Word Count: 8209

Disclaimer: I don't own KHR or stuff.

Part 19: The Water Does Not Stir Yet

When they had all decided to head to the beach, it was thought that it was only going to be them. What ended up happening was a lot more people tagging along.

Which made for a very interesting train ride.

Why everything in their life lately had to be loud, Natsume didn't know, but it seemed her brother didn't mind it and her mother seemed to bask in the noise. The teen couldn't wait for the day she could have her mother's poise and ability to just play off whatever insane act was happening around her, because right now she really wished she could look away from Ryohei, who had managed to get Hayato to do a pull up battle on the holding bars.

Lambo was surprisingly quiet, sitting between her and her mother, snoozing away the train ride, completely out to all the noise (she kind of wished she could do that now, she was exhausted and she regretted expending herself earlier).

Takeshi was on her left, soft snores coming from him and every so often sitting up when the train jostled him awake.

Natsume made a sound in the back of her throat, glancing down at her mother's wrist watch to check the time.

8:02, it would take about another hour to get to where they were going, so perhaps she would take a leaf out of Lambo's and Takeshi's book and take a nap herself.

/ | \

"So how do you feel about everything so far, lil bro?" Dino asked Tsuna, who had finally managed to get Ryohei and Hayato from doing their little competition (Tsuna wondered how Ryohei even managed to get Hayato to go along with this, because Hayato was prickly on the best days and a ticking time bomb on the worst).

"Ah, good?" Tsuna answered, "I think? I don't know actually."

"Eh?" By the looks of things everything seemed fine, so why was Tsuna second guessing himself? "Why do you say that?"

The brunet looked up at him trying to find the words to explain, because there were a lot of things that were good, but also somethings that Tsuna didn't think were for the best.

Like his friends – specifically those that had nothing or knew anything about the Mafia being dragged into it (Takeshi came to mind, how he seemed to settle into the constant exposure of his flames that morning, how fighting against Hayato and him came so easily and then there was Reborn's commentary – Natural Born Hitman…).

Tsuna frowned, not noticing the way his hands came up in front of him, "It's just, everything is easy right now, well, no it's not easy, but –" Tsuna trailed off muttering a few words that Dino didn't understand, "How bad does it get, Dino-nii?"

The blond hadn't expected for that question to come up so soon, more or less he had been waiting after a skirmish with others, or dealing with a situation that only showed the beginning of what Tsuna was getting dragged into. Dino sighed, putting his arm around Tsuna, noting the way the kid tensed before he relaxed.

The way Tsuna looked at him, eyes expecting honesty, wanting a real answer and not some rubbish that others would try to say 'to not worry about it', 'things like that will be dealt with when the time comes', and Dino realized that that was honestly what he was going to say.

He who had grown up in the dark world of the Mafia, who had tried to get away and denounce anything and everything that came from it, had been thrust into countless situations (mostly by Reborn) where he only had himself to rely on because sometimes that's all you had in this life. He who had actually been jealous and almost completely distraught by the way Reborn treated these two – because he had gotten hell, he had gotten the life nearly beat out of him; he had been demeaned and belittled by Reborn.

Dino saw these two kids, civilians – hopeless, a loss, what the hell was Vongola thinking? – but then he talked to them, had dinner with them, spent a couple of days with them and they were a breath of fresh air.

They didn't expect anything out of anyone, they watched out for themselves (and the people that they came to care about, he could see it, the other kids that hung around them. Tsuna had such potential to be something great, to be something new and Natsume, well, he was sure she would tear apart anyone that dared hurt what she considered hers).

They didn't need to follow any rules or abide by any code because they knew what it was they would stand for.

"It can get pretty bad," Dino admitted his voice low as he felt a certain someone's gaze on him, "As long as you have people who are willing to be there for the worst, you don't have to suffer through it all alone." How many times had his own men been there for him when he was dealing with situations that he thought he couldn't pull through?

"There will come a time Tsuna where you will have to deal with the worst of the worst, until then just keep learning as much as you can and have fun."

/ | \

"To think I thought him cute," Hana huffed, fingers fiddling with the necklace she wore around her neck, the small round green bead at the end appearing much brighter than it should be.

"A huh?" Natsume eyed the jade bead she had gifted her friend for her birthday back in April, "Hana just calm down yeah?"

Natsume could understand why her friend was upset, she had actually been interested in one of the lifeguards that was working and had worked up the nerve to go speak to them. The lifeguard had laughed at her, brushing her off and saying something along the lines that he preferred a real woman with curves and not a girl trying to play at one.

Which, wow, what an asshole.

The teen wouldn't mind listening to her friend rant, but the small flares she was making appear was what was taking Natsume's attention from actually trying to help her friend feel better.

