Chapter 24: his memories
The darkness wasn't the worst thing, Lanchia thought. It were the voices that were screaming his name, it were the threats and the memories that were his and Mukuro's that frightened him the most. Especially the memories. The pain of his family dying, the horror when he realized that it was him who killed them and the worst of all… the uncertain hope of his kouhai.
In the darkness of the most fearful memories of Mukuro was a small but bright light that he heard so much about. The 'voice' called Zero.
Lanchia knew about this Zero, how couldn't he? The so called imaginary friend of Mukuro who managed to teach him the use of illusions and who managed to convince him, even after all he had gone through, to give the mafia a chance. But Lanchia and all the others knew that the voice couldn't be real, though deep inside he knew that Mukuro couldn't have learnt all that he knows alone.
His skills with illusions were real, his believe in Zero was real, his determination to find Zero was real. Lanchia knew it better than anyone now, because he could see it. He could feel it.
The distrust at their first meeting, the slow change from wariness to comfort as the meetings continued, the pride when praised, the fear when Zero could be an enemy, the pain and slight betrayal when Zero was gone.
The hope that Zero left behind.
It saved Mukuro from distrusting human beings in general, it made him to give the mafia a chance. And yet this had to happen.
Why did Mukuro possess him? Why did he make him kill his Famiglia?
Those questions echoed in Lanchia's mind while the memories of Mukuro and himself replayed itself over and over again. By now, Lanchia got the feeling that he understood Mukuro better than he understood himself and yet he didn't understand why Mukuro betrayed the trust of his Famiglia.
Another memory restarted, Lanchia was now in the darkness again. He knew what would happen here, Lanchia could almost feel the area stir long before it did and he could literally repeat the words that would be spoken.
"Just why are you afraid?"
"Hmm, this place is just like five years ago…" a vaguely familiar voice sounded from a small indigo flame, silencing the sound that Lanchia was hearing before and defying the usual routine of the memory that Lanchia was reliving.
"Who are you?" Lanchia asked warily when the small indigo and white flame burned brighter and brighter.
"Well… the scenery is different." The voice coming from the flame continued, ignoring Lanchia's question. The illusion stirred, just on time. Like it was supposed to do and the flame chuckled "Kufufufu, this time it looks… fake."
"…Fake?" the man exclaimed incredulously.
"Alright! Time to remove the illusion!" the flame shouted before growing big enough to fill Lanchia's vision.
…
I had to blink a few times before I could see what was happening in the permanent illusion. Permanent illusions weren't easy to make or to remove and Mukuro just had to overcomplicate it by inserting his own memories in it… and put it in some kind of loop. I could see the familiar scene where I met the younger Mukuro for the first time and couldn't suppress the small smile that appeared on my face.
It has been a while since I've seen an illusion made by my little student… though I would bet that he wasn't that small anymore. He improved quite a lot, though this illusion was… how odd.
The grown man that I recognized as the victim of the permanent illusion, Lanchia if the voices were screaming his name, was sitting in the spot where Mukuro was supposed to sit. His expression showed something between regret and boredom, he has probably seen this scene for too many times already. It was kind of sad how he muttered the lines that I said in almost exactly the same tone that I used.
"Just why are you afraid."
"Hmm, this place is just like five years ago…" I stated to catch Lanchia's attention. The raven haired man looked up and stared right at me, though I could see that he couldn't exactly see my appearance.
"Who are you?" He asked warily and I sighed in relieve. It wasn't too late to save his sanity yet, he hasn't lost his mind yet… but why?
"Well… the scenery is different." I mused after looking around in the illusion and comparing the scene to the scenery in my memories… it was lighter. The smell of medicine wasn't as strong either and the screams that I heard before were softer. Less threatening than it was supposed to be.
"Kufufufu, this time it looks… fake." I chuckled when I realized that Mukuro deliberately weakened this illusion. He probably cared for this man… or at least enough to not wish to traumatize him. Which would make it easier for me to remove the illusion.
"Alright! Time to remove the illusion!" I shouted, ignoring the exclamation of the man. I strengthened my resolve and turned it into dying will flames to literally burn the illusion away. Slowly but sure, the dim scenery brightened and a mansion could be seen.
"What… happened." The man asked after recovering from the sudden brightness.
"I removed the illusion that was planted in your head." I answered. "Be glad that it was a pretty weak illusion, Muku-chan could do worse things with your mind than this. We will be seeing what was hiding underneath the illusion now."
…
The mansion was always filled with life. Many children of ages varying from seven to sixteen were usually running around and play with whatever they could play with. The elder people who lived in the grand mansion rested whenever they didn't have anything to do or played along with the children. The people here were content with their current peaceful life… or at least as peaceful as a life of a Mafioso could be.
That day, the children were talking to each other or to some of the many people who were gathered in the canteen. The cheerful chatter filled the big room and the laughs lightened the mood of anticipation.
