I'm pretty much sure that 99.9% of my readers watch anime (of course they do baka author) and so I guess when I throw the word 'filler' out there, people would rage. Naruto had great examples which the fandom had dubbed as 'Filler-no-jutsu' that producers loved to do. Fans rage - especially when it's used in the middle of a climatic battle. So why am I bringing this up?

Introducing an OC character to the universe of KHR was no joke - I had to make a parallel story line to justify Mia's growth as a character. The reason I'm doing this is because the KHR story line is for Tsuna and his friends. As I looked into the series, I realized that Mia's character can't be developed into what I want it to be unless I give her own story that is separated from Tsuna's. Kind of like a coming-of-age story. What I came up with seems to match well with the KHR universe without making any grand changes to the overall plot. However, it's for my readers to decide whether or not if it seamlessly fits. I really don't want to give people the feeling when a filler come out although KHR had good fillers... really good fillers

I'll explain more of what this 'Arc' will be.

For now, enjoy some crack humor that I wrote that was inspired by your reviews from the last chapter. Thanks a lot guys, I wouldn't have laughed my ass off writing this if it weren't for ya all.

Disclaimer: I don't own KHR. But I have great news! I'm a kitty grandma! :D my cat Nura just gave birth to three lovely kittens! They're all so adorable (; A ;)

Nightmare

There was nothing to worry about. Nope. Nothing at all.

Or so Tsuna wanted to believe. In actuality, he was locked into a state of paranoia. Well that's a bit extreme but what can you call it? He had been watching Mia like a hawk ever since Valentines. It was true that she occasionally went to the Committee's office, sometimes carrying binders and paper but she never stayed long… except on the weekends. From there she spent her afternoons – the time when they usually hung out for a study or book-slash-napping session – to do work for the committee. What she does in there… especially when Hibari was there began to eat at him.

He never confronted Mia about it though. Partly because he didn't want her to know and the other was that he didn't want to upset her if he brought it up. He just knew they would end up fighting.

And besides… nothing really happened between them now that he thought about it. Reborn really was screwing him around. But he couldn't shake off the feeling that something unpleasant was going to happen…

On White Day, Tsuna carried a box of dark chocolates for Mia because she liked bitter stuff. When they met up on the way to school, his hand suddenly went cold. He was nervous all of a sudden to give her the chocolate even though they were walking side by side. What was the harm right?

"I'll just give it at lunch," he muttered.

Warm air blew softly at the curve of his neck and he jumped. "Ack!" he slapped a hand to his neck. Mia looked at him with both hands on her hips.

"I know you've been acting weird for a while – totally given since you are weird – but you're as jittery as a rabbit. What are you hiding?" She stepped up to him. Her blue eyes glinted. Tsuna swallowed.

"Nothing really…" he said, avoiding her eyes.

Mia hummed and looked at his hands. Unconscious to what he was doing, his arms were wrapped tightly around his bag making it look like he was obviously hiding something. Her bland look made him sigh. Red in the face, he took out the chocolate and gave it to her. He didn't look her in the face; he was too embarrassed to do so. Mia took the box from him.

"Uh… let's head on alright? Gokudera-kun and Yamamoto are probably waiting." He quickly started walking. Her hand shot out to grab his wrist. "Mia?"

Her expression was down. Her eyes wouldn't meet his. "Mia?" he repeated softly. She squeezed his wrist and let go. She kept her head down. Her shoulders rose and she lifted her head. She looked like she was about to say something but they were interrupted as Gokudera and Yamamoto showed up. Just like that, Mia was back to herself.

"Later," she promised and smiled at their friends. "Oh and thank you Tsuna."

That bad feeling he had been having? It doubled when he saw a crowd of people hanging outside of their classroom. Kurokawa approached them.

"What's going on?" Yamamoto asked.

"Someone… I mean a lot of people left some things for you on your desk Matteis." Hana ignored Yamamoto and spoke directly with Mia. Mia frowned at the blockade of people in front of her. She took a deep breath.

"Hibari-san is coming!" she said loudly. Like magic, people scattered leaving the way empty for her to pass. They stared at her and Kurokawa actually whistled in admiration. They followed Mia into class where Tsuna stopped dead by the doorway. He felt intimidated… insignificant all of a sudden. On Mia's desk was a pile of chocolates. It wasn't a big pile but there was a lot of it, enough to be noticeable.

