Recently it has come to my attention of how inconsistent the chapter titles have been getting. Sometimes they relate to the chapter and sometimes only a part of it which is true especially when it concerns several episodes compiled into a single chapter. So I'm thinking of changing the titles. I hope no one is too attached to them haha but I will be keeping the titles for my Wattpad.

Anyways this was a chapter that I struggled a bit to write, not because I lacked motivation or had writers block, but because I just really, really wanted to get into writing the more juicier scenes between Tsuna and Mia if you guys know what I mean *wriggles eyebrows suggestively*. I have to constantly remind myself that this story is no ordinary love story. It's more than that and I'm always grateful that I have a broad cast of characters to work with and have Mia interact with because while it is a Romance, it's still an AU. But yeah, I myself am getting frustrated with the sexual tension but I can't rush the story so I apologize in advance.

But the real question is for some of my readers, "Will Author-san write smut?"

It's in the works guys. I couldn't just not write it.

Stick around for the end notes! I have a very IMPORTANT question to ask and I'd like to hear my reader's opinions.

Disclaimer: I don't own KHR!

Tsuna didn't know how to help because what did he know? Mia was the smart one, not him. He mostly rolled with whatever seems better. He never thought things through like she did. That was the problem now. Mia wasn't here and he was back to being useless. That wasn't right. He had forgotten how useless he really was. He didn't know what to do or how to do it. He went up to his room when he realized that he couldn't help the others downstairs. He sat heavily down on his bed and rubbed his eyes with the palms of his hands.

He was so uncool. Like really lame. Mia would laugh at him if she saw him now.

He glanced outside his window, where the moon shone dimly through the clouds. He recalled a conversation he had once with Mia when they were early in their friendship. He had asked what she was doing at that time when they met. She replied that she often took nightly strolls when she couldn't sleep. It helps, she confessed and that fresh air does wonders. What would he give to be joking with her like before… He stood up, rigid. He suddenly found it hard to breathe. That was not a path he wanted to go down on right now. He wanted to do something. Restless and agitated he left his room. If he stayed in his room he would probably lose his mind. He was passing through the hall when a conversation stopped him dead on his tracks.

" – anything on Mia?" he heard Reborn say.

"You're snooping on the girl?" He heard his father scoff. "That's low Reborn."

"I'm doing my job unlike someone," Reborn bit back snidely. Tsuna moved closer to the door to the living room.

"She's a civilian. Not really a person to be concerned about." There was a pause. Tsuna felt anger flare up inside him. Not a person to be concerned about? He thought in outrage.

"If Tsuna heard you…" Reborn said warningly.

"I-I didn't mean it that way!" Iemitsu quickly said. "Don't look at me that way, Reborn! Colonello!"

"Just shut up. You're loud kora."

"One more intelligent-lowering comment Iemitsu and I'll shoot you myself." It wasn't often that Tsuna thought of his tutor as awesome but when he did, he felt a swell of fondness for the hitman.

"She's not just a civilian. Your hunch was right Reborn, I managed to find something through old connections." Colonello sounded troubled.

"But you said Reborn that you already did a background check on her?" Iemitsu asked.

"I did," Reborn's reply was short. "Are you going to tell me now or what Colonello?"

"Her grandfather. His name is Nero Matteis."

"And?" Reborn pressed.

"But when he served in the army, he was known as General Nero Matteolli. General "Terror Gold"." Tsuna heard his father spit his drink out and wondered how shocking it must be. Well, it was a little shocking if truth be told. Mia's grandfather was a former general and he had a pretty impressive title… said man was also coming for a visit this week he remembered with a jolt.

"The man who was once very infamous for selling his country out to the Allies – he was the reason they managed to take back Sicily during the war. After it he was declared a war hero but completely disappeared without a trace…" Iemitsu said, sounding like he couldn't believe a single word of it.

Reborn took a sharp breath. "That wasn't what I was expecting."

"He's a legend in COMSUBIN. Lal told me that our training was based on his regimen when he trained his troops back in the war. There have also been rumors that he made deals with devils kora."

"Oh god. I need a stronger drink – Reborn! I need that!" Iemitsu cried.

"I need you to stay sober you moron. Can you imagine if Terror Gold were to find about this? It isn't just Tsuna now – if he ever finds out that his only grandchild is missing or worse dead he will not stay quiet. The last thing we want is having him come out of retirement." Tsuna had never heard his tutor talk about someone with such esteem other than the Ninth. "If he finds out we're going to have a Romeo and Juliet situation at our hands." Reborn sighed somberly.

Romeo and Juliet? Reborn couldn't possibly mean… but for once in his life he managed to figure something out on his own. If Mia's family ever found out about her involvement in the Mafia, with him, they'll never allow for them to be together. He didn't want that. Not wanting to listen to anything more he strode through the front door, intent on getting that fresh air more than ever. The cool night air only made him feel colder the longer he walked.

Why did this have to happen to him? Couldn't he just live a normal life without the pressure of being an heir dangling over his head? None of his friends would be fighting, he wouldn't be fighting and Mia wouldn't have to get hurt all the time. He wanted to be angry at the world over the unfairness of it all. Why was the world so intent on making him miserable? It probably didn't occur to him that he was thinking similarly back then before he met her or that he was walking the same path. He only noticed it when he stopped at the same streetlight he ran into once. He stood under its light, his worries churning over in his mind like peanut butter.

If he was thinking about peanut butter then he was definitely stressed.

In fact, he was so stressed he was starting to imagine pretty blonde girls walking in the dark. Talk about cray-cray. Wait a minute. He squinted at the dark and spluttered a little. Blonde girls? Why would he be imagining blonde girls – who looked a lot like Mia – in tight revealing outfits barefooted in the middle of the night? It might be some sick fantasy or… or… or she could be real.

"Tsuna."

Holy sh – maybe he is losing his mind.

Then she stepped into the light disheveled, dirty, scratched… and a goddamn sight for his aching eyes. She saw him and broke into a smile. "God, this is awkward… huh?" The first time they've been met up after being separated, she greeted him after waking from the hospital, the second time he turned her away in anger and the third time, this time, he nearly suffocated her in a fierce hug. A single arm wrapped around his waist and she hugged him back tiredly. He pressed a long kiss on her forehead, so happy he was that she was okay. He noticed that her skin was cold.

"Mia? Did they do anything to you?" he asked her as he took off his jacket.

She smiled wryly. "Just the usual death threats." He frowned as he secured his jacket around her shoulders. His Intuition sensed that she was hiding something.

"Mia. What did they do to you?" he asked her once more. "And don't even try lying to me."

Her eyes averted his but he gently took her chin to make her look at him. "Can't we talk about this later? Please?" She whispered. If he let it slide she would never talk about it. He didn't want to wait for her to break down again before she told him. His hand slid up to cup her cheek. A blush slowly bloomed on her face.

"No." His voice dropped to a low tone as he frowned. "Tell me." Her eyes darted from left to right and she bit her lip like she always did when he cornered her. "Look at me." When she still hesitated to answer him his worry grew. His mind was bombarded with horrible thoughts and it suddenly occurred to him… the way she was dressed, her disheveled appearance… his entire being went cold. "D-Did they… you…" he couldn't bring himself to say it.

