Note, to be deleted: A timeline reminder since I upload with such large gaps: Mukuro's birthday is on Jun 9, Hibari's is May 5, Chrome's is Dec 5 (canon). Reborn came to Namimori after Hibari's 18th birthday, and started recruiting the Vongola a week after his arrival (ch. 18) – all of them are third years. Most Japanese schools start in April. Gokudera said (ch. 20) they're almost four months into their second year, so we're in late July, and summer vacation starts in early August.

\

I've gone through hell. Where were you?

Extra 6: With Rokudo Mukuro

Mukuro ignored the way Nagi winced as she sat up.

A week already passed, a week of seeing the girl's face wrinkle in pain and hearing her ragged breathing. On the other hand, it was easy for him to forget his foster parents' angry, desperate eyes, as the car burned and eventually exploded. Given the choices, he didn't hesitate to save Nagi instead of them. He laughed at how they screamed to drop her and help them; how dare he abandon them when they have devoted their lives to raise him.

What a magnificent early April gift, just in time for the cherry blossoms' first bloom.

He was eleven when he first attempted to run away from his adoptive home. Two years of continuous abuse was enough, but eight-year-old Nagi innocently clutching his shirt as he placed one leg on the window sill made him muse. If he left, the girl would most likely end up as his foster parents' target. Those fools wouldn't care if Nagi was blood-related to them. He didn't know if they even paid attention to her. He never saw Nagi smile in front of her parents, which was odd for a child her age. Children's duty was to mindlessly laugh and follow their parents' guidance, a guise for control.

Closing the window, he headed back to his bed, wondering what made him do so. Perhaps it was her large purple eyes begging her not to leave, or maybe it was the way she tilted her head and said, "Mukuro-nii." Did she even know what he was planning to do? How funny; they never were particularly close, nor did either show affection towards the other. Mukuro was the outsider in this fallacious family.

He decided she could be a toy, something which could prove to be useful to him. Nagi was irritatingly, and for reasons unknown, attached to him, which he exploited. The girl would do anything he ordered ranging from chores to whatever whim he managed to come up with, without any form of protest – or, really, without speaking at all. She never was the talkative type, only being vocal when she greets Mukuro.

This loyalty of hers lasted up until the present.

Almost seven years later, he could say the wait was worth it. He couldn't believe he was given a grander gift of his foster parents dying. Although he ended up mostly uninjured, some of Nagi's internal organs were crushed and pieces of the car's glass window entered her right eye, which was now lost and hidden under her long bangs.

Since he wasn't eighteen yet – he would be in two months – he wasn't allowed to gain legal guardianship of Nagi. He would simply have to endure a couple of irritating months of brainlessness amongst the dead's relatives. They were too busy arguing on who gets to keep them, a metaphor for money, that Mukuro was confident they would never come to a decision.

His time was divided between taking charge of Nagi's hospital inquiries and her parents' funeral. He couldn't care less about the funeral; he only did so there wouldn't be any issues in getting the dead's money. As Nagi's parents were rather well off, relatives came pouring from both sides of the family, offering their blatantly empty condolences and help to aid the two poor children who might get lost in life. He hid the twitch in his eye and remained smiling and frowning when the situation called for it.

These people were useless.

He never stayed in that hateful house of his; rather, he would just sleep in the abandoned Kokuyo Middle School's old building, where it was quiet, away from the nonsense of his so-called relatives. It was fine. No one took the time to search for him, anyway, and he was apathetic towards his relatives stealing the furniture from their home. He had been using their parents' life insurance and financial inheritance for Nagi's hospital bills and for daily necessities.

Filthy money.

Using their money didn't leave a bad taste in his mouth. It was a reminder, bits of them, but he shrugged it off. They were dead, and it was only in their death did he find them useful.

\

He had entered Namimori High last January, the last month of his second year upon being expelled from Kokuyo High, and after his foster parents pulled a few strings for him to enter another school so late in the academic year.

Back in Kokuyo, a student came randomly rushing at him – for stealing his girlfriend, he said – and Mukuro nonchalantly grabbed the art room's display trident and made a little scratch on his arm; nothing to worry about on the student's wellbeing. But the student cried when he saw trickles of blood and started screaming. Mukuro watched, amused, as people began panicking inside the room. Whistling, he left, twirling the trident as he did.

