Well, I'm getting started on this earlier than I thought. But I don't expect to finish this chapter in the same week that I start typing this up because I've just found out that my college course this term is going to be hell.

Complete.

And.

Utter.

Hell.

There, I said it. So my sporadic updating schedule will probably be forced to slow down as I have to study very hard this term. Two of my classes already seem fun... one of them, not so much.

Alright, I have one thing to clear up with you guys... this is officially a TsunaxOC fic. Yes, 27xOC and whatever other codename that could be come up with this pairing.

Also, unfortunately, I don't think I'll be able to get to the Varia arc in this chapter. Next one, I absolutely promise. Seriously. I just got a bit carried away with the Chrome introduction, so... well... something is better than nothing right? Anyways, please don't kill me to badly guys.

Disclaimer: I don't own Katekyo Hitman Reborn. I do, however, own Noelle.

Dokuro Chrome

"Here."

Noelle handed over the nutella and strawberry crepe in the paper cone over to Nagi. The girl stared at it hesitantly before taking it from her hand and taking a small nibble from it.

Nagi's face lit up in delight and she started taking bigger bites from the dessert like a ravenous beast who hadn't eaten for days. Chuckling, Noelle took one of the extra tissues she had grabbed at the crepe stand and started wiping the bits of nutella and strawberry that had gotten on the younger girl's face.

"Slow down," Noelle said, the sides of her lips twitching upwards as she stifled her laughter. Though she wanted to laugh at Nagi, she decided that at this point it wouldn't be a very good idea at the moment. "You'll make yourself sick by eating it like that."

Nagi blushed, looking like a little kid who got caught trying to sneak a cookie before dinner time. She ate the crepe more slowly as Noelle had instructed her to do. Half way through her own crepe, Noelle realized that Nagi had finished hers and was staring at Noelle's with a forlorn look.

"Do you want another one?" Noelle asked when she was able to talk again.

Nagi blinked several times, looking confused at the statement. Then she looked down at the ground in shame.

"...y-yes. If it's alright with you..."

"Then let's go get some more!" Noelle declared as she quickly scarfed down the crepe in her own hand. She then dragged the younger girl towards the crepe stand, asking Nagi if she wanted another nutella and strawberry crepe or a different one.

Nagi was unsure about the various options presented and shyly muttered that Noelle could pick for her.

So Noelle chose a delicious looking chocolate ice cream creme dessert for her while also buying two water bottles for them to drink. The crepes were absolutely delicious, but they sure made you thirsty as well.

As Nagi ate the second crepe with the same vigor she had devoured her first one, Noelle tilted her water bottle towards her lips and drank from it while watching Nagi from the corner of her eye. She had known that the future girl Mist Guardian was on the anti-social side due to isolated life style she had lived before the accident that took some of her organs and right eye. But the extent of just how shy and unsure she was when Noelle first met her had made the Serafin want to use her mafia connections on Nagi's mother and step father.

xxxx

"Is that it?" The woman asked contemptuously when she put the pen down after signing the last sheet.

Ignoring the woman's glare, Noelle flipped through the documents, her eyes scanning to make sure that all the lines that had to be signed by Nagi's mother had been filled in. Twice already she had asked the woman to go back to a different page because she missed a line. She didn't want to be in a room with the woman any more than the woman wanted to be in it with her, but this had to be done.

"Yes. Everything is in order." Noelle's stomach twisted at one particular line that caught her eye.

Basically what happened was that the Serafin had bought Nagi.

The total cost of releasing Nagi from the hospital and convincing her mother to sign the girl into the Serafin's care was 20,000 dollars in American. She wasn't going to even bother trying to calculate that in yen, but she knew that there was a lot of zeroes in that number.

Noelle didn't like the fact that she was practically buying Nagi from her mother, but she hated the fact that her mother had asked how much she would be given if she were to consider giving away her daughter.

The Serafin was amazed that she was able to remain calm through out the entire time the woman so easily used her signature on the papers.

It was an hour later that Noelle met Nagi.

"Did... Mukuro-sama send you?" Nagi asked.

Noelle smiled softly. "Yes. He did."

xxxx

Noelle wasn't returning to Namimori right away as she originally planned. It was after seeing Nagi look so fascinated with everything as they walked through out the city and devouring the four crepes that Noelle bought for her when they were resting at a park that clinched it. She decided that the two of them would spend some girl time together exploring the city and doing other fun activities before Noelle dropped her off at Kokuyo Land.

So after renting a room at a hotel, Noelle explored the city with Nagi in tow.

