A/N Hello!
We're continuing on with Mukuro and Chrome but this will be the last chapter before the mafia storm. (Aren't you excited?)
We'll also be looking at the whole butterfly effect, and how a couple changes may affect the story line (this whole early Mukuro meeting for example, will change what will later be the Kokuyo arc. In fact maybe it was the dream meeting that will alter it.)
Also, the whole Arcobaleno thing will be expanded on later but for those who want a short answer, Verde ain't an Arcobaleno for nothin' (he must've been beyond genius if he was part of the strongest seven despite lacking combat skills)
~Chapter 8 – Those Poor Souls, Lost in the Mist
Sharp, calculating eyes watched on with building frustration as the girl, the one he refused to admit he may possibly care for even just a tiny bit, let out yet another sigh. Of course he had already asked, the very day this farce began he asked if there was something on her mind. And what had she done? Just blushed like the stupid girl she was, refusing to meet his eyes, and answering with a sweet little 'nothing'. She was testing his rather unimpressive patience, and while he like to entertain the privacy of his subordinates, he swore that if she sighed one more time-
"Haah…" And there it was.
"Oi!" Perhaps there would be no need for him to say anything after all, "I thought I told ya already to stop with all that annoying noise."
"Sorry-"
"Chrome, you should be apologizing to Mukuro-sama for having to put up with all your nonsense." A different, more emotionless voice intoned.
"Sorry, Mukuro-sama." The purple haired girl corrected instantly. And that was it. They were prepared to drop the topic like that without satisfying his curiosity. He supposed if anyone was going to ask it would have to be him.
"Chrome." His voice was sharp and caught their attention easily.
"Yes, Mukuro-sama?" She gave him that endearing look of admiration mixed with uncertainty.
"Would you like to explain why you've been sighing for the past week?" She stayed quiet for a moment, her visible eye staring into the air as his mind drifted briefly. And then she came back down to earth, blushed again, and looked away from him.
"I-it's nothing." She stuttered out rather unconvincingly.
"I highly doubt that." Mukuro replied dryly. He stared he down, waited, and eventually she caved in. From her petal-like lips spewed forth a tale so utterly mundane he almost scoffed. Death by oncoming traffic should have been the least of her worries, and if anything, a lucky way out of this unamusing life.
"So where is this saviour of yours?" The blue haired teen asked as they both loitered at the entrance of Namimori Middle School. The bell had long rung and slowly but surely its occupants were herded out.
"Umm…" Chrome stood on her tip toes, peering into the crowd with her sole eye, "There!" Mukuro glanced over to where she was pointing, catching sight of two rather ordinary students. An unimpressive girl with obscuring, messy hair and a grinning, probably naïve, boy. He looked like a moron the way he never dropped his smile, chatting nonstop to the girl who merely nodded in acknowledgement. it was so dull that he could only sigh... But if that was what his dear Chrome wanted…
"So Chrome, what would you like?" The older boy asked in a bored tone, "If you fancy him so much I can have the girl disappear-"
"No!" She exclaimed, louder than he would have expected, looking at him as if he were insane, "You can't do that!" He wanted to ask her who exactly she thought she was, first declining his generosity, and then telling him what he could or could not do. Alas, she had already turned her attention from him and back towards the duo, the duo that had apparently noticed them and was now walking over.
"Chrome-chan!" Takeshi called with a friendly wave, he brought the girl over with him, her hand very noticeably held in his own.
"…hello." Chrome replied quietly, shuffling a bit behind Mukuro as whatever audacity she had earlier disappeared.
"I'm glad you're doing well." The other girl spoke. Her voice was rather soft, not unlike Chrome's, but held a quality Mukuro couldn't quite describe. Regardless it easily managed to entrance the younger girl.
"Who'd you bring with you?" The overly cheerful teen asked, giving Mukuro an almost unnoticeable once over, "Your brother?"
