XXXI.

Fuuta sits pensively by Setsu's side.

For all intents and purposes, it looked like the raven-haired girl had merely fallen asleep. Even breaths, calm expression, small fingers delicately folded over each other on top of her stomach.

Sleeping.

…

… If only that was the truth.

He hadn't really understood all of what had happened in the instant that Mukuro's flames swirled around Setsu's body and she suddenly collapsed, but he understood enough to know that something bad had happened to Setsu, and it was his fault because he didn't want to go with Mukuro.

He didn't want to go with Mukuro.

He didn't want to go with Mukuro, so Mukuro had gone and hurt his friend instead. What would Tsuna-nii say? What would Tsuna-nii do?

…

Fuuta knew.

He knew that imposing the Omerta on himself wouldn't be enough to deter Mukuro. Wasn't enough. Mukuro had gone and taken the rankings he'd done beforehand instead of pressing him to make new Rankings –which left him with conflicting feelings of relief and guilt. Relief, that Mukuro wouldn't try to intimidate or torture him (and Setsu) for Rankings. And guilt, because he had inadvertently placed Tsuna-nii and his friends in danger, anyways.

The young boy curled into himself miserably.

I'm scared.

XXXII.

A boat.

She's sitting in a boat.

Silver stars glow softly as they drift past her in the fathomless depths of the dark waters. Soft mist curls on the surface of the quietly lapping waves, gently brushing against her skin.

She looks up, and there it is again.

That humanoid shadow. Closer now, more distinct, and it's in the shape of a long-haired girl.

Silver hair, she thinks, and distractedly wonders how she knows that. Then she feels like an idiot for thinking so. How could she forget her own hair color?

… Wait, what?

The silver-haired girl silently raises a hand to point behind her, and she turns to look.

Pulsing waves of indigo, pushing insistently at the mist that surrounds her. Foreign. Invasion. Intrusion. And she knows, instinctively:

It doesn't belong here.

"Interesting mind you have here, Se-tsu-ko."

She doesn't like the way that Mu-ko-ro draws out each syllable of her name, and her agitation makes itself known in the form of an irritated ripple in the water.

"Or should I say… Stella Squalo?"

Two eyes appear above her in the midnight sky; one blue, one red, shining with interest and amusement.

"Do you remember me?"

Rokudo Mukuro, she breathes, and the name is echoed in the star-filled water that surrounds her. There are no stars in the sky anymore, if they were ever even truly there in the first place.

"… I've always wondered if you knew, when you taught me that trick with Mist flames that day." The eyes continue staring at her unblinkingly, and his indigo flames never stop battering against her own mist. She refuses to surrender. "You know a lot of things, Stella-san."

It's Setsuko, she replies automatically.

(… Isn't it?)

Mukuro laughs.

"Of course, Stella-san." A patronizing tone in his voice. She frowns. "How silly of me to think you would respond to that name, when that's who you are."

I am Nakamura Setsuko. Maybe I was Stella Squalo once, but no longer.

This time, there is an odd underscore of pity twisted to his mocking words.

"You never stop being someone, Stella-san. It doesn't work that way. You might be Nakamura Setsuko now, but you're also Stella Squalo in every sense of the name and the weight it carries. Denial is unbecoming of you."

And then his flames press down on her and she responds instinctively, throwing up a hand and letting her mist engulf his flames, coiling upwards until it reaches his still-gleaming eyes.

Go away.

"No," he counters smoothly, and his flames break free from her hold. She frowns. "I won't. This is a great opportunity, you know. I won't 'go away' until you–"

XXXIII.

They're staring at him.

Of course. Of course they are. Why wouldn't they? Tsuna's gaze is the most concerned –and the young brunet's lips are moving, saying something, except he can't hear, can't listen, can't process anything, because–

What?

…

Yuuto is panicking.

He's panicking, yes, but not for the reason they think he's panicking for.

"Fuuta has been kidnapped by a group of escapees from Vendicare –the prison maintained by the Vindice in our world. Setsu was with him when this happened, and as a result, was kidnapped as well."

…

Impossible.

It's impossible, except it is, and what in the world can he do if–

"-to! Yuuto!"

Tsuna. Tsuna. Tsuna.

Yuuto stumbles –and isn't it strange that it's Tsuna who reaches out a hand to steady him, instead of the other way around?

Setsu was kidnapped. Kidnapped. Setsu.

… Those two words shouldn't even belong together in a sentence together unless 'impossible' is somewhere between them, except- except-

"Calm down, Yuuto." Flickers of flames burn in Tsuna's eyes, bringing him back to reality again. Yuuto gratefully latches onto this anchor that Tsuna provides him with. "It's okay. We'll definitely save your sister and Fuuta."

