Ooooh the Varia are in town~!

I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn

Edit: I refined the story to make a little more sense...

Money

The most precious thing this mediocre world has to offer. It can buy you anything you desire, take you anywhere you want to go. The entire population of this planet depends on it like a child to its mother, or a servant to its master, or maybe even like a sinner to its God. It is a clear fact that money is, has been, and always will be the only true factor to success in this dreary land. And if anyone told Mammon otherwise he'd simply scoff at their words and float as far away from their ignorance as possible.

Money was everything. It was real, and to an illusionist reality was the only thing that kept them from going insane.

In Mammon's case, money was his anchor; it kept him grounded from illusions, not just from other illusionists but his also his own. The fact that money could bring him anything that he wanted in the world that his illusions could not was the stone cold fact that chained him to this earth. He was grateful for this circumstance, he knew that if it weren't for this material prize that kept his head clear and his intentions vivid when in another's mind Mammon would've have died much younger than he would've liked. And he was already much too young for his liking.

Mammon sighed as he finished counting the foreign currency he received from his previous mission. It was really just chump change compared to other assignments he had done but to his discontent it had been a slow week for the whole Assassination group. The former Mist Arcobaleno grimaced at the small salary he was gaining. He needed a walk, or float if he was being realistic with himself.

Mammon collected his profit – money was money of course – glided through the hotel room, dodging Belphegor's arm as he tried to pinch his cheeks, and simply soared out the window, floating to, maybe a convenience store to buy some cheap chocolate. He really did enjoy those sweet snacks, not just for the price but chocolate was truly a delicacy from whatever heritage it derived from, rich or poor really didn't make a difference to the delicious confection.

As the Varia Mist guardian flew above the high ground, he could view a few small houses hiding behind the tall buildings. He recognized the layout of the streets. He had been in this city before, most of the reasons he came to this town were quite troubling for him in fact. It always left a taste of cold metal on his tongue when he remembered all of the conflicts and battles that went on in the area, some of which were close to killing him.

Ah, yes. Namimori, the most annoyingly peaceful town Japan had to offer. And at the same time it was the most eventful town he had ever been to, it was a strange contrast if you have never attended the events yourself. Mammon inwardly leered at the ignorant citizens who failed to see past the calming air of their community as he lowered himself down closer to the sidewalk, where he gained curious stares from a few of the said citizens.

If an important mission wasn't going on in this city Mammon would probably be in Headquarters by now scanning through his assignment files to find something interesting and more money-making to do. Unfortunately Reborn and the Ninth Vongola Boss needed the Varia to track down some of Verde's spies who have been collecting information on some new Dying-Will flame weapon being exported from Russia. Mammon sighed as he recalled the harmonized frustration the whole assassination group was having due to the extreme difficulty of trailing the narcissistic scientists' lackeys. It seems after Verde's team-up with Mukuro and the Kokuyo gang the green-haired baby got a little more tactical about choosing his subordinates. This made the former Lightening Arcobaleno even more infuriating than he already was.

The automatic doors slid open as it sensed movement from the entrance. Mammon passed it by with the same pace he had been using since his departure. He soon came across an acceptable brand of chocolate on a shelf and quickly found his way to the cashier and placed his purchase on the counter.

"90 yen." A teenage part-timer responded a little too optimistically, trying not to mind he was talking to a customer that was not only fun-sized but floating in mid-air as well.

Mammon reached in his cloak for the compartment where he stored his on-hand cash and froze when he found it hollow. He knew he had more than 90 yen when he left, he always had money with him but this time it was empty.

Was he robbed? No a fool wouldn't even dare touch his savings…

…But maybe, a genius would. Mammon memories flashed to when he was leaving out the hotel window and his royal colleague attempted to scrunch his face.

Of course that high-horsed prince wouldn't just miss a target so easily; the idiot used his first action to mask his second... The Mist Arcobaleno's thoughts were filled with curses and promises to pay back the prince as soon as possible.

"Uhm…" A pubescent voice ceased Mammon's planning as he turned to an awkward looking employee. It looks like he will have to return the product. As Mammon reached for the bag to return it to its proper shelf, a clang and clicking of coins tumbling on the counter ceased his movements. The teenage cashier and baby illusionist turned curiously to see Chrome Dokuro with her hand placed on the cashier stand.

"I will pay for it." Her soft voice projected quietly but certain. The half-startled the cashier hesitantly collected himself and counted the coins left by the girl, giving his floating customer the receipt and product.

