Ameliy: No, thank you for your lovely reviews! I will think about showing what happen to Ryohei's and Chrome's parents, maybe I do a little side piece or something. I don't know. We'll see!

This chapter is brought to you by two prompts by Dman4869. Chrome and Tsuna will have an adventure and Hayato and Takeshi might find an UMA. Enjoy!

I don't own KHR.

Hayato carefully looked all around him before he sprinted right for the greenhouse door. When he got there, he quickly got inside and closed the door as quietly as possible before ducking under the nearest row of beautiful potted plants. When he didn't hear any doors opening or any other suspicious sounds after a few minutes, Hayato sighed in relief.

It was a sunny winter day and since most of the snow from the last snowfall was gone, they all decided to play Hide-and-Seek Tag. The rules were simple: get to the front door, aka the base, before the one who was It caught you. If you were caught, you had to help whoever's It catch the remaining survivors. And to make things even harder, they couldn't be in teams. They also weren't allowed to use their dying will flames (which much to Mukuro's disappointment, did include illusions).

Kyoya told them that he didn't want them to be relying on their flames too much which Hayato could actually understand. Though he suspected the no flames rule was mainly because the last time they played this game Ryohei had run straight into a tree. With his flames on full blast to the extreme. On purpose.

Needless to say, Ryohei got a broken nose and learned that his flames weren't extremely powerful enough to plow straight through a tree.

Hayato surprisingly didn't mind this new rule, or at least definitely not as much as the no teams rule (with the exception of whoever was paired with Lambo). It's not that he wasn't bothered running around by himself, but because he didn't want Tsuna to get caught super early.. Tsuna wasn't the fastest runner, was it so wrong that Hayato wanted to protect him?

It would be one thing if it was Chrome (or maybe even Takeshi) who was It, but Kyoya was It this round. Enough said.

Hoping that Tsuna hadn't been caught yet, Hayato slowly peeked his head out and when he didn't see anyone, he crawled out from under the plants. Crouched over, Hayato slowly walked to the other end of the greenhouse, making sure not to bump into anything. Even though he still didn't see anyone, Hayato ducked behind any plant he could, just in case Kyoya suddenly walked by and saw him through the greenhouse's glass walls.

After what seemed like forever, Hayato was finally at the other door. Well, he was under the final row of plants that separated him from the door but close enough. Steeling his breath, Hayato slowly peeked his head out. After seeing no one when he looked in both directions, he ran to the giant potted tree that sat right by the door and ducked behind it.

When no new sounds reached his ears, Hayato reached for the door handle.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." It was only due to his brief time on the streets as well as all his time with Mukuro that Hayato didn't yell. Even so, he jumped somewhat as his head whipped around to reveal Takeshi peeking his head up from behind some giant buckets.

"Takeshi, wh-" Hayato began to harshly exclaim as he grasped the front of his shirt before Takeshi shushed him. Takeshi then pointed to the glass door behind Hayato, or more specifically to the tree that was between the greenhouse and the mansion. His brows furrowing, Hayato carefully looked at the tree but he didn't see what made Takeshi so cautious. He was about to say so when suddenly, something black moved out of the corner of his eye. When Hayato more closely inspected the tree, his eyes widened when he saw It.

"Kyoya has been hiding in the tree this whole time?" Hayato harshly whispered, his eyes focused on Kyoya just casually sitting on a tree branch. The reason Hayato hadn't seen him at first was because he was on the very top of the tree. The branches were sparse and far apart from each other too, Hayato wasn't sure he wanted to know how Kyoya managed to get up there.

"I don't know about the whole time, but he has been there for a while now. I've been stuck here this whole time," Takeshi answered as he continued to sit in the middle of various gardening equipment.

"Why stay there for so long? Sure, it's a good vantage point for anyone heading for the front door from this direction, but what if one of us went the long way around?" Hayato muttered.

"Maybe he thinks none of us will do that? Or maybe he's taking a nap?" Takeshi suggested, causing Hayato to look at him incredously.

"Kyoya may love sleeping a bit too much but even he wouldn't jeopardize his chances of winning for a simple nap. He isn't like the hare in that Aesop fable."

"True, though he definitely wouldn't mind snuggling with one." Hayato nodded in agreement as he looked back at Kyoya, who seemingly hadn't moved at all. What should he do? Should he go back the same way he came, and hoped that Kyoya hadn't already seen him? But he was also so close, Hayato really didn't want to go the long way around (and since Takeshi was still here, he probably didn't want to either).

What should he do?

"Oh hey, do you think me warning you counted as teamwork?" Takeshi asked as Kyoya's black coat that was hanging off his shoulders floated a bit in the slight breeze.

"...I won't tell if you don't."

"Cool." Hayato was then about to ask if he had seen Tsuna when there was a sudden cry.

