Chapter 24

Mukuro held Basil's hand and walked down the path that Basil had suggested. It was the path to an old Shrine behind Namimori near the forest. Basil had made an agreement with Viper that they would stand up for themselves and talk to their lovers. Basil was to start first and he was already feeling nervous.

Mukuro noticed his uneasiness but could not quite place a finger on what was causing it. While he gripped Basil's slender hand protectively, Basil could not help but blush slightly at the man he loved. Mukuro's expression of concern was enough to make Basil settle with his over protective streak but he steeled himself. "I need to do this otherwise he would not take me seriously…" thought the CEDEF apprentice.

Meanwhile, Mukuro was contacting Chrome through mind link to get her find out what might be the cause for his lover's distress. He was keeping a close eye on the man who insisted on recruiting him in Sawada Tsunayoshi's family. That man was sly and difficult to predict. Mukuro hated him with all his guts and sometimes could not help but wonder how this very man could be Tsunayoshi's father.

Basil noticed a faraway look on Mukuro's face and it was changing into the scary expression that Basil absolutely hated. He frowned and tugged at their joint hands a little. The blue haired man did not respond to his effort and so Basil decided to stop abruptly.

When Mukuro jolted to a halt in his steps, his mind was snapped out of those murderous thoughts. He turned back to see a completely dissatisfied Basil glaring at him with an adorable pout and pink cheeks from the chill. He chuckled discreetly before backtracking to the smaller boy.

"What is it mio bello? What's gotten you so upset today?"

Basil did not know where to start when asked a question so off guardedly. He had been busy cursing Mukuro in his mind when Mukuro asked him a question. Like Tsuna he responded with an unintelligible "Huh?"

Mukuro chuckled at the response he found endearing. He kissed the surprised boy, causing the boy to blush and splutter incoherent thoughts. Mukuro laughed.

Once recovered, Basil stood indignantly with a frown creasing his forehead. "Mukuro-kun!" he nearly shouted. Mukuro tried to stifle his laughter to no avail. Basil got flustered and was at a lost as to what to do. An idea crossed his mind and he decided to try it out.

Mukuro had not been expecting to meet another pair of warm and soft lips so soon. His laughter ceased and was replaced by a stunned expression. Basil pulled away from the man when he knew the laughter had stopped. The blush could have been permanent by now and Basil was embarrassed to have to go to such lengths for the man.

Mukuro got over the initial shock and whispered "Mio bello?"

Basil was close to tears by now. All the bottled up emotions came bursting through the surface. "Mukuro-san I really hate you! You always keep things for me and then you make me strange like this… It's your fault!"

Mukuro was perplexed. He watched the smaller boy collapse in a heap on the floor crying his eyes out. Not knowing what to do, Mukuro looked around and saw no one else in sight. He panicked a little. Instinctively, he grabbed the boy and cuddled him. Basil was a wreck in his strong arms. Mukuro was silently thankful for Aria that he was able to have Basil crying in his real arms and wrapped safely in his real body. He would have done the same in a borrowed body but Mukuro hated sharing and if it was not him protecting his lover with his own strength, it would not sit right.

Basil reduced to hiccupping in Mukuro's arms. When he was calm enough, Mukuro told him in a firm and deep baritone "I don't know what happened but as far as I am concerned, I will not do anything to harm or betray you. You know very well how much I love you. If I did not love you I would not have told you about my past and confessed my previous obsession with Sawada Tsunayoshi."

Basil regained some senses to be able to form coherent words and said "You never told me what you intend to do all the time. I'm always the one who doesn't know anything and waiting for you. I'm always scared when you return home in blood regardless if it's your or not. When you collapse at the door I thought I would die. You don't know how I feel so how can you say it's for my own good if I have to live like this? Aren't we supposed to trust each other? You are always keeping me in the dark. I don't like this! I'm a Mafiosi too. I work for CEDEF and I take on assassination missions at times. I'm not all pure and delicate like you think, Mukuro-kun. I don't want to be protected by you all the time. I'm also a man. I want to be our equal!"

Mukuro let the words sink in and grimaced. He had known for a long time how capable Basil was. "I know," he said.