Her eyes widened and she furiously shook her head. Her hand went up to catch his hand. "They didn't do that to me, I swear!"

"But did they threaten you with it?"

"N-Not exactly…"

"Mia!"

Her hand enclosed around his and she looked up at him, her eyes pleading. She was begging him not to lose it. "I…" she closed her lips and took a breath. Finally she said, "They were planning on selling me..." she trailed away but she didn't need to finish it. He knew well enough what could have happened to young women like her. It was so hard trying not to lose his shit. So. Damn. Hard. Mia was here, she was safe, he tried to convince himself. That was never going to happen – not on his goddamn watch. She wasn't violated. He breathed sharply through his nose. He felt her hand squeeze his.

"You okay?"

He jerked his head into a nod. "Yeah," he breathed. "I'm alright."

"Also…" she trailed away. He stiffened. There's more?

"Is it your head?" he immediately asked in worry. His hands began to precariously touch and prod her cheeks to her temple. She tried to bat his hands away.

"Why do you always assume it's my head?!"

"Well that's the first thing that's always wrong with you!"

Mia looked at him in a very offended manner. He didn't regret it. It was true after all. She rubbed her forehead with her fingers and he could tell she was trying not to lose her own temper at him.

"My head is fine!" she pressed. "I could get hit by Yamamoto's bat and still be okay!"

"No you won't. You'll have a concussion."

"My head's nothing to worry about."

"You sure about that?" he asked her doubtfully. She opened her mouth to answer him and decided not to answer him after all. Instead, she stood out her other arm – the one she hadn't been using and was hiding deliberately. He now knew why. His eyes trailed from her shoulder down to her forearm and she watched anxiously as his eyes processed the sight that was her arm. She didn't want to look at it herself but knew that the blisters had swollen to a frightening degree making it look like her arm had mutated. The loose bandaging around it was becoming undone exposing the angry red ballooning bubbles. Tsuna's eyes darkened to black and his jaw was clenched so tightly she swore she could hear his teeth cracking. His hands retracted to his sides where he was clenching and unclenching them.

"Tsuna – " He stepped back away from her. His whole frame was shaking from fury and when he looked up at her, she saw his eyes burn, a ring of blood red circling his pupils. The sight of it paralyzed her. That wasn't her Tsuna. This wasn't like him at all. As if he sensed the change he closed his eyes shut and she watched as his face contorted into a deep frown. He took several short breaths and when he opened his eyes, the red had gone though there was a lingering shadow behind them. "Tsuna…" she tried again after mustering her courage.

"You're cold." He brushed her cheek with his fingers. "Let's go back and get your injuries looked after. School will start in a few hours." He sounded so detached.

After all the crap she had been through, school was the last thing she wanted to think about. He smiled a bit, a semblance of his old self resurfacing, at her reaction and pinched her cheek lightly. "Don't make that face now. It can't be helped."

Mia didn't reply and let herself be taken back to his home. She was shaken by what she saw and she would be lying if she said she wasn't frightened by him. Tsuna would never hurt her, she knew, but the look in his eyes… she shivered which caught his attention. At this point she didn't dare complain when he picked her up and sped up towards his house. Due to the fact that she had only been gone for the whole night, very few knew of what happened. She was sure that Tsuna's Guardians were kept in the dark about her capture and found it to be right.

Bianchi and Tsuna were more than enough to smother her to death with concern and in Bianchi's case it was literal. She was taken from Tsuna's arms to be shoved into Bianchi's boobs and was fussed over like she was some sort of invalid. While she had been taken away for a much needed bath and treatment, Tsuna went to inform Reborn. No doubt to tell them how despicable the Varia was but soon they would need to know of what she learned. Before she was led away she caught a glimpse of Tsuna's face.

It was void of emotion except for one. Rage.

Bianchi had stripped her off her clothes and helped her get into the tub. She went out to retrieve some things and returned shortly wearing a nurse outfit, sterilized white gloves and a threatening-looking needle. She didn't bother to ask about the cosplay thing. Mia tried not to flinch as the woman approached her.

"Will it hurt?" she had to ask. Bianchi smiled.

"Compared to when you got it? You won't feel a thing."

Mia watched as Bianchi drained the blisters with the needle then cutting the skin off with a pair of sterilized house scissors. She watched with grim stoicism as Bianchi reeled away in shock once the last of the burned skin was gone. She grimaced a bit. The burned area was formed in the mark of a man's large hand. The look of revolted outrage on Bianchi's face made it obvious to what she thought.

"Mia. You must never let Tsuna see this" Bianchi said in a calm but serious tone. Mia slowly retracted her arm back, a ball of foreboding making its home in her stomach.

Well, she thought sincerely as Bianchi wrapped her burn, at least she got to learn something out of this. Like treating burns with household items.

Who was she kidding? She was fucking upset at the gouges in her skin and was goddamn glad that they are hidden behind the dressing. Once she was in her uniform she felt like the events of last night could have been a dream. Tsuna waited for her at the breakfast table by himself. She supposed the children were still asleep and took a seat beside him. His eyes glanced at her bandaged arm before moving up to her face.

"You okay?" he asked her as he placed a plate of food before her. There were no traces of his dark mood from before so she smiled at him.

"I always bounce back up." Tsuna smiled but it was tight.

After breakfast, Tsuna handed her her bag that someone kindly brought back. As she fumbled through her stuff seeing if anything went missing, Tsuna patiently waited for her outside the gate. Finding that everything was there she went to him outside.

"I suppose that there's a meeting at school?" she asked him lightly. Tsuna reached out and intertwined their fingers together. She looked down at their conjoined hands in bewilderment but he didn't seem to be bothered by what he had just done.

"We should get there while there are few people." Then he proceeded to pull her in tow. She followed after, her heart fluctuating with all sorts of emotions. It had taken them less than twenty minutes to reach the roof of Namimori Middle and waiting there were all of Tsuna's chosen Guardians. Hayato, Takeshi and Sasagawa-senpai started at the sight of them and she realized that they were still holding hands. She tried to pull her hand out but Tsuna firmly grasped hers, his intention clearly that he did not want to let go. She helplessly blushed at their teasing stares.

"Oya, oya, oya." Dino was there sniggering with Hibari standing to the side, separate from them all. Mia threw her bag at him but ended up regretting it as she had used her injured right arm. Her muscles, her skin had stretched her burns and she clamped her mouth shut to stop the painful cry that came out of it. Dino caught her bag.

"Mia?" he asked out of concern.

"You idiot," Tsuna hissed as she grasped her arm hissing and cursing in Italian. She jumped around resisting the urge to kick his legs and knock him off his feet. They all moved towards her but one look from her flashing blue eyes stopped them dead in their tracks.

"Every day you're looking more and more like a hit woman Mia," Reborn commented. They swerved around. Reborn stood with Colonello beside him. "With everyone here we can commence. Most of you don't know but Mia was abducted yesterday by the Varia." Just as she expected there were varying degrees of reactions from their friends. Reborn held his hand up. "Do not lose your calm. Obviously she's here. Alive. Not without repercussions though."

Mia held in a wince when everybody turned to her. The burn on her arm felt warmer than it should. "Report on what you've found Mia."

