A/N: I do not own KHR. I am really sorry I couldn't upload this sooner. Sorry again! Thank you for waiting!
"F-Fran? Are we going home?" Chrome asked nervously. She was scared of this new, angry, showing-his-emotions Fran.
"Yes. We are. And Bel, if you promise to keep quiet then I'll answer all your questions." Fran answered, going back to his emotionless self. Chrome breathed out in relief. So the worst was over.
Bel, however, pouted.
"Aw, I liked the angry Froggy better. It was much more entertaining. Ushishishi." Bel grinned, and crossed his arms behind his head. "Oh, well. It was fun while it lasted."
The three walked home quietly, occasionally kicking a rock back and forth for fun. This time, when they reached the house, Bel strode forward, yanked open the door, and yelled "Ladies and gentlemen! We are BACK!"
Mammon looked up from her papers, annoyed. "What now?" She sighed. Bel grinned.
"Well, you see-"
"Mammon-nee, I need to talk to you in private. Chrome, you just relax. Idiot-senpai, you touch anything, I swear I'll never let you eat my homemade sushi ever again." Fran said monotonously.
Bel's jaw dropped. "You can't do that!" he howled, pounding his fists on the floor, like a spoiled brat. It was rather immature, Chrome thought privately. Fran was unfazed.
"I mean it." Fran said sternly, although there was no emotion on his face. Then he turned, grabbed Mammon's hand, and walked out of the room to the kitchen.
*K*H*R*
Mammon stared. And stared. And stared. When she could no longer stand the silence, she was the one who broke the silence.
"Fran. What is this about? I need to finish my job applications." She said. Fran smiled, a little bit smugly.
"I knew you wouldn't be able to stay quiet." He said triumphantly. Mammon sighed. "Then, must you always stay quiet so you can win this little game of yours?" Fran nodded.
"Yes, I must."
Mammon sighed. "I can't believe you're still acting like such a brat." She muttered. "Whatever. It doesn't involve money anyway, so I'm not interested."
Fran suddenly became serious.
"Aneki. Would you mind telling Chrome about you and Mukuro?" The woman sucked in a breath.
"Please?" The boy asked quickly. "I mean, Chrome doesn't seem to get his danger levels." Fran rushed on. "And I don't want another sister hurt, so…yeah."
Mammon looked at him from under her hood. "I'm not sure. I mean, it won't change the way she thinks about him or anything."
"I know," Fran said. "But I just want her to be on her guard just in case." Mammon raised a hidden eyebrow.
"Really? You really aren't secretly hoping that this will change her perspective and make her avoid him?" Fran bit his lip guiltily and stared at the floor.
"Well…"
Mammon smiled; something that she didn't do often. "Fran. Make something up. She'll believe you." The green-haired boy looked up.
"Really?" Fran asked. The woman nodded. The teen smiled a little. "Well, I don't really like lying to her but it'll have to do. And now I can tell her and keep you secret."
Mammon nodded again before something struck her. "Wait. How did you get here?"
"Easy." Fran shrugged. "We walked."
"I meant," she took a breath. "Why aren't you in school? School's not over yet." She eyed Fran.
Fran hesitated. "Ah. Why aren't we in school?" He casually walked over to the sink and grabbed a cookie. "Well, that is a very good question. Um... so… why don't I get back to you later?" He finished, before sprinting to the door.
"Hold it." Mammon seized the edge of his frog hoodie. Fran gulped. "I asked you a question. Why aren't you in school?" Her left eye flashed.
"We…sk-"
"If you skipped, no more watching CSI: New York on school nights anymore." Mammon growled.
"We- We got permission!" Fran blurted. Mammon paused. "Really?" Fran hesitated. The truth was, they skipped, but the head prefect didn't do anything, which counted for permission…sort of.
"…Yeah." Mammon relaxed. "Good. Because if you skip, then I'll have to bribe the teachers to make them forget about this again."
Fran mentally sighed in relief. He opened the fridge door.
"So, what are we making for dinner?"
*K*H*R*
"Thimf isth greath!" said Bel with his mouth full. Chrome looked slightly disgusted.
"Bel-senpai, could you swallow before talking? It's disgusting to see your mouth full of mashed potatoes and steak." Fran mono-toned, slicing his steak into pieces before putting it in his mouth.
Bel swallowed. "I said, this is great! Froggy and Mammon's homemade food was always the best." Fran nodded, and turned to Chrome.
"Hey!" whined Bel. "Aren't you going to thank me for the compliment?"
"No."
"Bel, just eat. You're staying over again right?" Mammon said, pouring herself a new glass of water. Bel nodded, a grin appearing.
"That's right! I don't wanna go home! This place is awesome!" He poked the lettuce. "But, I don't like your veggies."
"You hate all veggies." Said Mammon, sounding amused. "So what's the difference?"
Bel grinned, and the smile was so wide it threatened to split his face. "It's because there's no salad dressing." Chrome quickly reached over and plunked the salad dressing in front of Bel.
"Here you go." She said quietly. Bel nodded his thanks, and poured a generous amount of dressing on his salad.
