YES!
barely finished on time...

Sorry about the slower than what I want updates. My guy surprised with a weeklong visit starting yesterday (I'm sure some of you understand military life). But the next update will be a little late too, since I need to update my other fic that I'm currently working on too. But I think this one has a good cliff hanger for the mean time ;)

Now for some Protocol:
word count: 4,807
[I do not own any KHR characters]
give thanks to my awesome beta Ausumist

don't be a stranger, comments are a refresher.

.Captain.

Just like my chewing jaw, my curiosity is just going and going. I push the fruit around my plate a little with my fork and casually stare at Dino while he gazes at the phone in his hand, chuckling every few seconds. I stab a piece of melon and start chewing some more. Dino bursts in a loud fit of chuckles that I can't help but laugh at before swallowing my bite. "I'm guessing something is funny?"

He shakes his head yes while laughing, sliding his phone over to me. I cock my head to the side, looking at the picture with text on it. "This is in Portuguese."

"You don't know Portuguese yet?"

My eyebrows rise. "Uhh, no. I didn't think to learn it."

He pulls his phone back and slips it in a pocket. "It's a good one to learn; South America's economy is really coming up, especially in Brazil."

"Huh. You don't say." I glance out the window, now reminded that despite the Tenth Vongola being missing, the world is still moving. There are plenty of people who don't even know, or even care for that matter. Since talking to Grandpa Nono yesterday, I feel like my whole state of mind has been smothered in new perspective.

What if I just disappeared?

Would anyone even look for me this time?

I look back down to the small table between Dino and I in this airy and vibrant kitchen. Colorful tiles are sprawled on the walls like ribbons of color, curvy roads or colored tiles, instead of their normal grid appearance; they are hard to not stare at against the bleach white walls. But we are not alone. I look over to Romario, leaning against part of the butcher-block counter space with a newspaper fanned open. He has been on Dino like a hawk since our driving mishap yesterday…

"Wait. Where's Romario," I ask with a widening smile.

After a second or two he replies, "He's somewhere back there."

Laughter instantly breaks out of me, finding it to be very comedic how we have just somehow 'lost' Romario in the scheme of things. I clamp my eyes shut, laughing harder for who knows why. I look over to Dino with little tears in the corner of my eyes and see that he's laughing a bit too. "Is it really that funny?" he asks cutely. I try and tell him that I cannot stop laughing. Maybe it is that it has been so long since I just laughed, that I just want to laugh more and more, but it doesn't matter really. I can't stop. He chuckles lightly, "Mizuno, it really wasn't that—SHIT!"

Dino swerves hard to the right. In front of us are a pair of headlights and the sound of a blaring car horn. We jerk forward from the car's screaming breaks.

"Dino!" I yell nervously. One hand grabs his shoulder and my other grabs the door panel.

Thank God I put my seatbelt on.

The tiny little Fiat in front of us swerves left right left right left until it swerves so hard right that it just disappears. At the same moment our bodies fling back into our seats. We are at a full stop. After a moment of staring blankly out the front windshield, we turn to stare at each other and listen to the Fiat, and its driver, smash against the hill as it plummets who knows how far down. We stare at each other hard.

"Shit." The mafia boss says.

"What do we do?"

"Get the fuck out of here." He slaps his e-brake back into the neutral position and slaps the shifter in gear.

"NO!" I yell. "We totally just killed a guy!"

He looks at me incredulously. "You are freaking out over one guy; what about all of those other people you killed in the past?"

I blink, remembering them suddenly. "I dunno. But I feel really bad for this guy."

He turns a corner, watching the road with an intense stare. "People die, Mizuno. And if you want to be Varia, you would do well in no longer caring about victims."

I take a deep breath, watching Romario flip the page in his newspaper before giving his watch a quick glance. Then I look at Dino, who is looking at me. Awkward. He takes a drink of coffee and glances at the news headlines on Romario's paper. I ask why he was looking at me just now, only to be told that he was just thinking about what I told him. He never really gave me an opinion about the conversation we ended up having last night on the beach, so I decide to inquire. "So what do you think about it?"

"Honestly?"

I nod. "I like honestly." I'm already noting how this statement might be a lie.

"Leading Officer is a really honorable position, being in the Upper Echelon is distinguishable alone. It's got more honor than any Varia member will ever carry."

"More than any Varia leader?"

He gives me a surprised stare. "Varia leader? That's a long ways to go from where you are… You aren't even qualified to be a subordinate."

