Pull the wool over for Normalcy, Savior

Heterochromatic eyes scanned the surroundings blurrily. They squinted in annoyance for being forced to participate in this charade. Instead of the countless plans he made including the work and favors he had undertaken, he and the others were forced to play cops and robbers. He was the cop, or was it 'detective' as that stupid jester coined?

His eyes took in the unfamiliar surroundings. It was as if he was in a historical museum, seeing that the room didn't have tube lights, sockets, not to mention the beds seemed rougher with the room having a reddish hue which he supposed could attribute to the wall paint not being too advanced.

The scenery outside was what he supposed was a better piece of evidence. He could see the smoke dense covering similar brick built buildings. The windows looked like blackout curtains and the table beside it had a black and white family photo. Unless this neighborhood had a particularly bad case of nostalgia, he supposed this world's time was in the 19th-20th century.

That and his bed was killing his back with how stiff it was. Technological advancements improved beds into soft cushions and he felt like the princess did when her guest rudely stuffed a pea under her bed as a test.

Too bad that in this era, only princesses had the luxury of a comfy bed. His 'boss' had also spoiled them with the imported Egyptian quilts he thought sardonically. His purple hair fell over his shoulders, reaching the length they had in his teens and he'd had to tie them mimicking the hairstyle that got him his dreaded nickname, to get them to stop interfering with his life.

The rules mentioned that the 'detective' is pretty much an observer with no particular influence to the world and the events it would shove him in, but he had to blend in with the surroundings so he needed to grasp the situation quickly.

Rokudo Mukuro walked towards the family photo and examined it, seeing a family of four. His eyes softened a little as he brushed his fingers over a girl who looked morose, but intact. His illusions or that brunette's surgery plans had no influence this time.

The two adults had strict expressions, but he had heard from Spanner during the time he and Irie got into a camera craze, that in those- he meant these times, photos took days to form and was a rare event. It made sense that they were seriously looking here.

But, the only one who thought that positively was the starry-eyed Vongola boss. But he could heed his advice that things may not be that grim, so he would stay neutral. Other than that, he couldn't feel or manifest his mist. Maybe because the current him didn't experience those experiments... yet.

No matter, he knew enough about people to manipulate them and handle himself.

How much of this was the same as his world?

The illusionist opened the door and looked around. The house, at a glance, had two rooms on the current floor and he could see the living room and the staircase from the corner of his eyes. It was pretty clean and it wasn't very noisy even though it was morning and people were hustling from what he saw from his window. He walked over to the other room to chart a floor plan and the locations of the inhabitants.

The person in the room jerked out of the bed when he opened the door. Indigo eyes looked at the intruder in alarm, before calming down and instead opted to stare at the other.

The illusionist looked around for a switch, before realizing that he had to pull the string to light up the lamp seeing that the other didn't budge towards the curtains. Nagi had been easily nervous in her teens, but that had been because of the abandonment and the hospital incident that had cost her dearly. It seemed that even things did not escalate to those levels, things weren't that great here too.

"Did mother and father say something yesterday?"

She looked at him confusedly. So they don't yell or use choice words with her regularly.

"Were they supposed to talk to me?"

In this case, it seemed that they opted to ignore her for some reason. Her sheer confusion, but her lack of stuttering with him even though she had reacted extremely when someone entered the room suggested that her relation to their parents was strained, but he was her regular companion. The room had no bookcase and was quite barren as compared to his room. There was no bookcase, no desk but had a bare table with a lamp. Her skin was not bruised and there was no trace of makeup, so nothing was hidden.

Noticing his line of sight, she smiled slightly and said,

"Don't worry, nii-san. Mother may look fierce, but she stopped her habit after you and father talked to her."

His eyes narrowed slightly at that. He chose not to comment and instead asked,

"Are you up for breakfast?"

"...No, I'm not very hungry today."

But she looked thin enough to be malnourished.

He walked downstairs and headed to the dining room with a mental note to bring breakfast over after eating. His 'father' was sitting on the table sipping coffee. The man gave a cursory glance at him before turning back to his newspaper. The floor downstairs was split into the living room, the dining room and what he supposed was the parents' room. His mom came to the table and placed his breakfast plate. They never bothered to greet him, nor spare a glance at him.

