Guys...thanks for all the reviews! They all made me seriously joyful! I just hope this chapter is up to your expectations!
FairyQueen72: Thank you so much for your reviews! I guess I just had a lot of practice...and perhaps I read a lot of KHR fanfiction for reference.
Guest: Yeah, it's no wonder at all.
I don't own KHR.
Mukuro had to restrain himself from biting his lip. It had been...Mukuro wasn't sure, half an hour? More than that? In any case, it had been awhile since Chrome first contacted him and...she has yet to contact him back.
Was she really having that much trouble finding a safe place? Was she not able to get to Hayato? Or did she get back to Hayato but couldn't hide because they were being watched? Or...were they too...
Mukuro shook his head in order to stop himself from going down that road. Because they couldn't be too late, not again! Not after he promised her!
And he didn't just make that promise out of pure willpower either, because he and his brothers had been preparing for this day. They had pretty much packed up all their stuff so that they all would be ready to leave at a moment's notice. They had also picked a town to go to, and they had even packed plenty of provisions for the road.
Mukuro and Kyoya, once they found out where the Vongola mansion was (it only took them an almost full day of eavesdropping to find out that they weren't too far from the house. How they miss that piece of information when they picked this place to live Mukuro had no idea), did outside surviellance. Because of this, they knew exactly where the best place was to enter the mansion.
The only thing holding them back from getting their siblings back was Hayato's health and physical wellbeing. And even then, they were prepared to get them back if Hayato and Chrome were in too much danger.
After all, just because Chrome and Hayato had survived the last time, it doesn't mean that they were going to survive the next brush with death.
Mukuro learned that the hard way.
KHR
Mukuro waited alone in his cell, a holey blanket the only thing protecting him from the harsh chill in the dark, dirty atmosphere. He tugged the ratty blue blanket around him in a desperate effort to keep himself warm but it had no effect.
Mukuro sighed as he looked back at the gray metal door, trying his best to not be anxious. The scientists had taken Ken and Chikusa away a few hours ago, and they have yet to bring his cellmates back.
"They'll be fine," Mukuro whispered to himself. Ken, while he could be a bit annoying, was the strongest of the three of them and was plenty resilient. Chikusa, while arguably even more frail than Mukuro, was smart and a survivor.
"They'll be fine," he repeated, though this time it was a bit louder, a bit more confidant. While this was the longest his cellmates had ever been gone, it was going to be okay. Ken and Chikusa have been put through countless of horrible, excruciating experiments before. And they always came back. Bleeding, crying, and almost broken, yes. But they always came back alive. And with some time, they were back to being the kids that brought life and light to Mukuro's otherwise dreary existence.
This time was just a bit longer than the other times. That was all. And hopefully, it will also be the last time.
Deciding to risk it, Mukuro held his palm out, closed his now heterochromatic eyes and focused. When he opened them, there was a blood-red moth flying right over his palm.
Mukuro smirked before the moth vanished in thin air. Thanks to the evil, but stupid scientists, he now had access to the Six Paths of Reincarnation, and all their powers. It took some time (for him anyways), but he almost had full control of his new powers. And it won't be long before he has full control and when he does...he's not going to hold back.
The Estraneo were going to be erased from the map forever.
And Mukuro, Ken, and Chikusa were finally going to be free.
Ken and Chikusa just needed to get back already so he could tell them the good news.
Then, finally, the door opened, revealing a man with a stone-cold face in a long white coat.
Ken and Chikusa were not with him.
"C'mon," he said harshly in his gruff voice as he strode forward and grabbed Mukuro's thin arm none too gently.
Mukuro had to tell himself 'not yet' several times as the sceintist pulled him out of the cell and into the hallway. As much as he wanted to give the man his just desserts, Mukuro wasn't ready yet.
Not to mention, he would rather have Ken and Chikusa safe with him when he finally brings this dirty famiglia down.
Then another scientist entered into the hallway from the other end and started walking towards them. The first thing Mukuro noticed was that he was dragging something. No, two somethings.
Mukuro sighed they got closer to the other scientist. It was probably the bodies of unfortunate children who couldn't take the pain of the experimen-
Mukuro's next breath got caught in his throat, his eyes going wide with shock and horror. His blood turned into ice as he tried to deny what he was seeing.
No...
'Hey Mukuro, you're kinda strange. Eh, whatever, I'm still gonna follow you when we get out of here!'
No...K-Ken...
'Are you okay Mukuro?'
Ch-Chikusa...n-no...
Then a loud, wordless, animal-like scream filled the air, and suddenly, Mukuro only saw red.
It took a little while for Mukuro to recognize that the red came from the blood of the scientists.
It took a little longer than that for Mukuro to realize that the scream came from his own throat.
What happened after that...was honestly a bit of a blurry spot in Mukuro's otherwise sharp memory. It wasn't that he wasn't aware of what happened, far from it. He knew that he slaughtered them all, any thoughts of waiting till he had complete control of his new powers having flown out the window. Mukuro knew that he let his rage guide him as he hunted them down. He knew that he killed them without mercy.
It's just that...after a while...the bright red blood of the scientists just all merged together into one giant endless smear for him.
