closed her eyes and reached towards Mukuro with her mind. With her white slip, white eyepatch and bare feet,

walked towards where she always communed with him in this space. Only... the energy of the space was starkly different now.

shivered. It felt... violent. "... Mukuro-sama?" she called out.

had been lying in bed and staring up at the ceiling for the past couple of minutes when he heard Chrome calling out to him.

...closed his eyes as he entered the space Chrome was in and slowly materialized before the girl.

sensed that he was coming. But... something was wrong. Very wrong. When Mukuro fully manifested himself Chrome called to him again only to-

stop short. His smile, the glint of his eyes; it was malicious. "M-Mukuro-sama, wh-what happened?", she hesitatingly asked.

Hmm..? Shouldn't I be the one asking you that? You called for me, didn't you?

I... I wanted to see how you were! You were going to... the targets...

chuckled. "Didn't you watch the news? They're dead."

shivered. She somehow *knew* that he would kill them, but there was something about how he said "dead" that unsettled her...

thought that there was definitely something wrong...

... I'm sorry, Mukuro-sama. I haven't watched the local news yet...

smirked. "Well, you don't have to worry about them anymore."

adds, a sinister glint in his eyes, "...Let me know if you have anymore targets that needs to be taken care of."

stunned into silence. This... was not the Mukuro-sama she was used to. She reaches out a hand to grasp his arm- and immediately

assaulted with images of the mutilated bodies of the men-flayed, disemboweled-their faces contorted and frozen in horror

sees, because she did not remove her hand fast enough, the way Mukuro performed the flaying, the disemboweling. On how he did it all with an

expression of unholy glee on his face. Seeing how he emerged from the carnage soaked in the blood of his enemies and making his way to the-

Sawada household.

jerked her hand away, collapsing to the ground on her knees, finding it difficult to breathe. Her stomach was heaving up air, having eaten -

nothing yet.

"M-Mu... Mukuro-s... sama... why... " she gasped, her eyes glued to his feet and not daring to meet his eyes.

let out a chuckle. "I just gave them what they deserved."

"N-no! N-not like that! Th-that was... too much!" she cried. Her legs would not let her stand. She looked up to him instead.

him, as another realization hits her. "D-did you... did you show this to the boss?"

, his voice a little cold, "It's too late now. What's done is done, Chrome. ...And yes, I guess I did."

nothing in reply. She was horrified at the... sudden change with him. What seemed to lurk deep within him suddenly just...

now feels terrified for Mukuro. And - oh no, the boss. The boss must be terrified too...

looked down at Chrome. "...What's wrong, Chrome?"

"This... this isn't you, Mukuro-sama" she whispers. She knew he was capable of such a thing, but she never thought...

it more loudly. "This isn't you at all!"

...laughed. "This... isn't me? Just because I chose not to show this side to you in the past doesn't mean it don't exist, my dear Chrome."

turned his back to Chrome and continued. "......Well, if that's all you have to say, I'm leaving."

doesn't move from her spot on the floor, nor does she make any move to stop him from leaving. She only watches him as he faces away from her

started walking away when he got no response from the girl, leaving the Chrome by herself.

watches him disappear and squeezes her eyes shut to open them moments later, staring up at Shamal's ceiling again.

still felt sick and was still breathing hard, feeling her eyes starting to fill up with tears. She was worried for both Mukuro and the boss.

knew of his past with the Estraneo and the experiments. He kept his mind locked from her thoughts but from the flashes she got from it,

knew that he *was* capable of such things. It was just a shock to her on how it was... done.

didn't want to sleep. It would mean closing her eyes. Which would let her see all the carnage again...