I'm sorry Kiriyuu went all Wall.E in the previous chapter. I can just imagine her watching some kind of old classic movie like 'Gone with the Wind' and then clasping her hands together and sighing. I've even affectionately renamed that chapter's title! I realise this story has become tediously dull for some time. So I hope this chapter will provide some clarity to what's happening; I've had to merge some chapters together because I want this story to end at Chapter 50!!

PS. I'm actually glad everyone voted for Hibari x Kiriyuu. I was starting to lose faith D:

This is a sufficently long chapter, but you should read this thoroughly, too.

Chapter 39

M for Metamorphosis

M remembered what Mukuro said. There's something wrong with Kiriyuu. Oh well, not her problem. Kiriyuu's deteriorating mental health would be Mukuro's burden. "Mukuro has orders for you." M told her, "He wants you to go back to your room. Stay there until you're needed. I'll come for you, I promise."

Of course, Kiriyuu thought to herself as she got up, and was walked back to her room in Kokuyo Sanatorium with M at her heels. Then you can go and continue with your 'business', or shall I say, your 'love affair' with Mukuro. Yeah, I know, you two are together – no matter what you say. And he gave you that mark on your neck and your swollen lips. "D-Did you find what you wanted?" Kiriyuu then asked.

"Find what?"

"What you were looking for. You know, the-the hide and seek thing...?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

Kiriyuu did a double-take. They went back downstairs. M refused to speak about 'Hide and Seek'. In fact, she was no longer grinning, and her usual, jovial demeanour had completely vanished, replaced with a solemn look on her face. "What now?" Kiriyuu eventually squeaked out.

"… Mukuro's orders, of course." M merely replied, with a wave of her hand as she dumped Kiriyuu into her room and shut the door behind her and Kiriyuu peeped out from the barred window of the iron door, fists clenching around the tiny, rotting bars. "I have tonnes of things to do."

Kiriyuu comprehended the fact that this M before her had completely changed compared to the previous M once more. It was back to hard-core Mukuro's New-world order-carrying-out thing. And somehow, Hide and Seek didn't exist anymore either. "I'm not allowed to do anythingbut to stay in my room?" Kiriyuu squawked in disbelief and she rattled the doorknob fiercely but M wasn't letting her out, holding onto the knob from outside, effectively trapping Kiriyuu in like a rat. "I know I've just come and you think I'm new at this, but I don't want to be useless. Just let me do something. Mukuro wants me to prove myself to him, right? I can do it! I want to do something for the new world!"

"Shut up. You nearly cost us our necks with that little stunt you pulled back in the alleyway. You may not be in trouble by Mukuro, but I keep a grudge, Kiriyuu."

"…. I didn't mean to get caught…I'm really not allowed to do anything? And Mukuro doesn't believe in me anymore -- Just because I messed up…??"

M sighed. "It's not about that anymore, Kiriyuu. Oh, Mukuro believes in you alright, and you're lucky, you know. You don't have to work. Look at poor Chikusa – he got hurt – you saw it. You were there. You were meant to end up like him, too, at some point. Ken will get hurt too. I know. And I don't want you getting hurt. So I do it all for you."

"Huh?" Kiriyuu suddenly shot her a look as M took out a cigarette from the box and rummaged for a lighter; underage smoker, just like Gokudera. "You mean you've been carrying out the orders that I was supposed to do for Mukuro, and told me to do something else?"

"Bingo." M said, as she watched Kiriyuu from outside the room, in the corridor, in freedom, while Kiriyuu was still enclosed in the room. "I'm his most trusted associate. You can perhaps call me… second in command."

"… And… Mukuro's not… angry at you?"

"No, why would he be?"

"….. Of course he isn't. You two are together." She mumbled. For some reason, Kiriyuu really did feel…. Jealous. She was jealous of Mukuro and M, and whatever relationship they had. They could be intimate whenever they wanted, they talked to each other as much as they wanted, they… could do everything. But not Kiriyuu. Not Kiriyuu and Hibari. There'd always be something stopping them, an invisible barrier. It wasn't physical, visible, but she knew it was there. There's no such thing as Kiriyuu and Hibari anymore. "M… But you said Mukuro – "

"What? Mukuro likes you more. Yeah, like, whatever. I don't care. We're his followers, got it?" M snarled back at her. "If Mukuro likes either one of us, even Ken, or Chikusa - it doesn't matter."

At that point, Kiriyuu frowned. "Is that what you think of your 'relationship' with him?" She really began to lose the feeling that her relationship with Hibari was worse than M and Mukuro. No, her relationship with Hibari was better than that.

