EDIT (10/29/12): Out of the two chapters, I think this chapter got the most changes. The whole beginning was pretty much scrapped to make way for... Well.. Something I thought would work better. xD

Disclaimer: Ya'll should be lucky that I'm not the creator of KHR. The only thing I own is Koichi and this story.

Chapter 2: Suddenly

Why she decided to accept a number from someone she had only just recently met after 11 years, Chrome couldn't fully understand herself. Something inside her just urged her to take the slip of paper.

Perhaps it was due to the state she was in at the time. After having been completely cast off by Mukuro the night prior, Chrome couldn't help but feel alone. Finding out that someone remembered her even from her days as Nagi filled her up with joy and seemed to alleviate her of the cloud that had hung over her head the whole day.

It made her feel special. Something that she hadn't felt in quite a long time.

The feeling was positively invigorating and she just didn't want to let go of it. So after she and Mukuro arrived home, she made it a priority to call the guy up.

Much to her relief, he'd picked up and was actually happy to hear her voice. Koichi immediately brought up the question of when he'd see her again and requested that they meet at a café nearby sometime. Chrome accepted happily and informed him that she could do it around 4pm which was usually the time she'd head for home if she didn't have any big missions assigned to her.

When she finally did meet him at the café, Koichi didn't hesitate with filling her in on what happened following her absence. He spoke of this and that- how school life was, the events that took place, and anything else that came up in his mind.

Listening to all his stories was quite refreshing. It gave her more incite to the life she left behind and made her wonder what her life would be like if she hadn't nearly died and got taken in by Mukuro.

Mukuro… At the mere thought of his name, Chrome couldn't help but frown.

She'd known better than anyone else that the man saw her as a vessel more than anything else. A soldier that was meant for nothing more than to stand by her master's side and fight when the situation called for it. However, the poor female illusionist couldn't help but hope for it to become something more than just that.

She cherished the man- absolutely adored him from the day that he saved her.

Why wouldn't she?

He was, after all, the one who kept her alive and gave her a purpose to live. He was her savior and each day she'd wake up feeling thankful for the life he'd given her as Chrome Dokuro.

Over the years Chrome had still held onto the sliver of hope that maybe, just maybe she'd become a possible love interest to the male illusionist, however she always kept in mind the fact that the possibilities of that ever occurring were slim.

What she didn't count on, however, was how much it would hurt to one day find out that this relationship she held with Mukuro truly was nothing more than what it was always meant to be. To know that Mukuro really didn't feel anything towards her.

Chrome clutched her chest. The feeling was still there. The pain. Though it did dull over time, recalling Mukuro's words from that night still caused her heart to wrench violently in despair.

Those words… The memory of them was still clear in her mind.

She thought a week would be enough to forget. Apparently not.

Sighing to herself, she glanced at the phone at her desk thoughtfully as the phone began to vibrate.

-x-X-x-X-x-X-x-X-x-X-x-X-x-X-x-X-x-

Over past week, Mukuro became aware of Chrome's sudden change in routine. At first, he decided to shake it off. However as the days progressed, it became more prevalent that something was going on. The female mist guardian always took it upon herself to be punctual with just about anything. However lately she'd been arriving home much later than usual. It wasn't as if she had been assigned anything big, either. These days, Tsuna seemed to be going easy on the girl with things like assignments and missions.
Yes.. Something was clearly going on. And the male illusionist didn't like it one bit...

The door clicked open as Chrome walked into the house, dropping her purse down on a nearby coffee table.

"You were out rather late…" Mukuro observed, crossing his arms as he stared the petit woman down.

"I ah… Had a lot of work to do…" It was a terrible lie and they both knew it. Mukuro's eyes narrowed as he switched subjects, "Because of your absence, we don't have any dinner."

Chrome gnawed on her bottom lip. "I-I'm sorry, Mukuro sama.. I can't do it tonight..."

Raising an brow, Mukuro observed the fidgeting girl in front of him before asking, "Oya, Why not?"

"I-" Before the girl could finish her statement, her cellphone buzzed, suddenly catching her attention. Flipping her phone open, Chrome's eye widened in recognition at whatever was on the screen. "I'm so sorry Mukuro sama!"

"Huh?"

Before Mukuro could ask anymore questions, the petite mist guardian was already making a beeline up to her room in
a hurry.

