"Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art... It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things that give value to survival."

~C. S. Lewis

'Stop following me, ****.'

'Awe, come on ****. Don't be like that.'

Mukuro wasn't the first experiment to have their past lives forcibly remembered. There had been several before him. The problem wasn't necessarily awakening the memories, as much as controlling the memories.

The human mind is a fragile thing.

All those memories. All that pain. All that death.

It broke the other experiments.

They were overwhelmed by the intensity and consumed by their former selves.

Mukuro was almost like them.

'Look what I found, ****! Isn't it pretty!'

'Found? Or stole?'

'Same difference!'

For a terrifying moment, he had no idea who he was.

He was in a cold place struggling to move forward as the snow swirled around him and stung any exposed skin like angry hornets. He was tied to a stake, begging for mercy from a jeering crowd that would give him none. He was running through a bamboo forest, heart beating fast with the excitement of a successful heist. He was laughing with others beside a campfire, the scent of jasmine filled his nose as he leaned on the person next to him. He was a child. He was old. He was a middle-aged woman. He was a young man. Different voices echoed in his mind. Loved Ones. Enemies. And everyone in between.

So many lives.

So many memories.

So much pain.

He was almost swallowed by them. Like the other experiments.

'Why do you follow me? You're always following me.'

'Why? I don't really have a reason…it's fun, I guess. Being around you.'

But, there was something nagging in the back of his head. Pushing him to take control. Pushing him to survive. Because he couldn't let them win. He had to exert control. He had to survive.

So, he did.

(He was Mukuro and no one else. He was alive when the rest had died. He would not give up his life for the ghosts hiding within him. They died a long time ago. He was alive now.)

He became their first successful experiment and proceeded to murder them all.

He was Mukuro. The ghosts remained, but as mere echoes of their initial presence. He shuffled them away in the back of his mind. Disciplining and controlling himself to prevent falling into the uncertainty and despair that killed the other experiments. He would not let the past consume him like it did them. He would survive.

(Though there were still some mornings when he woke and wondered where he was. Wondering who he was.)

'You idiot! Just leave it! *****!'

'Run! Save yourself, ****!'

Despite all his efforts, however, the echoes still surfaced at some points.

He still felt the tug of old heartache at the scent of jasmines. He felt miserable at the sight of snow. He winced at flames that got to close.

And…

He felt a bubble of fondness at the sight of Shuichi Sawada's smirk.

'You'd do something stupid if I left you alone.'

'So, I've decided to follow you everywhere. Always.'

I love Kuronue, ok. I know he was just a throw-away side character with basically zero screen time, but I love him. Problem is, you can't just bring back the dead willy-nilly (I mean I guess you can, this is fiction but still!). Luckily, in khr reincarnation is canon. Though I don't think this was the author's intention. lol.

Seriously though! The fandom likes to focus on the multi-dimension part, which is awesome and has some awesome fics, but there should be more about Mukuro's past lives too, especially in crossovers! Come on people! Think of the possibilities! I already have enough stories I haven't finished, don't make me start another. lol. Seriously though, I have a whole damn list, no joke, of fic ideas I want to at least post the first chapters of this summer.