A/N: Had bit of a writer's block, stuff happened, life sucked. Oh, played in three tournaments…. Ended the summer season with 3 wins and 1 loss! Nearly got stuck in Richmond airport (those on the East Coast who've been victims of the weather have my condolences and sympathies). Uh, yeah… Don't kill me? You don't get the rest of the story if you do.

Thanks to: Silvermane1, phoenixfyre2552 (who should probably hit me over the head, since she gave me such awesome ideas for stuff later in the story), Firehedgehog, belladu57, and charm13insomnia.

Key:

Harry is a spell.

Warning: Um, language, innuendos, Hibiki says the word "sex." If any of these cause you problems, please exit the page (and why the heck are you still reading?).

FLAMES WILL BE USED IN BULLETS TO UNLEASH TSUNA'S DYING WILL

Chapter 6: This is SPARTA! Or not…

Smoke flows from the room as continuous shouts and sounds of general violence and mayhem besiege the two's eardrums. When enough smoke clears, the small form of Colonello can be seen on a rock outcropping, firing an array of weapons at both the dark figures and the two battered forms of Ken and Chikusa.

Upon seeing the new presence, Chrome makes to hide behind Hibiki, but noticing the state her "bodyguards" are in, slowly moves to stand beside Hibiki. Although she's trembling, Hibiki is impressed that so soon after coming into his care, she's standing up in situations that could have had her cowering and relying completely on Mukuro in the past (1).

Despite his pride in Chrome's quick advancement in self-confidence and his amusement at Colonello's antics, Hibiki is not pleased by the state the boys are in. With a flick of his wrist, Hibiki ends the simulation.

"Saa, Colonello, next time ring the doorbell instead of beating up my wards, yeah? I still have to deal with Hibari later today."

The small blond focuses his attention on the taller male after surveying the damage. "Ah, sorry Harry-san, kora. That bastard Reborn said that you had found a temporary cure for us and your door was open so I just came in, kora. That's fine, right?" Colonello says, more than slightly worried.

Hibiki smiles and shakes his head. "No, it's fine. Don't try and kill my boys again, though, alright?"

"Fine… You do know that they work for Mukuro right? Of course you do-"

"Colonello, I worked out a deal with Mukuro," came the amused interruption.

"Sure you did – what? Really? Damn, I know you were good, Harry-san, but are you sure, kora?"

"Yes, it benefits the both of us quite nicely, as Chrome-chan here gets tutoring and I get to teach a willing student. Also, it's Hibiki now, Colonello."

~IiI~

Chrome follows the conversation carefully. She temporarily fears that Hibiki-san would tell the Arcobaleno that he didn't really want her, but that would have eased her paranoia in thinking that Hibiki-san was lying about wanting her. No one wanted her except for Mukuro-sama, although even he wanted her for reasons beyond her own person.

Despite her worries and fears, with the attention off of her, she realizes that it's surprisingly easy to prevent her from hiding herself entirely. She still isn't comfortable, but it's at least bearable. No doubt, much of this could be attributed to the session she'd had with the green-eyed male whom she, just realizing now, had grown incredibly close to in the very short time that she'd known him. Much of this can be attributed to the surprisingly calm air around the man, but there is a remarkable amount of empathy between the two of them…

~IiI~

"Since you're here, you might as well stay for lunch after you get the temporary cure. I hope you hadn't eaten anything before coming here."

With a shake of his head, Colonello hops off the rock. Hibiki moves and lifts the Arcobaleno onto his shoulder, silently casting a Locamotor Mortis on the boys for the second time that day. With a simple signal to Chrome, the motley group ascends the stairs.

Setting the boys on the couch, seeing as they wouldn't stay upright in a kitchen chair, Hibiki searches through the various vials that contain the assortment of concoctions that he had created earlier that day.

Finally finding the one vial for the "baby" Hibiki lifts the vial to the Arcobaleno's eye level. "This is your dose of the temporary cure. It should last for a full 24 hours. If you experience any pain or other symptoms, write it down and if it doesn't go away in an hour, come back. I don't care if it's 2 AM; you're not dying on my watch. I didn't get you out of that hotel for that."

