Disclaimer: No, I don't own Katekyo Hitman Reborn! All rights go to Amano Akira.

A/N:

YO, GUYS. IT'S BEEN A WHILE, HASN'T IT? Well, I don't know if you guys consider a month and a half a long time or not. I'd reckon so, though. Thank you so much for your continuous and encouraging support, guys! It means a lot. (:

I APOLOGIZE. April and May were hectic for me because I had been an organizer for an event, and June's been insane because of exams and finals. That's why it's taken me so long to write this chapter...

Not to mention the fact that it's eighteen pages long. WAIT, WHAT? Yes. You heard right. Eighteen pages of size eleven font. I'm going to say sorry right here, right now, for the wall of text that may or may not make your eyes bleed.

But, you know, there's action in this. So that's nearly guaranteed eye-ripping from you guys. SO I'M SORRY. BNOEWNBONWBOEB. But I hope you guys enjoy it, because it shows a new side of Azumi!

CHAPTER TEN;

"Phase I"

My footsteps were light as they kissed the pavement, but in the extremely early morning, they were noisy and harsh. It was no longer completely dark outside, but it was certainly dim and gloomy. The clouds formed a dark gray blanket looming overhead, but it was still warm despite the time.

Glancing around at my surroundings as I continued to make my way toward the designated meeting point, I realized that I was heading down towards a more isolated area where there were fewer houses. It was to allow more spacious buildings for people who could afford extravagance, and indeed, luxurious it was.

I couldn't deny the fact that I was a bit anxious—even though I had been in Varia for two years already and had gone on solo missions, it wasn't something that occurred extremely frequently. A lot of the time, we received extremely large missions that required a team that could cooperate well together. It was rare for tremendously significant mission requests to be designed for just a single person.

It wasn't as if I had no confidence in the matter, because I knew that if I was in Varia, I wasn't someone that normal mafia forces could defeat easily. However, it was also a problem that I wasn't sure who my enemy was, which meant that I could be facing someone just as dangerous and strong as I was, if not more. The age mattered a lot too, since the older they were, the more experience they'd have compared to my limited familiarity.

When I had left the household earlier on, Tsuna had been sleeping soundly on his bed. He was mumbling in his sleep, though they were indecipherable. He was smiling though, so whatever he was dreaming about, it couldn't have been that bad. Reborn had been asleep in his hammock as well, dressed in his dark blue pajamas this time. Fuuta, Lambo, and I-Pin had fallen asleep with Nana on the couch in the living room, since they had been watching a movie with one another in the late evening.

There had been a certain peacefulness that had settled down snugly in the house—it made me feel all tender on the inside. The warmth that the Sawada household radiated and encased was so powerful, it was almost overwhelming.

It felt like a harmony that should never be disturbed.

At this point, I stopped directly in front of the house that had been on the slip of paper. It looked like a regular house in this district, with a large area of land covered in beautiful plants. The fencing was, like most houses, made with cement, and a large white gate attached in the front. It was definitely a massive house, and nothing seemed quite out of the ordinary.

But I knew better than that.

My eyes darted around me. They shifted around to the trees, taking notice of the small video cameras that were hidden expertly in the leaves and branches. I had no doubt that numerous traps lay along the pathway leading up to the house, and that was only if you could get past the gate which had some sort of high-tech security system implanted along with it.

I stood with my hands in the pocket of my long black trench coat, which I had slipped on without bothering to button up or tie together over my casual t-shirt and sweats. There was only a brief moment for me to contemplate what I should do first when, suddenly, the gate swung open all on its own.

A voice, clear as day yet emitted from a hidden speaker, was a male's and held more than just a tad of arrogance. Rather, it overflowed with it. "Welcome to my lair, Shimizu Azumi. I've been expecting you."

I smiled at the cliché line. "Will I be allowed inside to greet you face-to-face?"

"Of course." The smirk was singing in his tone. "Don't look so wary, all traps and systems have been disabled for you to pass through without any trouble. Upon entering the house, however, is an entirely different matter."

"Oh?" I tilted my head, eyeing the residence a bit skeptically. I wondered if it would blow up the moment I entered it.

"I'll have men at the entrance to lead you to me," the smooth voice notified me. "Please don't cause me too much trouble by murdering them, will you? I don't like having to clean up messes. It's something that doesn't suit my image, and I'm sure you'll agree."

"Of course," I echoed his earlier words. "Well, then... I'll be looking forward to meeting you. I'm sorry for the intrusion." On guard, I walked through the gate, expecting something, but there was nothing at all. Even so, I was still cautious all the way up to the main door, which was enormous and grand. It was an entirely modernized house, the complete opposite of Hibari's traditional one.

Before I could even touch the silver handle of the door, it slowly opened without a sound. The sight that greeted me were numerous men and women clad in similar black suits, all of them lining either side of the vast hallway that was lit brightly by hanging chandeliers. They didn't bow upon seeing me, but I hadn't expected it.

"Welcome," they all said simultaneously. However, it didn't sound the least bit welcoming. All of their voices seemed to hold no emotion, and their expressions conveyed nothing.

"Good morning," I offered, trying to keep my voice light. I took notice of how the walls were a light gray, and how the marble tiles were a dark black all throughout the foyer. The large winding staircase that led up to the second floor held an intricate black banister and the steps weren't carpeted, but were also created from black marble or granite.

The male on my right hand side stepped out of the line that the others had formed. "Follow me. Our master is waiting for your arrival." Without another word, he walked swiftly down the path that had been lined with his fellow teammates, and I only had a moment to stare at his broad back before my footsteps automatically followed after his.

Six of them, who had been near the front of the line right after the man that was leading me, also broke off from the line to follow behind. Their footsteps all matched and were synchronized in a way that made it sound like a march, rather than just people walking normally.

We walked past many open rooms that held no doors, allowing my eyes to pick up what was inside. They had all been furnished with materials that ranged from the standard furniture to more luxurious ones, but the thing that caught my eye wasn't that. In each room, there was more than just one vase of beautiful flowers. The halls, too, held numerous bundles of flowers that sat in small vases that seemed to be built into the wall. There were myriads of different kinds, none less beautiful than the rest. They were all in full bloom, their petals large and delicate looking. They seemed to be the only things that carried colour in the otherwise neutralized house, where only shades of black, white, and gray seemed to reside.

Something about the flowers struck me just as we entered a room that looked no different from the rest with its grey walls and furniture. Black armchairs were arranged into a semi circle around a black, low coffee table and an empty white bookshelf had been pushed into the corner of the room. The floor was still, like the rest of the house, tiled with black marble that was polished and shining, yet somehow didn't reflect the bright lights nor showed our reflections.