"Good morning" he decided to test a greeting.

They instinctively looked at his eyes, startled. When their eyes met his, the father scowled momentarily before he looked away giving a noncommittal grunt, while the mother's eyes looked slightly frenzied before she also quietly obviously avoided his and stuttered a greeting.

The illusionist had no obligation to stick around with them as company, so he took his plate and grabbed a bunch of fruits before leaving. There was no sound of objection, so this was considered the norm in this household, huh?

So he headed towards the staircase, noticing tagged magazines on the living room table. They were medical magazines. Who had a disease here? Nagi didn't look sickly and he didn't feel ill.

Were those two having some problem?

Those magazines weren't the typical medical magazines too. They seemed to be about neurology and psychiatry. But he couldn't investigate deeply, since he couldn't linger seeing that the other two were keeping an eye on him, despite being nervous in his presence.

He ate half of the food on his plate and opened the door to give the remaining to Chrome. Judging by her reaction to that decision, he supposed even this was considered normal.

Mukuro returned to his room, aiming to collect his thoughts. He went over his room again, this time, in greater detail. First things first, he found out from his school notebooks that he was brought here in the midst of school vacation and judging by the scribbles and post-it notes, this version of him was very diligent and serious regarding his studies. He searched for report cards to check his academics status and found that he was a typical straight A student here. He wondered about Nagi's studies but he couldn't exactly ask about it since her room was quite bereft of these materials. Did they study together? Did she go to school?

Judging by their parents' eyes on him when he was down for breakfast, he wondered if his presence downstairs was something natural? Or did they both stay holed up in their rooms or stay out?

There was something about them that made their parents cautious or dislike them, but it didn't seem like they were adopted or taken in. They shared common physical characteristics. He supposed he was slightly different because of his heterochromatic eyes, but what did Nagi do?

He heard the downstairs door creak open as shoes shuffled. Maybe the parents went out?

This was a good time to snoop around in the living room. He made his ways to the stairs, but before he descended he wondered how can he keep track if his 'sister' leaves the room or not in a day. He did not want the situation to be that she was to be holed up in that room forever. So far, he had interacted with her from her bed only. Was she ill enough to be bedridden?

His Nagi had been put in that situation because her parents had considered her a burden. Was that the case here too? His eyes narrowed to slits as he descended the staircase.

There was no one downstairs. It was a good opportunity he could not waste.

The 'game' took the span of a couple of days, at max a week, according to Checkerface.

So he needed to first figure out his situation, then his surroundings' situation. After that, he could be at the starting line to deduce who would kill whom. Luckily, they've been told that one of them, ie one of the Vongola, Millefiore or the Arcobaleno would be at the kill or be killed side.

If he failed, the one he'd have to sacrifice as part of the rules might come back at him with a vengeance when someone else becomes the cop. He will not compromise his possessions.

He looked at the magazines and the folded newspapers in the living room shelves. If they both weren't to return in some time, he could go through all the newspapers. So he decided to compromise a bit, he could carry some of the older newspapers back to the room like the dust-covered ones. Too bad these two didn't seem to hire helpers. He could have gained their schedule from them and keep their lips sealed...

But he would have to make do.

He could just read the headlines with the enlarged pictures to get the most sensational and popular news along with the ones which keep recurring. Sure they'd be exaggerated since these times were popular for their yellow journalism, but he could read between lines.

He skimmed through the most recent ones.

There was a lot of buzz about the success of Lobotomy with mentions of Antonio Egaz Moniz, and mentions of how it successfully treated the PTSD of soldiers and mentally ill patients and brought them to 'normal'. There were articles mentioning hospitals and doctors that have been practicing the technique. It was particularly easy for the Illusionist to pick these words from them since many of them had been circled and underlined- ie the hospitals and the doctors.

It seemed to remove the front part of the brain, and the Verde in his mind piped in- Prefrontal cortex and Orbitofrontal lobe, responsible for emotions. It quoted a Mr Gage and how he could live even after a pipe pierced through his frontal lobe and it quoted how if the entire frontal lobe was removed they become subdued.

