Nefelibata

A cloud walker. An individual who lives in the clouds of her own imagination or dreams. A person who doesn't abide by the rules of society, literature, or art.

Nagi sighed in exasperation as she watched her brother storm out of the bus as soon as the bus stopped at their destination. It took their teachers a few minutes to collect themselves as they shakily stood up and -after nervously eying the metallic door of the bus and assuring themselves that the demon child of Namimori will not storm back in to bite them to death- they finally relaxed and started ushering the children out. She nodded to Kyoko in greeting as the cheery girl waved at her and got off the bus along with the others, and then turned her attention to her other friend sulking in the corner.

She stared at the bump on his head and his bruised right eye in amusement and thought that Tsuna was really lucky that Kyoya spared him enough to not use his metallic tonfas on him –considering how he had been growling darkly in irritation the whole ride as well as emitting a very dark and bloodthirsty aura, it really is a miracle that they arrived at their destination in one piece and without being bitten to death by him- and asked him, "You know now what you've done wrong, right Orange-san?"

The sulking boy moaned in pain, "I'm sowwy….."

Chuckling, she patted the bump on his head condescendingly and snickered when he yelped in pain and glared at her. She then dragged the brown haired boy with her and giggled when he whined about her manhandling him. While the teachers were still making sure that none was left behind, Nagi looked around and walked towards Kyoya –who was leaning against a tree and eying the baby herbivores chattering some distance away from him, dragging Tsuna with him –who was still whining about being manhandled.

Nagi poked his cheek and said in a mock scolding tone, "Oh, hush you big baby! If you really have a problem with my way of handling things, why don't you try following Onii-sama then?"

The boy quickly sobered up and gave her a look. "And get bitten for crowding? No thanks." He said dryly.

His comment startled a giggle out of her, which she quickly tried to smother –and failed- when Kyoya turned to glower at her and Tsuna. Oh, he'd definitely heard their conversation just now and was being a grumpy cat. How adorable!

"Onii-sama!" Nagi beamed innocently, as if she hadn't just been laughing at his expense a few seconds ago, and spoke, "Are you feeling better now?"

He shot her a look to tell her how unimpressed he was with her 'innocent child' act, but didn't do anything about it as just grunted in reply ad turned away from them. So, he wasn't that irritated now. Huh. That's good.

Maintaining a shoulder-length distance from Kyoya –because a little more and he'll definitely bite them to death, considering he wasn't feeling so generous being forced to attend a Summer Camp- Nagi tried to calm him down even more by excitedly pointing out that maybe it won't be so bad to attend the camp, and the lots of fun activities they'd get to do together, and soon even Tsuna joined in the conversation in excitement. Kyoya's tense shoulders relaxed a bit and soon, he was "Hnn"-ing a while later in reply to which Nagi and Tsuna discreetly high-fived.

A few minutes later, they halted their conversation as their teachers gathered them around.

"Alright!" Suzuki-Sensei –Kyoya's class teacher- said cheerily, "I know you all must be excited for the camp!" She chuckled along with the other teachers when the students cheered. "But before entering through the gates-" She pointed at the metallic gates behind them, alongside the fence to keep intruders out, and continued on, "I would like to remind you –once again- to be on your best behavior since other than our school, the children and staff from Namimori North Elementary are also present here. So, don't cause too much trouble for others, okay?" Suzuku-Sensei glanced over the assembled children with a stern eye, only to sweat-drop when she saw how Kyoya shrugged off her words with a scoff. She had a feeling that warning this group of children –especially Kyoya and his little rag-tag bunch of misfits- was a wasted effort, since she knew for a fact that trouble follows the demon child like a lost puppy –or maybe it's just that young Sawada child who brings chaos everywhere with him with a mischievous smile and cute giggle at a time.

After getting affirmative responses from most children, Suzuki-sensei gave her students a bright smile and clapped her hands excitedly, "Now that we've gone over that, let's get going then! Follow me!" The children cheered and walked behind Suzuki-Sensei like little ducklings as she led them through the gates, while the other teachers followed them, making sure that no child gets left behind.

