Dun, duh-duh duuuuuh~! (Random jamboree, cheer, cheesy/corny music thingy)

Yay! The promised second update for this week! Just to warn you, this chapter kind of skips around a little. Time is passing a little faster as we delve into the mystery that is Tsuna!

Special thank you to: Stalker Of Reactions, M.M.-chi, Difficult1305, Once-upon-a-saturday, kuroitsubasa24, SasoLOVE111, Ayz283, mangopudding, xXScarlatto-OokamiXx, TheLazyOtakuWithTooMuchTime, mad31lina, and Kichou for you lovely and motivating reviews! You guys are the best!

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I hope you enjoy!

Chapter 10 Into the Rabbit Hole

Tsuna closed the door with a soft click before glancing down the hallway to make sure no one was following her before heading off the farthest gate from the four school divisions. Tonight she was working on a joint job with another academy under one of her alias's, the elusive white rabbit. So naturally, she was garbed in all white. The hoodie on her jacket had stupid ears flopping around on top and a stupid ball of fluff as a tail on the back, her mask in the shape of a white rabbit, and her white boots had faux fur lining around the top. It was a wonder how she remained so clean when her jobs could get so messy.

The 'White Rabbit' was her least favorite alias, but it was the one that held the most fear and power in the mafia underworld. She only wore the stupid outfit once because her other one still needed a number of rips repaired, and all of the sudden everyone thought she had been around for ages. No! It was a stupid replacement outfit given by a stupid group of idiots who thought the stupid thing looked 'cute' on her. Tsuna had vowed that they would eventually rue the day they stuck her into the ridiculous monstrosity of a getup. However, due to its popularity, the 'freelance' assassin/hit-woman White Rabbit had stuck and gathered a large number of requests.

Tsuna reached for a secret door hidden under by moss, needles, and other leaves. She climbed inside the bunker and headed down the hall. After passing several other doors, she finally reached the room she needed. Inside was a short roundish man in a black suit, tinkering with some new gizmo of his.

"Giannini-san," Tsuna called out.

The man jumped a little, but turned around with a wide smile. "Ah! Usagi-kun! It's nice to see you again! I have your ride ready for you, so you can just go ahead and head over to hatch C."

Tsuna nodded and headed out to the directed room. Giannini had never met 'Sawada Tsunayoshi', only the masks that she wore in front. Only one person knew who was behind those masks. It was a condition that the two of them came up with when Tsuna was first enrolled into Vongola Academy. Tsuna was unwilling to see her old friends, but that didn't mean she didn't care for them anymore. In fact, she wanted to guarantee their safety more than she valued her own freedom. So in exchange for staying in the academy willingly, Tsuna was given information about potential threats to her friends and then sent out if they were dangerous enough. Of course, she had to take care of a few other jobs as well, so that others wouldn't become suspicious and use her friends against her. But the majority of her jobs dealt with her taking out any and all threats associated with her companions.

Today's job was actually very beneficial to her, since the Estraneo had already caused one of her closest friends, as well as his two companions, a lot of pain. She could never forgive herself for being so useless and unable to help them when they were kidnapped. But now she could finally get revenge for them, by taking out the remnants of that retched famiglia.

Tsuna hopped onto her motorcycle, specially built for her by Giannini, and took off into the night.

Reborn's gaze swept the room carefully. It was quiet…too quiet. However he felt no mal intent, so that meant that the brunette hadn't set anything up. Speaking of the strange girl, where was she?

Dinner was set out on the table, carefully covered and still warm. So she had only left a little while ago. Hopefully, the letter she left near his meal on the table would be able to explain things to him.

I'm going out for a while. Don't know when I'll be back. Made dinner and I'll be back to make breakfast. Don't wait up.

See ya,

Tsuna

'Well, that was helpful,' Reborn though sarcastically.

He tossed the useless note aside and was about to head into his bedroom when a flicker of movement caught his eye. Upon closer inspection Reborn found that the movement came from a black piece of paper caught in the vent. The piece of paper turned out to be the remains of a horribly familiar looking corner of an envelope. Someone had apparently burned the rest of the letter and left thinking that the flame would eat up the whole thing.

Did this belong to Tsuna?

But as far as he knew, only the members of the Arcobaleno got this type of envelope. It meant that it was a job for the true side of Vongola. Vongola Academy, just like the other two academies, was a cover for the Vongola Famiglia. The mafia.

How strange. Was the letter meant for him, but then Tsuna ended up seeing it instead and went off to confront the headmaster about it?

