Under a Clouded Blue
Summary:
"My ambition in life? To conquer the world because destroying the mafia is so last season and I never got around with it the last time anyway…kufufu."
In which Rokudo Mukuro is reborn into a parallel world and finds himself in the position of every other SI/OC. Did he mention Hibari Kyoya being his younger brother?
To hell with what Sepira's spirit has to say about him making sure everyone —even bloody Byakuran— plays the role they did in his previous life. But if that dead woman promises those imported chocolate bonbons from Kawahira's store— "Sure. Why not?"
Featuring the evil mastermind and guardian angel of the canon!character's fates (the hell?): Rokudo Mukuro/Hibari Kuroo.
DISCLAIMER: Amano Akira owns it all. Except the plot and a few characters of course.
WARNING: Mind the language and grammar, I don't have a beta.
A/N: Connie's uncle. And Uncle Fon, woot woot!
22. Author has temporarily given up on chapter titles (Part 2).
"You're here to visit a friend?" Kuroo asked as he pushed a cup of freshly brewed oolong tea towards his uncle.
"Yes," Fon pleasantly smiled as he took the cup into his hands, "and here to check up on you as well."
Kuroo raised a brow as he took his seat next to his teacher.
"I'm doing fine."
They were currently seated in the gazebo. Kuroo wanted his little uncle away from the house because Casimir and Fon had almost sparked a fire when they met in there, what with the dirty looks they threw at each other despite the smiles slapped on their faces.
"Ah, so this is the other uncle."
—was probably what they had running through their minds when they coincidentally ran into each other. Salty much?
"It's been a year since I last saw you. How is your progress with your martial arts? Surely, you're not slacking off, are you?"
"No." Kuroo sighed as he took a sip of his own milk tea. He wasn't in the mood to go about teasing or mocking his uncle at the moment so he replied rather modestly, "every morning and evening, I commit every single day to rigorous training apart from the times when I get bedridden because of accidental overuse of my fla— qi."
Fon slightly furrowed his brows. "Is that still posing a problem?"
Kuroo nodded. "Occasionally."
"I was pretty sure it had been solved ever since that incident when you were six."
(A/N: i.e. that time when Fon had first discovered that Kuroo was actually a Mist and Kuroo realized that it was the existence of the flames within him reacting aversely against each other being the cause of his "strange illness", aka the time he discovered that he had "the Flames of Hades"— Chapter 6.)
"So did I." Kuroo replied. Until of course he had brought out both flames during an assassination, mixing them together to try out something new. While that did work, it also ended up with him being hospitalized for three whole days.
Though there wasn't much to worry about since Sepira had informed him not to worry too much over it saying such a reaction was just a sign that his body was adapting to the simultaneous use of both flames.
But she had advised him not to be so reckless, lest he ended up dying in the process.
"If you're interested in getting professional help, I can refer you to a few people."
"Thank you." Kuroo politely replied. He placed his cup back on the table before turning to the other. "Would you like me to refill your cup?"
"My, you're being very polite today." Fon said as he took up his nephew's offer.
"Probably because I poisoned your tea."
Fon choked.
"Which isn't fun," Kuroo nonchalantly replied with a casual wave of his hand, "because I'd rather face you head on and spill out both gut and blood."
"It's nice to know you haven't changed." Fon muttered under his breath as he composed himself and took a sip of his tea.
"So, any news from home?"
"Kyoya sent you a small package of his drawings and letters." Fon paused. "And some…strange things."
"Kufufufu, how adorable." Kuroo wore a fond smile. "I'll be returning to Japan for the vacations next year."
"Oh, you're planning to spend your winter here again?"
Kuroo had already spent a whole year and a half in France now, even celebrating his thirteenth birthday without being in the presence of his family, as was the usual norm for all his previous birthdays.
Hibari Kyoya was no doubt displeased about it and made sure to send a very long letter (he had begun writing very well and eloquently for a nine year old) about how much he 'hated' Kuroo but would 'forgive' him if he came home fast. Which was cute, and Kuroo couldn't wait for another letter of the same content seeing how he wasn't going to go home this time around too.
Sakaguchi Kentaro sent an equally 'cute' response to his absence— but his in the form of a human-sized teddy bear that complained in the boy's voice, very loudly too, when you pressed its fluffy tummy. Kuroo stowed it away in the corner of his room, never to be touched again after playing it once.
"Yep." Kuroo nodded. "There are a few plans I made ahead of time so it's inevitable."
The two lapsed into a moment of comfortable silence.
"Oh, I thought I'd warn you about someone," Fon suddenly spoke up.
