Disclaimer: I don't own KHR or stuff.

Word Count: 8064

Part 39: Unstoppable force vs Mechanical Force

The night was long, filled with tossing and turning and making good friends with the bucket by her bed. Her mother had told her to wake her up if things got any worse, but so far her migraine had stayed the same.

'As long as she doesn't get a migraine while she's sleeping, she'll be fine. Ibuprofen and liquids should help in the meantime.'

Currently she was leaning back against the side of her bed, holding the side of her face, and breathing in and out as evenly and deeply as possible. She closed her eyes so she wouldn't have to focus on the shadows in her room (where her mind would probably start thinking there were things and she did not need to bring that to life again, she had done that earlier and it had creeped her the fuck out to see one sided figures bending and twisting their way into reality.)

There was a knock on her door and she thinks she made an audible noise of 'come in', though it honestly was more of a pained whine.

Reborn stepped in, he had been going to question the girl on why she hadn't shown up that night - it would have been good for her to witness a mist battle, especially one that was in a sort of semi-controlled environment and one that was against an arcobaleno.)

"You look like crap."

She huffed out a laugh, slightly regretting the slight strain because hey her temple was aching, "You don't say," she murmured, cracking her eyes open to look at the hitman, who merely stared back. "Can I help you with anything Reborn?"

"No."

"Then why –"

The arcobaleno was in front of her, one of his fingers poking her forehead and she was about to say something rather rude, when there was a brief warmth and the pounding in her head (and the nausea, because that's the worst part of these damned things, at least she felt it was) faded away.

"Well aren't you a little angel, Reborn," she commented, her voice still a bit strained sounding, but it did have less of an edge.

"It's about time you've realized it."

"Your ego does you no good, though."

"My ego serves me well."

She refrained from rolling her eyes, just giving the small hitman a deadpanned stare, "You are conceited."

"I have every right to be."

She was taken back by that response and she gave him a questioning stare, "Since when did you learn Hawaiian?"

The hitman shrugged, merely stepping back, "I just know things." He was not going to say anything about the short lessons he had with Nana in the times he was absent from the teens presence. It had grown tiresome on his part for them to fall back on the one language he didn't know and probably talk about him, while he was in the room with them.

They hadn't done that in a long while though.

But if they ever started it up again, he would know (they did it to their friends though, when they weren't satisfied by saying something in either Japanese or English.)

"So….."

"So."

She should probably get up from the floor now, but she really didn't want too. Oddly enough she was comfortable, "Reborn what are you doing here?"

"Curiosity."

No, not another one.

She did not need that.

Her teacher was enough.

"Seriously."

The arcobaleno shook his head, knowing that he wouldn't be able to mess with the girl – she was sleepy, had been dealing with her headache for who knows how long and though she seemed to be in a good mood, she would be getting irritable rather quickly.

An irritable Natsume was just a mouthy little snit he did not want to put up with at four in the morning, even if it was amusing to see others on the other end of her grouchiness.

"I assumed you would be going to see the Mist battle."

Here she narrowed her eyes at him, not at all irritable but on the verge of being pissed off, "Oh yeah, did no one think to explain why Mukuro would be one of my brother's supposed Guardians?" Whenever her dad came back Natsume was going to give him a piece of her mind, (that guy had wanted her brother, had hurt their friends, manipulated his own 'friends' if they could be called that and was just an atrocity and half).

How did she know that?

"He's not, his Mist Guardian's name is Chrome."

"Speaking of Mukuro, he talked to me," here she mouthed 'in my head' while tapping her finger against the side of her temple. "I…think it's because of him I got a migraine." That or he had made it worse; she wasn't used to communication within her mind, especially with flames she had not accepted.

Reborn blinked up at her, head tilting slightly, "How is that possible?"

"I think the few minutes we were fighting before any of you appeared in Kokuyo, Mukuro may have been able to form a small connection between us." She was lying, but there was truth to it, so hopefully she wouldn't get caught. A small connection had been formed, but she was the one to have done it to be able to 'convince' Mukuro to forget somethings they had done.

It's not like she had been doing a great job of keeping her abilities to herself, the others knew what she could get up too, but her brother and friends deserved to know what they had on hand in case they ever needed help from her (which they did not know how to ask for, at least Mukuro was capable of doing that. Ugh, did she just compliment that asshole?)

"You should beware of that, it does no good to be under the control of a Mist like Mukuro."

"Yah, I know, I'll have to meditate on this," literally, but she wouldn't be able to do it here at home. The kids were a big distraction even if they were only downstairs and Fuuta had been asking about what exactly she does. "At least my heads calmed down."