Kyoya scowled as resisted the urge to discipline this crowd of loitering baby herbivores. Honestly, don't they have any fucking common sense? Why would they crowd around and make things difficult for everyone, instead of walking quietly in a line in a proper way? Tch, herbivores…

Nagi sighed as she walked along-side Tsuna and she stared bemused at her brother and said, "There he goes again, mentally contemplating mass genocide and scaring herbivores with that bloodthirsty smirk on his face."

"I think he looks pretty cute like that." Tsuna mused absent-mindedly as he quirked his lips up in a smile.

Nagi stared at him incredulously. "Oh my god, you're insane." She groaned. "If I stay here any longer, I'd be infected by your madness."

Tsuna blinked and asked, bewildered, "What are you-?"

"Oh, I think the Kyoko-chan is calling me!" Nagi interrupted him mid-sentence and exclaimed a bit too obviously, "See you later, Orange-san. You stay here and keep my brother company while I try to find some semblance of sanity- Er, I mean find Kyoko-chan. Yeah, right." saying this, she rushed away towards the crowd as if Tsuna had set Kyoya lose on her tail.

Tsuna huffed. "Mist-chan is so weird." he complained under his breath, but the mischievous glint in his eyes as well as the orange fire blazing inside him as if it were cackling in glee said otherwise.

'It's honestly so easy to mess with them.' Tsuna thought fondly as he shook his head and walked next to Kyoya –keeping some distance between them, of course, he didn't want to be bitten to death, Thank you very much- to the very back of the crowd.

His orange fire just curled inside him warmly- as if agreeing with him.

The children followed Suuki-Sensei and the other teachers as they led them through the lush green garden that appeared before their eyes as soon as the gates had been opened. There were a few kids around the garden -who had been playing around until they walked in- and were now watching them curiously as they neared the main building standing in the smack-dab at the center of the garden. The children chattered excitedly, 'ooh'-ing and 'ah'-ing at everything they saw.

A man in late thirties greeted Suzuki-Sensei with a smile and after a hushed discussion with her and the other teachers; he turned towards the children and smiled warmly at the little children gathered before him.

"Hello everyone! My name is Hikaru Nayuki, a teacher from Namimori North Elementary School, and I would like to thank you all for participating in this joint Summer Camp organized by our schools." Nayuki-Sensei said kindly, "I –along with Suzuki-Sensei here-" he gestured towards the bubbly brunette next to him, and continued on, "will oversee all your activities." he then turned towards them and said, "As you've been informed earlier, the Summer Camp will last for five days, and there are many kinds of activities you can participate in –as individuals or in groups, it depends upon the rules of that activity dictates, of course. Usually, we'd start the very first day by assigning everyone into groups, but this time we've decided that we'd let you guys to form your own groups by yourselves." there were several protests from some kids, which were overruled by Nayuki-Sensei as he spoke his next words, "No excuses, everyone. This is to ensure that you interact with other kids –it doesn't matter if they're from your school or not- and socialize with them." Many of the kids pouted petulantly, making Nayuki-Sensei chuckle at them. "Alright, so you have to form a group of six people. You can register the members of your group with ether Suzuki-Sensei or me by dinner time." He then paused and warned them, "You'll have to live with your chosen group for these five days and participate with them, so be careful while choosing your group." he gave them a stern look and said, "Remember that your group here is your team, your family, so choose wisely, everyone."

The kids chattered excitedly at his words. Kyoya himself contemplated his words.

"Family, huh…?"He mumbled under his breath. "Sounds interesting."

"We're gonna make a great team, Orange-san!" Nagi giggled as she shared a fist-bump with Tsuna.

"Yeah! You, I, and Cloud-san will make an amazing team!" Tsuna beamed.

Kyoya snorted and said, "Who said I would join your team."

"Oh?" Tsuna snorted and pointed at the crowd of children chattering at a speed of a mile-per-hour and asked, "If not us, then do you want to join those herbivores –was it, Cloud-san?"

Kyoya eyed the snot-nosed brats giggling and babbling as if they were high on sugar, and shuddered. "Fair 'nough." he mumbled with a scowl, making his two companions chuckle.

