Not being good at sports was one thing, but Kazumi found that that had a completely other meaning when it came to the one known as the Dame-Tsuna. Their class had stumbled out to the field during the late morning before lunch for a co-Phys. Ed class, and before anyone knew it, Tsuna was either tripping over the ball, his own feet, or just simply running into other players. It was almost exhausting to watch and Kazumi had caught herself making an exasperated sigh on more than one occasion.

Is this guy really the Vongola Decimo that I'm looking for? She asked herself on repeat while watching with a half defeated, half mortified expression. Since Kazumi arrived at Namimori High, she had seen first-hand the very numerous reasons behind Tsuna's rather… endearing nickname. Some of the daily occurrences included him tripping through the doorway of the classroom and occasionally face planting onto the floor. Sometimes it was a desk. This was immediately followed by stubbing his toe on said desk. During class, he made an exaggerated number of blunders when answering questions; even on the easy ones. And then there was this.

"Yamashita!" Kazumi barely registered the sound of her last name in time to respond to the soccer ball being sent her way. She wasn't a soccer player by any means, but she at least knew how to stop the ball and send it off to another teammate with relative accuracy. There was also the addition of honed reflexes from years of hard work. "Alright, nice pass!" Called the same classmate from a moment ago.

It was then that Takeshi walked over, still wearing his signature grin. "You're a natural!" He complimented as he looked onto the field as if seeing the path of the ball all over again, and nodded in approval.

"Do you play sports Kazumi-san?" Having saw Takeshi momentarily excuse himself from the game, Tsuna also took up the chance to get as far away as possible, and of course Hayato wasn't too far behind him like a loyal puppy.

"Eh, no, not really." Was her immediate response. "Well, no more than your average person. I suppose you could say I've played different other sports with friends on my own time."

"Oh? What about baseball; you should join the baseball team!" Takeshi suggested confidently. Kazumi, Tsuna, and Hayato all looked at him in silence for a moment.

"But, aren't the sports teams divide between boys and girls?" Tsuna asked.

"You stupid baseball moron, how the hell does baseball even relate to soccer?" Kazumi nodded her agreement towards the questions, and the more she thought about the whole situation, the more she was genuinely confused.

"Well, they're both sports, yeah?" Again, there was that unfounded confidence.

"Umm, Takeshi-kun, I don't think baseball and soccer are really comparable sports." Kazumi softly suggested while holding back her tears of disbelief. "Besides, I can't really say I'd be able to hit the ball. Let alone catch it. My hand-eye coordination really isn't all that suited for sports; well I mean, it's average at best." Kazumi wanted to kill herself at this point. Her hand-eye coordination was something she actually prided herself in. It was kind of hard to do her job without it.

"Well you never know unless you try!" Kazumi decided, at that moment, that Yamamoto Takeshi was the living embodiment of optimism. She wondered how he became a Rain rather than a Sun.

"Yeah, but there's still the point that the teams are divided between the boys and girls."

"Sawada, Yamashita, Yamamoto, Gokudera; stop your yapping and get back to the game!" The lot of them startled, looked towards their sensei sheepishly who was visibly frowning at them. They called back in unison and went back to their respective teams. Even though Kazumi was on the opposing team of the trio, she had Chrome on her side, even if she remained on the sidelines, what with her frail looking body. This in Kazumi's mind was understandable; the poor girl looked like she could be snapped in half like a twig just by bumping into her.

Kazumi turned back to the game and watch her classmates kick the ball up and down the field. It was easy to tell who the sports players were, and it was even more painfully obvious that the teams were unevenly balanced because they were all on the other team. With a sigh, Kazumi went to rejoin the game and wondered exactly how long she had left of this class.

xXx

It had already been almost three weeks since Kazumi had entered as a student at Namimori High School, and she was nowhere near being any closer to completing her mission than she had been the very first day she arrived. Especially with Tsuna's Guardians being in such close proximity. The first week alone was spent interacting with the rest of the student body in an attempt to deter any possible thoughts of suspicion. The second week was more dedicated to information gathering. Or at least the attempt was made. There really wasn't anything to dig up on Vongola's Tenth Generation unless she resorted to stalking, and realistically, Kazumi wasn't that desperate yet. And now leading into the third week, well, Kazumi could only blame her current situation on the existence of Murphy's Law.

