Yo! So, midterms. 1,500 word paper. Pokemon X. Rune Factory 4. Visiting family. Awesome sounding Reborn! character CDs. Writer's block. Take your pick, there's plenty of excuses. Well, at least I got it written.

Unfortunately, I do not own Reborn!. If I did, the characters would sing during the series.

11-In Which I Deal with Family or

All is in This Hand

"Bluebell?" Her voice squeaked a bit as she looked at me.

I smiled. "Yup! It's a nice name, right?"

"Why Bluebell?" Alastor asked.

"Well, it matches her eyes and her hair." I said happily. "And it works with the theme, 'Baptista' is a flower and that's Norina's nickname."

"More like alternate identity." She mumbled. "And since when has that been a theme?"

"Do you think there's a problem with that name?" I asked Bluebell. She blinked at me. "One blink means yes! Bluebell it is!"

"Are you alright with that, Nimue?" Alastor asked. She looked up at him for a moment and he shrugged. "I guess it's as good as anything."

"If we're finished with the nickname-fest, I'd suggest we get going." Norina huffed. "We have to be back before Byakuran's parents get home."

"Alright. Just be sure to drive safely." Alastor said as he helped Bluebell into the car.

Norina cringed, but didn't object this time. She simply climbed back into the driver's seat and climbed in the back with the other two.

It was a fairly uneventful trip. I talked to Bluebell, and Alastor generally answered for her, as she was apparently too shy to talk back. Before too long we reached our destination.

Once we were inside, seated, and had ordered, I noticed that Norina was staring out of the window a lot. It hadn't been as obvious earlier, and maybe it was because Baptisa's face was easier to read, but it seemed like she had something on her mind.

She seemed surprised when I asked, but instead of changing the subject like usual she just mumbled something and looked out back outside.

"Sorry, I don't think I heard that." I said sheepishly. "Could you say it again?"

She snorted. "I'm moving. No big deal, okay?"

I tilted my head and Alastor looked up. "Moving? What kind of moving?" He asked.

"The moving kind. Where you pack up your house and leave it. What about that is hard to understand?"

"Where are you going?" I asked, more than a little worried. If it was too far away, I could lose total contact with her. Who could say what or where she would be when it came time for us to go to Japan? But maybe it wouldn't be that far, just down the block or something. Kids did that all the time.

"Arizona."

I should have known better than to hope. Narrative structure demands that every expected situation be the opposite of what the main characters want. And I may not be the main character of KHR, but I'm currently the main character of my own story and I live in a world that exists through narrative structure. And, apparently, Murphy's Laws.

Alastor stared at her. "Arizona? Where's that?"

So much for second grade geography. "It's near Texas." I said. "A long way away."

"But if Norina moves a long way away, how can she hang out with us?"

"I won't. Now just shut up."

"No way." I said firmly. "What happened"

"I don't-"

"Answer."

There was steel in my voice, and when Norina looked over at me her face was more amused than angry. "You're just full of surprises tonight, aren't you? Fine."

She turned to face the table again. "On the first day of Winter Break dad called a family meeting…"

"We're moving."

Norina looked up at her father, not entirely sure what he was talking about. Moving? "Why?"

"You're father and I have received an excellent opportunity in our company, and it involves moving to Arizona. You're only in second grade, so the transition shouldn't be too difficult for you." He mother answered.

"But I don't want to move!" Norina exclaimed. "I want to stay with my friends."

"I know you like your friends here, but I'm sure you can find friends just as easily. Besides, you're spending too much time with them as it is. You should be more focused on studying."

"I'm only in second grade. It's not hard."

"Which is why you need to study more on your own time." Her father asserted. "You have to challenge yourself if you want to get into a good college and get a good job."

"I'm only seven! I don't need to worry about a job yet!" Norina insisted.

"It's never too early to worry about your future." Her mother insisted. "You're father and I are both where we are today because we came up with goals early and stuck with them."

"Well, I don't want to kill my brain cells by worrying about that stuff yet." Norina crossed her arms stubbornly. "And I know what I'm doing with my future."

"Excellent. What is it?" Her mother leaned forward expectantly.

"I'm joining the mafia."