"Chrome." Fran said, ignoring Bel's munching. Chrome turned to look at Fran, swallowing a mouth of mashed potato.
"Be careful when you're around Master."
Chrome furrowed her brow. "…Master?" She asked.
"Mukuro used to be my tutor." Fran explained. "And I need you to be careful because he's dangerous." Chrome noticed Mammon stiffen, but chose to say nothing.
"…How dangerous?"
"Very dangerous. You know the rest of his idiot gang?" Chrome nodded, remembering Ken, M.M, and Chikusa.
"Well, he would ditch them if it meant saving his own skin." Fran said. Chrome's eye widened. "Really? But he helped me." She protested.
"Yeah, well. I don't know all his motives, but you should be careful." Fran's emotionless eyes bored into her. The small girl shifted in her seat.
"Ok. I promise to be on my guard." She promised.
"Oi! Froggy!" Bel said, perking up. "You said you'd answer my questions if I shut up about this." Fran nodded, and settled in his seat. "Go on."
"Ushishi. Ok, um… you said that she-" Bel waved his fork in Chrome's direction "- is your family. But whenever you came to school, she wasn't with you. And when Mammon came to pick you up, she wasn't with her either. So how on earth is she your family?" the blonde asked, before shoving another mouthful of lettuce in his mouth.
"Well, when we were kids, be were best friends. We still are. But Chrome's parents weren't that good so me and Mammon took her away and she stays with us. She used to go to Midori middle school." Fran answered, and stood up to clear the table.
"Oh. What about your parents then Froggy? Is there only you and Mammon?" Bel picked up his plate and walked to the kitchen, everyone else following.
"Me and Mammon don't have parents." The teen said, rinsing the dishes and putting them into the dishwasher. "And Mammon's applying for more jobs, since her old job wasn't producing enough money."
"Ah. I see. Oh, when did you get Chrome the BB gun?" Chrome and Mammon left the kitchen to go into the living room.
"When Chrome was ten, I saw that she had amazing aim, and always won the shooting games at the fair. So I bought her the BB gun to help her protect herself." Fran grabbed a cookie and jammed it in his mouth. He walked into the living room.
Fran grabbed the remote and turned on the TV, and switched the channel to watch CSI: New York. The Prince laughed. "Ushishi. Froggy, you are addicted."
"Whatever. If you're gonna sleepover, then call your parents. I'm not sure if you can wear my clothes though." Fran said, his eyes glued to the TV. Bel got up and went to the other room to call his parents, while Fran watched CSI.
Mammon went back to her job applications, and everyone was quiet, only the sound of the TV interrupting the silence. Bel walked in and sat next to Fran.
"Froggy? When does this thing end?" Bel played with a strand of Fran's hair.
"At nine. Why?" Fran's eyes were still glued to the TV.
"We still need to do our homework."
"I usually do it at nine thirty. It's not that hard."
"Ok, whatever the Froggy says." And Bel shifted around so he could sit in his favorite position, and everyone sat in comfortable silence.
"Hey, where's Froggy's peasant friend?" Bel said, noticing that Chrome was nowhere in the room.
"She went to feed Fukurou.(1)" The blonde wrinkled his nose in confusion.
"…Fukurou?" At that moment, Chrome walked in with an owl perched on her shoulder.
"That's Fukurou." Fran said. At the sound of it name, Fukurou looked at the green-haired teen and hooted.
"Fukurou? An owl?" Bel asked, gazing at the owl. The owl glared back.
"This is my pet owl, Fukurou." Said Chrome. "Fukurou, say hi to Bel-san." The owl eyed the blonde beadily before flying to Bel and settling on his head.
"Ushishishi. Cool." Said the Prince, looking upwards to look at the owl. Suddenly, the owl started to seize up and jerk. "Uh… I think it's having a seizure."
Chrome looked worried. "Bel-san! Please brush Fukurou off! Now please!" Chrome said, quickly running forward. Fran stopped watching TV to look at the scene. "He's not having a seizure Bel-san, He's-"
PLOP!
An owl pellet dropped onto Bel's face, in between his eyes.
Chrome froze.
Fran smirked.
Mammon laughed softly.
Bel twitched.
Fukurou hooted and ruffled his feathers, obviously pleased with himself.
And chaos descended into the living room.
*K*H*R*
Hibari could not believe that Chrome's emotionless friend had snapped. One minute he was fine, and the next, he was yelling his head off. He was stunned, but let them go. He knew it was something serious.
He sat on the roof, yawning and staring at the clouds.
"Hibari! Hibari!" Hibird fluttered down and perched in his hair. "Hibari!" He preened the skylark's hair. Hibari smiled before he lay down and drifted off to sleep.
It is dark. He opens his eyes, only to see an old building that is going up in flames. Hibari rushes in, looking for something he doesn't even know, something he needs,wantsto protect. The skylark hears the flames licking the walls hungrily, feels the heat burning him-and yet- he continues.
He opens every single door, throwing it open, not caring if it was on fire or not. It is something he must find and save from this building.
But the flames disappear, and he is standing on darkness… Hibari falls, only to hear a soft, musical voice, a voice ever so familiar…
And he lands with a thump in front of an unfamiliar house. The building is deserted. No one is there. The skylark is alone. Until he hears a scream.
