Okay, first of: I am sooooo terribly sorry for not updating here since… Uh, wait a second… August (?) Oops! D: It's just that I've had so much things to do, and I haven't had much inspiration to continue this story unfortunately… Not to mention that I had completely forgotten about the finished chapter that was lying around, just waiting to be published! A few corrections later, it is here ;) I said that it would take a few days at most… Turns out that it took 6 ½ months. Oh, well, what difference is a few months?

Again, I am really sorry for making you wait! It wasn't my intention! As I said, I've been quite busy, and empty of ideas.

Katekyo Hitman Reborn doesn't belong to me… yet D ….. No really, it doesn't… :/

The next day, Chrome had decided to try to search for M.M. one final time. It was probably no use, since she may have already left town, like Mukuro and the others had done.

Still, Chrome was unwilling to give up that easily. She would return to Kokuyo Land one final time, just in case M.M. might have returned there to find everyone missing.

After visiting Kokuyo Land, plus having searched for several hours, and even asked people that she met on the street if they had seen M.M., Chrome found her efforts unsuccessful. She had no choice but to return to Hibari's apartment. She had stayed out longer than she had intended to, so now she didn't have much time to do the dishes before Hibari's return.

However, she was in for a shock after she had walked up all those many stairs and arrived at the front door. The door was unlocked, something that made her panic slightly. Had she forgot to lock it after herself?

Hibari had made it very clear that she must not, under any circumstances, leave the door unlocked if he was not at home, ever. Not even if she was at home herself. Apparently, burglars had been quite common around here lately. If anyone would actually be dumb enough to break into a person like Hibari Kyoya's apartment. Their chance of survival if Hibari were to find them would be about zero.

And Chrome's chance of survival for leaving the door unlocked would probably not be much bigger.

It turned out there was no need for worry though as Chrome recognized Hibari's black shoes inside.

Now there was another problem. Hibari was home already.

Would he be mad? That was Chrome's biggest concern. She always worried about him getting mad at her for whatever reason. Even when she was sure she had done nothing wrong.

The door to Hibari's bedroom could be seen from the hallway. And since it was closed, he was probably inside. Perhaps Chrome could quietly sneak past into the kitchen to avoid being questioned why the house's condition did not live up to Hibari's standards.

Oh, well, she was not that fortunate.

Before she had even had the time to remove her shoes, Hibari was already out of his room. He had probably heard the door open and gone out to check that it was her and not an intruder.

Chrome froze, biting her lip, ready to be interrogated.

But he said nothing. He looked at her for a moment, grunted, and headed towards the kitchen.

Hastily, Chrome reminded herself of the dishes that had to be done and hurried after him.

"I'm sorry that I…" she began to apologize but cut herself off as she couldn't see even a single dirty plate or glass in the sink. That was weird, she was almost certain that she hadn't taken care of it already.

Hibari sat down by the table, on the same seat where Chrome used to sit when she greeted him each day as he returned from school.

"No smile and welcome back today?" Hibari wondered out loud.

Confused, Chrome wasn't sure what to say or do.

"Uhm… Welcome back?" she said eventually and gave him a nervous smile. She began to ponder about why he was so early today. It was only 3 p.m.

Usually he wouldn't be home until 5. Or even later sometimes.

She glanced at the sink and then back to him again. Had he…?

"Yes, I took care of it" Hibari told her as an answer to her confused look "I'm not disabled, if that's what you think".

No, of course that's not what she had thought. But she didn't say anything, since she would not want to start a conflict with him, a conflict where he would come out as the victor anyway. She just blushed and lowered her head.

A white paper bag that had been placed on the table suddenly caught Chrome's interest. There was a note on it, reading the word 'Herbivore'. That could be anyone.

Noticing how she was curiously looking at the bag, Hibari reached out for it and grabbed it.

"What's that?" Chrome asked, unable to hide her curiosity.

Hibari didn't answer. He simply held the bag towards her, urging for her to take it.

A present?

No, that couldn't be right. There was no way that Hibari Kyoya would ever buy her a present. He obviously detested her, though that feeling was not mutual from Chrome's side.

Chrome accepted the 'gift' and opened it to see what was inside.

"I have another condition for you living here" Hibari stated suddenly as Chrome pulled out the contents of the bag "I can no longer agree to have an uneducated woman living under my roof".

