Part One: The One That Got Away

Rating: PG/K+

Theme: 53 Keeping A Secret- from the 1896 community

Setting: In between the infiltration of the Millefiore Base and Choice Battle (Future arc)

Warning: Cuteness and an abundance of fluff. Also a sprinkling of crack humor

Summary: Chrome Dokuro is a sucker for cute animals and Roll likes to eat Mist Flames for his lunches. Somehow they strike up a friendship, much to Hibari's annoyance.

The Cloud Hedgehog, as fierce as it was unassuming, had a minor flaw in it's' design. Namely, it tended to replicate out of control sometimes. Thus making it difficult to keep track of how many had to be summoned back into the Cloud Box.

One little enterprising hedgehog decided to simply lay low while it's 'brothers' and 'sisters' were summoned back into their container. Beady eyes watched from underneath a low-sitting table as it's owner and a laughing blond haired man conversed –or rather the blond talked and the master gripped two metal batons as if about to strike.

After the humans left the room, the Cloud hedgehog first stuck out a long snout, nose aquiver, before scurrying out. It looked around the room, blinking at harsh sunlight before sniffing and rooting around for some place dark and cool to rest.

The hedgehog managed to wiggle its way into a shoe closet, determined not to emerge until evening. However it's plans were disrupted by a tall man- with a horizontal style of hair- opened up to get a pair of shoes out.

The Cloud hedgehog ambled out before the door shuttered close again. It followed the tall man to a set of doors which slid open after he punched numbers into a keypad. A whole new world opened up to the hedgehog with a 'whoosh'. It was brighter with florescent lights hanging above. Lots of boxes piled high and standing against the walls (perfect crawl spaces for a little insectivore). Speaking of insects, the hedgehog made a feast of bugs it came across.

While the six-legged snacks were welcomed, it actually needed Ring Flames for a sustainable food source, so the hedgehog rooted around for a suitable human source. The hedgehog stopped in its trek when it saw three humans crowded around a door.

"Chrome-chan…please come out, you don't need to hide in your room all the time."

"That's right! Everyone would like to see you come to dinner at least once."

The tinniest human said something as well and jumped to tap on the door. After two minutes and still no answer from the occupant, the girls gave up trying.

"We can at least leave her a sandwich here" one suggested while the golden haired female nodded.

After they left the tray of food down and walked away, the hedgehog hesitantly wiggled out from being wedged between boxes. It was about to scurry right past the door until the barrier opened. Too late to turn and crawl between the boxes again, the hedgehog froze like a deer in headlights.

Luckily, the human didn't even notice. Instead, she looked at the plate, picked up the tray and turned to walk back inside. Before she closed the door though, the Cloud hedgehog squeezed in between door and frame.

While the human female unwrapped cellophane covering the sandwich, the hedgehog tucked itself underneath the cot she sat down on. It waited until the empty plate was put down and the girl returned to the cot.

Minutes ticked by until the ingenious hedgehog devised a way to climb up onto the cot (grip onto the bag, climb on the box and make a leap-then barrel roll onto the pillow). For its' near acrobatic feat, the box animal was rewarded with an ignited Ring Flame.

It wasn't the same type as the hedgehog's master, but beggars couldn't be choosers at this point. The tip of a tongue slipped out, tentatively tasting the Mist flame which remained stable and strong even after taking, pardon the pun; a licking.

While the hedgehog cringed away and hid under pillows when the human shifted in her sleep, for the most part it remained hovering around the Mist ring to devour the flames until full and sleepy.

Drowsy eyes closed as the hedgehog named Roll curled up close beside the female Mist Guardian.

Chrome woke up a couple hours later to find a breathing ball of spikes lying dangerously close to her remaining eye. Scooting away from the hedgehog, Chrome wondered how on earth something like this got underground.

"…are hedgehogs even native to Japan?" she asked aloud. Since there was no one around to answer her, Chrome let the inquiry drop in favor of mildly harassing her bed-mate by poking its' nose.

Roll sneezed so hard beady black eyes opened. It took one look at the curious human then rolled up into an armored ball, nose still sticking out.

"…you missed a spot" Chrome mumbled before poking the protruding proboscis. Roll sneezed again then curled in tighter to hide its' nose. Now that there was a spiky land urchin on her pillow, Chrome decided her nap was over.

She glanced to the box had given to her by Dino-san to practice. He said it belonged to the Mist Arcobaleno, Mammon; whom she had fought before.

'Maybe that's why it won't open' Chrome mused only to recant her theory while looking down at her Vongola Ring.

'It's not working because I'm not strong enough.' Chrome admitted to herself. Putting a hand on the cot, Chrome reached for the Mammon box and sat with it in her lap.

Eye closed, Chrome tried to concentrate on increasing the intensity of her Ring Flame. In the next second, her left eye opened wide as something licked her hand.

Looking down, she saw the hedgehog was greedily licking at the Mist Flames.

"Are you hungry?" she asked. The sound of the girl's voice caused it to roll up again, spikes out as if daring her to get close enough to touch.

"What do hedgehogs eat?" Chrome asked while knowing she wouldn't find an answer inside an empty room.

There was a private library inside the secret base, so that seemed like a good place to start. After all, it appeared the creature had adopted her first, so Chrome felt responsible for taking care of the skittish hedgehog.

Now to tackle the first problem: How to hold and carry a wiggling ball of barbs…

Notes: Just as taste of what I'm doing for this ficlet. This will be a very short -three parts at most- and will be centered around Roll, Chrome and Hibari, with appearances from other Reborn characters.