"Who?" Kuroo raised a brow, curious because since when was Fon ever concerned about him?
"Remember the boy you grew quite attached to during our visit to Macau after your grandfather's passing?"
"I wasn't 'attached' to him—"
"He killed Kinjō." Fon calmly cut off his nephew. "And wiped out the whole of Kinjō's branch overnight."
Kuroo was rendered speechless.
Well, that escalated quite quickly.
"This happened just last month." Fon sighed, having apparently accepted the reaction. He had been the same on hearing the news too. Xing while being capable wasn't all that capable to achieve such a feat (this was his master that he had been obsessed with!) unless something had happened that changed him. "Sources say ever since the occasion two years ago where you left him alive," Fon's tone sounded like he blamed Kuroo (who just rolled his eyes) for all of this, "he began searching, hunting down Kinjō. He did find him one year prior, but strangely, he didn't made a move. It felt as though he was waiting for something the whole time."
Or someone.
Kuroo furrowed his brows.
"He snapped though, and caused the annihilation of the surviving branch in a very gruesome manner." Fon shook his head. "I saw pictures of the scene, including that of Kinjō's death. He was tortured. It almost seemed like he had been pushed to the brink of death before being healed and having the whole cycle repeated over and over again. The manipulation of qi used was formidably splendid. That boy," he sighed, "he showed no mercy."
"Well, but he took care of the thorn on father's side, didn't he?"
"I wouldn't be mentioning any of this to you if it was just as simple as that."
"Of course," Kuroo huffed, "there has to more to this."
"You see, we found that he had been inquiring and collecting information this whole time of a certain someone…" Fon paused before taking an insufferably long sip of his tea. Since when did he turn into one for drama?
But Kuroo had an inkling of what his uncle's next words were,
"He seemed to be looking for you."
It was now Kuroo's turn to take his sweet time sipping his tea.
Fon felt his eyebrow twitch.
"I can't be blamed." Kuroo replied seeming genuinely unconcerned. He was already used to having several people seeking him out because of his identity as the unnamed and mysterious child assassin who had stirred up quite the attention in the Underworld. Having another person being added to the list? Well, he didn't have much to say about it except that,
"I always seem to leave an unforgettable impression on everyone I come across. Kufufu, it's nothing to worry about, Uncle Fon. You see, your nephew is just that charming."
Fon resisted his urge to facepalm (and also slam his palm against his nephew's smug face). "Well, your father and I still wish for you to be more careful either way. The boy might not be the same as the one you once knew of." He replied patiently. "It doesn't hurt to be cautious."
"Got it." Kuroo waved it off. "All this talk about me is boring, so tell me something else instead. Like perhaps, that friend of yours you came all the way from Japan just to visit. Is it perhaps…your girlfriend?"
Who knew, he'd be meeting said 'girlfriend' much earlier than he imagined to.
…
Kuroo stared in mild fascination and horror at the jar of eyeballs in his hands.
It was bigger than he'd expected it to be, twice the size of one's average cookie jar.
"This is the completed one." Connie supplied as she happily tapped the jar with her fingers. Kuroo wished she wouldn't tap it too hard though, because the last thing he wanted was for the glass to shatter and his lap to be covered in a mess of eyeballs. "I mean, I have other jars that are completed, but this is like, you know, the completed, completed one that I made this year. I tried to color coordinate it too."
"Your mother must have poked out a lot of people's eyeballs for this." Kuroo simply stated.
"Not as much as in the past years." Connie replied absentmindedly before hopping off the couch and disappearing back into her bedroom. "Oh! I have some smaller jars that hold just a pair of some very rare eyes though. Wait, I'll show you."
"Alright." Kuroo said as he carefully placed the jar against the cushions next to him.
He had come over to spend the Saturday with Connie because she had been poking at him to visit for such a long time that he finally decided to just drop by to get her to stop with the consistent invitations once and for all.
Besides, Fon was still hanging around which meant no jobs for Kuroo to take up from Casimir's side, at least. The man was adamant that Fon shouldn't come to know about Kuroo's pastime for some reason. But Kuroo didn't care either way.
"Look at this one! It's kinda purple in color, doesn't it look pretty?" She asked, her own olive-green eyes sparkling in excitement as she returned with a palm sized glass jar that housed a pair of orbs the shade of lavender.
Kuroo only hummed in agreement as he picked up the jar and admired it up close.
"But your eyes are prettier." She shrugged.
"Thank you."
Kuroo had begun to grow quite fond of her.
"Don't forget your promise to donate your eyes to me though. You know, when you don't need them anymore."
And her eccentricities.