Mukuro lips pursed in contemplation as he opened the magazines tagged sheets to find other articles regarding mental illness, lobotomy and its effects filled with tasteless jokes. The door opened just then, and he closed the magazine and set his expression into a slightly sympathetic expression.

He smiled and welcomed them. They looked slightly surprised, but ignored it and moved back to where they would seem to usually hang out in, the father to his room while the mother to the kitchen.

He thought that the father seemed to dislike him, so he thought he could start with the mother.

"How was the trip? Does it seem like it can be fixable?"

They looked surprised at the question. He continued,

"I had been hearing the neighbors and I was also searching for something that could help. Lobotomy has been quite the successful procedure. If all goes well, they won't ever have something so distasteful to say anymore." he smiled invitingly.

Encouraged by the smile, the mother smiled back as she excitedly replied,

"We found a good doctor for Nagi. I'm sure that after the procedure, they would stop accusing us from abusing her. We told her to calm down so many times, but she never listened."

"I tried to get her to come out for so long, but if we just left her there now they would accuse us of starving her to death. I wonder why she would put us in such an awkward position... How ungrateful."

"That's right. That girl twitched so violently when I brought my cousin's son to mingle with her. You were horrible when you forcibly brought her to her room when she started shivering on her floor."

"It was because I did not want to scare him since she seemed to start foaming. What if he spread rumors about her acting like a rabid dog?

I had always been trying to put her back to the right track. I've only lately realized that I've never given a proper explanation for my actions. I'm truly sorry about that mother.

When I saw that mother and father have been trying so hard to cure her too, I realized I have to also help support our family in our hard times."

"Mukuro, dear! I'm so glad that you have begun to see clearly. Your father always told me you could never see things the way they are with how the demons deceived you through your blood red eye. But I always had faith that the Lord wouldn't let you astray, regardless of that unfortunate birth defect."

"I'll take care that my eye will never lay its sight on the world enough to influence me, mother. I've seen the error of my ways."

He moved back to his room and brought a comb and groomed a bang to cover his blood red eye. He remembered Verde mentioning what happened to patients that underwent Lobotomy.

"They lost their personality, their will to live and their curiosity to say the least. The frontal lobe is responsible for comprehensive thought, emotions, rational thought, and motor skills."

"Mukuro, that red eye of yours is not that of a demon. I personally think that it's as beautiful as that of rubies. Chrome always tells me how beautiful your eyes are" Tsuna told him, looking serious.

"I never thought I would agree with Tsunayoshi in any lifetime, but the power that came with these eyes would be a gift in this situation.

If lost lambs are under the 'lord's' protection... I'd rather have the power of a demon than be the sacrificial lamb to make this family fit in their idea of perfection."

There was no use lamenting in what could be, so he had to settle for his personal skills.

He needed to make this household to see the illusion of being 'normal', whatever that was...

The experiences in Vendicare made his opinions of humankind slightly bent in a probably bad direction. He simply couldn't believe that people can be selfless or even altruistic in their motives. Maybe they could, but probably towards people they considered 'harmless'. At least, that was what the illusionist thought when Tsuna tried to refute his beliefs by quoting his own experiences. While the mafia boss wasn't harmless per se, his actions were built on easily perceivable good intentions... enough to garner himself the title of 'saint'.

What Mukuro saw and what he had been made to experience, regardless of whether his past lives were real or not made him act in ways that made the boss describe him as distrustful. Yet the symptoms and thoughts associated with distrust didn't exactly apply to him. He said that he should trust his friends deeply by saying that Chrome was fiercely loyal to him as an example, but he didn't see her that way.

When he first met Chrome, he looked for something for a backup plan. He spoke beautiful words, hoping to slowly ensnare her into a dream where everything was going to be alright hoping to put a balm over her open wounds to heal her back to what people loved the best, stability. But she had slightly baffled him. He didn't need to continue waxing poetry, because she gripped on to him like he was the only piece of drifting log and she had been drowning. Even if he spoke the cold biting truth, even if that drifting log was set on fire, she continued to reach for it.

Even if those guardians called him ruthless for using her so naturally, even when Gokudera once snapped at him for emotionally abusing the lass, the victim never let herself let go of the plank. Mukuro had found that fascinating. Even when a ship went through her waters, she dared not light an SOS fire even though she had a perfectly good piece of wood she could use. She still dare not.