I drop my fork on the almost finished plate. "Wow. What's that supposed to mean, Dino?"

He sets the coffee cup in hand down. "Woah, don't get offended. I only mean that you aren't qualified that's all."

His statement has pissed me off. It has pissed me off enough to question him more, before he can even attempt to pick up his coffee again. "Well, since you are obviously informed, why don't you share the details?"

"Okay, how many languages do you know?"

"Four."

"You need to know at least seven to a subordinate."

"Seven?" I reply in disbelief. "That's ridiculous."

"Superbi knows eleven languages."

I cock my head to the side. "What? How do you know?"

"We went to school together."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Superbi and I did. Xanxus, too."

I stop, trying to imagine what they all looked like as teenagers. Xanxus especially. To know seven languages is just wild; I feel so behind. Dino finally grabs his coffee cup and takes another drink. I sigh and look out the window to the vast ocean in the distance, the cloudless sky, and the sun just burning up there all alone. Finally I muster the courage to ask, "What else do I need to do to qualify."

He looks at me with a very serious expression. One he's never given me before. "No unsuccessful missions—ever, at least 100 A-rank missions (300 to be in Levi's Lightning Task Force), Recommendation from the Ninth and approval from Squalo and Xanxus both to join."

"And Bel has done all of this?"

His eyes widen before giving me a single chuckle. "No, but Bel is a genius—a natural assassin at that. He proved himself to be Varia quality in his own way."

I furrow my brow. "And that was?"

"He killed his whole family, just for the hell of it."

I pause. I completely pause. He killed is whole family? "He killed his whole family?"

"Yeah."

I throw my hands up. "He's fucking crazy!"

"And you want to join him and the rest of them." Dino looks up to a subordinate offering him some more coffee. He smiles, gets a quick refill and comes back to our conversation. "Trust me when I tell you this: all of their stories have a similar tune to them."

"Wow."

From here our words simply die out. Dino gets lost in his cup of coffee and his phone sounding off. I simply get lost with thoughts of Varia men, death and decisions. Eventually the tattooed guy stands up with his plate in hand and gestures, asking if I'm done with mine. I give the colored plate to Dino and look at the glass of water in front of me. The sounds of a running faucet and clattering dishes echo in the room as I space out and stop thinking about it all. The newspaper rustles as if it is being put down and keys start to jingle. After a deep, exaggerated sigh I brake my stare from the unmoving object and look up to the Boss standing right next to me. "You should really think about if aiming for Varia is a good idea," he says in a sincere manner.

"Yeah…"

"I mean, if I had followed my original idea of what I wanted to be when I grew up, I wouldn't be here."

"Really?" I ask, surprised.

"Yeah, but Reborn made me realized that sometimes you need to think about what is best for your family over what you believe is best for yourself."

My eyes gaze upon the tall Italian for a couple seconds before I stand myself up. We don't say anything as we leave the house, we don't say anything during the car ride either. The two of us ride in a steady pace—Romario clearly visible in the rear-view mirror—the whole way. I didn't know what to say about everything I learned this morning. I had a whole night to come to a decision and didn't get anywhere at all. But driving at a steady pace, no one careened off of any of these narrow winding roads.

Dino's red Ferrari pulls into the circle drive of Vongola's Headquarters and the driver gives me a smile. "We're here," Dino says in that usually cheery tone of his.

"And no one died this time," I add.

We both wait a few seconds. Then we laugh. "Too early for that joke," Dino then mutters.

We are both going to Hell.

Inside the mansion more often called Headquarters, my eyes only look forward. Red, plush carpet and golden walls, I give no attention to the Cavallone Boss and his right hand man walking behind me, I spare no glances to Nono's subordinates posted along the wide hallways either. It is up the long stairway, to the right at the fork, all the way down the short hallway and around the corner to the large open doorway on the right. My brows furrow harder the closer I get to those audacious double doors. My frustration with my uncertainty is growing—my thoughts convoluted on what to say. Then I just stop moving. Standing before those black doors I pinch the bridge of my nose and take a deep breath.

What should I do? What is… what am I even doing anymore?

My eyes look up to the black doors, staring at all of the lines and curves that have been carved into the old things. The clam with outstretched wings. Two rifles that are crossing at the barrels. A shield with a bullet on it. The intricately hidden chain that keeps them all connected. I look at the doors for a good minute, wondering what the insignia could mean. Does it derive from an old tale? Is it a call to arms? I know Varia has their own badge, but will I ever learn what it means? Will I ever make it? Dino catches up and asks what I'm doing at one point, but I don't answer. I didn't want to tell him that I did not know.