"Where did this come from?" Mia asked Kurokawa. She was frowning, looking not quite so happy at the gifts. Kurokawa shrugged. Mia turned back to the pile and began to sort through them until she found a piece of paper then she let out a small laugh. She shook her head and passed the note to Gokudera.

"From the Disciplinary Committee!?" He exclaimed. Tsuna rushed to look at the note as well.

"It's a thank-you gift from the members," Tsuna read dumbly.

"Oh! Even Kasukabe-senpai left one!" Yamamoto said as he picked up a small bag of M&M's . "This is his I think? His family deals with foreign shipments right?"

Mia nodded. "Good'ol M&M's. I love American candy, one day I'll get diabetes." She gave Yamamoto some of her candy.

"Oh! I almost forgot!" Yamamoto dug something out of his bag.

"Ah! Me too My Lady!" Gokudera and Yamamoto gave her a small box at the same time. Flustered and a bit embarrassed, she took them.

"Thank you!" they told her simultaneously.

"I-I… grazie," she murmured looking shy. She still held his chocolate that he gave earlier on but with Gokudera and Yamamoto's, she cradled them carefully as if they were precious. Tsuna felt thrown out of the loop when he saw the pile of chocolates, thinking that there were a huge group of secret admirers but once he saw that small shy smile she had, he just knew she was happy.

"Look at her, acting all smug."

"Not only did she get chocolates from Gokudera-kun and Yamamoto-kun, she even got some from the disciplinary committee!"

"How did she do it?"

"Probably did something really nasty…" one of the girls snickered behind him.

Normally he didn't speak out loud against his classmates but insulting his best friend? He was going to say something back when Mia's hand clasped around his wrist and she shook her head.

"Ignore them," she said and let go. Tsuna fumed but did as he was asked. She smiled at him. "Come on, help me find somewhere to put these." She hid their chocolates in her bag.

"I got an eco bag here My Lady, good thing I was planning on going shopping." Gokudera handed her a folded piece of cloth. Tsuna helped Mia put the sweets away but occasionally he picked up a few scornful comments here and there. He was used to the derogating stares that his peers would give him because he was used to it but to hear them talking about someone he cared for like she was trash…

"How unpleasant," he muttered to himself. Oh hell it was unpleasant… It amazed him how Mia could keep her head leveled. He knew she must be aware at least. They wouldn't dare make comments when Gokudera or Yamamoto was around. His frame was tense though. One time, during class, Mia deliberately touched his hand. He didn't realize he was trying to glare a hole through his test paper. After that, she dragged him away from crowds. Tsuna was starting to realize why Hibari disliked them… a lot of people were a bunch of bigots. Excluding the small population though that he did like… well that was hypocritical of him. At second period, he had buried his head in his arms to block himself from his classmates.

"Tsuna, you're usually the coolest guy I've ever known," Mia told him on the roof.

"Eh?!" Tsuna exclaimed. "A-Am I really?"

She shrugged. "Well yeah, you deal with everybody on a daily basis. I'm surprised you haven't lost your temper and strangled anybody."

His face fell and he sighed. "And here I thought you were complimenting me," he whined.

"I am!"

"But why do I feel like it isn't?"

Mia shook her head hopelessly at him. "Tsuna, what I'm getting here is that you should let it go. They're my problem, not yours."

The joking mood vanished and Tsuna sagged against the steel fence. He stared up at the sky. "I just… I don't like the way they say things about you."

Mia snorted. "That's life. Just because there's one or two bad apples doesn't mean the rest of the batch is."

"Still… doesn't it hurt?" he asked quietly. Even if he ignored the mean things that people say about him, it still hurt.

It took her a moment to answer. "Not as much as you think," she said at last. He looked at her and she smiled the same smile she gave him at the clearing. "What matters to me is what you guys say. Not people I don't know, people who wouldn't care if I got into an accident or hurt. Besides, let them think what they want… I'm just really happy that people want me around," the last part was said with so much content Tsuna had to look away.

"Cute…" he murmured.

"What was that?" Mia asked.

