It had been exactly 27 minutes since the exchange of memories had begun. Hayato had checked. The blue pineapple had said it would be 30 minutes at most. This was growing increasingly more concerning. And it would have been worse if he could see how pale Tsuna had become, or the tears running down his cheeks in silence. Fortunately for everyone, the members of Caeruleus were standing behind their leader so they wouldn't see his face, and no-one had a reason to go on a rampage... more than usual.
Mukuro's crew was just the same. They couldn't see their leader frowning heavily, but were still worried sick. The bluenet's original plan had been thwarted, and they all knew how much the teen hated improvising. Also, he should have already possessed the brunet and woken up; they were aware that he could take over others' body with just physical contact. So what was going on?
With a shiver, Mukuro suddenly woke up and opened his eyes, still frowning. Tsuna followed right after him and couldn't quite hide a sob. That got his friends to panic and they rushed to his side, tonfas and explosives ready.
"Tsuna-san! Are you alright? What did that bastard do? I'll blow him up!"
"No Hayato!" Ordered the brunet with a shaking voice. He was trying his best to stop the tears and wiped his face with his free hand. The other was still holding Mukuro's. "I'm fine, it's just that... Mukuro's memories were a bit... They weren't very pleasant."
The silveret grudgingly extinguished the stick he had lit, but kept glaring at the illusionist, along with Kyoya. Not that the bluenet noticed, as he was currently staring at the hand holding his own.
"Mukuro-sama?" Asked Chikusa while he walked closer to his leader's side, slowly and with his hands raised so as not to be attacked. From the brunet's reaction, he was still himself, so the yo-yo-user was extremely worried for his Boss. It wasn't like Mukuro to let go of such an opportunity. "Is something wrong?"
The illusionist didn't answer him, and only absently shook his head. After a minute more of staring, he looked up to the foolish Sky's eyes. "Why are you still holding me?"
The boy, who had managed to calm down thanks to Hayato's and Kyoya's comfort (Shoichi had stayed back to protect the kids, just in case), looked back. "Because I don't want to let go."
"That's stupid. You should know what I can do now." Mukuro didn't understand and replied aggressively.
"You haven't done it when you could have easily, so you won't do it now." Answered Tsuna with absolute certainty. "And I meant what I said before, I want to help you. I think you know that now. The only thing I lack is you letting me help you."
Again with the staring orange eyes, thought Mukuro. But he was still in disbelief. "You've seen what I did. I can do it again. I can kill you all once you turn your backs on me. That's the kind of monster I am."
"You're not!" Almost screamed the brunet, and for half a second, Mukuro was tempted to believe that. His three minions were now behind him, as were the two fighters of Caeruleus with Tsuna. They were silent, understanding that this was a conversation they could not intrude in. The Sky's hand squeezed his. He had still not let go. "You did what you could to protect yourself and your friends with what you had. I still don't endorse murder when there are other solutions, but it's easy to see that you had your back to a wall. Both times. You're not a monster, you were just placed into horrible situations and did your best."