"I have an announcement to make!" one of the older men stated, effectively silencing the chatter in the room and peaking the anticipation. Even the younger and more active children were paying attention to their boss. "As most of you know, I am getting old."
"That is not right boss!" someone laughed.
"You are as young as ages ago." Another laughed.
"Thank you, but that doesn't change the fact that I am thinking that I am getting too old to lead this Famiglia for much longer." The man smiled, earning many disagreements from his subordinates. "Silence, silence please! As you all know, I have no biological successor… which caused me to think for a while. Who is most capable of leading this family when I am gone? Who understands the fundamentals of this family the best?"
"I remember this…" The real Lanchia muttered incredulously. I looked up at the tall and confused man and tilted my head in slight amusement.
"Of course you do. The illusion was simply replacing this memory." I smiled before returning my attention to the memory.
The other Lanchia was called to his boss who announced that Lanchia became the next boss and I smiled at the scene. The understanding smiles and the proud laughter of the Famiglia members made both the Lanchia's blush in embarrassment.
"Your Famiglia is nice…"
"Thank you…" Lanchia smiled while recovering from the blush. "This is… my family." The man in the memory was obviously happy, but the man next to me was confused as well. He was probably trying to remember what happened next and I would have helped him if I didn't see whatever I was unconsciously looking for.
"…Mukuro?" I whispered when I saw the familiar hair somewhere between the crowd. I felt my legs move in the direction of the unusual hairstyle and faintly heard Lanchia following me. Before I knew it I was standing right behind the person that I haven't seen in almost six yeats and for some reasons I started to feel anxious, what if I couldn't recognize him anymore… or worse! What if he was exactly like Daemon now?! But my anxiousness quickly turned into anticipation as Mukuro started to turn around.
He grew, that was the first thing I thought when Mukuro was turned around. The smirk on his face faintly reminded me of Daemon, but I could see the many differences between my childhood friend and my student. His eyes were still blue and red too… though in his red eye… is that a number?! But apart from that… he really grew taller.
Sure, it was to be expected in almost six years, but still he could be even taller than Hibari! I wasn't too sure about Yamamoto though, but Muku-chan wasn't as cuddly cute as before… not that he wasn't cute anymore, but his change proved that I missed a big part of his life. Which is sad in a way. And yet I couldn't hold back the goofy smile on my face. It was the same Mukuro that I remembered and he grew up just fine.
It is Mukuro.
The Lanchia in the memory seemed to notice the teen too and approached the teen with a bright smile.
"I didn't know that you were back Mukuro." The man smiled. "How did your quest go?"
"The same as always." The teen replied with a voice that I was able to recognize even after all these years. "Zero is still as untraceable as in the last five years."
"…Have you ever considered tha-"
"That Zero is just my imagination? That Zero is dead? I don't believe so, sempai, Zero has taught me stuff that could be used in reality and I don't think that Zero is the type of person who could die easily. I wouldn't even be surprised if Zero was taking over the world in the shadows even though I know that Zero isn't the kind of person to do tha-"
"Mukuro!" Lanchia interrupted the rant. "You were talking like that again…"
"Kufufu, sorry sempai." Mukuro chuckled sheepishly. "It's just that… no I haven't found them yet, but I'm not planning on giving up anytime soon."
"Rather than sempai… won't you call me boss?"
"Oya? I still don't want to be a part of the mafia." Mukuro stated with a playful smirk. "But congratulations, Lanchia-sempai."
"I should have expected that answer." The older of the two laughed. "Did you find anything interesting?"
"Well… I heard some rumors about a ghost." Mukuro frowned. "The ghost is slowly gaining fame in the underworld as an uncatchable but powerful person that people want to recruit… however I don't know why."
"I have the answer to that." Someone behind Lanchia stated. He turned around and suppressed a scowl when he saw who was talking.
"Of course you do, Birds." He said with a fake, but polite, smile.
"Oya oya, your birds got some information?"
"The ghost is the boss of the Neo Estraneo…" the old man smirked while petting one of his many yellow birds.
"Neo Estraneo?" Lanchia mused. Where did he hear that name before? Didn't his former boss talk about some kind of untraceable inventor-Famiglia that somehow managed to get their hands on a metal craftsman?
"What did you just say about… the Estraneo?" Mukuro glared at Birds. The old man smiled and tilted his head innocently, though it looked highly suspicious to Lanchia.
"They are like a rumor, you can hear about them but you can never confirm who the boss is of this Famiglia. Around five years ago they started gaining fame in the mafia, not many outsiders know about this Famiglia and no one knows where they reside… except for their allies maybe."
Mukuro's expression darkened as Birds continued his explanation and Lanchia frowned worried at that. This wasn't how Mukuro normally acts like. Why was the usual smile on his face gone? Why did Lanchia feel that he missed something important? Why did Lanchia get such a foreboding feeling?
"…Tell me about those allies." Mukuro demanded.