"…We don't have a relationship." She said, and Kiriyuu blinked in confusion, "I'm doing you a favour, Kiriyuu. You don't want to do what Mukuro has been telling you to do anyway."

"And why's that?! Why can't I take part?"

"You see, there's the other problem you seem to have." M replied, leaning forwards slightly, "You're always thinking about the 'new world, new world' – we went over this before - do you even have the slightest idea what's going to be in the new world?"

"I don't care about that. I just want IT. And Mukuro can do that."

"…. That's what he wants you to think." M said, crossing her arms over her chest. Kiriyuu was drawing a blank, and she rolled her eyes at her, "Mukuro's been targeting all your friends – the Vongola. And Hibari Kyouya." She didn't even wait for Kiriyuu's response, "You probably won't care why he is, but I know you don't want to go through all that. So I'll do it for you. Trust me."

"Trust you?" Kiriyuu mumbled out. She'd began to realise that M seemed to contradict things she said a lot, "How'd you know my friends are the – "

"Just trust me, Kiriyuu. I'm the one who's really helping you, not Mukuro. Tell me, Kiriyuu, what do YOU think Mukuro is like?"

"E-Eh? Um..." She stammered, and M rolled her eyes once more, "Well, he is nice and – "

"Okay, just stop. You make me sick. I'll tell you what Mukuro is REALLY like: aside from his nature and his tendency to use people - Mukuro is a cold, calculating, scheming bastard." M spat out, and Kiriyuu flinched slightly, "He has all these plans up his sleeves, believe me. And all those plans, revolve around YOU. Do you know why?"

I don't get her, she thought. M seems to change natures just as much as Mukuro does, only she doesn't hide it with a smile. She's full on aggressive and assertive. Kiriyuu shook her head. No, why?

"Because you're still a 'registered' member of the mafia. You're still in their world. He isn't. Chikusa and Ken aren't either. Don't you get it?" She said; at that point, Kiriyuu shook her head once more. M winced. "Man, you're so dumb." Pause, "Look here, Mukuro wants to eradicate the mafia. It's not as easy as snapping your fingers and that's it done, no, you need to be careful, you need plans and lots of power, but that not's all. He wants to do it the hard way because he knows that'll be the way to devastate them; he wants to hit them hard without even knowing. Like dropping a bomb. Unpredictable, overwhelming, powerful. He's already done it once to one family – his own, actually and the one after it - but it's not enough. That's only Step 0.5. He needs a stronger family to drop the bomb. He needs one with a lot of history, one with many allies and enemies or whatever. He needs YOU."

"…Why me?"

"You're part of the GIGLIO NERO. And they are one of the most ancient famiglias or something like that. Everyone knows your name, everyone knows who you are. Hell, maybe the mafia started with you guys." Kiriyuu cocked her head in response, and M sighed in frustration. "Goddamnit, don't you get it?!"

She shook her head – again.

"HE'S GOING TO TAKE CONTROL OF YOU." M emphasised loudly, "Mukuro is going to gain complete control of you, and use you to infiltrate the Giglio Nero famiglia from inside under your identity. You're his key to his plan. You're everything to him!!!"

For a moment, she intook the mere sight of M's flushed face and suddenly, Kiriyuu didn't like the way M was looking at her. M was… angry. Kiriyuu's mouth merely opened and closed, opened and closed, then - "…I-I am…?"

M growled again. "You are seriously dumb. I don't care if you trust us or not, or if you know the fact that Mukuro and his friends are all a bunch of ex-mafia criminals. Well, that won't really matter to you anymore, right, since you don't care about who we are."

"….What?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, didn't I tell you that before? The people you are currently hanging around with are all criminals who have killed people and done all sorts of other terrible deeds. They've been in jail. They did their time. They broke out of jail and ended up here. What they want – it's just the same as 'world domination'. And you're helping them – or you will end up helping them, willingly or not." M said in a mocking, sarcastic tone, "I'm sorry I didn't tell you – I didn't want to hurt your feelings." A smirk graced her features.

Criminals?? Kiriyuu paled somewhat. That meant M is a criminal, too. "What the - ?!" She began to jerk at the door violently, suddenly wanting to get out, but M held on the handle on the other side. "Let me out, M!"

"It's too late now." M began, suddenly glaring at Kiriyuu through the barred window, " – So don't do that, or I'll hurt you. I don't want to, but if you're not obedient, I'll be forced to hurt you. I'll hurt you really bad and you don't want that."

