DISCLAIMER I DO NOT OWN KATEKYO HITMAN REBORN
Natsuki's POV

Looking back on the wall clock I saw that I barely finished in time. I double checked that I had everything that I needed in my small duffel bag. Approving of everything, I zipped up throwing the bag over my shoulder. I locked my door behind me as a regular precaution.

"Lussuria, hurry up! It's almost meeting time." Two doors down I saw Lussuria exiting his own room with two large suitcases almost the size of a myself. "We're going for three days. Not three months. Why do you need so much stuff?"

He tsked at me with his finger wiggling in front of him. "Oh Nat-chan, I'm merely preparing for everything possible. Dirty outfits changes are necessary. It's only a precaution." I sighed at him. Walking over I grabbed one of his cases, dragging it to the mansion's driveway. The rest of Varia's officers had already gathered with their own set of bags.

"Okay, we're all here. I checked up on Mammon this morning. Still unwillingly to move. Didn't even let me see him." Xanxus nodded. After removing his curse, he's been crazy busy. He eventually worked to the point of a fever. Only his love of money powered him to continue forward.

Meanwhile I'm getting dragged to one of the Vongola conferences. Honestly if Xanxus wasn't the one to call us to accompany him, I would have avoided the meeting too. He was lucky that Verde had cancelled my job with him at last minute. Mammon was, also, an adult now so he could take care of himself for three days. Fantasma was with him if anything happen.

This meeting was meant for us to discuss other famiglia business with the Vongola. Territory boundaries, limitations in target, other boring stuff. It was necessary though to 'maintain balance' and whatnot. The conference was put in Fukuoka, Japan in time for the Hakata Dontaku Festival. That gave us the perfect cover for us, Mafiosi, to travel in large groups the distance. Not to mention a small distractions for afterwards.

Lussuria braided my hair into its usual place under my top layer. The car pulled up to the hotel with many men in black suits guarding the entrance. The hotel was known for being a cover up towards our host but was as close to neutral grounds than most places.

"Shark, Shadows, you two will be my escorts today." Xanxus stated.

"Obviously."/ "Understood Xanxus-sama." Squalo and I stated at the same time. Originally Mammon was always the one to attend with Xanxus as per usual seeing how everyone else acted before.

Levi was too focused on intimating the families to pay attention, Lussuria was in his own dream world and Bel was too bored to remain still for the duration of the time providing unneeded distractions. Mammon and Squalo were the only responsible ones to take on the given that Mammon was too sick to come I was the first runner up. The others were here merely in case of any funny business while we were preoccupied.

I put on my mask before letting Levi open the door. A member of the host's family nervously came to greet us. They hid their emotions well for the most part by speaking with knowledge and respect. It was the darting eyes that was dead giveaway. We stopped in front of brown large doors having a few people hold out boxes with different crests on them. One person came up to us with the Varia crest box. "As common procedure, weapons must be confiscated before entering the meeting area."

Xanxus and Squalo grumbled but gave up their weapons as they were use to the set up. I followed after them placing everything into the box. The person stood there looking at me. "By weapons that also includes your mask. As per my boss's orders, anything that can provide any harm or provoke suspicions. The Haunting Shadows' mask has unknown capabilities that have not been pointed out. I'm afraid that I have to ask you to please remove it if you want to be granted access."

Squalo's glared at them. "A mask is nothing of a weapon."

"Why all the hoopla? It's just a mask. Take it off and everything will be fine." We looked backwards at one of the allied family's Boss. He was putting in his weapon into his box without any complaints and a smug look. I warningly took a step forward when a cough broke us up.

My father with two of his guardians walked over to us. He stood in between us looking at us both. "Now there's no need for any of this. I can personally vouch for Shadows' mask not being of any danger to us. Identities are everything in our world. Having a mask is nothing odd."

"I second that. Shadows is pro-assassin. Who knows what will happen if he removes his mask forcefully." The Bucking Horse came to place a hand on Squalo's shoulder. He shook him off giving off his murderous intent

The other families snicker at the previous boss for being snobby. The man rolled his eyes muttering whatever to us. He slammed the door behind him. "I didn't need either of your help. I could have handled him."

"I was only stopping anything from happening. It is the first day. Let's not start a farce, hmm?" He gestured for us to enter the room first.

The two families diverged at the table having Xanxus sit in his spot at the long table with Squalo and I hovering his back. One by one more people came in taking their designated seats. Including us, there were 19 Bosses and their 2 escorts present. The clock chimed once signalling the time was exactly 1600 hours. The host stood up at one end of the table.

