A small smile flickered long Mukuro's lips while Hibari continued to nibble at the back of his neck.
"Please," Hibari begged softly, pressing his aching body against Mukuro's bare back. "I'll do anything you want." Hibari's grin widened as the quivering Cloud Guardian continued to caress him in hopes of being touched in return. The feeling of his calloused hands travelling around his body underneath the large anaconda wrapped around him was both sensual and erotic. The slippery feeling of the snake writhing around his shoulders and waist only added to that. Hibari's kisses and licks continued invigorating his skin and his neck, his teeth occasionally nibbling in a way that said he wanted to bite him in a way that would lead to heaven if not the death he threatened.
The smile slowly fell from Mukuro's face, however, when he didn't even feel the slightest ounce of desire despite Hibari's focused attempts to get him aroused.
"This isn't doing it for me," he grumbled to himself. Hibari froze in his attempts of seduction and Mukuro looked back at him mischievously. "Sorry, my dark raven. I'll play with you some other time." Standing, he banished the illusion of the Cloud Guardian and dismissed the snake he'd been using as a medium to create it.
It had been a long-shot anyway.
Irritated at his inability to find a satisfying diversion that didn't include an image of Tsunayoshi, Mukuro crossed his room toward his balcony and leaned against the railing. More than anything, he hated having nothing but time on his hands. What irritated him more was Tsunayoshi himself. He'd made such promises and had yet to fullfill any of them. He'd show Mukuro the beauty of this world? HA! As if such a thing existed. There were only pawns and pawns who were in denial in this world. Tsunayoshi was different, though. He never allowed anyone to make him into a pawn. Even though Mukuro had tried, Tsunayoshi's willpower had won out. Of course, that only made him all that more desirable. Hence, Mukuro's current frustration. Tsunayoshi had made him a promise. Tsunayoshi had fanned the flames of Mukuro's desires and hope. And then Tsunayoshi had summarily ignored him.
Mukuro hated being ignored.
It was enough to make him want to gather his followers back to his side. Ken and Chikusa properly paid attention to him. His dear Chrome idolized his every footstep, like a doting daughter should. The three could provide him with plenty of amusement if he so wished. So why was he holing himself up in these stuffy Headquarters? Even as he asked himself the question, though, he knew why. It always came back to his dear Tsunayoshi.
Mukuro began to curse himself. Being overwhelming hadn't worked. Tsunayoshi had only tightened his guard against him and strengthened his resolve. Playing hard to get wasn't working. Tsunayoshi didn't even notice. What the hell did he have to do to win him over in this life?! He knew he was impatient, but he'd already waited how many lifetimes in order to grasp his beloved?! He was sick of waiting. Havik was tied to the flesh and he was within reach. Even more, he'd willingly tied his soul to him. He should be happy! Yet he couldn't be. Not while Havik, Tsunayoshi he amended to himself, was still rejecting him.
"Did you hear about the Tenth?"
Mukuro felt his ears prick forward in curiosity while his eyes lit on several Mafiosos gathered in the garden under his balcony.
"Yeah, I heard. I still can't believe it."
"What did the Ninth say about it?"
"He said not to worry, but it's kind of hard not to."
"I hear that. I mean, no disrespect to the Tenth, but going into Sanctuary?"
"Sanctuary? I heard he downright took vows. They call him Brother Sawada now."
"That's what I heard, too. Someone said they saw him and he'd shaved all his hair off."
"What?! No way? So he's really joined the Monastery?"
"That's impossible! I thought you had to be a virgin!"
"Stupid! You just have to be abstinent after you join!"
"I can't imagine the Tenth as abstinent."
"I don't know. He's got a strong will. That's one of the reasons he's so great."
"I can't believe it, though. What's the Family going to do now?"
"Yeah, if the Boss really took vows..."
"I heard a bunch of the Family has started gathering in Rome to beg him to come back."
"Should we join them? The Ninth said we don't have any assignments for a while."
"It wouldn't be the same around here if the Tenth didn't come back."