"Wait, Reborn," Tsuna spoke up. "Before Mia starts, I want to say something to Onii-san."

Sensing that it was probably serious, the boxer straightened. "What is it Sawada?"

Mia felt him squeeze her hand before saying, "I haven't been totally honest with what's been going on." He looked up to stare the older boy right in the eyes. "I – uh – well…" he faltered. Mia tugged at his hand and gave him an encouraging nod. He straightened at that. "What I meant to say was, Onii-san, what you're about to get into is really dangerous – life threateningly dangerous and it's not just for you, probably for your friends and family too. There's no backing out once you're in and… to be honest I don't want to involve you because it might put Kyoko-chan at risk as well." Her heart clenched a bit when she heard it. Sasagawa Ryohei's expression turned into a troubled frown.

"Kyoko…" he said sounding a bit unsure.

"Tsuna's right Senpai," Takeshi said with an air of rare seriousness. "Someone could really get killed." At this almost everyone turned to look at her. She gave them all a flat stare.

"Yes, yes, remind me of my near death-experiences would you?" she flippantly told them off. "They're great stories to share at the dinner table. In fact, I have a new one to tell." She raised her right forearm. "Senpai, believe me you wouldn't want anything like this to happen to anyone else." The look of growing horror on his face reminded her of when she found out the first time. The first thing she had thought then was how it would have affected Tsuna and her family.

"Onii-san, I won't blame you if you want to leave." Tsuna bowed his head. "I just wanted to give you a choice."

"Sawada…" Sasagawa actually looked serious as he considered it. The sheer effort of thinking was taking his toll on him as sweat trailed down his brow. Mia was actually starting to feel sorry for him because it looked so hard. He impressed them all when he shook his head furiously. "A man would never abandon his comrades!" He shouted in declaration.

A smile grew on her face and looked to find that Tsuna had one too. "Really?" he says lightly. "Thank you Onii-san, I'm really grateful."

"Of course Sawada!" the boxer said. "Aren't we friends?"

This seemed to stun Tsuna for whatever dumb reason. She sighed and nudged his side. She looked at him with raised eye brows as if she were saying, 'Are you done now so we can start?' He gave her a nod to proceed. Mia then prepared herself for the onslaught of reactions that will follow and began. She could hear Ian's voice as she told them her story from a conversation they had before they left her.

"Make sure Tsuna wins?"

"Make sure your side wins" Ian corrected her.

"Why?" She had to ask.

"I hope you noticed but what's happening right now – bloody ridiculous as it is – is history. The Order stands as Chroniclers of the ages." Ian paused and rubbed his mouth with his hand. "Apparently a fight between a bunch of teenagers and the world's best assassination group is considered historical… a historical massacre."

She glowered at him. "If I wanted to join the Order then why should I interfere? Chroniclers write down history. They don't make them."

"Unless history has been threatened to move away from its natural course. To be altered."

"I don't understand."

"When the natural courses of events are altered, the Chroniclers will rise to rectify or to observe!" He answered her impatiently. "Someone is purposefully twisting the Vongola's history. Some things are not meant to be changed love and that's where you come in."

"I make sure things stay their natural course" she whispered. "Avevo ragione!" ("I was right!")

"What?"

From the front, Tyr barked, "Jist gie oan wi' it Ian! We're almost thaur."

Ian grabbed her shoulder and made her look at him in the eye. "Make sure Sawada Tsunayoshi reaches his potential."

She watched with growing weariness as their expressions became stormier by the second. The scariest of them all was Tsuna who remained stoic yet his eyes gave way to his emotions. She lightly tip-toed on the part where she jumped off the window where there were several exclamations of disbelief and quickly finished her story. They gawked at her with so much incredulity that she gave them back a deadpan stare. She didn't omit anything except for when Belphegor had her pinned on the bed. She had a feeling that everyone would go ballistic if she did. They were already angry enough as it is. Tsuna's expression was incredibly intense and so was Hibari's. The chairman had this look that could have curdled milk.

Dino was the first to speak up "Glad to know that they still don't know anything about the rings."

"YOU EXTREMELY JUMPED OUT OF A WINDOW?" Sasagawa-senpai all but shouted.

"Uh…"

"ON THE TOP FLOOR OF THE HOTEL?"

"Well… yes."

"Xanxus can use flames too?" Tsuna questioned. She nodded hesitantly and his eyes turned downwards. He left it at that and brooded in silence.

"Can we trust this random organization kora? What are their motives?" Colonello asked her. She knew her story would be sketchy if she told them she got away by herself – Tsuna might even sense the lie. The Order's part in her escape couldn't be overlooked so she had to include them in her story but of course the finer details were excluded.

"You don't have to trust them," she answered with complete certainty. "Believe it or not they have a similar goal – to bring down the Varia." She fixed them with a heavy look as she recalled something she had heard when she was young. "But don't think for even one second that they can be trusted. Just because we are united by a common enemy that does not mean we can have a wary eye on our ally."

Reborn and Colonello exchanged a loaded look at each other and she frowned. Did she say something off? She felt Tsuna shuffle uncomfortably beside her as well. Maybe he didn't sit well with what she thought. Well to be honest, practically everyone was giving her a look. She ignored them.

"You make a good point Mia," Dino told her. "Are you sure though that they are not a threat to the Vongola?"

"No." That was a lie. She harbored a large amount of distrust at Ian but she said it anyway without hesitation.

"We know where they are. We should strike them before they do!" Hayato suggested.

Before Reborn, Colonello or even Dino could say anything, Mia beat them to it. "That's a stupid idea. You, Takeshi and Tsuna couldn't even take on one of them. What makes you think we can defeat all of them?" Hayato flinched at her rebuke. "You're not ready. None of you are yet. You must never underestimate the enemy. Going at them now will result in a massacre." She shot that one at the prefect. He glowered at her reminder when he went against Mukuro. "We still have time so train. Prepare yourselves for the fight to come."

"Mia's right," Tsuna spoke up and stood beside her. "We're not ready. We can't afford to be careless, not after what Mia went through and when they come," he glanced at her. "They will be picking their asses up from ground when we're done with them." His voice carried all the confidence and bravado of a teenage Mafia boss. They locked eyes with each other and nodded.

Smiles and smirks grew on their friends' faces.

"Hmph. Guess we weren't needed to be here anyway kora."

"It's our duty as tutors to watch our students grow."

The school bell rang signaling that their meeting had to adjourn. Hibari walked up towards her and stopped. "I will bite them to death." His eyes simmered with unrestricted hate as he promised her. To her sudden shock she was pulled to Tsuna's side and was held there rather possessively.

"Yeah, well get in line," he snapped irritably. They faced each other. Mia would have once compared them as a small frail kitten versus a large Doberman but the way Tsuna stood up to Hibari was like watching a stirring lion and being caught in the middle of all that testosterone was seriously short of unpleasant especially the way Tsuna gripped her waist.

"Tsuna… come on we have classes." She tugged on his shirt. "And chairman, you've got duties to fulfill." They hesitantly broke their staring contest with each other. Hibari left first but not without squeezing her shoulder lightly as he left. Dino followed his student but as he passed he messed her hair. She was startled when Sasagawa-senpai took her by the shoulders screaming EXTREEEEEEEMEEE! Her hair stood on end at the force of his enthusiasm.

