Destination Unknown.

A fan fiction by Aoi Kitsukawa

Disclaimer: Katekyou Hitman Reborn belongs to Amano Akira and its related companies; I only borrow the characters in the manga/ anime. Please enjoy reading it!

Author's Note: Ah…not long after I post the last chapter, the will to continue the next chapter damped suddenly! Not only have that, my PC kept on crazy that finally, I had to say RIP to it! Now I had bought new PC (second hand though…), yet I still found it hard to continue the stories after long time of not writing them. Besides, my job had made me unable to continue the stories and my future mangas, tiring me after whole day work. I even can't go to my only-once-a-year-AMG-event last year!

This replies were done before the last update, I'm sorry can't reply others (can't remember which one should I reply after the announcement). Also, this chapter will be focus on Team Reborn's mission at Aerial Hotel, therefore there is no Tsuna's story.


Review Replies: Thank you to everyone who reviewing the last chapter, I'm very grateful! Still need to reply especially for those who had some questions…yeah hahaha…!

Ryner510: Oh my, I also think the same thing; let Hana beats up the Guardians! But I prefer her to pull off Ryohei's ear so…ushishishishi…!

Thanks for the review dear friend!

Sera: Yes, I had plan for Tsuna to have confrontation with the Tsunagumi, but actually, Hana was not included in the original plot (in the future chapters that got crush). However, I remember that in the Future Arc of anime and manga, it seems like Hana was not that oblivious that Ryohei is a part of the Mafia, plus Hana is a rational and calm person, so she's the perfect character to know the first about Tsuna's suicide and sudden arrival in Namimori.

yukimura: Ohohoho~! Thanks for the review!

orangesorafan: Yeah, it's sad to know how the Guardians treated Tsuna and didn't listen to his words. The curse…do you refer to the curse in Chapter 7? Well…still can't reveal everything yet, but you do have a point. Please read this chapter to your heart content~!

Yue: Really? You want to read it from the start!? Thanks for your support! Yeah…it's sick to know that your external HD was crushed and destroyed everything you store inside…

Oh my, I'm touched…I tried my best to reply my readers' reviews so that they will understand the story, your P/S surprising me. XD


Summary: He left. Framed with a crime he never did, he believes nobody would ever forgive and remember him so he left the family. But little did he know that everyone had been tracing his footsteps ever since he was gone...


Starting from chapter 11 (real chapter 10), the timelines of every scene in every chapter will be irregular from each other. In other words, there will be a scene where the story takes place in the future time and the next paragraph will takes place in the present time. Please read the bold line of the paragraph before you read the contents to avoid confusion.

Also, the focus of the story will be more on Rome Team during Rome Arc than Tsunagumi. The Tsunagumi will be feature after the Rome Team.


Previous Chapter: Reborn's group finally reached the Vongola Rome Base, with the unexpected Mammon, Lussuria and Kikyou followed them. After having discussions and meetings within themselves, the team finally started their first stage of mission with Bianchi, Reborn, Fon and Suzume went to the hotel for information infiltration.

Meanwhile in Japan, Tsuna finally woke up from his coma much to the group's relief. However, the appearance of Sasagawa Hana, Ryohei's wife had once again, had his secret exposed. Arashi and Andy promised Tsuna that they would help him no matter what happened, even at the risk of their own lives…


Destination 14: Rome Arc – Beginning: Invitation to Darkness

"Behind the black cell bars

I was born

Go wish for the price for your malice"

-Namae no Nai Kaibutsu, Egoist


- Autumn, Night of October 2, Aerial Hotel, Rome, Italy; Day 11th of Tsuna's disappearing-

Reborn looked around after he and the rest entered the grand hotel's entrance.

As they have been expected, there were many people even though they just inside the main entrance. Many staffs moved from one place to another, pushing the luggage, carrying some bags, leading the guest to their respective room etc. It was a lively sight, with the decoration inside that was grand, elegant, luxurious and beautiful.

"As expected from the grand hotel itself," Said Reborn as he titled his fedora.

"So as the money to spend in it," Said Suzume as she chuckled a little, lower face covered with fur fan. "The hotel has 8 floors excluding the ground floor," Said Suzume as she folded her fan. "The ground floor is for main entrance, big stairs that lead the guests to the rooms or for staff room, a bar and any basic facilities. First floor is for spa, game room, smoking room and casino. Second floor up to eight is the guest rooms with each floor had staff room and storage."

"So where's the bar?" Asked Fon, which his long braided hair was replaced with ponytail tied with expensive purple silk. "At the ground floor or at the first floor?"

"Usually at the ground or first floor," Suzume said as she grabbed Fon's hand gently and started leading the couple. Her eyes calmly searched for any hints or anything that she wanted to find. She made a small smile as she found several men and women came out with red face and loud laugh. As she passed a man with his lady partner, she intentionally let go of Fon and accidentally bumped the couple. At first, the man was about to shout towards his bumper, but when he saw a beautiful, timid and shy woman with red wine lipstick in front of him he immediately ceased his thought.

"Oh, I'm sorry sir…I was too excited with the hotel that I didn't see you…" Said Suzume in such seducing voice that even Reborn and Fon felt their hair at the neck rose. "Are you alright? Did I damage your suit?"

The man blushed as he shook his head and said that everything was all right. Suzume smiled as she thanked the man and apologized for the earlier. The man just laughed and invited the brown hair woman to join him and his friends for fun, but she kindly rejected it for her having a date with her 'boyfriend' pointed towards Fon. The man looked disappointed, but still, giving her a name card and asked her to give a call before both of them parted away. In a swift moment, Reborn and Fon could see that Suzume slipped some money into the woman's hand that was accompanied the man, before walked away from the couple.

When Suzume came to their side, Reborn asked her what she got from the couple and the reason for her giving the money. Suzume smirked with naughty expression as she grabbed Fon again and walked alongside with Reborn and Bianchi. They went through crowds that came in and out in the lounge. That was when Suzume spoke:

"I gave her the money since she looks annoyed that time. It's really easy to know that she's working as companion girl, which is almost like a hostess who entertaining her customers. That guy is her customer, so it's better for me to pay her service," Explained Suzume as she smiled.