"Muku! Kyo 'ere!" Not even a second later, Kyoya was jumping from branch to branch until he landed on the ground in a perfect forward roll. Without missing a beat, Kyoya took out his tonfas and raced off to their left, where Hayato could now see Mukuro running away with Lambo in his arms (their baby brother was currently laughing without a care in the world).

"Thank you Lambo for being so helpful," Hayato sighed in relief and gratitude as all three of his brothers ran out of his line of sight.

"Poor Mukuro though," Takeshi commented as he carefully maneuvered his way out of the mess of gardening equiment. "He can't even really fight back because he's holding Lambo."

"Don't feel bad, Kyoya won't hurt him that much for the same exact reason," Hayato told him as he finally left the safety of the potted tree and grabbed the door handle. He then opened the door as quietly as he could, peaking his head slowly. When he didn't see Kyoya, Hayato wasted no time in running out of the greenhouse.

Only to come to an abrupt stop not even a few seconds later when something white flew into view.

"What is it? Do you see Kyoya?" Takeshi called out behind him. Hayato didn't answer, his eyes directed at the tree again. But instead of his oldest brother, it was a white bird that was perched on a tree branch. His spirit filled with hope and awe, Hayato noted that the bird was too big to be a dove. And while Hayato wasn't able to see the bird clearly due to the distance between them, he could still tell the way the bird was holding its head was nothing short of majestic.

Could it be?

"Oh, that's a pretty bird," Takeshi commented as Hayato heard him walk up beside him. "Since its here, I wonder if that means winter is ending soon."

"Or maybe, its here because it has chosen this household to watch over," Hayato said as he felt a wide smile grow on his face.

"...What do you mean?" Hayato finally tore his eyes away from the bird and saw that Takeshi was looking at him quizzically.

"Isn't it obvious? It's a caladrius! It must be! Just look at its pure white feathers and the size of it!" Hayato exclaimed excitedly as he motioned his hands torwards the bird.

"...It's some kind of UMA isn't it?"

"Yes!" Hayato confirmed, deciding to just be happy that Takeshi at least knew that much. "It's a white bird that lives in a king's palace and if anyone in the palace get sick, then the caladrius will cure the person by absorbing the sickness itself with just a single look. Then right after it's done absorbing the illness, it will fly towards the sun."

"So the caladrius sacrifices itself instead?" Takeshi asked with a somewhat solemn expression.

"Wha-, oh no, the caladrius just flies high enough for the sun rays to burn the illness away before it comes back, completely healthy again."

"Oh that's good," Takeshi said in relief. "So, are you sure that's a caladrius? Because it kinda looks like a dove to me."

"Well, that's not surprising since they are often compared to doves," Hayato explained, ignoring the first question as he turned back to the white bird. "Either that or a white heron."

"Okay, but we live in a mansion, not a palace. And we're definitely not royalty. So why would a caladrius be here? Do you think it's just stopping by or something?"

"That or it thinks our home is close enough to a king's palace. I mean c'mon, Giotto, G, and the others are not only really powerful, but they want to change the world for the better," Hayato reasoned as the bird looked off into the distance. "I'm sure the caladrius deems them worthy. Now c'mon, help me up the tree so I can take a closer look at it."

Out of the corner of his eye, Hayato saw Takeshi opened his mouth but before he could utter a word, the sound of a dog barking filled the air. Before Hayato could even start to be afraid that the noise might scare the bird away, it took off into the air and flew away.

"Or not," Takeshi said simply.

"No! Come back! We'll treat you well I promise!" Hayato cried as he ran as fast as he could after the white bird.

"Yeah, we don't get sick that often I swear!" Takeshi added as he ran right behind him.

KHR

Tsuna groaned slightly with a small pout as he looked around the frost-bitten landscape with patches of snow scattered about. The game had barely even started when Kyoya tagged him out. Kyoya then left him alone to catch the others, which wouldn't be so bad if Tsuna could find any of his siblings. But because of the big property and how his siblings were getting really good at hide-and-seek, Tsuna couldn't find any of them. Well, not exactly. He came across Chrome a few minutes ago but before he could get excited, she told him that Kyoya had tagged her earlier.

Well, at least Tsuna wasn't wandering around the property alone anymore.

"Maybe we should head for the base?" Chrome suggested as she looked around herself. "That way, if any of them managed to get past Kyoya-"

"Then we can tag them!" Tsuna exclaimed excitedly. "Though we probably have to hide behind the trees near the door though. I don't think it would be fair if we're standing right in front of it."

"Good idea," Chrome agreed with a nod and a smile. Tsuna smiled himself, happy and confident that this plan would prove to be have more results than just aimlessly walking around.

And if Kyoya did manage to get the rest of his siblings before they reached the base, then at least they tried.

