- Immoral -

by the Symphonic Mess "Vi"

Disclaimer: My first foray into the Reborn! fandom, and I decide to pick such a dynamic relationship. Oh my. Anyway, I don't own Katekyo Hitman Reborn!, it's characters or anything like that. I don't profit off of it. Reviews are all appreciated, so please take a moment afterwards if you have it. I'd much appreciate it, especially since I'm really actually quite nervous about how this story will turn out quality wise on my part.

Umm, the song mentioned here is totally mine. I wrote it a while back and thought that it would be the perfect theme song for this story, so the lyrics will make a few appearances here and there in the text and in speech, etc. Just so you know I'm not stealing it, and so you know not to use it without my permission, I wanted to make sure to say that. Okay. Now, on to the story. Please enjoy.

Chapter Two: Human Nature

There hadn't been any funny nightmares after that, but Tsuna didn't feel like he was sleeping any better. What could he do? That was quite a loaded question. After all, Mukuro was right to think it should be impossible as long as he was still just "No-Good Tsuna" and not "the Tenth Boss of Vongola: Sawada Tsunayoshi". A Junior High student couldn't pull those kinds of strings and either way he thought about it, what he wanted to do was illegal.

Law said that Rokudo Mukuro was one of the most vicious, notorious criminals of all. Combined with that and his intense cunning skills, there was no place for him other than the lowest depths of prison, where he couldn't hope of trying to escape again.

And from what he learned, they were right up to a certain point. Rokudo Mukuro had killed a horrendous amount of people and he was crafty, conniving and ambitious enough to do it again, at this point. In the middle, however, there seemed to be a factor that Tsuna considered to be of the utmost importance – one that seemed to go completely unnoticed by the law.

Mukuro was, along with a number of others, it seemed, used as test subjects for horrible, excruciating experiments by his own family. From what Ken told him, this had gone on for a long time for them and it had probably happened before them too. Their own family had done this to them. And they would have suffered far longer if Mukuro hadn't done what he did to open up the chance for them to escape.

There were so may who died there, though Tsuna couldn't help but wonder if that wasn't th price they should pay for their sins. What did people like that consider human life as? In his mind, Tsuna couldn't help but think they were the most despicable of all. Did Mukuro's punishment really take all of that into consideration? Tsuna strongly doubted it.

It's human nature to ask for compensation. That's why the law was made to punish those who had wronged society with a sentence reflecting the crime. While the system sounds like it should run flawlessly, Tsuna couldn't help but think of all the things that couldn't be measured in each case, when taking a crime and it's worthy punishment into consideration. It was an ideal solution, but one that would only work in an ideal world.

That kind of punishment, Tsuna was sure, was not fit to use on anyone.

He recalled the dream. He could only guess where he was going without any lights and he could only figure out where he was going based on the feeling of the water's bubbling movements without any sounds to follow. The idea of such a place wasn't only to lock a person up, but to rob them of their senses completely. Not only that, but staying there long enough without hope would be enough to rob any normal person of their will to live.

Walking through the park, Tsuna realized how lost in his thoughts he had become and noticed that he was pretty hungry. He walked in to one of the small park-side cafes and decided to get something to eat. Standing in the short line to be assigned to a table, Tsuna heard the little girl in front of him, holding her mom's hand, singing a strange pop-rock song.

...And I looked into your eyes and I saw – my reflection – all the lies...

Are you a god of the concrete skies?

Can you see the gloom invading my life?

Is there something I can do?

You'll tell me, won't you?

Because you can save me, you can save me

I can see it, you could save me if you'd take me

You're looking for something, something

And I think it's something I can give

The way you're looking at me tells me I can

It was disturbing in a way. Tsuna mentally told himself to look up the song when he got home. It was kind of catchy. "Next, sir... Your table will be this way." The waiter man said politely, giving Tsuna a small two person table against the far left wall, in the back. "Are you ready to order something to drink now?" the man asked, pulling out his tablet.