"Huh? What you're doing is just bumping then apologizes to him. So why?" Asked Fon.

"Hohoho dear uncle, it's because he starts to attract to me that I have to satisfy her immediately. For her, I'm trying to steal her customer so I just need to pay her to avoid scandal," Said Suzume as she flashed the name card she received. "That guy is one of the high officers in DIA named Antonio Vasque. He should be in his office, investigating his cases but instead, he's here, goofing off with women."

Reborn took it from Suzme and eyed it, "Heh, giving the normal card instead the official ones so that nothing will trouble him."

"Usual corrupted bureaucrats," Said Suzume as the group walked further into the hotel and reached the first floor. "And, I got these receipts from those two so, our bar's name is Evade Rosa located at the first floor…on the left!" She said as she pointed to the left path. "Tee ~hee~ look what I got more~" She said in singsong, making the others chuckles. Her hands really like a pickpocket, only the things she stole were not money or wallets, just pieces of information. The group went passed the glasses wall when Reborn saw glimpse of their appearances that were very different from normal.

After the team went back to Bonfilio Mansion, it was almost 7.30 PM and Suzume immediately asked the Vongola group and the others to take some rest before dinner. Reborn was glad that she asked them to get some rest, since the effect of jet-legging slowly affected him a bit and he indeed felt a little bit tired. He fell asleep a bit and if not because of Bianchi woke him up for dinner; he surely would asleep until for the time to start their first stage mission.

Everyone gathered in one of the mansion's dressing rooms after dinner, and the Don Bonfilio's wife Samantha was already there with her daughter Ella and sons. Various types of clothes; from casual to exclusive evening dresses, shoes and accessories were placed inside the room. Make-ups and wigs were also on display. Lussuria came out from one of the wardrobe and eagerly waved to the group.

"Minaa~! Hurry up and come here! I've already prepare the things for the disguise~!" He said as he whirled around like a ballerina. Suzume and Reborn just smirked, as they knew what kind of person Lussuria was, while the others just silently followed the two into the dressing room. All of them took their own seat as Lussuria showed them a large whiteboard with several sketches and notes written on it.

"Alright, first of all, I want to make sure that our people for tonight mission are already here~!" Suzume and the others raised their hand casually. Lussuria noticed a shopping bag was placed at Suzume's right foot. "First of all, the choice of clothing~! May you proceed Lady Samantha~!"

"My, thank you, Luss-chan," Said Samantha. She pulled out a black suit, tailored with perfect style and body-fit along with a fine fedora. "I had to make sure to search for this suit since it's been more than 15 years my husband wore it, according to my son Waldo." Everyone in the room laugh as Trevor just smiled and winked at his wife, who in return smiled as well. "I'm sure this will suit you Reborn-san."

Reborn raised his eyebrow as he stood up and took the suit. He eyed it for a while and he had to say, it was finely made from expensive materials. Samantha asked him to try the clothes while she chose the next one for Fon. Both of them tried their clothes at the fitting room before came out and showed everyone the result. Everyone's eyes went wide and some of them gasp in surprise.

Exchanging his usual suit, he had put on a double-breasted jacket in black with fine silver pinstripes, six-buttons in total. Beneath it, he wore a crisp white shirt and a wine red tie. His usual fedora was changed into the same black one but with red wine strip. With shining black shoes, of course! He had to admit, the size was really suit him well despite it showing some curves of his body, but that what made him look sexier and more handsome; proof by how flushed Bianchi was and some of the maids had red faces whenever they looked at him (wow~!).

Fon was wearing a plain dark blue suit with six silver buttons in total as well. Unlike Reborn, beneath it was a purple vest with white shirt and a purple tie with a pair of brown leather shoes. Fon looked very good in the suit and Reborn had to be honest; it was actually awkward to see Fon in Western clothes since that man always wore his traditional samfoo. He realized that Mammon looked grumpy; perhaps because she was jealous that the women whispered with each other as they looked at Fon dreamily. It was until when Suzume stood up then he realized the reason why.

"I think you should release your braid, Fon-san," She said as she held the long hair gently. "At least we have to make you more like a super rich businessman that is in holiday rather than a man with wisdom."

"Hmm…" Fon wondered as he touched his hair. "Does that mean I need to have make-up for this?"

"Just release your hair and tie up with this silk," Said Mammon who appeared behind Fon and slowly undid the braid. Suzume looked at the female illusionist as she released the braid and slowly combed it with her fingers. "It looks better that way."

Fon did not say anything as he felt Suzume pressed his shoulder to sit down, and handed Mammon the brush so that she could brushed his hair. Lussuria, Suzume, Ella and Samantha discussed whether both men should dye their hair before Lussuria grabbed the make-up boxes and started his grooming onto Fon. He dyed his hair in dark auburn, had some light make up and pushed his fringes to sides. He took eye contacts with hazel iris and put them into his eyes. Mammon used hair dryer to dry the colour before brushing the hair again and gently tied the hair into lower ponytail. Then Lussuria started to do some simple makeup on Reborn, changing his iris and choosing his necessary accessories. After the grooming done, everyone was impressing on how different the two men were (although Reborn's hair remains black because everyone feels that it was strange to see it other than black).

"Mouu~! Both of you are sooo handsome~!" Cried Lussuria happily.

"Looks like you're very talented as beautician and designer, Ella," Said Glenn as he smirked. Ella just stucked her tongue out.

"My…I'm speechless…" Said Fon, blush a little. Since his hair was tied up with purple silk (courtesy of Mammon), he looked a little bit classic. "Oh, where's Bianchi-san and Suzume?"

"Up here~!" Samantha's voice was heard and slowly, two silhouettes appeared and revealed the next star for the show.

During the men's grooming session, both Samantha and Suzume dragged Bianchi away and started her grooming session. According to Reborn, Bianchi was a freelance hitman under the name Poison Scorpio, and judging from the information Suzume knew that some people already know how Bianchi looks like, which is dangerous for the infiltration mission. In order to avoid any confrontation or unwanted attention during the mission, Bianchi would have to undergo some sort of transformation to turn her into a beautiful woman.

