Title: Indebted
Rating: PG-13/K+
Genre: General, Romance
Characters: Kozato Enma, Chrome Dokuro, Tsunayoshi Sawada, and Daemon Spade.
Summary: Post Ch.341 – "He knew that by the time she jumped into his arm like a goddamned warrior that she's not, he owed her with his life for, like, ever." Slight Enma/Chrome. One-shot.
Disclaimer: I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn! or any involved materials.
Warning: Spoilers for chapter 341 – "Conflicted"; in which Enma was going to sacrifice himself to defeat Daemon, but then Chrome came to the rescue. Finally, she made herself useful and not so freaking useless for the entire arc. I wrote this one a little bit, or maybe far too dramatic even for my taste. There are tons of grammatical mistakes because I'm too lazy to fix it, but I don't think there would be any misspelled words.
He could see the pure shock in his best friend eyes' when he shouted from the sky, his voice filled with desperation as he tried his best to keep the flames, the last remaining of his power, from burning out while trapping Daemon in place. It wasn't really such an easy task even for him, mainly because he had used like, seventy-percent of his power when he fought against Tsuna earlier, something he definitely regretted and would never ever do again in the future.
"Please, do this favor for me!" Enma shouted louder this time, pleading and begging at the brunette who's currently fighting with himself at the moment, whether to shoot or not. Didn't he know that they don't have much time left, and that if they failed, their friends Vindice wouldn't be released at all and worse, the world would probably be doomed after a jail-break from the most feared prison on earth, holding the most dangerous criminals that ever existed?
The boss of the Shimon Famiglia highly doubted that his new best friend knew about any of those consequences at the moment, given for the equally desperate and panic look he gave him from afar. He wasn't thinking straight, full of doubts and conflicting emotions, and that wasn't good at all.
Enma gritted his teeth harshly, biting his tongue in the process as his flames started to decrease and the entire muscles in his body screamed for him to give up.
'Not yet,' he told himself, panting and trembling while forcing his flames to hold the black holes in places. He could hear Daemon's mocking laugh in his ears, watching in panic as four of the six holes he created closing up visibly, but felt completely relieve when Tsuna finally nodded his head and muttered "I understand" in agreement.
His flames started to weaken again and the pain in his body became far too unbearable for him to take. If the Vongola Decimo was going to take down that bastard Daemon Spade, the he needed to shoot with all of his power at him right here right now, before it's too late.
'Come on, Tsuna-kun…' his eyes fluttered shut, and Enma took a deep long breath before releasing it. It always helped him to concentrate more in battle field, despite the fact that his consciousness started slipping away every seconds that passed by. Cursing silently under his breath, Enma kept waiting for the blast of flames that had yet to come, and wondered what in the seven-hell is taking that brunette so long?
Daemon started to speak again, at Tsuna and not at him, but the insults and that mocking tone of him annoyed him to no end. It was like an extremely painful torture for his ears, and he prayed that the illusionist would just shut the fuck up for once and for all.
(He was exhausted and worked out—it's normal to be blasphemous once in a while despite his shy and polite personality, of course.)
Something that Daemon said had made the other boss hesitated, and Enma really felt like he was in the mood to kick the more-than-a-hundred-years-illusionist in the gut, if just he wasn't in such a critical condition. If they failed on defeating him, and he would still be alive afterward, there's no point of living if his entire family was captured, locked up inside of jars filled with water. He would die either way, so his sacrifice in this battle to stop all those bad things inside of Daemon's sick head from happening in the world would make it worth dying for.
But somehow—when he heard her cries and suddenly jumped towards him—a wave of relief washed over his heart, and all of a sudden, he was warm. He shouldn't feel that way, because he's going to die, and he instantly regretted letting his emotions took over. It's just proving that he didn't want to sacrifice himself like this.
So of course, he knew that by the time she jumped into his arm like a goddamned warrior that she's not, he owed her with his life for, like, ever, simply because he didn't want to die just yet.
Enma instinctively wrapped his arms around her waist when she was near; drawing her close to him and 'accidentally' smelled how naturally intoxicating her scent was. There's no scent of perfume like Shittopi and Adelheid usually used, but her hair smelled ridiculously nice, and he was curious as of how her neck would smell…
"Shoot, boss! I will protect Kozato Enma!" she shouted loudly and confidently, not bothered in the least by their rather uncomfortable position. He snapped at her words, eyes widened in surprised, lips parted as if he was going to say something, but nothing came.
The girl—Chrome Dokuro, if he recalled—was the least person he had expected to come to his rescue. He never actually spoke to her or even look at her properly, but here she was, putting her life on the line for him whether it was because of bravery, stupidity, or loyalty. He figured it was the latter, because Tsuna was really, really good at gaining people's trust and loyalty, something he learned personally while 'playing house' with him and his family.
"Mist defense, full power!" a thin almost-transparent circle barrier surrounded around him and Chrome. It was pretty small, and he could feel that it wasn't as strong as Daemon's illusions, but he appreciated it anyway. To know that she's willing to protect him, someone she barely knew and had already kidnapped her (it wasn't him, but he didn't stop July from taking her away either, so it was partly his fault as the boss), was somehow comforting.
"Th-thank… you…" he muttered softly and lowly near her ears, face red and cheek unusually hot. It was hard for him to maintain his balance in the air when she was moving around so goddamned much while arguing with the bird, Rokudo Mukuro. He felt slightly annoyed and almost growled when she pressed her back flush against his bare chest and abdomen, but decided to ignore it and focused on his flames, anyway. The possibilities of him, leaving out of this so-called "Holy Island" alive with his friends and family had somehow made him more confident and not powerless in the least.
Taking a deep breath, the crimson haired boss of the Shimon Famiglia started building up more power to keep his flames stable, increasing the size of the black holes while he's at it. His thin broken lips quirked upward slightly when Daemon's cry filled his ears, making him slightly distracted but pleased either way.
"My flames can't hold out much longer!" he warned the brunette, who's finally confident enough to shoot him. He clenched his fist tighter and pulled the girl in his arms, Chrome, closer to him.
If he managed to make it out of here alive, he might as well start socializing with her and tried to repay his debt to her, even though he knew that it'll never be enough.
At least he would have a reason to meet her again.
Word count: 1.191
I would have never thought that this story would become so long, but oh well. I'm sorry if it doesn't make any sense to you—in case if you haven't noticed, I've been in writer's block more for more than a year, so pardon me, really.
I missed writing Katekyo Hitman Reborn! so much though. I've been doing too many TV Shows fictions lately, and forgot the goodness of anime. I'll be continuing Between Blood And Betrayal later, so~