Chapter 6: October 19th

Looking at the Iemitsu Sawada, jumpsuit man in front of me, I stand still with a guilty smile and hands raised in surrender. "Oh my god, Tachibana did not say anything about a creepy guy watching the school." I close my eyes and start forcing some fake tears to go along with my continued guilty hands and expression. "I am in such deep shit."

The blonde looks down to me with a cocked brow. "And why would someone be on the school grounds so late at night?"

I look left and right at the empty school lot. Then I cross my arms childishly. "I'm not saying anything."

I make sure to close my eyes and slightly turn my cheek to him. A small sniff of the air suggests his strong scent of leather, driftwood and beer.

"You know being on school grounds this late is a violation of school rules, not to mention that you defiled school property…"

"Defiled?" Like I have any idea what the word means.

The very muscled man points to the door behind me. "You broke the door."

"I found it like that." Jesus Christ Alana, do not laugh at all!

An amused curl appears at the corner of Iemitsu Sawada's lip, but he remains ornately serious in his reply. "I wonder how a young student learns such behavior?"

I sigh. "I blame it on all those violent TV shows these days… I mean, really. If I had not been up so late these last few nights watching them, I wouldn't be breaking into the school to stea—I mean to act like those vigilantes I admire so much."

The man at least a foot taller than me steps closer and reaches for me with one hand. Shit—school gate is fifty meters away to the right; the fence is ten meters in front of me.

"Ah!" I yell, smacking his hand away. Then I say, "Stranger Danger," and punch his dick as hard as I can. I'm hoping that one of his balls just explodes in the process as I run away from the falling man. I dash towards the stone wall surrounding the campus and leap. The gray barricade vanishes, as well as some of the empty lot next to it. Feet on the ground and running like hell, my presence fades advancing to the train station like Mia and I agreed upon before leaving that third floor classroom. I cross the lamp lit street and watch one lamp die out. Ugh… that is suspicious, I surmise entering the darkness of the alley. A leap to one building, taping off of it to the opposite roof, I 'm on top of the high buildings of Main Street.

That was too fucking close…

My thoughts keep repeating the phrase even as I sit at the station bench waiting for Mia. The fluorescents above attract every living bug in existence it seems, and the bugs try to mistake me for a lamp in the process. It pisses me off. The bugs also seem to like the green trashcans, too. I just breathe calmly and try to get as comfortable on the old wooden bench.

"That is so kind of thee!" I hear a familiar voice exclaim in the distance. She's not alone… she's speaking English. Not wanting to be seen by whoever is with her, in case it is someone I've recently seen, I hide behind a lit up advertisement board nearby and listen to those approaching me.

A few moments pass in near silence (thanks to buzzing lights and bugs alike), but then light footsteps of one resound. The other person is light on their toes, but not afraid to be noticed seeing as I can hear his arms sway against what sounds like a denim material. Back against the warm plastic billboard, I stop breathing and completely disappear.

"I have not received thou's name yet. My own is…"

"Thy name is Basil."

There is brief, transient silence of words but movement of bodies until the Mia says, "Farewell Basil, may thee have good fortune on thou's journey home."

The smile was clear in her tone, and her helpful counterpart, Basil, abruptly leaves the station. It's when his swaying arms can no longer be heard do I start to breathe again. Then I encroach on my cousin. Alone on the platform, she seems lost in some kind of fantasy with a ridiculously cheesy smile and a pair of sparkly eyes. I wish I had something to throw at her; that reaction would be hilarious.

Instead I think of something witty as I get within three feet of her. "Ya done planning you dream date with Basil-tan?"

After one good second Mia jerks wildly to my voice, her eyes bigger than gumballs. "Whatthehell!"

My smirk grows into grin as I add, "The height of plum-blossom viewing, one of those rental boats, you two drifting romantically in your little white dinghy eating a lunch you bought at the convenience store…"

She replies, "Thou is cruel… Thou is cruel."

I laugh evilly. This is the only way to let her think everything went okay.

