WARNING:- some dark themes, blood, gore, violence and Fluff. Beware,you have been warned.

Read at your own cost.

Incertitude

(ɪnˈsəːtɪtjuːd)

noun

a state of uncertainty or hesitation

"mio nebbia…." He whispered as his grey eyes bore into her frail form, unwilling to shift on anything else.

Five year old Chrome was everything he had imagined her to be–small, shy, frail, easily scared; and yet, she had some differences from her older counterpart- she didn't have the resolve to protect that burned in her mismatched eyes, nor did she have the confidence to back it up (to say nothing of the passive-aggressiveness Chrome usually showed when dealing with Kyoya and Mukuro's usual sheniangians, as well as the spine of steel that made enemies cower in terror –and he hadn't even mentioned the lethality of her illusions yet).

For all the differences between this child and her older counterpart, Kyoya could see the similarities between them- the same indigo hair, blue eyes (even if it is quite strange to see her with homochromatic indigo eyes instead of heterochromatic ones), pale skin, shy personality, polite demeanor- and of course, ho can forget the active Mist flames that pulsed within the girl –the only reason no one had paid attention to her exotic features yet, the girl was unconsciously using her Mist Flames to hide herself. Impressive.

Among all his guardians, Kyoya was the closest to Chrome. The fact that she was polite, not too talkative and did not crowd like pathetic herbivores made her one of the most tolerable herbivores in his list. It did help that she could keep up with him when he was in one of his 'moods', also she wouldn't be afraid to rip him –and the Pineapple carnivore- a new one when they get too overboard with their 'spars'.

But what brought the two of them closer was the fact that their Flames resonated well with each other. Chrome and Mukuro were both Mists- however, Mukuro's Mist Flames were usually frighteningly calm and deceptive, while Chrome's Mist Flames were flexible (like a mirage) and possessive. Their Flames had always just fit right together, and it was also shown in the efficient way they worked together. If Chrome was a lackey to Mukuro, then to Kyoya she was an irreplaceable partner-in-crime (with far more patience and benevolence than he would ever be).

'Mine.' His Flames purred inside him unconsciously. minemineminemineminemine-

He snapped out of his trance and put his Flames in leash before they could escape from his control and hold Chrome in a possessive grip. He was sure his Flames would never hurt his Baby Mist, but that doesn't mean he would like to scare her. Besides, showing Flames in the company of civilians is a sure way trip to Vendicare, and he wasn't too eager to see the mummified faces of a chibified-Bermuda and his lackies so soon.

Sighing, he shook his head and scolded himself mentally to get his mind on track. A carnivore like himself should have more composure than to be panicking like a herbivore on meeting unexpected people.

Okay, so the first priority is to get these children safely out of this base, and then make those stupid fake-herbivores pay for harming his Baby Mist –err, he means trying to kidnap baby herbivores in his territories (Ha! Right) and then find their records of buyers and sellers for the child trafficking in the Underground Market. There is sure to have the records somewhere in this place, right?

There is also the matter of escaping from here. Getting out of here himself was a child's play for him –but getting the children out would be quite tricky. And from what he could sense from his Flames, there were two guards keeping an eye outside their room, and also there were people patrolling around the area and would pass the rough this room in every forty five minutes. So he had to get these children out in forty five minutes before the next patrol session.

Nodding in his head as a basic plan formed in his mind, he stared at the cheap metal cuffs he had been tied with and snorted. Fucking idiota, why the hell did they think that binding a Cloud with shackles would be a good idea? That is a sure way to hell. Fucking morons.

Using a wisp of his Cloud Flames, the metal cuffs in his hands shattered immediately into pieces. The CLANK! noise attracted the attention of other baby herbivores –who had been busy crying for a while now, to stare at him in shock.

"Don't make a single fucking noise, herbivores," He hissed in a low voice that rang around the room-though he was sure it won't be heard by the guards outside since he hadn't been that loud. "or I will bite you to death."

The baby-herbivores quietened down immediately as they trembled at the seriousness of his threat.

Kyoya then stood up and scanned the cluttered room with his grey eyes. There were a total of fifteen baby-herbivores –all of whom were under the age twelve.

"I can get you all out of here." He said quietly, as fifteen pair of eyes stared at him in fear and barely repressed hope. "But you will have to cooperate with me to the full extent. Do you agree?"

