Fon stood in place as Colonnello and Reborn came out from their hiding spots. Yona had long gone home by now. Fon was happy to see how far Yona has progressed both in strength and her personality. She used to be timid and now she's a stubborn girl that knows how to use the rules to her advantage. She'll abuse them however she likes. That's just who she is.

"You two got too close to her." Fon scolded.

"I didn't think she'd have a reaction like that." Colonnello said. His hawk flew onto his head.

"She didn't have this reaction with the two of us years ago." Reborn pointed out.

"That's true, but there are three of us and she's older."

"Is she sensitive to flames?" Colonnello questioned.

"She seems to be effected by strong flames. That's what Kazuma thinks." Fon said.

"And he's the one training her?" Reborn asked.

"Yes. She's been attacked too many times by enemies to leave her be. I had Kazuma give her my regimen." Fon explained.

"What did you do to the enemy, Reborn?" Colonnello asked.

"I took them out and left one for the family to interrogate."

"Good work as always."

"I wasn't expecting Yona to trust me so easily. That can be dangerous." Reborn said. Colonnello nodded in agreement.

"You two made her senses go haywire. She only went to where the stronger smell was."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure. She has a good intuition."

"For not having Vongola blood, her intuition is strong."

Fon left the two and went to Kazuma's estate to visit. When he got there, Kyoya tried to attack him. Fon easily jumped out of the way and pushed Kyoya down. "You're getting better." Fon went into the main room and saw Kazuma sipping on his tea.

"How did it go?" Kazuma asked.

"It went well. Sorry for leaving so abruptly. Tsuna was targeted."

"Was he alone?"

"Yona was with him. She's gotten a lot faster. However, she had a sensory overload." Kazuma looked at Fon.

"Too many of you got close to her."

"If Reborn didn't fire his gun, she'd still be frozen on the spot and probably dead."

"She just needs to get used to you one at a time until she can withstand all seven of you. The stronger the flame, the stronger the stench. Did she create a shield like last time?"

"No."

"That's a shame. Either way, she'd be fine if you three didn't interfere. She's strong enough."

"She can't fight holding Tsuna. Only those of my caliber can do that." Kazuma smirked.

"Yona can do the impossible." Kyoya walked in the room.

"Yona is here. She brought back a body."

"Alive?"

"I don't know. He's bloody and isn't moving."

"She'll find her way to me. That girl can sniff me out."

Inside the Hibari estate, I saw a shocked Fon and a yawning Kazuma. Beside my feet was a bloodied body that hardly moved. "Did you do that?" Kazuma asked me.

"No. Freya did. Apparently, he was going to kill me. He even hid in my damn closet. He isn't talking much other than cursing me."

"How did you know he was going to kill you?" Fon asked.

"You should probably show him your magic." Kazuma said with a smirk.

"Freya." She jumped from my bag onto the floor. She then turned into her human form. Fon's eyes went wide and his mouth dropped.

"This is Yona's defense and why she's protected at all times."

"Baby. If you weren't important, I would have killed you back then." Freya spat at Fon.

"Be nice, Freya." I warned.

"What do you mean by that?" Fon asked.

"You're one of the seven. The pacifier is more than enough evidence."

"You know what I am?" Fon asked me.

"Of course. Grandma talked about you seven all the time." I said, shocking Fon. This was fun. I never realized how the surprise of someone so powerful like Fon could make me feel all jittery.

"Why does your grandma know about us? Not many do."

"You see, you seven are attached to my master in a unique way. My master is an alchemist." I gave a small curtsey. Aya was the one to teach me that since it was her way of greeting me.

"Anyway, can I experiment on him here? He's almost dead anyway." I pointed out.

"Go ahead and work on him. Cover the windows so no one can accidentally see. Are you okay with Fon watching?"

"I'm fine. Whether I like it or not, I'm chained to him and the other six. It's why I can always sniff them out."

Fon watched me with surprised eyes as I closed all the windows, doors, and even covered them up with blankets. Freya positioned the man on the floor. I sat down and started my work. "What are you doing?" Fon asked.

"Tempering with his flame to see if I can fix Tsuna."

"You can do that?"

"I don't know yet. I'm trying. I'm not well versed in flames. I already know what the barrier looks like in Tsuna's mind. I just need to know how to take it down with no side effects."