Tsuna hid a grin. "I said that you're cute." He watched as her jaw dropped and she went several shades pink.

"T-T-That's just… I'm not… shut up!" she spluttered.

He tilted his head, his grin turning teasing. "Can't help it." He turned away from her and clapped both hands to his cheeks. "Mia-chan is so cute when she pouts! I bet when you were a baby you were ten times more cuter – ACKKKKK! MIA!" he choked. Mia had sprung on his back, snarling like an angry kitten.

"I. Am. Not. Cute!" she cried. He spun around, trying to get her off which only resulted in her clinging to his neck. After a minute of manhandling, Mia's grip slackened until it seemed like she was hugging him from behind – still in a choke bind though. He felt her forehead press against his back and he frowned at her sudden change of mood.

"Ah… Mia," he coughed. "Wh-What was it that you want to talk about?"

She didn't speak. Her arms disentangled themselves from his neck and slid down to his back but he didn't turn around. After a deep breath, he felt her shift.

"Ne Tsuna… should I go confess to Hibari-senpai?"

What. The. Actual. Fuck.

Senpai?

Senpai?

SENPAI?!

"Huh?" he said, unable to register the words in his head. He turned around and grasped her by she shoulders. "Wh-wh-what?!" For each stutter, he shook her but her expression was disturbingly dreamy. It was not an expression that belonged to her face.

Mia was suddenly blushing in front of him, a starry look in her eyes. "Ever since I met him… my heart has been going doki doki!" Her slender fingers bunched his shirt and she stepped closer to him, looking desperate. "How Tsuna? I want to marry him someday!"

Everything suddenly morphed and he was watching Mia in a white gown standing before an altar. She was holding hands with her groom. Everybody they knew was present in crisp suits and dresses.

"Th-This can't be real," he said to himself.

"Tsuna." He jumped. Mia suddenly stood before him and no one was around. She was smiling. She took his hands into hers. "Thank you… for being my Maid of Honor." He looked down at himself to find that he was wearing a blue silky dress and promptly screamed.

"HIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" He woke up screaming, startling the class and himself as he toppled backwards off his chair. He fell and lied there breathing hard while the whole class was laughing at him. It was just a dream. A terrible, horrible dream.

"Tsuna?" Mia's face came into view as she knelt beside him. Her eyebrows were scrunched up in worry. "Are you okay?"

He blinked. Right. Today was the last day of their school year. White day already passed and Mia had no intention or interest into confessing to anyone least of all Hibari. When he realized this, he was so happy he sat upright suddenly and pulled her into a tight hug, not caring what other people thought.

"Tsuna?!" her voice was muffled against his chest.

"I'm so glad it was just a dream!" he cried and somewhat sobbed grossly in relief.

"Sawada Tsunayoshi!" the teacher shouted.

"What the hell were you thinking?!" she berated him on the way home. "Doing something like that in public… people would think that we're – I mean it could destroy your chances with Kyoko!"

Tsuna couldn't speak. In the midst of his (obsessive) worry, he had forgotten about giving Kyoko-chan a gift! He can just say goodbye to his fantasy of marrying Kyoko-chan and a normal life! He didn't notice Mia's downcast frown.

"Hey Tsuna… hey, can you just listen to me for one second?" the seriousness of her tone brought him back to reality and he looked at her. She smiled crookedly at him. "Tsuna, I'm leaving for London tonight."

All his thoughts halted to a sudden halt. He had been doing that a lot lately – "What?" he gasped.

She cringed. "Summer vacation at Japan doesn't really last that long and my Nonnino wanted the family to get together while my Uncle isn't serving his country ninety-nine percent of his time. I'll be gone for two weeks… or a month."

"Why?!" he gaped at her.

She bit her lip. "I… well… it's England Tsuna! I know every country is absolutely interesting but you know how much I digged the Medieval fantasy kind of stuff – this is a chance to study Celtic Mythology and the Arthurian Legend… oh che figata… I've really, really wanted to go and check out Oxford with Papa since he graduated there and everything."

He continued to stare at her. "Tsuna?" she waved at his face.

"He's incapable of thinking right now Mia." Reborn appeared on the sidewalk, he was frowning at his student.

