Chapter 2: The Worst Day of My Life

If there's one given fact in this world, it's that everyone has bad days.

Granted, everyone's experience is different, but I think most people would know the feeling by now. For one, it utterly sucks. From the minute you wake up to the moment you limp home, life becomes a living hell, and nothing in between can stop it. In her case, Tama had thought she had already reached that point. In the span of one day, she already had:

a) got knocked unconscious

b) missed a day of school (unintentionally)

and

c) pissed off a prefect

But she never thought that the worst was yet to come, and in the form of math class the next day.

Like any other subject, Tama didn't really care for math. It wasn't as horrid as Japanese, or God forbid English, but she didn't love it either. The complex problems made her head spin, and her teacher was the most unappealing person on the planet. With a twitchy moustache and a plump figure, he reminded her of one of those mariachi band players that liked to stalk girls under their windows at night.

His personality really needed work too, as she would soon find out.

"Alright. Now tell me: what is the answer?"

After a long and tedious explanation, the man faced his class, with a huge metal ruler. No one was eager, to say the least. Everyone stared at him with blank faces, with not a clue in all of the seven circles of hell. He sneered at them all, his beady eyes hungry for prey.

Then, his eyes rested on a certain girl in the back row.

I think we can all guess who that is.

"Subaru!" he ordered in a deep, rumbling voice. "Why don't you try to solve this problem?"

A few pounding sounds later (courteous of the ruler), Tama's head jerked up from her desk. Her blinking eyes became wide awake at the teacher's glare, which seemed to burn a hole in the back of her head. She gulped a little and sat up a bit straighter. The emphasis on the you didn't really help either.

"U-Um..." she tried, squinting at the chalkboard. "Is it... 389?"

The verdict was awaited, with the sound of the clock's ticking making it even more painful.

And... of course, he frowned.

Dammit.

"No. It's 26x!"

With a hint of distaste in his voice, he turned and roughly scratched the number onto the board. The chalk screeched, and each and every student quickly clamped their hands over their ears. Someone even swore from the back, doing it softly so as not to be heard.

"Pay more attention!" he barked sternly. "Not only Subaru either. All of you! This isn't nap time, you idiots."

"... Yes, Sensei," they all grumbled.

Then, as soon as his back was turned, everyone threw their middle fingers into the air. Tama's was naturally among them. Everyone hated that smartass, and she couldn't see how the other teachers could stand him. He was rude. Ugly. Not to mention snobby. He always was picking on people for the stupidest things and acted like God's assistant.

He and that black haired kid from yesterday would have made the perfect couple.

Immediately, the prefect's insane smirk came to mind and made Tama cringe. Her insides writhed in a swirl of uneasy emotions. Leaning back into her chair, she chewed on her bottom lip, thinking about the screwy events that had transpired the past day.

Originally, she had decided to come to school, but for some reason, now she was getting sort of nervous. His eyes. His face. His voice. They all got her scared and angry. No one had ever intimidated her like that, and it unsettled her like you wouldn't believe. Why couldn't she fight back? Why'd she run? Who was he really anyways? These were all questions she still had unanswered.

Oh, and to make things even worse, that in turn made her look like a squirrel on crack. Every minute, her head turned and expected him to barge through the door. After all, that guy was the school's guard dog, and it wouldn't be a surprise if he knew her schedule.

Another chill shuddered, and she suddenly had the urge to hit her head against the desk.

Dammit! she yelled internally. Why am I getting so paranoid?

"Chicken shit bastard," she hissed under her breath.

Unfortunately for her, that phrase didn't go unnoticed. The teacher spun around and snarled, with everyone holding baited breaths. It didn't dawn on Tama why either until it was far too late.

"TO THE PRINCIPAL'S OFFICE, YOU BRAT!"

