Chapter 1

"Ah, Bel-senpai, can I remove the knives from my back?" asked the green-haired illusionist. "It's starting to hurt you know," he continued in an indifferent tone.

"Polish them before you return them to me," Belphegor ordered. He had used Fran for target practice seeing as blood never splattered out of the latter's back.

"Yada, do that yourself," Fran replied. He started plucking the sharp objects and dropped three of them on the floor of their headquarters.

"If you drop one more of my knives, your limbs will be rolling on the floor," Belphegor said, and he meant it… probably. So Fran immediately stopped dropping them and started bending the remaining knives he had that the self-proclaimed prince owned. Belphegor threatened Fran again and earned the same nonchalant look Fran always had. The Mist Guardian's grip on the few knives thrown at him slackened, it made a clinking sound upon meeting the floor. "Ka-ching."

"Ah, yabai, this is bad," Fran commented. In just a few seconds afterwards, the senpai and the kouhai engaged in battle. That was when the guardian with the loudest voice and also the longest hair appeared.

"VOOOI! What are you guys doing?" Superbi Squalo shouted with his annoying and grating voice, at least that's how it seemed to Fran.

"It's none of your business," Belphegor answered.

"Nani?" Squalo got furious. With another vooii, he entered the battlefield.

A few minutes later, Squalo, Fran, and Belphegor created such a racket that Lussuria and Levi decided to investigate the whole situation. They were greeted at a place that was once before a pleasant living room. Knives were stuck on the ceiling and on the walls. Sword scratches were seen on the floor. They weren't surprised to see their fellow companions squabbling and teasing each other since it happened almost every day, so did all the repairs and customizations to the headquarters. Both Lightning and Sun guardians jumped into the fray and immediately, a free-for-all- battle issued. Belphegor let loose his knives to the illusions that Fran conjured. Those illusions were replicas of him. Lussuria was too busy trying to capture Squalo's attention by striking erotic poses enough to make a girl barf; while Squalo was occupied with Levi's attacks.

"Ushishishi," chuckled the Knife Prince, as commoners would dub him.

"Bel-senpai, you just hit the wrong me," stated Fran, matter-of-factly.

"Voooii! Eat this!" Squalo shouted.

"Squalo-chan, look at me! Look at me!" Lussuria demanded Squalo whilst posing since he didn't want to join the fight as much as Levi did.

"Levi Lightning!" Levi summoned lightning from his black umbrellas that acted as parabolas and fired it at the direction of Squalo who dodged. The attack hit Lussuria squarely in the face. The Sun guardian of the Varia fumed because of this and caused much damage and havoc to those around him. Just as they were about to unleash their box weapons, intent on the battle on hand, all five could hardly hear the door creak open and see a small, petite girl who had a huge baggage of some sort strapped to her back appear.

Belphegor mistook this for another of Fran's illusions and threw a volley of knives at the girl's direction. She raised her hands and caught six of them by her fingers and dodged the other four at the nick of time.

"Uhm… sumimasen for coming here unannounced but I have something I wish to tell you boss, Xanxus," the girl said in a soft but confident voice. When she received no reply from the five present, she bowed slightly and briskly walked away. She approached a huge oak door and paused. "I assume that this is where Xanxus stays, yes?" she turned, looking at the guardians. They all nodded numbly in reply, too stunned to take action. She lifted her white, pale knuckles and rapped on the door's sturdy frame.

"Trash, come in," and so she did. Xanxus was surprised that it wasn't Squalo or any of his other pesky guardians. "Who are you? What are you doing here? I have many things to do so hurry up," Xanxus commanded although the statement that he was busy was actually a lie, yes; he was busy lounging on his big, red comfy chair but nothing more than that.

"If you would excuse my rudeness, I came to deliver a letter from the Ninth," she said politely. She handed the letter to the boss; he took it seeing that the authentic stamp of the Vongola Ninth Boss was present. He quickly scanned the piece of paper, crumpled it, then stared at the little girl slouching in front of him.

"Aoi Tsubasa is it?" he asked.

