BECOMING THE BOSS – CHROME HINO
A Port, Tokyo, Japan
As the mafioso arrive in Tokyo Tsuna is filled with a sense of relief. The sun is shining in the sky and the smell of sea water fills his nostrils. After the ordeal of the ring conflict it is good to finally be home.
After reflecting on the sights and sounds of his home country Tsuna looks to his side to see Chrome Dokuro, his fiancée. Perhaps the greatest relief following the ring contest wasn't that he had won but that the two of them had been re-united.
After the boat docks and the various passengers begin to disembark Tsuna and Dokuro wait for the others to get off so that they can take their time. Upon eventually stepping onto the shore Tsuna is surprised by what he sees. His father and younger brother had already reunited with his mother and it looked like she had been scolding the two of them.
Noticing that Tsuna had arrived home Sawada Nana stormed over to her son with an intense look in her eye. All the signs indicate to Tsuna that he is about to get in a lot of trouble, did he forget to feed the cat?
"Ah mother" Tsuna greets Nana, arms open as if preparing to embrace her.
"Why didn't you tell me you were involved with all this mafia stuff" yells Nana, loud enough for the Vongola to be concerned about her being overheard. "Dying will flames and fighting and…" she continued on a rant before eventually running out of breath.
"So dad told you then" notes the next Vongola boss, "I promise from now on I'm not going to hid anything from you". Now that his mother knows everything it's a great relief to Tsuna, he didn't want her to be involved in this world but keeping it a secret was highly stressful.
"You better not" Nana says with a clearly threatening tone in her voice.
As if looking for something to tell his mother Tsuna looks at Dokuro. "Mother, I would like you to meet my fiancée, Chrome Dokuro".
Wanting to be as polite as ever, Dokuro bowed to her future mother-in-law, "Pleased to meet you Mrs Sawada".
"Fiancée?" exclaims Nana, the revelation is rather shocking given Tsuna's difficult time after Kyoko's death. Nana had never even met this woman.
"It is necessary to be married before becoming Vongola 10th" explains Tsuna, "So the two of us were kind of thrown together, I could have done a lot worse don't you think".
"Yeah" mutters Nana, impressed with how well-mannered Dokuro is behaving.
"I've not done too badly either" smiles Dokuro.
"Dokuro is also my mist guardian" Tsuna points out, "And right now the two of us are going to meet her mother, right?".
"Right" nods Dokuro.
After making a few arrangements to meet later with his family Tsuna leaves with Dokuro, the two heading into the city to meet her mother. Tsuna had met the family of Ryohei, Gokudera and Yamamoto, as well as being family with Lambo this meant that he had visited the families of all his guardians except Dokuro and Hibari. Meeting Hibari's family would be a novelty. 'I wonder if they are all like him' Tsuna thinks to himself.
An apartment complex in Tokyo
Tsuna continued to follow Dokuro's lead to this point. The apartment complex is a very tall building and the doors between the apartments are enough to show how small each of them are. 'Could you even fit a bedroom and a bathroom' Tsuna questions.
Dokuro interrupts her partner's thoughts. "Here we are" she says as she picks up a key from underneath a plant pot. "I tell her not to put it here" begins Dokuro as she struggles with the lock, "Someday someone is going to steal it and break in".
After managing to pry open the door the purple haired mist guardian leads Tsuna into an open room with two doors leading from it. Tsuna assumed these doors lead to a bedroom and a bathroom.
As Dokuro headed into one of the doors Tsuna was left to look at the apartment. Paint was clearly peeling off the walls and the one window had mould growing around it. It was cold and damp, to think someone had to live here was horrible. It didn't get better, there was a camp cooking set on the floor of this naked room, could this really be the only kitchen that Dokuro's mother used?
Dokuro leaves the bedroom to see Tsuna's shocked expression. "Sorry it's not much, it's very small and it's hard to even sustain one person".
"The cooking equipment is a camp cooking set, aren't there even any surfaces" asks Tsuna who has clearly been upset that someone has to live in these conditions.
