Warning: If you are sensitive to emotional triggers or similar reactions...then you might want to be careful while reading this.
I don't own KHR.
Mukuro didn't know how long he sat there, underneath the window with Lambo in his arms as he tried to get a hold of himself. But it felt like a long time until he felt...not better persay, but...calmer. Yeah, that was the word he was looking for. He wasn't feeling that great but he didn't feel like he was about to have an emotional breakdown either.
And that was the last thing he needed right now.
Mukuro looked down at his baby brother and one look at his closed eyes and the drool slowly falling out of his mouth told him that Lambo was fast asleep. The eleven-year-old couldn't help but smile slightly at that.
"C'mon buddy," whispered Mukuro as he pecked Lambo's forehead. "Let's go back to the others. They're...they're probably worried about us."
However, as he carefully got up without waking up Lambo, Mukuro couldn't help but wonder if he should go back to the mini hair salon or not. They have been gone a while, so for all he knew Ryohei and Chrome were back in their bedroom already.
Though wouldn't Chrome have told him that if that was the case? He did ask her to tell him if anything happened and shouldn't leaving the hair salon count as something happening? Even if it clearly wasn't what he meant at the time?
There was also not knowing exactly how Elena was going to react. Would she not care, or would she pretend to express concern over their long absence? Or would she become angry enough that she would finally show her true colors?
Mukuro sighed as he headed back down the hallway, making sure that he didn't take a glance out the window. He was going to go back to the hair salon, if just to know for certain if his siblings were there or not. And if Elena really was angry...then he would make sure that she took it out on him, and not Ryohei or Chrome.
If she hadn't already.
Mukuro felt his face blanched at that thought and quickened his pace so that he could get to the mini hair salon faster.
Minutes had passed and while Mukuro had yet to see the door to the hair salon, he knew that he was close, really close. He was tempted to walk even faster but decided not to for fear that he would accidently jostle Lambo awake. It had been getting a bit harder for them to get Lambo to take naps lately so Mukuro was not going to risk waking him up.
Not unless he had no other choice.
"Hmm, now where would they go?" Mukuro perked his head up at Knuckle's voice and after some quick deliberation, rapidly flattened himself right against the wall right beside a really tall fern.
"Did you check the bedroom?" he heard Lampo's voice ask, sounding close enough that he and Knuckle were probably in the next adjoining hallway.
"Yeah, it was the first place I checked," sighed Knuckle. "Tsuna, Hayato, and Kyoya were sleeping in there, but no Lambo."
Mukuro tensed up as he unconsciously held his youngest brother even closer to his chest.
What...what they did want with Lambo?
"You know...why don't you just wait? Just wait till all the brats are together and awake so you could explain to all of them just how important vaccines are and that Lambo needs to get his shots as soon as possible?"
Shots...Lambo...shots.
Mukuro's heterochromatic eyes widened as his next breath died in his throat and his blood turned to ice. There was now a heavy weight in his chest, making it hard for him to breathe as he felt his body shake uncontrollably. Mukuro couldn't stop it, he didn't even try to stop it, his mind too preoccupied with the flashes to worry about something as small as a trembling body.
Flashes of being strapped down, flashes of tall men in white lab coats, flashes of cold-stone faces looking down on him, flashes of syringes in white-gloved hands, flashes of a prick of pain, followed by more pain, screaming, more pain, more screaming, pain, tears, pain, pain, PAIN!
Mukuro let out a choked gasp as he collapsed to his knees, Lambo still held securely in his arms despite how his whole body was shaking like the ground during an earthquake. His ears, usually so sharp, were now only filled with white noise as he stared at the ground in front of him. However, Mukuro couldn't comprehend what he was seeing, his usually preceptive sight now completely nonexistent as he remained trapped and imprisoned in the past.
So when Knuckle and Lampo entered the hallway, Mukuro did not and was not able to react.
"Oh...Muk...matt...end?!" Some pieces of Knuckle's exclamation managed to push their way through the white noise in Mukuro's ears, not that his brain really registered what was being said. Mukuro was somewhat aware that someone had placed their hand on his back but even though it definitely belonged to a dirty mafioso, he didn't flinch away from it.
The only thing he could do was breathe.
"...Lambo..." Mukuro's head jolted a bit as that name registered in his brain, resulting in him becoming a bit more aware of his surroundings.
Lambo...
Then a cry penetrated his eardrums, causing Mukuro to look down at his baby brother, who was now awake and crying in his arms.