Mia sighed and rubbed her eyes. "Would it have been better if I told him earlier?"

"No. This is best."

"I'm starting to worry if me leaving is a bad thing."

"Nah, Dame-Tsuna is so oblivious he needs a lesson on reality. That's life…. And speaking of that how's your Father? Bet Tsuna didn't notice that he left since the second week of January."

"Reborn!" she hissed.

"What?" That shook him out of it. Tsuna glanced at her, looking for an explanation. She glared at Reborn. The hitman smirked at them.

"Trust is very important in a relationship. Start building on it while you still can," Reborn lectured them solemnly.

"I don't want to hear it from a guy who runs from commitment with Bianchi!" Mia shot back.

"W-W-Wait, what happened with your dad?" Tsuna pulled on her hand to have her look at him.

Mia let out a little noise of frustration and gave Reborn another glare. "It's nothing t worry about. Papa had been called urgently by a colleague and he left without saying goodbye. It's nothing new."

To her surprise, Tsuna became visibly upset. "That's not right," he said. "That's not right at all."

Understandably, she became defensive. "I know it's not but he tries – he left me a note and some badly burned bacon for breakfast."

"Aren't you ever sad?" he asked her. Was she?

"No." She shook her head. "I can't be."

And here, Tsuna had come to realize that there are things that Mia didn't like to think or talk about. For him, it was his position as heir and his Father. To Mia, it was both of her parents. He knew that Mia's Father really did care but it upset him how he felt like he abandoned his daughter. It probably showed on his face because Mia gently pulled him to start walking. He stared at her narrowed shoulders and thought how small she looked.

"One day, I'll tell you," she said without looking back at him.

"Eh?" startled, he could only gape at her.

She looked over her shoulder. "While I'm gone, please please don't get yourselves into something stupid."

Family

The familiar rumble of the turbulence greeted her like an old friend as she was used to it. Now that she was away from her friends' eyes she began to reflect. For months, when she slept she either had memories or nightmares. There was no time for her to think about herself but now that she had time, she had a lot of questions.

The first one was usually: who were the people that took her out of the crowd?

Fear made a person either highly aware of their surroundings or ignorant and her reaction was the former. She had just lost her mother and was in a state of shock – picking her up was as easy as taking a stray kitten from the street. But she was still afraid; she initially thought they were going to take her away where 'bad kids go' or prison.

She didn't exactly have a photographic memory but what she remembered was a silver pocket watch with black engraved markings of a… tree? It looked like a tree, but it had jagged thorns instead of branches. It had caught her eye the first time and this time, she was determined to look for it. For once, Google had let her down. There was nothing… absolutely nothing that she could find and even after using her Papa's sources. The closest she could find was an address to an old watch maker at London. It was a no-brainer for her to go there.

Her second question was the odd sentence that played in her mind: Let her forget. Followed by the mind-numbing sensation and a black out. What did she see? Mia would be honest – things were still hazy for her yet there was this inkling that she knew only that her brain was taking its sweet time to remember.

She sighed and pressed her cheek against the glass and watched the night sky pass by. She didn't understand it herself why she was so desperate to know when she had enough problems piled on her plate. If Tsuna had found out about this, he would have done everything he could to keep her in Japan because let's be honest, her sudden desire to go treasure hunting was downright crazy. This could be the one chance for her to know and… it was probably best for the two of them to be distant.

Tsuna had been acting odd. Well, odder than usual and clingy.

Not that she didn't appreciate the attention but she was… uncertain on how to feel about that. Tsuna was an overprotective, overbearing and mega worrying guy. She wasn't used to being fussed over so when Tsuna became mama grizzly bear, she just let him do what he wanted because she didn't know how to react. It didn't help the fact that she can't help herself from checking him out. Tsuna reminded her of those cute skating boys she always saw outside the Library in America except he had this sweet innocent look about him.

Oh Lord.

She was afraid of slipping and blurting out something stupid and god knows what Reborn would do if he found out. She shut her eyes and pressed her lips together to prevent the oncoming blush.

When the world turned backwards right before her eyes, her arrival was nigh and soon her plane landed at Heathrow Airport. It had to be the busiest airport she had ever been to and was hard pressed to find her way around. Luckily, she spotted a familiar face among the hundreds around her.