He bursts through the door freeing himself from his jacket as it snags on something. He opens a door and finds a girl and a man. A bloodied girl cowering on the floor and a man holding a broken alcohol bottle. The man raises his arm a strikes the girl-with the bottle.The girl with the purple hair -so familiar somehow- shrieks as the glass breaks in her face.
She holds her bloody face and whimpers. Her right eye is bleeding profusely. The man guffaws and kicks her viciously. Hibari lunges forward at the man to protect the girl. He grimaces as he smells alcohol, smoke, and whatever else there is.
The man disappears in purple vapor. Hibari turns to look at the girl and kneels down to help her. As the girl looks up at him, he remembers that huge, violet left eye that could only belong to one person.
He gasps as the floor gives way and the last thing he sees is the girl's bloody face and her hand reaching out to him-
And he woke up with a jolt.
Hibari rubbed his temples. That dream was way too unsettling for him. He stared at his hands. Hibird, sensing his uneasiness, hopped into his hands so Hibari could look at him.
"Midori tanabiku namimori no…" the canary chirped happily. The skylark smiled briefly, before frowning again.
That dream about the new transfer student, Chrome Dokuro, was a little weird. But, as much as he hated to admit it, ever since he met her, he kept thinking about her uniqueness. Like when he stared at the clouds when he was on the school roof, the first thing he would think of was-
"…Cloud Person? Are you ok?" He started. The girl had walked up to him and peered anxiously at him, her face closer than her would have liked.
"I'm ok." He replied, trying to calm the monster inside of himself and trying to stop the blood from rushing to his face.
"Are you sure? You look like you have a fever." And before he could do anything, she reached up and pushed his bangs up. At the same time, she brushed aside her own bangs, and pressed her forehead to his.
"!" Hibari stumbled backwards, his hand clutching his forehead, his face a brighter red than before.
"You're a little warm Cloud Person. You should go to-"
"Wha-what did you do that for?" Hibari mumbled, trying to get his thoughts into order.
"To see if you had a fever."
Hibari massaged his temples again, trying desperately to stop his head from throbbing- and to rid himself of these herbivorous feelings.
"Hibari?" Hibird chirped tentatively, not knowing how to act with his master in a different mood. The skylark stared at the small bird, a sudden thought striking him.
He could do it. He taught Hibird how to say his name, taught him how to sing the school anthem. This was only a word, and Hibird was smart enough to do this.
"…Hey… little one." Hibari stroked the bird with a finger. The bird chirped happily. Hibari hesitated, before saying, "Chrome." Here, he poked the bird's beak.
"Chrome." He said clearly, red tinting his cheeks. The bird ruffled its wings before announcing "Rom!"
"Chrome." Hibari corrected lightly, shaking his head at the bird.
Half an hour later, he succeeded.
"Chrome! Chrome!" The little bird chirped before flying away singing the school anthem. The teen smiled before getting up to leave. The sun was already setting, and he turned to look at the orange sky.
He hesitated, before tentatively trying to say her name. "Chrome. Chrome Dokuro." He liked the way it sounded, liked the way it rolled off his lips. He smiled a little before shaking his head quickly.
"Stupid herbivore's feelings are rubbing off on me."
*K*H*R*
Mukuro was pissed. He liked the new girl and her strange ways. But, of all things, the head prefect just had to come and ruin it. He was building up the courage to ask Chrome after school to go to the amusement park on Saturday to get to know her more. He growled softly. M.M turned to look at him from her desk.
Are you ok? She mouthed.
"Miss M.M. Please pay attention." Said Aria-sensei softly. M.M turned, scowling. Aria smiled, then continued.
Mukuro tried to focus on his geography. Aria-sensei was one of the teachers he respected, but he couldn't concentrate. He gripped his pen even more tightly when he replayed the incident in his head. He shook his head, trying to get a grip. He could always ask tomorrow.
But there was one thing on his mind. When on earth did his little one be so cold? When he was tutoring Fran, he thought they were both friends. After tutoring him, they remained close and exchanged emails.
However, one day Little One started acting distant with him. Even though he was distant, he would still talk to Mukuro a little. But today was just strange the way his little one exploded. He thought about how they met and laughed softly.
+Flashback+
Mukuro was lying on his back, staring at the clouds. The rest of the Kokuyo gang went to the arcade. The purple-haired teen opted to relax, so they split up and agreed to meet at the house at 7.
"Mukuro. I hear you're a good fighter." Mukuro turned toward the direction of the voice. A green-haired boy stood there. He looked a little younger than Mukuro.
"…So?" He asked.
The green-haired teen tilted his chin up, his face emotionless. "Teach me." He said boldly.
Mukuro was stunned. "Me? Teach you?" He asked, indicating himself. The boy nodded.
"Yes, you. Teach Me." Mukuro smiled.
"Kufufu… you do have a backbone… but I'm afraid I have to decline." Mukuro lay back on his arms and closed his mismatched eyes. "You see, I'm no teacher. I guess most people would call me…what did they call it again? Ah yes, a 'delinquent.' Your parents would probably not want you to."
