I updated within two weeks...oh heck yeah! I'm proud of myself! I just hope you all like this chapter!
I don't own KHR.
Hayato sighed as he looked at the door, not that there was anything particularly interesting about it (sure it was well made, but so were the doors back at the Ricci mansion). He wasn't waiting for someone to come though the door either. He just needed something to look at as he pondered on their situation.
After he woke up for the second time since he got shot, Chrome told him everything, from how the man in the yellow pacifier technically saved them and to how their siblings were working on a way to rescue them from the Vongola famiglia.
Which...Hayato knew without a doubt that it wasn't going to be easy. If...his time with the Ricci famiglia taught him anything, it was that Vongola was the strongest mafia family, despite still being relatively new.
And if the stories surrounding them were true, one does not simply cross them and get away with it.
"Of all the mafia families to...rescue us, it just had to be this one," Hayato mumbled. A muffled noise occurred at his right, making him turn his head. Chrome, her working eye closed, shuffled a bit on her bed before lying still, a peaceful expression on her face . Hayato sighed with relief, for a moment he thought he woke her up.
Because while she had completely recovered her stamina by now, Chrome needed all the rest she could get.
She was going to need it.
Hayato let out a noise that was a mixture of a groan and a sigh as he lighly dragged his fingers down his face. As he did so, he came across the thin yet kinda thick nasal prongs. Hayato's fingers stopped their descent, choosing instead to fiddle with them.
Once Hayato was deemed healthy enough to not have to wear these anymore, their siblings were going to come and pick them up.
That was what Mukuro promised him, via Chrome.
That was the plan.
Hayato could only hope...
The door suddenly opened, interrupting Hayato's train of thought.
"Oh good, you're awake," a pink-haired...version of himself said as he walked into the room and closed the door behind him.
Hayato's eyes widened in surprise and shock. Chrome did warn him earlier that not only were there Tsuna and Ryohei duplicates, but there was also a duplicate of him. But...but still. Hayato had never imagined that there really was someone that looked...so much like him.
All except for the pink hair, seriously, what possessed the man to dye his hair pink?!
"Yeah, I know, we look like we could be father and son," the man continued as he walked towards Hayato and took a seat in the empty chair beside his bed. "But don't worry, I'm definitely not your father."
Thank goodness for that.
"Speaking of which...wait no, first things first. Do you happen to know my name?" the man asked. Hayato furrowed his brow.
"G...right?" As much as he wanted to play the too-traumatized-to-speak card like Chrome, he couldn't. He unfortunately blew it as soon as he woke up.
"Right," G confirmed with a nod. "So...what's your name?"
Hayato really didn't want to answer him. He didn't trust the mafioso. Heck, even if G wasn't part of Vongola, he still wouldn't trust him. G was an adult, which means that he had the power, the 'right' to intervene with the affairs of his family.
Just because they weren't blood-related to each other doesn't mean that they weren't a family.
But G was also part of Vongola, and according to Kyoya's and Mukuro's plan, Hayato had to answer. He had to be at least somewhat cordial, so that Vongola wouldn't lose their patience and start...trying other methods to make them talk. The Vongola family's patience was probably already waning by now, but if Hayato answered their questions, then maybe they will be appeased.
"Lucien. Lucien Gokudera."
Of course, that didn't mean Hayato had to tell them the whole truth (after hearing what happened to Bianchi, he shook off the Ricci name and took on his mother's last name instead).
"Lucien huh? Okay," G accepted with a nod before tilting his head back. "And her name is Chrome right?"
Man did Hayato wish he could go back in time and stop himself from giving them his sister's name.
"Yeah...she's my cousin." As much as Hayato would like claim her as his sister, he doubted that G would accept that an Italian had a sister who was clearly full-blooded Japanese. Lies had to be realistic in order for them to be believable. And G had to believe him.
Thankfully, Hayato was a quarter Japanese so at least he could claim Chrome as some kind of family and have people believe him.
And luckily, the cousin lie seemed to have worked as G just nodded and didn't ask anymore about it.
Unfortunately, he asked a question that was way harder than the last one.
"So...can you tell me who shot you?"
A few seconds passed in uncomfortable silence.
"I...I don't know their names," Hayato eventually muttered. Which was true, he really didn't know the names of the mafioso that attacked them. He recognized them from his days with the Ricci famiglia, but as for names go...for the life of him Hayato couldn't recall what they were.
And honestly...he didn't want to remember their names. They don't deserve it.
"Of course you don't," G muttered as he let out a gruff sigh. Then he must have seen something in Hayato's face because he instantly looked kind of...guilty. "It's not your fault, one can only know so much."
Did...did G just try to...comfort him?
Much...like how Giotto tried to comfort him?
"Well...do you at least know why they tried to kill you two?"
Hayato really didn't know how to answer that. Should he just flat out lie and say that he and Chrome accidently saw them commit murder or make some kind of shady deal? That might bring them a few days, but again, it might not. Should he just say he didn't know? No, G seemed kind of agitated at his previous answer, Hayato would just be poking the fire if he gave him the same answer.
