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Moving on to the story...

I deadpanned.

Shura stared.

'…Luke. What the heck is that?' I asked, staring at the objects behind him.

'It's your weapons!'

'Umm…I'm quite sure I can't carry that many with me.'

Yeah, my growth would be stunted and I want to grow at least 5 inches more…

'Oh, you won't be carrying all of them. You're going to learn to master them!'

LIKE THAT'S ANY BETTER.

'Well, looks like this is gonna be fun! Good luck, I'll be watching from that tree over there!' said Shura as she hastily walked off.

NO, DON'T LEAVE MEEEEEEE…deserter.

Well, Luke is famous for Spartan training methods after all…

'Why do I need so many?' I asked as Luke started pulling out the weapons and organizing them on a mysterious blanket that appeared out of nowhere.

'Well, you're the Moon Guardian are you not? There are many phrases of the moon. Just as the moon changes, you'll be changing weapons to suit the situation at hand.'

'Okay…but is that many necessary?'

Yeah, making me master tons of weapons just because there are different phases of the moon is messed up.

'Yep. I've picked up every bladed weapon I could think of and brought them over. You're gonna master at least eight of them so take your pick!'

I deadpanned.

'Eight.'

'Yep. What's with the look?'

'I understand that you want me to represent my element but isn't this taking it a bit too far?'

'No, of course not! I'm not asking you to dye your hair white, am I? Now that would be taking representation to a whole new level…Besides, you should learn to master as many weapons as possible in case your preferred weapon isn't around! You'll only be specializing in just one, okay?'

Sigh.

Looks like there's no way out of this mess so might as well deal with it.

It can't be that bad, right?

I took a good look at the weapons he brought over.

In the end, I choose the bladed staff, dagger, knife, kunai, suriken, sword, iron fan, (I never knew fans could be so sharp…and how come the thing's almost as tall as me?) and spear.

Trust me, I'll never master all of them and the only ones I'm good with are the sword and dagger…and kunai when the occasion calls for it.

'Is this enough?' I said while handing over the chosen weapons.

'Yeah that should do. Which one do you want to start with?'

I looked at the vast array of weapons.

Which one did I like the best?

Actually, which one is least likely to land me in the mental ward for being traumatized by insane teaching methods?

If I had to pick…I'd say the dagger.

It's the first weapon I was taught to use and it was my best.

The sword came pretty close, though (they're practically the same anyways so who cares?).

I picked up the dagger and show it to Luke.

'Great, now see that builder? Chop it in half.'

WHAT?

'E-Excuse me?'

'That's right. You know how to use flames right? Put it into your sword and slice it in half. It should be easy.'

Yeah, for you maybe.

Me?

Not in a million years…Okay, maybe if I train long enough I can but still.

'Luke.'

'Yes?'

'You do know that I only learned about flames a couple hours ago, right?'

'Yeah. Your point is?'

'This is impossible for me.'

'Well, I suppose I should give you some tips. Think of the blade as an extension of your arm and imagine your flames running through it. Or concentrate enough flames on your arm and break the boulder through brute force. Although the former would probably be a better option for someone like you.'

Uh…THAT'S NOT WHAT I MEANT.

'Luke. That's still impossible.'

'Fine, I'll give you a demonstration.'

He took the dagger, swung, and chopped the boulder into perfect halves.

It fell apart and crumbled instantly.

This guy…is not human.

'See? I told you. If you're still so unconfident, use a smaller boulder. There's plenty to go around.'

No wonder our training takes place in the mountains.

I gave in and headed towards a rock about the size of a small pillow.

'Hey, it's gotta be bigger than that. At least something a 3 feet tall.' He said, gesturing at the many rocks around the waterfall.

'Can I please start easy? I don't want to accidently break an arm.'

He stared at me for a few moments as if willing me to change my mind and then sighed.

'Fine, you can start small but you're not going until you break a boulder that's at least 3 feet tall and 3 feet wide.'

'Alright.'

This…is downright insane.

Then again, the mafia is filled with utterly insane and power-crazy freaks with superiority complexes so I guess this isn't that insane?

Whatever.

I took the little dagger, and stared at it.

Okay, so charge my flames into it, right?

Can't be that hard.

Here goes…

I concentrated until I could feel the faint flow of power and swung my blade at the rock.

The results…were absolutely pathetic.

There is no other way to describe it.

I created a crack about 7 inches long and 2 millimeters deep.

I stared.

