This is the first oneshot I have ever finished writing. I don't know why, but I find it harder to write a oneshot than a new chapter for one of my other stories.

If you want a continuation of 'Dollhouse', then inform me of that in a PM or review. I might change it into a twoshot if that's the case.

Anyway, as some of you might have noticed the name of this story and the title of this chapter are different. That's because 'No Place To Call Home' will actually be the place where I will publish all of my KHR oneshots.

Please leave a review.

Summary: She has always been a liar. (Or: In which love becomes just another word for obsession and two souls merge into one.) [SI, Self-Insert/OC-Insert as Chrome]

Have fun.

Dollhouse

puppeteer (n.) a person who manipulates puppets, as in a puppet show.

I.

Akiyama Nagi was a sweet girl.

Shy and adorable with wide eyes and pink pouty lips. Long strands of purple hair tumbled down her back and contrasted heavily with her pale skin. She spent almost an hour curling and arranging them perfectly each day. Those velvety ringlets had to frame her face in just the right way, so that she looked like a porcelain doll.

In her closet only her school uniforms or cute little dresses could be found. Nagi wore the former during school, changing into something more physically appealing afterwards.

Fine feathers made fine birds, after all.

That was one of the most important lessons she had learned during her eight years of life. Another one was to love herself more than anyone else.

Narcissism ran in her family. It was a trait she shared with her mother.

Akiyama Maiko, though it might have been hard to believe, was even more in love with herself than Nagi.

The Japanese actress, despite being a horrible mother, was Nagi's biggest role model. Because of her conviction and self-confidence she had managed to rise from a normal middle-class girl to one of the most famous women in Japan. Maiko had fought for her place at the top, completely disregarding anyone who stood in her way.

Nagi could appreciate such a strength, especially after what had happened the last time she had decided to put someone else's happiness above her own.

In her previous life, when she had still been known as Aurora Urbina, Nagi had sacrificed her own contentment and life for another person. Donating one of her kidneys for her sister's husband ended up being a pivotal mistake that ultimately ended in her death.

(...when her remaining kidney failed, her sister left her with the pretense that she could not stand so much stress in her fragile state...

...

...a pregnancy wasn't a strong enough excuse to leave ones dying sister alone...)

From the moment she opened her eyes to a new life, Nagi knew that selflessness was not something she could afford ever again.

To survive her egoistical mother and the complete lack of any true privacy that came with being her daughter, the girl had to learn quickly how pull through all kinds of situations. And what better way was there to do just that than to charm the people around her into oblivion.

She watched her mother playing some of her roles and learned how to create a perfect mask for herself.

It wasn't easy. At first she slipped many times and let her inner distaste show on the outside, but soon Nagi learned how to smile even when she felt like crying.

At the age of eight she could even fool her own mother. Hours spent before the mirror made sure of that.

Controlling her facial movements became an effortless endeavor. She just had to tilt he lips upwards in the right way and allow a few wrinkles to appear near her eyes. If she wanted something, a cute pout and slightly damp eyes were enough to get it most times.

Humans were very easily manipulated.

Nagi had felt guilty for using others like that at first. That changed pretty quickly when she burst into flames for the first time...

...

...literally.

II.

Nagi had been six when she had lost one of her eyes in a car accident.

Her biological father had decided to drive her to school that day. None of the driving rules had been broken by them, nor could their tragic accident truly be considered as an accident.

It was more along the lines of murder.

Only a few days prior her father, who was the CEO of some big company, had fired one of his employees. The scorned man had decided to get his revenge by driving his car into her father's limousine.

She could not remember much of the impact.

There had been the screech of tires and the sound of shattering glass. Her eye burned...

...

...and oh god she did not want to die again...

...

...

...her heart pounded against her chest and something wet trickled down her cheek. Later, she would find out that it had been blood along with the eye's vitreous humor...

...

...Nagi could not, no, would not die for a second time...

...when she finally gathered her resolve, something inside her flared up. Indigo filled her vision and quickly changed into a steel shield.

