Chero's mouth made a perfect O. "Really?"
"Eh." Her uncle patted her head. "It's only a story...who knows if it's true or not? You won't know unless you..." He leaned down and whispered in her ear, "Stay up until midnight." He hinted.
Though Chero was a very pure- hearted girl, she didn't believe that the story was entirely true. After her father, a man who was only sweet on his short, blonde wife with an emo-ish aura and hair that looked similar to the rear end of a duck, told her that she couldn't sleep with the nutcracker in her arms, she set him in a cabinet on a small bed she reserved for special dolls.
However...
Later that night, Chero started hearing strange noises. She was awake of course; a part of her believed that something about her uncle's story was real. The curly- haired brunette raced down the stairs, only to find....nothing. She let out a sigh of relief, though she would admit she was a little disappointed. She really wanted to see her dolls come to life...especially the nutcracker.
Out of the corner of her eye, Chero saw something shift. She turned to the couch, only to see a silver fox sitting on it. He wore a closed-mouth grin that made her think of only one person: "Uncle Gin?"
The fox continued to grin, wagging its tail as it hopped off of the couch, tromping over to the tree, where it sat until Chero reached him. "...do you want me to do something?" The fox curled into a ball then, leaving Chero confused. Of course, she also didn't expect to hear a multitude of soft yawns. Whirling to face the cabinet, her eyes widened as she saw the many dolls start to move...
"Good morning!" A rag doll Chero had given the name Kiki yawned. Beside her, another rag doll yawned too. "Morning, twinnie."
When she realized all of the toys were coming to life, Chero's eyes searched for the Nutcracker. When he moved, she raced to the cabinet in fascination. "He's...alive?"
The blonde nutcracker slowly sat up in the bed he'd been placed in, clutching his head. It took him a moment to look around him and down from where he sat in the cabinet. "Well...this is...strange." He tried to hop down by using the whip strapped to his waist but instead of being cool...he tripped and fell towards the floor.
Chero caught him before he hit the ground, amazed when he blinked at her...and then he spoke after studying her for a few moments. "Ah...grazie, bella. Can you tell me where I am and why you are so big?"
She didn't know what to say. "Um...you're in my house, Mr. Nutcracker.."
The blonde tilted his head. "Your house?" And then it dawned on him. "Mukuro..."
"So the story was true!" She exclaimed. "And you're really...a prince?"
The Nutcracker did a double take at her. "Prince?" He laughed. "Well, I..." Both of them froze when they saw a figure emerge from the mouse hole. Chero placed the Nutcracker on the ground.
"King Mukuro. You haven't changed a bit." The blonde said.
"Kufufu. But you have, Dino Cavallone. You certainly have."
"Dino?" Chero repeated.
The Nutcracker looked up at her. "Ah! Mi dispiace, my name is Dino Calvallone." He gave her the cutest smile she'd ever seen at toy give and bowed slightly.
"I'm Chero. Chero Aoyama." Chero answered, blushing in spite of herself.
He smiled, lingering for a second too long, before his eyes set on Mukuro. "I will defeat you this time, Mukuro. I won't allow you to keep up your tyrannical rule."
"We'll see. Verde," He glanced down at a baby with glasses and dark brown hair that stood straight up into the air who stood beside him, "Do you have the device?"
"Hm?" The baby spoke in a very intelligent way, much to Chero's surprise. "No. I decided it would be interesting to see how you could fare without it. I haven't seen you in a real battle in a while."
Nutcracker Dino seemed unfazed by the talking baby (unlike Chero), and took his whip from his belt. "Your illusions won't work on me."
"Oh, I know." Mukuro grinned. "But this," He pulled out a very sharp looking sword, "Probably will."
Chero's eyes widened at the thought of Mukuro hacking the Nutcracker to pieces. Indeed, as they started to fight, she realized that Nutcracker Dino's family was nowhere to be found! He was very clumsy, barely missing the blade as it shot out at him, ready to deliver the killing blow.
In a moment of panic, Chero took off her shoe, and in one fell swoop, she flung her shoe at Mukuro the pineapple king- erm, I mean, King Mukuro, the tyrant, nailing him in the face and flinging him backwards.
The Nutcracker blinked from his spot on the ground. "Eh?" He flipped himself over on the ground and looked up at Chero. "._. Was that your shoe?"
"Yes." She blinked.
"You have good aim." He grinned, and the curly haired brunette blushed. "Though I do wish I didn't have to look up at you to talk to you."
"I can arrange that." Both the Nutcracker and Chero jumped when the fox spoke. "But you only have a few hours~" His tail flicked left to right and he brushed against Chero, then he leapt back onto the couch. "Mm...I'm tired now. You kids play nice~<3"
Chero couldn't get over the talking fox, much less the fact that she was...shrinking.
