All about Acceptance

written by

morbidsweetie013

Author's Note: Hello everybody! It's my first official fanfic, and to tell you guys the truth; I'm kinda nervous since I'm more of a reader than the writer, that's sweetangel014's job, so please forgive me for any grammatical errors. Well, I came to a thinking of 5996 since Anna-chan is hooked with 1896 and 6996 (though she prefers the former than the latter) so I thought, "Why the hell not?" 5996 needs more love anyway!

So please enjoy the story, and P.S,. Anna-chan is sweetangel014

"The only thing that will make you happy is being happy with who you are, and not who people think you are."

- Goldie Hawn

\*\-5996-/*/

A storm brewed within Namimori, most people have already closed their windows since harsh winds began to announce the upcoming typhoon and prepared flashlights and generators if ever the power will go out.

Hayato Gokudera tied his hair up and put on his glasses as he propped his feet on the table as he read the unabridged edition of the different ways of the Pythagorean Theory in his apartment when a soft knocking interrupted his reading. At first, he ignores it, in hopes the person will get the message and just leave. But the knocking persisted and he muttered a curse and stood up on his seat with a frown deepening on his face. He opened the door and was surprised and at the same time alerted when he saw the person outside the door. Chrome Dokuro.

The girl shifted her weight and tugged on her skirt as she shivered as a rather chilly breeze made its way through her shaking body. He cocked an eyebrow and said, "What are you doing here?" It's not like he has any grudge to the girl, well, except that time when she kissed Tsuna on the cheek. It's just that this girl… is that bastard Rokudo Mukuro's puppet. The brainwashed, helpless and temporary Mist guardian that his boss has a strange concern for. Whenever they would end a meeting, Tsuna would usually come up to her and ask her if she was eating right or if she's healthy enough during the flu season. She is the one that always ended up needing to be rescued. He'd already had that situation when she was captured by the Varia guys, namely Belphegor and Mammon. The indigo-haired girl's lip trembled and answered in a soft voice, "B-boss said he lost his phone and asked me to tell that… ano- the meeting's canceled" He looked at her and noticed her slightly damped pineapple-style hair, "Don't tell me you came here without an umbrella?" She hesitated for a moment then nodded. He smacked his hand over his eyes, 'Why am I always stuck with idiots?' he thought and groaned, "Is Kokuyo Land far from here?"

She slowly nodded and quickly noticed the way he looked and immediately followed it with, "A-ano, I-I can walk to from here, it's not that far, it would only take an hour-" "You would've been blown from the storm before you can even reach it," he cut her off and sighed, widening the door so that she can enter. She looked at him as if asking what he's trying to do. He rolled his eyes and said, "You can stay here 'til the storm's over. It will upset the tenth greatly if I let you go out there when there's a storm coming." And displeasing Tsuna will be the last thing Gokudera would like to do. She cautiously stepped through the threshold like testing the waters and stood by the wall and muttered a small thank you and an apology for the intrusion. He just shook his head and took off his eyeglasses, his mood for reading is now gone since he is now in charge of babysitting the second youngest Vongola member. He was just thankful she isn't as annoying as that stupid cow or too carefree like that baseball freak. But he can't let his guard down, she may be weak, but she's sharing a body with the notorious Rokudo Mukuro, the bastard that possessed his body with Bianchi's to get into Tsuna's body.

Chrome can't help but squirm under the teenager's glare, she didn't know why he disliked her so much, but then again, almost everyone had been hostile with her except Mukuro-sama, her Boss and even the girls (Kyoko, Haru, I-pin and Bianchi). She really doesn't understand why almost nobody accepts her existence; even her own parents have forgotten all about her and didn't even try to look for their missing daughter. Gokudera dropped his glare and 'tch-ed' and went to the sofa and turned on the television and at the same time, flicked open a lighter and lit a cigarette. 'He smokes indoors? And he's not of legal age!' she thought as thin curling smoke came from the cancer stick. Her legs started to numb but she didn't dare try to even move as the silver-haired teen shifted his head to see her shifting her weight from left foot to right and vice versa.

"Oi, don't stand there like a wallflower, take a seat if you want to" he casually stated as he put out the smoke on the ash tray he kept on the coffee table. The smell of cigarette hung on the air around them and she can't help but cough, which in turn, he made a face and said, "Sorry, you can just open the window if you want..." She immediately opened the nearest window with a space big enough for fresh air to enter and the evidence of smoke fly outside. She breathed in deeply and smelled the calming scent of rain. It's drizzling outside and a thunder suddenly rumbled, making her jump. Gokudera watched her face that turned deathly pale and and sweat beading from her forehead and her knees shaking. He almost slapped his hand on his forehead, great, he's stuck with an eye patch wearing girl who might have a phobia with thunderstorms... just effin' great.

