Abnormally Normal

Disclaimer: I don't own Reborn. Things would be different. Mukuro wouldn't be acting like an ass, and my dear Fran wouldn't be tortured(as I assume he is).

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She could do this. Chrome Dokuro was not known for her confidence. It was not one of her stronger skills, and admittedly at the current moment she doubted her skills in general. Kyoko and Haru though did not, and their yet naïve but encouraging pep talks were enough to inspire her to do this.

It was swiftly collapsing as she approached the Kokuyo building. It never changed-or it hadn't changed since she had been…requested to leave. The tall signs which were half ripped away half covered in graffiti crumpled at the bottom poles. The gray outside walls were still dented in various places and an accumulation of stone and glass shards from the split window roof lay at the base.

She wanted to know why more than anything else. She was better now! She wasn't dying anymore! He knew that, he was the one that helped her. But yet, there was still the letter tucked under her tennis shoe tongue. She could see it vividly without even pulling it out; Mukuro's elegant thin hand writing 'Get out'.

She could still feel her heart drop the utter panic set in. She remembered seeing the Namimori uniform laying at her feet and the tears falling from her eyes. For days all she could think about was Get out. The words would repeat in her head over and over. Then she wondered why, why had he not just killed her? He could easily do it; she had seen him destroy people with a flick of his finger.

She wanted to know why.

She started up the broken stairs leading to his office. They wood was eaten away and several pieces were completely missing. On her first day, she had carelessly let her foot slip through the steps. Ken was able to grab her in time to pull her up out of the crack.

It was the first time she had seen him laugh. He ran a hand through his hair and nearly doubled over, "Oh boy, pyon, you're in for it."

Mukuro's office was dark. The ripped curtains draped over the windows behind his desk. It was missing a leg and sloped downwards to the right. The chair behind the desk was turned away, but she could tell that the figure sitting in it was Mukuro.

"Kufufu come in."

She stepped across the damp carpet that squished underneath her feet. Mold most likely was tearing up the fibers. Despite the surroundings, it always managed to smell like rain and sakura flowers. She gripped the bottom of her pleated uniform skirt and in her loudest voice (which was barely a murmur for most people) said, "Mukuro-sama I w-want to know why."

Haru had advised her to get straight to the point. She finally agreed that she would, after the other girl went on a long rant on how the only way to get to a man's heart was with a straight arrow. She was still unsure what the metaphor exactly meant.

"Why what?" His steel voice asked. Just like how she remembered. A voice that slid across the surface of sanity.

Anger bubbled inside her; Chrome didn't get angry very often. What right did she have after all? She wasn't supposed to exist in the first place; she wasn't worth enough to get angry. That was until she met Kyoko and Haru, they taught her just because she wasn't traditional alive, didn't mean she wasn't a person. It didn't mean she couldn't feel, couldn't want things.

She wanted to know.

Her hands left her uniform skirt to clench at her sides, "I w-want to know why! W-why you told me to leave!" She could feel the beginning of tears budding at her eyes, "I want to know what I did wrong!"

There was nothing but the sound of the soft wind blowing the curtains forward that followed. She let the few tears roll down her cheeks, but kept her stance firm. She was an illusionist. She could create her own organs.

Then it clicked. Her illusionist intuition set in. Her mind reeled backwards to a few seconds ago, and she gasped at the realization. "You're not Mukuro-sama!"

The figure shrank, and the rolling chair spun around. The sight was completely different. A young boy in a loose Kokuyo uniform with a dark red shirt and loose black tie stared up at her. That was the first thing she noticed, the second was the obstruction of a hat on his head.

It was almost the size of him, rounded at the top with a steam sticking out of the very top. An apple…?

"Ah. You figured it out pretty quick. I wonder what I did wrong." There was no emotion what so ever in his tone, or his face. His green eyes were dull almost to a lifeless extent, and his mouth was moving up and down but not a hint of frown or smile appearing.

He seemed familiar. Chrome's memories of the future were rough; she hadn't been there for a lot of it. But she felt that they had met before-somewhere, somehow. She just couldn't exactly think of where.

"Who're you again?"

She was too awed by his features to process that he was speaking. He had to repeat it once again before she answered quickly, "Chrome! Chrome Dokuro." There was still no change at the name; if he was an acquaintance of Mukruo he had told him nothing of her. For some reason her chest constricted at the thought.

This time she was grabbing up the bottom of her shirt, and averting her eyes from the child's unfaltering stare. "U-um I need to talk to Mukuro-sama please."

"The decaying worthless pineapple isn't here." She thought she could detect a hint of malice. When he flopped down from the chair, and rounded the corner she was surprised by how small he was. He couldn't be older than ten, but yet he was wearing a junior high uniform.

"You look like a pirate. I haven't met anyone else who wears an eye patch."

Her cheeks flushed out of embarrassment, and her hand reached up to touch the fabric that covered her missing eye. She wasn't sure if that was a compliment, insult, or a mere observation. She went with the final one. "D-do you know when he'll be back?" She stuttered, the confidence she had worked up on the way over now completely gone.

He shook his head, which Chrome thought must've been difficult feat in such a giant obstruction. "No, pineapple fairy master is gone a lot. I only really see them when he wants to train me. But that only once in awhile, he says a stupid kid like me pisses him off too much."

It was said without a hint of sadness, Chrome thought the statement seemed undeniably lonely. She wondered what he was doing here.

He smacked his fist against his open palm in a sudden recognition, "Oh! You're the girl W.W. talked about. She said that Mukuro had some unattractive useless girl as his vessel."