"Uncle Ben!" she cried and ran towards a tall raven-haired man. Mia didn't lie to Tsuna, her uncle was a soldier and had the built of one. His eyes were narrow and his nose was longer than her Papa's.

"Ah cucciolio, you've grown taller – had a boyfriend yet? Because you know you'd have to introduce them to me first – "

"MI sei mancato troppo zio." She hugged him around the waist. It felt nice to know that she still had Family members who cared – her mother's side wasn't as nice as her Mama. They were a bunch of snobs. Mama didn't like them, hell even her Nonnino didn't like them.

He squeezed her back and looked at her luggage. "Well carry on cucciolio, your carriage is waiting." He graciously offered her his arm jokingly. She took it with a smile. Her Uncle was more easygoing than her Papa, it wasn't hard to get along with him. It was her first time being in England so she had her face pressed against the glass as they went through the streets.

"Where are we staying Uncle?" she asked.

Uncle Ben smiled crookedly. "You'll love this."

In thirty minutes she was standing in front of an old worn building with a rusted gate. Its curtains were drawn shut. When she opened the gate, it made a noise that made her cringe. Well… it was sort of cool if it didn't feel like she was walking in into a haunted house.

"You sure this is the right place?" She dubiously studied the broken cobbled path to the door.

"You know how Pa is… not much of a materialistic person."

Mia could understand that but this? Parts of the brick walls had been chipped away by age. But when her Uncle pushed open the worn door, Mia was welcomed into a very cozy home and by cozy she meant in that natural disaster of a mess that the Matteis men seemed to have a knack of causing. The walls were covered with memorabilia of pictures and paintings. Clutter littered the hall and as she went deeper inside, the clutter became a wave of trinkets and war novelties. She headed straight to the fireplace to admire her Nonnino's ornamented baton encased in glass with its casing below it. She didn't hear her Nonnino come in the room and jumped when he coughed. She turned around too quickly and knocked a lamp over.

She squeaked.

"Clumsy as ever, come here dearest." Neo Matteis was shorter than his oldest son, broad shouldered, a head of shocking white hair that was neatly combed, a crooked nose and a lot of crinkles at the corner of his blue eyes. His smile was wide and toothy as he greeted her and Mia thought for a moment how dashing he must have looked when he was younger with all that blonde hair and toothy grin. She went over to give her Nonnino a hug and a kiss.

"I'm sorry, I'll clean that up," she promised apologetically.

"Later dear, you've just arrived. Leave that to the housekeeper." With chivalrous grace, he led her back to the hall. "Has Japan been good?" he asked. For an old World War II veteran, her Nonnino was surprisingly strong as he didn't have problem with walking up the stairs given his age.

"Better," she assured him. "I've made a lot of friends Nonnino!"

He raised an eyebrow at her. "Just friends?" Mia blushed.

"Just friends," she told him despite her mind telling her otherwise. Her grandfather continued to smile at her knowingly, even when he had led her to a complete dead end in the hallway.

Confused, she said "Huh?" She glanced at her Nonnino. "Where am I staying Nonnino?"

"This old house of mine has only two rooms. One is mine and the other is for your Father and Uncle to share."

Mia wasn't sure that was a good idea. From stories that she heard from both men, her Pa and Uncle couldn't stand being in the same room with one another partly because of a stolen bed sheet or missing pillow. Even now into adulthood the two constantly squabbled for the most childish things. Still, that didn't answer her question.

Nonnino reached up and pulled down a ladder from the ceiling. "My room is in the attic?" she asked, stunned. Instead of answering her, he gestured for her to check it out herself. Mia quickly clambered up the ladder. The attic was small but it was large enough for a bed to be crammed in the niche beneath the window and a wooden dresser with an old worn-looking lamp on top of it at the other side of the wall. Her bags had been set at the back of the attic beside an old table cabinet and a mirror hanging above it. On top of it were a wash basin and a pitcher. All of it looked ancient but well kept.

Small, simple and country styled… she loved it.

"It took fourteen years," her Nonnino said from below her.

"Really?" she exclaimed. "That's how long it took to do this?"