Her father shook his head and sighed. "Honey, the mafia is not as good a source of income as they would have you believe. Especially when you consider the risks. Being arrested and dying are both very likely and unfortunate ways for such a career to end."

"I don't care. I'm doing it."

"You can have a bit more time to think about it," her mother said calmly, "but for now you should get back to your homework."

"But we're not done! I'm not moving! Besides, I already finished the vocabulary you gave me."

"We said you were moving so you are moving, and you still have math problems. Now do as your mother tells you." Her father said sternly. "I have work to do, so I'll be in my study, and your mother is going into the office."

Norina wrinkled her nose, but followed her parent's orders. Why did she have to get the overbearing parents? Sometimes she wished she had Alastor's parents or, even better, Byakuran's parents. Alastor's parents didn't care what their kids did, as long as they weren't in the way. Sure they weren't very emotionally invested in said children, but her parents weren't really any better. Byakuran's parents did care, and while they had expectations they weren't over the top.

Norina sighed and looked at the clock. Maybe if she hurried she'd be able to sneak out without them noticing. She needed to get away for a bit.

"…and he told me that he and mom had an "opportunity" so we were moving to Arizona."

I frowned. "And there's no changing their minds?"

Norina rolled her eyes. "They never listen to anything I say. There's no point in even trying."

"What if I talked to them?"

"As far as they're concerned you're dragging me down. It would probably make it worse."

I blinked in surprise. "Dragging? I didn't leave that bad of an impression, did I?"

"I asked you to avoid acting like you were a genius. I didn't ask you to act like you were five."

"I was."

"They want me to play with 'smart kids', but not kids who are smarter than me. You're act fell right into 'average'."

"It's better than 'idiot'."

"Try telling that to them." She took a sip of her Pepsi before looking out the window again.

"Great." I muttered. "So on the same night I manage to find one guardian and another says she's moving away. Maybe I'm just not allowed to make substitutions. And here I was hoping I wouldn't have to bother finding a cursed mask and sacrificing a random monk to it."

We sat in silence until our food arrived. Alastor helped Bluebell with her pancake and I arranged mine into a pancake and marshmallow mountain before pouring syrup on it. Norina cut hers into squares and began eating them one-by-one, staring at my mountain/volcano out of the corner of her eye before looking back to her own plate.

"I'm not even that smart. Just more mature." She mumbled.

I looked over. "I'm no genius either."

"What are you talking about? You know all this stuff about the mafia, you have no trouble in school, and I caught you looking at a calculus book the other day."

"That's because I suck at calculus."

"But you've made it that far, right? How can you say you aren't a genius when you clearly understand enough to at least try to figure out calculus?"

"I'm 'smart', which is actually more like knowledgeable, because I've had more time to learn the things that I know. While I'm not a normal person, I'm by no means a genius. No more than you, at least."

"One year is not enough time to know the things you know."

"Whoever said it was only one year?" I said smiling playfully, forking a syrup covered marshmallow and sticking it in my mouth. "I'b nod normal, yoo no."

"Don't talk with your mouth full. I don't want your parents wondering what kind of manners you're babysitter's been teaching you."

I swallowed. "My point is, when it comes to brains, you're no slouch. You pick things up quick. You've progressed quickly with that flame faster than I would have expected. I'd even say you have some kind of natural ability with illusions."

"Responsibility, serious questions, and now compliments? Are you feeling sick, or am I having a nightmare?"

"Must be the Christmas season. I would have thought you'd approve of a bit of responsibility and seriousness from me, not to mention the compliments are completely true."

She snorted and turned to face the window again, but I thought I saw the ghost of a smile as she did. I simply chuckled and went back to my own food.

"Did you mean it?"

Mean what?

"The stuff about her flame progression and illusion ability."

Of course. Why wouldn't I be? Empty compliments don't help anyone.

"Alastor lit his flame first."

In the heat of the moment, anyone would find it easier to light their flame. Norina was able to light hers with pure resolve before him.

"Alright. So if she's so good, why wasn't she chosen instead of Torikabuto?"

It's a big world, right? That means there's a lot of people to choose from, but it doesn't mean you'll be able to find the best. And having been trained from this early, she could easily be as strong as him.

"That isn't going to mean anything if she moves."

