Word Count: 7896

Disclaimer: I don't own Katekyo Hitman Reborn!

Part 17: Ruckus Never Ends

Coming home after Mafia Land was like accidentally setting off a box full of fireworks.

It was loud, sometimes there was a fire, kids were crying, and there were actual explosives. It was actually nice, minus the fact that they had to cover up whatever messes came about because of their friends (Hayato).

When the second year of school started, Natsume wasn't at all feeling bad about her and Tsuna being in separate classes again, mostly because he had good friends like Takeshi and Hayato – most were intimidated by the Italian teen and decided that he was not one to piss off.

The school year went on fine, until one blond teen transferred over into her class, who she really wasn't going to bother with him because he seemed 'loud' and 'too much to deal with'. So she wasn't at all surprised when he called to her once the bell for lunch rang and gave her a big grin.

'Even if you don't want to talk, it's always polite to give people the attention they think they need, it'll keep them happy and content and it will be much easier to get certain persons to side with you when you need help.'

Did that lesson apply here?

Something about the teen bothered her senses and it wasn't until he was introducing himself, trying to be charming and suave did she realize who he may be.

"Longchamp?" she repeated his name, trying not to look at the blond as if he was mental (because who in their right mind just comes out and says they're Mafia?), Reborn had only done it but that was because he's Reborn and it seemed he could do whatever he wanted (his treatment in Mafia Land was a real eye opener on how big a deal Reborn really was).

The kid winked at her, stuffing his hands in his pockets, "I heard you're the girl to talk to if I want a word with the Vongola Boss."

"Who said that now?" she was straining to keep up the smile, she just wanted to know who had said that so she could make them feel bad, or yell, she was pretty good at yelling.

"Reborn of course!"

"Heh, really?" while the teen nodded enthusiastically, Natsume was of the thought that Reborn probably wouldn't give this kid the time of day. "Well, perhaps after school, so you can have more time to talk?"

And so she could dump Longchamp on Tsuna and Hayato while she looked for Reborn, because really she didn't sign up for this.

"Cool! I'll see you later then!" and the blond was off to meet with a man who looked a little too old to be in Middle school.

Natsume shook her head slightly, not putting much more thought into what Naito could possibly want. He appeared harmless, didn't seem to actually want anything from her brother and if something did happen; well there was always Hayato to take care of that.

/ | \

After school she had made it seem like she was going to stay and wait for Kyoko. She watched from her classroom window as Naito met up with Tsuna, was amused as Hayato was his usual, suspicious self (she could hear him yelling at the blond).

She turned to leave the classroom only to see a person she really hadn't been wanted to meet, at least not by herself (especially after what Reborn had pulled in the reception room, really only he would find it amusing to slap the most bloodthirsty kid with a slipper upside the head.)

"Hibari-san."

"Sawada."

Oh, no good, he actually used her name. (Don't freak out, be calm, I know there's scary stories about him, but stay calm….)

The prefect seemed content to just stare down at her, blocking off the doorway, while she tried to not fidget around.

"Did I do something Hibari-san?"

There was the sound of dynamite going off (along with joyous laughter and commentary about pretty fireworks, damn Naito had a pair of lungs on him) and Natsume tried not to wince as Hibari narrowed his eyes at her.

"Keep your group under control," was all he said as he finally moved away from the doorway. She stared after him, a bit confused and she wondered when the hell people started assuming that she was the one they listened to.

"Sawada."

"Uh, Kusakabe-san?"

The (really) tall vice president of the committee nodded, his hair bouncing slightly at the movement, "Did Hibari-san speak with you?" he actually seemed a bit surprised over something and now she was curious as to why the supposed leaders of the Discliplinary Committee were looking for her.

"He said something about controlling my group."

Kusakabe sighed through his nose, his mouth a tight line, "Reports have come from our members about you speaking against the committee, is this true?"

She made a noise at the back of her throat, glancing upwards as if to see the answer as to why this was happening written up there.

It wasn't.

"Why does this matter now?"

"You must understand we cannot have students speaking badly against the committee, especially when it was formed for the sake of them."

Natsume raised a brow, an insincere smile crossing her features, "I'll believe that when I see it happen, Kusakabe-san. Few of your people actually do what they're supposed too and the others just do as they please, knowing they'll get away with it."

"Then why not speak up?"

"Ha, yeah right and be on the shit list of those people," Natsume snarked with, finally making her way out of the classroom, "I know better than to try to tattle on those who are doing wrong, now if you'll excuse me."

And she left, because she had places to be and she'd rather not have a certain old man waiting.