"I mean, just because I don't have boobs and ass the way he wants," Hana looked down at her chest and back up, her nose wrinkled at whatever else crossed her mind, "I'm fine just the way I am…..right?"

Natsume put a hand on her friend's shoulder, really wishing that Kyoko had come along on their walk (which really was more of Natsume walking and kicking her way through the waves and then dragging her feet so that they were coated in sand) instead of staying back and building sandcastles with the kids, "Mama always says that you are beautiful as you are, if someone can't accept that, then they aren't worth it."

Hana finally let go of the necklace, the small green lights fading away and looked down at Natsume, taking her words into consideration. The shorter girl had a point or at least her mother did, but wasn't what she looked like enough? What more could people want, she was mature for her age and she thought she had a nice figure…ugh, maybe she should just not bother.

"Boys are idiots."

The girl before her nodded, "Yes they are," and before she could add on anything else, there was a loud, almost feminine shout that sounded like Tsuna and all Natsume could do was hang her head, "Are they trying to dunk Tsuna into the water again?"

They hadn't gotten very far from the others and from what Hana could see the boys were in the water, Tsuna on Hayato's shoulders and Ryohei on Takeshi's, "They're playing chicken….Ryohei is trying to get your brother in a headlock."

"Right, so ignoring that, did you want to go to the shops over there or keep going on along here?"

"…You're not worried about Tsuna?"

Natsume looked back over at the water, watching Tsuna slip out of Ryohei's grip and just trying to pull the white haired teen down by leaning back, which led to Hayato stumbling back at the sudden move.

"As long as it's between them it's fine."

She knew Hayato would jump in to help Tsuna and Takeshi would go along, while Ryohei would declare anything that was being 'ill' fought unextreme and try to fix the situation by defending the younger ones (even if it only was by like a year or so).

They had begun walking towards the small shopping area and Natsume was a little happy that she had thought to bring her small bag of change, buying a couple of fake plumeria flower clips and handing one to Hana, who looked at it, one brow raised and looking a little amused.

"I think guys are the ones who do the flower giving Natsume."

Said teen rolled her eyes, holding up her own flower clip (the tips dyed pink while the rest faded to white and then yellow for the very middle) and clipping it just over her right ear, "Do like this." Natsume gave Hana a playful smile, biting on the tip of her tongue to keep herself from snickering because of the suffering look the tall brunette gave her.

"Why you insist on speaking like that, I will never know," Hana said to her, smoothing her fingers over the right side of her hair and using the clip to pin back her hair.

"I get it from my Mama," was all Natsume said.

Hana huffed, stepping ahead and leading them towards one of the booths that was selling colorful pieces of sea glass, along with a couple other crystals that Hana couldn't name, but knew her friend wore often.

"Look Natsume," Hana pointed towards some of the longer, more rounded crystals, knowing her friend had an interest in such things.

"Ooohh, wands," Natsume hummed, greeting the woman who ran the booth. Her eye was instantly got by a yellowish-red wand, her fingers hovering just above it as she paused in reaching for it, before picking it up. The 'wand' was longer than her middle finger, the weight of it felt comfortable in her hand and she had the sudden urge to want to buy it (if only so she could have something physical to use, instead of continuing to create from her own flames).

But she knew she couldn't, Kawahira had a few of his own in the shop and he didn't sell those to her, always saying that she wasn't ready or she had to learn the right way first before she picked up anything that could help her (seriously he liked watching her struggle, everything would be so much easier if she had a crystal piece or wooden staff that she could use, instead of constantly creating her own, which oddly had been taking on after the moon stick.

Binging Sailor Moon had worked wonders for her imagination lately.)

She set it back down and was about to pick up another piece when Hana held up a copper ring with a small, triangle cut gray stone set into it, "This is something I don't have," Natsume murmured as she took the ring from Hana and slipped it onto her left hand's middle finger.

"Well now you do."

Natsume who had been admiring the way the ring looked on her finger looked up, about to protest that she shouldn't have, but Hana shook her head, mouth slightly pursed as she crossed her arms beneath her chest, "Already paid for it."

"But I didn't see you do that!"

The brunette tried to suppress a snort, but sort of failed, "You were too busy admiring that other piece," Hana informed her, nodding at the owner and maker of the jewelry and pulling Natsume along with her, who hastily called out a 'have a good day' over her shoulder.

"You really shouldn't have Hana," and really, Hana knew she didn't have too, but she had wanted to, something deep within her telling her to at least thank the girl for being there – even if sometimes she didn't have a clue on how to handle certain situations (like that one time Kyoko was upset with Ryohei over going overboard in his boxing club and Natsume had suggested to just 'get down' with him, forgetting that Kyoko did not like fighting or when Hana was trying to figure out who that dark haired cutie was and thought she was wasting her time trying to find him.)

