hey I hope you enjoy the chapter! Just a reminder that this is an AU so Tsuna will be ooc for some parts, but it's apart of the story that this story is a prequel of. Just please keep that in mind as you read. Other than that I think you guys will like the 2796 in this chapter!

Chapter 4

His strawhat

It had been a couple of days since Chrome called Boss her only friend. After that, Boss helped her open up more to people. She began to eat lunch with them on the roof. Tsuna smiled, remembering when she asked if she could eat with his family.

"B-Boss, um, do you think it would be a bother if I ate with you and your family...?"

"Of course you can Chrome! You don't have to ask, we are a family after all!"

Boss and Chrome walked to the roof with their lunches. Gokudera was the first to notice the two of them. "Tenth! You are eating with us again!... Chrome! Why are you always so close to the Tenth!" He was happy, but then yelled at the shy Chrome. She shrunk behind Boss's back the same way, she did when Hibari attacked them. She knew this was a bad idea. She couldn't handle their crazy personalities. Ever since she called Boss her friend, and opened up to him, she wanted to be closer to him and his family.

Boss, instinctively, grew protective of her. He was used to her hiding behind him lately. Ever since that day, she would always stay close and hide behind him when she was uncomfortable. He was never bothered by her shy nature. He was happy Chrome trusted him. He trusted her. "Gokudera don't be mean to her, she just wants to eat with us." Boss explained. Gokudera couldn't argue with his beloved leader and angrily agreed. Chrome felt his glare and buried her face into Boss's back.

He let out a sigh at his storm guardian, but also a smile for Chrome's adorable action. He honestly enjoyed her company more than his other friends. Gokudera was devoted to the Vongola, while Boss was the complete opposite. Yamamoto was a good friend, but Tsuna felt like he couldn't talk about the mafia with him, because he wouldn't understand. Enma was useless like him, but Enma was fine with being in the mafia, and couldn't speak honestly with him all the time cause of it. Those were his three closest friends, but he felt the most comfortable around Chrome. They had been talking a lot lately and he felt he was the most honest with her. Her innocent expressions and curiosity always pierced through him.

"Gokudera apologize..." He face palmed at his rude glare. "Chrome is family, you know that." He only said to the man devoted to the Vongola Decimo candidate. He knew Gokudera thought of her as family too. Chrome dared to peek around Boss's shoulder and was surprised by the storm guardian.

"If you say so Tenth! I am sorry Chrome Dukuro! If the Tenth is ok with you being so clinging I won't argue!" He happily said in front of the Tenth. He would follow his leader's orders with out missing a beat. Gokudera had been spying on the Tenth and Chrome for a few days and noticed her around him, but the Tenth never seemed bothered, he actually seemed more cheerful lately. He only yelled because he finally had a chance to confront her, but if the Tenth was ok with it, he wouldn't be angry.

Chrome gasped, he easily accepted her with out a second thought. She stuck her head out more behind Boss and nodded. "Thank you storm guardian." She politely replied. He only nodded back. Yamamoto laughed while Enma just smiled.

Ever since then Gokudera treated her just like any one else the Tenth cherished. He treated her as a friend. Yamamoto was nice to her also, but he always was. Enma treated her well ever since she helped them defeat Daemon Spade. She was honestly happy. They really did think of her as family, she was just to isolated to notice it. She began to open up to the rest of his family after Boss's right hand easily accepted her.

They were all eating on a bench together side by side. Tsuna was in the middle, Chrome was to his left, Gokudera to his right, Enma next to Chrome, and Yamamoto next to Gokudera.

Yamamoto let out his cheerful smile, he turned, and told them. "Yo Tsuna, Chrome, I saw both of you signed up for the three legged race as teammates! Just give it all you got!" He laughed out with encouragement.

Chrome blushed and looked down, suddenly focused on her bento. Tsuna let out a cringe. 'I can't even run at full speed with out falling! How can I do it tied to someone! Damn, what if Chrome falls because of me!' "Th-Thanks Yamamoto..." He let out defeated. Chrome noticed the defeated tone in his voice.

"Boss, we should practice, ne?" She asked, after lifting her head up at him, with an innocent determination to win. He turned to her and her cute face.

'I can't say no to that! It's actually making me belive we can win!' He stuttered, but nodded his head. "Yea we can during class later!" He agreed with her, Chrome's determination was giving him motivation also. "Let's give it our best Chrome!" She happily agreed with him.

Gokudera and Enma agreed. "Tenth, there is no way you can lose! Especially with a guardian on your side!" Gokudera said first.

"Yea you guys can do it!" Enma cheered for them.