Chrome could feel the tears wet her eyes again. She was used to M.M constant degrading insults; she thought she would have a little better reputation.

Then again she had been kicked out.

"But W.W. is really just a stupid woman with an ugly face and will end up being a cheap prostitute."

He certainly didn't sound like a little kid, and he certainly didn't hold back on what he was thinking. It was a bit…intimidating. She was wondering if she should take her leave now, but would that mean she would have to go back to Kyoko and tell her that she had not succeeded in confronting Mukuro.

She stayed rooted to the ground. She had not seen Kokuyo Land so empty until the day she had left. It was almost spooky. The appearance of building was generally rather eerie, but without the smiles of her once comrades or the simple presence of others it was downright frightening.

Her chest hurt again.

"Are you a fairy too?" The remark sounded so childish, almost adorable until he continued, "Because I'd assume that only dumb fairies would want to hang around that pineapple by choice."

"Y-you don't like Mukuro-sama?" She squeaked at the tail end of the question as if trying to drag it back from coming out of her mouth. It was obvious; no one that held affection for someone would call them such names. She supposed you could really never tell.

He huffed, "Of course not. I don't understand why anyone would like such a twisted person."

Chrome found herself arguing, "Mukuro-sama is a good person! He saved me! He saved everyone! He would never abandon anyone! He would never ever ever," She was crying and gasping for air, "e-ever…" Her body curled inwards in quiet sobs. She held her hands in front of her mouth to calm the weeps.

Fran didn't deal with upset people. It wasn't one of his particular talents. The empathy part of his brain had been permanently damaged; he supposed it was as such with the other emotions also. Or at least that's what his grandma told him-it made sense.

But this girl looked so…pathetic. She looked stupid…but pathetic. His mouth opened to insult the living day lights out of her, but the words caught in his throat when she sank to her knees. She was trying desperately to stifle her now growing tears but it only resulted in animal like hiccupping noises and her sleeves becoming drenched.

Were people always like this? No one did here, and his classmates back at home only cried when they were injured. She wasn't hurt, but looked mortally wounded, as if a deep part of her was breaking open and bleeding raw.

He was just a kid, he wasn't sure what to do.

So he sat down in front of her, and pulled a box out of his back pocket. The brown box was ripped open slightly and inside was a torn silver bag with two long thin sticks dipped in chocolate.

She stopped crying when it was thrust into her face.

"Want one? The dog-fairy-boy gave them to me once."

She was confused at the abrupt action, and a denial was on the tip of her tongue. Then he shook the box a little with an impatient sigh.

It took her a bit to realize that he was speaking of Ken, and she almost laughed at the name. He probably hated it. She could see him stomping his foot, and Chikusa having to shush his indignant growls. She ignored the pain and reached in to take one.

They were stuck together from heat, and the chocolate quickly melted in her mouth. It was delicious but as soon as she began to relinquish it; it disappeared. Her violet eye red from crying widened in surprise. The entire thing was completely gone. The one the boy had put in his mouth had also vanquished at the same second.

"W-what?"

"Oh. They're illusions. They don't last very long." He drew his knees up to his chest and muttered in the same monotone, "They don't feed you good here. Even Grandma's terrible lunchboxes were better."

She remembered that. Having to steal, and scrounge for the remnants of food left behind. Ken was the best at it, and he was always kind enough (after a few grumbled protests) to share his finds. When she started staying at Kyoko's, there was so much food that they often had leftovers from previous meals. The refrigerator too was filled to the brim with food. Their kindness that was forced upon her was at times overwhelming.

"It gets boring here to. I should've picked the tooth decay group."

He talked rather…strange. The room was growing darker. The afternoon light was quickly falling into night and without any lamps what so ever Kokuyo Land would be completely black soon. A difficult to time to navigate around it; she knew from experience.

She scrambled to her feet and bowed, "T-thank you…" She paused; she didn't know the boy's name.

"Fran." He pointed to the F in the white at the bottom of his shirt.

"Fran-san," She continued. Then she hesitantly whispered in an barely audible volume, "W-will you please t-tell Mukuro-s-sama th-that I came?" She averted her eyes downwards in expectation of rejection.

"Okay."

Her head shot up and met his unblinking eyes in shock. He was serious? Fran shrugged, "It'll give me something to do for once."

She mumbled another expression of gratitude and rushed out of the building.

Haru was staying over for dinner because she wanted to know every detail of what happened. Kyoko also was excited to hear the news, but when Chrome came in the doorway with her face stained in tears and shirt covered in the aftermaths of her bawling-they assumed the worst.

They charged towards her and gripped her shoulder in bone crushing hugs. Hugs that she had gotten used to, and could fall into now with a significant less amount of stiffness. They began to comfort without knowing exactly what happened, and drag her upstairs away from the sympathetic glances of Kyoko's parents.

Chrome was lucky Ryohei was still at boxing practice or she would have to calm him from 'extremely' threatening Mukuro.

She didn't want to let down her friends. That phrase still sounded odd, but after constant insistence the two persuaded her into calling them her friends. "I-I didn't meet him." She sat down on Kokyo's bed with both other girls sitting aside her.

She told them the entire story.

Haru was simply ecstatic that there was another child near that needed her assistance. She squeaked that it was in Kokuyo Land as the sheer idea of going to the place terrified her.

They urged her to try again, to go back tomorrow, and finally she gave up against their aggressive persistence.

She would try again.

