Rebirth
Ring 7: Seal and Unseal
W-Wait!
Come on, Chrome, you've never been in the prologue since the first chapter!
I-It's okay...
Come on, we're already here.
EH? Um...H-Hi.
...
M-My name is...Ch-Chrome...
...She embarrassed. How cute.
Wah, I can't do this!
Hold it.
N-No! Let me go!
Sigh...well...enjoy this deadly chapter of Rebirth
Chrome laid on the bed of the Nurse's office. Surely her recent string of bad luck couldn't do anything to her there.
"CHROOOOOOME-CHAN!" Ryohei rushed past the office...with his ramen cart. He reappeared and stopped at the entrance. Something flew from his cart and sailed through the air.
"WAH! My Get-Well-Quickly-To-The-Extreme Ramen!"
Kyoko mopped the ramen soup off the floor. Haru was picking up the spilled bits of ramen. Yuni was drying the bedsheets. Ryohei?
"Don't worry, soon the Super-Get-Well-Quickly-To-The-Extreme Ramen will be complete."
"Umm...I'm not sick...or injured."
"Huh?"
"Yep." Kyoko smiled slyly
"Chrome just has a severe case of bad luck!" Haru laughed.
"Is that so? Well then I shall make my Super-Deluxe-Good-Luck-To-The-Extreme Ramen! But first, someone has to eat my Super-Get-Well-Quickly-To-The-Extreme Ramen."
"I'll do it." Tatsuya came in and eyed the ramen hungrily.
"What are you doing here?" Haru cried.
"Eating the ramen?"
"You've already started? No fair!"
"Eh? But ifHaru eats this then she'll grow fat...ter."
"What was that?"
"Um...Can you put this on my tab?" Tatsuya grabbed the ramen and ran off, Haru chased after him, flinging the pieces of ramen she picked up.
~The Enveloping Sky~
Yuni folded the bedsheets and put them away. She looked at Chrome's sleeping face and smiled. She opened the window to the balcony and looked out.
"Yo."
Yuni didn't turn around, "Hello."
"Mind if I put this on the pacifier?" the speaker shook a gray chain near Yuni.
"It shouldn't hinder my unsealing, go right ahead."
The speaker walked away, "I still don't get why you don't just unseal it now."
"Not yet. One more meeting is required before I can unseal it."
"Is that so?...There. Good luck, I'm going to get one of Ryohei's ramens."
~The Illusion Mist~
Chrome woke up around the start of lunch. She moved to rub open her eyes and something jingled. She sat up and pulled the orange pacifier from inside her shirt. It was tied around her neck with a string and now there was a strange gray chain wrapped around it. She tried to take it off, but it hardly budged. She gave up and looked around. On the bedstand was a steaming bowl of ramen with a card standing next to it. Inside the card were chibi pictures of Kyoko, Haru and Ryohei. Written in bold capital was, CHEER UP! Chrome smiled and picked up the ramen.
Chrome was up, but she was still inside of the office, standing in front of the entrance. She had bad experiences with doorways.
"Are you just going to waste your friends efforts?"
"M-Mukuro-Sama!"
"Well?"
"N-No..." Chrome took a deep breath and stepped through the doorway. She did trip. She stared at the office from the hall. Then she smiled and ran off.
When she reached the lunchroom, everyone was eating ramen. And she never had ramen as lunch before...at least not in school.
"Chrome-Chan!" Kyoko called Chrome over to the lunch line.
"Kyoko-Chan! What's going on?" Chrome asked.
But the line progressed and Chrome stepped up to the counter.
"YO! DID YA EAT MY SUPER-DELUXE-GOOD-LUCK-RAMEN TO THE EXTREME?"
"R-Ryohei-nii!"
Ryohei smiled at her from behind the counter, "Today, lunch is all RAMEN to the extreme!"
Chrome wanted to say more, but the line was getting impatient so she ordered a miso ramen and left.
Chrome found it a strange experience eating ramen inside the lunchroom. Kyoko and Haru seemed fine. Yuni simply smiled and ate without a word.
"Wah! Your brother makes the best ramen!" Haru cried.