Kiriyuu suddenly stepped back, she would try and never let anyone intimidate her, or scare her, but... something about M…. was really starting to scare her (not like M didn't usually scare her, but not to this extent). M didn't look scary; no, she had no scars or fierce tattoos, she wasn't tall or lanky, she wasn't big built or hefty or anything. Just regular, normal. Maybe that was what scared Kiriyuu so much. M was normal. She wasn't eerily quiet or obnoxious, she was simply ordinary. But M was also smart. She was cunning. She was manipulative. She had a way with words; she was a word twister.

"Listen, you ungrateful piece of scum," M continued with a snarl, "Mukuro has done something for you, so the least you can do is uphold your end of the bargain. Remember that favour he asked, right at the start, right when I met you?"

Kiriyuu froze momentarily.

"Yeah, that's what I thought; you said you'd do anything for him. That's what we said we'd do, too. Ken, Chikusa, me. We do everything for Mukuro. We don't question his motives, we don't disobey him, so you should do the same, and hopefully, you won't get hurt. I hope you remember it well," M then said, tearing her sharp eyes away from Kiriyuu.

Kiriyuu was thoroughly confused. "….. You – "

"You're a hostage, got that?" M ignored Kiriyuu's widened expression. "That's what we are calling you from now on. You are not 'one of us' anymore, you are an outsider, you are our 'hostage'. Your little friends will see you as a hostage. And a hostage you'll be, and nothing more, or less. It's all part of the plan."

Kiriyuu's eyes widened. …Hostage…? She understood it now. They WERE using her. They were planning on using her right from the start. M was right. "W-What are you going to do to me?" She stuttered out.

"Me? What? You actually think that now that I know that you are everything to Mukuro, and I'm not; you actually think that I'm going to hurt you or something?"

Kiriyuu remained on the edge. She threatened to hurt me before…

"No, don't be silly. He can use you for all he cares. But not me. You should be more concerned about yourself from now on; I know everything about you, Ottuso Kiriyuu. Everybody does. You're 14 years old; your relatives are just your mother, godfather and that ignorant, little adopted brat named Elia who will turn thirteen years old in a matter of months."

"The list… It had details about me – Mukuro had it back at the theatre – "

"No, not the list." M said, "You're also the subject of an experiment, too, and apparently, you die in ten years time – "

"You looked in my diary, didn't you?!"

"Diaries," M began, "are the most pathetic things I've ever seen. However, I'm pretty glad you don't start your entries with 'Dear Diary'. Thinking that the diary is an actual 'person'… is really pathetic."

Kiriyuu stared, gobsmacked. Then M left, without another word. And Kiriyuu was still standing silently on her spot, seething with rage. But when she heard M's boots echo off the flagstone floor, she ran back to the door and grabbed the doorknob. It rattled fiercely under her grip, taking up a few precious seconds to actually open. She yanked it open and stood at the corridor, in the middle, glaring at M.

"What the hell is your problem?! Y-You rebel against Mukuro at one point and then you're suddenly his loyal follower and then you're suddenly on my side and then you're back to being his lackey… you're… You're unpredictable and it scares me! Who the hell do you think you are?!" Kiriyuu yelled at her; her eyes quickly swerved to a half-broken wheelchair lying on its side near her, and she picked it up, then threw it against the wall in a rage, blind fury. Her strength seemed to have doubled because of that. The wheelchair smashed and crumpled back down, a wheel spinning uncontrollably. The sound was ethereal. It was loud, chilling to the core.

M didn't even wince at the sound. But she sighed.

Kiriyuu had enough that she wanted to throw things around and yell and scream and not give a damn. She clenched her fists, her face reddening with fury, "Who the hell do you think you are?!" She belted at her again, and suddenly, she remembered back to the day she met Mukuro. Everything is UPSIDE down. What is good is in fact EVIL. No, it couldn't be, she thought. Why has everything turned upside down on her AGAIN?! She thought she was finally at some place with people who understood her, but now it just came back and bit her in the ass. It wasn't fair!!! Kiriyuu crashed against the wall, digging her fingers into her scalp. Her head hurt all of a sudden. WHAT'S GOING ON?! Why is this happening to me?

Why am I…. being betrayed and used all over again…??

All over again.

All over.

Again.