She came back after school. Kyoko and Haru told her to bring the leftover food just in case only Fran was there, and he was still starving. They were so…thoughtful…she couldn't help but think she didn't deserve them. The floor boards creaked underneath her as she headed inside.

"Mukuro-sama…?" She whispered, and walked further into the building. The bento box rattled in her satchel bag, and the noise seemed deafening in such a quiet area. She reached the main living area, the place where she used to sleep.

Memories rushed back at her and she had to hold her breath for a few seconds before exhaling to keep them down. She rounded the corner to see an apple-headed boy squatting next to a bucket. He was reaching into it and examining the contents carefully.

"Fran-san..?"

His head tilted towards her, "Pirate-girl?"

She nodded, and tentatively took two steps forward. Fran picked something up between his thumb and forefinger. She couldn't quite identify what it was from this distance but it was thin and small and wiggling like crazy. He stuffed it into the black sleeping bag against the wall.

"Stupid animal boy stole my lunch." Then his slumped posture when straight and he whipped his head towards her. She was impressed that his neck didn't snap at the sudden action. "You have food."

She pulled the bento box out of her bag. He stood up, wobbling back and forth a little from the action, and came towards her. His face wasn't excited, but his walk was a little faster than an average one. He only stared at the box. But the way his stomach growled at the sight, she could tell that the young boy really really wanted this.

She placed it into his hands and struggled for words to explain her actions, "T-there w-was extra f-food so I brought some as a t-thank y-you."

He bowed once and walk/ran back over to where his bucket was to rip open the box. He wiped off the grime (which she could see from here) on his pants and jacket that were about equally dirty. It was hardly sanitary. He fumbled with the chopsticks, and eventually just ended up stuffing the rice ball into his mouth.

She was once again wary on whether to stay or not, but when she began to turn around he called out to her. "Pirate-pineapple-hair girl, do you want to help me?" With the hand that was not gripping the seaweed he pointed to the bucket.

She didn't answer, but came over to him. She squatted down and lifted the lid. Chrome yelped and fell backwards on her elbows at the sight. It was packed with dirt and…worms. Worms that were slithering out of the edge, before Fran covered it again.

"I'm putting them in the gorilla-boy's sleeping bag." He announced.

She gasped, "K-ken-san?"

He nodded nonchalantly, but his words were muffled with a mouthful of food. "He took my lunch and left. It gives me something to do too."

A tiny, miniscule part of her, that wasn't thinking how disgusting and mean it was, thought it was a little bit funny and excellent revenge. Still, she was never,going to touch a worm.

The bento was polished off in a matter of minutes. The last time she had seen someone eat that fast was Ken chugging down a bag of chips.

Fran cleaned his mouth on his sleeve, and Chrome thought the action was the most childish thing he had ever done. He was wearing a Kokuyo uniform though, she probably shouldn't be thinking of him as a little kid. He would be only a little younger than her.

"F-fran san how old a-are you?"

He dropped the worm in his hand, and held up ten dirty fingers. He kept the pinky on his right hand curled in, "Nine. But sometimes I think that compared to these fairy idiots I should've been born older."

She almost laughed, almost. But she managed to cover her chuckle because she honestly wasn't sure if he was joking or not. She hadn't remembered the last time she had come that close to laughing while being in this place. Kyoko and Haru aimed to squeeze a giggles out of her with a supreme amount of effort. She was giving in more and more frequent lately she noticed.

She could've moved but instead she sat down on the light green sleeping bag across from Fran, and watched as the young boy placed worms in between the comforters. There wasn't a need to say anything; there was a peaceful stillness that settled over that let her drift off into her own thoughts.

Until he would say something, or until his foot had snagged against the edge of the bucket and spilled the worms all across his lap. He didn't shriek or make any sort of change of expression, but Chrome thought she saw his face pale.

She helped him, but washed her hands thoroughly after.

She didn't really think about why she was coming again. She knew that he would tell Mukuro, or she hoped he would. But yet the next day she appeared there with another lunch.

There was no sign of Mukuro or Fran until she reached the very back of the building. It was where the flower garden used to be placed until the amusement park ran down. There were only empty pots now and broken stone pathways.

Fran sat in one of the large rectangular pots that stretch at least ten feet. He leaned over the edge and was trying to do something.

"Pirate-girl?" He asked without turning around. It was then that she noticed a a flower popping up from the dirt. It wilted immediately after it bloomed.

"F-fran-san." She opened up her bag and pulled out his lunch. It was larger than yesterday, and today Haru had written messages in the rice. It was unreadable; Haru wasn't known for her cooking skills.

"Pineapple-head was here a few hours ago."

Her heart dropped to her stomach and then rose back to her chest in such a fast motion that it made her queasy. So there was hope! He was still coming here! Her excitement faded when fear set in of what she was going to say. But before her thoughts could take control and stress drown her entire being, Fran broke through.

His head was tilted back towards her. The rest of his body and crossed arms still rested on top of the ledge, and his feet tucked underneath him. "You brought more food?"

She nodded once, and brought it over to him. She placed it on the edge and scooted it forwards before sitting down. When she peered over the edge into the pot she was surprised at what she saw. There was very little dirt remaining inside of it, but instead several remains of wilted fallen flowers. There was so many that she couldn't even count by how they blended into each other.

He gulped down the food at an amazing speed that she wasn't sure if he was even chewing. His manners were lacking, even worse than yesterday, and pieces of rice fell into the pot and all over his shirt.

"I didn't think you'd come back pirate-girl." He placed the box on the ground, "I mean I figured you weren't dumb enough to think to come back."