"Then let's go!" Tsuna cried as he headed for the base. In his excitedment and desire to actually do something this round, Tsuna stepped onto a nearby patch of snow instead of walking around it. The snow crunched under his feet as Tsuna hummed a small merry tune, keeping his eyes peeled for any of his siblings just in case.

Then, just when he crossed over the small patch of white snow, he heard a loud bark. With dread flowing through his entire being, Tsuna slowly turned around. For a moment, he saw nothing. Then a brown furry animal appeared over the hill, stopping at the very top as if it wanted to look down at its prey. Tsuna's eyes widened in fear when his awful suspicions on what the animal was turned out to be true.

The animal that had made the bark was a dog. And not just any dog, it was the worst and most devilish breed of dog of all time.

A chihuahua.

"How...why is one-" Tsuna started to ask when suddenly the chihuahua barked once more. Then deciding that twice wasn't enough, the dog let out a series of short and very loud barks as it charged at them.

"Run Chrome run!" Tsuna screamed as he quickly turned back around while grabbing Chrome's hand before running as fast as he could. As he heard the chihuahua race after them, Tsuna was reminded of the days when he still lived in Japan with his parents. Tsuna didn't know why but the neighbor's chihuahua really had it out for him, making him be wary every time he left his house.

Now here he was, running away from a chihuahua again except in a totally different continent. Do all chihuahuas hate him or something?! Where did the dog even come from?!

"Tsuna, it's not slowing down!" Chrome exclaimed with her head turned back to look at their pursuer.

"Don't look back! Don't look at its eyes!" Tsuna warned her as he kept on running while making sure Chrome's hand was still in his. "It'll only want your blood more!"

Then, as if to confirm Tsuna's belief, the dog let out a particularly loud bark, making Chrome yelp a bit as she turned her head back around. Tsuna gritted his teeth as he looked around for any trees that they could climb. Because as much as he would just fly away or fight the dog, one of the game's rules was that they couldn't use their flames. Tsuna wasn't entirely sure if escaping a chihuahua counted as a good enough exception for Kyoya. Their lives weren't really in danger yet after all. Not to mention that despite Tsuna's hatred for the dog breed, even he could see that using flames against a single chihuahua might be a bit overkill.

And Chrome apparently felt the same since she hadn't used her illusions yet.

"Tsuna! There!" Chrome cried as she pointed at a nearby tree with a low enough branch that they both could probably grab onto with a simple jump.

"Right!" Tsuna replied as he swiftly switched directions to head right for the tree. The tree wasn't far away and was getting closer by the second, but at the same time, the chihuahua's barks seemed to be getting louder and closer too. Tsuna gripped Chrome's hand tighter as he pushed himself, and thereby Chrome, to go faster.

Please, please let them make it in time...

Then finally, they were at the base of the tree. But knowing that they were far from safe, Tsuna quickly grabbed Chrome around the torso and lifted her up as high as he could. As Chrome swiftly pulled herself up onto the branch, the dog's barks grew painfully louder. But even so, Tsuna stayed on the ground until he was sure that Chrome was safely on the branch. Only then did he jump.

As his hands grabbed the thick branch, Tsuna felt the chihuahua nip at his heels.

"Tsuna!" Chrome cried in alarm as she reached out to help pull Tsuna up onto the branch. Within seconds, Tsuna was safely on the branch along with Chrome, both of them panting for breath as the chihuahua barked relentlessly right underneath them.

"Y-You okay?" Tsuna asked breathlessly. Thanks to training from both Elena and Daemon (as well as a steady well-balanced diet), her stamina had gotten much better but Tsuna couldn't help but still be a little worried. Chrome assured him though with a nod as she kept a wary eye at the chihuahua. Then she turned her attention to Tsuna.

"Y-You? It looked like it bit your foot," she asked, her voice breathless yet full of concern.

"No, it just nip at my shoe," Tsuna assured her with a shake of his head before he looked at the back of said shoe. When he didn't see anything out of the ordinary, he sighed in relief. "Good, he didn't tear it."

His tennis shoes were still kinda new, he didn't think Elena would be happy knowing that a stupid dog had ruined his shoes.

"What...what are we gonna do? Should I contact Mukuro-sama? Or would Kyoya count that as breaking the rules?" Chrome asked as the dog continued to bark like it had a voice box that ran on a never-ending battery.

"Uh-"

Then out of nowhere, a white bird with bright red eyes dove straight for the dog, grabbed the animal with its talons, and flew back into the air.

It all happened so quickly that Tsuna just blankly stared at the chihuahua-less ground for a hot second.

"Was that a-" Chrome started to ask when a familiar voice interrupted her.

"Hey Tsuna! Hey Chrome!" Takeshi cried. Tsuna turned his head and saw Takeshi running towards them with Hayato right at heels. "Why are you guys in a tree?"

