Gokudera drummed his fingers on the mahogany table's smooth top, alone in a conference room in the Vongola base. The autumn leaves of Potenza enticed him to step outside of the damned, dreary building – only he did not want to. Going outside would potentially break that precious silence he loved.
He recounted his younger days, when the him back then was the converse version of the him sitting alone in the gloomy room, decades older. But there was just something he felt he had forgotten. The old figure scratched his chin. The heavy Baroque doors of the room creaked open, rudely disrupting his train of thought. He would have snapped if not for the woman who peered from the corridor.
Her violet strands and dull cobalt obs bobbed ever softly as she approached him, taking slow steps. She had changed quite a great deal over the years. Gazing at the photograph he held in his right hand, she spoke, "That's very cute. Do you miss her? She helped us out a lot. Ken and Chikusa liked to spend time with her. But you were never happy about her being around other men. Even boys." He looked at her, then back at the photograph.
"This," he said, holding the article up against the light. "You remember it. I can't. She looked, er, happy? But I don't think I've ever made anyone happy – except the Tenth. He knows I've never been friendly." He tilted his white head and furrowed his eyebrows. Chrome felt the corner of her mouth tug. She strutted up to a matching mahogany cabinet behind her friend and reached out for a photo album.
She placed the album in front of him. He cocked an eyebrow at her, but she only patted him on the shoulder and began dusting dirt off the cover of the album. The similarly old woman – who still looked in her 40s – turned the pages, stopping at the twelfth numbered page and pointed her index finger at the photograph in the top corner, to the right. She could see Gokudera putting on his confused expression again.
"You don't remember?" she chuckled dryly. The genuine look on his face put a halt to the humour. "Taken forty years ago. We were celebrating Boss' acceptance as head of Vongola. There, that's you with her legs on your head. Interesting position. Quite playful."
The old man examined the article, absorbing every fey expression, every whimsical gesture. He could feel his memory returning like a trickle of water from a leaking tap. However, that tap was plugged with clay when it came to the person sitting on top of him in the photograph.
Abruptly, she peered around the room, suspicious glances at every corner, before leaning in and whispered, "Did you remember to take your medication?" She lifted her head once more, peering at every suspicious corner. Gokudera thought she was hiding something, but he chose not to ask – she never liked getting others in her personal matters, especially when it came to her precious Master.
He nodded. "Yeah, I remembered," he said. "I remembered to forget to take it."
His fellow mafiosi pursed her lips in faint annoyance. As patient as she was, it was quite a challenge to maintain one's cool when a close friend constantly forgets everything. She gave up trying to help him remember his companion's name on his own.
"That's Uri. Uri the cat. I would say box weapon. But you would be mad," Chrome stated. Gokudera grimaced wryly, nodding in a phony act of understanding. "I'll bring your medicine for you next time. I'll get them from your house. Going back together?" He nodded uninterestingly.
The still strong mafiosi helped her acquaintance on his feet. She draped her arm around his as they went down the corridor to the elevator. She pressed the button, and both averted their attention to the digits displayed above the elevator's door. That uncomfortable silence was there again – even though they had known each other for many years.
Ding.
Two elderly people stepped inside. Their eyes darted to and fro, but no other muscle did they made move.
Ding.
Steel doors parted and the lift was flooded with the cold autumn air. Chrome edged closer to her company as they turned left and walked down the street. She could feel the fine hair on her arms and the back of her neck stand. Her body shivered, grasping Gokudera's cashmere coat firmly. She wished she had brought a warmer coat for such a cold day. Her partner nudged her. Too tight a grip, he had said. She relaxed and apologised.
She crossed the intersection, passed by Sol's Cafe block and made a right turn, their soft foot steps resonating on the silent asphalt of the road. As soon as the two had reached the other side, the Storm guardian nudged his company once more. He complained, "You're walking too fast; I think I hurt my back."
"Sorry," she apologised, rubbing his back. The cobalt-eyed woman carefully led him to the lift of the apartment block. Her effort of slowly leading him and watching his steps were met with a disgruntled grumbling from her friend. "What?" she asked. He shook his head.
"Is this the right block?" the old man questioned. She eyed him in a strange, puzzled sort of way. Her eyebrows were scrunched and her lips slightly apart, as if signaling to him that if he could not remember, then neither could she. He figured out that he was correct in that inference.
"Did you remember to take your medicine?" he teasingly asked, a sly grin lacing his lips. Chrome refused to look at him; her gaze was on the minute ants scrambling about in a corner. Tightening her hold on his arm, she frowned.
"At least," she said. "I don't hurt my back."
Gokudera grunted. "Oh, so you do take them. And here I thought you're good with memory. But not a good comeback there, think of something better next time, will ya," he replied.
"I know. No need to say it like that," she said in a hushed voice. By then, her lips resembled that of an orange peel, ends drooping downwards. She stepped forward and pressed the button to call the lift. "At your apartment...I have things to talk about. Can I keep you company?"
Ding.
The two walked into the lift. She pressed the eighth floor button. "Just say so if you don't want to be out in the cold, or you're too scared to walk alone," his usual cynical reply came. He softly sighed, however, and edged closer towards her. "You can stay for as long as you like, though. I think I really hurt my back."
Ding.
"Okay," she smiled.