Disclaimer:
I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn. It is by Amano Akira.
A/N:
I'm currently rewriting this story. Thus, I took down the original three chapters and updated this new first chapter.
Basically because: (1) when I sat down to write the fourth chapter, which was almost a year since the third one, and a long time ago since now, I wasn't very happy with them. Since I've already taken ages to update, might as well rewrite them to my liking; (2) truth is I had to make an effort to reconnect myself with the story. Reborn ending so abruptly (and very disappointing end at that) didn't help at all. This story was lost. But I promised myself this series will never be abandoned unless I die unexpectedly or Kyouya manage to bite me to death for taking forever.
Long story short, I'm trying to get back to writing this one. And the only thing I could sort of promise is that I won't abandon the series. It might take me awhile to update though.
ANOTHER NOTE:
Story picks up from Chapter 282 of Reborn (Farewell, Future).
~.~.~.~
Finding Chrome
Star-crossed Voyager
Home. The word felt strange against her tongue. She had no use of it. Yet somehow the thought of it now was flicking flames of comfort in her head. One hand on her trident, the other inside her pocket. She traced the inscriptions in the rings she declined to wear. Everybody else wore their Vongola ring and their box weapon (now also in the form of a ring). Her fingers were bare. It felt different. But it was fine. Somehow it was fine. She was going home. Wherever that home maybe.
Irie Shouichi was smiling. His expression was heavy with gratitude and reverence. Chrome had to look away. Technically, she had time-traveled before. That's how she came to this future. Still the idea of travelling through time made her uneasy. Mukuro-sama had been right again. Ignorance, indeed, is a bliss. They could have just shot them all with that malfunctioning bazooka without warning them and spared them of the anxiety.
Or perhaps not, she thought as she looked around. The boss seemed frantic but she wasn't sure if it is the prospect of travel that he's being frantic about. Yamamoto-kun was smiling. He's always smiling, if not then he's laughing. Gokudera-kun looked like he's furious over something. Or maybe someone. Only Sasagawa-kun appeared enthusiastic. He's always enthusiastic with virtually everything. Hibari-kun seemed impatient. Or maybe just uncomfortable. They are huddled together after all. Kyoko-chan and Haru-chan were holding I-pin and Lambo respectively, smiling those sweet smiles of theirs.
She never really had any memory of how the time travelling happens. She braced herself for the impact as the Shouichi man announced the time wrap start.
There was none.
Only a blinding flash of light that engulfed them so brightly she had to close her eyes. Then there was no light or sound, and it was not exactly darkness either. Only the feel of gusts of force against practically every molecule in her body, and there was the brief wonder of whether she still has a body at all. It was suffocating, that heavy weight wrapping itself around her. All these were happening at the same time, in a span of seconds, or one, and feeling like eternity because suddenly she no longer have a sense of time altogether.
Just as abrupt as it came it was silent again, the normal sort of silence, as light flickered and died off as soon as it started. The sensations overwhelming her one breath ago was lost again in the briefness of memory.
Before she could open her eyes to familiar surroundings, a piercing stab of pain in her abdomen shot through her. The sensation of her illusionary organs bursting to nothingness. It happened so sudden that her thoughts were still on opening her eyes when she passed out.
~.~.~.~
His physical body had been immobile for years, bound in the water-world prison of Vindice, but Mukuro Rokudo jolted upright as he felt his power spurt into nothing, at the exact same moment that the memories of the future were blasted in his mind.
The sensation of drowning sounded ironic to him as he gasped for breath, figuratively.
His little Chrome.
He can sort the flood of information later. But. His little Chrome.
Something is happening to his little Chrome.
~.~.~.~
The room was quite again. The younger of the men, still crouched, lifted a sheathed katana from the floor. He expected it to look a little different from the katana of this world. He didn't expect it to be anything he could recognize, as a matter of fact.
The other man had stood up. His arms already folded upon his chest as he began to pace the length of the room in his slow thinking pace. The tense air from earlier lingered and even thickened.
"But we got a blade indeed." said the young man. He turned the sheathed katana in his hands. "Are you calculating the possibility of coincidence?"
The older man gave a short chuckle. "And your sarcasm abounds still. Despite possibly being wrong all along. I commend your nerves."
"We have a blade from the exact coordinates in the exact time. Tell me how it happened."
"Tell me how a woman ended up here."
The younger man stood up, glancing only briefly at the woman on the floor.
"Or perhaps she is the intended blade? The spirit of the katana?"
"You spoke of my sarcasm when your own is blatant enough it is almost visible."
Another short chuckle. "Tell me why and how you are confident that we indeed got the blade. Spare me the speech that you are for you had lost her for the information."
The younger threw the katana to the other, intending to hit him but failed. The other man caught the katana with a snigger.
"Draw the katana," the young man's eyes gleamed like silver of the blade, "and confirm for yourself, why don't you?"
He could have chuckled again, if not for a surge of power in the room that seemed to have sprung from within. Solid and potent and urgent. It dissipated as soon as it came. The sensation stilled both of them and killed off their ready arguments. They waited and waited, not moving a limb. Every single sound was pronounced in the silence. Including their own breaths. Nothing happened.