"A chihuahua chased us up here!" Tsuna explained while Chrome just waved, feeling relief to see their brothers after that narrowing experience.

"What?! Are you al-ah! The caladrius, it's got the dog!" Hayato exclaimed in horror. "It's gonna give it indigestion!"

A cala-what now?

"Not if I have anything to say about it!" Takeshi declared as he rushed to the nearest snow patch and instantly started build a snowball with his bare hands.

"Don't hit the bird!" Hayato yelled in horror as he skidded to a stop beside Takeshi.

"Don't worry, I got this!" Without another word, Takeshi got into the wind-up position, his eyes now eyeing at a point in the air. Tsuna turned his head and saw that the bird, with the dog still captured in its talons, was a good bit off in the distance.

Takeshi was a good pitcher and the bird was flying slowly because of the chihuahua's weight but Tsuna wasn't sure if even his brother could stop them from this distance.

Then with a focused glare, Takeshi threw the snowball. Tsuna watched as the snowball passed by them in a flash and flew straight for the flying bird and its prey. Then there was a loud yelp as the snowball hit the dog, knocking it out of the bird's talons. Tsuna watched silently with wide eyes as the chihuahua fell straight into a particularly deep pile of white snow.

"Oops, I was aiming for the air right beside the bird," Takeshi laughed somewhat nervously while the chihuahua poked its head out of the snow, while the bird circled above it. But deciding that it wasn't worth it anymore, the bird screeched before flying towards the forest outside the fence.

"Who cares, the chihuahua chased our siblings up a tree," Hayato grunted as he walked towards Tsuna and Chrome, his eyes solemnly gazing after the bird.

"True, but I think that was Alberta's dog," Takeshi explained as he followed suit, while the dog in question managed to shakily climb out of the snow before heading in the opposite direction.

"So that's why the chihuahua's here?" Tsuna replied, recalling that Alberta was one of the Vongola maids. "Why did she think it was a good idea to let that bloodthirsty animal go wild?!"

"I don't know, but don't worry, I'll talk to G about it when we get inside," Hayato assured him right as he reached the base of the tree. Then he held his arms out. "Once I tell him that not only did it chase you guys up a tree but it almost gave an UMA a stomachache, he will definitely tell Alberta to not let her demon dog loose here anymore!"

"UMA? I thought it was an albino hawk," Chrome admitted as she swung one of her legs over the branch before pushing herself off the branch.

"A-Albino hawk?" Hayato choked out as he caught their sister, looking a bit taken aback at the observation.

"Yeah, it had red eyes and it both looked and acted like a hawk," Chrome explained as Hayato sat her gently down while Takeshi, having reached the tree by this point, reached his arms out for him.

"She's right! I saw the red eyes too!" Tsuna supported as he quickly got to his feet on the branch before jumping off.

"Eating small animals like chihuahuas is more a hawk thing to do, not a dove," Takeshi commented as he caught Tsuna without any problem. "Not that a caladrius is a dove, but you know what I mean."

"What's a caladrius?" Tsuna asked as Takeshi put him down on the ground.

"...It's a mythical bird that was said to take away a king's sickness with just one look," Hayato answered with a sigh as he gave a despondent gaze towards the woods. He looked so disappointed that Tsuna felt bad for him. As a result, Tsuna walked over to his brother and patted his arm.

"Don't worry, even it that bird wasn't an UMA, I'm sure we will find one sooner or later," Tsuna said with a warm smile. "If we could find people that could take all of us kids, then why can't we find an UMA?"

"Yeah, you're right Tsuna!" Hayato exclaimed with hope sparkling in his eyes. "We will find an UMA one day, we can't give up! Thanks Tsuna!"

"You're welcome!" Tsuna accepted with a small laugh.

"For now though, let's get to the base before Kyoya finds us," Takeshi advised with a wide smile of his own. "I think if we run there one by one, Kyoya won't count that as working togeth...Tsuna? Chrome? What's the matter?"

Tsuna and Chrome gave each other one last horrified glance before facing their brothers.

"Sorry, but...both of us got tagged before we got chased by the evil chihuahua," Tsuna admitted sheepishly.

"We didn't mean to tag you guys, we actually completely forgot!" Chrome added guiltily. "I'm so sorry."

Hayato's immediate reaction was to stand there blank-faced with wide eyes while Takeshi just laughed like what they said was the funniest thing in the world.

Ryohei ended up winning the game, Mukuro and Lambo eventually getting tagged by Kyoya despite Mukuro's best efforts. And Alberta was told to never bring her little bundle of joy to work again.

So what did you think? Did this chapter flow nicely, were the characters in character, etc.? Please leave a review on your way out and I will update shortly! Until then, stay safe and sane and have a great day/night! See ya!