A protective wall rose around her and stopped anything harmful coming the girl's way. Once the car finally ceased moving and her panicked breathing evened slightly, the construct disappeared.

Slumping forward, Nagi fainted from exhaustion.

III.

Waking up in a hospital was never a pleasant experience. Finding out that one had just lost their eye was even worse.

Realizing that she had been reborn into a fictional world she had once watched with her sister, trumped both on the list of horrible things that had happened to her.

Aurora—And it was for the first time in years that she referred to herself as such.—had somehow become the girl who was supposed to be known as Dokuro Chrome in the future. The Dokuro Chrome who would one day end up being the Mist Guardian of the Vongola Decimo.

She had somehow been reincarnated into the world of Katekyo Hitman Reborn!

A world where the Mafia was ruled by rainbow-colored flames and she herself was fated to be bound to a psychopath.

The girl did not want to have anything to do with Rokudo Mukuro.

(...What she did not realize at that time was that the moment she had activated her Flames, a connection between herself and the other Mist had already been formed...)

Laying underneath her scratchy hospital blanked, Nagi acknowledge that the Mafia was not something she could currently survive. The anime might have painted the whole thing as some heroic organization, but this was real now.

She doubted that anyone would spare her just because she was a child.

Looking down at her trembling hands, Nagi knew that she had to at least gain enough control of her Flames to be able to hide herself from the whole world. But how was she supposed to do that?

Her knowledge on this fantastical power consisted of the few things she had learned from an anime for kids. Was the strength of her Will really all that mattered?

Nagi tried imagining a small plant, tried to will it into existence, only to quickly notice that it wasn't working.

She did not give up.

IV.

Three weeks, that was how long she needed to create her first illusion.

There were many factors Nagi had not thought of the first time she tried using her Flames. Firstly, she had to remember how she had felt at the moment she activated her Flames for the first time. Secondly, she had to imagine every single detail of her construct. Thinking of something as vague as 'a small plant' wasn't helpful. Lastly, she had to truly want to create an illusion.

The image of her dead sister was quite easily turned into reality.

Her dark hair splayed across the bloodied floor of her room. Pale skin and bulging eyes. Signs of strangulation on her delicate throat.

For a few seconds, Nagi's room looked like the working place of a butcher.

Then she lost control of her Flames and her sister disappeared.

Nagi did not know what to think about herself anymore.

V.

She dreamed of being in the hospital and dying there without anyone by her side.

VI.

''What do you think about your Kaa-chan's newest movie, Nagi-chan?'' Asked a young female reporter who was holding a microphone in front of her face.

Nagi clapped her hands excitedly and forced her lips to tilt upwards into an admiring smile. ''It's great!'' Her one visible eye widened slightly, the other was covered by a frilly eyepatch. ''Kaa-chan is like the best hero ever. She goes in there and the bad guys go like boom and everyone is safe because of her.''

Animated gestures accompanied her exclamations, prompting a few woman to gush in the background.

The smile turned into a grin that showed off her few missing teeth.

Copying her action, the reporter patted her head in what was supposed to be a comforting manner. ''You must be proud of your Kaa-chan.''

''I am.'' She wanted to sneer in disgust. ''Kaa-chan is the best Kaa-chan in the whole world.''

Nodding in understanding, the woman turned her attention back to Maiko.

Nagi almost laughed at how easily everyone seemed to believe one of her biggest lies.

VII.

Her dreams were always the same...until one day they weren't.

Until one day she did not die alone.

VIII.

The changes were small at first.

More light in the room. A less oppressive atmosphere. The sound of a peculiar chuckle.

And then he appeared at her bedside. Much smaller than she imagined he could ever be and with eyes too old for his childish face.

Rokudo Mukuro.

IX.

Heterochromia Iridium.

One eye a startling blue, the other as red as sin and with a kanji instead of a normal pupil.

Nagi never wanted to meet the boy whose Flames would one day merge with her own, until the two of them became one. And yet it seemed as if she had found in him the one person she had been unconsciously looking for.

Rokudo Mukuro was the only being in this world who could ever truly understand her.