"Probably. If I had any parents." He opened an eye to look at the kid. "Oh? But I'm sorry, I don't teach."
"You don't sound sorry." Mukuro got up and slid his staff out. "Kufufu… Are you provoking me?"
"It depends. Are you going to teach me?"
"No."
"Then yes. I am provoking you." Mukuro smiled. "But I don't think you'd be able to little girl." He purposely called the kid a girl to make him stomp off.
But the kid did nothing of that sort. "I'm a boy." He said simply, his voice flat. "And I want you to teach me, whether you like it or not, Pineapple Faerie." A tic appeared on the said teen's face.
"Don't provoke me."
"Then teach me." The boy mono-toned. Mukuro was getting annoyed of the flat voice and emotionless face.
"I don't teach."
"Then test me or give me hell or spar or whatever. But teach me." Oh, lord.
"Did anybody tell you that you are annoyingly persistent?"
"You would be the first." He said.
"…Are you like that all the time?" The older teen asked.
"Like what?"
"You know, annoyingly emotionless, flat voice, the tendency to annoy the heck out of people?"
"Yes."
"I pity your friends." The kid nodded. "So, will you teach me?"
Mukuro threw up his hands. "Fine. If you can land a blow on me, then I'll teach you." The teen nodded.
"Ok." Mukuro settled in a stance.
"Don't think that I'll be easy on you just 'cause you're smaller and younger." Mukuro warned. "And I'm Rokudo Mukuro" He added.
The teen nodded. "Ok. I'm Fran." The purple-haired teen smiled, and lunged at Fran. He swung the staff down diagonally with his right hand. Fran dodged, but received a blow on his stomach from Mukuro's left hand.
To Mukuro's surprise, Fran didn't even wince, or gasp in pain. He stayed in his emotionless self. Fran grabbed Mukuro's left hand, twisted and pulled the arm over his right shoulder, rammed his hip into Mukuro's stomach and pulled him over his shoulder.
Mukuro wasn't expecting a judo move, but he managed to roll on the ground and get up in a crouch.
He smirked. This was going to be more fun than he thought. He lunged at the younger boy and jumped mid-air, his left leg snaking out and catching Fran on his chin.
The green-haired boy tumbled backwards, and did a back roll to get up in a crouch. Miraculously, his chin was a little scuffed, but not bleeding.
Fran ran forward before dropping and rolling, timing it perfectly, so when he got up in a crouch, he was kneeling right in front of Mukuro. He dodged another strike from the purple-hair's staff, and tried to do a leg sweep. Mukuro jumped over his leg, but was surprised.
Fran thrusted his palm up, and although the purple-haired teen whipped his head back, he felt it brush his chin.
Fran straightened up. "Is that ok?" Mukuro nodded. "Kufufufu… you're better than I thought."
"Ok. So when can you start?" The older teen smiled. "Sunday. Meet me at the park." The green-haired boy nodded, and turned to leave, wiping his chin.
"Oh, and by the way, you have to call me Master." Mukuro called. Fran turned. "Why?"
"You'll call me Master, and I'll call you little one." Fran hesitated for a moment, then nodded.
"Deal."
+End of Flashback+
Mukuro twirled his pen, idly wondering when class would end. The bell suddenly rang. Aria clapped her hands.
"Ok, class is dismissed. I want you guys to finish the work sheet and hand it to me tomorrow. Good day." She called. Everyone got up murmuring and packing up. M.M and the rest of the gang came up to Mukuro.
"So, let's go to the arcade." Ken said, slinging his bag over his shoulder. Chikusa nodded.
"Mukuro-chan, are you ok?" M.M asked. Mukuro smiled. "I'm fine."
M.M's eyes narrowed. "But-"
"Mukuro-san, look!" Ken said excitedly. He was pointing at the door. A tall blond-haired man was standing in the doorway.
Aria stood up, blushing a little. "Gamma, you're here early." The man called Gamma smiled, and pressed his lips to her cheek with the tattoo.
"Let's go. You need a ride right?" he asked Aria. She nodded, still smiling her radiant smile. He took her hand and they walked together out of the building.
Ken snickered. "Aria-sensei has a boyfriend?"
"Aww! Aria and that Gamma dude look cute together!" Squealed M.M. "I hope they marry someday." M.M sighed dreamily, clasping her hands together.
Chikusa shook his head. "Gamma works for Aria. They can't be together." M.M crossed her arms.
"How do you know? They might be together." She stuck out her tongue at Chikusa. "Besides, if she has enough money to have someone to work for her, why is she a teacher? I mean, it doesn't exactly bring in a lot of money."
Chikusa pushed up his glasses. "I meant, Aria owns a bar, and Gamma's a bartender there." M.M's face fell. "Oh."
Mukuro slung his bag over his shoulder, not taking part of their usual banter. M.M noticed. She slipped her arm through his.
"Are you sure you're ok?" She asked gently, while Ken yelled at Chikusa about random things.
Mukuro nodded and smiled. "Kufufu. Let's go to the arcade. Race you!" He yelled at Ken and Chikusa, and climbed out the window.