Knowing that door watching will most likely not solve my problems, I reach for the handle. More time is needed to think about this. But like magic, the old black doors both swish open with unnecessary force. Wind surges past me. All too familiar faces appear behind them too—like magic. A bowl cut with a crown holding an Arcobaleno wearing a hood. Thick, black and spikey hair attached to an equally ugly face moves next to a shaved head that has a thin strip of bright green hair covering one side; sunglasses on the face naturally attract your eyes. Long silver hair that looks like silk. And black hair slicked back drawing more attention to the feather accessory behind the ear. Speak of devils and they shall eventually appear is all I can take from seeing Xanxus, Squalo and the rest of the Varia leaders now in front of me. My brow cocks. My heart wants to leap out of my chest.

"Voi! Get the fuck out of the way!" screams the ever-vigor shark, no longer confined to a wheelchair but still wearing an arm sling for his casted forearm. I have no idea why, but I just smirk and chuckle as I step aside. I'm sure they recognize me, but they don't bother in acknowledging me. It's annoying, I want to smack one of them really hard—especially as Bel snickers past me—but I know better now. They have every right not to recognize me; I'm not Varia quality.

The six men soundlessly disappear leaving me to stand mindlessly like an idiot. At least I think I look like an idiot; I feel like an idiot. Here I am, standing at the doorway where I just watched this psycho guy I happen to like walk by, and all I can think of is the way he smelled when I was so close to him and wearing next to nothing. But he does smell nice, I think to myself, before the thoughts trail on to that glare he was wearing. God, I want to smack myself at this point. Instead I knock lightly on the open door instead.

Of the six men inside the room, only three look back. Other than Nono sitting at his desk for a change, Visconti's warm brown eyes and Ganauche's blue eyes snap to mine as I ask, "Is this a bad time?"

Why do I feel like someone else is here?

Nono gives me a smile that is hidden under his bushy mustache and waves me forward. In the next second, Schnitten Brabanters slips out of hiding, from somewhere behind the threshold in front of me, looking at me suspiciously. Though I cannot really imagine why anyone would do that, I watch the scarred man slink back to wherever he was at before marching in the filled office.

The air feels tense, like I could be killed at any moment by one of Grandpa's guardians, so I walk with my head down. I find the chair that I had sat in yesterday and try to get as comfortable I can in the den of wolves and wait for the old man to talk. After a few extended breaths, a few glances to his comrades, and finally a few shuffles of loose paperwork strewn on his desk he asks, "So have you thought any of what we talked about?"

I rub my hands together nervously, " I have. Well, I have attempted to, at least."

The old man nods rhythmically, his eyes never leaving mine while asking me where I stand to the proposal. I tell him frankly that I'm not sure. Someone behind us clears his throat and another sounds as if they are scratching a five o' clock shadow. I bite my lip and tell him, "I'm sorry."

His light smile never fades. "Oh, it's okay," he replies. A moment later he adds, "Well, what is your head telling you? "

"That I owe you one."

He chuckles slightly, as do I, before he then asks, "And what is your heart telling you?"

I hesitate to answer. My lips won't part. I really do not want to mean to him, but I'm sure Nono sees this considering the next thing he says is, "Don't worry. There is no wrong answer."

"My heart tells me that this isn't the place I belong."

The rooms keeps quiet for a bit, the guardians keeping to themselves, as my response settles in. The sounds of light breathing and shifting stances sound—no one speaks. This silence is overwhelming. I hope Nono says something soon. And like a granted wish, the frail boss' lips part in a response. "Then I guess we have your answer."

"But—"

He stands from his chair. "Don't worry about it." He walks around the desk slowly, his fingers tracing along the edge of the dark mahogany. I snap myself up onto my feet and feel his old, soft hand grab my shoulder lightly. "I wouldn't want to force to be anything you don't want to be."

It's almost time go. I'm thinking this as I stare at the clock sitting atop the little nightstand, digital numbers burn a bright green. Then I walk away from my closet to the mirror, checking if I look okay. My thin quarter-sleeved jacket hugs nicely fitted like my skinny jeans do; I quickly sling my hair back into a ponytail before slipping out the small room and down the stairs.