"I don't need your charity." Varia's strongest illusionist pivoted his gaze to the petite woman. She ignored the threatening air he seethed and looked to him almost apologetically, but promptly turned away and went up to the cashier-boy instead. She paid for her purchases and headed towards the exit. Outside, Mammon confronted his fellow illusionist and harshly repeated:

" I. Do. Not. Need. Your. Charity."

His voice lingered on the last word as if hell had produced its form. However, the single-eyed girl once again did not cower at the hostility of the baby. She simply stepped back with a tinge of pink on her face and a slight shy hesitation wavering in her eye. She then briefly explained herself as was appropriate.

"I-I'm sorry for that… but I saw you were mumbling in front of the cashier about …the stupid prince… and …revenge… so I thought you were stressed…" her pauses were an obvious clue she did not enjoy talking very much or she did not like talking about her own reasons for acting. Mammon supposed he could appreciate that incapacity. "…I thought you might've needed the chocolate like I do when I become stressed. So when you picked it up to return it my arm reacted for itself." The fragile girl looked down in slight shyness and in slight guilt for her interference.

So he was mumbling, no wonder the cashier interrupted his contemplations with a look that said he was crazy….

Mammon sighed. All in all Chrome Dokuro was quite faultless. Getting angry at her would be like spitting on a kitten. Though, the Arcobaleno was not amused that her motive for her kindness was pity.

"Alright, so what do you want?" Mammon blurted a little irritably as if he wanted to get the trade over with.

"Huh…?" Chrome blinked her owlish, violet eye innocently contemplating Mammon's abrupt question.

"I don't like owing anyone, even for the little stuff. So what do you want in return?" The Varia Mist guardian sighed impatiently. Is this woman naïve?

As if on cue Chrome's eye immediately sparked with realization "Oh…That's not necessary, you don't need to owe me anything." Chrome announced curtly never losing her soft undertone. She then bowed to the former Arcobaleno as she decided to take her leave; she figured she wasn't useful at this point.

Normally Mammon would brush this off, the debt wasn't big and if the girl was truly content with nothing it wasn't his problem. Besides, if Mammon felt like he needed to pay her back, he could slip 90 yen somewhere for her to find. But something felt off, maybe it was frustration from the mission, or the fact that he allowed the prince to thieve him of his earnings, but Chrome Dokuro's mild nature was beginning to piss him off.

Whenever Mammon found the time to look at the girl, he saw a form of purity, a purity that had been tainted by physical injury and an evil man's dishonesties. Yet, she still has the guile to stay sweet and compassionate. Her appearance was made to look fragile and small; her demeanor was one that of a rabbit. She regrettably took all these things in stride and was labeled the weak link of the Vongola guardians, and also the one most likely to betray them all for her affiliation with one pineapple-haired illusionist. Admittedly though, Chrome Dokuro was a little different than what the rumors assumed. While he had no idea of her treachery, but highly doubted the likeliness of it, he knew she was quite strong; it was easy to acknowledge her prowess as an illusionist since the day he first met her. And now the eye-patched girl was maintaining her own illusionary organs and using combat illusions at the same time. Combat illusions that could bring a man's head to the ground asking the dirt for salvation. It made Mammon believe that she had a much stronger goal than what her presence foretold.

Chrome Dokuro was clearly an enigma, wrapped in innocent naivety, wrapped in another enigma. She was a code that was ready to be cracked. But what made the female illusionist truly mysterious – and made Mammon look at her with a curious annoyance – was that unlike all the other powerful illusionists, Mammon found it strange she had no anchor to keep her stilled to the surface of reality. He of course had money, Rokudo Mukuro had the ambition of world domination and power, and even the annoying little Fran kept himself sane with the blunt and insulting facts he found in everyone he encountered. But as her power and ability grew she was not obsessed with anything material. At first, Mammon thought it to be her former master Rokudo Mukuro but after her excommunication from his group she became less zealous of the pineapple-haired man. And to all the Vongola members that became a great relief.

He couldn't collect any more data since Chrome was a silent presence in all of the Vongola activities. Chrome Dokuro never stuck out in a crowd even with her eye patch or spear sticking out from her bag. In fact, the information file he collected from her was quite thin in itself.

The only interesting information he found about her was that her birth name was Akesaka Nagi, her mother is the famous movie star Akesaka Suzu, whose films Mammon had admittedly enjoyed, and her step-father, Akesaka Masaru is the new manager of the renowned over-seas company KAL-I, a high-quality communication service company. Not much was known about her birth-father but it seemed he was the one who Chrome inherited illusions from. As no matter how far the Varia's Head of Intelligence Officer dug into his past, it was as if the only history the man left was his daughter and his first name; Shin.

