sounds of surprise that came out of the men's voices. Hibari tensed at the sudden silence, but then her voice said again.
"**Bossu… Bossu o kizutsukeru ga arimasen! **"
Hibari's eyes widened and all the more as the bulky voice cackled and laughed madly.
"What did you say? You're pretty brave little missy…" he cackled, then his voice turned dark, "You honestly have the guts to act strong in front of us?"
And there was a whistling sound.
She's… fighting…
But not long before that there was a scream, a loud sound of agony that, no doubt, came from Chrome's lips.
It was followed by a pulling out sound and Chrome's broken breaths.
"Heh, worthless piece of trash!" taunted the third voice.
And some footsteps could be heard approaching Hibari.
He held onto his tonfas and prepared to strike the one who came close to his hiding spot.
The man gave out a shout of alarm and was knocked out cold by Hibari's flame-imbued tonfas.
"Hey what was that?" asked the slightly feminine third voice.
"Hey!" demanded the bulky voice.
Hibari emerged out of the shadows and glared dangerously at the two, "Perihelion, for injuring a former Namimori Middle student, I will bite you to death."
The bulky one smirked in recognition, "Oh another Vongola eh?"
The smell of blood wafted around the musty area. The Cloud guardian saw Chrome lying on the ground and her shoulder was bleeding.
His Vongola ring started to release huge amounts of purple flames.
Of course, the other two didn't stand a chance against the strongest Vongola guardian and they didn't prove to be that much of a warm up either.
Hibari grabbed his Vongola box and opened it. Roll came out and nudged Hibari's ankle. The Cloud guardian glanced in acknowledgement at his box animal.
He grabbed the bulky one's collar and asked "Where is the antidote for the poison?"
At first the bulky man didn't answer, but when Roll literally rolled on the man's palm, he yelled out in pain.
"Where is the antidote for the poison?" Hibari repeated and of course repeating his question could only mean that he was pissed.
"I—inside the chest…" he said, "The vial with the black liquid…"
Hibari snarled, "If she dies," he held out Roll to the man's face and said, "Roll will know what to do to you…"
He quickly stood up and rummaged through the chest. The vial with the black liquid was at the very bottom. Hibari knew nothing about medicine and didn't know if he should trust the bulky man or not.
Using his last resort, he called Hibird and told him to fly out and fetch Tetsuya while he tended to Chrome's wound.
"K—Kumo-san?"
"Don't talk…" he said as he unbuttoned his overcoat. He pressed it against her shoulder to staunch the bleeding.
Chrome winced, "The information Boss received… wasn't true…"
Hibari didn't answer but he recognized her statement.
"They were just the remaining members of the Perihelion that wanted revenge on the Vongola for annihilating them…" she continued, "I'm sorry, Kumo-san…"
Her eyes started to drift closed, but Hibari shook her awake. "Don't fall asleep…" he said sternly, but in contrast to his words, his eyes were eccentrically gentle as he removed the chains around her hands.
Like the time when his future self pressed her to draw out the power of the Vongola ring to help her procure illusionary organs for herself.
It was all too nostalgic for both parts.
"**Mada shinetaku janai darou? **" he asked, before and now.
Chrome couldn't help but chuckle.
Hibari was slightly angered, but a part was also relieved to see Chrome still awake.
"I thought you didn't like repeating yourself, Kumo-san?" she asked weakly.
His steel blue eyes widened slightly before it softened again, "I was just reminding you that you don't want to die…"
Chrome nodded.
"Kyo-san!"
Hibari's head snapped to the direction of the voice and surely enough, the ever-faithful vice chairman came running towards them under Hibird's guidance.
"Dokuro-san?" he was slightly unnerved to see Chrome helplessly so.
"Tetsu call Sawada and tell him about the survival of the few members of the Perihelion," Hibari commanded, "And check whether that black liquid in the vial is any kind of antidote."
Kusakabe's eyes widened slightly, but nodded anyway. Hibari kept his eyes on his subordinate and took the nod as a good thing. He took the vial and went back to Chrome's side.
He lifted her head up and took off the vial's cork lid.
The scene was highly nostalgic.
"Do you trust me?" he whispered, enough only for him and Chrome to hear.
"Yes…" she smiled at him as she held the vial with a shaking hand.
He positioned the vial to her lips and poured it into her mouth.
"Kyo-san, Sawada-san has already been notified of the current situation," Kusakabe said.
"Good…" Hibari said as he carried Chrome, "We're leaving right now…"
"Unfortunately Kyo-san, there's a bad change of weather tonight," said Kusakabe, "It would be unsafe for us to travel by air."
Hibari grimaced inwardly, "A turbulence huh?" he glanced at Chrome.
"In any case, we should bring Dokuro-san to a hospital," Kusakabe said
"We can't…" Hibari said, "They would ask for her personal identification and we don't know if there are other members of the Perihelion working in other institutions." He turned to Kusakabe and said, "Get the medical equipment in the chopper, I'll treat her…"
Albeit doubtful that the former chairman of the disciplinary committee can actually treat the badly wounded Mist guardian, he ran to the direction of the chopper.
"Kumo-san…" Chrome mumbled weakly.