/ | \

"Hello, hello to you!"

"Hi?"

The man before her seemed incapable of standing still, either bouncing in place or shuffling side to side. The markings around his eyes kind of reminded her of a panda and with the antics he had going on, he appeared much younger than he probably was.

"Don't overwhelm the girl, Wonomichi," Kawahira chastised, fanning himself lightly from where he sat on the couch, watching the meeting going on. Compared to Wonomichi, Natsume seemed a lot more reserved until someone irked her, so he was kind of curious to see how the girl reacted to his

"Is she the one?"

Kawahira nodded, crossing one leg over the other, "This is my acquirer, Wonomichi, he travels about and picks up on certain curiosities or anything that I think the shop needs."

Wonomichi nodded, the gesture looking a bit exaggerated, "Oh yes, hee~hee~"

"Oh," Natsume got out, trying to get used to the big, cheerful presence that the panda eyed man before her had. "Is this why you wanted me to come today?"

"No," Kawahira shook his head, "He dropped by, brought in a couple new things if you want to have a look at them."

Wonomichi nodded once again, "Oh, yes, yes~ there are a couple new crystals I brought, they're actually whole instead of the pieces I usually bring, along with some books, fresh herbs to replace the ones you needed and antiques that most people don't want."

"I'll sort that later, you may go and rest if you desire too, Wonomichi."

The slick haired man tipped is head forward, bidding both a good day and disappeared to the small upstairs attic that Kawahira had set up for guests. As soon as the other man disappeared, the white haired man snapped his fan shut, flicking his wrist out which made the furniture in the room 'disappear'.

He made a circular motion with his hand and in the place of the coffee table and the other couch that had been, a circle of mist appeared.

"A short spar today and then we'll improve on that mood sense of yours."

Luckily she came prepared today, even if she didn't get a chance to change out of her skirt she had worn shorts underneath and her usual workout shirt that she had started wearing when Reborn started their daily exercise.

Stepping into the circle, she breathed out slowly, keeping her eyes on the man before her, who had a knowing smile before he covered it up by opening up his fan and using it to hide his face. His eyes peered at her over the edge, taking note of the loose way she stood, shoulders relaxed and feet shoulder width apart.

"As I've said before, Mist users are not physical fighters," he began, beginning to pace around the edge of the 'line' he had created, Natsume mimicking him. "There was once a time when that was nonsense and Mists were considered the worst fighters to go up against. A fight is never a fair one with a Mist, not when they can both physically harm you and create a mental disturbance at the same time."

Using the advantage of both his height and reach, it only took a quick two steps to get in the girl's space, the hand that held his fan coming down in slicing motion. As always with Natsume there was a flicker, her hands coming up and wrists crossing to block his strike.

The first couple times they had done this, she had bled, now his fan crumpled at the edges and she pushed out, one hand coming up to catch his wrist and the other flowing down, palm up as it came towards his stomach, a haze of indigo becoming a sharp point.

It made contact, piercing through him and yet his body did not bleed, instead it dissolved, becoming nothing and the essence of mist flames pooling along the ground.

Natsume jumped into the air, eyes flashing amber as she did so and a small bout of flame appearing on her head. She floated a few inches off the ground and barely had time to turn around to block the next hit that Kawahira had aimed at her lower back.

She was pushed away, towards the middle, spinning from the force and making it harder for her to focus. Her hands came down at her sides before one moved forward and the other went back and kept them at shoulder level.

Kawahira had once again disappeared and she was forced to focus on where he would pop up again. She inhaled slowly, amber eyes seeming distant and uncaring and without a single twitch, she let herself fall to the floor, where the mist began to crawl up her legs, only for her arms (which she had still been holding up) to come down once more and made a thrusting gesture.

From her pointer and middle fingers, a straight line of mixed flames emitted, dispersing through the mist, making it all pool together to one side and forcing Kawahira to show himself.

There was a wry smirk on Kawahira's face as he took in his student's crouched form, the oddly colored eyes and the small flame that appeared on her forehead.

'What would you think of me now, Sepira?' he thought to himself, flicking his fan closed and sliding it up his sleeve. He mimicked his student's stance, though not going as low as she was, 'See, through this one, our ways will live on.'

/ | \

"Hey Tsuna, are you doing the sports festival?"

"Probably not –"

"Why wouldn't Tsuna be a part of it?"

It was due to how many times Reborn liked to pop up on them that Natsume didn't bat an eye and it was because of Reborn appearing when he pleased and announcing the oddest of things that Tsuna only looked up and asked whoever was up there why him?