"Only one, really, the Vongola… or rather the future Vongola Decimo is the only known ally."
"The Vongola Decimo." Mukuro echoed darkly.
"he is in Nanimori." Birds smirked.
"In Nanimori." Mukuro nodded before walking away.
"W-wait Mukuro! Where are you going?!" Lanchia shouted while running after the surprisingly fast teen.
"To Nanimori, I have to destroy the Estraneo."
"Hold on Mukuro! This is not the solu-"
"This is the only solution!" Mukuro shouted, gaining the attention of everyone in the canteen. "Can't you see, sempai? After all that the Estraneo did to us? You can't expect me to sit around and wait until they start experimenting again!"
"Listen, Mukuro-"
"No you listen, sempai! The Estraneo will most likely be looking for the escaped subject which means that they will track this location! Or worse!" Mukuro shouted before the number in his red eye changed to the kanji of six. "They could have captured Zero already."
…
"So that happened." I muttered when the memory ended.
"I remember now." Lanchia stated. "Mukuro used his skills to let the most of us who disagreed with the destruction of the Estraneo hide somewhere."
"Neo Estraneo." I corrected. "Please, why does everyone forget that it is the Neo Estraneo?"
"…Just who are you?" Lanchia asked me. I looked at the man and gave him a flower-smile when I saw a hint that he actually saw me. The older man blinked a few times blankly before taking a few steps back in surprise and tripping over apparently nothing.
"Before you say it, no I'm not a ghost. My name is-"
"Zero…" Lanchia whispered. "It all makes sense now. How you were able to get in my mind, how you were able to destroy the illusion in a matter of seconds… you are Mukuro's Zero! The Vongola must have taken you with them because of your skills, you taught Mukuro right?"
"Hmm… I did teach Mukuro… but the Vongola didn't know that. They do know about my skills, or at least Reborn knows, but they didn't want me to tag along with them." I confessed. "But I couldn't stay behind after I heard that Muku-chan had a gang now, right? Nice to meet you, Lanchia-san, my name is Estraneo Zero. The Neo Estraneo Primo."
"…Now I feel like Mukuro has done something really stupid because of a misunderstanding." Lanchia deadpanned.
"Rather than a misunderstanding…" I mused. "it's like that old man wanted Mukuro to destroy the Neo Estraneo, like he carefully planned this all. Who is that man anyways?"
"Birds? I don't know, one day he was there and no one ever questioned his appearance so I thought that he was part of my Famiglia."
"Birds…" I muttered. Though my intuition wasn't hyper intuition I could still recognize the feeling of danger. This old man, Birds, he planned this. He knew what to say to let Mukuro go to Nanimori. He knew classified information about the alliance between the Neo Estraneo and the Vongola. He even knew that Tsuna was in Nanimori! But how?
Why do I get the feeling that I've heard of this man?
"Do you think that Birds really did plan this?" Lanchia asked.
"Hmm, I'm thinking right now. There is no way that this old man could have known classified information about both the Vongola and the Neo Estraneo… wait…" I frowned while digging in my memories.
"What is wrong, Zero?" Lanchia asked concerned when I suddenly screamed in frustration.
"How could I forget something as important as this?!"
…
Entering and leaving someone's mind has always been disorienting for me and then add the fact that I didn't know where I was to begin with… yes, I was lost and I had absolutely no idea how I could find the others or that old man.
"Midori Tanabiku~"
…
Omake: maps
It was Lanchia who made it possible for Mukuro to travel around in Italy, though he didn't do it willingly in the beginning. It involved a lot of guilt trips, illusions and nightmares. After a month and a few days, Lanchia couldn't handle the stress caused by the pineapple haired teen anymore and begged his boss to let the teen and his gang to travel.
The thankful smiles were almost worth the trouble he had gone through… almost. Lanchia liked his sleep, thank you very much.
Just before the band of misfits were setting out on their mission to find an imaginary friend, Lanchia gave Mukuro his map. Every time that Mukuro visited a spot in Italy, he would diligently cross the name of the place on the map. Lanchia was used to see that several towns and cities in Italy were crossed out in black… he wasn't used to see the huge red cross on one town.
Even up to now, Lanchia had no idea of why his kouhai crossed Silicy with a bright red color… or why Chikusa always became unhealthily green when he mentioned the town.
Hey guys, doubleyy here.
Ok... first of all please don't kill me! I promise that Mukuro and Zero will kind of meet in reality in the next chapter! Really! I guessed that, because Mukuro gave a chance to the mafia, it would be weird if he really did let Lanchia kill his Famiglia... So this chapter is kind of an explanation of what actually happened :).
Don't worry, mysterious guest, Nagi will be appearing in the story... probably right after the Kokuyo arc is done.
And I had written something like that but at a whole different moment and context, Raven-V-Blackshade... kufufufufufu.
It seems that my last omake was popular, I liked it too XD. Anyways thanks for reading and please review.
Doubleyy out.