Whoop, quicker update than before! I've been working on this chapter for a while, I like the result more than others. Again, longer author note to follow. Please enjoy, thanks everyone! Leave a review/PM if you'd like ;)

Chapter 14: Mist Hides the Spirit

"You fool. Don't you know the first thing about caution? Or rather, common sense?"

Daemon gave his son a cold glare and set his jaw tight with anger. Mukuro stubbornly returned the look, fear or shame unknown in the face of his rash pride. The throbbing pain in his arm, wrapped around with white bandage, only fueled his rebellion.

"First," the mist guardian continued, "you run out of the mansion right towards a mafia dispute, which I have no doubt was on purpose. There is a reason why we don't allow you brats out whenever you feel like. There is danger involved in such things, as you may or may not know. And second. Don't you feel the slightest bit of responsibility for your sister? How could you not notice her following you out? Your idiocy puts others in danger as well as yourself!"

Deciding that he could no longer look at his father's face without burning, the boy turned and glanced at the other two, Elena sitting by the side, a pained expression, and Chrome in her arms. Bitterly, he noted how she had been crying, now sniffing, without having received a single scratch from the ordeal.

"Do you ever learn your lesson, Mukuro?"

"May I be excused now?" he asked quietly, no intention to acknowledge such a rhetorical question.

"... Yes," was Daemon's only reply.

And he made his way out, out of the room with only the thought of escaping the stifling place for at least a while.

After he was out of sight, Chrome wiggled out of her mother's lap, giving her a look to say that she wanted to go too. Elena nodded in agreement. The girl snuck a peek at her father, who hadn't moved, and, seeing no objection or reaction at all, she too left, in pursuit of her brother.

xxx

Mukuro sat down on the grassy ground and leaned back against the side walls of the mansion. He preferred it there, nothing but trees ahead and no one coming and going. He didn't care for nature, but at least there was little infuriating about plants as there often was about humans. The darker shadow cast by the mansion was comforting, as it would otherwise be too bright in the hot sun.

He sighed.

He did not have the power to change the world and the vile people that lived in it. Not the mafia, not the ignorant civilians, not his own family. It was pathetic. It was an unbearable world.

And it was hardly his fault that Chrome had followed him out. He was mildly surprised at the fact that he didn't notice, but it didn't change the fact that his father's accusations were unfair. She simply liked to follow him, whether he liked it or not. And it was definitely not his fault this time, as Chrome timidly peeked around the corner of the building to find him there alone.

... Great.

She quickly ducked back out of view, as if she were afraid of being seen by him. Except that he already had, of course. Mukuro pondered just ignoring her, pretend he hadn't seen anything and continue on his own. But as the little girl looked again, he couldn't.

"I'm here, Chrome. I can see you."

Chrome was surprised, evidently, and with her face tinted pink she stepped out, too shy to look at him straight in the face. He inwardly sighed.

"You can come over here, you know," he offered. "Do whatever you want."

It wasn't that he hated her. Well, not exactly that. She was so innocent that it was hard to bear any ill will against her, and yet the opposite was true too. She lived in a perfect world, loved by her mother and simply spoiled by her father, nothing to fear under the powerful and paramount name of the Vongola, even in a world as such in their present Italy. It made him shudder at the thought of it.

"Brother?" she said in a whisper. "Are... are you angry at me?"

"No. Why would I be?"

"Well... I got you in trouble." And in a very nearly inaudible voice, "Sorry."

"Don't apologize," Mukuro replied pensively. "Say. Do you remember what happened out there? With the mafia skirmish?"

Chrome reluctantly nodded.

"Then... let me tell you a story. This wasn't the first time I snuck out. I've done it quite a few times before, each without anyone noticing. One of the times... well, you went out with the old man. There weren't too many chances when I could get out otherwise. So I left to the market down around the middle of the city. I disguised myself with an illusion, otherwise I wouldn't have gotten far. I wasn't really in a hurry to get there, so I just walked.

