I don't own KHR.

Hayato quickly closed the door as Chrome held her breath while fear and suspense coiled together in her gut.

Please don't let them come in.

The sound of running feet grew even louder. Chrome glanced back at the beds and debated if they should go back and pretended they were asleep just in case. Not even a second later though, she dismissed it.

There was no point because there was simply not enough time. The person was practically at the door.

Please just let them pass by. Please...

Her silent but earnest prayer was answered. The person, whoever it was, didn't stop at the door. They kept on running down the hall and before she knew it, Chrome couldn't hear them anymore.

She waited another few seconds before she let out a sigh of relief though.

"Let's...let's go," Hayato said quietly, his hand still on the doorknob. Chrome nodded firmly. Though fear still coiled like a snake within her gut, she couldn't afford to back down now.

They needed to find their brothers.

Hayato slowly opened the door again and this time, they didn't hear the sound of running feet. Encouraged, they crept out into the hall, Hayato's arm still around her shoulder and her arm around his torso as they did so.

"Okay, so far so good," Hayato whispered as he looked down both ends of the hallway while Chrome closed the door quietly behind them. "Hey, did you catch which way the guy went?"

"Um...I don't think so," Chrome answered after some thought. "Why?"

"I...I think he, or she, might have been running towards Kyoya and the others."

Oh, of course! That's why the person ran past their door! They weren't the ones in danger, their brothers were! Why didn't she realize that before?!

"Mukuro-sama! I think there's someone heading towards you!"

There was no reply.

Chrome couldn't resist a sigh. While she hadn't expected Mukuro to answer, she still wished that he had.

She could only hope that he had heard her warning.

"Okay, let's just follow our original plan then and hope for the best," Hayato said and with that, they started walking down the hall. "Have you told Mukuro that we're coming?"

"No," Chrome admitted. "I figured that he would just fight us on this...should I though?"

"No, you're right, " Hayato assured her. "While it would be great to know where they are or where we should meet up, he would definitely not be happy that we are...heading into danger. It'll be better that he uses his concentration on the Vongola mafioso he's fighting and not on us."

This was the exact reason why Chrome ended up not telling Mukuro their plan back in the room. She wanted to tell him, but the very last thing she wanted was to be the reason why Mukuro...lost his fight. She would not be able to live with herself if that happened.

"I did warned him about the mafioso that just ran past though," Chrome added, not feeling guilty about that. That was absoluetely necessary.

"Good," Hayato replied as they reached the end of the hallway, leaving them face to face with a choice of either going right, left, or straight ahead. "So where-"

"THAT IS ENOUGH!"

"That...that was Knuckle," Chrome whispered, feeling both startled and surprised at the pure anger in Knuckle's voice. They then looked at each other.

"You don't think?" Chrome asked, even though she already knew the answer.

"We gotta hurry!" Hayato as he headed in the direction where Knuckle's voice came from, which was the right. "C'mon!"

They then tried to run, but it quickly proved difficult since Hayato did not have the stamina to run and Chrome did not have the strength to run while supporting about half of her brother's weight. So they ended up having to settle for a speed-walk. It was frustrating, but it was the best they could do.

At the very least, if the loud, incoherent words were anything to go by, they were getting closer.

Then suddenly, the words became all too coherent, and sounded all too close.

"Stay away from him or I'll bite you to death!"

"Don't you dare!"

Kyoya? Mukuro?

Her purple eye wide with fear and dread, she shifted Hayato's arm on her shoulder and along with him, turned the corner.

What she saw...filled her with terror.

KHR

Determined to protect his family and to help fix the mistake he had made, Ryohei rushed at the green-haired man with his fists raised and ready to fight. When he got close enough, Ryohei threw a punch.

The green-haired man yelped and dodged quickly enough to miss Ryohei's fist by a mere inch or two. Ryohei grunted but he wasn't deterred as he swiveled on his feet and threw another punch with his other hand without missing a beat.

This time, Ryohei's fist hit its target.

"Ow!" the green-haired man cried as he grasped at his stomach with both arms while the impact forced him to stumble backwards. "How can a little brat like you hit so hard?!"

"Lampo, stop fooling around," Alaude chided as he fought with Kyoya. Who, Ryohei noticed with alarm, seemed to loosing ground to the adult.

He has to extremely finish this now so he can back his brother up!

"Ugh, alright," Lampo groaned as he reached behind his back and took out a green-and-black shield with a pair of horns sticking out at the top.

"Extreme men fight with their hands!" Ryohei couldn't help but reprimand him as he advanced once again. "They don't hide behind shields!"

"This one does!" Letting out a yell full of his will and agitation, Ryohei threw his fist right at Lampo's left side. However, before his fist could connect with it, Lampo moved his shield there, a cool look in his eyes.