Dumbstruck, the fourteen year old's jaw promptly dropped open. The teacher looked a furious rhino, just ready to rip her pieces, and she took that as her cue to leave. Swiping her books off the desk, she hugged the blue textbook and spiral notebook close to her chest. They became tightly pressed, as if all her irritation could simply be squeezed away between the sheets.

Needless to say, that didn't work out too well.

Feeling disgusted, she popped in a piece of random gum while walking out. It felt sour in her mouth, just like how her week was going. Apparently, she was supposed to make herself home here, but maybe staying put would have been a better option. Sachiru... the thought of that school seemed like heaven compared to this place. Why did Sensei send her here to begin with anyway?

"Crap... I don't get this at all," she sighed, wandering down the hallways.

Tama stopped for a second, lost in her thoughts. Then, she found herself staring stupidly at the maze of corridors before her. It seemed endless, twisting into random crossroads that went on for forever. The girl face palmed herself, knowing that finding her way out wasn't going to be a piece of cake. You wanna know what made it even worse?

Her sense of direction was like a dead pigeon's.

"Oh well," she sighed. "Can't get any worse, right?"


Unfortunately, it could.

Hall after hall she crossed, wandering around aimlessly to find some sort of landmark. It was amazing. She found the library, the gym, the boy's bathroom... everything but the stupid principal's office. It always eluded her, like the damned thing hadn't existed to begin with.

Finally, when she stood in front of a door marked "Reception Room," her hands were finally thrown up in defeat. There was no two ways about it. She was lost. Hopelessly, God forsaken lost.

"UGHHHH! I don't believe this..." Tama seethed, staring at the blank door as if it would give her all the answers. "Not a person in sight either!"

Down in trashy spirits, she emphasized her point with a hard kick to the door. Truthfully, she didn't think there was anyone around to hear it. It was more for her own sake than anything else. But then, something inside the room groaned.

And growled.

"Who... woke... me... up?"

Now, remember how Tama usually doesn't think? And has the crappiest luck? Well, those two worst qualities seemed to mesh into one when she heard that familiar voice. Though faint, the chilling sound should have cued her to do something. But no. Instead of running away or getting into some sort of fighting pose, Tama (the idiot she was) simply stood there as the door suddenly screeched open on its hinges.

That was when she came face to face with the devil himself once again.

The prefect from the other day stood before her, leaning casually against the door's frame. His hair was messy, and there was a sleepy look that coated his face. To be honest, he even looked completely sane if you ignored the tonfas in his hands. However, despite that, the mental alarms went banging immediately.

They grew even louder when he seemed to remember her too. His eyebrows shot up, framed by a rather malicious expression

"You..." the prefect murmured dangerously, crossing his tonfas. "So, you've come to receive your punishment? Freshman?"

A wide smirk that screamed "PSYCHO HAPPY MURDERER!" suddenly graced his lips. You could understand the bloodthirstiness behind it in any language, and needless to say, it wasn't a good sign in the least. No, not at all. Fear gripped like the plague, and she suddenly wished that her body would become one with the floor.

Her knuckles turned white, either from fear or nervousness. Should she start running?

"I dunno," she dryly replied, trying to hide her emotions. "Is your version of 'punishment' legal?"

Crash.

Her question was answered when a tonfa whizzed by her ear. It hurled into a glass window, shattering it to a million little pieces. Oh, and even better, apparently the thing was connected to a chain. With the weapon hurdling back at her, Tama turned and decided that yes.

Now was a good time to run.


So, after another hour of playing chase, Tama finally managed to get away.

Frankly, she didn't know how. Somehow, their travels took her everywhere from Chinatown to the petting zoo, and it didn't seem like the little bastard could be shaken off at first. However, regardless of that, the important thing was that now he was gone.

The relief she felt was almost heavenly too. In her unknown surroundings, the exhausted girl sighed with content. Finally, she had peace. There was no sound of footsteps. No sight of his creepy image. No tonfas flying out of nowhere to skewer her head. Nothing. Now she was safe.