I better laugh now, I might not be alive long enough to laugh more.

October 20th

There was a restful night's sleep rudely interrupted—mine—by an unwanted phone call somewhere around nine or so in the morning. It is this phone call that has me back in Tokyo, inside that one grand hotel, and inside this suite my boss has taken residence in for who knows how long now. Once again, I'm sitting across from my boss' breakfast table and staring out of the giant window beside us. Tokyo tower. It so badly wants to be the Eiffel Tower, but that will never happen. Some dreams can only be dreams.

"Are you listening?" The old man sitting in front of me says sternly.

My eyes trail back to his slightly sunken face and tapered haircut, noticing that he doesn't have very many wrinkles for being almost as old as Vongola's Ninth. Those bright green eyes are waiting for a response. I clear my throat. "I am now."

He switches to a glare.

"What?" I rant. "How can you expect me to be happy coming to Tokyo this often, especially this time after you woke me up and didn't even let me eat breakfast?" Then I smile and add, "And let me just mention that beauty of this degree requires beauty sleep."

"Beauty? You'd have to sleep for a month for that."

I cackle to the insult. That was a good one. But jokes and banter cast aside, Jones wipes his mouth with fabric napkin and tosses on the first class breakfast in front of him. He sniffs in a large breath of air with that slim, strait nose of his. My mouth salivates and my stomach churns… I'm soo fucking hungry. Hungry enough to eat butterflies and grass and maybe even eel… No, not hungry enough to eat eel.

"Your hit in Sado coming up, there is something else I need you to do there."

"Yes?"

A manila folder slides in to me. I flip it open to see pictures of a glasses wearing man. In every photo he has a distinct black briefcase of sorts. Whatever is in it is a decent size, something like my arm length. After sifting through the photos my hand rests on the table and I look up to the tall man sitting across from me. "You want him dead?" I ask.

"No." Elbows resting atop the small clothed table, his long finger intertwine is if in prayer. "I want that briefcase."

"And what about the guy?"

He smirks. "Break his left hand."

I let out a small chuckle. "Feeling a bit vindictive, eh?"

He doesn't respond.

"Okay, what should be in this case?"

Jones eyes become deathly. "It doesn't matter what is in the case. Just get it to me without a single scratch."

My brows rise. "Ho ho! Okay, I won't delve… shit."

The man rolls up the pressed sleeves of his white shirt and abruptly rises from the table, telling me I am dismissed. But I make it known quickly that while I am here I need some information from him. Still sitting oh so comfortably, Jones looks down at me with an interested gaze. I quickly get to the point, like my uncle taught me. "I need you to tell me about the Arcobaleno… again. I also need some description on what they look like and shit."

"I already told you about them."

I look away guiltily. "And I didn't listen."

"Why?" he questions curtly.

I look back to the annoyed boss. "Well, you were like stay away from toddlers wearing pacifiers and in my head I was like, okay. And then you started saying more, and I was thinking, wow this is really boring who cares about gunslingin' kids, and just stopped listening."

"I spent a good hour telling you and Eleazar both about them."

I smile. "And I can't quiet remember what I was thinking about during that time, but I assure you it was probably valid."

His lips are pressed tightly against each other, his flexed hand looking ready to smack the shit out of me. I deserve it, I muse to myself but refuse to say out loud. I'm really surprised he hasn't smacked me yet.

Thankfully Jones does not smack me, doesn't even touch me, and gives me a quick and easy Arcobaleno 101 lesson. They're a group of seven toddlers known to be the greatest of their trades known to man. Bullshit, I immediately think. Though they are technically a family of their own, the members pretty much do what they want and assist other families. Reborn is strongest of them all, the number one hitman in the world and recognized by everyone. Reborn is known to be in very close relations with Vongola's Ninth Boss, and he recently tutored the Cavallone's current boss, Dino. Interesting.

