I.

Hibari Masaki was a no-nonsense type of woman – she had to be seeing as how she not only she juggled the lives of dozens, if not hundreds, of people registered at Namimori's only general hospital; she also had to balance her hectic work life with raising her young son as well as dealing with whatever situation arose whenever her husband decided to crack down on the 'useless and weak-willed pieces of garbage that polluted the tranquility and beauty of Namimori' (his exact words) – though her son had been contributing more often with his patrols of the town in order to 'herd the herbivorous herbivores that lacked any direction and ambition' (again, his exact words).

Usually the results of their actions meant that her staff would be working overtime and she as well – which lead her into a spiral of wanting to be able to spend more time with her family yet not being able to seeing as how she had to deal with the fallout that her dear family created.

And let's not get into the fact that the aforementioned fallout had nothing to do with the fact that her Clan also dealt with the more shadowy and illegal side of the world.

"You seem a bit stressed, Masaki-chan. Perhaps you should take a few weeks off like me!"

Masaki leveled a wholly unimpressed stare at the latest visitor to her office-away-from-work. "… And exactly whose fault is that?"

Her visitor grinned and sank languidly into the sofa that he had draped himself over upon his arrival. "Well, at least you're hearing the news straight from me instead of discovering that tidbit of information from another source, right?"

"Of course," Masaki drawled lowly, turning her attention back towards her computer and resuming her previous action of typing away at her keyboard, "because discovering that the Head of the Tachibana clan is visiting a supposedly civilian household and staying at that household for an undetermined amount of time in my Clan's area of jurisdiction and learning that a supposedly civilian child is not only in possession of Sky Flames but that my son has been manipulated into-"

"Don't you think that the word 'maniupulated' has a bit too much negative connotation to use in this situation?"

"-looking after that civilian Sky and potentially becoming a Guardian – of all things – to that civilian Sky is nothing more than a 'tidbit' of information."

"Well, I'm glad that you and I are in agreement on that then!"

"Tachibana Ryuunosuke…"

Ryuunosuke held up his hands placatingly and said, "I'm just joking, Masaki-chan!"

Masaki narrowed glare lingered on the relaxed form of the brunet before softening slightly. "… I assume that you didn't come all the way to my personal office just to inform me about trivial matters like that."

A bark of laughter bubbled out of Ryuunosuke's throat. "Ha! You haven't changed a bit if you can call learning about a young Sky a 'trivial matter', Masaki-chan!"

"It is a trivial matter," the dark-haired woman countered, "no matter what machinations you've put in place, Ryuunosuke, it's highly improbable that my son will Bond with the Sky you've discovered seeing as how none of my Clan even knew about this young Sky's existence before today."

"Heh~ Are you implying that the Sky I've discovered is weak?"

"That is precisely correct. Of course, I cannot deny the fact that Skies – much less a civilian one – are a rarity, however, as you no doubt felt in your brief encounter with my son, my son is no ordinary Cloud. He is gifted with highly potent and oftentimes volatile Flames which will require an equally potent and powerful Sky to accept and cherish him."

"But I haven't even gotten to the best part yet, Masaki-chan," the brunet said as he crossed his long legs and tilted his head back to rest comfortably on one of the sofas' armrests, "this Sky is my nephew!"

"That doesn't necessarily mean that his Flames will be strong."

"And, hehas the blood of the Vongola running through his veins."

For the first time in twenty-eight years, Hibari Masaki made a typo on the document she was transcribing.

Withdrawing her hands from her keyboard and turning her chair slightly, the dark-haired woman placed her full attention on Ryuunosuke.

"… You have my attention, Ryuunosuke."

"… That part of you hasn't changed either, huh, Masaki-chan? You dismissing anything and everything that doesn't pique your interest, that is." Ryuunosuke swung his legs off their perch on the sofas' other armrest and twisted the upper half of his body upwards so that he was properly sitting up-right. He closed his eyes and smiled. "How typical of a Traditional Cloud."

"Speak, Ryuunosuke."

The brunet's grinned sharpened. "Here's my plan, Masaki-chan…"

II.

Masaki stared unblinkingly at the spot that Ryuunosuke had been sitting in hours ago – the tea that a servant had brought to her had gone cold long ago.

For a long while, she didn't move as her mind dismantled and processed everything that Ryuunosuke had told her.

'My… has it been so long since our last conversation that I've forgotten just how truly terrifying and brilliant Tachibana Ryuunosuke is…?'

With a shake of her long mane and a small smile, Masaki reached over her desk and punched in a seven-digit number into her home office phone.

"Good evening, Yamamoto-san. Is now a good time to talk?"

Short update is short.

I really don't know where I'm taking this story so if you guys have any suggestions or want to see something happen, please let me know via PM or review!