Hayato couldn't help but scrunch up the blanket underneath his hands in frustration. Ugh, why do the Vongola even care?! Why did the Vongola even save their lives?! What did they hope to gain?! The Vongola was the strongest mafia family in the world, surely they didn't need the help of two nameless street kids to further their goals!
Why is Vongola putting so much effort into pretending that they actually care about them?!
"Hey, it's okay," G assured quickly as he placed his hands over Hayato's, which were turning white from the strain of gripping the blanket so tightly. "I...I get it. You...you saw, or heard...something quite horrible...didn't you Lucien?"
Hayato, who had been absent-mindedly looking down his front, shot his head up and found himself looking straight into G's red eyes.
His eyes were full of...compassion. Like...he knew exactly what it felt like to see something horrible.
Like he knew exactly what it felt like to hear something horrible happen to someone else but be completely powerless to stop it.
Because by then, it was already too late.
"I completely understand why you don't want to talk about it," G continued as he took his hands off of Hayato's. "However, please understand that we want to prevent whatever happened from happening again. Including what happened to you and Chrome. This way, not only would everyone responsible be put to justice, but you and Chrome won't have to worry about them coming after you ever again. You two can home, where you belong, with complete peace of mind. You...you do want to go home...don't you?"
Hayato stayed quiet for a moment, as he continued to scan G's face. But no matter how much he tried, he couldn't detect any signs of false sincerity, that he was trying to manipulate him. Unless he was a really good actor, which was a very real possibility, G really did believe what he was saying.
Also...the thought of Martina being punished for killing Bianchi...was just...beautiful to behold. Hayato wanted more than anything than to see her get what she derserved, to never have to worry anymore about her minions coming after him and his family.
To go home with the peace of mind that nothing like this would ever happen again...Hayato really did want that.
But...despite all that, Hayato couldn't tell G. If it was just him here, then maybe, just maybe, Hayato might have told G his real name, as well as the surname he was born with. Because then, if Vongola really was a ruthless evil mafia family, then Hayato would just be putting himself at risk.
But Chrome was here, and he has risked her life enough already.
Not to mention, his family would have his head for even thinking about pretty much sacrificing himself.
And...and he really did want to go home.
However...maybe...
"I...I overheard them...talk about killing a girl...a girl not too much older than me," Hayato eventually told him, his green eyes darting back to his front. Not true, but not totally a lie either. And for all he knew, the man who shot him was the same one who killed his sister (if that was the case, then Hayato really was glad that he died).
At least, this way, if Vongola really did care about saving defenseless children...the mafia family would have something to go off on.
Hayato looked back at G and his eyes immediately widened in surprise and shock. G...looked ready to kill. His red eyes were full of barely restrained rage and now it was his knuckles that were turning white from gripping Hayato's blanket too hard.
But then, G closed his eyes and took a deep breath. When he opened them again, G looked...better. There was still a murderous glint in his eyes but at least he was calmer.
"I guess they found out you overheard huh?"
Hayato nodded. Yeah, let's go with that.
"Did Chrome overhear them too?"
"No...she was just with me when they found me," Hayato truthfully answered. G nodded before sighing, suddenly looking exhausted despite the fact that it wasn't even eight o'clock in the morning yet.
"Can...can you tell me anything about...the girl who died?"
Luckily right after G asked that, the door opened, saving Hayato from answering that question.
For now.
"Okay little ones, time to...oh for goodness sake, G, were you interrogating him before he even got the chance to eat breakfast?!" exclaimed a pretty blonde lady angrily, instantly waking Chrome up with a jolt.
"I was not interrogating him!" G defended him as he stood up, looking peeved while Chrome sat up, observing the scene before with slight confusion. "His name is Lucien by the way!"
"Well...whether you were or not, stop bothering Lucien. He needs to have a nice, peaceful breakfast so he can recover quickly!"
Yes that's right...he needed to recover as much as possible, as soon as possible.
Hayato refused to be a complete dead weight by the time their family comes to rescue them.
Though...Hayato and Chrome might not actually be in as much danger as they originally thought...
Wait, what was he thinking?!
"Ugh, fine," G relented as he began to leave the room. When he got to the door though, he gave one last look at Hayato before leaving completely.
Hayato wasn't sure, but it looked like...G was silently trying to tell him that everything was going to be okay.
As Elena then fussed over him and a now fully alert Chrome, Hayato found that he honestly didn't know what to think about the Vongola family anymore.
Hayato shook his head slightly, reprimanding himself. It didn't matter if Vongola was a decent mafia family or not, they were still adults.
And Hayato and Chrome needed to go home.
I was planning on...something else happening in this chapter but I realized it just wouldn't work out with what I wanted to do. And I wanted Hayato and G to have bonding moment (so to speak) for...reasons that will be revealed later ;). So that something else will just happen later...like probably the next chapter.
So, what did you think? Was G in character, does Hayato's confusion make sense, etc.? Please tell me in a review and I will update sometime next month.
Till then, see ya and have a good day/night!