"Oh Teru, you're up early," chirps Nana. I look and notice her glee as she stands at the stove cooking breakfast. "Would you like some breakfast before you go?"

Bouncing off the last step and heading towards the kitchen I say, "Sure, I'll take something light."

I head for the fridge and grab a water bottle and sit myself where Nana is setting down the bowl of rice and plate of food. It is strange that she's so happy considering no one is home yet. It is even stranger that Fuuta and Bianchi look as if they are happy too, pretending to be at least. Nana dances around the kitchen trying to stuff us all with food, those two smile and accept whatever she gives them. Did I just enter the twilight zone?

Eating a bite of rice, I look at the three with skepticism. "Is some thing wrong, Teru?"

"I just don't get why everyone is so happy; Sawada and the others are still missing…"

"Oh! I didn't tell you." Nana pulls out a postcard with a picture of the Statue of Liberty on it. "Papa sent me a postcard to tell me that they aren't missing!"

My brows rise. "He said that?"

"Yes!" She replies with a widening smile. "He forgot to tell me, but he got Tsuna and all of his friends into this 'Study Abroad Camp' through his job. And all of them have been over in America studying and sightseeing." Her eyes close and her cheeks flush lightly. "Oh, that Papa, he's such a great father… and to be allowed to take his friends, too. Oh!" She hugs herself while gripping onto her spatula tight.

I, on the other hand, am just disgusted. What a terrible lie, a lie without any logic at that. When did he manage to get them all passports? And he got middle school students, as well as kids? Oh, that guy is so stupid. I shove the rest of my rice into my mouth to prevent myself from bursting that huge bubble of lies. After rinsing my plates in the sink, I rush to the doorway and put my shoes on to leave.

The door knocks at the same time I hear Nana casually ask where I'm going. Shoes on, I answer the door and see Ryohei standing with his usual intense expression. I show him my pointer finger to pause him to tell Nana, "I'm leaving to go… do some boxing club training! I'll be back later!"

"Okay! Have fun and be safe!"

With brows raised again, I shake my head and shut the door. "Sorry about that Sasagawa, you ready to go?"

His silver eyes are burning in that outrageous intensity of his as. It isn't in the least surprising when he punches his hard as he declares, "To the extreme."

And thus, as Mizuno goes off to search for Sawada and the rest of the missing with her hyperactive counterpart, Soffione is also searching. But her search is one of solitude; Fran has decided to hide from his trainer because she is 'a fat titty stupid face.' It does not matter though, for Fran is never hard to find.

Eyes closed, mind silent. I simply breathe and let the tiny red-coated toy soldiers walk around the newly repaired house. They show me everything they see. The Mist flames flaring from my hell ring fuel them to march on throughout the house, transforming them to wander keenly with my appearance instead of their own. They search training rooms, rooftops, bedrooms and forests to find a little frog that is hiding from me. Alas, I sense the teenager sleeping in the kitchen inside one of the larger floor cupboards. His snores are loud enough to wake the dead. I twitch, making the other toy soldiers simply vanish where they stand so I can fuel more power to the one that has found the truant frog. After giving the empty restaurant-styled a check for traps, the soldier clone rips off the door and punches the junior leader in the face.

The limber boy that somehow fit inside the cupboard bursts out of the back and slams into a metal prep table for the chefs. The soldier moves quickly to the boy picking himself up and punches him again, this time with a fist covered in storm flames. Flan flies across the room again, but this time lands on his feet. He quickly rips the coat, burning from the destructive property of my storm flames, off himself. "Soffione-sempai, be more cautious of my uniform. These are expensive to replace."

I smile. "You know, in some countries they eat frog legs like we feast on cattle."

"What do they do with the rest of the frog?"

Leaping towards the green-eyed kid and releasing my cloud box weapon, I sling the crossbow on my back and attack him with an arrow. "They feed it to the crocodiles."

He dodges my stab and leaps to the side. "Oh, then you must be a crocodile, then."

My crossbow is already in hand again and loaded. I follow and shoot. "No. I'm the chef," I reply with a smile.

Flan releases his box weapon. A puppet clone of Bel joins the fight, popping out of Fran's box like a jack-in-the-box. The puppet prince throws knives covered in fake storm flames to counter mine.

"You couldn't be the chef. You're cooking is more terrible than Grandma's."

