Disclaimer: This chapter starts right where we left off. By the way, I do not own KHR.


Post Scriptum 9) Detective Tsuna

"There you are! I've been looking all over for you," Naoki muttered, having stepped up to the desk and picked up her dearest diary.

Flipping through its pages, she found nothing out of the ordinary. The redhead gave a sigh of relief which quickly turned into a gasp at the sound of a door being shut with an ominously small click.

She paused for about three seconds before slowly turning on her heel.

As she had feared, a certain black haired leader of a certain disciplinary committee was standing there with his arms crossed and his back against the now firmly closed door. He eyed her coolly.

Naoki parted her lips to say something, but couldn't think of anything that might possibly get her out of this predicament. So she resorted to the weather.

"… Nice weather we're having today," she said as casually as possible, calmly meeting his gaze.

His lips curled into a malicious smirk. And that's when she knew… that he knew.

"So my detention isn't about that fence…" Naoki uttered, looking down at the diary in her hands to avoid eye contact. Nonchalantly, of course.

"How foolish of you to keep a diary," Hibari finally spoke up in a worryingly light tone, his gaze falling on the red notebook.

"In my defense, I never expected anyone to actually go ahead and translate it," the redhead muttered, leaning against the desk behind her for physical and moral support.

"It was altogether too tempting," he quoted from her very first entry. Or at least, the Japanese equivalent of it.

Naoki hadn't known that her own written words could sound so evil.


"Ah, Tsuna-kun?"

Tsuna's face lit up at the sudden appearance of Sasagawa Kyoko. He had been sulking in a corner just before his ears had picked up the sound of her delightful voice.

"K-Kyoko-chan!" the boy stammered awkwardly, blushing as he showed her a shy smile. The girl only blinked at him cutely.

"My brother didn't force you into his boxing club, did he? I thought I saw you coming out of the gym just now…" Kyoko said, sounding quite worried.

Apparently she very much thought her brother of being capable of such forceful behavior. Then again, so did the rest of the school.

"No- no he hasn't," Tsuna replied hurriedly, feeling the need to wipe that worried frown off of the girl's pretty face.

"That's good," the girl responded with a sweet smile. A blissful warmth filled Tsuna's heart.

"Err, Kyoko-chan," he then said, having remembered his mission, "Can I ask you something about Itoe-san?"

"About Naoki senpai?" Kyoko blinked again, "Okay."

"Well, umm, what do you know about him?" Tsuna asked lamely, already thinking of an excuse in case she asked why.

She didn't.

"Hmm," was her thoughtful response, "he sometimes walks to school with me," Tsuna felt a pang of jealousy, "but he doesn't talk much about himself- only when I ask- he says that he came to Japan to study Eastern medicine… We invite him for dinner sometimes, since he lives by himself," more jealousy, "and he's really smart- he helped me with some of my English homework the other day."

"Oh," the boy muttered, a bit disheartened. He wasn't sure whether he wanted to hear any more of this. A chilling suspicion was beginning to creep into the back of his mind.

"He's so nice," Kyoko concluded with another cute smile, "I like him."

Something large and heavy seemed to hit Tsuna in the head and drop onto his heart before sinking dreadfully into his stomach and weighing down his entire person. Kyoko's words echoed inside his otherwise blank mind as Tsuna's subconscious wept freely.

Kyoko didn't seem to notice.

"He's like a brother to me, you know," she added brightly, "Although, compared to onii-chan, Naoki senpai is more like… an older sister."

Tsuna pulled himself together to reply. This last bit of information seemed to disprove the quick conclusions he had arrived at earlier... She liked him, but not in that way. Hopefully.

"I see, uh, thanks." He was still a bit shaken, but decided to dismiss any lingering worries. He needed to process all of these clues, after all.


Naoki had her eyes fixed outside. Since the windows were behind her, this was proving to be rather difficult without actually turning her head. But she didn't dare to 'turn the other cheek' to him.