When he sees Chrome, when he calls her by the name the one her dear parents called her by and notices that smile she unwaveringly returns back to him, he felt that she was as twisted as he was. The name even Tsuna wouldn't call her by, thinking it might bring back horrible memories, the name he kept calling her by reminding her about that past...

He brought himself back to the present. He and Nagi were at the hospital right now. He had hoped to get a full check up on his sister while his parents were out just to see the full extent of damage to account for the plans he set in his mind. Right in front of him was a doctor with a familiar face and name, Sasagawa Ryohei. With the scenarios he had to conjure for missions and his own plans back there at his world, he wasn't too shocked to see the boxer older than he was. The patient was unusually happy to be here even though she looked at him nervously when he told her they'd be going to the hospital. But when he mentioned the name he picked from a list of doctors due to familiarity, she brightened up, so he supposed they were acquainted here. Judging by the fact that the boxer didn't even mention their parents, he guessed this was normal.

Ryohei was chattering happily about his sister's antics with Chrome and he felt that the other's sibling relationship would probably be considered as ideal. The boxer was lamenting about how his sister puffed angrily when he accidentally ate her cupcake instead of his own while their parents poked fun at her expense claiming that she needed to lose the weight from her constant sugar treats anyway. There was a small neatly boxed pastry box wrapped with a cute pink ribbon along with a small rose bouquet. It was probably a gift to appease her anger.

The world was strange. Even if they both were a family of four having the same relation tree, one sister had warm blood tying them, while the other... well the closest warmth she could get was a visit to the looney bin to check if she needed a permanent appointment. Yet, there was no envy in her eyes, as she listened in awe at the others tales.

'Ryohei probably doesn't know that his vents are fairy tales to Nagi'

It seems like even in other worlds, her views remain unchanged. Ignoring his wandering thoughts, he resumed reading through her health report, one that only he was literate enough to make sense off, while the other couldn't even recognize the characters. She lacked information, its sources and the means to utilize them. Regardless of whether it was her parents' intentions or his intentions, she will never be the master of her own destiny. Looking at Ryohei ruffling her hair while looking at her warmly, the illusionist thought,

'And this guy, who would never have the same blood flowing through her, will not have it either.'

"Mukuro, why did you need a checkup for Chrome-chan by today? You rarely push for an appointment like this. Did something happen?"

Luckily his counterpart had the reasoning to use her alias. Even if this hospital wasn't one that his parents visited; if they came here asking for a 'Nagi', that would never ring a bell for these people. They could not use their status as a 'parent' to gather information. Her medical papers wouldn't make people connect the dots.

"Nothing really. Chrome had gotten very interested in makeup products recently, so I wanted to check the condition of her skin. In fact, I wanted you to tell Kyoko-san to list them for an order."

"I'm sure you have read about the recent news regarding the enhanced makeup products right? We have been recently trying to spread awareness about how they can cause erosion and how it seems to increase the risk of skin cancer. We think that the radium used in it can lead to it. I mean, most of the factory workers have reached that end!"

"Who knows what those peasants might have eaten from the sidewalks. They drink their woes away and sleep at any nook and corner of the road. I don't even know where they have been when they come smelling like that. I think you people are mistaken regarding this.

They make the skin glow so magnificently. How can something that can do that end up shriveling one's skin?

Also if you bring disease ridden children and coop them in one place, even the good ones will rot. Not to mention, the ones you say are diseased are those in their 40s or 50s. Those ladies don't need to wear makeup since they don't get out much. Why would they?"

"Mukuro you're a smart lad, I don't think you actually buy into what the neighbor ladies speak. They're just searching for an excuse. Ah! Man! You're not even listening to me, are you?!

Chrome-chan, you must speak sense to your brother! Maybe then, he'd open his eyes..."

But she merely smiled and shook her head.

"Chrome wouldn't stop asking me for getting them. I had lost to her selfishness, especially when she threw such a cute tantrum, isn't that right Chrome?"

"Yes, onii-chan."

Even though it never happened, this girl still never showed any sign of confusion. Her reality had always been his to shape.

Ryohei looked at Chrome sternly, slightly admonishing the girl for the wish she had never made, for a present that she had never lived in.

