Disclaimer: I don't own Katekyo Hitman Reborn!, it's characters, or the song used to write this chapter.
I still own Isabell and my friend's soul.


Chapter 7
[Dressed to Kill]

Isabell stood at the edge of the fields closest to the garden, going through the slow practiced motions of Tai Chi, eating an English muffin smothered in blackberry jam. Her short hair had been clipped slightly more out of her face than usual - revealing a full eye-and-a-half as opposed to the normal one - and was held in place by her precious circlet. She was waiting as patiently as she could for Squalo to make his morning trip to the field, and trying as hard as she could to forget her minor slip-up the night before. Her movements fell out of time as the memory floated back to the surface. Clucking her tongue, she sat cross-legged near a well-maintained rose bush and finished her small snack. The loose jeans she wore doubled as a nice cushion against the hard earth. For once, she didn't look like she'd been raised in an luxurious estate: faded black jeans, flat skateboard sneakers, a deep violet tank top, and a hoodie with its sleeves torn off and the hood up to keep the sun out of her eyes. She could've passed a student were it not for the wing-shaped swords strapped to her waist.

An opening door snapped her attention to the building just in time to see Squalo and Lussuria making their way toward the field. Jumping lightly to her feet, she quickly walked over to the two senior Varia members.

"Captain Squalo?" She asked innocently, a gentle smile painting her face. He immediately whipped around to face her, holding his weapon a mere inche from her nose.

"What do you want, psycho brat?" He obviously hadn't forgotten about her playful little backhand when they first met. Bell's little smile didn't falter as she motioned to the blades at her sides and began to slide on a pair of fingerless gloves.

"Lessons maybe? Perhaps to blow off a little steam after an... incident... last night?" The expression on the older man's face changed instantly from one of agitation to one of mild amusement. He grabbed her roughly by the back of her hoodie and shoved her in the direction of the field.

"Be gentle with her!~" Lussuria called after them, "I heard Boss might have another assignment for her soon!" Bell groaned. Another job with that infuriating brat? Clucking her tongue, she drew her swords and rotated them comfotably in her hands - barely crossing them in front of her face in time to catch the captain's blade between her own. The man hadn't wasted a second. Her gentle smile quickly evaporated as she pushed him away and followed up with a charging attack of her own: jumping into the air and once again catching her crossed blades on his weapon. As she adjusted her blades in an attempt to toss him to the side, he threw her across the field with a strong motion of his arm - sending her skidding across the grass.

Using her momentum, she sprung back to her feet and righted herself for a second charge. Squalo appeared to have the same idea, and their swords clashed together loudly at the field's approximate center.

"You're holding back." She noted plainly, pressing slightly harder on her weapons.

"I don't want you snapping like you did with Bel." He growled, maintaining even pressure on his sword. She flashed him a two-second sadistic smile.

"I wouldn't dream of it." She answered cooly, sweeping her leg across the grass and kicking Squalo's feet out from under him. Unfortunately as he fell, his empty hand closed around her shoulder - pulling her to the grass with him. She couldn't help but laugh as she landed roughly on her shoulder, earning a cold glare from the captain. Apparently, she wasn't supposed to have fun when trying to keep from killing someone else. The older male opened his mouth to say something, but was stopped short by a silver knife flying just past the end of his nose. Both combatants turned a cold glare to an empty but open window as Bell plucked the knife from the dirt. It was nearly identical to the one bearing Belphegor's first message: a tiny roll of paper once again tied to the weapon's hilt.

"VOOOI! What the hell was that?" With a sigh, Bell untied the small piece of paper and carefully unrolled the delicate sheet in her hands. It was written in the same elegant cursive and deep red ink as the first, this one telling her that Xanxus wanted to speak with the two of them. She rolled her eyes and gave Squalo a gentle pat on the shoulder.

"I'm afraid we need to stop playing now." She teased, hurrying back in the direction of the mansion, "Maybe you could teach me something useful later." Glancing over her shoulder, she flashed the shocked man a playful smile before slipping back inside.