They all opened their mouth to speak, but he hushed them before they could give him away. Seriously, why don't herbivores use their brains at all?! Loud noises would only attract attention from their captors. It's not like this room was soundproof.

"Don't speak! Just nod your heads if you agree!" he hissed at them.

The children just shared a look with each other and nodded.

He took a deep breath and pinched his nose. Oh kami, he is already having a headache –and he hasn't even started the Operation yet. This is why he truly hated socializing.

"I will get you out of your hand-cuffs." He told them in a low tone. After that, I will get us out of this room, and then you will be led out of this place to safety. Any questions?" A few opened their mouths to speak, but he cut them off in a typical Hibari Kyoya fashion. "None? Good. I don't like answering stupid herbivorous questions anyways."

He would never admit that he actually enjoyed the way a few baby-herbivores actually trembled at the sight of his bloodthirsty grin. Of course, not. He isn't that childish.

(He is.)

Putting a barrier of Mist Flames around the room so that no noise would leak outside –he wouldn't trust these baby-herbivores to keep quiet, he had a lifetime of experience about how restless herbivores can get –and baby herbivores are even worse than adult ones!- he started working on the handcuffs of the kids. Using his Cloud Flames to increase the strength in his hands, he tore off the handcuffs one by one.

CLANK! CLANK! CLANK! CLANK!

He made his way from the kids nearest to him to the farthest ones –and in the end, he reached Chrome-who also happened to be the only person remaining that had a handcuff on her hands. He fiercely stomped down his Flames before they could rage at seeing his Baby Mist in shackles (how dare they bind his Mist, where the fuck did they get the courage to bindcapturetie his Mist-)

Taking a deep breath, he took a step towards his Baby Mist and his heart squeezed painfully when he saw her actually flinch at his near proximity. His grey eyes softened unconsciously, and he gave her a reassuring look. He placed his hands over hers and held them gently. He was well aware of her sharp indigo eyes staring at him –and something inside him burned at the reminder that his Mist did not even trust him to even touch her- but he did not do anything other than enveloping her in a wisp of his Mist Flames –he did not use his Cloud Flames in far that they would get out of control and would latch on the poor girl, making it harder for him to part with her.

He felt her own Mist Flames –timid, but so, so strong- hesitantly reach out to his own ones, and seek comfort from his –slightly fierce and sharper- Mist Flames. From the corner of his eyes, he saw her exhale and relax a bit. When her tense shoulders relaxed, only then he acted.

Sliding his hands towards her handcuffs, he tapped the handcuffs tying her with his finger –enforced by his Cloud Flames- and the handcuffs shattered and fell off her wrists smoothly. His eyes narrowed at the patch of bruised skin on her wrist that could only be the result of wearing metal handcuffs for quite some time –and it made him realize that perhaps Chrome had been kidnapped a few weeks ago and had been held in captivity all this time. This only enraged him even further.

Kill! His Flames rolled in rage inside him. KillthemKillthemKillkillkillkillkill-

He once again suppressed his Flames, and calmed them down with just one word. A promise.

'Soon.' He whispered soothingly to his Flames as his grey eyes glinted with a hint of Bloodlust in them.

The promise of the upcoming massacre of the utter bastardo who dared to harm his Mist was enough for his Flames to settle down for a while.

He glanced up at Chrome's eyes that glittered like lapis lazuli, and saw fear, hesitance, and hope inside them. She looked like a frightened small animal to him, which only softened his heart further. He patted her head gently and whispered n a soothing tone, "I will protect you, mio nebbia." He said, his eyes burning with conviction. "I will keep you safe."

Her Mist Flames latched further with his own, and he just comfort her hurtwaryhesitant Flames by engulfing them with another layer of his Mist Flames.

"…..Thank you." she whispered quietly as she held her hands closer to herself and gave him a hesitant smile, to which he only nodded and stepped back from her.

He had exhausted his quota of touching and comforting a baby herbivore for today. And no, his ears that were now turning red in embarrassment had nothing to do with it.

(A lie.)

Clearing his throat to get the attention of the baby herbivores, he said, "Now that all of you have been freed from the cuffs, I will get you all out of here." He then paused, and added as an afterthought. "But before that, there are somethings every baby herbivore needs to agree on."