"Chrome-chan, your brother might have told you many times before, but your skin is very delicate and easy to bruise. You get sick so easily and your immune system is weak. You are very pretty, so you don't need to get into the trends other people get into"

There is no envy when one never goes out in the first place.

"You have difficulty breathing, and I worry about you living amongst all the pollution. This district rains black rain sometimes which people have reported to smell and taste like the soot from the factories, and you would need to wear those stuffy corsets when walking outside.

Kyoko complains to me when wearing those that she can't even take a deep breath and it makes me worry about how you cope in this atmosphere..."

"Don't worry Sasagawa-san. I can manage with it, so there should be no problems."

Seeing how firm the lass was with her decision, the doctor was stuck on fulfilling her wish or looking out for her own good.

"Okay... I'll let Kyoko send you the makeup, but you have to promise me to let me know or stop using them if there's even a little discomfort after using them. Don't push yourself, you hear me? Your health is what's most important."

he gripped her hand and told her seriously.

"Mukuro, making your sister happy is important. But there are times where you have to stay firm, especially if it can harm her."

"I know."

Through the conversation, a rare look of reluctance and unease stayed on Ryohei's expression. Neither of the two siblings offered any word of comfort or reassurance to the boxer. The session ended with the other reminding the two over and over again about the one-sided promises that they never verbally agreed to. It almost seemed like his sister had an inkling of what the illusionist had in store for her.

But he never bothered to look deeply into it.

Chrome was a doll in the parent's eyes. She was a broken, useless doll they wanted to abandon. But they couldn't since she was alive. He pondered about it when they both reached her room back in the house they were to call their home. But she had always been a perfect doll, willing to masquerade in any image he would give her. Back then, she had been draped in his illusions to become a complete human. Right now, she would allow herself to be draped in radioactive chemicals to become a beautiful doll that could be the family trophy. He would make sure of that.

After all, there was no such thing in the lonely white-walled abode of the crazy.

He applied the shiny rouge on her cheeks, and he wondered when will the rouge turn blood red as they merged into what they were used on. Chrome gave him the keys to her chains, the keys that her parents abandoned and the ones he never relinquished. She guarded her chains like they were her precious golden bracelets and even if someone as kind as the Vongola boss offered her release from their heavyweight, she didn't bother to even look at the hand offered. The smiles she offered at the phantom pain from her restored parts was the proof.

He took the finished masterpiece and brought her down gently to the living room, a place she was implicitly banished from ever returning only to be gawked at by her parents.

"Mother, Nagi wanted to show you her new look. Come now, don't be shy."

Nagi fearfully came out from his shadow, her quietness no longer unsettling and her evasiveness emphasizing her image as a delicate, frail beauty. This girl was a stranger to them.

"This child truly can't be helped. Even though you were so excited to impress mother and father. When you're actually going to show them, you hide behind me."

The lass was petrified with fear, remembering every admonishment and rejection to her every advancement. But her only pillar of support was pushing her towards her fear.

She peeked out from his shadow from his slight nudges, making her look like a cute rabbit.

With him narrating her every action in a different light he painted a different first impression to last while they were baffled.

Based on their appearance a silent person could be interpreted as graceful and serene, or as unsettling and creepy. It was also one of the reasons why he gave Chrome her missing organs back, even as an illusion. She needed weapons to fight.

Even though the company wasn't exactly desired, Sasagawa Kyoko and Miura Haru had taught him that makeup was a woman's battle armor.

They four were strangers tied by blood. The illusionist and his sister were the dolls under their ownership. If he didn't make it that way, they would become actual dolls after the treatment. Even as dolls, they could be separated by a dimension as living vs. nonliving, since none of their decisions would ever affect the other.

Nagi was a pitiful girl. She will be forced to choose between getting murdered by her feared parents or her beloved brother, whether spiritually or physically.

When the weekend ended, the illusionist could see that her new appearance had made her more tolerable to their benefactors. She could continue with her behavior but be treated entirely differently by the people before her. The parents boasted to the guests while they appreciated her change and complimented her excessively. People are indeed only skin deep.

When Mukuro was starting to relax while seeing his plan bearing fruits, a particular family was invited to their abode -the Sawadas.

