Chrome stood at her door. All three locks were undone. The chain swayed, no longer bound to its slot. She stared down at her hands; one held a half-empty paper bag, the other held her knife.
She fought to keep her breathing even as she set her knife down on the floor. Then she grabbed the knob, twisted, and pulled the door open.
Light spilled in from the hallway, illuminating Chrome's apartment. It was barren of decoration, electronics, or large pieces of furniture. The only place light touched that looked inhabited was the small kitchen. The trash was almost full of disposable plates and take-out containers. The counter had a few bags of rice and simple cooking materials. A pile of dirty pots poked out of the sink, and a few letters had been taped to the fridge, along with two pictures.
The first picture had a group of uniformed teenagers, centered around a young man with purple hair tied back and a discolored left eye. Sitting next to him was a smiling Chrome, her left eye hidden by an eyepatch with a skull design. The second picture had an older Chrome, still with the eyepatch but no longer smiling, standing next to a taller woman. The woman had one arm around Chrome's shoulders while the other flashed a V with her fingers, a grin spread across her face.
There was a hallway leading back to three closed doors, and Chrome glanced back at them once. She shook her head and stepped around her kitchen knife, pulling the door closed behind her. With a quick dig into her sweatpants pocket, she produced a key, locked the one lock she could from the outside, and started toward the stairs.
Chrome kept her relaxed walk for five seconds. Then she began throwing glances behind her down the empty hallway and picked up her pace. She threw open the door to the stairwell, spinning and grabbing it once she was inside. Chrome fought to pull the door closed as fast as it would let her, glancing at the stairs leading to different floors. When the door was shut, she peered through the small window set in its center. The hallway was still empty.
Her head fell against the stairwell door, and she put her fingers to her neck. Her pulse rocketed through her veins. Chrome began to take measured breaths, inhaling and exhaling at the same rate until her heartbeat had slowed. She puffed out a sigh once she had calmed and stood up from the door, checking the large number three printed on it.
"Down," she muttered.
With tentative steps, Chrome began descending. She kept staring over the railing, but there was no one else on the stairs. She made it to the next floor down without encountering anyone.
Chrome cracked the second floor door open and peered into the hallway. From the stairwell she could see the entire length of the hallway. It was as empty as the stairwell had before.
She slipped into the hallway, glancing at the door across from her. It was labelled 210. Chrome moved down the hallway, scanning the numbers on every door. She passed by a mirror that captured her reflection for a moment; her long purple hair down and in tangles, her shirt worn and her sweat pants sporting a small stain. With some inspection even the edges of her eyepatch were frayed, but Chrome noticed none of these details.
The young woman moved down the hall till she stood in front of the door marked 207. She put her fist up against the door and swallowed back her nerves.
Chrome knocked on Tsuna's door.
Tsuna's voice was muffled. "Hold on, give me a moment, I'm in the middle of something."
Chrome shrunk back, but stood her ground. She could hear a clang of metal, and a few seconds later the door swung open. Tsuna's expression was dominated by his frown. "What do you wan-"
When he made eye contact with Chrome, he froze. The frown vanished, and when he spoke his voice was both louder and higher. "Oh, hey, Chrome. Wasn't expecting you today. Did you enjoy the drink? Was there anything wrong with it?"
Chrome shook her head.
Tsuna leaned against the doorframe. "That's good, that's really good."
The smell of cooked meat wafted into the hallway from Tsuna's apartment. Tsuna looked back over his shoulder. "Sorry about what I said earlier, you caught me mid-cooking. If you're still hungry, you can come in and have a bite?"
Chrome took a step back, her head down and the bag now hidden behind her. "No, thank you. Enjoy your dinner."
She turned on her heel and retreated from Tsuna's apartment.
"You alright?" Tsuna called out to her. Chrome sped up rather than reply, and disappeared back into the stairwell. She took the steps two at a time, bursting onto her own floor without checking the hallway. At a speed just below a run, she moved to her door while feeling her pocket for the key. After a moment of fumbling, Chrome unlocked her lock and stepped into her apartment, slamming the door shut behind her and sealing it up in record time.
The darkness swelled up around her, obscuring her vision and compounding the sudden silence. Chrome sighed and put her back to her door, tossing the brown bag into the dark void and sliding to the floor. Her now empty hand searched around her until it closed around the handle of her knife. She brought it to her chest and cradled it while her eye adjusted to the lack of light.
When she could see again, Chrome looked herself over. She noticed her threadbare shirt and the stain on her pants. When she touched her face she felt the frays on her eyepatch, and when her hand ran through her hair it caught on the tangles.
She pulled in closer to herself, the hand in her hair clenching.
"Stupid," she muttered. "Stupid, stupid, stupid."