"Who the hell am I, you ask…?" M's voice floated back into the uneasy atmosphere as she turned back round instantly. Kiriyuu instantly realised her mistake, as M began to advance forward, scowling. Her face was dark, deep and foreboding. "I am… Perfect." M said, with her voice low and cavernous, as she stepped forward Kiriyuu, "… I am much more perfect than you. I am everything you want to be. I am everything everyone wants me to be. I am what Mukuro wants me to be. I am… everything. I am the new world."

Kiriyuu watched her – in horror - "…I get it now… You're…You're crazy."

"You really think?" M frowned, as she gave Kiriyuu a calculating look, "Well, if I'm crazy, so are the rest of us then. Mukuro… Chikusa…Ken. And you're slap-bang in the middle. So you can become crazy like the rest of us in this mental asylum and listen to Mukuro, or get the hell out of here."

She is crazy, Kiriyuu thought, over and over again. She's insane. She's crazy, crazy, crazy. Goddamn crazy. "You're… absolutely crazy. You-You…." Then Kiriyuu finally realised.

There was a problem with this girl, this… M.

Kiriyuu slowly put two and two things together. She couldn't pinpoint what the problem was, but the evidence was building up - She wanted to 'play' hide and seek with Mukuro. She wanted to rebel against him. Then she told Kiriyuu that she was part of Mukuro's plan all along… She said Kiriyuu was 'everything' to him when she was not…That wasn't just it - the way how M spoke like Mukuro sometimes, the words she spoke about Mukuro; Perfect. Ideal. Equal. Flawless. And that sparkle in her eyes whenever she mentioned him, the smile that always crept over her face whenever she talked about him. There was more. Kiriyuu tried to piece things together, and she looked up at M in horror.

"You're… You're obsessed with Mukuro."

There was a brief hesitation from M, then – "You have GOT to be kidding me." She snorted at the girl as she crossed her arms. "That's the best you can come up with? Please, Kiriyuu, oh please, don't make me laugh."

"No, it makes sense. You call yourself by 'M' – Your name probably doesn't even start with 'M'. What is your real name?"

M frowned fiercely, crossing her arms tightly. "I told you, it's M."

"No, it's not. YOUR NAME ISN'T 'M'."

M fumbled slightly. Then she glared, turned away promptly. "This is a stupid conversation."

Aha! She faltered there! I'm right! Kiriyuu knew she had her cornered now. "You don't know your real name, do you? In fact, you can't remember it at all. You can't remember anything else about you, don't you? The life you have right now is just a shadow of Mukuro's life!"

"S-Shut up! I'm not living as anyone's shadow!"

"Then where did you come from?" Kiriyuu demanded, firmly. "Where did you come from, M? How old are you? Where are your relatives? Who are your parents?"

M stumbled with her words. "I - I come from the -- I was - " Then she stopped, and turned to Kiriyuu. She frowned. She didn't come up with any answer, but Kiriyuu knew what was going on. M didn't know. Though, Kiriyuu expected her to come up with Mukuro's details as an answer. She didn't. Maybe it was because just like Kiriyuu, she had met Mukuro randomly, and didn't know anything about Mukuro's relatives or parents...

She watched M glower venomously at her, but she continued firing out words regardless. "You're obsessed with Mukuro. He talks about the new world, so you want the new world. You said before you met Mukuro, you were Nobody. And then he came, and you were Somebody all over again. You think you're his new world. You want to be his world. You're with Mukuro, but-but… that's not enough. You're obsessed with him that you probably even think you're Mukuro. You're obsessed with him so much you want to be just like him. And now that you know he's going to use me and think he's going to get rid of you, you–you…. you'll do anything to prevent – "

M's expression toned down, souring into another frown. "…This is a waste of my time. Believe whatever you want, Kiriyuu. I don't care." Then she promptly put on her ibex skull over her face.

Kiriyuu's breath lodged in her throat, seeing the empty sockets stare back at her. She's… fine. Nothing's happening. She re-thought again; what was she expecting from M? A mental breakdown? Probably. She wanted to see M wither away to the floor with her hands over her ears, sobbing and weeping now that Kiriyuu knew her deepest, darkest secret, but now –

"But just to let you know, I already told you - " M began as she pulled out something long and thin from her back encased in a black cover – some sort of weapon anyway, and Kiriyuu felt a sudden rush of fear through her; M hadn't done any of the sort. She hadn't broken down, she hadn't started crying, she hadn't reacted the way Kiriyuu predicted, and now, she tried to run – but her legs wouldn't move. Rivulets of sweat continued to run down her temples, her knees shaking, heart pumping against her ribcage, as if it was straining to jump out at any moment.

