Snow fell gently as the Vongola Decimo, Tsunayoshi Sawada, walked down the sidewalk. Walking beside him were his Storm and Rain Guardians, Hayato Gokudera and Takeshi Yamamoto respectively, and walking behind them was Tsuna's Mist Guardian, Chrome Dokuro.

"Why are we out here again?" questioned Gokudera with a growl, keeping his voice low.

"You know why, Gokudera," said Yamamoto with a smile.

Gokudera blanched at the memory. The three boys were given the task of keeping Chrome occupied for a while. The reason? Apparently, Haru and Kyoko thought it would be nice to throw Chrome a surprise party for her birthday. Both Tsuna and Gokudera were going to object, albeit for different reasons, but the looks in Reborn and Bianchi's eyes were enough to make them agree. So here they were out in this autumn-going-on-winter afternoon making sure Chrome didn't find out.

"I still don't know why we have to do this!" growled Gokudera.

"Do you want to face Reborn and Bianchi's wrath?" questioned Tsuna with a shudder. The explosive expert gave off a shudder as well as he did not want to get on the wrong side of his sister.

"Bossu? Where are we going again?" asked the little Mist Guardian, a look of wonder in her eye.

"Ano, well, why don't you choose, Chrome?" offered Tsuna, a kind smile on his face.

"…C-Could we go to the bakery then? Haru-san mentioned that they have really good cakes and I wanted to try one," said Chrome, a small blush on her face as the three teens were looking at her. It seems that she was still shy around others.

"Okay, Chrome. We can do that," smiled Tsuna with a nod. Chrome gave a small smile in return.

The four continued walking, this time towards the bakery. As they walked down the sidewalk, they came upon a figure that looked to be maybe an inch taller than Chrome. The figure stood in their way and didn't look as if it would move anytime soon.

"Oi, get out of the Juudaime's way!" yelled Gokudera, glaring at the figure.

The figure before them was hidden beneath the winter clothes he wore, making it hard to tell whom it was. The figure wore a red trench coat, green pants, black boots, black gloves, and a green wool cap and scarf that covered its face. The only thing of the figure that could be seen was the pair of emerald green eyes.

"Who is this guy?" wondered Yamamoto, looking confused.

"Who cares? This guy's going to get it!" yelled Gokudera as he brought out some sticks of dynamite.

Before Gokudera could blow up the figure, Chrome stepped forward and stood in front of the figure. The three boys were surprised by her actions.

"Koichi-san, what are you doing here?" asked Chrome.

The three older boys relaxed when they found out that the mysterious figure was Koichi Kasuchi, a young thirteen-year-old swordsman from the world Janpu. They didn't think they would see him anytime soon though, what with the weather being cold and Koichi being cold-blooded. Koichi pulled down his scarf so he could speak.

"Well, I figured that since it was Chrome's birthday, I'd travel here to give her a gift," stated Koichi with a smile, though it looked strained as he looked ready to collapse.

Tsuna, Gokudera, and Yamamoto each raised an eyebrow at what Koichi said. Anyone who has ever met or knows Koichi has heard about his policy on gifts. He never gives or receives gifts, as he believes everything should be earned, though his friends back in Janpu have been slowly trying to convince him that there are some exceptions to that rule. It seems that they succeeded.

"A gift?" questioned Chrome.

"Hai. Here," said Koichi as he reached into one of his coat pockets and pulled out a rectangular box that was wrapped in purple paper.

Accepting the present, Chrome carefully unwrapped it. Opening the box, her eye lit up with happiness once she saw what was inside.

"Look, Bossu!" exclaimed the young illusionist as she showed what she got.

Tsuna, Gokudera, and Yamamoto sweatdropped when they saw what it was. Inside the box were two rows of chocolate bars. Not just any chocolate bars though, these chocolate bars were surprisingly made to look like skulls.

"…Chocolate skulls?" questioned Tsuna, thinking it was such a weird gift.

"Why not? Chrome likes chocolate and she likes skulls. I figured I'd combine her two likes and get the candy maker back home to make a batch for her," explained Koichi as Chrome started to nibble on one of the chocolate skulls.

The three older boys sweatdropped again at that sort of logic. Yamamoto was the first to recover and say something.

"Sounds like a good idea, Koichi."

"Indeed. I should get going though, before I start to doze off. I need some heat and I need it fast. Ja ne and happy birthday, Chrome."

With that, the young swordsman took off, leaving behind three still confused boys and one happy illusionist girl. Tsuna then noticed the time and was shocked to see that they had to start heading back. Upon returning home, Chrome was indeed surprised by the party that was thrown for her and was happy that she had so many friends who cared about her.

FIN

-:-

A little early, but I wanted to get this out there before I forget. So a happy birthday to Chrome whose birthday is on December 5 for those who don't know.

I'm surprised no one else has ever done this. Chocolate skulls sound like they'd be awesome. Speaking of skulls, I wonder what Chrome would do if she were ever to meet Brook from One Piece. Something tells me where others would freak out from meeting a walking talking skeleton, she'd probably be curious rather than scared.

I only own Koichi Kasuchi, his homeworld of Janpu, and any other original characters associated with them.