A/N: I think I should stop putting "Next Chapter" titles at the end of each chapter. I keep changing the titles! ._. I'm sorry I didn't reply to anything. In the middle of exam week right now. Two more exams to go! :D

Thank you to DarkRoadHina, ausumist, DatAznKid, Chocolate Ribbons, hiyomi, worldwithoutend, Sheepoa, MoyaMetalDango13, midnight(.)wolf62 for reviewing! As always, it is much appreciated! :D

Thanks to Hitsugaya's GreenEyes for beta-reading!

Warning: OOCness abounds!

Possession
Chapter 6: Nonexistence

Hibari was first aware of the unfamiliarity of the bed under him. The second thing he noticed was a blurry shadow hovering over him. He acted on his reflexes. He grabbed the figure and flipped them over so they were lying on the bed underneath him.

"...Herbivore," he growled when he registered it was the girl. He noted the straight face she had on and raised an eyebrow. The instances when she showed no reaction to their close proximity were beginning to grate on him. Had he been wrong about his assumption? Sometimes she was afraid of him and other times, she wasn't.

He wanted her to fear him again.

"Eeh..." Masami struggled under Hibari's weight. "Could you get off me?" He had trapped her hands to her side so she couldn't push him away. Masami could feel the circulation to her hands being cut off by the prefect's vice grip on her wrists. She looked sullenly at him. Her eye twitched as he purposely put more weight on her.

"G-get off!" she yelled, turning a furious shade of red.

Hibari paused and looked at her flushed face thoughtfully. Then he let go. She immediately rolled off the bed, landing with an audible thump on the ground.

"Ow..." Masami said as she rubbed her back. Hibari ignored her and sat up. He felt the pain on his torso and looked down. He was slightly bemused by the bandages wrapped around his chest. They were wrapped quite badly though.

Masami had gotten up and saw the furrow in his brow. "We're in my home. I patched up your wounds," she explained. The girl held herself akimbo and glared down. "Why did you go ahead and do something so stupid?" And then drag me into it... she added silently. She was 100% sure none of the other members had to bring Hibari into their home.

"..." Hibari looked away and chose instead to examine the tray of food she was holding.

"Hey!" Masami frowned. Rude... Masami pursed her lips. He wasn't going to answer her. Grr... "A-anyway, you also have a fever," she remarked. "It'd be best if you stayed-" She was interrupted by him standing up. Hibari refused to stay in this place under a herbivore's care. "Wait a minute..." Masami pulled on his bare arm. He gave her a scornful glare. She flinched, but didn't let go.

"You're really hurt," she said as she started pulling him back to the bed. She noticed he was too weak to shake her off. Exactly my point! Hibari grunted and began to start for the door. Masami's eyes widened as she felt herself being dragged by his sheer force and willpower.

Why... She frowned and dug her nails into his arm unconsciously. Hibari turned to face her then. She blinked at his reproachful glare and the noticed the crescent-shaped marks on his toned arm. Masami let go quickly.

"Oops. Erm. Sorry." Masami scratched the back of her head. Her eyes focused on Hibari's own. "Is it really that bad? To rely on someone?" She tilted her head, curious.

Hibari sneered. "I'm not weak like you."

He probably didn't mean to sincerely hurt her with his words. It was just another one of his words that shouldn't have meant anything to her, but his words cut deep.

It's all your fault. If you hadn't been so weak...

Masami breathed in deeply, dispelling the sadness in her heart and the lump in her throat. She was sure her eyes were now a little red, but it was dark. Hibari wouldn't be able to see. Her mouth was set in a grim line of determination. She'd have to try another angle to convince Hibari to stay! Masami took a deep breath. All right...

"Your clothes are in the wash. You're going to go out like that?" she asked, pointing to his bandaged chest.

...Checkmate, Hibari. Checkmate.

Hibari slapped her hand away and stalked towards the door. Masami stared at his back, gaping. He's acting really... She let out a small laugh. Crap. She slapped her hand over her mouth, realizing her mistake, but it was too late. His hand was on the knob as he turned back.

"What's so funny, herbivore?" he growled.

Masami stared for a moment, then grinned at the frowning prefect. "Never knew you were such an exhibitionist, Hibari-san," she said coyly, referring to the fact he was shirtless.

Hibari looked at her for a brief moment, expressionless. Then he smirked.

...

"OW!" she screeched. The force of his smack on her head really hurt. "What was that for!" Instead of answering, Hibari hit her again with his fist, wishing his tonfas were with him. Then he could do some real damage. The herbivore must have put it somewhere.