"He's so predictable." Nagi whispered to Tsuna in a conspiratory tone.

"He is, isn't he?" Tsuna agreed whole-heartedly with her.

Suzuki-Sensei clapped her hands to grab their attention, and once they quietened down, she spoke, "Now that we're done here, let's go to the cafeteria for lunch. I don't know about you guys, but I'm definitely famished." She swooned in an exaggerated manner, making the kids giggle at her antics.

Nayuki-Sensei smiled at them and said, "Come on then, I'll show you around."

If Kyoya had been furious earlier because of the way the baby herbivores had been crowding around in the bus, then right now he was downright pissed. Because turns out, the number of baby herbivores had just doubled. The cafeteria was filled with chatter and rambunctious laughter of kids from both Schools, which means there were twice the number of kids than before. It had taken a combined effort of Tsuna and Nagi both to drag Kyoya away from the crowd before he could conjure his tonfas and start biting them to death. It took another five minutes to calm him down enough –thank goodness there was Hamburg steak as one of dishes for lunch that made placating him easier, or else everyone would've had to deal with a very unsettled Cloud – and in the end the two of them decided that leaving Kyoya alone right now would be disastrous for everyone, and so Nagi was on Kyoya-watch (and yes, it is a legal word -for them, at least.) while Tsuna got their lunches.

The three of them ate their lunches in silence, and stared around contemplatively. The other kids have already started socializing and discussing their groups. However, no one dared to come near the three of them, considering how Kyoya's schoolmates were already warning the kids from the other school about his antics –it also didn't help that Kyoya was still glowering at any kid who'd dare to even glance their way, making them flinch and squeal in terror.

Tsuna sighed. "At this rate we'll never get enough members for our group in time." He complained and tugged his brown locks in frustration.

"We need six people to form a group, right?" Nagi mused. "There's three of us, and if we ask Kyoko-chan and Hana-chan, that'll make us five. We'll need to get one more person then."

Tsuna beamed at her. "That's a great idea!" He then turned around to ask Kyoya what he thought about this, only to sweat drop when he found the Hibari child leaning against the chair and yawning lazily, as if preparing for a nap. Shaking his head, he turned to Nagi and made a shooing motion and said, "You go get Sasagawa-san and Kurokawa-san then, Mist-chan!"

"Alright then." Nagi nodded and grabbed her now empty plastic bowl and dumped them in dustbin and went off to look for Kyoko and Hana.

Meanwhile, Tsuna looked around the cafeteria, wondering who he should ask to be a member of their group, and blinked his eyes in surprise when he saw a familiar face among the kids.

Wait, isn't that-

He was interrupted in his musings by Nagi and Kyoko as they stepped before him, hindering his vision of that person. Tsuna blinked and stared up at his friend as she patted Kyoko's shoulder and beamed at them. "Kyoko-chan agreed to join our group."

"That's great!" Tsuna exclaimed and then looked around her, only to be confused when he did not find the snarky ravenette –who usually followed the younger Sasagawa girl like a lost puppy- anywhere around them. "Where's Kurokawa-san?"

Kyoko froze –and was it his imagination or did she actually wince?- but soon smiled at them –her smile never reached her eyes- as she spoke, "Hana-chan didn't come to Summer Camp."

"Ah, that's too bad." Tsuna slumped, depressed. Now they need to find two members for their group. Just great.

Kyoko and Nagi pulled two chairs and sat on them.

"We need two more people in our group." Nagi said with a sigh. "I tried asking around, but no one wanted to join our team." Nagi pointedly stared at her brother, making Tsuna understand who was the actual culprit because of whom no one wanted to join their team, and sweat-dropped.

Tsuna opened his mouth to speak, but paused when his eyes fell on the same familiar person from before in the crowd. "I'll be back." Tsuna said urgently as he tracked the other person with his eyes as he glided around the crowd, socializing with others and smiling a fake smile at his 'friends'.

"Rain-san!" Tsuna beamed as soon as he reached the other boy, making the other freeze and snap his head towards him, and stare at him with a gaping mouth and wide eyes. "I knew it, it really is you!"