Jumping out the window was a potential option, but not a particularly desirable one. After all, the reception room just happened to be on the third floor, and bearing in mind the fact that landing on hard ground from such a height could and would lead to many painful injuries, the window did not make much of an escape route.

"You can try," Hibari spoke up, putting an abrupt end to the redhead's train of thought, "It will be painful."

She assumed that he was talking about jumping out the window—the way he had said that last bit seemed to suggest that he wasn't at all discouraging her from trying. As a matter of fact, it was starting to sound as if that may be the better alternative to what lay in store for her here and now.

"Maybe next time…" Naoki trailed off absentmindedly, her mind already occupied with distinctly violent predictions for her immediate future.

He still had that unnervingly dangerous-looking smirk on his face—she could tell even with her eyes fixed on the sofa. It was like it had an eerie presence of its own, that smirk.

But he wasn't doing anything else. What was he waiting for? Now that he knew about her actual gender—well, he could use this knowledge to blackmail her in all kinds of ways. Money—she had plenty of that… but it seemed as though he was more interested in shortening her lifespan, or something of the sort.

Naoki's eyes traveled across the room, conveniently skipping over the ominous figure in front of her. This time she refused to look him in the face in fear of finding signs of... well, maybe fangs… or worse- that condescending smile.


As he walked aimlessly across the school's courtyard, it slowly dawned upon Tsuna that he had run out of people to interview. After all, the Sasagawa siblings were the only students he remembered seeing the redhead with. The giggling fangirls didn't count.

How strange—even he, no-good-Tsuna, seemed to have more friends than the virtually perfect transfer student. Then again, keeping up with someone like Ryohei... Tsuna suddenly felt great respect (and even greater pity) for the redhead.

The information he had received from Kyoko on the exchange student didn't seem very surprising. Aside from the fact that Tsuna was definitely envious of Naoki's close relationship with the Sasagawas, there was nothing else he could conclude from his conversation with Kyoko.

So the redhead was smart- that wasn't surprising. Even Tsuna knew that the new student was pretty much revered as one of those 'perfect' people who had it all- looks, smarts, and riches. Yes, he had to admit, that was another aspect to be jealous of. In fact, Itoe Naoki would probably make a much better mafia boss…

The bit about studying medicine wasn't particularly new either, seeing that Tsuna had already witnessed the contents of that violin case the upperclassman was always carrying around.

Then there was the comment about the redhead being more like 'an older sister'. Tsuna considered this for a moment, and soon concluded that anyone compared to Sasagawa Ryohei would be considered a sister rather than a brother. Especially when that anyone was the slightly effeminate, somehow elegant-looking Itoe Naoki.

Tsuna paused.

He pictured the upperclassman in his mind: uneven bangs often obscuring his pale face; an elegant, pointed nose; that expression of mild interest evident in his half-lidded hazel eyes- overall, the redhead had an appearance deserving of a flowery background.

Tsuna furrowed his eyebrows in concentration. A certain thought was about to materialize, clues were about to be connected, he was about to reach a certain conclusion when-

"Gyahahaha! Lambo-san has arrived!"


"I'm sure you're busy," Naoki tried, glancing longingly at the door.

"Not today," Hibari replied simply with that eerily calm and carefree tone of his.

Most students at Namimori would have already broken down (mentally, verbally, physically) under the intense atmosphere of the reception room, but luckily Naoki was not one of them. Yes, beads of cold sweat were forming on the back of her neck, but that could easily be overlooked.

She took a deep breath, exhaled, and finally looked the upperclassman straight in the eye.

"You're going to do something horrible to me unless I manage to change your mind, yes?"

There was that amused, evil smirk.

"You're not entirely stupid, I see," the prefect said offhandedly.

Naoki was momentarily stumped by the unexpected insult. She opened her mouth to protest, thought better of it, and sighed. She ought to be negotiating- something she had always thought herself to be quite good at.

"Alright, as long as I'm a student here, I will personally pay for any and all damage that Namimori Middle School suffers- including any necessary expenses that the school budget does not cover," the redhead stated, "And in exchange, you do not kill me for pretending to be a male student."

