A/N: KHR does not belong to me. It belongs to the wonderfully talented Akira Amano. I do not own anything except my OC.


Thank you for those wonderful reviews, my dear readers. I'll do my best to reply to your reviews as satisfactorily as I can.

Guest 1: The gun questions are answered in this chapter. Believe me, the same question as in my mind before writing this story. Japan has some admirably strict gun laws.

Guest (Chifon): Thank you, sweetheart.

Guest 2: Thanks a lot for your feedback!

LadyStormCloud: Thanks darling.

Shadowry: Thanks! I'll do my best. Right now, the way the story is progressing, the Varia Arc would start in about 4-5 chapters.

: Grazie!

SeleneAlice: The way I'm picturing this story going, I don't think I am going to introduce any particular pairing for her. For me, the character of Sayuri is an aromantic pansexual. So, let's see where it goes, k?

Haha memes: Arigatou!


A Handful of Aconite


Two roads diverged in a wood And I-

I took the one less travelled by,

And that has made all the difference.

The Road Not Taken

By Robert Frost


Watching as the woman's gaze sharpen slightly, Reborn frowned internally, contemplating the various ways he would eviscerate the absolute bumbling idioti at the CEDEF. They had given him the very barebones of the eldest of the Sawada siblings, which was absolutely useless for him to work with, or if it was necessary, around it. Well, he sighed to himself, with a leader like that, what could you expect.

Sawada Sayuri knelt down cautiously, and asked, "Yes, it is. Who are you?"

Noting the usage of English by Sayuri, he replied in Japanese, "I am the home tutor, Reborn. My services were requested."

She raised her eyebrows and said politely, "Of course. Please, come in."

Observing the young woman rise fluidly to her feet, an action which spoke of previous training, (and again, he cursed the CEDEF for their incompetency), Reborn entered the house, unconsciously cataloguing all the details he could see. (He could see deep red stilettos, slight scuff marks on them saying they were used frequently, and raised an eyebrow in consideration; given all the information he had managed to acquire from the short observation of Sawada Sayuri, he could tell that she knew how to fight, and fight well. That she wore those deathtraps regularly spoke of years of hard work spent on balance and agility, something he had seen of in only a handful of people.)

He briefly eyed her shapely behind, before mentally berating himself, feeling like a paedophile. Ironic considering who, no, what he was.


"Kaa-san, the home-tutor's here." Sayuri told her mother as she entered the dining room.

As Reborn entered after her, she told her family, "I'll leave you to get acquainted. I have an early staff meeting. See you in school, Tsuna. Bye Mom."

Bestowing a kiss on her mom's cheek, she ruffled her brother's hair and turned to leave. All the while fortifying her mind against the chaos she knew was to come and invade her sanctum. And she knew she was powerless to stop it. It made something primal inside her thrash for retaliation. It was only with immense willpower that she was able to muffle what those instincts were telling her, knowing that her Flames were aggravating those feelings.

Ignoring her screaming instincts, she took one last glance at her family and the guest (InTrUdEr) seated at the dining table and left the room. Collecting her bag from the living room, Sayuri slipped on her stilettos, using her secondary Flames to cushion her feet, and left the house, heading towards the school.

On the way, she mused about the happenings in her house just then, and the impression she must have made on one of the strongest Arcobaleno. She had thought long and hard on the image she had wanted to portray to the Hitman. Every last detail about her appearance had been carefully calculated towards cultivating an image that, while rather misleading, was somewhat close to the truth as well. Even the usage of English while addressing him.

Although, she thought ruefully, the gun was a bit of an overkill.

While she was proficient in the handling of firearms, Sayuri preferred bojutsu and the use of pressure points to eliminate any hostile attacks. The gun, which she had found in one of Iemitsu's hidden caches, was only for dealing with enemies that she could not afford to get up close and personal with. At that thought, the eldest Sawada sibling had to violently repress a flashback from the first time she had to use lethal force against an assassin sent by one of the Vongola's rival Famiglias.

