Chapter 79:

You Desire

And here it is, the greatly anticipated answer… Where will Mukuro and Co end up?

Tsunayoshi blinks. He was so tired… so, so tired.

"Oi, Oi! Stop wriggling or else I'll drop Chrome!"

Tsunayoshi's head perks up. How had he forgotten! He hadn't seen Skull in ages. If he was feeling more energetic he would run and greet the stuntman, but at the moment it's all he can do to remain awake. Luckily though, the other two occupants of the sofa still have more than enough energy to run and almost tackle Skull in their race to see their sister. Skull laughs at the antics of the pair and quickly puts both Chrome and Mukuro (who had been asleep most of the time until he walked through the door) down on the floor. Both Mukuro and Chrome get a thorough check over by the pair, with Ken poking at Mukuro to make sure it was the real one. Mukuro was quick to reassure Ken that he was back in his own body with harsh retaliation to a certain pineapple remark. Ken yelped after the hit and decided that that really was Mukuro.

Skull looked up, still smiling at the children and looks over to Tsunayoshi, glad that the fiasco was over. But he stops and stares at Tsunayoshi. His little boy, all covered in blood. It makes his heart freeze and skip a beat. If it wasn't for his helmet over his face he was sure the others would tell him off for his expression. For Skull was scared of blood. It took a lot of blood to make him sick, but the amount on Tsunayoshi was getting rather close. In his profession, blood meant an accident. It meant broken bones, torn skin, immense pain, a broken motorcycle. It meant a trick gone wrong with possible fatal or life changing consequences. Blood, in this volume, was never a good thing.

He tried to remind himself that most of this blood was most likely not even Tsunayoshi's, but that thought didn't really help. He runs across the room, leaps over the back of the sofa and settles in the seat next to Tsunayoshi, being very careful not to kick Viper during his stunt- he didn't need her placing a curse on him or something. "Tsunayoshi! You're back!" He cries, hugging the life out of the tired boy. It had been rather hard to pretend that Mukuro was Tsunayoshi the whole time, but he had remembered Luce's words and had felt sorry for Mukuro and the others. He believed that they all deserved a chance to be loved by a family, so he had done his best to try and make Mukuro feel like part of the family even if it was for only one day.

"Too tight…" Tsunayoshi wheezes, being crushed by Skull's hug. Skull quickly lets go, apologising profusely in his usual manner. Tsunayoshi smiles at him before turning to the figure before him. "Thank you Viper." He smiles softly, truly thankful for Viper's help, even if in the end he had given up.

Viper stands up and looks down at the child. "You can thank me by paying for my services. I'm warning you, it's going to be double, NO, triple my usual rate. It's going to take you years to pay it off."

Tsunayoshi giggles, not fazed by the threat at all. "And that's just to pay the interest off right?" He didn't actually know what Interest was, but he knew that it was something added on top, and however much Viper charged for this 'Interest' was demonically high. But he really didn't mind, for he knew that charging him was actually Viper's way of keeping him around, whether she realised it or not. If he had money to pay, then she would always have a reason to see him.

He blinks at her. "Hey Viper, when did you get back?" There is a moment of released tension in the room at Tsunayoshi's remark.

"The Varia just happened to finish the mission earlier than expected." She replies, walking the few paces to curl up in her favourite armchair. Luce smiles, turning a snort into a cough. They all knew that Viper had rushed here the moment she felt something wrong with Tsunayoshi. No one needed to ask how Viper knew this event had started, she was the world's best ESPer after all. Viper blinks when she suddenly finds a small girl deposited onto her lap. She looks up, noticing the glare Mukuro sent her. She looks back apathetically, she had nothing to say to him.

Ken doesn't notice the tense atmosphere filling the room, instead turning in a circle a few times before curling up infront of the fireplace, letting out a loud yawn. "I'm tired, byon. I'm going to sleep."