"Hey Reborn," the pint sized hitman had been about to leave, only pausing and barely turning to glance at the girl. "Is Tsuna here?"

The hitman shook his head, "He's with Takeshi."

"…but Takeshi isn't home…"

"I didn't say they were at his house."

"Oh."

So the Rain was still at the hospital.

"Get some rest; you have school in a few hours."

The hitman left with that, leaving the girl to rest. Natsume picked herself up, moving onto her knees and resting her upper body on her mattress and gave Emi, who was sleeping on her side of the bed, a blank look. Poking the black cat and getting a slow blink and a rather judgmental look, she managed to get the cat to scoot over so she could lay down.

She could miss her first and second period class, her mother would let her, would probably even try to get her to stay, not that she would let herself do that. Only a couple more days until the game against…was it Midori Middle (and oh, she should probably ask Haru about them) and if they won they would be able to go outside of their prefecture and play against the others schools in their league.

Something to look forward too, even with this chaos going on (not that it affected her directly, but she was worried and couldn't do anything if she wanted too to try to make thing easier for her brother and friends, so maybe volleyball was just being another way to channel her own restless energy.)

Eh.

The bell of her cats collar jingled, the feline coming up to cuddle against her chest, and Natsume decided to just stop thinking and go to sleep.

/ | \

It was her phone buzzing a couple hours later that woke her, flipping the phone open she stared blearily at the notifications, clicking on the 'ok' symbol and opening up the various photos and a long text that Longchamp had sent her (and why was he proclaiming who he was in the text? The pictures he had sent were enough, also why did he look like he had been beat, wait, stupid question, he had probably managed to upset Pantera again.)

He had been quiet the day before, so he was either probably making up for that or, oh, well, he had lost his phone on one of the rides apparently. She clicked through a couple numbers, typing up her message 'Good job on losing your phone, next time keep it in a bag or something.'

She hesitated on sending off another message, but she decided what did she have to lose; he'd probably just rub it in her face. 'Also totz wish we could trade places, I need a place of happiness right now.' She felt like complete crap and even though walking around a crowded amusement park wouldn't be what she would consider a fun time, it was Disneyland and she had a huge soft spot for anything Disney.

That and it would definitely take her mind off of everything that was going on.

With a deep sigh, she closed her phone, feeling a little satisfied by the way it snapped shut, and got up, stretching as she made her way out of her room and towards the restroom.

It was nine in the morning, she had already missed her first class and would probably be missing her second and third, not that she really cared, she was keeping up with everything and actually doing very well in her classes (even if she had missed a few days and had been lectured by a few of the sensei's that missing too much would lower her grades).

She also had an incentive to do good if she wanted to actually participate in games and to keep Reborn out of her hair, knowing that the toddler was still trying to figure out who was teaching her, but couldn't exactly demand anything of her if she was doing well on her own.

She spat out the glob of toothpaste, cupping her hands beneath the faucet and swashing the water in her mouth before spitting it out. If she had time later on today or any time after this week, she would sound out the idea of Reborn meeting Kawahira, if only to get the hitman off her case.

Kawahira would probably be against it, but she knew he would give in.

Eventually.

If he felt like it.

She stared at herself at the mirror, lips pursed as she eyed her hair and the best way to manage it for today, while also thinking that maybe Wonomichi would be able to help her to get Kawahira to agree. Opening the cupboards beneath the sink, she pulled out one bottle that she filled up with water and sprayed onto her hair and then pulled out another grey bottle, getting a generous amount of the cream and putting it through her hair.

With a sigh, she began brushing through the tangles and hoping to manage down the frizz she woke up with and when it wasn't showing to get better, she just gave up and braided her hair back. Not the best way of doing it, but one that worked for now.

/ | \

Basil stood a ways away from where Tsuna sat meditating, the brunet having managed to light his inner fire and maintain it for more than ten minutes now. If he could reach the fifteen minute mark, they would continue their sparring to see how long he could hold it while fighting.

"What do you think of all this Basil?" the sudden voice of Reborn made the teen jump, the tutor having disappeared to who knows where the night before and turning up now.

The sandy haired teen contemplated his answer, wondering what 'all this' could mean, and decided to just answer what he thought the hitman was referring too. "Unusual, we are being forced to move plans along quicker and are putting at stake lives that cannot be lost."

And that had some truth, the people Tsuna had surrounded himself with were the most compatible with him, were ones that had been accepted and found by the boy himself, instead of being thrust at him or being put up for selection like some Dons did.