After all, just like her, this tiny boy remembered a life that wasn't his anymore.

He remembered his previous incarnations.

X.

Their interactions were cautious at the beginning.

Tentatively, they reached out to each other through their dreams and created a bond not even a Sky could break. Nagi was, surprisingly, the first one who initiated contact.

Laying on her deathbed, she reached out with her hand and took a tight hold of his wrist.

The next time they met, Mukuro finally introduced himself.

XI.

The hospital room soon changed into a meadow.

XII.

They were playing a game of cards when Nagi spoke the truth for the first time in years.

''I hate them.'' She let her eyes stray from her cards. ''I hate them all.''

Mukuro tilted his head, a curious smile appearing on his lips. ''Them?''

''Them all.'' Nodding her head, Nagi put her cards down on the grass and spread her hands to both sides. ''My mother and her new husband. All the reporters who follow me everywhere I go. Those fools who can't see through the lies of a little girl.''

The boy laughed loudly once she finished elaborating her problem, his head thrown backwards and shoulders trembling. ''But you aren't a little girl, are you, Nagi?''

XIII.

It was hard to hate someone who had suffered more than she did. It was hard to not feel sympathy for the boy who appeared in her dreams with visible signs of torture on his body.

After a while, she stopped trying.

XIV.

Maiko's new husband was exactly what she had always imagined he would be.

A tall, good-looking and rich man with the personality of a shoebox.

Nagi saw the way he looked at her mother and wondered who was the winner and who was the loser in their marriage. She did not care enough to find out.

XV.

Becoming the stepdaughter of one of the richest men in Japan had both its ups and downs.

For one, Nagi now had even more money—Though it wasn't as if she had not inherited enough from her biological father.—and power. And yet that also meant that she had to visit more public events and galas where both Maiko and her were shown off like some priced possessions.

Rich people could be delightfully ignorant and disgustingly arrogant which made her outings both amusing and irritating.

They believed her to be a bunny surrounded by a pack of wolves, while in truth she was a bear just waiting to attack.

When the right time finally came, they wouldn't know what hit them.

XVI.

It was curious how she found herself growing fond of the boy she had once expected to hate.

Mukuro's witty remarks managed to lighten her mood and his not so unexpectedly dark humor always made her laugh.

Nagi began to yearn for their meetings.

XVII.

When he appeared in their meadow pale and bloodied, Nagi said nothing. She patted her knees lightly and waited until his head rested upon them.

Her hands wandered through his tangled hair as a soothing tune left her lips.

Pity wasn't something Mukuro needed or desired.

XVIII.

She didn't know when it happened, but at some point Nagi started to feel her fellow Mist even outside of their shared dreams.

She could feel his hunger, his pain and his hatred.

Nagi welcomed it all with open arms.

XIX.

Mist Flames were the only thing keeping Mukuro alive.

XX.

School was laughably easy and at the same time incredibly hard.

Aurora knew everything they were being taught and that gave Nagi an incredible advantage. That did not mean that her grades managed to be better than average.

It was impossible to concentrate while hearing Mukuro's pain filled shrieks echoing in the back of her head.

XXI.

In the anime Mukuro and Chrome looked eerily similar to each other.

That wasn't truly the case. At the first glance they might have shared some of their outer traits, but there were still many differences that showed that they weren't actually related.

Nagi's hair was a dark purple, while Mukuro's was an even darker blue. His features were sharper than hers and he clearly had a foreign heritage. The female Mist was fully Japanese.

The two of them might have been similar, but they were never one and the same.

XXII.

Her tenth birthday started with a song sung by the maids and ended with a massacre.

After being awoken by a 'happy birthday' spoken in a broken English and eating a piece of her birthday cake, Nagi prepared herself for all the guests that would arrive later. She curled her hair and put on a cute rose colored dress.

When noon finally arrived, she opened the door for all of her 'friends'.

An hour later she watched the end of the Estraneo Famiglia through Mukuro's eyes, their screams ringing loudly in her ears and their blood clinging to her skin.

XXIII.