Lambo...they want to give-
A pair of hands then entered Mukuro's vision.
And they were going straight for his baby brother.
His mind was suddenly bombarded by imagined images of Lambo being strapped down to a table before being struck by a needle, causing him to scream in great pain.
No...NO!
And just like that, Mukuro's mind cleared up enough for him to realize the pair of hands belonged to Lampo and that Knuckle had a hand on his back, apparently trying to get him to breathe better.
Not that Mukuro cared about that.
"Oh hey! Knuckle, I think he can see me now!" Lampo exclaimed, his hands stopped within an inch away from Lambo as the ground beneath him started to glow red and to bubble.
"Lampo, get back!" Knuckle cried out with pure alarm in his voice as he threw himself at Lampo, causing both of them to crash onto the ground several feet away.
Then Mukuro's view on the two mafioso was obstructed by a lava geyser. It wasn't as big or as hot as it would have normally been, and Mukuro wasn't sure if the two Vongola members got caught up in it or not. But for once Mukuro didn't care.
As long as the lava geyser kept the mafioso away from his baby brother, then it was doing its job.
So with the overwhelming need to get Lambo out of there, Mukuro turned them both invisible and ran away without looking back.
And all the while, Lambo was still bawling his eyes and voice out.
"Ssh, it's okay Lambo ssh," Mukuro still had the presence of mind to say as he ran down the hallway. "It's gonna be okay, I...I won't let them prick you with a needle, I won't let them do to you what they did to me...I promise!"
That was when Mukuro recalled that he had other siblings, siblings that he needed to find before the Vongola got to them first.
"I...I gotta find them! What if...they decide to prick them with needles too?!" Mukuro gasped out as he looked around him while he ran. Then, with wide eyes and a growing sense of realization and doom, Mukuro skidded to a stop.
Instead of running right, where Chrome and Ryohei were, he had gone left.
He was even further away from his siblings now.
"What...what was I thinking?!" Mukuro berated himself with a breathy voice as he subconsciously slightly bounced Lambo up and down, who was still crying. "I...I was so close to them! I could have just-"
Mukuro, who had just turned around, had taken a few steps back toward the hair salon and the perhaps dead mafioso when he stopped again. Another bolt of realization had once again struck his panicked and frazzled mind.
"Takeshi," Mukuro muttered before he turned back around. He then started to run once again, this time keeping his eyes open for any doors that led outside.
Takeshi was closer, he was going to find him first, tell him what the Vongola was planning and then go find the others. Takeshi should believe him, Asari might be his long-lost cousin, but Mukuro was his brother. As long as Mukuro got him to listen, his little brother should believe him over that mafioso.
Right?
No, there was no other option, Takeshi had to believe him, because the Vongola has finally shown their true colors, and they had to get out of here, they all had to get out of here. And there was no way Mukuro was going to leave Takeshi behi-
"Mukuro!"
Mukuro gasped as he turned his head and to his horror, saw Daemon looking straight at him, with no black lens this time.
"It's okay buddy," Daemon said as he put his hands up in a placating gesture. "Just-"
"Ge-Get away!" Mukuro half-ordered, half-rasped out as he clutched his sobbing, precious, baby brother closer to his chest as he moved away from Daemon.
"Sorry, but I don't think that's a good idea right now." Then suddenly, Daemon appeared right in front of him in a bright flash of indigo flames, causing Mukuro to skid to a stop. However, whether due to the abruptness of the stop or the fact that the world around him seemed to be moving like a pendulum in a grandfather clock, Mukuro lost his balance and fell on his bottom.
Just...he used the same move as Elena...
"Look, I get it, you don't trust me or any of my friends," Daemon said as he knelt on the ground while Mukuro scooted backwards, desperately intent on getting away from the mafioso that wanted to hurt his baby brother. "But before you run away, shouldn't you comfort your little brother?"
Mukuro, with one arm still holding Lambo close to him, opened his mouth to reply, that the only way to comfort his baby brother was to get him out of here when Daemon beat him to it.
"Because I'm pretty sure you're scaring him."
Like someone had struck him with a whip, Mukuro stopped scooting away and stared at Daemon with his mouth gaping open and his chest heaving.
Wha-what?
"I'm...I'm not-"
"Muku." Mukuro couldn't help but gasp as he looked down at Lambo, who was looking back up at him with tears, worry, and fear in his green eyes.
"Muku," Lambo repeated, his young voice quivering as he reached up and placed a small hand over Mukuro's lips. "Muku."
