"Mukuro-sama?"

Chrome fell to the plush carpet with a 'thump', a blanket tumbling after her. Disoriented, she glanced around dazedly.

Mukuro-sama… wasn't there. But, he had been there. She had seen him, held his hand, and… died? That couldn't be right. He had saved her, given her a home with Ken and Chikusa and Boss and the others, given her friends! But at the same time, she could remember darkness encroaching on her vision as she breathed what she was sure was to be her last breath. It just didn't make any sense!

She was knocked harshly from her thoughts by obnoxious (and somewhat slurred) singing. Stumbling to the window, she clutched her head whilst searching for the intruder. It would have been completely dark out if not for two bright lights racing past the building (a place she was sure she didn't recognise). The truck would have been the obvious source of the noise if it wasn't for one factor.

It was too far away.

Still, sure enough, as the lights faded into the distance, so too did the racket. Eventually she was left without the voice blasting through her skull and could focus on more important issues, such as where she actually was.

Though she had dismissed it originally, the layout of the room and its surroundings were becoming more and more familiar to her.

That arch right there, and the vast expanse of the room. Even the position of the couch in regards to the window, it all hinted to… Kokuyo Land, or at least one of the rooms they had made regular use of. Still, the derelict buildings of her memories did not possess stainless wallpaper and rich carpets, no matter how much she may have wished at times. Nor did they possess working electricity, she contemplated as she discovered a light switch.

The strong neon lighting flickered on, forcing her eyes to rapidly adjust to the new intensity. The bright rays only exaggerated the whiteness of the room, to levels which near blinded her. Excluding the occasional splash of cream, everything the light touched was as white as freshly fallen snow.

She hated it.

It reminded her of the blank hospital rooms, and she only had bad memories of those places where she was slipping, slowly slipping, eyes sliding shut… She had to leave.

She stumbled to the door and threw it open. She had to leave. Her feet raced through familiar, unfamiliar corridors, but the path was one she knew well. Rubber soles caught well on the tile flooring, and she was lucky that she had woken fully dressed, shoes and all (more white, she hated white).

Finally, breaking into the fresh air, she was free.

Namimori felt… different. Despite the early hour, voices filled the streets. Though, few made sense, and some were even pierced with screams of terror. The truly odd thing, however, was that she was the only one who flinched when a cry broke the early morning air. No-one else seemed to hear anything out of the ordinary. She had seen a couple of joggers and early-rising shopkeepers, but not one of them had reacted to the fear-inducing sounds, instead muttering and focusing on their own thoughts.

Searching for a distraction from the eerie background noises, she wandered into the nearest corner-shop. The newspaper rack caught her eye, and she turned to it. It would be a good way to check what had changed, at least with the civilians, and to check other details like the date. She wouldn't be the first one in their family to have time-travelled, they all had, and it might explain why everything at Kokuyo Land had looked so different.

Before she could get that far, a headline seized her attention. Or rather, a photo did.

Three men, teenagers really, were displayed confidently posing in front of a row of warehouses, though the one at the centre looked a little hesitant.

'NAMIMORI SAVED ONCE AGAIN!', the headline exclaimed, and as Chrome investigated further she could see that it contained at least some truth. The article seemed like something out of a comic-book, detailing how the three pictured 'heroes' had stopped a criminal overlord from planting bombs throughout the town using their 'superpowers'.

"You not from 'round here?"

Chrome jumped as the shopkeeper spoke, blushing as she realised she had been staring at the paper for the best part of five minutes. The man cut off her attempt at a stuttered apology.

"Don't worry about it. Though, if you are new you might want to take a look at that magazine up there." He nodded to a shelf two rows above the newspaper, urging her to take a copy. She was gestured forward and nervously approached the counter.

"This here's a guide to every 'hero' and 'villain' currently known in Namimori, and a few from out of town. Basically, it's the survival guide to a town full of overpowered idiots." He flipped to a random page. "For example, see this one?"

She nodded and inspected the glossy print. It showed one of the teens from earlier, flames rising behind him as he stood with a hand at his belt, the other spread out before him. He seemed familiar to Chrome, but she couldn't quite place is silver hair or fierce scowl. The crimson mask wasn't any help, either.

"They call him the 'Smoking Bomb'. Some think he can control fire, though most think he only does explosions." Suddenly the book snapped shut. "But hey, that's all in here if you want to buy it."

Chrome felt lucky her dress had pockets, though she wondered what she had been doing to fall asleep with coins pressing against her side. Handing over the money, she ignored the shopkeeper's comment of 'cha-ching' and exited the shop with her new guidebook to Namimori's supernatural. Now she just needed somewhere to read it. Preferably near, she was not trekking back to Kokuyo Land.

She had worked out who the man from the random page was. Who all of them were, actually.

'Smoking Bomb' was Hayato Gokudera, and she didn't know why she hadn't realised that earlier. The other confident boy from the picture, the one with the sword, was so obviously Takeshi Yamamoto that it hurt. Which left the shy guy as Boss.

Once again it seemed like nothing could keep that trio apart, though how exactly they got together the book didn't detail. In fact, it was barely a guide at all! Each double-spread contained one photo (which must have been edited, as she doubted any 'hero' or 'villain' would have willingly submitted to a photoshoot), and a small profile of bare facts. All that was listed was their 'suspected powers', appearance, and a 'public-given name'. Half of the 'information' had been invented, and the rest anyone with eyes could see!