Sighing, she pushed the unpleasant memories from her mind, and hastily made her way into a nearby alley. Entering the alley, she stepped into an alcove and removed her jacket in order for her to relocate the gun from such an obvious place. Relocating the gun, she stripped off the holster and put in her bag. She was glad that she had chosen to wear a jacket that did not hug her waist, as the gun she had tucked into the holster at the small of her back would have been visible otherwise.

Japan had very strict laws over the possession of firearms by private citizens. And while her lineage practically demanded her immersion into the world of organized crime, she did not particularly want to get arrested.

Hurrying out of the alley, she made her way to Namimori Middle School. She was late for a meeting with her adorable kouhai.


Reborn watched as the older sister of his student looked at her family and him with an unfathomable look in her eyes, and took her leave. Almost as if she was eager to leave his presence. Something inside him itched at that thought, but he ignored it masterfully.

As he waited for the sound of the door closing, his gaze sharpened as he felt a small, almost imperceptible flare of Flames from the direction of the entryway. A flare of Cloud Flames, to be exact. That had definitely not been in any of his reports. Sawada Sayuri was Flame-Active.

That was a headache he had not expected. He had thought that the elder sibling was Latent, as there had not been any reports suggesting otherwise. He had also assumed that Primo's bloodline would have prevailed in the sister as well, manifesting in Sky Flames.

He mentally groaned. Because of course the older sister was a Cloud. The gods did not think he had suffered enough. They had to give him a clumsy, no-good lamb of a student, with a possible homicidal sister. Because the Ninth and Iemitsu, in their infinite wisdom, had ideas of marrying off the elder sister, for promoting goodwill, and preserving the bloodline.

They wanted to marry her off to Xanxus.

(That was a natural disaster waiting to happen. One reminiscent of the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius. Which made the Vongola Famiglia the town of Pompeii.)

He had been against the notion from the start, but then again, that was not his job. Reborn would just have to make sure to keep popcorn handy if, and when, Iemitsu decided to inform his daughter of his decision. The explosion was sure to be spectacular for all.

Except for Iemitsu. But who cared about him, anyway.

Having learnt that Sayuri had Cloud Flames, the imminent blow-up appeared a thousand times more ominous. He only hoped that she was a Classic, not an Inverted Cloud. At least then the violence would be predictable.

Well, Reborn mentally shrugged, it is none of my business anyway.

All of this passed through his mind in the span of a few seconds. He then turned his soulless black eyes onto his new student.

Said student squeaked minutely at his weighty stare.

Reborn sighed.


Sayuri entered her broom cupboard of an office and dumped her bag on the floor, beside her desk. Seating herself behind the table, she began the tedious job of sorting the test papers and lesson plans for the day on her desk.

As absorbed as she was in her task, she was only peripherally aware of the figure sitting down in front of her. As she continued her duties, the figure shifted slightly in their chair and cleared their throat slightly.

"Carnivore," intoned Hibari Kyoya.

"Huh," she looked up and said, "Oh, Kyoya! Ohaiyou!"

He nodded slightly in return and she had to suppress an amused smirk at his reserved behavior. That boy had grown even more anti-social throughout the years. She still remembered him as the puffed-up, pouty-faced, angry six-year-old who had tried to attack her shishou and her, while they had been practicing in the Hibari dojo, proclaiming that he would 'bite the annoying carnivore to death'.

She teased Kyoya about that incident quite frequently. It always brought such an adorable blush to his face.

Now, though, she had some serious news for him, though she did not hold much hope that he would heed her words, or at least not get involved. It was in his blood, just as it was in hers.

Lacing her fingers together, she cocked her face and considered the teenager in front of her. He had grown up to be very pretty. She was sure that had he not had his godforsaken thirst for violence and order, he would have had a huge crowd of fangirls and fanboys. Thankfully for the collective health of the community, that was not so.

"The peace of Namimori is about to be disturbed, though it is necessary for some time."