The older man tightened his grip of the katana. "Let's do as planned."
The younger man crouched back to the floor and regarded the woman. Her clothes, at least, appeared foreign to him. But only the clothes.
~.~.~.~
She came out of her sleep slowly. Halfway through fighting to open her eyes, she wondered for she don't remember having had fallen asleep. The room came to her view in blurred images. It was when she had properly awake that she glanced around the room. It was a tatami room. A large but almost empty traditional tatami room.
She sighed. Maybe she was having hallucinations in her sleep. Curse her ability to conjure images in her dreams. Mukuro-sama always said a true illusionist can conjure a world in his mind that is truer than what normal people call reality. She doubted this made her anymore a better illusionist. She pushed the warm quilt off her and stretched languidly. It was then that she had become aware of her clothes. A long-sleeved mandarin-collared red top (duangua) with white Chinese frogs buttons and white pants (kuzi).
The chorus of the early morning chirps of birds outside ceased in Chrome's ears.
There are no tatami rooms in Kokuyo Land. There are no Chinese-looking clothes in her closet.
She collapsed back to her bed and almost sobbed.
Wasn't that Shouichi man supposed to be a genius?
She stared at the ceiling again. "Again?" Tears clouded her eyes at the thought. At least she could have ended up in Kokuyo Land again. That would have been better.
"Mukuro-sama?" The fretfulness in her thoughts echoed in her head. "Mukuro-sama."
The sound of birds chirping was there again. Only faintly as she blocked off the world.
"Mukuro-sama…"
She felt the silence crawl in her skin. Desperate, she brought her palms to cover her face. If only to give the illusion of nothingness. Only it merely let another misfortune dawn upon her.
"Oh." She held her hands above her head. The trembling in her limbs worsened. Of course her rings weren't there. She always makes the most stupid mistakes as she did then. Why had she not worn them! She was struck by a great urge to pull her hair off and she almost did, when she realized that her trident wasn't anywhere in sight either.
This is even tenfold worst than her first unfortunate time travel experience. Maybe that Shouichi guy was really a genius, which made his mistakes more profound. Why does she have to be the receiving end of his failures?
A thought made her sat up. What happened to the others then? Are they here too? Where is this here anyway? She scrambled out of bed quickly and headed to the door.
"But," she thought, her steps faltered, "if I'm still in the future why can't I talk to Mukuro-sama?" She always had been able to. Even when she just got to the future, Mukuro-sama was there. Now it is different. She closed her eyes and searched for her master in her head almost madly.
The silence that resonated in her head only magnified the absence of any voice or presence in her head other than herself.
Just then, the shouji door opened.
Chrome looked.
A young woman appeared by the door. She bowed politely, "Ohayou gozaimasu oujo-san."
The girl should be around a year or two younger than her. Her long black hair tied in a pair of braids, something that made her too familiar. It is in that consideration that Chrome was stuck. She was quite sure she had seen the girl before.
"Master will see you before noon. Let me help you around." Her voice was warm and friendly.
"And distant." Chrome thought. Then she realized she is yet to return the greeting. She bowed in turn, albeit late and in a rush. She was still standing in the middle of the room.
The girl smiled obligingly, "Follow me when you are ready."
"Right," she thought again. The young girl offered to help her around. Chrome looked at the girl again. She does not look like a servant at all. Not with the way she watched Chrome so directly. Not with the way she stood up, dignified and assured. Chrome is not exactly slow in the uptake. She simply has the tendency to get stuck with the details.
"The temple is a maze until you get used to it."
Chrome wondered if she had zoned out too long and the girl had been speaking since earlier, that she had caught only her last sentence. So she's in a temple somehow. Chrome stood rooted in her spot, unable to act and react.
"Whenever you are ready."
Of course. She was supposed to follow her because the temple is a maze. Funny, as if she isn't already lost. Chrome bowed again, "I'm severely sorry. I'm -…" she discovered she didn't exactly know what she is going to say as she bowed again.
The girl smiled again, less politely this time and more playful. "You must not act so terrified. Master is a kind person."
"Master?" Chrome sighed. The only master in her head is her Mukuro-sama. Could it be? A small flicker of hope came to her.
As Chrome approached the door, the girl spoke, "I'm I-pin by the way. If you will not find it rude of me, may I ask your name?"
"I'm sorry?" Chrome was too stunned to stop her inquiry, "Your name is?"
"I-pin."
The girl had said it so clearly that Chrome stared at her even if the room seemed to spin casually.
"I-pin?"
The girl smiled again. "It's quite a peculiar name indeed. I was told often."
Chrome was caught between asking for her name again and commenting that her name may be more common than she thought.
"You are?"
"Chrome." Confused and astonished, her name sounded almost like a question.
~.~.~.~
She had been, to her horror, staring at the girl so brazenly in her shock. While she occasionally stared at a curious subject, she so rarely did it openly. Always and always at a distance. Then again, it is as rare that she is with somebody in close physical proximity.
"I'm sorry," she bowed again in apology for the fifth time since earlier.
I-pin soothed her with a smile.
Chrome noted the good humor in her eyes, as if this I-pin was finding her apologies funny. Or she is finding her funny altogether.