She wasn't sure how to respond, her words wouldn't leave her mouth like always and all she was able to manage was, "Y-yeah."

Fran stared at her for a few seconds before returning to what he was doing. He leaned his head on the edge, and raised his ring finger up. A flower grew up from the ground to where he pointed at the same speed as his raising finger.

It was rather pretty, with pale pink petals and a large circular yellow center. The petals were shaped oddly. They alternated between having sharp edges that looked as though it could pierce skin, and rounded edges that made them look feathery soft. Just as it finished blooming, the petals began to turn brown and collapse to the dirt before the entire flower disintegrated.

He must have noticed her observing, because he spoke without turning his head away from raising the next one, "That stupid-pineapple fairy says that if I can make living things I can make food. But he thinks I can't do it because I got hit in the head with cheese."

The statement was so strange, "C-cheese?"

"Yeah," He made a fist with the exception of his thumb and the finger adjacent to it, to form a gun shape. He placed it to the side of his head, "I was shot in the head with a cheese block and lost all my memories." He flicked his hand up and away with a demonstrational noise. "Or at least that's what the old lady said."

He continued to raise flowers up from the ground. And talked in his usual steady monotone, "They say I'm too stupid to be around, but really I think it's just because they're fairies. Hey you're not a fairy are you?"

She shook her head.

"Okay, because then you'd be a pirate fairy, and I don't know a hex for those. Though these fairies seem to be immune to hexes. Maybe they're too ugly."

She wasn't completely sure how that reasoning connected. She wasn't sure if he was genuinely distraught about this or if this dull rambling was how he normally spoke.

"M-maybe you're using w-wrong hexes?" She offered quietly.

He stopped and looked at her with the unblinking stare from before. "That could be it."

She wondered if Mukuro-sama would come soon. She wondered if anyone would come soon. She knew what abandonment felt like. The wrenching of her stomach and how her heart had stopped beating for a second, and how heat had rushed to her cheeks until tears were pouring out of her eyes. It was the epitome of loneliness, because that's what being abandoned was-being completely alone.

She wondered if Fran got lonely, or if the boy got tired of being by himself. He remarked in several different forms that he got bored.

Before she knew it, she was thinking out loud, "I wonder if Fran-san gets lonely." It wasn't loud, and at no means directed at him. She froze though as soon as she heard the words come out of her mouth. Her entire body went stiff. Her gaze shifted over to Fran. As soon as he heard her, his flower crumbled. It had died only halfway through the process. Only the stem had been created. She was going to apologize frantically for accidently saying such a personal thing.

His voice was steady, no hint of feeling as always, but it was quieter than usual, "I'm used to playing alone".

Her own childhood, before Mukuro, revived from the depths of her brain. She felt a sob rise in her throat, but chocked it down. She didn't want to push the matter any further. She wished she could effortlessly change topics like Kyoko and Haru.

He continued perhaps just to fill the awkward silence, "But I'd rather play alone than with fairies or tooth-decay."

Neither of them said anything for awhile, a longer time than necessary, until the darkness began to set in. How long had she been here exactly? It would be disrespectful of her to miss dinner when it was offered. She rose and he handed her back the box.

As she was walking away, he turned around, "Hey what's your name again?"

"Chrome" she answered. Had he forgotten? Or had he simply never been listening?

"No, that's not it."

Her eyebrows knitted together in confusion. The young boy shrugged, "No parent would be lame enough to name their kid a name like that."

She didn't want to bring up her family history, but it finally connected what he was asking.

"N-nagi," She stuttered. When was the last time she spoke that name? Since someone called her that name? She waited for Fran to repeat it back to her, and wondered how it would feel to hear someone else say it.

Instead he responded by, "…Like an eel?"

She cocked her head to the side, "W-what?"

"U-Nagi." He sounded out the syllables as clear as possible in his flat pitch.

She was laughing. Not a giggle, not a chuckle, but a full on laugh. It wouldn't stop either. Her knees almost buckled from the way her chest was shaking up and down and her abdomen was trembling. She had to cover her mouth to keep them from getting too loud. The first time someone said her name since she had 'died' and they compared it to…a fish?

It was a feeling that she couldn't remember having. Her stomach began to hurt and she found herself gasping for air by the time it passed.

Fran was standing now, probably wondering if he should call for help. Of what he knew of Chrome so far the reaction was random, and especially from what Fran considered to be a simple thing to say.

She waved to him with her free hand, and left with a wide smile.

It was contagious, and Fran found his lips quivering upwards. Of course, such an action could never be completed. It was the closest he had ever come.

He returned to his flower. The next one sprang up a vibrant violet, and it managed to stay upright. He just couldn't understand why she liked a pineapple-fairy. Grandma said that love was an adult thing, and hopefully one day Fran would feel it. But Fran considered himself an adult.

He just believed love was unnecessary, and if Nagi loved that stupid idiotic twisted fairy than it only proved his point.

The flower fell at the thought.

Days went on like that. She lost track of time of how many weeks she spent staying with Fran. Sometimes she would stay until it got so dark that she had trouble finding her way back to Kyoko's and others she left minutes after arriving.

They didn't have a pressing need to talk. Chrome did like listening to him speak, and her true name being said (even with the extra letter). She would ask question every now and then, and rarely mention something about herself. They would be things that she hadn't told Kyoko or Haru or even Ken and Chikusa, about her past, when she was a kid. She was always worried what people would think, but Fran didn't seem to think anything of it. He didn't really seem to have particular opinions on things unless he hated them.

He taught her Italian, she taught him hexes she looked up on the internet. They were both horrible instructors.