"Sa-Sasagawa-senpai…" she said faintly.

He shook her again. "Matteis! You're beyond extreme! Join the boxing club as our manager!"

She shot a pleading glance at Tsuna but all he did was smile angelically at her. Oh? So he wasn't going help her out of this predicament? She pried his hands off her shoulders and smiled at him. To be honest, she had enough on her hands as it is but… "I'll think about it Senpai."

"Really? YOSHAAAAAA!"

"Would you put a cork in it Turf-head?!"

"Maa, maa you guys. Don't fight now. We got class soon."

"Taking care of a bunch of guys takes a lot of responsibility Mia," Reborn chimed in as he hopped on her shoulder. "You'll have to deal with a lot of sweat and muscle."

She shrugged coyly. "Nothing I can't handle."

"You have a problem Tsuna?" Reborn directed at Tsuna, who was scowling.

"N-No," he replied through gritted teeth. Mia and Reborn exchanged smirks.

"Ah, one more thing Mia – while everybody else is training, you'll be keeping them up to date with their lessons." She accepted her role with a nod. "You're not going to complain?" Reborn asked her. She shrugged and smiled a bit.

"I'll help however I can," she said determined.

"I suppose since we have a new ally you'll be the one to get in touch with?"

She nodded. "I'll let you guys know if I hear anything from them."

"Good. Good." Reborn pulled off his hat and pulled out a gun with a matching garter holster with an extra magazine out of it. He handed these to her. "Since you've made it clear that you get into more trouble than Tsuna on your own, this is for you. This is a Glock nineteen Generation four – its easily concealable, it has a dual recoil spring system to reduce recoil and I've already modified the grip for you."

She turned the gun around her in her hands, a smile growing on her lips. "It feels perfect Reborn."

"Consider it as an early birthday gift."

She was smiling so wide her cheeks were hurting but she didn't care. She was too happy. "Grazie Reborn."

Colonello coughed what sounded suspiciously like 'Spoiler' but if Reborn heard it he didn't show it.

"Tsuna look!" she showed it to him excitedly. Her friends gathered around them. He didn't seem to be as happy as she was about it but he nodded approvingly anyway. That was enough for her, she thought. Mia bent down to attach the Garter Holster to her thigh by lifting her skirt. Several of the guys jumped away from her in equal shades of red. She stared at them with amusement and snorted as she revealed her cycling shorts underneath. Perverts, she chortled. The laces were dark blue, she noted. "Bianchi picked that out for you." Definitely one of the best birthday gifts she had gotten ever. After she was done she holstered her gun and stood up to see if it was completely hidden.

"Eccezionale!" she exclaimed.

As happy as they were to see Mia happy, the boys could not help the sense of weariness that came from thinking of her armed. She was already scary but with a gun she was going to be terrifying. As they headed down for class Mia felt like she was surrounded by a group of blood-thirsty vultures. People evaded them like they were spitting fire which could be true in Tsuna's case.

"Isn't this overly excessive guys?" she asked as Hayato literally snarled at the face of an approaching junior. She shoved him away to receive the class record and smile apologetically at the poor boy while being fully aware of the intense atmosphere behind her. "Thank you Kouta-kun." She had to smile extra kindly for the poor thing. The boy brightened and his young cheeks filled with color.

"It was nothing at all Mia-senpai!" he exclaimed before running off.

Mia watched the boy go before slapping the class record against Hayato's chest and walking into the room. "Seriously, it's not like every boy that approaches me will be Belphegor in disguise."

"But my Lady, what if someone is under an illusion?"

"Not a problem." She jerked a thumb at Tsuna's direction. "I have the illusion-detector with me." Tsuna snorted at the name she gave him.

Takeshi burst out laughing. "That's true."

She opened the door to their class only to stagger as a wave of lightheadedness overcame her. It lasted only for a second but already she felt uneasiness grow inside her but she quickly covered it by making it seem like she tripped. Tsuna caught her like he always did. She sent him a grateful smile and hurried to her desk.

"Good morning Mia-chan!" Kyoko greeted her which instantly dropped her mood if that was even possible.

"Morning Kyoko-san," she returned. Last night was starting to make its toll on her as she sagged into her seat or maybe she was more tired than she thought.

"Did something happen?" Kyoko asked her. Mia forgot to pull her sleeve over her bandages and quickly did so.

"Just a cooking accident," she said reassuringly. Kyoko didn't seem that assured but she left her alone well enough. Kyoko instead went to Tsuna and stuck a conversation with him. Feeling like she swallowed soap detergent, she sunk even lower into her seat. Class was a nightmare as her arm throbbed uncomfortably. It'll heal, she thought as she dutifully wrote notes down.

Giannini, the Second-Rate Inventor

"I can't believe we have to do homework!" Tsuna complained as he placed a box on the living room table. Mia smiled from across it and brought out a large envelope.

"We are middle schoolers." She set it down on the table. Tsuna watched as she set the table for their group study session with Kyoko and Kurokawa. He leaned across the table and propped himself on elbows.

"How was dinner with your Dad?" he asked her. "Was he suspicious?" His eyes flickered pointedly at her forearm.

"You could have warned me earlier but to say it was really nice." She chuckled at the memory. "We went out to this fancy restaurant Pa had reservations for. I uh… I accidentally ran into a waiter and uh…" She grinned at him bashfully. "I got dumped on with food. After that we just went for some Japanese take-out." Tsuna laughed with her, happy that she had a good time. "As for this," her smile dimmed a little. "As you would expect, he was worried. I told him I got it from a cooking accident."

He frowned. "I'm sorry you have to lie to him."

She shook her head. "Don't be. It's the same for your mom."

There was a thud upstairs and Mia looked up, sighing in exasperation. "I see Giannini is hard at work."

"Why didn't you have your weapon upgraded?" Tsuna asked her. There was another thud. "Argh I hope he doesn't wreck anything in my room!"

"Ahhh… well I wanted to ask for some tips from my Uncle Ben." She scratched her cheek. "I feel that Merry is perfect the way it is." Tsuna snorted at the given name for her Glock gun. He knew she was planning on getting a partner for it so she could have both Merry and Pippin. As funny as it was, it was also very cute.

There was a knock on the door and Tsuna went to answer it. To his surprise, Haru had come along to join them. After their last meeting he thought she wanted to avoid him at all costs. She greeted him cheerfully but not as enthusiastic as before. The air between them was awkward at best but he didn't let that ruin them, he gestured for them to go inside. As they went in he ignored Kurokawa's distasteful look. Lately she had been giving him those a lot more lately. Like Mia taught him, he smiled at her which seemed to infuriate her a lot more. Mia waved at them and he took a seat beside her.

"Let's get started shall we?" she said in an obviously fake cheery manner. They started first with Kyoko, who dreamed of becoming a ballerina or a police officer when she was young. Mia bit her lip to stop a chuckle. She glanced at Tsuna to see his reaction if he would freak out but he didn't seem bothered with it. Kurokawa wanted to become an adult because she didn't like kids… well she was on her way there, Mia thought with sarcasm. Haru wanted to be Japan's best costume maker, a dream she taught was suitable for the girl. As weird as her costumes were, they were made really well. Tsuna wanted to be… a… be a…

"A robot?!" she exclaimed and burst into giggles. Tsuna scowled at her.