"As the host of this year's meeting, I welcome all of you here. I understand that we are not here to socialize so shall we get started?" He scanned each of us. "Where is the Boss of the Gigilo Nero Famiglia?" Everyone's attention was drawn to the Gigilo Nero family with two men standing but no Yuni or Aria in the chair. One man retrieved an envelope with their seal on it from his coat.

"The princess has called in sick. She writes her concerns in this letter addressing everything that she wishes to say regarding this meeting along with an apology for any trouble that may arise in her absence." The man handed a letter to one of my father's guardian on the other head of the table. Inspecting the sides of the letter beforehand, he handed it to Kyuudaime to read. Nodding he read the contents, slipping the sheet back into the envelope.

"In terms of our alliance and in respect for her character, I accept her reasoning. Please send my regards for her to get better soon." The men bowed in thanks. No one spoke up in honour of his ruling.

"This does bring up an interesting point though." One Boss spoke up. If I remembered correctly, their head base was closes to the Gigilo Nero's. "Recently my people have noticed a triple increase in the Gigilo Nero's defenses. Now their Boss refuses to participate with us. Not even her right hand man, Lightning Gamma is her representative. Makes me wonder if they're hiding something. It wouldn't be the first time. Seeing as how Miss Aria magically disappeared from the face of the earth only to be replaced by her alleged daughter."

The whole room whispered their thoughts. There was always space for gossip in our group. Gossip meant a chance to climb in rankings. True or not.

"Regarding Aria-sama's disappearance cannot be explained in simple words. Aria-sama was always known for being a mysterious beauty. She was never fully open with everyone because she believed in putting on a brave face for us. The princess is exactly the same. Their blood is in no question. It's exactly that kindness that we found increasing security to be necessary. The princess enjoys to wander the town, play with the local children or speak with the elderly. We merely wanted to watch over her in any case. She is sick due to her playing in the rain for too long. Gamma-aniki is by her side and refuses to leave. That is all to the situation."

My ears perked at his voice. Everything that he spoke of sounded rehearsed. Like they were expecting each question to be thrown their way. A proper explanation without any delay in speech.

"Finally we're done here. I thought Lussuria's voice was annoying enough. Beccio needs to learn to shut up about people trespassing in his territory." Squalo stated as we crashed into our suite.

"That was nothing compared to the Nuevo and Difo constantly arguing about their unfair trade. They did this, they did that, I really don't care to mediate." I rolled my shoulders easing the tension building up.

The three days dragged on with five hours each. Each one filled with people complaining and yelling threats at one another. We were not civilized people who discussed things in a orderly manner. That's why three days and five hours was normal. It gave everyone a break from the shouting. I should have stuck with Bel to go touring instead of being an escort.

"Hey guys look!" Lussuria barged through the door with a flyer in hand. Xanxus was the first one to take it. "Ninth gave this to me. We should go! It's near this hotel and it has an onsen inside. This could be a great opportunity for us to make some meaningful memories." We crowded around Xanxus to read it. Apparently the Vongola owned an elegant hotel nearby. We waited patiently when he gave us a confirming grunt.

I tied my hair up with the towel while wrapping another one around my body. I placed my clothes neatly into the basket with my weapons hidden underneath. Looking around the cabinet spaces it seems that they had other guests present too.

The innkeepers told me that they were supposed to be very special guests that do not be disturbed. Of course, I was the only one to listen since the rest of them went ahead of me. I slid open the door to the bathhouse portion instantly feeling the steamy air. There was even the presences of flames nearby. 'Tsunayoshi-kun?'

"Yeah it's really nice here. It looks like the boys are having fun too." I recognized that voice. Inside the small pool of water four bodies relaxed themselves. I looked to the barrier hearing Squalo's signature scream. I gave a sigh. 'They were supposed to be relaxing.'

Bianchi was the first one to notice me. "Hello there." The girls followed her gaze to me. They smiled at me almost standing up.

"Natsuki-chan!" Kyoko said. I stepped into the water, taking a seat somewhat distance from them.

"Oh you've meet before?" Bianchi asked. Now that I thought about it I've only met the future version of herself. She was one of the few people that didn't get her memories of the future. She was meant to be in the dark to avoid any unnecessary information being slipped out.

"My name is Natsuki. Please to meet you Poison Scorpion." She brought her defenses up, blocking off the girls with her arm. "Don't waste your energy. I understand your concern but the girls and I have no bad blood. We're merely here for some time off."

"I know those voices. It's no fool's guess to be Varia. What would a girl be doing with them of all people?"

"Omérta binding. I have no reason to tell you exactly who I am. Though at this point you should be able to fill in the holes yourself." Her eyes slanted before quickly widening. I sunk myself a little further into the water hearing the explosions stop. "I mean it Poison Scorpion. I have no intention in harming these girls."

