"Hey! That's my candy, afro-head!" a female voice was heard screeching. A small boy in a cow suit ran past a gawking brunet, followed by a small blonde girl wearing a blue dress. She was running bare-foot, a huge broomstick in her hand. "Come back here, stupid cow!"

"Nya-ha-ha-ha!" the boy yelled. "It's Lambo's now!"

"You stole it! That's mean and wrong and rude! Give it back and apologize!"

Behind them, another small girl ran behind them, shrieking, "Lambo! Give Izumi candy back!"

"Lambo! Don't take other children's candy!" the once-gawking brunet scolded, running after them.

"Dame-Tsuna, you sound like a mother," he heard a snide voice comment from behind him.

"Reborn! Stop talking and help me!" the one called 'Tsuna', shouted angrily at him, halting. He received a whack to the head with a green hammer and the one labelled 'Reborn', a baby with black hair in a suit and a fedora, spoke, "Learn some manners, Dame-Tsuna."

Tsuna sighed tiredly, before starting to run again. He would never get a break from all this, would he?

Now, back to the little quarrel and chase with the two girls and Lambo. The girl in the blue dress had soon thrown away the broomstick, and had tackled Lambo to the ground. She bonked him on the head, before snatching away her candy and shoving it all in her mouth.

Lambo immediately began wailing, and the blonde took a few steps back, before bowing at the other girl thankfully, "Thank you, I-Pin-san!"

"I-Pin welcome!"

"Hey, would you like to play sometime?" Izumi asked cheerfully, a smile on her face.

"Yes!"

"I-Pin!" Tsuna came running up to them. "Don't run off like that!" He turned to Lambo, who was still wailing. "And Lambo! Don't take other's candy! We have candy for you. And you eat too much anyway…" the last part was said in a mumble, but Izumi caught it and burst out laughing, pointing her index finger at Lambo. She said something which couldn't be deciphered by neither Tsuna nor I-Pin.

"You're right about that," Reborn piped in, agreeing with her statement.

She stared at him, deep blue eyes going wide with curiosity, "Who're you?"

"Ciaossu, I'm Reborn, the world's greatest hitman," he replied.

Her eyes sparkled, "Really?"

"Yeah."

"That's so cool!" she bounced up and down, hands clasped together. "Do you have a gun or something?"

Reborn's eyes flashed, "Yes."

"Ooh, can I see it?"

"Shouldn't you be going now? Your parents must be worried," he stated. "It's already five thirty pm. Isn't it a bit late to be wandering around?"

It might have been a trick of the eye, but Reborn was certain her eyes had narrowed for a second, darkness swirling in them, a huge change from the innocence in them.

She immediately replied, "Yeah, you're right. Thanks for reminding me, Reborn-san!"

"Wait…your name," Reborn spoke.

"Izumi, Akane Izumi!" she answered as she skipped off in the other direction, her hair and dress swaying. Reborn stared after her, making a mental note to search her background. He wracked his brain for the name 'Izumi Akane', to see if he had anything to do with her once or whether he'd heard of her name.

He hadn't.

Izumi hopped off the stool, and took out a sleeveless dress. She put it on, and then put on a dark blue Alice band. She slipped on some blue flats, and skipped out of the bathroom, humming a tune.

She went downstairs, greeting her brother and informing him she'll be going out. He just hummed, not saying anything, before going back to whatever he was doing. Not like he could speak.

She quickly reached the park and, seeing I-Pin and Lambo, she ran over to them, "Hi!"

"Izumi!" I-Pin smiled at her.

"Mean-Blondie!" Lambo scowled, turning his head away.

"Well, you're a mean afro-head!" she hissed at him, turning her head away too.

"Lambo-kun, I-Pin-chan, there you are!" a brown-haired lady with kind eyes walked over to them, handing each of them a bar of chocolate. "Here's your chocolate – ah! What's your name?" she asked Izumi.

Izumi grinned up at her, "Hi! I'm Izumi, Akane Izumi! You can call me Izumi. I'm Lambo and I-Pin's friend!"

"No, she's not!" Lambo yelled angrily, pouting. "She's a meanie! She took Lambo's candy!"

"Sorry, Lambo," she looked apologetic. She dug out something wrapped in a plastic wrapper and handed it to him, "Here's some grape candy to make up for it."

Lambo snickered, before snatching it away and tucking it into his mane of hair, "It's Lambo's candy now!"

Her eyebrow twitched, "I know, I just gave it to you."

"Ah, you children get along so well," the brunette smiled happily at them. "I'm Sawada Nana!"

"Nana-san, it's nice to meet you!" Izumi smiled at her.