"I miss drinking with him."
"The firing range isn't as much fun without him giving pointers."
"Heh. I still owe him money, but I've got to agree. Vongola isn't Vongola without the Tenth."
"We have to do something. The Family can't be run by a nun."
"He wouldn't be a nun, you dimwit! He'd be a monk!"
"I wonder if we did something to make him upset."
"Eh?"
"Well, he joined for some reason. Didn't he?"
"Good point. Maybe we should go ask him?"
"Sounds like a plan."
"So we're all agreed?"
"Yeah. Let's head to Rome and see if we can talk him into coming back."
Mukuro turned away from his balcony in horror.
His beloved Tsunayoshi: A monk.
An abstinent monk.
"NOOOOO!" He cried.
"Strange weather we're having," the street vendor commented in an attempt to strike up a conversation.
"How so?" Mukuro asked with a small smile flickering along his lips.
"I haven't seen a fog this thick in years," he replied. "Plus, the weather said it was supposed to be clear today. Days like this..." The vendor leaned forward to whisper secretively. "They say the devil summons up fog to cover his passing."
"That might be more true than you know," Mukuro grinned. The man jerked back in surprise as Mukuro dropped the coins for his apples into the man's hand and turned to leave. Needless to say, the citizens of Rome were mystified at the strange mist that had settled over parts of the city over a day ago. For Mukuro, it was just another source of amusement. Although, the mist he'd conjured wasn't merely for show. He was using it to track down the Church that Tsunayoshi was in. The location was apparently a secret, although the fool Mafiosos who he'd heard talking hadn't known that. They all assumed that Tsunayoshi was in the Vatican.
Mukuro knew better. Namely because he'd summoned several birds to fly through the place in search for him. He'd even sent rats in to search the ancient, unused dungeons and other normally closed off areas. All of them had come back empty-clawed. Although, it had been amusing to watch everyone's faces at the 'miraculous' flock of doves he'd had fly around in formation. They hadn't been so much in awe when that same flock of doves had covered the shiny floors with chalk.
Mukuro hadn't been happy at not finding Tsunayoshi.
Then he'd gotten smart. He'd began walking around the city with a summoned fog to cover his passing. The fog wasn't just to hide him, though. He'd quickly come to realize that there were a few special places that he couldn't reach into. It was as if those places were protected from his skills specifically. Considering he was looking for Priests, likely special Priests since Tsunayoshi had went to them, the ones he was looking for were probably in one of those protected areas.
The fog was a physical representation of him mentally reaching out around him to search while he walked. The physical representation came in handy because it showed him otherwise invisible areas that were under those special protections. They were hard to miss considering those same protections created a null void in his search area. A building that didn't get fogged over was very hard to miss when he looked things over from the mind of a hovering eagle.
The first few places that he'd found had been homesteads which were protected with charms that had somehow been blessed against those with his powers. After that, he'd come across several vendor stalls in the market that held the same power. It honestly baffled him. He'd expected the voids to be places full of Priests with hidden powers or full of some other type of uncanny people, but they'd been full of seemingly normal people. There had been nothing in their minds about Tsunayoshi nor any knowledge of WHY they were protected.
It irritated him, yet he wasn't willing to give up hope just yet. There had been one or two places that had seemed like a possible places where Tsunayoshi had disappeared to. One had been a convent, which he'd quickly decided was possible if Tsunayoshi was indeed trying to pass himself as a nun to further go unnoticed. The second had been a public bath that was frequented by missionaries who passed through the city during their pilgrimages and Mukuro kept in mind in case Tsunayoshi might have become a novice under one of them. The last, and most likely place he was hiding, was an actual Church.
Rubbing his apple against his shirt to buff it, he bit into it while he chose the most likely of places to search first. As he walked in the direction that the bird had shown him, he started to wonder if it was the least-likey after all. Surely Tsunayoshi would choose a better Church to take vows in than one in the slums? Especially considering how many Cathedrals Rome had!