The boy's smile turned a bit more genuine at the sight of the brunette. "Ah, you're Tsuna-right?"

Tsuna's smile turned even wider at his words and he nodded. "Yup!"

"Hey Yamamoto, you know him?" A boy next to the dark skinned boy asked.

Yamamoto Takeshi scratched the back of his head sheepishly and said, "Yeah, sort of."

Another boy rolled his eyes and nudged him. "How can you 'sort-of'-" he air quoted the last two words, "know someone?"

Takeshi stiffened a bit and is eyes dimmed somewhat, but he tried to shrug it off as he joked, "I just do."

Tsuna narrowed his eyes as his orange fire bristled inside him.

(He really didn't like it when Rain-san faked a smile.)

Shaking his head, he stared at Takeshi imploringly and insisted, "Ne, Rain-san, would you like to join my group?"

Takeshi was caught off by his words. "Ah- what?"

Before he could even say more, Takeshi was cut off by his friend, who scowled and exclaimed, "Hey, Yamamoto is going to join our group!"

"Yeah!" the other boy standing by his side said.

Tsuna glanced at them for a moment, and then turned back to look at Takeshi and tilted his head and asked with his eyes flashing orange, "Is that so?"

Something inside Takeshi squeezed in panic, and he wanted to clarify that No, he hadn't agreed to them-

-but once again, he was interrupted by his 'friends'. "Yes, this is how it is!" The boy hissed, annoyed at Tsuna's question.

Tsuna gave him a sharp look, and the boy froze at the brunette's glimmering orange eyes glaring at him, and said, "I didn't ask you." He then turned to Takeshi, the smoldering orange softened to a warm amber as he smiled kindly and asked, "Rain-san, have you already joined any other group? If you haven't, would you mind joining ours, then?"

"Why are you asking me?" Takeshi blurted out, his brown eyes flashing blue for a second and something inside him squirmed uncomfortably. He –for some reason-was fearful of his answer. Why though….? He had no idea.

(The Rain flames that had been sleeping for so long deep inside him, stirred in agitation. They had finally found a Sky worthy of them…

Would this Sky embrace them even with all their faults, or would it reject them?

They didn't know…)

Tsuna contemplated his question as he tilted his head. Hmm…. why indeed.

Well, the answer was quite obvious, wasn't it?

His eyes flashed orange for a bit as he chirped, "Because you're my friend, of course. Why else would I ask you?"

A brilliant smile broke out on Takeshi's lips as he laughed and shrugged off his so-called 'friends' and patted Tsuna's back. "Hahaha, you're so interesting, Tsuna! Sure, I'll join you!" He wrapped an arm around Tsuna's shoulder and led them away from the others, ignoring their calls as they complained about him leaving them without any warning. "So," he asked nonchalantly, "Who else is in our team?"

"Ah, no one special," Tsuna smirked mischievously as he said with a dramatic pause, "Just a Demon, a Trickster and a pretty fairy- excluding me, of course."

Takeshi gave him an amused look and chuckled, "Sounds, interesting, Tsuna."

By the time Tsuna came back with his newest friend, Kyoya had almost dozed off.

"Hey guys! I found another member for our team!" Tsuna's voice snapped Kyoya out of his nap, making him scowl. He disinterestedly opened a lone eye to look over whichever baby herbivore his baby Sky has brought to them, only to double back with eyes wide open and mouth hanging open at the sight of the slightly taller brunette standing next to his baby-Sky.

Oh, for Trinisette's sake, where the fuck did his baby Sky find the Rain herbivore?

"Hi! Nice to meet you all!" An eight year old Yamamoto Takeshi grinned as he waved at the three people sitting around the dining table. "My name is Yamamoto Takeshi!"

"Hello, I am Sasagawa Kyoko." Kyoko beamed at him.

Nagi smiled at him and pointed to herself. "Hibari Nagi." She then bowed to him and said, "Thank you for joining our team, Yamamoto-san."

Takeshi waved her off. "You can call me by my name, you know, Nagi-chan."