"Hey! No fair Mukuro-san!" Ken yelled, climbing out of the window.
"Don't climb out of the window!" M.M yelled.
"Take a chill pill." Ken poked his head through the window. "It's only the first floor."
"Still, the teacher's might yell at us!" M.M said. Chikusa jumped through the window. He turned to face her.
"You're just scared that we'll see your panties." He said flatly, pushing up his glasses.
"No, I'm not! I'm wearing spandex underneath my skirt, genius!" She yelled, and jumped through the window.
*K*H*R*
The next day, Mukuro woke up early, determined to talk to Chrome before school. He was going to suck it up, ask her, and hope that everything was going to be ok.
He showered quickly, and went downstairs.
"Morning Mukuro-chan!"
"Good morning Mukuro-san."
"Heth Mukruo! Dith ya havth a gooth sleep?" Ken called his mouth full of pancakes.
Mukuro nodded and poured himself a glass of OJ.
M.M eyed him. "Mukuro-chan?" Mukuro sensed that M.M was going to question him, and quickly stood up, shoveling the rest of his pancakes into his mouth.
"I'm going to school! I forgot that I need to go something." The teen declared before rushing out the door. As he shut the door, he breathed out in relief.
He had managed to evade M.M. For now. But it was better than nothing. He quickly set off towards the school.
As he walked through, he said hi to a few students who dared to greet him, and he quickly sought out the girl he wanted to talk to. He scanned the crowd of students. He didn't see her, and he was beginning to worry that she wasn't coming to school or she was already in class.
Then he saw a flash of purple hair.
*K*H*R*
Chrome was talking to Yamamoto about Collonello, who was the other teacher of the 'special class thingy', as Mukuro had put it. Yamamoto was part of the team since he was amazing at kendo and baseball. He could also make good sushi, which made him qualify for the class. The tall boy was explaining about the teams.
"You see, in the class we do many different types of stuff. Right now, it's self-defense, so Collonello and Lal both help brush up our techniques at fighting and all.
"Me, Tsuna, Basil, Bel, Gokudera, and Ryohei are part of it. Collonello's trying to get one more person in because he feels that the number six is an unlucky number." Chrome nodded, showing that she understood.
"So all of you are good at kendo?" She asked quietly.
He grinned. "Nope. It's like a mix of everything. Tsuna and Basil are good at close combat, and Tsuna's got amazing intuition. Basil is good at medical stuff and literature. I do kendo and baseball, and I can also make sushi, if that counts for anything. Ryohei does Muay Thai and boxing, and he's got incredible stamina. Well, Gokudera is an expert with dynamites, science and math. That kid's a genius. Bel… well, he's got amazing perceptive; and he's a genius also. Ask him anything and he will know it. He's also good at medical stuff too, amazingly."
Chrome bit her lip nervously, thinking that if Bel was good at medical stuff, it was probably for the gore, and not the healing.
Yamamoto hummed to himself after the conversation, and Chrome sat there. She looked around, and decided to try out. "Where-meep!" She was interrupted because she was glomped but someone.
"Kufufu, Good morning my cute Chrome!" Mukuro nuzzled her. "How are you doing?"
"Mukuro-san." She acknowledged him quietly. Yamamoto grinned, waved, and left.
"My cute Chrome, are you free this Saturday?" He asked, pulling back from his hugging.
"Why do you ask?" she said, a little louder than a whisper. She stared at the ground, not making eye contact when she remembered what Fran told her.
"Well, I wanted to invite you to the fun fair!" Mukuro smiled and ruffled her hair- which had just fallen flat after Yamamoto had ruffled it.
"Um… I need to ask Fran." She said, still not making looking at him.
"Oh! And about that, do you know why my little one is so cold?" Mukuro asked. "He's become to mean!" He whined.
Her head snapped up. "You mean you don't know?" Mukuro shook his head. Chrome observed him. He seemed sincere enough. Her huge violet eye looked him up and down. The purple-haired boy shifted uneasily.
"Umm… I don't know either. And about the fair… I… Can I call you later with the answer? I need to ask Fran." She looked away. Mukuro smiled understandingly. He planted a kiss on her cheek.
"Ok, I'll be waiting." He disappeared. She sat dumbly for a minute, her mind not working yet. Then the blush kicked in and she clutched her cheek.
"I can't believe he does that to me so frequently…" She murmured, smiling.
*K*H*R*
Hibari was standing near the gate, looking at the gate to see if there were any latecomers. His eyes followed the pineapple herbivore since he had an appetite for bringing trouble. His hands twitched. He was dying to get his tonfas and beat the herbivore up.
He froze when he saw him sit with Chrome.
Hibari stood there, numb, not sure whether to sneak over to listen or to stay there and continue to enforce discipline.
The skylark stood there staring at Chrome. He saw Mukuro hug her. He clenched his hands. When he stopped hugging the small girl, Hibari was satisfied that she didn't look at Mukuro.
Then he saw the herbivore smile, then he leaned in and kissed her cheek. His heart clenched. The pineapple walked away. The small girl did absolutely nothing, until Hibari saw a blush rise, saw her clutch her cheek, and saw her smile.
