Disclaimer: I do not have rights to characters and ideas from Katekyo Hitman Reborn.

Chapter Four

Mukuro enjoyed train rides. People stared at openly him, seeing only his leather clothing, piercings, and long ponytail. He received a few glares from people of older tastes and jealous boyfriends (and when he winked, the glare either grew more heated or disappeared as the wearer blushed). A rare one person in a million saw him as a threat. That amused Mukuro: so many people sitting in a car and never noticing a killer (maybe even more than one) sat among them. Many seemed to be enamored by his appearance, like children attracted to the brightly colored jellyfish in the water.

Most had the smallest bit of instinct needed to keep them from touching—metaphorically speaking. Of course, a few felt the need to poke the jellyfish.

A girl who had been on the train for the last three stops had moved closer to him each time seats emptied. Empty seats weren't difficult to find; the sun had yet to rise and few people went out to the country this early. Mukuro had been surprised to find out trains operated all hours of the night and morning to Nido D'Uccello. Tsunayoshi likely set that up.

As the train stopped in Tenri, she caught his eyes and winked. Mukuro raised an eyebrow. Bold young thing. She was likely use to drawing the attention of men, with a slim body, large breasts, blemishes skin, and low clothing to skin ratio. She grinned and took the empty seat next to Mukuro.

"First time in Italy?" Her Italian was laced with something Eastern. Maybe Russian.

Mukuro chuckled at the idea of a Vongola, let alone himself, being mistaken for a tourist. Not even the Japanese born members could be considered tourists anymore. "No." He gave himself an Umbrian accent. "I am going home for a while."

Only a partial lie, Chrome's location would always be home. Mukuro lived with Hibari but the Cloud Guardian's carefully regulated Namimori was too boring to be his home.

"Really? Where do you live?"

"Nido D'Uccello." At her blank stare—a more subtle sign she was not a native; Nido D'Uccello was well known for mafia activity—he added, "In eastern Umbria."

Quickly she said, "I'm going to that way too!"

Such a stupid, foolish girl to want the company of a man who could easily kill her and not feel a thing. Similar to Tsunayoshi's disregard of personal safety, except Tsunayoshi accurately judged danger. The Decimo just felt certain things held greater importance than his own life. To his own shock, Mukuro was included.

He would never forget seeing young Tsunayoshi as the inhibitors were finally removed. The newly minted Decimo stood before him, holding a blanket and glaring at anyone who attempted to 'reason' with him. Tsunayoshi practically invaded the jail and convinced the Vendicare with bribery and intimidation to let Mukuro go free. Mukuro had never seen anything so beautiful as Tsunayoshi in rage. His liquid amber eyes were battle sharp; everyone around him was considered a threat but Mukuro himself. Tsunayoshi, for the first time, did not look like a child playing dress up in his suit. Mukuro could almost taste rage in his first gulps of real air.

"Hey, are you alright?"

Mukuro smiled at her with all the sincerity of a child promising his mother he would only eat one cookie. "Just a little tired."

She pouted, revealing how much darker her lipstick was to her natural color. "Am I that boring?"

Mukuro debated agreeing but he had nothing better to do…though being nice was not particularly fun either. "It's not you. I stayed up too late last night talking to my boyfriend."

Her jaw dropped, as if she couldn't believe he what he said. "Rea-really?"

Mukuro nodded. "We were up to three."

He ignored the low, mournful sound the girl made as she sank into her seat. She probably regretted starting up a conversation with him and abandoned any desire to stay in Nido D'Uccello. After a minute of dejected staring, she seemed to gather her wits (Mukuro doubted she had that many to gather) and asked, "What did you guys talk about?"

"This and that. And we may have had a very heated conversation." Mukuro waggled her eyebrows.

The girl blushed but she sat up straighter. "Oh? Tell me more—about your boyfriend, I mean! What's he like?"

"Well," Mukuro pushed down the desire to describe Tsuna and he refused to describe Hibari—Mukuro was still pissed at the Cloud Guardian for kicking him out of Namimori. Chrome may have asked him to go with her but Mukuro had not doubt about why she suddenly showed up after avoiding them for months. The bastard wouldn't have even had to lift a finger; one of his underlings would have called Chrome. "He smokes." That basically chose the rest of the description. "And has a lot of piercings, which look adorable because he wears a suit for work."

"What kind of suit-business does he work in that allows piercings?"

"Consulting with a very easy going boss." Mukuro leaned towards her and whispered. "His hair's silver-ish but it is not a dye job."

For a moment, an image of the half-Italian mutt nude assaulted his brain. Mukuro decided to imagine him with a small dick.

She was blusing again and Mukuro had a sudden desire to see if he could get Tsunayoshi to blush so hard. "Does he wear a lot of rings and bracelets?"

"Yes." Mukuro was struck by the sudden idea that Gokudera wore more jewelry than his sister, Chrome, Sasagawa, Miura, and most other women Mukuro knew.