Nagi couldn't help but brighten at his smile and cheerful attitude and hummed contemplatively as she listened to the whispers of her indigo fire inside her and asked, "I think 'Blue-san' would suit you even better." She smiled at him kindly –her eyes flashing with warmth and understanding- as she spoke, "A nice nickname for a nice friend."

Takeshi's smile turned even more genuine at her words, "Thanks!"

He then turned towards the only person among them who hadn't introduced himself, and blinked when he found himself staring at a grey eyed boy who was gaping at him. Tsuna pouted and whined, "Cloud-san! You haven't introduced yourself to our newest friend yet! That's rude, you know!"

Kyoya immediately snapped out of his trance and regained his aloof attitude as he eyed Takeshi from the corner of his eyes and replied reluctantly, "….Hibari Kyoya."

Takeshi blinked and then once again glanced at the three other members of Tsuna's team, and laughed. "Wow Tsuna, you were right. They're really interesting!"

Tsuna beamed. "I know, right?"

Nagi clapped her hands, gaining their attention. "Including Blue-san, there are five of us now. We need one more person to complete our group."

"Let's work hard, everyone!" Kyoko said, cheerily, to which the other three replied-

"Yeah!"

"You'll help us too, right, Onii-sama?" Nagi asked and turned to face Kyoya, only stare flabbergasted at Kyoya's empty seat. "Wait, where did he go?"

(A few hours later…..)

Kyoya yawned and blinked his eyes and lazily watched the sun setting behind the Namimori hills, and shifted to lie comfortably on the branch he had been resting on. It has been a few hours since he left his baby Sky and baby Mist with his (former) Sun's younger sister as well as his baby Rain (and hasn't that been a curve ball he hadn't expected life –more like his baby Sky- to throw at him out of nowhere. But he should've expected that. He really should.

Because of course his Rain would walk into their lives once again grinning like a cheerful, oblivious fool, annoying the heck out of them. For all the differences between their Rain and that Spartan-tutor-from-hell that is the Sun Arcobaleno, there were still somethings that they had in common. Like how they were both the best Hitmen the mafia has to offer, and how they thrived in chaos.

Like teacher, like student.)

He had found a sturdy tree at a corner of the garden and had decided to take a nap there –because honestly, he had been getting quite annoyed with the loud chattering herbivores that had been crowding in the cafeteria. Of course, it has nothing to do with the fact that staying there meant spending time with Yamamoto, and he wasn't ready yet. Of course not.

(Because staring at this young Rain of his as he hid his miserysadnessdespairpainpainpAINPAIN-! inside that tiny body of his made his flames rattle inside him in anger. This Yamamoto Takeshi was still young, still grieving, still so fragile-

-and he hated that he could do nothing to ease his pain. Because Kyoya could do many things –but emotions were not one of them. Tell him to defeat an army of elites all alone, and he'd thrive as he fights them, but to ask him to deal with a grieving child –well, he'd sooner kiss Pineapple Carnivore than do that –and yup, that's never happening in a fucking million years.

He hated that he couldn't solve his Rain's problems by beating his enemy to death –because what was hurting Takeshi was not anyone else, but himself. His Rain had once confided to them when drunk about how his mother had died when he was seven, and ever since then he buried his grief deep down inside him and took to baseball –her favorite sport-to honor her memory- with a smile on his face. He pushed, and pushed past his sadness and grief for years, until one day, he couldn't suppress it anymore.

All it took was a broken arm to break him and push him over the edge and making him commit suicide.

If his Sky hadn't reached out to him, then their Rain might've perished under the weight of his own turbulent emotions.

This Yamamoto Takeshi, though, hasn't gone off the far end yet. He has just started walking on the path of self-destruction his older-self had walked on, and he could still be brought back to the right path. All he needed was a spark.

And Kyoya knew that he wasn't that spark. The only one who could let the turbulent Rain turn calm again is the Sky.

….Though that didn't mean Kyoya wouldn't try. Because of course he would.

After all, what are friends for?)

"Oh look, it's the weirdo again."

"Ugh, why is she still following us?"

Kyoya grunted in annoyance as he was once again snapped out of his nap, and sleepily glanced down the very tree he was napping on to threaten at the herbivores who dared to interrupt his sleep, only to blink once-twice at the curious image his eyes made him see.