No. These orders were given directly to them.

So then, what was it doing here? He doubted that it was just a coincidence.

Reborn smirked. Well this just became even more interesting.

"This is why I hate joint projects," Tsuna hissed as a knife imbedded itself into her shoulder, rather than the student from one of the other academies that had been sent to complete this job with her.

"Tch, stay out of my way," the other kid growled and pushed the white garbed hit-woman away.

"Dammit, this is why I hate crowding with such week fools," Tsuna muttered. 'I've definitely spent way too much time with Alaude and Kyoya.' The now red stained assassin decided that she had enough of ducking and covering for someone else, so she lit her orange dying will flame in her palm and took down the rest of her opponents.

"You can all burn in hell," the girl murmured before she lit the safe house on fire, leaving behind all of the Estraneo famiglia members as she and the other kid walked out of the building. "Go before my patience snaps and I kill you too."

Not staying to listen to the arrogant teen's retort, Tsuna went back over to her hidden vehicle and drove back to school. The sun had already risen a good bit, which told Tsuna that she was cutting it close. She cursed and sped up. Giannini had explicit instructions not to let anyone in through the secret opening after their allotted time.

As she rounded the corner, Tsuna saw the gates were beginning to close. With another curse, the brunette throttled the bike, then at the last moment pulled it over so that both she and the bike were sliding on its side. Both were barely able to clear the door, slipping through what was left of the opening.

"Phew! That was close Usagi-san!" Giannini called out.

Tsuna didn't answer the man, merely getting up and righting her bike before moving it back to its appropriate parking spot.

But Giannini was used to this. He figured that the White Rabbit was really nice (since this person often brought him snacks and beverages), it was just that they were a little shy. "I guess the person they sent for this joint job held you back as well, otherwise you wouldn't have been nearly late."

Tsuna huffed a little in agreement, but her actions reminded her of her wound and she winced.

The round suited man frowned in concern. "You should get that checked out by Shamal right away Usagi-san! That looks terrible."

Tsuna nodded and walked out, holding her shoulder as to stem the flow of blood pouring out. But she had no intention of getting the perverted doctors help. Instead she went to the extra room, which was filled to accommodate her with medical and everyday needs for her use only, and took a shower before treating her wound on her own She placed her White Rabbit outfit into the hamper (someone would take care of it later), placed her mask on its hook in her cupboard (equipped with a lock), and got dressed in her freshly cleaned uniform. . It was getting late and Reborn was going to wake up soon, so she had to get back to his dorm room and start on breakfast so that it wouldn't seem too suspicious.

It was now several hours later and Tsuna was still trying to understand how she had landed herself in the worst position she could possibly imagine.

She owed Reborn.

This was definitely not good. Not good at all.

Tsuna groaned and pressed her face into her hands. She wanted to drop dead, right then and there.

Apparently she had been able to make it all the way back to Reborn's dorm, just before he came out of his room. But then after he made some snarky insult and before Tsuna could retort with her own witty and abusive good-morning, she had passed out.

Passed out.

As in fainted!

As in left herself vulnerable to Satan's reincarnate!

She had expended more energy than she should have, especially since she ended up having to use her sky flames, not to mention her injury was taking its toll.

But that wasn't necessarily the bad part. No, no, no. The killer was that Reborn had taken it upon himself to tend to her, while she had (so he said) a high fever and a profusely bleeding wound on her shoulder. Reborn had also asked Luce to excuse the two of them from classes, since Tsuna wasn't in any condition to go. When she had awoken, Reborn hadn't asked a single question, just asked if she was alright and if she needed anything to eat or drink. However, the look in his eyes as he asked spelled nothing but torture and misery. If she still acted like her younger self, Tsuna was sure that she would have broken out crying.

Tsuna groaned louder, but decided to get out of bed. The least she could do was to make the teen his favorite cup of coffee. Even if she knew that he was going to force the answers out of her later, she was still moderately grateful for his help. After all, if she had fainted in class then Giotto would have found out and started freaking out and fretting over her in her dorm room with all of his friends in tow, instead of giving her the peace and quiet that she desired after her missions.

Then again…Why hadn't Reborn asked her anything yet? Especially concerning her injury? When the brunette had awoken, she had noticed that someone had rewrapped her wound, so Reborn had to know about it. Tsuna also had a nagging suspicion that the teen could identify what had caused the wound as well. Yet he had asked her nothing!