She was a source of entertainment of some sorts in his school life, and perhaps also his only friend here in France. Not that Kuroo even needed friends since he didn't have the leisure to hang out with them after school anyway. Plus, they lacked the maturity he desired.
Connie, however, was a refreshing something else.
"Are you hungry yet?" She asked once she was done showing him her collection of eyeballs. "Cause it's almost noon, I'll bring the snacks over if you want me to."
"Aren't you asking just because you're the one who's hungry?" Kuroo asked with a raised brow.
Connie laughed before making her way out of the room to fetch the said snacks.
Who knew that while she was gone, Kuroo would end up meeting someone he was very familiar with from his last life; a certain someone he had detested to an extent that he had portrayed his hate unto an innocent crocodile plushie a few years after entering this new universe.
Said familiar face had stepped into the room, presuming his niece to be in it, "Connie, do you know where—…"
Kuroo momentarily froze and so did the infant standing by the door.
The other narrowed his purple eyes, which were a total contrast to his stark green hair, as he pushed up the glasses sitting atop his nose. His hands were tucked into the pockets of his lab coat and he gave off an unfriendly and almost intimidating aura despite being in the cursed body of an infant.
Verde, the Arcobaleno bearing the Lightning Pacifier.
"You are?" Verde asked, his eyes carrying a look of suspicion.
But of course.
Kuroo honestly should've seen this coming. However, it had been quite some time since he had unexpectedly run into someone he was familiar with from his last life so he was undoubtedly caught off-guard.
"Ah, Tío!" Connie's voice exclaimed as she returned to the room with a tray full of sweet snacks and soda. "Good timing! This is my friend, Kuroo. I told you he was coming over today, didn't I?"
From the blank expression on the infant's face, it was clear he had forgotten about it.
Connie set the tray on the table adjacent to where Kuroo sat before turning her attention back to her uncle. "Is there something you need of me?" She asked.
Verde cleared his throat as he pushed up his glasses. "I just wanted to inquire about lunch. Could you inform Maria to send up some tea to my study? I couldn't seem to get her to respond to my calls."
"Tío," Connie stared at him for a long moment before releasing a heavy sigh, "today's a Saturday. Maria doesn't come on Saturdays." She shook her head. "This is why mamá gets really concerned about leaving you alone during the weekends."
Verde pinched the bridge of his nose and Kuroo snorted.
She hadn't even bothered to give her uncle some face in front of a guest.
"I'll get the tea." Connie said. "You want a pot of it?"
Verde nodded. "And two cups as well, please."
"Oh! Does Tío also have a friend who's come over?" Connie perked up.
Realization suddenly struck Kuroo as he listened to the conversation between the uncle and niece pair, "You're the girlfr— friend uncle Fon came all the way from Japan to visit."
Verde raised a brow as he carefully scrutinized the teen before him. "Uncle Fon?"
"I'm his nephew." Kuroo simply replied as though that explained everything.
There was a movement behind the bespectacled infant before said uncle coincidentally appeared.
"Oh, Kuroo. What a pleasant surprise." Fon greeted seeming not as surprised as he had claimed to be. He gave a small nod of greeting to his nephew and Connie, before turning to Verde, "It felt quite awkward being alone in your study, I decided to take a little walk around and have a look at your house."
"Ah, so you're the much talked about prodigy." Verde hummed as he gave Kuroo a thoughtful look, and then turned to Fon with furrowed brows. "Have I not given you a tour of the place yet?"
"Not after you shifted, no."
Verde casually waved it off. "I'll show you around after tea."
"That would be nice." Fon nodded with a pleasant smile.
Kuroo observed the cordial relationship between the two with a raised brow, finding it a little strange because he had never even known that both Arcobaleno were on "okay" terms with each other. Hell, he wasn't even aware that Verde was capable of being human, what with how glued he was to his experiments.
The green haired infant lived off of his experiments like it was the air he breathed in.
"Uncle," Kuroo called out, making sure the tone of disappointment was loud and obvious in his tone, "I thought you came here to find love, a woman, not…a real friend. This is France."
"This child," Fon laughed as he skillfully hopped over to land on Kuroo's shoulder and pinched his ear.
Kuroo swatted his uncle's hand with a similar sounding laugh.
"Your tió is my tió's friend!" Connie excitedly exclaimed from the side. "I never knew that!" She turned to her own uncle with a slight frown on her face, "Tió, why didn't you tell me?"
"Even I myself wasn't aware of such a thing." Verde only deadpanned. "Now, aren't you going to go fetch the tea yet?"
"Right! Okay, just, everyone just sit here and wait here. I'll be back really fast, so let's all have a nice afternoon tea time together!"