They were also more alike than what she originally thought. Once she questioned with all the courage she could muster why he wore the giant apple hat.

He told her that the moron kids back at his home town used to make fun of him for his looks, so he decided he would just come to school even stranger. He adjusted his hat with one hand to free a strand of sea foam green hair. He splayed it over his fingers as if trying to figure out what was so odd about it.

Chrome told him she never thought he was strange. She thought that his monotone, hair color, and purple marking under his eyes were different. She shot up from the wall she was leaning against and waved one finger in his face and in the firmest voice she ever used said, "Th-that does-s not make you strange!"

She also told him how she was teased before she met Mukuro also. They both agreed (more or less) that people like that were odd themselves.

She admitted the first time to anyone else but those who inquired that she died saving a neighborhood cat. Fran remarked it was a semblance of heroic way to die at least. For some reason that sentence put her rather at ease.

They spoke of their parents. Chrome said that hers had chosen for her to die; they didn't protest in the slightest. Fran 's were dead and his grandparents had (with much protesting) agreed to take him in. Nobody wanted him after the car accident. They said that something had messed with his emotions during the collision and he stopped being 'normal'. Not only was he an insolent brat who couldn't watch his mouth, but now he was a freak who didn't feel anything.

That was the first time Chrome thought Fran held an element of sorrow in his eyes. She told him he was the most abnormally normal person she had ever met, and she admired him for that.

Every time she left she would ask about Mukuro, and he would always answer the same, "He's gone, I'll tell him you came when he gets back". It fell into their normal routine, until one day she forgot.

She ran into the Kokuyo building, tears streaming down her face. Her satchel bag had been abandoned long ago, and her knee socks were falling off her legs. For some reason her feet had taken her here on impulse, maybe it was because this was where she always went, or maybe it was because she had no one else to turn to.

She was still wearing her indoor school shoes, and had all but bolted after school. She couldn't go to Kyoko with this; she was worried Kyoko would say or Haru-they would hate her. She didn't want to lose them! She couldn't lose them!

But…if she was near them right now, she would explode.

Fran was crouching over his own bed. It was the light green sleeping bag she had sat on before. He had pointed out the various holes in it and how the zipper was stuck along the right bottom. He used the very far corner as his sleeping area. He told her that if one of the fairies was going to kill him in his sleep being farther away would give him some waking time.

He was trying to fix something in it, but he looked up at the noise of her small heels banging against the floor. Chrome was running, running and crying, and panting for air. She didn't stop either, she didn't stop until she flung herself onto Fran.

He was so short that his forehead hit the middle of her waist, but that did not stop her. She curled the rest of her torso along the round apple head. Through her hysterics she clutched to the stem as if it were her only life support.

"U-Nagi." His words were smothered by her body. She gave him no answer and her shoulders began to wrack with her bawling. Her weight dominated his ability to move. His arms hung limply to the sides unsure what to do. Pushing her away would not be an option; she would be too delirious in her break down to recognize the action.

So he gently wrapped his arms around her. With her back arched downwards, he was able to place one on her upper spine and the other around her all too thin waist. In a few minutes she stopped, and backed away. Fran could feel a wetness drip down his hat and soak into the top of his head.

She wiped her eyes and nose, and gave her best attempt at a ladylike sniff.

"…You didn't bring food." In Fran language that was the equivalent to asking what was wrong.

She sank to the wall behind his bed. Fran had seen Chrome cry several times-she was surprisingly emotional for such a quiet, shy human being. They were usually because of an incurable sadness that was buried inside of her and constantly being torn apart. This time it wasn't the same. They were frantic tears; panicked ones that made her eyebrows knit together in confusion, and fear fill her bright violet eyes.

"I don't know what to do! Fran-san t-they're all being so so nice. And I told Tsunayoshi-san that I…I couldn't take it, a-and I-I didn't understand w-why." She moved her trembling hand up through her hair to claw her scalp. "K-kyoko-chan and H-haru-chan w-would be mad because t-they've been t-trying to g-get me t-to say-ay I'm not worthless, b-but I-I t-told Decimo I-I was." The sniffling started back up again along with desperate gulps of air. She regained her composure enough to look at her smudged black shoes sadly and whisper, "But…I'm not even supposed to exist…How can someone who's meant to be dea-d w-whose parents didn't even want t-them n-not be w-worthless?"

She didn't start crying again; Fran assumed it was because she ran out of bodily fluids that could be seeped out. However she started making whimpering kicked-animal noises.

Fran figured he should answer before she fainted. He squatted down to her level, and close enough so his jaw hovered over her bent head.

"Well. I don't think you're worthless. A little pitiful, but I like you. And I don't like really anything." Her head jolted up in astonishment. It was so fast and sudden that Fran wasn't given a chance to move. She hit Fran's jaw with top of her head sharply, enough to send him flopping backwards.

He didn't flinch or express any pain, but he did rub his jaw. "Geez U-Nagi you got a hard skull. You didn't give me a chance to finish and be a cool guy." His hand left his jaw and he used it in his 'duh' hand motion, "Grandma used to tell me stories about how friends help friends and whatever. It sounded stupid so I stopped listening. But it was something like that."

He was pushed back to the ground again when she tackled him into a hug. He squirmed in her grip, "Ah U-Nagi your heavy get off."

She did, but kissed him on the cheek first. Her smile wasn't the timid one it usually was, but the wide one he only got to see every so often. She stood up, and straightened her uniform skirt and shirt.

He touched his cheek where her lips had just been, "You're sure going through a lotta emotions today. You're like W.W. on her woman time."