"But I love you too much to risk losing you. You are all that I have right now. If you're not here… I won't be human anymore. I was a monster before I met Tsunayoshi. He was the first one to save me with his kindness and I thought he would always be there for me but I was wrong. I lost it when I knew he loved Hibari Kyoya. I plotted revenge using you. However I found that you were not just a tool after a while. You were someone with feelings that were real and not fake like all the others. I began to like you and grew to love you. Before I knew it, it had become too late to stop those feelings. My love is dark and cruel. I never wanted you to see that side of me and the things I would do for you so I kept you away from it. I only wanted to be kind and faithful in your eyes. I didn't want you to know because I was afraid. Ever since that day I confessed to you my plans to use you to get to Tsunayoshi you have never looked at me the same. I didn't want you to hate me further."

Basil cupped the mist guardian's face gently and looked into those mismatched eyes. "If you're afraid of being seen ugly then let me tell you I am no better. You are deceiving yourself. I am Basil from CEDEF. I carry out missions such as infiltration, elimination and assassination. I was trained to be able to take on forty men fully armed bare handed. Combat skills I am equipped with are Jujitsu, Karate, Taekwondo, Muay Thai, Judo and Silat. Weapons I can handle are Metal edge, double swords, various guns including sniper, thrown weapons, hidden weapons and sabers. My total hit count till date is two hundred and eighteen. My successful mission rate is 98.6%. My…"

Mukuro silenced Basil with a gloved hand over his mouth. His hetrochromic eyes were shut tightly. Hearing the truth from the person he loved most hurt.

Basil's eyes softened. He gently removed the hand covering his mouth. "Do you understand now?"

Mukuro found it hard to believe how such a delicate person would be capable of carrying out so many dreadful things and still remain so pure. Instead of replying, Mukuro hugged Basil tightly.

Basil was momentarily taken aback but returned the hug. They remained in the position for long enough. Mukuro then whispered in Basil's ear "Mio bello, promise me you won't ever die on me."

Basil smiled. "Then promise me you won't keep anything from me."

Mukuro chuckled weakly. "You can't handle it."

Basil grinned and pulled from the embrace. "You won't know if you don't try." Mukuro raised an eyebrow at the suggestive line.

"Mio bello, you never told me you know how to seduce a man."

Basil kissed him lightly on the lips before replying "You never asked. There are more sides of me than you can think of. How about we start getting reacquainted?"

Mukuro smiled. He stood up and offered Basil a hand who accepted it. When Basil stood up Mukuro brought that hand to his lips and kissed it. "I am Mukuro, Mist guardian of Vongola Decimo. I kill and betray people. May I know your name mio bello?"

Basil smiled angelically. "My name is Basil, from CEDEF Vongola External Advising family. I am a Mafiosi who conspire and go to bloody battles. Nice to meet you."

Mukuro then dropped the Mr. Nice façade. "I love you, will you become mine?"

Basil replied earnestly "I would have it no other way. Mr. Sadist."

Mukuro looked amused for a while. "Alright then mio bello, you got me. This sadist happens to need a masochist."

Basil laughed "I can fill in that position for you, how long would my contract be?"

Mukuro grabbed Basil and crushed him in his chest. "How about an eternity?"

Basil giggled. "Sounds good to me."

With that Basil and Mukuro managed to overcome their relationship hurdles. The first Mist guardian Daemon Spade smirked and pulled Elena closer. "Just like us huh?" he kissed Elena on her forehead. Elena smiled and leaned against his chest. "At least they have a happier ending." They shared a kiss before disappearing.

To be continued…

Author's Note: I just got so stressed studying I wrote to relief stress. I know it sounds weird here so I tried my best *depressed* Anyway, I got this marvelous idea to do double dates and sorts… this one is a less common occurrence so I'm curious how they would be like. I haven't read or written any of these pairings for the next chapter so bear with me.

Next chapter pairs: Nana x Iemitsu and Aria x Gamma.

Do drop a review to feedback~ looking forward to the net chapter. It's more like filler for the main exciting pairs to come. Oh, any idea who you might like Dino to pair with? I'm going to put Belphegor with another surprise person so please don't pair Dino with Belphegor.