''Why didn't you escape earlier?'' Asked Nagi after everything was over.

Mukuro chuckled sinisterly, his hand reaching out to brush a stray curl behind her ear. ''There were still a few things left I could learn from them.''

And it was then that she realized that Mukuro had never been a child either.

XXIV.

Had she not been capable of controlling her dreams, then most of her nights would have been filled with nightmares.

Nightmares of her past life and death. Of the horrors she had seen in Mukuro's mind and all the things he had to endure. Nagi would have dreamed of the bloodbaths the other Mist had caused. Crimson would have colored her inner world and made her fear falling asleep.

As it was, even if she ever did lose control of her own mind, Mukuro was still there to stop anything bad from happening. He created a haven for the both of them and protected her from the demons inside both of their minds.

It was when she realized this truth, that Nagi finally knew what love truly was.

XXV.

''Teach me how to use our Flames.''

XXVI.

The most wonderful thing about Mist Flames was that they had no boundaries. Everything imaginable could be turned into reality by them.

Even missing body parts could be restored.

Pushing the blue eyepatch upwards, Nagi smiled in self-satisfaction at the sight of the red iris and black kanji staring back at her.

XXVII.

''Where did you learn how to braid someone's hair?'' Asked Nagi during one of their nightly sessions. She was resting comfortably upon the soft green grass and enjoying the feeling of Mukuro's fingers playing with her hair. Both of her eyes were open now, one of them showing her connection to the navy haired boy.

The fingers stopped moving for a second. ''I didn't learn it, but you did.''

Such a revelation should have been more surprising, except it really wasn't. As unusual as their relationship was, Nagi had learned to completely rely on it. This wasn't the first time one of them seemed to be able to do something without ever having truly learned it. Whether these abilities came from their previous lives or their counterparts did not really matter at the end.

As such, it wasn't really a surprise that Mukuro knew how to braid her hair, nor was it weird that both of them could understand and speak languages they by all means should not know.

While Mukuro knew Japanese and Spanish because of her, Nagi could suddenly speak fluently in Italian.

XXVIII.

Nagi had a bad immune system which meant that she was sick very often, especially during winter.

Fevers, chills, coughs and headaches were common in this new life. They were also the reason why her new mother saw her as someone weak and the cause of her first friendship.

(...what Mukuro and she had could not be called 'friendship'. Such a word wasn't strong enough to describe their relationship...)

Furukawa Midori was one year younger than Nagi and yet never wanted to be called 'senpai'. They went to the same school and Nagi had seen the other girl a few times during a break or lunch time, but there had been no interactions between the two girls before that fateful day.

Long story short, out of the whole school, Midori was the only one who choose to offer Nagi her help. The older girl held Nagi's hair to keep it out of her vomit's way, whereas everyone else just stepped away and pointed at her with their fingers at the first sign of illness.

After Nagi finished spilling her guts, Midori accompanied her to the nurse and stayed at her side until a maid arrived to pick up the young Mist.

That small act of kindness was enough to win Nagi's favor, the fact that Midori came back a week later to ask her how she was feeling ensured their friendship.

Nagi, for the first time in years, opened her heart for another person and allowed that tiny child to slip inside.

XXIX.

Envy.

One of the Seven Deadly Sins.

The fire burning inside her chest each time she saw Chikusa and Ken at Mukuro's side.

Nagi wanted to be there as well.

XXX.

''You're going to kill them.''

It was a statement filled with so much conviction and sureness that not even the biggest liar in the world could properly deny it. Nagi knew exactly what would happen in the next few days because she had seen it happen once before.

(...A small part of her was aware of the fact that this was the first time she openly acknowledged the implications of her memories, thus Mukuro's knowing look should have been a cause of unease and not relief...)

Mukuro smiled brightly, his heterochromatic eyes filled with a false innocence. ''I will.''

XXXI.

A day later Mukuro slaughter the Famiglia that had taken him in a few months prior.

XXXII.

Apathy filled her each time she watched the other Mist commit a crime.

