I enjoy writing the Varia and having my exams done so SWEET.

And by the way to those who have been leaving reviews, you all are too sweet and i am so honoured to be complemented in such a way. While i can not reply to you individually i hope to say all of you inspire me to continue this fic. This is the only fic i am proud of and i hope to make more like it! Thank you.

I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn

Mammon had been gone for far too long. Superbi Squalo grimaced as he leered to the window his bite-sized Head of Intelligence Officer had escaped from. Normally, Squalo wouldn't care what the baby did on his free time, but this was different. The avaricious munchkin knew the importance of the mission they were assigned to and no matter how insufferable it was, the Varia took their duties as top priority; inconvenience was just part of the job. There was also the fact that Belphegor had swiped Mammon's money from under his cloak before he departed. Everyone in the room knew that once their Mist guardian realized the theft he would be storming in with the killing intent that could paralyze elephants. However, the expected rampage failed to make any sort of appearance. Squalo even noticed that their own light-fingered prince was feeling some sort of guilt through a guise of apathetic irritation.

Squalo looked to the hotel clock, 8:19PM. The brat was gone for two hours. What the hell could that kid be doing for two fuckin' hours?

Alright, it's time for a search party… Squalo's mind grunted, his boots reverberating on the hard wood floors of their hotel room. As he approached the door he stopped by the sound of another pair of footsteps following him. With his assassin's instinct telling him it was an enemy and his annoyance radar telling him it was a brat, he quickly whipped his head to glare down and growl at the subject of both his senses. The sadistic teen merely stretched his smile wider at the rage his senior was exerting, knowing full well what a show he put on while upset.

"Is it time to pick up the baby?" Belphegor asked in his a sarcastic yet jovial manner. He was bored without Mammon around. Without him, all he had left to play with was the noisy peacock and the idiotic zealot. Neither was nearly as fun to poke and prod at since they were both so easily angered or irritated. There was no build-up, no special trigger! Besides, he wanted another chance to pinch the former Arcobaleno's puffy cheeks; snatching the infant's money really wasn't as satisfying as the unhappy whines he got when the baby's face was all stretched-out. He guessed those were the times he was allowed to call his usual partner-in-crime, cute. The prince snickered at the thought. The only reason he even filched Mammon's cash was because the baby had dodged his earlier attempts of face scrunching before he left. He thought if he figured out a way to make the Arcobaleno return to the hotel room sooner, he could finally play with his tiny companion. Of course, when that didn't happen the offense that Belphegor took was like a rain cloud had begun form over his head, soaking every bit of his pride he had for his genius plan. The disappointment and aggravation then followed suit.

After the disgruntled approval from his shark-like commander, Prince the Ripper began to energetically follow him in the halls of their floor, walking up to the elevator at the far ends of the corridor. The journey to the hotel exit was surprisingly bothersome. It seemed that some aristocrats were attending some kind of gathering on one of the floors of the hotel and as the two assassins reached the lobby, an entire pack of stuck-up entrepreneurs and heirs to high-end companies were filling the halls. All of them were questioning and scrutinizing the two officers as they were shoving people out of their way – as much as the two killers wanted to show all of these condescending pricks where their places were, the Varia needed to find their Arcobaleno officer as soon as possible so quickly, they side-stepped through all of the judging glares and marched towards the exit.

Besides, killing civilians was not allowed no matter how obnoxious they all were.

Once the Varia officers escaped the horrific crowd, they entered the streets, walking towards the general direction Mammon had been floating on. As they walked casually through the groups of Japanese citizens, Belphegor mentally snickered. Now that he was on Mammon's trail, all Prince the Ripper needed to do was to find the mini Mist Officer and punish him for ruining his full-proof scheme. It was really quite easy to track him down, well not as easy as it would be to track anyone else since they were attempting to stalk an incredibly powerful Mist user and one of the most powerful babies in the world. But knowing Mammon as a member of the Varia had made some of the officers more adept to reading through some of his habits. Like how whenever Mammon was irritated or more annoyed than usual he would take a stroll across some high plain to clear his head. If he was tired or stressed he would purchase a few of his favorite items such as lemonade or cheap chocolate. And it was common knowledge as to where anyone would buy these things from: convenience stores, small shops, supermarkets… now that the Prince thought about it, almost everywhere.