"Who knows about your alchemy?"

"You and Kazuma." Unfortunately for me, the man died almost instantly. I clicked my tongue.

"Shall I take care of him?" Freya asked.

"If you want." She nodded before giving him a kiss on the lips. His body starting to shrink until he became nothing but a piece of dust.

"This is almost too much for me to handle." Fon said, putting a hand to his head.

"It's best not to ask questions and to just observe." Kazuma said in the background.

"You know about my curse, right?" Fon asked seriously.

"I do."

"Then, do you know how to reverse it?"

"No." Fon looked like he got his hopes up for nothing. I rubbed the top of his head. "Don't worry. It's been my end goal since grandma said you and the others can't die from age. It isn't fair for you and the others to suffer. Alchemy can only do so much, but I'll be the one to break the curse. I don't know how, but I'll do everything in my power to help you. I might not be that knowledgeable about how flames work, but once I do, I'll put my blood, sweat, and tears into research."

"My first master's lover was part of the first generation of arcobaleno. She made it her goal to set them free and was killed in the process." Freya said sadly.

"It's said her soul is passed down to each generation so she may rise again. She might even take control of me one day." I said lightheartedly, but I knew Freya was deeply bothered by it.

"Are you not worried about that? You won't even be yourself anymore."

"It's not about me losing my identity. I'll completely die. What will be left is my body and my ancestor's soul. So far, I haven't had any of the symptoms other than the shields."

"If doing this will kill you, I don't want you doing this." Fon said.

"Whether I do this or not won't change that my ancestor may take control of me. I want to do as much as I can now before it's too late. Hopefully, it won't happen, but grandma said it would since I'm the strongest alchemist in generations. Mama doesn't even have an ounce of alchemy in her system. It was all passed to me." I explained sadly.

"It sounds like you were cursed too."

"It's the curse of my family. If I break your curse, mine will break. It's a mutual exchange."

"That's why you trusted my friend earlier."

"His stench made me want to kill myself, but it tells how strong he is. The stronger the stench, the stronger the flame. All of yours have a unique smell to them which is easier for me to know who it is."

Fon looked at Yona with concern. She was too happy about possibly dying. He remembered Mammon saying something about alchemy years ago. Everyone brushed him off. None of them thought alchemy was real and yet Yona is right in front of Fon with a doll that can function as a human. He saw the concern on Freya's face.

"Like I said, you'll just have to fight it. You said you'll be the strongest alchemist, right? You'll be just fine." Kazuma said with certainty.

"I hope so. All I can do know is keep my work up. Once Tsuna is all fixed up, I'll start my official research into flames. I've already learned some through the experiments. I have a notebook full of information." Fon left the room and went to the phone. He needed confirmation from Mammon immediately.

"Fon? You never call me. What do you want?" Mammon said, picking up the phone.

"What do you know about alchemy?"

"You remember me saying that?"

"It just occurred to me. Just tell me what you know."

"Alchemy is rare and hasn't been seen in thousands of years. If there is an alchemist alive, they'd have to have a very strong blood line to survive until now."

"Why would it be rare?" Fon asked.

"They'd have to be from a bloodline that still practices alchemy. It's died out."

"What if I found an alchemist?" Fon questioned.

"I don't know whether to believe you or not, but knowing you asked me out of the blue, you must have found one."

"I did. You said an alchemist would be able to help us reverse our curse. How would that happen?" Fon admitted.

"I'm not too sure since my knowledge in alchemy is so small. I can only do small things myself. What kind of alchemist is she?" Mammon asked.

"How did you know the alchemist was a female?"

"The female body is seen as the perfect body which is why they're most commonly seen as witches. It's why they were executed. Anyway, she needs to be protected. I shouldn't even know who she is to keep her safe. She is the key to getting rid of this awful curse."

"She said that she's connected to the arcobaleno. She's just as necessary as us." Fon said.

"If it's possible, I'd like to communicate with her. If the two of us put our heads together, we can figure something out. I'll send you all the information I have so you can give them to her."

"If you can send everything there is to know about flames, that'd be a tremendous help."

"I'll do that. By the way, can she smell us?"

"She can. Colonnello, Reborn, and I were close to her and gave her a sensory overload. Poor thing puked." Mammon gave a small growl.