Once again his plans are disrupted by the sound of a gun cocking, but this time it's Reborn rather than Lal wielding the weapon. "Don't get comfortable, mutt. Who said you were staying here?" Tsunayoshi was enough, he was not having any more children around the house. Certainly not ones that had done this to His Tsunayoshi. In his opinion, the further away Mukuro was from Tsunayoshi, the better. But he knew the child well, and knew that Tsunayoshi wouldn't allow that.

Bermuda steps forwards, chains with collars chinking in the silence of the room. With resounding clicks they surround the necks of the four Estraneo Experiments. "Mukuro Rokudo, Ken Joshima, Chikusa Kakimoto and Chrome Dokuro, I am placing all of you under arrest." He announces, his voice cold and booming. It makes the children, even Tsunayoshi shiver. Even the Arcobaleno don't like that voice- His Vindice Boss Voice.

"Bermuda!" Tsunayoshi gasps, looking between his family and his friends, eyes tracing the chains back and forth. W-Why had Bermuda done that?

"Silence Tsunayoshi." Bermuda orders. "It is my right to take these children into custody. They are experiments, highly powerful and most importantly, unstable. They are a threat and shall be treated accordingly." The children can't do anything, the collars stopping them from protesting. Neither Mukuro nor Chrome have the Flames left to defend themselves or their brothers, and even if they did, their powers were useless against a Vindice Officer, Mammon had said so.

What Bermuda had said was technically true, these children would easily come under the threat category. But more importantly, he was protecting Tsunayoshi. He wanted these children far away from Tsunayoshi where they could never harm him for a second time. His Tsunayoshi would never be taken advantage of again! Tsunayoshi would eventually forget about them and make new friends instead. There were plenty of other children on this island.

Tsunayoshi slips off of the sofa, nearly tripping and falling as his body doesn't obey him. Everything felt weird, the effects of being possessed still lingering, feeling as if his body isn't entirely his own. None of the Arcobaleno move, and Tsunayoshi catches himself before tottering over towards Bermuda.

He stands before Bermuda, a small blood drenched boy in cow print pyjamas, looking frail and tired, glaring up at the fearsome, powerful Jailer in black and white. The sight was one to behold, one that no one other than the Vindice and Arcobaleno would believe. "NO! That's not right Bermuda and you know it!"

"Oh? Thou darest to defy me?" He asks, voice cold, calm and emotionless. Yet the slip of the tongue betrays him.

"Yes I darest to defy thee!" Tsunayoshi shouts right back, not knowing or caring if he was grammatically correct or not, just merely using Bermuda's words back at him. And since he was in an argument with Bermuda, no one could tell him off for it either. Tired out by the shout, he sits down on the floor, crossing his arms and legs in an angry manner, still giving look for look with Bermuda. This change in height just makes the scene ever funnier to watch- or at least the Arcobaleno think so. For anyone other than them, it would make the scene even more amazing and unbelievable. "I promised them that they'd become family and I'm not leaving them." He declares.

The four children look at him incredulously; Tsunayoshi was going against such a scary person for them? In fact, even more amazing was that Tsunayoshi was going against an Arcobaleno for them. Like all residents of Mafia Row, they had been subjected to the Arcobaleno rule: The Arcobaleno always came first. There wasn't anyone in the Row that hadn't had their meeting cut short or dropped altogether because Tsunayoshi was going somewhere with one of the Arcobaleno instead. (Even the Arcobaleno themselves were subjected to this rule, whoever Tsunayoshi had seen the least recently got most of his attention, but he always somehow managed to balance them all out.)

Bermuda was amused by the look in Tsunayoshi's eye, even if deep inside of him he knew where this conversation was eventually heading. "You shall listen to me for once Tsunayoshi." Bermuda says. "I am an adult and I know what's best for you."

That made all five children practically growl. Tsunayoshi's eyes harden. "It was adults that were the cause of this to start with. Adults do not always know best."

"That doesn't matter. These children are coming with me whether you like it or not." Bermuda waves his hand slightly, the chains clinking against each other, reminding Tsunayoshi of their compromising position.

