Oh crap, this is more than 10000 words, which is approximately twenty-seven pages. Oh gosh, I'm mad. Please don't expect all chapters to be this long because I certainly wouldn't be able to do this every week. _

I hope you all enjoy this! XD Thank you, reviewers, and my sister for beta-ing! I hope all of you in America are fine; watching the world news makes me worried.

Anyway, please enjoy!

He went still. Still as stone. Stiller than stone, even. I frowned, and prodded him a little with a chopstick. Still nothing. I grew worried. Was he having premature problems with his poisoning?

An explosion from the left told me I had to hurry this up but, I scowled to myself, how could I hurry up a person who seemed to have problems to even breathe? Maybe I should give him the antidote and question him then. Yeah, that sounded good…

I inserted the ring into his bracelet thing, and he immediately threw me over and put a knife to my neck.

Damn. Even when I knew that those assassin types were hardy…

I was internally sighing to myself when I jabbed him in the stomach with the chopstick I had in my hand. He winced, and I took the opportunity to slide under him arm and out, getting myself into a ready position.

He did the same.

"Well?"

He simply brushed his cloak to free the dirt. Then he looked straight at me, smiling in a carefree way. Not like a person who was just told the brother he had been trying to regain was dead.

"It's simple, isn't it? You're lying." He continued smiling, before calmly starting towards me, finished with brushing off his cloak.

I blinked. That sure wasn't what I was expecting. A bit of yelling, a bit of denial. Definitely not this.

"L-lying?" I spluttered. "Why would I lie about something like this?"

"Because all Brighteyes lie."

"But I'm telling the truth!"

He only raised an eyebrow. "What's the point of telling me that when I think you're lying?"

To my annoyance, it made sense.

"What can I tell you to make you see that I'm telling the truth? Brighteye credibility is already one of the best there is!"

"You could've just brain-washed all of them."

"You're not making sense," I retorted while backing around the pool so he wouldn't get too close. "How could we brain-wash all the people who employ us? It'll just be bad publicity if it doesn't work."

He scowled and lunged. I back pedalled faster. "My employer is a man that was trusted deeply by my brother, and therefore I trust him over all else. It was he that told me Brighteyes were liars before this mission; he has never been wrong."

I frowned to myself, already getting a headache. I had the sudden overwhelming urge to bash my head to a wall somewhere, but he was closing in fast.

Why were things always so complicated when it came to me, us, Brighteyes in general? I sighed a bit, and looked up to the orange flame users flying above us. Why couldn't I be Tsuna, bash up people first and get the whole back story later? It would be a heck lot easier. But I guess, as I stared at Jared, I wasn't buff enough anyway.

Better keep to the mind games.

"Two years ago, your brother was murdered by poison and found washed up on a bank of a river in Italy with his face burnt off presumably after death. We DNA tested him, and found he matched some records we had, of a Hitman who was pretty infamous. Your brother, Red."

He snorted.

"My brother wouldn't be killed so easily. He could recognise nearly all poisons, it's part of our course. He was top in the poison field, so what you said doesn't make sense."

"The river he was washed down had four mansions along it, as well as a few villages. It would've been practically impossible to track who had dumped his body in the river, if you didn't add to the fact that he could have been just carried there. But this is worth a shot; ever heard of the Azurro River?"

"Yes, but it is a pretty big river in Italy."

I sighed, and stopped backtracking.

"I'm not getting through to you, am I?"

"No."

He lunged, and I didn't sidestep fast enough, his knives slashing three gouges into my arm. I cursed, before doing some fancy footwork that let me get to his side and drove the side of my palm in the junction of his head and neck. He stumbled and fainted, and I didn't bother trying to catch him.

"Grey," I spoke into my phone.

"Yes, Miss?"

"When the battle's over, collect Jared's body and bring him to the apartment. Remember to tie him up. Not too tight, of course."

"Yes, Miss."

A flicker on my wrist screen caught my attention, and I suddenly I was staring at a close up of Hibari's face. And if I held it close to my ear, I could hear people's reactions.

"-That guy…-" Shamal muttered.

"-Hibari-dono!-" Basil shouted. I smiled to myself as I started walking around the building in front of me. The Cervello was just as shocked for the first time showing some emotion. Reborn started his reasoning: out loud of course. Reborn couldn't ever keep his genius revelations to himself.

"-Hibari struck down the Cloud Guardian pole and cured himself.-"

"-Impossible. The Death Hitter's poison is so lethal that it even stops a wild elephant in its tracks.-"

"-It's the persistent power of a person who hates being restrained… that's why he is the aloof cloud that protects the family from an independent standpoint, who nothing can bind.-"

I chuckled. Reborn's dramatic Vongola weather references yet again. I rounded the corner, just to get a face full of Belphegor's knives. As if I was going to walk between a battle Hibari was in. I would get pulverised. When I was about to turn around, I got another unexpected face full of Gokudera.

"What, Gokudera?"

"Freaky eyes! Did that Cloud guy free you as well?" He eyed my bleeding arm with a curiosity.

I shook my head. "I freed myself. But why are you loitering here? Get to Lambo, he's in danger."

Gokudera just cursed and started running towards the other school building where Lambo's battle had been.

"-Hey, was that…-"

"-H-how?-" Was the Cervello's stutter. "-The Death Hitter's effect has never been questioned, how can she be moving as well?"

She? That meant Chrome or me. Since Chrome didn't have resistance to poisons… Me?

I was suddenly staring at a close up of the back of my head on the tiny wrist screen. I turned around slowly, and the head on the screen also turned around slowly. But it seemed as if the camera was sick of me slowly turning around and closed in on my tower instead. I used the opportunity to run towards the field in front of the school.

"-It seems that Alice climbed the tower and healed herself-" Reborn said, and I was surprised to hear Reborn sounded surprised. Strange. "-It seems she had anticipated the use of poison and reached the Ring with its attack fully anticipated. That's why she is the Star, the one who possess a million eyes, watching and knowing everything, protecting the Family from afar.-"

"-Impossible! There are no information leaks in our organisation!-"

Reborn just cut them off. "-Their relationships resemble the weather they're named after. For example, when it's cloudy there will be a chance a storm will occur."

And right after Reborn said that, explosions sounded all across the roof that Gokudera had been racing towards. I smirked, holding my bleeding arm closer to my chest and continued running.

"-See? Storms and Clouds go hand-in-hand.-" Reborn said, and I could already imagine the annoying smirk he would have on. I reached Ryohei by then, but knowing Gokudera he would pose a bit before really fighting Levi. I got Ryohei's Ring, and inserted it into his wrist band.