M-Maybe there isn't anything wrong with M after all…

Suddenly, Kiriyuu felt like she no longer knew who this girl before was. She knew she didn't know her for long, but this was absurd. M had turned into a completely different character. M was becoming verbally abusive. M was becoming terrifying. M was becoming angry. Kiriyuu swallowed, standing solidly like a helpless deer caught in headlights. Goddamnit, move!!! Move, move! She's going to kill you!!

"You screw with me, Kiriyuu, I'll get you back."

MOVE!

Kiriyuu spun on her heel – a complete one hundred and eighty degree twist of her body – but to her horror, M was standing there, behind her. "H-How did you - ?!" Kiriyuu stepped back in shock. "But you were just standing just - " Kiriyuu began to turn the other way back around where M had been standing previously– to her surprise – M had suddenly appeared back there, too. "What?!"

"You can't escape me, Kiriyuu." She said, "No matter where you go."

"W-Who are you?" More like, WHAT are you?

At that point, M grinned wolfishly, her features distorting malevolently as her lips pulled tautly back in opposite directions. "…Wouldn't you like to know… Kiriyuu?"

Kiriyuu stared in shocked silence, tried to run again – but it was too late. The thing in M's hand – lifted up, and she brought a crushing blow on Kiriyuu's head even though she shielded herself with her arms.

It didn't work.

Meanwhile…

"I think we're lost."

Tsuna, Reborn, Gokudera, Yamamoto and Bianchi finally arrived Kokuyo Health Land, and were now surrounded by unfamiliar shrubs and undergrowth unattended by human care for years. Birds with weird birdcalls hooted from branches, and strange buildings towered above treetops, looking ominous and menacing. Tsuna shivered.

"I think we're lost."

"Yes, Tsuna, you've said that six times by now." Reborn replied brusquely with a sigh, as he looked around cautiously, while Gokudera and Bianchi were trying to find a path leading out of this dense forest.

"Hey everyone, let's not forget the buddy system now so nobody gets lost or left behind, eh?" Yamamoto said with a cheerful grin, while Gokudera rolled his eyes.

"This isn't a scouting trip, you baseball nut." He grunted out.

"But it's still got the mood." Yamamoto replied, still grinning.

Suddenly, Bianchi and Reborn paused. She turned to Reborn expectantly, "I think I heard something."

"Me too."

"What?" Tsuna asked, turning round, then – FWOOSH – and Tsuna's ear was suddenly brimming like hot lead and he was swamped with pain. "Ow, ow, ow!!" He chanted in agony, rubbing at his ear…. which was smoking. "What was that?!"

Gokudera pulled out a few bombs, while Yamamoto and Bianchi scoured the area rigorously.

"Ouch!" Yamamoto suddenly winced, his arm received the blow and he looked down. A thin stream of blood was pouring down (at least it was his left hand), and Reborn quickly inspected it.

"Don't worry. It's not lethal enough to kill us, but it's just as I thought." Reborn said as pried out a small bullet lodged in Yamamoto's arm, and everyone went 'oooh' as they examined the tiny shell. "We are being targeted, and since we're in a small clearing, we're easy to pick off. Let's move!"

Almost immediately after he said that, a shower of bullets rained down, and Tsuna screamed bloody murder as he stood limply at the line of bullets making tiny explosions in the ground at the impact. Gokudera had to pick him up just before the bullets hit him entirely, while Yamamoto grabbed his legs, and everyone picked up pace, running through the forest to get cover.

…………….

She looked up from the crosshairs of Kiriyuu's rifle, and made herself more comfortable on the tree branch, aiming the gun down at them. They were like swarming ants.

Ken was sitting on the branch beside her. "Is it my turn to go yet?"

She was still peering through the looking glass, and eventually snapped her head back up. "Yeah, they're going the right way now. Hurry up, or you'll miss them."

"Oh, yeh?" He hopped off the tree branch and began to swing downwards in his Kong-channel state.

The tree rattled and M had to hold on or she would've fallen off. She called after him lazily, "I'll watch you fight and come to collect your dead body once they're through with you."

"Ha!" He exclaimed, as he looked back up at her from the ground; she was a tiny dot in her hiding area in that tree. "I'll make mincemeat out of them! You just watch me!"

A few moments later…

M waited for about fifteen to twenty minutes before making her way to the garden zoo where Ken should've fought Yamamoto Takeshi. She didn't know how Ken had fared off. Sawada Tsuna, Reborn and Gokudera Hayato had come, as expected, she thought. The woman named Bianchi was here, too. Where was Hibari Kyouya? He had gone missing since he fought Mukuro.