Was...was Lambo crying because he had been worried about him, and not because the Vongola famiglia wanted to give him a few...wanted to prick him with a few needles?
Though...now that Mukuro thought about it...Lambo was still asleep when he overheard Lampo say that word. And even if he had, Lambo was still too young to know what that word meant.
And if Mukuro really thought about it...Lambo had started crying right about when breathing didn't come naturally for him anymore.
He...he hasn't been getting enough air...has he? That's why he ran in the opposite direction even though Ryohei and Chrome were right around the corner. That's why the world around him seemed to be moving unnaturally, and why his vision was starting to get a bit dark at the edges.
Mukuro had been having trouble breathing the whole time and while he didn't notice it, Lambo certainly had.
And it scared him.
Mukuro had scared his baby brother.
"Oh Lambo," Mukuro said tenderly with a heavy sigh as he dropped his invisibility illusion. He then inhaled deeply and slowly before letting it out. "I'm sorry...I'm so sorry..."
"Oh thank goodness," Daemon sighed as he hung his head, suspiciously sounding and looking like he got hit with a wave of relief. Not that Mukuro cared, he was focused on making sure his lungs were full of air again, on calming himself down.
Because apparently and maybe obviously, he couldn't make good decisions when he let panic and terror rule his mind.
Though...
Mukuro glanced at Daemon and while the mafioso had yet to move even an inch, Mukuro decided that he would probably get calmer faster if he couldn't see him.
He looked around and when he saw a huge fern near his left (what was with this mansion and big plants?), scooted towards it till he and Lambo were sitting on the plant's right side. When he couldn't see Daemon anymore, and felt sure that Daemon couldn't see them either, Mukuro refocused on taking deep breaths and letting them out slowly.
He would continue their escape once he got his breathing back in control.
And it seemed to be working because Lambo's sobs had now quieted down to little whimpers and big sniffs.
"Sorry about that Lambo," Mukuro apologized a bit breathlessly as he rubbed his baby brother's back. "I just..."
Just what? Just was reminded horribly of his past? Just was terrified that Lambo was going to experience the same, agonizing pain that he used to feel on a daily basis? Just was desperate enough to do just about anything than to let that happen to his baby brother?
Because...not only did he love Lambo to the point that he didn't want any harm to befall him, but he would rather die than to let Lambo go through something that just might kill him?
"Just what?" Even though Daemon's voice was soft and quiet, Mukuro's back still stiffened as he subconsciously shifted his arms so that they covered more of Lambo's body.
A small voice told him to run right then and there, but he managed to resist it. He hadn't gotten his breathing back in control yet, he had to wait until then.
He was not going to be the one to scare Lambo again.
Mukuro heard Daemon sighed, though with what emotion Mukuro wasn't sure. Then the leaves of the fern moved, making Mukuro glance to his left. Through the shaking green leaves, Mukuro managed to catch a glimpse of Daemon sitting down on the other side of the fern.
Mukuro quickly faced forward with wide eyes, wondering how he didn't hear Daemon walk up to them. Unless he teleported again?
"Look...can I make an observation? You don't have to like it and he-um, heck, you can even hate me for the rest of your life for pointing it out but...the reason you panicked after overhearing Knuckle and Lampo is because shots are related to the reason why you have kanji written in your red eye isn't it?"
Mukuro couldn't help but gasp sharply at that, as a memory of men in white labcoats peering down at him coldly while he screamed bloody murder flashed by.
"I'm gonna take that as a yes," sighed Daemon, his words edged by what sounded like solemn acceptance. "And let me guess, the mafia is the cause of your eye and your irrational fear of shots?"
"Is...is it not obvious?! I thought you were supposed to be smart or something," Mukuro snapped back, anger and indignation rising and slowly replacing his trauma-based fear. "And also, irrational? What in the world are...are shots supposed to be good for?!"
"...Well, you have to admit that your immediate reaction to Knuckle's and Lampo's conservation was not a healthy one."
Mukuro flinched at that as he looked down at his baby brother, who had finally stopped crying all together and was now snuggled in his arms with his thumb in his arm.
Yeah...Mukuro didn't want to admit it but Daemon was right about that one.
"And as for what shots, or vaccines, are good for...they might hurt, but better a little pain now than a lot more pain and maybe even death later on."
Mukuro's heterochromatic eyes widened as he glanced to his left, and while he couldn't get a good look at his face, he could tell that Daemon's body was motionless as he stared ahead of him.