This search would have lasted all night if Belphegor and Squalo did not know Mammon so well. The crowned teen had remembered a time where Mammon bought some chocolate around the area where their hotel was situated. It was a huge bag of bite-sized confections that cost a little more than Mammon was used to paying, but it made the former Mist Arcobaleno hum with contentment and let his guard down enough for Belphegor to swipe some information files he was hiding under his hood. He could never forget such a moment where the stoic and serious Arcobaleno was vulnerable and it was thanks to that instance that the prince was able to remember which store he and the baby went to.

As the two Varia assassins were drawing nearer to the shop, a tired college student was closing up the store. Hiroshi had been exhausted throughout his entire shift; he also had to take unpaid overtime hours since a certain lazy workmate had bailed on him to go see an all-night concert. Hiroshi sighed remembering all the school work he had to get finished too.

Today had been an off day for him; he was confronted by such crazy and exotic people his head had come to question what was plausible and what was not. First an italian-looking and clumsy man with a giant turtle had come stumbling into the store asking for a ridiculous amount of sponges and handing him a large briefcase filled with some sort of foreign currency. Whether it was Japanese or not, the amount of money had left him drooling, making him wonder how an awkward man like that could obtain such ludicrous amounts cash. However, his manager had reprimanded him for accepting the foreign bills.

The next odd thing was when a toddler in a cow suit and a Chinese woman who seemed to be a ramen delivery girl strolled into the store. The woman seemed particularly normal, but the toddler had run wild across the shelves, chanting about candy and other various types of food Hiroshi assumed were his favorite dishes. He had hurriedly tried to stop the child from causing any more property damage to the store, he even expected the woman who came in with him to assist him as well, but when he turned to look at her she had odd patterns flashing on her forehead. She looked like she was staring at the dried vegetable promotion poster they had, it was near Halloween in the western countries so most advertisers liked to make their products themes correspond to their holidays. The one that seemed to catch her attention was the one labeled Broccoli Monster.

He couldn't remember anything after that except a huge flash and a pain in his back that told him he had been sent flying towards the end of the store. When he opened his eyes he panicked as a part of the wall to the store was missing, a semi- explosive pattern had stained the outlines of the hole, but it seemed that the full blast of whatever he just experienced had been interrupted by something. Hiroshi then saw a small Asian toddler, about the size of the annoying cow kid, was standing confused in a small crater where the woman had just been standing. When he was trying to figure out what had happened the manager returned to restock the shelves with sponges, of course she was shocked at the state of her store. Fortunately the hole in the wall was expertly concealed by a play of different blankets covering the gash. Hiroshi then congratulated himself for majoring in architecture as it saved him from being fired from his part-time job.

However, paranoia had lurched its way into his mind every second of the day. He thought his predictions were correct when a floating baby had come in to the store and brought a bag of chocolate to the counter. Hiroshi then silently prayed to his God and began to serve the pint-sized figure. He had thought then that his God had abandoned him when the baby was looking through his cloak and was muttering profanities at some sort of royal character. He almost jumped when the kid grabbed the bag in such a hasty manner. Although his angel came in a form of a petite teenager with an eye-patch, a regular patron he called Chrome. She slammed the money down and the silence of the rolling coins became Hiroshi's cue to do his job. After finishing the purchase he was quite shaken when he was handing the bag of candy to the baby as he sensed a chill go through his spine when the infant took it. He was even more nervous when the child faced his regular customer and made a fierce statement towards her. She, however, took it in stride and began to place her items on the counter. Not wanting any more trouble, Hiroshi quickly checked out her purchases and let them go on their way. He admitted the meeting was unusual but it spared him any chances of being fired so he was grateful.

As the part-time worker was setting off to return to his apartment he felt his feet stop dead in their tracks. He was confused at the sudden muscle spasm but then felt a wave of freezing air pass right through him; goose bumps traced his arms as he was looking at an app on his phone to check the temperature. 17C°? It felt like negative five! His thoughts were interrupted as a scraping metal-on-pavement sound echoed in the shadows. Hiroshi turned back to check for danger, only to face a point of a knife touching his throat and some sort of teen smiling like a maniac as he attempted to gulp.