"Master had asked me to personally assist you. You came here in rather peculiar circumstances."
"I came here?" Thoughts of whether she is looking ridiculous to the girl and thoughts of the girl herself ceased their mad dance in her head. She let out a small sigh as she followed I-pin to wherever they were going. I-pin was still talking and so often smiled. The I-pin standing in front of her, she realized after several more minutes of blatant study, is the splitting image of the older I-pin she occasionally saw when she gets switched with her younger self - but without the handkerchief she usually uses to cover her hair and the pot of the noodles for Uncle Kawahira. The thoughts stirred a curious feeling in her guts. This I-pin is wearing something similar to what she was wearing right now, Chinese clothes and all. Except that I-pin wore a white sash (Yao Dai) while she wore none. She wondered again what this I-pin is in this temple.
I-pin rounded to the corridor in the right. "It was quite unusual indeed." she said, "Students usually come here in the beginning of spring. "
Cool air breezed through her face as they exited the temple. The morning was pleasant and warm. Like an embrace of a mother. They followed a path lined with cedars that must be of hundreds of years in age, towering above them in what seemed like endless lines of green.
"Master." I-pin called out in greeting as she bowed to the tall middle-aged man standing like a king before what appears to be a shrine.
The man turned towards them and bowed in return. "Thank you I-pin."
Chrome had a feeling the man should be familiar to her. I-pin was smiling but her face glowed with so much respect and reverence towards the man that Chrome smiled too. Sympathetically. Chrome felt a strong echo of I-pin's veneration to her master as she does to her's.
"Master Fon is a kind man. Do not be afraid." It was I-pin's voice as much as what she said that snatched Chrome to the present again.
"Fon?"It was a relief that Chrome was so used to talking in her head rather than aloud. Otherwise she could have blurted out the question in a tone both incredulous and perhaps disrespectful. "That's one of the Arcobalenos!" She racked her brain for the name and she was sure it was one of the weird babies. But she never saw any of them in their supposedly true grown-up state. Amidst these thoughts she remembered how she knew Fon. He was I-pin's, the child I-pin that she knew, master.
Speaking of I-pin, she turned to Chrome again in a warmer smile, one for a friend or an acquaintance, then bowed and turned to leave.
She was left to ponder on her remembrance and to watch the man called Fon, who smiled so slightly yet so kindly at her.
It was her realization that his mouth moved more than his voice than Chrome realized he spoke.
Her absent mindedness embarrassed her. As always. "Pardon?" Her voice squeaked in its smallness.
"Follow me." He repeated. His smile was still that slight kind but his face could not be more accepting.
When Chrome bowed to acknowledge his order, he gestured to the shrine. Chrome followed behind him.
It wasn't as magnanimous as the main structure I-pin referred to as the temple but it was as confusing. While there were no long corridors, the turns they took were sharp and many. The fear of getting lost drove off Chrome's thoughts and she concentrated on following Fon as closely as she thought was acceptable.
She almost sighed in relief when Fon stopped by a door and slid it open.
"Please take a seat." Fon motioned her as they stepped inside. He promptly disappeared to an adjoining room.
Chrome stood in her spot as she willed herself to breathe and calm down. She wasn't nervous but she wasn't calm either. She was surprised to see that the door behind her was closed. She had no memory of Fon closing it, if it was he who did. She was sure it wasn't her who closed it. She sat as directed and with as much discreet as she was used to having, she studied the room. The room had no windows or candles or any source of light but the room was not dark. There was enough light that she could see him clearly as he came back holding something wrapped in what looked like a dark-colored cloth. He sat across her and lay what he was holding before her.
She looked at him, too uncertain to talk.
He gestured towards the bundle before them. Only then did she unwrap it.
The faint light of the room did not aid her. She only saw properly what was there when she had fully unwrapped it.
Her Kokuyo uniform.
The familiar brownish green clothes rendered her unable to think for several moments.
Fon took her distraction to watch her. She raised her hands towards the uniform and touched it so tenderly. The emotion it elicited from her openly blazed in her eye. The sincerity of it touched his heart. He marveled at the innocence and naivety of her countenance but did not miss a stronger atmosphere beneath the openly passionate eye. He watched her eye again and wondered if the girl knew what she is capable. She had taken the garments to her lap. Her face was honest and open, as if he did not exist anymore.
"I had asked you be changed to what is customary clothing in this place." He said to recall her back.
Chrome looked up at him. A dim shadow passing her face, blocking the openness in her expression.
He smiled at the change. "I am Fon." He gave her a more polite yet stately smile, "You are?"
Chrome summoned a corresponding smile. "My name?"
There was hesitation in her tone.
"Yes."
The bewilderment that fell to her again at the question and the feel of the worn cloth of her uniform suggested to her attention the apparent absence of the distinctive pacifier the Arcobalenos wore. That is upon the assumption that this Fon is the same Fon as the one she knows to be the Storm Guardian of the Arcobaleno. And in retrospect the I-pin she met earlier is the same apprentice of the usually red-garbed Arcobaleno. She looked him over hastily. Through the dim light she could still be sure that this Fon wore the same shade of red. He was watching her silently, patiently like how one would watch a child waiting for it to speak as instructed. "Oh." She muttered, remembering that she was indeed questioned. She bowed promptly in apology, then spoke, "I am Chrome Dukuro."