A moment of silence.

"You're bribing me?" Hibari then responded, though he did not seem entirely displeased with the offer.

"Yes. Is it working?"


"Lambo! What are you doing here!" Tsuna cried, feeling as though a very important thought was slipping from his mind like water from his futilely cupped metaphorical hands. It left him irritated at the small child.

"I'm here for Reborn! Where is he!" Lambo yelled, apparently intending to try and kill his 'rival' again.

"H-how should I know…" Tsuna mumbled, deflating slightly. He really didn't feel like playing the nanny right now- he was already too busy dealing with this 'mission' of his.

"He's not here?" the child said, examining the area hastily, "Okay! Maman is buying candy!"

This could be roughly translated as 'It seems as though my rival is not present, so I shall return home and wait for Mrs. Sawada who is out grocery shopping and has promised to buy sweets for me.'

Tsuna stared at Lambo with a deadpan expression.

The kid always seemed to appear at the most inconvenient moments with nothing important to say or contribute besides general chaos (and that was usually neither important nor helpful). Perhaps the most amazing thing about him was the infinite amount of space in his afro, and that time-machine bazooka of his…

Something clicked in Tsuna's head in a surprising moment of inspiration. There was one more person to interview- someone who might actually know Itoe Naoki's 'secret': adult-Lambo!

"Wait, Lambo!" Tsuna called, chasing after the child who was already leaving, "I need your help!"

Lambo turned around, a sly grin slowly spreading across his small face.

"Hehehe, Lambo-san doesn't do anything for free!" he proclaimed, possibly even more annoying than before.

"I'll give you more candy, okay?" the mafia boss-to-be offered, "I need you to use that time bazooka."

It took some more childish bartering before Lambo could be coaxed into firing the aforementioned contraption- but soon enough a mild explosion and some smoke announced the arrival of a much more helpful individual.

"Hmm. Always when I'm in the middle of something," said a laid-back sort of voice as a tall figure emerged from the thinning smoke, "Hello, young Vongola."

"Uh… hi," Tsuna mumbled, a bit dazed at the sight of adult-Lambo in a cow-print bathrobe and shower cap. Well, at least he was wearing something.

There was an awkward pause.

"Err, adult-Lambo, do you know anything about Itoe-san?" Tsuna then asked, trying not to stare at that frilly shower cap.

Adult-Lambo raised an eyebrow.

"Who?"


Naoki walked briskly down the corridor, down some stairs and out of the building before letting out a long sigh. She had just saved herself from a lot of physical pain by throwing a lot of money around.

Her father would be so proud.

Leaning against a wall for a moment, she vowed never to enter the reception room ever again- mostly because next time she wouldn't have anything left to trade for her life.

But anyway, she had found her diary!

The redhead glanced down at the notebook in her hands. The sick, empty feeling that had been in her stomach since Saturday was finally gone. She took a quick glance at her surroundings, concluded that no one was watching, and hugged the little red notebook.

"I'll never lose you again!"


"Itoe Naoki! You know, a foreigner- red hair?" Tsuna babbled hastily, knowing all too well that he now had less than five minutes to get some useful information out of the older Lambo.

Tsuna's hypothesis of adult-Lambo being somehow helpful with this was based on the slim possibility of Itoe Naoki's continuous presence in ten years' time. It was a wild guess at most, seeing that the redhead had yet to meet Lambo, adult or child.

"Ah, you mean her?" said adult-Lambo, pointing at something behind the young mafia boss. Tsuna turned around.

On the other side of the school grounds, Itoe Naoki was walking towards the school gates, apparently heading home.

"Yes! That's him! Wait- her?" said Tsuna, utterly befuddled. He stared helplessly at the other teen.

"That's younger Miss Lumi, no?" older-Lambo continued, "Oh yes, now I remember. Naoki was her alias when she was still cross-dressing..."

"Cross-dressing?" Tsuna repeated, open-mouthed.