The look Tsunayoshi puts on next is one all the Arcobaleno recognise. It was his rock solid, defiant, not going to move pout/glare combination. It generally came out when he was arguing about Reborn and Colonnello's treatment of Skull, something neither side would back down about. And true to form Tsunayoshi does something unexpected next. He grabs one of the chains at Bermuda's feet and starts to wrap it around his hands and neck- this was one of Bermuda's omnipresent attacking chains, therefore not having an immobilising collar. "If you're taking them then I'm going too! I'll even-" Tsunayoshi pauses for a second, gathering up the courage to complete his threat. An image flashes across his memory: Mukuro, a lot older, trapped, chained in the watery prison and it scared him so so much. He was going to make sure that Mukuro never ended up there. "I'll even go in the sleeping bath!"

That makes most of the Arcobaleno raise an eyebrow in consideration. Tsunayoshi was deathly afraid of the 'sleeping baths', the water filled prisons that prisoners were kept in. For him to even suggest stepping into one was quite a feat indeed. Tsunayoshi stared Bermuda in the eyes, not breaking eye contact even once. He would not back down!

Luce skips over, picking Tsunayoshi up and hugging him tightly. "Oooh~ Aren't you just the best boy in existence! Looking after them like that~" she coos, swinging from side to side as she hugs him tightly.

Tsunayoshi looks at her seriously when she finally pulls back. "Because Family comes first." He repeats. He had had that phrase said to him a few times; Reborn had said it, explaining Nono's reasoning's for killing people to get a disk of information. Luce herself had said it when justifying killing the Arco Iris. And Future Hayato had said it to him too when talking about why Tsunayoshi wanted to find and control his Flames. Family seemed to be a very big thing in the Mafia, especially ones where there was no blood connection between members. In fact, as far as he could tell, Mafioso put these connections of Family above those connections of actual blood.

She ruffles his hair. "That's right Tsunayoshi. Family first. That's why I've made arrangements." Everyone looks at their Boss, they hadn't heard anything about these arrangements.

There is intense concentration and speculation as they wait for Luce to reveal her plans. Luce, being the drama lover she is, decides to wait and wait, drawing out the tension as long as possible.

"The children will be living in…"

…Yes?

"The Shed."

Luce is given many looks, wondering whether she is finally off her rocker. Well, it had to happen sometime.

"The shed?!" Tsunayoshi shouts, looking at her with wide eyes. He knew what a shed was. He had found one at the end of Primo's garden. It was filled with tools for looking after the garden and with pots and fancy mud (aka compost). It was usually filled to the brim with junk, was dark, dirty and smelt funny. There was no room for the four of them in a shed. Plus those conditions were hardly better than their Estraneo cells! If not worse!

Luce giggles, tweaking Tsunayoshi's nose. "Ah, but you haven't seen our shed." She smiles secretly. She walks towards the corridor that lead outside. Just as she's about to open the door, she turns. "Ah, Bermuda dear, release those children and bring them along. It would be pointless to show them their new home if they weren't even there."

Tsunayoshi became quiet. It was true, the Arcobaleno garden was so big that he didn't know whether he would have explored all of it. He had missed the BEACH at the end of the garden after all. So it didn't really surprise him to find out that there was a shed he didn't know about too.

All the occupants follow the pair out of the house, wanting to see this for themselves. They, of course, knew about their shed. But the last time any of them had checked, it wasn't suitable for children to live in.

Luce carried Tsunayoshi in a short walk across the lawn and through some trees before coming to a house like structure. It was huge to say the least. She knocks on the door before opening it.

"Dear, I brought your new roommates~" She sings.

The others, Arcobaleno included, stop and stare, or at least look appraisingly at the place. This was… not the shed they knew. For a start, it looked like an actual house on the inside rather than a maze of piles of junk.

"When did you do this?" Reborn growls. Even he hadn't known about this.

