Disclaimer: Katekyo Hitman Reborn does not belong to me!

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Vongola Ring Arc: Echo - Prologue

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It was about time the birds would lay their eggs.

Yumiko was happily watering her flowers in her walled-in front garden. There were fragrant red and white roses, multi-colored daisies, elegant orchids and hydrangeas in full bloom. It was a bright, sunny day, and the optimistic girl wondered whether she could have tea later in her little garden house. Mr. Mellanotte had given her a new brand of imported tea as a gift. Maybe she could try that out later, she mused. It was then that she heard frantic chirping.

She looked around, curious, and then she remembered the robins. A pair of robins had taken up residence in the huge oak tree in the corner of her garden; they have built a nest, and were apparently awaiting eggs. Yumiko lowered her watering can, smiling. Maybe the eggs have arrived at last. She wanted to check.

Wiping her hands on the towel hanging on the summerhouse's balustrade, Yumiko headed towards the oak tree, its leaves rustling gently in the light morning breeze. She looked around to check if anyone was observing her, then started climbing the tree, cautiously using the deep grooves carved around it.

She spotted the branch where she knew the nest was and gently brushed away the leaves screening it from view. The birds were in the nest, jumping around and twittering madly. Yumiko peeked into it and saw half a dozen small white eggs. She smiled again, and said softly, "Congratulations."

However, the birds looked nothing like happy. They jumped up and down the nest and would not go near their eggs. The girl wondered what was making the pair so jumpy. She poked around the eggs.

In the middle of the cluster of eggs sat a small, black ring that glittered dully in the sunlight.

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There's the boss!

Chiara's heart leapt at the sight of her tall, blonde, and handsome boss. It had been months ago since she last saw him. He was always in Japan, helping out the young Vongola. Twice when he came back she was away on a mission, and whenever she had finished it he was gone again. Chiara flinched at the thought of her unluckiness.

She shifted her position from her hiding place behind a bush to get a better view. He was wearing his favourite jacket again, his whip hidden from view. He was talking to their other subordinates, a perpetual smile on his face. Chiara debated to herself, as she always does, about whether she should go out and talk to the boss too. But he probably doesn't even know her. She was, after all, one of the few girls in the family. And she was a mere spy. Sionne and Areveddi were way better that she was.

Old Romario was approaching the boss. There have been many times that she talked to him, usually about the family or about missions. He was a lot closer to the boss. The right hand man. Dreamily, she wondered whether he might have happened to mention her to the boss, maybe even praise her abilities as an excellent spy. She shook herself awake. If he had, she wouldn't be spying right now.

"Boss!"

As the boss looked around, Chiara saw his glance pass the bush she was hiding behind. She quickly ducked in panic, her instincts telling her that the tall blonde was still staring at the bush curiously. Her skin tingled, to actually meet the boss in such an awkward time, in this kind of situation. She grimaced at the thought of being caught spying on her own boss.

"Boss?" Came the sound of Romario's dubious voice, and even though she couldn't see it, she knew that Romario had followed the boss's gaze towards her direction. She inwardly prayed that Romario would divert the boss's attention. If ever there was a time that she didn't want to be caught in a spying mission, It was now.

"What's wrong, boss?"

She felt the intensity of the gaze disappear. The boss was now probably facing Romario. She restrained herself from giving a deep sigh of relief, lest she get caught.

"Ah, nothing." The boss gave an enchanting peal of laughter. "What is it, Romario?"

She heard them converse in low voices, but she didn't dare lookup again. After a few moments she heard the boss bid their subordinates goodbye, and when she finally looked up the courtyard was deserted. She sighed heavily. The boss was gone again, and she still hadn't talked to him. Anyway, it was her fault.

Chiara brushed the dirt on her skirt, preparing to leave her hiding place. As she crawled out from behind the bush on all fours she felt her knee hit something hard. She sat up again, rubbing her knee and wincing more in irritation than in pain. She groped around and her hand encountered something small that felt like metal. She raised it in front of her.

In her palm sat a silver blackened ring wherein carved designs were barely distinguishable.