At least for the moment, anyways.

"Ahaha... aha. Ah~"

So, with her adrenaline high finally wearing off, Tama wiped the tears and sweat away from her face. She sat down, feeling drained. Now that he was lost, maybe she could just go home and hide away for a bit. You know. Until she gathered enough energy and courage to come back.

With that in mind, she took a brief look at her surroundings, maybe thinking that she actually knew where she was for once.

What a fool she was.

"Huh?"

Of all places, the area she happened to land in was a forest. A forest with trees and bushes and more trees. It didn't look like a park either. Everything was too quiet, and chances were she was more likely to get mauled by a bear than find someone around. There was no path here either, just dirt and bugs.

In other words: she got lost again.

Great.

"AHHH!" she internally screamed.

Throbbing like no tomorrow, her head pounded as she dreaded the current situation. This was bad. Really, really bad. She had experiances of nature up in the mountains, but this was something completely different. How was she gonna get out?

Depressingly, she crouched down and laid against a rock for support. This was just getting to be a horrible day, and she wanted to rest.

It sucked, though. Why couldn't she for once, just once, get a break? Everything was a total wreck. She thought that just yesterday was bad, but now things were ridiculous! She was sweaty, tired, and hungry. Her skin was partially bleeding. Both her teacher and a prefect hated her, and to top it all off, she was lost in the center of a twitshit, middle of nowhere forest.

God, this was really hitting the pits. If her life was some sappy shojo manga, she'd be bawling her eyes out by now. Kind of like that girl who was hiding in that corner over-

Wait, she blinked suddenly, her head shooting up. GIRL?

Sure enough, much to Tama's confusion, there was a girl seated next to a tree in front of her.

At first glance, she couldn't understand why she didn't notice her before. Her appearance was pretty bizarre and should have been easily noticeable. Purple hair sprouted from her roots, shaped like a shiny pineapple. A trident was clutched close to her chest. She even wore the Kokuyo school's green, skimy uniform. Finally, there was a black eye patch strapped over her right side, with the imprint of a skull on the cloth.

If Tama didn't know any better, she'd guess that she was cosplaying.

However, all oddities aside, there really did seem to be something wrong. She could be oblivious sometimes, but even Tama knew when someone was sad. Every other second, the girl choked out sobs, like the world was going to end. It had to be something pretty damn happy for her to not be miserable.

Tama figured she was in no condition to help either. So, slowly getting up, she tried to creep away like a ninja and leave.

BOOM!

Then, at that moment, her foot hit a root and tripped. With an anticlimactic fall, she fell face forward at the girl's feet.

So much for getting away.

SONOVABITCH! she cursed mentally.

"W-Who are you?"

The girl's voice sounded so timid, yet hinted at a bit of mistrust. Unsurprisingly, Tama found the girl staring at her, the trident out in hand and looking somewhat scared. She quickly waved her hand around for peace, probably looking like an idiot.

"Wait! I didn't mean to do that," the crude girl quickly exclaimed. "I... I'm not trying to scare you, I swear!"

While Tama stammered away, the other girl decided that she was no threat. She quickly wiped away her tears with her free hand and went back into her fetal position. It seemed the situation wasn't awkward for only Tama.

"No. It's fine..." she mumbled.

That was probably the most hypocritical statement of the century though. Tears still streamed freely from her face, like an unplugged waterfall. Tama knew fully well that whatever it was that was bothering her, it wouldn't go away. Just standing here like a moron wouldn't help the situation either.

In the end, she had a choice. Either she could go away and think about her own miserable life, or she could stay here and mourn someone else's. They were pretty bleak options, if you asked her. Instantly, she wanted to pick the first. She couldn't handle emotions anyway.

However, something at the back of her conscious suddenly twitched and rooted her in place. It was like a train wreck; she just couldn't tear her eyes away from the girl. Sitting there, all alone... Could she really just leave her like that?

