*TRIGGER WARNING*

There is self-harm (namely cutting oneself) in this chapter. It's not due to any emotional trauma (although emotional trauma is also in this chapter and the story in general - you've been warned), so I think it's only a technicality that I call this self-harm. Because it technically is.

But, heads up. I know that self-harm is not to be taken lightly, and I don't in any way romanticize it. So, just...you know. Trigger warning just in case.

Anyways, heads up having been properly given -

Boring Disclaimer: The writer (me) acknowledges that she does not own anything about KHR, blah blah blah. She only claims to own her OC.

SHOUT OUTS FTW because you guys are fantastic.

If y'all dun' know, I got some reviews!

Shout out to QuirkyKit, my first reviewer! DUDE. (She also favorited btw)

And (another) shout out to RubyRedSpiderLily, who last time threw me my first favorite has now thrown me my second review which is NO LESS fantastically awesome than the first. Which was very awesome.

Also, since the number is still small, thank you to all the (other) people who have favorited: Skyea, DaughterofLoki1111, and 4DarkMirror6 (cool name btw).

And a thank you to all of you (eight) who followed! I'm lazy, but you know who you are!

Without further ado, please enjoy. And review. Please review also.

(I swear the A/N won't always be stupidly long, okay?)

[Edit: 5/19/16] Same as last, some spelling fixes, as I had written this on a different...word processor thingy that apparently had shittier spellchecking. I also fixed some...what, continuity issues? Eh. It's a tad more consistent, now, how's that?

Also Mike and Molly ended, what the fuck.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/

1st person, Kaylin

It wasn't a terribly long walk to her apartment, but Kaylin offered her shoulder to Reborn, anyways. He (gratefully) accepted.

And she trudged along in silence.

My apartment was in a pretty run-down complex, but the area around it wasn't actually that bad. Plus the rent was cheap. Reborn eyed it with a raised eyebrow.

I snorted. "I have limited funds, and I want to avoid work for as long as I possibly can."

He didn't lower his eyebrow.

"There's a...somewhat legitimate reason for that."

He hummed. I chuckled darkly, sweatdropping.

I made my way up the stairs, to the second farthest door, and pulled my key out of the deep recesses of the pocket of my uniform slacks. I proceeded to unlock the door and opened it with a flourish, "Welcome, Reborn, to my shitty apartment."

He snorted, to my surprise. "You're not kidding."

I grinned weakly. "Not even a little."

I stepped inside and closed the door behind me, kicking off my shoes. We both took in the state of ill repair that my apartment was in.

The paint was peeling in some places - there was even a crack or two in the wall here and there. The cabinets in the kitchen, which was connected directly to the door, weren't in terrible shape, but clearly hadn't been replaced in a while. The fake wooden floor was scuffed up all over the place.

I sighed and padded through the kitchen and into the living room to the right, at the back of the apartment. It doubled as a bedroom, with a futon in the closet. It came with tatami mats and a kotatsu, to my delight. Even if the mats were fraying a little. The window didn't have a wonderful view, but it let in natural light, which was the most important to me.

"But, hey. The roof doesn't leak," I noted proudly. It was a shitty apartment, for sure, but it was my shitty apartment.

Reborn hopped down onto the kotatsu, plopping down right on the top.

...Well, I doubted he could sit beside the thing and see over it at the same time.

...I didn't mention that out loud.

Hina scuttled down my shirt and pant leg, and plopped onto the kotatsu herself, immediately starting to groom, and I chucked my school bag at the closet door. It hit with a hollow thunk and landed with a muffled thump.

Good riddance.

Suddenly feeling a little awkward just standing there, I offered, "You, uh, want some coffee? All I have is espresso, though." Do babies drink coffee? Well, he was a little different, but still...

He smiled (smirked) and said, "Espresso is my favorite."

"Great! Okay. Hina, don't knaw on anything."

She scoffed.

"Or anyone."

"Go make your stupid coffee!" She snapped to me.

I spun on my heel with a (somewhat forced) grin and stepped literally three feet to the left. I was desperately grateful for just a little more time in avoiding the conversation I knew was coming. I started the machine and made enough for four helpings. It went along quickly.

"Hee hee. Good thing, investing in a fancy coffee maker."

Reborn spoke up from the living room (again, baby's toddle away) -

...I swear on everything I hold dear that pun was not intended.

"It looks like the only new thing here," he said helpfully. Not that he was wrong.

"Aside from the futon stuffed in the closet, it is." I leaned ninety degrees and poked my head around the entryway. "Creamer? Sugar?"