Or at least that's what she decided it was, because why on earth would she want to impress and get Natsume's attention – Hana liked men, not girls, so why oh why were there times where she felt like doing something stupid just to get Natsume's (and sometimes Tsuna's) attention?

"We should head back, we've been gone for a while now," Natsume suggested, lips still pursed and seeming just a little unamused with Hana because she really shouldn't have. The teen fiddled with the ring around her finger, before sighing and lightly elbowing Hana's side, "Thank you though."

Hana tried not to smirk, so she stuck her nose up, "You can be so difficult sometimes."

"I am learning to appreciate!" Especially after all the years other kids had used the gifting method to either lure or try to make them look stupid in front of others (which was terrible and poor Tsuna was always a real mess after those, holding in his tears and disappointment until they got home, and she was so happy and yet so very angry that she now understood why everything that they had gone through happened.)

"Good, but if you say –"

"But seriously you shouldn't have~" Natsume almost cackled at the sound Hana made, who tried to sound disgusted, but kind of laughed midway (because really she would) and snorted instead. Natsume stopped, looking a little too gleeful with her mouth a little open and didn't know whether she should just laugh right there and then or run and laugh. "Miss piggy, piggy-"

"Agh!"

Running and laughing it was.

/ | \

The day was ended with a bonfire that had everyone sitting around, holding out marshmallows over it to make the s'mores Nana had suggested.

"Fluffy angelitos," Lambo called them as he stuck two in his mouth, chewing happily as he waited for his ane to make his s'more. "Ane are you going to get one too?"

"Probably not," she liked sweet things, but she wasn't a big fan of marshmallows, there was just something weird about eating the soft little pillows of sugar (that and cotton candy).

"Natsume no like?" I-pin asked, sitting beside Lambo and calmly waiting for Haru to put together her treat as Natsume shook her head negatively.

There was a ruckus on the opposite side, Dino's laughter being the loudest as Tsuna whined over something Reborn probably did.

There was a soft strumming of an instrument from faraway, the night life of those who lived near the beach coming about as the visitors of the day began to leave. A light breeze blew by and the scent of the ocean was strong along with the smell of sun and salt wafted through.

"Okay, be careful, it's hot," she warned Lambo, finally pulling out his marshmallow and sticking it between his prepared graham crackers and chocolate piece. The curly haired kid thanked the girl he had begun to see as his big sister, nibbling on the end of the marshmallow that stuck out before taking a bite of his treat.

He hummed in satisfaction, turning to I-pin to see how she liked it as well and the two began chattering on how good it was, before Lambo began to say that Natsume's tasted better, while I-pin said otherwise, that they were the same.

Haru and Natsume shared a look, the brunette giggling at the children's antics, while Natsume sighed and let them bicker.

"Children, play nice," Nana intoned from where she sat beside Bianchi, making sure Hayato wasn't feeling too under the weather when the teen made an odd choking sound as soon as Bianchi returned from wherever she had gone, smelling both bitter and sweet and looking entirely too pleased with herself.

Nana choose not to comment on it, instead she resumed her gazing of the night sky, trying to find the star figures Uncle Toyo would often point out to her.

"Looking for anything tonight Nana?"

The woman shook her head at Reborn's use of her name (one day he would call her Auntie, and he wouldn't have to be embarrassed about referring to her as such), "Just looking over the Nā Mohoe, but really I'm just trying to find Hōkūpa'a, I always get it confused with Hōkūle'a," the woman mused to him, not seeing the blank look on the hitman's face.

"The cup end of the big dipper points to Hōkūpa'a, Mama," Tsuna pointed out to his mother, while the others who hadn't understood seemed to try to figure out what the names Nana had said meant. Nana smiled sweetly at her son, her attention was always drawn by the brighter star that was Hōkūle'a, so she always assumed that that was the fixed point of the sky.

"Oh Tsu-kun, just like your Papa helping me find my stars."

Natsume caught the semi-disgusted look that Tsuna sported at being likened to his father (she didn't know what Tsuna was starting to feel towards their Papa, she couldn't exactly relate, but she could sort of understand) and she was glad her mother hadn't noticed it.

"Is that why you gave Tsuna-san his name?" Haru asked, curious to know.

Nana took a quick glance at Tsuna, who looked a little interested to know why exactly he had been given his name, "My husband's family has a bit of a tradition of naming their own after the Tokugawa Shogunate," Nana paused a little, looking over Tsuna to see if he was alright after he had made an odd sound and brushed Natsume's sudden laughter off. "I don't know why, but it was kind of fitting especially after what my name means as well."

"I'm surprised Natsume isn't named Chiyo," Reborn spoke up, finding Tsuna's name oddly fitting for what he was to become, but it also brought forth questions about why Primo (because who else?) started the tradition.