She wondered how wrong her answer had been for his face took that considering look again though it could easily just be the muted lighting of the room. The pieces gradually fitted in her head in a very painful and slow manner. If indeed this is Fon, of perhaps another time or another place, how could he not know her? For it was apparent that this man did not know her. No idea of who she is. In her first unannounced and sudden time travel, in the future, they knew her. The people in the future knew who she was. That she was the Mist Guardian of the Tenth Vongola. The thought struck her yet again. How the importance of the title appeared to be quite important and substantial to her existence. She barely thought of it before that she was very much surprised.
Inside the room, even the sound of the wind outside and the songs of the birds were no more than shadows of a hum. But these were lost to her as she was lost in her thoughts. Fon said nothing. He sat in silence and observance. She had raised her old uniform to her chest and hugged it.
"Are you not going to take your katana as well?"
The voice broke through her reverie again and the question too.
Chrome glanced at him still holding her old uniform on her chest, "But I do not have any katana."
He regarded her again but Chrome saw how blank the expression was despite the smile. Blank in a way that she could read it but not blank without emotion.
"You brought this with you." He said, in a quiet and even voice. He gestured towards the material she had unwrapped her uniform from.
There was a katana. She seemed to have missed its presence earlier.
"I don't have a katana." She said again. Chrome was more lost than she already is. Did her trident just become a katana? She wasn't aware it had shape shifting capacity. The man called Fon seemed to be considering again and she felt guilty for giving him reason to cross his face with those expression that she was inclined to claim the katana despite everything. "I'll – I'll bring the katana." she said. Her hands were already on the sheathed katana as she spoke. It felt foreign in her hands – odd and heavy. She pushed the thoughts aside in favor of looking back at Fon.
"Bring the katana then." He said. His tone was measuring and his smile tentative. "You may keep your old garments but they are quite odd for the temple."
Her thoughts jumbled again and she groped for words to no avail.
Her frustration must have crept to her face since Fon said, "You may retire to your room. I shall send I-pin to help you around. You will join the rest of the students tomorrow." He regarded her briefly, "You may want to wear your katana. It belongs to this environment."
She nodded, unable to trust her voice.
They still sat and Chrome realized that she was to move first. She bowed briefly then stood up and stopped again. She wondered what she was supposed to do next. Her company of the late was so unmindful of manner that she almost lost touch of minding the correctness of them. But she grew up in a world of manners. One learns many things that are never unlearned. Particularly in the face of a figure such as this man who commands respect without being intimidating. Chrome felt obliged to act accordingly. To her relief, Fon stood up and gave a slight bow, perhaps only as acknowledgement then gestured her to the door. She followed after him.
~.~.~.~
Chrome wasn't aware when she lost Fon, only that when she turned from the cedar lined alley she was alone. She saw I-pin supervising a group of six girls, sparring by pairs. They were using bokken. The katana in her arms felt heavy. She never held a katana before but she never thought it would weigh so much. The wind blew gently around her. It whispered. It taunted. She clutched her old uniform and the katana tighter to her chest and crossed the hallway hurriedly before I-pin catches sight of her.
She must have taken a wrong turn through the identical hallways of the temple because she was now somewhere else and she doesn't have any idea where her room ought to have been. She took care to sneak a look in a hallway before going in, just in case she's not supposed to be there at all. But it was a maze as I-pin had said. It was a maze indeed. This hallway was dark and quiet. For a moment she basked in its peace and its uncertainty until its stillness suggested that it was not the place for her. She turned back.
Her Mukuro-sama always told her that when lost it is best to retrace your steps and it was what she did now. But even the seemingly menial task of retracing her way was difficult. With much effort and mental debate, Chrome found herself watching I-pin dismiss the students. She sighed loudly.
I-pin waved at her when she saw her. She replied with a relieved smile.
"How did your talk with Master went?"
"Quite," Chrome made a mental flashback in her head, "quite fine."
"It did take quite a long time." I-pin glanced at the sky.
The sun was almost overhead.
"It didn't really take that long. I got lost when I went back."
I-pin stifled an amused laugh.
Chrome felt her cheeks heat up and her heart warm up at this stranger.
"I'm sorry." I-pin muttered though Chrome can still hear amusement in her voice.
"I'm sorry, I guess." Chrome said. "I will have to ask you to lead me to my room."
I-pin smiled. It brightened up her fair face very much. "I think we can leave your bundle in your room and I can show you around. It's still an hour or so before lunch."
Chrome took her invitation with as much pleasure as nervousness. She couldn't quite place her emotions of the circumstances and the place, as much as she cannot for the people.
She tucked her confusion on the side when I-pin started her tour. It was as much as she can do to survive in this unfamiliar place. Her room was separate from the students' quarter which was on the opposite wing. I-pin said she would have to move after she was formally introduced tomorrow. She will share a room with two other.