"I'll take it black." I stuck out my tongue.

"Bleh."

I poured coffee into two mugs, dropping a spoonful of creamer and two of sugar into one. The best I could do with the provided facilities. Replacing the pitcher in the machine, I snagged the mugs and padded into the living room.

"Here you go, one nasty black coffee." I set the mug in front of him and took a seat.

He smirked and took a sip; I mirrored him. For just a second there wasn't a sound. Then we both let out a collective sigh of bliss.

"Good coffee."

I grinned. "It was a bit expensive, but one should never skimp out on coffee."

He smirked again. "I agree."

There was a small companionable silence until I looked to my left at the sight on the table. Reborn looked at it , as well, a contemplative set to his mouth and eyebrows.

...

"It looks like they get along."

"Yeah..." I trailed off.

Hina and Reborn's chameleon were sitting across from each other.

Staring.

...

"What...do you think they're doing?"

He considered. "Probably talking."

"...It seems so..."

...

We took sips of our coffee.

Collective sigh.

Reborn cleared his throat, taking on a more serious air. It was odd how he could do that without changing his expression much. While being a baby.

"Are you here to join Tsuna's family?" I blinked in surprise, then smirked.

"Perceptive, huh." I sighed, accepting defeat. "Yeah, I guess I should expect that of you. That's why I came all the way to Japan." I looked at Hina and the chameleon, avoiding Reborn's eyes.

"His name is Leon." I glanced at him, surprised again, then glanced back, smirking a little.

"Leon the chameleon, huh?" That was cute. Reborn might have smiled.

Probably didn't, but whatever.

There was a pregnant pause before he spoke up again.

...

"...You know I have to ask."

My expression slackened. I got the feeling that this conversation would have me up to the ears in subtext. "...Yeah. I understand. Although, honestly, I had really hoped to avoid it."

He waited for me to continue. I sighed and took a long drink of my coffee, scalding myself, but relishing the caffeine. I stared into my cup. He wanted to know where I had disappeared to two years ago. Obviously, my sudden lack of activity hadn't gone unnoticed by the underworld.

"Well, I guess I'll start with a story... Were you aware that two years ago I was invited to Italy to assist with an operation by the Vongola?"

He tilted his fedora back. "Now that you mention it, Iemitsu mentioned something like that to me."

I nodded and continued. "CEDEF was going to raid a fairly large base of a family that was very antagonistic to the civilians of... some place. It's been so long that I can't remember. I was hired as an extra hand. Apparently it was a pretty big operation."

"I think I remember that. The base was somewhere in Toscana." Tuscany, my mind supplied.

I nodded again. I bit my lip. I was getting close to the hard part. Well, the beginning of it.

"...Well, the mission was a success. It went pretty flawlessly, actually. I'm sure there's a report archived somewhere that you can access, if you're interested."

We both knew I was stalling, but to Reborn's credit and my eternal gratitude, he patiently waited for me to continue.

"I suppose I got cocky. Overconfident. I was probably thinking that if I could handle a mission like that without messing up I could probably relax in the area. Believe me, thinking about it in retrospect, I realize that that was beyond foolish. Tuscan-brand mafia doesn't have shit on the Sicilian variety.

"I decided to take more of a look into the Vongola family since I was in the area, you know? After working with their trusted affiliate, I realized how different some families were compared to...what I was used to. I wanted to settle down, as it were." I laughed bitterly. "That clearly worked out well." I opened my mouth to continue, but what I was about to say just didn't make it out of my throat.

I froze up. I clenched my teeth and took another long drink of my cooling coffee.

I inhaled deeply through my nose. I didn't meet Reborn's watchful gaze.

I swallowed and choked out the words that I still had nightmares over.

"Per fare un dio."

\/\/\/\

3rd person, omniscient

Reborn froze.

Per fare un dio.

To make a god.

His stomach dropped. He removed his hands from his mug of coffee, his taste for it suddenly forgotten.

Kaylin didn't lift her head as she continued, bangs shielding her from the gaze of the infant, and even Hina and Leon watched her, their own silent conversation forgotten.

"That's what they told me."

Her message clicked immediately. Reborn lowered his fedora, shading his eyes from view. It was a gesture of sympathy, regret, sadness. Anger.

He spoke in a low voice. "Vita Ricerca."

The girl with crimson hair suddenly tensed, fists clenching as she hissed air through her teeth. She trembled; with fear or rage, Reborn couldn't tell. Perhaps both, he thought.

Reborn recalled the information he knew of the wretched, godforsaken underground organization that was destroyed by the Vongola famiglia and allied forces a few months ago. Vita Ricerca.