"She's right Bianchi-san. Natsuki-chan was a bit scary at first but we've become good friends. In fact why don't you help us make dinner tonight? The more the merrier." I met with Haru's pleading eyes, balancing the pros and cons. On the cons side the rest of Varia might not be open to eating with Tsunayoshi. On the other hand, if we ate here we wouldn't have to deal with the annoying Mafiosi. That settled it.

I nodded at her making her smile. They chatted mindlessly about the meal plan for the rest of the time until realizing the pruning of their skins. I remained in the water for a few more minutes as they changed. I had no problem with seeing their nude bodies but I had a feeling that the Poison Scorpion wouldn't be happy of me showing off my weapons to them.

Preparing dinner mostly composed of me following their direction and trying to keep the Scorpion from touching anything edible. We were close to finishing when a Reborn in a bathrobe knocked. Seeing the adult version of his was unsettling knowing how much more of a threat he was now. "Natsuki, I'm going to need a bit of your time."

The girls waved it off as nothing taking over my section of food. He led me back to the entrance of the boy's bathroom. "Dame-Tsuna managed to freeze everyone in there with his Zero Point Breakthrough. Besides Bianchi, who possess no ring, you're the only one here that can free them."

"What about you?" Looking down from his face I saw a small bulge poking out from his chest. My instinct told me something was off as I reached forward to investigate. He grabbed my wrist showing no sign of effort.

"I also have no ring to free them. My powers as an Arcobaleno are not present so I have no way to produce Dying Will Flames anymore. You, Fia, still can." I snatched my hand back, scowling at the hitman. He knew exactly which buttons to push for him to get his way.

"You're so lucky that I can't shoot you." I stomped my way into the onsen, not enjoying the feeling of my clothes almost sticking to my skin in humidity. Holding my hands up I lit my Sky flames to surround them. I bent down touching the edge of the ice. Increasing the volume little by little the ice began to thaw them out. They shivered their bodies dropping a bit in exhaustion.

"Natsuki-san, what are you doing here?" Tsunayoshi, the closest one to me, asked. I remained in my position, stabilizing my breathing. 'Had to freeze the entire thing, didn't you?'

"Saving your dumb asses!" Snapping back at him. Having him close to me I noticed that his complexion was paler than usual. I leaned in closer to get a better look. It was quickly replaced by him turning a bright red before backing up, and sinking into the water. 'He's still jumpy though. Must have been the tiresome day Reborn put him through. Speaking of which...' I pinched the bridge of my nose. I turned to the Varia occupying the other half of the bath.

"We were supposed to be-" I cut myself off seeing that Varia had been transformed into their ten year older future selves. In the background was the ten year bazooka having black smoke come out of several of places. I looked away taking a deep breath in.

"You know what, I don't want to know. Dinner is ready, so go eat while I fix this problem. And you better hope that this place has tools!" I grabbed the bazooka off the floor, practically dragging behind me. I ignored Reborn outside the bathroom going straight for the innkeeper. They were kind enough to lend me a temporary suite so that I could work on the repairs.

I had to stop by the lounge area to ask Giannini to borrow his equipment though. He wasn't very open to the idea of me tinkering delicate technology until I made some convincing arguments. The main point being a knife in my hand. "If you're going to do nothing but hover me in a panic fit then go eat dinner."

"No way! As the Vongola's mechanic I can't have some stranger working on our technology unsupervised. What if the tenth gets in trouble for any more damage?" I inspected the ends of the ten year bazooka. I gently placed the item down onto the tatami.

"First off, its Bovino tech. Lambo would be the one to get the heat not Tsunayoshi-kun. Secondly, the last thing I need is your advice. Your father was a great man. You, however, still need some practice. I can do this myself." I opened up his tool chest taking out the proper size screwdriver. The bazooka itself wasn't that different from its more destructive counterpart. The main difference was mainly in the ammo used.

I arranged the pieces out in front of me keeping the smaller ones closer. A knocking came at the door startling Giannini. The knockers let themselves in without either of us giving permission. A scent of hot food invaded my space reminding me that I still hadn't eaten yet.

I only spared a glance at Bel when he crouched down beside me with a tray of food. "You're back to your present self. Good thing since I couldn't find a way to reverse the effects."

I slid in one part into its proper placement. I heard a crunch beside me when Bel pushed a bitten tempera near my face. I looked at the crumbs he dropped, taking the closest pieces of the bazooka away from him. Opening my mouth towards him he feed me the rest of the tempera. I puffed out a little bit of hot air. "This dinner should have been hours ago. Why is it still hot?"

"Apparently the food went missing so those high pitched girls made some more. They even made enough for us despite losing the talent show because we were your friends." He took another bite of my food.