Verde is an astounding scientist that can create anything. He works independently and hates Reborn. Skull is the weakest of the Arcobaleno but possesses the uncanny ability to survive anything. He has joined the Carcassa family that is affiliated with our own. Fon is a martial arts master, but follows the normal practice of masters and lives a peaceful life in southern China. Collonello excels at military combat and tactics, his specialty being his sniping ability.

"Sniping ability?" I question, intrigued.

"He makes Lee Harvey Oswald's clean work look like amateur hour."

I nod approvingly and listen as he informs me that Collonello works at Mafia Island and is rumored to being affiliated with CEDEF. I smirk to the thought and then let him tell about me that their leader Luce, who disappeared years ago and is assumed to be dead, and Viper, a telepathic child whose whereabouts are currently unknown. I pay attention for all the information now knowing it is not unimportant bullshit. I yawn, growing tired from my hunger.

"I will send you photos of the ones we have photos of, along with photos of their animal partners."

"Which one do you not have photos of?"

"Fon, Viper, Luce, and Verde."

I snort and look at Jones dubiously. "Animal partners?"

"Each one of them has an animal partner they keep with them."

"Strange."

Jones walks away from me, talking to one of his bodyguards in a hushed tone and is handed a phone. I scratch my head and rub my face before standing and making my exit. With my back turned from him I quickly slide the razor blade I had hidden in my cheek out and slip it into my bra. Then I hear Jones stop me. "Wait a moment." I turn my head back to him.

Off of the phone now and standing alone in the living room area of his temporary headquarters, the slender man shakes a cigarette of the pack that has magically appeared in his hands and grabs it with his lips. He sets the pack on a side table, grabs the tiny matchbox on the table and quickly lights up. The cherry on the tip burns a bright orange, and when Jones blows the smoke out he decides to talk. "So how is the ring scramble going?"

I smile wide and lift a finger up to pause him. "Good. And I have something you will like seeing."

Walking back over to him, I show him the picture of Lussuria bloody and on the ground. His pleased grin has smoke and evil creeping out of it. At this point I tell him that the Varia shot him down for loosing and that there will probably be another fight tonight. "Good," he replies, "I hope to hear and see more about this tomorrow."

If I'm alive tomorrow… "Yep. Will do."

I make a quick exit from the hotel going over my mental list of things to do today: steal a lock-picking set, workout, read over that Vongola stuff more, and food. A nice smelling chauffer asks me where I would like to go, and before I know it the man pulls up to the corner and I realize that I'm not quite dressed for the weather. Nevertheless I get out of the car and casually walk to the small sushi joint, yanking the door open happily.

"Tsuyoshi, I'm back and hungry," I declare nonchalantly before realizing I'm not the only one here on such a dismal looking day. The younger, strapping version of Tsuyoshi is sitting at the bar eating something that surprisingly isn't sushi.

Takeshi Yamamoto looks back to me with a smile, obviously entertained by my boldness. I smile at him and say hey before apologizing for my entrance.

"No problem," the happy fellow chirps in reply. "Dad's in the back grabbing ingredients." He then stands. "I'll go fetch him."

I raise my hand to stop him with a smirk. "Don't bother. I wouldn't want to rush him in any way; I have nothing pressing my time today."

He nods wearing that same smile. "Okay then. Can I get you something to drink?"

I joke, "Do I have to pay you?"

He laughs and I chuckle along before letting him grab me some green tea.

Drinking my tea, I catch Takeshi Yamamoto's brown eyes glancing at me. For this I give him an exaggerated stare with squinted eyes until he laughs again. Finishing my tea I ask, "So how goes the kendo?"

He looks at me blankly. I think he forgot I was there when he asked his dad for lessons…

"I was here when you asked your dad the other day."

"Oh, right," he says with a nod. Then he mentions I was wearing a Nami uniform and I instantly snort in laughter.

