Natsume wasn't too sure about the impromptu girl's day out, which included Chrome, I-Pin, and Taki. She wasn't complaining though.

She never really enjoyed them before, and had mostly gone along with Kyoko and Haru...then again those 'outtings' usually coincided with yet another attempt to set her up with a 'nice guy' that Hayato then proceeded to chase off, if Reborn didn't simply by being himself.

After the fifth time it happened, she found a way to be far, far away from the two whenever they attempted to drag her off on another outing with just the girls.

Chrome gave Natsume a look of sympathy.

"At least this time we won't 'coincidentally' run into some guy that is available," said Chrome.

Aria, when she heard that, frowned.

"What does that mean?"

"Our old friends used to drag Natsume on a girl's day before... usually in an attempt to set her up once she was all relaxed from the spa and fresh mani/pedi. After a while Natsume started avoiding them when she sensed it coming, because she didn't want to bother with the headaches of Hayato being all territorial and Reborn being Reborn," explained Chrome.

Natsume sighed miserably.

"I really don't get why they insisted on trying to set me up with anyone. I was fine being the odd one out," she said in annoyance.

Chrome shared a look with Aria...it was clear Natsume had resigned herself to being all alone for the rest of her life, and didn't see the issue.

Aria approached Chrome while Natsume was out using the restroom.

"How bad was it?"

"Because the seal was kept on her long after puberty would have set it, the necessary hormones to spark the usual interest in romance were never delivered properly until her late teens. As a result she didn't really develop as a girl until she was roughly in her twenties. Add in the fact that she was never treated as a girl and tormented by most of her peers about her looks..." said Chrome, before sighing. "By the time she did develop a crush on someone, she was already mired in the worst the mafia had to offer and stuck dealing with the subtle manipulations of the Ninth who kept trying to use her as a puppet. And when he died, it just sparked the entire mess that caused her to send us back. She was never allowed to date anyone normally or experience what being a girl is about."

Aria winced.

"Worse was the fact that her storm, Hayato, kept chasing off anyone who was interested and if they survived his antics then Reborn tended to scare them off by being himself when they realized that they would have to deal with his protective tendencies towards her. Most people can barely tolerate him for small periods, so you can imagine what living with him around would be like. Natsume had basically resigned herself to being alone for the rest of her life, until Iemitsu's stupidity forced the issue."

"Who did she develop a crush on?" asked Aria.

Chrome actually smiled at that.

"Amusingly enough, Natori-san. She was fascinated by the tattoo that she insisted kept moving when she saw some of his movies, and she always wanted to meet him and ask him about it. However the fact he was a civilian and so good looking really deterred her from ever acting on it," said Chrome. She looked at Natsume. "I'm happy she finally has a chance to actually have a life."

Aria smiled sadly at that. She gently ruffled Chrome's hair.

"Enough of this sad talk. I think our next stop should be the clothing store..."

Chrome leaned in to ask her something.

"What are you really planning?"

Aria's eyes gleamed with the sort of mischief Chrome was all too familiar with.

"I talked with Touko and it's long past time for Natsume to get used to being a girl again. So she got some of the girl's uniforms from Natsume's school and cleared up the issue with the teachers. Come next term Natsume will have to wear the correct uniform for at least one school term to prepare her for when she comes to Italy, since there is no way Reborn would ever allow her to dress like a man. Besides, her chest was already starting to draw some suspicions from her teachers, but they were too polite to ask her outright."

Aria had gone in with Touko and 'explained' to the teachers about the incident and why Natsume had been living with her distant cousins instead of her mother. Rather than raise a stink about Natsume pretending to be a boy for several years, they had been sympathetic and agreed not to make a big deal out of it. So long as Natsume used the correct facilities and stayed with the girls from now on during school excursions, they wouldn't raise a fuss.

However she had to wear the correct uniform from now on or they would say something.

Fon was doing his part by hiding all the uniforms Natsume had in her closet, along with a few outfits that were overdue for replacement or simply to be turned into scraps.

The Fujiwara were well off, but there was no reason for Natsume to wear such old clothing when they could easily afford a few things. Even if Natsume didn't mind wearing Touko's old hand-me-downs.

Hence the girl's day out... Touko wasn't the only one eager to see how Natsume would look once it was over.

Natsume only cottoned on roughly around dinner.

"What's really going on, Aria-nee?" asked Natsume, eyes narrowed.

Aria smiled, inwardly cheering because of how quickly Natsume agreed to call her 'big sister'.

"I've had a talk with Touko and your teachers. Come Monday you're going to be wearing the correct uniform."

"What?!" said Natsume in shock.

"Your teachers were already getting suspicious about your actual gender. We just smoothed things over with them," said Aria bluntly.

"Actually Natsume, I noticed some of the boys giving you odd looks for a few weeks now," added Taki.