Although it was a rumor, it's said that the organization started from a cult. Reborn suspected that said cult could have been a cover for some genius who wanted research funds, because the name 'Vita Ricerca'was only actually known as belonging to a research lab.

This research lab, while somewhat well-funded, understandably didn't get many volunteers for guinea pigs, although the sponsors would be more than willing. No, the research was conducted on individuals with unique abilities. To get the research specimens they needed, they resorted to kidnapping.

Apparently Vita Ricerca was either very selective or very unsuccessful in their kidnap attempts, because there were barely a dozen kidnappings. Either way, they were covert and quiet enough to elude the efforts of being found by the Vongola or another family for two years.

Once found the base and lab were quickly and decisively raided, and the victims of the ambitions of a madman were freed. Reborn would have been a part of the mission himself had he not been tutoring Dino at the time. The Ninth assured him that there was enough manpower.

The kidnapped individuals were given rehabilitation funded by the Vongola family. Sort of compensation for taking so long to find them. Reborn hadn't visited any of the now-patients, so he didn't know who had been made victim. Apparently the young girl before him had been included in the number.

He made a mental note to look into the report of this particular mission and related documents, as well as the mission reports that he hadn't read yet of any joint operations with the Family that Kaylin has been involved in.

He looked up at her, not speaking, waiting for her to continue at her own pace.

She took a deep, shaky breath. Then grew still as she exhaled.

"Two years."

Her voice was bland, her face blank. Formerly sharp eyes now void of life.

Reborn lowered his head again. He thought it might be a form of post traumatic stress. A defense mechanism. Her emotions became so great, so raw and bleeding, that she just stopped feeling them. She shoved everything so far down that she effectively became sociopathic, filled to the brim with apathy.

She continued, straightening and affixing her apathetic stare somewhere above Reborn's head.

"They cut. Carved. Burned. Melted. I think they did everything they could possibly think of. To see if I could survive it and heal." She gazed down at the wristband on her arm, lightly touching the material. She refused to recall the many events in more detail. Some of it she had blacked out of her memory, anyways.

"I did." She was silent for a while, and Reborn let her stay that way while he digested the information.

She nearly startled him with a harsh bark of laughter. She stared up at the ceiling for a moment before leaning onto the kotatsu, putting her head in her hands. She forcibly heaved out a breath.

"You should know - someone besides the rat - should know something."

Noting that she had seemed to come out of her 'state,' Reborn forced himself to relax his shoulders. He was human. He wasn't always impervious to feeling a little sympathy to pain like hers.

"What is it?" He inquired.

"Th...they... made me sick." Reborn furrowed his brows. "...Very sick. I'm still sick. I'm not getting any sicker, but...I'm not what I used to be." She smirked at herself. "I sound like an old racehorse."

Reborn internally frowned at the simile. He'd definitely have to ask about that "sickness" at a less sensitive time if he couldn't figure out what it was on his own. She seems fine, but...

Well, he wouldn't push the subject today.

"I..." Kaylin saw Reborn's frown and seemed to misinterpret it. "I mean, I can still heal wounds - my own and others' - and I can fight without using my flames, though I'm still learning, and - "

"Wait." Kaylin blinked. Reborn had a couple questions, but picked just one for now. "Flames?" He pressed. She blinked again.

"Oh! I forgot that I've never really told anyone..." She lowered her eyes and laughed bitterly. "Although, I guess someone knew. They must have been tracking me for a while, considering how quickly I was..." She swallowed thickly. "...caught." She shook her head, banishing that train of thought, eager to move onto less rocky territory.

"Have you heard of...how do you say it in Japanese... crap. You'd think I'd have stopped to learn that... Well, I suppose the closest thing to the English name would be 'nani no honoo'. 'Fiamma di niente' in Italian. 'Flame of Nil' in English. Or, more accurately, flame of nothing, but I've always called it the former - um. Are you listening?"

"Yeah." He had been looking to the side with his hand on his chin, deep in thought. "...That would explain...several things." He didn't elaborate.

Kaylin thought for a moment. "Hey, what word of me traveled ahead of me to Italy?"

He regarded her. "You're asking what I know of your abilities?"

Kaylin nodded, while Reborn frowned in thought.

"Not much," he confessed. "Mostly rumors and a few reports from your past joint operations with the Vongola. You were impervious to damage, recovering from cuts, blunt force, and bullet wounds faster than one could blink. In the face of overwhelming numbers, you kept moving forward. That story's what earned you your name of 'Demon.'"