"Yes. You know- the short hair, the male students' uniform, all that," the shower-capped teen explained, vaguely waving his hand. Then he paused, noticing the other's dumbfounded expression.

"Wait… you don't know? That she's… female?"

"I… I didn't…" Tsuna replied, shaking his head numbly.

"I'm the first… to tell you?"

Tsuna nodded. A guilty, somewhat frightened look made its way onto adult-Lambo's face.

"Err," he mumbled, giving the younger version of his boss a pleading look, "Could you, maybe, not mention that I told you about that? Ever?"

"Huh? Wh-"

"It's just that, well, you see, she's still trying to figure out how you first found out… and, uh, she can be a bit scary," adult-Lambo babbled, sounding distinctly nervous now, "and she has all those pointy needles… and… and-"

"O-okay! I won't tell!" Tsuna assured him hurriedly, sensing some sort of tantrum coming up.

It was obvious that ten years hadn't changed Lambo all that much. He was still just a crybaby inclined to wearing cow-print things.

"Ah, good," adult-Lambo said, suddenly sounding all laid-back again, "See you, young Vong-"

And with another poof! he was replaced by his younger self.


"Ciaossu."

"Hmm? Oh, hello Reborn."

Naoki was just fumbling with the key to her house gate when she noticed the little hitman sitting on a wall. On her way home she had stopped by a grocery store to pick up some milk and eggs, which was apparently how Tsuna had caught up so quickly.

"Ah-… Itoe-san!" the boy called as he emerged from around the corner, distinctly out of breath. Reborn had probably forced him to run the entire way.

"Good afternoon, Sawada," the redhead greeted, wondering why the boy seemed to be in such a hurry. Tsuna was now holding onto the wall and trying to catch his breath.

"We can talk inside," Reborn said in an authoritative manner that left no room for argument (which was how he always talked).

"… Sure," Naoki replied as she unlocked the gate and walked up to her front door, unlocking it too. Tsuna followed, a bit hesitantly.

"Come in," the redhead said, holding the door open for Tsuna. Reborn was already inside.

"You're not… eh… busy, are you?" muttered the boy as he entered the house uncertainly.

The sight with which he was greeted was quite impressive: a spacious living room complete with flat screen TV, a huge leather couch with silk cushions, and book shelves lining one of the walls, filled neatly with remarkably thick volumes. Everything looked distinctly… expensive.

"Not today," Naoki answered, grimacing slightly at the recollection of a very similar exchange of words at school, less than an hour ago.

She strolled over to the kitchen and placed the bag of groceries onto the counter before opening the refrigerator to put away the eggs and milk. Reborn watched her from the kitchen table while Tsuna just sort of stood there awkwardly.

"Would you like something to drink?" the redhead asked, thinking of making some tea for herself.

"Err, no thanks."

"Tea," Reborn said simply. A tea kettle was promptly filled with water and set onto the stove.

"Alright, start talking," Naoki told them after dropping some tea leaves into some tea cups.

"Eh-? Oh… umm… I…" Tsuna began, not entirely sure how to bring up the subject. "I… I found out your secret!" he then blurted out, cringing subconsciously at how stupid that had sounded. He stared at the tablecloth, too embarrassed to look up.

"Oh?"

"You- you're a girl," the younger student muttered very quickly. When he heard no response, Tsuna slowly shifted his gaze to the redhead.

A blank expression.

For one horrible moment, Tsuna was convinced that he was wrong.

The tea kettle began to whistle. Naoki turned away to fill the tea cups with hot water.

'I knew it! I never should have trusted Lambo- I mean seriously, how could Itoe-san be a gir-' Tsuna's train of thought came to a violent halt and vanished into nothingness at the sound of… giggling?

When Naoki turned around, her previously blank expression was replaced by a playful smirk.

"I have to say, that was a lot faster than I expected," she told him, "How did you find out so quickly?"

Tsuna stared at the upperclassman, his mouth agape in awe. The redhead's voice had sounded about half an octave higher- lighter, merrier… feminine.