Luce smiles sweetly at him, not minding his tone at all, she never did. "Oh this? Hmm, quite recently, between now and the time I had the vision." That of course was self-explanatory and not the answer Reborn was looking for. "Remember you've all been rather busy recently, saving Tsunayoshi from the Arco Iris not included. Most of you have been away for the past two weeks. There's been lots of time to complete my pet project. You didn't think I did this by myself did you?" She laughs.

"Berde! Biper! 'Nello!" comes a childish shout all three recognise… and one that didn't belong in their shed.

They turn towards an internal door, watching as Lancia, holding a waving Fuuta, walks in. "Good Evening Arcobaleno." Lancia says, bowing his head in greeting.

"Explain." Reborn demands. What on earth had his air headed boss done now?

Luce smiles as if everything should be obvious. "Oh dear, you're a little behind Reborn, not had enough coffee to make those brain cells work?" She teases. "Well, I asked him to come here of course. You all know that I had a vision forewarning me of these events. The other futures I saw weren't favourable. This really was the best option for everyone and a nice neat way of removing the Estraneo without a fuss. No one can complain if they were eradicated by one of their own, everyone was half expecting it anyway." She eyes the four children, giving them a warming smile, showing she held no malice towards them or their actions, unlike some of her companions.

The Arcobaleno did indeed know about Luce's vision, it was hard not to see her suddenly freeze like a statue whilst crossing the living room one night after Tsunayoshi had gone to bed. She had had stern words with all of them, and the debate had gone on long into the night. Many of the Arcobaleno did not see her way of thinking, hardly believing that letting Tsunayoshi get possessed was a good thing. However, Luce's visions and judgements had never been wrong before now. Eventually she had managed to change their minds, even if begrudgingly. So they had played along, pretending that Mukuro was Tsunayoshi, allowing themselves to be fooled by the illusions.

"And I couldn't just leave these children to fend for themselves, that would just be heartless. And these children deserve as much love as possible. So I decided it was best for them to live with us. No one else would want to take them in anyway, poor dears. I knew that we couldn't have them in the house," Even she wouldn't be able to make them agree to that, plus there just wasn't the space. "So I decided to transform this place into a house for them. We weren't doing anything with it anyway- your stuff's in the underground bunker if you want it." She quickly interjects before Colonnello can ask the question. "And I won't be able to look after them, I have enough trouble looking after you troublesome lot." She says this half laughing, not really meaning it. "So I decided to ask Lancia to come and look after them. He does a wonderful job with Fuuta after all."

Lancia looks away. "She's been bugging me all week about it, wouldn't leave me alone." The Arcobaleno could sympathise with the poor man, when Luce wanted something she didn't stop until she had it. "And I couldn't really say no once she'd laid it all out for me. My Family took me in when there was no other place to go, so it's about time I did the same for someone else. The Boss was kind enough to let me go. And since Fuuta doesn't calm down with anyone else, I had to bring him along too." Fuuta seemed to know he was being talked about and giggles before waving a hand.

Lancia crosses the room to where the four children were standing in bewilderment. He kneels down to be on their level, letting Fuuta get a good look at them too. "So if none of you mind, I'll be taking care of you from now on." He smiles at the four, but doesn't say anything more- he'd let them decide.

Tsunayoshi looks at Luce, eyes as wide as they would so, sparkling with happiness. "Wow, Luce, you're the best!" He shouts, hugging her tightly. His friends weren't going to prison and they'd practically be living with him! What more could he ask for!

Mukuro looks Lancia up and down, observing the man for a few moments. Ken leans around Mukuro, sniffing the air around the new man.

Jumping out of Luce's arms, Tsunayoshi runs over to the four, a beaming smile on his face. "Hey isn't this amazing?" He asks. "You can stay here with me after all! And Lancia's really really nice too. He looks after Fuuta ALL of the time and he's always nice and doesn't shout and he's really helpful. Oh and he's strong too. He's the Strongest Man in Northern Italy." Tsunayoshi rambles on, listing all of Lancia's good and bad qualities- not that there were any bad qualities. Eventually he takes in a breath. "I think he'd do a good job of looking after you all. I couldn't think of anyone better."

