Hello there dear Hitman Reborn! fans and readers alike, Fiorella here or you can just call me Fiore~ This is my first fic for this website and for this anime series so I am both nervous/excited on jumping into this pairing since apparently it is very popular (although not so in the actual storyline). Still, I am a huge fan of Chrome/Hibari therefore I hope to you who read my little fic could give me your review and constructive criticism. Both are welcomed, if you please. Therefore without further ado, please enjoy~

Untainted

Snow fell down little by little as a pair of mother and child walked together down a deserted park. The daughter was holding her mother's hand while staring nonchalantly at the falling snows. An outsider who was watching this would consider the scene as a loving mother bringing her daughter out for a walk around the neighbourhood but in reality it is nothing close to that. The 'bringing her daughter out for a walk' bit is true though but it is not out of love.

The harshness of her mother's hand and the vice-like grip was all little six years old Nagi need to know that her mother was angry about something, usually in Nagi's case; everything.

Still, little Nagi mustered up the courage to speak, to ask what was bothering her mother. Innocent lilac eyes met with a cold, hard stare and a single sentence was uttered, forever changed little Nagi's world.

"I wish you weren't born."

"Hah!" Chrome immediately opened her lone eye and bolted up, panting and sweating heavily.

A dream. It has been many years since Chrome had one and it turns out to be a nightmare. No, not a nightmare...It was more like a broken memory. She shook her head and wiped the few trickles of sweat on her face.

Her sight was still hazy as she squinted to see in the dimly-lit room. She was still on her bed, still under her blanket, still in the bare, lonely room. No one was around. Not her mother, not Mukuro-sama, not even Ken and Chikusa. Just her. Alone.

"It's all in the past...nothing to worry about..." She breathed quietly.

Sighing to herself, Chrome's heartbeat finally returned to normal and she turned to look at her alarm clock. 7 o'clock in the morning... She had overslept for two hours; no doubt it was that dream's fault. Silently, she got out of bed and headed to the bathroom. A quick shower was what she needed now before her important regular meeting with the other Guardians.

Ten years. In a blink of an eye everyone had changed, matured. Chrome had grown her hair out (although she maintained her short spikes just above her head) and she believed she had at least grown a few more inches in height. Her skinny figure did not change though as she has the habit of skipping meals every day and her skin is as pale as ever, making her look more and more like a sickly ghost.

However more than herself, she thought that Boss was the one who had changed a lot.

The Boss that Chrome had known in her younger years was someone who cares a lot for his family members, who would challenge another famiglia for his friends' sake despite being a coward and a pushover, and most importantly, would blush furiously whenever Chrome kisses (or tries to kiss) him. Now, Sawada Tsunayoshi stands as the head of the Vongola Famiglia, the strongest mafia organization the world had known. A strong, brave and independent man (although he still maintains his quirks despite the maturity ten years had given him).

Still, Chrome's unquestionable reverence for her Boss had not changed, if only it had grown stronger over the years. He had, after all, been the first person other than Mukuro-sama to have accepted her (even, as family) and had put his trust in her when no other would. It is because of her admiration towards the man that, after a couple of months of solitude and keeping her distance from the other family members, Chrome finally relented and agreed to attend the meeting as it had been Boss who had called her.

Chrome sat quietly in the corner of the guest room of the main family mansion, the headquarters of the current Vongola which was situated in Namimori, Japan. Boss had changed the main HQ from Italy to Japan for several purposes; mainly because it is easier for him to do his job in familiar grounds and because the Cloud Guardian refuses to leave Japan (out of his weird obsession for Namimori). Hours passed since she arrived and she merely entertained herself by playing with her illusionary puppets (a hobby she picked up over the years after waiting for Mukuro-sama for so long). Her thoughts however, focussed solely on her strategy on how to avoid conversing with the other family members.

It is not because she dislikes her fellow guardians or anything but it is because she did not know how to mingle with them. Simply put, all those years of living alone after Mukuro-sama had left made Chrome felt unsociable and unneeded. Unneeded, that's right...just like how her mother did not need her anymore...

Her gloomy thoughts were interrupted when someone had opened the door. Chrome slowly dissolve her illusions and turned her lone eye towards the door revealing the Rain Guardian. Yamamoto Takeshi peered into the room and his eyes fell upon the Mist Guardian. A natural smile crept up and although the years had made his features more mature than he ever was, that smile still makes him look like the young boy he was ten years ago.