Tsuna had always thought that Dokuro slept in Kokuyo Junior High School for the sake of being close to Ken and Chikusa, he now realised that this wasn't the case, she slept there because there wasn't enough room here.
A small squeak could be heard approaching Tsuna and Dokuro, horrified by the implications the next Vongola Boss began thinking to himself, 'that noise, she couldn't possibly be'. Deciding not to speculate anymore and simply to look, he was greeted by the sight he feared most, a wheelchair.
"Dokuro" the wheelchair bound lady opened her arms to the mist guardian.
"Mother" replied Dokuro as she hugged her last remaining relative.
'She has to live with conditions like this when she is disabled' Tsuna says to himself. Disgusted that the world could force such hardships onto innocent people.
"Tsuna, this is my mother Chrome Hino" Dokuro makes the introduction.
"Pleased to meet you Mrs Chrome" Tsuna says as he bows, thinking it best to show the same level of etiquette as Dokuro had earlier upon meeting his own mother.
"Please just call me Hino" requests the mother as she extends an open hand to Tsuna.
"Well then it's good to meet you Hino" remarks the mafioso as he shakes the hand of his fiancée's last family member.
"What a nice young man, how do you know my daughter then" asks Hino.
Knowing Tsuna would feel awkward explaining it after just meeting her mother Dokuro takes on the job of explaining. "Mum, Tsuna and I are engaged, he's the one who took me to Italy".
"Engaged, oh so you found a man after all this time" teases Hino, clearly delighted seeing as her daughter had always been so prudent.
"MUM" yells Dokuro with a blush on her face.
"So do you live in a big house" Hino shamelessly enquires.
"Not yet but we're moving into one after we get married" responds Tsuna, 'if you call the Vongola mansion a house'.
"Oh wonderful, you've finally made it Dokuro" beams Hino as if she is about to stand up and dance. "When is the wedding?".
That question stumped Tsuna, he had never thought of that, "Actually it's being arranged for us by workmates so we don't know".
"By workmates, how strange" says Hino.
"Of course they are going to check that you can make it well in advance" Tsuna reassures Hino.
"How kind of them, I will really look forward to it".
Hino, Dokuro and Tsuna spend a few hours talking about their 'holiday' in Italy. Many of the details were exaggerated or fabricated but the point got across. As the sun set in the sky it was time for the happy couple to depart.
In the streets of Tokyo
As Tsuna and Dokuro walked back towards their respective residences, the former decided to address the elephant in the room.
"I didn't know your mother had a disability" he begins.
"I'm sorry, I should have told you" replies Dokuro.
"Don't worry about it, I assume she doesn't know you're homeless" Tsuna questions.
Dokuro just nods with a glum look her face. "That was the only place she could afford with the money she has, it's really bad and it's only enough for one person" she explains. "I told her I was going to stay with friends, then I had the accident and met Mukuro".
"After becoming boss I will make sure she is given some better accommodation" promises the chestnut haired man.
"Really" exclaims Dokuro, "you would really do that?".
"Of course, you are my fiancée, I have to look after your family" says Tsuna. "And your mist guardian and before that you're my friend, I won't let those around suffer".
"Thank you… thank you… thank you" chants Dokuro as she childishly hugs her fiancée.
"It's OK" smiles Tsuna, "As for tonight, do you have anywhere to stay".
Dokuro is surprised at being asked this, nobody has ever expressed true concern at her lack of a home. "I can stay at Kokuyo like normal".
"You know that's not what I meant" Tsuna says quite aggressively, "I can sleep on Lambo's floor tonight, you can have my room" he offers doing his best to be the gentleman.
"Really… no I couldn't, Ken and Chikusa" begins Dokuro.
Tsuna interrupted, "I have a few spare sheets, the three of you could stay in there". He laughed to himself as his mother came into his mind, "I don't know what my mother will say but I'm sure between my father and I we can convince her".
"Thank you so much" says Dokuro as a tear begins to form in her eye.
Tsuna wipes the tear away as he hugs his fiancée. "Stop thanking me, you're paying for our next meal".
"I will" laughed Dokuro.