She giggled and shook her head, "N-No I-I just realized t-that I'm w-where I belong right now." She bolted towards the door but waved over to the still sitting Fran. "I-I think I'm supposed to t-tell them now. See you tomorrow F-Fran!" She gave him that stunning, infectious, captivating smile again and left.

Fran didn't particularly think about what just happened. He decided a long time ago that he would never understand women. There was the slight discontent that he wasn't getting food today, but also he was very aware of the warmth that was once on his cheek. The way he remembered what the beginnings of his own smile felt like. Where the muscles just began to stretch a little, and his chapped lips stung when they spread. It faltered before it truly formed-but it was close.

The last thing was that she had said his name without any formalities.

He didn't remember what anticipation felt like, but lately he thought this was something near it. He couldn't necessarily feel it, but he thought this was the actions one would do. He found himself becoming distracted from his illusionary practice often to glance at the sun to check the time. With any sound reverberating within the creaking walls he would jump and charge towards where it came from.

Of course it was usually just a mouse or faulty floor boards.

When it was her though, he would make sure that he was doing something else. So he could show that he wasn't waiting for her visit. He was busy doing something when intruded.

Because he wasn't waiting, he wouldn't wait for some girl who was just a meal ticket. Some pathetic girl with a unique hidden personality who brought delicious bentos, he wouldn't wait for someone like that.

When he felt a presence behind him he spun around so fast that the weight of the apple made his neck pop. It wasn't her. Instead it was a man with a similar hairstyle but a devious smirk. He was pretty sure the only feeling he could really scrounge up was hate, and he hated this man.

It wasn't angered. He couldn't feel anger. It was just pure hate.

"Kufufufu, Fran have you been practicing your illusions?" He appeared in a flurry of indigo smoke, and strutted across the surface as if he owned the world. Which Fran supposed he could if he wanted to. He could even kill Fran if he wanted to. But it wasn't like he was afraid to die.

Wait…if he was dead, he wouldn't get to see U-Nagi anymore. He briefly wondered if see would cry; she did cry a lot. But what kind of tears would they be? That sick barely human being snapped him out of his epiphanies.

"Fran, are you listening?"

Fran shook his head, "Why would I listen to such a terrible person?" Mukuro stabbed his trident through the apple hat so far that the spears were visible on the other side. He threw Fran sideways dejecting his weapon at the last second to fling Fran's body with the maximum impact.

However, he was prepared-he had been prepared. He conjured two cushions, one under him, and one against the wall the side of his head was about to slam into.

"Well…you have been practicing. But you should've been able to create something cleverer than that by now." He looked more sickly amused than anything else. His eyes traveled down to the tiny stomach.

He poked it with the tip of his longest spear, "Where are you getting this food? I was expecting you to be skin and bones by now." He pulled the trident away and pulled the white handkerchief out of his pocket to polish it.

"I expected you to be begging for food, and even losing your pride and submitting to be an obedient student." He poked the fullness in his face this time. Though U-Nagi's bentos were the only meals he ate all day, it still gave him more weight (Not enough that a growing boy should have) than Mukuro expected.

"Someone is obviously feeding you," He leaned in close and pinched Fran's cheek, "Kufufu be a good boy and tell me who, so I can make sure they get a proper thank you."

Fran spit in his face.

That was enough to send Mukuro backwards. He took out the cloth again and cleaned the saliva off his face. Fran cleaned his own off with the back of his hand.

"I believe you have gotten even more of an annoyance since I was last here. I wonder who is such a bad influence." He pressed his trident against Fran's neck, and trapped him between the wall and the spikes.

"Surprisingly there are people who are not evil-ugly-fairies in this place."

"Why you little-" Mukuro's snarl was interrupted by one that had recently increased in volume but still held that unsure tone. Mukuro grip slacked as he turned around. He knew that voice, but he did not know the strength in it.

"Fran?"

From the light clicks of her footsteps Fran knew she had just entered. Not enough to hear or see both of them tucked away in the back sleeping room. The only windowless area in the entire amusement park, thankfully. He pushed the trident away from his face, and scrambled between Mukuro's legs and dashed out of the room. Mukuro tried to grasp his thin ankle, but Fran's nimble body evaded it.

When he saw Chrome, he latched onto her wrist and dragged her out of the building. They both were sprinting. She had to keep her hand on the double bento boxes(one for an apology for leaving so suddenly yesterday) to keep them from spilling over.

He kept pulling her along until they were far past the entrance of Kokuyo land and turned into a sideways pathway along the road. It was the only place where there was a break in the metal railing and led down to the river.

Mukuro could have caught up to them. He could have chased after them and killed Fran on the spot for such defiance. There were two reasons why he did not. One, he needed Fran to execute many future plans and pay offs from the Varia. Two, he was very curious about this relationship that developed between the two while he was gone. The best way was to learn was to observe.

He disguised himself as a speckled white owl and planted himself on a tree branch. He was hidden in the leaves, but still in ear shot of their conversation.

Chrome furrowed her eyebrows in confusion, and dusted herself off. She undid one shoe and emptied out the pebbles that had snuck in.

"Fran? What happened? What was that?"

He was fixing his hat that had fallen so far backwards that it revealed a chunk of his messy hair that was usually hidden, and fished out the rocks that had fallen into his pockets.

"A stink bomb Ken timed to go off was just about to. I found it." He lied effortlessly.