Chrome could not help but to smile a little back at the man as he made his way towards her. The rain Guardian propped himself on the sofa next to her, the smile hadn't left his face.

"Yo Chrome! Looks like we're the first ones to arrive huh?" The Rain Guardian stretched his arms and yawned openly despite the company in the room. Open honesty has always been Yamamoto Takeshi's greatest (In Chrome's opinion) quality. He was not ashamed of what he speaks of or does not feel that he should be embarrassed by simple actions such as yawning widely in public. Some part of Chrome deep down envied the tall man, often wishing she could be as easygoing and energetic as he is.

"I thought I would be the last one here." Chrome answered quietly, her lone eye watching her companion curiously. She had half-expected the rest of the Guardians to have been present and had the meeting ongoing already but much to her surprise she had been informed by Boss that Gokudera Hayato had made a mistake by sending her the wrong time schedule (ironically due to him being out of time to head out on a mission with Boss).

"Really? I thought Tsuna said the meeting starts at 12 o'clock." Yamamoto scratched his head thoughtfully.

"Well apparently the St- Gokudera-san made a mistake." Chrome corrected her way in calling Gokudera's name. After years of mingling with the other Guardians (no matter how few and far between) she had been tutored by her Boss on properly calling the names of her companions instead of giving them nicknames.

"That rarely happens, Gokudera never makes mistakes." Yamamoto grinned at the thought.

"Well he did and I've been waiting for all of you since this morning."

Yamamoto nodded his head in understanding as Chrome shifted her gaze towards her feet, which she suddenly found to be very interesting. She felt awkward, tense but strangely happy on the fact that she managed to hold a decent conversation with another human being. Maybe if she's lucky he'd ask about her well-being or random questions such as-

A loud rumble interrupted her train of thought. A deep, red blush suddenly crept up her face at an exceedingly fast rate as she pressed her tummy. Oh please God tell me that he didn't hear that-

"Uh...Chrome?" Yamamoto began quietly. Chrome shuts her lone eye immediately and silently prayed that he would not say what he's about to say to her. "Are you hungry?"

Her eye snapped open and there was no mistaking the huge blush on her face. Yamamoto was taken aback at first but immediately cracked his natural smile as Chrome fidgeted and was absentmindedly twirling her hair wildly.

"W-Well I came here as soon as I woke up a-and I didn't exactly have the time to go out and get breakfast since I thought I'd be late for the meeting if I did and-" She didn't exactly manage to finish her rambling as Yamamoto laughed loudly, his hands clutching his stomach.

Chrome felt a bit put off by his action, a frown slowly forming on her face and puffing her cheeks slightly in a childish manner. The blush hasn't really left her face as she twiddled her fingers together, looking at the ground embarrassedly. "You don't have to laugh..." She mumbled.

Yamamoto was yet again taken back. He felt his own face warm up as the girl in front him pouted. To him her actions were very adorable and he had never seen the female Mist Guardian actually reacted to his laughter before (in reality he barely even seen the girl these days). Resisting the sudden urge to pin her down and do inappropriate things, Yamamoto hastily tried to clear his mind and hid his own blush before she could see it.

"S-Sorry I didn't mean any harm by it though! Really, I didn't!" He added the last part in after she turned her eye to look at him, a look of disbelief etched on her face. His laughter died out quickly as a drop of sweat ran down his face, fearing that he might have made the girl mad.

Chrome sighed. She really needed to work on her people skills seeing as she even made the bubbly Yamamoto feel awkward around her. She had meant to give him a questioning look but judging from his reaction she had made him nervous instead. It didn't help matter too that her stomach rumbled again. This time she quickly pressed it with both hands, wanting to stop the horrifying noise it was making.

"You know what, it so happens we still have some time until the meeting starts."

Yamamoto stood up, patting the back of his black suit as he did so. He eyed Chrome thoughtfully for a moment before offering his hand to the girl.

"Eh?"

She looked up to meet Yamamoto's eyes, unsure of what he wanted her to do.

"C'mon, I know a great restaurant close by that makes a mean breakfast, I mean brunch, what time is it again? Ah who cares, let's just go!"

Again, Chrome couldn't help but be reminded of the younger Yamamoto, childish and innocent, as he seemed to be bobbing on the spot waiting for her to accept his invitation.

"Are you sure it's okay? Boss will arrive anytime now..."