"Thanks, Bright." He said brightly, stretching a bit. I shook my head and plopped myself next to him, a bit woozy from blood-loss. He looked worriedly at my arm. "Are you okay?"

"Um, yeah."

"Do you mind if I ripped your jacket a little? I don't have clean bandages with me, sorry." He laughed a bit, before starting to rip my jacket without my permission anyway. I let him bandage up my arm, a bit tighter than I would've liked.

"-Just like how the Sun and the Star are practically brothers.-" Reborn's annoying voice came through the tiny speaker. He shouldn't be focusing on us, he should've been analysing Hibari's fight or something! I'm sure it would be a lot more interesting than Ryohei bandaging my arm.

"-Ryohei-dono! Alice-dono!-" Basil's voice came through the speaker with relief, before Reborn really did start analysing Hibari's fight. Ryohei was focusing on the second of my cuts on my arm, eyebrows furrowed with concentration. I tuned out Lussuria's pitiful keens and looked up at Tsuna who was flying around clashing with Xanxus, two orange flames in a dark sky.

"I hope Tsuna gets through this."

"Sawada?" Ryohei growled, having difficulty tying a knot with the bulky bandages. "Of course he'll win. I won't forgive him if he doesn't. If he gets struck down, he'll just get up at the count of nine."

I grinned.

Tsuna was lucky to have such good friends. We heard footsteps, and we both tensed up until we saw Gokudera's silver mop of hair bobbing in the dark towards us.

"Turf top, are you alright…?"

"Oh, octopus-head!" Ryohei grinned, by now finishing tying the knot to my third gash. "I was just helping Bright here."

"Good job, freaky eyes."

"Hrmph." I grunted. "No problem."

"But what was that explosion just then?" Ryohei asked Gokudera.

"Juudaime got hit, but he's okay. He's going to thrash that Xanxus bastard, so we have to win on our front too!" He grinned at us, before putting down Lambo and his oxygen tank.

"It seems you're both fine. I'm going to rescue the others as well. Are you still feeling a bit dizzy?"

Ryohei nodded. "Yeah. Oh! And if you're going to save the others, take our Rings with you too." Gokudera accepted the Thunder and Sun Rings, before turning to me. I shook my head.

"No, I'll keep mine. Don't worry about it getting to Tsuna, I'll manage."

Gokudera frowned, before shrugging. "If you say so. Take care of the stupid cow for me." I watched as Ryohei took Lambo, before looking at Lussuria.

"And can you save him too?" Ryohei nodded towards the the bed, where Lussuria was whining about how it hurt. Gokudera huffed.

"I guess Juudaime would do the same."

Lussuria instantly stopped talking about how much it hurt. "Thank you, octopus-head!"

Gokudera visibly bristled. "I won't save you now!"

"Ah! No! Save me!"

I grinned, before staggering up. "I've got to do my rounds as well, to check if things are going well."

"What rounds?"

I just kept grinning at him. "Guess."

Gokudera did a 'tch' at me, before running away towards a random school building. I apologised to Ryohei for using him to help myself up, before telling him to go smash the gym when he was ready. He looked at me in confusion, before smiling and yelling an EXTREME! For what, I don't know.

Now, where was Yamamoto's fight?

I shuffled, cursing the weird body condition that I had.

Strong foreign substances couldn't affect most Brighteye's bodies because of how our bodies were practically from another world anyway. Poison's work is to kill us by messing up some organ or function, so that's why it won't work because our organs were physically 'tougher' than normal people's. But it's our souls that make our body work.

Now, it's our soul's memories that let our body work as it should. My heart beats, because my soul remembering my previous body's heart beating. If I lose too much blood, my body would faint, because it remembers that's how it should be. But no virus or bacteria is the same; even if the symptoms are the same, viruses and bacteria are all different in different worlds. Therefore, no strong antibodies to fight the diseases, we Brighteyes get sick easily.

So, even when technically if I lost too much blood it wouldn't harm me much (let me die, for example), I would still faint. So I was getting worried when blood started showing through the really bulky bandages that Ryohei tied on my arm. It was practically five centimetres thick but somehow it was still bleeding through?

Which reminded me, how much blood could I lose anyway?

I was pondering this question when I saw Hibari leaning against a pole.

As expected, I thought wryly. Even when he's bleeding half to death and knowing walking is really not a good idea, he just has to try.

"Err, Hibari."

His eyes snapped towards me, and he immediately stopped leaning against the pole. "Sunglasses."

I wondered when he'll stop calling me sunglasses.

"You shouldn't move around with those injuries," I said to him, slowly shuffling closer as I eyed his makeshift bandage soaked with blood. It was nearly worse than mine. He instantly snapped up and started walking, only to collapse onto another pillar after five steps or so. I whacked my forehead.

I should've known better than to tell him straight off, with him disliking authority figures so much (unless, of course, the authority figure was himself).

So reverse psychology?

"You should walk."

"Hn. don't tell me not to do."

He walks away.

Nah, that won't work. What about insulting his pride or something?

"You're too weak to sit."

Instant glare, and he immediately tries to bite me to death.

That wouldn't work either…

"Sit down whenever you want to." I told him instead, and sat down myself. He eyed me, then my arm, before doing his sniff and leaning against the pole, still not sitting down. I bet his pride wouldn't let him or something. "It isn't your turn to fight yet."

"How do you know?" He asked after a pause.

"I know." I shrugged, and he just stared at me with hard eyes before closing them again.

"Hn. I still have to clean up the school grounds."

"Don't worry, the the Sun ring holders are fine, I knocked my opponent out, Yamamoto's saved by you, Gokudera saved Lambo and is saving Chrome with Yamamoto right now. And you know Tsuna," I said, looking at the mini screen on my wrist and the close-up of Tsuna's face, "he's fighting Xanxus."

A beat of silence, then he slid down.

We sat there in silence, me watching Xanxus call Tsuna 'trash' over and over again, and Hibari looking at the sky, seemingly contemplating.

It was Xanxus's scream that told me we should start moving.

"Hey, you strong enough to get up?"

Hibari glared at me, and gracefully stood up, as if he wasn't bleeding everywhere. Okay then… I stood up as well, way more clumsily, and started walking where Tsuna would be; the huge field in the middle of the school. Hibari walked slightly ahead, as if he couldn't bear to follow someone else.

Probably couldn't, if it was him.

"Bright said to go smash the Gym when I didn't feel dizzy anymore…" Ryohei muttered. "But she doesn't seem the type to use words like 'smash' so maybe she meant to blow the whole Gym away. Yeah! Wow, what EXTREME-ness! I should recruit her to the boxing club!"