"Iemitsu had suggested it actually, but I had really liked Natsume and he really couldn't convince me otherwise."

"Thank you Mama, for saving me from tradition, I'm happy to have broken it."

Nana gave her a funny look, while Tsuna seemed to be muttering something about Tomiko and Saigo-baasan. Dino seemed to be very interested and would later (slightly) regret looking up those names, while Reborn finally seemed to realize what kind of family he seemed to have come upon.

He really was going to have a word with Iemitsu, the least the man could have said was that they were related to the two women that were but mere whispers now, but had been a huge topic (especially after Saigo had gone off and gotten herself killed in a Cloud induced rage) back in the day.

It made Reborn curious to know how Iemitsu was brought into the Mafia, especially since he knew that one Sawada Tomiko had retired after a short stint of assassination work (who had also seemed to have made friends with one Daniela of Vongola – oh, well he could probably figure it out now).

And to think that he honestly though the Sawada children just so happened to be related to Primo, it seemed running amok in the Underworld was a family tradition as well (as unwilling as it seemed to be on the twins behalf).

Part 20: Fall Brings New Faces

It was mid-August when classes began again and there was a shift in the air that left both Natsume and Tsuna feeling uncomfortable. Even when the heat was high, Natsume wore her school sweater, while Tsuna seemed to try to do things to put the feeling aside.

To the point he dragged Lambo and I-pin to the park every other day, joining in on their games and immersing himself in their laughter and almost forgetting the sensation of something is coming, watch out, be careful, dangerous.

It was almost September when the feeling became unbearable and then the rumors of one of the soccer players being jumped and having his teeth pulled out began to go around. The following day it was two more, both from the Kendo club, sporting the same bruises and missing teeth as the first teen.

It was sickening to think that someone was specifically targeting the people in athletics, until another couple of guys – this time from the Disciplinary Committee were found just outside school grounds, under the same condition as the others.

"I don't mind waiting for you Tsume," Tsuna told his sister as he walked along with her to the gym, "I just want to make sure you get home safe."

"You don't have to do that," she said as she stopped just outside the girl's changing rooms, turning to her brother who looked slightly worried. She clucked her tongue at him, "I'll ask Takeshi or Ryohei if it makes you feel better."

"Will you really?"

There was always the chance that she would say she would do that and not go through with it. Knowing his sister, who preferred to handle whatever came her way on her own (and would probably be able too) he shouldn't worry – but he couldn't help feel that something wasn't right. That this was more than just another school outright hurting their fellow students, he just wasn't sure.

"Yes, Tsuna, I will," she held up her pinky to him, "Promise."

He latched his pink with hers, his lips still pursed and brow furrowed, "Better, or else."

"Hmph, go on, I'm pretty sure Reborn's waiting for you," she used her chin to point in the direction where she could see the small blurry figure of the hitman. "Go on now," she made a shooing gesture with her hand, her brother rolling his eyes at her.

"See you then."

Both turned to get to what was waiting for them, Tsuna was about to find out what exactly was happening from Reborn, while Natsume was going to put in more work to actually be a team player, even though she was sure she had proven herself during sports day.

When the two hours of practice were over and she had cleaned up and gotten changed into street clothing, she left the gym, searching out for either Takeshi or Ryohei who should be somewhere around. She was near the room the boxing club used for their meetings and practices when she came across a blond boy wearing a Kokuyo uniform.

The teen had noticed her, looking away with a sneer before turning back to her and giving her a closer look. His eyes lit up as he seemed to recognize her and a cruel smile twisted his the ends of his mouth.

"Hey, you wouldn't happen to be Sawada Natsume would you?"

She tried not to show any emotion, keeping a rather bland expression to show that he hadn't caught her offguard, "And if I am?"

He gave her a toothy grin, hands coming from out of his jackets pocket and she noted his sharp, almost claw like nails, how his stance seemed to tense up as if he was about to throw himself at her at any second.

"You'd more fun to play with than that Sasagawa guy," the scar that ran across his nose, pulled oddly as his smile twisted, his eyes were wild and Natsume could feel her senses prickle, head tilting to the side as the blond lunged forward, his fist missing her head.

"I'm sure you'd prefer a more straightforward fight," she spoke, bringing her arm up and blocking the wild teen's other swing with her forearm, "But you've already made one mistake."

"Che, and what would that be stupid girl?" the blond sneered, making a grab for her since she didn't bother pushing him away or stepping out of his reach. He didn't notice the bland smile he was given, more focused on the fact that he couldn't move.

"All it takes is one touch sometimes," she murmured lowly, stepping away from him, head titling slightly in curiosity as she took in his struggles to make his body move, not at all caring how wide his eyes got, or the blind panic that began to emit from the teen (being tied down was the worst, they would get him, do what they want, he needed to move, to be free, but his body, he couldn't move, nonono)."Leave already, do not come back here again."

