The accidental takeover of a country or two, due to both over and under planning. (Kuro tries, really.)

xxxx

Kuro liked to think of himself as a fairly laid-back man. (He hadn't, in fact, been in charge of the Momokyokai. His predecessor had ironically been taken ill and decided to step down when Juudaime had first stumbled into their territory—by which he meant 'the free-for-all contest to decide which of the five possible heirs would succeed' and immediately trounced them all. By itself, that wouldn't have been enough to put Juudaime in charge, but one thing had led to another.)

There were a few exceptions, of course. Every man had their price and their breaking point. Kuro's happened to be Juudaime; his safety, his happiness, his approval—in roughly that order. So when the call came in from Italy that Juudaime had snapped on an invulnerable monster and fallen into a coma from Flame-depletion...

Well. Kuro hadn't felt that kind of slick-chilled alarm settle between his lungs since he'd been a child. Juudaime, in a coma? Massive, near-fatal Flame depletion?

He'd demanded as much explanation as the Varia Rain—the man calling—had been able to give. A monster immune to their Flames, hurting one of Juudaime's Own. Juudaime snapping, bathing it in enough Sky to light the world for miles around, turning the monster to stone and, once assured of the safety of the remainder of His Own, falling. Reborn and Xanxus doing what they could to stabilize him, but even as careful as they were, they feared putting too much Wrath in him—if ever one would not be directly compatible with the angry fire, it would be Juudaime. Kuro had been terrified. His leader, his god—when had he become such?—possibly never to wake?

... Unacceptable.

He'd demanded ideas from any and all of the Sora's extensive network, now spanning all of Japan and a few scattered points on the mainland that weren't under Shī's watchful eye. Someone had mentioned hearing about research in Korea, on a machine to aid in Flame recovery.

It wasn't much. Was hardly anything, as the rumor was unverified and there was no information on who was doing it or even which Korea.

But it was better than nothing, and while Kuro set what few scientists they had on their own research, someone with a head start on them would be invaluable. They didn't have time to be subtle.

(He asked Shī for reinforcements, and the Triads' leader was all too happy to provide in spades, having also heard of Juudaime's injury.)

As it turned out, the plans to isolate and occupy the Koreas—both the governmental and underground sides of things, and in both North and South—had already been launched by the time word came that Juudaime had woken on his own.

... it was a little too late to stop, as the setup had been complete and the Lightning-and-Mist powered Flame machines to disrupt communications had already been set and they would go off no matter what Kuro said about it at that point. All the Sora and Triads members already in the country had their orders and one of those orders was to keep to radio silence until their own communications devices were the only ones that worked.

... Juudaime was going to be so mad.

Also, Kuro had not thought quite enough ahead. Once he'd had the Sora and Triads occupying both Koreas in every major aspect on every side of the law, he couldn't exactly just... pull everyone out and have them vanish. Things didn't work that way. There would be too much of an upheaval.

Maybe Juudaime would forgive him the oversight, if he did something to minimize the damage?

(So, maybe merging the Koreas and turning them into a monarchy wasn't exactly the best idea. But they at least managed to cut the government corruption out—mainly by removing the governments, which corruption was a existential hazard of—and the reorganization meant the Sora and Triads had to occupy the area until things were settled, but they would at least see to it that Juudaime's new people were properly cared for. Besides, it was better than having two countries declare war on a group that didn't have their own country to claim.)

... at least they'd found the research?

(It was very incomplete, but Kuro passed it and the individual who'd been working on it to the scientists holed up in the Tokyo division, much to said individual's glee. It wasn't every day that one had two countries conquered in search of them after having been laughed out of the local Flame-aware groups for foolishness. Koul, who had taken his name for the imugi* who must pass tests to become true dragons, must have found himself akin to a drake, as his faith in his work had definitely given him 'wings'.)

... Yeah, no. Kuro was going to be in so much trouble. There would be disappointment from Juudaime. Kuro couldn't even hope for it to blow over while Juudaime was sorting out Vongola, because he had to be at the inauguration! He definitely wouldn't have let it go by then! It was less than a full day away!

(Juudaime was fine, though, and that made everything all right.)

xxxx

*Imugi are lesser or aspiring dragons, serpent-like in appearance, in Korean lore; who must do -something- to become true dragons. Koul specifically become dragons by passing three tests, and each pass grants them another attribute of a true dragon. By coming to the aid of others, a koul will grow legs. By swimming, he will gain fire. By leaping in good faith, he will grow wings. (They end up more like European dragons than most that way, since very few Eastern dragons have wings. Most true dragons in Korean lore do not. Koul is also from wiki, though I found imugi other places as well. People often identify with movie/book/etc. symbols even when they didn't exist before the movie/book/etc came out or if they are misrepresented therein. Just look at the Harry Potter series! )