The man in the front moved to where the bookcase was. His hand skimmed along the outline of the top shelf, and then he crouched down to tap the last shelf once. Straightening himself up again, his hand pushed along the back of the middle shelf. I watched with slightly narrowed eyes as a medium-sized square portion of the shelf sunk into the wall, revealing the button that it was. The floor in the middle of the room, which held nothing and had been vacant, slowly slid open to reveal a cement staircase that led further down. The entire process had been completely silent, and there had hardly been any vibrations along the floor. If I hadn't been watching the rectangular segment of the floor opening in front of me, I never would've known it existed.

Abruptly, the torches that lined the staircase flared, illuminating the previously dark passage. The man in the front began to descend down, and I had no choice but to continue along with him. It was got cooler the deeper we went down, the steps occasionally turning. None of us spoke, letting silence sleep between all of us as tension hung in the atmosphere thickly.

Taking a hand out of my trench coat pocket, I let my fingertips skim lightly along the cement wall that we walked beside. It was cool to the touch, almost to the point where it was freezing. The passage way wasn't narrow—in fact, it was quite spacious. Yet I bit down on my tongue and pressed my lips tightly together. I retreated my hand away from the wall, stuffing it back into my pocket. My hands clenched into tight white fists, and I tried to clear my mind.

It took a few minutes for us to finally reach the end of the steps, which revealed two large double doors. The man in the front approached the security system that was beside the doors, opening up the covered machine. He punched in some numbers on the pad, but his body was blocking it so that I couldn't see. Afterward, he placed his palm on the scanner that was there, and after a moment, a small, high-pitched beep signified his authorized entry. The doors slowly opened, a bright stream of light spilling through the cracked opening until, eventually, it filled the space where I was.

The room that stretched in front of me was more than just gigantic, and it was empty except for the large chair that, I noticed, was very similar to a king's throne. It sat on top of the highest platform, which had many other ones below it, almost like steps. The walls and floors of the room were made of the same cement that lined the staircase on my way down. It was a brightly lit room, with chandeliers that hung from the ceiling, which was a large mirror that reflected everything crystal clear.

I whipped my head over my shoulder, noticing that the group of people behind me were still there. My eyes zoomed in on the door, which was left wide open. More relieved, I turned back to the front, where a male sat on the throne casually, one ankle propped up onto the other leg, near the knee.

His hair was short and flat, the strands a dark shade of navy blue that could almost be mistaken as black. His skin was smooth and flawless, stretching over sharp and prominently defined features. There was no doubt that he was definitely good-looking, and from the way his lips were pulled up into an arrogant smirk and the way that self-confidence radiated off of him in violent waves, he knew that fact well. His eyes, which were light cobalt, stared down at me in a way that said, "I'm better than you in every way." Clad in a classical black suit that fit his physique perfectly, the tie that he had on was a light and bright green. He looked like he was in his early twenties; I was definitely sure that there was no way he was around my age.

"Once again, I welcome you to my home." The words rolled off his tongue silkily, haughtily.

"Well," I smiled at him without much happiness. "I'm glad that you'll have me."

He let out a chuckle, twirling a rose easily with his fingers. He evaded all he thorns effortlessly, an amused look on his face. "Should I be offended that you came to me wearing such an outfit?"

I briefly glanced down at what I was wearing, and answered, "I saw no reason to dress myself up for this occasion. Was I supposed to?"

He was silent for a moment, contemplating it. Eventually, he shook his head and smiled at me, but it wasn't a smile of kindness. Rather, it was a menacing smile that was covered by his angelic looks. "No, it doesn't matter. Not to me, at least. After all, by the time I'm through with you, you won't even be in one piece. Although it's a shame—dying in such clothes, I mean. Wouldn't you rather die in beauty and grace?"

"Ah, is that so? In that case, I'm glad that I didn't dress up to come here," I told him honestly, watching as he quirked an eyebrow at me. "It would be horrible to stain any nice piece of clothing with your blood. As you soak in a pile of crimson made by yourself, I hope that you'll at least be content with your choice of clothes for the day."

He let out a loud, humourless laugh that reverberated through the walls. His narrowed eyes glinted as they met mine. "You talk big for someone so small."

"Is that a compliment?" I inquired.

He ignored my question. "Are you truly going to raise a hand against me?"

"I don't see why I shouldn't," I replied evenly, watching him cautiously. There was something about him that was unnerving, and I didn't like it. My hands clenched even tighter in the pockets of my trench coat, my body rigid and tense.

His head tilted slightly, and he smiled a wide, threatening smile. It was the smile of someone who looked as if he was about to break another. "How about if I tell you that if you don't submit to me tamely, I'll kill your parents?"

For just a second, my heart stopped before restarting rapidly in my chest. The pulses pounded loudly through my ears like a jackhammer, my eyes widening just a fraction, much to his satisfaction. My throat tightened slightly, but I forced everything away and told myself to calm down.

Eyeing him, I said evenly, "That's impossible."

"You say that because?" The infuriating smile was still on his face, and he gazed down at me like I was dirt beneath his shoe.

"You're here in Japan, and they aren't. My parents are one of the strongest members in Varia—they won't be beaten by the likes of you." The last time I had seen them, which was just three days before I left to come to Namimori, they had been about to set off on a mission in Russia. They had said it would definitely take more than just a month to get their job done cleanly, and they had said it wasn't a dangerous mission. There was absolutely no way that people of my parents' calibre would be defeated so easily, let alone by someone who looked like the man in front of me.

He let out another forbidding chuckle. His eyes, which were a gentle shade of azure, seemed to be darker than even the clutches of darkness. "You have so much faith in your parents. It's cute, but also disgusting. Are they your idols? Your role models? Children your age would normally hold some kind of hatred towards their parents."

"They're my parents," I stated, meeting his eyes with my own narrowed ones. "Hating my parents is impossible—they've been nothing but good to me. They've taken amazing care of me, loved me, and protected me."

"The words that leave your lips don't match up with your actions," he countered, propping an elbow up along the armrest of his throne-like chair. He placed his chin onto his palm casually, his free hand still playing gracefully with the rose. "I told you—if you don't come with me quietly, I'll destroy the parents that you love so much. No longer will you be able to see them. Is that what you truly want?"

My jaw tightened, my heart clenching in my chest. A sense of dread pooled up in my stomach, and I pressed my lips tightly together. There was no way that he was telling the truth—after all, I knew the extent of my parents' strength. "A bluff like yours is easy to see through."

"You sound so confident about that," he noted with slight entertainment lacing his tenor melody. "There isn't a part of you that wonders whether or not it's possible? There isn't a part of you that doesn't feel scared for your parents? Think this through carefully, Shimizu Azumi. The lives of your parents—those you have just told me cherished you like the world, are in your very hands. Can you throw them away so carelessly, not knowing the definite truth?"