"Bright said?" Colonello questioned.

"Yes. That's what Ryohei calls Alice."

Reborn smirked, and tilted his fedora over his eyes.

"Just as how the Guardian of the Sun guards the Family with his body, the Guardian of the Star does the opposite." Basil and the others shot a confused look at him. "Star Guardians protect the family from afar. You could say that they are the perfect team."

All of them looked at Ryohei disbelievingly, thinking of how Alice and Ryohei would be a perfect team. They were so opposite, loud and soft, bright and slightly gloomy, extreme and… lethargic.

"The sun is," Reborn continued, "a star after all."

Ryohei readied himself, breathing in and out to calm himself and prepare his Maximum Cannon.

"Maximum CANNON!" Ryohei shouted, punching the wall, and suddenly everything in front of him blew away, destroying Mammon's world in the gym and his illusions. The chill from the night air combined with the dust of the rubble, and momentarily disorientated, Gokudera heaved himself under a slab of concrete.

"You okay?" He called to Yamamoto.

He got a cough for a response, and then a quick smile. "Yeah." He looked around, "But what was that? The whole gym was blown away."

"That blow… could it be?" Gokudera thought aloud, seeing a silhouette through the dust. "You're…"

"Sorry." Ryohei said calmly, "I hate being dull." He rubbed his wrist, while grinning at Gokudera and Yamamoto. "I'm glad you're safe."

"Safe! There are other ways of saving people, you know!" Gokudera immediately started raging, "What if we were blown away as well?"

"Ah, Bright said to smash the gym, so I thought that meant literally smashing the gym, you know?"

"You!"

"Now, now, it's fine isn't it? He saved us after all."

"Mmm, Yamamoto's right."

"I don't want to hear you say that!" Gokudera continued yelling. Why didn't the jocks get it? Chrome suddenly drooped, and Yamamoto looked at her in alarm.

"Hey, hang in there!"

"How is she?"

"She received the antidote, so she should be fine." It was about then that they heard Mammon and Belphegor's voice. They immediately readied themselves.

"You were still alive!"

"You still have your Ring." Hibari suddenly broke the silence. I held back my surprise at him actually talking to me, and answered.

"The Star Ring isn't really required when the Succession starts. It's just there for when one needs a Ring to even out the chances." Sensing a hint of confusion, and knowing Hibari was too prideful to ask, I continued without prompting. "There are seven Vongola Rings, an odd number so that if there ever is a fight there will be a majority. But adding the Star Ring, there are eight."

I held up my Ring. "It's not needed in succession. Even its pattern is different to the other rings. This Ring is a Ring that watches from the outside, and joins the one that wins. In the chain, there are only six slots."

That's what the research came up with, anyway.

No response from the front except for a quiet grunt. We were nearly there, Yamamoto's fighting place was a bit far away from where Tsuna would've been. Then Hibari suddenly leaned against a wall.

And instead of asking a stupid question like 'are you okay?' I leaned against a wall too.

He started glaring at me (maybe he thought I was pitying him or something) before he saw I was pretty much in a bad shape too. The blood flow didn't seem to stop, just slowed down, and I was pretty sure a person wasn't supposed to lose so much blood. The bandages were dripping by now. Clutching it seemed, made it feel a little better, so I clutched at my arm near desperately. He slid his eyes away again.

And somehow, we wound up in silence again. It always came to that, just a comfortable silence. Silences on the roof, silences on the battlefield. Kind of funny really.

"Stupid voluntary love isn't what I want! I want the position of boss!" Xanxus yelled at Tsuna around the corner. I sighed, and clutched my arm closer to my chest. Why were there so many acceptance issues in Katekyo?

It was true that Xanxus didn't want the love of the Ninth. He wanted his own recognition that he was worthy to be his son, he was worthy to accept the Ninth's love. He grew up thinking he was superior, and suddenly it was torn away by a few documents, suddenly not the son of the man he most respected. Suddenly his father was on the pinnacle of a mountain, and he was the trash under it.

I sighed, before struggling to stand up without collapsing. I knew we had to get going if Hibari was going to make his entrance in the grand final scene of the Sky Battle.

Hibari seemed to sense my mood change, and he got up from leaning on the wall first, walking with an uneven gait towards the battle, walking a little quicker when he realised I was following him. I grinned to myself.

Was he worried?

Nah.

"We won't let you!" Gokudera's shout came after multiple explosions. The flames from Tsuna's Hyper Dying Will mode was the only thing that was clear in the haze of dust left by the explosions, but I was trailing behind Hibari when he strode through the dust screen.

"Now we can finally settle the things," Hibari said to Belphegor, and I could see his blood-thirsty smile already. I mentally sighed and just followed him.

"What are you saying? You're wounded all over. There's no mistake, you'll be killed." Belphegor laughed, standing in front of Xanxus with his knives out. It was the first time I saw Xanxus properly, I reflected, and he definitely wasn't in the best shape.

His clothes dirty with mud, he was panting from exertion and there were barely any flames left. But the glare and the presence were unmistakable. It was Xanxus, and even when he was on his knees it seemed as if he was dominating the whole field.

What a presence… I couldn't help but understand why the Varia, with each of their strange traits, followed him as leader. Even now, when they could trump him easily, didn't question his orders.

I stopped following Hibari and started walking towards the observation box, knowing it was only on the other side of the school building in front of me. Ignoring the people who were starting to argue, and the forces I knew would inevitably come, I just staggered onward.

"I'll just blow it apart, hey!"

"That's pointless," the Cervello told him through the huge screen and its speakers, "it is set to explode when attacked from the inside."

"What?"

"We can't lift a finger."

It slowly closed in on the box, and watched through bleary eyes at my friends trumping all the Varia. Even Squalo's shouting seemed kind of distant…

"Alice. Why are you here? You're supposed to be next to Tsuna."

"I have no place there. Anyway, this shouldn't hold against outside attacks, should it?"

"Ah!" Basil said happily, "that way we can help!"

"No, it isn't needed."

"Huh?" He looked at me in confusion, and I only nodded at the screen. The Cervello started talking, right on time.

"Due to Xanxus-sama's disqualification, the winner of the Sky Match is Sawada Tsunayoshi. Thus, the ones who will become the successors of the Vongola will be Sawada Tsunayoshi and his seven Guardians."

I laughed a bit, while I tinkered with the system. If I used excessive force, I could set off the bombs and that wouldn't benefit anybody.

"Done." I breathed out, feeling the hum of the machinery clicking off. Leon turned into some goggle thing, and finally Reborn nodded. Smiling, I got up slowly and shuffled away.

