Hello~ This is my first fic in the KHR fandom. Please be kind.
This is set in 8YL! So Tsuna, Gokudera and Mukuro are 23 years old. Chrome is 21 years old. There are quite a few OCs here. I hope I've portrayed Chrome's mother and stepfather properly too, do tell me if you think they should be portrayed otherwise…
I don't own Katekyo Hitman Reborn!
EDIT (31 January 2013): Hi, I've changed the ending and hence direction of this story and will actually be adding in one or two more chapters so yeah~ I've removed some parts of the original story too so that the next parts won't be too long. It's rather awkward anyway. Also, only Gokudera, Tsuna, Mukuro and Chrome appear here, the rest will appear in the next chapter.
Hmm, also, the transition between my usage of Nagi and Chrome may be confusing, I apologise for that.
Enjoy~
It was the night of V-Tech's annual company New Year dinner. V-Tech is one of Vongola's many forays into the business world. It started off as a small company dealing with gadgetry and technology and became a multinational corporation raking in millions in sales revenue in just a few years. This is attributed to the Vongola engineers' ingenious designs and programming as well as the CEO Gokudera Hayato's business sense. Looking around the opulently decorated ballroom of a 5 star hotel (belonging to the Vongola) in Japan, Tsuna knew he had made the right choice when he insisted that Gokudera take charge of the corporation. Any and all employees working in the Japanese branch of V-Tech had been invited, with a guest, to this dinner party and were milling about in their finest suits and dresses. Tsuna smiled as he watched the people interacting with each other. That had been the point of such a dinner—for everyone to get to know each other so as to foster a sense of belonging and subsequently, loyalty to the company. He and his guardians (Chrome and Mukuro since the others were occupied) had, on Reborn's behest, also appeared at the dinner tonight to recruit for the Famiglia itself. Tsuna wasn't too bothered about recruiting though, he just wanted to check out the employees and make sure they were all happy and content.
"Jyuudaime!" Gokudera greeted, appearing beside Tsuna. He had matured a lot over the years into the even headed, capable Right Hand that he had aspired to be since he was just 14.
"Hi Gokudera-kun!" Tsuna smiled, "I'm undercover today. The employees shouldn't know I'm Vongola Decimo."
"Alright." Gokudera looked around the hall for the other guardians and quickly spotted Chrome not far away from them. She had let her hair down so that it fell to her shoulders and she was wearing a long purple dress decorated with small amethysts radiating from the neckline of the dress. Chrome looked exquisite and every bit a lady of high standing. She was chatting with a young man dressed in an expensive custom made suit with an indigo shirt.
"Huh, so Mukuro's here as well?" Gokudera asked, making a mental note to keep an eye on the pineapple illusionist. Even though Mukuro has more or less been on his best behaviour (Note: scaling down his random killings of unfortunate Mafiosi and shelving his mafia cum world domination plans) ever since Tsuna negotiated his release from Vendicare, he still loved to play around and cause chaos just for shits and giggles.
Upon hearing his cue from the stage, Gokudera sighed, "I gotta go give an opening address soon, both of you should go take a seat at some table. Jyuudaime, you can join my table if you want."
"Oh no," Tsuna shook his head, "I have to stay low profile remember? I'll join some other random table."
"Well okay, just remember to say that you are from R&D if others ask. Since that whole sector is under that Shouichi, the people here don't really know the people under my sector." Gokudera advised. He and Irie Shouichi had decided to split the corporation into R&D and non R&D and run it as they like to promote efficiency. The R&D sector will come up with products and Gokudera's section would then market it. It had obviously worked very well. Tsuna smiled and nodded as he watched Gokudera head towards the stage. Spotting an empty chair at a table to the side, he made his way to it and sat down just as Gokudera stepped up on to the stage.
"Is that the CEO of the company? He's so handsome! And so young too!" The woman on Tsuna's right gushed as she gazed at Gokudera dreamily.
"Yeah, I wonder if he has a girlfriend or anything yet!" Her friend chirped, resting her head on her palm as she watched him. Tsuna smiled wryly, apparently, Gokudera attracted fangirls everywhere he went. The man on Tsuna's left snickered when he heard the girls, "Don't girls like that scare you? I'm Hijikata Tamaki from the sales department! What's your name?"