His words struck me like a hit to the face, and for a moment, my resolution wavered dangerously. It was true that I wasn't one hundred percent sure whether or not my parents' safety was guaranteed, and it was true that if he wasn't lying, I would be throwing my parents in danger.

This was pathetic—I was still like this. This was why I would never catch up to her. It was why she stood at the top, bathed in the bright spotlights that illuminated everything about her. It was why she looked down at me from her higher position, staring down her nose at me in a way that made me feel like I was nothing but another part of the shadows.

It was why I was never fit to be like this, living this life. It was why I knew Tsuna and Yamamoto, whom I felt like I could connect with so deeply, were not quite suited for the dark and cruel world of the mafia.

Something I had never wanted... Something that I had never thought I'd ever obtain.

Images of my parents came flashing back to me, their smiling faces as I walked through the Varia base back in Italy. I remembered so clearly the way their arms felt around me as they pulled me to them, and the way they had smiled at me so brightly, so lovingly. The looks in their eyes, their voices—and then I remembered everything they had taught me.

Somehow, I found it in me to smile up at him even though I wanted to do nothing more than rip his throat out. "My parents really can't die because of you if you disappear from this world, can they?"

"I never said I was the one who would kill them," he reminded me, his sadistic smile stretching across his face. "Is this hard for you, Shimizu Azumi? Are you suffering on the inside, not knowing what to do?"

He was right, but there was no way that I would let him feel the satisfaction of knowing it.

Remember, my mind whispered to me. This is just a psychological attack. He's just trying to weaken you. It means nothing. It's all empty threats.

In the back of my head, I ignored the way my thoughts' voice wavered at the ends.

I wasn't sure how, but my voice came out more solidly than I had expected. "It's none of your concern. I've had enough of this talk—I have somewhere I need to be."

"Ah, that's right." He snickered. "You actually didn't tell any of your friends about this place. I had been slightly surprised—after all, are you so eager for your death?"

"You as well," I returned. "Inviting me here..." I'll kill you.

"Your friends will have quite a shock," his eyes left mine to stare at the rose he played with, "when you don't show up to school nor appear at home for a few days. I wonder what their reactions will be when they find you lying dead, rotting away in a place like this."

I let out a small laugh, half of it genuine and half of it forced through my gritted teeth. "Is that what you're worried about? Because I'm certainly not. I'll be able to follow my regular schedule with ease, since taking care of you shouldn't take more than an hour of my time at most."

"Don't get carried away now." His teeth flashed. "I want to take my time playing with you." He stopped twirling the elegant flower in his hand, clutching it loosely in his hand while he snapped his fingers together. The sound was loud, and instantly, my guard shot up to the sky.

A minute or two passed in silence, making me furrow my eyebrows in confusion. Nothing was happening—there was no smoke bomb being thrown and no swords flying out of hidden openings. Nothing came out and flew at me, and the man on the throne didn't move at all. However, the smirk that adorned his face clearly stated that something was about to happen, even if I didn't know it.

My lips pressed together tightly. I didn't want to attack him yet in case that was what he wanted. There was nothing I could do but wait and brace myself for what he had prepared for me. One wrong move and I could be walking into my very own deathtrap.

Unsurprisingly, I didn't have to wait much longer to realize what had happened when his fingers snapped. A dull, lifeless rhythm of a march reached my ears, and I instantly whipped my head to the large double doors in anticipation. As the footsteps drew closer and closer, the more wary I was.

The men filed into the room, raising their feet at the same time, their shoes colliding against the pavement in unison. Every single one of them held a deadpanned expression, a cold aura surrounding the group of both genders. Immediately, I spotted the different weapons that each of them held in their hands. They came in and created a circle around me, closing me in. The group that had come in with me in the very beginning had been lost in the sea of black suits and sunglasses. There had to be at least fifty of them, if not more.

My lips pulled down into a frown, and I glanced back at their leader. He looked completely at ease, and his features were rearranged into one that was taunting. He wasn't the least bit fazed even though he knew that these numbers were nothing in comparison to what Varia members had been through.

In Varia, we ate these types of guys for breakfast.

"Well, what are you all waiting for?" he questioned them, a hint of impatience tainting his otherwise flawless tone.

At this indirect command, all the people rushed towards me with their weapons raised. There were no shouts of rage and effort that escaped them, nor was there a war cry like I had experienced quite frequently in the past. Each and every single one of them was completely silent, nothing betraying how they felt on the inside.

I wondered, as I elbowed someone swiftly in their stomach and caught their sword right before it clattered to the floor, if they were suppressing their emotions. I wondered how they felt, being forced into a battle like this that I was sure they knew had little chance of victory. Did they know that they were being used so easily just for his entertainment? And if they did, why weren't they doing anything about it?

With my free hand that wasn't holding the katana, I clenched it into a fist and slammed it against a woman's cheek, sending her crashing into two of the people behind her. I blocked an oncoming attack with the sword, the sound of metal clashing against metal ringing between all of us for a moment.

Seeing their impassiveness, even though their lives were on the line, made my stomach tumble over and over. I felt nauseous as I stared at their nonchalant expressions, my heart thumping louder. I wasn't sure why, but I felt so angry. It was a feeling that boiled inside me, spilling over the brim and flooding my system. Almost as if my blood cells were embedded with it, the pure rage that had erupted inside me spread like wildfire from my heart all the way to the tips of my fingers and my toes.

Livid, my movements became less fluent, but they had more impact than before. Even though I knew I was taking out my unreasonable fury on people that may or may not have deserved it, I couldn't bring myself to stop at that moment. All I knew was that I hated it—I hated it so much, and I was blinded by the frustration that had taken over me. There was nothing I wanted more than to just get rid of them, to make them go away. I didn't want to see them anymore.

It wasn't hard to tell that these people were trained, but they definitely weren't anything near skilled. It wasn't as if they were completely new at it, but they certainly weren't very formidable opponents. I had no doubt that no matter who it was, whether it be Yamamoto, Gokudera, Ryohei, or Tsuna, they would not have any problems with the group of Mafioso, either. Hibari would definitely have no trouble handling them. In fact, I could imagine how it would bore him.

And upon seeing an imagine of the onyx-haired Cloud Guardian, my lips only tightened even more. More anger. More frustration. Another urge to scream.

For a few minutes, the only sounds that were heard were the clashing of weapons against weapons, or the sound of something hitting the floor. Fabric rustling, footsteps, the air being disturbed. But no matter how hard I hit or how painful it was, not a single sound rolled off of their tongues and filled the air. It was almost as if they were mute, or if something prevented them from speaking. It irritated me to no end—why?

I punched one of them fiercely in the gut, and then kneed the last one roughly in the crotch. They both fell to the floor noiselessly, their weapons clattering onto the floor. I was breathing heavily, but not because it had been difficult. My ragged gasps were because of all the anger I had. It felt like I couldn't breathe properly to calm myself down, even though all of them were no longer in sight.