"Yes," The blue haired teen replied quickly before Chrome could answer, "Thank you for helping out my dear Chrome the other day."
"Oh I didn't do anything," Takeshi replied, directing the recognition towards his friend, "Tsuna here was the one who pulled Chrome off the road in time." Mukuro did all he could to hide his surprise. This meek-looking girl had been the one Chrome was so enamoured with? Curiously he tilted his head a little, trying to steal a glance at her hidden eyes.
"Herbivores." The voice that interrupted them was cold like steel and had most in the vicinity stiffening with fear. "This is a no loitering zone," The renowned prefect stated as he approached with confident steps, "Especially for outsiders."
"Sorry, Hibari-senpai, we'll leave immediately." Tsuna tried to hurry them along but to her dismay realized that a certain blue haired teen was stubbornly not moving.
"Oh, I didn't see any signs of the sort stating such." Mukuro commented lightly.
"My word is the rule here." Hibari stated distastefully with a narrowed gaze.
"Or really? Don't you think that's a bit arrogant of you?" He had the nerve to laugh at the bloodthirsty prefect, looking down at him from his slightly taller height, "Little skylark?" There was very little warning, maybe the barest of twitches, before Hibari lashed out at him, polished tonfa at the ready.
"Oh wow," Takeshi said in hushed whispers to Chrome, "Your bro's really brave. Can he fight?"
"Fight?" The eyepatched girl furrowed her brow in thought, "He is strong but…" Had she ever seen Mukuro in a simple fistfight before? Things like that were generally left to the other two…
"Stop running herbivore." Mukuro had thankfully yet to get hit, but in return could do nothing more than dodge. The bloodthirsty teen was dangerous, his instincts told him, the same instincts of a ruthless criminal.
"Oya, oya, if I did that you'd hit me-" He felt the breeze of an uncomfortably close swing and felt himself wondering why he didn't just use his powers and bring the other to his knees. His right eye was beginning to ache in agitation, and he huffed, struggling to keep it hidden under the weak illusion. It just wouldn't do if his cover was blown this early on. "Be careful skylark," Mukuro warned, taking a step behind a particular innocent bystander, "You wouldn't want to hurt her would you?" He had taken his pick of the dull pair, it was obvious that he wasn't going to put Chrome in harm's way, and settle for the brunet, hoping that the prefect was above hitting a weak looking girl.
"Che." The violent teen halted, long enough for Mukuro to drop his guard, and then swung out like there wasn't a person in the way.
"Tsuna!" There was a surprising shout of concern from behind them, one that was unwarranted as the scene fully played out. Mukuro merely let out an impressed whistle as the girl faced the ruthless attack head on.
"Hibari-senpai," The girl in front of him caught the tonfa in her hands with a painful sounding smack, "Could you please let it go just this once?" It didn't sound like a request, not the way she said it, but more of a demand, if such a thing were possible. "Didn't you and Kusakabe-san have something important planned today?"
"Hn." She let go of the firm hold she had on his weapon and in return he let his arm fall into a relaxed manner by his side. Indeed they were scheduled to sort out the Momokyokai today… "I'd better not see you here again herbivore." He stated, giving the blue haired menace a harsh glare. He didn't wait for a response, not even wanting to hear anything more from that annoying mouth, and left as abruptly as he had come.
"Geez, every time I have to go against Hibari-senpai I think I lose a couple years…" Tsuna slumped in a resigned way, turning around at the odd brother-sister combo. "I would've thought most people know to keep out of Hibari-senpai's way."
"And yet here you are jumping to my rescue, and into his line of fire." Mukuro faked a swoon, disregarding the fact it was he that initially used her as a shield.
"Well Tsuna's not 'most people' now is she?" The goofball teen said seriously with a mismatched laugh. His Chrome seemed to agree with her tiny but sure nod, and he had to wonder what exactly he was missing here.
"I think some belated introductions are in order," He decided, offering his hand first to the other male, "I'm Mukuro, Chrome's elder brother."
