Chapter TWENTY ONE

Shoichi instructs them to return to their base and rest, and surprisingly, most of them are dead quiet as they leave the ruins of the Milfiorre base. Shoichi promises that the most injured will be sent back via transportation.

"Chrome-san."

Sakura turns at Tetsuya's voice and sees him and Kyoya standing to the side, and she remembers that they had come on Tetsuya's car. She glances at Kyoya, who is glaring daggers at her, then decides that she does not care.

She is tired, after all.

She wordlessly turns away from the rest of the Guardians and follows the two of them back to where their car had been parked. She crawls into the car after Kyoya and finds herself receiving another glare.

"Why is she here?"

Sakura smiles faintly at the briskness of the tone. There had been something familiar and, dare she say, warm, in the future Kyoya's tone when he had talked to her, but whatever had happened to them in the future had not yet happened. Tetsuya immediately launches into a detailed explanation of what exactly had been happening before this Kyoya had arrived. Sakura tunes them both out and tightens her arms around her owl, before she closes her eyes.

Sakura is woken by someone tapping her shoulder, and she sees Kyoya glaring down at her. "We're here." He says sharply. "How long are you going to block the way out of the car for?"

Sakura slowly opens her eyes and realizes that they are in some underground parking lot. The exit side of Kyoya is blocked by the walls, leaving her side the only way out. She yawns, then quickly exits the car.

"We will be entering the base from the Foundation side," Tetsuya says. He locks the car then turns to them. "Is that okay?"

Sakura nods, simply because she does not care, and she follows the two men back into the base.

Kyoya stalks off the moment they had entered the building and Tetsuya hurries off after him, but not before telling Sakura that her handprint had been registered in the Foundation's security system and that she was free to come and go.

"Kyo-san's orders." He tells her. "'In case you wanted to drown yourself in orange juice, because you're still underage.'" Then he is gone, leaving Sakura to make her way back to the Vongola base by herself.

Chrome sends her an image of a bed and Sakura smiles and reminds herself that no, she is not alone. She cradles her owl gently in her arms and hurries back towards the base.

When she enters the infirmary, a teen she recognizes to be Fuuta is waiting for her. He perks when the door slides open and he hurries over to her. "Chrome-san!"

Sakura stills and eyes him for a moment, before she offers him a soft smile. "Hello."

Fuuta returns the smile. "I thought you'd come back here," He says. "The others returned, but you weren't with them."

"Kusakabe-san drove me back," Sakura moves past him and sits down on the infirmary bed. She sighs.

"We have a room set up for you," Fuuta tells her gently. "I can show you to it?"

Sakura hesitates, the urge to simply fall asleep on the bed she in on very strong, but she slowly gets to her feet. "That would be nice."

Sakura leaves her new room with the intention of sneaking into the kitchen to grab something edible before retreating. She knows the usual times everyone else ate, and she made sure to head over when there wasn't supposed to be anyone around. However, that appeared to not be the case today.

"Chrome."

Sakura turns at her name and sees Bianchi approaching her. She stops and allows the woman to catch up.

"Nice work today." The woman says. "Are you okay?"

Sakura glances down and nods.

Bianchi smiles. "Are you going to go eat?" She asks. "Why don't you wait for the others and eat together." She must have seen her stiffen, because she continues. "Or not. I think the girls are in the kitchen right now. I'm sure they can whip something up for you."

Sakura is about to protest, but the woman does not give her the chance. She is ushered towards the kitchen and when the door opens, the two girls inside turn around and their smiles brighten when they see her.

Sakura remembers seeing them around the base, but she has never interacted with them.

"Bianchi-san!" The girl with her hair in a ponytail rushes over first. "And you much be-"

"This is Chrome." Bianchi introduces her.

"Hello Chrome-chan, I'm Miura Haru." The girl says.

The other girl hurries over too. "I'm Sasagawa Kyoko."

Sakura glances down, unable to meet their eyes.

So innocent, so bright, and so full of hope for the future.

Bianchi smiles. "She just returned with the guys and is hungry. Could you make something for her?"

"We just finished preparations for dinner," Kyoyo says. "Why don't I go call the boys-"

"She wants to eat quietly." Bianchi cuts in gently. "It's always an uproar when everyone is here, isn't it?"

The girl laughs at this. "You're right." She gestures towards the table. "Why don't you sit, Chrome-chan? We'll get you something to eat."

Bianchi gently budges her to the table and Sakura hesitantly sits down.

Why are they smiling at her?

The two girls place a bowl of rice and some soup in front of her. This is followed by a bigger plate full of other things to eat. Sakura stares at it, unable to remember the last time she has sat down at a normal table to eat handmade food. Ken and Chikusa seemed very content with canned and microwaved food and the dinners she had attended as Mukuro's vessel did not really count.

The war had lasted for years. Soon, no one had the time for something as luxurious as food. They ate anything they could find and often joked about what would kill them first, starvation, food poisoning, a bug, or their enemies.

Then again, who were their enemies, anyways?

The girls sit opposite her and watch her eagerly as Bianchi begins to eat her own dinner.

"Hahi, Chrome-chan, are you not hungry?" Haru asks.

"You don't have to force yourself," Kyoko says. "Dinner is best eaten when you're hungry, isn't it?"

Sakura thinks back to when Bianchi had told the girl she had been hungry, and wonders if they had just forgotten, or if they had deemed the fact unimportant.

Why are you smiling at me?

Sakura quickly gets to her feet.

She cannot stay here.

"I'm sorry."

Haru calls something after her, but she does not hear. She spins on her heels and darts out of the room.

Bianchi watches the girl vanish and she turns to the two confused girls.

"She's a quiet and a little different," Haru says awkwardly.

Bianchi sighs sadly. "She doesn't know what to do with kindness." She explains gently. "I heard from Reborn, but she grew up all this time thinking she was alone. She probably never expected anyone to just unconditionally accept her. To her, what you and Kyoko did as natural behavior is something she's never expected before." She smiles at the upset look the two girls have on their faces for Chrome's sake. "But she's a kind, gentle girl, so don't treat her differently."

The two girls smile. "Of course!"

Sakura slips back into her room, upset at herself for having run and trying to wonder why she was confused the two girls had smiled at her.

It was common courtesy, not to mention they were kind girls, of course they would.

Perhaps it was because until this point, she hadn't had a normal 'friend'. Ken and Chikusa were people she was brought together under circumstances and Mukuro was someone who was using her, just like she was using him.

And all her friends had died during the war. Maybe not physically, but the people she had known and loved were long gone.

She feels Nagi's worry and smiles softly into the darkness of her room.

'Sorry Nagi.' She thinks. 'I'll get you something to eat later.'

She ignores Nagi's increasing concern and throws herself onto her bed. However, she finds herself unable to sleep and when she realizes, she in on her way back to the Foundation building.

She heads right over to where she had fallen asleep before their attack on the Milfiorre base and falls asleep right there.

Here's the next chapter~

Darque: So, they'll be back in the past next chapter.

Raven: There are moments when Sakura almost seems fine :(

Darque: Yeah. She's getting a little better, though.

Raven: Mhm.

Darque: And she's trying, and she doesn't even know it.

Raven: Yeah :(

Darque: Also, we're currently working on an original story and we were wondering if any of you could recommend good websites to post original stories similar to fanfiction . net, where we can receive reviews and stuff.

Raven: Thank you in advance~

Read and Review~