It had been so horrible of me to lash out at them like that, even though I hadn't intended to do so in the beginning. Despite that, I couldn't help it. They just—all of them... They reminded me of how it was—

"Well," he interrupted my musing, "that was over quickly. I wonder if that's because you're of, as many people call it, 'Varia quality'?"

I pursed my lips at him, throwing away the sword I had been using to counter weapon attacks. It hit the wall piercingly and then clanged onto the floor. "Who are you?"

"I thought you'd never ask." He twirled the rose once more. "I go by the name of Hayakawa Masaru."

"And what do you want with me?" My breathing eventually stopped becoming gasps, and I inhaled deeply, trying to settle and tame the rage that was in my system. It wasn't easy, but I could feel it ebbing away, retreating at a slow snail's pace.

"I want you gone," he answered simply, his eyes meeting mine.

Scrutinizing him carefully, I inquired, "Why?"

"Because you're a nuisance," came his blunt reply. My eyebrows strung together—not because it was the first time I had heard such words, but because I didn't understand. I couldn't see how I was bothering him in any way, shape, or form.

"How, exactly?" I felt stupid for asking it aloud, but the words slipped out before I could hold them back. I wanted to know what he was talking about—to actually be aware of why I was the one who was called here. It made no sense why it was me. I didn't have the Vongola Rings. I didn't have any power over the Vongola Famiglia. There was nothing about me that would make him want me to disappear.

Masaru let out a disbelieving scoff, his voice mocking and holding a sense of false disappointment. "And to think that I had thought you were worth my time, even for a second." He paused at this, analyzing me just like I was observing him. No smile decorated his face as he explained in a bored tone, "You're in the way of my plans. I never thought that the Vongola would catch wind of my plan and send someone to disturb it. I hadn't planned for another figure popping into the picture, and you've set me back. It had been annoying enough to revise my schedule and rethink my scheme, but you have absolutely no idea how irritating it was to carry it out. My patience began to wear thin."

"I could say the same for me," I informed him, placing my hands back into the pockets of my trench coat.

An egotistical smirk danced along his thin lips. "Yes, I know. You've been snooping around trying to find this place, but you weren't even close."

It aggravated me to know he was right. I hadn't even been around this district much, and even when I had passed it, I didn't even give it a second glance. Everything about it had looked like a normal house, and yet the outside appearance was more than just deceiving. It made me even more irritated to know that even if I had suspected this place, I never would've found the underground passage unless I had broken the entire house apart.

"That doesn't matter. You wanted me to come, and here I am," I told him, trying to sound light. It didn't work though, and my voice came out solemn, matching the look that was on my face. "Yet you're not doing anything."

"Like I said," he started, "I merely want you to come with me quietly. I don't intend to dirty my hands with your unpleasant blood."

"And I said that I wasn't going to just give up," I reminded him quietly. "I'm not here to play games with you, nor am I here to waste time with talk that has nothing to back it up. I'm here to destroy you, a threat that has presented itself to the Vongola Famiglia."

He let out a loud, exasperated sigh. His lips tilted downwards, his eyes narrowing. "I hate people like you—people that are so confident in what they are capable of, which is nothing. Dealing with people of your nature is more than annoying. Your death, Shimizu Azumi, will not be a fast and merciful one. I'll make sure to kill you slowly and painfully."

Inside the pockets of my trench coat, my hands closed around two small, cool cylindrical objects. Pulling my hands out of my pockets, I felt the pad of my thumb skim across a line on both of the two objects. Instantly, the metal began to expand, almost as if unlocked. Within a second, the previously palm-sized containers had extended into two extremely long spears.

"You can lift those?" he asked, faking surprise. "They look much too heavy for you to carry. They're over twice your size. Are you sure you can fight efficiently with those? I don't want you to lose before we even begin."

"I'm fine, thanks," I told him without any real gratitude. The weight and feel of my weapons were familiar and almost reassuring—it was a reminder that this was what I was, who I was, and what I needed to do.

When I had first gone to get the weapons most suited for me, they had stood out immediately. The weapon smith had said that a lot of the time, it was the weapon that picked the owner, not the other way around. It was just like some sort of connection—everyone had an affinity for certain types of weaponry. Some people, like me, instantly knew what kind of weapon would suit them best, while others had to spend some time testing out a variety before finding what was perfect for them.

The spear I held in my left hand was the colour of shining silver, with a smooth shaft, which had a single small line of imprinted designs from the very tip to the very end. At the point where the shaft began to sharpen into a piercing point, four shapes similar to teardrops were placed with the rounded ends put together, two on each side almost as if they were wings. A pale blue ribbon had been wrapped and tied into a bow around the middle of where the four raindrops met. At the end, the spear curved sharply into a semi-circle, with another crescent facing it coming from the center.

The one I held in my right hand was entirely onyx. There were no designs engraved along the shaft, and the tip zigzagged like a lightning bolt. In fact, all along the shaft, bolt-like structures emitted from it on either side, some pointing upwards like the tip of the spear, while others pointed downwards to the bottom. The place where my hand was had been wrapped with white ribbon, and it was surrounded by a circle that the shaft had created by splitting into two before reuniting again a few inches later. The end of the spear took on the shape of a lightning bolt as well, and had an ebony chain attached to it.

"What do people call you?" he wondered aloud, an atrocious smirk curling along his flawless features. "Was it, 'Vengeful Angel Azumi'?"

Hearing that title made me clench my hands tighter around my spears. I glowered up at him, trying to keep the anger from seeping into my voice. But no matter how much I tried, the words came out in a hiss. "Do not call me that."

Masaru seemed amused with my response. "Why? That is, after all, what people call you, isn't it?"

Again.

"Don't," I tried not to snarl, "mix my sister and I up."

He quirked an eyebrow up. "Oh, was that your sister's title? I'm sorry, I wasn't aware. I've always thought that you would use the sa—"

I launched myself up at him, not wanting to hear what he had to say. My lips were pressed together tightly, and I bit down harshly on my tongue. My body trembled just slightly, but it wasn't because I was frightened. Instead, I was trying hard to keep myself from doing anything completely stupid. For a second, it was almost as if everything in the world had been painted with a bright crimson of fury.

Metal clashing against metal sounded throughout the room, and my eyes narrowed as they met his entertained ones. For a moment, our weapons, which were pushed against one another, shook slightly as we tried to get the upper hand. After a moment's struggle, we both pushed one another back, our feet sliding along the concrete floor to create more space between us.

"So that's why," I muttered under my breath, eyeing the objects he held in his hand warily.

"Mm?" He stood casually, one hand stuck in the pocket of his black dress pants.