"One- no talking, no shouting, no crowding. Whatever happens on your way out, you only need to keep walking forward and follow my instructions."

"Two- even if you come across any threat, do not make any noise and leave it to me."

"Three- once you get out of this place, you will no longer be my responsibility. One way or another my people will find you and get you to your families, but in case that doesn't happen, you will go straight to the nearest police station and tell them everything."

"Four- and the most important one- do not tell anyone about me or I will bite you to death. Is that understood?"

The children all nodded fearfully.

He sighed. "Alright then, let's begin."

Saying this, Kyoya placed a finger on the ground and sent out a pulse of his flames. He learned this method of sensing active and non-active Flame users from Reborn. You can say whatever you want about the hitman's demonic tutoring methods, but it can't be denied that the man actually was a good teacher.

Closing his eyes, he sensed his surroundings through his flames, and an outlined map formed in his mind. The building they have been captured in is actually underground and it's entrance on the surface actually opened up in the ruined building outside Tokyo –no wonder they haven't found it yet. This underground building has four floors. There were almost twenty people on each floor, scattered around-in addition to the children who had been kept on the lowest level. Other than the basic outline of this place and the position of guards, he can't tell much. But this much is enough for him –at least to get these baby herbivores out.

Ignoring the door, he made his way to the side wall and did what any normal Cloud Flame user would do- blow up the wall. It only took a strike of his Cloud Flames-encased fist and-

BOOM!

The wall exploded outward-making every baby herbivore flinch.

It's a good thing that he had erected a Mist barrier in the area of ten meters radius around him, or else the sound really would've attracted the guards. Sometimes, he's really glad that he has Mist Flames as his secondary Flames –though he was still miffed about that fact that he actually shared something common with the Pineapple Carnivore.

"Follow me." he grunted as he stepped through the hole and into the side room that was just next to the room they had been held captive, while stepping around the debris of dust and bricks scattered on the ground. The children shuffled easily before they followed him into the side room, that turned out to be an unused storeroom.

Kyoya turned towards the children and gestured to the door. "In a while, we will get out from this door." He explained to them. "this door opens in another hallway, so you don't have to worry about the guards outside the other room we had been held in."

"…H-How do you know that?" someone asked in a low tone.

Kyoya smirked. "I just do. I don't need to explain anything to you, baby herbivore."

"Now," he said sharply as he eyed the children and said in a strict tone, "Form a line and hold each other's hands so none of you get lost. Do not make any useless noise nor let go of your hands. Just follow my lead. If I stop, you stop. If I keep walking, you should keep walking even if we end up walking straight into a damn minefield. Understood?"

The baby herbivores whispered hesitantly and after a while they agreed.

"Good." He nodded and said, "Let's get this show on the road."

Saying this, he opened the door with practiced ease-maybe he should thank that Juudaime-worshipping-herbivore for forcing all of them to learn stupid tricks like how to pick locks (Not that he actually would, of course.)- and swung the door open. After that, he stepped out of the door, followed by baby-herbivores holding each other's hands and formed a straight line as if they were little ducklings crossing a road.

No one noticed the air around them shimmering for moment as Mist flames settled around them in protection, and neither did they notice Kyoya sneaking in the shadows as his Mist Construct took his place –he stuffed his Mist Construct with enough Cloud Flames to deal with any sort of problem that they encounter on their way, the chances of which are quite low since he had put an illusionistic barrier around them which would let them pass by any non-active Flame user unnoticed.

It's a good thing that he had managed to pester that annoying Mist Arcobalaeno into teaching him the use of his Mist Flames to their full extent-although it did end up with him being extorted out of his money by that herbivore (which only further amused his fellow guardians.)

He watched as the baby herbivores followed his Mist Construct and walked away and towards the entrance on the top floor. Only when they were out of his sight that he smirked bloodthirstily and mumbled,

"Now, it's time to hunt."

His Flames purred in agreement.

(He never noticed a pair of hesitant indigo eyes watching him from the shadows, covered thickly by their own Mist Flames.)

~O~

The pair of dark blue eyes glanced back at the turn where the other children had followed the Not-grey eyed boy, and stared back at the real one who was now making his way to the other side of the hallway, just where the room they had been held in was actually located.

