~Quaintrelle~

A female dandy. A woman who emphasizes a life of passion as expressed through her personal style, chosen pastimes, and cultivated demeanor

~O~

"You said you'd be here by the evening!" Suzuki glowered at the younger woman who looked unrepentant. Instead, the other woman just ruffled her short hair and snorted.

"No, you said that. I said at the earliest I'll be at Tokyo by the evening! Do you even know how much I was rushed because someone was being an impatient little shit?!" Light purple eyes flashed in annoyance as the short haired woman shot the older woman an unimpressed look.

"Why, you-!" Suzuki hissed as she let out an aggrieved noise and held her hands in a manner that suggested that she was this close to strangling the younger woman to death, which only made the other woman roll her eyes.

"Alright, that's enough, you two! Stop bickering like little kids." Nayuki announced as he stood between the two of them, and tried to calm them down. "Suzuki-san, why don't you re-check the menu for the evening with the kitchen staff? And Hikari-san," He then turned towards the short haired woman and said, "-if I remember correctly, you have a class this evening, right?"

The younger woman froze. "You can't be serious!" She exclaimed in annoyance as she let her hand run through her short locks. "You do know that jet lag is a thing, right? Can you not rain check that thing, for like, tomorrow? It's not like I'm going anywhere for the time being."

Suzuki snorted. "Says the woman who left in the middle of her University exams to explore China just because she felt like it."

Hikari glared at the older woman, ad sneered, "Not my fault someone had failed the tests because they were dependent on me to let them cheat in the exams."

"I will strangle you with my bare hands, you little shit-"

Nayuki finally snapped at their childish argument and hissed threateningly, "Oh for Gods' sake, shut the fuck up and get to work you two, or else I'll put you two on babysitting duty of kindergarten kids for a whole week, and that too together."

The two paled at his words and immediately excused themselves. "A-Ah, I should check into the kitchen for the dinner's menu." Suzuki mumbled as she chuckled sheepishly and inched towards the door.

"I remember, I have a bunch of brats to handle right now! Toodles, Na-kun!" Hikari too exclaimed as she rushed towards the door.

"What about your jet-lag?" A volunteer from the nearby Kokuyo district called out to Hikari.

"I don't know what you're talking about!" Hikari quipped shamelessly as she once again butted heads with Suzuki, but this time they kept their voices low as they argued about who should get out of the door first.

The staff all stared at the bickering duo in speechless silence.

"Looking at them like that, who'd say that those two had been best friends once upon a time?" One of Nayuki's colleague from Namimori North Elementary sighed in exasperation as he watched the two of them shove each other as they got out of the staffroom.

"Who says that they aren't best friends even now?" Nayuki mumbled wryly, his previous anger forgotten in face of the hilariously annoying bickering of his friends.

"….Ah?"

Kyoya yawned once again, leaning against the tree trunk on one of the lower branches of the tree as he watched the crowd of baby herbivores chattering excitedly about what exciting thing they would be doing in this Extreme Sports Class. Not many kids had taken part in this activity, considering not all kids were that brave or adventurous, and also the fact that not many of their peers wanted to do something they have never even heard about. So, including Kyoya, there were about seven children who had signed up for extreme sport, and not one of them was a girl. A shame really, considering Kyoya knew very well that girls were not any lesser than boy in being adventurous –after all, being surrounded by women like Lal, Bianchi, Chrome and I-Pin, one does not look down on women without suffering the holy wrath of those crazy women, and believe him, the three of them gave the phrase "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned" a whole new level, in terms of suffering, that is. Even though there weren't as much baby herbivores in this class as compared to other activities, they were still enough to be called a crowd. And needless to say, this displeased Hibari Kyoya very much. Especially since their teacher was late.

He swore, if this teacher turned out to be another fake-herbivore, then blood will be shed.

"Yo, brats! You all sure look quite excited for this class, huh?" Kyoya blinked and turned toward the source of the voice that has disturbed his musing, and raised his brow when he saw a woman walk toward their group of children with a mischievous grin on her face. Her dark brown hair was cropped short, and her eyes were a light purple shade, that seemed darker in shadow. She had a petite nose and oval face and he wore a silver earring in her right ear that made Kyoya narrow his eyes. She wore a tank top and shorts, and hung a whistle over her neck. Her skin was lightly tanned, and her toned body and the light muscle around her limbs –or what he could judge from her exposed skin around the thighs and her arms- and the way she walked helped him conclude that either the woman was into sports, or that she could hold herself in a fight.

