I don't own KHR.

Mukuro gritted his teeth as he sat behind the potted fern. True to their word, the mafioso had taken both Ryohei and Hayato away from them under the claim of seeing how they were healing.

And while Mukuro knew that Knuckle...decently knew his medical trade (he had seen him treat Ryohei and check over Hayato last night), that didn't mean he trusted his brothers alone with him.

He was a doctor and a mafioso for crying out loud.

So here he was, under the illusion of invisibility right by the room where his brothers were being 'treated' so that if his brothers cried for help, he could answer it right away. He wasn't worried about leaving the others alone because Kyoya was watching over them. Mukuro didn't even have to tell him what he was going to do, Kyoya just told him to 'go' with a firm nod.

Mukuro wasn't surprised, because this wasn't the first time he had to do this. His siblings got sick and injured back at the orphanage too, and he definitely didn't trust those heartless caretakers either.

However, then he could just turn himself invisible and stay in the nurse's office with them while they were being more or less treated. Now, he was forced to also hide behind a fern because he couldn't risk Knuckle or some other mafioso seeing through his illusion.

Mukuro was not pleased.

And to top it all off...everyone in his family except for Kyoya were beginning to believe the Vongola's lies. Mukuro gripped his trident tightly as he remembered when Ryohei asked the Vongola, the strongest mafia family, to box with him.

Like it wasn't just last night when the very same people electrocuted him. Mukuro knew that his brother was generally pretty forgiving but still...had he really already completely forgotten that he had almost died?!

And he wasn't the only one either. Hayato, who both got shot and lost his sister to the very famiglia he was born into, was only a few steps away from fully trusting them. And Chrome wasn't far behind him, if not slightly ahead. And she knew just how bad the mafia could be. Chrome may not have been with the Estraneo for long, but it was just long enough for them to begin experimenting on her.

Luckily, his rampage happened during the beginning of the 'experiment,' which just might have saved her life but still. She lost her eye. There was no way Chrome could forget that.

Then there's Tsuna and Takeshi, both of whom lost consciousness because of the Vongola, were acting cordial with them. Granted, Mukuro could see they were both more or less wary, but he knew that with the way things were going, it wouldn't be long until his younger brothers were trusting them too.

And Lambo...was still a baby. A pretty happy, loving baby who did not have the ability to defend himself or to correctly judge who could be trusted or not. Mukuro knew better than to blame him.

...Not that he really blamed any of the others either. Mafioso were known for being plenty deceptive and cunning, so it made sense that his younger, more innocent siblings were being swayed by them. Mukuro, along with Kyoya, would just have to keep on reminding them of the truth.

He...just wished that they would trust him a bit more.

"What are you thinking about?"

"Ah!" exclaimed Mukuro as he quickly got to his feet and whirled his head around. He didn't have to look far before Daemon slowly appeared out of thin air, only a few feet away from him.

"Mufufu...sorry," the older illusionist apologized as he covered his mouth with his hand to poorly conceal a chuckle. "I couldn't resist."

Mukuro couldn't help but growl slightly as he undid his own illusion of invisibility, knowing that there was no point of keeping it up now.

He had taken the precaution of hiding behind the fern for this exact reason, and it still failed him! And just as bad, if not worse, Mukuro hadn't sense Daemon at all.

"So...what are you doing here anyway?" Daemon asked pleasantly like he hadn't heard Mukuro's small growl. Mukuro practically scowled as he tried to figure out what he should do. He couldn't very well tell Daemon why he was really here but he didn't know what else to say that would get him off his back.

"Your brothers are gonna be just fine. Knuckle would rather die than to let any more harm befall them."

Mukuro's eyes widened as his scowl disappeared. He was slightly startled that Daemon had figured it all out so quickly, but now that he thought about it...he shouldn't be. He was hiding out right by the room where his brothers were after all.

"Well...do you blame me if I decide to not take any chances?" Mukuro countered with a frown. Then, to his surprise, Daemon shook his head.

"You made it pretty clear that you have a bad history with the mafia," Daemon told him. "And I admit that I probably didn't make that good of an impression last night either. So no, I do not blame you. In fact, in anything, I'm sorry that things got as bad as they did. And...for what happened to your two friends."

This time, Mukuro lowered his trident in shock as he tried to read past the sincerity in Daemon's blue eyes.

What...

Then Mukuro got a hold of himself and moved his trident back to its previous position.

Daemon's not sorry, he's just trying butter him up!

"Mufufu, you don't have to be so defensive around me, I'm not Reborn," Daemon chuckled, who seemed both slightly disappointed and resigned at the same time.

"No, but let me guess, he's just around the corner?" Mukuro sniped back as he glanced at the corner of his eye.

"Actually, he isn't here in the mansion at all. Reborn left right after breakfast. And I don't think he's going to be back till sometime next week."

Mukuro instantly perked up at this piece of news. He was aware that Daemon could very well be just pulling his leg but...

"Really?" Mukuro asked, trying his best to sound innocent but not suspiciously innocent.

"Well, knowing Reborn, he very well could be back in a few days, but also knowing him, he really could be gone for a whole week. He's unpredictable like that. And coming from me, that's saying something," Daemon answered amicably, seemingly unaware of Mukuro's true intention.

Mukuro had to fight in order to not let his excitement show in his face. If Daemon was telling the truth, then that meant that he and his family would have a better chance of escaping this mansion. They would only have a week at most but...Mukuro felt like they could do it.

Just then, a door opened.

"Oh, hi Daemon, hi Mukuro." Mukuro turned around to find Knuckle looking at them with a smile with Ryohei standing behind him with Hayato on his back.

"Hey, so are how our patients?" Daemon asked as Mukuro quickly roamed his eyes over his younger brothers, who didn't look surprised at all to find him there.

"Both of them are recovering quite nicely," Knuckle answered as Mukuro felt relieved when he didn't find any new bruises or anything worse than that on his brothers' bodies. And the expressions on their faces told him that they weren't in pain either.

His brothers were still okay.

"Ah good, do you think that Elena can take them shopping today then?" Daemon asked as Mukuro headed towards his brothers.

"Hmm...I rather she didn't," Knuckle confessed just as Mukuro reached his younger brothers. "Tell her that Hayato and Ryohei, no, all the kids should probably use this day to rest and to recover from last night. She can probably take them shopping tomorrow."

Mukuro rolled his heterochromatic eyes as he rubbed Hayato's silver hair, causing said boy to snicker softly.

What was up with these adults and shopping? Sure, their clothes weren't the cleanest, but they were still good. Takeshi's pants were still pretty new for goodness' sake!

And besides, why would they care so much anyway? Surely, there were easier and cheaper ways of getting their trust right?

"Alright, will do," Daemon replied. "See ya later kids! Don't do anything that I wouldn't do!"

Mukuro looked back just in time to see the last bit of Daemon's wave before he turned around and headed down the hallway.

"Bye Daemon!" Ryohei called back with an extreme wave of his own. Mukuro was about to sigh when he remembered Daemon's...earlier comment.

He understood better now why his younger siblings were being drawn to the Vongola. They were even more...craftier than he thought.

But no matter. Mukuro was on to their little game.

And he would rather die again than to let his family lose.

So Daemon got through Mukuro's defenses for a little bit before our boy mentally slapped himself and shoved Daemon's words out. I wonder when, or if, Mukuro's defenses will crack again? It will have to be within a week...

In any case, how was the chapter? Did the story flow nicely enough, how was Daemon, and who wants Lambo to be the main focus in the next chapter? Please leave your thoughts in a review and I will update next month.

Happy Halloween!