Oh shit! Am I being mugged? His eyes zipped everywhere as he searched for an opening to escape to. As Hiroshi was testing his footing behind him to make a run for it, a blunt stab to his back made his blood freeze like an icicle.

"You know what would be a really stupid thing to do?" A gruff voice warned as the teenager in front of him snickered even louder than before, enjoying the scared man's pale complexion.

"Trying to escape." The finality in the person's voice was only emphasized when the previous blunt stab felt much sharper on his spine. Hiroshi could feel the real danger in his situation and decided to try and compromise with the two men.

"Please, you can take my money. I don't want any trouble." He tried to frame his voice as clear and professional as possible despite how weak his legs were becoming. Instead of mocking laughs he would expect from muggers who had a submissive victim, he felt the blades on his body dig deeper on his skin; it was not enough to make him bleed but enough to give him nightmares for weeks.

"Are you trying to insult us peasant?" The teenager finally spoke. His voice was something similar to a fox and a rodent. If he ever imagined those animals ever speaking the sound would be on par with the voice he was listening to now, sly, mischievous, and untrustworthy. "Do you think the Prince would ever want cash from a beggar like you?" Hiroshi would've been insulted if he wasn't so close to death.

"We don't want your shitty money, scumbag!" The blade was now at a point where it became numb on Hiroshi's back and any more pressure from it would have surely sliced through his flesh. "We want information." He could hear the man say the words through gritted teeth, like his patience was running out; he hoped to God that he could give these people the information they needed.

"A-a-about…w-what?" A weak stutter escaped his lips

"You work in that store right~?" The boy in front of him had now moved back to point to the building he was currently working for. Hiroshi nodded absently, afraid his tongue might betray him again, and the blonde teen snickered at his weakness.

"And have any babies come by your store?" The adolescent continued with a Cheshire smirk. Hiroshi was then confused. The question was quite generic, he took a moment to try and understand what he was saying. Unfortunately that moment was too long and he felt a hand grab the top of his head as if to crush it.

"VOI! HE MEANS HAS ANY UNUSUAL BABIES COME BY YOUR FUCKING STORE!" The scream rattled his ears and caused him to stand up straighter and look more attentively.

Unusual babies…?

Holy crap, these guys can't mean…

Hiroshi's memories flashed to earlier in the day, when he met the kid. He was about to tell them but images of his favorite customer caught his voice. He was sure if these men wanted to know about that odd infant they would question him about the details of their meeting. Chrome would be an inevitable element.

He remembered his first time meeting Chrome, Hiroshi had doubts about her when she came into the shop. She was always coming in to buy some chocolate snacks with an unusual eye-patch and a Kokuyo Middle School uniform. He had heard terrible rumors coming from the school and he thought he should avoid it as much as possible. But as time went on she became a regular presence and he had grown to enjoy her quiet nature. Recently, she's been so much happier and soothing; she had even helped to restock some shelves with him when he was tired from work and school. That girl had really become a true blessing, he wasn't sure telling these men even a feature of Chrome's face would stop them from finding her, something about them felt beastly. But he knew he could not tell them nothing.

"Do you mean a floating baby?" Hiroshi tried to stall, his words though perked them up making them draw their weapons partly away from his person.

"Yes~!..." The blonde teen grabbed him by his collar to try and stare him down. However with his eyes covered by his bangs and his ever-present grin plastered on his face he looked more like a sadistic psychopath than anything else, Hiroshi wouldn't doubt it. "…Where is he?"

Hiroshi was about to lie through his teeth when a sudden flash temporarily blinded his sight, when he could finally see, more than 20 knives had lined up around him. All of them floating in thin air and directed at him. His mouth suddenly went dry.

"By the way~ ushishishi…If you lie to the Prince, you will die by the Prince." The frightening youth explained. The pure pleasure when he had said the word die was a clear warning sign that Hiroshi was already a dead man.

"CHROME!" His fear exclaimed, rattling his conscience with his survival instinct. His intention to save the eye-patched girl from the two demons apparently switched as death faced his life. Hiroshi was sure he was going to die as saying Chrome's name was really a nonsense word in his language. However, when he didn't he took a peek at his sociopathic captors.

The blonde's smile had faltered as he was pondering the meaning of his word. Hiroshi thanked the heavens that these people seemed to take his scream as a serious answer.