Because standing under his tree were two girls scowling at their companion, who was dressed quit peculiarly.

"A-Ano, Ami-chan, Satsuki-chan, please let me join your group!" the creature exclaimed. Because what else could it be? It was big, round, and yellow.

….No, he's not talking about Hibird. He isn't delusional, you know.

The girl –Ami- with her long hair in a braid rolled her eyes and said, "Our Group is full. There's no place for you."

"But Ami-chan-"

"Even if we needed another person in our group, we'd never ask you to join us, you weirdo!" the other girl with a pink headband –who must be Satsuki- scowled at her.

The big, round, yellow person's voice quivered as they spoke, "Y-You don't have to be so rude, you know."

Kyoya narrowed his eyes as he shifted a bit to stare at the yellow thing and wondered what it could be. The yellow person shifted a bit, and Kyoya stared, flabbergasted, at what he had thought some eighth wonder of the world turned out to be a cosplay dress. Of a Psyduck –of all the fucking things in this world.

…What.

Ami pursued her lips, and shot Satsuki a stern look when the other was about to retort a scathing remark, making her shut up. She then nodded and bowed to the other person and said, "I apologize for my friend's rudeness. We hadn't meant to hurt your feelings." She didn't look that apologetic, though. "But you should really find some other team before dinnertime –and there's only an hour left for it. Why are you pestering us when you can just look for some other group who hasn't assembled all their members yet, Miura-san?"

Kyoya blinked. Miura-san?

…..That actually, explains a lot.

Kyoya then jumped down the tree, and landed just behind the Psyduck cosplayer, making the two girls –Ami and Satsuki- scream in terror as they ran off. The Psyduck jumped and whirled around to face him, and Kyoya had to raise an eyebrow and resisted the urge to whistle appreciatively, because damn the girl's costume was perfect to a T –only her face was visible from the confused Duck Pokemon's large yellow beak- and she made a great Psyduck.

"Hahi!" the girl exclaimed as she jumped, startled, "Did you just jump down the tree all of a sudden? What kind of idiot would do that?"

Kyoya smirked, making the girl scoot away from him warily. "You," he said as he pointed at the cosplayer girl and said, "are coming with me."

Saying this, he grabbed the girl by the back of the neck of her costume and ignored the way she flailed around in panic and screamed hilariously ridiculous things.

"Hahi! I'M BEING KIDNAPPED BY A VAMPIRE! SOMEONE, SAVE ME!"

Kyoya resisted the urge to smash a tonfa on her head. Because honestly, what was she thinking?

"How am I a Vampire?" He asked out loud in annoyance as he made his way towards his baby Sky.

The girls paused in her screaming, and gave him a side-way unimpressed glance. "Are you kidding me? Have you ever seen yourself in a mirror? You're pale enough to pass for a Vampire."

The corner of his lips twitched upwards, but he smothered it down back again.

'So she was still an idiot in her younger days, I see.'

"According to myths, Vampires can't come out in sunlight. The sun is still out yet." Kyoya stared pointedly at the setting sun.

"So you must be a Cold One then." Miura Haru declared as she hovered a few inches from the ground –courtesy of Kyoya. "Like Edward Cullen." Her eyes then sparkled as she stared at him and exclaimed. "Do you sparkle in sunlight too? Do you? Really? Tell me!"

A vein throbbed over his forehead and Kyoya violently suppressed the urge to violently bite her to death.

And he had thought Haru's older counterpart was more annoying. Clearly, he was wrong.

This one is even crazier than her older counterpart.

(No wonder she fit amazingly well with Decimo and his crazy Guardians and the chaos and utter madness that followed them on a regular basis.

Because after all, it takes one to know one.)

EXTRA-

Tsuna moaned, "Suzuki-Sensei is going to kill us." He slammed his head against a tree trunk and sulked, "It has been hours since lunch and we still haven't managed to find one more teammate. Worse, Cloud-san is still god-knows-where!"

Takeshi grinned and patted his back consolingly, "Ah, I'm sure it'll turn out fine, Tsuna!"