Tsunayoshi sat near Chrome while their parents chattered and the illusionist supposed that the brunette was nervous seeing her change and unable to talk to her now that she looked prettier, seeing how awkward he was around Sasagawa Kyoko at this age back in his world. He would keep glancing at her before abruptly turning away if their eyes ever met and his ears turned red hot. Mukuro snickered quietly before moving the two back to his room to give the adults some privacy.

When he shut the door behind them, Tsuna's first words were,

"Nagi-chan, are you alright?"

He didn't even bother with any greetings nor did he speak any of the compliments the illusionist had been tallying so far. When Mukuro looked at Chrome, he saw that she had indeed been sweating slightly and she looked like she was somewhat in pain. Tsuna didn't bother with asking for permission and immediately brought a towel and wiped her makeup away, breaking the spell he cast to make her a Cinderella.

The illusionist looked nervously at the door when the other did that and bristled at the perceptiveness of the Vongola boss. When he looked back at his sister, he saw her skin getting rashes and pimples forming. It seemed like she had an allergic reaction to the makeup. It was of no surprise since he had made her wear it the whole day, from morning to night for 3 days now.

He stood close to the door and looked at how Nagi's shoulder's sagged with relief now that it was washed away. When he saw that Tsuna had planned to say something about this situation, he sent the other a warning glare, but the brunette ignored it blatantly and continued.

"You should stop using that makeup if it hurts from using it. It looks like its only rashes and pimples right now, but onii-san told me that it could potentially stop you from breathing by blocking your pores."

"She's not a dog Tsunayoshi. She doesn't need to breathe and cool down from her skin. She has a nose and a mouth for that."

"Why are you encouraging this Mukuro?! I thought you would be the first one to stop her if she did something that could potentially hurt her."

''Mukuro-nii san is not bad. I wanted to use the makeup."

"You don't have to cover for him, Nagi-chan. You told me before that you never liked makeup because of how uncomfortable it made you."

"I can change my opinion too, you know."

The illusionist looked at his sister with slight confusion since she looked slightly defensive at his comments.

"But it's not good for you. Look at what it has done to your face. Not to mention, you looked very uncomfortable in it. I don't know why you insist on using it, if it does this to you and it doesn't even seem that Mukuro knew that things went this far."

It seemed like at the time he slipped his guard down in surprise, Tsuna read off him. He hurriedly grasped his composure but was cut off by his sister.

"Nothing has gone wrong yet. Onii-san was just helping me, so stop blaming him."

"I've not said anything to him."

"Then don't look at him like that. You know, onii-san just cast magic on me. For these two days, Mother and father gave me lots of sweets, hugged me and praised me. We went out, and people complimented me. When they brought guests, they told me to come over and praised me, and the others agreed.

I didn't have to stay in my room the whole day, and they even kept inviting me downstairs to play crossword puzzles with dad or talk with mom and her friends. They kept smiling at me, and they forgave me when I accidentally broke a plate. They even put a really cute bandage over the cut" she spoke in a drunken daze with a wide wobbly smile.

The caged bird might have gotten drunk out of its first taste of freedom. But Tsuna's grave look suggested that he thought otherwise.

She wanted to live the life of a firework. But Mukuro refused to reason with Nagi, so Tsuna decided to take up the mantle in his steed.

"Nagi-chan, onii-san and I don't like seeing you in pain because we love you very much. We don't need you to wear makeup because we think you are very charming even without it and nothing can enhance it further since it's not possible to be more exquisite than you are naturally.

You're a great listener and your smiles can light up the darkest rooms. You've stayed by our side thick and thin, and it would be devastating to lose you. I've seen people who use makeup without a break and it can cause your skin to crack, then wrinkle and make you age faster. It can darken your skin color, make it dry and sensitive to pain and infection.

You get sick quickly, so there are chances you might get a terrible illness by wearing that makeup, and I know you didn't tell onii-san, but you and Mukuro are paying for the medical bills without your parents even knowing about it right? You won't even accept my help in that matter...