Chrome blinked as she held up a white shirt. There was a dark blue vest and a skirt in the bag too, among other things, composing a school uniform which looked just like the one Sasagawa Kyoko wore.

Realizing what this meant, Chrome stared at Hibari as if she couldn't believe her eyes, or her ears for that matter.

"You want me to…?" she said slowly.

"Yes" Hibari replied shortly "I'll make sure you'll be in the same class as those other Mafia herbivores" he crossed his arms over his chest before continuing: "You'll start tomorrow".

Chrome nodded.

This might be the distraction that she needed. She had already realized several days ago that it would be pointless to continue searching for M.M., yet she had kept going.

If she had lessons and schoolwork to keep track of, she wouldn't have time to only think about what happened between Mukuro and herself. M.M.'s hurt and dejected face upon entering Chrome's bedroom at Kokuyo Land was another image that she just couldn't seem to get out of her mind. It was haunting her in her sleep and made her cry in the middle of the night. She wouldn't be surprised if she had woken Hibari a couple of times, though he had never mentioned anything of it.

Well, this might be a good idea actually. Chrome had secretly missed studying and doing homework, weird as it may sound. Before, it used to keep her busy for a while and gave her a reason to avoid her parents.

The classmates were another story though. She could have done without them.

But if she was in the same class as Tsuna and the others, she thought that she might actually get along with the rest of the class as well. And even if she wouldn't, she knew that there would at least be one friendly girl there to welcome her, Kyoko.

Before she knew it, Chrome was becoming very eager about going to school. Like a small child who was going to school for the first time, she was excited.

"One more thing though" Hibari snapped her out of her daydreams "You mustn't tell anyone that you are staying here".

"Eh?" Chrome said. She wasn't planning on doing that, but his demand had still somehow managed to surprise her.

"Not anyone" Hibari repeated, grey eyes narrowing dangerously "If you do, I will be forced to bite you to death".

Chrome quickly nodded and took a step back with the shirt pressed against her chest, like a shield to protect her from Hibari's threats.

Hibari seemed satisfied with that. He stood up and looked over at the sink. He snorted disapprovingly before heading back towards the bedroom. Though he hadn't scolded her for not doing the dishes, that disapproving grunt was all that Chrome had needed to hear. Tomorrow, after school, she'd make sure to be home before him.

7:48 a.m.

It wasn't the glistening of the sun shining through the window that woke Chrome in the morning, but rather a beautiful birdsong that had filled the room.

Slowly, Chrome rose into a sitting position and gazed around drowsily. The TV wasn't on, so the sound wasn't coming from there. No windows were open either, so it wasn't coming from outside.

It was too close to be coming from anywhere besides from inside.

Finally, she felt a small weight in her lap. She smiled as Hibird gazed up at her expectantly and calling her name. She was glad that it remembered her.

A rolled up paper was tied to its foot.

It must be from Cloud-person, Chrome thought as she removed the item from the bird and unfolded it. She wouldn't have called it a letter. It was just a note, one sentence.

I won't go easy on you if you're late, so don't expect any special treatment.

Chrome pursed her lips. Of course she wasn't going to be late. She had barely been able to sleep since she had been so excited and nervous about today. So there was no way that she…

The oversized clock on the wall on the other side of the room caught her eye.

8:25?

Chrome practically flew out of bed, or rather sofa (which Hibari had been so kind to let her sleep on), and rushed into the bathroom, grabbing her brand new uniform on her way, to get dressed and prepare for school. There was no time to eat breakfast. The worst thing that could happen today would be for her to be late.

She had heard many times by Tsuna how fearful the Disciplinary Committee, or rather Hibari, could be if arriving late, something that Tsuna had been unfortunate to experience one time too many.

Kusakabe was alright though. Chrome had become acquainted with him in the future, where he had been very considerate towards her, which had made her rather fond of him. At least she hoped that he would be the same kind of person in this era too. Though his appearance might scare people, Chrome knew that he was not someone to be afraid of, especially not compared to Hibari. Appearances could be deceiving, something that Chrome had had to learn from a very young age.

Luckily, she managed to arrive at school in time, thus avoid being bitten to death. Students were still walking through the gate, chatting idly with one another, seemingly unworried about Hibari coming to attack them.