"Really?" Kyoko smiled, "Don't forget we're working again after school."
"Oh yeah!"
"Work?" Yuni asked.
"Yep, we work part-time at Ryohei's ramen cart! Well, it's not like we get paid or anything."
"Chrome too?"
Chrome nodded.
"Ryohei's surprisingly famous too, so we're always busy."
"Can I come along?"
"Sure!"
After school, Chrome walked behind her friends as they talked. She was happy enough that her bad luck was seemingly over.
"Yuni seems to fit in well." Mukuro said, talking to her telepathically.
"Yes." Chrome said, focusing on Yuni, "It's nice that she and the rest of us can get along."
"Kufufu, I wonder why she's here."
"Huh?"
"Nothing."
Ryohei was glad to have a new waitress. She was popular among the customers too. Chrome watched as Yuni seemed to get along with everyone.
"She seems to exemplify Harmony." Mukuro commented.
"Huh?"
"Miso Ramen."
"Shirimp Ramen."
"Takayama Ramen"
"..."
"Y-Yes...Um...wait...Ken? Chikusa? M.M? Birds."
"What, do ya want us to repeat our orders? I said I wanted the miso."
"She was surprised that we're here Ken. Don't be so dense. I ordered the Shrimp, by the way."
"We keep seeing you run off with your friends so we decided to follow you. I ordered the Takayama Ramen."
Birds pointed to the pork ramen on the menu.
T-They repeated their order anyway... Chrome thought. Then aloud, "Y-Yes. Th-that was...um...Miso...Shrimp...Takayama..." She muttered to herself.
"You're a terrible waitress." Ken said.
"I-I'm sorry." Chrome wrote down Birds' order and ran back to Ryohei.
"OI! I want a Pepsi! A PEPSI!"
"I want water." Chikusa mumbled.
"I want beer."
"You're too young for beer, M.M."
"Shut it Chikusa."
Chrome left before they started their argument.
Despite Ken and the gang dropping by, Chrome was alone when she was going home. She was alone when she felt him. She returned to the alleyway. Tsuna was standing there with his flamer flickering. When she found him, he stopped and looked up, "Chrome..."
"Tsuna..."
…
…
"VOOOOOOOOOIIIIIIIIII!" A long haired man jumped down from a building and landed next to Tsuna, "This is boring! If we're going to kill her, then hurry up!"
"Squalo."
"I agree."
"Levi."
"It's no fun with women."
"Lussuria."
"Ushishishi."
"Bel...and Fran."
"..."
"Xanxus."
7 people surrounded Chrome. 6 of which she didn't know.
"Leave." Tsuna said
"No way!" Squalo charged at Chrome.
Chrome shifted to the right as Squalo's jab flew right pass her. She slid out the metal baton and smashed it into his stomach. Squalo reeled back, coughing, "N-Not bad."
Chrome spun the baton around and smashed Squalo's head into the building. He collasped.
"Squ-Chan!" Lussuria cried, "Don't pick on my family!"
Lussuria jumped from the roof, a metal knee aimed at Chrome. Chrome took out another part of her trident, using it to push the knee to the side and slid the other up his thigh, smashing it in his vulnerable spot.
"OH!" Lussuira collapsed, holding his grapes.
The other 5 hesitated. Chrome took out the last part of her trident and assembled it, "Tsuna...I've decided."
"..."
"This isn't you. I know that...So I'll fight to bring you back."
"...That is pointless." Tsuna thrust his fist forward.
Chrome blocked with her trident. Knives rained down, slicing her, but only barely cutting her. Belphegor clenched his fist and something wrapped around Chrome, binding her.
"Operation X."
Xanxus pulled out a gun and took aim.
"That's enough!"
Chrome spun around, breaking the wires, "Y-Yuni-San!"
"Tsuna, surely you realize by now."
"..."
"The longer Chrome stays in your company, the stronger she'll become. Your own Sky Flame is harmonizing with Chrome's and slowly bringing out her own power. That's why you have yet to beat her."
"Yuni...You shouldn't be here."
"I've come to change the past, Tsuna-Kun."
"The past?"