She collected Kiriyuu's rifle and made her way to the zoo; then immediately ducked back under the bushes about twenty feet away when she realised the group were still huddled around the area. Except there was no Ken. Suddenly, Yamamoto emerged out of the hole in the ground, with Tsuna strapped over his shoulder like a potato sack. She watched him grin, though his baseball-dominant arm was throbbing with red rivulets of fresh blood. But he just kept grinning, and put Tsuna down. Then she turned to the sniper rifle beside her and picked it up. She peered through the crosshairs, aiming it directly towards their direction. But then she stopped, and let go of the sniper.

M sat back, waited for them to walk away. She held her breath, and when they were finally gone, she emerged out from her spot and quickly rushed to the garden zoo hole and peered down. There was Ken, tied to one of the cage bars of the zoo. He was drifting in and out of conscious, as Bianchi had dropped a rock on his head a few moments earlier. She put her hands to her hips and shook her head at him as he looked up at her with squinted eyes. "…. Don't you look well?"

"Shut up and untie me, pyon."

Later…

When Kiriyuu woke back up, she wasn't at the sleeping quarters. She wasn't slumped over the wall like a ragdoll with a bleeding head judging by the impact M had inflicted on her. In fact, she wasn't even bleeding. She didn't have a bruise, either. Her vision clarified and she looked around her surroundings, she realised she was now stationed at the foot of the stairs, that led directly up to the Lounge. Confused, she shakily lifted herself back up and stood, wobbling somewhat. What's…What's going on? I was meant to be back in the corridor… I… I really sleepwalk??!

"M?" She yelled out loud. "M? Where are you??" Damn it, she thought. M may be a psychopath but she seemed to know what was happening to Kiriyuu. She looked at her hands. They were rather itchy and raw.

Downstairs, she arrived outside M's room. She knocked on the door – to her amazement – The door opened, swinging on its rusty hinges with a metallic, grinding 'creak' and Kiriyuu winced, as she stepped in, a gale of musty, gut-wrenching air overwhelmed her nose at the same time and she was induced in a coughing fit, her lungs throttled with rancid air. There were only shelves in this room filled with outdated supplies of food. There was no bed or desk, unlike Kiriyuu's room. Not even a window. Rusting pipes hung at the top of her room, connecting to outside, or the internal plumbing and ventilation system. Puffs of smoke were emitting from the loose hinges every five seconds or so. Hypnotising, Kiriyuu thought.

Kiriyuu revelled in her surroundings in confusion. This wasn't M's room at all.

This is a storeroom.

Disturbed, she shakily stepped out and ran back up. She saw Ken, just at the fire exit door, towards the lower level bathrooms, and she rushed over the banister of the broken stairs and breathed a sigh of relief. "Ken!"

He was actually bleeding, his face somewhat bruised and his eye swelling to a size of grapefruit. "Hey… you got an icepack, pyon?" He asked, waving up at her. His wrists were red with rope burns.

"What happened to you?"

He rolled his eyes. "Whaddya think?"

Kiriyuu's hands clenched. "… Have…Have you seen M?"

"M?" Ken raised an eyebrow, "You mean M.M, pyon."

"…No, just M. Who's M.M?"

Ken blinked, then frowned, and shook his head. "Just get me an' icepack."

Kiriyuu noticed the clueless expression on his face and realised that he wouldn't have much of an idea where M was. "Never mind, I'm going to go look for M myself."

…………

Chikusa was still in the lounge when he woke up; Mukuro was sitting directly beside him. "Oh?" His voice entered the distil atmosphere, and Chikusa accepted his glasses from Mukuro's hand, "You've awakened? The third-ranked prey proved to be quite troublesome, hm, Chikusa?"

"… I met the Vongola boss." The boy replied, as he sat up in the bed, supporting himself by the back of his elbows.

There was a slight pause from Mukuro. "So it seems. He's come with his friends." Another pause, then - "Ken has been captured."

"What about the girl who went with him?"

"Kirie-chan?" There was a light chuckle. "She should be fine."

Chikusa actually hesitated to say this, "…There's something wrong with that girl you recruited, Mukuro-sama."

"Oh? Like what, Chikusa?"

He blinked; obviously Mukuro had no idea what was going on. It was only Ken, and himself so far. Again, Chikusa hesitated, "…. She talks to someone. I heard her talking to that person again; she thought I was sleeping. I'm sure I heard two voices when I was resting. Ken has heard her talk to someone, too." He added, "I don't know who it is. Ken doesn't know either."