At her simplistic declaration, Kyoya's eyes flashed with a feral sort of hostility, and his body tensed minutely before relaxing in a way that looked deliberate. He made an aborted twitch of his hands, and she knew that it was her cue to interrupt his deliberations.

"Kyoya." Sayuri said firmly. "This is not something you will be able to take on by yourself. Right now, you are half-grown wolf in the midst of mostly sheep and cattle. But there are bigger carnivores than you which can and will annihilate you without a second thought. I would like you to atleast reach your twenties before you go and kill yourself off."

He looked offended, like a cat whose fur had been rubbed the wrong way, and opened his mouth to interrupt. But she held up a hand, and he descended into mutinous silence once again, unwilling to go against her. Sayuri felt a frisson of warmth at this display of the respect the youngest Hibari had for her.

She smiled warmly at him, to take away the sting from her words, and said a little more gently, "Even wolves need a pack to hunt and protect their territory properly. Remember that, Kyo-chan."

He scowled at the nickname she had addressed him by since he had been a wee lad. One which he disliked heartily. But he seemed to be ruminating on her words, which he would hopefully take to heart.

Smiling briefly at him, Sayuri turned back to the hell that was grading papers, wordlessly dismissing him. She heard him reluctantly snort at the face she made in the direction of the papers. The scraping of a chair could be heard as he got up to leave.

"Oh, and Kyoya?"

He looked back at her, waiting, his hand on the doorknob.

"Please do not blame my brother. It really is not his fault that the embodiment of chaos is in town."

Thinning his lips in obvious distaste, he nodded slightly in acceptance and said, "You owe me for this, Carnivore. Lunch on the rooftop. I want to fight you."

With this statement, he closed the door behind him as he left.

Sawada Sayuri groaned and dropped her head onto the pile of papers in front of her. Although a part of her was almost salivating at the thought of battling with someone able to handle her hits.


The rest of the day passed in a haze of classes and grading papers (damn the paperwork to the depths of Hades). She also fulfilled her end of the deal by having a spar with Kyoya during lunch hour, with her defeating him with relative ease. Relative, because while she was victorious, she did not escape without a few bruises, which were thankfully hidden by her clothes.

Going by the gossip spreading throughout the student body, and even a few staff members, her brother had had quite an eventful day. While she did not remember most of the details about the anime and manga, she did remember the chronograph of the events and the main elements of the storyline.

Apparently, her otouto had confessed to his crush, who was the school's most popular girl, wearing only boxers. Another admirer of hers, one captain of the Kendo club had challenged him to a duel, with Sasagawa Kyoko, the girl in question, as a prize. (A part of her snarled with offense at the thought of a girl being treated as a prize.) Luckily for the kendo captain, Tsuna had won the bout (in his boxers, again), otherwise she would have taken him to task and then given him over to Kyoya as a plaything.

Thinking back, she recalled that a loss of outer clothing was a side effect of those weird bullets that brought out the Soul Flames (she was not going to refer to them as Dying Will Flames).

Well, she thought pragmatically, as long as they are not used on me, and don't harm anyone permanently, I am not going to concern myself with them.

Finishing up her remaining work, she locked her office and made her way home. School had already let out by the time she had finished, so she made her solitary way home.

As she got closer to home, a buzzing started under her skin. It did not feel ominous. Rather, it felt a bit impatient. As if her intuition wanted her to go home as quickly as possible. But not in a negative manner.

Fed up due to her instincts, (sometimes she wondered if she had a second mind, one which was that of a cat, because, it was just as picky and prickly as one), Sayuri concentrated on her flames to see whether there was any clue which could be discerned through them as to why her instincts were acting out.

Sitting on a nearby bench, she closed her eyes and delved inside her mind. She observed her smoothly flowing purple Cloud Flames first. She had expected them to be roiling around violently at the arrival of a stranger in her home, but to her surprise and apprehension, they were almost purring with satisfaction.