"You are a girl?" Tsuna exclaimed incredulously, "But how-! I mean why-!"

"How's the tea?"

"Very nice."

'They're chitchatting!' Tsuna's inner voice cried out, shedding imaginary tears at the sight of Reborn and Naoki sipping their tea contentedly and ignoring his confusion completely.

'Uwaaah- Reborn knew already, didn't he?'

"Of course I knew," said the tutor, "That's how we made this deal in the first place."

"Eeh-! Wait, what deal?" Tsuna asked, puzzled. Reborn had once again skipped the explaining part that was supposed to have come with the 'mission'.

"Well," the redhead put in, "I was supposed to join your little gang if you were the first at our school to find out about my actual gender."

"Oh," the boy mumbled, feeling a bit guilty about forcing a girl into the mafia. But Naoki didn't seem worried at all.

"But I can't."

"Huh?"

"Someone else found out before you," she informed him with a very business-like smile. Tsuna's jaw dropped.

"You fail again, no-good Tsuna," Reborn commented, apparently not at all surprised by this turn of events.

"But never mind that," Naoki continued dismissively, her eyes lit with curiosity, "Now tell me, how did you find out?"

Tsuna twitched uncomfortably. His mind was still trying to come to grips with this newly confirmed information. 'Itoe-san, a girl?' It was all very shocking, and yet… it made sense.

"Uh… I… I can't tell you," he mumbled, getting back to the matter at hand. He had promised not to tell on adult-Lambo, for one thing, but really, an explanation concerning someone from the future that Naoki had yet to meet would probably sound… well, unbelievable.

Mild disappointment passed the redhead's expression before turning into bored resignation.

"Fine. I'll find out sooner or later," she uttered. Tsuna gave an inward sigh of relief.

"Wait- someone else found out?" he then spluttered, "Who- how?"

Naoki gave a small sigh. Tsuna thought he saw a momentary look of weariness cross her face.

"Well, it was mostly my fault," she said, absently staring at her tea.

"Hibari found her diary," Reborn put in helpfully, earning himself a pair of surprised stares.

"Hibari senpai?" Tsuna gasped, wondering how the redhead was still alive and unharmed. His outburst was ignored.

"You already knew that Sawada was disqualified?" Naoki asked Reborn, her eyes widening, "And you made him run all the way here?"

Reborn simply slurped the rest of his tea. Then he smirked. The girl shook her head.

"Admirable," she concluded. The two chuckled.

Tsuna wept on the inside.


Dearest Suomi,

How I missed you! I deeply apologize for neglecting you like this. To think that anyone would care to translate your contents! What the world has gotten to…

I had to bribe my way out of getting killed today (once again proving that money is the answer to everything). And it wasn't all that much money, either! Paying for damages to the school- how much could that be? A broken fence here, a chink in the wall there…

In any case, now several people know that I am, in fact, a girl. There's Reborn, who did his research (and just happens to be smarter than the rest), that Hibari person, who practically raped you, and Sawada. I'm quite sure he cheated somehow- but how, exactly?

Oh, I'll find out someday.

Wait a minute, how much of you did that sadistic prefect translate?

Only the first page, I presume.

Because, if he had read all those names I called him in my other entries, I wouldn't be alive right now.

Good job Suomi; seems like you managed to protect most of your contents after all. Besides, now I don't have to join Sawada's little mafia family- that was close! I really didn't expect him to find out in ONE day. I guess I underestimated him just a bit.

Well anyway, that's about it for today.

I promise never to leave you lying around like that ever again!

Until next time,

-Lumi Virtanen


Author's Note: Hope you enjoyed this chapter. And yes, apparently Naoki can make a cup of tea in less than a minute. Amazing!

The whole voting thing is now closed, and I have come to the conclusion that… well… Ryohei and Hibari are equally loved. We'll see how the romance (when/if it ever kicks in) turns out.

Wait, no Ryohei in this chapter? Whoops. He'll be back, don't worry.

Please Review!