"Yamamoto Takeshi." The former baseballer replied with a firm handshake.
"Sawada Ietsuna." The girl replied in turn, reaching for the offered hand second. Wasn't it obvious that the more you hid something the more interest it would generate in others? As it was Mukuro was a very curious person. He ignored her slender hand, instead brazenly placing his hand on top of her head. Amidst the confusion he simply swept it back along with that ridiculous fringe, and was rewarded with two pools of striking amber.
Mukuro wasn't a stranger to Tsuna, and though the memory was old and faded, she had truly never forgotten… never allowed herself to forget. It was true that she had never seen him before, but Tsuna had easily spent years fixated on the indigo shroud that gently wrapped itself around him, warmly as if protecting him.
He, on the other hand, did not know her. What she had so dearly held onto, he had pushed away, and if she had been in the same situation as him, she might have done the same. What Ietsuna remembered from those days were nightmares, both of her own creation and from his reality. Guns, blood, crimson carpets, steel tables, dirty white, and the screaming of children like them. It meshed together in her mind as if one, weighing over her like a manifestation of despair.
But she smiled at him, at Chrome as well, watching as their fog swirled together. They ebbed and flowed, sometimes exactly the same shade and indistinguishable, and at others at two different ends of the spectrum. But no matter how enthralling it was, she remained an arm's length away. Because Mukuro was mafia, no matter how far he ran, he was mafia through and through. The underground would never release the chokehold it had on his neck, on both of their necks.
"Ietsuna-hime," He would call, on the verge of mocking her, hanging around her with a fascination she couldn't understand. In fact Tsuna couldn't figure out what he wanted besides attention. And if that was all, she would happily give it.
"Good afternoon, Chrome-chan, Mukuro-kun," Tsuna wasted no time ushering them out of the school grounds, knowing that the longer they lingered, the higher chance Hibari would find them. Anyone with half a brain could tell that a few minutes together with the two older boys would quickly lead to disaster.
"Konichiwa Ietsuna-san, Takeshi-san," Like Chrome and Mukuro were hardly seen apart, the same could be said for Tsuna and Takeshi. The four of them made an odd group, with Hibari or another two boys she didn't quite know yet, hanging in their peripherals. Among those few friends Ietsuna kept her hair pinned back, walking with confidence and grace born from her unhindered sight and martial arts training. People that met that amber gaze either backed down or confronted her, this fight or flight action more instinctual than anything else. She hardly heard the jeers anymore, and she really had Takeshi and Hibari to thank for that, and though the quiet whispers were still there, Tsuna was getting better at ignoring them. Maybe it was because of her friends' vocal appreciation of them, Takeshi, Mukuro and Chrome complementing her in their own way which was frankly, creepily and meekly, respectively. And that counted a bit more than her mother's old reassurances.
Even Hibari approved, but that was likely because her fighting was better unhindered.
Eventually this became the norm, and the inhabitants of Namimori became as used to her eyes as her friends. Tsuna herself felt better for it, and then a little stupid for her actions the past years. Maybe if she hadn't gone through the trouble of hiding them, others would have become accustomed to them early. She recognized a pattern when she saw it. Hiding her eyes so they weren't intimidated, letting herself get beat up and saying it was okay, she could trace it all back to why she had left Italy.
Tsuna had once thought running away was okay, but maybe she had chosen the wrong philosophy to follow. Avoidance only seemed to make the situation worse each time, and she was lucky so far the adverse consequences hadn't been worse. Next time, she promised herself, she would confront her problems. Next time he came back, Tsuna continued, she would talk to her brother about the mafia.
A/N Thank you for reading
By the way, Chrome's meeting with Mukuro is the same as canon, she still got in the accident and he just happened to find her whilst wandering dreams. That is more or less the same.
Tsuna and Takeshi's relationship is a bit iffy right now. I can't say they dating, but she is fully aware of his intentions (I'll expand on it later~)
