Chapter 3

….yeah, I lied about what I said last chapter. The song this time is Wake Up Call by Maroon 5.

iPod: Chrome

A sharp kick followed by a pained apology concluded Chrome and Mukuro's fight. Mukuro was beginning to go overboard when torturing Hibari. And she, in his opinion, was getting too fond of Hibari. Then things spun out of control. Old problems were brought up and Mukuro had even reduced her to tears. Why am I so weak? He was still right about many things. She was nothing without him. She might as well have died after saving her friend's cat. But as the worst wave of sobs left her, Chrome had an idea.

Sneaking out, she called a taxi and headed for Namimori. Instantly, prefects surrounded her in a tight circle.

"Where's your boyfriend, sweetie?" One asked. "What's a girl like you doing here?"

"I'd like to see Hibari-san, please," she replied, adding a slight emphasis on 'Hibari-san'.

With a grunt, the prefects scattered and the lead one showed her to the roof. There, Hibari was lying down. She could tell he was fighting back tears and winced at the sight of the bandages he wore. "Hibari-san…" She walked over, squatting and placing a look of concern on her face. "I'm so sorry. I really don't get why you two insist on hating each other so much, but he's really taken it too far." She laid her hand on his cheek.

"Easy for you to say," He said, squeezing her hand gingerly. "There's no use in lying, by the way. You got in a fight with that man, didn't you?" She nodded slowly. "Huh. And you want to hurt him by seeing me?" He knows… like he said, no use in denying anything. I'll just have to go with it.

"Hai. You know, this is a perfect opportunity for you. I could actually begin to love you in this…" She prayed that Hibari would take her bluff. With a chuckle, he did.

"Fine."

iPod: M.M

Mukuro slammed open the door, his smile darker than ever before. What a cute face… Too bad that little slut of his has him. She asked, "What's wrong, Mukuro-sama? Did you break your new bike? If you did, you're gonna have to pay for a new one— "

"Who cares about a bike? Enough with your crap about money, M.M. I need a favor," He said. The next thing she knew, he pulled her into a hug. What?! "Ah. So you do like me after all. Your cheeks are all red, how nice."

"W-what about Chrome?" She tried to sound like she had no idea. Heh. They got in a fight, huh? Sorry, Dokuro, but looks like I finally got your man. "What did she do?"

"You should've seen her, M.M. I'm sure it would've made your heart soar. She and I had a bit of a disagreement, and what does she do? She runs into Kyoya's arms. Never knew she could retaliate like that. They probably would've gone all the way if I didn't interfere." So he just wants revenge. Good plan, trying to break her little heart. Too bad she's so fragile. I bet if Dokuro sees one kiss she'll come crying back to him. Now how should I take advantage of this? "So will you help me? This is the farthest you'll ever get with me." She nodded. "And just in case you were thinking, yes I will pay you for this."

"Deal." And there it came: a kiss from Mukuro. It was like fireworks. I could get used to this even if it is just a lie.

iPod: Hibari

What a great lie, he thought as he comforted Chrome. A tad bit disappointing that Rokudo walked in on us so fast. She stared up at him. He said, "Don't worry. I'm sure he's hurt just as much. By the way, how come you didn't come to the meeting January 28?"

"Ken and Chikusa decided to make a holiday celebrating the fact that they got Mukuro and me together for a year. They were hoping it would last longer and decided to name it Pineapple Love Day," She answered. "Do you think he'll turn to M.M?" Oh, right. She just wants to fight Rokudo. "I wonder what I'll do when I see them."

"I'll be here. Don't worry." He placed a hand on her head. In a way, it kinda did resemble a pineapple. What do you know, I'm allergic to pineapples. "Someone's coming. Judging from their footsteps, it's a tall boy and girl, both with weapons of considerable size. Looks like Rokudo and M.M have come to bring you home. Would you like to stay here?" She said yes in a frail whisper. Mukuro and M.M walked over to them.

"Dokuro, get up out of his lap. You've been out past curfew, you know?" M.M tried to sound husky and moody, but had a rather arrogant effect.

"Like you're one to talk? You cling to him like a sloth." He pulled out his tonfas. "Chrome wants to stay and she will. Now back off."