Mukuro paused in the middle of the street before ducking to the side in hiding and pulled down his cap to hide his head. Ahead of him, coming out of a broken down bar was a silver-haired puppy that made Mukuro smile. If anyone knew where Tsunayoshi did, it was probably Gokudera Hayato. What was surprising was the sight of Xanxus beside him. Carefully following in secrecy so as not to be caught by the latter, Mukuro closed the distance so he could hear them talking.
"...probably an illusionist, so keep your guard up," Xanxus was saying.
"You really don't see this fog, though?" Gokudera replied, scratching his head over the whole matter.
"After the migraine I got during the Mist Battle, I made Marmon show me some techniques," Xanxus explained with a shrug. Mukuro paused in his act of tailing the two in surprise. Not over Marmon having taught Xanxus how to withstand illusions, but the fact that Xanxus was strong enough in those techniques to withstand him. Even more surprising was that he seemed somewhat like a normal person. He wasn't spitting and snarling and cursing.
He was talking.
To Gokudera.
Hell had officially frozen over, Mukuro mused with a small smile before returning to where he'd been following the two. He quickly saw the need to back off, however, at the question he heard Xanxus ask when he once more got in range.
"...don't see him following us?"
"There's no one back there," Gokudera replied quietly without turning around. Taking the cue, Mukuro turned down a side alley and began running the minute he thought he was out of hearing distance. Gokudera might be still easily manipulated, but apparently he would have to prepare in order to take on Xanxus. Especially if he was going to succeed in kidnapping Tsunayoshi out of the cloister he'd joined.
Athough, all thoughts of kidnapping Tsunayoshi froze when Xanxus abruptly landed in front of him. Cursing, he slid to a stop and started running back the way he'd come while summoning every creature he could think of to slow Xanxus down. Unfortunately, that only ended up creating a cooked feast along the road when Xanxus didn't hesitate to sacrifice mere animals in order to capture his target.
Grabbing hold of Gokudera's mind when the man came into view, he wiped himself from the man's perceptions long enough to dart past with Xanxus in close pursuit. Then, freeing him, Mukuro created an illusion of a lotus vine that wrapped around the silver-haired man's arm and forced it to fly out into Xanxus' path. Xanxus rammed into the arm at full speed, not having seen the illusion that Gokudera was being controlled by nor having expected an attack from his ally. Flipping over from his own momentum, he landed on his back in the middle of the street. Mukuro smirked to himself while the two men began yelling at each other.
"What the hell did you do that for?!" Xanxus roared while he tried to find his feet.
"I didn't!" Gokudera cried out in reply. "It was the vine! The vine!"
"What vine?! There's no damn vine--" Xanxus broke off in realization and Mukuro cringed at the feeling of eyes once more on his back. Cursing once more, he began darting down the street at his top speed. Unfortunately for him, Xanxus was pretty damn pissed by now. Mukuro found himself literally rolling down the street in effort to dodge the blast that came his way. When he finally came to a stop, he found himself sheepishly looking up at no less than three guns pointed at his head.
"Mukuro?" Gokudera asked in surprise, finally getting a clear view of his face. "What the hell are you doing here?"
"Um..." Mukuro mumbled, slowly pushing the tips of the guns away with a hesitant finger. Gokudera's weapon left his face pretty easily, but Xanxus slapped the tip of his down across the offending hand and kept them firmly pointed at his target. "Sightseeing...?"
"Try again," Xanxus growled. "You were following us and then you ran. Someone who's just sightseeing wouldn't do that."
"I came to find Tsunayoshi," Mukuro admitted, sprawling himself out in the middle of the road without seeming to have a care in the world. "I was bored, so I thought I'd--"
"Try again," Xanxus snapped once more, this time cocking his guns in warning.
"Oi," Gokudera said with wide eyes. "That seems--"
"He ran," Xanxus explained without taking his eyes off of his target. "That means he's planning something that we won't fucking like. I want to know what the hell it is. If he just wanted to know where Tsuna is, asking would have been the quickest way to do it. But this piece of shit hid himself instead and tried to tail us."