"I'm Sawada Tsunayoshi from the R&D department! Nice to meet you." Tsuna blurted, clearly not expecting that anyone will talk to him. Belatedly, he realised that saying his real name might have blown his cover but Hijikata seemed not to have noticed.
"Woah, so you work under Irie-san? Is he a good boss?" Hijikata looked intrigued.
"Ehh," Tsuna scratched his head, "He's quite a good boss! He's nice and really takes care of us. He gets too absorbed in his work though… How is Gokudera-san then?"
"Gokudera-san's a really good boss. I really think he tries to make sure the employees are treated well, since you know, we have such great privileges and facilities and all. I really love the swimming pool in the company roof top." Hijikata grinned.
"I like that too!" A middle aged man with greying hair spoke up from the left of Hijikata. "Hi Sawada-san, I'm Fujiwara Yashiro."
Tsuna smiled and gave a little wave then began asking the table's people about their opinions on the company. The people were all rather wary at first but later warmed up to Tsuna and regaled him with the company's happenings, the rumours and all their complaints. The atmosphere at the table soon became amiable and Tsuna can't help but wonder if his life would be like theirs' if he wasn't a mafia boss.
"Hey, I think the speech's ended, we should be able to go take the food now! Man, I've been looking forward to attacking that buffet spread the whole night!" Hijikata suddenly chirped, grinning widely. At that, many people started leaving their seats and headed to the buffet tables. Tsuna followed suit, realising with slight chagrin that he hadn't paid attention to Gokudera's speech at all. That was quickly forgotten though, when he saw the tables laden with delicacies lining the wall.
Chrome felt slightly lost and lonely as she ate quietly at the table Gokudera-san had so kindly pointed her to. Although she has overcome the debilitating shyness that plagued most of her teen-hood, she wasn't social by any means and Reborn-san's task of looking for new members to join the Famiglia has overstretched her limits. She couldn't possibly just walk up to some fierce looking guy and tell him 'hey, you look like you can be helpful to the family, wanna join the Vongola?' could she? Mukuro-sama has disappeared some time ago with nary a word but she knew him well enough to know that he has probably started terrorising some poor fellow somewhere. Well, that guy can deal with it by himself, Chrome thought as she poked at her plate and decided to go get some more of that delicious uni sushi.
Hojou Misaki sniffed at the hoi polloi stuffing their faces at the buffet tables. They had descended on the buffet tables like half starved cavemen as soon as the CEO's speech had ended. She sat at the table and wished that the CEO had not insisted on a random seating during the dinner. She really abhorred being in close proximity with the rest of the common people in their cheap suits and dresses because really, they had rather shocking manners. It's like they were another breed of people all together. She gazed almost longingly at the table the CEO was sitting at. His table was special, seating quite a few people of rather high standing in the company. If her and her husband could just sit there, they'll just show that young CEO that her husband would be worthy of another promotion.
Scanning through the whole ballroom, she began categorising people in her mind—by their dressing to judge their financial state—and mentally taking note of the executives and their wives that she recognised so that she can do her bit of socialising later. Just then, she spotted a young woman in an obviously expensive designer purple dress walking towards the buffet tables. Feeling sure that she was connected to someone of high status in the company, Misaki tracked the girl with her eyes as she searched in her shrewd mind for an inkling of who the girl might be.
Chrome shuddered slightly as she felt the unmistakable sensation of someone watching her intently. Immediately, her guard went up as she whipped around, searching for any would be assailants that may have foolishly decided to crash a party organised by the Vongola. Her gaze landed on a middle aged woman sitting a few tables away that haven't even realised that Chrome noticed that she was staring. The woman was pretty despite being past her prime and as Chrome studied her features to determine if she meant any harm, she realised with a sickening certainty, that she knew the woman.
Misaki studied that young woman, noting her svelte figure, her dangling earring and the Manolos she wears with dauntless grace. Then the woman turned around abruptly and the first thing Misaki thought was 'how pretty she was and what a pity she has an eyepatch'. Then, as she scanned the delicate features and rushed to place the woman because surely, 'surely she's connected to one of the high ranking executives of the company', then like a bolt out of a blue, she realised why the woman had seemed so familiar.