On the day of his transfer, he played it safe. He lay low, smiled and laughed, and got along with the other students, successfully befriending them. Amidst it all, he was gathering information about the school.

This school seemed boring; he wasn't interested in how cheerfully athletic Yamamoto Takeshi was, or about the dynamic, loudmouth Gokudera Hayato, or how stupid Sawada Tsunayoshi was. People love to gossip about the most insignificant things.

Then the name Hibari Kyouya came out. More than rumours, warnings about this person were plentiful. A girl once said, "He's good-looking, but he likes disciplining people by beating them up, or," she made air quotes, "biting them to death. You should stay away from him. I heard –"

He decided to observe Hibari for a few days and played the role of the good student to avoid his eye, which seemed to be intent on discipline-breakers. It was dull; he had no idea how Hibari can stand every day in front of Namimori High's gates early in the morning and continuously patrol the school. He was about to leave from his spot on the sixth day of his observation when a brunet came running in late.

After days of watching, he knew Hibari had let that boy off easily.

Deciding to test how much that weak boy influenced Hibari, Mukuro brought his trident the next day and arrived a few minutes after the morning bell. Hibari, who stood in front of Namimori High's gates, was displeased at the sight of his trident. "Herbivore, that's not allowed here."

Mukuro arched his eyebrows and gave Hibari's hands a pointed look. "And that's allowed here?" he asked, the sunlight reflecting on the tonfa making him squint. "Kufufu, you're not a very fair prefect."

"Rokudo Mukuro, I –"

Mukuro hummed and raised a hand to tickle Hibari's chin teasingly, which was slapped off before he made contact. Strong, he thought, as he pulled back his hand.

Hibari seethed, "For being tardy and violating public morals, I will bite you to death."

\

Mukuro acknowledged Hibari's physical strength. He could feel bruises forming on his stomach, arms – everywhere. But he was used to pain embracing him as if a friend, used to them greeting him early in the morning and late in the night.

Hibari also had his fair share of discolouration and dirt, forming and sticking on his own body and face, yet Mukuro knew the outcome of their duel was questionable. He licked the trail of blood dripping down from the edge of his lips. The time to gamble had arrived.

"What's so good about Sawada Tsunayoshi?"

It was only a second, perhaps less, but Hibari lost his composure, an opportunity Mukuro without hesitation grabbed.

With Hibari now lying on the floor under Mukuro's foot, tonfa a few feet away from them, Mukuro was disappointed at the outcome. Hibari wasn't as strong as he thought if he allowed emotions to cloud himself. How foolishly sentimental.

He dug his foot deeper on Hibari's back and asked, "Do you want to know why you lost?" Hibari scowled, eyes blazing from rage. "It's because you haven't gone through hell, Hibari Kyouya. That is our difference."

"I heard he's never lost before. Also, Hibari's rich and has a lot of freedom; no one dares to oppose him"

"Freedom," he muttered, taking his foot back.

To Mukuro who considered the years he spent in that foster home of his a loss, Hibari Kyouya needed to be taught a lesson.

Surprisingly, Hibari shakily stood up despite the broken bones Mukuro gave but still wasn't in the condition to fight.

"What's this? How frightening," said Mukuro.

Mukuro hid his grin at the glare he received and disappeared into the school.

Kufufu, wallow in humiliation then learn to fly, little bird.

\

Hibari disappeared from his mind completely after three months, the day the car accident happened and the day his third year of high school started.

He sat at the left side of Nagi's hospital bed, watching her sleeping face.

Why didn't he leave her in the car? Why didn't he run away that time and continued to spend years in that hell?

"M...ukuro-nii."

Mukuro blamed the small closed room for making her frail voice echo in his heart.

\

Mukuro and Nagi, Nagi and Mukuro.

It was only them now.

Then again, it was always only them.

He mulled over when he started thinking it was them, and not only him.

He was reminded of how much he didn't know how to interact with Nagi every time he caught her awake, every time she'd simply sat up on her bed, unmoving and letting silence fill the air. He'd often order her around, yes, but that wasn't possible now.

As he observed Nagi taking a sip of her soup, he realised he didn't know how to take care of her, of anyone.