Chrome wondered if I-pin have no idea that she is not from this place altogether. She studied the young girl as they walked on. There are many things impossible to tell of a person at first meeting or several more meetings after. She knew one thing about people, that thing was what she observed her Mukuro-sama liked. I-pin sometimes glanced at her between her words. Her eyes were warm. She half laughs when Chrome looks lost. She pauses in her tour speech whenever that happens, just like this moment.
Chrome wrangled her hands together briefly, "Do you always do this?"
"This? You mean this tour?"
"Yes."
"Not really. I don't usually assist students around. It's the seniors' responsibility. But I don't mind. It's fun. Besides the students are in the thick of their training at this time of the year. You shouldn't worry about it though since you already have your katana." I-pin regarded her with a glance then continued, "You must have been educated in private. It's not unusual that they send their pupils for the final year to the temple though they normally do during spring."
Chrome nodded.
"Have you been told of the routine? It's not very different from others."
"I'd like to hear, if you don't mind."
"Not at all." I-pin led them to another hallway, opposite the dark one she stumbled on earlier. "This is the North Wing. Not really because it's facing the north. They just called it that. It's the second oldest part of the temple. The training begins one hour before sunrise, therefore it differs during different seasons." She winked at Chrome, "Because we need to understand the energy of nature and all. Of course, you must have come rather late last night. I understand why you had woken up later than must."
"You didn't see me arrive?"
I-pin chuckled. "That's why I said you must have arrived very late indeed. What time did you arrive by the way?"
Chrome felt her face heat up. That's why she doesn't speak much. Talking brings trouble.
"There you go." I-pin said. She laughed at Chrome's blushing face and went back to her tour speeches.
It was perhaps two hours later including lunch before Chrome found herself in her room.
Her old school uniform and the katana were bundled in a corner. She felt the tatami room dissolve to empty space, leaving her suspended. She shook her head and willed the illusion to disappear. The tatami room dissolved back to shape as she took her Kokuyo uniform in her hands. The katana was an ominous object. She felt extremely uneasy around it. She willed her mind to see it as her trident for the meantime. The thought of her trident reminded her of something else. A sense of hope bloomed in her chest and soothed her. She felt a silent sense of calmness spread from her to the room. The shape of trident beside her became sharper and the sinister aura of the katana blurred away in her anticipation.
She laid her clothes on the floor and smoothed the fabric tenderly. It felt nicely rough against her palms. She had gone a couple or so times over and over again when it struck her. She promptly searched the pockets of the skirt. The trident next to her slowly lost its shape.
The pockets were empty. The katana was there again with the ominous sensation it evokes.
It took her several moments before there was none that she could do to stop the horrible feeling from creeping up in her spine and settling in her core– the rings are gone.
~.~.~.~
It was impossible to cry. It was impossible to tell what exactly she was feeling at the moment. She heaved another long sigh. Her eyes heat up with tears again, only they never seem to fall. Tears are useless. They only exhaust you after all and she needs least of all to be exhausted. She let her thoughts run around in her head again. They stumbled upon each other and crashed. She tucked her old uniform between her chest and her drawn knees. It felt cold against her chest. Unsymphatetic. The katana was left in its corner. It only added yet again to her many confusion.
Her rings. How can they be gone? Chrome closed her eyes forcefully. There was no darkness when she summoned it. The air still felt warm from the afternoon. What will the Vongola do to her if they ever find out? The Vongola Ring of the Mist. It wasn't so much of the ring as it was about the people. Mukuro-sama will be enraged. Boss will be disappointed. There was a heavy and sinking feeling that never left her gut. Somewhere in her head, she heard herself say, if they ever find out that is. She sighed again. Where exactly is she? She suppressed the jumble of thoughts that rose with the question. If only her master answers her right now, it will be enlightening. If anybody could answer her right now, as a matter of fact. If anybody could just tell her.
And this Fon, this I-pin. Perhaps they only share the name after all. Perhaps. Because she never saw what Fon she knew looked like when he's not a baby. And I-pin. She only saw I-pin as a child. It could have been her imagination that this I-pin looks like the older I-pin she knew. Memory is a fallible thing. It must never be trusted.
She hugged her knees closer to her chest still and dropped her head down. "What should I think about?" she murmured, invoking the image of Kokuyo Land in around her. The tatami room stayed, quiet, like a monster listening and waiting. The rustling of the wind outside sounded sluggish. The stillness was maddening.
She grew tired of sitting. Her feet felt numb and when she stood up, her skin felt like being prickled with needles. By the time the sensation faded, her mind was blissfully blank. She pushed away the idea of thinking and reveled in the capacity not to think. It was like floating in space, tumbling around in the no gravity environment. Her eyes grew impassive and they had an unpleasantly vacant expression when she got out of her room and wandered around.
The surroundings weren't exactly alien. The sky was still up there. The trees grew in the grounds. She stood at her feet. The air was breathable. The birds chirped the way she remembered them except some made some different sounds. It made her feel worst.
She found herself walking the deserted main hall. It was a large open room with several hallways leading away. The soft padding of her feet against the hardwood floor was lost to her. There was barely any human sound she could hear. The soft rustling of the afternoon breeze was cool and gentle. It led her outside. It was a beautiful afternoon, if she had been in the mood for some sightseeing. She kept walking without direction or destination, just as blank as her mind is of the moment. It soon took no effort to push away the tumble of thoughts. The main structure of the temple was connected by narrow shaded pathways to several other structures. She crossed the nearest pathway she could get to.