"Chrome?..." The other man behind him started, lowering his sword from his back, also seeming to find meaning in the name.

"What do you mean Chrome, peasant?" The boy in front of him had his arms folded and as he looked at Hiroshi with incredulous eyes, hidden only by his dirty blonde hair. Fear, no longer controlling his body Hiroshi hesitated, twitching slightly as he just betrayed a good person and friend.

"U-Uh… I uh…" Hiroshi was as white as a sheet, searching for words that seemed to not exist in his brain. Another jumble of sounds were about to exit his mouth when he felt a strong impact throw him down. From the sidewalk pavement he had dropped on, Hiroshi quickly flailed his body to the direction of the hit. He then saw a towering figure with long, white hair, his foot slightly lifted as if it just hit something.

"VOIIII! THE BRAT ASKED YOU A FUCKING QUESTION, TRASH!" Hiroshi scooted backwards as the volume of the man's voice was louder from the front than it was from the back. Hiroshi really valued his life; as much as his job sucked he had an amazing gift in architecture. He worked hard to maintain that gift and had sacrificed almost everything to get to the best school he could afford. But at the same time, Hiroshi cherished kind people. In all of his classes, the best were always the most stuck-up and over-confident. People seemed so engulfed in their own egos that common courtesy just became a skill they needed to impress the paying executives. That incapability from his fellow classmates had made kindness more prominent in Hiroshi's eyes and less enthusiastic about telling the details the two men wanted so badly. Even with two dangerous people so close to killing him, Akagi Hiroshi was a benevolent and trustworthy man to the end.

When it seemed the man wasn't going to talk, Squalo and Belphegor thought it was a good time to force the information out in a more acquainted and painful way. That was until a swift brush of mist had entered the scene. Sensing the danger in the fog the two Varia officers stood at the defensive, all weapons directed…

…

A curious chill racked in their brains; they felt no illusionist; just an illusion. They knew very few illusionists could create such a sensation and this just meant that someone commendable had become their opponent. A thin layer of mist wrapped around the man they were interrogating, quick on his feet, Squalo reached to take the man away from the illusion but stopped as his arm was half-way inside the foggy barrier. When the Varia officer tried to reach deeper inside the mist he found that his arm was sticking out through the other side of the illusion, like the haze didn't even exist. A translucent sheet had become the victim's shield.

"WHAT THE FUCK!" Squalo yelled in confusion, amazement, and irritation. The sight of his disembodied arm creeped him out.

"Ushshishishi… Looks like someone wants this peasant for themselves~" Belphegor chuckled; amused that something interesting was happening at the moment. The man they were questioning was really boring, of course he enjoyed seeing the man turn as white as Squalo's hair, but when you have seen it once, you have seen it a thousand times.

"WHAT? What on earth could make this guy be so important?" The long-haired commander loudly inquired, still trying to locate any illusionist in his proximity; his slicing proximity.

As an argument was about to brew up between the two assassins, light and delicate footsteps interrupted them and turned them back into violent killing machines. A petite figure emerged from the mist causing all people present to question their senses. A spear arose from the fog however, and the Varia officers leapt deftly to disarm the foe, not just the weapon of course but also the arm.

When all three persons had clashed their weapons together, creating an echoing clang sound in the empty streets, all the mist had dispersed into indigo flames except for the sheet which spared Hiroshi. As the illusionist came into full form the two assassination squad captains had lost all words, not so much for the person in front of them, but for the killing aura she was exerting from her body. They could say it was breath-taking if the two men weren't in enough confusion to speak. Fortunately for them, one person did speak up.

"CHROME?" Hiroshi had yelled through his protective layer, but then silenced himself when he saw the two men who had threatened him look back.

"WAIT A MINUTE, SO YOU WERE TALKING ABOUT THIS CHROME!" Squalo had screamed to the man in realization, taking his retreating expression as a complete YES.

"Oh~ so you know where Mammon is? Ushishishi…" Belphegor was still in contact with Chrome's spear as she was lessening the seriousness of her expression and the grip of her weapon. She then recognized the two men as Superbia Squalo and Belphagor from the Varia. When she stood up in her proper posture she dispersed the shield she had made for Hiroshi and looked to the Varia with a gaze that was so curious and innocent that they raised their eyebrows trying to remember the emotionless declarations of death they saw in her eye before.