"Wha...what..."
"There used to be a lot of diseases out there," Daemon continued. "Diseases that would strike you down without mercy just for breathing in the wrong air or being in the wrong area at the wrong time. And more often than not, they would either cripple you or worse, kill you."
"There are still diseases out there that can still kill you," Mukuro commented quietly, remembering how cancer had killed Ryohei's little sister.
Where was Daemon going with this?
"That is true," Daemon agreed amicably. "But tell me, when was the last time you've heard of someone getting smallpox?"
"Smallpox?" Mukuro repeated with furrowed eyebrows. He had heard of the disease before but he honestly didn't know what the symptoms even were. Was it similar to chicken pox?
"Exactly," Daemon responded, as if that was all the answer he needed. "Thanks to vaccines, smallpox is almost extinct, if not totally extinct. And it was a really bad disease too. Killed a lot of people"
"How?" Mukuro asked despite himself. "How did...vaccines exterminate such a disease?"
"By making people immune to it. That's what vaccines do, they give people the ability to stand up to the disease, by making it so that they don't even get sick in the first place. Even something like smallpox can't survive when it doesn't have anybody to feed on right?"
Mukuro didn't say anything for a moment, as he stopped rubbing circles on Lambo's back to instead run his fingers through Lambo's dark curls. Even though he couldn't see Daemon's face from where he was, he honestly couldn't hear any lies in Daemon's words. Not to mention, everything he said made sense.
However...
"If smallpox has been practically eradicated, then why does Lambo need vaccines?"
"Because diseases like polio still exist, even though cases of people getting that are rare," Daemon explained. "There is only one vaccine for each disease kid. And while it may not be a pleasant thought...Lambo seems to be a bit overdue for his."
"But Lambo is only one!"
"And it's recommended that babies should start getting their vaccines when they're two months old. Or is it earlier than that? I can't remember. In any case Mukuro, the sooner Lambo is immune to those horrible diseases, the better."
"How...if babies get vaccines when they're two months old, then how do you know if he hasn't already gotten them?" Mukuro asked quietly as he looked down on Lambo, whose eyelids were slowly drooping.
"We know because we visited the orphanage that you guys ran away from." Mukuro's eyes widened at that before he remembered what Asari had told Takeshi earlier that day.
"That's right, you were going to pick up Takeshi," Mukuro recalled.
"Yeah, and from what we saw of it, from what little they managed to tell us, and from what Alaude mercilessly dug up, the caretakers or whatever they called themselves didn't care enough to give Lambo his vaccines. And I doubt his...'guardians' from before the orphanage cared enough to make sure Lambo got them either."
That...that did make sense...
"Look, I'm, we, aren't telling you that Lambo has to get vaccinated. It is still your choice, and when I say your, I mean you and the rest of your siblings. We're not just going to take Lambo and give him the shots without your consent, we're not that kind of people," Daemon continued. "I, we, just want you to understand why it is a good idea, and why we strongly recommend it."
"...If...you weren't planning on forcing us, then why was Knuckle looking for Lambo?" Mukuro accused softly.
"Knuckle was going to check to see if there were any vaccines that Lambo did receive, just in case. No need to cause a baby any unnecessary pain after all."
Mukuro once again looked down on his baby brother, who, judging by how his eyelids were barely cracked open, was looking like he was a step away from falling back asleep. He turned his head to peer through the fern leaves but like before, he couldn't really see Daemon's face. He would just have to rely on what Daemon to figure out if the mafioso was lying or not.
Which...Mukuro wasn't sure. He couldn't read any deceit or lies in Daemon's words, but that honestly wasn't anything new. And what Daemon just told him did made sense, too much sense. Mukuro had heard of vaccines before but he had always thought they were unnecessary and cruel just because they came in the form of shots. He hadn't bothered to do his own research on them or to consider the possibility that vaccines really weren't just a scam. Of course, Daemon could still be lying, he was a mafioso after all but...but...
He respected Mukuro's space. When Mukuro was scooting away from him, he didn't move forward and forced himself upon him. When Mukuro hid...got behind the fern, Daemon only moved to sit on the fern's other side, and not in front of him like he easily could have done.