Chrome looked around herself. She was feeling quite lost. She had no idea where she was supposed to go, since she had never been inside before. She could find her way to the gymnasium since she had fought for the Mist Ring against Mammon there before, but that was about it.

First, she figured that she should find Hibari to report in. He should be able to show her where she was to go as well.

"Are you new?" a voice asked behind her. Chrome turned around and saw a girl standing behind her. She was quite tall and her long curly hair reached well past her shoulders.

Chrome nodded. This girl seemed as though she could be trusted.

"I thought so" the girl with the wavy hair said and held out a hand towards Chrome "Nice to meet you. I'm Kurokawa Hana".

"N-nice to meet you" Chrome replied shyly and shook her hand "Kurokawa Hana".

To Chrome's surprise, Hana laughed.

"You have the same name as me?" Hana smiled as she withdrew her hand "I was expecting you to introduce yourself".

"Oh" Chrome said blushing "Uhm… I'm Chrome Dokuro".

Hana continued smiling. It was a nice smile, filled with the same kindness that Kyoko or Haru used to have when talking to her.

"I… I'm looking for… Hibari-san" Chrome said, refraining from calling him 'Cloud-person' like she normally did. Tsuna and the others knew who she meant when she said it, but people outside the Mafia may not understand.

"Hibari?" Hana looked a bit frightened all of a sudden "O-okay. Uhm… I'll take you there".

It was easy to tell that she'd rather not to. Well, who could blame her? People wouldn't willingly go visit Hibari if it could be avoided.

Hana led Chrome through the corridor of the second floor. Students looked at Chrome curiously as she walked past them. Probably due to her hairstyle and eye patch. It made her really stick out from the crowd, and she didn't like it. She'd much rather blend in with everyone else, and if possible, go unnoticed.

Hana stopped outside a door, reading 'Disciplinary Committee' and motioned for Chrome to step forward.

"I'm sorry, but he scares the crap out of me" Hana whispered.

Chrome nodded. This was fine. She could handle things from now on.

"Thank you" she said gratefully, to which Hana waved and wished her good luck before leaving.

Chrome knocked on the door. She wasn't late, so there was no need for her to feel nervous.

Instead of seeing Hibari standing on the other side of the door, she saw Kusakabe. Tall and muscular as ever, the stern expression on his face softened as he saw who it was.

"Chrome-san!" he said, appearing to be honestly glad to see her "It's been a while! How have you been?"

"Quit the pointless chit-chat" Hibari demanded from behind him before Chrome got the chance to reply. She managed to catch a glimpse of him sitting behind a wooden desk, writing on some sort of document in front of him. He seemed to be busy.

"Yes, Kyo-san" Kusakabe obeyed and opened the door more to let Chrome in.

The office was very… office-like. The desk that Chrome had seen was standing in the far off side of the room. Two sofas were occupying the middle of the area and bookshelves were covering both the left and the right walls. There was a large window behind the desk from which one would probably have a great view over the school grounds as well as the town. As Chrome walked further into the room, she could see all the way to the forest and the mountains in the horizon.

Hibari continued writing, without even looking up to recognize Chrome's presence. Chrome stood in front of the desk, next to Kusakabe for several minutes before Hibari actually put his pencil down and the paper on top of a thick but neat stack of already filled out papers.

"Tetsu, wait outside" Hibari commanded, and Kusakabe was quick to do as he was told. He knew all too well what Hibari was capable of if infuriated, and he had no desire of getting in the way of that rage.

He politely nodded at Chrome before excusing himself and leaving the office, making sure to close the door behind him.

"Shouldn't I… go to class?" Chrome was the first to speak. She was aware of whom she was talking to, but she really didn't want to be late.

Hibari glared at her.

"Hmph" he grunted after a while "You're the one who came here" Chrome noticed him inspecting her new outfit, at it made her feel nervous. Had she forgotten something? Had she not buttoned the top button? Did it look strange on her? "It looks better on you".

Chrome blinked confused. Was he complementing her?

"Uhm… Thank you" she said hesitantly.

"Now leave" Hibari ordered "Tetsu will show you to the classroom".

Chrome bowed and walked out the door. For some reason, she had, sort of, hoped that Hibari would bring her there. She wasn't sure why, but perhaps she wanted to somehow prove to the class that she was special to him, though she already knew she didn't. Maybe she had wanted him to show that if they were to pick on her, they'd have to deal with him.