The transforming Bianchi's session ended at the time the men were done, while Suzume had excused herself in the middle of Bianchi's session; saying that she would done for herself alone. All of them wanted to see how things would pan out prior to their departure. Knowing her handiwork had turned Bianchi into exactly the woman they needed, Samantha grinned before she tilted her to the side, motioning to Bianchi that she should show them the final result. Nodding slightly, she stood up and approached the others.

The result was amazing.

She was dressed in a long-sleeved, floor length gown that seemed to be mold from her shoulders to her hips. There was a panel of fabric cut out from the front across her chest and another across her back. According to Glenn's information that the bar manager named Cristo Vegar had a weakness for a woman's legs, so the long, flowing skirt appeared counter-productive. This was proof while she was walking towards them that a long slit along the right ended at her upper thigh. In contrast to the color of the dress, she flashed her leg with every step, her skin a creamy white against the unending black. Her legs looked endless with the extra height added by a pair of strappy black heels. On top of that, Samantha took this opportunity to show her talent in make-up as she had done the makeup to the extreme; smoky eyes paired with wine red lipstick. All in all, the way she looked now was nothing they could have imagined.

"OH MY! Bianchi-san, you're so beautiful!" Cried Ella as she ran towards the elder woman.

"BEAUTIFUL TO THE EXTREME!" Shouted Ryohei.

"Tee~hee~ It's all thanks to mine and Luss-chan's hard work~!" Said Samantha happily.

Bianchi smiled as she looked at Reborn. The hitman had to admit; Bianchi was very beautiful that it almost made him breathless the moment he saw her. Despite her green eyes were covered with deep brown eyes and auburn hair, with suitable jewelries she looked stunning, almost like a perfect lady from noble or rich families.

"I wonder how Gokudera-shii would react if he sees you know, Bianchi-nee," Said Lambo. "Can I take a picture of you so that I could show it to him later?"

"Sure, why not," Said Bianchi as Lambo proceeded to take her picture, although he doubt that Gokudera would manage to remain healthy after seeing his sister's photo.

"Is it almost the time?" Asked Hibari after a while. He had been watching from side, and he found it very interesting to see how people work in disguising themselves for mission. He did not mind being in the crowd for mission, since most of them knew that any interruption of the progress will intimidate a certain PA.

"Well…the only one's not here is Suzume-kun," Said Trevor as he looked around. "Where did she go?"

"I'm right here," Everyone's eyes quickly diverted from Trevor to the source of the voice. What they saw after that was enough to make them speechless.

Suzume had changed herself from having black eyes and hair into a pair of emerald eyes with long, wavy brown hair that reached the shoulder blades. The neck that had a long wound was covered with white gold choker attached with emerald stone. She wore a dark green, long-sleeves dress, which expose her upper shoulders with a gold belt on her waist. She walked elegantly with the high heel shoes that had the same colour as the dress. Attached with Clearwater pearls as jewelries, she looks like a noble woman from ancient bloodline that still living in this world.

"Suzume…san?" Asked Ella, feeling like her breathe was being taken away after seeing the elder woman. She realized that the thing that made everyone; even her, unable to take their gaze out of her is not about her appearance…

The green eyes still had the same cold, yet mysterious feelings that came from her.

"Whaaaat~? Never see a beautiful lady before?" She asked, immediately made everyone snapped from their thought.

"Mouuu Suzume-chaann! You promise to let me do the makeup~!" Pouted Lussuria while Suzume just made a small chuckle.

"I still keep my promise Lussuria. See, no make-ups; I'm waiting for you to do mine!"

"But I also want to do the grooming~~!"

"Sorry it's already been set. So, how about we precede the next stage? We don't have much time." Suzume's words had made everyone quickly set up their next plan, yet Reborn still had a strange feeling about the air he felt from Suzume as she left the change room.

Why that time…as if it feels like there was a hint of sorrow from her?

Reborn suspicioned that something bad might happened to her in her current form, due to the sad air he sensed that time. However, he slowly shook his head and focused on his mission as they entered Evade Rosa –the bar in the Aerial Hotel.

Once inside, Reborn's eyes swept across the interior as he analyzed for all the escape points. There were two emergency exits, as the bar was larger than his expected. Beside him, Bianchi did not say a word as she glanced at the bar. Fon and Suzume nod to them as they part away and choose one of the tables at the bar. As Fon was helping her to sit down, Reborn could see Suzume's signal towards their target –Cristo Vegar, was not very far from them. He smirked as he bent down to Bianchi.

"Let's go. I'm going to leave you at the bar," he whispered in her ear.

With that, he did as he said, walking languidly with her at his side. As Bianchi walked along the way, the slit at her skirt revealed her tight, earning many eyes from the male customers. Apparently, not many women in the bar and the most noticeable beauty in that place were Bianchi and Suzume. When they reached the bar, he allowed her to pick her own seat and did not release her arm until she was comfortable. Slipping a hand into his inner pocket, he pulled out a stack of cash and counted out several bills for her, which he placed on the counter. The rest of it went back into his pocket.

"Be careful," he murmured. "She'll be close by if you need someone."

His hand had rested on top of hers while he spoke in such a manner that only she would hear. She understood whom Reborn was referred to; she can see Fon was saying something with his usual manner, but kissed his niece's hand before he left the bar. Finished with what he had to say, Reborn allowed his hand to linger while he slowly straightened up. Then, he turned away from her and headed into the crowd. Bianchi instinctively turned to watch him and while it may have seemed to be a longing glance to an onlooker, she was actually just checking to see where he would be.

After leaving the bar, Reborn touched his collar where a small device was attached to the collar as he found Fon who was waiting for him at the lobby.

"That's sweet, Reborn," Said Fon as both of them walked away.

"Hmmm~~don't you think Viper wouldn't jealous when you kiss Suzume's hand?" Asked Reborn as he smirked.

"WHO'S JEALOUS!? AND MY NAME IS MAMMON, NOT VIPER!"

Uh oh, looks like the said person is angry…

"Uh…she's still my niece Reborn…"

"I don't want to disturb your lovebirds' fighting, but I think it's better if you two go to your target area now," Waldo's voice echoed through the device, stopping everything that was about to start. "Right now, both you need to go to your destinations. Make sure you turn on your device in case something happen."