So, with a great sigh, the teen crossed her arms and dejectedly braced herself.

This really was a bad day, wasn't it?


"So you're having a bad day too, huh?"

The girl's head lifted up slightly in surprise. In front of her, Tama sat, with her chin propped by her free hand. She had started the conversation hoping that it would spark something. Her companion didn't answer back, though, and it became an awkward silence at best.

She coughed.

"They suck, don't they?" Tama continued in the silence. "They come and go, but when it gets bad, it gets bad."

Unfortunately, her words seemed to have the opposite effect that she wanted. The other girl became standoffish, curling tighter into a solitary ball. Tears started rolling down her face even more, and thick sobs touched the air. They made Tama panic as she snapped a twig in half. The breaking sound echoed into the woods, mixed in with the thick atmosphere.

Oops, she thought sheepishly. Maybe that wasn't the best way to go about it. Change of plans.

"U-Uh... do you wanna talk about it?" she asked, rethinking her careless words. "Or do you want me to leave?"

The girl stayed silent but pleaded with her eyes. At first, it seemed like she wanted her to go, but then her head shook from left to right. "No." For some reason, she didn't want either option. So, with nothing else to do (and literally, she had nothing else to do) Tama sat there with her, breaking the branches at her feet in boredom.

This was really, really awkward. Why did she get involved again?

"Uh... what's your name?" she finally asked.

The answer took a while. The girl didn't seem to keen on talking at all. After a few minutes, her lips finally parted, taking great effort in the action.

"C-Chrome," was the hesitant reply. "Chrome Dokuro."

Well, that was a good start at least.

A whole graveyard of sticks were now at Tama's feet, and she began to work on the grass instead. The movement made her less nervous. She faked a grin, trying to fan the flames of the conversation once again.

"Chrome, huh? That's a nice one. Mine's boring: just Tamaki. But I really like yours. Are you foreign?"

"Someone important to me gave it," she murmured, shaking her head in a no. A faint smile graced her lips, as though she could see the memory clear as day.

"Your parents?" Tama guessed.

However, her mark was as far off as ever. At that, the smile wilted bitterly, and the girl huddled in even closer.

"No. They never cared for me," she sadly stated. "Th-They still don't I think."

Tama gave her a strange look, puzzled by that remark. Then, she suddenly noticed something.

Something very, very wrong.

Reaching out her hand for her, as though to confirm her suspicions, she touched Chrome's shoulder. To her horror, it barely felt like skin on bone. It was lean, almost flat against the veins running through. She wasn't eating enough, and her sickly pallor made that point only clearer.

The mood darkened instantly.

"You were abandoned," Tama murmured with realization.

The tears were all dried now, and finally the girl had stopped crying. With red eyes, she faced Tama without fear. Now, they had found a bridge to cross and that connected them together.

"Was," she emphasized, with an ironic smile. "But I have people I can protect now. That's all in the past."

"Then, why were you crying?"

The girl paused, lowering her head as though to hide an ugly secret. But Tama knew. Reflecting in her wavering purple eyes, Tama saw herself as a child: meek, weak, and scared. They probably didn't share the same circumstances, but she knew that whatever it was, she could understand.

And Chrome knew that too.

"I saw one of them today," she stated, her voice hushed. "It was by surprise, but I saw my mother by accident. I thought that at the very least, she might recognize me. But..."

Her words choked, and she buried her head into her knees.

"She... She *hic* didn't. She just looked and... *hic* walked away. Like it was nothing."

Tama became unsettled. As the girl sat before her, bawling her eyes out once more, she couldn't help but feel her blood curdle. Of all people... a mother. No wonder she was so sad.

Eventually, Chrome had cried enough to let it all out. At that point, whatever light was left died, leaving behind a milky sort of night. The stars illuminated them overhead, barely revealing their dismal faces. Tama felt the need to say something, something useful at least.