"Miss, I've already carried Rivincita-san into the apartment and tied him up."

"That's good."

Then Grey bent over, and offered to piggy-back me. I grinned and fell forward.

"Good job today, Miss."

"Yeah."

And I think I blacked out, even as I listened to the panicked screams of Gokudera panicking over Tsuna blacking out, Yamamoto laughing just like normal, Ryohei saying something that naturally annoyed Gokudera, and passing a Hibari who was heading to the Reception room of the school.

I fainted laughing.

Why were they all so crazy?

Jared glared at me from the third chair he had escaped from.

"Why won't you just listen?" I said exasperatedly, waving weakly around.

"I will never listen to a Brighteye."

"Then I'll just shove you into my beloved computer room bound in freaking chains with the sound on max so you can listen to all the evidence, okay? I'll leave the screen on too, so you can watch until you're satisfied! Grey will watch you."

"Where are you going then?" He snarled.

"A party."

He looked positively surprised. I snorted. "I'm human too, you know. I have friends. Bye."

And I left, leaving Grey to chain him to the computer room.

"Ah, Alice!"

I grinned at Yamamoto, then Yamamoto's dad, and everyone sitting around waiting for the main event to appear. Gokudera was fussing over the decorations so everything would be absolutely perfect for his Juudaime, Reborn was busy helping himself to some green tea on his cushions with a Vongola Ring Box in front of him.

"Alice, have you recovered?"

"For the most part." I grinned, glad that Reborn seemed to have set the Vongola Ninth thing to the back of his mind. It'll probably come to haunt me later, but for now… it was all good.

"Do you have your Ring?"

"Yeah."

I fumbled for a bit, the thick bandages on my arms and my hands making it really difficult to do anything really, but I eventually got it out of my pocket. Reborn smirked, and told me to put it on my neck. I asked why.

"Because I would like to see Dame-Tsuna's reaction when he comes in."

I complied, since I was liked to watch Tsuna's over-reactions as well.

"Alice! We haven't talked for awhile!"

Turning around to see Dino, I scratched the back of my head. "Well, if you ever pop by again I should tell you Grey bought another five locks for the fridge. You wouldn't be able to plunder it again," I stated blankly.

Dino sighed in disappointment.

"But your food was so nice… Want to drink some tea to catch up on the times?"

So we sat down and chatted. Dino had been up to no good as usual, from what I heard from him. And he left poor Romario to arrange someone to do his paperwork when he fled, I mean, came to Japan to help Tsuna. Dino was laughing sheepishly at my disapproving looks when, in no time at all, Tsuna came in and they all popped the streamer things at the same time. Dino wasn't entrusted with one because of his lack of coordination skills and me because of my fingers.

As everyone swarmed towards Tsuna, I looked at the sushi sadly. I wanted to eat but the darn chopsticks…

"Alice! I got you a spoon!" Yamamoto said, waltzing over happily. I took it with wonder.

"You should be an angel, Yamamoto."

He looked confused. "Haha?"

I started shoving my mouth with sushi, with Yamamoto's dad nodding with approval. "Yes, yes, eat up!" He said happily, piling more sushi onto my plate when it started depleting.

"Hehe… Alice?"

I choked mid-bite thoroughly not expecting anyone to talk to me, and Tsuna pounded me on the back until I coughed up the hunk of rice that had lodged into my windpipe.

"Tsuna." I said while wiping my mouth, embarrassed. I looked around to see Gokudera with happy tears. I raised an eyebrow at him, and Tsuna only shrugged. "How are you?"

"Ah, I have muscle pains all over!" He groaned, rubbing his shoulders with a grimace. I grinned, and he shot me a look asking why I was grinning. I shrugged, before just continued spooning sushi. Tsuna grinned at me, before his smile dimmed a bit at my hands and arm. I stopped him before he could even start.

"Look, Tsuna." I said with my mouth full. He looked, and I swallowed and sipped some tea to help it down. "This celebration is all for you."

I leaned backwards, and crossed my legs while I held the traditional Japanese tea cup in my hands. The heat from the tea seeped into my hands, and I was seriously content.

"Aren't you glad to have so many friends?"

Tsuna's face settled into a grin of his own.

"Yeah."

We watched the crazy antics of all the people for awhile, Tsuna actually getting to eat one piece of sushi before Haru got everyone's attention. I turned around and continued eating sushi while everyone's attention was away.

There were so many food stealers it wasn't funny.

I looked backwards just in time to see the gaudy Champion Belt given to Tsuna, and Kyoko telling Tsuna congratulations in a totally adorable way. Grinning, I shuffled closer and gave Tsuna a little nudge. He stumbled closer to Kyoko, nearly falling on her.

"Hiie!"

"Tsuna-kun, are you okay?" Kyoko asked with her face really close to his. His face turned tomato.

"Y-yeah!"

He scrambled up, only to fall flat on his butt again and he shot a desperate/exasperated look at the person who let him go into his predicament in the first place and widened his eyes at me. I shot him a thumbs up and a wink, and he blushed even more. He got up, and was about to say something to Kyoko when Bianchi presented some purple-fumish food to them.

"If you have time to be mushy, eat up."

I laughed, abandoning the two to it before asking Yamamoto's dad to pack a bento.

"What for?"

"Giving it to someone who didn't come today. He fought too, see, but he didn't come."

"Ah, okay then!"

He happily gave me a bento, and I left after Tsuna chased after Lancia and Basil. Heading towards the school with a bento over my right arm (the left arm was the one with the three gouges) and a thermos shakily held in my left, I went straight towards the Reception room.

"Kusakabe." I greeted, and he turned around to smile.

"Ah, Bright-san. What business do you have here?"

"I guessed that Hibari turned down the invitation to the party, so I brought some food over." I held up the bento. "He likes traditional Japanese food right?"

"How did you know that?" Kusakabe asked even as he took it. I sighed in relief with the weight off my arm.

"He seemed the type. Now bye." I turned around to nearly run smack dab into another person. I looked up to see… Hibari.

"Hibari."

"Sunglasses. Why are you here so late at school?" He held up his tonfa. "For breaking school rules, you'll be bitten to death."

I hastily backtracked.

"Uh, I came to…"

"She came to deliver some food, Hibari-san." Kusakabe said stoically. Hibari stopped in mid-lunge, and I stopped in mid-sprint.

"Oh, really?"

"Yes, Hibari-san." He nodded, and I wondered at his pompadour. How did it keep its shape?