"Roger that, Waldo-kun," Said Reborn as he titled his fedora. "Come on Fon, we've got jobs to do."

"Of course," Said the martial arts master as both of them left the first floor together…


Suzume pushed some of her stray hairs behind her ears actually while doing that, she was activated her device, which is her pearl earrings. She secretly glanced at Bianchi as she did the same, before she looked at her front.

The bar was not as crowded as she expected; she guess that probably people just go here for some time to relax or having time for themselves. Customers were not as many as she thought too, yet she knew that majority of the customers would be men like what she saw now. She pulled out her cell phone from her phone and flipped open, checking for some minutes. She remembered that Glenn mentioning about tonight's performance so she decided to make a call, at the same time eyeing a certain man who was going towards Bianchi.

"Hey darling, it's me," She made an eye contact with the said man as he was about to meet Bianchi. Giving him a seductive smile, she continued, "I have a favour to ask you for…."

Bianchi could hear the words that Suzume had said and she almost laughed for it, however had to switch the mode of her device when she realized that their target had come to her side –Cristo Vegar. The said man was wearing an expensive dark auburn suit, with gold earring on his left ear. Despite being a bald, Bianchi had to admit that Vegar still fit to be call as handsome man.

"Good evening signora," He said, as Bianchi acted as if she was startled from his greeting and gave a small smile to him. "Are you new here?"

"Si, I hear that this bar is good at serving their drinks so I want to try it," Said Bianchi as she smiled. She slowly crossed her legs, revealing her creamy skin, "Are you the regular here?"

"Oh, sorry for being rude," He said as he bowed his head a little. "I'm Cristo Vegar, the manager of this bar; Evade Rose."

"I'm Beatrice Gonzales, a tourist," Bianchi muttered the name that Suzume had made up to her; she surely had time to adapt the new identity although it was only for tonight.

"What a beautiful name, just like the owner too…" Said Vegar as he glanced at Bianchi's exposed legs. She could see the lust within the blue sea eyes and it took a lot of willpower to not to punch the person in front of her. "How about I bought you some drink? It's in the house."

Bianchi realized that Vegar was a controller and a person who did not like anyone to turn down his invitation (or offer? She did not know), judging from the way he decided to buy her a drink without waiting for her reply. Apparently, he knew that mostly, women will not be able to refuse the drink and would accept without resistance. Even Glenn had said before, Vegar was a man who will not stop chasing the women he set his eyes for, and he knew how to manipulate people until they fell into his traps. She had to be careful…

"Of course," Said the hit woman as she let Vegar taking orders for them. She eyed the drinks that the bartender served; hers was a glass of whisky with ice ball, while Vegar was a glass of wine.

"Cheers?"

"Cheers," Both hit their glasses lightly before taking a sip.

"So, Signora…where are you come from?" Asked Vegar as he put his glass. His eyes eyeing the said woman with some thoughts that surely impure and nasty. "You're not a local here…"

"I'm from Sicily," Said Bianchi as she smiled. "I came here for vacation."

"Oh my, I didn't know that you're from Sicily!" Said Vegar with interest. "To think that a beauty is sitting in front of me, I'm must be a lucky man."

"Oh dear, so that's mean that I'm a lonely woman without a handsome man at her side?"

Bianchi and Vegar quickly looked at their side and saw Suzume already stood in front of them, holding her glittery purse in her left hand and a feather fan on her right hand, covered half of her face. Despite her dress was not as sexy as Bianchi, Suzume was still beautiful that enough to make Vegar stared at her in awe.

"Oh, I'm so sorry; I didn't know that you're lonely…" Vegar said as he laughed. "How about you join us? Surely this will be more interesting to have another partner for chit-chat."

Suzume chuckled a little as she unfolded her feather fan, "My, how nice. But I'm afraid to leave the table that I sat before so can we change our venue to that table?" She pointed to her previous spot, where currently, someone was sitting next to the said table. Both of them nodded their heads as they stood up. Bianchi almost lost her balance due to her high heels when she felt someone's hand grabbed her arm and helped her out.

"A lady shouldn't left behind like this, don't you think?" Said Suzume as she slyly smirked as she whispered to Bianchi:

"I'm acting as bi-sex person so please bear with me~!" She whispered annoyingly. Bianchi, never expected to hear such things from the serious and cool Katagiri Suzume, burst out her laugh in unexpected way. Vegar looked at them strangely, as Bianchi said that Suzume just saying something funny. The said woman just pouted silently.

At the same time, both hitman and martial arts master who left the bar had just reaching their destination. Reborn was assigned with affiliation of the hotel manager's office while Fon was assigned with affiliation of the security room. According to their plan, Fon needed to connect a special device into the security computers and let Avan who is in charge with hacking to invade the security system. They need to find out if the hotel indeed received the victims of human trafficking since all the routes from the Italian ports ended at the same hotel. Either the hotel was a place to keep the victims or it was served as a terminal to distribute the victims to other places, if not in Italy perhaps around the Europe. While Reborn needed to do a little deep digging into the hotel's information; who is the owner of the hotel, how they keep their business without any problems, who are the business partners etc. It was a risky task, and consumed lots of time; Suzume believed that Reborn could do it and nobody objected it; everyone believed in Reborn's strength and abilities.

Fon peeked at the slightly opened door where the security guard was looking at the screen, munching his sandwich. He waited until the guard finished his supper that he came slowly and pinched the acupuncture point on his neck, successfully making him unconscious. After dragging the guard to the wall and closed the door, Fon quickly pulled out the device and connected it with the computer in the room.

"Mission accomplishes."

"Good job Fon-san," Said Avan as he started his hacking. "I hope we can find any evident regarding the human-trafficking in this hotel."

"Or anyone that we know," Reborn's voice was heard in the communicator. "I don't think this hotel can be served as some sort of storage. They need to do everything in secret if they want to do anything illegal in such hot spots for tourism."