Sure there were a couple (maybe one or two) that Tsuna probably wouldn't have chosen for himself, but that was mostly because one could not fit where they could not go (Hana was more Natsume's and Natsume herself could not hold the Mist position due to her other flames nature.)

Reborn nodded, to show that that answer was good enough, now the hitman just watched his student, curious at how at ease the boy was today compared to the other mornings, where it took him awhile to settle.

It was nice to see that he had confidence in at least one of his Guardian's, though of course Reborn wouldn't call them exactly close and Hibari was more a terror to be feared and maybe someone he would prefer to throw willingly at the Varia.

(The beaten down bodies they had found after the Storm battle truly spoke of Hibari's power, the prefect not at all flinching or caring of the twisted and groaning bodies he had left behind.)

And by what Dino had to say, in the spare moments he had managed to phone in, the Cloud Guardian was more than ready for his fight, the only thing was that he was inexperienced against fighting real assassins, compared to the rule breakers and yakuza that he dealt with.

"Reborn, if they all manage out of this, everything will calm down again right?"

Ah, blessed innocence, to think that everything would be 'calm' after all this.

Was Reborn of the few that actually believed that his student and his friends could make it out? Sure there were loses that they had taken, but so far they were doing well, everyone was alive so far.

"Calm is the only thing we can hope to obtain, Basil."

/ | \

Hibari had stayed at the school longer even after the clubs had let out and the staff had gone home. He stayed in the committee room, tilting the chair he was in back, not at all bothered by the chirps that came from the yellow bird every now then.

The blond had said he would be fighting tonight, but he wasn't interested in his opponent. He had watched it yesterday, had seen the hulking figure, eyed it carefully as it followed behind the group of assassins, exhaling loudly and obviously by the white clouds of smoke that escaped it.

A machine.

That's what his opponent was, a machine that would eventually fall apart in front of him. A small obstacle and perhaps not as difficult to get through as most people tended to be – as big as it was, in the end the machine was just that, a machine.

One that would bend easily at his hands, the machine being an example of his strength and so that group of assassins could get the hint that his school, that his town was not to be messed with as it had been the last couple of days.

"Hibari! Hibari!" Hibird flew through again, this time settling in his hair instead of just flying overhead. The little creature fluffed itself up, before settling down again, a knock came at the door a few minutes after Hibird had settled, the door opening without him even saying anything.

"I thought I would find you here," Dino said, not at all waiting for the teen to say anything and taking a seat on lone couch in the room. "How are you feeling about tonight?"

Hibari's eyes slid over to the man, taking in the Italian man before looking back out the window, "Unimpressed," he answered after a while longer, mouth pressing into a thin line as he thought over who supposed opponent. "Who is its leader?"

He had noticed the others, but they didn't scream leader to him, the closest one being the one that Yamamoto had fought, though even he seemed the type to let someone else take charge if they were capable of it.

"That would be Xanxus, I think he may be there tonight."

Hibari didn't nod in acknowledgment, merely moving in his seat; he lifted his arm up after resting his elbow on the arm rest, holding his finger out for Hibird to land on. If anyone could lead a group like those people, they deserved to answer for the problems that had been arising in the last week.

Dino got a bad feeling when he noticed Hibari's mouth quirk up into a smirk, eyes flashing in what most would hesitate to call glee as it just seemed so bloodthirsty, "That's my true opponent, after the machine."

"That's not how it works –"

"I don't care," Hibari uttered, once more looking at Dino, eyes narrowed. The glare the dark haired teen gave him didn't get bother him, it was the intentions and the thought of Hibari even going through with what he wanted to made Dino shake his head.

"That will cause more problems –"

"And?" the teen had the audacity to sniff at him. "Haven't they?"

He had a point.

"He is not your fight, Hibari."

Hibari leaned further back into his seat, wiggling his finger, getting Hibird to fly off, the bird circling around his head before flying out.

"We will see."

Dino sighed, why did he get the difficult one?

Part 40: No Time is Wasted

There was nothing like coffee mixed with red bull that kept a man like him up. Iemitsu had been feeling the jetlag, had tried to make up for it by taking a nap, though he knew he would barely be getting any sleep in the upcoming days.

It was the day of the Cloud match, he had already spent the last day he had been in Italy reading up and getting up to date information from what had been happening. Currently he was running on a mixture of caffeine and energy drinks, something that he would regret knowing the crash would be terrible, but at the end everything will be resolved.

He hoped.

"Boss?"