Chrome was surprised by their support. She let her self enjoy the moment, with a small smile, scooting closer to Boss. "Yea thanks guys!" Boss said the words she couldn't to everyone, but they knew she wanted to also.

They all ate as a family, the one she never had. She felt so warm inside. It was a peaceful silence as they enjoyed their food. Her thoughts were blown away from her as a strong gust of wind surrounded the roof. Her food was almost tossed away, but she clung to it. Everyone was doing the same. Her pinapple hair style danced around while the winds calmed. She tucked a strand behind her ear, before she heard a cry and snapped her head to Boss's voice.

"My hat!" He yelled as it flew off his head. He abruptly stood, knocking his bento off his lap and leaving a mess of food on the floor. He ran for that everlasting strawhat of his. Chrome had an expression of disbelief. Boss looked so scared as it flew away from him. She never thought about why he always had it. When they met, he wore it and has been ever since. It just seemed natural for him to have it with him. She never gave it a second thought, until now. She couldn't believe his actions. He was chasing after it with a desperate run, as if he was going to lose an irreplaceable treasure he couldn't bare to be without.

"The Tenth's hat!" Gokudera stated in worry, he never knew why he kept the old ragged strawhat, but the Tenth always took good care of it, and never let anyone touch it. That was another reason Gokudera admired the Tenth, the way he protected his treasure.

"Hey that's Tsuna's!" Yamamoto tried to explain to the wind that was bullying his friend. He didn't understand the value of it to his friend, but Tsuna was never without it, and even Yamamoto grew fond of it. It seemed to be connected to his friend. He felt Tsuna wouldn't be Tsuna if he lost it.

Enma didn't say anything, but grew concerned. He had asked his friend why he kept it around and still remembers the way he avoided the question. He hid his eyes and simply said it wasn't a big deal. But his voice cracked, full of guilt. He never asked again, because he clearly heard the amount of importance it held to him.

All of Boss's friends mimicked him. Chrome didnt understand, but ran with them, chasing after Boss's strawhat. They were reaching the fence and the hat was floating above it, on the verge of falling off the building. Boss didn't hesitate to climb the fence and reach for it.

Half of his body was above the fence. He reached for his stawhat, he could almost feel the brim of it. "Almost go- Hiee!" He lost his balance and began to fall foward over the fence. Everyone's eyes grew wide at the impending doom. Chrome panicked. She couldn't lose Boss, not after he graced her heart with his warmth. She jumped up and wrapped her hands around his right leg. That didn't seem to stop him as he flipped over dragging her along. Boss had a fear in his eyes, but not for his safety, but for his friend's. "Chrome!" He yelled, implying to let go.

She didn't let go though. Her body was pulled up and his went over. She was flung high and then over the fence as well. She shut her eye in fear. She could only await the inevitable plummet onto the harsh unforgiving pavement.

She felt a hand wrap around her ankle stopping her halfway down the fence. She dared to open her eye. She gasped at the man who saved her and Boss. Gokudera had his upper body over the fence. His teeth were gritted and his hand was extended holding onto her.

Tsuna was confused and dazed. He thought he was going to end up splattered on the ground, but didn't. He was beginning to look up at the situation that saved him, but a voice cried out, intercepting him. "B-Boss! don't look up!" He couldn't understand why she was pleading with him and did the opposite of her wish.

"Eeh!" He should of listened to her. Her eye was shut in embarrassment. She was a tomato. He stared for a sec not grasping the situation. "S-Sorry Chrome!" He yelled when he did and snapped his head back down. He was hiding his face with a hand, equally red as her. She couldn't cover herself, if she did Boss would fall. She was upside down, and due to gravity, so was her skirt. 'I didn't mean to, b-but I saw them! Her panties! Her white panties had a purple skull and cross bones and it marked that spot! I'm so sorry Chrome!' He couldn't unimagine it. Chrome was his friend, but she was too cute. 'Even the skull looked innocent!' He couldn't handle much more of her adorable nature.

He then remebered why they were in the situation in the first place, while Gokudera and his friends pulled them back up. They all had a hue of pink avoiding eye contact with Chrome's exposed buried treasure. She was red the whole time. Boss ignored the previous fiasco, refocusing on his hat. He scanned the school ground as he was pulled up. "There!" He pointed while climbing down the fence.

It had caught it self on a branch of a tree behind the school. When Chrome landed she tried stuttering a thank you to her family, but due to the her shy nature and the awkwardness, she kept opening and closing her mouth like a tomato fish.

"Thank you Chrome and Gokudera!" Boss rushed his thanks and bolted out of the roof down the building, chasing after his treasure. The guardians and Enma tried calling out to him but it was all in vain. They followed him, but were not able to match his hurried pace. Boss stumbled down a few stairs giving them the opportunity to catch up. They had reached the school ground and were running around the building they just ate lunch at.