"You might wanna stand a bit farther away from the window," he called to her as he leaned on the sofa with complete ease. She backed away from the window and just took a seat on the wooden chair next to the floor lamp. She just sits there, doing nothing, maybe thinking, he supposed. The reporter on the news discussed the growing numbers of landslides due to deforestation. He can't help but feel uneasy with a girl in his apartment, alone. Most the girls he encountered are annoying ones, like Miura Haru and the girls in his school, always looking at him and Yamamoto with hearts in their eyes and trampling all over the tenth just to get his seat in between them.

His phone rang and he picked it up and placed it to his ear, "Yeah? Oh, Reborn-san!"

"Cioassu, Gokudera. Is Chrome there?"

"Yes, she forgot her umbrella so I let her stay here for a while. Ano... is the tenth there?"

"Hm? Yeah, I'll get him; Oi, dame-Tsuna, Gokudera wants to talk to you!"

THWACK!

"Itai! You don't have to throw the phone you know! Hello? Gokudera-kun?"

"Jyuundaime! I heard you lost your phone! Do you need mine? I can just buy one!"

"N-no, that's generous of you though. Ah, is Chrome doing fine?"

He felt a vein throbbed as he can hear the concern in his boss' voice as he inquired about the Mist guardian's status, "She's doing fine, boss-"

"Gokudera-kun, can I ask you a favor?"

"Anything for you boss!"

"Can you be friends with her? She doesn't really have friends other than the girls. Just try to get to know each other so she can feel welcomed in the family."

At first, Gokudera wanted to retaliate, but since Tsuna's the one who asked, "I'll see what I can do, I won't disappoint you Tenth!"

"Domo arigato, Gokudera-kun. Well, bye!"

"Ja, bossu!" with that and a sigh, he placed the phone back to its cradle. He turned to Chrome who looked at him and bit her lower lip as she shivered yet again at the cold air entering form the window. He scratched the back of his head and took a deep breath; how the heck can he do this? Usually he would just turn on his grumpy look and people will stay way from him, the annoying ones will get the finger and the most annoying ones will get a taste of his bombs. He sat down and faced her with an uninterested look on his face, "Well, it's a mission. Boss told me to get to know you more, go on and say something"

"A-ano... My name is Chrome Dokuro...?"

"Idiot, I already know your name! Tell me something I don't know" he can feel a headache coming up and his hands itch towards the carton of smoke, but he had to discipline himself, he had to call quits sooner or later.

She blinked with her huge doe eye and looked around and said, "My name was Nagi... I like chocolate and animals..."

Gokudera's eyebrows rose and he just said, "Alright then let me ask you a question that has been bugging me; how the heck do you end up with that pineapple guy? You don't look like a type to just join in a mafia."

"I was in a car accident, because I was trying to save a cat... I lost my eye and most of my organs... Mukuro-sama was the one who saved me..." she explained in a small voice but the contents of her story made his eyes grow wide with shock and disgust, "What, your parents didn't donate their organs? Or they can't afford it?" She shook her head and dropped her gaze on the floor, "My mother is a candidate for transfusion but... she didn't want to give her organs for me, same with my father. I remember my mother saying that she would rather be killed first before I get any of her healthy organs..." Gokudera suddenly felt a surge of pity on her. Her parents, especially her mother will certainly top the Most Shitty Parents of the Century list; no doubt Fuuta can make one if given a chance. She continued her story, not noticing his expression as she gripped the hem of her skirt tighter, "I met Mukuro-sama when he was taking a stroll through illusions and saw me. He told me that he would let me live by giving me organs by illusions, so I'm in debt my life to him."

He can't help but look disdained as he imagined Mukuro would be even capable of doing such a thing, then again, he IS Daemon Spade's successor; and once a backstabber will always be a backstabber even if the world's turned upside-down. Owing your life to another is for honor, like he does with the Tenth, but abusing it just for your own wants is clearly despicable, namely Mukuro Rokudo. "Pl-please don't misjudge him!" she suddenly yelped, as if reading his thoughts, "Mukuro-sama just gave me a chance to live e-even though no one accepts my existence!" He gaped at her with slack-jawed mouth and repeated, "No one accepts your existence? What the hell are you talking about?"