"I-Pin go! I-Pin tomorrow play!" I-Pin said to her, waving. Izumi pouted, but then it turned into a cheery grin, "Okay! I'll see you tomorrow, I-Pin, Lambo!"

"Lambo's not going! Lambo's still staying!" Lambo yelled.

"Lambo, I'll come tomorrow," Izumi smiled at him reassuringly.

"Nye-heh-heh! Lambo fooled you!" he snickered, before running away. Nana called after him worriedly, "Lambo-kun, be careful! Come back soon!"

"Bye!" Izumi waved at I-Pin, who sent a small smile her way before departing with Nana. The blonde sighed, before huffing, "I only got there and they went so fast…what a waste of time and clothes." She started walking the way back home, shoulders slumped dejectedly.

"Oh, my God, Izumi! Did you see that cute guy?" the blonde heard her friend say.

"No," she shook her head, a smirk on her glossed lips. "So…how did he look like, Yuki?"

"He had like, this really cool bad boy image! He'd had silver hair – that is so cool – and piercing eyes! And oh, his build…I can already tell he's fit even when he's wearing his uniform!" Yuki gushed, eyes set in hearts.

Izumi groaned inwardly. When Yuki got like this, there was no stopping her – she became a complete fangirl. She hoped that this guy didn't show up a lot…she wasn't ready to take Yuki's fangirling again. She already had enough with Yuki's real crush and her celebrity crushes.

"Uh, Yuki? Shouldn't you be finishing your Math homework? Aoki-sensei might scold you…" she trailed off, noticing Yuki's scowl. "…or not. Fine, I'll do it."

"Listen to me, Izumi!"

"I am -!"

"Izumi! Don't interrupt me! I just said listen! Okay, so I –"

Izumi sighed exasperatedly, before snatching Yuki's Math book and writing down the answers to her homework, at the same time trying to listen to the other girl's endless chatter. Okay, she wasn't – she was acting like she was listening. Whatever, Yuki still fell for it.

"What do you think we should play, I-Pin, Lambo?" Izumi asked the three kids, grinning.

"Hide and seek!" Lambo replied.

"I-Pin want play catch!" I-Pin answered.

Lambo and I-Pin turned and glared at each other, lightening crackling from one eye to the other. "Hide and seek/catch!"

Izumi sweat-dropped, "Now, now, we can play both! We can play hide and seek first, and then catch, okay?"

Both turned to her, smiling happily, "Okay!"

"Okay, then, who's the one that's gonna find the others?"

"Not me!" the both of them yelled, before scurrying off in different directions.

"Count until twenty!" Lambo added, before disappearing into a group of trees. The blonde grumbled, with a voice unlike her usual childish one (it was more mature), "I expected that…cheeky little brats." Then, she added, sweat-dropping, "And they forgot that I could see them…aw, how sweet."

She covered her eyes, and started to count until twenty. As she reached the end, she started walking around, trying to find each of them. She walked into the trees, where she'd seen Fuuta hide.

"Oh, I-Pin, Lambo~ where are you?" she said playfully, lips twisted into a smirk. This was so easy. She could see Lambo's tail hanging out slightly from a tree. I-Pin's red robe was seen through a bush at her side.

Her short frame slid over to the tree where Lambo was hiding. She hopped up, clutching hold of a tree branch, and she pulled Lambo's cow suit tail. Lambo let out a yelp, shocked, and came tumbling out of the tree and landed on the ground.

He sniffled, "Hold…it…in…!" but started wailing soon after that. Izumi snorted, before letting go of the tree branch and landing on her feet.

She skipped off to I-Pin's hiding place, tugging slightly on the red fabric that was revealed. The girl in hiding let out a squeak, before coming out sheepishly.

I-Pin and Izumi stared at Lambo, who was still on the ground, crying.

"Should we…comfort him?" Izumi asked the other girl, who just shrugged.

"Lambo steal I-Pin food when home!" I-Pin said.

Izumi sighed, before saying, "I feel type of guilty…" She shoved her hand in her skirt pocket, before taking out a handful of candy. She picked out the grape ones, and threw them at Lambo, who immediately caught them and ate them, thankfully becoming silent. She passed the strawberry ones to I-Pin who took the candy, thanking Izumi. She popped the rest into her mouth, eyes closing from the sheer deliciousness of it.

"Well, bye, guys!" she smiled, waving at them. "I have to go, it's almost six! Won't Sawada-san get worried?"