"OW! Quit it!" Masami whined. She glared up at him, brown eyes flashing. At least he's staying. She now wasn't sure whether that was a good thing or not. Masami continued her explanation bitterly while he was still paying attention.

"It'll take a while for your clothes to dry since I don't have a dryer. You may have to stay here for the night..." She trailed off, realizing she didn't want Hibari in her apartment for an entire night. The bastard would probably kill her in her sleep. She blinked up at the frowning prefect. "...Actually, can you leave? It's not that cold out really." Hibari looked behind her out the window to see the first snowfall of the year. "If you run home, you'll be fine. I'll bring your clothes to school tomorrow."

Hibari hit her again.

"..." She swore this was the last time she'd save him from freezing to death. Should have just left him in that alley... Masami rubbed her head, tears spurting from her eyes."CAN YOU STOP HITTING ME!"

He frowned. "Herbivore..." Hibari looked down at her exasperated half-lidded eyes and flushed cheeks as she glared up at him. He paused and then looked away. "Go get me some aspirin, herbivore."

"Huh...?" She blinked. He had just commanded her to get him something. Ungrateful! So ungrateful! She wanted to hit him, but wasn't that stupid.

"I'm your subordinate, not your slave!"

"Where am I..." Masami heard herself asking. She was in a large room. The walls and ceiling were a dreary grey. It was amazing she could even see what colour the room was. It was that dark. She looked around wearily. This place. She vaguely recognized it. How long ago? What was this?

Masami stiffened as she heard the quick breathing a few feet from her, the person most likely against the wall. She bit her lip as she heard the shuddering inhales of the stranger. The person was having a difficult time breathing. It was only when she heard the cough that Masami realized it was a child. Her eyes widened. Why was a kid in a place like this...? Immediately, she started for the direction of the child. She had only been here for five minutes and Masami already understood that wherever she was, it couldn't be a good place for anyone to be in, let alone a child.

BANG!

Masami froze as she heard a series of bangs against the adjacent wall, followed by a loud yell. She heard the child gasp as a door against the adjacent wall was pushed open with a dramatic bang against the wall.

"Nice gorilla voice," a female voice said sarcastically from outside the room. Masami squinted her eyes at the sudden invasion of light. "Is that supposed to power you up or something?"

She blinked slowly, adjusting to the light. She could finally see clearly. The room wasn't as large as she had thought. It was grey and depressing though. A bed was propped up against one corner with a toilet beside it and a sink on top of the toilet, much like the set-up found in a prison cell. Masami blanched. That had to be a bit unsanitary? Masami turned to look at the child only to pale quickly. She could clearly see the bright-coloured hair and eyes of the young girl as the kid looked out the door, wide-eyed. Masami couldn't see from her position what the girl was looking at outside the door, but she already knew.

She already knew what was going to happen next.

"You're scaring her," a guy's voice scolded half-heartedly.

Masami couldn't breathe. This voice...

She watched, frozen stiff, as the scene unfolded before her. A boy in his teens walked into the room and stood in front of the young girl before kneeling down.

"Yep, this is her." He proceeded to pick up the girl who was too weak to resist.

"Finally..." the female sighed. "Let's go. This took too long. You so owe me for this." The teenage boy never once took his eyes off of the child's own glassy orbs as he carried her in his arms to the door. "Aa..." The girl in turn never broke his gaze.

"It's because of your mother that we came for you," he said gently to the girl. Masami stepped back. The three didn't hear her echoing footsteps nor the thump when her back hit the wall behind her. She must have been like a ghost to them. These were her memories after all. Her palms were sweaty and she felt nauseous all of a sudden.

It couldn't be...

The bed was too soft.

Hibari couldn't sleep. He wasn't used to this annoying lack of firmness under his back. He also wasn't used to his nose being invaded by a feminine smell and an artificial flowery smell from most likely detergent. To say he was restless and irritated was an understatement. Hibari sat up silently and looked out the window. It was still snowing. Heavily too. He scowled and got off the bed to head to the door.

Hibari was silent as he padded out to the small apartment. He frowned distastefully as he looked around. It was cramped, not because of the minimal things in the apartment, but more so that the apartment was so tiny that one couldn't walk around without having to squeeze past things every once in a while. A light snort made Hibari stiffen. Guardedly, he walked to the source of the noise only to scowl when he realized it was the girl, sleeping on the uncomfortable-looking couch. She rolled over, a small frown on her features.

...

Hibari leaned down until his silky strands of hair touched Masami's face. Other than a twitch of the nose, she didn't stir. Impulsively, he brushed a long lock of brown hair out of her face. He grabbed a bunch of her hair to run his hand through it.