Nagi nodded, "Yeah, besides, if Suzuki-Sensei gets angry, we can always push Onii-sama before her."

Tsuna gave her a flat look. "How will that solve any problem? He'll just bite her to death in annoyance!"

Nagi stared at him, amused, "That's why I said to push him forward!"

Tsuna groaned. "Why am I surrounded by idiots?!" He whined.

Kyoko giggled and shared an amused look with Takeshi and Nagi. "Tsuna-kun is so funny!"

"He is, isn't he?" Takeshi agreed with a grin, while Nagi just nodded with her eyes twinkling with mischief.

SLAM!

"Ow! that hurts, you jerk!"

The four of them turned towards the source of the noise, only to stare in disbelief at the scene before their eyes. Kyoya was standing before them with a scowl on his face, and glared at the figure he had dropped down on the ground quite harshly.

The figure who had been unceremoniously been dropped down on the ground without any warning just scowled and rubbed their butt as they glared back at the grey eyed boy, who just rolled his eyes at her antics.

"There's a Psyduck on the ground." Nagi said blankly. "Why is there a Psyduck on the ground?"

"Am I dreaming?" Takeshi mumbled as he pinched his own arm –and winced. "Haha, nope. It's real."

Kyoko's eyes sparkled brightly and she clapped her hand excitedly, and exclaimed, "Oh, what a cute Psyduck-chan!"

Tsuna first stared at the Psyduck, and then at Kyoya, and then back at the cosplayer and then at the older Hibari child. "Ne, Cloud-san," Tsuna asked slowly, "Who is this?"

Kyoya gave him a baleful look. "The last member of our group."

"Really?!" the other three exclaimed –with equal amount of skeptics, surprise, and delight in their voices.

"Hahi?" the girl cosplaying as Psyduck was startled by his words. "You never told me that! Heck, you didn't even ask my permission!" She stared at Kyoya accusingly.

Kyoya waved off her concerns dismissingly. "Details, details."

"Hey!"

Tsuna sighed and rolled his eyes fondly as he saw Kyoya's smug grin and his other three friend's varying expressions. What actually cemented his decision was the cosplaying girl's annoyed pout –though her eyes flashed with uneasiness and barely repressed hope, and he knew his next words would change their life forever.

He extended his hand out towards the cosplaying girl, making her jump at the sudden motion, as he smiled brightly and asked, "Would you like to join our team, Psyduck-chan?"

EXTRA- 2

the Skylark's ever loyal companion, Pt. 2

Tweet~ tweet~

He puffed his feathers and turned away from the new hatchings -his youngest siblings-as they tried to approach him with adorably pitiful expressions on their birdy faces. He wasn't like his human –like hell he'd melt at the sight of small animals like that. He himself was aware the power of doom –that consists of adorable pitiful expressions and teary eyes and cuddles –since these were the very tactics he used on his human to gain his attention. Like hell these few weeks old hatchlings can make him warm up to them with half-assed attempts at acting cute.

Shooting them a stinky eyed look, he hopped away from his flock –(not family, they will never be his family. His family will only be his human and his fellow –pack? flock? eh, whatever- consisting of the omnivore with the fluffiest hair –that makes the best napping place in the world- who only patted him when he perched on his head; of the foul-mouthed silver haired human who always bristled like a cat whenever he saw him resting on his precious Jyuudaime's head, but would still leave his feed in his bird bowl; of the ever smiling herbivore with the sword who's always waved in greeting whenever he flew by him; of the loud "EXTREME" herbivore who'd give him shots and check on him when he's ill; of the young cow –who in his eyes is nothing more than a chick- who'd always share sweets with him –after raiding the brown haired herbivore's secret stashes, that is ; of the pineapple carnivore who'd try to mockingly play "shoot the bird" with him until his human would descend on him and attack him like a bloodthirsty skylark –Ha!- while the other pineapple female would shake her head in background and pat his head fondly.

These hatchlings, who haven't even seen the world, will never be his family. Never.) all the while ignoring the sad glances the elder bird –his Mother- shot him. The female had been hoping that he'd mellow out and warm up to them after his fellow siblings hatched from their eggs, and would take responsibility as the eldest of the bunch. She was obviously wrong. He didn't have any attachment to them.