"Yeah, I wear disguises occasionally and play super secret super spy." Right then, as he swears himself to secrecy of my doings, his father comes in. Tsuyoshi has his hands full with scallions, ginger root, wasabi, and wooden bucket of cooked rice. He instantly notices me and gives me a cheerful hello before he chides his son for not telling him he has a customer. I shake my head with a smile. "Don't be mad at him; I told him not to bother you. I have an open schedule until later this evening."

Takeshi stands and walks to the back with a now empty plate as his father hands me a plate of salmon nigiri. The sushi-ya and I talk get on the subject of Salisbury Steaks, and I tell him how my dad used to make them for me all the time. Tsuyoshi listens and replies, his hands working on the rest of my lunch.

Picking up the nigiri by hand and popping it in my mouth, both Tsuyoshi and I listen to footsteps racing down a hidden staircase of wood. Out of a doorway I've never ventured through in the shop appears Takeshi with a jacket on. "I'm heading back to the dojo, pops."

"Be careful and practice well."

"Yeah," he replies in a confident tone. The tall limber-looking teen then spares me a quick smile and I give him a nod back. What a cutie, I can't help but think. It would surely be a travesty for him to die in the next few days.

I look back to Tsuyoshi and say, "What a handful. I can only imagine how much you will enjoy the high school years."

Tsuyoshi gives me a seemingly patient look with a confident smirk. "He is going to be a great man."

"I can see that."

The sushi man and I chat a little longer about various things, like our health and the weather. He chides me for not being prepared the rainy condition outside. "Dressed in short sleeves in rain like this, you're going to get a cold if you aren't careful."

And I wave the warning away. "I have lived in places that have close to 200 days of rain a year, wearing t-shirts all the time and only light jackets in the winter. I'm just a different kind of person."

"Your were blessed with good genki."

I nod. "That, I was."

I finish everything I ordered and make a quick exit, wishing him luck in training his son and for both of their health. One of them is going to need it.

My stride is calm in this steady rain as I prowl down streets and alleys alike towards Namimori shrine. Outside smells of nothing but fresh water, the city becoming a clean slate. My feet squish on the newly forming puddles as I search on my phone for local locksmiths. As I stop walking to wipe away the raindrops on my phone's screen, I feel something grab my shoulder. The hand easily shoves me into the brick wall next to me. Iemitsu Sawada.

"Defiling school property and scouting on other families…" The blonde wearing that same jumpsuit from yesterday lifts his hard hat slightly to show me a pair of golden brown eyes. He pokes the chains around my neck with his free hand. "Jones has himself a busy girl."

I scrunch my nose cutely and smirk. "Who said I was doing it for him? Can't a girl just simply want to watch people beat the shit out of each other?"

Iemitsu cocks his head to, the raindrops sliding off his dingy plastic helmet. "Is that what you think it is?"

I scoff, "Call it what you may, but that is all it is."

The muscled man stares at me deeply for a moment. "I should kill you."

Knowing opportunity when I see it, I raise a brow. "You could, but you would be destroying the chance of a lifetime; we have a common enemy, you know?"

"And that is?"

I smile, loving the taste of revenge. "My boss."

I told myself tonight would be different. It is different. It will be different. The rain from earlier has not desisted, instead it has become colder. It has soaked through my dark blue track jacket, but its raw bite on my skin feels good. I take a big sniff of the brisk air and become more invigorated.

Another gust of wind blows atop the gymnasium building Mia and I are standing on. Well, the one I'm standing on and she is sitting on 'indian style.' I hear her wringing the freshwater out of her hair and remember that this is not her environment—she's from the warm South. I smirk and begin focusing the lenses for my binoculars.

After running into Iemitsu today, I'd be an idiot to get too close to the charade.

I can't believe he let me go…

I dwell on that expression of his as he stared into my eyes, those very cut muscles all over his body. If he wasn't a blonde I would totally be attracted, if he weren't married I would consider letting him buy me a drink. He stared at me so intently before saying, "We'll be in touch then, Dee." Because of that statement alone I had to watch him walk away; in fact, there was about five percent of me ready to shit my pants. He knew who I was the whole time.