Actually, speaking of her wound, it felt a whole lot better now. It felt like it was a few days old rather than the stab wound she had received earlier that day. If her suspicions were correct, then Tsuna wasn't the only one with a secret ability.

So as it turns out, only Reborn, Colonello, and Verde were to complete assholes of the group, though Reborn was still a hundred times worse than the other two combined in Tsuna's mind. Colonello was obsessed with proving he was stronger than Reborn, and figured that one way to prove that he was better was to see if he could piss Tsuna off more than his rival. Reborn had responded enthusiastically by making his orders for the brunette more and more ridiculous.

Verde was just as bad, but he competed in a different way…By seeing if he could use Tsuna to provoke Reborn. (You could imagine how this would cause further trouble for the poor brunette). Verde and Reborn amped up the competition when the inventor found out that Reborn had declared himself as Tsuna's tutor. When the inventor found out that Tsuna was struggling with a few of her subjects, the scientist declared that he would be able to teach the girl better than the raven haired teen ever could, so the study sessions were on and Tsuna was buried under an avalanche of study material.

However the other members of the Arcobaleno were actually pretty nice.

Tsuna could sympathize with Skull, considering how Reborn also treated the poor fool like his lackey, although the raven haired teen was definitely more abusive toward the biker than he was to Tsuna. Still, Tsuna hated Reborn and the fact that it irritated him even the slightest bit that she helped Skull gave her even more of a reason to assist the purple obsessed teen out.

Mammon was…Mammon. He was mysterious, greedy, and had a soft spot for sweet bean filled sticky rice cakes. He also seemed to have taken a liking to Tsuna since she would make his favorite treats and not only not charge him, but mix it among a range of other sweets when she served the group so that the others wouldn't know.

Luce and Fon were both deviously nice. They were both very kind and Tsuna usually enjoyed their company, but she swore that they were plotting something rather sinister and what made it worse was that Tsuna swore that their plans had something to do with her. But most of the time that she spent in the Arcobaleno Association's meeting room was with them.

Lal was another person Tsuna like to talk two. While their guy problems were a little different, Lal seemed to understand Tsuna's vexations over the irritating human/devil/demon/pain-in-the-ass called Reborn. Though Lal was technically Colonello's superior, the blond was still an annoyance for her as well so she and Tsuna were able to bond over 'their trouble with idiots' as Lal put it.

If she thought about it, Tsuna would be forced to admit (to herself and no one else) that she enjoyed her time with her eight seniors. A little over a month had already passed since her past friends' visit, as well as her mission, and Reborn had kept out of her hair for the whole thing (Though Tsuna had a feeling that he was just saving up all his favors for something big that she really wasn't going to like). Reborn has also been surprisingly nice by keeping the tutoring thing from the rest of the students, making the excuse that it would be too troublesome for him to deal with the whining fan girls later.

Tsuna was still bullied on a regular occasion, but she was used to it so it was always pushed to the furthest corner of her mind. Giotto and the others still came over for dinner every night to check on her (remember she is back in her own dorm) and Reborn still broke in on a regular occasion since he didn't seem to be able to go a whole day without pissing her off at least once. By this time, Tsuna had taken up throwing whatever object was nearby at the time when Reborn pushed too many of her buttons.

But peace doesn't last very long for the little brunette. It was the last day of school for that week and Tsuna was in the meeting room with all the other Arcobaleno for lunch. And that day, the past decided to remind the brunette about her weakness and fear that she had hidden away so well that she nearly believed that she had gotten over it. And it attacked her with her biggest weakness, the one thing that helped keep her in the back of the other students' minds and what acted as a curtain, and a shield, between Tsuna and everything else in the world…

Luce sighed. "Tsuna-chan, you have bruises on your arms again."

The brunette gave the older girl a crooked smile. "I kind of mouthed off at them today. I was a little cranky this morning so I forgot to keep my mouth closed."

"If you're going to mouth off at them, then you should also fight back, kora!" Colonello called over from the couch.

"Though I hate to agree with that idiot," Lal crossed her arms as she turned her gaze toward the brunette, "most of us have seen how strong you are. It would be more than easy for you to take care of those worthless fools."

"If you pay me, then they could all have an 'accident'…" Mammon trail off ominously.

Tsuna shook her head. "Nah, I like staying in the background. I don't like attention."

"I'm surprised no one has noticed yet," Skull squawked, though he cowered a second later when a couple of eyes sent him a glare.

"Actually so am I, though I'm thankful they haven't." Tsuna smirked a little when Reborn redirected his glare at her instead. "I don't really have what it takes to have that sort of attention anyways."