After all, he didn't have a model to look up to.

\

Unlike Mukuro's, Reborn's entrance to Namimori High was defeaning. Reborn entered in May, a month after school started, and, immediately, Mukuro saw he was a threat. He wasn't able to read Reborn, and he didn't have time to observe him similar with Hibari since he had been focusing on Nagi.

A toy was useless if it's broken, he justified.

He had continued to attend school, as skipping wasn't ideal because it would bring the spotlight to Mukuro, whose reputation seemed to be rising, and his non-existent family.

\

It was when Nagi was given the chance to go outside for fresh air did he manage to see Sawada Tsunayoshi up close.

There were other patients spread across the grassy field, with their companions grinning encouragingly despite the middle of the May's cherry blossoms beginning to wilt. He parked Nagi's wheelchair under one of the trees, away from the crowd. She gave him a small smile and watched the other people frolicking around in the landscape, cheerfully conversing and gesticulating at the trees.

He opened his mouth, then closed it, unsure why he did so.

"Rokudo Mukuro?"

He smiled at the nurse who approached them and nodded. "Yes?"

The nurse smiled bashfully, to which he inwardly rolled his eyes. "The doctor wants to see you about your sister's status."

A glance at Nagi told him she didn't want to come back inside the building yet, but he knew she wouldn't vocalise her thoughts on her own. "Will it take long? My sister and I just went outside. It would be a pity for her to return so soon."

With an exaggerated shake of her head, the nurse hastily replied, "It won't. If Nagi-san is okay with it, I can stay with her."

\

When Mukuro went outside again, he saw that the nurse was gone, but what made him hide behind the trees was seeing Nagi smiling softly and talking with the brunet sitting beside her.

Tsuna had his arm in a cast and was talking enthusiastically with Nagi. Mukuro had never spoken with Tsuna, both because he found him useless and because Tsuna was disgustingly weak, a far cry from Mukuro, despite their one similarity.

"Yeah, I was cooking curry at home when I slipped and broke my arm," he heard Tsuna speak sheepishly.

"That rabbit," murmured Nagi. Mukuro's gaze moved to Tsuna's other arm and raised an eyebrow at the white rabbit doll he carried.

"Oh, this." Tsuna shrugged. "There's a five-year-old kid called Lambo confined in one of the rooms here and apparently a fedora-wearing guy gave him a fright by telling a story about how a rabbit was betrayed and then died from loneliness because he ended up being alone due to his distrust towards the others," he grumbled. "So I said, 'Rabbits can die from loneliness, so let's make a story where he'll have a happy ending' and decided to bring this doll with me today." Sighing, he continued, "But it seems he was released today and I didn't manage to catch him."

"He is like that rabbit. I also wish a happy ending for that person," her voice was so low Mukuro barely caught it.

Tsuna, who was distracted from a leaf landing on his leg, didn't hear what Nagi said.

"I've been here for a month. I'm not sure when I will be released since I need organ donors," said Nagi.

Was Nagi always this open? Mukuro had seldom seen her interact with others, and even if she did, she would mostly just nod and say a word or two. Tsuna never asked for her situation, yet here she was giving information voluntarily.

"I hope you get them," he said softly.

"My brother is working hard to see through it." She quietly added, "I only have him."

"He's a great guy, isn't he?" Tsuna smiled.

"He is," she said firmly, a tone foreign to Mukuro's ears. He scoffed at the lie, knowing all he did was order her around for years.

Suddenly, Tsuna jolted and whipped out his phone. "Ah! My mom's asking me to come back home. I have to go." He stood up and brushed off the dirt on his pants, stopping as his eyes brightened. "Here, you can have this." He handed the rabbit over. "He'll keep you company when your brother's away."

Nagi hesitated but slowly reached out for the doll. "Thank you, Sawada-san."

"See you around, Nagi." Beaming, Tsuna waved his hand as he walked away.

Mukuro waited until Tsuna's figure disappeared into the hospital before he came out from his hiding place. Nagi had been too intent on staring at the doll that she failed to pick up his presence. He watched, curious about what she'll do, and didn't speak as Nagi hugged the rabbit firmly to her chest. Finally, with eyes widening in panic, an expression which made Mukuro blink, she noticed him standing beside her.