Mukuro takes all of this in whilst observing the man presented to them. He briefly looks back at the others and sees no signs of dislike or apprehension from them.

Although even he knew they didn't really have any other option. He didn't want to go to Bermuda's prison.

"Kufufufu~ Fine then. We accept." He smirks.

It's a long time before things calm down enough for Tsunayoshi to leave The Shed. There was a tour of the house and seeing their new bedrooms and clothes and lots of other stuff Luce had brought for them.

However, finally it's just Mukuro and Tsunayoshi, observing Mukuro's new bedroom. Mukuro turns to Tsunayoshi, a weird contemplative smirk on his face. "I was right about my first thought of you Tsunayoshi." Mukuro says. Tsunayoshi tilts his head, not understanding. "From the moment I first met you I knew you were an interesting boy. You haven't proved me wrong since. A boy with an interesting family, interesting friends, an interesting personality… and most importantly, an interesting little mind. Do you have any idea what lies in that pretty little head of yours?"

Tsunayoshi didn't like that look, as if he were a puzzle to solve. He only liked that look when it was coming from Reborn or Verde. A cold spike of fear runs through Tsunayoshi.

"Oya? Do you or don't you?" Mukuro asks, stepping closer. "You have some idea, but not a full one. Strange… I would recognise my own Flames anywhere, yet I have not placed something like that within you."

"How do you know?" Tsunayoshi whispers.

"Oya Oya? What did you think the Mist within your mind was? It's certainly not natural of one such as you. But as much as I tried, I couldn't break the barrier of Flames hidden deep within your mind." Tsunayoshi gasps as he feels Mukuro probing within his head.

"It wasn't from you…" Tsunayoshi whispers, holding his head "Mukuro it hurts… Mukuro get out of my head! It hurts." Before he knew it, all had gone black.

Viper storms into the room at the shout from where she had been eavesdropping. She picks Tsunayoshi up before he can hit the floor, hiding him in as much of her cloak as possible.

"Just leave him alone. Haven't you already done enough damage?" She hisses, pushing down on him with her greater Flame Presence.

"Kufufu~ look at the Witch, so protective over her familiar. But you know what that is, don't you?" Mukuro laughs lightly, trying not to show the effect her aura was having on him. Sweat was already running down his brow.

"What it is is none of your business. If I find you've tried to break that barrier, I'll personally deal with you myself. My Spirit Eaters know the way to Hell quite well." Mukuro gulps, he knew all about her spirit eaters from his time on the Paths.

With her threat quite clearly hanging in the air, she turns and leaves the room.

Mukuro shakes his head, before grinning.

Oh, what an interesting boy indeed.

Tada! So who was expecting that? I suspect some of you were. Anyway, only one more chapter left! And you had better bring your thinking caps along for that one for I have an important question for you all~

Anyway, just a few little bits of shameless advertising for you all, hehe. For anyone who's interested, I posted up the last chapter of Lost and Found But Changed, which is a chapter focused on R27, but not just any R27, but a Vindice!Reborn and Arcobaleno!Tsuna R27 scene. So if you're interested check it out. You don't even really need to read the rest of the fic to know what's going on, just the first and last chapters should be enough.

And secondly, I posted up a oneshot today called "Could you please wait a moment?" And it's a rather touching scene between Gokudera and Tsuna showing Gokudera's undying loyalty to Juudaime, well Gokudera does all of the talking because Tsuna can't. It actually made me cry writing it, sounds silly I know. Whilst the fic itself didn't make me cry, it's the symbolism behind Gokudera asking "Could you please… wait a moment?" to Tsuna that makes me cry. You'll see what I mean if you read it. It's only short.

Wasn't I a busy bee, posting three chapters of three different fics in one day… now if only I could do that more often, hehe.

Phantom Hitman 1412

First Published 14 Feb 2013