"I was bored," Mukuro answered playfully, unwilling to let them know of his true objective. "Playing detective is so much more entertaining than just asking."
"I don't like to play," Xanxus growled, his lip curling in disgust over the word.
"I can tell," Mukuro replied in honest disgruntlement. Apparently Xanxus was somewhat appeased with his explanation, though. He grudgingly holstered his weapons and flipped his jacket forward to hide them once more.
"Well, I guess we don't have to look for the illusionist that Father Robert was worried about now," Gokudera commented while Mukuro got to his feet. "Get rid of this fog, Mukuro. If you keep it up, you're going to have every Priest in town on your ass."
"Very well," Mukuro agreed, no longer needing it now that he'd been caught by people who knew Tsunayoshi's location. Without any visible movement, he dismissed the image of fog that he'd been projecting into the minds of every creature within his reach. The air seemed to thin and the light seemed to brighten. Within seconds, the fog-filled streets were once more shining brightly under the sun.
Mukuro hated the sun. He tended to burn at the smallest amount. Using Gokudera as a medium to create his illusion, he projected the image of a parasol into his own hands. Grinning, he changed the color and style until he had one that fit his mood while Gokudera was completely unaware he was being used. It took him several moments to decide on a white leather one before he propped it on his shoulder with a wide smile. "All ready," he grinned as if he'd been part of their merry party the whole time. "Let us go see our dear Mafia Boss now."
"We can show you where he's at, but you can't see him," Gokudera warned, already walking away from the Mist Guardian.
"I figured as much," Mukuro mumbled easily while he followed, still not letting on that he planned to kidnap him regardless. "It's only to be expected since he took vows. I just--"
"Vows?!" Gokudera exclaimed. Then, for some unfathomable reason, he began laughing. "Well, I guess that explains why the Ninth told me to keep his location a secret. If the rumor mill turned it into him taking vows..."
"It explains why so many have been showing up at the Vatican," Xanxus agreed. "I've been having to hide left and right when the fuckers keep trying to follow me."
"Eh?" Mukuro muttered, his smile falling from his face. "He didn't take vows? Then what--?"
"He asked for Sanctuary," Gokudera explained with a sad sigh. "He needed time to himself, so he's been in seclusion in the Church."
"Didn't think he'd be in there this fucking long, though," Xanxus grumbled unhappily. "It was only supposed to be three days, not two damn weeks."
"How much longer is he going to be in there then?" Mukuro asked with narrowed eyes. "It's all well and good for him to take time to himself, but I grow weary of how dull things are becoming without him."
"You're not the only one that thinks that way," Gokudera replied with a lopsided look of exasperation. "It's taking everything we have not to let the Family know where he is or else the area would be covered in Family members. I've already had to turn away a half-dozen that managed to find where I've been staying. As for how long..."
"As long as he damn well pleases from the look of it," Xanxus finished with another look of distaste. "The old man said there was no problem with it, but it's starting to piss me off. Father Robert won't let any of us even fucking check on him. Occasionally, we see him pass by a fucking window, so we know he's in one piece, but we can't get within eyesight of him. The Priests seem to know ahead of time when we're about to sneak in, too. We've been tossed out four times now before we got more than a foot in the window. Because of that bullshit, we don't even have a clue where he's sleeping."
Mukuro took in their words while they continued to grumble among themselves. From what he picked up from them, neither of them knew what Tsunayoshi was actually doing inside the Church. They knew he was in there, but were simply trusting in the goodwill of the Priest that they continued to speak highly of. Such naivety left Mukuro gaping for a long moment. Surely they jest. Surely they weren't leaving Tsunayoshi at the mercy of others?!
Didn't the two know how often darkness dwelled under the face of the decent and the caring?!