"I got it from someone named Sawada Tsunayoshi." He didn't ask, but Nagi said it anyway. He tilted his head, signalling for her to continue. "He is very nice."

"You look like you enjoyed your conversation with him." It wasn't an accusation, that wasn't his intention. Only curiousity dripped in that sentence; however, Nagi bit her lip and lowered her head, a gesture she often did when she did something outside of Mukuro's orders, a sign she felt guilty, and it sometimes made Mukuro think of a way to make her stop that.

But he never did say anything, couldn't say anything, didn't know what to say.

He recounted the scene of Nagi talking animatedly, with her standards of enthusiasm in mind. How could he bring that image out once more? Be like Sawada Tsunayoshi? He idly looked at the white rabbit doll Nagi was holding, and it amused him how much it reflected the image of that brown-haired boy. It was small and weak yet managed to bring warmth, and it was so, so pure – everything Mukuro wasn't.

This wasn't good; he was also becoming sentimental. He decided on, "He does seem to be a nice boy." At this, Nagi brought her head up and blinked, lips slightly parted in shock before morphing into a smile. "How did you begin to converse?"

She dithered and hugged the rabbit again.

Nagi never lied; she wouldn't dare to against Mukuro, but there were times he wished she did, and it would be followed with him laughing at how stupid what he just thought was.

"He told me I look lonely."

He wondered how someone could be so straightforward.

\

In school the next day after getting tired from the crowd, he went outside of the building and heard voices in one of the alleys. He passed by the location of the source and found three students hovering around a smaller student. He sarcastically sighed and made to leave, but the sight of a mop of brown hair on the floor made him stop.

Oh, my, he thought. Tsuna was face down on the floor, figure trembling and uniform dirtied. Before Mukuro was aware of what he was doing, the three students were running away, shrieking as they did so with bodies sure to turn black and blue later. He glanced at Tsuna, who was about to raise his head to see what was happening, and hastened to leave before Tsuna caught sight of him.

With this, we are even.

What did he owe him for, though?

\

He didn't expect Reborn would make a move so soon; it was only barely a week since he came to Namimori. He had been lying down under one of the trees in the back of the school, when Reborn approached him with a, "Chaos."

Mukuro opened his eyes and smirked, attempting to throw him off. "To what do I owe the pleasure of being visited by the famed new student?"

"Just wondering how Nagi's doing."

Mukuro shot up, eyes narrowed. No one knew of his family situation, of Nagi, or of anything real about him. Caught off-guard, he cursed inwardly for not bringing his trident. He wasn't sure if he could win against Reborn. This man was simply full of mysteries.

Instinct told him there was no use pretending not to know who Nagi was. Slowly, he stood up and placed one hand on his waist. "My Nagi is too young for you."

"But Sawada Tsunayoshi is fine?"

Really, how much did Reborn know?

"It's not hard to follow you after school, you know," said Reborn, as if reading his mind. "It was quite admirable how you attempted to hide your tracks, but the wealth of the Estraneo family is well known."

"You were there that day in the hospital's courtyard." It wasn't a question. And not only on that day, he continued inwardly, recalling Tsuna's story about the rabbit.

"I'm making a group called Vongola. I'll be pleased if you join."

Mukuro raised an eyebrow at the paper he was given, which was full of absurd rules. "One-week dating? I'm not interested in things that waste my time."

"I initially had my eyes on you since I heard you were the first one to beat Hibari, but I found something even better," Reborn smirked, "which aligned with my goal."

"First one? I assume you also defeated him."

"Hibari Kyouya is a spoiled child."

Mukuro agreed.

Following Hibari's name after Tsuna's could only mean one thing. "Kufufu, I didn't peg you to be interested in playing cupid."

His remark was ignored. "You can repay Tsuna by joining."

"Oya? What makes you think I owe him something?"

"I'm also not interested in things that waste my time, Mukuro."

"This paper of yours says otherwise."

"You want to know why someone as strong as Hibari is interested in Tsuna. Not only that, but you yourself are also interested in Tsuna. If you join, you'll find the answers you're looking for."

"Tempting, but even you don't know the answers to those."

"I don't," Reborn agreed, "and I won't be the one giving you the answers."