Tsuna shook his head nervously. "Uhm, no. Can I have a few minutes?" To be honest, the only reason he came here was because it was the closest to where he was when his hunger struck. He had never been here before, and he couldn't say it was the kind of place he might have ever considered going before. All of the decorations were suave and colorful. It was probably going to be expensive, Tsuna said, sighing. The menu was professional, but designed probably to look appealing to teenagers and young adults.

He was about to start decoding the fancy, suave menu when he heard footsteps approaching his table. But instead of the waiter like he had expected, Chrome came running up to his table with a smile on her face. "Boss! The waiter said it would be okay to join you. Is that alright with you?"

"Sure!" Tsuna said, smiling brightly. He had started thinking that it was weird how no one had randomly showed up yet like they usually did. And it was better than sitting alone in silence. "How did you know I was here? And... have you been here before?"

Chrome laughed, her face still glowing cheerfully – more so than usual, too. "No. I know it might sound weird but, as I was walking past this place... I saw you coming in here. Not as you were walking in, but I kind of saw what you did in my head. So I asked the waiter if someone like you was here and he pointed you out." She said. 'That's not normal at all!' Tsuna thought in all honesty. 'Not that I'm not used to things that aren't normal. I think I'm more used to things NOT making sense now.' He grimaced.

"You look... really happy today, Chrome. Did something good happen?"

The purple haired girl giggled. "I can't really say that. There isn't any reason for me to feel especially happy, but when I woke up this morning, I was just... extremely happy. I was a little startled myself. But I think... I think it's Mukuro-sama... I think he's the one who's really happy today."

Tsuna blinked. "Mukuro? What for?" That was a shocker. Hearing that Mukuro was elated was almost a little frightening, considering his life goals at the time.

"I tried to ask him, because I was curious too. We had an interesting conversation. Do you want to hear about it?" Tsuna just nodded anxiously. Part of him was really happy to hear that Mukuro seemed happy. The other part was still slightly wary. But if Chrome was still this happy after talking with him about it, he doubted it could be anything too bad. That was the impression he had of Chrome anyway.

'Mukuro-sama? Did something happen? You seem really happy today.'

'Kufufu. Tell me, Chrome. What do you think of our sins as humans? What do you think of human nature?'

'Human... nature...' She pondered it. 'Right now it seems like human nature is to hurt people and do only what benefits us and our organizations the most. That's a sin too, isn't it?'

Mukuro chuckled. 'It sounds like it, isn't it. The Original Sin happened because of human nature. Things like curiosity and greed are part of human nature.'

'Then... doesn't that almost make it sound like human nature is the worst sin, if it can classify other groups of sins?'

'Most definitely. I was just thinking about that this morning... thinking about the disgusting humans that I hate the most and how they were so ruled by those sins. Then I thought I should add hypocrisy to the list of my own sins.'

'There's a big difference!' Chrome argued, not willing to put Mukuro on the same level as those people. 'Because it's unavoidable, we all have to live with some sins, but... there has to be a point were some human nature can't be accepted and cannot be forgiven.'

Mukuro smiled. 'Yes, I suppose that must be true. And I was wondering why I haven't crossed that line yet. Most people would say I have. To hear one person say that I have not... I was just thinking how nice it is to know one of the most innocent humans of all.' He laughed genuinely. And Chrome couldn't forget the way he smiled. It was so different – so wonderful. She couldn't help smiling herself.

"He was talking about you." Chrome said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "So, thank you Boss. For being the one person so willing to see past Mukuro-sama's sins and try looking at the whole picture."

Tsuna smiled weakly. 'Reborn says don't, but Chrome says do. I guess it doesn't matter since I probably wouldn't have been able to listen to Reborn anyway, but it's kind of nice to know that Mukuro appreciates it. Chrome too. "Ah, it's just who I am." he said, scratching the back of his neck and laughing nervously. It felt really nice.