Chrome felt uncomfortable. This was the longest Boss had been with out his strawhat. His appearance was the same, but his body langue spoke a diffrent story. His hair was a gravity defying mess, but there was no hat to calm the storm of his hair. Or it wasn't behind his neck, the way it usually was when he took it off on occasion. She didn't like it, Boss didn't feel like Boss. He felt like a kid desperately latching onto a dream he wanted with all his might, but was never able to grasp. Her heart constricted in a tight bind, because his eyes revealed a hidden pain, that seemed to only be supressed by his hat. She began to realize that Boss couldn't be without it. His world and hers were tilted because of the missing stabilizer that kept it balanced. His strawhat. She paused, stopping her run. Her eye was wide and she gasped.

She knew nothing about her Boss...

She felt bitter at that thought and bit her lip in frustration. Boss was her friend yet she didn't even know what that strawhat ment to him. It was clearly important, but she didn't know why and never thought of it, even though he always had it. The guilt hit her hard. She had ignored one of the most obvious questions about Boss. Why did he cherish it?

She didn't realize everyone else had stopped, reaching their destination. But the school perfect was there...

Hibari was patrolling his school, but the sounds of hectic running caught his ear. It was growing louder as it neared and he had his tonfa ready to bite who ever it was to death. He internally growled, but had a hungry smile. "Ooh... Running on school grounds isn't aloud." He simply stated ready to attack them all.

Chrome flinched, she couldn't be bitten to death. Enma stumbled backwards in fear. Gokudera gritted his teeth, he didn't like the way the cloud guardian always acted towards them. Yamamoto had a nervous grin, but spoke for them.

"Haha... Sorry, but we need to get that back for Tsuna." He stated with a point and a smile. He was pointing at the strawhat resting on a branch directly above Hibari. Hibari entertained his excuse and looked up.

His eyes narrowed, why wasn't the small animal's strawhat with him. Hibari was always making sure the students followed dress code, but that small animal was the only one exempt from that rule. Well, more like, he couldn't enforce his rule on the small animal. When Hibari tried to bite him to death and take his hat for dress code violation, the small animal turned into a fearsome carnivore. Hibari enjoyed the fight, but wasn't in the mood to have his school destroyed. He lowered his tonfa. He easily lept high and and reached for the hat.

Tsuna narrowed his eyes. His internal limiters were about to go off, and enter hyper dying will mode. But then his eyes widened. His cloud guardian only flung it to him, like a frisbee. Tsuna caught his prized possession. He quickly inspected it, before signing in relief. He placed it back on his head.

Chrome stared with a curious eye, Boss's tantrum completely stopped. She felt relieved, he was back to being Boss. "Thank you Hibari!" He said with his cheerful smile. The cloud guardian didn't acknowledge it, but simply walked past them. He didn't care for the reason the small animal protected the hat, but he could respect a man who was able to. Ever since the bloody beating they gave eachother. Hibari smirked remembering their fight. He walked a way and continued his patrol. He gave them a warning look, they were crowding and he didn't like it.

They all flinched, except Tsuna. He only had his toothy grin. Hibari was a good friend, no matter how many times he almost killed them. Hibari helped him find his pride after all. His nakama, and Hibari was one of them. Tsuna swore he saw Hibari tilt his head, returning the gesture of camaraderie.

Boss and his family went back to class. The bell rang a few minutes after he recovered his hat. Students who had signed up for the school festival were given time to train!

Boss and Chrome were standing around the schools track field. He had a rope around his hand, but was hesitating to tie their feet together. Chrome was shaking. He smiled at his shyest friend. "Don't worry Chrome... if you don't want to practice in front of everyone you don't have too..." He told her, also weary of training in front of his family. They had only come to cheer them on, but they were making it difficult for the both of them. Ryohei was making a scene cheering with fans in his hand waving them side to side. Yamamoto was giving advice, but it made no sense to either of them. Gokudera had his glasses on reading from a book, explaining the fundamentals of running. Running?!

Kyoko was the simplest one. Only giving occasional words of encouragement.

"Give it your best ok guys!" She cheered with her happy smile. Boss looked at her and gave her the same smile back. He then turned to Chrome, he smiled at her too.

"She is right Chrome, but we can try our best in a different way." He happily said to her. She looked confused and was still squirming cause of all the attention. "Let's find a quite place to practice after school, ok?" He offered. He appreciated his friends morale, but Chrome still wasn't accustomed to their over zealous quirks.