"Sawada!" and that was Ryohei, who seemed to be burning with energy and looked a little too pumped up over something. "You've been chosen as Captain for your class!"

Here Natsume directed an annoyed look at Reborn, who didn't even bother acknowledging it – he was used to people directing their darkest intent at him, what was a girl's annoyance going to do? (Nothing, absolutely nothing but amuse him.)

"That's a joke, right senpai?"

Tsuna seemed a little too calm, though Natsume knew he wanted to freak out, it was in the way the corner of his eyes crinkled, even though he smiled like he usually did, there was a fakeness to it. Reborn seemed to have noticed it, because he didn't comment on it further, instead turning to the others,

"I'm curious to see how you all work in a group with Tsuna leading it."

Tsuna made a sound that was a cross between Emi's whining cries and a dying animal, the brunet put his face in his hands, "Don't tell me –"

'You are selecting guardian candidates already?'

"They came to you actually."

Why Tsuna assumed he was picking his guardians out for him, Reborn had no clue; did he not understand the lesson on how a Sky drew in their elements on their own? There was no way to force a bond like Harmony between people, not even if it was for the best.

The others merely looked on, confusion clear on their faces as they watched the tutor and his student stare at each other, while Natsume seemed to have left the classroom, unease filling her once again.

/ | \

Sports Day was both like any other that Namimori had hosted and a little different.

Honestly Natsume was actually surprised to be chosen to play for the volleyball part and was not at all surprised when her mother actually came around and cheered the loudest, because that was her baby girl and look at her kick ass!

Of course no one understood exactly what Nana was saying, Reborn caught a couple words and Tsuna was mostly left to translating for those that really wanted to know (Kyoko was curious).

The girls from team A and B had decided to team up against C and were smart enough to know exactly how Natsume played and how vicious she could be. Tsuna winced already knowing that the force Natsume used to smack the ball to the other side was her all especially so they could get the winning point.

The other side managed to get to the ball, throwing it up and doing one of the more confusing plays that often turned around the opponents, seeing as people kept feinting until they finally hit it.

"Oi! Get dat!"

There was the sound of shoes squeaking against the floor, a grunt from one of the girls that tended to stay back as she slid and managed to prop the ball up. One tossed it to the other, tossing back up, when one of the other girls went to run up and make it seem like she was going to it, she was about to hit with her right hand, only to switch it up and use her left hand, swatting the ball to the other side where only one of the upperclassmen stood.

The girl tried to get it, only to miss and the last point to go to the combined teams of the lower classmen.

There was an uproar from the stands and Natsume couldn't quite shake out the giddy feeling of actually having won and people congratulating her on her plays, along with her teammates.

An odd crooked smile appeared on her face, especially when her mother came up, her brother alongside her.

"You set me up," she whispered in his ear when he gave her a side hug.

Since he had been made 'Captain', it had been up to him to set up the teams depending on the sports they were playing this year around. Compared to the previous year's Captain's, who were usually focused on winning, Tsuna's main idea was to just have fun. When the others had tried to fight over, he merely waited for them to quiet down, giving them the disappointed puppy face which surprisingly worked.

(Reborn would have patted himself on the back for that one, if only Tsuna didn't look like a wounded pup when he was supposed to pull off disappointed boss look #2, ((make them feel guilty for trying to deny you)).

All Tsuna did was give her this cattish smile, tugging on the end of her braid, "You loved it though."

She pursed her lips to keep from smiling, but she couldn't exactly hide that, "Whatever, just remember what you have to do after this."

Here Tsuna paled, letting his head fall forward to the point his chin nearly rested against his chest, "Don't remind me."

"Come on Tsume, Tsuna, picture!"

She held up a peace sign, barely sticking the tip of her tongue out and Tsuna gave the camera a scrunched nose, his head coming up to almost lean against Natsume's.

"Now with your team!"

The others were still around, their own parents nodding eagerly and once the whole team was together, Tsuna was about to sneak out, only for one of the taller girl's to put an arm around him and give him a wide smile, "Everyone say Tsuna-Taichou!"

The sound Tsuna emitted made the team laugh and by the end of it Tsuna was blushing a deep red from all the congratulations and thank yous he received from his classmates.

Reborn popped up on his shoulder, patting Tsuna on the head, "You'll get used to that soon enough."

Kyoko and Hana had waited for Natsume outside of the locker room, who came out of the locker room sporting her casual clothes (black knee length shorts and a light grey baseball tee with burgundy sleeves).