"Don't worry… You'll be safe soon…" he mentally sighed in relief as the gash on her shoulder stopped bleeding.
There was a Vongola rest house nearby the area. And that was where he intended to head.
He carried the Mist guardian all the way to the rest house. He went to the bedroom and gently placed her on the bed. He took off her ripped and bloody clothes and placed a blanket over her pale body.
He held her right hand with his right. Their rings shone in the pale moonlight.
"Kumo-san…"
"Hm?"
"I'm sorry…"
Hibari was silent. She had always been like this. She had always been apologetic, especially towards him.
"If I had been more careful…" her voice trailed off as her eyes avoided his, "You wouldn't be here…"
Again he didn't utter a word. Comforting wasn't his style after all.
"If I had been more careful, I would have found out that the information was false…"
Her voice broke.
"I am a weak herbivore after all…"
He wanted to snort, but kept himself. "That's right… You are a weak herbivore… But like the weak herbivore that you are, you didn't give up…"
"Kumo-san…"
Their eyes met. Chrome's eyes glimmered with relief.
"Thank you…"
There was a light knock on the door and Kusakabe came in holding the medical kit. "Kyo-san, I've brought it…"
Hibari nodded in response. He let Chrome's hand go and took the kit from Kusakabe. "Tetsu," he said "notify Sawada of our location and tell him that we'll leave when the turbulence subsides."
Kusakabe nodded. Sensing the Cloud guardian's request for him not to crowd and deliberately left him with the Mist guardian, Kusakabe left.
Hibari took the medical kit and walked over to Chrome.
He took out a syringe and punctured her pale shoulder with the sharp needle, causing the numbing effect of the anesthesia spread through her.
He glanced at her and saw her tired expression.
"What happened to you?" he asked
"The first two weeks of my stay here went smoothly, but there was no sign of Mukuro-sama's agent," Chrome managed to explain as her breathing returned to normal, "When I met with the agent however, I was about to leave Italy. The bulky one was the supposed agent. He told me that Mukuro-sama was waiting for me in their hideout and asked me to follow… But before I knew it, I was chained up and was used as a guinea pig for their drugs. I tried to fight, but there were plenty of them and only those three were keeping an eye on me."
She coughed a bit as Hibari nodded and inserted the thread into the needle's hole. He held her hand soothingly and she relaxed.
And so he began on the painstaking process of stitching up the gash on her shoulder. She was influenced by the anesthesia so she couldn't feel anything, but she twitched occasionally.
Finally after roughly a half an hour and five stitches, Hibari was done stitching her shoulder. Chrome on the other hand was already asleep.
He opened the door and wiped his bloodied hands with a clean rag. Kusakabe too was on his way to the room holding a tray of steaming soup.
"Kyo-san how is Dokuro-san?"
"She's fine…" Hibari replied briefly "She's resting now…"
Kusakabe nodded knowingly, "I'll leave this in her room then…"
"Tetsu."
"Yes, Kyo-san?"
"Get her some clothes at first light," said the skylark as he threw away the bloodied rag, "I disposed of her old clothes…"
Kusakabe stiffened slightly and answered, "I understand Kyo-san…"
Hibari went out to get some fresh air while Kusakabe did a brief maintenance check on the chopper. He didn't want to delay their return any further.
He closed his steel blue eyes drifted with the wind.
His drifting however was disturbed by a feeble scream that didn't fail to reach his ears and register in his brain.
He ran to the room where he knew it came from and sure enough, there was Chrome, writhing under the blanket.
She was mumbling something incoherently, but her features showed nothing but pure fear.
He went to her side and held her hand tightly.
She opened her eyes, "Kumo-san…?"
He nodded in affirmation.
Chrome sighed in relief, "It was just a dream…"
"Go back to sleep…" he said, "You're still weak…"
She turned to him, "Kumo-san…"
He didn't say anything, but he made her know that he was listening.
"I'm afraid…"
His eyes softened again. He squeezed her hand and said, "Go to sleep…"
She chuckled weakly again, "You're repeating yourself, Kumo-san…"
"I know… And I'm going to bite you to death once you've recovered…" he smirked. "I won't leave…" he whispered.
And with that she nodded and went back to sleep.
Why am I here again?
The reason would undoubtedly be interesting to know…
* Names are fictional (Avelard, Glacial and Perihelion, I got Perihelion while I was studying... =D)
** I won't let anyone hurt Boss! ** (I rearranged the words a bit… =D)
** You don't want to die yet, do you? ** (I took it from Hitman Reborn episode 95 and just listened to Hibari's words so it's not accurate of course…)
Done!
Yeah I know it's rough…
I kinda rushed because if I linger who knows how long it will take?
And I got some requests for a continuation, but since this is a one shot, I was thinking of making a sequel...
So here's the deal, if I can get seven requests for a sequel, I'll work on it immediately...
So far I only have four... So three more and the sequel will be on its way... =D
Anyway, please do not hesitate to click the REVIEW button and feel free to convey your deepest darkest thoughts regarding the fic and whether you would like me to create a sequel for this as it is greatly appreciated… =D
I really need you to do the request above because I'm still in the process of learning in terms of writing a Hitman Reborn fic… =D
chquine_harvinellisse