"What did you get Reborn-san?" Asked Waldo as he looked at the screen. Reborn moved his fingers faster as he tried to hack into the computer's security, glanced occasionally on the two guards that fell unconscious prior his infiltration into the said office. Judging from the way the guards being put there, he believed that this is might be the place where important files and information were location. He knew he had little time to do some revision at the files placed on the shelves; therefore, he quickly pulled out the special device, started to investigate and downloaded the files from the computer.

"Right now I'm downloading almost everything from this computer…good thing its RAM is faster than what I thought…" Said Reborn as he checked the PC's properties and satisfied with its system. "This means we might get more than we're bargain. Fon, how's your situation?"

"Well, not as good as yours," Said the martial arts master as looked at the cameras. "Looks like it's a bit slower than yours Reborn, but I ask Mammon to cast her illusions while I'm doing this job. Also, this cameras only viewing what we call as 'standard monitoring surveillance'. There is no way I can detect the hidden cameras; apparently our targets are quite brilliant too."

'Damn…we miss that thing!' Thought Reborn as he kept on watching the numbers that begun to increase on the screen. "Avan, do you think you can trace the hidden camera from your place?"

"No I can't!" Avan's frustrated voice echoed through the device. "It seems like it was linked with outside provider and if I want to access it, it's impossible! The firewall and security system is one crazy tight!"

"I guess we had to drop that part from our plan…Fon! How's your situation?"

"Almost done…alright…DONE IT!" Fon quickly pulled out the device from the computer and checked his watch. Apparently, he only had less than 5 minutes to escape from the security room. "I need to go now, but I might get caught if I go through this door. Any suggestion routes?"

"Go through the air ventilation route," Said Reborn as he typed something on the computer. "There's one at the security room right? I'll ask Ryohei to send the maps to you, so get out now." Fon did not wasting his time as he quickly opened the air ventilation and jumped into it, closed it on the nick of time when the door was opened and commotion started in the said room. He quickly crawled away from the room without making any noises until he reached some point of the ventilation and sat up. He checked on his phone and saw the map, slowly tracing down his route before his eyes landed on the area of men washroom. Sending some text to Reborn about his current and future location, Fon quickly moved forward.

Reborn quickly left the room he had to infiltrate, went into one of the rooms, before he scanned the ceiling, and saw the ventilation route. He read the maps in fast, memorized it and quickly pulled off the cage. He immediately went inside, covering the route and moved faster towards the place where he will meet Fon. Apparently, the said martial arts wanted to meet him at the men restroom at the ground floor, which was not far from the main entrance of the hotel. After some time crawling within the dark tunnel, he checked his phone and make sure he had reached his destination. He checked through the holes, seeing Fon stood at the sink made him release his breath in relief. He knocked the cage, gaining Fon's attention before he successfully went down.

"How long you've been here?" Asked Reborn as he wiped his fallen fedora.

"Maybe 10 minutes?" Said Fon as he smiled. "It's really a risky mission, if you ask me."

"Yeah," Reborn put his fedora back as he opened the faucet to wash his hands. "I don't think we can get as much information as we want from the computers, so we had to rely to the ladies in order to gain additional information than what we had just now."

Fon washed his face as he sighed, "You're right. But we had to wait for the signal before we can come back…" He paused, earning a glance from Reborn. "…This might sound overreact, but I feel that Suzume-san had something more in her sleeves…"

"What do you mean by that?"

"Do you remember that sometime after we left, she made a phone call?" Reborn nodded his head. "Apparently she made a call to someone that we don't know, and it sounds suspicious since she turned off the main connection to our devices. It was on after that, yet we don't know whom she called."

"Indeed it was a suspicious one, but with our current situation, we had no choices but to trust her," Said Reborn. "There must be some reasons why she decided to keep it from us, especially since she's the one who responsible with this collaborate mission. Perhaps she called for an ally, perhaps not."

Fon remained silent. Reborn knew that their conversation must been heard to the team left at the Bonfilio Mansion, yet none of them say anything. Right now, they had to wait for a signal to return back to the bar; apparently Reborn was restless thinking what happened to the ladies ever since they left them…


Suzume calmly listened to the conversation of their partners through her hidden device while acted as if she was enjoying the chat. She indeed realized that Vegar paid more attention to Bianchi and the said woman was talking to him more so her reactions were not being spot. She was grateful that her experiences during her undercover mission had taught her a lot. With her experiences, she understood well enough that most men's goal who paid attention towards ladies (especially such hot and beauty like Bianchi) was to get under their dresses and every club or bar or even such place like this hotel surely had some place for that activity where they didn't even need to leave. Whatever the case, she could not stay cold towards him the entire time, needing to invade their 'treasure hunt'. There was a time limit for everything and this mission was not an exception either.

Looks like she had to do 'it', huh…

"Huuuh…It's really bored here."

Both Bianchi and Vegar looked at her with question on their face. Suzume took a sip of her Passy Foot cocktail (one of the few non-alcoholics cocktails available) and leaned against her seat. She crossed her legs in a way to gain Cristo attention as she spoke, "I came here for vacation and some of my friends said that here in Rome, I'll gain more fun than I was in my place. I guess it's all a fake huh, just some exaggerating rumors…"

At first, she realized that Cristo pretended as if he was not interested in her talk, taking the time to taste his drink. Yet, his form was tense. Clearly, he had heard her ways of talk and now was trying to formulate a plan that would get him to encounter her words.

She smirked.

All she had to do now was bade her time. She might not be interested in men with her current lifestyle, but she still understood how their minds worked.

"It's a surprise," he finally said. "As far as I know, many of our customers and the visitors said that they like to be here, and there is so much fun…"

The only response she gave was to glance at him; neither says nor laughs in what he had to say. When she didn't speak, he readjusted his seat so that he could see the other woman better. 'He had taken the bait', Suzume made a secretive gesture to Bainchi as the latter glanced at her, but now she needed to think of a way to get him to reveal his 'treasure' to her willingly, without putting herself at risk. She put down her glass and made a re-fill gesture to the bartender, who nodded his head and took the glass away.

"Pardon me, we had such a long conversation and yet I don't know you name. What is…"

"Knowles."

"Sorry?"