"...Rei..." Masami muttered softly as she rolled again. Her features softened and she now had a small smile on her face.

Hibari's eyes narrowed. A man's name? He unconsciously pulled on the brown locks and ignored the small yelp she gave.

The emotion snaking around inside of him wasn't good at all.

"Herbivore..."

"Hm?" Masami grunted grumpily. She looked to him cautiously with bleary eyes as they made their way to school. She yawned for the umpteenth time. She hadn't gotten a lot of sleep. Hibari scrutinized Masami's attire carefully. She looked down. Yes, a coat to keep out the cold. What was wrong with that?

"Why are you wearing the male uniform?" He'd been meaning to ask the girl ever since she had enrolled, but had never gotten a chance too. Now that they were walking to school together -if you could count Masami staying a far distance from Hibari walking "together"- he could finally ask the reason.

"Because..." Yawn. "the school didn't have any more girl uniforms in my size. It doesn't matter anyway," she muttered out. She stomped ahead of him just so she wouldn't see his raised eyebrow. Yeah, she knew she was weird. What girl wouldn't want to wear a cute little skirt? Apparently, she was the odd one out. Masami was so tired and miffed that she didn't see the thin sheet of ice on the ground and slipped.

"UWAGH!" she cried out as she fell forward. Her book bag was emptied of its contents as she crashed down. She felt Hibari walk past her as she blew some stray strands of brown hair out of her eyes. She thought she heard an amused chuckle from him as he went past her, but dismissed it. Hibari wasn't the type to laugh (out loud) at people's misfortunes. An embarrassed Masami was glad Hibari walked past her. She wouldn't have let him help her up anyway (Not that he was going to...).

Her pride was slowly being destroyed in front of this guy.

"Woman, slow down!" Gokudera snarled. Masami frowned as she chewed on the latest piece of sushi that she'd stuffed into her mouth. Her cheeks were full of sushi from stuffing a lot into it like a squirrel with acorns in its mouth. It was lunch break. Yamamoto had kindly brought enough sushi for all of them to eat for their meal, which Masami had accept with readiness, even going as far as hugging Yamamoto tightly. Everyone but her had seen Yamamoto's slightly pinkened cheeks as she embraced him. Masami coughed, choking on a bit of sushi. Yamamoto patted her back, laughing merrily. That seemed to dislodge the piece of food. She gave a small thank you to him.

She glared at Gokudera soon afterwards. "Bwy bould whi?" she shot back, spewing rice on Gokudera. He flicked away a piece of rice on his cheek, irritated.

"Your horrible manners are spoiling my and Juudaime's appetite!" He retorted angrily.

"Actually Gokudera-kun, I'm okay-"

"Really...? Sorry Tsunayoshi-kun." Masami wiped the back of her mouth with her sleeve and grudgingly stopped stuffing Yamamoto's delicious sushi into her mouth. Gokudera huffed angrily. "It's just that I haven't eaten since yesterday." Hibari had actually eaten my dinner...

Tsuna's eyebrows raised. "EH? Really?" His eyes furrowed. "Why not?"

She shrugged. "No money." She smiled. "I'm a bit... poor." She picked up another piece of sushi and popped it into her mouth. All three boys stared at her.

Tsuna was the first to break the silence. "WHAT? Masami-san! Isn't that kind of... bad?" he screeched.

"Ahaha. What about your parents?" Yamamoto laughed.

Masami swallowed. "Heh. It's fine, Tsunayoshi-kun. I can last a long time without food."

What do you mean! You're practically inhaling Yamamoto's sushi, Tsuna cried out inwardly.

The girl looked down thoughtfully, bangs hiding her eyes. "As for my guardian, she doesn't give me a lot of money." Tsuna frowned, noticing she had indirectly avoided Yamamoto's question, but made no comment. Ever the sensitive person he was, Gokudera blinked and raised an eyebrow.

"Are you being abused or something?" he asked bluntly.

Tsuna squealed as the piece of sushi in Masami's fingers were squashed in her fist. For the first time, Tsuna saw Masami freak out. "She's doing it because she likes seeing me suffer!" Masami flailed her hands angrily. "That's why all I've been eating these last few days was cabbage and instant noodles! It's horrible!" Before Tsuna could even shriek, he was smacked on the back of the head by Masami.

S-she's stronger than she looks! "HIIIE! Masami-san!" Tsuna cried out helplessly. Yamamoto could barely restrain Gokudera back from throwing his dynamite.