I shoved another syrupy marshmallow into my mouth and my eyes narrowed. I'm working on it.

I may have to switch to updating once a week, which is kind of what's happening recently anyway. School's picking up a bit, which makes it more difficult to find the time to write. You guys and your reviews are super helpful though. I'm not really very good at self motivating... *sheepish head-scratching*.

Gemini Wonderland: It's alright. I realize that people get (lazy) busy. It's happened to me plenty. Like with this chapter. And I'm glad that you like this Byakuran. I feel like she can be all over the place sometimes, but I think it's because she has a weird combination of knowing what she's doing and making things up as she goes along. I'm glad that you review so much, and I hope that you liked this chapter too!

Anisthasia: I'm glad you like it, and that you aren't disappointed. Not so glad that my update was slow... sorry about that. Yup, Bluebell's here! And as Alastor's sister! Gasp! And I think Norina makes a good babysitter. Or she would, if Byakuran wasn't so good at being in complete control...

chibianimefan18: So you really won't tell me? Please (puppy dog eyes)? I really, really want to know the outcome of my sanity. Although the information about your random evil laughs... I wonder if you're a genius prodigy? An evil genius prodigy? And yes, BLUEBELL! Bwaha!

Akayuki Sawada: I'm glad you like my updates. Yup! Bluebell is Alastor's sister. She's only two at the moment because her birthday is in February, but you managed to get pretty close. Unless I accidentally said three in which case I should change that... Bluebell's flame is rain, and family do tend to have the same type of flame but it isn't a hard and fast rule. In the Reborn! card game Kyoko has a mist flame, although that isn't considered cannon and I do tend to attribute her with rain. *shrug*.

death angel alice: Yup, Byakuran and Sho-chan, best friends forever! Maybe. Until one of them turns evil at least... Sho-chan should show up fairly quickly, depending on how these next couple of chapters go. I'm looking forward to it too, since Sho-chan is one of my favorite characters.

KizunaChaos: I'm glad you like it, and sorry about disappointing you with Byakuran. I felt like it would be interesting to see what would happen with the gender change. Besides, this series doesn't have enough girls in it... You're rereading? Sweet! And don't worry, you're not the first to tell me to write longer things. I get it on essays a lot actually, I just seem to be good at saying things in fewer words. Maybe talking to people more would help...

FreeWeirdGal: Yeah, on the wiki Bluebell's trivia section says she lost her legs in an accident and that her brother died in that accident. The story comes from one of the Hidden Bullet novels (which also has a wiki page now). I have read a fanfiction about it as well, so you could have found it from any of those.

Where's the mayo: Haha, yup. Byakuran doesn't like doing work. She does like giving it to other people though, and Sho-chan's definitely going to have to deal with that. Poor Sho-chan. And Norina. And Alastor. And Bluebell. And...

Tian Kong Shang De Cai SeHippo: *Gasp for air*. Wow, lots of reviews. Thanks! 2: HYPER UPDATE is HERE! YAY! 3: Reviews and blackmail are both very lovely words. I should use the second more often. Alright! Everyone, I'm blackmailing you to give me reviews!... I'm not sure they're listening... 4: Randomness is random. Things without randomness are no longer random. Squirrel. 5: Here you go! Marshmallows! Yay! *throws marshmallows in the air*

Green Nightlight: You saw that too! I've always tended to opt for subtle, which does tend to cause misunderstandings on occasion. And sometimes people are just like "wat?" but when they do notice it's really awesome. And I'm not surprised you haven't been able to find it, I'd almost say it's hidden in plain sight. It found its way into this chapter too, actually. I hope you found this chapter as fun as the last. Or not. It's a bit more serious, so "fun" may not be the right word... well, I hope you liked it at least!

Bloodstained Fantasy: Yeah, I can't read the Hidden Bullets but I do kind of know how that one goes. That's part of the reason I made them siblings, because I knew Bluebell did have an older brother. As for Alastor... I probably shouldn't say. You're just going to have to wait ;)

Thank yous update: The challenge is getting worse the longer I put it off, and that makes me want to do it less. I'll try though.

Thanks for reading and being understanding and not spamming "OMG WEAR DE UPDAT?" or something. Remember, reviews are second only to blackmail (or something like that...) ! Ciao!