That's it?

Luke looked at me incredulously.

'At least try.'

I'M TRYING.

I lifted the dagger, took a stance, and this time, I charged up more, concentrated like crazy while picturing a flaming sword, and swung.

The results were…still absolutely pathetic.

The rock's crack deepened and reached about half way to the middle and it looked like someone was trying to saw it apart but stopped half way.

Luke facepalmed and said,

'You know what, use a sword. Or a spear. Just something bigger. That should make the amount of flames you can put into it increase.'

I nodded and exchanged my dagger for my necklace.

'I can use this, right?'

'Hm? Sure. While you're at it, use a bigger boulder. The one that's half cracked is no good.'

I walked over to a different boulder, about 2 and a half feet tall and 1 foot wide.

I summoned the sword, charged up my flames, concentrated within an inch of my life, and swung down with all my strength.

The results…were slightly better.

This time, I have made a good sized fissure and it reached 3 quarters of the way down.

Just one more feet and I would have split it.

'Good. Now keep at it until you can break a boulder your size.'

What?

THAT'LL TAKE FOREVER YOU HEARTLESS JERK HOW CAN YOU DO THIS TO ME I THOUGHT YOU WERE NICE I WANNA SLEEEEEEEPPPP!

~Couple Days Later with Tsuna After Mei Endures Crazy Training~

'Then we'll come over with our essays later.' said Kyoko.

'All right!'

'Why do you look so pervy, no-good Tsuna?' said Hana accusingly.

'You were here, Kurokawa?'

'Of course I'm here! I'm in the same group as you! And I can't leave my best friend in the hands of a truant kid like you.'

'Now, now, Hana…We'll see you later, Tsuna-kun!'

~Back to Mei~

There past few days…were horrible.

Flame training is waaaay harder than it seems.

My brain feels like it was pummeled by a 10 ton hammer whereas my body is lacking any and all energy considering it was all used up from making flames.

Somehow, in some way, I had completed the ridiculous tasks my tutors set me and earned a one day vacation.

Trust me, the pain was horrid.

I nearly broke my arm from using the swords/spears/staffs/other random stuff that I really don't give a crap about and I now have an immense dislike of water, waterfalls, mountains, and anything that reminds me of everyday torture in any remote way.

After I successfully managed to break a rock my size and stand on water for 2o minutes, the two of them agreed that I needed some time to recover and experience normal life and thus allowed me one day of normal-ness.

Oh, I am so going to make the best of that.

School sounded like a gift from heaven compared to what's happened to me in the past 3 days.

However, since I have now branded myself as the unluckiest person in the world, something just had to ruin it for me.

That something came in the form of Sawada Tsunayoshi and his cronies with a sadistic, talking baby on top (Literally. Reborn's always on top of Tsuna).

What happened?

Well, first, the Tuna of the school (*cough*, Tsuna,*cough*) came to me with his best friends and asked me to come over to have some quality time together.

Being the soft-hearted freak of nature I was, I couldn't say no to those big, innocent, puppy-dog eyes so I said,

'Um…Sure.'

Whereas on the inside, I was screaming about how my well-deserved rest was blown into thousands of little shards that was later vaporized and sent into another dimension.

After all my experience, I knew chances of things being normal in that house was just about as likely as pigs flying around in little angel costumes in the middle of the day while singing hymns.

It other words, normal-ness was utterly non-existent in any and all means.

Tsuna being the dense idiot he was had no idea that every time he tried to include me in the group, I suffered.

When I say suffered, I don't just mean I-am-in-pain-and-I-hate-life suffering.

Oh, no.

I meant as in, I-get-subjected-to-the-new-medival-torture-called-the-Sawada-household-of-unending-chaos-and-madness sort of suffering.

That is a very good way to describe my current situation.

However, before I tell you what's going on, I should let you know about the following things.

1. I'm not deaf but…

2. After living in a house full of Mafioso, you learn to tune things out.

3. Because there are daily explosions, screams, booms, and sometimes mini-earthquakes.

4. Unfortunately, that had nothing to do with getting front row seats on watching mad men letting out their anger on dim-witted mechanics so naturally, when it happened, I couldn't tune it out.

5. Oh my! I just got thrown into a room with a crazy, bomb throwing maniac, an annoying cow, a freakishly strong baby with a superiority complex, and a slightly dense mechanic in a weird machine who managed to piss off both of them and induce their un-ending wrath of madness and pain.

