-down the rabbit hole-

The door rippled again, angrily this time. Mukuro stole one last kiss from the blonde before he was shoved through the door and disappeared. The door blinked into oblivion.

And not a moment too soon. Hounds growled at his feet and spotlights seared the darkness, blinding the blonde. He started laughing as he ran a hand through his hair. The sound was raw, like he hadn't laughed in years and it clawed to get out. He won. He successfully broke into the Vendicare Prison and got Mukuro out. He successfully sent Mukuro safely to Castor. He could join him soon, he just...

Had to deal with these grunts first. Unfortunately, he couldn't outrun them and there were too many to fight.

Mukuro was in Castor, and Dino was already caught, so there was no one preventing him from using any more blood magic. Not that he had much choice at this point. The blonde smirked at the Vindice, Vendicare's hellhounds.

Dino bit down onto his thumb again, drawing more blood. He drew a line in the air that twisted and took physical shape. He gripped the handle of the blood-whip and lashed it at one of the Vindice hounds, though not close enough to actually touch. Let's not add assault to our list of charges. The recoil made him grin, though. He snapped the whip against the ground, magic vibrating in the air and kicking up a cloud of earth.

He hated to do this, but… He had little choice. He brought his bloodied hand to his face and smeared the vital crimson on his skin, glamour shimmering over his body. When the cloud settled, the hounds would see – and smell – the drugged up delinquent that Dino had taken the needle from to unlock Mukuro's shackles earlier. Dino hated to do it, but he would do anything if it meant saving, and being with, Mukuro. The blonde drew more blood, preparing a disappearing act for when the dust settled. He would return home, report to his brother; deal with the wounds from blood magic, but first…

There. Dino smiled at the hounds, a perfect mug shot for a face that wasn't his. He waved at them before drawing the sigil for his disappearing act.

-x-

Dino collapsed into his desk chair, tying his hand to stymy the blood flow from his use of magic. The blood wasn't the problem so much as the magic was; a door to Castor, a whip, glamour, and disappearing all in the span of an hour took its toll. Not to mention Dino's disappearing act took him back to where he'd found that drug-addled teen. If the Vindice traced the magic, it would lead them to that place of squalor. Dino had walked from there to home, keeping to the shadows to avoid security cameras.

The blonde sighed heavily. He'd have to report to Luca and Daemon about his success. And he'd have to give Daemon his payment. He really wasn't looking forward to doing either. He just wanted to crawl into bed and sleep. The door to Castor alone took a lot of energy out of him. But, he had to at least tell Luca he was home. His brother would worry, especially since he knew what Dino had been up to. It was nigh impossible to lie to the raven haired man.

Luckily for him, he didn't have to get up and go hunt Luca down. Three knocks on the door and it opened, revealing the very man Dino had just been thinking of. Luca Cavallone, current head of their multimillion dollar pharmaceutical company, stood in the blonde's doorway. Dino hummed in appreciation that he didn't have to drag himself through the manor.

"Luca, come in." Dino offered his older brother a tired smile. "You managed to escape that harpy. I'm impressed."

Luca cringed at the mention of his wife – wife only in title and legal binding. The woman was a nightmare, a wailing banshee that had her claws in Luca's wallet. "What a pleasant greeting, Dino. But you know I'm not here to put up with your needling."

"Yeah, yeah." Dino yawned. "Inspectors will probably be here tomorrow."

"So you failed."

"No. I succeeded, thank you very much. Mukuro's safe in Castor with Alaude and Kyoya." The blonde puffed his cheeks at his brother. "The inspectors will probably be here asking if I've seen him, or if I know who someone is. They saw my face when I sent Mukuro to Castor, so I used glamour and gave them someone else's face."

"…In other words you were careless." Luca sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "A door to Castor is one thing, but… "

"It's fine, isn't it?" Dino shrugged, dabbing up blood from his hand. "He's safe, and I can follow after him later, once the Vendicare's hellhounds give up."

The older brother sighed again and ran a hand through messy raven hair. "You had confrontation with the Vindice. Are you an idiot?"

Another shrug. "Maybe. But you are, too, for helping me."

"Hey." Luca flicked Dino in the forehead. "All I did was give you Daemon's number."

"Yes, you did. Which makes me wonder, why do you have that~?" Dino smirked at his brother. "You're a married man, yet you keep an old flame's number around. Tell me, does Caprice the Harpy know about that?"

"No, and she won't unless you tell her." Luca narrowed saffron eyes at Dino. For someone who looked innocent half the time, Dino sure did play dirty. "Besides, I keep the number for purely business purposes."

"Sure you do." Dino just smiled. "So, help me with these cuts?"

"…Only because you're my idiot brother." Luca sighed, opening the first aid kit that he had the foresight to bring. He cleaned the bite marks and sealed the wounds. Best not to use magic, if it wasn't necessary. "Seriously, though, what did you do?"

"Well…" Dino scratched his cheek with his free hand. "There was a lot of running involved. Slipping through the wall, getting cut up by the trees… The door to Castor, of course, a blood whip, glamour, and a disappearing act."

"I'm amazed you even made it back here on your feet."

Dino shrugged his response. He yawned again and stretched when Luca was finished with his hand. Luca practically shoved his brother into bed and threw the blanket over him. Dino was out before his head even hit the pillow. Blood magic takes its toll, especially when opening doors.

-x-

Mukuro tumbled out of the door, landing unceremoniously in a wooded part of Castor. He made a mental note to get Dino back for shoving him.

Wait.

…Dino?

… Who was Dino? And why did the name ring so familiar with him?

"You're late, Rokudo Mukuro."

Mukuro sat up, rubbing his face – grass wasn't nearly as soft as one would expect it to be. "I don't recall making a previous engagement with you."

The one who spoke looked up toward the blonde he was with. "I'm not dealing with him. It's hardly our responsibility if haneuma forgot that Castor's door requires at least a pair."

The blonde rolled his eyes, nodding toward the ring hanging around Mukuro's neck. "Cavallone didn't forget. He just lacked the knowledge that a ring wasn't a suitable replacement for him."

Mukuro pursed his lips. Who were these strangers conversing around him – about him – like they've known him for years? They felt vaguely familiar, too. Not as striking as the name Dino, but… Had he met these people before?

"You're too lenient on them, Alaude." Narrowed eyes and a tense frame.

"And you still have a child's mentality, Kyoya." Alaude was relaxed, rather blank-faced, like he didn't care that Kyoya was bristling beside him. The blonde turned his attention back to Mukuro. "Your memory will come back eventually. Just hope it returns before Dino comes to Castor."

That name again. Why? "Dino?"

Kyoya scoffed, turning to walk away. "Sawada Tsunayoshi's waiting. He'll whine if we take too long."

Alaude rolled his eyes, pushing off from the tree he had been leaning on. "Come. Sawada has already set up your living arrangements."

"Hurry up." Kyoya was an impatient brat sometimes.

…Was he supposed to know who these people were? Was he supposed to know who this Sawada was? Mukuro pushed himself to his feet and dusted himself off while checking to make sure all his body parts were in proper order. After that, he followed after the two bickering skylarks, spurred on by his curiosity. Or so he told himself.

A/N:

Moving along slowly but surely. I hope this isn't too boring. C:

As always, your reviews, follows, favorites, etc. make my day.