Then finally...Mukuro's manhunt was over. After minutes of searching, after minutes of making sure, all the Estraneo scientists were dead. Gone forever.
Just like...
Mukuro shook his head as he instead focused on his breathing. He was breathing heavily after all, he needed to get it under control. The sooner the better too, because Mukuro needed to start making this cruel, bloody world as clean as he can get it.
And what better start than exterminating the mafia?
A soft noise, sounding suspiciously like a gasp, interrupted his train of thought and caused him to whip his body around.
Did he somehow miss one?
Then Mukuro saw clearly who made the gasp. He let his body relax, as he unintentionally let out a sigh.
It wasn't a scientist.
It was a little girl.
She had purple hair that went past her shoulders, a petite, doe-like face, and her eye was the same color as her hair.
The other eye was covered in a bloody bandage.
While the girl silently took a step forward Mukuro tried to remember if he came across any other surviving kids. By the time the girl took another two steps towards him, Mukuro found that he couldn't recall if he did, though he had a feeling he didn't.
Should he bother looking for any other survivors? Or should he just let them be, if there were any? And even if he did, what was he supposed to with them? Try to see if they would follow him in his conquest to rid this dirty earth of the mafia?
Yeah...that doesn't sound like such a bad-
Then suddenly, Mukuro felt a pair of what felt like arms around his torso. The boy looked down to see that the girl was...hugging him.
Wh...Why? Was she...that scared? Wait, shouldn't she stay away from him if that was the case? He...he was covered in blood!
And...even more troubling...why...why was he letting her hug him? He didn't exactly like being hugged, he only tolerated it when Ken and Chikusa...
Mukuro, whose arms were halfway raised to pry the girl away, quickly stopped. A second later, his arms dropped to his sides like noodles boiled for way too long. Another second later, Mukuro's legs collapsed beneath him, causing him and the girl to fall to their knees. Mukuro's face began to crumple because...because...
He only tolerated being hugged when Ken and Chikusa got too cold. And he didn't like them being as cold as he was. So during those long freezing nights, they snuggled against each other as best as they could.
Together, they didn't generate that much body heat but...Mukuro would be lying if he said that he didn't like the special comfort those nights brought to his heart.
But now...those nights will never happen again.
And it wasn't because Mukuro took down the Estraneo either.
It was because...because...
Ken and Chikusa were dead.
And just like that...the dam broke. Tears gushed out of his heterochromatic eyes as Mukuro let out a harsh, choked sob. Ken and Chikusa were dead...gone forever...he...he was never going to hear their voices again...
Oh gosh, why didn't he laid waste to the Estraneo earlier?! Why did he just assumed that Ken and Chikusa were going to survive just because they were lucky before?! Why did he have to wait?! Why...why did they have to die?!
He...he...he doesn't want to be alone...
His torso then got squeezed, causing Mukuro to look down again. The little girl was still there, hugging him tightly.
Maybe...maybe he wasn't alone after all?
Mukuro, with tears still flowing down his face, very hesistantly brought his arms up. A part of him harshly told him in alarm to put his arms back down, or even better, pry the little girl away. He didn't know her, so why should he lean on her?
But that was only a small part of him. The other, bigger part...was just...desperate for any kind of comfort.
So, with another broken sob, Mukuro quickly wrapped his arms around the tiny girl, his heart too shattered and painful for him to hesistate anymore. He then dug his face into the girl's shoulder as he continued to cry in regret and grief.
He doesn't know how long they stayed like that, him sobbing his shattered heart out and her just hugging him, silently. But, when he finally got it all out of his system...Mukuro did feel a little bit better. Or, at the very least, he didn't feel like he was drowning anymore.
Mukuro then stopped hugging the girl and as he wiped his wet face with his palms, he noticed that the girl had finally stopped hugging him as well.
"I'm...I'm Nagi," she whispered, giving him a kind, shy look.
It was at this moment that Mukuro made one of the most impromptu but best decisions of his life.
"Nagi huh? Well, I'm Mukuro," Mukuro introduced himself as he stood up. Then he held his hand out.
"Let's get out of here."
KHR
"We're here," Kyoya said shortly as he stopped so suddenly that Tsuna, who was on his back, let out a quiet, startled gasp. Mukuro stopped as well and looked on ahead. To his relief, he saw a familiar iron fence.
Mukuro took in a deep breath. Chrome had saved him that day, and later on, Hayato also helped him feel like he had a place where he belonged. As such, it didn't matter if the Vongola was going to try kill his little brother, or if his dear, sweet Chrome wasn't able to contact him back.
He was going to rescue them, because that was the least that they deserved.
He wasn't going to lose anybody else.
Mukuro then flicked his wrist and a moment later, his trident appeared in his hand.
"Chrome...we're here."
So...that got a little dark. But hopefully this at least answers the question of how exactly Mukuro and Chrome met! But now I gotta answer the question where the name Chrome came from...oh well, that should be fun to write.
So what did you all think? Were the characters in characters, did the chapter flow nicely, what did you think, etc.? Please leave me your thoughts in a review and I will update early next month.
Happy Easter/weekend!