Right, right, focus Iemitsu, on the documents, on the descriptions of the Mosca. Why were these hidden and why were they sent to Varia's Mist user? Figure that out and then worry about the caffeine crash later.

"Where did you find these?" the blond asked Oregano again (starting to feel the crash he had just been thinking about) who sat beside him, sorting through one pile and organizing them so they were in an order that she could understand. The short hand and sloppy writing didn't help at all, so it made her job a little harder, but she would pull through.

Eventually.

"Lavender brought it in with him," he had already been at the Varia's place, had come in with the files, finding it odd that no one was raising the alarm over the documents and over how easy they were to come by.

Almost as if they were left out for them to find.

"Anise phone in Rosemary, now," Oregano snapped, spine straightening up, Iemitsu looking over at her and giving her an incredulous look. "This is all too convenient, Lavender brings in the files from the Varia, and suddenly he and Cicely are called out by Nono."

"It just goes through Oregano," Anise said, frowning as she dialed again, only for the same result. "Fuck, another one? Are they all even going to be alive after this or are they just taking them out?!"

"How has Nono been acting?" Iemitsu questioned again, brow furrowing, not at all bothered by his subordinates outbursts, fingering one of the papers and looking carefully at the date and what was listed below on it.

The functions of the Mosca, how to use it to the best of its abilites, the inside of the mechanism. Strangely it was almost big enough to work as a body suit, instead of as an independent machine.

Iemitsu's intuition reared its head, screaming at him, Xanxus' words ringing loudly in his ear.

I'm just helping you.

Can't anyone appreciate the shit I do.

You'll learn soon enough….like that old fool.

"Fucking shit," Iemitsu cursed, his eyes sharp and furious, his brow crinkled as he stood up. Oregano questioned him but he ignored it, picking through his bag and pulling out his headset. There was only one number that would go through on this headset and Nono's line rang, until it picked up.

"Hello."

"Nono," he greeted, his eyes squinting shut at the audacity of the other man on the end. "Tell me do you have any free time; I have some files I'd like for you to see."

"Within the hour Iemitsu, I will see you then."

The call ended and Iemitsu was treated to the sight of Oregano, whose mouth was pressed tightly into a thin line, "Sir are you sure?"

"Lal Mirch can tail me," his gaze flickered over to the arcobaleno who been snoozing away, finally able to relax enough to grab some shut eye. "If this adds up to what I think it may be, phone Reborn and halt the Cloud Match."

"That's in three hours' time boss."

"We better work quickly then."

Intermission 16

It was nice outside and I got Fuuta to distract the kids so they wouldn't come running out. When I said it had to do with mystical things, the boy got bright eyed and asked if one day he could learn. I only ruffled his hair and said maybe, though judging by the look in his eye he would be asking again.

….I wonder if his ability….

No…later…that was a thought for later.

I need to clear my mind, meditate and try to go through the memories of Jasmine.

My breathing evened out and it felt as if I was sleeping, but wide awake, I was completely aware of my surroundings and myself and so I prepared to dig myself into Jasmine's memories.

The most important ones or at least the strongest ones that were always very clear, were about Jasmine's family – her mother and father arguing, her mother crying, the angry younger brother getting in between the parents to defend her mother. It stung a little and the feelings that Jasmine tied to those memories resurfaced, filling me with anger and fear, making me feel helpless because I – no she – she couldn't do anything.

I pushed past that, past the laughing friends, whose faces and names I couldn't recall, past the school lectures, and tried to delve into the story that was my life.

Or wasn't really my life, but was kind of similar.

That was harder and the only thing that came up for what I was hoping to get was that I should be wary of Varia's Cloud Guardian.

"Natsume!"

I snapped back to reality, feeling dazed as I blinked slowly and realized that I was on my back, instead of sitting upright.

I pushed myself up and looked over my shoulder, seeing my mother poking her head out the window, "Aren't you cold sweetheart?"

There was a bit of a chill, so I stood up, dusting my butt of any piece of grass or dirt that got on me and headed in.

"You really fell asleep out there," my mother said, giving me a once over, before turning around and walking ahead of me. "Did they push you that hard at practice today?"

"A little bit," I responded, and without much thought I put my arms around her shoulders, hanging off her just a little bit. "I love you mama~"

"Awe, I love you too sweetheart."

/ | \

It was five minutes til midnight when the house phone rang.

Bianchi happened to be the one loitering around the kitchen at the time and picked up, "Sawada –"

"Bianchi, I can't get a hold of Reborn, something is blocking me off –" Iemitsu's voice and the urgency in it made the magenta haired woman straighten up, "The Cloud match needs to be stopped, if the Gola Mosca is taken down – fucking shit!"