"Talent show?" He shrugged his shoulders, feeding me a spoon of rice. I chew and swallowed it properly. "Weird that you're delivering me dinner. Where's Lussuria?"

"Since we transported to the future during our bath, Lussuria wanted to re-soak himself. Something about fixing his complexion." I grabbed the wrench bolting in the head of the joint. Would torque of the bolts matter on the bazooka? I looked to Giannini freaking out in the corner. No change since I started. So there's nothing wrong with what I'm doing.

"Still strange. Why would you want to join me here? Where's the fun in watching me fixing this?" I knew Bel. He gets bored faster than anyone I could name. There's a reason that he would possibly want to visit me. He knew that I could have eaten later.

"Do you think that we can change the future?" My hands stopped moving. I gripped the wrench a bit in fear of Bel's change in personality. I shook off my surprise to keep working.

"I do. Last I checked, Byakuran isn't planning to rule the world. What did you see?"

"Nothing much." He leaned onto his back with his hands behind his head. I didn't press forward on what he was holding out. He laid there quietly.

I set down my tools for a second to brush his hair. I could see his mouth move in confusion but he didn't open to say anything. I took another bite continuing to work until it was back to its normal state. Giannini was quick to snatch it out of my hands to analyze the bazooka. He finally released his breath hugging the machine tightly. I picked up my tray of finished food poking Bel with my foot to get up.

"You go ahead of me. I have to return the dishes. Giannini let's go." Bel waved a hand up to show he understood while Giannini scampered up. I parted half ways with him leading up to the kitchen. I blinked a few times at the girls washing the plates. Do they ever stop working?

"You guys realize that there's staff whose literal job is to do this, right?" They jumped at me suddenly appearing. Kyoko had to readjust her hold on the plate before settling down.

"We know. But after we used the kitchen twice, this is the less we could do." She took the plate out my hands adding it to their pile in the sink.

"Yeah about that, I'm sorry that I couldn't finish making the first time. Or even the second dinner too. I had to deal with some business from Reborn. Then Tsunayoshi-kun got in a small accident that I have to cover up. Thank you for feeding us intruders on your dinner." I picked up a short stack of plates carefully putting it into a cupboard.

"It was nothing. Your friends were pretty funny. They really get along with Tsuna-kun and the rest of the boys." I pursed my lips a little. 'Get along' wasn't the exact words that I would use to described our relationship. I said nothing against it though. We would be leaving soon if anything. Might as well play along for the night. I hardly ever ran into these girls either so there was no reason to get too close to them.

"Well I should be going now, before Squalo-sama has a hissy fit." I bowed at them about to take my leave.

"Hey Natsuki-chan, why don't you stay with us for the night? We barely talked today so why not have a slumber party? It'll be fun." I stopped in my tracks. I turned back to them with a fake smile to cover up my nervous twitch.

"I don't th-" I cut myself off when the door behind me flew open and a familiar smell of perfume came in.

"Why Nat-chan would love to join you! Wouldn't you?" Lussuria placed his hands on my shoulders keeping me away from the door. I glared back at him smiling.

"What are you doing?" I snarled at him quiet enough for the girls not to hear.

"Go out and have some fun. These past few days stressed you out. Having some girl time is exactly what you need. Being around men 24/7 is not helping you." He raised his head away from mine. "Please take care of Nat-chan for tonight. We'll pick her up in the morning." He pushed me forward, dashing out the door before I could kill him. I bit my lip down, holding my need to chase after him. Kyoko laughed at Lussuria not understanding the dilemma I was in.

I growled feeling the hostile presences surrounding our room. I grabbed my staff that I always kept by my pillow. Bianchi woke up as well. At first her eyes showed her to think of me as the culprit preparing to fight me. Then she realized the real threat around us.

We nodded to each other having a silent agreement. Extending my staff I poked Haru, who was closest to me, awake. She mumbled a bit rolling over. I covered her mouth, shocking her up. Still with my hand on her mouth, I brought a finger to my lips. The Poison Scorpion woke the two remaining girls.

Not being able to make out the situation, the frighten girls cling to us as we attempted to evacuate them. We made no sudden movements heading towards the exit having the Scorpion lead out. She opened it slightly, trying to peek into the hallway. She jumped back getting in a defensive position. A man threw open the doors holding a gun loosely in his hands.

"Now where are our precious hostages going?" Once he finished his sentence the wall behind us exploded. I held my arm up to keep the dust from flying into my face. I kept my eyes on the intruders watching the girls quiver from my side view. Scanning over the scene there was only one guard at the front with five in the back. There were more though. Near Tsunayoshi's location were way more. Expected that they had the bigger problem.