"Shit," Gokudera spat, freezing in his tracks completely. Mukuro looked up from where he'd been thinking to find that even Xanxus had fallen to a stop, albeit while he began to seethe. Looking down the road, Mukuro had to smile at the obvious reason. The street was full of black-suited Mafiosos. The sight of the Church in front of them, it was obvious that someone had finally figured out where Tsunayoshi was being held. And, much like what would happen in any Family, news had spread until ever single member knew. Although, it was slightly irritating that they'd found it before Mukuro had. He could forgive that, though, since many of them had been in town, looking around, for over a week now, while he'd only been at it for a single day.
"What the hell are you doing here?" Xanxus snapped loudly, his voice carrying over the crowd's quiet conversations. Heads flew up in unison to stare at the trio in surprise. Several people traded knowing looks at the sight of Gokudera, but the truly surprising occurrence was when a certain man slowly broke off of the crowd and walked forward.
"Boss," Leviathon greeted, kneeling down before Xanxus in the middle of the street.
"Don't make me repeat myself," Xanxus warned with a twitching eyelid.
"We heard that the Tenth was being held captive, Boss," Levi explained simply. "So we were preparing to break him--" Levi cut off at the sound of Xanxus barking in laughter over yet another false rumor. Confused, Levi continued, "I assumed you'd want him out so I--" Once more, Levi cut off, but this time was due to the meaty hand that harshly cuffed his head.
"Shut up," Xanxus roared. "You fucking idiot! Make sure your damn information is straight before you start planning shitty raids without my fucking authorization."
"Boss...?"
"He's not being held captive," Gokudera explained, with a small flinch of sympathy for Levi when his Boss raised his hand once more out of irritation. Raising his voice, he repeated the words to the odd assortment of Mafioso crowded outside the Church. "He'd not being held captive. Whatever rumors you might have heard, ignore them. The Tenth is perfectly fine."
"Then where is he?" Someone called out.
"He's inside there," Gokudera confirmed with a sigh of resignation, "He's in meditation, so you guys can't see him right now. All of you need to go back."
"We came to get the Tenth back!" Another cried. "We can't just stand by while he becomes a monk!"
"He's not turning into a monk, you fucking scum," Xanxus growled. "But even if he wanted to, who the fuck are you to argue? If I remember right, he leads your ass, not the other way around."
"Then what--"
"I already told you," Gokudera snapped in growing irritation. "He's meditating. He's asked for Sanctuary within the Church. Nothing more. So all of you--"
"Need to please leave," a Priest finished quietly from the Cathedral doors. Several people jumped, having not seen the man slip outside the Church. Mukuro's eyes narrowed at the look of apology that both Gokudera and Xanxus sent in the man's direction. Such looks could only mean that this man was the very Father that the two had spoken of. "Tsunayoshi wishes for some peace. He cannot have it while you are clogging the streets outside this blessed house and causing such a commotion. If any of you wish to come inside to either pray or Confess, I'll be happy to aid you in any way I can. Otherwise, I fear I must ask you to clear the vicinity."
Mukuro smirked to himself over Father Robert's quiet commands. The man wasn't asking, no matter how gentle his words were. He was telling them to leave. An argument quickly broke out when several Mafioso refused to immediately give in to those demands and he smiled to himself. Gokudera and Xanxus were both quickly forced to wade into the mob before someone got heated enough to stupidly hit a Priest of all people. Mukuro saw his chance and he wasn't going to let it slip by without notice.
Namely, it was his chance to sneak away.
Wiping his existence from the perception of everyone nearby, Mukuro slipped into a thin alleyway and headed in the direction of the cloister attached to the back of the Cathedral. Remembering Xanxus and Gokudera's claims of the Priest's foresight, he didn't attempt to jump over the restraining wall. Instead, he paused in the alley and allowed his eyes to scan the windows in hopes to catch sight of his target. During that time, he backed himself into one of the alleyway's many nooks in order to hide himself from immediate view. For several minutes, his visual search proved fruitless. Then it bore fruit in a blinding instant.