Conclusion: I hate my life.

Yep, I was sitting in a room with a group of crazy people beating the crap out of other crazy people surrounded by various weapons of all sorts and desperately trying and failing to tune things out.

Today just so happened to be the day Kyoko comes over to share essays and so, being the kind-hearted soul I was, I had volunteered to stay in the room and keep an eye on things as to not spoil Tsuna's little meeting.

Did I actually fulfill my duty?

No.

Of course not.

One does not talk back to the strongest hitman in the world without a good reason and the same applies for equally crazy dynamite freaks and because I valued my life, I stood back and watched as they let out their rage on the poor mechanic and wreck Tsuna's room as well.

'Hey, be quiet!' Tsuna cried as he charged into the room.

Apparently, he heard what was going on and came to stop it.

'Yoyoyoyoyoyo~'

Ah, right.

Poor mechanic in weird machine is in the air.

'Tsuna, above you.' I warned.

'ARRGGGH!'

Too late, the said mechanic fell on him.

'10th, please save me!' he cried.

'Listen to this, 10th! He made all our weapons useless!' said Gokudera.

Oh, so that's why you guys are pissed…

'W-What are you doing, Giannini-san?'

Giannini?

If I recall correctly he has a rare skill of screwing up anything he touches…

'That's why I told you I'm no match for my father!'

Oh, right.

His father is an expert mechanic known for his ability to awaken weapons as opposed to his utterly hopeless son.

And so started the argument between mechanic and hitman that was interrupted by the stupid cow.

Naturally, when you mix dynamite users and grenade users, an explosion is bond to occur.

And this time, the source of the explosion was the 10-year Bazooka.

When the smoke cleared…Lambo was still the same old useless crybaby.

This guy is seriously just breaking all the weapons…Wait, it that Gokudera in his child form?

Somehow, he doesn't seem to know that he shrunk.

Personally, I thought the pathetic form suited him very much and it visibly reduced the amount of damage he can create.

I sighed and looked out the window in hopes of escaping reality.

Was that movement just now? I must be imagining things…

'Mei, can you stay in here? I don't want to cause more trouble!' Tsuna said.

'Sure.'

Hmmm…Is that Yamamoto coming over with sushi?

And was that Ryohei climbing over the fence and waving from the yard?

He needs to learn about the existence of doors…Then again, I'm not one to talk considering I jump out of windows on daily basis.

Couple minutes later there were screams downstairs.

Should I investigate?

Probably not…

Oh, hey, Basil and Ipin are coming over! More crazy people to deal with!

Well, at least it's sort of quiet if you tune out the screams and crashes…

Meh, what a nice vacation…Training starts tomorrow and it's gonna be a drag…

'What?'

'We're going to start sparring today.'

'With you?'

'Yes. You're going to use your best weapons and try to defeat me. After all the flame training, you should be able to strengthen your attacks much more.'

Well that made sense but…

'You're going to be encountering far stronger opponents from now on. You must learn to cope and grow stronger through each battle. Do you understand?'

I nodded.

He had once told me that all-out battle is the fastest way to improve and my one-week sparring session with Hibari confirmed that.

As much as I hated it, it was definitely the best way to improve fast.

And thus, our mock sparring began.

~With Tsuna~

'I thought I was gonna die.' said Tsuna.

'Thou has much talent, Sawada-dono. I see why master has such high expectations for thee.' said Basil.

They had a short discussion about Basil's master and arrived home.

'I'm back.'

'Welcome home.' said Iemitsu.

'D-Dad? You're awake? That's pretty rare…'

'Good timing, I was about to head off.'

'Going somewhere?'

'Yeah, uninvited guests arrived sooner than we thought.'

'Is that true, Iemitsu?' said Reborn urgently.

'The information was sent from a shadow I left in the homeland.'

They had a talk and revealed to Tsuna that his dad was Basil's master.

Tsuna went into panic mode and Reborn told him who his Lightning Guardian was.

~Back to Mei~

'Let's stop now.' said Luke.

I was covered in sweat but I wasn't wounded with the exception of some bruises.

Luke was going all out with a wooden sword so I took the hits but came out uninjured.

When I asked why, he said that he couldn't afford to injure me badly in case I run into trouble on my own and cannot fight back when a situation arises.

That made sense, but if you're gonna be like that, then how about you just cancel training altogether?

Shura had gone off somewhere and didn't come back.

'Mei, go back to town. I need to check something out.'