Tsuna's cries snapped the girl out of it. Masami blinked and her eyes focused on the face of the dizzy boy. "Ah, sorry, Tsunayoshi-kun!" She quickly let go and carefully patted Tsuna's now-wrinkled uniform, smiling uneasily. "Sorry, sorry," she repeated. Ugh.

"What the hell, woman?" Gokudera yelled. He still had dynamite in his hands. "What was that for?"

Masami rubbed the back of her head. "That was... me... venting?" she replied lamely.

Yamamoto grinned. "Ahahaha. I've heard that's very good for releasing anger."

Masami smiled. "Yes! I feel much better now. Thank you, Tsunayoshi-kun." She pursed her lips and frowned. "Sorry though. I thought you were Akane-san for a moment."

Akane-san must be her guardian. Their relationship doesn't seem to be that good though..., Tsuna concluded nervously. "N-no problem. It's the least I can handle after you saved me from the tree- HIIE! Put out your dynamite, Gokudera-kun!" Tsuna gestured frantically at Gokudera, who had raised a hand full of dynamite at the flabbergasted Masami. Said boy grunted and reluctantly put them out.

Yamamoto smiled. "Ahaha... Why don't you talk to her about giving you more money to pay for some food anymore?" He gave the rest of his lunch to Masami, who grinned at him in thanks.

"Oh, well..." She quickly swallowed the food in her mouth, ignoring the disgusted face on Gokudera's face, and looked thoughtfully at the sky.

"I don't know where she is."

"Sign these," were followed by a slam of papers on the hard wooden desk. Hibari looked up to see Masami standing above him expectantly, arms crossed. He stared at the huge stack of papers and then at Masami. He was doing it again. Looking at her clothes. Masami was almost tempted to wear a girls' uniforms just so he would stop staring at her.

She glared. "Hibari-san."

His gaze sharpened. Hibari glanced at the pile before pushing them away. "Later."

Masami gaped. That wouldn't do. "I need them today, Hibari-san."

"I'll take care of it." He was passive about the situation and that made her worried.

She pursed her lips, but said nothing. His definition of "taking care of something" was threatening some people, followed by bodily harm. She was too tired to even attempt to reprimand him.

Oh yeah...

He watched as she reached into her pants pocket and pulled out a familiar red-gold armband. His eyes narrowed. His armband. He didn't have to question her.

"You left it at my home," Masami explained. She pointed to the armband he was wearing now. "The head prefect should abide by his own rules." Before Masami had been accepted into the committee properly, she was forced to learn the rules that applied to the members. As she could recall, it was unacceptable to lose one's armband in any circumstance. She smiled sweetly.

"You're breaking your own rules."

Masami felt elated as he snatched the armband from her outstretched hand, meanwhile glaring at her. She had bested him in his own game. Masami sighed inwardly. Now if only she could bite him to death. She smiled softly as he put it on though. "I won't tell anyone, Hibari-san." She put a finger to her mouth just to emphasize her point. Hibari turned away from her to open his desk drawer.

Her eye twitched.

She had just been ignored, right?

The crinkling of plastic made her blink, curious. She thought he was getting his tonfas (and was ready to bolt), but that didn't seem to be the case. Her eyes widened as a flick of his wrist flung the package into her chest. Masami caught it, albeit clumsily. It was a girls' uniform of the school.

"...Why?" Masami asked, confused. She had even specifically told him she was okay with wearing a boys' uniform.

Hibari scoffed. "Females should wear the corresponding uniform. Besides..." Masami twitched as Hibari looked at her and smirked. "...students must be able to differentiate that you're a female in my committee." He was already miffed he had a female in the committee. If people thought he had recruited a weak-looking boy in the committee because Masami just happened to be wearing the male uniform, the committee would be thought of as weak.

Pause.

Hey... "What! I don't look anything like a boy, Hibari-san," she retorted hotly. Girl. 100% girl! She had long freaking hair! Didn't that mean something!

"Your childish looks don't differentiate between either gender."

She stamped her foot childishly. "It totally does! This here is all girl!" Masami's hands waved comically. "And I'll prove anyone wrong if they do call me a boy while I'm in pants!" She crossed her arms, determined.

"Even fully unclothing yourself?"

...

Masami blushed a pretty shade of pink as she realized the implications of "proving people wrong".

"ARGH! You! Stupid- Nngh..." her eye twitched. Masami threw her hands down, frustrated. "F-fine! I'll put on your stupid uniform." She stomped to the door and turned back to glare at the seated Hibari. "Stop smiling, you! You only won this one time! Next time is my turn!" or something to that effect, you bastard!

And with that, she slammed the door.