Chrome completely bought it, and graced the world with a grin, "Well that's good I suppose." Her satchel bag had been flung off her arm when they had tumbled down to the river. It lay a few foot up with its items splattered across the ground. She crawled up and collected them; Fran followed her.

The bentos had managed to survive except for a couple of sushi pieces and rice that seeped out. She scooped up the remaining food, and handed them both over to Fran.

"U-um I m-made t-two for an apology for leaving so early." She murmured and wrung her hands together.

He took a bite of one of the saved sushi. "I didn't know U-Nagi cooked."

"I-I um usually don't, but K-kyoko-chan t-taught me how to make one." Her voice shook a bit in the beginning but finished strong.

"They're better than Grandma's were."

A blush painted across her face. She was ruby red by the time Fran finished eating it. "T-thank you for eating!" She cried and bowed deeply so that her head almost smacked onto the ground. "I-I want to make them for everyone I-I like!"

Fran didn't say anything back. Partly because he didn't know what to say, and partly because something else concerned him. A bird was circling over their heads. When he got a better look at it he realized that it was an owl. Owls didn't circle.

He darted his glance back down before she could notice, and stood up. U-Nagi tilted her head to the side at his out of character actions.

"Something bad is about to happen." He beckoned for her to rise off the ground with him. She slipped and grabbed his much smaller hand to help her up. It wasn't much of use, because there was no way his strength could support even her light weight. Miraculously it managed to steady her and the two made it up the rocky path.

"You have to go, and don't meet me here tomorrow!" It was then that she noticed how big his eyes looked, how his small frame was inverted together and his arms were extended and pushing her away. "Meet me somewhere else, by the entrance for the road! I'll walk there."

She didn't know why, and she still couldn't tell if he was feeling anything. But his eyes looked like they were carrying a familiar panic, and his monotonous voice was sounding demanding. She obliged and with a concerned stare promised him that she'd meet him there tomorrow.

She wouldn't keep to her promise.

She arrived late. Her teacher had kept the entire class after school for when Enma and Tsuna-kun spilled over the wash bucket and an entire row of desks. It was a complete mess, and she knew that they would both be the target of bullying for weeks. On contrary, she thought it was fun being able to help her friends.

The sun was near setting now behind the hill. The orange and yellow light radiated over the top and crawled across the blue surface slowly transforming it into their own mesh of colors.

There was late afternoon traffic, and she had to run along the side of the street. Car horns honked at her and her dangerous position. She had been hit by a car once; she already knew what it felt like.

Fran wasn't at the designated meeting spot. Panic rose in her throat. Had she perhaps arrived too late? No, the boy constantly commented that he never had anything to do. Or maybe something bad had happened? She could still see the resemblance of fear in his eyes when he pushed her away.

She hurried towards Kokuyo Land.

He wasn't waiting outside for her. The area looked as desolate as always, even worse, as the number of vandals increased. She had seen one hit Fran once. He won without a scratch on his body.

She entered inside. She couldn't see the illusionary glow of the lights he usually created when night crept in. She deduced that he was nowhere on the bottom floor. She climbed up the broken stairs to Mukuro's office. It was empty and the last time she had been in here was when she first met him.

She smiled at the memory, and could taste the candy disappearing in her mouth. A voice cut through her reverie. One that was smooth as silk but as sharp as nails at the same time; that she hadn't heard in a long time.

"Kufufu Chrome, it's been awhile since you visited me."

"Mu-mukuro-sama?" She stuttered in a whisper. Her eyes widened. Her shoes slipped on the carpet, and she barely regained her balance.

He approached her with the steady steps of a predator. His devilish grin spread across thin lips. "I was expecting to hear from you so much sooner than this."

His being was overwhelming, and memories began to flash before her eyes. They were memories of him holding her while she wept, of him visiting her dreams, of him bringing her organs back to life. She wasn't sure if her mind was conjuring them on its own or if they were illusions of his doing.

"Fran t-told you t-that I've been visiting." The hesitance that she had recently lost was back in full throttle.

He tilted his head to the side and made an expression of what seemed to be genuine confusion. It was entirely false, but Chrome couldn't see past it.

"Fran? He hasn't said anything." They were nearly face to face now. As always when Mukuro came closer, there wasn't a warmness brought with him, but instead an icy cold that made goose bumps rise on her limbs.

She shook her head back and forth. "N-no he told m-me he d-did."

Then he grabbed her by the chin, and gently lifted her head upwards so their eyes met. There it was again, the look she had fallen in love with. His eyes that held endless depths of scorn, but now looked at her with concern that made her heart melt. "He never said anything. Why would he?" His voice dropped low to a hiss, "After all he is your replacement."

She snapped away. The world stopped moving for a second. She had experienced this before also. The denial, that no he was wrong, this was wrong, she was dreaming, she had to wake up. Mukuro could be cryptic, and above all else cruel. But he had never lied to her.

She dashed out of the room. Her knees buckled with every other step, and bile was rising in her throat. She thought she was going to vomit at one point, but instead she searched through the entire old amusement park. Fran was on the side near far from the entrance. He was practicing creating life again. This time they were small animals.

It disappeared when Chrome slapped him across the face. "You lied to me! Y-you lied to m-me! H-how could you?"

He had seen her cry a lot. He had seen sobs that were spawned from a scar that could never be healed, frustrated ones, panicked ones, and even ones that came from when she was too happy. But these were tears of anger. They didn't leave her bottom eyelids, but they built up about to spill over.

She wasn't using her breathe of a voice, but instead she was screaming, so loud that it was cracking under such strain.