But she meant nothing to him. No one did.

Meeting with her class went surprisingly well and was not nearly as frightening as she had thought it would be; perhaps because she already knew a few of them.

When the teacher introduced her, she saw Kyoko smiling excitedly at her, obviously happy that Chrome was joining the group. Tsuna had been happy about it too, but at first he had looked really shocked and even shouted out her name, as if he had to confirm that it was actually her.

Gokudera had been the first to discover her. He had been gaping like a goldfish when Chrome greeted the class, but quickly regained his senses and asked suspiciously if Mukuro had been the one who sent her, unknowingly hurting Chrome's feelings when reminding her of her master.

Yamamoto had been asleep apparently, so it had taken a while for him to come to and realize that he had just got a new classmate, and that it was the girl he liked too.

From the look of it, he was at least as happy as Kyoko to see her.

After a while, Chrome noticed the girl that she had met earlier in the morning. Hana, was it?

Well, this wouldn't be so bad. She might actually enjoy being here.

If not, it would at least keep Mukuro and M.M. out of her mind, even if for just a little while.

The class had seemed very curious of Chrome. As soon as the lesson was over, people surrounded her to ask her all kinds of questions, like her hobbies, favorite color and food, about her eye patch.

Someone had even asked if she had a boyfriend, to which Chrome had become flustered and unsure of how to answer. She had glanced over at Yamamoto, though he hadn't seemed to notice. She didn't consider him as her boyfriend, but she wasn't sure how he viewed her. If their relationship had made even Mukuro jealous, perhaps there was something there that others could see but she couldn't.

For some reason, Hibari popped up in her mind. But they couldn't even be considered friends, if it was up to him.

By lunch, Kyoko and Hana invited Chrome to eat together with them.

Since Chrome had woken up so late, she hadn't had time to make a bento of her own, and not to mention that she was starving for not eating breakfast either. Now she cursed herself for not preparing before going to sleep yesterday. Unlike most other students, she didn't have a loving mother who could make the lunch for her. Even when she had been known as Nagi, her mother had been unwilling to do it. Usually, it had been a member of the staff that had prepared it for her. Someone who worked for her parents that was.

They must all be glad not having to think about that anymore.

Fortunately, Kyoko and Hana were so nice that they shared their lunches with her, or rather, they insisted that she ate despite her not asking. Truth to be told, they offered her more than they ate themselves, as if they thought that she wasn't eating properly, which was kind of true. Kyoko must have already been aware of it since she had witnessed her small appetite in the future.

Tsuna, Gokudera and Yamamoto were passing by, looking for a place to eat their lunch. Tsuna got all excited and nervous when Kyoko smiled and invited them to join them. Gokudera on the other hand snorted in annoyance. Chrome noticed him glaring at her, and it made her cringe. What had she done to anger him this time? He had been so nice when bringing her the food Yamamoto made for her two weeks ago. Okay, maybe not nice. Reluctant consideration was perhaps a better description.

He reminded her a bit of M.M.

Yamamoto sat beside Chrome and smiled cheerfully at her. He honestly seemed to be the happiest about her being there.

As Tsuna at last had come to his senses about sitting next to Kyoko, he turned to Chrome since there was something on his mind, besides the imaginary picture of Kyoko and him sitting together at the beach of a tropical island, holding hands, and the sun setting in the horizon.

"Chrome" Tsuna called out to gain said girl's attention "Mukuro is alright with you being here, right? Is he the one who suggested it?"

"Of course, it has to be" Gokudera replied in Chrome's place, although he knew nothing of what had happened "That Mukuro obviously only wants Juudaime's body".

"Gokudera-kun!" Tsuna scolded him quietly.

Hana looked confused, not to mention disgusted. She had no idea what they were talking about, or who this Mukuro-person was. To hear Gokudera say that there was a guy who wanted Tsuna's body sounded really appalling to her. Not that she had anything against people who preferred a partner of the same sex. It was just the way it had been said. Couldn't 'he wants Tsuna' have been enough?

She kept her thoughts to herself though. Perhaps they'd automatically give some sort of explanation to this weird statement.

"That's not it" Chrome cut in. She was feeling a bit upset that they had to assume that everything she did was because of Mukuro. She'd practically do anything that he asked, but that didn't mean she didn't have a will of her own. Though she hadn't chosen to come to school herself, it was Hibari's demand. But she couldn't tell them that. Hibari would be furious if he'd find out.