"Goodness no, adding the furniture took only ten minutes. I meant the cleaning." Mia laughed at that knowing how much of a hoarder her family was. She went to the bed to look out of the window. Her Nonnino came up the ladder to sit beside her.

"How is it?" he asked.

"Fantastico," she sighed happily.

"It gets a bit chilly up here but there are some extra blankets in the cabinet. Rest dearest and I hope you'll be able to join your Uncle and me for supper." At the mention of rest, Mia yawned. She hadn't slept at her plane ride at all.

"I'll try," she promised.

He patted her head. "Rest," he repeated and descended down the ladder. Soon, Mia was left alone. She fell sideways at the bed and wondered how her friends were doing. She crawled underneath her covers without changing and was instantly asleep given at how tired she was. Her last thought being was how Tsuna was doing.

For five days straight, Tsuna had relapsed into his old bad habit of not waking up early in the morning so naturally he got to experience Reborn's hundred-ton mallet. Without Mia around, he hadn't felt like being a responsible teenager but he did keep his room clean. At least she imparted him that. These last few days he had hung out with Gokudera and Yamamoto for obviously deserved guy time even though sixty-five percent of it was arguing, ten percent for eating sushi, fifteen for goofing around and last ten was on actual fun stuff.

Today they were at a burger joint. Without meaning to, he sighed.

"Tsuna… that's gotta be the hundredth time you've done that." Yamamoto propped his chin on the table with one hand.

"Did what?" Tsuna sat upright in his seat. Yamamoto grinned at him knowingly while beside him Gokudera made a small noise. It suspiciously sounded like a chuckle. Tsuna frowned. "Guys?"

"Do you miss Mia-chan that much Tsuna?" Tsuna could not fight the sudden blush that came after Yamamoto asked that. If he was honest and he really was, he did miss her. He scratched his head and sighed again.

"Miss or worried? I can't tell anymore," he admitted dully.

They stared at him. "Why would you be worried Tenth?" Gokudera asked.

"You know how she is…" Tsuna took a sip from his soda. "She's worst than I am when it comes to being clumsy. If no one is around her she'll hurt herself… I'm sure of it."

Beginnings

Mia kept glancing at the small piece of paper she held in her hand and at the sign that read 'Argentum Clock Works'. It was a small shop hidden at the backlogs of London and she had to ask multiple questions from people on the streets. Bless her family – they actually believed that she was heading to Oxford. She frowned, feeling a bit guilty for lying. She pushed those thoughts away as she entered the shop.

Assortments of silver watches were on display in beautiful glass cases. All were arranged from today's trend to older designs. Fascinated, she looked at each piece. All of the watches were made from silver but none had the inlaid black markings she wanted to find. She sighed. It wasn't like she could hit the jackpot in just one strike. But she kept on looking and eventually saw to herself deeper into the shop. One piece caught her eye and a chill ran down her spine.

It sat among the many of its own kind but it stood out like a beacon in her eyes. It had the simplest design – sleek, old, it had cross stitches run on the sides of its face with dark groves highlighting it and in the center was a blackened image of an eerie familiar tree. She stared at it, breath caught in throat. She recognized it.

Impossible.

No way.

Things just don't happen like that.

She hadn't realized that she was breathing rather harshly until a strong hand touched her shoulder. She jumped.

"Are you alright?" the questioner was a young man. He looked like was old enough to be in a University with brown hair that was coiffed to the side and intelligent green eyes. Most noticeably was that he was handsome. She flushed.

"I… I'm fine," she replied breathlessly. "Um… I just didn't see you there."

"It's fine. I get that a lot from folks around here."

"You… hang around here?" she asked without thinking. He laughed. She wanted to disappear into the shadows.

"No. I work here actually – my Dad owns the place." He peered down at her, his eyes searching and Mia turned into a darker shade of red. "So what is the likes of a girl like you doin' in this dingy hole of a shop?" he asked lightly.

"I was looking for a gift for my Nonnino," she hastily replied.

He whistled. "Pretty and foreign – I'm sort of honored I'm in the presence of the like."

Mia could feel herself become faint. He was a charmer. Still, she wasn't willing to reduce herself to a spluttering girl and smiled at him. "Pleasure. Now I'd like to ask about this watch here." She pointed at the pocket watch. He smirked at her then looked where to she was pointing. His smirk faltered.