"Great... I really don't need that headache."

"If anyone bothers you, then you can give them the same story I gave the teachers to keep them from causing a fuss about you not wearing the right uniform," said Aria with sympathy.

"What story?"

"I told the teachers that you had undergone some trauma as a child, which was why you were sent to live with your grandfather as you mother refused to accept her husband had brought in someone he shouldn't have to their house. As a result you took to dressing as a boy to 'hide' from the pervert as a self-defense mechanism. However as you started to develop into a young woman to the point it would be impossible to hide, it was decided to 'ease' you back into acting like a normal girl. Starting with the uniform and using the correct facilities while you're in school," explained Aria.

"So basically you expanded on the 'pedophile' story I gave my relatives so the teachers wouldn't say anything about me pretending to be a guy all this time?"

"Considering I backed up the story with actual evidence and got the same teachers who raised the issue with your mother the first time to share what they had noticed, they agreed to let the issue drop so long as you started dressing appropriately," said Aria. "It was going to happen eventually, and you know Uncle Reborn never would have accepted the idea of allowing you to dress as a boy for very long."

Natsume winced. She had almost forgotten that issue, and the fact Reborn was rather close to Aria despite what Luce had done to him and the others.

She wanted to wilt into herself out of habit.

Chrome patted her shoulder with sympathy.

"At least this time you don't have to deal with that old fossil, and I'm sure Aria won't harass you if you make a few mistakes during those boring parties."

Natsume shuddered in disgust.

"Gods, I hated those. And the lectures because I'm a Shintoist and not a Catholic and the fact I wasn't raised in Italy! And don't get me started on the way the guys kept acting and the fact I had to keep the likes of Hibari and your boyfriend on a leash..."

Chrome patted her shoulder in sympathy.

Taki...was completely confused while Aria had a slowly dawning idea of what happened.

The mafia was predominantly Catholic, and the Shinto religion had a slightly different mindset when it came to 'core values'. Add in what she knew of the Ninth Vongola don and his own behavior towards his adopted son, and she could only feel sympathy for Natsume who likely had to deal with his patronizing attitude and the fact he barely respected women as leaders in the first place.

"You poor dear. Fortunately Uncle Reborn is currently on vacation after he trained his last student..."

Natsume openly grimaced at the idea of dealing with Reborn's antics. It had been bad enough the first time, when she didn't really care...but if he showed up now, when she actually wanted to keep the couple she lived with in the dark about the other side of the world... there was no way it wouldn't end badly.

Touko was not like Nana. She wasn't willfully oblivious and she would notice gunfire and explosions happening on a regular basis.

"Yeah... let's keep the King of Chaos as far away from our peaceful town as we can, please?" said Natsume half-pleading.

To say there was no little amount of confusion when a mystery girl was crashed in Natsume's seat in class was an understatement.

Chrome patted her on the back with sympathy... this was going to be a headache-inducing week.

Fortunately, Aria was "kind" enough to share some high-quality alcohol that Natsume promptly hid from Nyanko-sensei...and Touko. She was technically old enough to drink, but she didn't want her Aunt to find out she had it in her room.

It was a miracle she turned a blind eye to the fact her cat sometimes reeked of it.

"Hey...isn't that Natsume's cousin?" said Nishimura.

Natsume groaned in dismay, before she handed Chrome something. The Mist took one look before understanding hit her.

"What..." started Nishimura, before he realized it was their school ID. Specifically, Natsume's school ID.

There, circled in clear black ink, was the kanji for "female".

Sasada, the class rep, took the ID and stared at it for several seconds after seeing the shocked expression of Natsume's friend. Then she looked at the "mystery" girl in absolute disbelief.

"Natsume... you're a girl?" she said in complete shock, loud enough for the entire class to hear.

The uproar over that particular piece of information was pretty impressive...and made Natsume's migraine worse.

"Boss' aunt and her cousin ganged up on her and made her wear the correct uniform. It took some fast talking to keep the teachers from raising a stink when they found out," said Chrome, handing Natsume some aspirin. She downed it without a second thought and without water.

Kitamoto looked at Natsume, before realization hit.

"That girl Tanuma was with at the festival...that was you, wasn't it?"

Natsume nodded without lifting her head.

"She has a major migraine at the moment," said Chrome.

"So are you and Tanuma...?" started Nishimura, keeping his voice down so he didn't cause any more pain.

She shook her head.

"We just ran into each other before the festival started. He was pretty shocked finding out I was a girl too, and Touko had given me some of her old clothes. She knows I can't say no if she asks me to dress like a girl. It's just that she never pressed the issue over the uniform because of several nasty comments the neighbors made. Apparently they had an issue with my grandmother, who used to live around her a while back and I have a really strong resemblance to her," said Natsume tiredly.