Anything after that were Chrome's actions as Mukuro's puppet or anything under the past Vongola Familiga's affairs. Mammon though, was a little ticked off that the pineapple-haired girl chose to leave a family that held so much success. He knew she would've been set for life if she had not made the infamous contract with Rokudo Mukuro. But Mammon really wasn't one to tamper into whatever personal matter that had caused Chrome to leave a life of luxury. Instead, he found himself curious as to what made Chrome sane after all her growth as an illusionist. If it wasn't the fame and fortune that came with being the daughter of two powerful beings, or a religious obsession with her former master, what else could it be?

While Mammon was lost in his thoughts he had followed the subject of his views to her apartment. Chrome of course noticed but simply let him tag along; it really wasn't any trouble for her. As she had reached the door to her flat and was reaching for her key in her pocket the illusionist child spoke again.

"What do you want?"

Chrome, surprised by the question looked to the Varia baby with confused eyes and a crease in her brow. She was sure she had already answered this question, did he not like her answer? Was that why he was following her?

Chrome felt slightly anxious but decided to stick to her original response. "You do not need to owe me anything-"

"I mean do you want anything from this world?" She was interrupted by Mammon's squeaky yet strict voice. The baby's twist on the question caught Chrome off guard again and she thought she should answer this question where she could sit. Thrusting her key into the lock and opening the door she quickly went inside, leaving the entrance open for her new guest to follow her. She put all her convenience store items on the kitchen counter and made her way to her couch where the former Mist Arcobaleno had already made himself comfortable. Silence followed suit after she sat, it was broken only by her house guest's somewhat demanding voice.

"Well?" Mammon asked slowly opening the bag of bite-sized chocolate that she had generously paid for.

Chrome was contemplating, searching deep in her mind and heart for the correct answer. She knew full well when one of the Varia wanted an answer they wanted one that met their criteria, or else the responder of the question was cut down along with their views. Also, Chrome never had to answer such an existential question out loud before, so the thought of it excited her. After moments of silence and inaudible words, the purple-eyed girl looked to the baby.

"I want…" she began hesitantly, trusting her tongue for the eloquence she wished she had. " I want… to… be loved." Chrome looked down at her lap, embarrassed at her honesty and the clichéd response she had made. But she knew her last words were final. They were said with obvious awkwardness but they held so much feeling from her voice that it was difficult to interpret it as anything else, and although, the girl was shyly content with her response, the person she was responding to certainly was not.

"Excuse me?" The Varia Officer was now in noticeable confusion and irritation, after the girl's long pauses of speech, that he was only able to stay patient for thanks to his chocolate, he expected her to blurt out some sort of vast item or goal she needed done. The baby wanted so badly for her reason to be in this world to be something other than the hallucination of good faith and heart he got from weak opponents. But all he recieved was mere innocent emotion clouding the judgment of reality.

"All those pauses and yet all you have to say are fool's words?" Mammon was finally at wits ends with the young illusionist, for all the thought he put towards her, looking at her like a mysterious and dangerous trump card, he was truly disappointed in her reasoning. He had really hoped she was something to acknowledge but instead she spurted out a weaklings desire, not to mention it was the weakest of all aspirations. Love was flimsy, it did not bend the way you wanted it to, and it could stab you in the heart if you even try to move it in you favor. People would trek to the far ends of the earth to obtain love, only to find they have been walking on a sphere. He couldn't believe he even had an ounce of deference for this woman. Her secrecy and silence was something he had come to respect to a certain degree – and to even gain any sort of respect from a Varia Officer was quite a high feat - but her answer was one he had known that would only cause people a lonely and insufferable demise.

How had she become so powerful with such blasphemous aims? Had she sunken below reality so much that she's now swimming in delusions? What type of illusionist is SHE? To waste my time to even ponder her way of thinking! This woman needs to learn the reality of the world. Love will show her nothing but despair...

Mammon's thoughts had become rampant, slowly he felt an illusion form around the area; he wanted to show her true power. Not power that could be bought from the thin concept of love, but one that could be achieved from the knowledge of reality.