There wasn't any time to dodge or to redirect his fist, not that Ryohei was planning on doing so anyway. He had promised himself that he would live his life to the extreme, and if that meant hitting a shield, then so be it. Ryohei was going to see his decision through to the end.

His knuckles then hit the shield, which for some reason was now slightly covered in green sparks of light. The next thing Ryohei knew, his whole body jolted very painfully and he was sent flying backwards.

"Ryohei!" Ryohei crashed to the ground with a thud that sent another shock to his already extremely vibrating body. Ryohei tried to open his eyes but found that he lacked the ability to open them. He tried to at least move his arms but to his alarm, he couldn't control them either.

And if that wasn't enough, the pain was excruciating. And he was having trouble breathing. What in the world did Lampo do to him?

"I'll bite you to death for that!"

Kyoya...Kyoya sounded so angry...

"Ryohei! Ryohei!"

Wait...that voice...that wasn't Kyoya...

"C'mon buddy! You gotta open your eyes for me! Please!"

Ryohei groaned and tried once again to open his eyes and to his pleasure, found that he had the ability to lift them again. His eyelids were heavy making the process slow-going but Ryohei took what he could get.

When he finally opened them, Ryohei saw Mukuro looking down at him with an expression that was both panicked and terrified. Once they made eye contact though, relief flooded Mukuro's features.

"Mu-Mukuro..." Ryohei stumbled a bit as he managed to get his breathing back under control. "What just happened?"

Mukuro let out a shaky, breathless chuckle before he answered.

"You got electrocuted."

"Oh," Ryohei said nonchalantly, though it did make sense, what with the sparks on the shield and the pain. This pain actually felt pretty similar to the pain he received when he accidently shocked himself while plugging in the Christmas tree lights before Kyoko died.

Except that this pain was much, much worse.

Wait...wasn't he forgetting something? Oh-

"Mukuro, what are you still doing here?!" Ryohei exclaimed as both fear and frustration swirled inside him. "I told you to go!"

"Ah, that would be my bad. I blocked his way."

Mukuro instantly growled and moved out of Ryohei's line of vision.

Wanting to know what was going on, Ryohei began to sit up. It was more difficult than he would like to admit, but eventually, he was able to sit up properly.

He was now able to see clearly that Lampo was standing a bit away from him, his shield still raised and covered in green sparks. Lampo raised an eyebrow at him, as if he was daring Ryohei to try to attack him again. Ryohei looked beyond him and saw that Kyoya was still fighting Alaude. However, despite still only fighting with handcuffs, Alaude was slowly but backing Kyoya against the wall.

And judging by how frustrated and angry Kyoya looked, his older brother knew it too.

Then Ryohei heard a grunt behind him as well as a clash of metal. Ryohei turned around and saw that he was only inches away from Mukuro's back. He then looked up and the first thing he saw was an adult who just had to be the Mukuro doppelganger that Chrome told them about.

The second thing he noticed was that Mukuro's doppelganger was pushing what looked like a cane against Mukuro's trident.

"Mukuro!" Ryohei cried as he tried to get up.

He has to get up, he has to help Kyoya, he has to help Mukuro, he has to help save Hayato and Chrome, he will not be stopped here!

"Ryohei, don't force yourself! Just stay down!" Mukuro pleaded as he slightly glanced back at Ryohei while still thrusting his trident against the enemy's cane. "I got this!"

"Are you sure?" the doppelganger asked as he held his ground against Mukuro, looking like he was hardly putting forth any effort. "Your illusions, while impressive for someone your age, could not even begin to crack mine illusions."

"Really? Then why did you stop with the illusions huh?" Mukuro sniped as Ryohei struggled to stand, his legs feeling too much like fragile jelly for his comfort. "If your illusions are so great, then why did you decide to physically attack me?"

"To test your physical strength," the man replied easily. "And I admit, I like what I see. You have great potential Mukuro. I am willing to teach you, you just have to calm down and put down your trident first."

"Are you...really serious right now?" Mukuro asked incredously. "What...in the world makes you believe that I want to be taught by someone like you, let alone surrender to you?!"

"Because you might not really have a choice." Right after he said that, there was a crash, followed quickly by a thud. Ryohei stopped trying to stand up and looked behind him.

Kyoya was being pinned down, with Alaude pressing a knee against his back and holding his arm high at a clearly uncomfortable angle. Kyoya, with blood running down his face from a cut on his temple, looked postively furious as he struggled, but to no avail. Alaude wasn't budging at all.

"Kyoya!" Ryohei cried as he tried to run towards his older brother only for his legs to give out on him after only a few seconds. As he collided harshly with the ground, Ryohei wanted to yell in frustration but he held it in.

They can't lose here, there still has to be some hope! There has to be!

"Don't try it Knuckle-brat." Ryohei looked up and saw Lampo was standing between him and Kyoya, his shield still raised and powered-up. "Or else you'll have to face my shield again. And also, Alaude, you got on me for fooling around, when I know you could have beaten your little clone in two seconds flat."