Mukuro also recalled how Elena put in the effort to put diapers in all the bathrooms in the mansion and how Knuckle had a hand on his back in an effort to get him to breathe. He remembered how genuinely pissed Giotto seemed when he confronted Martina. Mukuro recalled how Asari seemed to be that Takeshi would hate him and how happy he seemed just to be playing catch with him. He remembered how securely and protectively G had held Hayato in that alleyway. There was also the fact that Elena had seemed genuinely afraid that she had accidently cut Mukuro with the scissors.
The mafia was full of selfish, greedy, and cruel people so why...did it seem that the Vongola was the exception?
Was it because...that they really were more like a vigilante group than a mafia family?
"...The vaccines still really hurt though."
"Well, everyone's pain tolerance is different but yeah, there is a good chance that Lambo is not going to like them," Daemon sighed. "After all, needles suck! No one likes them! Except for masochists probably, but that's a different story that I don't feel like going into right now."
Mukuro, to his surprise, chuckled softly at that. And whether it was in response to his chuckle or it was just a coincidence, Lambo cooed. The eleven-year-old turned his attention back to his baby brother and saw he was now fast asleep. Mukuro smiled softly before realizing something, making his smile disappear.
Lambo, being the sensitive baby that he was, was definitely not going to like getting pricked by a needle. That had already been established but what had not been established was how he was going to feel afterwards.
"If...if we do decide to let you get Lambo vaccinated, what's not to say that...he wouldn't feel like we betrayed him for letting him get hurt?" Mukuro asked as he clutched Lambo just a little bit tighter. Because there was no way they were going to let Lambo get his...vaccines alone, which meant that Lambo's trust in them might disappear since he would see them do nothing to prevent the pain.
And...and Mukuro didn't want Lambo to push him away.
Then, to Mukuro's shock, Daemon just chuckled.
"Oh, I can imagine he might get a bit angry with you kids, but I doubt he is going to hold a grudge. He's still a baby, I don't even think hate is even in his vocabulary."
Mukuro, who had first felt, to put it simply, offended when Daemon laughed, now felt his heart lift a bit in relief.
He...he wasn't wrong...
"Not to mention, I'm sure if Knuckle handed you or the others a lollipop to give to him, he would forgive you much faster."
So he hadn't killed him and Lampo after all. He didn't think he did, especially since Daemon was calmly talking to him and not fighting him but now it was confirmed.
"Knuckle would do that?" Mukuro asked with a small smile.
"Oh yeah, Knuckle has a drawer full of them, thanks to Lampo pestering him that doctors should always give lollipops to their patients regardless of age. He should be more than happy to give one to Lambo. And if you're worried that he and Lampo would be angry after your panic-induced attack, don't be. They've survived much, much worse. They didn't even get hit anyway."
Mukuro's smile grew a little as he gave one more look to his sleeping baby brother before giving him a kiss on the forehead.
Then he realized that he was able to breathe properly again, and probably had been for a little while now.
"Well...I'll have to talk with my brothers and sister about it," Mukuro said as he carefully got up to his feet while still holding Lambo close to him.
"Of course," Daemon replied as Mukuro heard some ruffling noises on his left side. "Take all the time you need. Well...ah, you know what I mean."
Mukuro nodded even though he didn't think that Daemon could see him yet. Then he stepped out from behind the fern and glanced to his left.
Daemon had also stepped out from behind the fern and now giving him a small grin. There was no maliciousness behind it, the grin was just...warm.
"Um..." Mukuro began as he felt his cheeks burn. "Th...Thank you for telling me that I was scaring Lambo earlier. That's the last thing I wanted to do."
Did...did he really just thanked a mafioso?
Daemon's eyes grew wide as his lips changed from a grin to the shape of a very surprised o. Then, just when the adult's eyes started to sparkle and the corner of his lips started to move upwards, Mukuro quickly turned around, not able to take the heat in his cheeks anymore.
He then started to walk to the other end of the hallway, intent this time to reunite with his siblings so they could discuss this new development. Mukuro honestly wasn't still completely sure that they should vaccinate Lambo but...he was open to the idea now.
Just like how he was now open to trusting the Vongola.
I did think about putting a warning for anti-vaccine people but then I realized...if they are truly offended with this chapter, then they don't have to read it. Simple as that.
Woo-hoo, Mukuro is finally coming around! And don't worry, you will find out what is going on with Tsuna and the others in the next chapter.
So what did you guys think? Was Mukuro's...panic attack accurate? I haven't had too much experience in that regard and I'm pretty sure it is different for everybody too...I just hope it wasn't somehow offensive. Please leave your thoughts in a review on your way out in any case.
Have a good day or night!