Yuuto very nearly bursts into hysterical laughter at that, barely repressing the urge to seize Tsuna by his shoulders and shake the smaller boy for all he's worth. Because he's fully aware that Tsuna has no idea what he's getting into with this. This enemy is capable of bringing down some of the strongest fighters in Namimori already –for goodness sake, even Hibari disappeared from the radar after leaving on his own to seek out a confrontation with this unknown threat! That alone signified that these criminals were dangerous, and now, added onto the fact that they were able to subdue and capture his little sister…

The very same sister who knew how to kill a man before she even learned to speak…

…

He doesn't want him to go.

He doesn't want any of them to go.

He doesn't want Tsuna and the rest of his friends –his friends; goddammit he admits that he's attached to them and grimaces at the thought of seeing them hurt, any of them – Yuuto doesn't want them to throw themselves into what would doubtlessly prove to be a futile venture; an exploit that could very well result in their deaths.

Because. Really.

…

… What kind of monster must their enemy be, to be capable of kidnapping Setsuko?

XXXIV.

She's lying in a bed, bones aching and limbs heavy and there's something burning in her chest–

Blink.

She's lying in a bed, screaming and thrashing from a round of particularly gruesome nightmares–

Blink.

She's sitting in a wheelchair, smiling softly at the silver-haired boy walking next to her–

Blink.

She's sitting down in front of a table, listening to Sousei explain math problems to her–

Blink.

…

…

…

The images shift and fall around her like quicksand as the foreign indigo flames batter against her own, pressing down and surrounding her. There's a sort of cruel interest, insidious intent laced behind them –looking through her memories and gleaning what he will from them; sifting through her experiences and trying to alter them to suit his own purposes–

I helped you once, Mukuro. She reminds him. He doesn't care.

"So help me again."

… Why are you doing this? It makes you no different from the rest of the mafia.

A chilling laugh. "Who said I had to be different from the mafia? I will use whatever means necessary to achieve my goals."

So you would stoop to using the tactics of that which you seek to destroy?

The invading flames flared up once, twice.

"… You know that I wish to destroy the mafia? That I wish to destroy this flawed, corrupted world and what it stands for?"

She smiled.

Don't gaze too long into the abyss, Mukuro. A soft, soft whisper. The smile dropped from her lips. For the abyss will gaze back into you.

Raising her arms, letting the starlit waters around her surge upwards in a veritable tidal wave-

A simple warning.

Don't do this. Don't make me your enemy.

A simple response.

"Of course not, Stella-san."

…

Fire clashed against water; and indigo filled the world.

XXXV.

"Sousei, do you know where your sister is?"

The young boy looked up at his father standing in the doorway.

"Um… Yuuto said something about going out to… uh, hike, I think."

"Oh, is that so?" The man visibly relaxed, the worried lines in his face easing out into a small smile instead. "Those two. I suppose we should try to be around more often so you children can tell us things like these before they happen… say, why aren't you with them, Sousei?"

He arched an eyebrow and held up his chemistry textbook in response. His father shook his head at him.

"Learn to relax a little, okay? It's good to work hard, but don't overwork yourself."

… This is relaxing. Yuuto barely said anything before he ran out the door again –the only thing I got out of the gibberish he spouted out was to cover for him and Setsu's absence. Everything in Namimori has been so crazy lately, especially around the Sawada kid they hang out with… who knows what they're up to this time? If it has anything to do with explosives and guns again…

Sousei shuddered, before going back to his admittedly unsuccessful attempts with distracting himself via schoolwork.

We need to sit down and have a serious conversation about what they've been doing lately when they come back this time.

XXXVI.

She wakes up.

She wakes up clear-headed and in control of herself; a certain clarity in her mind that she hasn't felt for a long, long time. It's… jarring, almost. An ice-cold clarity that is-but-isn't her, and…

…

"This is a great opportunity, you know."

…

…

…

She stands up and begins walking.

XXXVII.

Tsuna isn't really sure how things got so bad so quickly.

After learning that they only defeated a fake Mukuro after finally fighting and defeating all those assassins lurking outside –that was when he'd felt the first inklings of something-gone-wrong-going-worse. Everyone was already injured from their battles; Yamamoto was down and Gokudera stubbornly limping along, Bianchi trying to hide that quiver in her legs and Yuuto looking like he could sleep for a week-

But still, they pressed on. Tsuna didn't really care about Reborn citing the Vongola Nono's orders for them to apprehend the criminals; the only reason he why was here at all was for Setsu and Fuuta. Reborn might insist that it was also a Boss' duty to protect his famiglia members, but all Tsuna knew was that he didn't want his family in danger and at the mercy of criminals.