I pull the lenses from my face and glance upon the watch on my wrist to see it is three minutes until showtime. In the corner of my eye is a small troupe of umbrellas floating to the school. Giving the rain blockers an attentive look, I see four umbrella holders and a little boy in red galoshes. Tonight, Lambo has joined the Nami boys for this Traditional Vongola Battle. I can't even imagine why they would want that snot-nosed brat to tag along. I pull the binoculars up to get a better view.

As the young boys enter campus, they are intercepted by some Cervello and told something. Lightning strikes—a massive strike that blinds me for a second—and the boys file into the school towards the battleground already laid on top of the roof at the south end of the school's west wing. My attention moves, and I see that Levi A Than is still standing in the exact place I first spotted him when we arrived ten minutes early. I don't even think he has twitched.

The boys are still somewhere in the school as I inspect the contraption that the Vongola has laid out on the roof in front of us. Like I told Mia when we first got here, it is like a spider web shaped like a hexagon. At the outer points of the web are these poles shaped like lances that have been attracting electricity; there is another one of these lance things at the center of the field. As they bring in the lightning, the web, which has to be some high quality conduit wiring, charges and electrifies the whole space. It's a death trap. It's claptrap. It's goddamn retarded.

Why can't these guys just fucking fight to the death like normal people? Rules, playgrounds, appointment times? The Vongola are a bunch of candy ass bitches.

Right after I think this, those boys make it to the roof. Another bolt of lightning strikes the playing field, and the rest of Varia (minus Xanxus) appear too. At this time I also realize the Arcobaleno, Reborn, is here. Sitting on Takeshi Yamamoto's shoulder, he is wearing a tiny trench coat over his suit and pacifier necklace. His little animal partner, which I've been informed is named Leon, sits calmly on the bill of his black fedora. I want to take a picture of the little guy, but refuse knowing it could compromise Takeshi.

Then I see it. I see the silliest thing since… the invention of silly, perhaps. The group of Namimori students, plus a five year old, form a huddle and shout, "Lambo Fight! OHH!"

I hold in a silent chuckle while I am reminded of a song I like. Then I just start singing out loud the exact part their little huddle reminded me of. I can't accept that it's over. And I will block the door like a goalie tending the net, in the third quarter, of a tied-game rivalry.

In the midst of song, I watch the shortest teen of the group, Sawada Tsunayoshi, get down on one knee and talk to the little boy. It seems like a heart to heart. Cute.

"What's with the baby and the kid?"

I stop looking at the roof and look over to my cousin still sitting on the ground. The hoodie and jeans she is wearing are soaked. I wipe some rain off of my face and point to the school. "You mean the trench coat baby and Lambo? I'm not sure, really…"

For some odd reason Mia thinks it wise to ask the same question a couple more times, I guess not realizing that I would give the same answer each time. I hear the brunette eventually huff and say, "Fuck it." I just laugh and watch the little boy named Lambo walk away from his babysitters and over to the Cervello who looks like the referee for the night.

Wait. He is fighting tonight?

My hand holding the binoculars drops to my side as I whine, "Aw, man. This is not what I was hoping for." I look over to see my cousin staring at me with worrisome eyes. Seeing kids die is never cool. It reminds of jobs I never want to remember. "Do you want to leave? I kinda have no interest in seeing kids get killed."

"Are you sure he can't win? I mean, why else would he be there? Why not forfeit if he couldn't win?"

With the binoculars attached to my face again and watching the little afro-haired boy play with the wiring on the ground. "I don't see a five year old having the umph to kill somebody." And if he wants to beat Levi—or live—that is exactly what he will have to do.

Levi is already inside the danger zone now and ready to kill on this cold and wet night. Lambo, the hilariously bratty kid I met only a few days ago is across from him without a worry in the world. Lightning strikes, teenage boys yell, and a little boy is electrocuted some thing fierce. I didn't see him do it, but Levi dodged the charge and now lands on the ground as his opponent falls face first. I hear Sawada Tsunayoshi cry Lambo's name loudly. Then I hear his classmate sitting next to me ask, "Shouldn't you stay? So you can report this to your boss?"