Instantly, Chrome's senses were sending sirens through her body. Illusions of immense power had built inside her proximity. Unconsciously, she let her spear appear in her hand, a weapon that once held three spikes now held one, as if to differentiate her identity from another certain illusionist. She could feel the wooden floor crumbling into something akin to dirt but much tougher and stale, like its fertility had become a null memory. The walls of her apartment corroded at an alarmingly fast pace, wilting like leaves left on branches in the winter, to reveal a blood red sky, outlined only by thick black clouds. She felt the scents of her apartment turn into odors of death and gunpowder and that she herself was surrounded by barbed wire, rusted by clotted blood and dirt. The entire room looked like a war-scene, though no soldiers present, the reek of the dead was an evident presence to her nose. In fact, the stench of rotting corpses was so vivid Chrome Dokuro had to wonder how many deaths Mammon had been present for to create such a disgusting fragrance. It almost made her gag. As Chrome searched for the source of the master illusion, her spear held fiercely in her grip, the barb wires in front of her began to circle tightly around her form. Although the pineapple-haired girl knew exactly that she was in an illusion, the sharp gnashing of the barbed spikes and the strong scent of blood and rust had made her straighten her stance immediately, the closeness of the wires creating goose bumps on her skin. As Chrome was searching for a way to escape this mind trick a new sound of clanging metal distracted her from her peril. Her ears pointed her line of vision towards the metallic screeching. Chrome Dokuro then found her target emerging from a ball, formed from the remaining barbed wires in front of her. The haloed child floated in front of her as if daring her to move for assault. Chrome then took a long breath as to calm herself from the lethal predicament she had found herself in. If Chrome Dokuro was her previous self - before she was a part of the adventures and shenanigans of the Vongola familiga - such a threatening situation would have caused her to panic or to call for her master for help, but unlike her previous self she had grown more powerful, her illusions more potent, and her fighting instinct more on-point. If this were the previous Chrome Dokuro she wouldn't have stood a chance.

Chrome's resolve was now imbedded deeply into her one visible eye. The will to live for her familiga was now in her heart, burning like a cold flame. Her soft and sad eye shone with an intense glow, it was as if her stare was the haze and smoke above a huge house fire, uncaring of the massacre below her, killing all who breathed her in, and never seen or noticed as the radiance of the fire hid her existence from panicked eyes. She was a haze lacking emotion, lacking fear, lacking sympathy, and most of all lacking any will of failure. Chrome spread a thin layer of her illusions around the area. Her subtle flames had already engulfed the environment, trying to soothe the Arcobaleno's illusion into her own. Mammon, being the veteran took quick notice and tightened her prison - angry that she was interrupting his sermon and rant of how important the use of material world objects were to an illusionist's mind - grazing the spikes of the wire against her porcelain skin. Chrome's eyes merely turned colder as she gazed into the illusionist's eyes, like they weren't covered by his long hood.

Mammon took this interruption as an opportunity to question her again, this time using her previous answer as the subject.

"Chrome Dokuro." His declaration for her attention was clear, though Chrome never broke her cold stare. "What has made you think love is something you can obtain in this world?" Instead of the surprise she usually used when Mammon asked a question, the Arcobaleno was slightly interested to see that her eye had narrowed, making it look like she was… irritated. Of course Chrome was quite maddened, not by the baby's question but by her circumstance and imprisonment. Though, she did take this opportunity to think of different strategies of freedom. The query was also a somewhat good distraction for her to increase the strength of her mist flames as they slowly clung onto the real the details of her apartment. Chrome had as well taken Mammon's question into consideration, her polite side still prominent in her cold attitude; she half knew that her answer would not be acceptable to the Varia Officer. The Varia were raised with power and absolute strength. And although illusionists were not as physically strong as others, a firm discipline and sharp intellect replaced the need of such unruly power. To say her goal in life was to be loved was probably an alien-like response to hear from any powerful illusionist, especially one that was respected by Rokudo Mukuro or considered a guardian of the Vongola. But Chrome stood by her answer, no amount of educated rants could ever change her mind, no matter how far the wisdom extended from. The love and care from her familiga had given her courage to live and move forward, the adventures that always seemed to follow her - now that people wanted to bring her along - gave her a sense of belonging she never had. Even the sort of strained respect she received from the baby illusionist she took as treatment much fonder than that of her old life. Yes, love was the only thing she needed in this world.

"I have already obtained it." Her voice lost any sense of anxiety, sounding as cold and deadly as her violet eye, which was still analyzing her captor's every movement. Mammon couldn't deny it, Chrome Dokuro's demeanor changed into something demonic, not the chaotic terror that Hibari Kyoya, or Rokudo Mukuro, or even the Varia exerted. But a cold and silent power that was in its own way, much more terrifying and chilling. It almost made him question to why he was looking at her like she was weak. "From my familiga I have obtained love, they had given it to me and they had given me the chance to love them back." Her words would have made people gag at the sweetness of them, if not for the cold and unforgiving way she was saying them.