-X-x-X-x-X-x-X-

She entered Xanxus' room slowly, prepared for any and all objects that he may throw in her direction. Much to her surprise, and relief, nothing came flying in her direction at all. She bowed to her former body guard and smiled softly at him as he handed her a folder, which she opened immediately. It looked to be more wet work, but this one had an entertaining little twist: she was to go to a rather lavish party, and was required to dress as her status entitled... with Belphegor. The pair of hidden eyes she felt staring over her shoulder narrowed.

"We're going as a couple?" She nearly spat in disgust, but she knew better.

"Yes. You are. The target won't invite just anyone to his get togethers." From the inside of his coat, Xanxus produced two red velvet envelopes trimmed with gold lace and tossed them to her, "When I mentioned a royal pair, she couldn't write these fast enough." A cruel, dark smirk flashed across his face. Isabell continued to flip through the pages, catching the envelopes calmly in one hand and handing one to her partner as she read the details. There were several targets this time - most of which were old associates of her father's - and all of them were conveniently attending the same party. Six targets were listed in all, including the host of the party, and all needed to be taken care of quietly. Giving her boss a quick nod, she turned on her heel and hurried out of the room to pack. She paused for less than a second at the door.

"A question, if you don't mind."

"What." The venom in his tone made her head duck slightly.

"Is the dress code necessary? I left all of my gowns and frilly things back at father's summer home." She hated her status enough as it was, dressing the part and acting it would be enough to kill her.

"Lussuria can take care of it." Sighing, she nodded again and hurried out of the room toward the stairs, her nose still buried deep in the contents of the file she'd been given. It gave photos and details on the four men and two women that her father had kept closest to him, as well as all of their tastes and habits. Whoever had been gathering information on them had been doing it for quite some time. She smirked to herself. They were little more than a few more ties that needed severing; Xanxus had saved her a lot of wasted free time this way.

Something collided with the back of her head as she turned to enter her room, and sent her staggering slightly forward. One hand shot straight to the back of her head to check for any bleeding while the other dropped into her pocket for a weapon as she turned around. Fran was leaning casually against the railing by the stairs, whistling quietly to himself. Her eyes narrowed slightly at him. Was that a cranberry muffin sitting on the floor? Had he just thrown a muffin at her? She scooped it up off the carpet and stared at it for a second. Yes, it was indeed a muffin. Before she could retort, Big Sis came skipping up the stairs. Rolling her eyes, she took the muffin with her into her room, idly waving for the flamboyant man to follow.

"I see Fran brought you the breakfast you didn't eat.~" She shook her head slowly.

"Yeah... Great. Xanxus said you could help me with my 'clothing problem'?" He nodded and dropped several large bags of fabric and other assorted supplies onto the table. While he began to take measurements and gush about how beautiful her dress was going to look, she tuned him out and opened the invitation she'd been given. As expected, it had been written on beautiful stationary in the careful pen strokes of practiced calligraphy. It had been almost two years since she'd gone to any of the upper class parties she'd been invited to, and she'd almost forgotten how beautiful the invites could be.

Miss Isabell, - the writer lost points for using her proper name right away - It's been so long since I've seen your beautiful face. I've been informed that you've finally found your long-sought prince as well. It'd be an honor if you'd both attend my little get together: Friday night at dusk. We can hardly wait to meet him.

It was personalized and signed by Lavinia, a woman she scarcely remembered meeting sometime around her twentieth birthday. She was in charge of her father's less than savory mafia connections, which meant she'd at least prove to be more of a challenge than the last man. The fact that she used the word 'we' was mildly disheartening. His connections obviously had yet to hear of his... unfortunate passing. Her chain of thought was broken by a pin jabbing her in the side. Whipping around to see what Lussuria could possibly have wanted, she saw the beginnings of an amazing dress resting on a tailor's form. It was strapless with a corset top and room for some kind of trim. There was a long split on the left side of the front, and the bottom had the beginnings of what looked like an elegant feather trim. Seperate bell-style sleeves were laid out on the bed, and were equally unfinished. The dress looked like something out of a dark fairy tale: form fitting to the hips, and flowing the rest of the way.