"Ciaosu." Startled, Kazumi looked down and found a child dressed in a suit, accessorized with a fedora and… a yellow pacifier? Oh. Oh fuuuck. This was an Arcobaleno. And not just any Arcobaleno. It was the Arcobaleno known as the world's greatest hitman; Reborn.

"O-Ohayou?" She greeted back, trying to remember how someone usually interacted with a normal child. "Anou, are you lost little one?" REALLY?! THAT'S ALL YOU GOT KAZUMI?! She mentally chided herself. Social suicide would be better than this. "You really startled me you know, it's like you appeared out of nowhere." Seriously, where the fuck did he come from? Until just now, there was no indication of another presence anywhere; no Flame or anything. And yet here the child-hitman stood, Sun Flames on display for all to see. Or at least for those who could see. She crouched down to be at eye level with Reborn, and put a soft smile on her face, willing a calm composure. "If you're lost you can tell me. I can take you to your school, or the police station. Whichever you prefer."

"Are you a part of the mafia?" Reborn asked with feigned childish innocence while ignoring all of her questions. Kazumi nearly blanched when she saw that devious smirk briefly make its way across his face as he spoke.

"H-hah?" She stuttered. To be fair, out of all the things she expected the famous hitman to say, it was not to come straight out and ask about her affiliations. Needless to say, Kazumi was actually legitimately dumbstruck for a moment. "The mafia? What? You're funny little one." She actually managed to laugh. "Oh I get it. You must have heard from someone that I moved here from Italy. You must be one of those kids that have a wild imagination. Unless you have a brother or sister in my class. That would certainly make sense. I guess most people would make that assumption, hum? I suppose Italy is kind of known for being the home of the Mafia. But no, I'm not a part of all that." She could still feel the child in front of her starring. Judging. Calculating. Observing. He was definitely suspicious. She just hoped that her rambling was enough to throw him off her trail even the slightest bit.

"Okay." He answered simply, again with that fake innocence of a child. "I'm not lost by the way. I just wanted to say hello." And with that, he continued past Kazumi, once again leaving her completely dumbstruck.

"A-ah… okay. Have a good day then little one." She could practically feel her soul leaving her body as a cold sweat ran down her back. Forget Decimo and his Guardians, she was also against one of the Arcobaleno! If he were to find out who she really was, she'd be dead faster than she could think to just surrender herself. She'd rather take failure of this mission before that ever happened. And that was saying something.

In all her career, she couldn't think of a single individual who was as well protected as the heir to Vongola's figurative throne. In reality, it did make sense. Tsuna was supposedly the last remaining heir, so of course Vongola was going place all their cards in protecting him as he was being prepped to take over. But did it really have to be this extensive? Protected by an Arcobaleno?

Kazumi let out a huff as she finally found the energy to pull herself up away from the ground. She really didn't want to go to school now, knowing that her every move was being watched. Why else would the world's greatest hitman so carelessly approach, other than to warn her that he was on to her? But she couldn't let this shake her resolve. She had to continue to watch and observe; to find out what she could about the Decimo and his Guardians, find weaknesses or loop holes. Anything at this point if she wanted any form of success.

Dammit, she was going to have to resort to stalking at this point.

xXx

"So Kazumi-chan, have you thought about joining any after school clubs?" It was lunch and Kazumi had joined everyone on the roof for their mid-day meals. The entire time she was there, she had been daydreaming about methods of essentially stalking her target without being too obvious about it. Needless to say, she had been completely ignoring the flow of conversation, as well as her bento. Having been addressed directly, Kazumi turned to face the person who spoke, only to find the very cute Sasagawa Kyoko looking at her expectantly.

"Hah? Oh, humm. No, I actually haven't thought about it at all." She quickly answered in truth. Honestly, she hadn't even had the time to consider something so redundant.