Kyoya quirked the corner of his lip lightly upwards as his eyes flashed with unknown intent.

Many of the boy blushed at the sight of the pretty lady, which only seemed to amuse the woman further. The woman shook her head and stepped forward. "Gather around, everyone!" She called out to them. "My name is Onigashima Hikari and I will be your Extreme Sports Trainer. I will also take Parkour Classes, so if any of your friends have joined Parkour activities then please inform them, 'kay?"

The kids mumbled among themselves and nodded. Hikari clapped her hands twice and exclaimed, "Great! Now that the introduction's over, let's move on to our first activity! Today, we'll be doing something quite exciting! Guess what?" She cheered, "We'll be doing Rock Climbing today!"

The children immediately started chattering, discussing whether Hikari-Sensei will take them somewhere dangerous in the forest for rock climbing, and should they really go or not? What if it turned out to be dangerous and they get hurt?

"Che, don't be such party poopers now." Hikari rolled her eyes, "I chose the easiest one for the first activity, ya know. Plus, it's totally safe, since we'll be doing it in a controlled environment, and not somewhere in the forest. It's getting so late, and if we perform rock climbing either in the forests or in the mountains at this time, not only would you really get hurt –or worse, maimed- but that damn Suzuki would never let me live it down. So, yup, we'll be doing it nice and safe. Happy now?"

Kyoya resisted the urge to snort. Really, who gave this woman the permission to teach kids?

"Alright then, follow me!" the woman exclaimed and herded the children towards the back of the main building. Kyoya followed behind the crowd of baby herbivores (plus the carnivore woman) in a sedate pace and eyed the structure created artificially for their rock climbing. A huge wall –the size of a two-storey building- stood before them, embedded with small artificial rocks scattered all over it. On the top of the wall was attached a platform where stood Nayuki-Sensei, discussing something with another man –definitely a technical staff- while re-checking all the mechanisms once again.

The woman gestured towards the artificial rock-embedded wall and said, "We'll use this prop for rock climbing." She pointed at the artificial rocks attached on the wall and said, "The rocks are sturdy, so don't be afraid that you'll fall. Besides, I don't think you should be worried about falling down because we'll equip you with all the safety gears, and we also have two teachers and a technical staff watching over this activity. We've also invited the Campus' Doctor –that's the one-" She pointed towards a greyish haired young man in spectacles who gave the children a polite smile, and continued on, "-to supervise your climbing, so don't be afraid of breaking any bones, 'kay?!" she exclaimed cheerily, to which the young doctor just sighed as the children –except Kyoya-cringed at her words.

"Hikari-san, that is no way to speak to a child." The Doctor said to her.

"Psch, no one asked for your opinion, Baka-gami." Hikari snorted.

Before Dr. Kagami could retort, Nayuki-Sensei yelled at them from the platform, " Oi Hikari! Are you instigating the good doctor again?"

"Nope!" The woman shamelessly denied.

Nayuki just gave her a very unimpressed look from above. Hikari just cleared her throat and said to the kids, "So, just like I said, there's no need to worry! You are all here to enjoy your Camp, and learn something new. That's why, do enjoy these thrilling activities, 'kay? They're not as scary as they would actually seem to you."

Seeing the unbelieving looks of the kids, Hikari sighed and said calmly, "Okay then, let's do it like this. All I want you to do is to at least try it for once. It doesn't matter if you can't reach the top platform of the rock climbing, or get cold feet in the midst of it- all I want to see is your participation." She told them, "While trying, if you think you can't climb on anymore and want to quit, we'll take you down that very moment, 'kay?"

The kids all shared a look, and then nodded hesitantly.

The grin on Hikari's face brightened. "Good!" She clapped. "So, let's get this show on the road! Oh, I know-!" She snapped her fingers as a thought occurred to her, "I'll go first and show you how it's done, 'kay?"

Without waiting for anyone's consent, she walked towards the artificial structure, and dismissed the technical staff that had come to her to make her wear the protective gear. "I don't need that!" She declared, "This rock climbing done in such a safe and controlled environment is much tame compared to the hazardous things I usually do."

"You can't be serious'!" Dr. Kagami pinched the bridge of his nose as he watched her start climbing without wearing any protective gear, "You're a bad influence on the kids!" The Doctor said to her in exasperation, "You're supposed to make these children interested in Sports, not scare them away with your craziness!"