"I'm afraid it's not for sale. It's a personal commission for one of our clients and few of its like," he said, his tone sharp. Mia suddenly felt like she was treading dangerous lands and licked her dry lips.

She carefully picked out her reply, "Shame." She sighed in disappointment. "It looked unique."

He smiled at her again. "We've got plenty of more if you're interested – lots of time in our hands and that rubbish."

She forced a giggle. "That would be nice but I've been here for a while now and my Uncle must be looking for me." Right on cue her phone began to ring. She thanked the heavens in relief and pulled out her phone. She made a show of grimacing. "Speak of the devil," she muttered.

The young man stuffed his hands into his pockets. "Bugger that," he sighed in disappointed. "I was going to ask you out for some coffee too."

Mia nearly dropped her phone. She hoped she wasn't blushing. "I… well… er…"

"I'm sorry," he apologized. "But before you go, I'm Ian." He held out his hand to her. She shook it firmly and took notice how rough his hands were. "Mia," she said to him. He smiled one last time at her and let go.

"Lovely to meet you," he told her. Their meeting was anything but lovely, she thought as she waved goodbye to him. All she could think about was leaving as soon as possible without being suspicious and didn't notice when she bumped into a large man and almost knocked herself down on the ground. What was he? Made of lead? She hastily muttered an apology. But the other person didn't seem interested so she just left. As soon as she was out in the open streets, she broke into a run.

When she met up with her Uncle, she was soaked with sweat. He raised a brow at her appearance. "You look like you've been chased by a ghost."

"Or dogs," she panted. She's seen Tsuna plenty of times after he got trolled by a dog the size of her foot – it wasn't hard to pull a face similar to his expression then. "Hey, Uncle Ben? What do you do when you're stressed?"

Her Uncle grinned roguishly. "Go to the pub."

She was the one who was raising a brow now. "I'm too young to drink Uncle. Don't you have something… recreational to do? Like you know – going to shooting ranges to let out some steam?"

"Where did this come from?" Uncle Ben demanded. "Mia, you're not asking what I think you're asking?"

She shrugged and flapped her shirt, feeling overheated. "I'm an only child Uncle and a girl. I think a bit of learning self-defense wouldn't hurt right?"

"Well I'd have to talk to Nicky about it first," her Uncle replied uncertainly. "I have been telling him that if he was gonna let you run around on your own you might as well be taught to protect yourself. Don't look too happy cucciolio – he might say no."

As expected, her Uncle and Father argued with each other. Mia, not wanting to face her Pa's look headed straight to the bathroom to shower. The hot water helped her calm down as she thought about her request to her Uncle. Mafia related matters and possibly even deeper shit – it was understandable that she should be worried.

She dropped the bar of soap and bent to pick it up. Her grip must have been a tad bit strong and the bar slipped from her fingers, ricocheted off the wall and smacked her in the face.

Worried would be an understatement – she could literally die. The other boys were complete monsters compared to her – swinging a bat that exceeded a hundred miles per hour, using dynamite as casual weapons... and that was just the tip of the iceberg. To switch with one self from the future and able to call down lighting – Tsuna's own powers were taken right out of some fantasy novel. How was she supposed to compete with that? She was just a normal person. She wasn't a genius, didn't have any special skills and most of all didn't have any supernatural powers.

She blindly reached out for anything and grabbed on to the shower curtains. It ripped off and she tumbled to the floor with a loud crash.

"This sucks," she said to herself. Reborn constantly shoved it in to her face how much trouble she was. Not that she really needed to hear it. She didn't want to hide behind her friends.

When she got out of the shower and changed to dry clothes, she went downstairs to find herself in the most serious family meeting ever. Her Papa was glaring at her Uncle, her Uncle was glaring at her Papa and her Nonnino was drinking tea as if it was nobody's goddamn business.

"Ah Mia," her Nonnino greeted her. "Come sit beside me. Ignore those fools for the moment." Actually, she'd rather not but her Nonnino's tone was even scarier. She had a feeling that if she were to say something against that, there would be worse things to pay for than Reborn's fury. So she ducked underneath the piercing glares of the two brothers and almost sprinted to her seat.

