Rebirth

Ring 1: Tri-Ni-Set

Yo! It's me! Dino Cavallone! Since this is simply a greeting, I let Romario off for a while, so it's just me! Anyway, I just want to apologize for Enzo yesterday!

You better.

Ah, Tsuna!

What do you think you're doing, taking Enzo everywhere like that? Where do you even put him anyway?

My pocket.

Isn't that animal cruelty?

I-It isn't! Enzo enjoys being there. Isn't that right Enzo? OW!

...Anyway...where do you hide your whip?

Up my sleeve.

A-are you serious?

What? I have it right now. Want me to show it to you?

N-no it's alri-

HI-YA!

Sigh. While we untangle Dino from his own whip, let's proceed with the story.

Chrome stayed up and stared at the orange pacifier that she found the other day. It shone a pretty orange in the moonlight.

"Chrome, you should go to bed."

"Ah, Mukuro-Sama."

"You wake up early everyday right? Stop spacing out and go to sleep."

"Okay." Chrome placed the pacifier back on the table and went to sleep.

~The Enveloping Sky~

"Sky Pacifier?" Tsuna repeated.

"Yep. The Sky pacifier is missing." Reborn said, "Luce is currently searching."

"So what does this mean for me?"

"The Sky Pacifier is drawn to those with a highly refined flames. As a favor, we want to use your flame sensory powers."

"But...the Sky Pacifier brings misfortune if the wrong person is holding it. Can't you track it like that?"

"That takes too long. Besides, cases of accidents may not point out who the owner."

"...Fine. Since it's an order form, not only Reborn, but the Arcobaleno."

"Thank you."

~The Illusion Mist~

Chrome yawned. She was walking to the school. The orange pacifier was tied to her bookbag. For some reason, she felt compelled to bring it with her.

"Did you really have to bring it along?" Mukuro asked

"D-do you think it's inconvenient?"

"No, not at all."

Chrome sighed.

"Chrome!"

Chrome turned around, "Ah, Kyoko-chan."

Chrome stopped to let Kyoko-Chan catch up. Above her, a electrician dropped a cut cable. The cable sparked and flew towards Chrome. Kyoko was a bit too late to warn her.

Ku Fu Fu

In an instant, the cable was cut and fell short of the man in a Kokuyo Uniform.

"Eh. EH? Mu-Mu-Mukuro? S-sama."

"Kyoko-Chan. Nice to meet you."

"B-but you were..."

"Convicted for murder? That's right. They let me walk around a little on parole."

"I-I see."

"Don't worry, I won't harm you." Mukuro smiled.

"O-oh. Ara, where's Chrome?"

"S-she ran when she saw me."

"Oh. Well I'll explain the situation to her a school." Kyoko smiled, "Do you mind if we go get Haru first?"

"Oh...sure."

"WHAH #$%^&*"! Haru cried when she saw Mukuro, "Y-you're..."

"Supposed to be in Jail, I know." Mukuro smiled politely.

"He's out for a walk. He's on parole!" Kyoko smiled.

"P-Parole...huh?" Haru studied her sempai and shrugged, "Can't be worse than Tatsuya. Okay, let's go."

"She sure decided quickly."

"Where's Chrome?"Kyoko scanned the school grounds.

"She's around somewhere, come on." Haru said and began to walk off.

"I've got to get going."

"Oh, bye Mukuro-Sama!"

Mukuro waved good bye to his former students and once they were out of earshot, "Sorry Chrome. I couldn't find a time to switch back soon enough."

Wind swirled around Mukuro. Chrome stepped out from it, "It's okay Mukuro-Sama." Chrome picked up her bookbag and ran after her friends.

Fast forward to lunch and the Pacifier's effects could be clearly seen. Chrome was battered and bruised in various places. Chrome was lucky enough that her lunch had survived.

"Chrome...are you okay?" Kyoko asked.

"Hm...Yeah."

"You sure have bad luck today Chrome!" Haru smiled, "You tripped coming in and out of EVERY classroom and you dropped your baton on your head every 5 seconds and your bookbag ripped and your homework were blown away and your money got stolen and..."

"That's enough Haru!" Kyoko cried, "It's not Chrome's fault that she got her uniform stolen when she came back from P.E! And she not to blame because she lost her scrunchie and gets caught daydreaming by every teacher and was sent out of class because of it! And..."

Chrome lost her appetite and buried her face in her arms.

"You're got it hard." Mukuro laughed in her mind.

Chrome sighed, too tired to argue.

Chrome rushed around, trying not to trip or otherwise ruin Ryohei's ramen. So far, she had managed to avoid falling. Tired, she walked over to a new table, "Are you done ordering?"