"I thought it was strange," I told him, a slight edge to my voice, "how there were so many flowers all around the household, yet there was no floral scent at all. So each and every one of those were fake, despite looking so real?"

The metal rose he had been toying with covered his mouth, but I knew he was smirking. It was evident in the tone of his velvety voice. "Do you want to find out?"

"Only if you're sure you're prepared to die." There was something about him that set me off. It wasn't the fact that his arrogance was almost strong enough to suffocate someone, or the fact that I was surprised his ego hadn't already knocked me unconscious. There was something about the way his eyes glimmered that unnerved me. I had no idea why he had such an amused look on his face, nor why he looked like he still had something up his sleeve. There was no hesitation in his steady, menacing sapphire orbs.
I didn't need to wait long for him to unveil his secret.

"You really need to stop talking so big," he pointed out, his expression displeased. "It's not very cute. Nor does it make you look any more beautiful than what your face already looks like."

Unsure about whether or not I should be offended about what he had said—after all, had he just called me unsightly?—I felt my expression contorting into a slight scowl. "I'm not here to discuss something like beauty."

"Right," he agreed. "You're here to surrender yourself to me without giving me trouble, correct?"

"I'm tired of repeating myself," I said to him calmly. "I'm not going to do anything but kill you and then leave."

He let out a chuckle that made my skin crawl repulsively, almost like there were bugs moving underneath. His eyes, upon meeting mine, made the hair on the back of my neck stand up slightly. "You don't think that I haven't prepared for your rejection even more thoroughly?"

Before I could ask him what he meant, there was a soft mechanical sound, and he looked over his shoulder at where his throne had been resting on the platform. I followed his gaze suspiciously, taking in the way it seemed like part of the platform was opening up. My assumption had been correct as something began to emerge out of the platform in the space next to the large, extravagant chair that was suitable for a king. My eyes widened as the image registered vividly in my brain, my heart thumping harder against my chest and my grip slacking slightly on the metal of my weapons.

Unconscious, Chie sat in a chair similar to Masaru's, although not as elegant and large. Nonetheless, it held the same sort of sophistication and royalty that matched his—almost as if he was the king and she was the queen. She was dressed in her Nami Middle uniform, and she was dressed in the coat that she had been wearing yesterday when we had parted ways. Strands of her dark, glossy obsidian hair fell into her face. With her brilliant ruby eyes shuttered, it almost looked as if she hadn't been forced to be here against her will.

"What did you do to her?" I demanded from him, not able to take my eyes off of her. She was leaning to the side slightly, one forearm resting against the armrest while the other lay across her stomach. Her clothes were wrinkled and her hair was a mess—I frowned, wondering if this could've been avoided if I had walked her home. I doubted it though, since I was sure that they'd have no trouble kidnapping her in the middle of the night.

"She's sleeping," he dismissed. "You didn't believe me when I said that your parents' lives were on the line." He shrugged carelessly. "That's fine—whether or not you believe it is up to you, although you'll surely regret it. I figured someone like you would only believe direct evidence, though. Why do you think it took so long for me to call you out?"

My mouth opened as I prepared to make some snappy retort, only to have it shut again because I couldn't think of one. I couldn't look away from the sleeping Chie, who almost looked as if she was resting in peace. Two men in suits and sunglasses stood on either side of her, each holding a long sword poised over her slender neck. I didn't doubt that they'd easily decapitate her without even a second's hesitation.

The words left my lips in a breath. "Damn it."

"You finally realized it?" Masaru let out a small yawn before folding his arms across his chest loosely. "The reason that girl's life is on the line is because of you. Since you got close to a mere human who can't protect herself. Because you, as a Mafioso, can't protect her due to your own duties."

"You were waiting." My narrowed eyes fell to stare at the shiny, polished leather of his dress shoes. Realization dawned on me, and I clenched my teeth together. "You wanted me to get close to someone other than the Guardians. That's why it took you so long to call me here—because you wanted a hostage."

Something that was a cross between a snort and a scoff flew from his lips. "It definitely took you a while to figure it out. Even though you're part of Vongola's personal assassination squad, you definitely are nothing more than a mere child."

A laugh that held no humour left me. His eyes narrowed upon hearing the sound, and I met his eyes squarely. Taking an offensive stance, I told him, "You've underestimated my way of thinking just because I'm young. In Varia, your age doesn't matter. They teach you all the same thing, no matter if you're eight or fifteen or thirty. Things like hostages are things that can't change what we're supposed to do."

"So that's all?" he inquired, chortling quietly. "You don't care even the slightest? I wonder if, even after you die, you'll remember this day? The day in which you betrayed not only your parents, but someone who has been nothing but kind to you."

"I think you've misunderstood," I said to Masaru matter-of-factly. My hands tightened on the metal weapons. "I never said that didn't care."

What did he view me as? I couldn't help but feel some sort of pain in my chest as I observed the male in front of me. It was absolutely idiotic of him to think that something like having a single hostage would make a difference in the end result. It wasn't his stupidity that got to me, though—it was the fact that he, like most people, considered the members of Varia heartless. I almost wanted to smile bitterly, because it was always the same. The chances of a different perspective on the matter was unlikely—sure, perhaps there wasn't hate, and there may or may not be respect, but did we really want to be respected for something so brutal?

"Oh?" He waited for me to continue on.

I gauged the distance between myself and the two men. "I just need to make sure she's not harmed. It's as simple as that." I threw one of the spears high up into the air, slipping my hand into the pocket of my jacket as I did so. Taking out what I needed, I barely had time to throw the small daggers at the two men near Chie before blocking an attack from Masaru.

He stared at me, part of his face blocked by the thin, delicate-looking metal petals of the false rose. All the flowers had looked so real, I never would've imagined that they'd be fake. I didn't know how he could achieve something so skeletal, so fragile, but somehow so sturdy.

Suddenly, the petals along the rose seemed to unfurl even more, their movements extremely quick. As the petals shot out fiercely from the stem, I hastily tried to jump and evade them. I hadn't reacted fast enough to get away from all of them, as a few of the sharp blades sliced along my sweats, ripping through it and breaking skin. Although my trench coat looked and felt almost exactly like a normal coat, metal had been weaved delicately into it so it wouldn't break easily. It thankfully provided some protection against the unexpected attack.

I caught the spear I had thrown up easily just as he attacked once more. My eyes darted over to where Chie was, and I almost let out a sigh of relief once I noticed the fact that my daggers had, indeed, hit their targets. The two men lay crumpled on the floor, blood pooling around them. Whether or not they were dead or just heavily injured, I couldn't make sure. My lips pressed together at the thought.

"I wonder if you can save her?" Masaru purposely pondered aloud. "Can you truly get her away from here? After all, I am your opponent."

"I will definitely take her back," came my response.