"Don't try this at home kids! At least, not without any sane adult's supervision!" Hikari said cheerily, ignoring Kagami's words as she climbed swiftly, reaching from rock to rock, and made her way upwards. Her every action was natural, as if she had done it countless times. Watching her reach from rock to rock and climb upwards reminded Kyoya of a monkey's swiftness in climbing from tree to tree. A few minutes later, Kyoya found himself staring at the short haired woman in intrigue, as she climbed over the topmost platform and waved cheerily to the kids while ducking before Nayuki could smack the back of her head for her impulsive actions.

Hikari then climbed down again via the artificial rocks –all the while ignoring Nayuki's curses who insisted her to either use the staircase behind the wall or let the technical staff let her down with the help of ropes and hanging gear- and finally stood before the seven kids while brushing off dust from her tank top, and asked them, "So, who's first?"

The kids –minus Kyoya, who stood at the very back- all gulped nervously and took a step back.

"Aww," she pouted disappointedly, "No one? Come on!" she whined, "Don't be such cowards!" Kyoya twitched at her words. "I thought you were the braver ones among other kids, since you all chose Extreme Sports of your own will! Or was I wrong?" She taunted, "Are you all just scared-y cats?" A vein twitched over Kyoya's forehead. "Just a few useless sheep among other herbivores in a herd, huh?" She taunted.

Crack-!

The other kids jumped and shrunk their necks in fear as they watched Kyoya smack a hole in the trunk of the tree he was leaning against with his tonfa, and glowered at the short haired woman who just raised her brows at him. He narrowed his eyes, and hissed like a disgruntled cat, "I'm no herbivore."

"Of course not," The woman agreed, "If I remember my High School Science correctly, then I don't think rodents are actually herbivores, little Pi-ka-chu~" She said in a sing-song tone, eying Kyoya's Pikachu shirt in amusement, that only made the older Hibari boy puff up in annoyance.

Kyoya resisted the urge to grab his tonfas and attack the carnivore, reminding himself that he isn't like his child self who used to pick up fights with opponents in impulsiveness. He wasn't a lone wolf anymore, he had his Baby Sky and little sister looking up at his every actions, and he did not want them to learn bad things from him. Not everyone could pick a fight with a carnivore –like him-and come on top. He can't let them impulsiveness and sadistically violent tendencies from his actions, especially against other carnivores who'd sooner kick their asses than tolerate their impulsive actions.

(Unknown to him, that ship has sailed past long ago. 'Cause the moment Hibari Kyoya walked into the lives of Tsuna, Nagi, and everyone else, he has become a gold standard for the Baby Sky and the Mist –and every other person that associates with them. )

So, instead of attacking the carnivore woman, Kyoya instead opted to be the bigger person as he shot the woman a glare before marching towards the artificial rock climbing wall. He let the staff make him wear the protective gear, and after shooting it a disdainful look, he started climbing with practiced ease. Being a child of nine years, his limbs obviously weren't as long as compared to a grown woman, but what Hibari Kyoya did have was a lithe, flexible body and a lot of cloud flames at his disposable, which made it easy for him to reach to the artificial rocks with a few jumps and well placed footing. Unbothered with the gazes of the people on the ground boring on his back, he climbed the artificial setting like a pro, and reached the top in no time. He glanced back to look at Hikari smugly, only for his temper to flare when he saw her raising her eyes provocatively, as if saying that what he had done was no big deal. His hackles raised, and the thin thread of Kyoya's restraint –or whatever was left of it- snapped, and Kyoya finally gave into his impulsiveness. And before Nayuki-Sensei and the technical staff could attach the hanging gear to him, Kyoya immediately threw the suffocating protective gear and jumped off the platform –much to everyone's horror.

Two boys burst into tears seeing Kyoya's jump, while a few others had screamed. Dr. Kagami moved, and even Hikari herself had immediately rushed forward to grab him before he could splat against the ground, but Kyoya had avoided her by spinning in midair and landed on his feet.

The moment his –Cloud Flames augmented- feet impacted with the ground, it stung him a big, but he shrugged the stinging pain off, and glared at the people crowding around him.

"What were you thinking?!" Dr. Kagami exclaimed as he rushed towards Kyoya and fussed at him. "You shouldn't be so impulsive!" The Doctor scolded him. "You could've gotten hurt, Hibari-kun! You aren't suicidal, are you?"

Nayuki-sensei and the technical staff immediately got down from the stairs behind the artificial rock embedded wall, and got near him, anxious to make sure if Kyoya was unhurt. Hikari was staring at him with an unreadable look in her eyes.