"I'm Sharon Knowles, a Japanese-American from New York, US. It's a pleasure to meet you Mr. Vegar," Suzume said as she winked at him, seducing.

"Well then…" He said as he put down his glass. "What makes you to come here to Rome of all places? I'm interesting to know."

"I work at one company in NY, but our company was dealing with lots of works lately that I rarely had time to rest. Since I'm actually a bit fan of history especially on European history, they sponsored a trip here in Rome."

"You must be a very important person in the company."

"Maybe. I'm a CEO, but it doesn't change a lot that I also work endlessly to meet the deadline," She said as she made an annoyed face, suddenly remembered some Guardians that she needs to deal later on. "And one of them told me that it was fun in Rome, especially at this hotel…"

"So tell me Mr. Vegar, what kind of fun that your management had? I'm curious to know…" She said as she entwined her fingers with expression of a sly woman.

Bainchi was a bit surprised to see how much Suzume had changed; with her current personality and identity as 'Sharon Knowles', she managed to become a woman with free-spirit yet manipulative, party-going woman. What's more, she managed to capture their target's eyes without even showing her whole skin to him.

Now that is interesting; why did she (Bianchi) have to wear such 'elegant' dress while Suzume was more conservative?

Bianchi is pouting! (Sweat drop)

Vegar coughed aloud. He realized that the woman whom he was chatting to was not the type he could easily prey on. She more likely resembled pigeon; looks tame but fly away when get close. Besides, she seems not a type who will get mad if he showed her with something more 'interesting'…

"Hmm…what if…I show you something more attractive than what you've seen just now?" He said as he gestured one of the guards at the nearby. The table where the adults were sitting was near the small glass door that led to the pathway outside the bar; therefore, not many customers were sitting at that area. Besides, it was a little bit dark, with small lamps that dimly light the table and a bit far away from the bartender's bar, it was the suitable place for Vegar to discuss 'that' matter.

Both Suzume and Bianchi readjust their seat as the same bodyguard came by and handed Vegar a black file. Nothing was written over the cover; however, Suzume knew it was something important as she saw lots of paper stack within the file. She slowly played with her hair, but unknown to everyone; she secretly activated her recorder that attached to one of her earrings.

"As you know, this hotel is very popular among the tourists as well as the locals as it was located in the ancient city of Rome, and we served services that satisfied our customers' requests…" He said as he flipped open the file. "However, we also served our customers with special services based on the requests of the customers or if they interestingly want to try our special services."

Both women glanced with each other before they looked at Vegar with interesting. Assuming that both of them wanted to hear more, he continued, "At this bar, we usually held special performance from local artists to perform their talents –magic shows, pantomime, singing etc. However, this one special thing is only for selected customers."

"What do you mean?" Asked Suzme as leaned over.

"Everyone month on selected days, we will have a "Masquerade Partito" –a night party held by our hotel. Every guest will be wearing a Columbina Mask as a condition to get in and their respective clothes for the event. It mostly exclusive to the selected guests..."

"Which you two are lucky that you've both chosen as our honourable guests for this party."

Both Suzume and Bianchi widened their eyes. They could not believe their luck! Bianchi's eyes were full of joy and excite, and at the same time Suzume covered her mouth, trying to calm her excitement. In reality, she had to calm down herself as she realized that both of them might had access to their target more than what they expected!

However, something came across her mind. What exactly that party was?

"Weeell~~ seeing both of you are getting excited, let me explain in details. This 'Masquerade Partito' or Masquerade Party in English is a rare auction held in this hotel in selected days. The main sponsor of this event is, of course, our dear owner –Ceasar Lobos," Suzume's eyes widened as she heard the name. "Who, as you know, a very successful merchant in trading business. He's a new owner of the Aerial hotel since 4 years ago when this hotel at the edge of bankruptcy and successfully revived it to become the current hotel that you."

"Oh, I do hear him," Said Suzume as she closed her eyes, yet for some reason the air surrounding the group dropped a little. "He's a well-known trading merchant for managed to revive three grand hotels which in trouble of bankruptcy. I really surprise that he's the owner of his grand and exclusive hotel!" She clasped her hands as she smiled cheerfully. "Now I'm really interesting with this event held by Mr. Lobos!"

Seeing Suzume's reaction made Vegar excited as well. "I'm happy to hear it! Now Miss Knowles, Miss Gonzales, in the event, an auction will be hold during the party. People will prepare lots of money to do the bid so I hope you already have everything in hands."

"Of course! Who do you think we are?" Said Bianchi as both ladies laughed seducing the men. "Oh, I wonder what's going to be selling in the auction."

"It's a very, very rare auction my ladies," Said Vegar as his smirk turned sinister. "It's the "Maiden Auction"!"

Both women froze as they heard the name of the auction. However, Suzume quickly returned normal as she leaned down more while hitting Bianchi in the process. She did that in order to cover the shock Bianchi as she realized that it was not an ordinary auction. Bianchi quickly calmed herself as best as she could, although she knew it was too late to hide her shock.

"Hmm….? A 'Maiden Auction'? What's that Mr. Vegar?" Said Suzume as she smiled sweetly. "I do like ladies too. And breaking the laws is just excited as this one!"

"Hohoho, I'm glad you're interesting as well Miss Knowles. This auction only done within our circles with the exceptional of selected guests like you and Miss Gonzales. Every month on several days selected as an event, we will present at least 30 young and purely virgin women on the stage. The auction will start with the first girl that selected among the girls, and the highest person to bide the girl will be the one who 'claim' her," Vegar said as he watched Suzume whose expression did not change at all, and decided to continue. "Of course this will be between us, but we provide our customers who want the special services in this hotel and this is one of the services. The auction will be repeating many times until the last selected day of the month, and if the girls still available, the auction will be hold on the next month until the girls' list hit zero. After that, we would ship in again 30 girls who are still a virgin, and any customers who managed to bid the highest price for the girl will be the one who 'claim' her, and the guests will do the same until all the girls were sold out then we shipping them in again. So...are both of you interesting to join?"