"Chiuderlo! I was a kid back then!" He defended himself. "Besides, I'm not that No-good anymore. I've got you to thank for that." He raised his fist. She laughed and bumped fists with him. Kurokawa made an unimpressed noise at their little display. If there were anyone else in the room she probably would have given the other girl a very condescending look.

"So what did you write?" she instead asked her. Mia handed her her written essay from when she was a child. Kurokawa took one look at it then glared at her. "What is this? It's written in Italian!" Mia snorted as she took the paper back, her arm throbbing as she did so.

"Obviously." As her eyes scanned the paper, her expression softened tenderly. "'Mama and Papa always take me with them on their adventures. The world is so big and full of stuff! It's like my picture books came alive! When I grow up I wanna be like my parents and…'" she stopped reading at that point. "Whoops, it ends there." She didn't continue reading as what she wrote after that was too embarrassing.

At that point Hayato had walked in tears after listening to them then eagerly presented his newly upgraded weapons. To say the least, it backfired. Spectacularly into confetti. Mia would have laughed if she hadn't had a situation in her hands where the other girls could have found out. Reborn also came down to test his gun but the bullet merely dropped down like lead as soon as it fired.

"Ah… he downgraded them," Tsuna said. A bad feeling grew in them as Reborn went back upstairs. A few minutes later they could hear Giannini's frantic screeches. They exchanged looks of terror. They really just might kill him! They excused themselves then ran upstairs. While they were sorting out things with Giannini to fix their weapons, Lambo came in and had gotten into a fight with Hayato. Mia tried to break them apart when the Ten-Year Bazooka dropped on them from the ceiling where it had been hung.

The result was that Lambo was still the same but Hayato and Mia… both had turned into a couple of five year olds. The two pointed at each other in shock. "W-W-Whaaaaaaaat?!" they exclaimed at each other. There was a thunk as Merry dropped on the floor from seemingly out of nowhere. Mia examined her body in disbelief. To make matters worse, they had bypassed the five minute mark. She lowered her head in the shadows while Hayato berated the poor mechanic.

"I-I'm not seriously going to stay like this right Tsuna?" she tugged on his pant leg. Tsuna looked down and had to cover his mouth from making fawning sounds like nnnnnngggggggg because of how adorable she looked. He reigned in his urges and picked her up.

"You'll get back to normal. Don't worry," he assured her. She looked up at him again and he felt his knees weakening. An image suddenly entered his mind of a little girl running around with her eyes before being scooped and cuddled up by an older Mia. He could just literally see it. The little girl would have her smile and his brown hair tumbling down her back like waves. Whoa. He froze when he realized just what he was thinking. He shook his head with heat flooding his cheeks. When he finally cleared himself of those thoughts, Mia was staring intently outside at something he couldn't see.

"What are you looking at?" he asked her. Mia glanced at him and smiled.

"Nothing." She tilted her head to the side. "You gotta go back downstairs Tsuna. The girls would wonder where you go." He hesitantly set her down. "Hayato and I will wait for the effects to disappear okay?" As soon as Tsuna was gone, Mia dragged Hayato over to the window.

"Did you see it?"

"See what my Lady?"

"Those guys hanging on the pole like chameleons."

"Eh?"

"Go on. Look," she urged him to look out of the window. Hayato poked his head out and quickly ducked down to nod at her.

"I see them."

"What do you think they are?"

"I don't know my Lady but I don't like them."

Mia scowled. "Damn it! I can't hold my gun when I'm like this and your weapon is useless at the moment. What can we do?"

"What about the Tenth?"

"Tsuna can't see them. I think we're the only ones who could." She looked out again and gasped. "Hayato they're gone!" Hayato had disappeared before the words were even out of her mouth. She scrambled after him as fast as her little feet could take her. She could hear Hayato angrily shouting at Takeshi and Sasagawa-senpai who were somewhat conveniently there. She stopped though, when she nearly flew off the stairs and flailed to catch her balance. She failed. She fell down the stairs with a crash. She was stuck there on the floor, her face flat on the surface.

"Tenth!" she heard Hayato exclaim. There was a commotion as a scuffle broke out. That got her rising and running into the room just as Hayato was knocked aside but Tsuna managed to catch him.

"Idiot!" she cried as she stopped beside them. Tsuna pushed her closer to their friend.

"Watch over him okay?" he said then got up, cracking his hands rather menacingly with his two friends as he faced the green-screen wearing intruders who were somehow seeable now. The girls were standing by the wall away from the oncoming fight which didn't even last long what with Tsuna going full Jackie Chan on them but she didn't watch as she helped Hayato lean on her.

"I managed to damage their suits my Lady," Hayato said with a wince. For him, she beamed widely full of pride.

"Well done Hayato!"

He flushed at her praise.

Now, trying to explain the situation was easy when people were so gullible. Also, they were really lucky that the girls were so dense… well that wasn't all too true. Kurokawa was proving to be a very annoying what with her questions. Luckily Reborn managed to come up with a very believable lie – which was still bullshit in her opinion – but whatever powers of persuasion he had he managed to convince the girls that it was all just a burglary. After that they praised the boys of how brave they were. Kurokawa even grudgingly admitted how skilled Tsuna had gotten which earned him a bunch of praises from Kyoko and Haru although hers weren't laid so thick. Mia tried to ignore that in favor of her friend who was still a bit out of it after the blow on his head. As soon as the girls left though, Reborn informed them of a few things.

Surprisingly the goons were sent by Verde, another Arcobaleno.

"So Tsuna, how was your first assassination attempt?" the hitman asked.

Tsuna bent down to scoop both of his shrunken friends up. "Ridiculous. If Verde was such a genius why did he send a couple of morons?"

At this Mia couldn't help jeering, "Ohhhhh – he needs some milk!"

Reborn actually turned away with his hand to his mouth while Tsuna tweaked her nose laughing.

One of the many, many things that Tsuna had vehemently disagreed to was letting Lambo be his Lightning Guardian. Mia had to hesitantly agree with him. However, Reborn was right in a way that only Lambo could fulfill that role. Not his child form but his older one. So she was very conflicted about it. She had made it her business then, to watch over Lambo and try to teach him as delicately as she could. But combined with the constant minor pains and the occasional headache, even teaching Lambo was proving to be a challenge worthy of walking into Mordor.

"Mia-nee, I got you some aspirin." Fuuta kindly handed her a glass of water.

She gratefully took it from him and popped the pill. Lying down on the mat, fast asleep, was Lambo. He twitched a little in his sleep murmuring, "Tsuna… let's play video games again… Mia… you're boring sometimes… Lambo-san dun wanna study stupid… stuff…" then proceeded to roll and drool all over the floor.

Fuuta giggled beside her. "How's it going?"

"Horrible… Neh Fuuta, is Bianchi around? I'm too tired to change my bandaging."

"You called?" Bianchi knocked against the door sill.

Mia smiled tiredly at the older woman. "Sorry that Lambo made a mess of your room. I'll clean it up later."