It would have been a waste of money if not for the occasional giggle it inspired. Honestly, she wasn't surprised to find Mukuro-sama in the 'villain' section of the book. The author, it would appear, had mistaken his illusionary powers for demonic possession. As if Mukuro-sama would allow himself to be possessed by the minor entities of Hell.

Speaking of demons, Kumo-san, the 'Demon Prefect', was in here too. Reportedly he was as territorial over Namimori as ever, though his 'peace-keeping' efforts were mostly focussed around the school district.

That would also be her next destination, as, as nice as this quiet bench was, she was still close enough to hear the shopkeeper's perverted comments on some of his more adult magazines that she had been politely ignoring. She thought the school seemed as good a place as any, and it should be abandoned due to some newspapers proclaiming it to be the weekend. Perhaps she could finally find some peace to sort out the voices in her head.

She had been wrong. The school wasn't abandoned. The skylark in front of her could attest to that.

'Unknown herbivore. Trespasser.'

"Herbivore, what are you doing on school property?"

She failed to stammer a satisfactory answer in the few seconds it took for him to become impatient. The glare he directed at her was terrifying as she rapidly tried to back away.

"For trespassing on school grounds, I'll bite you to death!"

And suddenly he was upon her, tonfa swinging and barely missing her face as she tripped. Frantic, she threw out her hands in a futile effort to stop the blows.

All became silent.

Her palm had glanced off his cheek, but Chrome didn't have a moment to take this in before he disappeared. He had fully disappeared, not even a trace of him left. Nervously, she took the opportunity for what it was and stood up.

Glancing around, she shivered. Everything felt so much more… empty… all of a sudden. The early-morning birdsong had vanished, as had the breeze passing through the tree branches. The world was still, and Chrome didn't think she liked it. Even her footfalls on the tarmac fell muted, and she almost preferred the bruises she would have received over this… loss.

Entering the school building, she decided, would be her current aim. It was what she had been intending to do anyway, and who knew? Maybe she'd find answers to this overwhelming silence. Surely, she couldn't find anything worse, at least.

The door swung smoothly open.

The corridor was lined with doors, more than she remembered. Each one was an exact replica of the others, plain and unimportant, and presumably each opened equally as silently as the first she curiously eased sideways.

And she was on the roof. A small, yellow fluffball perched on her finger, tweeting its response to whatever question she had asked it. Chrome felt mild surprise at how fluently the bird spoke Japanese, but it was smothered by a sensation of normalcy, and the emotion quickly left her.

The bird finished its report-

And she was in the corridor. Now she was back, she was disturbed by how easily she had accepted the scene as 'right'. It had almost been like thinking back on a memory, but she knew it wasn't one of hers. She didn't think it was one of hers. Never had she heard an animal speak so clearly.

Wanting to leave the doors behind, she hurried to the second floor. Maybe she'd find something helpful there. She hoped she would, and not anymore scenes behind doors that had left her so unsettled. Perhaps she cou-

She'd found a window. At the top of the stairs, the glass spread nearly wall to wall. She had a perfect view of the area surrounding the school, or she would have if the land didn't just…stop. She blinked, shook her head, and looked back.

No, it was still there, or rather, wasn't. She couldn't detect any kind of illusion, so there had to be another reason for why there was nothing beyond the school grounds. She shook her head again. She didn't want to deal with this right now.

There was no window, just pure, smooth wall. Careful not to take a step back in her shock lest she tumble down the stairs, she ran a hand over the unblemished surface. It was like the window had never existed, but she could remember it clearly. It was right there!

It was right there. Blinking, she tested it. She imagined the window there, and it was. She imagined it gone, and the wall returned. She imagined empty air, and she was in danger of falling to the tarmac below.

She tested her power over the space thoroughly, and found each change to be fully physical, with not even a hint of mist flames involved. Not that control over just this area would do her much good, given she still didn't know what was going on.

Sighing, she left her toy behind to look at the second corridor which… was full of doors. At least they were slightly more interesting this time, being blue instead of… Who was she kidding? No they weren't.

Nothing stood out so she moved onto the next floor, then the one after that. There was a brief moment when a wish for brighter lighting surprised her into stumbling through a doorway, but she just experienced a short non-memory about speaking with another animal, a hedgehog this time.

Finally, she thought she had reached the top floor. She'd passed it, in fact, and was now stood at the entrance to the roof. It was… odd. She wholeheartedly welcomed any colour in this place, but the door's decorations made it stand out more than a little against its surroundings. Not to mention, the pattern of indigo and violet blossoms partially smothered by thick silver chains had made the door drastically different from its original appearance.

The disconcerting change in design scheme had thrown her off, but not enough to prevent her from reaching for the handle. However, despite her best efforts, the door would not open. The chains were tougher than they looked, it would seem, and they stopped the door from shifting at all.

This… She tried hard to reach this point. Her feet were aching, she was fed up, and just as she had found a glimpse of hope she… couldn't… get… through! It wasn't fair.

Sinking into her frustration she directed as harsh a glare as she could at the silver cords holding the door shut. They were taunting her, glinting in the fluctuating light as her mind flew about the place. These were her only obstruction to freedom and she wanted them gone!

The links slowly uncurled themselves from the doorframe, retreating into the patterned wood. Slowly, cautiously, she turned the handle and eased the door open, bright light spilling over the edges. Pulling it further, she moved to open it fully.

Her vision went white, the soft 'thunk' of handle hitting the wall echoing in her ears.

AN: So… I may or may not have had this written a few months ago. Oops?

I now have a related fic called 'Parallels: Side Stories' which explores a little more into each universe. It was primarily created for this world, so if you're interested, see what the in-universe characters do normally over there.