Taking a deep breath, Suzume closed her eyes as she tried to calm down herself. A piece of her dark past slowly surfaced into her mind but she immediately rejected it, and tried to think fast to deal with the information that she just had. She had to calm down, or their infiltration disguise will destroyed everything the team had done so far. Since she already mentioned to this bastard about her excitement to break the laws, she decided to give a try.

"OOH! Surely, this is exciting! Tell me Mr. Vegar, may I know whom is the one providing the 'things' that you said before?" She said as she leaned back to her seat. She took Bianchi's hand all of sudden and slowly kissed her hand. "I really don't mind with these matters. It's really exciting me to deal with something more than ordinary, you know…"

"Well….it's a big secret but…I'll tell you anyway," The guard made a worried expression but Vegar dismiss his concern. "An old lineage of a family called Vulpa is our main sponsor. They are usually the one who funding us in terms of renovations, foods and sometimes…the auction as well."

Suzume narrowed her eyes slowly, but dangerous. She knew he lied to them about the truth but this…The Vulpa family was mentioned there, in their conversation, and a certain brunette with despair and tearful face slowly appeared in her mind.

"I didn't do that…! Why is everyone don't ever believe me!?"

She clenched her hand tightly, trying her best to control her anger and bloodlust towards the said family. The one family, oh yes, THAT one family that successfully destroyed the strong bond between the Decimo and his Guardians. Suzume actually did not expect that the same family be really getting involved with the hotel's case, yet she did not surprise to find out that the same family involved in that 'interesting' auction.

Suzume made a small chuckled as she flipped opened her fan and covered her lower jaw. Crossing her legs, she said, "My, I love that kind of girls, especially the innocent one!" She chuckled again as she saw Vegar smiled in victory (for being able to get a new customer) while Bianchi just sat next to her, in silent. Bianchi did not know what to say, and left the rest to Suzume to deal with.

She found out that she was not that comfortable to have such conversation with her.

"So, how many girls are left? Can I see their pictures too?" Asked Suzume as she leaned forward.

"Oh, you're soo eager Miss Knowles…!" Said Vegar as he gestured the same guard and asked him to bring something to eat and drink, with Suzume just asking for another Passy Foot. "Unfortunately we only have two girls left, but, if you want to see them now it won't be a big problem! Usually our customers request to see the pictures first before the auction." He flipped the file opened and shoved it to Suzume.

"These two are actually a sudden additional a month and half ago; we were about to ship in new girls when these two were given to us." Suzume's right eye twitched a little. "Both of them are Japanese and still young and pure. However they usually gain less attention from the customers, that's why we didn't get new 'stock' until these girls got claim!" Said Vegar as he sighed. Apparently the customers wanted new 'products' but it was the high-ups policy not to let old stock mix with the new so it must be sell on tomorrow's auction. He actually had no idea what to do if these girls still not available for sales, therefore hearing that Miss Knowles is interesting with the girls, he hoped that these girls will attract her attention to buy.

Bianchi stared at the two photos in front of her. On the right side was a woman with black eyes and hair that reached her jaw, with fair skin and thin figure, surrounded with independent air; her name was Oogaki Honoka. The other one was also black eyes and hair, but longer than the former and reached her back. Despite having a natural beauty, her face lacks of cheerfulness and she seemed a bit tired; named Tsuyori Shizuka. It was no wonder why these girls had less attention; the shorthair girl was a bit tomboy and had an impression of against people who mistreat her –a traits that men of pleasure do not like sometimes, while the other girl was gloomy and pale. However, Bianchi felt that she had seen these girls before, before dismissed it as her imagination.

Bianchi glanced at her company; Suzume stared at the photos with unreadable expression that she felt it was hard to read her mind. Even Vegar started to feel restless, as she did not say anything. After a moment passed, Suzume closed her eyes as her lips created a smirk that seemed to Bianchi, full of mysteries.

"I want both of them, Mr. Vegar!"

Everyone seemed to be freeze the moment they heard her words –the guard almost fell down, Bianchi stops half away to drink her drink, and Vegar almost spit out his drink. He coughed loudly as Suzume tried to help him, before he gestured her to stop. Trying so hard not to smile wider than before, he asked Suzume whether she wanted to hold the auction as usual or not.

"No, I don't think I want the auction to be held tomorrow since I want to purchase these girls," She said as she pulled out her cell phone and begun to type something on it. "Actually I just received a text from my friend who is also a Japanese-American like me, and apparently he's already in Italy for vacation as well."

"Your friend?"

"His name is Yoshitaka Walder," She said as she kept on typing without making any eye contact. "And despite he's a CEO like me, he's very hard to be please. That guy is finally having his vacation after all the endless works our company had."

"So what exactly you want to do Signorina Knowles?" Asked Bianchi interesting.

"Well…I was thinking of giving him a surprise for his vacation!" She said as she flipped her phone. "I'm interesting to have these girls as mine, Mr. Vegar. However as your customer I would like to request your hotel's services!"

"And what is that?"

"I want this girl," She said as she pointed the long hair girl. "To be serve to my friend as a gift who's going to come here tomorrow. He is asking me if I know places to have fun, so I was planning to get him top-notch services he could had. He deserves the best vacation in his life since he's the one who working the hardest."

"I see," Said Vegar as he wrote down the request. "Since these girls are being purchase by you, no auction will be hold tomorrow, but the party still on-going. So, what is the time for the booking?"

"It will be tomorrow night, since you said that the party is still on-going. Is he needed to wear the mask to enter?"

"Yes, that is one of the rules. May I know how much you want to bide them Miss Knowles? As you know, the highest bide will…"

Smirked mysteriously, suddenly Suzume raised her right hand and flicked it. Not long after that, a figure of a woman in dark suite slowly appeared along with a brown leather suitcase. With eyes covered with black glasses, she silently stood behind Suzume, and handed the suitcase to her. Upon received it, Suzume opened the bag and revealed a full-package of money inside the suitcase!

"I'll buy them each of 800,000 Euros, with total of 1.6 million Euros, Mr. Vegar," She said as she closed the bag. "Good thing I ask my assistant to bring the money here. I know that not many people had purchase as much as I did in just one night, right Mr. Vegar?"