"Well, what sort of hobbies do you enjoy? Maybe we can help you think of something?" Kazumi hummed, thinking hard. There certainly were things she enjoyed that she could do for an after school club, but that would mean revealing more about herself than she was willing to, let alone was comfortable with.

"I'm really not sure. Reading? I could join a book club… I guess…" While she did like to read, that idea sounded absolutely dreadful.

"A book club is always a good idea if you're running out of interesting things to read." Kyoko assured, completely missing the disdain in Kazumi's tone.

"What about sports? I saw that you're pretty good at some of them during P.E." Sitting beside Kyoko, Kurokawa Hana added in her two cents. "Although, I suppose it would be too late now to have a decent spot in any of them. Team tryouts are long over, you'd pretty much be stuck with anything that is strictly for hobby." Kazumi inwardly groaned. She definitely didn't want to get involved with clubs, especially sports. Even if she had the time, it risked way too much.

"Maybe I'll look into it next year. Like you said, it's a bit late for me to join now. Besides, I'm more or less still getting things settled from my move." Was that excuse good enough?

"Eh? Are you still not unpacked?" Tsuna interrupted from the other side of their deformed circle.

"Ah, not really." Kazumi let out a defeated sigh. "Keeping on top of my studies has really prevented me from getting a lot of other things finished."

"Oh no, that's not good." Kyoko said with concern written across her face. "Did you need any help? Hana-chan and I could come over on the weekend if you like." Oh no. No, no, no. That was not happening!

"That's alright, I'll just continue to take my time with it. It's not like I'm missing anything. I kind of just dig through the boxes when there's something I need right away; essentially unpacking as I need it. It's all labelled pretty well, so it' hasn't been too much trouble." Kazumi gave a sort of nervous laugh as she attempted to placate her classmates. After all, the last thing she needed was for any one of them to come over to her apartment and discover the sheer number of… less than legal weaponry stored here and there. "I appreciate the offer though, truly. Maybe once I do finally have everything unpacked and stored away, I'll invite everyone over." That garnered plenty of positive responses just as the bell sung the end of their lunch period. Kazumi looked down to the bento in her lap and frowned at the barely touched food. For later then. She thought as she packed it up and accompanied everyone back to class.

xXx

Their next class was replaced with a self-study period. Apparently the sensei had a sudden emergency to attend to, and there were no other teachers available at such short notice. Students expressed their concern for their teacher, but it was promptly forgotten once the classroom, full of teenagers, was largely left unattended. Kazumi could hear sounds of relief erupting form all over the classroom while her classmates chattered on about incomplete homework and lucky breaks, and how they now had time to catch up on other work. There were others that took the sudden free time for granted of course and used it to chat with friends sitting around them.

While Kazumi was tempted to sit there and stare at the ceiling as she went over more strategies regarding the fluffy-haired brunette sitting a few seats behind her, she figured it would be better to look productive with a book in hand. She barely even registered her own hand automatically moving to grab a novel from her school bag and opening it up to where she last bookmarked it. Only she realized that after a few minutes of just holding the book open, she hadn't even read anything at all.

"What ya reading there Kazumi?" Takeshi asked when he realized his seat neighbour was staring at the book with a dreaded expression.

"Nothing, apparently." She answered with a heavy sigh as she closed the book with a snap. "I guess there's other things I would rather be doing at the moment." Namely going out to the middle of nowhere, letting loose and just clearing her head. She lamely slumped over her desk. This was going to be a long hour.

"Ne, Hayato-kun, could you help me with the math homework from yesterday?" She heard Tsuna whisper down the row of desks. Kazumi turned her attention to the most prominent conversation in time to witness Hayato's beyond delighted expression. He was practically leaping out of his desk and running to Tsuna's side, coming to his aide. Only, as Kazumi listened to him trying to explain how a particular math formula worked, she found even herself lost and confused. Granted she was no mathematician, but at least she understood the subject enough to get good, solid passing grades.