Rain tapping all around me as I mull the idea, I see the little boy twitch ever so slightly. He's alive? Maybe Mia knows more about this kid than I assume. Jones would also want to know how this fight ended. "I guess you make a point."

"UWAH! IT HURTS!" cries the little boy wearing a burnt up cow costume. He writhes and whines until he is finally standing. Mia whispers a declaration of relief, and I can't help but mention how amazing it is that idiots never die. The kid never gave me the impression of being smart, so the idea fits.

Of course, idiots rarely win either, and Levi dashes over to the crybaby, kicking the shit out of him and whacking him with one of the six lances he always has strapped to his back.

I can't pull my eyes away from the child trying to get up and the man trying to kill him, but Mia starts saying something about the Vongola at the same time Lambo shoves his hand into his hair and pulls out a purple bazooka a little bigger than himself.

No… couldn't be.

Under the cold, pouring rain a little boy commits suicide… and a giant cloud of purple smoke covers where the green-eyed boy once sat. Levi stops in his tracks.

The thick smoke twists and swirls in a hazy rush to reveal an older boy sitting where the child once sat. Just like the little Lambo, this older boy has deep green eyes and thick, messy black hair. Just like little Lambo, the older boy is wearing cow print too. I grin wildly, knowing exactly what has happened.

"HEY! WHAT THE HECK?" screams Superbi Squalo. "THERE'S AN OUTSIDER IN THERE!"

Right after I hear Mia mumble, "Am I crazy, or is that?"

But I can only pull the binoculars away from my warming face; my excitement is to the brim. The ten year bazooka Jones told us about really exists, and I got to see it tonight. I lift my hands in excitement.

"I am geeking out." Then I point to the bazooka for Mia and happily exclaim, "That is the Ten Year Bazooka. That thing is legendary." Then I finally point to my favorite cousin. "You were a genius in suggesting we stay."

With her naturally curious expression, she asks, "Does it make the… victim… ten years older?"

I begin my spying on the main stage again to see the ten year older Lambo chatting nonchalantly and wasting his five minutes of time here as I tell Mia she is correct but tell her a better word instead of victim is user. The boy I'm assuming is 15 is still chatting while Mia and I engage in a small argument over which word is better, until we agree that the other person is wrong. I slide in that big boobs don't equal one's intelligence in regards to diction.

Then the death match starts up again. The ten-year-older Lambo draws in the next bolt of lightning that strikes upon the roof and absorbs like some kind of electric transformer. He lights up like Christmas tree and runs towards the Varia leader in the lousiest electric attack on the face of the planet. It is so easy to read that an amateur could dodge it. I refrain from shaking my head and watch Levi react with a counterattack that consists of those lances fastened to his back flying out around the fighting ring and open up like umbrellas. As if beckoned by the Varia leader, lightning strikes the floating metal umbrellas and shocks the older Lambo. The kid drops to the ground. I guess he can only take so many shocks.

Levi doesn't stop there: the teenage Lambo is getting himself up slowly, allowing himself to be stabbed by the infuriated man wearing a signature black trench. He drops down to the ground again and looks as if he is crying. Are you fucking serious? The crybaby then grabs for the Ten Year Bazooka near him and shoots himself with it. Another cloud of smoke surrounds the ever-changing Lambo.

"Twenty-year-older Lambo?" Mia asks, surprised I think.

I, on the other hand, am not impressed. "Wo-ho. Someone's getting older. Way to bitch out."

Though I keep the appearance of being unimpressed, the heavy feeling of adrenaline rushes to the air 'this' Lambo is radiating in. This is not someone to be fucked with. I declare, "Woah, that guy makes your blood rise."