Mukuro's eyebrows furrowed again. "….You're saying we have a spy amongst us?"

"We have never seen this person she talks to. Only her voice is audible."

"I see… And has this unidentifiable female got a name?"

"The girl addresses her as 'M'."

Mukuro smiled back, and Chikusa realised the futility of his statement, "Come now, Chikusa. You know what condition Kirie-chan was in when she arrived here; she is still unwell and needs proper care. It is the side-effect that is affecting her, that is all."

"….Hai, Mukuro-sama." Chikusa merely replied, but he was still unsure about the entire ideal.

Mukuro looked up at the doorway, "Ah, there you are, Kirie-chan. That took you quite some time." He said with a smile once the girl they had been talking about appeared in the doorway from out of nowhere.

She stared back at them, with her arms at her side and her face dipped down low but her eyes searching them upwards. Chikusa eyed her warily back from his resting bed. Her response was a little odd compared to other times. The girl was much quieter, and her reaction was slower; she merely blinked at him, then nodded. A slow, lazy nod of acknowledgement.

"I'll let you meet the rest of my acquaintances." Mukuro said, noting the girl's twitchy, jerk-like movements. Something was wrong. She was rubbing her head; and the colour had drained from her entire face. She looked strained, dishevelled. Sick.

Mukuro gave Kiriyuu a long, hard stare. There was something wrong with her. He couldn't pinpoint it, but compared to when he first met her back at the theatre, and the way she was now, Kiriyuu was definitely… different. He put his hand over her forehead; she looked up, blinking at him blankly. "I-I'm fine, Mukuro." She stuttered out, and he pulled his hand back.

"Is there anything you want to tell me?" He asked, his eyebrows furrowing.

Kiriyuu swallowed. "I-I can't find M. I can't find her anywhere. She's not in her room, she's not at the fifth floor, or the Bowling alley, or in your room, or Chikusa's room or Ken's room. I've been looking for an hour; I've been to most of the buildings and it's not like her to suddenly disappear. It's like she's playing hide and seek again, but with me and I don't like it – "

Suddenly, she stopped. … Why should I worry about M? Especially after what she did to me…

She rubbed her aching head again, as she turned away from him to stare back at the new group of people in the room she had never seen before. Her head still throbbed like mad, thanks to M. Crazy M with her crazy Death and Mukuro-obsession. Crazy-ass M with her one-letter name, and the crazy, weird stick-like weapon that swung and hurt like hell. Crazy M with her Ibex skull and those lethal injections. Crazy M and her stupid hide and seek games/mind-torture/REVERSE PSYCHOLOGY and other strange abilities. She wondered what would happen if she told on her. And then what? Kiriyuu had no sense of authority in here, practically. Was it worth it for the new world now, if she had to put up with M, let alone these new people -- The new people in the room were also considerably strange on a whole astronomical level; a guy called Birds who got nosebleeds from seeing people's fear etched on their faces, and a tall, quiet guy with scars (like hers, only she had one) holding a cannonball attached to a chain, and -

"Hmm," The girl with short, chestnut-carroty brown hair and a clarinet resting on her shoulder said, hopping off the arm of a dusty couch and inspecting Kiriyuu properly. "Have you committed any crimes?"

Kiriyuu paused, "… N-No."

Mukuro and the girl both blinked at her. "You're lying." The girl stepped back all of a sudden, "…Ne, Mukuro-chan, she's not your girlfriend, is she?" That was said in a very, very dangerous, low tone, as the girl's stare focused on Kiriyuu converted to a glare.

Mukuro just patted Kiriyuu's shoulder warmly. " -- And this is M.M, Kirie-chan." He said instead, as Kiriyuu and M.M just stared at each other.

….M.M?? Kiriyuu thought. M…M…. and M…. M.M…. M…?

"She doesn't look too happy. Mukuro-chan" M.M said, prodding at Kiriyuu's head with her index finger. Kiriyuu made no attempt to flick her finger away. She wasn't even listening to what was going on.

"Hrm?" Mukuro turned to her. "Kirie-chan?"

"….I'm fine." Kiriyuu grumbled incoherently again, and M.M inspected her closely once again, beginning to point out that her hair was a mess and needed more conditioner and all this other crap.