"Gokudera-kun, I think you might be over complicating the question a bit." Kazumi grumbled as she got out of her chair to go to Tsuna's rescue. Wow. Wasn't that ironic. Kazumi held her hand out for Tsuna's pencil as she claimed the seat in front of his desk and began to write out the formula in question, all while ignoring Hayato's put off expression. It was obvious he was doing all he could to bite his tongue as he stood there and watched over their interaction. "In order to get the right answer, you need to know how the formula works, and what each part of it is for. Once you know that, you need to look at the question and figure out what numbers go where and fill it in accordingly."

"Okay, I get that, but how do I figure out which numbers are what?" Tsuna asked, still looking quite lost.

"The formula tells you." She answered as she began dividing the formula into segments, and labelling each for Tsuna's reference. "Once you figure out the correlation between the formula and the problem, it's relatively simple math from there." Tsuna still looked confused as he regarded Kazumi's hand writing on his paper.

"O-okay, let me try." He said, determination finally appearing and Kazumi couldn't help but smirk a little as she watch Tsuna carefully go over the problem. She sparred a quick glance to Hayato, who was glaring at her with the promise of death, and she couldn't help but flinch. She decided it would be best to not make any sort of eye contact with the Smokin' Bomb Hayato.

"Is Dame-Tsuna really still stuck on that?" Kazumi suddenly caught wind of the whispers floating around the room, and turned her attention to a group of classmates sitting near the door.

"Are you surprised? He is Dame-Tsuna." Hayato looked like he wanted to pounce on the offenders and claw their faces off, and Takeshi's usual smile dropped to a dangerous frown.

"Seriously, I can't believe he hasn't been kicked out yet. How did he even get accepted into high school?"

"Alright, that's enough." Kazumi stood up, addressing their classmates who were being unnecessarily rude. "Obviously I'm missing something here; Sure Sawada-kun might not be the brightest student in the classroom, and maybe he doesn't grasp the material as easily as everyone else, but what right does that give any of you to demean him for trying? In fact you should be praising him!

"When exactly did it become acceptable to leave your peer behind when they're struggling? If you were in his shoes, could you continue to laugh at yourself every day because you continuously fall behind while everyone else in class continues to succeed and refuses to lend their help?

"Listen, I've heard enough stories in the last month to piece a thing or two together, and frankly speaking, every single one of you should be ashamed of yourselves! Even you lot who sit there and do nothing. Putting yourselves so high on a pedestal that you can't even be bothered to reach out to someone in need. You're all less than scum as far as I'm concerned." The room was silent as Kazumi abruptly returned to her borrowed seat in front of Tsuna, who had turned to starring at her with a wide-eyed expression and reddened cheeks.

"Y-you didn't have to do that." He said suddenly, awe creeping into his tone as he regarded her frustrated expression.

"Apparently I did." Kazumi responded with a sharp, emerald glare. "You're just as guilty by the way; putting up with all their shit for as long as you have. Show some backbone for Pete's sake." At this point Kazumi had no idea what she was doing. She was an assassin with the task of killing off Vongola's next leader, and yet here she was, helping that very same person with a goddamn math problem and a bullying situation that clearly had gone on for far too long.

Once again, Kazumi found herself wondering how exactly Tsuna even had Sky Flames, never mind how incredibly strong they were. And once again, she found her own flames reaching out to his, trying to resonate.


Uhh… so I updated? Wow.

I mean, I struggled with this chapter cause it's supposed to reflect more everyday life shit… and then I changed my mind on a few things… and yeah…

And I did warn you all last chapter that World of Warcraft might get in the way. (It totally consumed my life for a few months. I don't even apologise for that. FOR THE HORDE!)

I DO apologise however, if any of this chapter feels like it came out of left field… because it kind of did. I'll probably come back and edit it five million years from now. Probably even completely change it. Maybe. We'll see. I might even do that on my next day off since it is currently nearing 2AM. Seriously, why people let me write this late at night is a mystery. Some of the things I come up with…

For now, I once again thank you for picking up my fic and reading it so far. I promise the best parts will be coming soon. Just gotta get through the everyday life crap. Please remember to leave a review with your questions, comments, ENCOURAGMENT, and even ideas if you have anything that you think may go well with this story.

Happy reading!

~Rahxe