She was tempted to go with him but on the other hand she didn't want to disappoint Boss by being late on purpose.

"I can give you a very accurate prediction now that the meeting would start very late due to a mishap caused by Lambo."

Chrome raised an eyebrow at his statement.

"It happens every time. Trust me."

Yamamoto held his hand out still, waiting patiently for her to take it.

Trust me.

Chrome had heard that line many times before in the past.

As Nagi, when he mother uttered those words, then abandoned her to her fate in the hospital.

As Chrome, when Mukuro-sama uttered those words, then abandoned her at his leisure after his release from the Vindice prison.

Yes, Chrome was sceptical and highly doubtful of people who said those words. Her hands started to sweat and her frown deepened, only to disappear when she realized that what Yamamoto meant for was a whole different matter.

Wiping the sweats off quickly, Chrome gave a small smile and lightly placed her hand in his. Rough yet gentle hand wrapped around Chrome's delicate one and she slowly rose from her armchair.

She was slightly surprised by how big his hand was (notably due to the fact that she had not have any skin contact with another human being for so long) and her blush quickly came back as Yamamoto firmly led her out of the room.

Maybe she really does need to work on her social skills.

Sawada Tsunayoshi pinched the bridge of his nose as he witnessed the scene before him. The 'supposed' meeting room was in a mess and the 'supposed' agenda had been long forgotten. How it had transpired even he was still unsure about it.

He had just arrived to HQ and walked into the meeting room, expecting to see his friends already seated and waiting for him. Instead he found Gokudera, his right-hand man, strangling and muttering curses at his own partner the young Lightning Guardian Lambo.

The room smelt faintly of burnt papers and Tsuna had to guess that Lambo had yet again stole some of Gokudera's cigarettes and apparently tried to lit it in here (the young teenager had taken an interest in that bad habit after watching Gokudera smoking all these years). The old 1900 mahogany tea-table that was set across the room had been Tsuna's favourite, yet it was now broken in half with Lambo presumably had been thrown over it by Gokudera.

To make matters worse Tsuna saw at the corner of his eyes the Cloud Guardian looked like he was ready to kill someone. Hibari Kyouya was twitching (yes, twitching) in his very seat as his lips thinned dangerously for every seconds that passed over the scuffle that is happening. Tsuna saw his hands searching his own pockets (no doubt for his ring and box weapon) and the glare Hibari gave him was enough to send chills down Tsuna's spine.

Thankfully, Tsuna thought, that at least Onii-san was trying to calm the situation down (which does not happen often seeing as he is usually in the heat of the argument, mainly with Gokudera or their allied family Simon's Aoba Koyo). The Sun Guardian Sasagawa Ryohei had tore the two apart and had stretched his arm out to full length in order to keep Gokudera away from reaching Lambo's neck.

It was at this moment Tsuna wondered how Gokudera could stay being Lambo's guardian and partner seeing as he had nothing but criticism and physical abuse waiting for the young Bovinno every time he screwed something up. Maybe it's the Vongola ring's chemistry...after all the Storm is like a brother to the Lightning. Tsuna thought absentmindedly as he allowed Onii-san to lecture the two Guardians and his eyes wandered around the room.

He noted that a few people were missing. Rokudo Mukuro, granted, had not yet returned from his mission in Italy with the former Arcobaleno (Seven strongest babies in the world) Verde. Instead, his young protégé and the Varia's newest member Fran had taken his place to relay any information to his master.

The young boy seemed disconnected from the happenings inside the room as he was looking outside the window while spinning on the turning office chair he had apparently conjured up. Tsuna could see his lips moving but he was not facing anyone nor was his voice audible enough for any person in the room to hear. It was then that Tsuna decided to leave the boy be, for fear of his answer should someone ask about it.

Other than Mukuro, it seems that the only other people missing are-

"See? Told you they haven't started yet."

The Rain Guardian entered the room lazily accompanied by the female Mist Guardian. Yamamoto stopped in his track to look at the apparently crazy scene and merely gave a short bark of a laugh while Chrome looked quite surprised (and a little bit scared, Tsuna thought) as she shifted slightly behind Yamamoto.

"I take it we came just in time?" Yamamoto grinned at Tsuna.

Tsuna could only manage a wry smile as he nodded and gave a short, yet audible, cough. The room instantly quieted down as everyone turned to look at him.

