Warmth. A rare sensation to the female Mist Guardian. On numerous occasions she'd tried to comfort herself by fabricating illusionary imitations, but over her many years of training she could eventually feel the subtle yet fundamental difference between the mimicry and the genuine. M.M. would taunt her mercilessly about her obsession of trying to engineer false warmth perfectly. To the shivering Kokuyo gang, anything she produced in the subzero winter was adequate, but still she tried. Finally she'd gone to her counterpart, the one who shared her soul, assuming it was some deficiency in her skill. Producing emotions, thoughts, and sensations in others were amongst the most difficult feats an illusionist could hope to achieve.
Her hero had gently told her, "some things simply cannot be fully copied my dearest Nagi."
Her experienced senses recognized that she was now feeling real warmth. It was so soothing she tried to slip back into the deep slumber she'd stirred from. Comfort like this was such a precious luxury, she wanted to cling to it forever.
"No, Chrome-chan! You need to wake up so you can eat something!" protested a sweet voice. Chrome's good eye fluttered open to find a trio of worried girls hovering over her. "You were very weak when you came here," Yuni continued, "did you walk all this way?"
Chrome tried to speak but only managed to push a puff of air from her parched throat. She lifted a hand to touch her cracked lips, but something caught her wrist before she raised her fingers more than a few centimeters. Without shifting her head she lowered her gaze and saw a set of handcuffs binding her to the hospital bed she rested in. The cold metal was already breaking open her tender skin.
"We're so sorry Chrome-chan," Kyoko sighed. "Bianchi-san thought you might be an imposter, so she said until we get Tsuna's Hyper Intuition to confirm your identity we have no choice."
"But we know it's really you!" Haru chimed in. "Somehow we can just tell," she assured her.
Some things simply cannot be fully copied…
A sincerely joyful smile spread across Chrome's face, her friends understood as well.
"Tsuna-san will be conscious again any minute now," said Kyoko, glancing a few beds down. "The boys are so rough sometimes!"
"It wasn't us!" the newly awakened Gokudera objected indignantly.
"Be quiet baka!" demanded Haru heatedly and without sympathy. "You're disturbing Chrome-chan!"
"I think someone needs attention," Yuni whispered when Haru stalked over to the Storm Guardian's side. Kyoko giggled quietly. The beautiful sound stirred her admirer.
"I don't know how much more I can take…" Tsuna mumbled. "I'm gonna die one day because of all this stress!" Kyoko hurried over to him and tried to comfort the mournful brunette. When she stood, she revealed the illusionist's purple hair.
"Chrome?" Tsuna instantly forgot what he was lamenting and straightened up. "When did you get here?"
"So it's really her?" a cool voice drawled.
"Yes," affirmed the mafia boss. "There's no doubt tha—heiiii! Hibari-san!"
Hibari Kyouya stood aloof in the doorway, irritated that he had to mingle with such an herbivorous crowd to retrieve his box weapon. Curse the Bucking Bronco. He'd swiped it off the Cloud Guardian upon his beloved Bianchi's request. Hibari had been chasing the Chiavarone boss when the idiot Mafioso had incapacitated them both with his whip. Useless unless he was in a crowd of his herbivores, pathetic. While the two untangled themselves Bianchi had scooped up her prize from where it had skidded to a halt at her feet and disappeared. His box weapon wasn't a junk seat of handcuffs to be used in restraining every bothersome delinquent. Hibari ground his teeth with renewed annoyance at the fresh memory.
Heiiii! He's going to bite us all to death! thought Tsuna upon seeing what appeared to be Hibari sharpening his fangs. The oh-so-manly boss promptly fainted back into the plush pillows his loving nurse had stacked around him. Hibari raised an unamused eyebrow at the couple and turned his attention back to his prized weapon. He had eyes only for his handcuffs until he noticed who they were chained to.
In the light hospital gown Chrome's fragility was impossible to overlook. Her skin wasn't just pale, it was a sickly white with rich black and purple botches around the main arteries. This made her dark hair stand out even more shockingly. Scratches were etched on the soles of her feet and palms of her hands. Whoever had dressed her had also removed her ever-present eye patch. He found himself sorely tempted to push back her bangs and see what she kept so vigilantly hidden.
"Hi-Hibari-san?" Yuni ventured daringly from Chrome's bedside. The black haired man stiffened when he realized he'd been staring and snatched back his box weapon. He became even more irritated when he caught himself noticing how Chome's delicate blue veins pulsed with each beat of her heart.
"An empty puppet," he spat, more to himself than to anyone else, before exiting the clinic.