The figure hesitated. What should they do?

The cool, indigo fire inside them nudged them towards the departing figure of the grey eyed boy.

'Warm.' It seems to whisper shyly to them. 'Warm. Safe. Purple- Friend. Family.'

Really? That boy is her friend? Will he really be her family?

Will he trust her? Will he listen to her? Will he protect her? Will he keep her safe?

Or will he be just like Kaa-san and say bad words to her?

'No!' the indigo fire shook inside her, as if the very idea of the grey eyed boy hurting her was offensive. 'Misty Cloud. Purple. Good. Warm. Safe. Family.'

She pursued her lip. Will the boy really not hurt her? The fire is not lying, right?

But…. It has never lied to her before. It has only protected her. When her mother always said bad words to her and became harsh as soon as she saw her, the fire began to make her invisible to her mother so that she would not notice her daughter. When the mean girls who sometimes pulled her hair and taunted her became too much for her, it would make scary things appear out of nowhere and scare them away. The fire had always protected her.

And now, it was asking her to trust this grey eyed boy.

….It won't hurt to listen to the fire, right?

And so, Sasaki Nagi followed the grey eyed boy whom her indigo fire trusted so much, and wondered distantly what it actually meant by 'family.'

~O~

Hibari Kyoya marched forward like a war god as he dealt with the yakuza men that attacked him as soon as they saw him. A bloodthirsty grin made it's way to his lips as his grey eyes flashed amethyst in excitement as he slashed through bodies like a knife cuts through butter. He left corpses in his wake, blood pooling beneath them and staining the pristine marble floor crimson. The seven year old boy did not even need any kind of weapon to deal with these flies. With only his martial arts abilities as well as the purple Cloud Flames –and the indigo Mist flames from time to time- he managed to create a scene of utter carnage and desolation. And it was still not enough to satiate his need to spill the blood of these bastardo who dared to hurt one of his own-

BANG!

His head tilted a bit and he dodged the bullet that had been aimed for his head with practiced ease, and formed a long purple whip with his Cloud Flames –it wasn't as refined as the ones he could in his past. Tch, his control has definitely slipped- and wrapped it around the offender's wrist and with a tug, the enemy's arm –that held the gun- was torn off from the elbow, making the person scream.

Blood gushed out of his torn arm and spilled on the floor, and he glanced at the offending detached limb in distaste and released it from the hold of his Cloud whip.

THUNK!

The offending limb fell on the floor in a bloody mess, while the enemy's screams reverberated around the hallways, causing everyone to feel goosebumps raising on their arms. The man's screams were cut off as the Cloud whip pierced through his heart, leaving him dead.

Three more men shot towards kyoya with their guns –but they had none of the finesse they had in the begin, and instead, their shots were more frantic and panicked. Kyoya dodged the bullets –he grunted as a stray bullet hit him in the leg, but he ignored the pain for now- and slipped nearer to them.

Kyoya had always been a close ranged fighter, so it wasn't a surprise when he slipped past the flying bullets and kicked a man with such strength that made him cough up blood and pass out immediately. He punched the other one through the head-and nodded distantly as his hand was stained with brain matter and gore- while dodging a bullet from the third foe. He then shot a small purple fireball the size of an egg towards the third man –who screamed as the cloud flames exploded and sent him flying.

Eying his surroundings, he noticed that none of his opponents were alive, and advanced forward. Earlier, he had captured a guard and interrogated him to find out about the place where these men kept records, as well as the location of their Boss. The man had adamantly refused at first, but had to reply to his questions within ten seconds when Kyoya starting torturing him. The Boss had been hiding on the second Floor in his own office. And so Kyoya made his way to the second floor from the fourth one in this underground facility, leaving behind a massacre in his wake.

And now, he had finally arrived at his destination. Kicking the door open, Kyoya entered the office –looking like a War God in all his Glory- as his amethyst eyes narrowed on the herbivore sitting calmly over his desk, doing paperwork. The herbivore –a man in his early forties with brown eyes and greying raven hair, with a scar starting from under his right eye and stretching to his lips- just glanced at him calmly and raised his brows in a mocking gesture, which only incensed his fury even further.