"Hai," he stared at her once more while she fidgeted with the hem of her shirt, unused to the amount of attention he gave her. He was having second doubts of her joining the Varia and whether she was worth the trouble or not. Well, he had his assurance that she's strong since the old man recommended her.

"You're hired," he decided. He tossed the Cloud Varia ring and the Cloud Varia box to the short girl. "If you fail me, I shall dispose of you personally," he added.

"I understand. Arigatou," Aoi replied, not bothered by the last sentence of her boss. She bowed her head then left the room.

This is Aoi Tsubasa at the moment.

Her past was shrouded by mystery: No one where she came from. No one knew who her relatives were, heck, no one even knew when she was born. All they knew was that she appeared lying unconscious on the snow during a cold winter's day and by chance (or was it luck?) the Vongola Ninth found her. He didn't waste any moment to chitchat; he immediately sent for his medical team to treat her wounds. The Ninth brought her to his mansion, waiting for her to wake.

For a small and petite girl, Aoi had quite an appetite. After she opened her eyes and stretched, her first word wasn't "Arigatou" nor was it "Where am I?" but it was "Food…" In an instant, the Ninth Boss offered her the delicacies the Vongola could offer: clams… and other varieties of unique food.

"My dear child, what's your name?" he had kindly asked.

Aoi hesitated on telling her name to a complete stranger, this was completely understandable in normal circumstances. But the circumstances now were different. She was safe and sound inside a mansion, comfortably clothed, properly bandaged and well fed. She couldn't see any reason why to not reveal her identity. "It's Aoi Tsubasa, sir. You can call me Aoi," she finally replied.

After a few days of staying over at the Vongola estate, enjoying its hospitality, the boss learned that Aoi was really strong. She could defeat anyone who fought against her regardless of their gender, size and ability. Even without a box weapon, she could strike hordes of soldiers who possessed them to their feet, senseless, with only a… well, whatever she was holding on her hand. Be it a fork, a knife, a sword, a baseball bat or even a carton of milk, she could fend off her opponents. Because of her talents and her use of anything as fighting equipment, Vongola the Ninth presented her a Hell Ring. The Hell Ring that was possessed by no one yet: this was the Horn-shaped Ring. He told her to ignite it up with her resolution. In just a second, purple light illuminated the room. Even without practice, her Cloud dying will flame could compare to that of Xanxus's or even to the extent of the current Cloud guardian of Tsuna's family. What amazed him even further was that even if the Hell rings were a type of Mist weapon, a cloud flame sprouted out. How did that happen? He asked her with wonder in his voice, "Who exactly are you?"

"I don't know," the Ninth was taken aback, "all I know is my name and that I have to find a certain someone, but even the name of that person, I have forgotten," she continued sadly.

"Well," the Ninth clapped his hands together, "seeing that you are currently at a loss for a while, you can join the Varia Assassination Squad of the Vongola. They're looking for someone to fill in the position of the Varia Cloud guardian. Here's the letter for your recommendation. I am absolutely sure Xanxus will accept you. Think of it as a payback for all the things I've done for you."

"I knew there was a price for all that. Very well, I shall go. Arigatou gozaimasu," she bowed her head slightly deeper than usual and left to find a way to bring her to the Varia headquarters. It seemed like in just a blink of an eye, she was approved by the somewhat scary boss and was now facing her new teammates carrying her luggage, blue hair in a lose ponytail, wearing a loose white shirt and shorts that reached her knee. She never was a fan of frilly girly dresses as she found it too… noticeable. She found herself in the middle of introducing her name and saw traces of disapproval on the faces of the burly-looking, spiky haired man and the one with long silver hair. A boy wearing a huge frog hat who looked slightly her age (around sixteen to seventeen), looked disinterested and the guy who seemed gay because of the tiara perched precariously on his blonde hair was just sharpening his knives. Lastly, the guy who was wearing sunglasses for no obvious reason was prancing about and swinging his pinky.

What had she gotten into?

oh crap, just imagine that the ninth is alive during this story. :P

hope you find it to your liking.

read and review please! they are appreciated. XD