Disclaimer: I don't own KHR or any of the characters.
Chapter 11: Pieces Fall Into Place
Mukuro slammed the door behind him as he exited his makeshift interrogation chamber. He obviously wasn't getting any more information out of that low level grunt and that just frustrated further. After all the hours he'd put in, the most he'd gotten was that Tsuna's death wasn't an accident, but he had no idea what family or families were involved in the conspiracy.
For the past few days he'd been chasing any wisps of information that he could find, not that many came from reliable sources. He'd known for a while that something was wrong about the way Tsuna had died, but going to Italy had given him no further leads. He growled as he ran a hand through his dark hair and felt his hand twitch on his trident.
~~~~~Flashback~~~~~
It was just a routine day in Mukuro's life. He'd been very bored lately and was wondering whether he should go antagonize Fran for some form of entertainment. He'd smirked darkly at the thought of bullying the boy who routinely insulted Mukuro in his flat sarcastic monotone.
Ever since Tsuna had become Decimo, Mukuro and Chrome had shared a residence for the sake of convenience and security. That day, Mukuro had left to get Ken and Chikusa, intending to ask them to accompany him in his visit to Fran and Chrome had waved from the doorstep, a slight smile on her face. Mukuro would never say it out loud, but he was, in fact, glad that Chrome had some other friends such as Haru and Kyoko that she could spend time with instead of hanging around Mukuro's group all day.
Mukuro had met up with Ken and Chikusa about half an hour afterwards and they had barely exchanged greetings when he heard the sound of hurried footsteps behind him. Mukuro had whirled around quickly, and prepared to materialize his trident, when he realized it was just Chrome and relaxed a bit.
Chrome had been bent over from exhaustion but gasped out that Tsuna had been in an accident and was in the hospital. Mukuro felt his ever present smirk slide off his face and he immediately grabbed Chrome's arm and ran to the hospital leaving a surprised Ken and Chikusa behind him. Mukuro didn't understand why he was running, he'd never been very close with the brunette, but he knew he needed to be there as soon as possible.
The hospital room was already packed with the other Guardians and Tsuna's mother and the children. Mukuro had stared unbelievingly at the bed Tsuna lay in with all the tubes running across and under the hospital robes. He had an oxygen mask placed around his mouth and nose and the heart monitors beeped loudly, the only break to the stunned silence all the room's occupants were in.
The Mist Guardians had hardly been there five minutes when Hibari abruptly turned around and stormed past them to the doorway. The skylark had looked ready to kill as the dark menacing aura left the hospital. Meanwhile, Mukuro had felt there was a deeper significance behind the Cloud Guardian's actions, besides the fact that he just hated crowding with others. Something was definitely going on.
After Tsuna's death, Mukuro had carefully monitored Hibari's actions to see why he'd stormed out of the hospital that day. The Mist Guardian had already known that Hibari often took missions from Vongola HQ to track down foreign criminals, but now the Cloud seemed almost frantic, demanding the status of every rival family and their actions on the date of Tsuna's death. It didn't take Mukuro long to put two and two together to realize that Tsuna's death was foul play instead of the accident most had written it off to.
The day after realizing this, Mukuro had made the decision to fly to the Vongola HQ in Italy and observe the rival families over there, hoping to find a substantial lead. He'd hidden his actual motives by claiming that he was just ensuring the Italy member's safety, but Chrome didn't believe his weak excuse and insisted on tagging along with him. Mukuro had grudgingly allowed her to come after he realized she wasn't budging on the matter. The two had left on the first flight out of Japan.
After arriving, Chrome had stayed inside the HQ, rarely leaving for anything other than simple errands. Mukuro was grateful for the fact that Chrome didn't pry into his business as he searched throughout Italy for the other family, but he felt slightly guilty for making her worry so much. As days went by, his frustration was growing deeper and the exhaustion from lack of sleep was getting to him. And yet, there were no answers.
~~~~~Flashback over~~~~~
Mukuro had told himself to be patient and that answers would be revealed with time, but all the sources and interrogations he'd done had amounted to nothing. He'd been going in circles ever since he got to Italy, not to mention he'd actually had to anticipate attacks on his person. Mukuro rolled his eyes at the thought of all the attacks he'd suffered. The men who'd thought Mukuro was weak without Tsuna had been in for a nasty surprise when they found a three pronged trident pointing at their throat.
