Chrome's Brother: Fast Forward

Part 20

By Blockhed13

Disclaimer: I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn! ™

Author's note: Wow! It is good to be back actually writing these chapters! As I explained in an earlier chapter, I had the last 19 chapters pre-written (I wrote them all during spring break) so I didn't have to worry about it until summer (my school gets out much, MUCH later than most.) And it was the perfect amount of chapters. Now, I've been getting a lot of requests for longer chapters from friends and fans, and since I now don't have the pressure of school, I'm now going to write longer CB:FF chapters! I have no set word limit, I'm just going to write until I feel I'm at a good spot to stop. Which may lead to some chapters being longer than others. But yes, longer chapters!

Reborn walked up to the green pineapple dumbly moseying around, or rather, me.

"Thanks." He handed me the bizarre ring back to me.

I slipped it back on my middle finger, "Thanks. What did you need it for?"

"A hunch that was wrong." Reborn shrugged. He smiled, and walked away.

A hunch? Don't ask, don't ever ask.

I began strolling through the base, looking in each room, one after another. After about ten minutes and two rows of rooms, I finally found my sister's room.

I knocked softly on the door, "Ch... Chrome?"

No answer.

"It's Kumoru." I tried. I had no clue if that would help. But it was worth a try.

I heard the door crack open, and I saw a purple eye looking directly at me.

I smiled, "Chrome! Can we talk for a little while? It's been like, two months since I've seen you. And we never really talked much."

Chrome froze for a moment, "…Mm…"

I guess that means yes. She opened the fully and let me in.

The room… Hmm… To put it simply, it was a mini-Kokuyo land without the garbage. There was a bed, a desk, a closet, and the lights were off. The bed was messy, her trident was propped up in the corner of the room, and Chrome's Kokuyo uniform was hung with care in her closet. Which brings me to Chrome: She was wearing gray short-shorts and a white tank top. She looks like she just rolled out of bed.

I smile and dressed down, removing my green Kokuyo jacket and hung it up; leaving me in my dark blue undershirt, the ridiculous gray sash and green uniform pants.

I sat at the end of her bed next to her. I looked over and smiled, "How have you been, Chrome?"

She just gazed into the floor, looking for an answer.

"M…" she began mumbling, "M… Mukuro-sama…"

Ooooh crap! I forgot about him! And her relationship with him! It's the future, so, where is he?

Wait. This sash magically makes my organs, Chrome is sulking and weak, and no peep from Mukuro? That can only mean one thing: Mukuro is dead!

But, he talked to me in the base, so, he should be alive, right?

I'm gonna have to approach this as if the worst happened. I wrapped my arm around Chrome, "It's alright. I'm here for you. Mukuro wanted me here for a couple reasons, this is one of them." I smiled, but can't help but feel like that sounded corny, stupid, and ramble-ish, "I'm sure Mukuro, er, Mukuro-sama is just fine." I could see Chrome's one purple eye start to tear up. I clutched my arm a little tighter around her, "It's okay. I promise you that he's fine. There's no need to be upset."

She looked up to me. I smiled and patted her back. Her tears in her eye seemed to go away.

"Ku-chan…" she mumbled, "I… I'm sorry."

I shook my head, "Nothing that happened was your fault."

"No… Nothing recent…" She whimpered, "It happened a while ago…"

Huh? She's beginning to come out of her shell. What is she talking about?

"What do you mean?" I queried.

"…I regret leaving you at boss' house alone…" she sulked.

I chuckled, "I'm not. If that didn't happen, I would never have learned so much about myself. Besides, I'm sure you had good reasons."

Chrome lightly nodded, "It's…"

"It's?" I curiously perked.

"It's a long story…" Chrome forced out.

What? What's a long story? What is she talking about?

"What do you mean?" I asked.

She didn't say anything, "M… My reason…"