The teen blinked and then nodded slowly, the fear that had clouded his eyes fading away in lieu of what he had been told. He turned on the ball of his foot, making his way off Nami-chuu's grounds and back to wherever he was staying.

Once she couldn't see him, Natsume let out a breath, bringing her hand up to her stinging cheek. She hadn't expected him to move when he did and had barely been able to dodge, though she had made it seem like he hadn't hurt her. Pulling back her hand, she noted the blood and uttered a soft 'dammit'.

"Yo, Natsume – hey what happened to your cheek?"

"Senpai," the girl greeted, wiping her slightly bloody fingers against her black jeans, "Someone was looking for you and got interested in me instead."

Ryohei frowned, leaning down a little closer to the girl to inspect the slash marks on her cheek. He didn't grab her, but did mtion behind him to the training room, "We have a first aid kit," he told the girl, who nodded and followed him in. He found the small white box in the manager's office, motioning for the hazel eyed girl to take a seat on one of the few benches.

It was quiet between them as he rummaged through the box, pulling out some tape, a piece of white gauze, a wipe and a small bottle of what she assumed was hydrogen peroxide.

"This might sting a little," Ryohei warned her as he wet the wipe with the peroxide and squeezed it over her cuts; not at all surprised when she grimaced (it seemed there was more than just being an obvious weapon to the blond's nails). He let the mixture fizzle out, before he wiped it down with another wipe and holding out the thin gauze to her "Hold this while I tape it down," she did and he placed two pieces of tapes so it would hold, "And there almost good as new."

"Almost," she half smiled at him, waiting for him as he put the box away. "I feel like I should tell Hibari-san about this, but I don't know where to find him."

The third year thought about his fellow classmate, scratching his cheek as he wondered where they could find the Prefect, "He'll show up," eventually, Hibari had that habit, at least Ryohei thought he did, "Anyway did you even know the guy that did this to you?"

Natsume shook her head, "No, I didn't even get his name or anything, but he seemed to have recognized me from somewhere."

Ryohei's frowned deepened, not at all liking the idea that not only someone was taking down students from the sports clubs, but had an idea of who was who.

"I'll walk you home, if you don't mind."

"Eh, I don't, Tsuna actually wanted me to ask you if you wouldn't mind doing so."

"What a good brother you have, Natsume!" Ryohei cheered, almost clapping the girl on the back, but realized quickly that she wasn't one of his teammates and didn't want to send her to the floor. So he just did what he usually did to Kyoko and he ruffled her hair instead, the face she made had him laughing, and knowing (and seeing constantly because Takeshi did find it amusing to use his height against both twin's) he evaded the fist that would have dug into his side.

He was sure she would have said something, only for a certain Prefect to appear (just as Ryohei had predicted he would) just outside of the school grounds.

"Herbivore's," the prefect greeted the two and wondered if the teen had a creepy sixth sense or something, because really he always appeared out of nowhere, either after a fight or just before one started.

"Yo, Hibari!" Ryohei greeted as brightly as ever, ignoring the glare that was directed at him.

"Hibari-san," Natsume intoned, though less enthusiastic as Ryohei. When the prefect's gaze slid over to her, she held her gaze, "There was a Kokuyo student here, looking for a fight, probably has had something to do with what's been going on lately."

Hibari barely raised a brow, mulling over both the girl's words and the bandage on her cheek, "He was blond, with a scar across the bridge of his nose," her lips tilted down, nose wrinkling at the action, "I think he's looking for specific people," she gestured to Sasagawa beside her, "He was looking for Ryohei but as soon as he noticed who I was, he changed plans."

(It was a teen with an odd laugh, with a flair for dramatics, and a want to bring down the Mafia. He had people who were more than puppets to him and she wondered how much more right Jasmine was going to be about people and the situations that were coming upon them)

"I think it has something to do with pineapples, but not the fruit?"

She honestly would have loved to laugh at Ryohei's double take, but the situation was much too serious at the moment for her to happily indulge. Hibari seemed to be between literally knocking some sense into her and walking away.

"It's after school hours, go home," was all the prefect told them as he turned on the ball of his foot and headed towards the school.

"Pineapples?"

Natsume tried to brush off Ryohei's inquiring look and began to walk in the direction of her home, "Oi, wait up!" the boxer called out, running after her, deciding not to further push the matter. "So how was practice, Kyoko said you were trying out for the volleyball team."

She looked a little relieved to have the subject changed, it seemed whatever she had been thinking about was at least pushed back in favor to answer his question.

Good, he didn't like seeing people worrying or being bothered by things, especially if it had something silly to do with pineapples and bullies.

/ | \

"What happened to your face?" was the first thing Tsuna asked after thanking Ryohei and bidding the older teen goodbye as he made for his own house, which was just two blocks away from theirs.