And his heart dropped to the floor faster than anyone could say "Heartbroken".
He slowly turned to stare at the gate dully. He started when a hand clamped down on his shoulder. He whipped around, his tonfas already out. He was glad someone was here so he could beat his frustration out on a lump of meat.
He stopped when he saw Dino.
"Cavallone herbivore." He nodded, slowly putting away his tonfas. The dullness came back in a rush.
Dino grinned. "Hey Kyoya! What's up with the dullness?" Hibari looked away. Dino frowned. "Kyoya, what's wrong?"
"Shut up or I'll bite you to death." The skylark glared at the blonde. Dino just peered anxiously at Hibari.
"Kyoya, is something wrong? You'd never bite a teacher to death! It's defiling discipline!" The blonde quickly pressed a hand to his forehead. "Are you sick? Did you see something you shouldn't have?"
Hibari ducked out. "I'm not sick." He snapped. When Dino asked if he was sick, it brought the Chrome incident on the roof along with it. He quickly tried to push out the thought. He rubbed his temples.
"Stupid female herbivore." He muttered. Dino took a step back.
"…Kyoya, are you in love?"
Heat quickly rose in the skylark's face. "No! I'm not! Carnivores are alone. That's why they're strong." He said.
The blonde raised an eyebrow. "Oh?" he grinned and pinched Hibari's cheek. "Aww! Kyoya, who is it?" Hibari gritted his teeth.
"I said it's no one." Hibari ground out. Dino gasped and clapped both hands to his cheeks.
"Oh my. Kyoya… could it possibly be… a one-sidedlove?" Hibari did nothing.
"Oh dear. Poor Kyoya." Dino patted his head. The skylark shook his head. "I don't like anyone. " He insisted. "Carnivores aren't weak." The blonde smiled and leaned down to whisper in his ear.
"But carnivores have hearts too." Hibari stared at Dino, and the teacher smiled before walking away. He stood there numbly, before the bell rang. He stood there thoughtfully until he heard a scream.
"HIEEEEEEEEE! I'M LATE! HIBARI-SAN IS GOING TO KILL ME!" Hibari gritted his teeth again. He sank into a stance.
"You're going to regret interrupting my thoughts."
*K*H*R*
"Fran." Chrome whispered. She poked him with her pencil. "Fran." She said as loudly as she dared. The teacher turned around from writing on the board.
"VOOOOI! NOT TALKING BRATS!" Squalo glared. Chrome mentally cursed. Stupid teacher still had ears like a hawk even though his own voice was loud enough to make anyone deaf.
"OK!" he turned from the board. It said in big, bold, capital letters: 'NO BRATS ARE PERMITTED TO TALK WHILE THIS GODDAMN TEACHER IS SPEAKING.'
"I WROTE THE RULES ON THE BOARD SINCE THERE'S A NEW KID HERE!" Squalo yelled. "IF YOU ARE WONDERING, KID WITH THE PURPLE HAIR, THAT THERE ARE NO MORE RULES, IT BECAUSE ART IS MESSY, YOU HEAR ME? MESSY!
"SO, WHEN YOU DO ART, FEEL IT! BECOME IT! POUR YOUR SOUL INTO IT!" he bellowed. Chrome winced.
"VOIIIIII!" the girl jumped. Fran patted her shoulder. "It's his catch-phrase. Get used to it." he said. She nodded, swallowing. The silver-haired man passed around blocks of wood.
"TODAY WE ARE-" Squalo threw a block of wood into the air. "CARVING!" he roared. While the block of wood was still in the air, he whipped out a knife. The block of wood fell and Squalo swung his knife so fast it looked like he was going it randomly.
The block of wood fell onto the floor with a thud. Only, it wasn't a block of wood anymore. It was a carving of a shark. Everyone 'ooh' ed. Squalo picked it up, looking smug.
"GET IT BRATS! NOW, BEGIN! BE ONE WITH THE TOOLS!" Everyone quickly picked up their tools and started chipping away.
"So, what were you going to tell me?" Fran asked, chipping. Chrome was frightened.
"Aren't we supposed to keep quiet?" she whispered. Fran shrugged. "It's ok. He doesn't mind it if you talk. Just that you have to listen while he's talking."
"Oh."
"So? What is it?" Chrome nibbled her lip and started carving again. "Um…" Fran's eyes narrowed a little. "Chrome?"
"Mukuro asked me to go the fair with him on Saturday!" she blurted. Fran blinked.
"Oh. What time are you going to meet him?" he asked emotionlessly, turning back to his carving. She furrowed her brow in confusion.
"Aren't… aren't you mad?"
"Why would I be mad?" Fran asked, his face impassive. A chunk of wood fell off his block. "Crap. That wasn't supposed to fall off."
"Well, um. So can I go?" She asked, hacking away at her block.
"Sure. But be sure to fill your BB gun and take it along with you. And when I have enough money, I'll make sure to get you a Taser." She nodded and smiled at him.
By the end of the class, Squalo walked around the room looking at their work. He nodded appreciatively at Fran's sculpture of a frog with a tiara crouching on a lily.