Unbidden, her mouth called out, "Nagi? Nagi! Is that you?"
Chrome stood rooted to the spot as she recognised that woman. It was her mother, the mother that had abandoned her when she was on her deathbed.
"You've got to be kidding me! Chop up my own body for a child's sake?!"
"It isn't just me. No one wished for that child to stay alive this long."
"Nagi? Nagi! Is that you?"
Chrome snapped out of her trancelike state when she heard a long forgotten voice calling a name. The name that was once hers but she relinquished when she took up a new life and the name 'Chrome'.
"It's you isn't it? Where have you been all this years?" The woman had walked closer and reached out for her arm. Chrome stepped back, still in shock. Her mind urged her to deny, to walk away, to do anything, just get away-
"Okaa-san…" She said anyway, feeling a prickling at the back of her eye. Chrome just stared dumbly at the woman in front of her, casting frantically for words to say, to bridge the chasm hewn between them by the 8 years her mother believed her to be dead.
"Oh, Nagi, how are you doing nowadays?" Misaki asked, reaching for Chrome's hands.
"I… I'm doing well." Chrome answered hesitantly as she stepped back again and put her hands behind her back so that her mother could not touch her. Part of her was telling her to run away, another part was telling that she should feel anger for the abandonment and neglect all those years ago but one part of her reminded her that the woman in front of her was her mother.
Chrome's blatant rejection of her touch made an unnamed anger bubble up within Misaki. 'She is still the same unsociable, unlikable child as before' she fumed. It was only then did Misaki recognise that she didn't really care for the young woman in front of her; that she didn't really think of her as the daughter that she had thought she lost. Perhaps, she thought, she had never cherished Nagi as her daughter, but a burden that she was unfortunately shackled to for 13 years before that fateful accident. That cognizance kicked the shock right out of her system and she was immediately reminded of her motive when she first saw Chrome.
Quashing down on her ire, she smiled, "You've grown so much, and you look so beautiful now… This dress suits you, where did you get it?"
"It's a g-gift…" Chrome said softly as she studied the woman in front of her, unconsciously contrasting her with the mother she had remembered from her childhood.
"A gift?" 'So she's close to someone that's affluent'. Misaki thought, and then she said teasingly, "Is it from someone I should know about?"
Chrome blushed as she understood what her mother was implying even as a slight irritation rose within her, "It's from my friends… They bought it for me as a birthday gift." She was shocked when Kyoko-chan and Haru-chan had presented her with the dress as she had never owned anything so exquisite before—she didn't think that she was deserving of such expense. They had then been adamant that she wear it for the party today.
"Ah, Nagi-chan, you have such nice friends. They must be in the upper echelons of society hmm?" Misaki said, smiling at the younger woman, although that smile came out slightly strained. 'Tch, I won't get any information with the way she's answering, how annoying' she thoughtas Chrome nodded wordlessly.
"Then Nagi-chan, what do you do for a living?" Misaki questioned again. Chrome wanted to roll her eyes, 'so her mother is interested in her life only now?' She felt like she was being interrogated but she answered nonetheless, "I work in the-."
"Kufufufu~ My dear Chrome, who are you talking to?" A smooth voice interrupted. Mukuro glided up beside Chrome and slid an arm around her shoulders, pulling her closer to him. Chrome automatically leaned into his touch and smiled radiantly at him.
Mukuro studied the woman in front of him with mild distaste. He had felt Chrome's turbulent emotions of shock, unease and irritation through their bond—Chrome is obviously not comfortable with the woman she is talking to. The bond of possessor and possessed still exists despite the fact that Mukuro had not possessed her for years and now acts more like the protective, if slightly more intimate older brother she never had.
"She's my mother, Mukuro-sama."
"What 'Mukuro-sama'?! Who are you?" Misaki asked, feeling slightly misplaced due to the sudden intimacy between her long lost daughter and the stranger.
Mukuro smirked.
Chrome sighed inwardly when she saw his infamous grin appear. There he goes.