Boss sounded like he was sent from heaven. An escape from all the eyes, and still able to practice for the event. She timidly nodded. "Y-Yes Boss! Please!" She pleaded. He blushed at her adorable whine.

After school, they were walking together. "Um, how about Kokuyo Land?" Boss offered, it was kinda far, but he could fly them. Chrome shook her head stubbornly.

"Ken and M.M. will make fun of me." She pouted with her lips out. Boss had noticed how casual she talked to him. Her attitude was always reserved in front of everyone, but when they were alone, she seemed more talkative and expressive. She didn't hide her emotions in front of her Boss. He smiled enjoying this side of her the most. She was actually pretty cheerful and adorable.

He laughed at her pout and she blushed. "Yea they sound like they would. Um... how about at my house. We can finish up our homework in my room after we practice." He offered her something else. She paused. She remebered when they threw her a welcoming party there. She smiled at the offer and nodded. He grinned back.

"Are you ok Boss?" Chrome asked after he tripped during their practice session. They were in the back yard of his house, alone. Lambo, I-pin, and Fuuta had left to the park with Bianchi. Reborn was out on a mission, calming he had to visit a school. Mama was in the kitchen, humming happily to herself as she cooked.

They were practicing by wrapping their arms around eachothers waist. They both had red faces and could only focus on how close they were holding eachother. But Boss preferred being embarrassed and holding her intimately, instead of tying a rope to her, and having her crash down because of him. He gritted his teeth though. 'Her waist is so tiny and she fits perfectly around my arm!' He dusted himself off, while he stood.

"I-I'm fine, thanks..." He sighed. 'I keep falling, she probably thinks I'm so lame... ' He was frustrated at how much he was letting Chrome down. She looked like she really wanted to win, but he was so clumsy that they were going to lose. He was mentally beating himself up, that he didn't realize Chrome was staring with concern. She innocently lifted her right hand up to his cheek and wiped off some dirt. She then held his head with both her hands and searched for any dirt or cuts.

Boss had wide eyes of shock and confusion. She seemed to be focused on making sure he was fine. 'Chrome...' He could only stare at her eye scanning his face. Their eyes met when she finished her search. She didn't realize how she was acting, worried for her only friend.

Boss had fallen constantly and seemed to be frustrated. She didn't want him to be upset and figured he was injured. She sighed in relief when she found no harm on her Boss. She then titled her head to the side while still holding his head in her hands. "Boss, is something wrong?" She asked with confusion. Boss was flustered and had wide eyes. His hat was hanging around his neck so she could see his hair swirling around.

"Um yea, why are you still holding my face?" He asked, but lost his blush. She replied but didn't answere his question.

"Boss, why are you frustrated? " She asked, still confused. He sighed. Chrome always saw through him. He placed his hat back on after he scratched his head thinking. She let go of him when he began to answer her question.

"Chrome I don't want us to lose, but I keep tripping, no matter how hard we train." He slowly poured out, but she kept staring at him until she did something, that caught him off guard.

Chrome scolded him. "Boss it's only our first day of practice. We still have a week. We can practice everyday until then!" She happily said with encouragement. She had a whole week to spend with her Boss!

He stuttered, shocked at her optimism. "Your right Chrome we have a whole week to practice."

They decided to stop training for now and do their homework in Boss's room. They were both sitting on the floor with their papers on the table. Boss was sitting with his back facing the window and Chrome with her back facing Boss's bed.

Tsuna noticed the same book, she had on her desk a few days ago, next to her work, on the table. He didn't really think about it during their conversation when they fist became friends, but now it kept nagging at him. Why did Chrome always have it with her. He stared at it and mentally read the title of it. 'The supernatural world of reality...' under the main title there was a sub one. 'Exploits of the unknown...' He scrunched his face together. The book seemed scary, but interesting. He then thought about someone else who loved books. He smiled, while holding his strawhat. But then asked Chrome about her book.

"Hey Chrome, can I ask you something?" He innocently asked her. She peeked up from the paper she was working on with an adorable expression. She nodded her head before tilting it to the side, waiting for his question. He then thought about it before asking. "Um, I noticed you always have that book around, do you like it? Is it interesting?" He asked genuinely curios to find out more about his friend.

Chrome grew a major blush. No one ever really asked her before and she never really talked about it. She then glanced at her book. She placed one hand on it while answering timidly. "I-I do like it Boss... um, It's about the many mysterious of the world..." She mumbled shyly. She really liked the supernatural world, as she was an illusionist, but felt like other people found it boring. She didn't want to bore her Boss.

