The sensation of being dragged through time is not a pleasant one. Tsuna and the others recognized the feeling immediately from the major time warp stunt that lead them to thwart Byakuran's attempts at not just world domination – no that wasn't good enough for the marshmallow maniac – but the domination of all worlds. The guardians swirled inside a rainbow dimension with strong tones of indigo spiraling around them.

"Wipe that stupid look off your face!" Gokudera bellowed at a stunned Rain Guardian who sailed by as he tried to get his bearings in a world between times. Naturally he wasn't very successful. Poor Yamamoto's misfortune only multiplied when he glided out of Gokudera's range and slammed right into Lal.

"Put us down!" shouted the bomber.

"As you wish." Mukuro's voice seemed to emanate from everywhere at once as he dropped the gang into the middle of an empty street. Yuni was the only one who escaped being piled in a heap of bodies as Mukuro was clutching her none-too-gently by her arm. Ryohei squirmed his way out of the dog-pile and unceremoniously vomited in the bushes that lined the side of the road.

"How delightful," Lal said sarcastically, rubbing her head from where Yamamoto's elbow had made sharp contact with it in the time tunnel.

Look out!" Yuni cried from her position next to Mukuro, but it was too late. A bulky truck came barreling down the road at full speed. No one had time to react as it charged toward them getting closer and closer to impact.

Or what would have been impact had the group been in a real time dimension and not a memory. As it was, the massive vehicle traveled right through the family and continued racing down the avenue. If dimension travel hadn't left them disoriented enough, being run over by a ghost-truck certainly did it.

"Stop playing games with us Mukuro." Tsuna was the first to come to his senses. "Why are we here?" His question didn't need an answer though. Laying in the road was a purple haired girl of about eleven. She lay broken in front of them with indigo and black flames flickering from her body.

"Is that…?"

"Yes."


Hibird trilled cheerfully from his new perch on Chrome's head while his master sat across from her calmly stirring his tea. Surprisingly, Chrome was quite at ease, unlike any other human being would have been in Hibari's presence. Let alone by themselves. Let alone in his home by themselves. It might have been the stillness she appreciated. As a Mist Guardian and illusionist she was especially sensitive to external stimuli. An oasis of peace could be lifesaving.

"Hibird, he's so sweet," chimed Chrome happily. Hibari only grunted in agreement.

"Your home is very beautiful," she continued as she admired her surroundings. This elicited no response from the receiver of her compliment save a secret satisfaction barley reflected in the Cloud Guardian's eyes. Hibari didn't strike the girl as someone who valued interior design, but his décor suggested otherwise. Traditional Japanese mats covered the floors, ancient vases were placed carefully on the bookshelves, and the waxpaper screens were meticulously kept.

"Explain," Hibari demanded abruptly. He was done with pleasantries, or what few gracious hosting requirements he was capable of producing. Chrome deposited her new fluffy yellow friend onto a shoot of bamboo to her right. Hibird flitted away singing the anthem of Namimori and leaving the pair alone.

"I-I don't remember anything," stammered Chrome. "I want tell you what happened but I don't remember I'm sorry I have no idea what's going on I-"

"Just start from the beginning," Hibari offered bluntly. He disliked seeing the illusionist agitated. He noticed the same knot forming in his stomach as when he saw Hibird was afraid because of a predator. This situation was even worse though, since there was no predator in sight for him to eliminate. She's like a small animal…he mused.

"Hi-Hibari?" Chrome tried getting the man's attention. "You're…blushing." No words intentionally chosen for the effect could have returned Hibari to his usual stoic state faster than the ones Chrome used.

"Start," he snapped.

"Well…" Chrome began slowly, trying to sound as nonthreatening as possible. Hibird returned, nestled into Chrome's head, and began affectionately preening her hair. "It wasn't a flame exactly, but I started feeling…something in elementary school. Every day I tried to make myself disappear. I imagined how nice it would be if I didn't exist."


"That was the beginning," Mukuro explained as Tsuna, Yuni, Lal, Ryohei, and Yamamoto looked down on Chrome's eleven-year-old body. The ghost-Chrome was gasping for breath with blood trickling from multiple wounds. Her head was turned in such a way that her damaged eye was out of sight. A ghost-cat mewed sorrowfully beside her, licking the gash on her face that would be responsible for the eventual loss of her eye.

Memories flew around the family's heads to demonstrate Mukuro's point; Chrome huddled in a corner listening to her mother and stepfather fighting, Chrome eating lunch by herself in an empty classroom, Chrome crying silently on her way home from school with a black cat trailing behind her. There were so many that it was impossible to keep track, had anyone been paying attention. Their main focus was their suffering friend.

"If not for this accident, her flames may have stayed dormant forever, sleeping inside her as pure potential, but this forced them to awaken. Too soon. Like a flower's petals being ripped open before they're ready to bloom. This is not the way a flame should be awakened."

"Isn't there anything we can do?" Yuni's eyes were fixed on the dying girl.

"I already did everything that could be done. Besides, the past can't be changed, only observed." Mukuro swiftly shifted the scene to a slightly less horrific one. Chrome lay in a hospital bed with faint voices wandering in from outside the room.

"Your daughter…"

"…ruin my body for that child!"

"…was always so odd…"

"Don't you walk away from…!"

"…going back to work."

"Sawada Tsunayoshi," Mukuro asked playfully "tell me, what are Dying Will Flames born of?"

"This is no time-!" Gokudera shouted, but quickly lowered his voice, forgetting their presence in this memory was only that of spectators and it was impossible to draw attention or disturb anyone. "This is no time for games!"

"Why not? She's not going anywhere," Mukuro gestured to ghost-Chrome's comatose form.

"You insensitive bastard-!"

"Er…resolve," the Sky Guardian turned his attention away from the conversation outside the hospital room. "Dying Will Flames are born of resolve to protect those you love."

"And who does this girl love?" the illusionist asked. "Who loves this girl?"


"I could hear everything they were saying," Chrome whispered. The sun was setting now throwing brilliant colors over the translucent screens. Her eyes began to droop from the exhaustion of such a long day. "I was so relieved…that finally I didn't have to be sad anymore." With that the girl slumped over, fast asleep.


"Despair," Mukuro said. The sun was starting to rise, just barley lighting up the hospital room with feeble rays. "That's what the black flames come from after all. The Flames of the Night.

His audience gasped then started talking all at once. Only snatches of phrases could be discerned.

"Impossible!"

"Makes sense, such sorrow…"

"That EXTREEMELY sad!"

"Multiple flames like me?"

"Poor Chrome…"

"How did this escape our notice before?"

"Wait," Tsuna's voice cut through the clamor. "You're not done, are you?"

Mukuro chuckled his creepy kufufufu laugh. "These flames only come to the surface during moments of extreme pain or fear. To avoid a situation like what happened today I sheltered her as much as possible. I've been balancing the effects of the black flame as much as I can without her knowledge. It wasn't difficult to encourage her to be so reclusive since it's in her nature already. But the day I feared has come…this broken flame has handicapped her too long. She can't escape facing what I couldn't fix."