"Then what?" Gokudera snapped at her "Clearly Mukuro's got something up his sleeve! So what are his plans?"

"I don't know" Chrome said sadly. She couldn't start crying now. Not here.

"What do you mean, you don't know?" Gokudera continued pushing her.

"I haven't seen him in two weeks" Chrome said. They all seemed shocked, except for Hana who just continued looking confused.

"Eh?" Yamamoto said and his eyes went wide "Why? Did you guys have a fight?"

At least he wasn't jealous about her relationship with Mukuro. Chrome was grateful for that.

Chrome shrugged her shoulders. She wouldn't have called it a fight. There hadn't been any foul words exchanged, no tears, no fists and no anger. It was more of a dispute concerning Mukuro and M.M., and Chrome had just happened to get in between.

But had it not been for her, nothing of this would have happened. Mukuro wouldn't have become jealous, M.M. wouldn't have become hurt, and Chrome wouldn't have had to ask Hibari for shelter.

To be honest, if Yamamoto hadn't asked her out, things wouldn't have become like this. But Chrome couldn't blame him. He had only wanted to be nice. It wasn't his fault.

Chrome knew that they were all waiting for an answer, but she didn't know what to say without having to retell the whole story again. She didn't want them to know. It was enough if Hibari knew.

"Mukuro-sama, Ken and Chikusa" Chrome began "They all left".

She missed Mukuro tremendously. Whether it was his smile when he looked at her, his funny laugh, or his amazing illusions, she missed all of it. She missed the contemplative look in his eyes when there was something was bothering him. And she missed how he would sit on the side of her bed when she couldn't sleep and stroke her hair until she would close her eyes, while whispering gentle words, like a lullaby. Sometimes she would purposely stay awake for a while longer, just so that she could have him by her side for a few minutes more.

She even missed Ken and his insults and Chikusa with his indifferent personality.

"Left?" Tsuna sounded shocked "You mean, you're all alone there?"

He couldn't imagine being all alone at a place like Kokuyo Land. Had it been him, he would never be able to sleep. It was just that creepy.

"No, I…" Chrome hesitated. Hibari's words of warning suddenly echoed in her head: You mustn't tell anyone that you are staying here. He had shown great hospitality towards her, if though grudgingly. She wasn't planning on letting him down "Yes, that's right".

"Chrome-chan!" Kyoko half-scolded her. One couldn't take her quite seriously when she tried to scold someone. She was too nice "Why didn't you say anything? You could have come and live with me!"

Chrome was flattered. But instead of agreeing, she shook her head, declining the generous offer. If only Hibari had been this welcoming towards her.

"It's alright" Chrome assured the girl next to her. She knew that Kyoko was concerned for her, but she was really fine. She had already gotten used to living with Hibari, and to be honest she kind of, dare she say, enjoyed it.

She could see that both Tsuna and Yamamoto were thinking the same thing as Kyoko. But Tsuna's house was already full of people. His poor mother must have a hard time cooking and taking care of everyone. Taking care of Lambo alone must be tiring enough.

Living with Yamamoto would have been even worse. Not that there was anything wrong with him or anything. Chrome admired him a lot. He was very kind and surely he would have shown her much more hospitality than Hibari could ever do. But there was this strange bond that they shared, where Chrome wasn't sure where they stood, if they were only friends or something more.

The situation would be embarrassing with just the two of them alone, and eventually become unbearable. She'd rather they remain the way they were now.

That was chapter 7. It's a kinda slow-paced story, don't you think? If you're thinking 'Where the hell is the romance?', my answer for you is: ...

No, really, the whole point of this story is a slow development between Chrome and Hibari. More chapter's that way XD. I'd like to keep the characters as true to themselves as I can, but it's hard and won't be absolutely possible when putting Hibari and Chrome together in a romantic fanfiction.

Personally I prefer stories that doesn't rush things and shows a steady advance with lots of up's and down's, if you know what I mean (Damn, it's hard to explain in English…!) Besides, I can't really picture Hibari rushing into something that he is not familiar or comfortable with and the same goes for Chrome.

Anywaaaays, I hope you can bear with my tardiness. I swear I'll try to update… No, I shouldn't say anything. Every time I promise to do something here, I end up not doing it… Sigh…