"I think you gentlemen have the wrong room. We're just a couple of young ladies here on vacation." Bianchi tried to reason her way.

"Don't bother trying to lie to them. They're stupid enough to gang up on us but not that stupid to fall for such a trick." I spoke. All wore surgical masks covering half of their faces but in general wore black clothing varying in style with no visible crests. From the looks of it they were freelancing assassins. Yet freelancers never work together. Especially in such large groups.

"Very good observations. Men." The man blocking our escape path twirled his finger around. "Gather them up."

I scoffed at the men charging up to me. With that physical built it seemed that he was more of a close combat fighter about a head taller than I. I ducked as his arms went to clutch me. Steadying with my left hand in my right hand, I hockey checked the man. He dragged his feet on the ground, rubbing his stomach. "Feisty girl, aren't you?"

"Don't you know it's illegal to hit on a minor?" I play pouted, batting my eyelashes. He gave a hefty laugh having an amused look in his eyes.

"Good thing I don't hear any sirens." He readjusted his stance.

"That works better for me then." I rested my staff on my shoulders loosely. The remaining men circled us with knives and guns ready to shoot me at any moment.

The man threw a punch aiming for my head. I tilted it with the least amount of effort that his arm's hairs grazed my face. His fist met with staff's end giving me a push to twist around him. He kicked backwards making me grab his ankle pushing it upwards into a standing split. With my available hand I grabbed the other end of staff to whack his back. Releasing his ankle I let the man fall flat on his face while I jumped to the side, avoiding a thrown Shuriken.

"Stupid back seaters." I jumped further away from my target at another interfering with us. Grabbing the closest person with a gun, I pulled his arm forward. Slipping out the twisted dagger on my staff I continued to pull the man forward, stabbing him in the stomach. I slithered my fingers backwards around the gun he held. I smirked as I looked at the man's pupils shake.

"Kyoko-chan!" I mentally groaned at Bianchi's panic voice. I snapped the man wrist at the same time as removing my knife. He curled into a ball trying to apply pressure over his wound, but it was easier said than done with one broken wrist and a hole bigger than your palm. I kicked the bloody man away, looking at Bianchi pinned on the floor.

The top man step on her arms behind her back keeping his body weight on her. Across from her was Kyoko crying in the hold of the same man I first attacked. He had a bloody nose from me face dropping him but it didn't stop him from holding Kyoko captivate. In the corner of the room Haru was frozen in fear but still held I-pin from rushing into danger.

"How about we make a deal?" Bianchi's captor pointed a gun to Haru. Bianchi struggled harder seeing where this was going." You seem pretty experienced. You didn't even flinch at the blood. So how about you drop your weapons and we let the orange one go."

"You're right. I am more experienced than them. So I know that you can't hurt us besides the minimum scare damage. Please try a harder bluff before you offend my pride." I glared at the men sneaking dirty looks at Haru and Kyoko. The top man twitched his fingers forward to signal his followers.

"Oh it's no bluff. Our orders were for one of you. Though with your good looks I might just take you for myself. If you value your life that much that is." One man prepared a gun to my head. "Deal?"

"No thanks. I can name a pesky little scorpion that will kill me before anything happens to those girls under my watch. So if you want my weapons, then take it." I flipped my staff switching out which knife to use. With the blade end out, I threw staff at the man's abdomen setting up a trap for him. Any direction he went in would result in Bianchi's release or possible damage to himself. That was the main problem with free lancers. They only cared about completing the mission with as limited damage as possible. If they only needed one of us then Bianchi freedom meant nothing to him.

Bianchi saw the opportunity when he jumped upwards to roll away. Working quickly she attacked the man while he was still in the air, kicking him to the wall. I, using the gun from the previous attacker, shot at Kyoko's handler's back. She fell harshly to the ground into Haru's waiting arms.

"Take them out of here!" I shot once more at the man trying to regain hold of Kyoko. Flipping backwards I used one person's shoulders as support to go behind him. I stole the dagger off his belt, stabbing him in the calf. I dragged it downwards until he attempted to use his other leg to kick me away.

I kicked his attacking leg knocking him off balance. He fell onto his comrades who merciless pushed him out of the way. A baton user snaked his arm around my neck holding me in a choke hold. I could feel him smirk in victory which I gladly returned. I released my Sky flames from my hands burning him off me.

"Sky flames?!" The men stopped advancing once realizing the danger I posed. I looked at Kyoko and Haru whose bodies refused to move from their spots. Their faces pale and shivering from fear.

"Fangs." His ring gave a warm glow shifting him into his attack form. "Take them somewhere safe."