The first day was spent going through the supermarket where vendors were selling fresh fruit, fish, meat and other stuff that could be sold at stalls. Nagi had been fascinated with the various sights and scents and Noelle happily bought several things that the girl had taken an obvious liking to.

The best part of the day was when the two of them had a picture taken next to a shark.

The second day had been spent out in the waters as Noelle payed the fisherman who allowed them to have their picture taken by the shark he captured the previous day to take them out fishing with him and his crew. It took the two girls a while to get used to the over powering stench of fish on the fisherman's boat but once they got through that obstacle, they had fun helping out with the fishing.

Day three had been spent shopping for clothes once Noelle realized that she had been lending Nagi her clothes the past few days due to the fact that the girl didn't have any of her own and that her own mother hadn't even bothered giving any of it to Noelle.

At some point during their shopping spree, Noelle spotted an eye patch that looked exactly identical to the one Chrome Dokuro had worn though out the anime in the window display. Immediately, she went inside the store and bought the eye patch at a good bargain price.

The best part was presenting the eye patch to Nagi. She stuttered at first because Noelle had already bought so many clothing articles for her but eventually broke down at Noelle's persistence and took the eye patch. Nagi didn't put it on right away but she was always checking to make sure that she had it with her and hadn't lost it somewhere on the way.

It wasn't until the fourth day that they were doing some more shopping that Nagi officially became known as Chrome. They were in front of the same store that Noelle had bought the eye patch at when Nagi had suddenly stopped, something in the window display having caught her gaze.

Noelle followed her stare and saw that Nagi was gazing at a black belt and pair of boots that matched the eye patch she had bought. They had the same silver coloured skull design that the eye patch had and it was obvious by the love struck look on Nagi's face that she wanted them.

So the Serafin did what any good person in her position did.

She dragged Nagi into the store and demanded that the girl be able to try on the boots and belt. When it was a perfect match, Noelle immediately bought the items and with boots and belt in a bag they were on their way again.

It was the receipt in the bag that started it.

"Chrome belt, chrome boots...?" Noelle said, her lips automatically translating the kanji into english. There were two other characters in the receipt but Noelle, for all the japanese she had learned, couldn't find the english equivalent for them.

Noelle had a tendency of translating japanese words out loud into english. Even if the Serafin had taught her Japanese ever since she had been six in this world, she still had a tendency to get confused.

"Kuromu?" Chrome repeated beside her. She looked confused at Noelle's sudden switch from japanese to english.

"Ah... chrome." She said the second word in english before switching to Japanese so that the girl could understand her. "It's the colour of this..."

Damn... what was the word skull in Japanese again?

Noelle tapped the chrome coloured skull on one of the leather boots as she tried to come up with the japanese translation of the object. Her mind was drawing a blank when Nagi spoke up again.

"Dokoro?" She was pointing at the characters on the receipt and then at the skull that Noelle had been tapping. Nagi did this several times before Noelle figured out what she was getting at.

"Dokoro means," Noelle pointed to the skull.

Seeing Nagi nod, Noelle couldn't help but grin. Chrome Skull? Was that how the girl in front of her got her new name? Because of the design on some of her accessories?

Wait a sec...

A vague idea began forming in Noelle's mind.

Kuromu Dokoro?

Kuromu Dokuro?

Mukuro Rokudo?

Noelle burst out into laughter as she realized the connection to the name.

She couldn't believe it. The romaji translation of Chrome and Dokoro (with an 'u' instead of an 'o') was a complete anagram of Mukuro Rokudo. How in the world did she miss this before? Chrome Skull that could be translated into Kuromu Dokoro that, if you switched the letters around and substituted one of the letter 'o's in for a 'u' it spelled 'Mukuro Rokudo'.

Once Noelle was able to get a handle on herself, she glanced sideways to see Nagi looking frightened and unsure of what to do next.

"Um, are you alright?" Nagi asked.

Noelle raised her hand to signal that she would answer that question in a few seconds. Taking several large breaths, she sat up straight.

"Sorry, sorry. I just realized something really funny."

Nagi looked as if she wanted to ask but kept quiet.

"Here. I'll explain it to you." Noelle reached into her bag and pulled out a pen as she began writing down what she had discovered.

It took fifteen minutes, but the Serafin was finally able to explain what she discovered to the younger girl.

"Kuromu Dokuro." Nagi repeated. "Ku...ro...mu... Do...ku...ro."

"Do you like it?" Noelle asked.

Nagi nodded, blushing slightly.

Noelle saw her chance. "Then why don't you make it your name?"

The shy girl blinked and then blushed, her gaze immediately on the ground. Noelle could tell that Nagi wanted the name but was probably thinking something along the lines of how she probably didn't deserve it.