Gokudera made a panicked look and immediately pulled Lambo to his feet, then forcefully pushed the boy into his seat. He then quickly disposed of the burnt papers by throwing them outside of the window (he'll have to pick those up later) and made a beeline towards his own seat right next to Tsuna's.

Chrome felt slightly awed at the power her Boss apparently possesses over his Guardians. She noted that other than Hibari-san, the others seemed to show a lot of respect towards him. Even Fran had stopped spinning in his chair and gave his fullest attention.

"J-Juudaime! I apologize that you have to bear witness to such a shameful scene! It was supposed to be my job to get this meeting ready but I had failed to do so!"

Gokudera-san bowed shortly in his seat, unable to look at Boss in the eyes. Chrome had noted his habit of always wanting the best for Boss, and his devotion for the man is something else entirely.

She watched quietly as Boss waved his hands and saying "It's okay" while Lambo mumbled something about "nearly suffocated..." which earned him another death glare by Gokudera-san.

Chrome kept quiet while stealthily made her way to her seat in between of Fran and Lambo, not wanting to attract any attention of the other Guardians. However, her plan failed when she accidentally made eye contact with the Cloud Guardian.

The male stared coldly at her, making Chrome shiver inwardly. Maybe he saw something of Mukuro-sama in her as his eyebrows twitched repeatedly every time she blinked. He still held the grudge of ten years ago for losing to the famed illusionist and having Chrome in the same room as Hibari is probably too much for him. His eyes did not leave her until Fran jumped up and gave her a big hug.

"It's been so long Chrome-san."

The boy had more power than she thought as he lifted her up. Chrome gave a small smile as she patted his frog-shaped hat.

Even after splitting up with the Kokuyo Gang she had managed to befriend the young boy. She happened to bump into him in Kokuyo Land one day when she visited Ken and Chikusa (although Mukuro-sama was there at the time she did not want meet him due to a certain complicated rason). While strolling inside her former home Chrome had been knocked down by a sudden tackle (that was actually Fran making himself invisible and running away from Mukuro-sama).

Out of courtesy and knowing full well what her former saviour and idol could do to the poor boy she had hidden him with her illusion. Both their powers combined had covered his presence completely that it still surprises Chrome until this very day on how powerful Fran could be if he mastered his ability (Mukuro-sama had been circling the base for hours not knowing that Fran was just laying down on the sofa right in front of his eyes). Later on he took a great liking to her and often ran to stay at her apartment whenever Mukuro-sama blew his top over Fran's pranks.

Chrome appreciated the company but having Fran around meant that she was constantly reminded on how her former master favours him more than her. It pains Chrome to think about it as she too took a great liking to Fran. After many months of crashing at Chrome's place did Fran finally understood her feelings and out of respect, only visited once in a while to check up on her.

"It has hasn't it? How are you Fran?" Chrome asked in a barely audible voice (probably because she had the winds knocked out of her from the hug).

"Hmm it's okay. At least Master Pineapple-head isn't around to stab my head with his pitchfork today."

Ah. She had forgotten that Mukuro-sama was absent today (something about a mission in Italy involving rival Families). She felt a strange mixture of disappointment and relief.

"I see...so you're representing him?"

She felt her heart grew heavy at the thought. Fran being Mukuro-sama's favoured representative, not her.

"We both are, don't you know what this meeting's agenda is?"

Chrome shook her head and Fran merely looked at her curiously. Their conversation though ended when Boss gave another audible cough, signalling for their attention again. The Guardians present turned their heads to look at him, looking extremely serious (even Yamamoto-san).

Boss watched us quietly for awhile before nodding at Gokudera-san, who stood up and handed each of them what was left of the papers that had earlier caught fire. He then resumed his own seat (not before smacking Lambo's head, probably for his mishap again).

"Well, now that all of us are here-"

"The damned illusionist is absent."

Hibari-san voiced out, his eyes were not looking at Boss but at her. Chrome felt the chills coming back as his eyes seems to burn a hole on her face. Timidly she quickly made a pleading look at Boss, hoping that he could save her. Yes, she was officially scared of the Cloud Guardian.

Thankfully Boss seemed to have caught on and quickly came to her rescue.

"Mukuro-san is currently in Italy. Verde-san had requested for his help on a certain mission that requires the expertise of a master illusionist. Therefore Chrome and Fran-kun is here as his representatives."