"Where you're working with Bel, I thought scarlet would be an appropriate color. What do you think?~" He beamed as he began to add the trim to the sleeves and corset: a combination of feathers in black and varying shades of red. She couldn't help but gasp quietly.

"It's gorgeous..." She ran a hand down the soft fabric in mild awe as he finished adding the trim.

"Well, don't just stand there drooling you silly girl, try it on.~ I want to make sure I got it right." Nodding, she gently took the dress in her arms and rushed into the bathroom to change. She did so in under two minutes, unclipping the usual half of her bangs and making sure the sleeves were properly in place before stepping back into the room. He applauded what he saw and motioned for her to step up on a stool for him to finish with the skirt's bottom trimming. The dress would limit her to only being able to carry a few knives, but that would surely be better than nothing at all.

"Sis, you're amazing, you know that?" He gave her a bashful wave and handed her a pair of black stilletto heels. Putting them on seemed to complete his idea, causing him to grab her by the wrist and pull her out into the hall before she could protest. She was dragged two doors down the hall and groaned quietly as she realized exactly what was going on. He knocked lightly on the door.

"Oh Bel.~ Are you decent in there yet?" The faint sound of the door unlocking was the only answer he received. Smiling broadly, he opened the door and motioned toward her. "What do you think?~"

He was wearing a well-tailored, and very expensive black suit over a red shirt. The top three buttons were still undone, and he'd yet to put his precious little tiara back in the safety of his hair. She couldn't figure out if he was staring or glaring at her, but from the way his mouth hung slightly open she assumed the former. He seemed to quickly regain his composure, turning to the two of them and bringing a hand to his chin in almost comical contempaltion. A wide grin quickly spread across his face and he gave the older man a nod.

"I told you red was her color." Her eye narrowed. Somehow, she knew Lussuria hadn't chosen scarlet on his own. The ring on her finger sparked with mild agitation.

"And you were right.~ I just wanted you to see the finished result. Isn't she dazzling?" This time, Isabell couldn't help but smack her forehead.

"Sis... You can stop now. Really. I don't have self confidence problems." She shooed him away and took a comfortable postion against the wall opposite of the open door. How on earth was she going to make the others believe they were a couple? They could barely even be in the same hallway without some kind of knife fight happening, let alone be within arm's reach for any amount of time. She glowered at him, trying to think of something - anything - to make this work. Her stare shifted to the floor in deep thought, closing her ears off to the sound of his approach.

"Can you act your part?" He asked mockingly. Those buttons were still bothering her. Rolling her eyes, she fastened two of them - leaving the rest at the top undone for the usual appeal - as her own way of answering.

"As much as I don't want to, yes." She growled, "It's you I'm worried about. You have the manners of a rabid hyena." Turning her back to him, she began to walk toward the stairs, her mind already cranking out back up plans for when - not if, but when - their ruse failed. The only question was which one of them would wind up blowing their cover. An arm wrapping around her stomach and a hand on her shoulder ground her planning to a halt.

"I can be convincing if I need to." She felt her face heat up slightly, wondering if he'd figured out that close contact bothered her. The hand on her shoulder drifted along her spine. That certainly answered that question. Her right hand gently grabbed his wrist and freed herself from his grip, she hesitated for a split second before hurrying downstairs. Ciela's voice was already nagging her about the hesitation in movement as she exited the building and slid into her seat for the ride there. Uncapping a travel sized lipstick, she occupied herself for a few moments in an attempt to shut the annoying voice out.

A voice that questioned why she'd gotten so cold the second she escaped his grasp.


Author's Note: Well, it's been a little bit since I've updated, and I apologize for that. What happens next is more than likely going to be spread over the next couple of chapters: I can promise you a lot of blood, and a flicker of Bel's act not going quite the way he planned. As always, I look forward to reviews (none of that 'you suck' BS. It's a waste of time and energy).

Song used for this chapter:
- Shut Me Up by Mindless Self Indulgence (for the sparring session)
- Fake It by Seether (for the remainder of the chapter)