"Good game Natsume," Hana said to the other girl, a playful smile on her lips, "I'm actually surprised you did so well."

Here Natsume rolled her eyes, "I have been going to the practices and I may be playing in the fall."

"Congratulations! I know you've been working towards that!" Kyoko said her usual bright self and being the light to Hana's bland self. The trio walked together toward the field that had been set up for the last tournament, finding Nana was easy (she seemed to be talking to Bianchi, whose magenta hair led the way).

"You know I'm so glad Tsuna actually went along with being captain," Kyoko piped up, wiggling her fingers at both Lambo and I-pin "From what onii-san has said, these games usually get very violent and people fight a lot with each other."

"Yeah?" The twins had decided to skip out on last year's game, just wishing Takeshi luck since he was playing in the baseball game.

Kyoko hummed, "I don't know how Tsuna did it, but I'm glad he was able to convince everyone to just have fun with it."

"Sometimes I wonder why people call you two, No Good," Hana added, arms crossed her chest and keeping Natsume and Kyoko between the kids. The questioning look Hana received had her rolling her shoulder back, "It was when we would sit in and have lunch every now and then with you two, someone told us that, but I'm never one to listen to what others say."

Kyoko sported a frown here, "Yeah, I remember that and I didn't get it, because you two are anything but that."

Natsume was feeling a little out of her element, especially because she never did like talking about how others treated her and her brother and often just dealt with it, "Oh."

Noticing this, Kyoko merely gave Natsume a warm smile, "You two are great and hopefully after all this," here she waved out at the group of boys all but shouting war cries (was that Hibari being held up by Group C?), "People will see you two differently."

There was a loud smacking sound as the groups merged, Natsume could barely make out Takeshi, Hayato and Ryohei supporting Tsuna, who ducked away from one of Hibari's swings and tried to keep his balance at the same time.

Tsuna's pole leaned more forward as Hibari's was pulled back and held straight up and her brother used that to jump from one pole to the other and push Hibari off, who saw it coming and switched around.

"Drop the pole! Sawada's on it!"

There was a startled cry from Tsuna when the pole began to lower and he jumped off, wrapping around the other pole and tried his best not to slip off. Natsume watched, curious to see what else her brother would do and when he grabbed onto the edge of the small platform and began to swing himself side to side, she shook her head.

The others who held realized what their Captain was doing and began to move along with him, Hibari, who tried to hold onto the platform, raised a brow in amusement and pushed himself off onto the lowering pole of Group C's, which ended up falling all the way down with a resounding smack with his sudden weight.

It was quiet as both sides tried to realize what had just happened and soon the air was rent with a bunch of shouts of delight.

"Maybe they will," Natsume finally voiced, hands lacing behind her back as she saw Tsuna being hauled about like a sack of potatoes.

Part 18: Our Last Peaceful Summer

When summer came around, Takeshi had suggested a friendly game of baseball and for once no one was actually against it. So plans were made and on the following weekend of the summer break, the group of friends had met at one of the parks that had a small baseball pitch.

"This is going to be bad," Natsume said, tying up her shoes and then double knotting them so they wouldn't come undone.

"This is going to be extreme!"

Kyoko expertly ignored her brother, instead asking Natsume why she thought that, "I have a feeling."

They would have split the teams up, but seeing as each team would have only ended up with three people (Hana had decided to just watch and eat the snacks that the twin's had brought, the moocher) instead depending on how long it took to get a decent hit on the ball and have it go a ways past second base, did each person get a point – of course depending on how many strikes a person got, it could also go against them seeing as every three strikes a point was taken away.

Then they would have to run around the pitch and at least try to make it back to home base without getting tagged out and the only people to manage that so far was Ryohei and Takeshi.

The first round had gone well enough as did the second round.

It was the third round where one little problem arose and Natsume was a little irked that she had lost the points she had earned and was heading towards the negatives. Takeshi tried not to laugh at the irritated look she was casting him, almost giving him the evil eye.

"Just hit the ball Natsume."

The light haired girl looked behind her at Reborn, cocking her hip to the side as she rested the bat on her shoulder, "I'm going to hit you instead, what do you think I've been trying to do?"

Reborn didn't bat an eye, already having an idea of which way she would swing if she did try to do that (which she wouldn't because Kyoko would talk her ear off about how to properly play with children), "Then get good."

"I would if someone," she turned back to Takeshi who held up his hands to try to placate her or keep her away, "Didn't throw it so damn fast! Honestly, can I have Ryohei throwing it again?"

All the dark haired teen do was shake his head, his hands going behind his back, heel tapping against the dirt mound, "One more time."