~.~.~.~
She stared at the door for minutes, lost in her effort not to think. It looked like the door I-pin had shown her earlier, the one that led to a garden. The wood on this door was more worn out. It felt rough against her palm when she touched it. She retracted her hand when she was to push it open. There was no particular reason why. She felt light and peaceful without the burden of thinking and her thoughts.
The door opened.
Chrome quite literally jumped out.
Fon looked half amused at the young woman's reaction. The other half was his surprise at the speed of her reaction.
"Good afternoon Chrome-san."
Still in her not-thinking mode, Chrome felt the peaceful aura of the man. It was her instinct kicking in when she had reacted to the sudden movement and his presence calmed her easily. She did not realize she had been staring at him for a minute or so then. Realizing it made her blush furiously in shame. She promptly bowed low and mumbled her apology several times.
She only stopped when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked up at the master of the temple, still red in shame.
"Were you lost?"
"No. I am not, Fon-dono. I-pin had –" Chrome made haste to recall her brain to think. "she had showed me around before lunch. I was –" she felt her face heat up again, "I was walking around…"
Fon's smile was reassuring. "You seem troubled."
"Troubled is an understatement." She thought promptly. Her jumble of thoughts came crashing through her head. She winced at the weight of it.
"A walk can help." Fon gestured towards a manicured garden, almost similar to one I-pin had shown her earlier.
Chrome breathed a sigh and followed the older man.
She was suddenly aware of the coolness of the wind even with the sun still well up the sky. The rustle of the leaves of the tall trees was soothing. Her mind was still hazy with her questions but it was like a calm sea through a heavy fog. Regardless, she could feel the calmness of the sea. It was comforting. She could bask in the comfort of it forever. The temple, as it seemed, was situated at the upslope of a mountain. And so the wind was cool. The respectful silence of the man beside her was humbling. She felt a kind of reverence to him similar but unlike her reverence to her master or her respect to her boss. Similar but different in a way.
"Fon-dono." She started. They had gone some distance from the door. The temple blended with the forest, she realized. It wasn't a temple garden. It was a temple in a mountain indeed. She was reminded of the old temples in the mountains in her country.
The man nodded at her, as if sensing her question and giving her the indication to continue.
It was with effort that she did. It was difficult to pull off a question from the jumble of her thoughts. It was even more difficult to phrase a question without being desperate. It usually isn't her nature to speak her mind and that made it even worst for her.
The man beside her walked in a leisure stride, patient and obliging. It extended a peculiar feeling of security.
"How did I come here?" It was almost a plea and not a question. Chrome felt very embarrassed.
"You were brought here. I was amused you slept your way through."
Chrome found herself glancing at the source of the voice. She could feel the coolness of the wind by the expression on his face. His solemn smile never faltered. He felt so kind. Chrome looked away before speaking. "Who brought me here?"
There was a pause in his step before he continued with his walk. "Indeed. You were unconscious when you came here."
A slight, very slight change in the tone. Chrome twisted her fingers around. "Who brought me here?"
Fon stopped.
Chrome looked down to her feet briefly before addressing the man. "What am I doing here? Where am I?"
Fon turned to look at her properly. "You do not know this place?"
She shook her head.
"Or what this place is for?"
She shooke her head again. He's going to think I'm crazy, she thought bitterly, Mukuro-sama, what should I do?
Her master did not reply. Her head was silent yet loud with questions. How could her master abandon her right now? She shook her head at the thought. Her master will never abandon her. Her Mukuro-sama will never do that. She breathed a sigh slowly then spoke, "I believe I may not be from here."
In another circumstance it would have been amusing to see the man raise a brow in question.
"I mean I may not be from here –" Of course she is not from here. She just got in this place last night. She sighed another. "I may not be from this – " she hesitated and waited for a word that may not sound too ridiculous. Then said, "– this world."
Fon folded his arms against his chest and regarded her, raised brow lowered. "Where are you from then?"
"Japan?" She looked at him with the same confusion.
"Japan?"
"Nippon?" Chrome thought the exchange is becoming funny but she could not laugh.
Fon looked at her thoughtfully. "That's the name of your world?"
"My country." Though she was partly raised in Italy, she had lived most of her life in Japan. In fact, she was born in Japan. "What –" If her master was listening, he would be severely amused indeed. "What is this place called?"
"This place?" The sides of his lips were quirking upwards at the tone of the conversation. "Gassan. Country of Yamato."
It gave her enormous comfort that Fon seemed to be amused more than alienated.
"How do you reckon you came here?"
"Something went wrong I think. I was travelling from the future. I was to go back to my time." Chrome felt a terrible sensation sank in the pit of her stomach at the recollection. She should be home by now. The word felt horrible and sad.
Fon was quiet at this revelation. When he spoke, he said, "Did you arrive in this world with the katana?"
How could she know? She doesn't even remember coming in this world at all. "I don't know."
"The katana is not yours? You did not bring it with you?"
"No."