Gun shots rang out, shouting ensued, Iemitsu barking orders, "Get to the school, someone has to stop that match before –"

The line went dead.

A second to put the phone back into a place and twenty to make it from the kitchen up to Natsume's room, and the girl must have been awake still by how quickly she answered.

"How fast can you get to the school?"

"What?" Natsume asked confused at the sudden question, but decided to change her answer when Bianchi's gaze narrowed. "Um, I'm…not really here right now?"

"What?" It was Bianchi's turn to say, though much more sharply than Natsume had. Jade eyes looked the girl up and down, before settling back onto the girl's hazel ones. Rather cheekily for the situation that was occurring, Natsume waved her fingers at her, distorting the way the appendages moved and wisps of indigos curling off.

"I'm not exactly real."

"Can you relay information to yourself?"

"Yes?"

"Your father called saying to stop the Cloud Match, something isn't right."

The not-Natsume blinked owlishly at her, nodding her head slowly, not even bothering to ask what exactly wasn't wrong, "I won't be able to maintain this after I send the message."

"I'll make sure your mother doesn't know you've snuck out."

The not-Natsume smiled cutely at her, holding up the peace sign, "Message sent~" and turned into a pool of mist, a little indigo bird flying out of it and zooming out the window. Bianchi watched as the last remaining flames extinguished themselves out, looking up only when the bed creaked and a large black cat stared back at her.

The big cat barred its teeth at her, straightening up and bounding towards the window, a low growl emitting from its throat. Bianchi strode into Natsume's room, locking the door behind her and luckily enough Natsume hadn't finished her snack from earlier.

Grabbing a handful of it, Bianchi let her flames do their work, turning the normally edible food into something that reeked and had she been anybody else, would melt through her skin. Of course she only found out that it did that when she threw it down onto the woman who was about to get into a knife fight with the big cat.

Bianchi didn't spare the woman, whose lower half of her face was starting to melt, not even when the large feline pounced on her, its teeth sinking into her neck getting a strangled cry out of her. Without missing another beat, the Italian Mafiosa pulled out the small pistol she had strapped underneth her shirt and got into a comfortable position.

Depending on how fast Natsume's message got there and if they even bothered listening to the girl, she'd have to wait and see on the results.

For now she could make sure that whoever decided to be a nuisance got a bullet through their brain.

Part 41: We Take in Stride What Comes

"What is it?" Kawahira asked, watching as Natsume tensed up when a wispy bird landed on her shoulder. He had chosen to come out again, wanting to see what the Cloudling of Namimori could do against the odd contraption that was his opponent.

There were tingles of Cloud and Sky flames and Kawahira was curious to know what kind of machinery humans have managed now to be able to contain a Clouds power.

"I think that thing has a person in it," she had wondered why she had felt an odd sense of foreboding about the thing, even when she tried to see into Jasmine's old memories of the old story earlier. She hadn't managed much from it. Her eyes narrowed as she looked beyond the fight and towards the remaining members of the Varia.

Mainly Xanxus, who looked far too pleased as he watched Hibari easily take down Gola Mosca.

Before he could advise his student against anything rash the girl had already run off as something must have clicked in her head and Kawahira could only watch, taking in the changing scene. He felt his student's power curl inward and then stretch out, keeping the young Cloud from making any further moves.

But it was too late, the motion of a threat was already made and Gola Mosca's systems had gone off, shooting its missiles at its target.

Kawahira only watched, hands clasped within the sleeves of his preferred yukata, knowing that he had once told the girl to be careful of showing her power, yet also knowing that she would push that aside to make sure the people around her were safe.

Shields and protections weren't a sign of a powerful Mist, Kawahira was sure that if the arcobaleno Viper had been there, the Esper would have caught on to what the girl was doing. There were cries of surprise from the others, having expected for it all to fall through under the power of the missiles that the machine had shot out.

Kawahira watched now, not as a mentor, but as Checkered Face, knowing that he was sure he had chosen well when the time came for the new holders of the pacifiers.

The brilliant burst of pure Golden flames and the way Natsume's unconsciously rose to tie in with it and push it forward, cemented that.

The next generation would last a lot longer this time around.

Of that he was sure.

/ | \

"Tsuna don't!" Natsume yelled, just barely managing a barrier between her brother and the contraption. Xanxus only looked on, a scowl on his face as the little bitch stopped the boy from obliterating the front of Gola Mosca.