"You're searching for Mammon?" She restated their question in a soft voice. She was gathering her tone as the shock of seeing the man she always met in the convenience store had been threatened and had closed her throat up for a while.

"Yeah, have you seen 'em?" The long-haired assassin looked down at the much shorter girl who seemed to have gone through a giant personality switch. Though, he was glad to meet one of the more cooperative guardians out of all the other Vongola brats.

"Yes." Her simple answer had immediately got Belphegor's attention and the two Varia officers looked to her for further explanation.

"Mammon was at my apartment after I paid for his chocolate." Her statement answered every question the two officers had in their brain and they felt a wash of stupidity fall on their pride.

Well that explains a whole-fucking-lot! Squalo began in his head but was immediately interrupted by another question that crossed his mind –

"What the fuck do you mean was?" He eyed the girl suspiciously, questioning everything he knew about the other half of the Vongola Mist guardian.

"He left for Kokuyo Land an hour ago." Her response shot a whole new set of inquiries through the minds of the Varia. She held a blank expression, but slight traces of curiosity and worry lead the two assassins to believe she was not lying.

"Kokuyo Land? You mean that place your puppet master lives?" Belphegor mocked her, hoping to get some sort of emotion out of her that would make the conversation more enjoyable. He was granted one slightly confused head tilt and a questioning glint in her eye. The blonde thought he had slightly offended her until she lifted her head up again.

"Oh, you mean Mukuro-sama." Belphegor felt his hands twitch at her ignorance. She wasn't offended but confused by his wording of puppet master? The woman didn't even deny that she was his puppet.

"Why the hell is Mammon with that Rokudo bastard?" Squalo exclaimed, more interested in her blunt answers than whatever his younger officer was scheming. She was much more conforming than any of the other idiots he had the pleasure of questioning, though the lack of facial expression did bother him to some extent.

Chrome turned away from Belphegor, ignoring the look on the blonde's face when she did so. "The Varia is looking for the Lightening child's subordinates who are collecting information about that new Dying-will weapon, right?" It took a while for Squalo to decipher what she meant by Lightening child but successfully interpreted it as Verde. He did remember Mammon and Yamamoto telling him that Chrome Dokuro doesn't usually use names to refer to people. He briefly wondered what his nickname was, but quickly threw that thought away in favor of questioning her knowledge about their mission.

"How do you know about that, scum?" Suspicion spat from every word.

"Mammon explained it to me while we were eating." Her statement left the Varia wide-eyed and confused. During the pause though, Chrome thought she should answer Squalo's original question as that one had much more to explain than anything else she could think of, and she supposed it would probably help them more in their investigation too.

"Mukuro-sama and everyone went on a mission to Russia recently and found out about a special Dying-will weapon that was being exported to Italy. When I told Mammon this, he said he would go off to Mukuro-sama's to discuss it with him himself." Her eye was certain but still soft as she looked directly to the two officers, expecting more questions or any opportunity to be useful.

Chrome was ignored however, Squalo was more interested in the information she had given them than anything else. Belphegor had even forgotten his plight against the female illusionist's rude behavior and grinned madly at the news.

"I see." The shark-like man pondered, figuring out his next strategy with a smirk. "THEN TO THE PINEAPPLE BASTARD'S PLACE IT IS!" He declared with enough vigor to warn Mukuro of their arrival. "THANKS FOR THE INFORMATION DOKURO, C'MON BEL ITS TIME TO SLICE UP SOME FRUIT!" The blonde teen then laughed as he was returning his knives into his jacket compartments, already prepping for the hell the Varia and the Kokuyo Gang were most likely going to produce.

Before the two assassins began walking to their desired location, Chrome thought she should at least warn them about the new attraction to Kokuyo Gang. Not to mention their history with Fran made this warning quite important.

"Please watch out for the traps as well." Chrome's voice had reverted to its original innocence and softness, but the way the Varia ceased their walking and glared back at Chrome with dubious eyes could've made people think otherwise.

"Traps?" Squalo was speaking normally but his voice was still unusually loud. "What fucking traps?"