Another reason as to why she should have slapped that woman when they were alone in the office signing the proper documents and all that other stuff.

"Go ahead and take it. Your mother," Nagi looked down and Noelle winced at bringing up the woman who had so easily signed her daughter off for a large sum of money. "Is no longer your guardian and thus has no more say in what goes on in your life." 'Good riddance too. That type of woman never should have been a mother in the first place.' "So if you want to change your name, go ahead."

"But what would Mukuro-sama think?"

"I don't think he'll really mind. Actually, knowing him, he might find it amusing. Especially if the letters that make up your new name are an anagram of his." 'He certainly had no problems with it in the show.'

"My name is... Kuromu Dokuro." Nagi said. "Chromuu... Chromu..."

She looked at Noelle with a pleading gaze and the blonde realized she was trying to learn the english pronunciation of it as well.

"Chrome." Noelle repeated it over and over until the newly christened Chrome Dokuro could say it right.

"Chrome." Chrome eventually said with conviction and confidence in her voice.

"Yes!" Noelle nodded, clapping her hands together before taking the violet haired girl by the arm and dragging her down the street. "Come on! We have to celebrate this! I'm buying dinner tonight!"

The days after that passed with no notable events after wards. Chrome and Noelle merely explored the town, did some last minute shopping and ate out. During their last night, Chrome helped Noelle with the packing so they were pretty much ready to depart the next day.

xxxx

"I see that you two have been enjoying yourselves." Mukuro said.

He smiled thinly at Noelle, body signs stating that he wasn't all too happy with her delay in bringing Nagi to Kokuyo Land.

Noelle sighed. She saw this coming but she didn't know when Mukuro would contact her about this.

"Look, sorry about the delay. I just thought that Nagi should spend some time as a normal girl before we went to Namimori. Make some good memories since her mother isn't exactly parent of the year material if you hadn't realized it yet." She then shot Mukuro a glare. "Besides, is there something wrong with her having fun?"

Mukuro didn't say a word.

"And she has a new name." Noelle clamped a hand over her mouth before she could break out into hysterical laughter. "Don't you like it?"

"Yes." Mukuro smiled again. "I'm glad you took amusement in giving her that name. I must admit, there is some genius in that."

"Coming from you, that's quite the compliment."

"So any particular reason you contacted me or is this your way of telling me to get Chrome to Kokuyo ASAP?"

"Just making sure that there are no more delays~"

"Don't worry. I'll get her there."

xxxx

Noelle had promised that she would deliver Chrome to Ken and Chikusa as soon as their plane landed in Namimori, but she didn't say anything about making a few stops on the way to buy some food. There was no way in hell that she was going to let Chrome and the other two guys just live off of pure junk food. As much as she loved devouring fattening foods herself, the thought of living off of just chips, chocolate and soda made her sick.

So two hours later they were finally at Kokuyo with Chrome tugging the suit case her new clothes were in behind her while Noelle carried her own belongings as well as the food.

"Ready to meet your new house mates?" Noelle asked.

Chrome nodded and then she and Noelle entered the building and started looking for the yo yo user and beast boy. When they found them, the reception was less than welcoming.

"What are you doing here?" Ken snarled at Noelle. "Did they tell you to come looking for us?"

"No one told me to come looking for you." She sighed. "Okay, maybe except for Mukuro but that's because he wanted me to deliver something very important to the two of you."

"Mukuro-sama contacted you?" Ken sounded angry... and hurt. Probably because the Kokuyo gang leader had opted to contact someone who was allied with their enemy rather than them.

"Yes. And if you must know, it was because I was the only person out of my friends who could deliver the very important package that he wanted me to give you two."

Chikusa's blank eyes looked Noelle over before he spoke. "What is it?"

"She's right..." Noelle looked over her shoulder and saw that Chrome wasn't behind her. "Wait, hold on a sec."

Chrome was hiding beside the door way and out of view from Chikusa and Ken's sight. With a little tugging, Noelle was able to get the girl out into the open where the two boys could see her.

"Who is she?" There was still a hard tone in Ken's voice but it was also mixed with curiosity.

"The important package, or should I say person, that Mukuro wanted me to bring you!"

There was a stunned silence from all parties in the room save for Noelle who looked as if she was waiting for an encore.

"Uh..." Noelle turned to Chrome. "Mukuro, if you're in there, do something okay? I don't want to look like I'm crazy."

And on cue, the air around the girl shifted as Mukuro possessed the young girl to prove to his two former companions that he was listening in on their conversation through Chrome's ears. He took over her body, but didn't change her image.

"Chikusa. Ken." It wasn't Chrome's quiet and soft voice that spoke, but a deeper and obviously masculine one. A smirk that looked strange on the normally shy and anti-social girl's face formed on Chrome's lips.