And then our weapons kept on clashing again and again. I wasn't even sure how long it went on for—all I knew was that I had definitely underestimated him. He was arrogant, but he had the right to be. Just like the way he thought of me, I had assumed that he was only bluffing about his strength and his skills. I had thought that there was no way someone like him—someone who seemed to care so much about outer appearances and looking good—would actually be able to walk the walk after talking the talk. I wasn't sure whether or not I was impressed that he had exceeded what I had originally thought. Admittedly, it hadn't been much, but nonetheless.

It wasn't as if he only had that one rose to work with. Throughout our fight, he had pulled out numerous flowers out, all having their own specific and special function. Although all of them seemed to be able to release their petals and have the flower grow and extend into a larger weapon, some petals moved faster than others and didn't seemed to hurt as much, while others were slower but packed a much more painful punch. Clashing with him head-on was also dangerous, since if there were any thorns or sharp leaves along the plant's stem, they would extend rapidly to cause harm. Given that, it made having a generally close-combat weapon like mine a slight disadvantage. Of course, spears could also be used as a mid-range ones, and sometimes even as a long-ranged ones, but I was most competent with close combat. It was what I was most used to and most trained in.

As my battle waged on with Masaru, I couldn't help but notice that despite the fact that his weapon was indeed lethal, it was also fairly beautiful at the same time. I had never seen something quite like it—most of the artillery were straightforward ones that looked dangerous and could only look remotely gorgeous when the person who handled them used them in an exceptionally skilled and graceful manner. It wasn't as if it was rare to find those people—it was just unusual to see the extraordinary ones that made you forget that what they were using was actually a weapon.

Masaru, I noted, was one of those people. To top it off, his weapon itself was stunning as well. Whereas almost all weapons differed from one another and were unique in their own way, the spectrum in which his technique laid seemed to be in a completely different world.

As we skidded away from one another, the sapphire-orbed man let out a small chuckle, a provoking look entering his face. "What's wrong, Azumi? You're slowing down a lot. Don't tell me you're already tired?"

I could hear the blood pumping fiercely through my system, my heart thumping rapidly inside my chest. "Don't joke with me." There was no way I'd lose to the likes of him.

He smirked. "Don't try to deny what reality is."

My heart gave a hard, heavy pound at his words. "What are you trying to say?" Even if I asked that, was I sure that I could trust whatever was about to leave his lips? He could very well be lying to me, and I would either risk it by believing in what he said, or taking another risk in not believing what he said. Things like this always made me uneasy.

Uncertainty—I hated it.

"You're lying to yourself, thinking that you're fine," he said easily, nonchalantly, as he ran his fingertips lightly along the petals of an orchid. "Surely you've noticed it as well, since it's your own body. Your movements are almost sluggish. Your breathing is so laboured, your chest feels tight, and your throat feels like it's dry and that something's stuck in it. Your head is spinning, your mind hazy, your vision blurred slightly. You're losing your balance and you feel as if weights had been attached to every fibre of your being. How much do you think you're sweating right now? It's more than just a bit disgusting. A small pond could be formed."

I opened my mouth to deny what he was saying, but before a word could leave my lips, an overwhelming amount of emotions crashed down onto me. Feelings that I hadn't even been sure existed, nor had any idea where they had come from, abruptly invaded me. Indeed, I began to feel everything he said—I was acutely aware of how my perspiration was seeping through my t-shirt that clung to me, and the way my entire body was dirty. I could feel the pain from all the cuts I had acquired when unable to dodge or block all of his attacks efficiently, and there was a painful throbbing in my head that was similar to a hammer being smashed into my brain. The room looked like it was twirling around, and I staggered, losing my stability. I slammed the sharp hook of a spear into the ground, piercing through it. Gripping tightly onto the smooth weapon, I tried to regain my steadiness without much success. My breathing was heavily laboured, my chest rising and falling painfully as I struggled to get enough air into my lungs. My stomach tumbled and wrenched together, making me feel an urge to puke.

More than just a little bit bewildered, I brought a hand up to my face, clumsily brushing away the hair that was damp and matted to my skin. What was going on? I had no idea anymore. A slight swell of panic ballooned inside of me, making my chest feel even more compressed and taut than it already was. With wide, accusing eyes, I whipped my head up to stare at the male that stood smirking in front of me.

Although he had gotten a few good hits on me, I could say that I had also landed a couple of nice blows on him as well. His suit had tears in it, revealing the cuts along his arms and torso. Blood trickled out of them, just as they fell out from mine. Even so, he didn't look nearly as exhausted as I felt. In fact, he looked almost as if this was a great amusement to him.

"So it finally hit?" The smirk that sang on his lips also tacked itself onto his tone. "Tell me, Shimizu Azumi... The moment you entered this household, you never thought that something was strange?"

"W-What..." I struggled to breathe properly. I bit down hard on my tongue, feeling the sudden sharp pain bring my mind back into focus, if only slightly. Blood welled up inside my mouth, and when I swallowed the metallic-tasting liquid, I almost choked due to the stiffness in my throat. "What are you talking about?"

"Think about it," he replied in a leisure way. "Although it might be hard to, considering the state that you're in."

What was he talking about? In my mind, all I could hear was gibberish and things that didn't make even the slightest sense to me. What was I supposed to notice when I entered this massive house besides the fact that it was enormous and the fact that, like, ten million people had been waiting inside? What was I supposed to think about besides keeping my guard up and looking out for any possible traps?

Frustrated at myself, my hand trembled in anger and irritation. I was never one for riddles, simply because I had never been good at them. I wasn't the kind of person who liked to go over what happened and analyze it, despite the fact that it was something that the Varia instructors had trained everyone to do. Thinking it over, realizing what the mistake was, so that it'd never be repeated again—that was the reason we did it. I had always known that it was a vital skill to have, since everyone was bound to make mistakes at one point or another even if they were in Varia, but I had never been amazing at such a thing.

Because making mistakes was something I couldn't afford.

As I continued to glower at Masaru, wracking my brain as I tried desperately to push away all the other feelings that washed over me, my eyes zoomed in on the baby's breath that was sticking into the breast pocket of his tattered suit.

And then it hit me.

"There was no scent," I breathed out raggedly, the slight awe of finally realizing it intertwining with my voice. "Ever since I entered this house, there has been no scent at all—it's not just the fact that the flowers didn't have one. This place... doesn't smell at all."

"That's right," he confirmed, brushing off some dirt on his suit offhandedly. "You know, I'm not just someone who uses fake plants to fight. I'm also knowledgeable when it comes to real flowers and trees, too. What do you think—"

"Poison," I spat out hatefully, my lips thinning as I thought about it. I had never been fond of abilities that weren't direct. It wasn't as if I felt like they were incompetent compared to using normal weapons in combat, but simply because many of them were hard to detect and sniff out. Like with Masaru's poision, which I hadn't even suspected at all. Shamal, whom I had met quite a few times and respected greatly, also had a unique sort of ability that I found amazing, yet irritable.