"H-Hey, are you..."

Crack.

"OW!"

Then, of course, the moment got completely ruined as something collapsed on Tama's head. More specifically: a whole slew of branches. Coming out of nowhere, the barrage nailed her dead on and sent her spewing curses instantly.

"God fuck it!" she hissed, nursing her head once more. "Where do these things come from? Son of a- DON'T UNDERESTIMATE ME, YOU DAMNED, OVER SIZED PLANT! I'LL CUT YOU TO SHREDS!"

As Tama started kicking at the bark, she felt herself stop as she heard a sound: laughing. She turned around and found Chrome covering her mouth, looking embarrassed as her tears mixed with giggles. They were choked, and she looked like a wreck, but she was laughing all the same.

"S-Sorry," she sputtered apologetically. "It's just... so..."

Another giggle burst out unexpectedly. Usually, Tama would get insulted, but somehow, she found herself smile too. Slowly, it snowballed from a chuckle into booming laughter, and soon the two of them were laughing hysterically like a bunch of idiots.

At the end of it all, the two girl smiled at each other, feeling happier than they had in hours.

"Ah!" Chrome suddenly said, looking up at the night sky as though only noticing it. "It's late! I need to get back home."

Tama remembered her circumstances and grimaced. "Yeah. Me too. I wish I knew where I was going though."

"That uniform..." she said, staring at it with recognition. "Could you be from Namimori?"

The world seemed to open up in lollipops and sunshine for Tama. Her head bolted upright with surprise.

"WAIT! YOU KNOW WHERE NAMIMORI IS?"

Her face lit up with excitement. Thoughts of Ramen noodles, a hot shower, and a nice bed filled her head as it buzzed with the prospect of finally being able to go home. Hell, after all this time, maybe there was some hope after all!

At least, that's what she thought.

"I don't know the town too well," Chrome apologized.

Then, a big rock called disappointment crushed onto Tama's back. Tears slide down her face anime-style, and she banged her head against a tree. Now, it was official: she was the unluckiest, stupidest, and most wretched person in existence.

Meanwhile, Chrome furrowed her eyebrows up in concentration. Then, a stroke of inspiration suddenly hit. She bent over and poked Tama, who was sullenly picking at the mushrooms on the ground.

"But," the girl replied tentatively, pausing for a moment. "I do know someone who does."


And so, within the next hour, the two of them found themselves standing on someone's doorstep. As Tama looked up, the house seemed normal at first. There was the regular red brick layered roof, the yellow outer walls, and the neatly lawn spread out behind them. However, if the loud cries of fighting and breaking glass inside were an indicator of anything, there seemed to be a little more to it than met the eye.

And by a little, she meant a lot.

"Catch me if you can, Tail-Head!" whooped a kid's voice.

BOOM!

Sounds of mass destructive ravaged the house, with something suddenly blowing up. Tama almost hid behind the bushes. She slowly turned her head towards Chrome, the name of her friend from the woods, and studied her. Surprisingly, she didn't even flinch at the ruckus, as if hearing such things were something she did on a daily basis.

"Um... Are you sure this is the right house?" Tama asked skeptically.

Another explosion rocketed in the background.

What is this place? A housing spot for the mafia?

"Lambo! Return food!" cried a girl in broken Japanese.

Crash!

She probably wasn't too far off.

"NO! Stop destroying the house!" cried a meek voice.

Tama tried to ignore the sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach as she rang the doorbell. For good measure, she did it again for an extra four times in case they couldn't hear it above all the noise. Chrome waited patiently with her, her hands folded politely and quietly.

"You're pretty calm," Tama told her, her right eye twitching as another explosion went off. "This madness doesn't affect you?"

Chrome looked startled at her flat statement, but not in a bad way. A smile came upon her lips in response.

"It's nice," she simply replied.

"Really? It just gives me a headache."