Kaylin cringed. "That...is somewhat exaggerated."

Reborn just smirked. "I figured. But then there's the mission reports I've happened to read out of boredom and at the insistence of colleagues - after they talked me down from pointing a gun at their head," he felt nonchalantly added, to which Kaylin minutely winced. "The manners of your targets' death were always unusual when compared to more traditional assassination targets. They often bled out from 'wounds' to the neck or 'holes' in the head, among other things. It was as if the flesh or bone were simply removed.

"But, the method of attack wasn't able to be determined by examining the corpses; the wounds were too clean to be cuts or the result of some kind of acid or basic substance. The points at which the flesh was separated were at a molecular level. And witness reports stated that you used your bare hands, which didn't match up with the wounds, either.

"But now that you've mentioned the flame of nil, which is said to have a property of cancellation, the manner of the targets' death makes sense. In reality, the existence of a crucial part of their body was effectively denied."

Kaylin was gaping as Reborn finished his long-winded explanation and conclusion. "Th-that...Oh...A molecular level...? I didn't even know that - I mean, I wasn't exactly precicely targeting..." She mumbled to herself.

Not giving her any time to gather her thoughts, he asked, "Can you show me?"

Kaylin blinked, then shook herself out of her reverie. "Oh. Um, yeah," she replied smartly. "The, uh, the healing bit, or the...cancelling bit?"

"Both."

"Er, right, let me get a knife first..." She hopped up and rummaged around in her small kitchen.

Bang.

Reborn finished the dregs of his coffee.

Clatter.

"Shit."

"Can I get a refill?"

Clatterclank.

"Yeah! I'll bring the pitcher, just a second."

Clank. Ping.

"Son of a -"

CRASH.

"What the fuck did I do with the godforsaken knives?!"

Reborn and Leon blinked at each other, the former shrugging, the latter tilting his head. Hina simply sweatdropped at her companion, mentioning to Leon how this was actually rather normal. Leon made strange chortling, chirping noise akin to a snicker.

Finally Kaylin emerged from the kitchen, paring knife in one hand, pot of coffee in the other, looking (rather) frazzled.

Leon and Hina jumped as Kaylin more or less slammed the pitcher onto the kotatsu after having refilled Reborn's mug, some of the substance sloshing precariously around the sides of the container, while said infant took it in stride, simply proceeding to sip from his freshly filled mug.

"Thank you," he said.

"No problem," she tossed back, slightly breathless, not missing a beat as she promptly plopped herself onto the floor, knife gleaming dangerously in the light of the sun still streaming through her apartment window.

Kaylin took a deep breath as Reborn set down his mug, and scooted it to the side. He hopped to his feet and moved closer to the redhead to have a better view of what she was about to show him. He seated himself and patiently waited.

"Okay," she started. Placing the small knife harmlessly to the side, she held her right hand in front of her. "I'll not half-ass this and explain it as properly as I can, since this is...weird."

/\/\/\/

1st person, Kaylin

I took a steadying breath. While manifesting the flame had used to be second nature to me, it'd been a while.

Like, a while.

I felt the energy in my veins, my flesh, my bones; inside the molecules, residing in the empty space between and in my very atoms. That was the essence of nil, of null, of the void. Vacuum space. The absence of any kind of positive matter. I pulled at the life energy that used to so overflow from me that I began healing once wounded almost instantaneously, coaxing it out of hiding and into the the habited space of the air.

Something looking like a heat wave flickered into existence in the palm of my hand. Reborn watched intently, probably taking in every detail.

"People thought I used my bare hands because the flame is nearly invisible, I imagine. The fact that it can be visually perceived at all is because of its reaction with the elements that make up air. When manifested, it's basically antimatter."

"Which cancels out positive matter atom by atom, resulting in the cancellation of the flesh of your targets' bodies."

"From what I understand, yeah. And it hurts like hell."

"I imagine," Reborn mused.

"Which is why - " I dispersed the flame, reabsorbing it as my life energy, and snatched up the knife with my right hand. " - I got this. I've found that being cut by a blade is much less painful than melting away my flesh myself." I took a bracing breath as I held my left wrist in front of me. "Not that this doesn't hurt..."

Getting it over with in a quick motion, I finished the cut before my brain even registered the pain. I sucked in air through my teeth as the stinging burn hit. But as quickly as it started, it began to fade. The wound wasn't just healing; it was unhappening, looking like it was zipping itself back closed.

"In it's non-condensed state, it acts automatically within my body to undo any damage done. Any radical changes at all, actually. I couldn't get a tattoo if I wanted one, for example."