Nodding, and looking slightly chastised, Colonello takes the vial gingerly.

Turning to Chrome, Hibiki says, "Chrome-chan, feel free to think up a meal for lunch – anything you want. I have plenty of food and spices. If you don't know how to make it, or you think it'll take too much time, write it down and I'll see if I can't make it for dinner, k?"

Blushing, she nods. Colonello is rather taken aback at how shy the girl is, considering how Mukuro is her role model. Although, as he thinks about it, having a shy or weaker person depend on you could create an incredibly strong bond of loyalty. He mentally shivers at the prospect of such a person under the command of a sadist like Mukuro, though he comforts himself with Harry's (no, he reminds himself, Hibiki's) presence in the girl's life. The man wouldn't allow things to progress to that degree, if he could help it. Besides, it seems as if the girl is already quite attached to the green-eyed male. Colonello is startled out of his musings when Hibiki reaches a room and moves to set him down. He curses his inattention, despite the fact that Hibiki's movements are typically smooth enough to go unnoticeable even if he is paying attention.

"Now, the transformation itself should take about ten minutes. You will want to use the shower afterwards, though. I'll see if I can find some clothes for you that would fit you and put them on the bed while you're in the shower. Don't go crazy like Reborn did this morning all right? I've got enough problems as it is."

Fidgeting as he realizes what Hibiki is insinuating (the man always did have a mouth on him, a very dirty mouth) he replies, "Of course, kora! I'm nothing like that bastard Reborn!"

Hibiki smirks. "Sure. I'll leave you to it. Lunch will likely be ready when you're done with the shower, so just come down."

With that, the taller man leaves the Arcobaleno to regain his proper age.

~IiI~

When Colonello walks down the stairs, marveling at that he can actually walk down the stairs, he encounters laughter. Slightly confused, as none of the inhabitants except for Hibiki seem to be prone to laughing at anything, Colonello continues his descent. Turning into the kitchen, he is greeted by the sight of a giggling Chrome, an amused Chikusa, and a chuckling Harry. Ken, the source of the laughter, is running around with his mouth seemingly on fire. Presumably, the fire isn't actually real, since none of the others are unduly concerned.

"Alright Chrome-chan, perhaps you should stop tormenting Ken-kun. I think he's learned his lesson."

Chrome nods slightly, but says softly, "Ken, don't eat food and use your Channels at the same time. It's not fair to everyone else and very rude."

Chikusa nods with Hibiki, the latter obviously still amused. "Ken-kun, you wouldn't want to explode would you? Where's all the food supposed to go when you release it?"

The innocent sounding questions further incise the teen, but he looks to his charge and nods in agreement.

Chrome nodded back in acknowledgement and released the illusion.

Colonello announces his presence by clapping. "Great job, Chrome-chan. Seems like Hibiki here's taught you a lot today, kora. He show you any of his illusions, kora?"

Chrome retreats into herself once more, but a quick bob of her head acknowledges the compliment. The small, rapid shake that follows it answers Colonello's second question.

Ken and Chikusa are curious, Ken asks, "Wait. So were those strings this morning illusions? Is that how you moved us? What else do you use the illusions for? Why do you even know this Arcobaleno? Why do you know Reborn?..."

Glaring slightly at the one responsible for instigating the barrage of questions, Hibiki holds up a hand, slightly stemming the flow from the teen's mouth.

"Give me a second and I'll try and explain. Colonello, sit down and eat. You're going to be subjected to this as well and you might as well eat at the same time."

Colonello takes Hibiki's "advice" and hurriedly sits at the open space, loading his plate with the eclectic food that graces the table. Currently it is filled with Chinese, English, and French, with a few random Japanese dishes. All of it looks wonderful. However, he's still suspicious of the contents of the food. Colonello wouldn't put it past Hibiki to poison him due to some real or imagined slight in the past.

Hibiki catches his look, of course. "It's not poisoned. I wouldn't do that to the kids."

Colonello nods in recognition of that as Ken vehemently denies being a "kid."