"I am Chrome's savior… I am her Family." Mukuro smiled winsomely at Misaki and said, "I must thank you for deserting Chrome after her accident; I'd never have found her otherwise… Her body has served me well."
Misaki blanched as the last bit registered. She may not have understood the first part but the man's last sentence was clear enough. Mukuro chuckled inwardly as he watched horror, repulsion and unrestrained fury flash across the woman's face as she took the bait. Chrome was torn between wanting to hide her face in embarrassment and laughing outright as she witnessed her mother jumping to conclusions.
"Y-You… You disgusting t-thing!" Misaki cried in disgust, "What have you done to Nagi?!"
"She was always rather willing." Mukuro continued cheerfully, thoroughly enjoying himself as the woman stared at Chrome in undisguised consternation.
"Hey dear, what's happening here?" A middle aged man strode up to them. He was dressed impeccably in a pinstriped suit and flicked his gaze up and down Chrome and Mukuro's body as he drew nearer, as if measuring their worth.
"This man, this creature, had been violating our Nagi!" Misaki said, pointing imperiously right at Mukuro.
"Nagi? Your daughter?" The man, now identified to be Hojou Kamiya, looked at Chrome, seeing her for the first time, "And who is this man?"
"He is the beast that had been raping Nagi! Weren't you listening to me?" Misaki screeched. Beside her, Mukuro chuckled. She was being really ridiculous.
"Hush dear… You are causing quite a scene. I'll just get security to deal with the pervert alright?" Kamiya soothed as he took her elbow, turning around to try and summon the security guards.
"That won't be necessary."
Everyone whipped around to stare at the source of the voice.
"Bossu!"
"Sawada Tsunayoshi~"
"What do you mean that it won't be necessary?! This bastard here-" Kamiya snapped at the newcomer.
"I don't know what he said to you, but Mukuro is not a rapist." Tsuna turned and waved the security guards away while his other hand batted Mukuro's wandering hand away. Then turning back, he said, "And I do not appreciate you calling my Family names." Tsuna's tone had turned cold and caustic at the last statement and both the Hojous tensed and looked away, unable to meet his eyes.
'Again with 'Family', what is he talking about? And did his eyes turn orange?!' Misaki thought, glancing warily at Tsuna.
"My name is Sawada Tsunayoshi, I am Chrome's boss and Family. You are Chrome's parents I presume?" Tsuna smiled warmly when Chrome nodded, "I don't think we should make a scene here. How about this? You are invited to my place for dinner tomorrow. We'll answer any questions you have there."
"Tsunayoshi, are you sure you want to do this?" Mukuro asked, smirking at the Hojou couple.
"Well, they are Chrome's parents after all. So yes, we are going to do it." Tsuna told him, fixing him with a warning look. Then Tsuna turned to the Hojou couple, "Do you accept the invitation?"
"Yes. We'll be there." Kamiya said quickly when Tsuna's distinctly orange gaze turned on to him.
"Well, that's good then. Do get ready at the front of your house at 7pm sharp, there'll be a car waiting for you." Tsuna smiled again, the smile this time lacking its usual warmth and held a tinge of deviousness. "And we should take our leave. Have a good night." Then, beckoning to both his Mist Guardians, Tsuna turned away and walked out of the ballroom without a single backward glance, leaving the Hojou couple to ponder just what they got into.
"Kamiya," Misaki frowned, "Who are those people?"
Kamiya hesitated and grimaced, "The name 'Sawada Tsunayoshi' is familiar but I don't know who they are. I didn't even want to accept the invitation but something just compelled me to. I don't think it will be dangerous… I mean, Nagi lives there right? That Mukuro guy gives me the creeps though."
"Oh, you didn't even hear what he said! There's something off about them. I wonder just what Chrome is doing with them!" Misaki said, recalling the earlier conversation with slight revulsion. "Ah well, at least they are obviously rich. We might stand to benefit from this."
"You are so money orientated." Kamiya sighed. "But maybe we can demand for reimbursement or something since you know, we've brought Chrome up." Misaki nodded gleefully, agreeing full heartedly to the plan. Then something occurred to her.
"K-Kamiya? How would they know where we live?"
Next chapter should be coming out on Saturday. Do review. Thank you!