"So he sent his useless student to skip this herbivore gathering, but what use is the broken puppet? I thought he had thrown her away a long time ago?"

Chrome felt her heart sinking further and if it was possible, imaginary knives stabbed her all over. Broken puppet. She thought it was a fitting title for her. Her eye started to tear up as she hung her head low. He had a point, why is she here in the first place? Fran was more than enough and officially has more eligibility to represent Mukuro-sama. Why bother calling for her? She was nowhere near Mukuro-sama or Fran's level and Hibari-san had made it clear she was not needed here.

Yamamoto, who had been sitting quietly for awhile now, saw the downcast expression of Chrome and frowned at Hibari.

"That's going a bit too far isn't it Hibari? After all Tsuna did invite her and she is still one-half of the Mist Guardian."

Hibari made a noncommittal shrug and tore his eyes away from the female Guardian.

"She's taking up space. I hate crowding. Besides I don't think she's strong enough to replace the damned illusionist let alone his failure of a student here."

Yamamoto merely sighed then turned his eyes again towards Chrome. Tears were streaming down her face silently but only he and Hibari could see it (as she sat at the far corner of the table and he was sitting next to Hibari, opposite of her). He felt the need to cheer her up but it would be improper to stand up and interrupt the meeting just to console her. Besides, he wouldn't want to draw attention to the female seeing as the others had resumed the meeting as if Hibari had not made the comment at all (something about a reconnaissance mission on a rival family).

Hibari though, could not understand the reasoning of the Rain Guardian. He had only stated out facts (albeit a bit rough) and really did not see the point of the female's presence at all. If anything, it made him even more distracted.

Coming to the meeting (or in his mind, herbivore gathering) had already caused a huge amount of annoyance to the Foundation leader. As if to further test the limits of his patience, two of the herbivores had started some sort of commotion that is clearly against Namimori set rules and regulations. Finally what had got him was the sudden appearance of Chrome Dokuro.

Truth be told he had no interest in the female (other than the fact that she was once Rokudo Mukuro's favourite toy). It had been months, perhaps close to a year, since he last saw her and the two's schedule and mission were often different. His was focused mainly on desecrating and destroying enemies openly as hers was more on infiltrations and spying.

Neither harbouring the thought nor feelings of concern for the female before, why was he now so bothered with just her presence? Her scent too, had become entirely different. It used to have the same smell of Mukuro (which had irked him to no end), now she smelled of lilacs and completely devoid of Mukuro.

He felt at ease and at the same time annoyed by it. No, feelings are for herbivores. He has no time to entertain such measly activities such as pursuing female companionship. It is utterly ridiculous and shows many signs of weaknesses.

So instead, he decided to put her down. It enables him to suppress his preposterous urges of biting the female and at the same time focus on his hatred for Rokudo Mukuro.

"Boss..."

Chrome's voice was more like a squeak, perhaps due to the emotional instability she is in right now.

"If I'm not needed here than I might as well go...I don't think I can be of use to you since Fran is here..."

Broken. Unneeded. Replaced. Thrown away.

She couldn't bear to think of such a thing but at least she and Hibari-san were on the same page that she could not measure up to Mukuro-sama's level (or even Fran's at that). She stood up and was getting ready to leave when –

"Actually I do need you Chrome."

Deadened eye was suddenly filled with a small ray of hope. Confusion stirred inside of her yet she remained quiet. Her hand was still on the doorknob as she looked at her Boss.

He was smiling as he rummaged through the papers. As he found what he was looking for, he quickly whispered something to Gokudera-san (whose eyebrows rose in surprise but he nodded anyways). He then turned back to Chrome.

"There has been recent reports that a certain Famiglia had arrived in Japan a couple of days ago under Verde-san's surveillance. We believed it is the same family that Mukuro-san had been asked to investigate together with Verde-san."

Boss paused for a moment I nodded is response, showing that I was keeping up with him.

"Well the thing is some of them managed to give Mukuro-san the slip back in Venice and he err...has a bit of trouble getting back here on time and seeing as it was only a small group that had escaped him, he felt it was unnecessary for him to handle it alone and requested for help."

Chrome's eye lingers for a moment at Fran. Perhaps Boss had noticed her gaze and added, "No, Fran is here for another matter. Actually...he requested for you."

Light. Her heart felt warmer, full of hope. She could feel it pounding wildly inside her chest as she inhaled sharply. Mukuro-sama had requested for my help...