Hibari glared from over Natsume's shoulder at Xanxus, watching the way the man reached for his gun. Hibari watched as the man stared heavily at the Sawada's, scarlet gaze not at all flinching away even when the sound of Natsume's flames tearing down the metal front of his opponent.

"Old man," Tsuna uttered, not at all expecting to see Timoteo of all people to be inside the machine. He wasn't awake, his face twisted as if he was in pain (and he probably was, the Gola Mosca wasn't in the best of shape after Hibari – what had the prefect done? No what had Xanxus done?)

"See what happens when you overstep your bounds?" Xanxus said, enjoying the expression that crossed the boy's face – one of horror and dismay.

What the fuck had Nono been thinking about setting him up for Vongola?

Xanxus looked over to the girl, the one that Mammon had said wasn't anyone to worry about and yet here she was eyes narrowed and proving that she was more than capable of doing as she pleased. Mammon had failed to keep an eye on the girl, making the excuse that there was something obscuring her from them.

To find out that the supposed brat that 'wasn't much' could be a lot more and a fucking hassle to deal with didn't exactly make him happy.

"Self-destruct," the Varia boss uttered, turning away.

His original plan had been scrapped, to pin the blame on the brat for continuing a fight long after it was finished. The destructive power of the Mosca – coupled with a previous Cloud users flame and Nono's sky, would create an explosion that would knock the little bitch's shields down and eradicate anyone within the vicinity.

There would be no one to stand against his word of what had happened, the only proof having gone up in flames after the to-be-Decimo instigated the other side.

/ | \

The Gola Mosca beeped in confirmation at the command and Tsuna watched as Timoteo twitched, trying to curl into himself as his breathing stuttered, starting to gasp for breath.

"Tsuna take Hibari, he can't walk," his sister's cool tone got his attention and he realized that his hands were shaking. His concentration had long since slipped away, so why was he still calling on his flames? Usually they would have sputtered out with his lack of attention, but they were still going strong.

"I can –"

"We have seconds," the girl cut the prefect off, stepping past the barrier she made and taking a hold of Timoteo. Natsume peered over her shoulder, mouth pressed in a tight line, brow furrowed and Tsuna wondered how his sister could be so calm in this situation, when everything was literally about to go to absolute shit.

(She had always been like that though, even when the bullying started, even when he struggled and he knew he was too much to handle. She always pushed and kept herself steady so that he could be alongside her. Sometimes it was almost as if she expected it all to happen.)

"Fucking move away Tsuna!" she spat as a fire lit itself on her forehead.

He didn't know how he moved, his legs felt like jelly, but he found himself doing it, actually picking up Hibari and moving away. The brunet stopped beside Reborn, the arcobaleno staring straight ahead watching Natsume work, while keeping everyone else from approaching her.

Tsuna set Hibari down, moving away from the prefect as the older teen tried to get at him for even touching him. Mukuro's trio were good, Hayato was gritting his teeth and Ryohei sported an uncharacteristic frown; everyone was okay, and he looked back to his sister only able to watch as the seconds ticked by and she still didn't move.

(Kawahira watched too, a smirk quirking his mouth as he watched his student weave her 'magic', spelling and tearing away the bonds of the machine that were living off of the human's flames, deducing that the less power the machine got the more survivable the explosion would be.

She was smart, weaving her flames around the form of the old man, curling around him protectively, her own harmony twining with his for the moment to give him a brief peace, while also curling around herself since she probably wouldn't be able to get out of there in time.

He felt his nails dig into the meaty part of his palm and Kawahira realized that maybe he cared much, much more than he thought he did about the girl.

Still he could not interfere, this was the trouble she brought upon herself and he could only watch.)

There was a silence after the final beep and the explosion that sounded around the area shook the ground.

"Natsume!"

It was Hayato that yelled, Tsuna staring, his breath caught in his throat as he watched the explosion, a bright light of purple accompanying it, making the brunet and the others shield their eyes.

When the light faded, there were pieces of metal splayed about, but none reached them, the shields, barriers whatever it was his sister erected still holding strong. Tsuna bit the inside of his lower lip, unclasping his hands from his jeans and slowly moving towards the new gouge in the ground up ahead.

Reborn moved past him, not at all understanding Tsuna's slow pace, even if the boy's thoughts which were reeling with anxiety and panic, spoke of how he truly felt.

He came upon two figures, one gingerly holding the other, their head turning to him and a mismatched pair of eyes looked at him, looking slightly ruffled but mostly annoyed.

"Xanxus has daddy issues, doesn't he?" Natsume asked, chancing a glance down at the now peaceful old man, his flames settling nicely when before they were agitated and being actively drained.