"I'll do it Mia-nee," Fuuta said as he began picking up sweet wraps littered on the floor. "You just rest for a while." Once he had picked up every single trash in the room he left to dispose of them while Bianchi brought out the first aid kit. As she undid the bandaging, Mia closed her eyes to get a bit of rest. She heard Bianchi breathed in sharply.

"Mia…" Hearing the alarm in her tone her eyes flew open.

"What's wrong?" Bianchi was staring at her arm. Like a cold stone was suddenly lodged in her throat, Mia swallowed heavily before looking down. Her flesh was bright red but what concerned her were the black twisted veins that ran on it as if another hand had grown on the very mark. "Is it an infection?" she asked in a whisper.

"No… are you sure you hadn't gone into contact with any poison?"

"Xanxus just touched me."

Bianchi briskly cleansed and bandaged her wound. "I'll try to look into this. Try to get some sleep alright?"

"Okay. Bianchi?"

"Yes?" The elder woman paused.

"Don't tell anyone else. Please."

Bianchi didn't promise her and left.

Hidden under a canopy of trees, she watched as Tsuna completely immersed himself in his sparring with Basil. He was more focused, his forehead crinkling into that battle-hardened expression as he attacked and defended. Mia had honestly tried what she could for her friends. She had visited all of them except for Hibari who was god-knows-where with Dino. The only problem she saw was Hayato and Tsuna. Chrome couldn't be contacted. With Hayato, it was more of Shamal not being a suitable teacher that was the problem and her friend therefore struggled to improve on his own. She tried helping him by conversing about the several possibilities he can do with dynamite but she knew, that in the end, she would have to trust and leave it to him to figure it all out.

As for Tsuna on the other hand… there was no problem with his training whatsoever. What she did have a problem with was the dark subtle change inside of him. Mia wasn't blind or stupid. Sometimes Tsuna didn't hold back on his punches, almost to the brink of wildness. It wasn't right and frankly it scared her. Tsuna had always been considerate and gentle so to see him so… so… aggressive it felt like she didn't know him anymore. She hadn't seen his eyes turn red since she came back and she hoped it would never appear again.

A twig behind her snapped but she didn't turn around. "It's dangerous for you to be so close," she said quietly.

Ian stepped closely to her, his face covered by a fox kabuki mask. "Worry about yourself. They won't notice me."

She turned around at that, frowning. "How do you do that? Make yourself invisible?"

"I can't make myself invisible, " he scoffed. "I use illusions obviously."

"Mukuro doesn't do what you do."

"He's different. He's a powerful illusionist that can bend minds to suit his wiles. If he grows stronger he might even produce illusions that could affect the real world."

"And you?"

Ian gave her a thoughtful glance before replying, "I merely coax people's minds into believing my illusions. You have no idea how fickle human minds are."

"That's… very subtle."

"I don't have the level of power your psychopath of a friend has so I have to be flexible with my skills."

"But… you don't just use one illusion… do you?" She looked up at him expectantly.

He smiled wryly. "You're catching on love. I don't just make use of one illusion. I use several."

Mia looked back at Tsuna and watched him flip Basil to his back. "An illusion within an illusion," she breathed in fascination. "You weave several illusions together, like a giant web. You can break one strand but the whole thing still holds." If Ian was surprised with her, it wouldn't be seen through his mask. However the frustratingly annoyed sigh from him made her smirk. It meant that she had gotten her guess right but it also mean that it was at most she would get from him.

"Careful now or you might lose yourself in my web."

She leaned against a tree trunk, her smile dimming. "Wouldn't dream of it…" She felt his fingers pressing against the side of her neck. She was too tired to move. She could hear the frown in his tone as he spoke.

"Your blood pressure is falling."

"I don't need your concern," she snapped a little irritably. Ian removed his fingers and stepped back. "How did you even find me?"

"You still carry with you the Order's token." Underneath her shirt, said token was resting coolly against her breast. She had put a chain on it to wear it. She had a feeling that it was more important than it seemed.

Over at the other side of the clearing, Tsuna had caught Basil's leg and practically sent him spinning in the air but not before getting a kick to the face. He had been training Hapkido for months now but he never had someone to spar with. Now he did. He never liked fighting but he had to admit he didn't hate it either and it helped him deal with a lot of things.

Like the Varia.

His questionable inheritance.

Mia.

Xanxus. Just thinking of that name made him want to break something in half.

"Sawada-dono!" Basil cried out in pain. "I yield, I yield!"

He hadn't realized that he had already disarmed Basil and was pinning him on the ground by his arm and released him. He stepped back a little. "Sorry Basil, I didn't mean to be so hard on you." The odd thing was that he didn't sound sorry. If he had continued he probably would have broken his arm.

Basil smiled at him, ignorant of his tone. "Thou must not apologize. As expected of Vongola Decimo!"

Tsuna turned around to hide his expression. "Vongola Decimo huh…" he trailed away darkly. He roughly took his training gloves off suddenly. He closed his eyes to stop the wave of fury that had been building slowly inside him but lately it had been getting harder to suppress it and also this new power he had developed… "Reborn," he quietly called out. "Can I try it one more time?"

"Again?" The hitman asked him with pointed eyes.

"I won't fail like last time," Tsuna assured him. "Trust me, I've got a feeling I won't screw up." He slipped on his X gloves. A moment after he felt the familiar rush of calmness take over him but he was still aware of the constant negative emotion brewing inside of him. Focusing on that alone he placed his hand on a large boulder. His breathing hastened and he could feel the power building in his hand. The stone beneath his hand exploded into dust as he reduced the large boulder to a pile of jagged, smoldering, molten rock.

"Sawada-dono… that was…" Basil didn't finish as he stared in shock.

Tsuna curled his fingers into a fist and turned to face his tutor and sparring partner. From the shadows, Mia saw Basil freeze up while Reborn remained composed but from the way his mouth curled at the end told her that something unexpected had happened and by the looks of it, it could be either be good or bad. The hitman wasn't surprised in the least so it was safe to assume that he knew about it. She slowly stood up as an unnatural icy feeling of fear took her. Tsuna was changing and it felt like it would be in a way she wouldn't like. She just had to speak with him but the firm grip on her shoulder stopped her from doing so.

"Let me go," she said coldly.

"You're getting worse. I suggest you head back and rest."

There was a click as she pressed her gun to his stomach. "I said. Let. Me. Go."

He let go off her and raised his hands. He backed off as she held her weapon sturdier. "You'll need me soon." He told her and glanced at her arm. "When you do, just call for me and I'll be there."

"Your concern is unwarranted," she bit back though her arm shook. "My friends will help."

"Will they though?" he asked. "They won't know like we do."

"Your knowledge comes with a price."

"And are they any different?" He returned cynically. "Or did you forget that you're dealing with the Mafia?"

"I never forgot I never did." A headache had built behind her eyes. They were practically burning but she kept them open. "I'll keep your offer in mind but right now, back off." The menace in her tone made him take a step back. As she tried to step away from him, her leg buckled and she tumbled backwards. Ian rushed forward and caught her. The action knocked the breath out of her and she gasped for air.

"Eisen was right." She could hear the amusement in his voice. "You're too reckless."

"W-What are you going to do about it?" she asked, gasping.