He stopped when he saw Chrome's.
"VOIIII! WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?" he yelled, a tic appearing. The girl fidgeted.
"An… owl?" She said, turning the answer into a question. She had tried to carve an owl perched on a branch but it came out looking like a troll on a blob.
"VOIII! IT LOOKS NOTHING LIKE AN OWL!" Chrome winced and plugged her ears.
"DON'T YOU PLUG YOUR EARS ON ME, BRAT!" he roared.
The bell rang, and everyone sprinted for the door.
"PURPLE-HAIRED KID, I TOLD YOU TO BECOME ON WITH THE TOOLS!" Chrome ran out, covering her ears.
"DON'T YOU DARE PLUG YOUR EARS ON ME, BRAT! GET BACK OVER HERE!"
*K*H*R*
Fran sat listening to the other's presentation about capital punishment. He yawned. Basil was up, and he was struggling to use modern English.
Fran snapped back to his senses and tried to listen to Basil.
"Capital punishment is a punishment for prisoners. Thy thought- um- I think that we shouldn't because thou art humans too, so thou- I mean, they are humans too, so they ought to hath thy chance to live. I mean they." Fran dozed off again, not concentrating. He stared listlessly out the window.
He thought about Chrome. Her going out with Master? He was scared that she'd get hurt, like Mammon, but he couldn't shake the feeling that the person who attacked Mammonwasn't Master. Although Mammon said it looked exactly like him, with the same voice and such, there was one gaping hole in her story.
Why would he hurt her? Mammon didn't do anything to him. And he was pretty close to Master. After the incident, he had acted differently with the older teen, distant, but Master seemed genuinely confused.
But he knew Master, and his Master was an expert at hiding his feelings and so forth. He rubbed a hand over his eyes. He was so confusing.
The head prefect too. He seemed to have a soft spot for Chrome. Fran didn't know what to do. He rubbed his temples.
"Ah, Fran, you're next!" called Shouichi. Fran glared at him. Although it was more like staring at him blankly. It was a trick he learned from Mammon, to stare at someone till they cave in.
"Uh… Um…" the red-haired man started sweating profusely. "I…Um… how about you Tsunayoshi?" Tsuna stood up sweating. Fran smiled a little.
Fran sighed. If only he could send someone to look out for Chrome this Saturday. He grinned when the perfect person came to mind. And this person couldn't possibly say no.
"It's about time I give a call to the head prefect…"
*K*H*R*
Chrome walked home with Fran, and Bel followed them back home again.
"Ushishi. Froggy, I'm sleeping over again!" he sang, dancing around. Chrome looked at Fran to see how he would respond. Surprisingly, he did nothing.
"Ok." He said simply, while staring at the phone in his hands. He texted someone, not caring where he was going.
"Froggy!" Bel quickly yanked Fran back by the collar, stopping him from crashing into a lamplight. "Watch where you're going!" Fran 'Hn' d and continued walking and texting. The green-haired kid walked on. Bel hung back.
"What's wrong with him?" he muttered to Chrome. She shrugged. He sighed, and stopped walking and turned to talk. They waited for the light to turn green so they could walk across the street.
"Why is Froggy like this? I-" Bel broke off before lunging past her. He grabbed Fran by the collar and jerked him out of the way of an ongoing truck. She gasped.
The both of them tumbled onto the other side of the road. Fran rubbed his neck. "Ow." He mono-toned. The blonde snapped.
"What is wrong with you?" he grabbed the younger one by the shoulders and started shaking him. Fran looked impassive. "You walk home, not even talking to me and just text and nearly get yourself killed!"
Chrome ran over. "Fran! Bel-san!" she was ignored.
"So? I'm not dead." Fran said monotonously.
"It's because of me you're not dead." Bel growled. Fran's phone suddenly beeped, signaling that he had another text. Fran took it out but Bel whipped it out of his hands.
"You are not going to fucking text with whoever the hell it is before you get the idea of how you could've died." Fran's eyes widened. He sat there on Bel's stomach, his hands on the blonde's chest. They had gotten into this position since Bel was faster and ran past Fran and pulled Fran onto himself and out of the truck's way.
"Fran, Bel-san, are you ok?" Chrome asked worriedly kneeling next to them, looking for wounds. Suddenly, like lightning, they suddenly realized their position. A faint pink dusted both of their cheeks.
Fran got off of Bel. To keep himself busy, Bel looked at the younger boy's phone. His hand gripped the phone so tightly his knuckles turned white.
The message said: 'Frannie, I didn't know you were acquaintances with Hibari-kun! Anyway, here's his number you asked for. 081-189-6180. –Lussaria
Bel sat on the sidewalk stiffly.
Chrome also crouched there, trying to decide to read the text or to just sit there. "Um…"
"Idiot-senpai, what-" Fran was grabbed and slung over Bel's shoulder. "Oof!" The blonde set off at full speed toward the house, leaving Chrome behind.
"Ah! Wait, Fran, Bel-san!" she called, and tried to run after them. She stopped soon after, panting. "I hate sports…" she decided to walk to the house.