Nagi often wondered what was wrong with her because she should have by now hated the boy that so easily killed other human beings. She should have been disgusted by his deeds and she certainly should not have accepted him so easily.

However, she quickly found out that it was practically impossible to hate the extension of one's own soul.

She would just have to hate the sin and love the sinner.

XXXIII.

''That movie was really great, Nagi-chan. Your mother is a fantastic actress.'' Midori gushed, throwing the leftovers of their popcorn into the trash bin.

Nagi nodded her head. ''That she is.''

''Hmm...'' The older girl walked over to her invaded her personal space. ''You don't sound too happy. Perhaps we should go eat some ice cream, ne? That always helps me in improving my mood.''

''Some salted caramel ice cream does not sound too bad.'' Agreed Nagi halfheartedly as she tried to push Midori away from her face.

The brunette grabbed her hand and started tugging her down the street. ''Great!''

XXXIV.

They were caught by the authorities. Nagi didn't know if those authorities belonged to the state or the mafia, the only thing that truly mattered was that at the age of fourteen Rokudo Mukuro was forcefully dragged into prison alongside his companions.

Something inside of her raged.

XXXV.

Mukuro never listened. He always did whatever was right in his opinion and did not let any foreknowledge he gained through her deter him.

Despite knowing the outcome of his actions, he still decided to repeat the mistakes of his fictional self. Perhaps it was the idea of opposing fate that made him so eager or some misled need to prove himself capable, but the boy just did not know when to stop. None of his intelligence and cunning seemed to work the moment he set his mind on something.

If he wanted to kill someone, then he would do it even though the end result might harm him.

Determination was something he certainly wasn't lacking and common sense belonged to the few qualities he still needed to develop.

Nagi was worried about him and what the future entailed for the both of them. To stop the worst from happening, she started to scheme.

Due to the missing and not deeply enough elaborated scenes in the anime, Nagi did not have even halfway enough information to form a secure plan. Her only hope was that the events that had happened in the once fictional world would happen here in the same way.

Should that not be the case, there might be no happy ending for either of the Mists.

XXXVI.

Swallowing her bite, Nagi decided to interrupt the rather unpleasant silence of their dining room. ''The tuna is really good.''

She never did claim to be a good conversationalist.

''Yes, it is.'' Uttered her stepfather after taking a sip of his wine. Afterwards, his gaze wandered to Maiko and a sneer appeared on his face. Trouble in paradise, huh?

For a second Nagi contemplated whether her mother had perhaps gone off and cheated on her second husband. She came to the conclusion that it really wasn't her business. The man must have known whom he was marrying before saying yes and if he didn't, then he was an even bigger fool than she had already thought him to be. ''I've watched a documentary about fishing last week. Did you know that tuna fishes are huge?''

''You've watched a documentary about fishing?'' A weird expression appeared on Maiko's face. ''Don't you have anything better to do?''

''Well, not really. And did you?'' Nagi tilted her head to the side and forced an obnoxious smile onto her face.

Maiko put her chopsticks on the table. ''Did I what?''

The young Mist sighed in a forced annoyance and gesticulated animatedly with her hands. ''Did you know that tuna fishes are huge?''

Shaking her head in resignation, her mother wiped her face with a napkin and slowly rose from her seat. ''Not really. Such things have never truly interested me.'' Her lips curled contemptuously. ''And what is it with you? Do you want to become a fisher or something equally as lowly?''

Nagi grinned brightly just to irritate the woman a little more. ''Perhaps.''

XXXVII.

When they closed their eyes, they could see the world through each other.

Nagi could see Mukuro's bleak prison cell and the special chains used to subdue their Flames.

Mukuro got a taste of the outside world that had once again been stolen from him. During his worst years the seemingly young boy lived through Nagi. He observed her daily life and learned everything she did.

She was the only freedom he had ever known.

XXXVIII.

The light was green.

The street should have been safe.

Nagi did not manage to walk across it.

XXXIX.

It was Mukuro's quick intervention that kept her from dying for a second time. He cushioned her fall and used their Flames to stop her organs from failing.