Reborn stared at the dirt covered girl, eyes roving down to her arms, the jacket she had been wearing cut up from whatever shrapnel she had failed to cover away from. That or the resulting thing had crashed whatever shield she had managed for herself, she of course had made sure that Timoteo would be the lesser damaged of the two.

"You could have saved yourself and left him," he knew she wasn't too happy with Nono, the man having been the one to seal them off and make them barely competent people, and also the one to push forth her brother for Vongola's Throne.

She blinked and her eyes were back to their hazel coloring, eyes crinkling as she smiled, "And give Xanxus the chance to twist everything to the rest of the Vongola, to have them all come down on behalf of Nono to finish off the one who killed him?" Her voice was quiet, yet harsh, the conclusion she had come to not far off from what could have happened. She wasn't wrong at all, because there were people that still supported Xanxus, albeit quietly, that would side with him.

There was a curse and Dino was moving past Tsuna who had stood at the edge of the small crater, eyes wide as he stared at the scene before him. The young Don waved over a few of his own men, some moving in to slide down and help Timoteo, another to take a look at Natsume's arms.

Tsuna narrowed his eyes as he saw the extent of the damage his sister took. The sleeves of her hoodie had been shredded apart, the medic cutting away the threads of it so he could heal her arms. Once the man was done, Dino motioned him away, looking down to his old tutor to see what he had to say.

"Xanxus has crossed a line," Reborn finally said, his fedora casting a shadow over his features and hiding them from the three around them. "There will be consequences for this, once Timoteo is well enough I will speak to him privately about this."

With that said the hitman made his way out of the small crater, Dino lingered, helping Natsume up and was about to ask if she needed help getting out, especially with the way she winced when she put weight on her right leg. She waved him away, the blond though was about to help her either way, when Tsuna moved in, putting an arm around his sister's waist, and kind of dragging her out.

Dino blinked, surprised to see Tsuna looking so upset and angry, the look actually directed at Natsume. A sigh left the Cavallone Don, hand ruffling through his hair – he would understand if Tsuna was upset that his sister was hurt, and also angry at her for getting involved when she shouldn't have too.

The brunet should of course consider that if Natsume hadn't, there would be much bigger problems at hand.

/ | \

"You got hurt –"

"When don't I?" She had a habit of getting hurt, especially when she just jumped into situations without thinking them through. It had happened countless times with bullies that decided to get more than a little hand on with her brother or her, and it was something that Kawahira was beating out of her.

Slowly, but steady, at least she wasn't as badly injured as she could have been.

That had been rather careless of her to say, Tsuna's fingers dug into her side and he stopped just before reaching Ryohei and Hayato (one of who was shouting after Hibari's retreating figure, the other smoking a cigarette.)

"Are you okay?"

"A little jacked up, but I'll be fine."

"….why Tsume?"

Tsuna watched the frown that marred his sister's face, slightly shaking her head, mouth pursing as she tried to think of the words to say or explain why exactly she had done what she did, "Do you ever get a bad feeling about something?" One of her hands rested over her stomach, grasping at her hoodie, "It was a gut feeling Tsuna and it kept bothering me."

Yeah, he understood that too.

He didn't like it, but he was grateful that he had someone like his sister around. If not who knows how much worse the situation would have gotten.

/ | \

They were on their way back home, Tsuna wanting to make sure that Ryohei had made it safely to his. Hayato would be sleeping over as it was usual for the teen to stick with the brunet, giving the teen actual time to question Natsume.

"It takes time Hayato," Natsume sighed, nearly rolling her eyes at her brother's best friend's stubbornness, as she leaned her weight against him. "Yes you made it happen once and in a sudden burst, but weren't you exhausted afterwards?"

"I had just finished fighting –"

"Okay and? You've picked a fight or two, how do you usually come out of those?"

The teen pursed his lips, looking straight ahead as he figured the answer for that. Sure there was the physical exhaustion and the pains of any hits that he had taken. When it had come to his battle on Saturday though, he was at his breaking point, Belphegor having pushed him to his limits as he toyed with him.

Especially after that release of whatever it was he had done, it had given him an advantage, but he was sure if it wasn't for Shamal cutting in as quickly as he did, Belphegor would have been done with him.

"….point."

"You have to build it up slowly," the girl rephrased her words, briefly squeezing Hayato's side. "Actually sitting down and just meditating on them will help, but that's if you have the patience to do that. Or you can have someone force them out for you like Reborn does for Tsuna."

"What would you suggest?"