But then he asked more questions, interested with it. "Oh really like what?" He asked probing her for more answers. Chrome had a wide eye not believing he was asking her about her favorite topic. She was about to answer, and Boss noticed a little exciment in her eye. Then he noticed it in her voice as she spoke.

"Well this book has information about an island always covered by darkness. It says that there were undead creatures roaming around the island shrouded in darkness, but someone freed all the shadows trapped inside the monsters and the island was freed from the shadows!" She finished with a joy Boss never heard before. His heart skipped a beat at the way her face and voice were full of exciment. Her face was so bright.

He heard that story before, and lit up. "Really! Amazing! What else does that book talk about!" He was fascinated by her happy voice and shinning eye. He wanted her to keep talking about her passion. They began to go into a lengthy conversation about what the book was about. She told him about many of the strange phenomenon talked about in the book. He listened excited about all she had to say. Chrome had a blush trying to tell him more and more, but he was so focused on her with a smile, that she stuttered here and there. But she was happy inside the whole time they talked.

"And it also talks about the yeti. It's still undiscovered, but many have claimed to see the huge monster," Chrome spread her arms apart trying to signify how big it was, "during snowstorms!"

Tsuna found it adorable, the way she talked so animated about her favorite topic. She used many hand gestures and facial expressions, explaining everything and Tsuna found himself lost in her words and descriptions. It felt amazing having the quiet shy Chrome speak so happily to him.

When she finished explaining, he said, "Wow I think it would be scary running into something that big!" He said a little bit pale in fear. She giggled.

"But you're brave Boss." She spoke as a matter a fact. She knew he was clumsy and timid, but when times were dangerous, he was always there to protect everyone. "You saved me during the Simon crisis." She spoke truthfully at him with a smile. He blushed at her honest words, stating how brave he was, and hid it with his strawhat.

He mumbled a thanks, but Chrome kept staring at the strawhat. She wanted to know why it was so precious to him and why he chased after it all lunch. She twiddle her fingers asking her innocent question.

"Um Boss, why do you treasure your strawhat? You always have it with you and never let anything happen to it. I know it's important to you, but can I know why?" She asked with curiosity. She felt the air in the room fill with tension after she finished her question. She began to feel uneasy. Boss had stiffened under his hat. His eyes were shadowed and his posture was rigged.

He lifted his head and made eye contact with her. He had the most charismatic smile Chrome ever saw, but she didnt like it... That wasn't his smile. It was full of guilt.

"Oh, its nothing really, don't worry about it ok?" He spoke trying to be sincere, but she heard the lies and guilt in his voice. His voice and body language betrayed his own words. Chrome felt her heart bind in pain. There was no hope in him. He was complete defeated in the inside and she knew it.

Boss was lying to her... He never did before...

"Boss why are you lying to me..." She whispered more to herself. She was sad her only friend would lie to her. He gasped hearing her words. He tried to sound so honest but she saw through it. He looked down hiding his shame. He didn't want to lie to her, but this was a personal secret of his that he couldn't talk about.

"S-Sorry Chrome, but I just don't want to talk about it, ok?" He begged. They were both staring at eachother. His eyes were pleading with her to just let it go, but her eye was full of pain and sadness. She could see the guilt in his eyes and he could see the hurt in hers.

She didn't like it. She wanted Boss to be honest with her. He always was. Why couldn't he talk about this. She timidly nodded her head sadly at his request. His throat got buried with guilt at her reaction. He hated it. He wanted to be honest, but he just couldn't. He reached for her and cupped her cheek, just below her eyepatch.

She gasped with a blush and they both stared at eachother, this time only inches apart. "Chrome I hate lying to you, but please just let me keep this one secret. You can ask me anything else Chrome..." He whispered nearly kissing her as his lips moved with each word. She still had a teary eye as he spoke, but her blush grew noticing how they were close together, again. She hated that he wanted to keep this from her. Boss was her only friend she wanted him to trust her so badly... But his lips were distracting her. She gulped.

Boss was waiting for her response and was still leaning over the table with his left hand cupped under her eyepatch. He was patient with soft eyes, but grew shocked when Chrome gave him an ultimatum. "... Then kiss me, Boss..." She said with resolve, still held in his hand. She was staring at him with determination. She was blushing heavily after asking, but was stubborn and held eye contact with Boss waiting for him to decide.

He gulped. 'Either kiss Chrome or tell her...' Tsuna didn't know what to do. He couldn't just kiss his friend, but he couldn't tell her his most private secret. He had to chose one, he owed her that much. His eyes were shadowed as he made his choice. Chrome felt his soft grip on her tighten slightly, before she felt his breath on her lips. She couldn't believe his choice, but was anxious for it...

Both of them closed their eyes as they embraced eachother with a passionate kiss.