"It wasn't far from the market... but the streets were scarcer than they should have been. But there was a commotion. There were two men in front of a small shop, one of them I suppose was the owner. The other one... was a mafioso. I don't know who he was, what Family he was from, but he was tormenting the peasant. He wanted food but wouldn't pay. The owner refused to give up his goods. Business is not doing well around here. That man was poor.

"The mafioso knew he wasn't going to get what he wanted. And you know what? He took out a gun and shot him. In the stomach, and left him to the vultures."

Mukuro couldn't continue at that point without stopping to take a breath.

"It was despicable. Despicable. At that moment... I wanted to kill him."

The whole time, Chrome had been exceptionally quiet in listening. Now she was still, not moving, not talking, and he couldn't even tell if she was breathing. She was blank and sad. The first movement that she made was slowly looking up and taking hold of her brother's sleeve, one of his prized and expensive jackets. It seemed as if it were the first time she'd done something like that to him in a long time, to say the least... it was like the way she usually acted around Daemon, being so shy and timid around anyone but their family. And as much as she liked following him, she was still reserved.

For once he had a clear look at her. Clear, and it felt as if he had never seen this way before. She was smaller and more vulnerable than ever, almost like a small animal. And right now, she was afraid. Her eyes were closed, she grasped his arm tightly and wouldn't let go.

Perhaps... just this once... he could try to ease this fear. Perhaps it was a fear akin to the one he always tried to hide. Nevertheless, he reached out his other hand and placed it on her purple-covered head.

Chrome was startled by it at first, but she didn't get up. She sniffed instead, and her eyes swelled up with tears.

"Brother... sorry..."

"What are you apologizing for this time?" Mukuro said with a chuckle. "It has nothing to do with you." And Chrome just nodded in response.

It didn't matter that she was crying this time. No, it wasn't the same as when she sobbed and he got the backlash from Daemon. His jacket was replaceable. He just sat there, looking upwards, enjoying just a little bit for the first time... the free, unclouded sky.

xxx

"Hey, you."

"... Chrome."

She looked up from her lunch tray in a daze. Apparently she had been daydreaming or something of the sort, because her friends were standing behind her, still holding their food, and looking rather annoyed. Well, one of them was.

"Oh, sorry, Ken, Chikusa," she apologized with a small smile. She scooted over on the lunch table to make room for the two boys. They still stood there for a while, not moving. Ken glanced at Chikusa, but the latter was expressionless as always as he simply tapped the bridge of his glasses.

"Oi, Kakipii. Sit down already, byon."

"... I'm waiting for you, Ken."

"J-just sit down first!"

"..."

"You-! Y'know what? Fine."

And so the hotheaded blonde plopped down next to Chrome, scowling and refusing to look at anyone straight, and began to eat. Chikusa merely shrugged and followed suit. They ate practically in silence as the other children chattered away, which was customary for them.

Chrome mused at how she had become friends with two rather scary-looking boys, who really weren't so scary at all once she got to known them. She may never have even talked to Ken if she hadn't first met them on their first day of school, when Mukuro was right next to her and they had happened to see Ken fall flat on his face while walking on plain ground. And seeing the boy scramble to his feet with a harshly pink face set a permanent image in her head, if she ever would have been afraid of him in the first place. With Mukuro being as charismatic as he was, the two boys took an instant liking toward him. And a peace offering of apples that he happened to have that day.

It didn't matter how their other classmates and sometimes teachers looked at her or Ken and Chikusa, as if they were strange and alien. She did have an eyepatch, Ken a long scar across the bridge of his nose, and Chikusa a black tatoo-like marking on his left cheek. Furthermore they were the family and acquaintances of Rokudo Mukuro (as he was known at school) with heterochromatic eyes and a kanji inscribed in one.

"Is Mukuro-san here today?" Ken asked as he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. The first thing he had said since he sat down. His tray had practically been licked clean, while Chrome and Chikusa were still eating.

She nodded, as usual. Mukuro was never absent from school. Not when she was there, anyway.