From that day on, their Flames were the only thing keeping Nagi alive.

XL.

''Sleep. I will protect you.''

XLI.

The doctors claimed that her survival was a miracle. They wondered how such a thing could be even possible.

Nagi manipulated them to forget about her.

Garnering the attention of the Mafia or, even worse, the Vindice was not among her future plans.

XLII.

Nagi was thirteen years old when Mukuro escaped from prison and the plot of a once fictional series started. She curiously watched how he traveled across half of the world and enjoyed sights she had never seen before. The mountains, the sea and all those famous landmarks everyone spoke about.

Anxiety and calmness were carefully exchanged between them until the male Mist's group finally arrived in Japan.

Mukuro set his sights on Namimori.

Nagi was already there, waiting for him.

XLIII.

''Could I have some of whatever they are having, sir?''

Yamamoto Tsuyoshi turned around abruptly when he heard that tiny childish voice and his gaze immediately settled on the small girl behind his counter. Big violet eyes stared back at him as his newest guest fingered the ends of her white dress. She even toed the floor with her shiny black boots.

His instincts screamed.

A friendly smile was forced upon his face. ''You mean some of the Makizushi?''

''Yes!'' She grinned brightly, showing off her perfectly white teeth. ''Are they good?''

While preparing the necessary ingredients, Tsuyoshi never turned his back to the girl. He watched her without a break and made sure that she did not move from her new spot on one of the chairs. ''I would like to think so.''

''Great! Then prepare two portions for me, please.''

XLIV.

She watched Sawada Tsunayoshi from afar and a part of her felt disgusted.

That was supposed to be their Sky?

XLV.

Reborn almost shot her during one of her expeditions.

Nagi managed to escape in the last second, leaving an illusion of a dead woman behind. She doubted that it managed to fool the World's Greatest Hitman.

XLVI.

After the Vongola Decimo and his ragtag group entered the building, Nagi quickly gathered her other half's companions and put them inside the cab she had used to get there. The driver did not even blink twice at the sudden appearance of two bloodied boys.

After all, it wasn't as if he could see anything she did not want him to see.

Giving him enough money to cover the fee of driving the boys out of the city, Nagi whispered the address of one of her biological father's houses into his ear. Then she sent him off with the two injured boys.

Hopefully, the Vindice would be more interested in catching Mukuro and not them, otherwise Chikusa and Ken might end up in some real shit.

Well, she had done her best to save them.

XLVII.

Nagi interfered before Mukuro could be truly harmed, creating a sturdy shield between his body and Tsuna's fist.

Sky Flames collided with her construct and tried to burn their way through the illusion. Her will to protect her fellow Mist was stronger than that of Tsunayoshi.

Before the fight could continue, she grabbed Mukuro's wrist and pulled him towards the window. He didn't stop her from flinging the both of them out of if, just created a huge three meters high mountain of pillows to catch them.

They disappear a few minutes before the Vindice arrived.

XLVIII.

''I bought some sushi for you.''

XLIX.

Their first meeting. Their first touch. Their first words to each other.

Those were all things neither of them would ever forget.

L.

''This is Akiyama Nagi, my...'' Mukuro frowned in contemplation. Soon a frustrated sigh escaped his lips. ''I don't think that there is actually a fitting word for this.''

Chikusa threw a cautious look in her direction, while Ken just scratched his head in confusion. Nagi found the whole proceedings quite amusing.

''We could use something as sappy as 'other half', but it sounds really plebeian, don't you think?'' She inferred after a while passed without anyone saying what was on their minds.

Mukuro shook his head. ''We will find something better. Until then the scientific term will have to be enough.''

''Twin Flames?'' Nagi rolled her eyes. ''That doesn't sound much better.''

''It's not as if you have a more fitting idea.'' The male Mist sat down on one of the chairs in the room.

Following his example, she sat down on the chair next to him and put her feet on his lap. ''Maybe I do.''

Mukuro just chuckled in his usual manner. ''Have you already forgotten? Our minds are connected, so I know that you don't have any better ideas.''

Nagi pouted.