"Tea dear." Her Nonnino offered her.

"Um… I think I'm good," she tried to politely decline.

"Nonsense," he disagreed and poured a cup for her. "Tea?" Left with no choice, she took it from him and sipped it cautiously. He faced his two sons. "Now gentlemen, have you settled your disputes?"

Her Papa, despite looking like had barely any sleep and been on twelve cups of coffee held his own against her Uncle. He had that look that cowed even the biggest douchebags at Universities and Colleges alike. It didn't matter if they were a fellow Professor or a student. She would know, he brought her more than once to his classes when she was young. He had that kind of gift. She looked to her Uncle. He was a pillar of intimidation, unwavering and just an all-around military badass. Not one to mess with.

For a few minutes she forgot that her friends were battle monsters because right now, her family was scaring her. She'd rather take on Hibari on PMS any day than this. Still, she had to try and diffuse the situation.

"Papa… I'm really sorry I brought it out… I-I didn't mean to get it out of hand."

"You have nothing to feel sorry for Mia," her Papa said without looking. "It's just a usual family-dispute."

Family dispute?! This scene looked worse than an UNO game. Granted she had never seen her Family even argue before.

"Boys, what will it be?" her Nonnino asked. Her Papa let out a deep sigh, as if it pained him to do so.

"Alright… whatever Mia wants she'll have it," her Papa said. "But!" his tone was sharp. It made her skin tingle just from hearing it. "I swear Ben if she get's seriously hurt!" he left his threat hang in the air but she felt what he wanted to say. Emotion swelled in her throat. She hoped that Tsuna might see this side of her Papa and forgive him.

Her Uncle was modest about it and didn't flaunt. He kept his expression for business although his words were anything but that. "Aye Nicky. My arse is on the line." He glanced at her and Mia stiffened on her seat. The china clattered in her hands. "I wouldn't want cucciolio to be hurt either." The two brothers broke their glares simultaneously and went each other's way as if they weren't having the mother of all serious talks.

She was still staring when her Nonnino spoke up. "Mia." She turned and was frozen by the intense look in her grandfather's eyes. She couldn't speak. "You haven't touched your tea."

"Eh?" She stared blankly at him. Red-faced, she drank her tea without making noises because she had to mind her manners around her Family. Her Nonnino chuckled warmly. As if the tension didn't happen, her Uncle turned on the tv and her Papa sunk himself in one of the chairs. He fell asleep in a matter of seconds. Dumbfounded, Mia continued to drink her tea.

In the background, the tv went on about an incident that happened earlier in the day.

"… There had been an attack earlier this afternoon where locals have reported to have heard gunshots. Police immediately went to appear at the scene only to discover a shop known as Argentum Clock Works - " Mia spat her tea out and began coughing violently.

"Mia? Is something wrong?" Her Nonnino patted her back. She set her cup and saucer on the table. Inside, a sick feeling began to well in her.

"I'm just feeling a bit ill," she assured her Nonnino. She forced herself to remain calm and think of an excuse to leave. "I-I think it's that time of the month."

Her Uncle dropped the remote and quickly picked it up. Her Nonnino though, was much harder to fool. He looked at her with piercing blue eyes until she began to fidget. Then he leaned back and sighed.

"That would explain the erratic mood you've been having my Dear. Go on. Rest and leave us poor men alone. I'll have your father call you for supper."

Mia smiled apologetically and went to her room. As soon as she was alone, she plopped herself on her bed. She lied there, eyes wide open. Heart heavy, she hoped that none of her actions caused any harm to anybody.

I could elaborate on this chapter but then it would get too long. Anyway, I've introduced three characters: Nonnino, Uncle Ben, and Ian. How they will contribute I'll reveal in future chapters. Now, the story line I've written for Mia will be called the 'Blackthorn Arc' and it will happen in between KHR arcs. Ain't gonna say more than that except that it helps her prepare for the Future Arc which everyone is practically eager for me to tackle. Lol, have mercy on me.

But hey, I stuck to my word that Mia isn't related at all to the Mafia. Just the Military. Bet that would be a nasty surprise later on.

So was this good or not? Do tell me in a review and thanks a lot guys, its been wonderful writing this!