She shrugged the bat off, her wrist moving along with it and the head of the bat hit the floor. She sighed, her shoulders moving along with exaggeratedly, "Fine."

She got ready once more, breathing in deeply and out slowly, eyes focusing on Takeshi and on the way he moved. He threw the ball as he usually did, but for the couple of seconds it took to get to Natsume it moved much slower. When she judged the ball close enough she swung with all her might and the ball made a resounding crack against the wooden bat and flew straight back at Takeshi.

Time resumed and Takeshi was just barely able to catch the ball before it decided to lodge itself in his stomach. Honeyed eyes blinked down in surprise before looking at the wide ones of Natsume's. A strangled kind of laugh escaped her, because wow that would have sucked to get hit in the gut.

"Next! And this time don't try to actively hurt the pitcher!" Reborn didn't bother trying to hide the mirth from his voice, nor the smirk that had appeared on his features.

Natsume handed the bat off to Ryohei, who was bounding over and flashing her a thumbs up, "Nice hit Natsume!"

"Right, luck be with you, senpai," she said to him before heading up and taking his spot on third base.

Ryohei missed the first pitch, along with the second but managed the third, sending it over Takeshi and out towards Hayato's direction. At this point Hayato was running on 'I must win out of spite' fumes and was actually able to catch Ryohei's hit, earning a point for himself instead of it going towards Ryohei's score.

Hayato passed the ball to Tsuna, who tossed it over to Takeshi and the next person to go up was Kyoko. The dainty looking girl took up the bat and got comfortable, giving Takeshi a nod that she was ready. The pitcher threw and Kyoko swung and there was resounding smack as the ball hit wood once again. The ball headed towards Natsume, who tried to catch it and did only for her foot to step into an unexpected hole.

All the other's saw was the teen tripping over what seemed nothing and a rather quiet 'agh' leaving her. Hayato being the closest bounded over to her seeing the scrunched up face on his Boss's sister's face, of course she seemed to put that aside for now and thrust the ball in his face.

"I got this damned thing," she hissed out, picking herself up and wincing when she put weight on her right foot. "Damnit, help me."

With the help of Hayato she was taken to where Hana was siting, who shook her head while happily sipping at a juice box, "This is why I don't play sports."

Natsume scoffed at the same time Hayato did, though his went by unnoticed, "Really, I would have never realized that."

The others bounded in, using the moment to call for a break and eat some of the snacks. Hayato grabbed a couple napkins and picked up some of the ice cubes in the chest and folded them up and handed it to Natsume, "Here put this on where it hurts so it doesn't swell up too bad."

"Awwee, Haya-chan cares," Natsume couldn't help but tease as she took what he offered her, enjoying the pink that appeared around his cheeks.

"Sh-shut up!"

"Don't be shy, Hayato, we're friends aren't we?"

The teen sputtered, quickly turning away from her and busying himself with the sandwiches they had wrapped earlier in the day. He counted himself lucky, because if Haru had decided to join them (who at times appeared out of nowhere when her schedule allowed it) she would have gone to the point where Hayato just stalked off.

"You okay, Tsume?"

"Hmm, I think I'll be fine," she assured her brother, who had crouched in front of her, Takeshi standing close beside him. "I think I'll be hopping home though."

"We'll take a better look at that when we get home," Reborn piped up from beside her and really, she was going to throttle the kid (person, whatever) one day, because he could at least not try to sneak up on them all the time.

She nodded, understanding that though he could heal her, there were too many unknowing people around them for him to do so.

"Nice catch though, earned you back a point at least!" Takeshi as always tried to see the brighter side of things, looking down at her a bit unsure.

Natsume looked back at her brother, before she looked at Takeshi again, "Negative 2, goes up to negative one, I still lost."

The taller teen shrugged, taking a seat beside her, while Tsuna sat on her other side, "You had fun at least, right?" he asked, and she noticed as one of his brows rose on the last word, as if he was seeking some sort of approval or something.

She nodded, "I did, and also my bad for almost gutting you with the baseball, I suck at getting it to go up." Takeshi laughed, his hands in his lap, thumbs fiddling with each other, it wouldn't have been the first time she had almost hit him or someone else, the two times that Natsume had swung before it either narrowly evaded a person or bounced right over them.

"It happens."

"Here you guys go," Tsuna piped up handing off two juice boxes and wrapped sandwiches. Natsume flipped her hand palm up and made a squeezing motion and a bag of chips was put in her hand before she could even voice what she wanted.