His Storm flames flared setting one man on fire. He begged for his fellow assassins to help him spreading the flames to them. A technique that Bel's mink had inspired. Seeing that once sent all of them to turn against each other to ensure their own safety. He calmed them down giving himself time to have Bianchi help the two girls onto his back. Fangs wasn't typically used for transportation but desperate times called for desperate measures. The girls hung on tightly when Fangs started running out the door. Bianchi took off in the direction of Tsunayoshi's room.

"The targets are getting away!" The top man stumbled in regaining his footing. I released my murderous intent making him stop in his place.

"Funny. I was about to say the same thing." I cracked both sides of my neck. "Now that they're gone, how about we make a deal?"

Illusions of vines cracked the ground wrapping each person but one. Having seen my flames and Fangs, I couldn't have let them leave. The illusion wasn't high grading but enough to trap their shocked minds.

"You know I was holding back because those girls were innocent enough to befriend a killer without knowing it."

Sounds of bones snapping and the cries of full grown men filled the room.

"But I've also been having a tough past few days."

One by one bodies fell around me as I took steps forward towards the ring leader.

"So hear me when I say this deal because I'm only saying it once."

I picked my staff off the ground without any need to rush towards the man backing himself up. I grabbed him by the collar pinning him to the wall. He held back his tears when I stabbed him in the side.

"Either you tell me everything you know now or..."

I removed my blade just to push it back in harder. He no longer bothered to suppress his fears, screaming out in pain.

"Or you tell me now."

"Natsuki-san!" Tsunayoshi threw open the door in his hyper mode. He froze looking at me sit in the middle of the room. I sat on the first man that thought it was a good idea to flirt with me and hold Kyoko in such an improper way. Close by was the ring leader tied up in a bathrobe's sash crying his eyes out. I held my head up with my hands covering half my face. Tsunayoshi slipped out of his hyper mode as I raised my head to him.

"W-what hap- what d-did you do?" His face turned white dropping to his knees. Gokudera and Yamamoto caught up to him in time to catch him. They took one look at the scene, Gokudera the one to stop Sasagawa and Lambo from looking and Yamamoto adverting his eyes. I walked up to Tsunayoshi staring him down.

"My job, dear Tsunayoshi-kun." His eyes went blank taking in the reality. Up until now, Tsunayoshi's Mafia life consisted of fighting against power hungry monsters. He's never seen death in the eyes or felt blood on his hands. Especially of another's body. Reborn punched Tsunayoshi out of his trance and more importantly, away from the crime.

Reborn closed the door behind me without any thought of invading my personal space. He leaned down to my ear. "What did you learn?"

"Enough to know that there are some liars near me. Why? Were you expecting something?" He pushed himself off turning his back to me. It wouldn't have matter anyway. Even with his back to me, there was no way I could land a hit on him. His confidence was what set us apart in being able to hold blackmail.

"Why don't you clean up then we can discuss your findings. I'll deal with this mess while you're at it." He gestured to the bottom of my kimono drenched in blood. I, personally, had no problem with it. Tsunayoshi and co, however, saw it as evidence to my actions. I shrugged my shoulders deciding that I might as well make them feel a bit more comfortable after such a night.

"Wait! Where's Kyoko!" Sasagawa loudly pointed out. Tsunayoshi scrambled up to search for the runaways.

"They're fine. My box weapon is in charge of watching them. From my instructions they should be somewhere safe, so don't worry over them."

"SOMEWHERE SAFE MY ASS! If Fangs is going to knock down our door down at 3 in the morning at least make it a reasonable explanation!" I rolled my eyes at Squalo, too tired to tell him to shut up.

"I never specified where. Since Tsunayoshi-kun was fighting at the time Fangs' logically explanation was to bring them to you guys. Don't blame him." I replied dryly, scratching Fangs behind his ear letting him know that he did a good job. The girls were still shell shocked but they managed to find safety with Varia. After seeing Fangs at their suite they took the message that something was wrong. They came back to investigate right in time for our debriefing.

"Nat-chan, is everything okay? You seem mad."

"Well you're not the only one that had an abrupt sleep. Now we wait for the special guest I called a few minutes ago." Lussuria was wrong. I wasn't mad. I was furious. The audacity of these people that made them think they can fool us.

"Special guest? What did you do?" Reborn asked suppressing his blood thirst.

"Nothing stupid like you guys." The entire room went silent. No one spoke to Reborn like that. His fedora slightly covered his eyes but it was enough to see that he was glaring at me. Even Leon was tense on his shoulders preparing to move on command.

"We gathered here for a debriefing. Why don't you get started on that Natsuki instead of playing this game?" Reborn leaned back into his chair.