His puppet Bel throws another set off knives at me, and I wave my hand in a circle, releasing a heavy mix of storm and cloud flames to shield and burn the attack away. Fran and I continue to play this 'dodge the fake knives or block them' for minute longer as the junior apprentice tries to impel a gap of interstice; he needs room for his larger, grander illusions. But I never stop closing the opening that he keeps trying to make.

Fran quickly realizes that he can only evade in this game, and with that typical unimpressed expression, he darts out of the kitchen into the hallway. But I'm right behind him, dashing out into the hallway that now disappearing under a plethora of vine saplings slithering everywhere. Fran's obvious addition to the chase, a sorry excuse for an obstacle, sprawl along the floors and walls with increasing speed and thicken while I chase the green haired boy to his death. One shot at a time.

Without delay the ramblers consume the walls and floor. Flowers start to bloom. I keep shooting at the boy who keeps barely dodging the shot, and we continue our wild goose chase.

Then I notice it; each step I make onto the plants to move forward, they try to grab me. I smirk, slightly impressed with the slow working illusion, but release Fiore to end the charade. The storm tiger charges out of its resting place and follows my order completely. "Burn it all, burn him completely."

And I hear the by groan. Finally I open my eyes and see the real Fran in front of me throwing himself from his seating position to a sprawl on the cool tile floor. He opens his eyes too now, with an expression that seems thankful the lesson is over. I stand up and say, "You are not focused."

The boy looks up to me. "I was sleeping when you found me."

He was sleeping and performing illusions?

"Always be on the alert or expect to be killed." I reply coldly.

Flan's head cocks to the side. "If I am to expect death, how can I be focused on the fight? How can I be focused on the fight or my opponent if I am not expecting anything?"

I smack him hard. The frog hat disappears from his head. "Don't think. Do."

"Do what, Soffione sempai? Expect? Or be alert?"

I close my eyes and shake my head. "You're doomed."

"Fat Titty Sensei, you are not a good teacher."

"There are retards that would make better students than you."

"Hmm, maybe that's why Master left me here…"

My eyes open, giving the thin teen a stare. "No one wants to hear your sob stories here." I turn away from him and start leaving the large training room. "I'm off to take a shower. Work inside the illusion trainer until I get back and we will do another exercise."

Fran groans loudly and it echoes in the tiled room. But after I walk out of the place I can no longer hear him. I make haste to the shower I feel I desperately need. Expelling three flames at once is exhausting. Slinking inside Xanxus' room, the boss looks at me only for a moment as I head straight for the bathroom. I place the boxes and rings on the vanity, and the clothes drop to the floor.

Meanwhile in the past…

People are passing me in all directions here on this street lined with shops and vendors; they're making my search for Ryohei harder. All the noise here doesn't help me either; I cannot hear him screaming Kyoko's name at the top of his lungs anymore. "He was just next to me," I say to myself as I look for something to stand upon in the busy main street of town. I find an empty bench nearby and abruptly stand on top of it to aid the hunt. "White hair, white hair, white hair… Found you." My eyes hone in on the boxer dressed in his school uniform, racing down the street on the opposite side and now turning into an alleyway. I leap off the metal chair and rush my way over to him.

Tuning into the small side street, Ryohei has climbed over a large chain-linked and is now running down the way as I yell, "Wait a moment!"

He stops and looks back, "Oh, right."

In one swift movement I leap up the high fence and climb over. I land on the other side and take a small step forward. "Alright. Now try to not go full speed every—"

"Okay, let's go!" roars the silver-eyed meathead; he turns away and bolts like a stallion. He is already back to screaming Kyoko's name every few seconds, too.

"Wait!" I yell at the guy. I roll my eyes and hightail it to just keep up. We zigzag through the city's alleyways getting more and more lost. Finally, after a good mile he stops and checks to see if I'm still with him. Jeans were not a good idea for this excursion. Ryohei rakes his fingers through his white crew cut for a moment and rubs some sweat off of his forehead. I take the moment to breathe as well, but stop when I hear something clang. It sounded like it came from above.

"Did you hear that?"

"Hear what?"

We both stare at each other fiercely, listening for anything and everything around us. Talking passerbys, rustling grass, cars in the distance—anything suspicious. Ryohei is looking side to side when I hear something crackle above me. I look up to see some big, round and pink spikey thing roll off the edge of the building next to us. It looks like it's going to hit Ryohei. Without a second though I step forward and push him away from whatever the pink thing is, but feel its hard shell hit my wrist.

Everything goes black.