Connie bounded off in a hurry, not before patting her uncle's head.
Verde was left standing with his hands massaging his temples after releasing an irritated sigh.
The three seated themselves around the table while patiently waiting for the hyperactive girl to return. The room they were currently seated in was what Connie had dubbed as the "family room". It was quite spacious and well designed with comfy couches that they had taken over, a huge glass table in the middle, a nice flat TV screen seeming a little too modern for the current era (definitely one of the resident scientist's inventions) and a digital wall clock of the same that told much more than just the time, a seemingly hi-tech computer in the corner and a shelve of books in the other.
The room had four doors, one that led to Connie's room, another which opened up to a wide balcony, then there was the door they had entered through and the last one that remained locked. Kuroo presumed it led to another bedroom, perhaps belonging to Connie's mother.
"I didn't know your nephew was living here in France." Verde began, breaking the silence that had settled amongst them.
"And I didn't know your sister had a child either." Fon simply replied.
Verde replied after a moment's thought, "Fair enough."
Kuroo was lost in his own thoughts, joining the dots and internally nodding to himself, finally realizing it made sense why Connie always had some very hi-tech gadgets on her. He hadn't suspected anything at first because he was already used to seeing such modern items thanks to his past.
But now that he actually gave a thought about it, it did seem funny that Connie owned gadgets which were yet to make an appearance in the markets.
He'd have never guessed she was the niece of the great and renownedscientist Verde.
In fact, Kuroo would have honestly never even thought that Verde had a family.
Or that he was Spanish.
"How do you guys know each other?" Kuroo asked aloud. "Through some shady baby gathering?"
(The "I Prescelti Sette" was technically, a shady baby gathering. One was free to come fight Kuroo if they disagreed.)
"You haven't told him about the cu—"
"We are acquaintances from way back," Fon said with an easy smile, as though he hadn't just cut the other off.
Verde huffed. "As expected, keep hiding it."
"Acquaintances from way back." Kuroo echoed before adopting a teasing tone, "Clearly, friends since you were in your mothers' wombs. How adorable. I didn't know you were one to hold so much deep sentiments when it comes to friendship, uncle."
Fon only hummed in response, rigidly sticking to his stance of not allowing his nephew to come to know of his circumstance.
Well, not yet at least.
Connie returned ten minutes later with a hot pot of tea, and more snacks on a tray. She placed it on the table and courteously poured out the tea for her uncle and his friend. She even neatly arranged a plate full of sweet snacks of the brand her uncle liked, and put it in front of the two infants who happily dived right in in an instant.
Kuroo was amused.
It appeared that they were unable to control some emotions when trapped in the bodies of two year olds.
"Should I go get chilled soda?" Connie asked as she took a seat right next to Kuroo. "It looks like the ones I brought out for us aren't so cold now."
"It's fine." Kuroo replied as he took his can of soda. "Not worth taking the risk of coming down with a cold before the evaluation tests. The weather is changing, shifting to autumn so you'll be more prone to falling ill."
"Oh," Connie wore a pinched expression, "yeah, I almost forgot about that. Evaluation tests. Tió said he'd ground me if I don't score at least a ninety plus in math."
"What so hard about scoring a ninety plus in math?"
"Well, for one I'm not you!" Connie exclaimed.
"It's primary school math." Kuroo shrugged.
"It's division." Connie complained as she took big gulps from her drink. "And tió doesn't even bother helping me. All he does is nag and nag and nag when I get the wrong quotient, saying I should've paid attention in class."
Verde felt his eyebrow twitch as he pretended not to hear his niece's complaint.
"I bet he himself doesn't know how to divide shit!"
"Language," all three males in the room simultaneously spoke, leaving the young girl with a pout.
"I could help you." Kuroo generously offered.
Connie turned to him with wide eyes that almost seemed to be shining, "Really?"
"It's nothing." Kuroo replied. "We'll just make sure you score a ninety plus in not just math, but all your papers. Hmm? Won't that be fun? Like the protagonists in all the manga you like to spend your time reading instead of studying?"
Connie gulped. "You know what, it's alright." She furiously shook her head as she slowly backed away from the boy she'd regarded as a friend. "I-I-I-I'll just learn how to 'division' all on my own."
"I would very much appreciate it if you could help her." Verde piped in from the side, a pleased expression on his features. Maybe this was his way of taking revenge on his niece for that insult earlier. How petty. "If there is anything you need of me, please don't hesitate to ask. I will do my best to accommodate your wishes, provided they're within agreeable grounds, for the sake of seeing Connie improve in her academics."