"Fine. How about we start with Yuni of the Gigilo Nero?" People looked at each other at the mention of the Sky girl. "Tsunayoshi-kun may not know this but there was a Boss's summit this week. The person missing was Yuni claiming to be sick, despite having knowledge that not attending can cause war. Then there was Verde. Who never cancels on anything, saying he needs to reschedule our meeting. Should I say that even World's greatest hitman, Reborn was being more protective when I refused to rescue Tsunayoshi-kun from his zero point breakthrough."

"What does any of us have to with the attack tonight?" Reborn asked getting his temper tested.

"You tell me. Looks like they had only two targets. Vongola Decimo, Sawada Tsunayoshi-kun, and a five year old Chinese girl named I-pin." The two targets visibly stiffened. "Anyone with a connection to the Arcobaleno. Or should I say past Arcobaleno? Is that the better term?"

"Natsuki. You're pushing it." A mist flame formed behind me. I resisted a need to spit at the cloaked figure that appeared.

"Finally there's this liar." I leaned backwards into my chair. If I could see his eyes I would have stared straight into them. Instead I had the black void that covered the unknown look he had. "Sick from overworking are we now? You look pretty healthy to me."

"You don't understand what you're getting into." Mammon warned me.

"Then tell me. Why are people after the Arcobaleno? Who are desperate enough to hire so many untied assassins after one girl? What's so big that all of you had to go into hiding?" I snapped my neck back at Reborn suddenly standing up making everyone flinch. Mammon paused for a moment then followed in suit to walk to the center of the wall letting everyone seeing them. Reborn tilted his fedora while Mammon looked off to the side. I almost regretted my decision seeing him grind his teeth.

No signal was needed between the two. Reborn loosen his tie, unbuttoning his dress shirt. Mammon's arms rustled around under his cloak. At the same time their clothing was pushed aside to show off their chests. My mind went blank for a moment wondering if everything to this point was a dream.

"Why-WHY DO YOU HAVE THOSE?!" My breath became rigged looking at the item familiar sight stuck to them. Hanging off their skins was a clear Arcobaleno pacifier. They put their clothing back on properly covering their curse objects.

"We don't know." Reborn started. "A few weeks ago each one of us, minus Lal, woke up to their pacifiers returned to our bodies. They hold no powers in them and our bodies had received no consequences after getting them. It's like they aren't even here."

"A-and the Vindice?" Tsunayoshi asked.

"Unknown. As soon as we saw that each of us were in the same situation we made paid them a visit. The entire place was in savaged through. The Vendice were at a complete lost. We hardly agree on anything but one thing was for sure. That someone was trying to get their hands on the Arcobaleno pacifiers. Right now Yuni, Verde and Fong are treating them in the Giglio Nero headquarters. Meanwhile the rest of us are using all of our sources to find anything on the cause. All while keeping a low profile." I didn't understand what was happening. The entire Vindice defeated? Their pacifiers were back? There's an enemy out there that could do that?

"Now that I said everything, understand that each person here can be used as a hostage point. Please watch out for yourselves until we can wake up the Vindice. Even then our chances of getting anything useful is slim." We nodded in agreeance.

I glanced at Mammon feeling a guilty burden weight on me. His face didn't betray any emotions, remaining neutral as the norm. I knew him better though. He had an air around him that told me that he repulsed the idea of everyone here knowing. Mammon hated his curse. To be brought back to the start one after a taste of freedom. It must have been suffocating.

"Natsuki-chan..." Kyoko appeared beside me gently holding my sleeve. "Thank you for saving me."

My eyes widen. Her hair was disheveled with her eyes and nose puffy red. Probably from crying in fear. Where was the elegant school idol Sasagawa Kyoko that I knew? I hesitantly raised a hand to her head to comfort her. Haru sat quietly in the corner of the room. Where was the preppy cosplayer Miura Haru? Between the two of them this was the moment in their life where they saw my world.

At least I-pin and Bianchi had somewhat of an idea of what I did. For Kyoko to thank me? I never had someone do that for killing. This was normal for me. Taking someone's life was normal. For them? I made a great sacrifice for them to survive. That was the fine line that separated our worlds.

"Nat-chan?" I stopped petting Kyoko. She bowed to me in gratitude. Sasagawa helped her stand up taking her out of the room. Following after was the rest of Tsunayoshi's family with heavy shoulders. Tsunayoshi was the last one. He stopped by the door frame seeming to wanting to say something. But then continued to follow his friends.

I leaned forward on to the table. 'I went too far today.'

"Natsuki, you heard Reborn, right?" I pulled my attention to Mammon. I absentmindedly nodded. "Then until we find out who exactly we are after, I call the Haunting Shadows on probation."