Troubled by the abnormal behavior of her Cloud flames, she then went in even deeper to investigate the tightly coiled orange Flames nestled deep within her Cloud flames, the ones which she protected and cherished with the zeal of a Cloud.

Her Sky flames, while still tightly curled with no leakage, were almost eager, reaching for something intangible. Which distressed her even more than the calmness of her Cloud.

She got the impression of possession and protection, of Harmony, from her amber flames.

(A feeling of mInEmInEnEeDmYsUnMiNe)

It scared her. Her Sky had never longed for bonds, for elements to call her own. For she had not wished to be someone who had to be protected. Her Cloud Flames had emphasized that feeling. She would be the one protecting. She would not be helpless again.

From what she had gathered about Skies, they were mostly encouraged to stay away from the battlefield, especially female Skies. Expected to rely on their Guardians. She hated that term. She much preferred the term Elements. Atleast that one didn't imply that Skies were in need of guarding.

So the fact that her Sky wanted to bond with someone terrified her. Because she knew that it was Reborn's Sun that her flames were attracted to.

Sayuri dropped her head onto her hands. What a goddamn clusterfuck.


After making sure her Sky flames were hidden by her Cloud, she opened the door and entered her home. Removing her shoes in the entryway, she gave a sigh of relief on having her feet flat again. Even Cloud flames could only do so much to cushion her soles.

"Tadaima!"

"Okaeri, Sayuri! Go change, my dear, I'll have some food ready for you. Tsuna and his tutor are in his room. Check on them, would you?" said her mother, poking her head out from the kitchen.

Giving her mother an accepting nod, she smiled gratefully at her and went up the stairs.

Knocking lightly on her otouto's door, she opened it after hearing a soft "come in".

Tsuna and his tutor were seated across from each other, and there were a few sheets spread on the table between them.

Tsuna glanced up and exclaimed, "Aneki! What are you doing here?"

Raising one eyebrow at his shout, Sayuri said in a dry tone, "Well, otouto, I am here to ask you whether you are alright or not. I did not get a chance to ask while in school. You had quite an eventful day, from what I hear. Confessing to girls in your underpants? I taught you better than to be so disrespectful, Tsunayoshi."

Hearing his full name made Tsuna wince and his whole face flushed a deep red.

"S-so you heard about t-that, did you, nee-san?" He stuttered.

Huffing a small laugh, Sayuri said, "Everyone in school did. I won't be surprised if Midori Girls School hears about it by tomorrow."

Tsuna hung his head at that prediction.


Reborn watched with wary eyes as his student's sister lightly made fun of her brother's antics in school. While on the surface Sayuri's actions were carefree and teasing, he could see the tense and strained muscles of her face. As if she was restraining herself from doing something with great difficulty.

As she and her brother conversed, the World's Greatest Hitman could feel that her aura was gaining a slightly Cloudy tang. Which made him tense, but the Cloudiness did not feel threatening.

As the conversation progressed, he could see his student relaxing. Now that wouldn't do.

Reborn smirked inwardly, and inserted in one of the lulls in the conversation, "Sayuri, would you like to join Tsuna's Family?"

Predictably, Tsuna let out a shrill shriek and started shouting at him, saying that he did not want his innocent sister involved in that business and on and on.

Throughout the shouting and wailing, Reborn kept his eyes trained on his target. Several expressions flashed across her face but the ones which caught his attention were the ones which spoke of recognition, and revulsion.

When his idiotic student started spouting off on how his sister was too innocent for all of this, Reborn caught the absolutely incredulous look Sayuri threw her little brother, and wondered.

Sayuri let out a chiming laugh and replied with (false) obliviousness, "Oh, but I am already Tsuna's Aneki, aren't I? Well, I'll leave you boys to study. I need to go get refreshed. Bye!"

Reborn's eyes narrowed as Sayuri left the room and softly closed the door. This required careful observation.


A/N: Reviews are much appreciated. Thank you for reading! Arrivederci!