"Herbivore," Kyoya grinned in bloodthirst as he spoke, "for the crime of disturbing the peace of Namimori, kidnapping children under my protection and harming my people, you will be bitten to death."

The man cocked his head to the side and stared at him from top to bottom and hummed in contemplation. "That depends, child," The man said with a calm smile, "If you have the ability."

Kyoya growled. This stupid herbivore dared to underestimate him.

He will definitely be bitten to death.

Crouching a bit, Kyoya flung himself forward in in a matter of seconds, he destroyed the desk into pieces and aimed a punch at the man's abdomen. The man's face flickered with a hint of surprise, but he dodged Kyoya's punch by sliding his chair backward. Kyoya spun and aimed a kick at the man's head, which his enemy avoided by leaning his chair backward.

The seven year old Cloud Guardian growled as he punched once again, but the enemy once again dodged nimbly –only for his hand to get stuck into the back of the chair. With an aggressive pull, the chair shattered in pieces as Kyoya took his hand back, and the enemy leaped away from him to avoid the splinters of the chair he had been sitting on.

The man landed a few feet away from Kyoya as he eyed the destruction of the room, done by the hands of a seven year old. "Impressive." He smirked. "You will definitely fetch quite an amount when I will sell you in the Underground Market."

Kyoya's temper soared. He had never seen such an infuriating opponent before. Even the Marshmallow –herbivore hadn't been this annoying –and that's saying something considering how much pain in the ass he had actually been in his past life.

Kyoya crouched in an attack stance and hissed out, "You're courting death!" Saying this, he launched himself at his enemy and attacked him fiercely. His seven year old body was already tired and sore from fighting so many grown up men, but he kept on persevering and kept advancing forward. Having cloud Flames was really helpful in this case- since Cloud Flames had the ability to propagate, even with the blood loss they kept propagating more blood as well as adrenaline, and made sure his organs worked well and weren't shutting down.

Kyoya's usual grey eyes burned amethyst as he kicked, punched, hooked, uppercut, and struck with everything he had. The enemy would either dodge, or retaliate with a punch or a strike to his main points –which Kyoya dodged. Kyoya then grabbed the man's arm that had been about to strike him in the heart, and twisted the wrist- however, the man just slammed his other hand –that he held in a fist- into his back, making him choke as air was forcefully rushed out of his lungs, and his throat burned as a metallic taste appeared in his mouth and Kyoya soon coughed up blood.

Ignoring the pain, Kyoya spun quickly to dodge another strike –and the damn man actually released his arm from his hold- and his heart fluttered in panic as a glinting metal was stabbed into the right side of his chest, piercing through a lung. Kyoya collapsed on the floor as a stream of blood gushed out of his mouth and stained his lips red.

The man pulled out the sharp knife from his body, and watched in interest as Kyoya panted and glared up fiercely at the enemy Boss. It was pathetic, really, how he had been reduced to such a state by a herbivore no less. If he had his previous body, this kind of trash wouldn't even have lasted five seconds. Unfortunately, not only his body was now of a seven year old –and hence had limited capability- but his control on his Flames wasn't as refined as he would like it to have, hence, the reason why he was reduced to such a bloodied state by a pathetic herbivore.

"I have to admit, kid, you've fought quite valiantly till now." The man admitted as he stared at the seven year old child coldly. "But in the end, a child is a child. You cannot compare to the strength of an adult." The man flickered the silver knife between his fingers playfully and said, "You know, for all the trouble you've caused me, I could have gotten the compensation by selling you at a high price in the Underground Market. Such a pity though, you're already bound to someone. Aren't you, Cloud?"

Kyoya's head snapped up sharply as soon as he heard those words. Nononononono-

It couldn't be-

"Oh? Looks like you actually know a bit about this side of things, huh. You are quite smart for a child." The man's lips twitched as he stared at the child with a mocking smile on his face. "Yes, you guessed it right. My main business is to provide the mafia with potential flame active agents for their famiglia. The children that we take away are the ones that have the most potential to activate their Flames." The man eyed him appreciatively from top to bottom, making Kyoya's Flames itch in disgust. "You'd have fetched such a good price. I've never seen such pure Cloud Flames. A shame, really, you're already being courted by a powerful Sky. I can feel the remnants of the Sky's flames on you. I wonder who could have such pure Sky flames." The man contemplated, "Maybe I can entice them to this side by holding you hostage. And then I can kill you for causing me so much trouble."