"I hope nothing bad happened."
*K*H*R*
Fran was bobbing up and down his senpai's shoulder. "Senpai. Stop it." he mono-toned, his face emotionless.
"No." Bel said simply, still running toward the house. "Not till I get answers."
"Put me down, then I'll answer you." Bel burst through Fran's door, and Mammon was nowhere in sight. Fran mentally cursed. Of all days, she just had to have a job interview when he needed her to pry Bel off.
Bel set Fran down gently once he closed the door. The younger boy shook his head a little to clear his dizziness.
The blonde held up the phone in front of Fran. "Why did you ask for the peasant's phone number?" he said lowly. Fran stared blankly at the screen before understanding.
"Ah! I was going to activate my plan!" Fran said, slapping his right fist into his left palm. Bel furrowed his brow. "Huh?"
Fran grabbed the phone from his idiot-senpai and quickly dialed the number. The blonde was still confused. "What? I-" Fran put a finger to Bel's lips, indicating silence. The blonde blushed a little. "What the-"
{Hello?}
"Ah, you're the head prefect right?" Bel's murderous aura overflowed. He made to snatch the phone out of the younger boy's hands but Fran danced out of the blonde's reach.
{Who are you?} Fran held one of Bel's arm at bay while his left leg was stopping the older boy's left arm. A tic appeared on the said teen's cheek. 'Give it!' he mouthed.
"I'm Chrome's friend. I need a favor." Fran said flatly while fending off Bel's leg.
{…What kind of favor?} the other voice cautiously asked. It was amusing really, that Fran was able to do so many things at once.
"Chrome's going on a date with Master, and I need someone to keep an eye on her." Fran wedged the phone between his neck and shoulder, his two arm's holding Bel's, and a foot in the blonde's face.
{…So what are you implying herbivore?}
Fran smiled. Bel was so shocked, he just sat there dumbly with Fran's foot in his face.
"Can you go and keep an eye on her? But you can't let yourself be seen."
{…Do you take me for an idiot?}
"No, just a sick person." He could imagine the prefect's eyes narrowing.
{I'll bite you to death.}
"No, I meant sick another way. A one-sided sickness." Bel looked confused. 'one-sided sickness?' he mouthed to Fran. The green-haired boy ignored him.
The silence went on for so long Fran thought the prefect fainted.
{How long have you known?} Fran smirked. So his guess was right after all.
"That's not the point. Do you know who's 'Master'?" Fran asked.
{Is it Mukuro?} Fran nodded. The prefect took his silence for a yes. {What time?}
"Go to the fair on Saturday, at about ten." Fran ordered flatly.
{…what if I say no?}
"I think you misunderstood, I wasn't asking, I was-how do you put it? Demanding you to go." Fran mono-toned.
{…Fine. You owe me Green-haired Herbivore.}
"Sure." They both hung up. Bel stared.
"What's wrong idiot-senpai?" Bel just stood there. "Senpai?" he waved a hand in front of the blonde's face. He snapped back.
"What it tarnation was that about?" Yelled Bel. Fran remained impassive. "It's the secret part of a secret plan."
"About wha-"
"I'm home!" Mammon came in with Chrome. "You guys left her alone." Fran apologized and grabbed Chrome's hand. "Ok, Chrome, need to talk to you."
They left the woman and Bel alone. She started unpacking her briefcase. "What's wrong?" she asked when the blonde was unusually quiet.
"…Froggy was texting to the nurse and nearly got himself killed." Mammon nodded, unfazed.
"I take it you saved him. Anything else?"
"The idiot was texting to the gaylord asking for the Prefect peasant's number." Bel growled. Mammon stared, before bursting out laughing.
"Aw! Bel's jealous!" She pinched his cheeks. "Crushing on my little bro? Who would've thought?" she smiled before ruffling his hair.
Bel blushed before saying, "Princes don't like peasants! Especially uncute, annoying frogs!" Mammon rolled her hidden eyes.
"Yeah right."
*K*H*R*
Hibari hung up and tossed his phone into the corner. It rolled off the table. Roll woke up.
"Kupii—" he said reproachfully. Hibari picked it up. "Sorry." He wanted to strangle that herbivore, but he also wanted to see Chrome.
He wasn't sure if he wanted to see them together, but he doubted they would do anything but do that herbivorous thing called 'having fun'.
He went upstairs, carrying Roll, Hibird flying behind. He flopped onto the bed.
"Saturday, ten o'clock…. at the funfair…" Hibari murmured before drifting off to sleep. Little did he know that for the first time ever, his instincts were wrong.
*K*H*R*
1: The mist owl is called 'Mukuro' but since it could be weird if she called Mukuro 'Mukuro' and the mist owl Mukuro even before she met him would be weird. So I did research and it said that the Japanese word for owl is 'Fukuro'. Ignore the pun please.
Hey guys! I'm sorry that I didn't write any other pairings besides B26 and 189669. Well, I'm going to do 27K, but not till another… say, 2 or 3 more chaps? And I wasn't sure if I was gonna do 8059 or 5986. PLEASE PLEASE VOTE! AND REVIEW!