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Eclisse graciously took the envelope handed to her by the café owner that she worked for every other day in the afternoons and during weekends. She murmured a word of thanks to her employer before darting off to the locker rooms. She removed her frilly apron and tossed it to the laundry basket with the others, then took her small blue bag from her locker. The kindly old lady that owned the café had given her the rest of the day off.

She left the establishment through the backdoor and walked swiftly towards the street. She saw her destination just a few blocks away: a small toy store trimmed in white and blue and lined with flowerbeds. She glanced at the window display before going in, taking note of the displayed mechanical airplane and train and a stuffed snow-white bunny. The bell attached above the doorway announced her arrival.

"Oh, hello, Ms. Di Bello." Miss Lidner,the shop owner, acknowledged her with her usual benign smile. The young lady was wiping her counter top, behind, which stood more toys in a vast assortment, in boxes, or not.

Eclisse nodded her greeting then asked quietly, a bit awkward, "The blue bear…"

Miss Lidner already knew what she meant. "Don't worry. It's still there for you." She smiled at the young girl fondly. Eclisse smiled hesitantly in reply. She sometimes felt like the woman saw her in a way she didn't like herself to be seen.

"Such a cute girl," Frances Lidner thought as her regular customer wandered off into her store.

Eclisse went straight to the stuffed toy section, her eyes searching for the huge blue bear she had seen a week ago. She had instantly liked it, almost as big as a real dog, with light blue fur and a sheer ribbon lined in silver around its neck. She had sworn to herself that she would buy it on her next payday. Here she was now.

She finally found the bear, and she lifted it from its shelf where it sat between a stuffed dog and a small yellow bear. It was as cute as ever, and she hugged it ecstatically, barely conscious of the fact that she looked very childish.

Suddenly she noticed a glint of metal around the bear's neck. As she bent to examine it, she realized that a black ring strung on a silver necklace now hung around the bear's neck.

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"More, Please!"

Lilian, Carmella's personal maid, obligingly placed a fresh slice of chiffon cake in front of her childish mistress.

"My lady, you shouldn't eat too much so early in the morning." Lilian reminded her in a worried voice as she poured tea into a china cup.

"I know, I know." Carmella replied even as she continued to consume the delicious mocha cake covered in swirls of icing and topped with dark chocolate. She grinned at Lilian. "I'm off to Matteo's, anyway. Please prepare a suitable dress for me."

"Yes, my lady." Lilian sighed, even though she felt thrilled at the thought of visiting the young Master Matteo, Lady Carmella 's elder cousin. Lilian slipped from the veranda where Carmella was currently having breakfast to comply with the girl's request.

Carmella sighed contentedly. The cake was delightful, although she still thought Matteo created the best ones. She took a sip of her tea, and again recalled that Matteo can make better ones, and name them too! She frowned at the light brown liquid, trying to guess the brand of tea. After a short while she gave up, and set the teacup down on its saucer. She eyed the remaining slices of cake. Oh well, she thought mischievously, Lilian wouldn't know!

She quickly transferred a slice of cake into her own plate and immediately ate a spoonful, sighing with satisfaction as she did so. She made to take another spoonful when her fork encountered something hard. Curious, she broke the cake into pieces and discovered a black ring hidden inside it.

Carmella frowned. Lilian hadn't told her that there was a ring in the cake. Suddenly she got an idea. Matteo had told her once that when the average people hold special occasions or celebrations, they hide a coin or toy in a loaf of bread, and whoever gets it is the lucky one. Her eyes lit up. Maybe this was one of those occasions and she was going to get lucky! She rose from her seat, eager to share her discovery with Matteo.

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It was a bright, peaceful morning, the sky was perfectly blue, fluffy clouds white as snow scattered on every side. There was no other sound aside from the rustling of the leaves in the light morning breeze and the singing of larks.

Matteo was sitting in his own in his lattice, enjoying the silence, happily drinking his morning tea, which was excellent Earl Grey, accompanied with piping hot fresh bread baked by the cook. Carmella had said that she would visit today, and she would probably insist that they have some fun baking cakes, with the sweet tooth she has. Matteo smiled fondly at the thought of his favorite cousin.