Whatever feeling of happiness or how excited she was at the request made by her former master Chrome did not show it outwardly. Instead she merely nodded, wiping the last few teardrops on her face and sat back down.

"What do I have to do?"

"Just surveillance and of course we need you to track them down first. We know they are already in Japan but we believed their reason for being here is related to the Vongola so we'd expect to see them in Namimori soon."

Boss beckoned for her to come closer, and so she did. She stood up and slowly made her way to Boss (The Cloud had started glaring at her again). He handed her a thin file which she took and held it firmly in her left hand.

"That contains everything you need to know; the family's history, known members, activities and such."

Chrome nodded her head, gripping the file tighter as if she feared it would suddenly disappear from her.

"Boss...what's the name of this enemy family though?"

She had to ask. Gokudera-san made a snorting noise telling her that Boss must have said it when the meeting had just began and she was clearly not paying attention (too busy pitying herself). She blushed at her own ignorance but Boss shook his head and gave her a kind smile.

"The Pentiti Famiglia. We have very little intelligence on them hence the lack of important details we could give you." He pointed at the file she was holding. "That's why we are sending you to gain more knowledge on them."

"An odd name for a family..." Chrome mused as she brushed her hair away from her lone eye. Boss nodded his head as his fingers intertwined in front of him, deep in thought.

"Those that have repented. Well...details are sketchy so...all the best? But Chrome," Tsuna gave her a piercing stare. "I don't want you to do anything dangerous or put yourself at risk in any situation. Retreat is sometime the best option."

He studied the female from top to bottom. She looked pale and as always, sickly. His instincts to protect her not as her superior, but as a brother and a friend came in full-throttle. He had disagreed with Mukuro's suggestion of using Chrome as a spy in this mission. Granted it was merely to study the enemy family but Tsuna had an uneasy feeling that it would not be as simple as that. Finally he was forced to submit as Gokudera had pointed out that none of the other Guardians were free, and that as one-half of the Mist Guardian Chrome was more than fit for this covert mission. Still, he disapproves of putting her in any risks (heck he was still worrying about having Lambo fighting in the front lines these days).

"Don't worry Boss, I'll stay in the shadows. If anything goes wrong I'm sure I'll be able to pull through...hopefully."

Her response only increases Tsuna's worry. He watched as she bowed slightly and made her way out of the meeting room. He did not miss Hibari-san's glare at the girl however, his eyes following after her figure even when she already left. Perhaps he needs to consider a safety measure for Chrome...just in case.

Only when she had left the mansion did she let go of the breath she had unconsciously held. Her heart was still beating madly but her face was calm as ever, keeping a poker face was a trademark of hers on duty. So Mukuro-sama had asked for her specifically...

Her blush though, needs some working on. She closed her eye for a moment, feeling the slight breeze in the air blew her hair gently. Thinking back, the meeting had not been that bad (well, maybe Hibari-san could have been a bit nicer...) and she had made some progress with Yamamoto-san. Their friendship level had somewhat improved and that thought puts a smile on her face.

That giddy feeling however, was short-lived. Chrome felt a sudden chill down her spine and her self-preservation instincts immediately perked up. It was a heavy, ominous feeling to the point that she felt the very aura is set to kill her. Panicking slightly as if a helpless animal preyed upon by a predator, she looked around to identify what had caused her the uneasiness.

Lone eye trailed back to the Vongola mansion and there he stood. Behind a glassed window on the second floor was Hibari Kyoya. The breeze did not feel as gentle nor did the sun feel as warm as their eyes locked on each other.

Chrome did not know what she did wrong but she could feel the murderous intent of Hibari-san from far away. The feeling of dread increased as he continued to only glare at her, neither blinking nor moving. She gulped nervously as she made some sort of recognition to the man, but he did not respond to her bow. She had to tear her eye away from his and as quickly as she could, she scampered off to the safety of a nearby park.

Any illusions of befriending him was immediately squashed for Chrome understood it all too well. The feeling of being unwanted, unneeded and of being disposed off after usage. She was fearful of Hibari Kyoya.

And so little Nagi let go of her mother's hand, not feeling the warmth it had provided just a second ago. She was not as little as her mother thought, understanding the meaning behind her words.

A slip of the tongue. A moment of carelessness. Time that can never be taken back.

Her mother looked appalled, realizing what she had just said to her daughter.

Too late. A life shattered forevermore.