He pulled out a syringe from his pocket, nodding. "This." She felt the prick of the needle on her neck and immediately felt the numbing sensation lull her into unwanted sleep. In a matter of seconds she was out cold. Ian pocketed the syringe and picked her up. When Mia would wake hours later, she would find herself on Tsuna's bed. The boy who owned the bed was sitting on his table, studying the notes she wrote for him. She watched his pen scratch across his notebook. When he looked up and saw her watching him, he stood up and walked over to her. Whatever Ian had given her, she hadn't been able to fully move but she managed to turn as he sat down beside her. He brushed away the strands of her hair away and smiled down at her.

This was her Tsuna and she was glad to see him. She smiled drowsily back.

"Have a nice nap?" he asked her.

She wanted to say yes but her mouth wouldn't open. Goddamn it Ian. She settled with a gentle hum. It made his smile widen. He ran his fingers through her hair. It would have been nice if a single strand hadn't gotten into her mouth and distracted her. She tried to blow it out but didn't work. Tsuna chuckled and pulled that annoying strand away but his fingers lingered close to her lips. Come closer, she wanted to say to him. By some miracle he did until their noses were brushing against each other. She looked into his eyes. There was no red, no darkness behind them. There was only warm orange that reminded her of a sunset and released a sigh of relief. He smiled widened and leaned down to press his lips against hers, his fingers caress sing her jaw.

It was wonderful. More wonderful than anything she ever dreamed of. His kiss ignited the feeling back to her nerves and she reached out to kiss him back. Her stomach was doing flips. His lips molded against hers, tender, coaxing and teasing all at once. Her hands went around his neck, feeling his pulse beat rapidly under her fingers. She wanted to stay here where they had nothing to worry about, nothing to fear; where it was just the two of them together in each other's embraces… it was all too good to be true.

So it nearly shattered her heart when she realized it was all just a dream. She woke up the same way but instead of crying, she was seriously pissed. Couldn't she have one good dream? She rose and turned to see Tsuna snoring soundly on his desk, a pool of drool drenching her hand-written notes. It annoyed her to no end to see him. Grabbing a pillow she threw it at him so hard she knocked him off the table.

"M-M-Mia?!" Tsuna scrambled up. The sight of him standing there with a goofy grin on his face and a piece of paper plastered on his forehead infuriated her more and she threw another pillow at him. "W-Why are you so mad?" he asked her as she decided to throw his books at him. "Did I do something?" he asked her desperately. He was alarmed when her hand slid up to her thigh to reach for her gun and rushed to grab her hands. "Mia, seriously, are you on your period or something?"

She shot him a venomous glare and he flinched. Mia was angry before but now she was really angry. "Mia." He tried again. "Did I do something wrong?"

Her expression cracked a bit, so did her voice when she spoke. "That's the thing Tsuna. You didn't do anything."

"Huh?" He gaped at her. "But why are you so mad?"

She wrenched her hands from him and got up from the bed. She strode towards the door and wrenched the door open. Bianchi and Basil jumped aside as she went straight through them, a flabbergasted Tsuna following her heels. "Mia!" he kept calling out to her. "Where are you going?" Several curious heads popped out at the commotion. "Mia?!"

She spun around and pinned him where he was by her glare alone. Her blue eyes were burning like blue hell fire and it paralyzed him from head to toe. Forget Reborn, for one moment Mia appeared before him like a goddess scorned and was ready to strike divine punishment if he so tried to approach her. He was helpless as she left his home and sunk to the ground staring at the door.

"What did you do Tsuna-nii?" Fuuta asked as he came out of the kitchen. "I've never seen Mia-nee look so-so… mad." The last part was said in a quiet whisper.

"I wish I knew," Tsuna said, completely perplexed and at loss at what to do. "She said I didn't do anything but I don't understand."

A hand firmly gripped his shoulder and he looked up. Bianchi gave him a sympathetic look. "For your sake, I hope you learn to understand the hearts of women."

"Unfortunately that's something I can't teach him," Reborn spoke up after watching the whole thing.

"Definitely Terror Gold's granddaughter," Iemitsu muttered but Tsuna heard him. If that was how Mia was, he shuddered to think on how her grandfather would be like.

"I-I should go after her," he started saying. "It's not safe."

"Leave her be," Reborn stopped him by blocking his way. "What does your Intuition say about this?"

"I'd probably die," Tsuna confessed honestly. "But I think she'll be okay." Or maybe a part of him sensed that anything to get in her way while she was like this would pay very dearly. He stared forlornly at the door, wanting to chase after her but she might not appreciate seeing him right now. What exactly had he done to deserve this?

Mia stayed at Kokuyo Land that night. She gave the Kokuyo gang a real fright when she arrived and didn't give them much of a choice to refuse her. She spent her time calming down but every time the kiss sprung up, instead of growing angry, she became even sadder. Maybe it was the depressing environment around her but the longer she thought about it; the more she realized just how much she had been yearning for it. She didn't need this right now, not when the Varia was so close. Also… she peeled her bandages earlier and a putrid stench came from her injury. Her wound wasn't healing in the slightest; it was red, raw, bleeding and most probably slowly becoming infected.

Her feelings for Tsuna were becoming a distraction. Love was both a blessing and a curse, she thought with resignation. She didn't need this. He didn't need her like this. She had a lot of baggage. She couldn't afford to weigh Tsuna down just because she wanted a little romance. For crying out loud she was also still in Middle School. Tsuna can be her first love but he won't be her last. One more year and it would be High School. There's plenty of time to date after studying, after her friends, after surviving. That was more important. Not her stupid flimsy feelings.

"Mia-san?" She looked up to see Chrome. The other girl shyly offered her a bottle of green tea.

"Thanks." She accepted it and twisted the cap off. "How's your training?"

Chrome sat down beside her. "Mukuro-sama says that I'm almost ready."

Mia downed almost half the bottle before setting it on the dirty coffee table. "That's great."

"It may be for me but what about you?" Chrome asked her. "You… don't look so great."

Mia let out a short laugh. "I look like this every day."

Chrome looked at her sadly. "Mia-san…"

Mia blew her bangs out of her face. "Chrome… Nagi… whoever it is… please…" She looked towards Chrome pleadingly. "I just need a friend right now." Chrome didn't question her anymore but she stayed by her side until morning came. That was all she needed to bury everything again. She buried her grief for her mother, her sorrow for her father, she can handle her love and apparently, excruciating pain. When she went into school the following morning it was like everything was back to normal. The look of utter relief on Tsuna's face further cemented her decision.

It was a good thing that she regained her composure because later that afternoon Tsuna literally had punched his dad after finding out the truth that he was the External Advisor. She pushed him back as he spewed hate towards his father. Nana had been kept in the kitchen while this happened. Don't get her wrong, she wanted to punch Iemitsu herself but Ian informed her that the Varia was on the move and all the Guardians had to be gathered before they got picked off one by one. Right now, it was only Lambo they had to be concerned about who was the most defenseless of the lot.

"Tsuna!" she slapped him. He stared at her in shock but she wasn't going to let him lose sight of what's important. She grabbed him by the collar and began dragging him outside. She didn't care if it was demeaning to see Vongola Decimo be dragged around like her dog. She already felt like her body was slowly losing to whatever she had but damn it – like hell she would let things fall apart like this. Her breath was short when she spoke to a struggling Tsuna. "Be pissed at your dad later but right now we have bigger things to worry about." She pulled all her strength inside her to haul him up to get him walking. "The Varia are coming. You can stay here and have your family drama but I'm going to meet them. I owe Xanxus a bullet."