Reborn hummed as the wound finally ceased to exist. "It's seamless," he noted.

"Mm..." I touched the wristband under my elbow without thinking. Reborn noted this, though I didn't notice his change in attention. "I've found that if a wound is too severe, though, it'll leave a kind of scar. None that I care to show," I added quietly. Reborn frowned.

"Anyways," I moved on, forcing a change the subject, "If I focus, I can curb the flow of the energy and somewhat postpone the healing." I swiftly made another cut in roughly the same spot, this time letting it bleed for a moment. I let a bit of blood pool, not enough to spill, before allowing the wound to close. The bleeding had visibly stopped.

I laid the little blade down to the side, and Reborn leaned back, having scooted forward in his focus. "Incidentally, that's how they succeeded in making me sick. And," I continued," as a demonstration of how my flame affects matter..." I indicated the amount of blood on my arm.

I raised my other hand and focused a small amount of flame to materialize at the tip of my finger. I glided the small flame over the blood. Like in some kind of computer paint program, the blood was disappearing as if it had never been there.

"If I focus, I can be choosy about what the flame is allowed to affect. If I'm creative, this can have a variety of uses." I gave a wry smile. "Many of which, surprisingly, have little to do with murder." I dark humor in my tone wasn't lost.

Reborn, however, only hummed once more. "You mentioned earlier that you can heal others?"

"Ah, yeah. When I manifest the flame I can apply it to someone's body by manipulating it back into non-physical energy. It's much easier if they willingly accept it, though, otherwise I have to use extra juice and force it. Still works, though."

The baby was silent for a moment, hand on his chin again in thought.

"It truly is a unique Dying Will flame. But, like the Flame of Wrath, it can be wielded without a special material and be manifested without entering Dying Will Mode."

That said, he stood up and paced over to his probably cold coffee. He frowned down at it.

I raised an eyebrow and poorly suppressed a grin. He looked like he was pouting. "Don't like cold coffee?"

His frown deepened. "No, I don't."

I chuckled then (it wasn't a giggle).

(No, I swear.)

"Do you want me to heat it up for you?"

He made a sound under his breath that suspiciously sounded like a "tch" and turned to me. "No, it's getting late; you can have it. Maman will probably be making dinner soon. I don't want ...to..." He trailed off.

I blinked. "Uhm? Are you okay...?...Reborn?"

I reached forward cautiously and was about to poke his cheek when a bubble suddenly sprang from his nose. I snatched my hand back in surprise, staring wide-eyed at him. Then my jaw nearly dropped as a little snore escaped from him.

...

...

"Oh, my," Hina chimed.

I couldn't help but nearly double over trying to suppress my laughter, forcefully silent, and I new my face was instantaneously red. I slapped my hand over my mouth but soon ran out of breath and had to gasp in air. I nearly wheezed in my desperation to remain silent, but oh man was that funny.

"He was going to leave because he was tired!" I had tears in my eyes. "Oh, man, Hina, I haven't laughed that hard in..." I sobered somewhat, wiping my eyes. "...In years."

I could sense her smiling gently, sadly, in her own way. I sighed in contentment.

I looked out at the nearing sunset. "It is getting a little late, though." I glanced at Reborn, fast asleep while standing. I heaved a sigh. "...I'm going to have to take him to Tsuna's house, aren't I." It wasn't a question.

I lightly clapped the kotatsu with my palms and got to my feet.

"Come on you two," I smiled at the small animals who had been in companionable silence with their respective humans for hours. Hina quickly climbed up my pant leg and shirt and onto my shoulder. She seemed to motion with her head at Leon. He seemed to tilt his head in thought.

I kneeled down and held my hand out to him, palm up. He froze and flicked his tongue out, sniffing me. He tilted his head at me. I tilted mine back. He seemed to meet my eyes for a moment.

He then proceeded to crawl onto my hand.

I grinned widely at him as he scurried up my arm and onto my unoccupied right shoulder. I giggled (I admit it this one time, alright?) at him and looked down to the sleeping Reborn.

Sighing one more time just out of principle, I gently scooped him up and tried to hold him in a way that wasn't actually cradling him; I thought that might be a little demeaning to him, although it was kind of hard.

I got him settled and padded to the door. I shouldered Reborn's weight (babies are heavier than one might think) and grabbed the house key off of the kitchen counter. Stepping (and nearly tripping) over the little step in entrances that Japanese homes so love and struggled into my shoes. I left the building and locked up. I glanced down at my temporary charge and huffed a little.

"You're lucky I know where Tsuna lives, kid."