Chapter 14

Forceful Suggestion

It's not until we're on our way back that I realize that just for those few hours, even through the boredom of right-field, I hadn't thought of the missing documents, or the knife, or Cavallone even once...

Yamamoto and Gokudera stay for dinner again, and when I ask Yamamoto rudely if he has a home to return to and if he does then why doesn't he get a move on already, he only replies with a laugh and an "I thought you'd like some company!" while Gokudera grumbles along with me. Though we don't usually see eye-to-eye, we stand united against a common enemy—The Smiling Menace.

Nana-san doesn't seem to mind the extra mouths to feed. She just busies herself in the kitchen and tells them to make themselves comfortable. Thanks Nana-san...

Today, dinner seems a lot more relaxed. I can feel it, although I remain silent once again. The only thing that's different is the fact that Nana-san's finally caught on to my selective eating habits. She prepares a special dish of nothing but vegetables just for me, and even presents it to me in her finest china...placed right in front of me.

She smiles brightly. "That's all for you, Kariya-chan!"

There's malice behind that smile and in every single one of those carrots. The broccolis are taunting me—they seem to be multiplying every time I look down at them. And the more that I pick at the dish, the more cabbage there seems to be.

Yamamoto laughs. "That's good protein!"

Don't agree with her!

But he steals bean sprouts from the plate when he thinks that no one's looking. I glower at him for the rest of the meal. I may hate most vegetables, but I actually like bean sprouts.

After my bath, I find the three boys as well as Reborn situated in the room that I'd been given.

"What's going on here?" I ask, glancing around at them all. "I thought you all went home."

"Sit down," Reborn says.

I make my way across the room to sit on the bed, as far away from them as possible. They're creeping me out with this tense atmosphere.

"Don't you think it's time you told us everything?" Reborn says seriously.

"Every…thing…?" I repeat slowly.

"Everything about your past... All of it."

"I don't feel like it. I'm tired." I bring my knees up to my chest, moving away so that my back is pressed against the wall, and shuffle my feet awkwardly.

"It's just a suggestion..." Reborn says with a smirk.

My skin crawls. That's totally not 'just' a suggestion...!

But I glare at the ground just at Reborn's feet, tight-lipped. When I don't respond, I feel Reborn's aura intensify, and I shrink back. His intimidation factor is hundreds of times scarier than Hibari's... It's almost tangible!

"Is this part of the mafia game too? Is Kari-chan the new player?" The tense silence is broken by Yamamoto, who sprawls out on the bed next to me, leaning back with his hands behind his head. Either he's really oblivious to the seriousness of the situation, or he's trying to ease the tension. Either way, I'm both exasperated at his naïveté, yet thankful for it at the same time.

"You idiot! How many times have I told you? Get serious!" Gokudera reprimands.

So Yamamoto's part of Tsuna's family as well... That means that as of right now, Tsuna's family consists of Bomber-Boy, Smiley, Sunny-D(?) and me.

I'm unsure of how to respond, so I wait for one of the three other males to say something.

"This isn't a game, Yamamoto..." Tsuna sighs dejectedly. It seems like this is a common thing for Yamamoto to say. Really? I thought he was dense...but not that dense...

An awkward silence fills the room. This time it's Reborn who breaks it. "What do you know of the stolen documents?"

"I told you," I say, trying hard to keep the growl out of my voice as I become defensive. "I didn't steal them!"

"I'm not accusing you," Reborn says evenly. "I'm just asking you if you have any idea who could've done it."

I shake my head. "The only people that I know from Namimori are people that you know."

"Hmm..."

"And besides, I thought you said you knew who it was," I add.

Reborn thinks for a moment before saying, "Well, I'm tired. I'm going to sleep now."

"Goodnight!" Yamamoto calls before Reborn slips out of the room.

"Goodnight, Reborn-san!"

"He ignored me..." I say incredulously. "He ignored me!"