He chuckled lightly. "One that takes away your sense of smell. It's causing the headache that you're experiencing as well as the tightness in your chest and throat right now. It's a sign that the poison is in your system and going to start soon."

"Start soon?" I echoed incredulously, staring at him. "What are you saying?"

"Most people last four days," he told me with a charming smile that was laced with sadistic desires underneath. "Although if it's you, I wouldn't be surprised if you somehow manage to hold out for the entire week."

I felt like a broken record. "A week?"

The dark-haired Mafioso explained, "Seven days from today. Usually, people experience all stages of the poison within three days. However, on the rare occasion that the victim doesn't, there aren't any symptoms except marks until the fourth day, which will be dizziness and weakness. By the fifth day, the poison will cause stiffness and pain in your joints and bones. It'll be a mild pain, but everything in your system will be ten times more delicate than usual, so even just stubbing your toe against something will feel like something was hammered into it. The marks continue spreading until they cover your entire body—but it's alright. They're good marks. It's a sign that you're sure to die soon, and that your body is unable to take the poison."

How could he say something like that so casually? I wanted to make some sort of comment, but I couldn't find it in me to do so. Although I knew I shouldn't have any right to complain, since I had also been saying things like that to him without much care.

"And by the sixth day, you'll be screaming in pain." His voice held a much too jovial tone for me to think that he had even the slightest bit of remorse for doing such a thing, although I hadn't really expected it anyways. "And at the beginning of the seventh day, you should be dead, if you haven't already died."

"Is that it?" I struggled to get it out of my throat. "That's pathetic. In seven days' time, I'll definitely have figured out the antidote." I was lying straight through my teeth. There was absolutely no way that I could figure out how to get the poison out of my system. I doubted that I could simply get it out of my blood that easily, especially since it was Masaru. It was impossible for him to look so haughty about it when it could be taken out so easily.

"Sorry to say, but that's impossible." He didn't even try to sound sympathetic. "I'm an expert when it comes to making poison. There's nobody else in the world that will be able to make a remedy for you except me."

"Don't sound so confident," I muttered, rapidly blinking my eyes to try to keep everything focused.

Something that was a cross between a snort and a scoff escaped him. "This is coming from a girl who's almost dead on her feet? I don't think you quite caught on to what I was saying—I said that the poison that had been in the house when you arrived is what's causing your headache as well as chest and throat rigidity. I never said it's causing your laboured breathing or the sweat or the tiredness you're feeling."

"What are you implying?" Despite asking the question, I had a feeling deep in my gut that I already knew. It was a wave of dread, slowing getting bigger and bigger. I wanted to run away from it, but even if I was able to walk, I doubted I would be able to flee from it.

"You don't think I'm as simple as to just attack you with blades that look like flower petals, do you?" His lips were curled up into a large, smug smirk that made me want to punch him until his teeth were knocked out. "Of course they had poison on them as well."

"I—"

He interrupted me. "What time do you think it is?"

My eyebrows knitted together, and I guessed, "Six-thirty?" I had come to the house when it was five in the morning, and I was sure that it was definitely impossible for me to have been here longer than two hours. The fact that he was asking me this, however, made me feel undeniably perturbed.

"Are you sure?" he quirked an eyebrow, his expression one of calm coolness. "You're like that because you're fatigued. You're completely exhausted—to be quite honest, I'm somewhat surprised that you're still conscious. You say that it's six-thirty? You're wrong. It's ten." My eyes widened, but they nearly popped out of their sockets as he continued, "Ten PM."

"I-I don't—"

Seeing the confused look on my face, he elaborated for me once again. "It's a poison that distorts your sense of time. You felt like our fight only lasted an hour at most, correct? That's not true. Rather, we've been going at this for hours. To be frank with you, I'm getting very tired of it. This is why your body is on the stage of collapsing—especially since you hadn't been getting much sleep lately due to your futile efforts of sniffing me out."

"It... Warps my sense of time?" I stared at him in a way that almost seemed uncomprehending. I understood what he had just said, but at the same time, I felt like I just couldn't register it.

"That's right," he replied. "Even though you thought only minutes had passed, in reality, it had been hours."

Shaking my head slightly, I tried to ignore how my head groaned and thumped in protest. "That can't be right. It's almost like saying that a dome in which time slowed down was surrounding us while the rest of the world continued on like always and now that the dome's gone, we've been brought back to the normal time, our bodies also adjusting to that. It's not—that's not something that poison should be capable of."

"That's because that's not what happened," he retorted, sounding impatient. It was clear that he didn't want to keep on explaining it to me anymore. "It's similar, though. It's too much of a hassle to continue to explain this to you. It won't matter anyway, since you're going to die soon."

"Why don't you finish me off right now?" I questioned him bitterly, already having a vague idea of the answer. "Now that you've had me poisoned and in such a pathetic state, finishing me off should be easy."

The smile was in his voice. "Where's the fun in that? I'll enjoy watching you suffer. Even when you're crying and begging for me to relieve you of it, I won't."

Somehow, I managed the breath of a laugh. Somehow, this was such a funny position. To think that I, Shimizu Azumi, a part of Vongola's elite squad of assassins, was barely able to stand... I couldn't even remember the last time I had been in such a weak and pitiful state. Then again, I had always had someone with me, whether it be Squalo, Kazuki, Lussuria, or even Levi.

If she were here, she would've found this absolutely disgraceful. I would get such a bad scolding, I'd probably pass out from it. My lips pressed together even more.

My body trembled as it tried to stay upright. I felt like my knees were going to give out any minute now. "So what do you intend to do now?"

His head tilted to the side slightly. "I was planning to leave you down here, but perhaps that's a bit too cruel, although you deserve nothing more than a place like this. I'm feeling quite generous, actually. If you come with me quietly, I'll let you—" he broke his sentence off, his eyes narrowing slightly before a twisted grin appeared on his face.

"Why do you look like that?" I demanded, eyeing him warily. The way he had abruptly stopped his sentence in the middle was strange and it didn't seem like something he'd do. I had a feeling that he talked so much simply because he loved to hear himself speak.

Sliding his eyes to meet mine, his grin only seemed to stretch wider. "It appears that your friends have found this place. I'm quite impressed. I hadn't expected them to trace you to my own secret base in such a short amount of time."

My eyes widened upon hearing that. Tsuna and them? They were here, rushing into an enemy base just because they thought I was here? I wasn't sure whether I should be grateful that they cared enough to come looking for me, or to be exasperated at how they had just charged into an enemy base like it was nothing.