Natsume didn't answer right away, instead taking off her shoes and setting them beside her boots. Straightening up she put an arm around her brother's shoulder, calling out to her mother in greeting before she led the two of them upstairs.

She went into her brother's room, shutting the door behind her, and finally looked up at her brother who didn't look at all impressed with her, "Tsume –"

"I think I may have run into the person who has been attacking students," she had expected her brother to freak out, not for him to literally turn grey. Reborn who had been dosing away in his hammock was up and motioning for her to sit beside the bed, where he now sat atop of, pulling the tape and gauze of her face so he could look at the cuts on her cheek. "They're just cuts, Ryohei helped in disinfecting them –" she hissed when Reborn pressed his fingers against her cheek, she felt the warmth that came from his fingertips, but absolutely hated the prickling pain that came along with it. "That hurts."

Reborn clucked his tongue at her, pulling his hand back, dark eyes taking in the newly healed flesh, "The cuts were poisoned," he told her. The dark haired babe turned to Tsuna, "The papers I was showing you earlier bring them."

"But –"

"Now Tsuna."

Tsuna got up from where he had sat himself, going over to the desk he had gotten a couple weeks ago and pulling out a folder which he brought and handed to Reborn.

"I received a letter from Nono a few days before the attacks started happening," the hitman began, pulling out a few papers and flicking through them to make sure they were all there before he handed them to Natsume. "There was an escape from one of the lower Mafia prisons and I was told to keep an ear out if I heard anything about them."

Reborn watched Natsume look through the papers, which were filled with pictures of the escaped convicts and noted how she paused over the picture of a scarred blond, "Ken Joshima," she read his name, "He was looking for Ryohei when I ran into him," she said softly, "He noticed who I was even though I had no clue who he was."

That was scary, especially if the kid she was reading up on was supposed to be held somewhere in Italy and was now in Japan.

Tsuna seemed about to say something when their mother's voice called up to him, he headed out to see what she wanted, feeling disgruntled as he went because something wasn't right and now he was finding out his sister had been attacked and had just managed to avoid being left like the others.

"What did you do to him, Natsume?"

She blinked up at Reborn, whose aura had changed into something much more dangerous. Her skin prickled and she tried leaning back to at least get away from the weight that had settled around them, but finding that she couldn't get away.

"I told him to leave," she managed to whisper out, eyes a little wide as she couldn't look away, because she had never seen this side of Reborn (there was a promise of death, and it was suffocating and terrifying. There was a ringing shot and…). "I - he won't be coming back."

Reborn kept himself from sneering down at the girl, instead looking away and running a hand through his hair, "People don't just listen so –"

"No," there was change in her voice and he looked back, surprised to see her eyes amber and her pupils slitted and indigo in color, "I told him to leave and not come back, he will listen," and though there were tears in her eyes from being frightened from his flare of anger (because the criminals were here snooping around Namimori, they had attacked one of his charges and what the hell was Vongola doing that they let them get so far?) there was a knowing there and she was so sure that she was right.

He clamped down on his annoyance (he wasn't angry, he was annoyed and sometimes people died because they annoyed him), knowing that it was unsettling the girl before him.

"Are you sure?" because really no one just listened so easily and though Natsume could be a force to be reckoned with when she put her mind to it, she was still just a teenage girl.

Natsume pushed herself up, handing the papers back to Reborn who noted that her eyes had cleared and were their usual hazel coloring, "No matter the person there is always a want to be accepted, tis not difficult to twist a person's wants and needs for my own use."

Reborn's brow rose in question, but he let her go instead of needling a proper explanation out of her. He'd probably understand it sooner or later and if he decided to take her words literally – well, he felt sorry for whoever crossed Natsume.

The door to Tsuna's room opened once more and the brunet didn't seem at all surprised to find his sister gone, instead ushering the child beside him into the room.

"Fuuta de la Stella," Reborn greeted, deciding to sit down on the bed.

The kids eyes flickered, an odd smile crossing his face, "Reborn, World's Greatest Hitman," this made Tsuna huff, arms crossing against his chest.

"He's been doing that," Tsuna said, gesturing for Fuuta to take a seat beside him, "Said he came because I was least likely to refuse a request."

Reborn hummed, his attention still on Fuuta, "Why are you here?"

Fuuta tried to wrap his arms around himself, unknowingly rocking himself back and forth (because he was nervous, he had been taken away from his home, he had lost his book, everything he had known was lost and now he was lost and he didn't know what to do), "I lost my ranking book."

Reborn stilled, not looking away from the child that was about seconds away from crying, "How?"

"R-Rokudo Mukur-ro," the child managed out, hands coming up to cover his face, "They have my book but they want me," Fuuta cried, "I don't want to go back to them."