"Her senses are all enhanced. Her sight, taste, hearing, touch, everything is enhanced to the point of her being classified as a superhuman. She's extremely delicate."

"She just needs to get used to us one at a time. She's comfortable with my smell. She said we each have a distinct smell."

"It's her way of knowing who and where we are."

"You know, she's a very kind person. This has been her goal since her grandmother told her about our curse. She didn't think it was fair for us." Fon explained softly.

"Alchemists aren't generally kind to people. Since she is connected to us, we're hers and she probably sees it as her responsibility to help us. If she succeeds, we owe her our lives. I'll even live with her to keep her safe." Fon was surprised to hear that resolve from Mammon.

"We will owe her our lives. I'm certain she'll break the curse. That girl won't stop until it kills her. That's just who she is."

"You better make sure she doesn't push herself too far."

"I will, Mammon. She's in good hands." After the conversation, Fon went back to the main room.

"Where did you run off to?" Kazuma asked. Fon looked right at Yona.

"One of the arcobaleno knows about alchemy and wants to give you their research and will give you everything they know about flames. They'll do everything in their power to help you."

"Really? That's awfully kind. Hopefully, I can put the research into good use. I don't want to get their and your hopes up and find out I really can't do anything to help."

"Even if you can't, you still tried. You haven't even created a hypothesis yet. You're still in the research stage."

When the next week came, I went to the live house as usual for practice. Fon went to watch over me. Everyone was outside at the café snaking. Hina was there too. I walked over. "Hey! We got you an iced tea and chocolate cookies. Who's the cutie?" Yukine asked me.

"This is Fon. I'm taking care of him for Kazuma." Sayo looked at me as if she was constipated. "You'll kill him, Sayo. I don't want to be the one to tell Kazuma you killed his family member." She pouted and sipped her drink.

"It's about time you got here. Hina has the photos ready." Kei said. I sat down and was handed photo. It was me.

"Woah." The picture of me was absolutely beautiful. My expression was soft but was still serious. The editing really brought out the sparkles in the costume.

"We were completely shocked when we saw your photo. You look so mature." Aki said.

"No wonder Hina almost had a heart attack. She really did take the perfect shot." Sayo said happily.

"You have an image to uphold on stage. I expect you to do that." Kei said seriously.

"I'll do my best."

"That's why I want Hina to watch us perform and critique us." Kei said.

"I'm honored to finally hear how good Magnolia sounds live. Everyone is so excited to hear you guys. They're most excited for the mysterious bassist. No one will know what you look like until the first performance at the school." Hina exclaimed.

After seeing the other photos for the band, we went into the live house. The solo pictures had the same vibe as mine. It made us look unreal. Fon didn't say a word during the exchange but did mooch off my drink and snacks.

"Do you want me to hold you, little guy?" Hina asked.

"No." Fon said bluntly.

"So cruel."

"You're not supposed to sound happy, Hina." I said setting Fon down on the couch.

The five of us got onto stage. We took one deep breath before playing. I could feel myself getting into the music. It was a wonderful high. When we were done, Hina's mouth was wide open. She stood up and gave a loud applause.

"How was it?" Kei asked.

"Words can't describe what I felt. My heart and soul are shaking."

"How did I look?" I asked her.

"Cool and collected. You'll have a fan club in no time!"

"A fan club?" I questioned.

"I'll be the president!" Sayo said, standing up from her drum set. I sighed while the others laughed.

"Just knock your fans down a peg or two." Aki commented.

"How do I do that without being rude?"

"The ruder you are, the better." Hina said.

"Should I say something along the lines of 'if you like my heals, raise your hand so I can stomp you'?" The room went silent. I felt embarrassed. Why did I even say that? "I must have said something weird again."

"I knew Yona was secretly a sadist." Ayumu said with a chuckle.

"That sounds like a good line for a song." Kei said. He went to the table and wrote it down in his notebook.

"Why are you writing that?!"

"I'll make a solo song for you with that line."

"That sounds great! We should all have solo songs and have them be exclusive to special albums." Yukine commented.

"That'll increase our sales. We just need to put our first performance online so people can see that we're worth it. When there are people talking about us, we release sneak peaks of songs before booking our first live." My head was spinning. I never liked talking about business. It didn't do me any good. Fon noticed and smiled at me.