She stared at him from his sudden outburst and replied, "W-well, everybody's been hostile with me. Mukuro-sama and bossu are the only ones who're really nice to me. Chikusa and Ken are important people to me but they just ignore me most of the time and M.M. usually insults me or sometimes... slap me..." the last part made her break her voice and looked down again as the storm guardian made a full realization about how people interacts with her, with him as no exception. So that's why the boss is so concerned with her, the girl is really in a sorry state and most people she's been with are mistreating her, from the way he heard it anyway. He scratched the back of his head and tried to lighten up the tense atmosphere that hung around them, "Well, if it makes you feel better; my existence wasn't also recognized..."

"E-eh?"

Gokudera looked away, he knew he's stepping over boundaries if he told her his past but an outsider should also help a fellow outsider, right? "My mom was a mistress. Bianchi's father is also mine but we have different mothers. Her mother is legally my dad's wife so a mistress' offspring will not be tolerated in the mafia so my dad told everyone that Bianchi's mother was also mine. They didn't accept me though and said I'm just a pianist." he shrugged as if it was no big deal. Chrome didn't look the least comforted with the information he told her, "But... you still have people who accepts you," she said, "Boss, everyone in the Vongola, almost everyone you meet. I on the other hand..."

"Jeez, cut that self-pity crap will you?" he exclaimed irritably, "Do you accept your existence? Do you think you're important enough to live?" he asked whilst looking at her straight in her eye, her cheeks blushing at the close proximity her face was to his, but he didn't noticed. "Boss once said to me that worrying about what others think of you is just stupid; you better learn to accept yourself first before making others accept you!" he huffed and fell back on his seat. She said nothing and actually looked awed at the silver-haired teen. What he said made her think second thoughts about her perspective about her life. She's quiet and shy and never holds any grudge. She was called pitiful and weak by her peers (the Kokuyo gang mostly) and depends on a person whose body is imprisoned within a water tank. She's still glad she's herself and not someone else even if others mock her and her flaws. With that epiphany, she beamed at him with utmost sincerity, making him turn his head to the side with a hue of red staining his cheeks.

A lighting flashed and a thunder roared suddenly and the lights went out. Gokudera cursed and stood up and then groped his way to find a flashlight he kept in a cupboard, he felt he pressed his hands on something and the object yelped. He quickly retracted his hands and the lights suddenly flickered back on. He is standing in front of Chrome who was blushing intensely, which means he didn't wanna know what he just grabbed. He yelled a thousand apologies and his face burning as he ran towards the kitchen to retrieve the now useless flashlight. They just sat together on the sofa for the remainder of the night. Chrome slept on the couch with her head lolling at the side to fight of gravity.

'She's rather cute...' he thought but then shook it off as he reminded himself that Mukuro Rokudo is also sharing her body now and then.

He just sighed as he noticed her form shaking from the wind and cold night air and retrieved a blanket and covered her to her chin. He can't help but smile as his blanket nearly swallowed her tiny frame, She looked innocent, as she is and no one would even think she's in a mafia, much less the Vongola Familgia. She murmured things in her sleep and shifted her position to lean on his warm body instead, but strangely, he didn't mind.

It was morning when Chrome woke up. Gokudera was no where to be found so she just folded the blanket neatly and left a thank you note on top of the table after she searched for a paper and a pen, which he has a huge stock of. She looked around his apartment one more time and left, with a small grin on her face.

"Man, that meeting's long to the extreme!"

"I agree, say how about sushi at my place?"

"That's very nice of you, Yamamoto!"

"Oy, are you bribing the boss with sushi so you can butter up to him, baseball freak?"

It was a typical day for them as they stepped out of an abandoned house they'd held their meeting in. Everyone was present except Hibari and Chrome. Tsuna questioned Chrome's absence but Gokudera told him that she's at the apartment, sleeping like a rock and reported to him that he did communicate with the shy girl. This made Tsuna slightly worried since he knows Gokudera has a mean streak towards the girl for no apparent reason. They suddenly stopped walking when they saw Chrome running towards them in her Kokuyo uniform and a small handmade cellophane bag on her hands. She bowed to them and apologized for her absence, though Tsuna assured her they were just about to have another meeting regarding about it anyway. She smiled wider than usual, surprising them and turned towards Gokudera and handed him the bag full of homemade cakes, "Ano... I didn't know what you like but... I wanted to say grazie " She leaned in and gave him a peck on the cheek and ran off before anyone can process what happened, even Gokudera.

"What just happened?" all of them asked the blushing octopus-head.

A/N: Well, that's it! What do you guys think? I hope it's not too OOC! If you like my story, I accept requests and Chrome pairings! Read and review please~ peace out! Signed, Lee-chan