Hibird chirped happily at me, and flew to nuzzle my cheek. I smiled at it, and it nodded at me before flying back to nestle in Hibari's hair. In the mean time, Hibari had already opened the box and snapped apart the chopsticks to eat a piece of sushi.

He looked at me. "This is nice. Did you make this?"

I nearly laughed, but I managed to keep it down to a wry smile. "No, I can't cook for my life."

He smirked. "Oh, really?"

Just when I was wondering over the complex concept of Hibari and I talking to each other civilly in an enjoyable conversation when he couldn't even stand the sight of me when I started school, he turned away.

"I'll tell Yamamoto's father that you liked it."

He looked over his shoulder just when Hibird started chirping the school song. "I'll let you go this time."

Oh, the breaking the school rules thing. I nodded and gave an awkward wave. Then I left hoping the gaze I felt on my back wasn't Hibari staring at me. He stared at people a lot these days.

"You got it yet?"

Jared only glared at me and the bowl of chicken soup in my hands. I sighed, and put it away. "Well, because of you I got an excuse to not go to my friend's graveyard 'test of courage' thing so I'm pretty much fine, but you…"

I let my head rest on the wall.

"I'll let you go then, and you can go back to your employer with your clothes bug free. You can determine for yourself from your employer if your brother is dead, okay?"

He said nothing.

"Grey."

"Yes, Miss?"

"Drive him to some remote place near the airport and let him go."

He raised his eyebrows and looked at me in his grandfatherly way.

"Are you sure, Miss?"

"Yes. And pack the chicken soup just in case he's hungry. Give him some money so he can buy a plane ticket too, if he wishes."

"Immediately, Miss."

And Jared and his accusing eyes were taken away, and I couldn't help but try and track the car by satellite.

I couldn't get the employer name after all… I stared out over the city lights, Namimori suddenly turning dark right near the edge of the horizon. That was the end of the town/city and it would lead to the mountain, that way…

Would the person try to interrupt again? Should I be more careful?

What was the next battle, anyway?

I went to the sack in the corner, the one Bill delivered and flipped through the books until I remembered. Then I groaned.

So Byakuran was next, huh…

"Class visitation!"

I just slept in class as usual, since Grey was going grocery shopping and I didn't tell him it was that day when parents came to intrude in the classroom. Well, I was pretty much looking forward to it. The end of it, that was.

"Oh, I wonder what Alice-sama's parents would be like!"

"My mom came looking like that! So embarrassing!"

"Heh, my mom and dad are both working at the family shop so they couldn't come."

"Yosh! I need to make a good impression to Kyoko-chan's mom!"

I groaned, people swamping my window seat so they could peer out the window and look at the parents who were pouring in from the school entrance.

Bored. Watching through bored eyes as the two people teasing Tsuna was chased away by the two most popular guys in the grade, Gokudera trying to blow them up, the teacher coming in early and making the students all go to their seats, parents walking in, the daily greeting, sit down…

I yawned and slept. First was maths, huh…

"Bright! BRIGHT!"

"Huh?" I jerked looked up to the teacher.

"Oh, what a bad student, she's sleeping in class!"

"Oh, she's a foreigner like that delinquent boy!"

"Oh no, I can't let my darling Kaneda-chan be in the same class as these sort of bad students!"

I raised an eyebrow at her, (she froze under my stare/glare) and then looked at Kaneda. His ears were burning red. I smirked.

The teacher was obviously embarrassed at my behaviour.

"Bright, can't you at least look like you're listening?" He said exasperatedly.

"Yes, sensei." I said flatly. And suddenly, whispers of 'oh, Alice-sama is so cool!', suddenly erupted around the room and I sighed and banged my head on the window. And the teacher, yet again obviously annoyed, asked me to answer question four.

Easy.

"Five." I said straight off the bat, wondering when he'll learn that the 'answering the question' trick would never work on either Gokudera or me.

He sighed.

"Alright then, Sawada!"

Tsuna, who had been looking at me with a smile that said as-expected-of-Alice suddenly drooped.

"Y-yes, sensei?"

I escaped through the window, sensing impending doom from a short silhouette that consisted of Reborn in an old woman cosplay.

No way was I going to hang around with Reborn in the classroom.

Amid the screams of disbelief from the parents at a student jumping out the window, I raced out of school, happily noticing that Hibari was on the roof and couldn't hope to reach me and bite me to death.

"There's a festival?" I said, puzzled.

"Yeah! You didn't go to the one we went last year, did you Alice-chan?" Kyoko asked, smiling. "This is a local Namimori festival though, not too big. It celebrates winter!"

"Um, but…"

"Of course, there're going to be fireworks!" Kyoko winked, and Hana looked over her shoulder.

"Just come, Alice."

I sighed.

"Okay."

"Let's all dress up in kimonos!" Kyoko said happily, already planning all this stuff that I knew I wouldn't want to be in. "And invite Tsuna-kun and the others! All Namimori would be there!"

"I'm sure he wouldn't say no if you invited him, Kyoko." I said, trying to hint to her Tsuna's feelings but she only tilted her head cutely and sent pink sparkles at me.

"Huh?"

Hana chuckled as I mumbled to the wall about Kyoko's obliviousness.

It was a good listener.

"I-I can't move, Kyoko!" I waved my bandaged hands around as I tried to take one of my normal long strides. She clucked her tongue at me, before demonstrating the smooth small steps required when you wore a kimono. She glided around, trying to teach me the art of walking around in a kimono.

I was more like an especially awkward duck.

Clattering along behind Kyoko in one of those traditional wooden clog things (I had those socks too; they were warm. Actually, the kimono was warm too, but…), the ends of my hair brushed my shoulders (it was down today, see) as I bent down.

Tried to bend down, I meant.

"I can't move in this, Kyoko!" I whined yet again as we stopped in front of Tsuna's house. To add to my depression, Tsuna and the others were all wearing normal clothes. Gokudera took one look at me and nearly cracked up.

"Haha!" He laughed, "Freaky eyes! Are you trying to look feminine?"

"Shut up, Octopus-head." I growled. "Did you gel your hair today? It seems to look more like tentacles than normal."

"Why, you!"

"Gokudera!" Tsuna tried to calm him down, before facing Kyoko and me and blushing. Heh, I grinned to myself as I nudged Kyoko forward. She shot a confused look at me, before shining the full glory of her confused smile on Tsuna. He face practically turned purple.

"Y-you look r-really nice today, Kyoko-chan!" Tsuna burst out. Kyoko took it in her stride, smiling extra wide before, amazingly, bowing delicately from the waist.

"Thank you, Tsuna-kun!"