"Eh, um!" Tsuna intervenes, "Why would they want your documents anyway, Kariya-san?"

I look back at him sharply, remembering the situation at hand. I lean back against the wall, glowering as I shrug. "Your guess is as good as mine."

We lapse into silence, mulling over the possibilities in our heads... Well, at least, that's what I'm doing. Tsuna just looks unsettled and just a tad bit lost. Gokudera looks like he just might be considering the suspects. Yamamoto has his trademark airhead smile on his face. "Haha~ without any of your documents, it's like you don't exist, Kari-chan!"

The room falls utterly silent.

"That's it," I breathe. "That's it." I can't believe Yamamoto was the first one to figure it out—I can't believe that I didn't think of that. This connects all of the pieces of information. "Someone still wants me dead," I say, finally realizing the potential danger, the gravity, of the situation. "This way, if they kill me, there are no documents leading to me. No one will notice the death of a person who never existed."

"We would!" Tsuna speaks up, and I look at him, taken aback at his unusually aggressive response, "I... I mean, even if someone destroyed all of your files, the people around you, we would know that you were missing."

Yamamoto blinks, looking a bit lost. "I don't really get it, but if you go missing, we'd look for you, Kari-chan. You're our friend!" He laughs.

"You wouldn't be able to fully erase someone's existence," Gokudera says matter-of-factly.

I frown, turning away. "You guys don't get it. Destroying the documents would only cover the legalities, as you've said. But I can't even stress how easy it is to make a person forget your existence."

"What do you mean by that?" Gokudera asks.

"Do you guys know what…illusions are?"

"Illusions? Like magic tricks?" Yamamoto supplies.

"You idiot, if you're not gonna' be serious about this then just shut up!" the bomber growls.

"Umm. Not really." I manage a small smile at Yamamoto's eagerness. "Ah. Remember that day that you guys were coming over to the house?

"The house?" Gokudera repeats.

"Yeah, to work on the science project?"

"Haha~ the one that we barely passed?"

"Heh. Yeah, that one," I answer, barely managing a smile. "Hey...Tsuna, are you okay?" I glance at the boy on the ground.

"Juudaime! Juudaime! Please! Get it together! Hang in there!"

Sad boy is clutching his head on the floor. "Barely passed? That was the highest mark I've ever gotten in science…"

Yamamoto looks at him. "Eh...Tsuna?"

"I'm…I'm good. Sorry, Kariya-san, please continue."

"Um. Well, you all saw the house burn, ne?"

"Mhmm."

"Tsuna, you didn't go inside, but Yamamoto, Gokudera, you guys did. Do you remember what you saw?"

"Oh. Yeah. There was this lady—your mom right?"

"Not my mom. She was an illusion."

"Yeah, there was this little girl, too."

"Ah, yes! That's right! My arm passed right through her," Yamamoto says, recalling the memory.

Tsuna listens in silence with a confused expression on his face.

I sigh. "It's like this," I say before conjuring up the illusion.

"Hiieee!" Tsuna yelps, jumping back.

Gokudera springs to his feet at the apparition. The illusory woman smiles consolingly at me and I manage a grimace back at her.

"Hi again!" Yamamoto greets.

She laughs lightly at him. "It's nice to see you again, Yamamoto-kun."

"Heya," I say shortly. "I need you to show these kids how illusions work." I turn back to the brunet. "Stand up," I order.

When he doesn't respond, I sigh impatiently and get up to yank him to his feet a little forcefully. ("Oi! Don't touch Juudaime like that!"). I pull his hand out, and despite his protests, I manipulate his arm so that it swings back and forth, cutting through the illusion in several places. "You see here? That's an illusion. It has no form. Get it? Got it? Good."

I dismiss the illusion without another word. It always makes me irritable to create illusions of the 'people' posing as my family.