"Thanks Tuna-fish~"

Hayato ended sitting in front of them eyeing Ryohei as the other white haired teen began speaking with Tsuna, bringing up the sports day and how much of a success it had been.

"I honestly didn't think you had it in you Tsuna, I'm really glad you did it though!" the boxing captain honestly proclaimed, which seemed to irk Hayato, because why is he talking like that to the Tenth? The silver haired teen was nudged and he caught Natsume's good ankle and gave her a slight glare.

"Really?"

She sniffed, wriggling her foot in his grip until he let go, "You had that look on your face."

Hayato narrowed his eyes, "What look?"

The girl cupped her chin and tried to make mock lovey dovey face, "Oh tenth, no one talks that way to the tenth~ how dare they – look," she snickered at his deadpanned expression. "It's adorable, sometimes, but you should chill."

"I am chill."

Takeshi decided to get in before Natsume could blow a raspberry in the silver haired teen's direction, "Why do you call Tsuna, tenth? I've always wondered that."

Here Hayato and Natsume locked gazes, Natsume's brows slightly rising and Hayato clamping his mouth shut, "Ah, Hayato's weird like that." The disapproving look she received for that was ignored as she turned to Takeshi, "Y'know he says weird stuff all the time."

Takeshi frowned feeling as if he wasn't getting the truth at all, but he decided to leave it for now, "Is it because of those games you play with the kid?" Or maybe he wasn't, really, he wanted to know what they did exactly because it looked like fun (and maybe, just maybe, he wanted to grow like Tsuna did, he wanted to be better than he was, than he had been. He wanted to prove to people that he was more than just a baseball player and maybe that would help…)

"You interested in our games, Takeshi?"

Natsume looked away, mouth pressed in a thin line as she once more looked at Hayato who looked at least a touch apologetic, especially knowing how seriously Reborn took those 'games' that Takeshi thought they did.

He had been dragged along on the training at times and it was almost hell to keep up and go through whatever obstacles or mock battles that Reborn set up for them. Hopefully the baseball idiot wouldn't actually be brought into it, unlike Hayato he wasn't Mafia, and didn't have a need to get involved.

Of course under Reborn's eye, he could see the tentative bonds forming, Takeshi's need to prove himself and the way either twin regarded the baseball player. It was more noticeable in Tsuna, Natsume still seeming to hold a slight grudge against Takeshi, probably not even realizing that she was still slightly upset at him (Reborn had noticed her flame act up and guide the ball back to Takeshi, it was just luck and quick reflexes that Takeshi wasn't in the hospital).

The others were slowly coming along, but there was no rush, Tsuna still had time to gather his people, though it seemed that they would truly become his if they accepted Natsume and the girl accepted them back.

Odd, but it wasn't odd for a twinned flame, even if it was a bit weak on Natsume's side (while Tsuna's was bright and warm and pure, hers had been twisted through her Mist, appearing darker and untrusting, but just as powerful when she put her mind to it).

Silly to put the two as such, but they were each other's Yin (Natsume) and Yang (Tsuna).

"I'll play along if you let me."

"Let's play a game once Natsume's ankle starts feeling better then."

Before they had left that day they had planned a beach trip, Kyoko saying that she would try to get Haru to come along, while Natsume made a face that was quickly wiped away by Tsuna's elbow digging into her side.

"Excuse you, I'm injured."

"If you keep making faces, your face will get stuck that way."

Natsume stuck out her tongue and pulled the bottom of her eye at Tsuna, who looked as if he was suffering because of her.

"Hey, Takeshi, would you mind helping me carry Natsume?"

"Sure Tsuna!"

"What, I don't need to be – Heeeyy, nooo," she really couldn't say anything, not as Takeshi squatted down and pretty much offered her a piggy back ride back home and knowing that Hayato wouldn't make it far with her and that Tsuna just didn't want too.

She sniffed at her brother in disdain as she was hauled up, wrapping her arms around Takeshi's shoulders to not slip off, "I'm going to get you back Tsuna, you betta be ready to get owned."

Tsuna merely waved her off, picking up the now empty ice chest, while Hayato (slightly against his will) carried the gear Takeshi had brought.

The foursome began making their way back to the Sawada home, Reborn having long abandoned them to do more 'interesting' things. It was an almost peaceful walk home – almost because Natsume realized Takeshi was ticklish and was nearly dropped when she poked at his side.

Tsuna caught the cackle his sister tried to smother, when she tried breathing out an apology between choked laughter to Takeshi, who was pouting of all things.