As Izumi saw the last of their figures disappear, she sighed with relief, "Oh, God…I was close to transforming back…"

Saying this, her small little kid figure morphed into a taller girl with short and straight blonde hair. Her eyes were blue, and she looked more mature, though there was a slight mischievous glint in it. The clothes that the kid was wearing, had largened and were fitting the taller girl. The girl was wearing pink lip gloss, and her nails were slightly longer.

"I wonder if they'll think the same of me if they knew how old I really was?" she whispered, before starting to walk through the park, leaving through the gate. Then, she halted, before laughing out loud, "They forgot to play catch."

"Shit! I'm so late!" Izumi cried, seeing the time on her alarm clock. She'd just had a nice, hot, shower…only to find she'd taken too much time and now she was late.

She slipped on her uniform, smoothing her hair down. She'd comb it later. She stuffed her make-up pouch in her bag, and ran downstairs, her feet making heavy sounds on the floor. She gobbled up her breakfast, glaring at her brother who was smirking at her being late.

She bid him goodbye, and rushed out the door, skirt flying. She kept running, never once stopping, because she was so, so, late. And Hibari Kyoya would certainly 'bite her to death'. She really didn't want that…his tonfas hit hard. She bumped into a few people, muttering apologies. However, one person clutched her collar, but she just shoved him out of the way and started running again.

Finally, she made it to school with only five minutes to spare. She rushed inside school, dodging everyone on her way to class. She rushed inside her class, panting. Yuki immediately spotted her, and bounced over to her, "Girl, you are so late!"

"I know," Izumi sighed, sweat dropping. She sat down on her seat and started to smooth her hair down, trying to make it into her usual hairstyle. "I stayed too long in the bath…"

"Ooh~ was it nice and hot?" Yuki smirked.

"Yeah…"

"Akane and Hoshino are so weird," a girl whispered to her friend. "They talk about such weird stuff, right?"

"Hoshino thinks she's all that," her friend muttered back to her, rolling her eyes. "And Akane is just…I don't know, irritating?"

Yuki rolled her eyes, before leaning towards Izumi, who was looking down, hurt evident in her eyes, "You know what? Some people should just shut up and stop gossiping. They really sound like old ladies."

The girls who were talking about them gasped in anger, and resumed gossiping about them. "Yeah, I know what you mean! They are so weird!"

Izumi snickered, her hurt replaced by amusement, "Yuki, you are totally right about that. They should just shut their trap, shouldn't they?"

Yuki grinned back at her, "Yup, they should."

After school was over, she'd immediately gone home. Her brother was waiting for her at home, notepad in hand and something written on it.

I've got new pills for you.

She brightened up, "Really? Thank you so much, nii-san!"

Her brother smiled at her, scribbling something. In fact, you only need to have one of them and it'll last you for a year. It turns you into a kid if you splash cold water on yourself, and normal form with hot water.

Her mouth turned into an 'O', "That is so cool! Thanks! You're the best, Takeru!"

The blond smiled at her, before handing her a box. She kicked off her shoes and rushed into her room, feet making a 'thud' sound on the floor. She threw open the door of her room, and slammed it shut. She immediately ate one of them, and splashed cold water from the sink onto herself. She immediately turned into a kid.

She grinned happily, hopping onto the stool and looking in the mirror, "I look so cute~!"

"Oh, no! I'm late!" the girl shrieked, running quickly. She soon halted, her eyes going wide as she saw the phenomenon in front of her. There was a young boy, about the age of nine or ten, whose scarf was floating in the air, along with a few leaves. His eyes had a dazed look in them. The girl felt for any wind, only to find there was none.

"Tsuna-nii's dash abilities: rank 86,202 out of 86,202," he muttered. "Strength of legs: rank 85,900. Endurance rank: 86,182. Meaning Tsuna-nii's running rank is one of the lowest."

Izumi winced. If whatever the boy was saying was true, then the truth must hurt for Tsuna. Wait…Tsuna…there was that spiky-haired guy who was with Lambo and I-Pin. Was this boy talking about him? She didn't really know…and how was he able to do that floating thing?

Well, she couldn't really say that was impossible, or just her imagination…because, she ate pills that turned her into a kid. That was type of impossible…

The same spiky-haired guy she knew that was called Tsuna ran past the floaty boy, yelling stuff about being late. Suddenly, she was reminded…she was late! So late!

She whispered a curse out loud, and started to bolt towards Namimori Middle, when a loud cry made her stop yet again.

"There he is!"

A group of men in suits began to chase the floaty boy. Izumi panicked. She really felt sorry for the little guy…so she helped him. She didn't know why she did it, she was late and she still did it.

"Um! Little boy!" she yelled after him. He turned to her, "Yeah?"

"Uh…you can hide in that doghouse in this house! The chihuahua is harmless!"