…

They found Mukuro.

Setsu had been nowhere in sight, but Fuuta was –and somehow Mukuro had possessed the young child, forcing him to try and stab Tsuna with a trident as soon as he stepped into the room. Yuuto had shouted something before he was knocked back; everything being somewhat of a blur at that point as Bianchi went down and Yuuto collapsed and ohmygodwe'reallgonnadie–

And then Hibari had shown up with Gokudera in tow, and proceeded to 'bite Mukuro to death.'

… It should've been over by that point; everything should've been fine–

Except.

Except Hibari passed out and Mukuro shot himself and right now everyone was being possessed and he didn't want to hurt his friends but he also couldn't let Mukuro win.

Pillars of fire burst from the ground, and he let out a small, instinctive shriek–

The flames disappeared.

… Huh?

"Oh?" Mukuro arched an eyebrow using Bianchi's body, turning towards the empty doorway. Tsuna blinked in surprise. "Seems like you're much more resilient than I anticipated… but I suppose I should've expected something like this out of you, shouldn't I? Stella-san."

No. Not empty. The doorway wasn't empty.

Because Setsu was standing there, clutching at the rotting doorframe in a valiant attempt to keep herself upright as she glared.

"You," she snaps, and Tsuna watches in borderline horror-awe as she steps inside and points directly at Mukuro with a slightly trembling hand. "You have no right to try and mess with my mind."

XXXVIII.

Mukuro vaguely remembers a silver-haired girl sitting on a wheelchair.

"Miss, u-um… are you sick?"

A child's hesitance. A child's curiosity. He'd only been a child at the time.

"What makes you think that?"

"Well, you're sitting in one of the big wheelchairs, and daddy said they're for sick people. Does it hurt?"

He remembers the considering look that flitted across her face at that query. Briefly.

"Yes, I'm sick. But it doesn't hurt anymore."

"Really?"

And then Stella Squalo had proceeded to show him how to 'make the pain go away.' He'd practiced it, on his own –a Mist technique learned from a real illusionist!– and during those hellish days under his former famiglia's tender care, he'd mastered it. Thoroughly.

Sometimes, Mukuro wondered if he would've lost his sanity like the others had he not known how to 'make the pain go away.'

(… He still wasn't quite sane like normal people were, but at least he wasn't insane. Not like the rest of the children subjected to the same experiment as him, whom he'd put out of their misery the day he killed the last of the Estraneo scientists.)

Mukuro knew of the girl called Stella Squalo.

Rumors and hearsay that contradicted each other with various depictions of strength and weakness. Deception. It was hard to form an idea of what the late Lady Squalo had truly been like –had she been a helpless, sick invalid? Or had she simply been hiding her strength and biding her time, working behind the scenes?

Faust had occasionally spoken of her to Mukuro whenever he came to visit Lancia, and later for the sole purpose of tutoring Mukuro (no matter how the man himself denied it). It was through Faust that Mukuro had learned to develop and enhance the abilities he now had, and it was also through Faust that he finally caught a glimpse of what the silver-haired girl had actually been like; a glimpse of the sick girl confined to a wheelchair called Stella Squalo.

Diamond steel, unbending will.

He hadn't expected it, when taking control of the gray-eyed girl's mind –how could he? Who would've expected that there was someone else out there who had also retained their memories of a previous lifetime? Granted, those memories were scattered and she didn't seem to be quite aware of what they were, but they were still nonetheless there.

And this girl, this Nakamura Setsuko –she was Stella Squalo.

Stella Squalo. An illusionist who'd tethered herself to life for god-knows-how-long through sheer strength of will.

… He could use that tenacity.

And so he'd expended more flames than he would usually bother with into taking her mind, before focusing on other matters in front of him –it was always harder to tear down the natural defenses of another illusionist than a random passerby on the streets, and this was Stella Squalo. Setsuko was young, and hadn't quite grasped the abilities of who she once was, had been, would be.

Her potential. Or even her own identity.

It might've proved a small challenge, but it should've been easy for an illusionist of his caliber to catch her under his thrall and manipulate her for his own uses.

Just like it should've been easy to take over the mind of the Vongola Decimo.

…

"Tsuna, he's trying to trick you again! Those copies are fake! He's to your right!"

He looked at the boy. With flames burning on his hands and Stella's advice ringing in his ears, Mukuro honestly couldn't find it in himself to be surprised anymore when the strength finally fled his limbs and his body refused to move.