It was true. All the sound made her head throb like the inside of a drum. Tama was actually on the verge of just giving up and sleeping outside for the night, but then someone finally heard them. Two voices chatted in the background, one with a smoker's edge (it sort of sounded like Sensei's) and the meek one from before.

"No no, Tenth! I'll get the door! As your right hand man, I should handle things like this," said the smoker.

"I-It's ok, Gokudera-"

"No, no. I insist."

Mentally bracing herself, Tama watched as the door swung open. Then, the light from the house illuminated the two teenagers in front of her. The first was a white-haired guy in punkish clothing, with skull based rings and a black T-shirt on. He also looked like he had seen the living dead. Meanwhile, his friend was a brunette with a bewildered face. He looked slightly less scary, with chocolate puppy dog eyes and spiky hair.

The three of them stared at each other, with the interior of the house still bursting with noise.

"..."

"..."

"..."

And then all hell broke loose.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?" the white haired guy exploded. "Damn you... I KNEW IT! YOU'RE AN ASSASSIN WHO'S TRYING TO KILL THE TENTH!"

While the brunette tried to hold the rabid kid back, Tama meekly swung her head over to Chrome for help. However, she was already long gone, running in the other direction for home. With a huge sigh, the orange haired girl covered her face with her hands and suppressed the urge to bang her head off another tree.

From the pan into the fire. Couldn't she get a break for once?

Apparently, not.

BOOOM!

And those were her last thoughts before a bomb suddenly went off inside the living room.


2nd chapter. Hope you liked it ^^


Omake #2: Chrome's Thoughts

Meanwhile, Chrome was running urgently back to Kokuyo Land. Her boots clicked on the pavement as she hurried, her concentration interrupted only by Mukuro.

"Ah. You look like you're feeling better, my cute Chrome."

"Oh! Mukuro-sama," she exclaimed, feeling almost shameful. Accidentally, their connection had gotten cut off by her emotions. When she had seen her mom, she had just panicked. He probably didn't know what was going on at all. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to do that."

"Don't worry. Rather, I'm a little concerned about something else. You seemed very upset before. Does that woman still bother you? I can end her, if you wish."

The eyepatched girl blushed, not wanting to cause any more trouble. While it was true she still resented her mother, the one who had cast her away, she knew killing her would change nothing. In fact, she was wasting time even thinking about it. What was in the past was in the past; she couldn't let it affect her. She wasn't Nagi anymore after all. She was Chrome, Chrome Dokuro.

She just needed a good cry to let it all out.

"No. I'm fine now," Chrome said finally. She could almost see Mukuro smile wryly, no doubt bemused by her innocence.

"I see. Well, no matter," he shrugged, seeing the issue as solved. "Did anything interesting happen?"

"I met someone," she admitted. "She had gotten lost, so I helped her a little."

"Oh? A friend, perhaps?" he teased.

She stopped in the middle of a path. Blinking, the words repeated themselves in her head, as though posing an entirely new idea to her.

"A friend..." she echoed.

She started walking now, but still pondered over Mukuro's words. Kicking past brushes and trees, the girl looked up at the forest, remembering the time she spent with that girl. It was... different. Tamaki was a lot like boss, except a bit tougher looking, but he was just an acquaintance. At the same time, however, she didn't really fit into Ken and Chikusa's category either. They were much closer to her than that.

But this one... what did she see her as?

At that moment, Chrome suddenly remembered how willingly that girl listened to her. How she waited for her tears to stop falling. How that branch fell on her head and they laughed. How they waited under the doorstep patiently.

"UUUUGGGGGLLLLLYYYYYY!" Ken's voice called not too far off. "WHHHEERRRREEE AAARRREEE YOOOUUUUUUU!"

As she heard the boys thrash about nearby, Chrome was lost deep in her thoughts. Then, a small smile lit across her face, reflected by the moonlight's edge.

"Yes," she replied back, turning to meet her new family. "I met a friend today."