"Xanxus?" Tsuna repeated, his voice going odd at the mention of the name.

"Let's split up," Mia suggested as she briskly walked ahead. "It would be faster then."

"If the Varia are here then we shouldn't!" Tsuna grabbed her shoulder but she shook his hand off and faced him. "I can't leave you alone!"

"I'm not going alone." Right at that moment, Ian had stepped out of the corner wearing his mask to stand behind her. She jerked her head towards him. "I'll be with my contact." Ian courteously nodded in respect at him. Tsuna looked from her to Ian but she didn't give him the time to ask as she dragged Ian this time in the opposite direction.

"You have a way with words," Ian drawled lazily.

"Shut up," she said shortly. "If you're going to stick around I'd rather you be useful."

"A man with my talents and you decide to make me find a couple of kids."

"I don't know anything about your 'talents' so yeah, I do think you're qualified to look for a couple of kids."

"I'll let you know then that we are completely going the wrong way." They skidded to a stop and she slowly turned around to glare at him.

"Well?" she asked him.

He took off to the right and she followed him. An explosion nearby alerted her that her friends were close. She could see the Varia and her friends readying for battle. Xanxus was there and he had his hand out. Slowly it grew brighter and brighter, without thinking, she pulled her gun out and fired. Xanxus jerked his hand back just in time as the bullet sped past. Several pairs of eyes turned towards her. Xanxus' snapped to hers as she slowly came to a stop beside Tsuna. She never once broke eye contact. Tsuna's hand twitched as if wanting to reach out to her but he didn't. Good. If he had they would have taken it as a sign of weakness. For a while, both sides stared at each other in tense silence until it was broken by Iemitsu. Mia winced a little at his obviously broken nose but the man showed dedication as he calmly dealt with the Varia. He handed both sides letters from the Ninth.

As she read the letter over Tsuna's shoulder, she growled. "This has to be fake."

"Shishishi, it's real alright. It has the Ninth's fire seal on it." Belphegor peered at her from his perch on top.

"I beg to differ," she scoffed. "There are plenty of ways to acquire it. Who knows? The Ninth may have been forced to."

Tsuna stuck out a hand to stop her. He crumpled the letter in his hand and set it on fire. "This arrangement works enough for me. In conformità alla volontà del nono, I, Sawada Tsunayoshi accept the challenge." Mia beamed in pride and watched as Xanxus repeated the same vow. He gave Tsuna a one look over before turning to her. His gaze was red-hot.

"Trash flower..." The way he just looked at her made her uncomfortable. She still wanted to put a bullet between his eyes but she also wanted to be as far away as possible. Her dreams were nothing but filled with terrible scenarios of dark rooms, screaming until her throat became raw, rough hands digging into her hips as she was toyed with like a doll and the worst part was that hundreds of eyes would be watching her hungrily. At the center of all that were a pair of red glowing eyes. She knew that was the fate that would befall her should they lose. Just remembering made her break into cold sweat.

As if the man himself read her thoughts, Xanxus broke into a terrible, sadistic laugh. "Which Guardian are you trash?" he asked rather conversationally.

"None," she replied calmly but inside she was becoming nervous. Xanxus was going somewhere with this and she didn't like it.

"Training to be his whore then?" Several exclamations of outrage exploded on her side but the scariest among them all was Tsuna. His voice dropped to a frightening tone and was so quiet that it simply overshadowed every other sound.

"Don't you dare call her that again." She paled at the sight of red beginning to emerge in his eyes.

Xanxus was hardly fazed as he went on to rile them up but she wasn't going to let him. "I'm actually aiming for something higher than being a Guardian," she said loudly sounding smug and cocky. At the incredulous looks she was receiving she smirked and looked towards where Iemitsu was standing and everybody followed her gaze.

"An External Advisor." Belphegor gave her an appraising look. "Not a bad goal blondie."

"You either go big or go home," she said while never taking her eyes off of Iemitsu. If the situation wasn't so serious she would have laughed at Iemitsu's subtle nervousness and Basil's open mouthed shock. She expected them to have seen through her bluff but not even Xanxus laughed at her. She felt like she had painting a large target over her forehead. When she looked at Tsuna he was staring at her, as if realizing just how heavy her bluff was. It was then that the Cervello appeared and everything started to come together like a jigsaw puzzle. Ian was like a ghost among them but she could feel the resentment and aggression rolling off of him like waves. Tsuna must have felt it as well as he stepped closer to her.

The Varia were the first to depart, their absence leaving behind a grim premonition for her. Tsuna touched her shoulder lightly. He had a frown on his face.

"Careful, otherwise that look is going to turn permanent."

"Did you mean it?" he asked her.

She sighed. "I was bluffing you dummy. I don't want a sucky ass job like your Dad's."

"But why did you say that?" he said, exasperated.

She hesitated to answer. The truth was, was that she didn't want Tsuna to attack Xanxus. He was too angry, too raw... too unstable. Seeing him use the flames of Wrath wasn't right. Ian stepped into view behind him, shaking his head. She felt her brow knit together in confusion. Tsuna looked at her then at Ian. "Why is he still here?" he said rather rudely.

"Because I need to talk to him," she retorted.

"You mean we need to talk."

"We just did."

Tsuna grabbed her hand. "We're not finished."

"For now we are."

"Master Decimo, if you would, I would like to discuss some matters." Mia gave Ian a sharp look. What was he doing and what the hell was up with 'Master Decimo'? The distrust was evident on Tsuna's face as he regarded Ian. His frown only deepened the longer he stared at him.

"Have I met you somewhere before?" Mia's heart jolted in shock.

"Possibly," Ian replied simply. "Pardon my impudence then, Master Decimo."

"Were you the one who helped Mia?"

Ian glanced at her. Even though she couldn't see his face she was sure he was thinking something like, help or forced? Watching Ian be polite was totally bizarre. "Indeed."

"Why?" Tsuna asked, stepping closer. Tsuna may be shorter but his gaze was loaded with authority. Mia could feel herself shiver just from looking at him.

"Tsuna, you guys still need to prepare – "

"No." Tsuna silenced her and turned back to Ian. "I'll ask again, why?"

Please don't be an asshole, please don't be an asshole. She prayed but when Ian glanced at her, his emerald eyes glinting mischieviously through the slits of his ask, dread dropped into her stomach like an anvil.

"I guess I have a thing for brilliant girls like her." The way he said it, coated with obvious attraction, had an effect equivalent to someone dropping a grenade.

Well, it's not what the readers exactly wanted but - *offers flowers* - I guess it will do for now? (Is very unsure)

I have to admit, writing the Varia arc will be really hard especially since its the one arc with official one-on-one matches. I can't shoehorn Mia into those matches or react to them but I have thought of something so I can only hope people will like it. Anyways, the question I wanted to ask, judging of how I portrayed Tsuna so far, what do you guys think he will be like in bed? Just curious really. I know only I get to decide what happens in my story but I'm truly curious.

But once again, I'll see you guys in the next chapter!

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