"Kufufu," Mukuro cocked his head, "I don't take kindly to being controlled."

"Because you're used to controlling people."

"You really did your homework, didn't you?"

Reborn crossed his arms, lips slanting to a smirk. "Your personality is rather predictable, Mukuro."

"Which makes it easier to use me, I suppose?" said Mukuro.

"Do you want to hear one prediction?"

Reborn's eyes glinted.

"I predict you'll join."

Mukuro felt heavy dislike for Reborn.

– and yet there was the disgusting sensation of awe.

\

Reborn worked fast. News of the Vongola was spread throughout the school in merely two days. A group consisting of him with his charisma, the infamous prefect, and the celebrated new student was something begging to be paid attention to. Hibari, of course, wasn't pleased with his presence.

With his first girl under the Vongola name, Mukuro sweet talked her into going home early every day.

"Thank you for walking me home even if you're so busy, Mukuro-kun."

"Anything for you." He lifted the girl's hand to his lips and kissed it, eliciting a giggle from her.

Silly girl, her home was on the way to the hospital.

He wasn't going to waste his time.

"Who else is joining?" he asked Reborn once. More members meant more distractions away from him.

"Yamamoto Takeshi and Gokudera Hayato," said Reborn off-handedly. "You'll see why."

\

Mukuro's second girl was a year below him. While picking her up in her classroom for lunch, he caught wind of the word that Kensuke had punched Tsuna for spilling his orange juice on him.

"Mukuro-kun, is there anything wrong?" He forgot about the girl.

"Sorry, Saki-chan." He bit his lip, trying to look apologetic. "But I have to meet up with a teacher right now. I'm already late, but I believe it would be extremely rude of me not to tell you."

"You're so nice, Mukuro-kun. Don't worry about me and go." She smiled.

Easy, so easy.

Kensuke was in Mukuro's class, and he knew he always ate lunch with his fellow mongrels on one of the benches at the side of the school. Sometimes they smoked, sometimes they skipped class. All the time, Mukuro didn't care.

By the time he arrived in Kensuke's spot, he immediately saw four unconscious bodies. He was about to go and investigate when he heard footsteps around the corner. Quickly, he hid behind one of the trees and watched as another student arrived.

Yamamoto hastened to the bodies sprawled on the floor. Under his breath, Mukuro heard him mutter, "Again. I'm always late, Tsuna. Who else is helping you?" After sighing, he left and it was Mukuro's cue to head out.

Did Yamamoto come to confront Kensuke and his goons, unarmed and alone? Either he was confident in himself or he was naïve. Perhaps he had been too bent on helping Tsuna. Mukuro snorted. He already heard of what happened to Yamamoto in middle school; how Tsuna saved him. But Yamamoto was a coward who couldn't face Tsuna head on, and this was where Gokudera came in, to trigger him into acting, and Reborn did this by taking advantage of their feelings for each other.

Reborn was a monster.

He walked to the pile of bodies and attempted figuring out who beat them up. Yamamoto's words implied someone had been continuously coming after whoever bullied Tsuna. He bent his knees beside Kensuke and found a long bruise forming on his stomach, where his uniform rolled up. His suspicions were confirmed when Kensuke groggily mumbled, "Please... don't bite me to death."

Ah, Mukuro thought, Sawada Tsunayoshi was loved.

Then Mukuro puzzled over why he went after Kensuke, too.

\

"What are you planning?" Reborn only raised an eyebrow at his question. Mukuro clarified, "You're too smart to be playing cupid, Reborn, and even if you were, the three of us aren't needed."

"I never said I was playing cupid. How about this," Reborn entwined his fingers on his desk, "you give a statement and I'll say if it's true or not."

Mukuro's eye twitched. He was used to playing the others as fools, not being treated as the fool. Nonetheless, he said, "Vongola was made for Sawada Tsunayoshi."

"True. I'll give you a bonus: For him and," Reborn gave a sly smile, "his little guardians."

\

The first thing Mukuro did on his birthday was start his claim for guardianship over Nagi. True to his word, their relatives never came up with a conclusion to their arguments. With a smile, he slammed the door on their faces and left the house to rot.