Ken grinned and said to no one in particular, "The moment class ends I'm getting outta here. Can't stand learning for too long."

"I wasn't under the impression that you learned, Ken," Chikusa jabbed with a straight face.

"Shaddap! Let me be cool for once!"

The purple-haired girl giggled quietly. The arguements between the two friends never ceased to be amusing, and she could always tell how close they were. In a sense, she envied them.

A sudden wave of choking discomfort filled her chest. She didn't know what it was, but it felt almost like the fear that sometimes seized her when she was alone. Whatever it was, it wasn't good. Chikusa stopped what he was doing and looked over, and so did Ken.

"... Chrome? What's wrong?"

"W-whoa, what happened? Hey, you're looking kinda..."

"I'm okay," Chrome answered automatically. "I-it's nothing. I'm fine."

She avoided their gazes as she finished up eating, which she hardly felt like doing but as not to waste food, threw out the tray, and slowly got her things ready for recess.

xxx

A knock on the door.

"Come in," Daemon called without looking up from his desk, where he was writing.

The door opened, and Elena carefully stepped in with a tray of tea in one hand. "It's me, dear."

Daemon put down his pen and turned around. He smiled tiredly, pushing his work aside and inviting his wife over. The tray, with a cup for each of them and a teapot, Elena placed down on the small round table in the center of the room. She took a seat and poured them each a cup of tea, Daemon accepted his with thanks.

"Daemon," Elena began softly, "would it be good for you to find work to do outside of home? You seem more exhausted than usual staying inside all day."

The mist guardian sighed. "I know. I know. But I just... need time to think. I can't stop thinking."

"Is it about Vongola?"

Daemon looked up at Elena, and at her concerned eyes. It was true, she was right. When Giotto had first suggested that they move into Namimori, Japan, Daemon had been reluctant to leave behind what they had accomplished in Italy. But of course, he couldn't abandon his family, his wife and children. It haunted him, though, that he couldn't be back in Sicily with the Vongola.

"Daemon, it'll be fine. We've done all that we can do. The other famiglie... the Cavallone and Shimon, they won't leave behind Giotto's will. Cavallone and Shimon Primo are honorable men, they won't give up. You know that, and we all do. We've already given the people what we have. So please, Daemon... don't kill yourself..."

He frowned, took Elena's hand in his own and squeezed it. "You don't have to worry so much about me, Elena. I'll be fine. I'm strong enough to hold against it. You know me well. The world won't throw me down." He paused. "You see... Elena... I just can't leave the Vongola in their hands forever. This is the Vongola that we built up from dirt. I can't leave it at that, to see the other famiglie trample over us. They think they've won. I just can't let those tyrants run free, building their own justice from the ashes of the Vongola Famiglia. I can't stand being powerless."

"Power won't change people's hearts, Daemon."

At that Daemon stopped. He quickly glanced up, finding that Elena's frown had disappeared so quickly that it seemed a trick of the mind. She only smiled, gathered up the tea set onto the tray and left with a little bow of respect. He had heard it, and it had only left him in a greater confusion than he was before.

My pride and joy family. :D I actually have some plans, I feel kind of bad that the earlier chapters were worse quality, but this one I'll try my best on. It'll almost definitely be three chapters long, which is why these are shorter and more elaborate... kind of. Anyway, I have to do this all because I just love Chrome, Mukuro, Daemon, and Elena. And a lot of inspiration.

(Last page of chapter 395 blew my mind. Seriously. I just... gaped.)

Again though, thank you so much to you reviewers (and readers/subscribers/favoriters), I am very, very thankful to have feedback. Tells me people like reading what I write, which is... a main reason why people write, I guess. Suggestions are much more than welcome! Questions are very welcome too!

I'll be leaving in two weeks to visit China, :), so I probably won't get the next chap up by then. So please bear with me, school starts right after I get back. I may try to write while on vacation, depending on circumstances. Thanks for reading though, look forward to that next chapter and pleaseeee leave a review/PM or anything! Ciao!