Chrome blinked at the man's glare, it was like he believed she was lying to them. "Fran has been experimenting with different illusionary traps after I stopped one of his earlier models. I believe there are almost a hundred of them littered around Kokuyo Land by now. He has been quite skillful at making them, really." Chrome finished, fondly blushing as she thought it was quite cute how Fran was so focused on his illusions as of late.

Unfortunately, the two Varia officers froze in their spots. They already knew firsthand how annoying the apple-headed brat was, and with Mukuro's influence they knew he had really become insufferable. To think of all the traps the brat could make just to anger people was a terrifying thought. They looked at each other, mentally telling the other that Mammon wasn't worth that much, but then Squalo's face blinked in realization. He whipped his head back to Chrome Dokuro, his hair following the pattern and almost hitting Belphegor in the face.

"VOI! DOKURO! You said you stopped the brat's illusions!" The man inquired, towering over her once again. Chrome snapped from her day dreaming and stared at the man questioningly, blushing slightly as he had recalled something she said unconsciously. However, she was no liar so Chrome nodded while watching the white-haired man's smirk widen.

Belphegor, catching on to Squalo's strategy, quickly lunged himself to her side, slinging an arm around her small frame so she wouldn't escape. "Well then, Dokuro, it looks like you are coming with us~!" The princely adolescent declared tightening his grip on her shoulder. Chrome's eye just widened at the declaration of the Varia, it was obvious she could not say no.

"Okay..." She merely replied, barely fighting or resisting the insistence of the Varia. "May I… check on something first?"

The two officers looked at her then each other unbelievingly. For one she was not even suspicious with their decision to drag her along to Kokuyo, any other Vongola guardian would have at least questioned them or at most tried to fight their way out of the situation, but she just took it in stride. She even had the nerve to request something from them, and to be polite about it too!

Of course the two assassins thought that her request was an escape plan but looking into her eye told them otherwise. Goddamn brats and their pure virtues… Squalo grumbled in his mind as he shoved off Belphegor's arm from her shoulder so she could do whatever she needed to. And whatever she needed was somewhere their forgotten victim had been resting.

"Ch-Chrome!" Hiroshi, the forgotten victim, stuttered. "Oh my god! How do you know those people?" The display of calm and fierce killing intent from Chrome's face from before was enough to make Hiroshi stay to watch whatever was going on in front of him.

"Are you alright?" The girl ignored his panicked questions and began to examine him with a worried gaze. Hiroshi wanted answers, but seeing Chrome so concerned for his sake made him forget all his questions. This was the kindness he cherished.

Hiroshi simply patted her head and stood up from his sitting position on the pavement. She smiled in relief but then her features flashed like she had just remembered something. She reached into her pocket and pulled out pictures that she then handed to Hiroshi. Once he saw them he was agape; Italian buildings and ruins had just fallen into his hands. Different picture angles of every structure, all in such high quality it was like he was right there. He was star struck. He looked down at Chrome once again but she spoke before he was going to give his thanks.

"I know you enjoy architecture so a friend gave me some pictures I thought you might like." Her blush was tinting her cheeks with a very strong shade of pink as she smiled and bowed, trying to hide her face. So this was the reason she came back. Hiroshi fondly stated to himself. The man patted Chrome's head once again and bowed back to her.

"VOIIII! MIST BRAT C'MON W'ERE BURNING MOONLIGHT!" Hiroshi flinched at the intense volume while Chrome looked back almost warmly yet dutifully.

"Good bye, Hiroshi." The pineapple-haired girl stepped back, gradually backing away from her friend and off to join the two Varia officers who were impatiently fighting the urge to literally drag her with them and shove her towards every single one of Fran's acclaimed traps.

When she was at a distance where they could see her and at the same time catch her if she were to escape, they began to walk. In all honesty, the two Varia officers were both slightly curious about Sawada's other Vongola Mist guardian. They both heard she had become strong at one point, strong enough to maintain her own illusionary organs while still fight a battle. But that information was delivered months ago and therefore outdated. Maybe this was their chance to see what sort of threat Chrome Dokuro actually was, because one thing assassins never forgot was a threat and when the female Mist guardian came marching in, haze shrouding her eye, like she was ready to kill anyone in her path, they knew that Sawada's guardian was nothing to underestimate.

9:05PM

What a night this was going to be.