I plop back down on the bed, and move over ever so slightly so I don't sit on Yamamoto. He rolls over onto his side, and pulls at the corners of my red plaid pyjamas. He's managed to unbutton the bottom button with one hand before I snap out of my annoyed reverie and realize it. I smack his hand away with a sharp slap on his wrist—more noise than actual force. He pulls his hand back with an amused smile while I button it back up. But that's effectively snapped me out of my stormy, almost nonsensical, rage.

I look back at the other two, who, thankfully, look like they're thinking things over. I continue in my explanation, and they look back at me. "There are illusions...in which you create, like I just showed you. And then there are illusions in which you destroy."

"Destroy? What do you mean by that?" Tsuna questions me.

"Show us." My blood runs cold at Yamamoto's light-hearted suggestion.

"No," I snap, and his eyes open in mild surprise. I quickly amend, "I mean...well, it's not really like destroying something...but rather like...erasing."

"What's wrong with showing us that?"

"Yamamoto..." I say tightly. "I can...erase people's memories..." Yamamoto whistles, and I give him a small smile, trying to smother my distress. "I only use those kinds of illusions when I absolutely have to—like getting past airport security."

"What about cameras?" Gokudera asks skeptically.

"The security people don't remember me either. It's not hard to get rid of the film. Of course, they'll wonder where the security tapes went, but they wouldn't remember me stealing—or rather, taking—them anyway."

They stare and I sigh, "Well, I'm...not very good with illusions, so I try not to depend on them. Like I said—only if and when I have to. I...try not to create illusions to take the place of people's memories, or erase their memories of me—in general, I try not to tamper with their memories...because I'm not skilled with illusions...because...because I could potentially erase their entire memory..."

We lapse into silence.

"...That's cool!"

"Yamamoto..." I sigh.

"It's fine, Kari-chan! You mean well, so it's alright!"

"Yamamoto's right, Kariya-san. You shouldn't be so hard on yourself for something like that," Tsuna's brown eyes are trained on me, and I feel compelled to nod in response even though I disagree.

"But..." Gokudera speaks up, watching Yamamoto pick at some fluff on the blanket. "Wouldn't they catch up to you sooner or later?"

I grimace before replying. "Yes..." I say slowly. "They have. That's why I was so suspicious before."

"Who's 'they'?" Yamamoto sits up, blinking innocently. I'm certain that that innocence masks true predatory perspicacity—he's unusually perceptive today.

"'They' were many different people, all with their own reasons," I answer as truthfully as I can force the words out. I have to try and be more honest, or else Reborn will have my ass.

"Like what?" he presses me, still keeping up that naive front.

"...Like the Gi—" I bite my tongue, covering my slip with a cough. They peer at me curiously until I grace them with an answer. "Like...the Vongola Famiglia."

"Why would the Vongola want you dead?" Tsuna asks. Throughout this entire 'conversation' (read: interrogation), Tsuna's expression has gradually grown more and more confused, yet, he continues to pelt me with concerned questions. Gokudera's frown deepens and he seems to be the only one that contributing his thoughts on this (read: shoving his opinions in my face). Yamamoto listens in, smile becoming smaller and smaller, though it never falters. I doubt he's even really taking in all this information, much less understanding it... But something tells me not to underestimate him—he shows flashes of great insight at times, while other times... Not so much, ne?

"Well I wanted to kill you, ne?" I respond a bit mordantly, giving him a blank stare. I turn away from him, glaring at the floor. "They probably wanted to kill me before I could get to you."

"Che!" Gokudera scoffs.

Tsuna regards me with wide eyes; there's no fear or surprise in them, but they're filled with sincere distress. "But why—"

I cut him off before he can frame his question. No doubt he's sympathizing with me again. And I just want to drop the subject. "I would've gone after the other ones, but someone got to them before I did..." My eyes unfocus as I think aloud to myself. "...And I wasn't about to go after him. No, I'm not that stupid..."

I'm snapped out of my reminiscing by a string of rapid beeping. Thankfully, I don't think I've revealed too much. I turn to pinpoint the sound.