Kyoya smacked away the hand of the fussy doctor and backed away from him. "Don't touch me, fake-herbivore!" He hissed at the doctor, and then glowered at the others, daring them to approach him or else get bitten to death. The kids hesitated, while the adults still advanced forwards, their worry winning over whatever fear Kyoya had managed to beat into them earlier. Scoffing, Kyoya looked Hikari straight in the eyes and declared, "I repeat, I am no herbivore. The next time you make me say that again, carnivore or not, I'll bite you to death."

After warning the woman, Kyoya decided that he was done for the day. So he turned and walked away briskly, ignoring the adults demanding him to come back and get his check-up done so they could ensure that he really was alright, and hadn't hurt himself with his suicidal stunts.

A pair of eyes darkened as they watched the back of the older Hibari child walking away, and a grin spread across Hikari's lips, "Damn, this kid is definitely something…"

It wasn't long before the news of Kyoya's crazy stunt spread around the camp. Tsuna –who had been enjoying his first assignment of Photography Class about clicking a few pictures of nature- dropped his class in the middle in worry and rushed back to their room in search of Kyoya. He was joined by Takeshi, Haru and Kyoko as soon as he walked past the cafeteria, and without even knocking he slammed the doors open and entered the room in haste-

-only to freeze at the sight of Kyoya and Nagi having a fierce argument.

"-but why did you have to jump from such a height?! Do you think you're so invincible that you will not get hurt at all, Onii-sama?!" Nagi argued.

Kyoya snorted and shot her a look that said 'Are you an idiot?' He commented flippantly, "I am Hibari Kyoya."

Nagi hissed, "That's it? That's your answer to every single stupid thing you do, without thinking that we might get worried?"

("Uh…" Takeshi's ever-present grin faltered a bit. "Should we interfere?"

His stupid question earned him flat looks from the three of them.

"Are you an idiot?" Haru asked incredulously.

"If you interfere, they'll turn their ire on you. I don't think that's a good idea." Kyoko explained.

"Cloud-san and Mist-chan don't usually fight, but when they do, it's not pretty." Tsuna said quietly. "Make sure not to come in their line of sight during their fight, or else you'll have to deal with not one, but two irate Hibaris, and I assure you from my prior experience, that it is not a good thing."

The other three took his words to heart and tried to shrink their presence as they shuffled to a corner of the room, and away from their line of sight.)

"What are you getting angry for?" Kyoya pinched the bridge of his nose in annoyance. "It's not like I would get hurt by jumping from such a short height."

"Short height?!" Nagi's usually soft voice turned high pitched as she glared scathingly. "You jumped from a height of Seventeen Point Five feet without any protective gear! How would I know if you're hurt or not when you refuse to visit the doctor!"

Disdain flashed in Kyoya's eyes. "I will not visit any doctor, especially that fake-herbivore." He declared.

Nagi told him. "Stop being difficult or I'll complain to Kaa-san."

Kyoya glared at her. "You wouldn't."

"I will." She titled her chin up and glared back at him.

("Oh boy….." Tsuna mumbled as he let his head fall in his hands.

"Hahi!" Haru squeaked. "This argument is getting a bit out of hand, don't you think?"

Kyoko nodded nervously. "It is."

"But this also proves that Nagi really loves her brother, huh," Takeshi pointed out, "Since she cares so much for his well-being that the usual soft-spoken girl is even arguing fiercely with her brother for it."

Haru and Kyoko shared a look. "That seems to be true." Kyoko mumbled.

"I didn't think of it that way." Haru admitted.)

Tsuna just shook his head fondly when he heard their words, but the smile on his face was soon wiped off when he saw Kyoya materializing his tonfas and glowering challengingly at Nagi. His sister didn't back down, instead, with a flicker of indigo Flames a trident appeared in her hands and she crouched a bit, as if preparing to fight him.

("Hahi! Where did those weapons come from?!" Haru exclaimed. "That looks dangerous!"

"Ahaha! I think that pretty fire has something to do with it!" Takeshi spoke with a grin on his face, though no one noticed the slight flash of light blue in his narrowed eyes.

"What pretty fire?" Kyoko wondered.)

Tsuna moved as soon as the other two begun to attack, and before the Hibari Siblings could hurt each other, Tsuna grabbed the smooth surface of Kyoya's tonfa and Nagi's trident with each of his hand.

"Get out of my way, Baby Omnivore." Kyoya hissed at him.

"Yes Orange-san, this has nothing to do with you." Nagi said calmly, though the way her indigo eyes glittered furiously betrayed her calm exterior.