"Have you seen it before?"
"I have seen katana before. I don't exactly know much of their differences."
He nodded and relapsed to another thoughtful silence.
"I think I may have lost something though."
"Yes?"
"My rings. They were in the pocket of my skirt. My old one. The one you gave me this morning."
There was a pause in the man before he spoke. "Rings?"
"Family –" How the word brought a grave weight in her heart. "Family ring."
Fon nodded his understanding. A shadow passed in his face for a brief second. It went away just as quick. Or maybe Chrome had imagined it all along.
A loud tolling of bells rang, cutting their silence.
"That is the dusk bell." Fon said. "It signals to be ready for the evening."
Chrome looked up at him, eager to be told.
"I suppose you will have to stay here in the meantime."
It will be comfort to stay under this man's wing, Chrome thought, comfort amidst the confusion.
Fon regarded her with a sympathetic smile. "If it will not be inconvenient, you can bring that katana with you. It will blend you well with the temple."
Chrome nodded again. She understood that from her conversation with I-pin.
"I will be glad to take you as my student."
Something fluttered badly in Chrome's chest. "Will I have to call you Master?" She never called anybody else the title except her Mukuro-sama.
"You will call me Master when you are officially my student. For now, you are a guest here and simple courtesies will do just fine."
Chrome bowed her head to the man. It will be an honor to be this man's student but to call another the name for her Mukuro-sama sent terrible feelings in her.
"Do you think you can find your way to your room?" he asked as they started back to the temple.
"I-pin-san showed me around."
"That's good then. If you can, may I ask you to ask I-pin to speak to me after dinner. The inner room at the West Shrine."
Chrome nodded respectfully.
"I will have to apologize for not joining everyone for dinner."
The walk back seemed very short compared to earlier. Or perhaps it was because her mind was muddled up earlier. Or maybe time is simply relative.
~.~.~.~
It took her hours chasing sleep but not even fatigue and confusion was able to lull her to sleep. It helped her nerves that somebody knows her predicament but it did not help for he holds no answer either. The katana was in front in her as she sat crossed-legged on her futon. She thought of her master and his absent voice in her head, and of Kokuyo Land, of Ken and Chikusa. She thought of the child I-pin. She tried to remember if indeed the image of the I-pin in this temple is the same as the teenage I-pin they occasionally saw. She thought of Lambo, who so often fought with I-pin the way small children always fight. She thought of Kyoko and Haru. It was always these two and her that would pry the children from each other when they fought. She thought of her Boss, and her fellow guardians, who had stood next to her hours ago, ready to come back to the time they truly belong. It was agonizing to think of them. It was miserable to sit in the empty tatami room with nothing but images conjured in her head for company. She tried to replace the room with the Vongola base from the future but her illusions were simply images without the Vongola Ring.
A loud crash wiped out her images. Then there were distinct sound of stomping feet and rush of people. The door to her room was wretched open. I-pin rushed inside, "The temple is being attacked! Quick!"
Chrome did stand up quick and made a dash after I-pin, grabbing the katana in an afterthought.
The short hallway from her room was deserted but the sound of fighting was loud. I-pin was several paces ahead of her. Chrome made effort to keep up.
"We have to find Master!" I-pin shouted loud enough for Chrome to hear above the noise of fighting.
Students were out of their quarters. The younger ones were evacuated. The older ones were fighting. I-pin and Chrome rounded up a corner just as two masked katana-wielding men jumped before them. I-pin moved in reflex, dodging the incoming katana slash and retaliating with a kick in the man's abdomen as she side-stepped. Chrome swung the sheathed katana to the man rushing towards her and jumped up, landing behind him. The move surprised I-pin but it was barely the proper time to be bothered of it. Chrome had stood up from her landing, spinning promptly towards her opponent. Her battle reflexes were still fresh from her training with Bianchi and Chrome mentally thanked her in her head. Chrome regarded the sheathed katana for a moment – she had never drawn a katana before - her weapon was a trident. Briefly, she caught I-pin send a hand signal to her. Chrome shifted, holding the sheathed katana on the side. Her earlier blow had sent her opponent several steps backwards but he was quick to recover. He spun in quick circle, rushing towards her right away. A quick slash but she rolled on the floor, opposite the direction of the katana, smashing the sheathed katana to the nearest leg of her opponent. It made a loud smacking sound. I-pin paused a moment until Chrome was on her side. Both their opponents dashed forward. Chrome saw I-pin perform hand movements. Familiar ones. Not a second later, both men seemed to have uncoordinated movements.
Gyoza-Kempo, Chrome thought, so this I-pin knows how to use it as well.
I-pin rushed forward. Chrome followed suit. Both of them sent their opponents flying.
"To the door!" I-pin was already running again.