"What sort of issue?" asked Sasada.

"Well for starters, she was a bit...flighty. She had a reputation for being in her own world and I know for a fact teenagers used to throw rocks at her for being 'weird'," said Natsume bluntly. "Though it probably didn't help she was a mixed blood. And there weren't many foreigners that came around the area."

"Mixed blood? Was she American?" asked Kitamoto.

Natsume shook her head.

"Half-Italian. Her father was visiting Japan for a bit, ran into Reiko's mother and had an affair with her. He had no idea the woman became pregnant until he came to visit and found out he had a daughter. Which was a problem because he was already married and his wife had recently given birth to his legitmate heir in Italy. So he gave her a pendant in case she needed help and went back to Italy and never spoke of the incident. Her sister only found out after Reiko had died from complications due to childbirth."

It was clear Natsume really didn't care about such ancient history, with how easily she told everyone in class.

"Anyway Aria-nee, who is Reiko's niece, found out about me though her associate who recognized the pendant and called her."

Natsume was just happy the aspirin was kicking in.

The teacher took one look at how miserable she was from the headache and sent her to the nurse's office. She didn't return until lunch.

At least it gave the other students a chance to calm down once the shock of learning her gender wore off...

After school...

Nishimura and Kitamoto didn't know how to react around Natsume, after learning their friend was a girl. It would take them a few days to go back to the way things were, though they were considerably less touchy-feely around Natsume. Not that she minded.

So Natsume found it suspicious when she found one of Natori's shikigami messages at her window.

Considering the last few she had picked had essentially dragged her to him, and she was on the second floor, she did the smart thing.

She had Fon remove it from the window, despite being right next to it.

"May I ask why you simply didn't get it yourself?" he asked amused.

"Every time Natori sends one of those things and I pick it up, I always end up dragged," she said flatly. "I would rather not have a nasty fall from the second floor."

Fon's amusement died slightly at that.

"Odd. A basic shikigami like this shouldn't drag people..."

"I have no idea why it happens either, but I didn't want it to become a pattern," said Natsume.

"Well it should be safe to touch now. If it does try to take you anywhere I'll be sure to deal with it."

"Why can't he simply text me? I did give him my number after all..." grumbled Natsume.

Aria had planned to give her a new phone...until Natsume revealed she already had one that had been left in a mist pocket. The expression on Mukuro and Chrome's face when they realized that she still had access to it was hilarious...especially when they reached into their own and found things they had thought lost forever.

So Aria simply put them all on the same network the Giglio Nero used...unaware that Natsume used that as an excuse to blow up the satellites belonging to CEDEF. All of the satellites.

She was a woman. She could hold a grudge forever and from what she saw, Iemitsu hadn't really changed when she altered the timeline.

He deserved the headache of explaining what happened to the satellites and why their communication network had been effectively crippled.

"So what does the note say?" asked Fon.

"He's asking if I want to see an amusement park. Apparently he has two days off."

"Oh-ho, so the man is asking you out on a date?" said Fon with mischief.

"It's not a date. I wouldn't know what to do on one anyway," said Natsume sourly.

"Are you planning to spend time with him in a setting where you are required to actually converse and relax?" asked Fon.

"Yes...?"

"Are you planning to dress up in something other than your usual outfits?"

"I was going to put some of the clothing Aria insisted on buying me in order to fill out my wardrobe..."

"Do you plan to go alone save for yourself and one of the cats?"

"Not really... I know Chrome and Mukuro will likely stalk me anyway once they know where I'm going and I can leave Nyanko with them," replied Natsume. She narrowed her eyes at him. "Along with you and I-Pin."

Fon merely smiled.

"That is the standard definition of a 'date'. Not all outings with someone you like have to be romantic. Sometimes it's just holding hands and a few light kisses while you enjoy the day," said Fon.

Natsume had an odd look on her face.

"Are you sure? Every time I've been on one it was unspeakably awkward as they kept trying to kiss me or invade my personal space."

"Did this happen in Italy?" asked Fon.

"Well yeah, since I couldn't really escape my desk that well and visit Japan as much as I liked..."

"Then there's your answer. Italians are a bit more cavalier when it comes to personal space, whereas Japanese are more reserved," said Fon. "At the very least has he ever given you the impression he would do anything to you?"

Natsume shook her head.

"It's actually relaxing, being around him. I don't have to hide what I see and there's something about him that makes it easy to simply be myself."

Whenever she was around Natori, she never felt as though she had to put up a front. There were secrets between them, but he never pressed the issue.

He didn't see Dame-Tsume. He didn't see Vongola Decimo.

He only saw Natsume Fujiwara, someone who shared the same gift as he did, just with more power behind it.

Fon...had to fight the urge to coo at his Sky.