It wasn't that Masami didn't like wearing skirts, it's just that she wasn't used to wearing them. She pulled down the skirt to a more modest length as she adjusted the uniform. She patted down her tousled hair and winked at the mirror before looking around quickly. Good, there wasn't anyone in the washrooms. Having someone see her winking in the mirror would have been embarrassing. She twirled in a circle and smiled. She had to admit that skirts were much more easier to move in than pants.

She felt so free.

She felt herself grinning. "...Hmm... Girl clothes really are different...!"

Masami's grin then disappeared. Heh. Calm down, Masami. You're being creepy again. She took one last glance at the mirror before going out to make her way to the Reception Room with a frown on her face. Hibari had ordered her to go back to the Reception Room after she was done changing, even though she was done her duties for the day. She wondered why. Aah... must be so that my uniform is following regulations? That sort of made sense.

"Here I am!" Masami cried out enthusiastically as she slid open the doors with a dramatic flourish. She put her hands akimbo and puffed out her chest as she stared down the nonchalant Hibari. "How is it?"

"..." He put down the book he had been reading and took off his glasses. "You put your shirt on backwards."

She looked down.

Urgh...

"Right..." She marched back out, face heated and unaware of the amused expression on Hibari's face.

"Reborn, I'm thinking of inviting Masami for dinner again," Tsuna confessed sheepishly as he put down the comic he was reading. He sat up on his bed and looked at Reborn, who was polishing his spare gun.

Reborn paused for a moment. "Tsuna, don't tell me you've fallen in love with Masami..."

He blushed an impressive tomato red. "WHAGH? NO! I still like..." He lowered his voice. "Kyoko-chan."

The baby smiled. "Good. I've worked too long and hard embarrassing you in front of Kyoko for you to be changing targets." He put down the gun carefully on the table.

It took Tsuna a full minute to realize what Reborn had just said.

"WHAT? You mean...! You've been making me do weird things in front of Kyoko-chan on purpose?"

Reborn nodded. "That's right." The baby ignored his student's indignant spluttering and turned to his pupil. The baby also ignored how Tsuna's nose was bleeding from the kick he had just given to the boy's face.

Tsuna put a hand to his bloodied nose. "WVHAT WUZ TAT THOR? Veborn!" Tsuna watched, incredulous, as the baby sat himself down on the bed.

"It's weird for you to be the first one to make a move, No-good Tsuna. You aren't motivated at all," he stated. "So why?"

Tsuna stuffed a tissue into his nose and looked away from his tutor's prying eyes. "It's just that... I heard from her today that she doesn't get a lot of money from her caretaker to pay for food." He scratched the back of his head."I was hoping you could help me ask-EEK!" Tsuna shrieked as Reborn grabbed his shirt and pulled him down until he was at the baby's level.

"Reborn! What are you-!"

"What else did she tell you?" Reborn questioned, beady black eyes looking into Tsuna's own cowardly brown.

"Eh...? Nothing much. Just that her caretaker's name is Akane-something or another?" The baby was scaring him more than he usually did. Why was Reborn so interested in Masami?

Reborn reluctantly let go, but not before headbutting Tsuna just for kicks. "I was doing some research on Sakata Masami after that first early morning training session. I do it with all your subordinates, you know."

Tsuna rubbed his aching forehead. "Yeah, yeah, I know. You told me about the time Gokudera-kun had sent a store clerk into the hospital because the guy had said he was too young to be buying cigarettes." He hadn't wanted to know that at all, but Reborn had insisted on telling him. "And Masami-san is NOT my subordinate. How many times do I have to tell you, Reborn?"

Reborn sighed. "Learn to accept my choices, Tsuna. It'd be a lot less painful for you if you did."

W-was that a threat? He gulped and chose to ignore Reborn's remark.

"So..." he started unenthusiastically. "What did you find out about Masami-san?" He knew Reborn would tell him sooner or later. Might as well be now rather than later. He hoped it was something normal. Maybe that Masami liked pink? Unicorns? Something normal. Pleaaase...

Reborn tipped his hat to cover his face. Tsuna raised an eyebrow at the frown on the baby's covered face.

"Absolutely nothing. I couldn't find anything on a person named Sakata Masami."

Tsuna's jaw dropped. Reborn's feared stalking abilities hadn't worked?

The boy frowned. "Nothing?"

"Yep. It's like the girl, Sakata Masami, doesn't exist."

A/N: And that's the big (anticlimactic) secret of Reborn from chapter 4. :) Thanks for reading! It'd put me over da mooon if you left a review to tell me what you thought about this chapter. Your reviews fuel my passion to write.

Next Chapter: Disappearance