"Y'know," Tsuna started, drawling the word out and earning a look from his sister, "The back side of her knee and her feet are very ticklish."

"Death to traitors."

All Takeshi did was give him a smile that would have usually been passed off as innocent, minus the fact that the teen's honeyed eyes had a mischievous spark to them.

"Try it and I –"

"You'll what?" Takeshi questioned, brow rising in challenge at her tone.

The girl harrumphed and while others would have said she was sneering and looking down at them, Tsuna knew she was just pouting.

"I'll make you regret it in the games."

Hayato covered up the sound he made by taking a drag off of his cigarette, if the baseball idiot accepted that, he was going to regret it.

"Oh yeah?" there was an edge there, one that Tsuna had quietly dubbed 'dark Takeshi' because his friend was usually sweet and very mild tempered making Tsuna wonder what his friends mind was like to make him seem so threatening at such a challenge. "We'll see."

Takeshi didn't see the smirk that curled Natsume's lips, though it quickly disappeared when he began to tickle the back of her knee and she tried to clamp down on his hand, only for her to realize that that was her bad leg and ouch, no this wasn't fun anymore.

"Be prepared to be filled with regrets," she bit out. She tugged at his hair when he wouldn't cease, "Mind you that's actually hurting me."

When he realized why, all the baseball player did was laugh.

/ | \

It was the morning of the beach trip and Reborn had decided to choose that day of all day's to have a little 'training', so there newest member could know what to expect. It was a bleary eyed group of teens that met out in Namimori's Forest, the sun nowhere near rising as they huddled around.

Tsuna could see why Reborn had suggested going to sleep early last night, he was just happy he actually listened. Natsume stood a ways back, looking grumpy at having been woken up and literally dragged out of bed – she hadn't been a part of the last session, she had thought she would have been able to skip this one out.

Hayato meanwhile looked ready for just about anything, though he tried to play off that he was relaxed. Takeshi was just curious to know what was about to happen and why everyone seemed so high strung about it (because it was so obvious, how many times did the guys on the team try to act cool, but really they were all gung ho and ready to go for whatever.)

Reborn finally stepped out from wherever he had been hiding, hands tucked into the pockets of his suit's jacket and seeming unusually serious.

"Today we will only be out here for an hour, afterwards you can return home and rest, I was just curious to see where you all stand at the current moment, especially once we add in our new player here," here Reborn took his hands out of his pockets, hand going up to his fedora where Leon scattered out from the back and crawled onto his hand. "We will be learning about Rain and what the meaning of that element is, Takeshi here will demonstrate."

The others tensed, Natsume actually being the most relaxed out of all of them as Leon morphed into a gun and before Takeshi could even ask what was about to happen, a shot rang out (and she felt a phantom pain in her forehead and the sound rang out forever but she couldn't focus on that now, later, always later. She could deal with this later.)

Takeshi felt his whole body tense up before it relaxed, there was a sudden blankness to him that was nice to feel, compared to the constant conflicting thoughts that ran through his head. With the blankness came a darkness that he didn't like, it was terrifying, sickening, it made his worst thoughts seem like nothing.

He didn't want that, he wanted to live, he wanted to be with his friends.

People that cared and probably loved him, just like his old man did, just like his mother once had.

He opened his eyes (when had he ever closed them?) and everything around him felt much clearer, his movements were free and he felt as if he wasn't being weighed down by, by something.

What had the kid done?

He looked down at his hands, brow scrunching in thought as he tried to figured out just why exactly he felt so different, yet so much better.

"Ahem," that was Natsume clearing her throat and when he looked up, he could see her hands glowing an odd color. She clucked her tongue at him and when he looked to meet her gaze, she shook her head, "You have about five minutes to stand against me," she said and he noted that her eyes were purple like that one time. "Let's see how well you do."

He reached for the baseball bat the kid had left at his house last night and barely managed to bring it up in time to counter whatever the hell Natsume sent his way. The serpentine figure dispersed when the hidden sword in his bat revealed itself, but was quickly replaced by Natsume taking its place, coming in low and aiming to kick his legs out of him.

'Jump, bring the sword down' his instincts screamed at him and before he could even compute he had done just so and had sliced through the girl he considered friend. He should feel shocked shouldn't he? But he was calm and collected, sword held at his side, both hands on the grip as he waited for – what was he waiting for?

"You will come to realize that these games are much more than they seem," Takeshi chanced a look over his shoulder to see Natsume and he felt some part of him sigh in relief, "These games prepare us for the life before us."