Of course, Yamamoto's attention is fixated on the cell phone in his hands. When he's finished, he hands the...I guess, my cell phone to me. I take it, and slide it open. Its LCD screen lights up and I find myself facing an atrocious fanged smiley face background that greatly resembles Lambo's drawing on Gokudera's face.

But what pulls my attention away from the smileys is a little red icon that reads: one new contact added.

"Hey Tsuna! Do you have a cell phone? Kari-chan can add you too!"

"Eh...no."

I quickly (or, not so quickly) navigate (read: stumble like a peg-legged pirate in Swan Lake) through the phone's functions. I scroll past the photo gallery, ringtone and general settings buttons to find my contact list.

"—added myself to your speed dial as well! Haha~"

I have a grand total of one contact—Yamamoto Takeshi.

"What about you, Gokudera?"

"Why would I give this idiot my number?"

"Haha~"

"Che." Gokudera scoffs again. "Oi, you," he addresses me.

I slide the phone shut with a sharp click, raising an eyebrow at his tone, but refrain from retorting. I place it down on the bedside table.

He continues, holding up my wakizashis, "Why are there all these names written on these sheathes?"

My eyes widen, and I automatically (read: redundantly) lift my pillow up to check for my weapons.

He reads off a few names, "Senna, Hunter, Stone, Pierce."

"Are they the names of your past victims?" Yamamoto asks cheerily.

"Yamamoto!" Tsuna cries.

"Oh..." Yamamoto seems to realize the inappropriateness of his comment. "Then...is that your hit list?"

Never mind...

"You idiot," Gokudera says, thrusting the red scabbard into Yamamoto's face. "Read the very last name that's written on here."

"Eh...It's all in English..." Yamamoto laughs.

"Che! It says 'Asunake'. Ring any bells?" Gokudera glares at Yamamoto's expression. "Yeah. That's right. Still think that it's a hit list?"

"It could've been a failed hit list...Did you ever think of that, genius?" I growl. "Now give them back!"

That shuts him up. I grab both scabbards back from Gokudera. "These names...they're here to remind me of my identity. I've...changed my last name every time I've moved. I don't really have one. I suppose I had one. I remember having parents, but not them. I don't remember what they were like."

"So that's why..."

"What?"

"You don't look Japanese or Italian..." Yamamoto regards me with a critical eye, tilting his head to the side. He pulls a strand of my hair. Black hair and brown eyes that are too light to be fully Asian... I'd have to say you're a mix of Asian and something else..."

"White?" I suggest, pushing my hair back behind my ear—it's growing a bit too long for my liking. The last time I'd cut it was last year when I stopped in Italy. My hair's now at that awkward stage, just past the shoulder and starting to flip up at the ends in random directions.

"Eh, I don't think 'White' is a race, Kariya-san," Tsuna says.

"Maa...I think I should get going now. I'll see you guys later, alright?" Yamamoto stands.

I breathe a sigh of relief as the three boys stand, leaving the room.

"'Night..." Gokudera mumbles.

"Goodnight, Kari-chan!"

I nod in reply as the door closes. I hear them make their way downstairs and as they say their goodbyes.

"Why did you leave, Reborn?" Tsuna asks as he walks up the stairs to find the baby hitman standing there, arms crossed, like he was waiting for him.

"She's still wary around me. I figured that she'd open up to you three a lot more easily."

"W-What?"

"She genuinely likes you, though she's still bitter over your title of Decimo—"

"I don't wanna be a–!"

"You'll be a mafia boss when I'm through with you. And don't interrupt!" Reborn shoots him a look. "She seems to be more open around Yamamoto; you too, should've noticed this."

"You were listening in, weren't you?" Tsuna accuses.

Reborn just nods. "She knew that I was. Just as I know that she is right now. Right, Kariya? I know you're listening to us."

Booked. I open the door, peering out. "Yeah. I figured as much. It's what I would've done as well, as demonstrated now," I say, gesturing at myself.