With that same thick hair and signature horns on his head, the Lambo twenty years from now radiates in sheer power. He is garbed in slim pants layered in thick belts, a thin shirt, and a brown leather jacket that goes down to his knees. The fur lining of his jacket is matting in the cool downpour, but this seems to be of no concern to the man. He looks back to the teenage boys behind him, giving them a brief glance before picking up something off the ground. A chain of sorts.

"Die!" screams Levi, launching his umbrellas out again. It looks like that same attack from before. Lightning strikes the metal looking umbrellas and immediately shoots the accumulated joules to the Lambo now twenty years older. If it wasn't for that, lightning even strikes the lances that surround the electric field and shocks the Bovino man too. I think it is easy to say that he is dead meat. Crispy dead meat.

Well, I think this until I see the guy stand up looking as bright as a light bulb. It looks as if he requests Levi's attention before slamming a hand into the ground and discharging all of the pent up energy onto the building, shattering all the school's windows in the process. Iemitsu and Basil take the moment of clamor to enter the rooftop arena from the roof's access doors and stand next to the Namimori students and watch the apparent ending of the fight. If Lambo does not win at this point, then God is a crueler dude than I ever imagined.

Levi charges towards his opponent with a swift, unreadable presence shouting that he will kill Lambo no matter what. His thrust is perfect, but it does not pierce; Lambo blocks it with something he grabbed on the ground. A pair of horns? Either way, the two back off from each other and prepare for another attack: the older Lambo switching the horns he is already wearing for the ones he picked up and Levi switching umbrellas with a meticulous check of the weapon's condition. I am already getting somewhat bored of the two. Someone kill somebody already…

"Thunder Set! Elettrico Coronatta!" roars Lambo fiercely. Lightning came upon the horned man like freight train and wasted no time in shooting out of the guy's horns like electric lances. They stretch and grow to close the gap between the two fighters. The light between them grows and grows, showing a green-eyed man with eyes of clear intent and a certain Varia leader quickly becoming covered in his own blood from the shocks. Levi is walking on the line of death as he trudges into the attack. Then poof. A purple cloud of smoke covers the two fighters.

"What the fuck!" I damn near yell in my native tongue as the tension dies, just as quickly as it came.

"GUPYHAA!" squeals a little boy covered in high wattage.

Then I realize what has just happened. "Oh shit." As the heavily burned preschooler collapses to the ground, I'm left watching and thinking that five minutes felt like forever. Levi lumbers to the crisped veal that unmoving and soaked to the bone.

"Someone's glass of luck just ran dry."

Mia asks, "But why did he turn back to a little kid?"

"Because it is the ten-year bazooka, it has a time limit."

"He's gonna die." Her normally audible voice is now comparable to a mouse's.

My small eyes then trace back to my cousins large ones, larger than usual and in a state of horror. Not really knowing what to do, mainly because I don't want to see her cry, I grab her shoulder and try to be conciliating. ""You met him once right? Did ya like him?"

"I guess. Yeah."

"Then he was a great little kid."

Mia's mouth gapes open for god knows why, and her expression twists to one of pain and god knows what. It looks like a face I have seen Shrek make before. I laugh, and then she laughs, and now we are both laughing. Jesus Christ, I was not made for doing this kind of shit apparently. Now we are laughing about some kid about to die when I was just trying to be nice.

And like sadistic bitches we keep smirks as the little boy is stomped on repeatedly by Levi's thick, heavy boot. The boy is stomped, slashed, and laid out for a bloody finish as Levi charges his umbrella to kill the boy full of so much potential. Innocent teenagers yell stop and Squalo yells for Levi to burn the kid into a crisp. Mia says that we need to stop this, and I tell her no; we are only spectators in this parody.

Levi is ready to stake the benign little lump when some orange light zips all over the field. All of the poles within the fighting arena then crash to the ground and stop all of the lightning magically. There is a small haze of smoke on the field, and I focus my binoculars on it to see under the haze is a group of orange flames—flames emitting from Sawada Tsunayoshi.

He is on fire… literally.