Then Tsuna turned to me. "You look really nice too, Alice!" He said to me, a residual blush still on his cheeks from Kyoko. His cheeks were definitely pink.

I sighed, and tried to tuck those strange sleeve flaps out of the way. Kyoko frowned at me and I immediately stopped. "Err, thank you Tsuna. I feel like I can't move in this though."

Yamamoto stepped forward and clapped me on the shoulder. "But it does look good on you though! Ignore Gokudera, okay?"

"What did you say, baseball freak?"

So I toddled along, concentrating on walking at least moderately fast while listening to Kyoko chat happily to me. Haru bounced up in another kimono half-way, joining us, and suddenly Lambo popped up with I-pin and Fuuta, and well, well…

Usual Vongola family chaos.

But, I happily told I-pin in my arms, it was my festival ever. I-pin turned wide eyes at me, and I nodded.

"Yup."

And we rounded the corner towards where the festival was. It was really colourful, in a good way, exploding everywhere to become stalls that sold things from goldfish to bracelets.

"Where do you want to go?" I heard Kyoko distantly say, but I had already been picked up and swept away by the crowd. I thanked my lucky stars that I left I-pin with Haru before this.

The kimono was too restricting for its own good.

I was dropped somewhere in the middle of the festival, right next to a takoyaki store. So, clutching my purse I went into line and bought two boxes of takoyaki and settled down in a moderately less crowded corner. I watched the people pass by happily, munching on takoyaki. Swiping up the last of the sauce in my first box, I thought I heard Lambo's voice in the distance so I picked up my other box of takoyaki and went out into the bright and colourful world.

Wandering around (I mean, it wouldn't be too hard to follow Lambo's 'Bwahaha's right?) I got accidentally bumped into a store. While apologising the storekeeper (he was really nice about it, even though I nearly toppled it over) and buying some of his candy, he suddenly froze when I was in the process of giving him his money.

I gently tugged the candy packet out of his hands and put the money (and a tip) on the counter, I followed his gaze to see what had frightened him so.

And understood.

Why was Hibari bashing up a random looking thug in the middle of the street for?

I tried to slowly back away, you know, like every single other person around the area was doing but somehow his eyes shot up and he found me.

Why me? I wailed in my mind.

"Have you paid the festival toll?" His voice cut into my conscious as he towered over me.

"There was a festival toll?" I asked, then immediately cursed myself as I realised that wasn't really the best answer.

He narrowed his eyes at me, before sighing and brushing past me.

"Consider the debt half repaid." He muttered as he walked away. Debt? What debt?

…Oh, was he still going on about how I helped his arm in Mukuro's hideout? That was ages ago, wasn't it? He really didn't forget much, did he?

Just when I was about to continue stalking Lambo's elusive 'Bwahahaha's, a growl came from the direction Hibari had gone. He was actually only two steps away when I looked back, and I belated realised that the growl had come from Hibari's stomach.

I nearly laughed. Nearly. Struggling to keep my blank face, and seeing how Hibari had frozen, I held up the other takoyaki box I had been saving.

"Takoyaki?"

He probably thought he didn't have time to waste time buying food from ridiculously long lines when he had to 'keep the discipline'. He continued walking forward, ignoring my offer. His pride must've stopped him or something. I sighed, but persisted. What's with boys and their pride anyway?

As I struggled to keep up, I continued talking.

"Because I bought two boxes, but I felt full after one box and I was head-aching over I had to waste the second box. Please take it? Or I would be wasting food."

He finally stopped and turned.

"…Wasting food in Namimori is discouraged."

"Yeah." I nodded, trying to get hair out of my eyes. "So if you take the box Namimori would be better for it."

I felt like I was talking to a little kid.

He paused, before taking it and swiftly going away without giving a thank you. But then, when did he ever say thank you?

Stubborn guys and their pride. It made things so much more complicated.

Sigh. I should've just been rejoicing he hadn't bitten me to death or something.

There had been nothing else that had been significant at the festival, except for the fireworks. They were so beautiful, somehow prettier when you had fellow people watching them with you.

Then there were the crazy days; Bianchi's wedding…

"Where have you hid Reborn?" Bianchi yelled, doing her most dangerous technique and miraculously turning everything around her, except for her dress, into poison cooking.

I sighed.

When Nana got pick-pocketed…

"Hyaa!" I-pin did her gyoza ken on the one of the three brothers who were trying to steal from Nana again. I was the innocent passerby this time, just trying to enjoy daily life when they came out and drawn me in (unfortunately, it came to me to bail a crying Tsuna out of jail).

I sighed.

When poor Irie Shouichi was traumatised for life

I watched as Hibari exercised his self-centred logic.

"Oi, Kyoya. The training's over, I don't need to fight you anymore."

"It doesn't matter. Today I'm going to bite you to death."

Watching the exchange was the easy part; but I wasn't really bothering to watch when I-pin started her Pinzu Countdown.

I sighed even as I ran out of breath running away.

And the day when Tsuna was trying to pass his test. Kyoko dragged me forward (I was so out of it I didn't really know what was happening. I only woke up when Kyoko accidentally grabbed my left arm where the gashes were still healing, you know?) to the principal's office.

There, she pleaded to let Tsuna and the others stay in school.

I just stood next to her being back-up. Nezu-sensei was looking at Kyoko pleased, and let Tsuna have his other chance. For him to sleep in and miss it.

"Sensei, please let him take the test again!" Kyoko pleaded the next day, her face filled with worry. And seeing her like that, I could only stand next to her and stare at Nezu-sensei in a hopefully intimidating way. It looked like it worked, with him sweating nervously under my glare. Heh, seems like these eyes have some type of use after all…

"Kyoko…" Tsuna murmured at her.

And then Reborn came and had to make it complicated.

And as usual, whenever Reborn came into the picture I hightailed right out of there. Because for some reason, whenever Reborn is involved, bombs and bullets and all this dangerous stuff get involved. It was always best to do the retreat route when it was still safe, you know?

I hung around unenthusiastically digging a hole in the courtyard. Gokudera caught me, saying something like "We all have to help Juudaime in his quest!" Or something of that sort. Then he proceeded to draft me into this digging project.

I sighed, before deeming the hole deep enough and started filling it again. I had been doing this for the past hour, digging the hole and refilling it over and over and over and over to look like I was doing something.

Yawning, I leant on the fence to take a little nap…

…And woke up to see Tsuna?

"Tsuna, why are you wearing your green love heart boxers?"

Tsuna blushed deep red.

"Err, I mean, umm, Dying will and…"

I cut him off. "Oh, you found the time capsule? That's good. Then I'll be off then."