Even the thought of his Baby Sky in this disgusting man's clutches –because of his mistakes- made him furious beyond belief. His Flames roared in fury as they pumped more energy into him, demanding him to-

Killkillkillkillkillkillkillkillkillkillkill-

(And turns out, he wasn't the only one who had been angered by his words.)

A blast of pure, indigo Flames shot towards the enemy, sending him flying as the Mist that had been shrouding someone in the background shifted, and revealed a five year old blue haired girl trembling as she clutched her hands closer to herself, but her eyes flashed like burning indigo crystals –so full of determination and the intent to protect –to just do something- made his breath hitch as he was almost reminded of his Mist.

"Y-You cannot h-h-hurt Purple-san!" his five year old Baby Mist quivered. "I- I won't let you!"

Brown eyes flashed at the five year old girl as the man stood up and shrugged off the debris surrounding him. "My, my, another flame active child….." The man whispered. "Aren't I lucky today? And this one isn't even being courted by any Sky yet…." The man then cocked his head to the side and narrowed his eyes as he eyed the Baby Mist from top to bottom as he contemplated, "But she does have a wisp of Sky Flames as well as Cloud flames marking her." The man then turned to Kyoya and raised a brow, "did you already mark her as a potential guardian for your Sky? My, my, aren't you a clever one."

"But unfortunately for you," the man smiled mockingly at Kyoya, "I will be keeping this one."

Saying this, a huge pressure emitted from the man as he released his Flames, and soon some dark green Flames - exploded out from the man and engulfed the area, choking the five year old girl with it's intensity.

"You will fetch a really good price, little one." The man smiled and then disappeared –and the next moment he appeared behind the indigo haired child. Lightning flames flickered from his hand and passed through his knife, and escaped and formed a close-knit net around the girl, trapping her in a cage made of Lightening Flames.

Her eyes widened as she tried to force her way out, but as soon as her small hands touched the green flames of the cage, they were burned, making her cry out in pain. Tears welled up in her eyes and rolled down her cheeks as she cradled her hands tighter to her and whimpered in pain.

"Oh child, don't you know that you should not play with fire?" the man smiled mockingly at the timid girl, but soon his smile turned into a look of horror, and a moment later a scream tore out of his lips as-

SPLAT!

-something slammed into his chest, piercing his heart as blood flowed out of his wound, staining his clothes red. He coughed up blood and could only watch in horror as image of the girl crying in the cage made of lightning disappeared, leaving him staring at the amethyst eyes of the raven haired boy whose fist had pierced his chest.

The indigo eyed girl herself was standing next to the boy, tears rolling down her cheeks as her hands burned from lightening flames.

"Herbivore, you made a mistake." Kyoya murmured quietly. "Your mistake was to assume that I only have Cloud Flames. Also-"

His eyes flashed murderously as he hissed out, "You harmed mio nebbia, for this grave offense, you have been bitten to death."

He pulled back his blood stained hand from the man's chest, leaving the man's corpse to fall down like a puppet whose strings have been cut. Enduring the exhaustion and pain in his body, Kyoya pressed the wound on his chest that was bleeding heavily as turned to the girl next to him who was whimpering in pain, and looking everywhere but him.

Kyoya felt like he was worse than scum on earth. He had not only let a five year old innocent girl –that happened to be his Baby Mist-watch him murder so many people –regardless of the fact that he hadn't even known she had been following him since he had been drunk on his bloodlust to notice any odd occurences- but he had also let her get hurt. If he hadn't disappeared using Mist Flames and attacked the man before he could truly harm Chrome, then who knows what could've happened. But still, in the end he had still failed to protect her from harm.

My fault. His Flames rolled around inside him in guilt. Myfaultmyfaultmyfaultmyfault-

Something like this hadn't happened in the past. He was sure of it. The only thing that had happened in Chrome's childhood was the accident that led to her meeting the Pineapple Carnivore. If something like this had happened in his previous life, then he was sure that Chrome would never have ended up with them since he was sure that something like this hadn't happened to him in the past. She might have been sold off to some mafia famiglia as a flame active recruit.