Ken's jaw dropped and he took on the impression of a fish flopping on land as Chikusa's eyes widened at hearing the voice of the very person he had vowed to follow.

"M-mukuro-sama?" Ken finally said as his voice found him again.

"No." Noelle said, deciding that she needed to break up the tense atmosphere in the room. "It's a talking squirrel who recently got run over and is now possessing people to get his revenge on humanity. His name is Foamy by the way."

That had the entire Kokuyo gang staring at her. Either in disbelief or amusement (Mukuro).

"Of course it's your precious Mukuro! Doesn't he sound like him? And tell me, do you know anyone else who can go around possessing people?" Noelle flushed when the other three just kept on staring at her.

"That is you, right, Mukuro-sama?" Ken asked again, ignoring Noelle.

Noelle opened her mouth but Mukuro/Chrome glared at her and she clamped it shut. She wasn't exactly ready to face Mukuro's wrath should he decide to bring it down on her for being a smart ass.

Deciding that she wasn't needed for the reunion between the Kokuyo gang, Noelle talked to Chikusa and Ken about treating Chrome nicely and that if they didn't, she was going to kick their butts.

Noelle departed with the words that she would come back and visit soon to see how things were going and that she would bring several boxes of pizza with her next time.

The boys didn't object so much to her future drop in visits when she mentioned that she would be bringing in free food with her.

xxxx

Noelle stared at the bill in front of her and groaned.

She realized that her extra week stay and shopping spree with Chrome was going to cost a lot, but she didn't think that it would cost this much!

When the blonde Serafin had finally gotten home, avoided the traps that Sarah had left lying around the house and then went to her room, she found a white envelope sitting in the middle of her desk.

She opened up the envelope and found that the envelope contained a credit card bill.

Dear lord, it could compete with one of Jack's shopping sprees and that was saying something. Though to be fair, a good chunk of the money she had spent had gone to bribing Chrome's mother as well as the hospital that Chrome had been staying in.

But still, that was a lot of zeroes.

Noelle's head dropped on to the desk with a loud thud and the paper in her hand fluttered onto the floor.

She does something nice for someone and then it goes and bites her in the ass in the form of a bill.

The blonde had a feeling that she was going to have to pay for the huge bill in some way. The Serafin could easily throw money around where it was needed like candy but that didn't mean you could get away with spending that much scot free.

Especially if you were involved with a mafia family.

In her former life, Noelle had never spent the amount of money she had last week within the four years she had been allowed to have a credit card. Then again, she hadn't been a part of a rich mafia family who practically had unlimited funds at their disposal.

But with the way her older sister Kaitlin had shopped, you would think she thought other wise.

Shopping with Chrome had reminded her of the times she used to go shopping with her sister. Though it was Noelle who was spending all the money and making the shopping decisions instead of being the one who just tagged along and made sure her sister didn't spend too much.

The memory that the shopping spree had triggered made her smile.

Noelle's older sister had been the romantic type. Kaitlin often imagined herself getting married to the man of her dreams and before Noelle's death, her dream man and boyfriend at the time was a young man who had moved from Spain. His name was Antonio and even though Noelle tried to remember what his last name had been, she couldn't recall it. She only knew that he had a really long last name.

Noelle hoped that Kaitlin and Antonio had gotten married and had a happy family. Antonio, out of all the guys that Kaitlin had dated, had been the sweetest and the most considerate of her boyfriends.

Though at the beginning, before they were in a relationship, Kaitlin had decided to stop dating due to the fact that her previous boyfriend had cheated on her with three different girls. There was also the fact that her dating life was less than stellar. Even so, Antonio had been pretty persistent in trying to get her to give him a chance.

In the end, Kaitlin gave in and decided to go on a few dates with him.

She didn't regret it and the two of them had been dating for three years straight.

Noelle stared out the window as the nostalgia of her former life hit her.

How long had it been since she thought of her sister?

How long had it been since she thought of her family?

Her friends?

Her old life in general?

She knew that Madison and Jayden had a family together but what about everyone else?

Noelle realized her eyes were stinging and she quickly used the back of her hand to rub at them and wipe away at the tears that started spilling over and dripping down her cheeks. But no matter how many times she had tried to wipe them away, she would not stop crying.

Yeah, no Varia in this chapter. On the plus side, Noelle gets to know Chrome and is the one responsible for giving her her current name! Though I absolutely promise you that there will be action in the next chapter and Noelle gets to meet Basil!

Yes. That's right.

Basil.

BTW, can you guess where Antonio is from?

And anyone get the Squirrel joke?