The pineapple sighed as he trudged from the underground interrogation chamber back to Vongola HQ where Chrome would undoubtedly be waiting for him, silently pleading for an explanation he refused to give. It's not that he didn't trust the girl with his findings; it's just that he had nothing to tell her. The girl had probably already reasoned that it wasn't an accident and there was nothing more he could tell her about it.
All the rival families had seemed to check out and there were no reports of recent conspiracies or uprisings within the Vongola. As far as his evidence was concerned, it was just a car accident, though Mukuro knew instinctually that was not the case. Hibari's continued searching only strengthened his convictions.
He pushed open the needlessly huge doors to the Vongola mansion after flashing his Mist ring at the security guard and walked slowly down the long corridors. He cycled through the facts (which weren't helpful), possible things that had been overlooked and the reactions of the other families he'd visited, which helped him find absolutely no leads. He was still lost in his thoughts as he climbed the wide, carpeted stair case and started down the hallway that led to his bedroom.
He had just been reaching for the doorknob when he felt an insistent tug on the back of his shirt. He sighed and imagined himself banging his head against the door.
"What is it, Chrome dear? I would really like to get some sleep…" Mukuro said, rubbing his eyes.
"You need to see something," Chrome replied, softly but firmly. Mukuro opened his eyes and turned to face the girl, only to see that she was determined to make him go somewhere even if she had to drag him there.
"Alright," Mukuro relented, not in the mood for an argument. She nodded and led him down the hallway to the study area. "Well, what did you want me too-!" Mukuro felt his eyes widen in shock as he saw one very familiar looking brunette sitting on the couch. The brunette jumped at Mukuro's words and twisted around to face him, further convincing the pineapple that he was not dreaming.
"H-hey Mukuro-san…" Tsuna said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head.
"You're not dead…" Mukuro stated, narrowing his eyes at the brunette. Tsuna shook his head and raised his hands in denial.
"No, no, I am dead, but… well, it's a bit complicated…" Tsuna said, starting to become a bit frantic in his explanation. Mukuro felt his eye twitch at the brunette's wild hand gestures, but he was luckily prevented from summoning his trident when a large crashing sound was heard from the room above them.
"It appears that Hibari-san is awake," Chrome said quietly. Despite the seriousness of the situation, Mukuro was amused watching all the color drain from Tsuna's face as the Decimo ran around looking for a place to hide.
~~~~~Back in Japan~~~~~
"Do you think I give a damn what seating class we're sitting in?! Just get us on the first flight to Italy!" Gokudera yelled at the receptionist who was shrinking back in her chair.
"Calm down, Gokudera!" Yamamoto grinned. "There's a nicer way to get tickets…"
"SHUT UP BASEBALL FREAK!" The teen raged, barely restrained by Ryohei from strangling the grinning Rain Guardian.
"We shouldn't fight TO THE EXTREME!" Ryohei yelled, which only served to enrage Gokudera further.
"YOU SHUT UP TOO, TURF TOP!"
"WHAT WAS THAT, OCTOPUS HEAD?!"
"Lambo-sama wants Tsuna-nii!" The Lightning Guardian bawled. The poor receptionist was considering making a break for the door and flinched when a she heard a voice directed at her.
"Excuse me, miss?" Yamamoto said, showing off his trademark smile. The woman warily eyed him. "Can you just book us the next flight to Italy? Any seats will do." She nodded to show she understood, printed their tickets and watched as they left, Gokudera and Ryohei still arguing.
A/N: Wow... I really suck at updating right now... Blah, blah, blah, school, exams, extracurricular activities. Anyways, I haven't read KHR in a REALLY long time, so sorry if the characters are now OOC and all that nonsense... I'm not going to lie, I struggled writing Mukuro's character... *sweatdrops*
I've also come to be the bearer of bad news. My summer schedule is packed, so I have no idea when this will be updated... You must really hate me after this ehehehe... Looks like my plans of updating frequently this summer have been shot to heck... oh well
Anyways, the story actually WILL be wrapping up soon! Didn't see that coming, huh? There's still a few details I have to work out in my mind, but I actually have a conclusion planned! So, see? It's not all bad news! :D
So, Please review! Reviews are what keep me writing this story~ :D