Mukuro let out an amused chuckle at their interaction, and ruffled Kiriyuu's hair, making the top of her head look like a pineapple (like his, actually), unfortunately, it flopped back to its usual style in a matter of seconds once he let go. "Well, M.M-chan – stop fussing over poor Kirie-chan, we can trust her – and it's your turn to go now. Say goodbye to Kirie for now. You two can talk more later; Birds, you too." His hand was wrapped securely at her waist –she felt uncomfortable all of a sudden and bit her lip.

"Hai, Mukuro-sama." The two lackeys replied in unison; although M.M shot Birds a rather dirty look and promptly marched away from him quite some distance, out of the room.

Kiriyuu watched, then rolled her eyes at M.M; she thoroughly reminded her of M, and began to wonder if they were somehow related. She glanced at Birds, noticing the little tennisball-of-a bird perched on his blobby, bunched-up little shoulders. It was the same bird she saw back at the corridor. Hibari liked birds – Kiriyuu shook her head – ever since she arrived here, all she could really think about was Hibari and the Vongola. The cannonball-guy, roughly about six foot tall or more, wandered out of the room even though he hadn't been commanded to. Kiriyuu watched them again. There was a tight squeeze on her shoulder, and she looked back up at Mukuro. He smiled apathetically at her and put his hand over her head, ruffling her hair again.

"What are you thinking of, hm?"

She jerked slightly. "…Who were those people? I hope you don't mind me saying this, but they're a little… creepy. Especially those thin, creepy twins and that short, stubby guy with the pug face."

"Oh, Birds… and…" Mukuro looked up thoughtfully, then back down. He took his hand out of her hair, cradling his forehead gently with his hand. "………"

"You've forgotten their names." She replied for him. In response, he gave a lean, smooth shrug of his wide shoulders. He doesn't care. He doesn't care about them. M's words swam through her mind. Kiriyuu then blinked at him curiously, but decided to drop the matter. She suddenly wanted to ask about M, yes, learning more about M seemed important than anything else. Mukuro, where the hell did you meet her? How did you meet her? She's completely insane. What's her background? How old is she really? 14, or 15???!?

Kiriyuu then wondered why she had suddenly taken an interest in finding about M's background history. She really didn't want anything to do with the girl, honest. And then she remembered what M had told her before: Don't talk about M to other people, or people to other people. So that meant Kiriyuu couldn't ask about Ken or Chikusa either. Like, how did they meet Mukuro, too. She didn't even know yet. All she had been engrossed with was the new world. I really don't know anything about them at all. What if M was right? Maybe they really are using me. But how can I just trust M like that? I… I don't even know if I can trust Mukuro anymore either.

Who can I trust??

"Um… Mukuro…. I have another question…" Kiriyuu stammered, and he turned towards her. His attention was completely hers. She swallowed, hard. "U-Uh… about M…she, uh… you know what? N-Never mind."

"No, no, I want to know." He persuaded her with a smile, and Kiriyuu bit her lip uncomfortably. "Your behaviour has been concerning."

"…How did you heal my shoulder? And my face? Is it magic?"

He blinked; hadn't accounted her to ask him that. Then he chuckled. "It's not magic."

"Then what is it? Why can't I feel anything? Why am I not bleeding?"

Mukuro tilted his head to the side slightly, but then he smiled, and he chuckled again, put his hand under his chin. "… Well…." He began, and she looked up at him eagerly. "Fine, you got me, I'll tell you." Kiriyuu waited. He really hadn't planned on telling her? "… I used an illusion."

Illusion. That makes sense. Kiriyuu blinked dumbly at him then. "You use illusions." She uttered out croakily on the spot, "… My scar is gone. And my arm's not sore. That's you doing that?"

He shrugged at her again, another taunting grin spreading over his chiselled features. "If you say so." He turned back to the open door. "Kiriyuu. It's time for you to - "

She wasn't listening to what he was saying. Instead, she deadpanned, stuck in her own thoughts. Mukuro can do anything. M probably is obsessed with Mukuro, but she doesn't seem to realise or know why. Kiriyuu suddenly pulled down a part of her blazer, at her shoulder. She couldn't see the wound at all, as if it was invisible. It was covered by an illusion. No, that IS the illusion. What about M? Kiriyuu tried to piece more things together. M doesn't know where she came from, she seemingly doesn't even know how old she is, she doesn't know who her family and relatives are, either. She just had some sort of loyalty to Mukuro. Who, or what,was M?

Wait. That's it.

…What if…

What if she is an illusion Mukuro made too?

Sorry for the lack of Hibari. He'll pop up again soon! Thanks for the reviews, I really appreciate them :D