"I'm not big on getting shot just to get an idea of how my flames flow or having anything forced on me actually, like I said I can help you, but it'll be mostly learning what works for you."

Hayato stayed quiet after that, thinking over what possible ways could help him while also keeping track of the surrounding area. Namimori may be safe at any time of the day, but it was nearly two in the morning and who knew if those bastards would try something else.

"Say Natsume…"

They had made it home, pausing outside the front gate and Natsume hummed as her brother turned to look at her, "Who is teaching you all this stuff?"

The girl blinked, suddenly feeling Hayato's sharp and very curious gaze, "...do you want to meet them?"

Tsuna felt his sister's hesitance, even if she hid it rather well. It wasn't about actually meeting the person though, how long had they been teaching his sister and for her to only offer to introduce them once he questioned it.

"It'd be nice to know that it's not some creepy guy you go see."

She stuck her tongue out in retaliation to that remark, "Excuse you, but I am very good judge of character."

"….aren't you the one who likes the villains in the stories?"

"That has nothing to do with this."

"..." Tsuna didn't say anything, only pursing his lips and giving his sister a questioning look who seemed to puff up a little at the insinuation about her judgement of character.

"Nothing to do with this," Kawahira wasn't a bad guy; he was just a shop keep at an antique store and had his one lone worker always running errands to certain parts of the world. He was just an odd, super old man, who if you managed to get on his good side treated you well and taught you some pretty cool things. "I'll ask if he'd like to meet you all. Wouldn't want to surprise him and give him a heart attack."

"So he's an old creep?"

"Maa, sensei's not a creep."

The gate clicked shut behind them as they bantered, Hayato mostly grilling the girl about just saying yes to anyone without actually knowing them and Tsuna just exasperated.

She did have a tendency to move forward without really thinking much of the consequences, 'just doing' as she liked to say, so hopefully her choice of teacher won't come back to bite her in the butt.

As they trudged upstairs, voices low and whispering good night as they finally made it to their respective rooms, Tsuna tugged at the back of his sister's sweater, "Hey Tsume,"

"Ya?"

"Want to go visit Takeshi tomorrow before school? Or after? Whichever one."

"Before school is fine," she covered her mouth with the back of her hand as she yawned, shaking her head lightly afterwards. She then moved and gave Tsuna a hug, which the brunet returned. She leaned her chin down on his shoulder, "You'll be fine, okay Tsuna? I know you can do it, just," she paused, pulling back and openly staring at him. Her hands came up to his shoulders, squeezing them as she finished, "Just keep doing you."

"What?"

"You do you, you'll be fine."

She then pulled away, hiding another yawn as she turned to her room, Tsuna could only stare after his sister, knowing that trying to get her to explain what she was trying to say wouldn't be happening.

Hadn't he been doing himself?

And what had that got him?

A lot of headaches (his sister could have died if it hadn't been for those shields of hers; Takeshi nearly died the other night, and just the worry and frustration of seeing his friends in these situations because of him. And just everything. He was actually just over these battles, he had seen them for what they really were tonight and he just felt empty.

And It made him question what kind of father was Timoteo like to have a son like Xanxus.)

"If you keep making that face, it will stay like that."

"Reborn?"

"And if you think any harder you'll make yourself dizzy, go to bed Tsuna."

"Pfft, I highly doubt that's a thing –" a green slipper smacked the teen upside the head and he was moving before it could come up for a second hit. "Alright, alright, haven't I suffered enough violence?" the brunet uttered under his breath, rubbing the back of his head as he made his way into his room.

Reborn didn't cluck his tongue, just staring after the teen, gaze shifting over to Natsume's closed door. He didn't know if to count Natsume's surprise appearance a good sign or what, what she had done had saved Nono from a much more terrible fate than just a machine exploding.

Tsuna's flames were ready to destroy; they would have burned into Timoteo and would have made it harder to keep the man alive while trying to heal the injuries that the Mosca would have caused.

The hitman moved into the room, he would be getting ready for bed, but like hell he would actually be sleeping. There were watchers around the home, though they wouldn't dare come in while he was here. He'd have to make sure tomorrow that Bianchi had everything she would need to protect the people within the house.

Everything had gone to shit so quickly, tomorrow though, Xanxus would be getting what was coming to him.

AN:

I'm going on a trip so I'm updating this a lot earlier than I would like. ^^

Things are almost over. Almost.

I may or may not be taking my time, its that or my mind just wants to expand more on stuff, though it feels like I don't do that enough. *sigh* Anyways, hope you guys enjoy and are withstanding this summer well!

Til next time~

Sorugao