The first time he told Nagi about the guardianship, he could only stare as the girl broke down in front of him. He stood up and made to leave, assuming she was remembering and mourning her parents – vile emotions given to vile people.

"Thank you, Mukuro-nii. For everything, even back then."

"Oya? I don't remember doing anything for you."

"I saw," she quietly said, "I saw how they hurt you." Mukuro didn't say anything and watched as the often docile girl's eyes flashed with an emotion so uncharacteristic of her. "You never left me – I only had you, but I couldn't –" she grasped her bed sheet tightly. "I wanted to be of help to Mukuro-nii. I wanted you to acknowledge me."

Clogs went whirling fast and everything came into place.

Ah, she never cried for them.

Mukuro slid down back to his chair and slowly held her quivering hand.

Maybe that time when he had planned to run away, Nagi had actually been begging to take her with him.

\

His petition for Nagi's guardianship ended in early July, and as if it was fate, it was around the time Yamamoto brought Tsuna to lunch. Knowing Hibari was somewhere near them, he started teasing Tsuna, interested in his person.

"Rokudo Mukuro, what do you think are you doing?"

Oya, using me as an excuse to jump in?

Both he and Hibari froze during their fight when Tsuna grabbed the prefect's jacket, and it was in that moment that Mukuro had formed an idea on why Hibari had his eye on the small boy. As if for confirmation, he glanced at Reborn who seemed to be intent on subtly staring at Tsuna.

Hibari glared and growled, "You dare touch me, herbivore?"

Mukuro mused, Hibari had a long way to go if he wanted Tsuna to even spare him a glance.

\

"You are distracted. Your reaction time is slower than usual."

"I didn't come here to fight, Hibari Kyouya." Mukuro nonchalantly sat on the Reception Room's sofa and crossed his legs, the ringing of the dismissal bell filling the hallways.

Hibari lowered his arms and scoffed. "Then leave, herbivore. You are useless then."

"How cruel. You only want me as a punching bag."

"The only thing I want from you, herbivore, is to bite you to death. Now leave. Fighting you while you are distracted is just a bore."

Mukuro rolled his eyes and adjusted his body to the sofa's backrest. "What do you think about Reborn and the Vongola?"

With an eyebrow raised, Hibari merely stared at him for a few moments before, which Mukuro assumed, deciding Mukuro wasn't leaving any time soon. "He excites me."

"Oya, how perverse."

"I will –"

With a chuckle, Mukuro raised a hand and continued, "A joke, just a joke. Vongola then?"

Hibari hissed, "A joke."

"Even after earlier?"

"Earlier?"

"With Sawada Tsunayoshi."

Moving from the desk to his chair, Hibari sat down and started riffling through a stack of papers on his desk. "I'm not seeing the connection."

This direction seemed to be on a dead end. "Why did Reborn create the Vongola? Weren't you ever interested? I'm aware you were forced to join because you lost to him," he emphasised the last few words, taking delight in the prefect's black look.

"To get me a fiancée."

"And you believed him," Mukuro deadpanned. He wasn't sure if this was simply apathy or naïvety on Hibari's part.

"He is hard to comprehend, but that's no longer my business. This is a proposal I accepted."

"So if it becomes your business, will you get more involved in the Vongola?"

Hibari looked up and narrowed his eyes at him. "Why would it?"

Mukuro shrugged. "Who knows?"

Note: After ~five years of writing for the Reborn! fandom, I only realised whilst doing this chapter that Mukuro is the most difficult character to portray, especially without mafia goals and murder. I always thought the contrast between Mukuro, who was imprisoned and experimented on for years, and Hibari, who came from a prominent family and was allowed to do anything he wants, was interesting but unfortunately not touched upon deeply in the manga – yet their thoughts are synchronised according to Reborn. And in this story, I allowed a mirroring to emerge, Mukuro and Tsuna as people on the receiving end of violence. I believe Mukuro is more human than some people credit him to be, although lost. tl;dr, Mukuro is one heck of a dude! /end ramble

This was the hardest yet my favourite and longest backstory. My objective for the backstories is to incorporate canonical events into a normal high school setting (even some of the dialogue came from the manga itself!). Hope this wasn't too out of character. Feedback is much appreciated! n_n Updates and/or questions can be sent via review, pm, or tumblr (orithyea).