This form, this alter ego of the pansy kid I happened to meet a few days ago, is so astounding that I cannot even begin to think of even one adjective to describe it. I snort lightly and shake my head to the word that finally fits: stirring. Something in my chest bursts, my mind clear. This kid is onto something big.

Whatever he did to become that… is evolution.

And I refuse to fall behind.

I want to bask in this awesome new thing I am witnessing, my curiosity like an empty cup I'm ravenous to fill, but instinct flips a switch telling me that bad shit is on the rise. "Mia," I call, not sure of what this fear I am near quaking about is. Binoculars falling to the metal roof under us, I watch something whack Sawada Tsunayoshi hard. He skids across the roof like a skipping rock, and the man everyone fears decides to crash the fight party. Xanxus.

In one motion I grab the binoculars, grab Mia's slender wrist and move. "We got to go. This place is no longer safe."

Wet and drippy, we enter the house and strip. Mia takes off her hoodie and an undershirt and throws them in the bathroom, I think. I kick off my wet shoes and jacket and leave them where they lay. After a quick squeeze of my wet hair, a whip it up into whatever bun I can manage.

My tall cousin reappears and we head into the kitchen. "Well it is easy to say that this night calls for a beer. Mimi, would you like to join me?"

"No thanks."

"Milk?" I ask, not wanting to drink alone.

Her tone lightens to slightly happy, "Yes please."

I walk over to the cupboard and look at the cups. "Big or small?"

"Big."

I look at her after grabbing the big glass with a brow cocked. "How bold."

She cracks a smile, almost giving me a chuckle.

I send the glass of milk to my exhausted partner sitting at the kitchen's island and then grab myself a beer. After one taste I realize that it is not the drink of choice for the evening. I set it down and make and gin n' tonic instead. Mia looks more content after each sip of her godly drink. I keep swigging, waiting for miss rosy cheeks to finally say something to wake this silent house. Bright lights can only do so much in this big kitchen.

"That was one of the scariest night of my life."

"I wouldn't deny it, especially with Xanxus entering the arena oh so suddenly. " I take a good drink and watch the brunette's pensive expression. Then I continue. "That guy, I didn't even feel him coming… He just appeared like magic. Like a goddam wizard or something." One more drink to celebrate the things I witnessed this evening, and I finally add, "Damn that ten-year bazooka was so cool, I'm so gonna steal that thing from him."

Mia wipes away a milk mustache before playing Jiminy Cricket, reminding me that stealing from the Vongola is dangerous. I tell her that I don't care. I want it. I will get it. Manifest destiny.

"Well, just don't get killed."

I grin. "Pssh me? Never. They couldn't kill me if they tried. I'm like a fucking cockroach."

The busty girl's body language blatantly admits that she doesn't believe me, like I'm a weakling in the scheme of things. She may be right, but I refuse to admit it. I won't be weak. My ladder is ever growing, simply because I refuse for it to stop growing. I want that fire, too. Those flames of Sawada Tsunayoshi's take all of my attention until Mia says, "Being around him was just insanity. I don't think I've ever felt like that before. Or twenty five year old Lambo. He chilled my blood too."

"That's power," I reply with a brute smile. A quick gulp and I can't help but ask, "Exciting, isn't it?"

"Has the mafia always been like this? Unreal?"

My head tilts, not sure what she is asking.

"Have these impossibilities always been possible within the mafia?"

Looking down at my clear drink, I watch the millions of tiny bubbles climbing to surface only to pop and disappear. I smile wide to her question, and I look into those curious eyes knowing that soon she will be just like me. Hungry.

"Of course. It's usually the most curious who are the most evil. And birds of a feather flock together."

And her hunger starts. "Then what does that make us?"

"Curious."

Thanks for reading!

word count: 6,687
[I do not own any KHR characters]
Thanks to my co-author Ausumist for beta-ing the story.

If you like this story, do read the companion story And There I Live Among the Clams by Ausumist. It's the same story, but in Mia's POV.

- The Captain