"Nagi?!" Mukuro called out in hopes of hearing a response. After waiting for a few seconds and getting no feedback, Mukuro decided to shrug it off, determined to catch the woman later and ask her about whatever it is that's going on.

Later on that night Ken and Chickusa decided to congregate from their rooms to the kitchen in hopes of being met with Chrome's homemade food. So to say that Ken was disappointed when they found that that's not going to be the case was an understatement.

"Gaaahhhh! Where's that stupid girl! I need food!" Ken practically screamed to the heavens as he slumped in his chair.

"Ken. You're being annoying..." Chickusa held his temples in irritation as Ken decided to continue his ranting.

"Can I help it that I'm sitting here starving while that idiot girl is off doing God knows what?!"

"If you're so impatient just sitting here, why don't you go occupy yourself while waiting by taking a bath. You're well overdue for one anyway..."

That did it. Ken slammed his hands down on the table ferociously before yelling out, "What did you say, four-eyed kappa?!"

"Ken. Calm down." The sound of Mukuro's voice was enough to startle the blonde out of his frenzy as he immediately planted himself back on his seat. Without turning to face the two, Mukuro informed his two companions, "Chrome's not going to be cooking for us tonight.."

This shocked Ken, "What?! But why?!"

Before he could get a decent explanation, a door upstairs was slammed and heavy footfalls sounded throughout the house. Peeking all of their heads out from the kitchen archway, the three men found Chrome rushing downstairs.

Catching a better glimpse of the girl as she made her way down the last steps, Mukuro's eyes widened while Ken outright gawked, jaw nearly meeting the floor.

Right in front of the three men stood the petite female mist guardian in a light that they had never seen her in before. Her normal ensemble that consisted of a simple purple tank, indigo skirt and violet cropped jacket was replaced with a stunning dark purple dress and glossy black high heels accompanied by glimmering black pearl earrings to match. What's more, Chrome's hair, usually straight, was now curled and bouncing lightly as it shined in the light.

Checking through her purse, the young woman pulled out a few twenties before walking up to Mukuro and placing it in the stunned man's palm.

"H-Here... I apologize for the suddenness of all this, but you can use this money to order take out."

Breaking out of his stupor, Mukuro reached his free hand out to stop the young woman before she could exit the building. "O-Oya, Chrome," Mukuro stammered before clearing his throat and attempting to speak once more, "You never told me why you're in such a rush tonight.."

Having realized her oversight, Chrome's eye widened as she apologized once more, "I almost forgot... I'm supposed to be going out to a restaurant tonight.."

This caught the male illusionist off guard. The girl almost never left the house save for work.

Mukuro chuckled nervously before asking, "With who, may I ask?"

"Koichi."

His eye suddenly began to twitch violently. Him again! Putting two and two together, Mukuro suddenly found out the reason for the girl's strange actions lately and continued his questioning while attempting to keep his composure, "Is he... The reason why you've been coming home later all this time?"

Chrome bit her lip nervously as she answered, "He.. He wanted to do some catching up with me..."

That eye twitch was not going to cease anytime soon. At this point Mukuro was finding it extremely difficult not to go ballistic in front of this girl.

Realizing the time, Chrome quickly waltzed to the front door before announcing "I.. I better get going, Koichi's already waiting outside!"

"W-Wait, Nagi!" Before she could hear him, Chrome had already left, the door closed lightly.

Still gawking, Ken took one big gulp before speaking, "Sh-She's... She's ho-"

But before he could finish, the blonde was already being pelted with pineapples. A strong indigo aura emitted from the assaulter.

Chickusa, having gotten the hint, looked at Ken and told him, "Ken. Shut up."

Mukuro turned to Chickusa and handed him the bills. "Chickusa."

"Yes, Mukuro sama."

"I'm going out. Order take out and make sure Ken doesn't turn this place upside down."

Chickusa nodded in recognition and with that, the illusionist raced outside, swiftly grabbing his jacket in the process.

"Uwaaa… What was all that about? Kakipi! Where's dinner?!" Chickusa sighed and stated, "Ken… You're annoying me…" He then turned to face the door. 'What on Earth is going on?'

There you have it! Chapter 3 will have the revision of Chrome's little outing. See you all next update!