Throbbing painfully in my chest, my heart seemed to warm at the thought that they had come to rescue me. I didn't view myself as a damsel in distress that often needed to be rescued, but I had to admit, I was in a pinch. I was grateful that they had come, except for one fact.

The poison. The one that would kill them. Masaru had said that it had happened the moment I had entered the house. If this was true, then that meant Tsuna and the rest of the Guardians would have the same sort of substance entering their system. It was something that put all their lives in such grave danger.

"Don't worry." Masaru seemed to know what I was thinking, and his eyes glinted. "I had stopped leaking the poison into the house hours ago. They won't have the same problems that you will. I suppose this is when I shall take my leave. Although I'm sure that fighting everyone at the same time will be fun, I don't intend to meet the famous Vongola's tenth generation Boss in such ratty attire." He brushed some debris off his shoulder, straightening out his tie and his blazer.

"You're retreating?" I narrowed my eyes at him in a scrutinizing manner. "You're just going to escape?"

"Did you not hear a word I said?" he huffed, folding his arms across his chest. "Don't worry though. This definitely won't be the last time you hear from me. Although... Maybe it is. Since you won't survive the poison, anyway." He let out a laugh of amusement, and rapid footsteps could be heard descending from the stairs. Glancing at it, he began to make his way back to his throne. I had been expecting him to do something to Chie, who was still unconsciously sitting in the queen-like chair, but he passed by her without even a second glance.

He flopped down onto his chair, which then began to descend back into the platform it had been resting on, just like how Chie's had emerged from it. I tried to make a move and prevent him from going, but he blocked it easily, a triumph smirk on his face. With ease, I got knocked back.

I slammed the sharp hook into the floor again, irritated and livid at how he slipped away from my very eyes. It was so incredibly vexing, and not to mention it had been more than just a slight blow to my pride. I didn't even want to think about what Squalo would've said if he had seen this shameful excuse of a fight.

The things in front of me began to blur, and the last bit of my strength began to slip away. I wasn't even sure how I had managed to move to try and hit Masaru—now, it felt like even keeping my eyelids open was like asking me to swim across the Atlantic Ocean. With my body quaking in a futile effort to keep itself upright, I struggled to stay conscious.

Something about this bothered me, and I had to think about what it was. Yet, thinking seemed so difficult—all I wanted to do was sleep.

"Azumi!" voices chorused.

"You idiotic woman, what—"

"Hey," I managed to interrupt whatever Gokudera was saying, their words barely processing in my brain. Even though I looked over at them standing at the large double doors in which I had entered from earlier that day, I could only see blurred and unclear images. I swayed unsteadily even though I had been gripping onto my spear, and I felt like throwing up. My eyes began to flutter closed—I couldn't find enough strength in me to keep them open anymore.

"O-Oi, Azumi! What's wrong? Are you—"

And that was when both my body and my mind just shut down.

A/N:

And that concludes the tenth ( and super long ) chapter! I hope you guys enjoyed it! This chapter definitely showed a new side to Azumi, and I wonder how you guys feel about that. It's pretty different from how she usually is, isn't it? =P

I'm sorry for any spelling mistakes or grammar errors. I was going to apologize for OOCness when I realized this chapter hardly had any of the actual KHR characters in it. HAHAHAhaha...? No one laughing? Okay. D;

LOTS OF LOVE AND THANKS TO;

VongolaXII, 10th Squad 3rd Seat, Nomurai, Lady Syndra, Yukari-chan s2, Smirk 'N' Sweat Drop, MidoriPoet, DarkThunderEX, Youknowwhothisis, Juliedoo, sky of c-o-l-o-r-s, and AwsumOtaku99

Thank you guys so much for your encouraging reviews! They mean a lot to me and helped me write up this chapter before July, which is when I actually get off school!

Also, thanks a lot to everyone who favourited and alerted as well! (:

RESPONSE TIME! (:

To VongolaXII;

Ahh, yes. I watched that anime and loved it, though I haven't caught up with the manga yet. -sighs- It's on my list! And thank you for reading and your support; I hope you enjoyed this chapter! In all honesty, that man was nobody special. LOL. Once again, thank you for reading! (:

To Nomurai;

Oh yes. Azumi's hidden past. (; I drop hints every now and then, but I think they're too subtle for anyone to notice. xD They DO have weird schedules, but there's a reason for that. -grins- You should be sleeping at 2:30 AM! Though I can't say anything either, since I sleep at 3 or 4 on school nights. OTL. Rather than thanking me for posting, I should be thanking YOU for reading, so thank you so much! I'm glad that my writing and the fact that I updated made you feel somewhat better. (: I hope you enjoyed this update as well, and once again, thank you! ;D

To Smirk 'N' Sweat Drop;

That's what cliffies are all about, bro; making your readers want more. LOL. Though I wouldn't exactly call that chapter a cliffie, but ANYWAYS. Something big DID happen in this chapter! ;O Though there's more than I let on. PREVIEWS? No way. That ruins everything! LOL. Nono, I should be thanking you for always supporting me. Trust me, it means a lot. So thank you again. (: I hope that I satisfied your curiosity, and I hope you enjoyed this chapter as well! (:

To DarkThunderEX;

Why thank you! I'm glad you think they're awesome. Anddd. I don't really know. I don't have a set update-time like some authors do, where they say they'll update once every week or once every month or whatever. It's because I have a really weird schedule and I don't like forcing myself to write, because you can just TELL that it's forced. I wait until I have an URGE to write, and that's when I do. So, I don't know. I'm HOPING that I can get something up every month? But yeah. No promises. OTL. Sorry! Thank you so much for reading and your support, I hope you liked this new chapter! =P

To Juliedoo;

I'm glad that you really like this fanfic! HAHA. And I'm sorry, I laughed when I got to the "WHOA" part because I love how it sounded in the sentence. =P I'm glad that you love Azumi and don't consider her a Mary-Sue! In all honesty, I agree with what you said. I don't really know why people label nice OCs as Mary-Sues, but then again, I thought that maybe I was being biased about it. Glad to know I'm not alone. -grins- Thank you so much for your amazing review and your support! I hope that you enjoyed this chapter just as much as the previous ones! (:

And... that's about it! (:

Once again, thank you guys so much for your amazing reviews and your support. It really iswhat keeps this story going and it gives me a lot of encouragement to improve my writing and create even more amazing chapters for you guys to read.

So yes! Thank you, thank you, thank you! I hope that I'll continue to hear from you guys. It makes me day. (:

If you guys have the time, tell me what you think about this chapter! Love it? Like it? Hate it? I'd love to know! Leave me a review or send me a PM on your thoughts! I swear I don't bite. HAHA.

I hope that I'll be able to update soon!

And to all of you who have exams just like I do? GOOD LUCKKK! (:

XOXO,
-EverlastingxSong-