I slowly walked away before Yamamoto could say something like team spirit and drag me in, or Gokudera saying we should show our eternal loyalty to Juudaime so we should help him…

Going down the street, I saw Nezu-sensei slowly walking down another avenue looking depressed. I stared at his back.

Maybe I could make use of him…

"Nezu Dohachiro." I called out. He turned, and was surprised to see me.

"Oh, Bright. Are you going to laugh in my face now?" He tried to sneer but failing.

"You have a family, right?"

He looked taken aback at my response to his question. I didn't know why he wasn't taking his car, but it might be fate or something. If things were to go as awry, I need back-ups. The plot must continue, and no random mysterioius person was going to get in my way of completing the mission selected for me to get to Heaven.

"Yes." He answered cautiously.

"Then come with me. I can get rid of any fraud charges on your name and get you another job, only I will be your new employer."

He blinked, and I turned away, calling Grey to get the car. When Grey pulled up and opened the door for me, I waved Nezu inside. He was mostly silent throughout the ride, until he saw where I was living at.

"Is that…" he gasped out.

"Yes."

And when I lead him to the penthouse, he finally turned to me and asked the question I had been preparing for.

"Just who are you, Bright?"

I put on the enigmatic smile that I had tried so hard to train up.

"Your future employer."

Then I led him in. "Now, Nezu, I know your history. You'll definitely be put up to fraud charges and never get a job for the rest of your life if this gets out but I know how to cover it up. If you accept my offer, you'll get the same salary as you would've got from Nami-chu as well as your extra salaries as a teacher."

"A teacher?" He questioned, a bit dazed.

"I want you to become a teacher at a school called Shimon."

"Huh?"

"Yes, and be a nice teacher. No ranting like you did in Nami-chu, okay?"

"Err," he responded, overwhelmed. I didn't give him time to recover, talking my mouth away.

"That's nice. Now, it's a good deal. You'll get double the salary, if you add the salary I give you as well as the salary from your Shimon job."

"A-and if I accept, when will I start?"

"Tomorrow." I said offhandedly, waving at Grey to make the arrangement. He put on his exasperated face before nodding and going to the phone to pull a few strings. "You will surely be sacked, of course, by Nami-chu by now. By going to Shimon, no-one will know you as well as you can keep your reputation, okay?"

He just nodded.

"Just give me reports on these students," I spread seven pictures on the table, "fortnightly to me. That is the only requirement."

"What if I refuse?" He asked, as if fearing the answer.

"Simple," I said quickly, wanting to get this over and done with. Nezu hadn't been my favourite teacher after all, "You have no future. Here is the number to Grey's phone; call him by twelve midnight and we will promptly drive you to your new house in Shimon and start your job."

I never even considered him refusing. And by shooting my mouth off, I knew I finished this whole business and evilly shoved on Grey the consequences when he left.

Phew. Done. Finished.

Why was I getting so nervous again?

Ah, because I wasn't following plot.

Whatever.

"Miss," Grey said, already snapping his phone shut saving Nezu's number. "You have some weird mail. Something about a Vongola Style party for Nana-san the day after next."

"Oh, is it that?" I sighed out. I seemed to be sighing so much these days. "Hey Grey, I'm sorry."

"What, Miss?"

"I keep pushing stuff on you, don't I?"

"Its okay, Miss. It's my job. Besides, I like it. Being busy is what I do best."

"Then you won't mind me asking you to buy a cake?"

"No."

And he left to buy a cake. Good old Grey.

"Alice!"

I looked up from my book, surprised that there was anyone here. This spot in the park was pretty secluded; Fuuta had ranked it as top two in calm peaceful spots to relax in Namimori.

"Tsuna," I said simply. Then I smiled slightly at him before closing my book. "What's up?"

"I was babysitting Lambo and he suddenly ran away. Ahaha…" He laughed awkwardly, patting his hands on his pants nervously. I stood up with a grin on my face, before reaching up and picking a leaf out of his hair. "Hiie?" he squeaked hesitantly at my action.

"You had a leaf in your hair," I said to Tsuna's blushing face. He blushed a lot these days, strangely enough. He laughed and scratched the back of his head. I grinned; he was still shorter than me. A bit.

"Baka-Tsuna, Lambo-san is hungry!" Lambo whined, suddenly popping out from a bush.

Tsuna broke away, waving his hands a little and trying to stop Lambo from running away again. "Lambo, we'll go back home, okay? It's nearly lunch time, anyway…"

"Lambo-san knows the way himself. He doesn't need your help." Lambo did a cute kid sniff and turned his face away before walking away while picking his nose. Then he tripped, a purple thing poking out from his afro as he sat up muttering something that sounded close to "To-le-rate…"

"Lambo!" Tsuna sighed exasperatedly, before walking behind him. "You should be more careful!"

"Bwaaaah!" The kid, to my amused eyes, stood up and ran away, in the process jolting the Ten Year Bazooka from his hair. Tsuna made to run after him, before tripping on the root himself.

"Ouch…" He sat up, rubbing his head. "That hurt…"

"Are you okay, Tsuna?" I asked, going back to pick up my book then walking towards him. "You should be more careful."

"Hehe…" Tsuna chuckled awkwardly as he tried to stand up. His ears burned as his foot slipped on some pebbles and he fell on his back again. His eyes watered this time. "Ow…"

"Here, I'll help you. You're really like Dino…" I held out a bandaged hand, mentally wondering if they were up for it.

"Thanks. Again." I helped him up, oddly reminding me of that time when we were still in primary and I helped Tsuna up after the dodge ball match. Tsuna had become heavier though, and I had to brace myself a bit more.

Unfortunately, the pebbles under my feet weren't exactly that stable.

"HIIE!" Tsuna squeaked as we started falling forward (backward for him). I closed my eyes, bracing for impact before I realised that I had face-planted straight into dead leaves. Spluttering them out of my mouth, I looked around.

"Tsuna…?"

Wisps of pink smoke enveloped a silhouette that was much taller than the Tsuna I knew. When it cleared, it was with wide eyes we looked at each other. Grown up Tsuna still had that unruly hair, taller, and he looked pretty good in a normal t-shirt and jeans. Strangely, he was soaked through. Warm brown eyes looked down at my messed up hair from the fall, his hand twitching up before settling to staring at me again. His lips parted.

"Alice?" He asked softly, his voice nearly swallowed by the breeze rustling through the leaves overhead.

I gulped. Oh crap.

Tsuna coughed in the smoke. Did he get hit in the ten-year bazooka or something? Though after sitting there for half a second, he shot up, shielding his face from the pouring rain. "Hiie!" He squeaked, before dashing towards a tree for shelter.