'Okay.'

I wiped my sweat headed to town.

What a day…the sparing session was tough but why do I feel like Luke was distracted during practice?

He was usually much more intense and I usually end up beat-up, pissed off, and screaming insulting sarcasm in my head…

Suddenly, I ran behind a wall and minimized my presence.

A man in a dark cloak, dark shoes, dark hair, and dark everything with an ridiculously shiny looking weapon went by and I recognized the little badge on his uniform.

Holy crap, the Varia has arrived!

I should find Tsuna and Reborn…

As I made my painfully slow way to their house, I heard a piercing scream and headed that way instead because common sense tells me when someone screams you should help or have it stuck in your conscience for the rest of your life about leaving some old lady to die of a heart attack or something…

'Futa, Ipin, Lambo!' I cried as I caught sight of them.

The cloaked man was in front of them and I couldn't make it in time!

'Pow!'

'Vongola's Guardian of the Sun and Collonello's number one student, Sasagawa Ryohei has arrived!' proclaimed Ryohei.

Nice timing.

I slowed my stride and stopped next to him.

'Nice work.'

'THANKS TO THE EXTREME!'

Yeah, now please stop breaking my ear drums because I like listening to music.

'Onni-san…'

Oh, Tsuna was here as well.

'Mei! What are you doing here?' He asked as he noticed my utterly unimportant presence.

'My training ended and I heard a scream. You're aware of the enemies in the city right?'

Yep, he should be.

Either that or the world's best hitman's skills have dropped considerably since the last time I saw him (which happens to be yesterday…)

He nodded wordlessly.

Another Varia member came and was taken down by Yamamoto and the third by Gokudera.

Tsuna went and made sure the kids were okay and I looked at Reborn.

'They're here, aren't they?'

'Yes.' He said, the shadow of his hat hiding his eyes.

'They certainly were weaker than I imagined.' said Ryohei.

Don't make false assumptions, dunce…

'That's naïve. There are low ranks within the Varia. The really fearsome ones are- Uh!'

I spun around too as I felt deadly killing intent being emitted in a nearby bush.

The great Levi a Than came out and made his epic appearance and then said,

'Did you do this? Who holds the Lightning Ring? Is it the curly haired brat?'

'I-It's not! This is a misunderstanding!' Tsuna exclaimed.

'If you get in my way, I'll kill you.'

'Hold on, Levi.' A new voice interrupted. No way…

The entire freakin' Varia made their overly dramatic appearance and they exchanged words.

And then…Xanxus appeared.

King of evil and doom and mafia and assassins and lots of other stuff.

His aura was crushing and his hand glowed.

His allies seemed unsettled to the extreme and I could sense powerful flames gathering.

Oh man, I should get the hell out of here…

Just as he was about to attack, something flew by and shattered the ground.

It was…a pickax?

WHAT THE HECK?

'Hold on, Xanxus. That's enough. I'll take charge from here.'

Ah…Sawada Iemitsu, The External Advisor.

It's about time you show up and do something…

He announced that he was waiting for a response from the Ninth and read his letter out loud.

It seemed that the Ninth choose Xanxus while Iemitsu chose Tsunayoshi and the successor will be decided by a means everyone can agree on.

I already knew all this crap since Luke and Shura gave me an extra-long explanation about what happened.

All that was left was the method of deciding.

'It will be decided through…A one-on-one battle between those who hold the same type of ring!'

Oh heck no.

Tsuna…is screwed.

'A battle?' Tsuna exclaimed.

'Yeah. After that, it said to wait for instructions.'

Instructions…Maybe those Cervello people Shura was talking about?

'Sorry to keep you waiting.' Two voices called in unison.

Two creepily identical women appeared and announced that they will be the judges of the contest just as Shura said.

They told us their identities and held up the Ninth's direct orders.

Do they have a pompous attitude?

Cuz it certainly seemed like that…

'In addition to the position as the successor, the winning side will receive the newly appointed Moon Guardian as well as her forces.'

Iemitsu's eye's narrowed and Reborn made a small shocked noise.

Varia looked quite surprised as well and I was going 'Aw, crap, here comes my death sentence' in my head.

'The Moon Guardian? Many generations had failed to find one yet now the Moon Guardian is to be awarded to the winning side of this conflict?' said Iemitsu.

Yes, I know.

It's stupid, but my pride of my family won't just let me ditch the damn position…

'Yes. Someone has fit the requirements and a 10th Generation Moon Guardian has been found.'