Defeat.

And as he lay on the ground, beaten and battered and asking for death–

"I'm not going to kill you," the hopelessly naïve, idealisticVongola Decimo shook his head innocently, but no less resolutely. "Don't ask me to do something like that."

"Oya?" Mukuro grinned, painful as the movement was. "You're an idiot, then, Sawada Tsunayoshi. I've already stated that I will possess you and use you to destroy the world –if you don't kill me now, you will never get another chance again. I'm a criminal, don't you know?"

And the foolish kid looked directly into his eyes, orange-gold flames burning deep in amber depths.

"You might be a criminal who did horrible things before, but… you're not a bad person, Mukuro."

…

And he laughed.

He laughed.

… Mukuro was still laughing when the Vindice came and took him away in chains.

XXXIX.

"Hello! You have reached No. 61, Alviss... ah. What can I do for you today, Reborn?"

"What can you tell me about Lady Stella Squalo?"

XL.

Nakamura Setsuko is a quiet girl, the youngest of three children. Setsu likes drawing and painting and tagging along with her brother to Tsuna's house. Setsu is born to ordinary parents in the small town of Namimori; her father an accountant and her mother the owner of a small pastry shop.

Setsuko is also the reincarnation of Stella Squalo.

… Does that mean that Setsu is Stella? Or does that mean that Stella is Setsu? What does all of this mean, really? Does it even matter?

Yes.

No.

… Who is she?

She's Setsu, but Setsu is Stella.

She's Stella, but Stella is Setsu.

… Is she Stella or is she Setsu? There's a difference between the two, she knows that well enough. And… sometimes it's easier to slip into the patterns that Setsu left in this body over the years, and sometimes it's easier to slide on the behaviors that Stella formed over a lifetime.

Is she both? Neither?

What is she?

No, not quite right.

Who is she?

…

…

…

"–tsu! Setsu!"

She looks up and glances out the window of her mother's pastry shop. A small smile flits across her face at what she sees. Tsuna is standing there, waving, and so are the rest of his friends.

… Well, Gokudera is scowling at an oblivious Yamamoto again, and Lambo is dragging I-pin off somewhere. Bianchi is staring at some snakes in the window of the pet shop, while her brother gives her a little wave as well.

Yuuto. She knows that something happened to him during the Mukuro Incident –he'd been acting a little odd lately, a little jumpy like the servants she had once known, almost as if he was seeing things that-

She blinked.

… Huh?

Tsuna disappeared.

Or rather, Tsuna went down in a tangle of flying limbs and startled shouts as another boy bowled into him out of nowhere, as if he'd dropped out of the sky or something –Rain flames were flaring brightly on top of the strange boy's forehead, and-

"VOI!"

Her world froze.

Silver… silver hair? Silver hair, gold eyes-

"GIVE UP, BRAT! YOU HAVE NOWHERE TO RUN ANYMORE!"

The swordsman bared an arrogant, bloodthirsty grin as he leaped down in front of them, and her heart stuttered to a stop.

.

…

.

Author's Notes:

Aaaaand we're done with the Kokuyo arc. Whew. xD Anyone looking forward to what happens next in Namimori?

IMPORTANT: A poll is up on my profile for possible pairings for Stella/Setsu. :3 Please head over and vote! The characters up there are the ones I have possible ideas about incorporating into the story, so please no nominating new characters to vote for. Sorry if you're disappointed with the choices. You may vote for TWO characters max. Yes, two. ;3 I promise it will make sense later.

The poll will be open for… well, I'm not sure how long, but I'll close it when we reach the Future arc. I'm guessing that'll take two chapters, maybe? No promises. xD

Also, there are a few possible story summaries posted on my profile, so feel free to review/PM me about those, too.

… Onwards Till Dawn has been updated since the last Canopus update, so check that out if you're interested. :D

I've gotten reviews before telling me that I've messed up the names; that Squalo is a first name and Superbi is the last name. When I started writing Polaris, I used the KHR wiki as a reference –since names were listed as 'Tsunayoshi Sawada' and 'Takeshi Yamamoto' and such, I thought 'Superbi Squalo' meant that the last name was Squalo. Didn't really notice before, but here on the fanfiction site, we have names listed as 'Tsunayoshi S.' and 'T. Yamamoto,' and 'Squalo S.'

?!

… For the sake of the story, let's just pretend that Squalo is the last name. xD I don't even know anymore, really…

QUESTION: Any predictions for how Squalo might react to Stella/Setsu? :3

Till next time, everyone. Don't forget to vote!

-XxZuiliu