He didn't see an umbrella anywhere, however hard he looked around. The tree wasn't providing much respite from the rain, and it was heavy he could hardly make out what was in front of him.

Peering under his arms, he tried to make out the scenery. It was basically a plain, and if he focused hard enough, he thought he could hear a roaring river. He shivered, jogging a little. Only five minutes…

Why was his future self here, anyway? No umbrella, and in this desolate landscape. He glanced around again, pushing his hair back and wishing he had a hood. There really was nothing, he thought. Just him getting soaked and the tree.

No, wait… He looked to his left. What was that shadow? It was a stone of some kind…

Tsuna deliberated. He was pretty much soaked through anyway. And maybe finding out what it was would pass time quicker…

Stumbling forward, he quickly shuffled as quickly as he could towards the stone (which admittedly wasn't really that fast). Looking closer, it was a tombstone. Tsuna gave a little 'hiie', then a big one when thunder suddenly crashed. Immediately crouching down (even he knew not to attract lightning on a plain), his knee landed on something.

They were flowers for the deceased. He mentally apologised to the deceased for smushing their flowers. Maybe he or she could realise it wasn't really his fault? ...Better not anger spirits. He bent his head a little, his wet hair flopping forward and gave a formal apology. But wait. Who was he apologising to?

Pushing his hair back, he tried to look through the rain, the water streaming down the stone, the streams of water dripping from his hair into his eyes.

Aw, shucks. It was in English. He traced it. A… the next was an I. No, an L. This one was an I. A-L-I-O? No, that was a P. No, that was a C…

What did that spell? He shouldn't have slept so much in English class. Just as he was joining the letters together with the last letter (that was an F, wasn't it?), he was suddenly in a multi-coloured tunnel again.

Finally!

We stared at each other for awhile. I was pretty much cursing myself then and there. Tsuna's first trip in the ten-year-bazooka was supposed to be his trip to save the future world! What had I done now?

"Tsuna." I settled for greeting him simply.

Ten years later Tsuna only stared at me, his hands fluttering sometimes before falling back to his sides. He had a frown on; it was obvious what he was thinking.

"I already know I'm dead in the future. But more importantly…" I stood up, and brushed the leaves off my hair and clothes. "Why are you soaking wet?"

"Oh." Older Tsuna jerked a little, snapping from his reverie. "It was raining, and I forgot my umbrella. Haha…" He laughed weakly at the end. "I was visiting somewhere important see, to prepare myself."

I narrowed my eyes, before widening them in understanding. Faking his death. Oh right.

"Where were you going? Little Tsuna can't go meet the older guardians yet, he can't…" I rambled, trying to escape from older Tsuna's stare while gripping my book in worry.

"Don't worry about that." Older Tsuna smiled for the first time, albeit a small one. "I even escaped Gokudera to go to that place alone. I needed it."

"Oh." I raised my eyebrows before glancing up to see Tsuna still staring with those expressive brown eyes; full of sadness, and joy, and regret and all sort of things I didn't understand. "Where were you going?"

"Your…" Tsuna grimaced, "grave."

"Oh." I said again. "Err, that's awkward." Tsuna's mouth only twitched a small small smile. It was so unlike the Tsuna I knew that I started frowning. "What's wrong?"

He jerked, and I stared at his face determinedly. Much taller, I noted absently. Tsuna blinked a few times at my question, and then suddenly he started laughing. Not a weak one, but one that was full and hearty. This time I was the one blinking. Sudden one-eighty?

"Even when you're only fourteen, and me twenty-five you can still know something's bothering me." He shook his head. "You were always like that. Always reading people."

"I don't." I said, scowling. "It's just that it's obvious for anyone who's looking."

"Then no-one must be looking then."

"I was. So what's wrong?"

Tsuna shook his head, face uncharacteristically grim even smiling. His face showed elements of his teenage face; it wasn't old. But it seemed more mature than his years.

What had changed him so?

"Can I ask you something?"

"Go."

"Can I hug you?" I stiffened, before staring at Tsuna incredulously. He laughed, running his hand through his hair in a defeated way. "I know you're not a very tactile person but…"

I sighed. How could I resist that face?

I walked forward and simply hugged him around the middle. He paused, before settling his arms gently around my shoulders. We stayed like this for awhile, though I wasn't particularly comfortable. This Tsuna needed this, I think.

"I'm sorry I couldn't save you." Tsuna whispered.

And with that, he disappeared with a pink puff of smoke, and I was suddenly hugging another soaked figure.

"HIIE? Alice! W-w-why are you hugging me?"

"Oh, I was just standing there, and then you came back."

"O-oh…" Tsuna didn't question my answer which didn't make much sense.

"Come on." I walked away, and turned around. "We should go back to Nana's. It is lunchtime, after all. I love your mom's cooking."

"O-okay!" He picked up the ten year bazooka and started walking towards me.

I sent him a grin, anticipating what Nana had cooked today. Tsuna took one look at my face and blushed (yet again). Shrugging, I kept walking and let Tsuna blab stuff to me.

Probably still embarrassed.

I mean, he liked Kyoko.

"Sorry, Nana-san!" I said, carrying a huge box. Grey went a bit overboard, but it was okay right? "This is a cake! Your present! I'm going to leave early, so I wanted to give this to you earlier!" I exclaimed through puffs of air.

"Oh, Alice!" She hurried around and started helping me unload the cake onto the table. "Thank you!"

"No problem, Nana-san!" I said, and she gave me a reproachful look.

"Call me Nana, Alice!"

I smiled at her. "I'll try, Nana?"

"Mhmm! That's it!"

"I'll be going now, I'm sorry Nana, I hope you have a happy party!"

"Thank you, Alice!"

And I left, contributing even as I didn't join. I didn't know what I would do in a Vongola Style party anyway. Freak all the people out with my eyes?

"Alice!"

Tsuna came, panting and looking desperately at me.

"Did you see Reborn?"

"No." I shook my head slowly, and he looked even more worried. "Do you have an idea of where he would be?"

"No."

"Oh no, he's been missing since yesterday after he was hit by the ten-year bazooka…"

I widened my eyes.

Couldn't be…

Well, guys, I hope you all review! I can't get enough of them, reading them makes me so happy. Gives me something to look forward to every single week! I was trying to get more Hibari and Alice interaction, but now it seems forced, but I'm not bothered to edit it since I'm tired. TT_TT

Any confusions, questions, plain encouragement, what you like, dislike, please tell! I hope I cleared up one of your questions from last week, about Alice being not as human as the rest.

See you all next week! Or next next week!