Reborn's lips curve up into a smile as he speaks, "And don't think for a moment that I didn't notice that you didn't say anything about your past."

"I did."

"Not everything like I'd asked you to."

"I…didn't feel much like sharing," I reply, gritting my teeth. "Good night."

"You saw him, didn't you?" It's more of a flat statement rather than a question.

I stiffen, reminding myself not to glare before turning back to look at Reborn. "'Him'? I don't know what you're talking about."

"You saw him, and then you ran away."

My eyes narrow.

"You were scared of him, weren't you? Is that why you decided to go after Dame-Tsuna instead?"

I slam the door closed behind me, but not quickly enough. I catch Reborn's sarcastic remark: "You knew you'd have to face him sooner or later if you wanted the title, so that makes you a coward, doesn't it Kariya? Do you not think you're strong enough?"

I. Am. Not.Weak.

I. Am. Not. A Coward.

I'm not afraid. I'm not afraid of anything or anyone.

Tsuna sleeps fitfully. He can't help but feel that something's...wrong. He can't quite place his finger on it, but he knows that it's got something to do with Kariya-san, and the feeling can't possibly mean anything good.

But no matter how many times he tries to tell himself that whatever it is, it'll work out somehow, the anxiety rises up within him. The sensation follows him into his dreams.

Gokudera-kun and Yamamoto are facing away from him, calling out into the distance, their voices echoing. He calls out to them, and they turn to face him, pained expressions on their features.

They gesticulate wildly towards the distance, and run off. He turns to see what they're running after, and, still not seeing it, he follows, yelling for them to wait.

They don't wait, so he speeds up, running as fast as he can. There are many people also running along with him—some he knows, and some he doesn't. They stop at a fenced off area where a crowd has started to gather. Some people have worried looks—Gokudera-kun, Yamamoto, and Kyoko-chan, with Onii-san. But others carry heavy scowls and even heavier weaponry. Tsuna can't see their faces, but he can sense their hatred.

Onii-san grabs his wrist, shouting at him over the din, and forges a path through the throng to the very front of the mob. That's when he sees what they've been chasing. Part of him already knew who it was, but all the same, he'd been dreading it.

Cornered, and pressed against the graffiti-covered wall is Kariya-san. She's curled up, with her knees to her chest and hands covering her head.

He calls her name and Yamamoto waves at her. She peers up warily, then with a relieved smile as she recognizes them.

A tall man floats over them, hovering in the air in a blaze of unspeakable things. Tsuna shivers, and freezes, unable to finish his action of hopping over the cement barrier. He turns his head slowly to find that so have the rest of his friends.

There's that flash of fear across her face, quickly covered up with anger, her fists clenching as she turns away from Tsuna, stepping through the wall.

The man flies through the air, speeding after her. Tsuna cringes as he disappears through the wall as well.

At that, they all seem to unfreeze, and Tsuna and his friends rush forward. To his surprise and terror, so have the armed men. The sight makes him speed up, only to be repelled by the wall. Tsuna cries out when he sees that the scowling people carrying weapons are all let through, charging through the barrier with howls of rage. Tsuna desperately pounds on the brick walls.

He stirs in his sleep, half-consciously pushing a hare-brained idea away from him.

Kariya-san wouldn't leave. She's not one to run away from her problems, right?

A/N:

So what do you think? Fight or flight?

The next chapter won't be up for at least two weeks. Unless there's a miracle and this rock brain of mine turns into a sponge brain and I absorb all of the information I need. Has anyone else ever taken music theory? Well, I have exams... T_T So I'll see you all later if I survive these next few rough weeks of studying/homeworking or my own fail driving—yeah, the terror of the roads is me. And as a new driver, I have to say, damn, it's scary. xO

Anyway, I would like to say thank you to all you reviewers, especially you anonymous reviewers, since I can't reply to you directly. Thanks for all the support, critiques and comments alike! You guys are just as awesome, if not more, than Prussia~