"Oi, oi," Tsuna uttered out, kneeling down and pulling the kid into a hug, letting him cry against his shoulder. Reborn and Tsuna locked eyes, the papers in the hitman's hands becoming crinkled.

"We can't get involved unless we're specifically told too," Reborn said, setting the papers down on the bed and tucking his hands into pants pockets. "This is Vindice's problem and they should be the ones to have this all sorted out."

Fuuta sniffled, pulling away from Tsuna's hold, his teary gaze focusing on Reborn, "T-they want the Vongola Decimo," the kid stuttered out, "They have my rankings and everything that has to do with Namimori – from the best food places to the strongest people – they have an idea of who to go after."

Well, fuck.

Reborn jumped down from the bed, walking past the two brunets', "You should tell your mother that we'll be having a guest for a while." And he made his way out.

He had a call to make and he hoped to whatever God was out there, that nothing too terrible came of it.

Intermission 7

I snuck out that night.

I couldn't sleep and I found myself wondering Namimori – I was careful, I had learned after the first few attempts of sneaking out how to hide myself and make sure I wouldn't be caught. It was too easy to leave behind a clone that would last about as long as I would be out and there was always a charged clear quartz that I would leave beneath my pillow to keep the illusion up.

It was easy to avoid the night life and now after the lessons I had sat through, it wasn't hard to pick up on what the few stragglers were up too – there movements and motives, were easy to read, Reborn's favorite game of 'people watching' coming to mind as I made my way past these people.

Namimori was not the peaceful town I had always thought it to be – it was a place for retired Mafioso, for people who wanted to get away and start over – Namimori was accepting and willing to take in these people so long as they kept to the peace.

I had half a mind of heading to Kawahira's shop, bothering the old man and maybe have a cup of tea and ask him if he knew anything about what was happening around. The idea was quickly thrown away, I knew Kawahira (at least from what he let me know) and he was a bit of a recluse, had a dislike for people and only bothered when it mattered.

Which always made me wonder why he was curious about me – of all people that had come into his shop, his curiosity was peaked because of what he was unable to sense or could it be because of what he was able to sense?

He always said he was curious to see how I managed to function while sealed, I haven't asked if he's found his answer, but sometimes I catch him looking at me, searching and trying to figure out something.

Other times he looks at me and it's as if he pities me, but why?

I'm a fourteen year old girl, with a good family and some rather odd friends.

I decided to put this aside for now and focus myself on my surroundings. The buildings around me are older and more set apart, the nature center is coming up and though the signs say not to travel the paths at night, I ignore and head down them, taking a left at the first fork that would lead me closer to the mountains.

As I get closer to where the path slopes down, I can sense something pulling and calling to me – I don't realize it but I'm smiling and I follow the lure that pulls me in. I veer off the path, careful when I push through the overgrowth of the forest.

A sigh of relief left me once I step into a ring that had been unnaturally formed, that had cleared away a lot of the vegetation and though the area looks like it had been torched, there's a peace that clings to it instead of loss.

I walk to the middle where I sit and recline back, staring up at the open space and soaking in the soft light of the moon. I close my eyes and breathe in deeply, I exhale and breathe out slowly and I just lay there.

I don't really know how long I was there – minutes, hours – but I was there long enough to at least make up for the times I won't be able to come back.

"Darkness may come, but as long as there is light, it can be overcome," I murmured and I know I must look like an idiot with the way I'm smiling and I'm kind of sad Tsuna isn't here to pick up on the reference, but just thinking about the coming situation like that, it doesn't seem as daunting.

/ | \

Reborn got a call back days later after there had been a lull in the attacks.

By that afternoon, there had been four different attacks and Ryohei had gotten caught up in the last one.

Standing outside the white haired teen's hospital room, Reborn glared down at his cell, snapping it shut and shoving it into his pocket. Escaped convicts and even though most of them were mostly teens they were skilled murderers and had been put away in Vindice for a reason.

And here Nono wanted to use this as a test for Tsuna.

He wondered if Iemitsu had an idea of what was happening, considering from what he had known about the man and how his family thought of him, he probably would have protested – distant he may be from his family, but he cared for them, stayed alive and tried his best for them. He had kept them safe all these years and now all was going to hell.

Or maybe this was a way for both Iemitsu and Nono to see how much Tsunayoshi had grown in the year that he had been with them. Kind of fucked up, but that was the reality of the world they were being dragged into.

His thoughts were interrupted by a finger poking his forehead and he looked up to glare unamusedly at Natsume, who held up her hands, "You're going to set me on fire if you keep looking at me like that."

Reborn was about to retort when another idea came to him, "How good are you at sneaking around?"

"Uh," the girl blinked down at him, looking mildly embarrassed, "Alright I guess?"