"As if, school geek." Out popped the clarinet. He had her disarmed and on the ground in seconds. He turned to Mukuro.

"Kamikorosu." Mukuro evaded HIbari's attacks.

"I'd like to see you try," Mukuro shot himself and tossed a gun into his hands before crumpling to the ground. "When I'm the one in control of your body!"

"Why you—" And that was the last thing he said until he was taken over. A voice triumphed in his head.

Kufufu~. Stupid boy. Don't you remember that I can posses you? Mukuro, in Hibari, shot himself. The world grew black with a loud BANG!

iPod: Mukuro

Mukuro pulled out of Hibari and back into his own body. He turned to face a tear-streaked Chrome. "Ungrateful child." She glared at him.

"Why must you always go so far?" She sniffed.

"The bullet won't kill him. He'll just lie comatose for a little while. Of course, the world will think that he's dead." He drew her into a tight embrace. "Look at you, Chrome. Still too weak. You can't fight back without my help and you try cheating on me. No matter, you've still proved your point and have bested me. Still fragile, but stronger. Good job."

"What about M.M?" She pointed at an unconscious woman with a trail of blood leaving her mouth.

"We leave her there. I never did like her anyways. She's useless to our cause now that Kyoya's paralyzed her from the hip down." Cradling her in his arms, he rushed down the stairs only to be blocked by prefects. "He's dead. Hardly gave a fight worthy of Namimori's standards. Let us through of suffer his fate." One of them ran up to check. He brought Hibari's body down slowly in defeat. The prefects fled into chaos.

iPod: Chikusa

Once home, Ken greeted them with a slap on Mukuro's back.

"Nice one, Mukuro! I can't wait to see the looks on the Vongola faces when their Cloud Guardian shows up dead next to M.M! Thank God you left her. We can now use our budget on WHISKEY!" Ken jumped into the air. Chikusa watched from inside their tiny refuge. Tch! You're so impulsive, Mukuro. You do realize that not only have you robbed the Vongola of their Cloud Guardian but also their Mist? Didn't you put any consideration into what Chrome will do now? Ken did a backflip. "Drinking binge tomorrow night!"

Chikusa walked out with concern all over his face. "What will we do now? When the rest of the mafia sees this, we'll be even more wanted than usual. We've been in this hiding place for only ten months—" Mukuro shot him a look of silence.

"Relax for once, Chikusa. We're fine. Thanks for everything." Oh, right. Chrome isn't supposed to know this yet. He noticed Chrome. "Your hair's down…?"

"This is what I looked like as Nagi," She responded. Her hair fell down just below her neck and covered her missing eye. Cute. So this is Chrome before Mukuro saved her. I better not ask any questions. That'll run the risk of her figuring out what's going on… "I'm still worried about M.M. We shouldn't just abandon her."

"She failed us and has hated you ever since you joined. All she did was fight a bit and prevent us from spending money on a place that's not cockroach infected and cheap." Ken saw no use in hiding his disdain for M.M now that she was gone.

"Well, then, glad that's over with. No use in standing at the doorway forever." Mukuro placed Chrome on the ground as he said this. "Everyone to bed. We'll need a good night's sleep for tommorow. Good night." He left for his room, Chrome following him up the stairs to hers. Chikusa turned to Ken.

"You're acting is terrible, Ken. Do you honestly think that this is a good plan?"

"It's not. But Mukuro said so, and we have to." Chikusa fidgeted with the tiny flask in his hand.

"The songs are controlling Mukuro and Chrome's lives. That was cutting it a bit close."

"We shouldn't stop two songs into the playlist. Besides, it made Mukuro happy." Ken plucked the flask out of Chikusa's hand. "This is strong stuff. Where'd you get it?"

"Me? I didn't get it. Mukuro asked me to keep it away from Chrome and give it to him during the party. Be careful with that, who knows what's in it… I said 'careful'!"

Ken pulled off the cap, smelling the contents. His eyes widened in fear. "Is he trying to poison her?! Chikusa, show me the next song on the playlist."

Chikusa found it. The cover art depicted a blue haired boy in a mask with a girl with green pigtails and a flask just like Mukuro's! His voice shook as he read the title. "Cantarella, Kagamine version, by Kourusa-P."