Yep, she's standing right here.

'Who is it?' said Reborn.

'Kurogane, Mei the Boss of the unofficial Segreto Family has the completed Moon Ring and will be joining the winning side of the conflict.'

'EH?' Tsuna exclaimed.

Reborn's eyes were covered by his hat and everyone looked at me in shock.

'Mei! Is that true?' Tsuna asked.

He looked absolutely mortified.

I nodded wordlessly and held up my hand to show the completed Moon Ring.

'No way…' murmured Yamamoto.

'Kurogane…' said Ryohei.

'Oi, Why didn't you tell us?' yelled Gokudera.

I didn't answer and looked at the Cervello instead.

They went on and said that everyone was to show up at 11 at the Namimori Middle School for later directions and then left.

'H-Hold on that's-!' Tsuna tried to say something but Xanxus death glared him and he shut up.

Everyone parted after that.

~Next Morning with Tsuna~

Was everything a dream? He wondered.

Nope.

Reborn framed the Ninth's order and the ring was on his finger.

Tsuna recapped about what happened yesterday.

Mei was a Mafia boss... as well as a Guardian.

Not to mention she was to go with the winning side of the battle.

Of all people, why her? WHY?

His dear friend's future was in his hands and he wasn't even sure he could come out of this alive!

Tsuna started panicking all over again and Reborn agreed that it was dangerous.

If Iemitsu didn't choose him, then Xanxus would've just killed him.

Surprisingly, Reborn told him to go to school.

~Back to Mei~

I lay on my stomach in bed thinking about the tragic, depressing, life-threatening, dangerous, negative, crazy, ridiculous events that happened yesterday.

My identity was out.

I hoped that Tsuna wasn't too upset about it because I didn't want a depressed little kid to get himself killed because of me.

I can't control who I was after all.

There was a knock on the door and I opened it.

'Oh, Luke. Are you here to talk about training?'

'No. I'm here to inform you that training is cancelled for this week. Shura and I need to go to Italy. Something urgent came up.'

My eyes widened.

They were leaving at a time like this?

What the heck could be so urgent?

However, I knew better than to ask about this kinda stuff so I just nodded and waved good-bye.

I guess I'll go to school tomorrow.

I can always train by myself, can't I?

Besides, I should visit Tsuna.

I saw Tsuna on the road with Yamamoto and it seemed like I shouldn't interrupt their little happy moment of boy bonding.

Gokudera also showed up with a big box of what seemed like paper airplanes and Tsuna seemed to cheer up.

That was good…For me.

In the classroom, I went to talk to Tsuna.

'Tsuna…I'm sorry I didn't tell you.' I said.

Might as well get the stupid apologies over with to avoid the grueling task of swallowing my pride some other time…

'It's okay! I mean, it must have been hard for you to bear that position in secret all this time! I'm glad that we know now!'

'Oh…'

I was kinda glad he wasn't mad at me.

'Tsuna. Don't give up. There's always hope.'

Okay, that's sappy, stupid, cheesy, and really, really lame but I wanted to get him motivated.

And I don't care if I sound like an idiot in the process.

If they were gonna fight, it's better to be motivated than spirit-less.

Also, I don't want a future filled with killer assassins who don't give a crap about my well-being.

At least Tsuna and his little group cared right? (At least somewhat…I think.)

I smiled a little bit and went to my desk.

I hope that helped (and if it didn't, well screw you all because I did not just say something utterly lame and cheesy for no reason whatsoever…)

As much as I hated to admit it, it hurt to see him so upset (rub it in and I swear I will kill you…)

Kyoko and Hana came and talked to him about something.

He seemed flustered and nervous and I wondered what they were talking about.

Ryohei came over and manhandled Sawada away by the neck.

Ah, poor Tunafish enduring the extreme boxing idiot this early in the morning…

And the day ended peacefully.

I think.

I really wouldn't know because I can't tell the difference between normal and crazy anymore considering normal now translates into crazy but real normal-ness seemed downright boring and craziness was interesting but normal is crazy but...Yeah, I'm probably getting you confused right now so I'll stop right here before your brain explodes…

Can't wait for tonight…

And so, Tsuna finds out about Mei's position!

I'm going on vacation for a week so the next update might be a little late but not too much...I hope.

If I'm really late, I'll do extra long chapters to make up for it...

Ciao!

Please Review and grant me eternal happiness

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