He didn't say anything, instead bringing his sword up and just trying to swing through the girl, who blocked it with a staff that she did not have seconds ago. She didn't budge, she had faced Kawahira one too many times – had taken the man's brute strength and flames to let someone like Takeshi's power hinder her.

"You have three minutes to beat me," blue eyes narrowed and Natsume could feel the rise in his flames, a soothing feeling settled about her, trying to calm her, but she knew better than to let it get to her. She pushed his sword away, leaving him open and another her instantly appeared at his side a shorter staff in her hand as she swung it at Takeshi and used it to bat him away.

The teen rolled into the ground, holding his stomach and surprisingly not feeling any pain, when he righted himself back up it was to barely use his sword to block another of Natsume's hits, only for a hit to come from behind him and throw him aside.

"Baby Rain still has a lot to learn," She almost cooed at him as if she would have been talking to Emi. Takeshi blinked once he righted himself back up and was confused to be stared down by Tsuna and Hayato, Natsume still a ways back behind them. "You two can have at him, I'll stay back."

The other two boys nodded, Tsuna's eyes a bright gold as he strode forward, hands coming up in a placating motion, because right now judging by both his flames and his expression, Takeshi was confused.

"Just relax," Tsuna spoke, his usually soft spoken voice sounding much confident, like it demanded to be listened too. "Hayato, no dynamite, but try to keep him from being able to run away." The silver haired teen nodded, knowing that the Rain before them was at risk of just taking off instead of facing down three people.

Takeshi seemed about to give in and Tsuna almost sighed in relief at how easy this would be, only for Takeshi to change his intentions at the last second and swing his baseball bat which turned into a freaking sword.

"No dynamite!"

"We need more cover, Tenth!" they were in a pretty open area at the moment and if they had a thicker band of trees and plants around them, the idiot before them wouldn't be able to swing that thing around so easily.

"Any ideas then?"

Hayato thought, keeping out of reach of Takeshi's newly found blade, while Tsuna tried to edge closer, "There's a spot, I think it's up ahead that would be ideal! We could herd him there!"

"Use dynamite to push him there then! Don't use too many at once though!" Hayato nodded, already ahead of what Tsuna wanted from him.

While the boys did that, Natsume stood back and watched, trying not to let the gaze that was boring into the back of her head get to her.

"Since when do you know how to manipulate a person's reality?"

She tried to keep her thoughts blank, because Reborn had a habit (and probably a secret ability) of reading minds, "Since I decided I should be able to do that."

Well didn't she sound all prissy now?

A shiver ran down her spine and she chanced a look down at Reborn and almost regretted it, because there was something mildly off about the small hitman. His shadow had stretched, the dim light of the moon barely making it noticeable, he seemed much bigger and so much more dangerous.

She let out a shaky breath, her fingernails digging into the underside of her arms to try and keep her cool (she had a feeling he knew that she was unnerved).

"Hmph," was all the hitman directed at her as he finally looked away and decided to follow the trio that had just taken off. He stopped a couple steps away, casting one last look at the teen behind him, "Don't trust so easily kid, sometimes a person's good will, turns out to be for the worst."

He had learned that a long time ago and though he had chosen to forget certain things about his past, there was still that angry side of him that regretted falling for a ploy.

"The sweetest offers are usually the most bitter."

Intermission 6

I would have thought that training these two would have been much harder than Dino had been – they were civilian-born and bred, never truly having to deal with the lifestyle that previous members of their family had once been involved in.

Unlike Dino, who purposely dug his heels into the ground and tried his best to not go down the road that his birth had chosen for him, these two weren't as unwilling to walk it.

Perhaps they held out hope for a better successor to be chosen, which was highly unlikely or maybe they found it better to just go along with it. They were of course still very young and the only hardship in life they had faced was the bullying that the other kids did to them.

It wasn't difficult to see where they struggled and it did take some harsh nudging to make them go along – Tsuna was awkward and clumsy, a little too hopeful and completely unwilling to protect himself, while Natsume was untrusting, too overprotective, and all too willing to take over when her brother found himself floundering.

They had grown so much in the few months that I've had them and it was all mostly thanks to the unsealing that led them to such growth.

They had friends, they were much more open and welcoming, and they were even able to get along better with the other students– though some were still a bit hesitant. They were drawing in people whether they wanted to or not and I have a feeling that these two will be something great.

All I have to do is guide them along and continue pushing them as I have.

Author Note:

Aaahhh, so I'm actually quite happy with this chapter.

Then again when I judge something it usually turns out it was bad.

Whatevs.

Questions, comments or concerns, just let me know!

Sorugao