Tsunayoshi's outline appeared in a window in one of the top floors, gazing out another window on the intersecting wall that overlooked the area in front of the Cathedral. He was positive that it was Tsunayoshi, despite how the glazed glass contorted hs image. Mukuro knew his target's form better than almost anyone. Wanting more information, Mukuro summoned a small bird into his hands and quickly took over its perceptions. Not in order to harm it, however, but in order to use it.
To alter one's perceptions, Mukuro had to first know their perceptions by reaching into their minds. Which meant that he could perceive what his pet perceived as long as he willed it. It wasn't possession, which would have been much easier, but it was close. He couldn't control the bird directly like he could have if he possessed it, but he could still control it indirectly. Namely by making it perceive that all paths other than the one he wanted was fraught with danger. Instincts were some of the easiest perceptions to tweak, hence his seemingly easy control over the beasts he was able to summon.
Closing his eyes to better concentrate, Mukuro leaned up against the wall of his hiding place and released the bird into the air. Within less than a minute, it was sitting on the windowsill where he'd seen Tsunayoshi, perfectly content to rest. The bird's perceptions were somewhat strange since its eyes weren't the eyes of a human and its ears weren't the ears of a human. Even so, what it perceived was good enough.
Through the window, Tsunayoshi slowly walked away from where he'd been gazing out and returned to a small desk in what looked to be a monk's chambers. The furnishings were modest, but accommodating. Tsunayoshi himself was dressed in humble robes that Mukuro found to be quite fetching. Yet, something seemed faintly off in a way that Mukuro didn't like. Mukuro grumbled to himself when Father Robert entered the room and he found that the windows were too thick to permit listening. Then he quietly cheered to himself when Father Robert opened the window to let in fresh air while they talked.
"...about it," Father Robert was saying. "We expected it when you traded off with him. It was going to get out one way or another, but at least this way he can have true seclusion."
"Still," Tsuna replied with a grimace, "I don't like lying to them again, Father. Even though Tsuna asked me to, it feels wrong. Why couldn't I just stay with his Guardians and we keep this a secret all together?"
"Because," the Priest explained gently, "Too many people saw him enter here and not leave. Word would have spread eventually though the Family. Since you would have been found out eventually, it is better for you to have switched with him in order to be a decoy so that he can have some time to find true peace. It would do irreparable harm if he were to see those who cry out for him at the Cathedral doors. He would once more deny his own pain in order to answer those calls rather than continue what he, as nothing more than Tsunayoshi, needs to continue."
"I see, Father," the man who Mukuro realized wasn't Tsunayoshi mumbled. "But I still can't like it much. It feels like I'm lying to them and I'm really starting to hate it for some reason. I don't really get it. I've conned tons of people in my life, but this is the first time I ever felt guilty for it."
"Do you not feel some pride over the fact that you are helping Tsunayoshi?" Father Robert asked with a knowing look. "If you weren't here, he would have been unable to successfully retreat into meditation without worries."
"I know," the man replied, biting his lip in frustration. "I don't mind that so much. It's just, I still get this unsettling feeling whenever I see Gokudera looking up at me. Even though I'm not technically lying because I'm not doing anything wrong. I'm just showing myself and it's he that misunderstands my identity. But still--"
"One moment, my child, and I will help you with your moral dilemma," the Priest murmured. The fake Tsuna paused while Father Robert once more walked over to the window. Mukuro suppressed his disappointment over the thought that the man would shut him off from listening already. Then came the true surprise.
The bird let out a loud caw as something was thrown on him and Mukuro found his grasp on the bird's mind forcefully ripped away. Snapping back to himself, he stared in shock in the direction that the bird had been resting, only to see the creature flying away in a panic. The Priest had a hand out the window, holding a small vial, which instantly told the Mist Guardian what had been thrown at him.
Holy water.
Mukuro began softly chuckling to himself. Interesting. Very, very interesting. There was more to the Priest and this Church than what there appeared. Mukuro knew from experience that no normal Holy Water could have freed the bird like that. Such an interesting diversion he might have just found!
Then his mood darkened for a moment.
That man hadn't been his dear Tsunayoshi, after all.
So where the hell was the real one?