"… And…" She continued. "…if that love is ever endangered by anyone, I will protect it with my dying will." Her voice was so certain it felt like a block of steel had dropped into the room, causing a silence to cascade throughout the area.

Chrome filled the pause soon after. "I know my need to be loved sounds like weakness to you; I know that you have grown so far with power and fear that anything else will sound like hopeless words. But this is my truth, this is what made life bearable for me, it is what makes my illusions strong and keeps me from going insane with all the power I have received-"

"Love will only bring you despair." The Arcobaleno interrupted her, trying to pierce the truth into her naïve mind.

"Love has saved me from despair and it is what drives me away from it." Her eyes had begun to soften as she found the baby listening more intently to her words.

"And what will happen once the love you cherish so deeply runs out, once that thin line breaks and you are left to fall into sadness?" Mammon had little patience for such rose-tinted responses; he needed to show her what true power was, to keep her from losing her sanity. The Arcobaleno would rather eat Phantasma than say it, but the girl in front of him was truly a better presence to be with than most people in the Vongola were. He would feel remorse if he found her mind in an incurable scrambled state thanks to her illogical motives.

Chromes head was slightly bowed, still careful of the wires she was held by. Her kind behavior melted back onto her face. She now knew Mammon was actually confused, she had thought he wanted to dispose of her because of the answer she came up with. But all he needed to was to make sense of what she said, and she supposed he wanted her to see his way of thinking was the best way of survival. Chrome's lone eye, now flickering with a sense of empathy, had trained itself to the Varia Officer who seemed impatient at her serene silence. It was not the hesitant silence that he had hoped for, the one where he could call out on her faults like a teacher to a D-grade student, but it was one where he felt like she knew more than him, a silence that needed to be killed in an instant.

"Once that love runs out, I will catch myself again." Her voice echoed through the ears of the baby. "I already know what despair feels like and at the same time I know what love feels like. My memories of love will be my anchor and strength to move forward and to continue growing. And my memories of despair will be the push I need to never look back to my sadness. I will not fall into despair again. I know that for certainty." Her last phrase was said in her cold and dead tone as to make sure her words were not misheard or to be misinterpreted to sound hesitant. It was hard not to believe the truth in her words; even Mammon felt his grip on his illusion slightly wane from her speech. Mammon blinked behind his dark hood.

Am I wavered that easily from speeches? That makes no sense? Why is my illusion losing its form-

Wait! Mammon sensed a new flame within his own. It was not that his illusion was faltering, but that it was quickly being taken over. The once barren wasteland was transforming into a shining prairie where he could see a cloudless sky filled with chirping birds. The scene felt so warm and welcoming he felt his heart melt a little. This was an illusion he had never felt too often, an illusion that could be compared to a loved one's embrace or to a comfortable rest.

Chrome was out of her barbed prison and was looking at the infant with a blank eye, it held her original softness and sadness, but the indifferent look inside them lead him to believe this was her version of contempt… or pity. The indecipherable reflection he saw from it was quite annoying.

"So love is really what keeps you sane as an illusionist?" His voice was much calmer and understanding than the tone he held before. The environment was probably meant to calm his nerves, he half cursed that he found the tactic working.

Chrome simply nodded, sweat was beading down her face. The fact that she had just taken control over a high level illusion like Mammon's took a toll on her energy. She had needed the Varia Officer to cool down so she placed him inside one of her most relaxing illusions; the one where even the restless Hibari Kyoya napped comfortably in. She had positioned the environment as she was speaking her resolve to the illusionist. The confident tone she held from her sermon had only made her illusions much more powerful as she transformed the warzone into a grassy field. Unfortunately, due to the power it had taken to even grip the baby illusionist's delusion, her own land faded quickly back into the form of her apartment. She swiftly plopped onto her couch, exhausted but proud. She then limply stretched, forcing her limbs to reach above her head. After being trapped within illusionary wires for such a long period of time, the tension and stiffness in her muscles had amplified.

Mammon simply joined her on the sofa, continuing to munch on his chocolate as she finally sat-up on the couch as well. "I really wish you would reconsider. You actually have a lot of potential and it'd be a shame to see you fall." His indifferent tone told her he was half-joking and she was glad that he had some humor left in his tongue.

Chrome giggled through tired lips and decided she would respond. "Well, if love doesn't work out I always have chocolate." A blush appeared on her face as she wasn't used to making jokes and hoped she said one that was actually humorous. She got her answer as Mammon chuckled and offered her some chocolate from his bag, which she gladly took some from.

Chocolate was always a good answer he supposed.