"Miso Ramen."

The voice woke Chrome from her miserable trance, like cold water. Be it luck, bad or otherwise, Tsuna was sitting right in front of her, chair tilted and feet on the table. There was no flames, but he still had those same eyes, "Shall we 'talk'?"

Tsuna took her far away from the ramen cart. Once he stopped, the orange flames was relit on his forehead.

"How did you do that?"

"Minus State. I've been practicing this in order to learn a new trick. It simply hides my flame for a while. As you've just seen, I can reignite it at anytime without any instigator."

"...And why are you telling me all this?"

"...Come to think of it, that is useless information for you..."

Chrome and Tsuna stared at each other for a while. Tsuna recovered first, "W-Well, onto the main topic: Give me the orange pacifier."

"What? How did you know I have that?"

"You really don't know the true power of that pacifier."

"..."

"Yeah, I just realized what I just said. Just give me the damned thing."

"Don't give it to him." Mukuro said.

"M-Mukuro-Sama."

"Chrome, let's switch."

Chrome reached into her bookbag and took out her 3 batons. She screwed off the weights and nodded. The moment she slammed the remaining 2 pieces together, mist covered her and Mukuro appeared.

Ku Fu Fu

"Mukuro Rokudo. Mist Flame. Refined. Switching to Anti-Illusion Filter." Tsuna brought his mittens to his flame. The mittens flared and turned into gloves.

Tsuna struck first. He charged and swung his hand around in a chop which Mukuor blocked with his trident. Tsuna thrust his other hand forward and blasted his flames forward, incinerating the mist. Tsuna turned around and blocked Mukuro's slash. He twisted the trident out of his hands and blasted the illusion apart. Tsuna glanced around, looking for Mukuro.

"Those Anti-Illusion Filters aren't that impressive. You've already fallen twice to them."

"Is that so? Why don't you stop playing with these small ones and try to warp the landscape like you usually do?"

"Tsunayoshi Sawada...do you really believe that what you're standing on is land?"

And at his words, Tsuna was suddenly standing in a lava pool. Quickly, Tsuna flew straight up. His pants were singed. The ground grew dark. Tsuna turned upward quick enough to see a stone the size of a mountain falling on top of him. The stone passed right through him. Once the stone had completely passed him, Tsuna smirked, "What was that?"

Tsuna would have said more if Mukuro had not grabbed him by his face and thrown him into the lava pool. Once he was submerged, the ground swallowed up both him and the lava.

Mukuro landed on the ground, "Ku fu fu." He turned and began to walk back to the ramen cart. The mist picked up and soon, Chrome picked up her bookbag. She glanced back at where Tsuna was trapped.

"Is that pity or regret?" Mukuro asked.

"..."

"Chrome, Tsuna was a part of Vongola. Whenever he liked it or not, he was a slave to them."

"I know." Chrome bit her lip and began to walk back.

The ground rumbled. Chrome had to rebalence herself before turning back. The ground broke and Tsuna rose from the hole, "Operation X."

Chrome yelped and began running, "Mu-Mukuro-Sama?"

"My powers require a 12 minute recharge. You must survive for that long, Chrome!"

"B-but..."

Tsuna aimed his hand, "X...Burner."

Chrome jumped to the side and Tsuna's attack blew right past her. She grabbed her fallen trident and blocked Tsuna's charge. She slashed him away, already breathless.

"What? Is that it?" Tsuna smirked.

Chrome stepped back. Tsuna appeared behind her and tried to chop her. Chrome ducked and lunged forward, trying to keep Tsuna in sight.

Repeat this a few times and you'll get the majority of their fight. The majority of their fight...for the first 2 minute. Chrome was slowing down and Tsuna was getting irritated.

"Enough. Operation X."

Chrome yelped and tried to get out of the way. She slipped and fell, too tired to get back up.

"It's over. X Burner."

As the flames approached her Chrome heard Mukuro's voice, "You've done well to survive this far, my cute Chrome. I'll send you some of my power. I can't take you over but I can help."

The flames consumed Chrome. Tsuna stared at the ashes that remained...

"Miss? How?"

"Ku Fu Fu. Tsunayoshi Sawada, did you turn off those Anti-Illusion Filters? If you didn't you might have seen."

Tsuna turned around. Chrome stood there, not a burn on her. Her eyepatch was gone. In it's place, a red eye with a 1 character glowed.

"First Path of Reincarnation: Realm of Hell." Mukuro said. Chrome repeated those words to Tsuna in unison.

~The Enveloping Sky~

"...I see. So you regain Mukuro's abilities for every 2 minutes. Returning to Anti-Illusion Filters." Tsuna shot a small fireball at Chrome, which incinerated the illusion.