"I was merely testing him," Alaude responded bluntly as he clicked open his handcuffs with a thumb.

"Really?"

"...I never fought someone with tonfas before. I was curious."

...Were they doomed to lose from the very start? No...No! They can't lose here, Hayato and Chrome need them! Takeshi, Tsuna, and Lambo were waiting for all of them to come back! They can't afford to lose! Not here, not now, not ever!

"Gah!" Mukuro suddenly cried out. Ryohei, who was in the middle of picking himself back up again, turned his head just in time to see Mukuro's trident fly out of his hands and over his head, spinning as it did so. A second or so later, it landed about a foot away from Ryohei's feet.

Mukuro quickly jumped backwards and landed right beside his trident. Ryohei, who at this point had gotten to his knees, looked back at Kyoya. Aluade had just cuffed one of Kyoya's wrists and Lampo was still barring his way to Kyoya.

"You have fought a good fight but let's face it, you have lost," Mukuro's doppelganger offered, making Ryohei's switch his attention back on Mukuro and him. The doppelganger was heading slowly to them, his cane poised at his side. "It will go that much easier on you if you just surrender and tell us why you broke in, especially for your friend Ryohei. I'm pretty certain he needs medical attention."

"Touch him and you die," Mukuro growled as he grabbed his trident. The doppelganger sighed as he stopped right in front of Mukuro. Ryohei glanced back at Kyoya and saw that Alaude was seconds away from cuffing other Kyoya's other wrist.

He refused to give up but...what should he do?

Then, right at that very second, a man with dark-brown hair and wearing the clothes of a priest skidded into view. It took him a second, but Ryohei instantly recognized the man's face as an older version of his own.

Though, Ryohei doubted he had ever looked that angry.

"THAT IS ENOUGH!" His doppelganger yelled, making Mukuro's doppelganger jump out of his skin.

"So that must be the someone Chrome was talking about," Mukuro muttered.

"Geez Knuckle," Mukuro's doppelganger wheezed out as he turned to face said man, his hand over his heart. "You almost gave me a heart attack!"

"Oh, stop being dramatic Daemon," Knuckle snapped. "You were just about to hurt those boys!"

"I was not!"

"Yeah, it's not our fault!" Lampo chimed in. "They attacked us first!"

"Maybe but that doesn't mean...wait, did you electrocute that boy?!" Knuckle cried as he pointed right at Ryohei. "And don't lie, I can see the burn and how he is trembling from here!"

Burn? Ryohei looked down and saw for the first time how red the hand he hit Lampo's electric shield with was.

Oh, so that's why his hand seemed to hurt just a bit more than the rest of his body.

"As I said, he attacked first!" Lampo justified himself.

"You know better than to use that much power against a child!"

"Hey, it's okay, I'm okay," Ryohei butted in as he began to stand up. He didn't get why Knuckle, a Vongola mafioso, was so angry but just because he got injured doesn't mean he was automatically an invalid.

He can still stand. He will stand.

"Don't kid, stop!" Knuckle cried in alarm as Ryohei began to slowly, but steadily stand up. His legs were still like jelly but Ryohei wasn't going to let that stop him. As long as he was still breathing and awake, he will continue to fight and live his life to the extreme.

However, Knuckle seemed just as determined to stop him because he started to race towards him.

"Stay away from him or I'll bite you to death!" Kyoya threatened behind him as Ryohei's hands finally left the ground and his legs were forced to support all of his weight.

He wasn't falling though.

"Don't you dare!" Mukuro yelled as he stood up and got right in front of Ryohei, his trident raised and ready to fight. Ryohei, meanwhile, just focused on pushing himself to straighten himself up.

He wasn't done yet.

Then, before he knew it, he was standing. His legs were trembling heavily and his shaking arms were outstretched to help him balance but Ryohei was standing!

Ryohei then picked up his head and opened his mouth to declare to the world that he since he could still stand, that meant he could still fight to the extreme. But what he saw made the words stop in his throat and his heart feel a complex mixture of strong emotions.

Hayato and Chrome were at the very end of the hallway. And both of them looked absolutely terrified.

"DON'T!"

Ryohei, you may have been the one who got injured the most during this battle, but you were also the only one who actually got a hit in. Just so you know. Though that may be the last thing on your mind right now since your long-lost siblings are finally in front of you...as well as possibly in great danger.

So, what did you all think? I did some research on the symptoms of electrocution so I hope Ryohei's symptoms are more or less accurate since apparently, the reactions people have after getting electrocuted vary. Other than that, how did you like Knuckle getting pissed at his family and was the drama and action in this chapter satisfactory enough? For now at least?

Leave your thoughts in a review and I will update next month! Till then, see ya and have a good day/night!