No sooner had the noble "Tsukino family" completed their descent from the splendid staircase Fran scampered away into the crowd of superficially masked murderers and mobsters.
"Yukio!" Chrome called after him, but the sly rascal had completely vanished.
"Be still my Lady Yuki." Hibari lifted her trembling hand from the banister and led her away from any lingering eyes. "The boy only wants to play and explore as children do."
"I…what you say is true my Lord Tobikuma." Chrome hesitated for only an instant then spoke to match the Cloud Guardian's tone and level of formality, wondering at how that style of speech flowed so smoothly from him. "I'll let him alone, I only worry he'll get himself into trouble or disturb our fellow guests with his curiosity."
"He's a devious little rogue, I have no misgivings about his safety, so don't fret."
The illusionist grew more bewildered the longer Hibari spoke. She knew him as a man of few words – hostile and terse words at that. She searched his face for any hints to the ease of this transition from cold dignity to trained elegance, but it wasn't the face she knew anymore, he was now a warm brown color to mimic the tone of his supposed son and his eyes were hazel flecked with gold. The shift in manners was startlingly effortless for him, but apparently painful too. His jaw clamped shut at the end of each imperious sentence and the inflections in his words remained characteristically muted if and when perceptible.
"Are you quite alright my Lord Tobikuma?" Chrome laced her arm through his as the crowd density increased around them.
"Naturally." His lips barley parted enough to permit words. "Now shall we…mingle?"
Fran had darted around the entire grand hall within minutes of his arrival, quickly identifying big players to avoid, vulnerable points in security, and hotspots of celebratory fervor that offered him almost complete anonymity. He was only truly wary of the servants, sober and at attention. It was the staff, however, that had the information he needed – the domestics of a great house are always knowledgeable to its secrets. Fran traced the stream of waiters back to the bar and slipped behind the velvet sashes. No sooner had he infiltrated the hub of the domestics than he was bodily hoisted up by the scruff of his collar.
"What little weasel has crept this far back?" a woman's voice questioned from behind the boy. In the instant between her dropping him and recapturing him by the ear Fran made a desperate attempt to scramble away. "Rascal!" she scolded, and twisted his ear. Fran looked at her and froze. He had been caught by the bartender. After his moment of still dismay at realizing his disastrous situation he doubly renewed his thrashing. He wriggled free from Ran's iron pinch only to escape headlong into Yamamoto.
"Some surprise reinforcements have arrived!" the Rain Guardian announced, scooping up the newly liberated boy. Ran sent draggers at him with her eyes for speaking so conspicuously about their covert operation, but the staff that bustled quickly in and out of the area were making such a clamor that the comment went unnoticed.
"Let me go right now!" demanded Fran impudently. He squirmed ferociously against his new captor without results. Seeing his efforts were fruitless he cried, "I came for Nami not to help you!" and bit down with all his might on Yamamoto's hand. The man dropped him in alarm and would have lost him in the activity of the servants had Ran not called after him with, "short pink hair and blue eyes?"
Fran was back at their side as fast as he'd retreated from them. Still suspicious he balled his hands into fists and prepared to run again at any move to apprehend him again. The hard lines didn't suit his usually soft face and lazy expression. The languid look in his eyes was crowded out by determination.
"Your mommy and daddy are our friends," Ran continued, cautious of their surroundings. "They want the same things we do. Will you be a good boy and wait for them to catch up?"
"My, Lord and Lady Tsukino, it has been far too long! Lady Yuki you look absolutely magnificent."
Chrome wore a bronze haltered gown with accents of bright blue that hugged her now cream colored skin. Brilliant sapphires hung from her ears and studded the choker that sustained her disguise. Loose, golden blonde curls were piled on her head exposing the plunging back of the dress Fran's late mother treasured. The piece was intricately layered: solid blue only visible when a breeze caught under the fabric through a slit on the front for walking and dancing, parting the flowing skirts, and revealing also a pair of tightly laced corset heels; above, a lacy brown layer decorated the waist and the middle layer of skirts allowing a pattern of blue swirls to emerge over the area between chest and hips; unembellished bronze satin made up the top portion and outermost layer of skirts, coming over the bottom section and tied above the opening in the layers beneath. It was a sophisticated yet seductive gown that would have made the Mist Guardian rather self-conscious had she been in her own form.
The so called Nagao twins had intercepted Lord and Lady Tsukino no sooner had they arrived at the fringe of the dance floor. It was the sister clad in black, Lady Akagawa, who paid the complement to shy Chrome. She turned then to Hibari with mischief and malice in her face.
"You promised me a dance when we last met Lord Tsukino." And before Ladies Ikari or Yuki could express their alarm Lady Akagawa steered her victim into the dancing couples.
It was with undisguised loading Hibari put a hand on his partner's back and the other on her shoulder. No deceptive power on earth could keep the scent of his most hated enemy out of his nostrils. He seethed openly at the disguised Mukuro in his arms as they swept in circles around the ballroom. To his unspeakable horror the illusionist closed the precious gap between them with mocking amusement after only a few turns.
"Do you want to be bitten to death?" Hibari gnashed his teeth on the brink of carrying out his threat.
"That's no way to speak to a lady Lord Tsukino," Mukuro smirked. "Imagine what these honored guests would think if you were to actually do something so scandalous. And before you say you don't care, think of dear Lady Tsukino. Though the mere fact of us dancing means you already have thought of her, so be a good skylark and listen."
Hibari tore his venomous gaze from one Mist Guardian in search of the other. He found Chrome darting anxious glances at him while listening intently to what the remaining Nagao sister was saying to her. Her nervousness had increased tenfold in the last few minutes as new stressors flung themselves at her one after another.
"You must wait for the signal Chrome-chan," Yuni whispered. "Lambo-kun and Sasagawa-san will set off the fireworks any moment and draw everyone away, or at least cause a disturbance. We'll take advantage of that and move then."
"Do you understand?" she asked the overwhelmed girl who wouldn't even meet her gaze. She had closed her eyes in fact, and began taking deep, meditative breaths, imagining she was back in the peaceful shrine. "Don't strain yourself I know this is a lot, just nod if you understand."
"Mukuro-sama…" Chrome said finally, not addressing any details of the strategy she was just informed of. "He hardly acknowledged me. Has he hated me since I attacked him?"
"That's not it at all," Yuni reassured her warmly. "I think…anything more than a glance would have pained him too much. And you know he couldn't let such an opportunity to harass Hibari-san pass him by!" She finished on a lighter note, trying to lighten Chrome's damaged spirit.
The subject of her hero was too much at the moment though, and the answer she received wasn't too comforting, so she gathered her skirts and spun to face the massive windows looking onto the castle grounds, waiting for fireworks.