That means it is his presence that has somehow messed up with this timeline. Not only had he traumatized his Baby Mist and had also been harmed for his sake, but he also messed up with her life and made her experience something she shouldn't have in her past life.

It was entirely his fault. It was all his fault. Why was he doing this, destroying his family's lives like this? Maybe he should leave them instead of getting them hurt because of his very existence. Wouldn't it be wonderful if he hadn't existed-

(Her indigo fire burned as if it were aching and whimpered inside her. 'Sad…' it whispered to her. 'Purple- sad. Hurt.'

'Help him. Make him stay.')

"Purple-san….." The girl whimpered as she hesitantly placed her hand into his bloodied hand –staining her dainty, soft, pale –burned- hands with crimson, and made him snap out of his trance. Her teary blue eyes stared at him as her Mist Flames latched onto him. "d-don't leave me, p-p-please…" She blinked and whispered, "I d-d-don't want to be lonely…"

A lone tear rolled down her cheek, and his heart thudded in his chest painfully as the younger girl shifted closer to him and sniffed. "M-Mother says mean t-things to m-m-me….. e-e-even the g-girls in my c-c-c-class make fun of me… I-I don't wanna go back to that…."

She hesitated as she whispered softly, "The f-f-fire says you're family….. y-you are, r-r-right?" She stared at him warily, she was skittish like an abused doe, just one wrong move and it will never trust you again. "A-a-are you?"

Family…..?

His dull, grey eyes stared at his Baby Mist as images of his previous life flashed past his eyes-

Tsuna's exasperated sighs and screams, Hayato's scolding and Juudaime-worshipping; Takeshi's cheery attitude and his insistence on having a baseball match every Sunday; Lambo's annoying bratty attitude as he pranks everyone from time to time; Ryohei screaming about boxing being 'EXTREME' and being a nuisance in general; Chrome smiling sadistically as she replaced sugar with laxatives that one time she was irritated at everyone during her periods, Mukuro escaping in his office for normal 'spar' when he actually messed someone up (usually Tsuna) and needed a place to hide-

And he, Hibari Kyoya, the Cloud Guardian of the Vongola famiglia, who would drag others to an impromptu fight and would fuss every time the Decimo would force him to do some stupid mission. He –who would be dragged to some stupid high society gala to endure herbivore's crowding as a punishment for increasing Decimo's paperwork by destroying more than necessary things.

His fellow guardians… his companionsfriendsfamily-

"My pride is my comrades… My Friends!"

Tsunayoshi…..

"DON'T UNDERESTIMATE THE VONGOLA!"

Hayato….

"That's what friends are for, right?"

Takeshi….

"Hibari! Join my Boxing club!"

Ryohei….

"I am happy to be here and I enjoy staying with you all more than anything… I want to catch up to you all…. To the world that Young Vongola and others live….."

Lambo…

"I want to be someone who could protect her comrades!"

Chrome…..

"I hate the Mafia, I hate the Estraneo, I hate the Vongola…but it doesn't mean I hate the Family too…"

Mukuro…

"Family, huh….?" He whispered as his grey eyes regained their vigor and he stared back at Chrome's teary eyes. If he left now, will they feel sad? Will they be hurt? Will they miss him?

…..What a stupidly herbivorous question. Of course they will. Actually, they're more likely to drag him back from hell and murder him themselves just for doubting the strength of their bond.

He may be back in the past as his family may never remember the precious time spent with them, but the bond between them was still there…. He could feel it. Otherwise, his Baby Sky would not be unconsciously courting his Flames for harmonization once again –after all, it takes months for the courting to be successful, and harmonization takes even longer. Also, his Baby Mist would never have connected with him so easily if the remnants of the bond he had with them during the past weren't there.

It truly is astonishing, how their bond still remains even when neither their memories, nor their own selves are the same. They were a bunch of misfits, but it doesn't matter because they were one big family- awkward, dysfunction, and most definitely chaotic, but a family nonetheless- and he won't have them any other way.

"Baby herbivore- No… mio nebbia….." He mumbled as he placed his hand over her indigo locks and patted her head, "Believe in your Flames. Believe in your resolve. Believe in yourself."

He then smirked and said-

"If you say that I am your family, then who am I to refute, my Baby Mist?"