Never Enough

Disclaimer: Don't ow KHR, or ANYTHING related to it.

Rating: K

Pairing: 6996 (or, for people not so good with numbers, MukuChrome)

Author's Note: My god...Put "Cherish" by Ai Otsuka, with some clips from Episode 51 of Katekyo Hitman Reborn, and we've got a winner, here. Plus, I've been roleplaying with a very good Chrome-friend. She inspired me. This is for her.

An illusion, within an illusion. A real one.

Nonetheless, when Mukuro was alone with the Mist's female, in her room, at the base, he wanted nothing more than to actually be just more than that illusion; no matter how real it felt, it wasn't enough.

Dual colored eyes focused upon a gloved hand, fingers curling, then unfurling. His breath was soft with something along nervousness- insecurity. This was something the Illusionist wasn't very familiar with, the feeling of being anxious, unsure. His features hardened, eyes closing.

It couldn't be enough.

Not for Nagi-

Nor himself.

He could hear ger breathing, soft and hesitant, only two feet away. There they were, sitting almost side-by-side, on the girl's bed. Nothing to say. All Mukuro knew was that his Chrome had summoned him for comfort. Perhaps, even if in silence, it was something, but for him...

Mukuro wanted to know what was wrong. Why Chrome was being so quiet, and with him, no less. So, he sighed, opened his eyes, and glanced to her.

"Nagi...speak to me," he murmured.

When she shifted to say something, he could feel her uncertainty, that feel of angst. He could only wait patiently for her- give her that claim that his attention was indeed there. So, when she turned to face him, Mukuro could only do the same in return. The two locked eyes, a mirror image. His stomach turned, or would have, if he were 'there'. Again...An illusion.

"M-Mukuro-sama..."

Chrome was trembling, her own hands clasped tightly in her lap, fingers wringing. What Mukuro could to ease that, he didn't know at the moment. But, the male would try for her. He nodded, as she went to continue.

"I...I can't...begin to explain this, but...," she paused. It set off something inside him, her face, her tone. Confusion. "I'm...afraid."

Of course, somewhere along the line of the Estraneo, Ken, Chikusa, Mukuro knew he could relate. How and exactly when, he couldn't remember, but it was there. The fear. Perhaps...?

Ever so gently, he took her hands in his own, then cupped them. His eyes wandered downward. Such a strong girl in his eyes, yet such delicate hands. Small, elegant fingers...pale, and if Mukuro didn't know what they could do...fragile. His mind couldn't even begin to fathom the thought of them, if covered in blood. His hands, holding her own, a foreign feeling in itself, almost impure. A shiver set through his spine.

"Frightened of...?"

"J-Just...The future...E-Everything, Mukuro-sama."

And, to hear her hushed voice say such things. His little, darling, sweet Chrome, the one he had given life to. Saved from fate's cruel judgement, her own wish. Slowly, Mukuro pulled his hands away, the bought his gloved hand to his lips. Teeth took hold of his index finger, tugging. The black leather pulled without resistance, and soon it was bare. Again, with the next hand, until the set of gloves was cast aside, completely forgotten.

Mukuro took up her hands once more. The sensation was something for both of them, their digits twined. Chrome's touch; he would have shuddered, but Mukuro was too taken by just the awe. As he could remind himself, here they were, together. Alone. Something pulled at him- more.

"Why so?"

"...with my...o-organs...And, M-My ring...M-Mukuro-sama...I'm holding...myself up, and I'm...I..."

Then, it came. The male illusionist saw them, creeping onto her thick lashes, her ample, rosen cheeks. Tears. He wanted to say something, anything. Never had Rokudo Mukuro once been speechless.

"Wh-What...What if, M-Mukuro-sama?"

"...if?"

Her grip on their hold tightened. Chrome slowly went into a stream of tears, and a hiccup escaped her throat. That pain Mukuro could see ate him. Illusion, or not, if he could touch her...Somehow, tell her everything would be alright.

"...Y-You...are never...free?"

Now, Mukuro could account for it. In his chest, throat, torso. That fear.

Like him, it was that scared notion of confinment. Being alone. When the male truly realized it, though, his hands slipped from hers. The bed creaked.

"Mukuro...sama?"

Mukuro's eyes wandered back to his hands. He curled his fingers, then again, unfurled them. If just an illusion...more than anything else. His ideals of reality and fantasy were beginning to fall on him. For a first, this blatant unfulfilled fear began to infect him, but, before, Mukuro could have said he couldn't feel pain. Maybe, it just applied to physical, but...

He couldn't do anything else.

He wanted more.

His arms took the girl with an embrace, pulling her tightly agaist his body. He could feel it all; Chrome's quickening heartbeat, the warmth of her nervous breath agaist his throat, that well known shivering. A simple facade would have to suffice. Mukuro's lips pressed to her ear, and in a pained whisper, he chuckled.

"Silly Nagi..."

Mukuro would never tell her, he'd agree.

An illusion, within an illusion. Real, or not...It wasn't enough.

End: /facepalm I am a sucker for these two. They're just oe of those pairings you can't hate. I mean, look and Mukuro, then at Chrome. It's like that cute little thing, where you lace your fingers together, and see how perfectly they fit. Please Review. It'll give me more inspiration for another 6996, or two.