"Are we going to wear our costumes or school uniforms for the school performance?" Aki asked.

"We'll wear our school uniform. We need to keep the surprise of our costumes for our concert. I hope to use your services again for our first live, Hina."

"I'll have to see if I'm free, but I'll try my best to make time. If not, I'm sure dad wouldn't mind. He saw my work and said you all looked good enough to photograph." Hina explained. Her dad must be one of those picky pros who choose their clients.

"That's a huge compliment if your dad likes our looks."

After practice, we took our individual pictures homes with us. Fon was comfortable in my arms. "That was interesting. I didn't know you were in a band."

"How did it sound?" I asked.

"I agree with Hina. Even I felt my heart and soul shake. It was a powerful performance. You looked really cool."

"You think so?"

"I do. That photo of you really makes you shine."

"Thank you."

My house was completely dark. Was I out that late? "Something isn't right." Fon said in a whisper.

"Things should be fine. They're here." I said in reference to the dolls.

I felt Alter stir in my bag. She wanted to come with me because she didn't think Fon would be enough protection. I walked right in with no hesitation. The door should have been locked. Mama always locks it before going to bed. Even Tsuna got into that habit. The house was completely cold. Fon squeezed my arm tightly. I turned the light on in the kitchen and saw no one was there. I couldn't smell anyone other than Fon. Were they just not home? I went up the stairs and opened mama's door. No one was there. I opened Tsuna's. He wasn't there. Fon got out my arms and jumped onto my shoulder. I went into my room. To my surprise, it was torn apart. It was as if a hurricane went through. My closet door was broken off and all my clothes were thrown around. My drawers were all looked through.

Was this going to be another one of Iemitsu's attempt to kill me? I heard something click downstairs and smelt something. Aya, Freya, and Elf weren't here. I looked at Alter. "They're alright, master. Right now, they're hiding." I heard footsteps coming closer. This wasn't Iemitsu, but it smelt like him.

"Go hide, Fon. This doesn't involve you."

"Huh?" I took him off my shoulder and put him behind me on my bed. I turned just as a man walked into my room with a gun pointed right at me.

"Who are you?" I asked.

"My name won't mean anything to you, girlie."

"Why?"

"I'm here to kill you."

"I couldn't tell." He clicked his tongue. "Alter." She showed herself behind him and knocked him out. He collapsed onto the ground. She got busy tying him up.

"Yona, what is going on?" Fon asked.

"He came to kill me."

"Why?"

"He was ordered to."

"Do you know who's after you?"

"I do, but I'm not going to do anything about it yet. I can smell them before they can ever get to me."

"This is serious, Yona."

"I know. Why do you think Kazuma is protective over me? If I die, he knows who did it because I'd never go down without a proper fight." Fon gave me a concerned look.

"Can you at least tell me who it was?" The door downstairs opened. I could hear mama and Tsuna. Iemitsu was with them.

I looked at Fon. "Hide." Alter turned into a doll and dragged Fon into remnants of my closet. Iemitsu was the first one upstairs. He saw me and gasped.

"What happened here?" He asked with feigned shock.

"He tried to hurt me. He had a gun and everything."

"What?! Why didn't you call me?" He seemed so concerned. If I was an idiot, I would have bought it. He's a great actor.

"I literally just got done taking care of him. I'll go call Kazuma."

"There's no need. I'll take care of him for you. I am the adult and your step-father."

"Be my guest. Make sure you tell Kazuma." Iemitsu took the guy and brought him down without mama and Tsuna seeing. Fon came out of his hiding spot.

"Yona?"

"It's what you think, Fon. Kazuma already knows and has everything that man has ever done in a notebook. When the time is right, I'm going to expose him." I explained softly. I started to clean my room up.

"He's trying to kill you."

"He has been for years. I can't distinguish who his men are and who are after Tsuna. I don't know what that man is doing in the background. I don't care what he does. He's putting Tsuna and mama at risk and I'll do everything in my power to protect them. It's best if you don't tell anyone other than Kazuma. I wouldn't want you to intrude on my game." I walked over and cupped his cheek with a sinister yet innocent smile.

"If you get hurt during this, I will put an end to your game. Got it?"

"Yes, sir."