"Alright. Where to start… Well, the method on how I got the two of you down here, and up here after your training session and resulting trouncing by Colonello, is similar to illusions, but isn't. No, I'm not telling you what it is. As for what I do use illusions for, there are lots of things. Some illusions are similar to how Mukuro-kun uses, others are different. I can use the illusions while fighting, but typically choose not too because there are only so many people in the world, law-abiding, criminal, or somewhere in between, that have a general mastery of illusions. It's not something I use unless it's called for.

"The blond idiot I know because I saved his ass a few times, crossed paths with him even more, and eventually became friends with him over sharing miseries about merciless training and violent women. By the way," he turns to the blond in question, " you're still engaged to Lal aren't you?"

"Um, yeah, kinda. It's difficult when you're in the body of a baby to get married, you know."

Hibiki smirks, "I know. I was just wondering if she'd given up on you yet."

Leaving Colonello to splutter denials, Hibiki continues. "As for why I know Reborn, I have to ask if you're going to have the same reactions as Tsu-kun's guardians."

General confusion met that statement.

"They freaked. Proved you're better than them, okay Ken-kun, Chikusa-kun? Chrome-chan, I'm not sure you want to hear this, so I'll give you the option of stepping out."

Nods from the males coincide with Chrome's denial of wanting to step out. She wants to hear what her mentor has to say – she's learned that information is key when you're dealing with the mafia. Colonello looks on, not surprised that the green-eyed man knows his rival, but that he's giving the story a warning.

"Well then, I was out in Italy for a diplomatic endeavor between Italy and Britain. By the end of it, I was exhausted, more cynical than normal, and in sever need of a drink, so I walked into a bar that Reborn happened to be inhabiting, drank with him in the loosest way possible, went to his flat, had sex with him, and slept. I doubt you want me going into more detail, yes?"

Going from the gobsmacked and flushed faces he was left looking at, he presumed correctly. Chrome is flushed a deeper red than Tsuna had been, although she's maintained consciousness.

Surprisingly, Colonello is the last to recover. Ken is somewhere in a state of shock, more from the idea that the Arcobaleno actually did such things, but was quick enough to realize that the 7 Greatest of the Mafia are human too, despite what they'd have you believe. Chikusa is startled by the information, but he is quick to regain his wits as he stores the information away. Chrome is very embarrassed by even the concept of sex, but she can see how another male would find Hibiki to be attractive. Secretly, she thinks that the idea is quite interesting, but banishes it before it can fully register. She doesn't want Mukuro-sama seeing that.

Lunch is finishing up, the boys collecting the dishes to wash them, since Hibiki and Chrome cooked, when Colonello finally moves.

"Ha-chan, I just had a really strange dream where you told me that you met Reborn by sleeping with him."

Hibiki sighs. "Yes, Colonello. I did tell you that. And it's Hibiki now. Honestly, you're reacting worse than Tsuna-kun."

Colonello blinks as the comment registers. He huffs, but cannot deny that his reaction could be considered extreme.

"Okay, so while I will try very hard not to imagine you and Reborn together, although I did know that gender wasn't an issue for him, I have just one very important question for you."

Hibiki motions for him to continue, though casts a charm to cover the ears of the other occupants.

"Who tops?"

Hibiki moves to smack Colonello, when the door bangs open, revealing a female baby with short blue hair, a red visor, and a handgun pointed at an annoying blond.

And cut. I know, shorter than the previous chapter, but I've got the next chapter of Moon and Shield to type and post tonight. I wanted to get a bit further, but if I had continued the stopping point wouldn't have been as good.

NB: I'm going to be away camping starting tomorrow. I will be back Tuesday. Camping means I have absolutely no access to the internet, especially because I have a DUMBphone. Reviews still accepted though! XD

Notes:

I don't want to undermine Chrome's will by any means with this comment. However, in the beginning, she's very reliant on Mukuro, for good reasons. But she can't stay like that, so I'm moving up her increase in backbone to start now. Do let me know if it's too soon, though.

Leave a review? Pah-lease?

~Illusion~