"Thank you!" he smiled sweetly at her, before climbing over the gate and into the doghouse. The chihuahua went up to him, sniffed him, and went away.

Izumi face-palmed, remembering she was late. She cursed, before starting to run to Namimori Middle, the floaty boy forgotten.

After school, it rained…and there were strange happenings. Bomb blasts everywhere, suited men chasing uniformed boys carrying a blanket.

"This is so weird," Izumi muttered in her child form. She sat on the swings, staring at the battle that was taking place.

Tsuna had come in, carrying the floaty boy on his back. "Hey! Fuuta, wake up!" he muttered to the boy on his back. "With you on my back, they'll catch up."

A man in a suit came into the park, "Hey, kid." Two men in suits came up behind him. "You've been troublesome."

"We're done playing tag."

Tsuna glanced around nervously, his grip on Fuuta tightening slightly.

"Give us that kid," one of the men ordered.

Tsuna clenched his teeth, backing away slightly. The boy on his back woke up, "Huh? Tsuna-nii?" Izumi stared incredulously at the scene playing out before her eyes. This seemed like some movie or something…

"Fuuta," Tsuna murmured.

Fuuta gasped, "The people that were after me…"

"Come with us peacefully," another of the men said. "We won't hurt you."

Fuuta then said some rankings, leading to a fight between all three. Izumi winced when she saw that their rankings were the truth all along, "That has got to hurt…"

Suddenly, a flame lit up on his forehead, and his clothes were ripped off, "Re-born! I will protect Fuuta with my dying will!"

Izumi gaped, staring blankly, "…did…he just…what the fuck…did he just…flash me?!"

He started beating the men up, and after five minutes the flames died down and he was back to normal. Izumi couldn't help but freak out, "What…just…happened?!"

"HIEEE!" Tsuna yelled. "That's Lambo and I-Pin's friend! Wait – you saw?!"

"You flashed me!" she shrieked.

"You're not supposed to know that word, you're five!"

She froze, "…shit."

"You're not supposed to know that word either!"

"…fuck."

"HIEEE! Not that word too!"

"I don't care! You're the freaky one here! That flame – you flashed me – you beat them up!"

"You aren't supposed to know or say those words!"

Then, it started raining. Izumi's hair drooped down, covering her eyes. She groaned, "It had to rain. It just had to rain."

Tsuna 'hieee'd and carried Fuuta on his back, starting to run. Izumi watched after him, her eyes shining with curiosity. What she'd seen, was like something from an anime…it seemed so unreal. And what was so special about Fuuta? And Tsuna? Who were those black-suited guys? And what was that…flame on his forehead? How did his clothes suddenly rip off?

Ugh…this was so confusing. Maybe she'd ask Takeru about it? He always had answers to her every question.

When she went home and after a long and hot shower, she asked Takeru about it and described the events that had transcribed during her time at the park. It was dinner, and he was eating some rice, and immediately choked, hacking and coughing. She went to him, patting his back and handing him a glass of water. He gulped it up, and then snatched a notepad from the living room, before scribbling something on it.

Who was this boy that spiky-haired one was carrying?

"I think his name was Fuuta…that's what that guy Tsuna was saying?"

His eyes widened, and he wrote something again. Tsuna? The spiky-haired one was called Tsuna? Tsunayoshi Sawada?

Her eyebrows knitted, "I'm not sure, but when I first saw Tsuna, he was with a baby wearing a fedora – "

Her brother choked again, coughing. She handed him another glass of water, he drank it, staring at her thankfully. He motioned for her to continue, and she did.

" – who said he was a hitman. I thought he was joking, and I asked him where his gun was. He said he left it at home, and then he told me to go home, saying that my parents would be worried. I went home. But…I could feel him staring at me as I went home. Oh, and I heard him calling Tsuna 'Dame-Tsuna'."

Takeru's eyebrows furrowed, and he noted down something again. Whenever you meet with these people, please tell me what happens with them after you come back, okay?

Her eyes narrowed curiously, "Why?"

Takeru just smirked mysteriously, and wrote something else. I'll make your favourite food everyday you tell me what happens.

She smiled excitedly, her curiosity dispelling, "Okay! Noodle soup for tomorrow, then!"

He nodded at her, his smirk turning into an affectionate smile. She continued eating her food, not aware of the mysterious grin plastered on his face. She also wasn't aware that she hadn't even gotten the answer to her question: what was up with the flame on Tsuna's head?

Just a new plot idea…tell me what you think of it! What do you think of Izumi? Yuki? Takeru? Is Izumi too Mary-Sue-ish? Please give me feedback!

~ Animeisheaven