I jumped up from my spot. "What?"

"You heard me. I'm calling for a probation on you to work until we find out what our enemies' goal is." Xanxus listened quietly to Mammon's decision. He didn't input anything on him.

"Why me? Is it because I pried? Well excuse me for clarifying the situation that you were all trying so hard to protect." I sarcastically stated.

"It's not only that. We have no idea what exactly is happening. The last thing we need is for you to run head first into danger like always."

"What does that mean?"

"It means that you are headstrong. You'll be a danger if you get trapped during one of your missions. We all know well enough to see that you would take the challenge in taking them on yourself. You did so tonight."

"Like I had a choice! Those girls were bystanders and the Poison Scorpion had no chance."

"Then what about when you challenged Boss to a fight you knew you would lose." I tensed up at the memory. "Pushing yourself into enemy fire only to be sent to the world ten years into the future. Picking a fight with a first generation Mist guardian. Mocking a Vendice guard by yourself. You don't know restraint. You only know how to follow orders regardless of your own self being."

"I follow orders because if I don't then I will get killed. Like you have any right to criticize. Only money can persuade you. Any higher bidder can make you change sides in a second. At least I have my own set of morals!"

"Your own set of morals? Or someone else?" He hit a home run with that last one. I slammed my hands down on the table, side stepping away from it. He stood in front of me. Even though he was back to his adult size we were about the same height. I was breathing heavily, clenching my fists. "You'll get killed if you don't listen? Boss hasn't made that threat in over a year. The real question is when did you get a new order? If you weren't told to change, would you? That would ruin your perfect image wouldn't it?"

"I abandoned that a long time ago." Perfect. That's what I was told to be. Perfect studies. Perfect athletics. Posture, speech, image. I was built to be the Vongola Decimo that everyone dreamed I would become. I hated that word.

"Then why did you attend as Boss's escorts knowing that it'll be filled with prejudice people against the mask you cannot remove? Why did you become Verde's representative when you hated Rokudo Mukuro and prefer to be on my team? Listen to Kyudaime despite knowing that Boss would have your head? Have a slumber party with those girls when you're uncomfortable with them? Using Fangs as transportation even though your flames could drain you quickly? It's because all these things were expected of you. To be a stand in, to protect the people close to you, to accept the most hated of jobs. You cannot and would not break the expectations that people have placed on you simply because you are still the same girl that hid behind Bel on her first day."

My knees buckled under me as I took in his words. Reeling back my memories I didn't have a memory of me disobeying anyone. Even my fight with Xanxus was predicted. That's why everyone held back on telling me about Gola Mosca. They knew that I would get mad in a way that would make me revolt back to Xanxus. Depending on which situation was direr was my way of deciding.

"You don't have a mind of your own and that's a weak link for us." Lussuria rushed up to my side. I barely noticed him rubbing my shoulder. Mammon walked past me. "Until then, I'll be holding onto these."

I whipped my head to him. His hands held onto both my mask and Varia jacket. My fists tighten further making my knuckles white. "STOP!"

My Sky flames flickered in my hands. Nothing more than a flicker. I stared at my hands in shock. 'Why aren't my flames working? I didn't even overuse them today.'

"You have no resolve to hurt me." I dropped my head in defeat. I tried to reason myself that if I didn't stop him I would lose my ability to ever call him wrong about me. That if he won here I was everything he called me. I couldn't fight back. Somewhere in my mind I had already accepted his words before he even finished. My flames couldn't lie.

Mammon phased out with my possessions leaving me on the floor. I blankly looked at my hands shaking with anger. Someone came to take Lussuria away from me. There was a shake of a head and the rest of them leaving. Only Bel stayed behind. He sat in front of me for a while.

"Hime? You know Mammy was just trying to make sure you were safe." He tried to reassure me.

"He was right though. I don't have a mind of my own. I've been pushed to be perfect for so long that I didn't even realize that I was still trying to fit into it. Did I even change by coming to Varia? Can you name how Bel?"

He stayed quiet. "I commit mass murders on a daily basis without a shred of guilt. I have thousands of people come to decapitate me for a few stacks of paper. I was strangled by a vengeance filled zombie and still thought that it was a good idea to insult him. But do you know what scares me? Two teenage girls whose main topic at their sleepovers is the recent cakes that they've eaten. Yet I couldn't stop Lussuria from pushing me. I couldn't stop Mammon. What difference is there between me now and how you kidnapped me?"

I met his face. He couldn't say anything. I felt the energy drain out of me. My body didn't want to move. It was like I didn't know how to move anymore. "You know... Future Squalo-sama told me that someday I would have to pay for being stubborn. I guess I should have listened to that too."