"Tió!" said niece exclaimed in betrayal.
Kuroo only smiled. "Well then, I will hold on to your words. Leave your niece's education to me."
In the meantime, as Connie Izquierdo suffered in the hands of Hibari Kuroo (and regretted the fact that she'd brought up the topic of division in the first place), the Underworld in Italy was hit by rather unexpected news,
The annihilation of the Estraneo Famiglia.
While the other numerous Mafia families had expected the fall of the Estraneo, they'd more or less envisioned it to come through a steady decline in the coming years— not an abrupt all-out annihilation that caught them by surprise.
Everyone knew the Estraneo Famiglia; infamous for its creation of the 'Possession Bullet', a lethal and bizarre weapon which was truly one of a kind amongst all the other experiments created out of the famiglia's selfish desire to hold power. The famiglia was detested and not looked upon with the highest regard because of this, they were treated like scum.
Persecuted and hated.
In fact, they ended up being reduced to 'walking targets' for the bullets of Mafioso. Italy, the homeland that the Estraneo dearly treasured, morphed into a living hell. And it wasn't just here that they faced such ruthless treatment, everywhere they tread was like walking into a field of landmines. One didn't know when they would be breathing their last because of the Underworld's contempt towards them.
But even so, this did not stop their experiments.
Instead, it served as a form of motivation.
The Estraneo transformed the 'home' they built for all within their famiglia into a nightmare. Their children were turned into guinea pigs, used as stepping stones for the experiments of more bizarre weapons because they would not just sit there and accept the treatment meted out upon them.
It was a terrible affair.
And no one could do a thing about it because this was the brutality of the Underworld.
Until of course, the news that sounded like a sweet melody, greeted their ears, "The Estraneo have been wiped out."
"Oh?" Vongola Nono furrowed his brows as he scanned the confidential documents that had been handed over to him by his subordinate. There wasn't a hint of surprise on his aging features as he patiently read through the quickly summarized report.
"One person." The other informed. "A rebellion, led by one of the children, so to say."
Vongola Nono sighed as he shook his head. "They would have never expected one of their own to bite back." He slowly moved his gaze away from the one name that had been underlined in red, Rokudo Mukuro, and lifted his head to face the man who stood across him. "And where is this child?"
"Reportedly escaped with a few who assisted," came the prompt reply, "but news is that, the Vindice are keeping an eye on him. They seem to be contemplating capture for the time being."
Vongola Nono only nodded as he plunged into deep thought.
"Should we keep an eye on the child?"
"Better leave the Vindice's prey as it is." He shook his head with a grave look on his face. "Inform all allies not to interfere, and state it as a direct order. The last thing I would want is the Guards of the Underworld knocking at my door to take responsibility for a stupid move someone commits."
"Understood."
A/N: I was so sure that I wasn't going to able to get this out today, but I DID. HAH. It was quite a tiring day since I turned one year older today huhuhu. I'm glad this chapter obediently wrapped itself up. Well, I do hope you enjoyed it!
A big thank you to all my dearest reviewers (I wasn't able to reply to your reviews through private message cause it's been an annoying week with really bad internet /sobs) MayaHikari, Guest (May 19), Guest (May 19), Neko1290, Titania of Fairies, Levin Kluge, Not A Criminal, xxmachia, Mel Writer, TheManyFacesOfAnon, FairyQueen72, CynthiaRosenDale, The Flightless Girl, Lillalay, SugarAlien, Failing Wings and Guest (May 23)! I hope this chapter answers most of your reviews :')
To FairyQueen72 gracias! Thank you for the reviews, I was pleasantly surprised seeing Spanish reviews on my fic! Left a huge smile on my face, I'm glad you enjoy the fic! :'))))))
Also, summarizing the replies for the questions asked, well, for one, Xing will appear much sooner and not in the Future Arc; for pairings for Kuroo/Mukuro, this won't be yaoi, but I'll be teasing that line bordering yaoi and call it bromance LMAO, as for specific pairings, nope; I'm following canon so I never really imagined a scenario where Mukuro wasn't in the hands of the Estraneo; a crossdressing Kuroo for gag? On it and I'll reply to your other questions personally hahahah ;')
June won't get as much updates as May did, since we're slowly approaching canon, I'm going to have to WORK SCENES OUT. And expect more canon characters to appear! Also, when I said we might reach canon in like five chapters? Yeah, that's not gonna be the case. But I promise you'll like the arc that I call pre-canon because it pretty much sets the stage for canon. I hope you will be patient with me!
Well, thank you for the favorites and follows!
And thank you for reading/giving this a try! ^^