When Chrome looked down she didn't see Fran that she wanted to hit. She saw a little boy fallen down with his knees up and one hand touching where her hand smacked him. She saw a child. He was an expressionless, unemotional, monotonous child.

She saw the boy she first met that offered her food, that she brought bentos everyday, that convinced her she wasn't worthless. He was her friend that she had told everything.

And even though she knew he couldn't grasp the concept of pain or express it; she knew that somewhere he must have felt it.

She left not out of anger, but of guilt.

She was late going back to Kyoko's. She ran into Tsuna on the way. He had told her that Reborn forced him out of his house with a gun. She figured it was no coincidence that they met.

The first thing he asked when he saw her was if she was okay. She certainly didn't look okay. Her hair was out of place from the wind blowing through it; she had tripped at some point and skinned her left knee and elbow, both of which were still bleeding. But whatever dirt that had sprayed up into her face from the fall was cleared away in streaks of water that leaked out of her eyes.

He brought her back home.

She explained everything, oddly able to keep her composure. Tsuna just had that effect on people. He was obviously uncomfortable at what how to respond, a thirteen year old boy wasn't the most talented at handling woman yet. Reborn pointed that out as he jumped through the window and kicked him in the head.

"Oi, no-good Tsuna you are useless in understanding the ways of woman!" At Tsuna's yelp and the loud thudding impact, her vision shot up from her tea to the two.

Reborn tipped his hat as a greeting, "Ciaossu, Chrome."

Tsuna was grabbing his head and muttering, "Ow ow ow…"

She raised her hand in a semi-wave, more distracted at the interaction between the two. Reborn was scolding his pupil rather violently on the ways he should have responded. She felt bad for him, and the bruises that would form.

She quickly spoke to prevent any more injuries, "T-Tsuna-kun, w-what would you do?"

Tsuna paused. Those big brown eyes began to glisten with something. It was sympathy-such sympathy that she had been taught only the Vongola sky guardian could posses. "I would go back…and," His voice turned strong and fierce, "I would apologize for hitting him! And then I would ask him why he lied!"

His eyes met hers and a feeling spread through her. It was reassurance? Courage? It was as if he was transferring the courage that embodied him to her.

She nodded in agreement. Their chatter was light hearted after. He got a giggle out of Chrome in an unintentional joke, and when it became dark he offered to escort her home. He became excited when he learned that he was escorting her to kyoko-chan's home.

She thought it was a little cute.

Neither of them heard Reborn behind them say with one of his wry grins, "Good job no good-tsuna."

She planned to do just as she was advised. She even brought a bento for him.

"Fran?" She called and started to search though out the building. He wasn't in any of his usual places. The garden was empty, so was the sleeping and living room. He wasn't sitting out in the front either. Maybe he had wandered down to the creek again. He told her sometimes before she came he liked to drift down stream. She told him that was dangerous. He shrugged.

As she walked out of the building she was stopped by a hand on her shoulder. It made her jump into the air with surprise. The young boy wasn't exactly tall enough to reach her shoulder or at least to wrap his fingers around the bone. She flipped around with a yell.

The smug smile of Mukuro greeted her, "My dear Chrome you're back so soon."

She pulled away from his touch, "I-I n-need to talk to F-Fran."

Mukuro placed his hand on the curve of her back and led her up the stairs to his office without another word. When she tried to repeat her question, he hushed her with a gentle shush.

"He's gone right now."

He sat in his rolling chair with his legs crossed. The foam was bursting out of the back and seat. One of the wheels was broken and it created for him to be slanted to the side. He offered her the chair across from his desk, but she shook her head.

She tried clarifying her reasons for being here, "I-I want to know why."

"Why what?"

"Wh-why he lied." She directed her gaze at the carpet. The auburn was stained with a number of unidentifiable substances.

Mukuro frowned, "That irritating kid does a lot of things for unintelligible reasons."

She didn't accept that as an answer, "U-um I need t-to talk to Fran please. D-do you know when he'll be back?"

He didn't respond this time. Instead he pulled open one of the desk draws. The piece of furniture was so old that at the motion it almost sprang loose from i's hinges. She heard a wrinkling noise and he placed the item behind his back. He changed his position to the front of the desk, and leaned on his hands against it.

He gave her a bouquet.

The arrangement was wrapped in news paper and tied with a shoelace string, a rather unappealing look, but the flowers were the prettiest ones she had ever seen.

There were sixteen. They had pastel pink petals with large luminous yellow centers. The petal shapes were abnormal; half were sharp enough to scratch someone and the other rounded and beautiful. There was one exception to the mix, a violet flower stood out in the center. It wasn't oddly shaped like the others, but instead it was normal and perfect.

She instantly knew who they were from.

"Fran left yesterday evening to join what he calls the tooth-fungi group-the Varia in Italy. He probably won't be back for years. He wanted you to have those. "

Mukuro expected her to drop the flowers and press against his chest. For her to clutch onto his arms, and through sobs plead for him to let her stay. He would pet her hair, and agree until she stopped weeping.

Instead she just stared at the bouquet that was so lightly grasped between her palms that the paper wasn't even crinkled. Her face looked impassive and lifeless.

She looked like Fran.

He plucked one of the flowers out of her hands and twirled it in his fingers, "Now that he's gone, you can return." He smiled with a certain knowledge that demanded respect and fear. He placed the flower behind her ear and stroked her cheek.

She didn't answer. Instead she pressed the flowers to her chest and walked away with droplets of tears silently rolling down her face.

So...that was it :D Please review! I thought it was...bittersweet? Yeah that's a word. Did I say review? I meant that.