"You're lack of self-confidence is so low, it's pitiable and highly laughable," Reborn quipped.

But Tsuna just shrugged. "I'm useless and I'm not pretty. Those students want someone they can admire, and that sort of person or people is definitely not me."

"You're just fine, Tsuna-san," Fon said gently.

"You know, dear," Luce said with a smile, "everyone else would be able to see just how cute you really are if you would trim your bangs." She reached forward to brush the bangs off of Tsuna's face for a second, when suddenly Tsuna jerked away.

"No!" Tsuna backed away rapidly. Her breathing sped up and her eyes darted all over the room, but she tried her best to maintain a calm front even as a tidal wave of emotions and memories started to replay before her eyes. "I-I…It's fine. I just- I just l-l-like them like th-that," Tsuna said quickly.

Eight pairs of eyes watched the brunette suspiciously. She was acting strange.

"Tsuna-san, are you alright?" Fong reached out to place a comforting hand on the girl's shoulder, but she flinched away.

"F-Fine! Just fine!" Tsuna backed away even further. Her concentration seemed to be slipping away and she was starting to tremble violently. "Have to go. I have to go. Need to go." Tsuna muttered quickly. "Get away. Don't touch. Bad. Very bad. Didn't do anything. Need to leave. Gio. Find Gio." She turned around and ran away from the room, leaving a confused and very concerned crowed behind.

Line break

Giotto was in the middle of explaining his idea to take care of a troublesome club to the rest of the Student Council members when the door was suddenly slammed open.

Giotto jumped a little and looked up to see a panting Tsuna. He smiled a little. "Hi Tsuna, do you mind waiting a little? We're almost done-"

"Gio-nii…"

Giotto's eyes narrowed sharply. Tsuna only called him Gio-nii whenever she was really scared. Now that he looked, Tsuna was shaking pretty badly. Something bad must have happened and reminded her of the past. Giotto got up quickly and pulled Tsuna into a tight embrace.

She immediately broke down. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry," Tsuna chanted under her breath as she clutched the blonde's shirt, her hands turning white.

Giotto hushed the girl and rubbed soothing circles on her back. "It's okay. They're not here. You're going to be fine, just calm down Tsu-chan."

"It hurts. It hurts. Make them stop. Please make them stop. I don't like it. Make it stop. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Please stop." Tsuna was delirious. The memories of the past were clogging her mind, making her forget where she was.

"You're okay Tsu-chan. And I'm right here," Giotto reassured the girl, just like he did all these years. "I'm not going anywhere. I'll protect you."

Tsuna's grip tightened then went slack, and she fainted.

Giotto sighed and gathered the girl into his arms. "Sorry guys, we'll continue this tomorrow. I've got to take care of her."

"The chibi still hasn't gotten over it huh?" G asked gently. He stared sympathetically at the girl. But he already knew the answer to his question. After all, who would be able to get over an event like that so easily? G was amazed that Tsuna could even come out in public, even he wasn't sure if he would be able to pull off such a feat if that had happened to him.

"Gotten over, what?" Seven heads turned to see Reborn standing in the doorway.

Giotto glared at the other teen. "None of your business."

Reborn returned his glare easily. "You'll find that it is. I have a right to know about Tsuna's wellbeing."

"You shouldn't stick your nose where it doesn't belong," G growled. "The chibi's been through enough. She doesn't need anyone else to bother her about it, especially when the best thing is for her is to forget about the entire thing. We're the best ones to take care of this."

Reborn raised an eyebrow at that. "Oh? I find that ridiculous. None of you can be there for her every second of the day. Besides, I'm around her the most."

"You don't know anything!" G hissed.

"G, calm down," Giotto said softly.

Though he loathed the thought of telling the other teenager, he was right and there was the chance that Reborn could help Tsuna if Giotto wasn't there. He had already noticed that Tsuna spent most of her time outside of school with Reborn and his bunch, even if she hadn't mentioned anything. And even if he was slightly hurt, he knew he couldn't be selfish. Besides, if Giotto couldn't be there, then he someone had to help the poor girl.

Giotto took a deep breath and turned toward Reborn. "Tsuna isn't exactly who you may think she is…"

Yaaay! Longer chapter! Nooo! Cliffhanger! Sorry, but the journey has only just begun! You must wait for a few more days dear readers till the knot, that is Tsuna's past, starts to unravel.

So how was it? Did you like?

Reviews are lovely!

Thank you for reading! Till next time!