"Yes."
"Hmph. I have realized this...but I won't stop. Exterminate all flames. That is my mission."
"Tsuna, Your body, your soul will not allow you to harm this girl. At this rate, you'll die."
"Silence Trash." Xanxus grew impatient and fired.
Chrome awoke in her own bed. Why she survived, she didn't know.
"That was reckless."
"Mukuro-S-"
"Why didn't you let me switch?"
"Eh?"
"Surely you didn't want to die yet. Or was that show simply to make Tsuna take you seriously?"
"Um..."
"You shouldn't fight. Any closer to this world and you'll never go back. From now on, let me fight for you."
"O-Okay..."
"Promise me."
"Y-yes, I promise."
"Okay..."
Mukuro left after that. Chrome checked the pacifier that everyone seemed to want. The gray chain was still there.
The next days were nothing but a dream to Chrome. Yuni said she didn't know what Chrome was talking about when she confronted her. Even Haru and Kyoko were silent the majority of the time. But Chrome didn't notice.
"Chrome-Chan."
Chrome turned around. Kyoko was behind her, nervous for some reason, "What's wrong?"
Kyoko took Chrome's hand and moved to the back of the school,
"Chrome...I'm...transferring."
"What?"
"I'm sorry. My parents didn't want me to turn out like my brother so they're moving me to Namimori."
"..."
"I'm sorry that I couldn't tell you earlier."
"It's...okay..."
After that, Chrome began to see the signs she missed. All the non-Kyoko-like behavior. And she hated herself for that. Then lunch came.
"Hah...I miss Ryohei's ramen." Haru complained.
"It can't be helped, my brother owns a business after all."
"AH...I hope the food at Midori is good."
"What?"
"I'm transferring...I've been trying to find the right time to tell you...but at this rate, I'll never tell you so I'm telling you now...Sorry."
"So...Chrome will be all lonely again?"
"What?"
"I'm transferring too. To Namimori."
As the 2 friends absorbed the information, they turned to Chrome. But she was already gone.
Chrome sat on the ground, leaning against the back of the school, legs pulled close, silently crying. Mukuro decided to leave her alone for a while. As Chrome cried, someone came up to her. She didn't look up, but stopped crying. A moment passed...
"How long are you going to stay there?"
Chrome finally looked up, "Yuni."
"I've come to tell you...I'm leaving soon."
"You too?"
"..."
"Why?"
"I don't belong here."
"Then why do you feel like you do?"
Yuni sighed, "Chrome...imagine that you're the one transferring. Imagine that Haru or Kyoko were the ones staying behind. Even if you move to a school that considers Kokuyo it's longtime rival, can you bring yourself to hate any one of them?"
"...No."
"See? Love is as hard to banish as hate. As long as you remember at any one time that you were friends...you will stay friends."
"...Thank you...Yuni."
Yuni smiled, "I'm not leaving yet. Not until I give you a fighting chance."
"Eh?"
"This is something that only you can do. Give me the pacifier."
Chrome hesitated. But the pacifier began to glow with an orange light. Seeing it's reaction, Chrome handed the Pacifier over. Yuni took it into her hands and let it float between her hands. She closed her eyes and concentrated. The chain disintegrated. The pacifier was free, it's orange light was now like a sun. Yuni smothered it's light with her hands.
"Chrome, lend me your hand."
Chrome stretched her hand out. Yuni held the pacifier above it. Something poked out of the pacifier. Slowly it came out until it fell from the pacifier and landed in her hand. An ornate ring laid there, a huge gem in the middle, decorated with a the symbol and the name of the Vongola.
"This ring shall return someone to you. Whenever that person stays...is not the ring...my own...or anyone else's will."
Yuni turned around and walked away from Chrome, "You''ll live, you have not only 2...but 3 angels looking over you."
"Huh?"
But the pacifier's light intensified and Yuni was wrapped in it's radiance. When the light subsided, Yuni was gone.
Chrome stared at the ring. Finally, Mukuro spoke up, "Where's your resolve?"
Chrome wiped her eyes clean and clenched the Vongola Ring of the Sky tightly in her hands.