"It's time to test your skills then," though Natsume hadn't joined in the last couple weekends for the group training, he knew she didn't need much compared to the boys – whoever was instructing her was good and it was irking him because he couldn't find out who it was nor where it was happening at. "Do you know where Kokuyo Land is?"

She nodded and he continued on, "Go there and check out the place, I don't have anything to –"he was cut off as a swirl of indigo flames appeared in her hands and a butterfly appeared, flapping its wings and landing on his shoulder. A similar one appeared on Natsume's and she gave him a tight lipped smile.

"It's like telephone," she explained, holding out her pointer finger so the mist construct could flap its way on it, "So I hope you're willing to keep my words straight."

"Off with you," Reborn waved her away, about to turn into the room and tell Tsuna to get ready and to call on the other two. He stared at the figure of the retreating teen, watching her disappear around a corner, before he uttered a quiet "Stay safe."

"Of course Reborn~"

The hitman tugged at his fedora, ignoring the teasing voice that came from the insect on his shoulder and here he thought it wouldn't actually work.

/ | \

Tsuna had left the hospital, with Hayato and Takeshi in tow (Hayato being there to make sure he was 'safe', though Tsuna wondered if that was an excuse and Takeshi who was pretty honest about seeing Ryohei and wishing him well).

Reborn had said he would meet him back at the house, a frown marring the toddler's face when Leon started acting funny.

A tiny meow greeted Tsuna as he and the other two walked into his home, Natsume's cat curling around his legs as he tried to take off his shoes.

"Shoo!" He waved at Emi, the black cat stepping away and giving him a judging look, before slinking over to Takeshi who happily picked up the cat, cradling her in his arms as Natsume was wont to do. "Spoiled," was all Tsuna had to say after calling out a greeting for his mother.

The cat gave him no attention whatsoever, content with trying to bat away Takeshi's fingers. Barely refraining from rolling his eyes, Tsuna led them upstairs where Reborn had said he would meet them.

"Hey, that hurts," he heard Takeshi say, Hayato scoffing and telling him that that's what he deserved for bothering the evil feline. "Emi isn't evil," Takeshi held the cat at arm's length, receiving a fairly unamused look from the feline, "Right?"

The black cats tailed flicked side to side, its ears twitching back and almost flattening against its head before they perked up again. Almond shaped eyes blinked up at light honeyed ones and Takeshi felt a chill run up his spine.

He coughed, setting the cat down once they reached the second level, where it strutted off back to its owner's room. He wiped his hands down his uniform pants, eying the cat before heading toward Tsuna's room.

"Tch, what was that baseball head?"

"Do you think animal's take on after their owners?"

Hayato raised a brow, actually turning and giving the baseball player a questioning look, "It's possible, why?"

Takeshi chuckled as he sat down around the small table they usually used to do homework on, "Oh, it just felt like Natsume was glaring at me for a second." It also took him back to the times Natsume had joined in for a mock battle session and why exactly the twin's had a supposed tutor like the baby.

"The cat is evil Takeshi, not my sister," Tsuna piped up from where he stood, searching through his closet for clothes to change into. "Hayato do you want your spare clothes?"

"No, I'm good."

"Cool, well since Reborn isn't here yet I'm going to change, Takeshi did you want –" The baseball player held up his duffle bag and Tsuna nodded, going to the restroom to change instead of doing so in his room.

Meanwhile Reborn watched the teen's from his perch on the tree, a butterfly flapping its wings about him before it landed against his ear.

"Those two twins are skulking around, it's kind of creepy."

"Don't confront them; just try to find where they're all staying."

A quiet hum was heard, "'kay."

He was about to enter Tsuna's room once the young brunet walked back in when Natsume's voice spoke once more, "Didn't Fuuta go out with Mama today?"

Reborn breathed, already having an idea of what the girl was planning on doing (because even though she felt kind of weird around Fuuta, he was still a kid, a tiny, cute kid and why did these guys take him from her home?)

"Don't do anything Natsume."

There was a scoff that came over, the butterfly seeming to want to cease to exist, "Birds follow the birds Reborn."

And the butterfly flickered away.

Author Note: There was a Harry Potter and a Sailor Moon reference this time around, anywho, I have been trying to do the update once a week, but its at that point in the semester where there are exams, recitals, and concerts (oh my) coming up at school so forgive me. Also I always feel like I was supposed to say something important but again I have forgotten.

Star names: Nā Mohoe is The Twins (Gemini). Hōkūpa'a is the Fixed Star (North Star), Hōkūle'a is Arcturus. I probably messed up this section and I tried to make sense of it and that's probs the best I can do.

Until next time! Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! Cause I was amused the whole time, up until Ken showed up, then I was pretty much Reborn and kind of upset cause I don't want to do this but its gonna happen.

Sorugao