The door opened to a large garden, much like the one in the North Wing. I-pin was the first to reach the grounds. Fon would have been easy to spot – his usual red garb would stand out just about anywhere and so does his distinct peaceful aura. The moon shone in vivid silver on the whole of the area. There was no Fon in the grounds. There was no one. Both Chrome and I-pin tensed at that. At least ten men surrounded them before either of them could move but I-pin was just as quick, knocking half with a single blow of Gyoza-Kempo. The brief moment of surprise paralyzed Chrome. She clenched her fingers and willed her flame to fuel her illusion, only to realize that the Ring was not with her. Her grip of the sheathed katana made her feel helpless. The katana is an unknown weapon to her. Her trident was all she ever wielded. Her momentary stillness had her separated from I-pin, who was now battling two swordsmen – barehanded – with competence that surprised Chrome. To fight a swordsman with no weapon at all –
"Chrome! What are you doing?!" I-pin called out in disbelief, "Draw your katana!"
She barely was able to dodge an incoming katana slash when I-pin called her attention. Her right hand flew to the hilt of the katana. She never used a katana before but she understood she could not possible manage to fight swordsmen with no weapon as I-pin does. She jumped away as another man rushed towards her but another was already waiting for her to descend from her jump. She gripped the hilt tightly. A sharp glint of silver flickered as the blade met the shimmering light of the moon. Chrome felt a surge of intense energy crash through her as she swung the katana down to the waiting swordsman. Her movements were solely on instinct and few memories of the Vongola Rain Guardian's fights. There was no grace in her act but she was able to drive her opponent to his knees. She caught herself as she landed, shifting easily out of reach of the other men. Chrome gripped the katana tighter. The force of the earlier attack wasn't all her's and she knew that enough. A strong urge to return the katana to its sheath kept pulsing in her but her opponents were already clambering towards her. She swung the katana in front of her, cancelling the incoming slashes. I-pin threw a quick glance at Chrome, who by then shifted forward after a strong clang of katana against katana. I-pin saw her move, swinging her katana again, this time too high to be aiming for a body slash.
I-pin felt a quiet shiver in her body at the bloody sight. But she was a fighter too. She had seen the scene before. She ran to Chrome as the latter fell to her knees.
Chrome did not look up as I-pin approached.
I-pin hesitated calling out to Chrome. Violence and bloodlust were oozing from Chrome that I-pin felt it was another person. It was hard to reconcile the image with the woman wielding a katana in front of her now with the girl she had met earlier that day.
Her grip of the katana was so tight now that her knuckles were turning white. She felt a hand on her shoulder and she had to fight with all her might to not raise the katana on the person. Because it was I-pin. She was aware of that but she had to fight hard against another will in her that wanted to swing the katana.
"Move away I-pin-san."
I-pin sensed the struggle in her voice and wondered why it was present there. Chrome was crouched on the floor, the katana propped in front of her, blood dripping from its blade. When I-pin was far beyond the reach of the katana if she would swing it, Chrome raised it again and forced it to its sheath. I-pin saw the relief wash on her face as she stumbled to stand straight again. The change in the expression in her eyes puzzled her.
A loud bang had them rolling away from each other. I-pin easily regained her footing though the cloud of smoke prevented her from moving right away. Chrome could still feel the bloodlust throbbing in her veins rendering her unstable. Her senses were yet to settle. She couldn't see I-pin through the thick smoke but she could make out bodies moving towards her.
"Mukuro-sama." She called out the name in her head. Her master would always – always – come to her rescue. Always. The words echoed in her head, through the emptiness of what her master used to occupy. She could hear them. She could feel them coming. She clenched her eyes shut and braced herself for the impact. Better that than draw the katana again.
A loud smack of steel against skin echoed. I-pin screamed her name.
A figure hovered above her – back upon her.
"Mukuro-sama?" She barely heard her own whisper, her heart beating in wild happiness. Her master – always...
"What is your katana doing in its sheath, herbivore?"
Herbivore?Both the word and the tone sounded frighteningly familiar.
"Hibari-senpai!"
Chrome could hear relief in I-pin's voice as she approached them.
"Hibari?"
"Leave the temple." Chrome did not know whether he was talking to her or to I-pin. He spoke again, addressing I-pin. "Head to the Vongola."
"Vongola!"She felt her heart skip a beat at the name and felt even more peculiar with the strange feel of relief and nostalgia, and fear.
"But – "
"That order was from him." A brief pause as he started moving, the smoke now cleared.
I-pin hesitated for a moment then gestured for her to move out but Chrome remained still for several moments as she took in his appearance. He wore a coat over his yukata, just like how he wore a gakuran top over his uniform in her world. He wields the same weapon, his eyes bore the same feral glint and his face reflected the same thirst for violence.
"Chrome." I-pin's voice was laced with urgency.
She heard movements that weren't from either the three of them and so she ran to I-pin without another glance to the man but in her head his title kept repeating itself.
It wasn't her Mukuro-sama. This time, her savoir was…
"The Cloud Guardian…"
~.~.~.~
A/N:
Series title based from the William Gibson's Burning Chrome.
I'll be using the English equivalents of parts of katana because most of us are more familiar of them. For instance, most have a ready mental image to a guard than when it is referred to as tsuba. Given that I'll take the liberty to use some of Japanese names for the parts too. Saya to refer to the scabbard (or the sheath), sageo for the cord in the sheath, etc – all because they sound better to me.
I also switched the name of the mountain to its original Japanese name instead of the English equivalent. Because it sounds better.
I won't promise for update dates. Only that one day, there will be an update. Forgive me.