(He still remembered how they had abandoned him and flew themselves off as soon as the hunters came, leaving him at the mercy of those humans who sold him to a pet shop, and was shoved in a cage with others like him. And then a few months later, he and his kin and been bought by the old man who called himself 'Birds', and trained them in the art of infiltration, reconssiance, and murder. he remembered the many sleepless nights he spent hungry –whenever he made any mistake in training- or the harsh punishments that followed –getting their feathers plucked out, having their wings pinned with a sharp needle, forcibly opening his beak a bit too wide- he thought he'd spend the rest of his life just like this-

-and then he met his human. His everything.

And he had never been happier.)

Hopping to the edge of the nest, he disdainfully eyed the drop and cursed the fact that this nest was quite high above the ground, and if he tried to directly fly with his under-developed feathers and un-used wings, he'd definitely die. And he didn't wish to die so soon. He still has to meet his human, after all.

So settling himself at the edge of the nest –and away from the flock of five that shot him strange looks every now and then- he opened his beak and sang him in nostalgia the very first words his human taught him-

"midori tanabiku namimori no
dai naku shou naku nami ga ii
itsumo kawaranu sukoyaka kenage
aa... tomo ni utaou namimori chuu~"

OMAKE- 1

Ding!

Viper curiously glanced at their phone, and mulled over the information presented to them. they've been asked to incite the Arcobaleno to give Sawada Iemitsu a (not-so-)nice, (un)friendly visit. the money has already been transferred into their account, and the amount is quite satisfactory too.

Hmm… too easy.

Viper glanced at the Arcobaleno lounging in the hall, and decided to get this thing done with.

"Muu," Viper cleared their throat, making others turn to them, and said, "Lal, you said the kids chased Nono and Iemitsu out of the town. Forgive me if I find that hard to believe."

Lal frowned, and asked, annoyed. "I'm only telling you what Iemitsu told me."

Viper rolled their eyes –not that anyone could see that, thanks to the hoodie hiding their face- and said, "Well, Yuna-" Viper pointedly stared at Fon, "-thinks otherwise. She believes it was Iemitsu who bullied the little children and scared them."

"Is that so?" Fon pondered over their words, finding it hard to believe. Because it's Kyoya who bullies others, not the other way around, period. "Wait a minute, let me call her and confirm if it's true or not." Saying this he walked out to call his sister.

By the time he returned, he couldn't help but stare speechlessly at the now –almost- empty room.

Fon stared at Viper in disbelief and asked, "I wasn't even on the call for two minutes, and they actually disappeared? Where did they go?"

Viper said flatly, "You know the rules- no money, no information."

Fon stared at them, unimpressed, "Are you going to extort me for even such a small thing? Don't you have any shame?"

Viper retorted back without any shame, "What's that? Can shame buy you anything in the world?"

"…"

"Thought so."

CEDEF's Headquarters

Venice, Italy

Iemitsu shrunk in his seat as he stared fearfully at five of the World's Strongest Seven Babies lounging in his room, glaring at him threateningly. Colonello and Lal stood on either side of him, holding their sniper rifles threateningly and glowering at him at the same time; Skull sat on the corner of his desk –for once foregoing his helmet- as he puffed his cheeks and glared haughtily at him; Verde sat over the window sill, holding a strange remote that obviously controlled the surprisingly fierce looking robot by his side; and the worst thing was that Reborn –the greatest hitman in the World- stood before him on his desk, cocking his leon gun and smirking sadistically at him.

The Arcobaleno had all surrounded him, cutting of his escape routes with their positions.

Iemitsu gulped fearfully.

He didn't understand. Why were they here? Weren't they supposed to be in a Meeting, though…..?

He didn't remember doing anything that'd piss them off! So why would they be here?

Reborn seemed to have read his mind as he smirked and tilted his fedora ominously. He pointed leon-gun at Iemitsu, and purred dangerously, "Sawada Iemitsu," He tilted his head to the side and said, "let's chat about life, shall we?"