"Did he break his arm recently?" She said, looking over his shoulder.

Mukuro turned, already aware from the girl's lack of subtleness what he would see. A few seats over, Gokudera sat slumped with his right arm held close to his chest in a sling. "Would you excuse me?"

She giggled.

Mukuro stalked over to Gokudera. The bomber did not initially notice him, so Mukuro allowed his aura to flare.

Gokudera's head shot up and he glared at Mukuro. "What are you doing here, pineapple head?"

"Am I not allowed to visit our dear Decimo?"

Gokudera snorted. "If I had the choice, you wouldn't be allowed in Italy."

Mukuro sat down next to him and winked at the girl before slinging an arm around Gokudera. From the way Gokudera froze, Mukuro wondered if the bomber's heart stopped along with his nervous system. Explaining the Storm Guardian's death would not be fun.

"What the fuck are you doing?!" He yelled in Japanese. Other passengers glanced at them before returning to whatever they were doing before. There was little interest in a fight they could not understand.

Mukuro rested his head against Gokudera's. "Shh. We are putting on a show for the girl over there."

Gokudera look at him and then across the cab. "Why?"

"I may have implied you were my boyfriend and we spent the last night having phone sex."

The panicked look on Gokudera's face was worth the mental image of him without clothing. Mukuro would have to send the girl an anonymous present. The Storm Guardian had become too accustomed to his presence and Mukuro missed the pure terror he use to inspire.

"Go to hell or back to the Vendicare."

Mukuro hit Gokudera's injured arm and relished the pained hiss. "Remember, I can make it seem like we are making out. Or," Mukuro placed a hand on the bomber's cheek and dragged his nails lightly down his chin. "I can give her a real show. Perhaps even give Decimo-sama a show."

"Just let go of me."

Mukuro chuckled and untangled himself. He gave another wink to the girl, who was leaning forward in her seat. "How did you injure yourself, Gokudera-kun? I heard you are on vacation."

Gokudera looked in the opposite direction. "Yamato."

Mukuro blinked. "I knew you two and Miura are adventurous but I did not know you three were like that."

"We're not! "

"Really? And yet Yamato still broke your arm." Mukuro had missed teasing and harassing Gokudera. The Storm Guardian was so easy to rile. "Decimo-sama will not be happy."

"He didn't do anything! I played catch with Yamato."

Mukuro ignored the potential innuendo, even though it was easy. The reality was oddly more interesting this time. "Are you stupid?"

"Drunk. I was very drunk. The bartender said we could have as much as we want after we chased away some thugs." Gokudera sunk into his seat again and Mukuro thought he was blushing. "We stopped by a park and Yamato wanted to play…"

"I think you would be safer sticking to something kinky."

Mukuro had no doubt Gokudera was blushing now. "Shut up, pineapple head."

Mukuro decided to let the rather boring insult go. "Are you avoiding Yamato?"

"Nido D'Uccello wouldn't be the place to hide." Gokudera seemed to forget his company for a moment and lost himself in thought. "There isn't a good place to hide from the baseball freak."

Mukuro had to agree; Yamato would follow his friends (and in this case, lover) to hell…without a real clue to what was going on. "So what brings you out here at such an ungodly hour?"

Gokudera checked his watch. "It's six-thirty."

"Ungodly." He re-asserted. "Why are you here again?"

"Reporting." Gokudera said.

"I'm sure Tsunayoshi will be so interested in what happened to your arm."

"I do work, unlike you."

Mukuro did not reply. His actions were between Tsunayoshi and himself, and when they were working in conjunction, Hibari. What was the point of having spies everyone had access to their movements or those of the spymaster? Mukuro's lazy-bum image had been crafted to disguise his own spy ring. The Disciplinary Committee was a useful cover for the information he and his spies collected. Anyone one knew Hibari knew his group was not meant for espionage. The Disciplinary Committee was far too visible and while they could collect information through intimidation, blackmail, bribery, hacking, and plain stalking, they were not of the type to integrate with the target. Hibari never held a great likeness or any trust for those who could.

Mukuro had thought for a while that he may be the exception—or, more likely, that they would end up killing each other in a bloody but exhilarating fight.

A computerized voice announced the train's arrival in Nido D'Uccello. Mukuro silently followed Gokudera off the train. He noticed the girl had decided to tag along, even if Mukuro 'was' gay.

"Hey!" She called out once they were on the platform. "Do you know any good hotels around here?"

Mukuro smiled—a real smile filled with sadistic glee. "My dear boyfriend can help you. I have to run ahead. Don't hold him up to long—we'll want to finish last night's conversation."

Mukuro left a painfully red Gokudera to give directions to the girl.

Tenri is a random city in south west Umbria that I know nothing about, by the way.

Nido D'Uccello is an imaginary town for the Vongola to live in.

This chapter turned out different than I expected. I suppose that's what I get from writing Mukuro's POV.