The ground rumbled again and the ground turned into lava.

"Not this again. You're a worst illusionist than Mukuro."

The ground rumbled again and a pillar of lava shot up, narrowly missing Tsuna. Another one came from the side and more began to erupt from various places until finally, Tsuna was stuck with nowhere to move.

"Th-This is just a illusion."

The lava shifted and formed around Tsuna, taking the shape of a guillotine. The guillotine solidified and the blade began to fall. Tsuna blasted himself out of the stock and flew back. The blade dropped onto the empty stock and the whole guillotine exploded into wind. The wind swirled around Tsuna, trapping him in a cyclone.

"Operation X!"

The cyclone exploded and the wind shifted into swords and shot towards Tsuna. Releasing his X Burner early, he swung the small flamethrower around, burning the swords.

"Those Anti-illusion Filters aren't doing you much good."

"Shut up! Mukuro!"

"Let me ask you a question. How long have you been trapped in my illusion?"

The ground returned. The scenery returned. Chrome returned,

"Second Path of Reincarnation: Realm of Hungry Ghosts."

Tsuna stared at Chrome's hands which were engulfed in purple flames.

"Tch."

Chrome held up one hand. The flames flared and glowed strongly. She held the other back and the flames there pulsated, "X Burner."

"Operation X...X Burner!"

The 2 beams of flames collided. The 2 held equal for a moment before Tsuna's began to push forward. It progressed, eating Chrome's flames until it finally broke through and hit Chrome. Her body turned to purple flames and dissipated. Tsuna spun around desperately. An ape appeared and tried to punch him. Tsuna paused, hesitant before jumping out of the way, "Not an illusion?"

"Third Path of Reincarnation: Realm of Beasts."

Tsuna spun around and tried to punch Chrome who almost ran him over with a rhino. The rhino turned around and charged again. Tsuna looked up and the ape was falling on top of him. He lunged forward and watched as the 2 animals collided. Something zipped by, leaving a claw gash on Tsuna. He spun but already the attacker was gone. He punched the ground and sent a shockwave of flames which struck down a cheetah. A wolf pounced on his back and bit him. Tsuna grabbed it and threw him onto the floor. As Tsuna readied himself for another animal, Chrome appeared and kicked him. He flew back until he crashed into a bush.

"Fourth Path of Reincarnation: Realm of Asura."

Tsuna got up. He threw himself towards Chrome who readied her trident. Tsuna changed directions and began to spiral around her, leaving behind a trail of flames. Once she was completely trapped, Tsuna rose up into the air, "Operation..."

"Enough, Tsuna."

Tsuna spun around in surprise. His flames dissipated, freeing Chrome.

"You've fired too many X Burners. At this rate, you'll die."

"R-Reborn-Sama!" Tsuna spotted his tutor on a bridge.

"Furthermore, you've neglected to take your pills. Retreat."

"No offense, Reborn-Sama, but ever since I've meet these 2, I haven't won a single battle with them!"

"Enough Tsuna. Impatience will kill you at this rate. Return. After a break, we shall finish your technique."

Tsuna gritted his teeth and flew off.

~The Illusion Mist~

Chrome returned to her job battered and bruised. She hid her right eye.

"Ah, Chrome what happened?" Haru cried.

"My eye began to hurt and I fell down some stairs." Chrome lied.

"That must've been one extreme fall." Ryohei remarked.

"What happened to your eyepatch?" Kyoko asked.

"I lost it."

"You wanna go home for today?"

"If it's okay."

"Well you do have bad luck today." Haru noted.

"Okay then, rest to the extreme!"

How's that even possible? Chrome wondered.

She ran up the stairs and to her room, quickly grabbing another eyepatch.

"Do you hate the eye?" Mukuro asked.

"N-No! Not at all. It's simply more comfortable this way."

"I see. Are you feeling alright?"

"Yes."

"I apologize for not being of much help."

"It...okay."

"..."

Chrome went over to her bed and hugged her pillow. Exhausted, she closed her eyes and went to sleep.

Chrome was still tired the next morning. It wasn't because she woke up early, she was used to that. Her wounds have mostly healed and weren't hurting her anymore. It was the absurd amount of bad luck that struck her on her way to school. As she laid on her desk, she examined the orange pacifier. Briefly she wondered if this was how Tsuna felt everyday. Dino called for the class's attention,

"Today, we have a new student. She transferred from Italy buthas already learned Japanese. Please welcome her."

The new student came in and wrote her name on the board. She turned to the class and bowed, "My name is Yuni. I hope to get along with all of you."