As he reached for the jade teapot to refill his cup he suddenly noticed something dark in the remains of his tea. He tilted the cup. And saw that it was a back ring. He turned the cup down defiantly, unconsciously getting into a dark mood. The ring clattered noisily into the saucer.

Matteo laughed wickedly at the thought of how the fool who let the ring into his cup would be punished. Anyone who ruins his morning tea would be severely punished. He sneered cruelly, forgetting everything about the peaceful day and slowly climbing into a rage, even though he didn't realize it himself. He began to snicker.

"Matteo!"

Carmella suddenly flung herself into her cousin, ignoring, or not noticing, the dark, ghostly aura that was surrounding him, although her maid did, and wisely drew back. "Hey, Matteo, what were you doing? Why are you standing up? Are we gonna bake some cakes today, huh?" Carmella asked.

Matteo's devilish aura disappeared just as quickly as it built up in the presence of his childish cousin. He was back into his good-natured self in a thrice, to the maid's relief.

"Ah, nothing, Ella." Matteo replied an angelic smile on his face. "I merely found something in my cup." He pointed at the ring at his saucer.

Carmella 's eyes shone with delight. She showed Matteo a similar ring.

"Look, I've got one just like that! We're a pair!" she cried ecstatically.

Matteo smiled back in reply.

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Eliana yawned.

She was reading an extensive lecture given to her by her master, and each word was slipping from her mind without leaving a single trace. She turned a page, saw how long it went, and quickly became discouraged. She just couldn't see how it could help in her training.

She yawned again. She was sitting under a shady tree just beyond the Varia grounds. Lussuria had just finished creating another one of his 'masterpieces', and there was absolutely no way he could make her wear it.

As she stifled another yawn, Eliana decided that she better find another hiding place where she could sleep in peace, without the danger of being located. Brushing her coat, she prepared to stand up. Suddenly, An ornate silver knife flew out from nowhere and hit the book she was holding, pinning it against a nearby tree. A few loose pages fluttered to the ground.

"Bel!" Eliana yelled in anger. She ran to the ruined lecture, glancing back murderously towards the direction where the knife came from. She pulled the blade out from the pinned book – which fell into a heap on the ground, – thinking that she would kill Bel with it later. The lecture had a puncture in the middle of its pages that ran through its whole, aside from the torn pages lying on the ground. Briefly she wondered whether she would be able to put it back together without her master noticing the damage, then laughed at herself for thinking about such an absurd prospect. Her master was strict, and very critical.

"Damn Bel." Eliana grumbled to herself, as she squatted down to collect the pages, trying to arrange them as they were previously. As she picked the last page off the ground, she noticed something glittering in the grass. Blessed with lively curiosity, she picked it up.

It was a neat silver-black ring, with indistinct carvings around it.

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"What utter rubbish."

Vittoria threw the request for forming another glee club into the box beside her desk. There used to be a trash can in the box's place, and she usually crumpled every document she found useless. But Eliana had insisted she shouldn't crumple every document she came across to, and that she can just put the rejected requests into the box so that she could read through them again in case she overlooked anything. Vittoria was sure, however, that Eliana would reject the glee club idea as well. There was no real need for such a club.

She picked another document from the pile a class representative had delivered to the student council office. She read through it quickly, decided it was another stupid request – to have a swimming party within the school's premises, as the school's pools were first class, – and crumpled it. There was no way she would even reconsider that. The school is not a resort. They could have their party outside the school. She should stop allowing such rubbish letters for the better.

The third letter was more sensible: A request to allow the music club to join a premier competition. She opened her drawer, preparing to draft a response. As she pulled out a piece of paper, something tumbled off from its top.

She took it out and wondered whether the black-silver ring was Eliana's. Why would she put accessories in the drawer? Perhaps she dropped it when she added paper in the drawer. Vittoria placed it on the desktop, deciding that she would return it to her friend. Then she went on with her work.

After another hour, when the pile was nearly gone and the sky was dark outside, Vittoria decided that she could continue her work next week. She stood up and gathered her belongings. On her way to the door, she glimpsed the ring sitting on the table. She could give it back to Eliana if ever she run into her on the way home, or sometime this weekend.

As she took the ring and dropped it in her bag, she can't help but feel, for an unknown reason, that something out of ordinary was about to happen.