Vegar could not blink his eyes as he heard her words. He slowly excused himself for a while, dragging along with the bodyguard. Even Bianchi was in shock as she glanced at Suzume, who is calmly drank her Passy Foot. Almost 10 minutes passed, and then Vegar came with flustered face.

"I've called my boss, and he's happy to accept your payment. Therefore, you want Tsuyori Shizuka for your friend right. Let's see…" The discussion between the two people started while Bianchi just listened to them. Apparently, Suzume wanted to take the girl Honoka first back with her tonight, while the other girl will remain at the hotel for tomorrow's night. However, according to her, she would send the other 800,000 Euros to the manager through Yoshitaka Walder, as he was the one who is going to 'claim' her for sure. After some times, both of the parties finally sealed their deal when their respective partners came by. Vegar thanked Suzume many times, earning question glances from Fon and Reborn. She just shook her head and walked away from the bar after saying good byes to the manager and the staffs that kindly served those drinks.

"What are you trying to do?"

Suzume looked at Reborn while she held her cell phone, waiting for some message to come. "What do you mean by that?"

"The auction." Suzume closed her eyes as she sighed. The duo couples were waiting a block away from the hotel where street cameras can't reach them. They were waiting for their escort to come since team Avan was parking a bit far away from the hotel.

"Is there something wrong with it?"

"I heard that it was not held tomorrow."

"…"

"The Vulpa family is supporting the owner of this hotel."

"Cesar Lobos, that merchant. I already suspect he's not that kind of businessman people expected him to be."

"They run out of stock, that's why there's no auction to be held tomorrow night."

"And you bought some girls during the mission. It makes me wonder if you're trying to do something that is out of our discussion." Reborn titled his fedora as he looked at the brown hair woman in front of him.

Her gaze turned cold as she said, "It was unexpected thing to do, but necessary…"

"Why?"

"…Because there is something I need to know from them…" She turned around as a commotion was heard, and revealed a blindfold woman being dragged by Suzume's assistant. The said assistant was holding a small luggage while taking the girl towards the group. Judging from the situation he sees, the girl is must be the one Suzume had bought.

But why?

The girl was struggling to release herself, but fail. Suzume seemed did not wasting her time as she came to the girl's side and quickly pinch her neck, successfully knocking her down. Fon caught her before she hit the ground.

"It's really annoying to know that the Vulpa Family and Lobos are connected with each other!" She said as she finally pulled off her wig. "I admitted that it surprises me, but seeing how come this hotel is becoming the hub of human-trafficking, it didn't surprise me that much."

"That's why we're here, investigating this place," Said Fon as he carried the fainted girl. "Although I also want to know why you are taking those two girls but only this one is here?"

"I left the other one for tomorrow's mission," She said as she took off the choker around her neck, again, revealed her scar. "And the one who's going for that mission is Hibari Kyoya, no one else!"

"WHAT!?" Said both men. "You mean…she's being use for the mission?"

"We don't have any choice," She said. "These girls that I bought, they were send here one month and half ago; the timeline is consistence with the Salkind Incident! According to that baldy manager, they were supposedly started to ship in other girls but since them sudden being sent here, they had to postpone the request until now."

"But why Hibari?" Asked Bianchi. "Why him, and not you? Your acting as a bi-sex woman is really great. Even Vegar was fooled by it."

Suzume sighed as she slowly told them the reasons why Hibari must be the one to go for the midnight mission. "7 years ago, I actually met both girls during Kyoya's graduation day," She said as the adults stared at her. "Apparently Tsunayoshi-kun and the others also celebrated his graduation, and one of them was his sweetheart lover." Glanced over to the unconscious Honoka, she continued, "This girl and the other one; I've met them during that time! Can you imagine how much shock I had when I saw them be here as some sort of 'products' to be sold? Of course I'll decide to buy them all to save them!"

The revelation shocked other adults, and after some moment, agreed with her opinion, with Reborn said that actually, he did heard rumors that Hibari was searching a certain girl ever since she graduated from Namimori high school. However, he was unable to find her and had no choice but to move on. Even Fon agreed with what Reborn had said since he also got involved with the search of the said girl.

"But that's not the only reason why I bought them," Said Suzume as she looked terrified. "I don't think you three will like this revelation, neither I." She closed her eyes before continuing, "Remember the incident where all these mess started?"

The three adults nodded their head.

"Both Arashi and I reached the mansion by following the text Kyoya sent to us, but along the way we lost our way."

"Indeed, I heard that story from you Suzume," Said Reborn as he stared at the said person."Then, what happened next?"

"We actually saw two women who worked as maids at the house where Tsuna was accused of raping Solaris Salkind," Reborn widened his eyes as he heard the words. "Indeed, all these times both we siblings tried to find them for witnesses, but we couldn't find them! Especially when we're about to leave the mansion! But that's not the horrible one!"

"The main reason why I decide to buy them is because THEY ARE THE MAIDS WHO WERE WORKING AT THE SALKIND MANSION DURING THE SALKIND INCIDENT! These girls were sold here so that there will be no witness to proof that Tsuna is innocent! And one of them…"

"IS KYOYA'S WOMAN!"

Reborn widened his eyes in shock; it was one revelation he did not expect to hear. While he was glad that Suzume explained her reasons of the mission, he never expected that it was something bigger than what he thinks.

Because seeing Suzume's horrified face after telling her secrets, he did not think that their mission still a low rank mission…

He was wondering what they should do if Hibari ever realized the true nature of the mission he had been assigned to….

Will he prepare to enter into this awful land of darkness?


End of Chapter 14


I'm sorry for the very late update. As you see, I'm actually had start working after some time being unemployed. However, the nature of my work somehow leads me into my depression that it affected my writing as well.

Yes, there are no Tsuna scenes in this chapter since I want to fast the mission's progress after such delayed. Besides, last chapter the latest Tsuna scenes happened several days after his attempt suicide and the Rome mission so I decided to put it on hold or my readers will become confuse. I'm sorry if any of you felt like something was off; more than a month I didn't write so I was a bit off while doing this.

Until we meet again. Thank you for those who read this story, I really appreciate it. Ja ne. –Aoi Kitsukawa.