Not to mention, you wearing a corset and you have difficulty breathing through it. I swear, your skin was turning blue when we were sitting in that seat. Please tell me, why are you guys doing this?" Tsuna looked at the two of them, slightly heartbroken. He looked directly at Mukuro's covered red eye, but Mukuro was observing Chrome. She seemed torn between heeding Tsuna's advice and continuing following his implicit instructions. Well, that won't do. She was always weak against Tsuna. The Vongola boss could sweet talk any of them into doing whatever he wanted, even if that wasn't his intention.

"Tsunayoshi, you shouldn't stick your head into things you can't fully commit to. Do you want her to be stuck in this empty room for an entire day, now that they would call her a monster by looking at her?"

Chrome looked at her terrified at the notion while Tsuna glared at him and said,

"Mukuro! How can you even say that?! She's got rashes from an allergic reaction, and it will only get worse if you force her to wear it. Besides, it's only rashes! She's not a monster, she will never look like one!"

"Please don't tell me you're blind to how my parents look at her. You've been a regular visitor. You've definitely noticed how they changed how they treated her. What, do you think they'll love her new appearance?"

Chrome stepped in to reassure the brunette,

"Tsuna-kun, don't worry. The makeup can hide the rashes and the pimples."

"It won't stop at rashes, it will tear up your skin eventually and even lead to hair loss you know. This is only a temporary solution. You guys are delusional!"

They didn't have the title of mist guardian for nothing, Mukuro thought sardonically. Chrome continued with a manic look in her eyes,

"They have plastic surgery if it burns my skin out. If it comes to that, I can always use a wig."

Tsuna looked dismayed at how she didn't seem to face reality,

"...If you keep replacing everything about you,... how will I find Nagi-chan anymore?"

It was like the Theseus ship, if they kept replacing the ship's parts with other replacements which ship, the old or the new one was actually Theseus' ship?

Chrome looked away from Tsuna, not willing to acknowledge his question. Her room had different gifts that ranged from nail polish to jewelry to lipsticks to eye-shadows and blushes that made her previously bereft room glitter richly. It made her gawk under its beauty, and feel greedy under the spotlight every time she tried a new look. Her room had been so dark, and she felt like she didn't even exist unless her brother or Tsuna visited that she didn't want to change her current life.

Even if she didn't understand what the others were gawking about, she could do something to exert her presence and make them notice her.

She muttered,

"I don't want to be alone again."

The brunette tried again,

"Nagi chan, you don't have to do this to yourself. You'll never be alone. We'll be by your side-"

"Why Tsunayoshi, with how you two keep telling her to stop it seems like you will stop staying by Nagi if she continues her new hobby."

The illusionist's words served as a catalyst to turn his shaken sister to stare unbelievingly at the brunette, while the other looked frustrated at his intervention.

"That's not it-"

"Did you perhaps get scared of Nagi's look after you forced her to wash it off? I wonder if you would have screamed if we met a week or two later?" he drawled as he comfortingly patted his sister's cheek to show her that he would never get scared of however she looked, to build camaraderie.

"I said that's not it! Mukuro stop screwing around!-"

"Say, what do you think would happen if her skin remained this way or got worse? Maybe there would be people who would pity her, but pity alone won't help make a friendship or a romance. Tell me, can you embrace a rotting corpse?

You must be blind to accept someone regardless of their physical appearance.

Or what, you think our parents would suddenly dote on us for being ourselves? What even constitutes individuality anyway? What do you consider when you say Nagi should be herself? Is a Nagi that loves makeup a Nagi that has lost herself? Or did you like her when she had nobody else but us three? What's so wrong if she changes herself to fit in with society?

Or can you say you'd protect her from the world? Are you going to adopt us? Are you going to save us from our cruel parents? How are you even going to support us? You don't have any power."

In this world, even if he didn't have mist flames, he could still make an illusion, even if his props were real-world items.

Around this time, there was no law for child abuse, and there was no way their prideful parents could bear the shame of abandoning their children or giving their custody to someone else.

"...Mukuro, if things are that bad... Just give me some time. I'll definitely help you guys." Tsuna told him, and he could have sworn there was a golden gleam over his eyes.

Tsuna didn't ask why he needed to go this far. He didn't pry, not that he would ever tell him what was going on here.

He clicked his tongue, hating himself for being hopeful for even a split second. After all, one of them would die by the end of this week and 4 days have passed.