Tsuna's eyes flashed orange as he said, "That is enough, you two. At least look at the place and timing before you fight. Remember that we aren't the only ones here."

Nagi's shoulders tensed at his words, and she turned her eyes and finally noticed her other three friends in a corner of the room, eying them nervously –though she really didn't like the look in Blue-san's eyes. He looked like a predator watching something fascinating, and it was a look that looked quite jarring on Blue-san's always smiling face. She was quite unsettled by it. Pursuing her lips unhappily, she lowered the trident in her hands and backed off. She then took a deep breath and glared at Kyoya, "Onii-sama, will you, or will you not visit a doctor today for at least a check-up?" She asked with gritted teeth.

Kyoya scoffed. "No way."

"Then so be it." She hissed and stormed out of the boys' room, and Kyoko and Haru hesitantly followed after her a moment later.

Kyoya took back his tonfas and walked towards his bunk bed, ignoring the disapproving looks Tsuna sent him.

"What?" He glared at his Baby Sky, who tilted his head and asked-

"You're not going to apologize to her, are you?"

Kyoya's glare intensified, as if that was even possible.

Tsuna sighed. "Just so you know, you're wrong this time, Cloud-san. You really worried us a lot this time, and now you're being even more difficult than usual by refusing check-up. Can you not for once put down your ego and make us worry less?"

A hurt look flashed in Kyoya's grey eyes, but it disappeared as soon as it had appeared, making Tsuna wonder if he had actually imagined it. But when his own orange fire pinged a bit, he realized that he had spoken a bit out of turn, and had missed some important detail during this whole argument. Before he could clarify with Kyoya, the ravenette had already disappeared out of the door, and this time Tsuna didn't need his intuition to know that Kyoya is pissed right now and will definitely not return back tonight.

Tsuna groaned as he let his head fall in his hands. "I'm such an idiot…." he mumbled under his breath sadly.

Takeshi walked towards Tsuna and patted his back. "Don't worry Tsuna! I'm sure everything will be fine."

Tsuna blinked and glanced up at him. "Are you sure?"

Takeshi nodded. "Yup."

Haru and Kyoko hesitantly walked into their room, and looked at Nagi in concern as she sat on her bed on the lowest bunk and pulled a cushion tight in her embrace as she buried her head into it. The two girls shared a look, before Haru gestured Kyoko to approach Nagi.

"You should come too!" Kyoko insisted.

Haru shook her head, "You know her longer than I do, and we have only met yesterday. I don't think it's appropriate." Kyoko tried to argue, but Haru cut her off, "I'll just be outside for a while, 'kay? Call me if you need anything." She then eyed Nagi's curled up form on the lowest bunk bed and hesitantly mumbled, "Just….. Just take care of the bipolar menace, okay?" saying this, she quickly got out of the room and closed the door shut behind her, leaving Kyoko alone with a downtrodden Nagi.

Kyoko sighed and approached the indigo haired girl cautiously, "Um….. Nagi-chan?" She asked hesitantly, "Are you alright?"

Nagi buried her head deeper into the fluffy cushion –as if that was even possible- and shook her head.

Kyoko sat next to Nagi and patted her back soothingly, "You know, you can talk to me, right? I'm your friend, you can share your worries with me. I promise I won't tell anyone. Besides, sometimes it's better to let it all out than to keep everything in and suffocate with the weight of your thoughts."

Nagi mumbled something in reply, but her words weren't clear as they were muffled since her face was still buried in the cushion.

"Nagi-chan…?" Kyoko question, and finally, Nagi lifted her head from the pillow and glared at Kyoko with angry tears in her eyes.

"I just- I don't understand! Why is Onii-sama always doing things like that and expecting us to not worry?!" She yelled in frustration. Tugging her indigo strands a bit harshly, she hissed in annoyance, "He is always picking up fights with people who are older and way stronger than him, and he doesn't even think that we'll worry about him whenever he does things like that! I try to be nonchalant about it, but for all I pretend to not care about my brother's violent tendencies, I do worry about his wellbeing! Because of his love for fighting stronger opponent, he's always hurt in one way or another!"

"It's not like I'm asking him to stop. I just want to make sure that he doesn't get hurt unnecessarily." Tears spilled from her cheeks and she whispered, "Is that too much to ask?"

"No." Kyoko's resolute voice snapped Nagi out of her trance. Nagi blinked her watery eyes as Kyoko side-hugged the girl and whispered, "You're not wrong. It's Hibari-sempai who is wrong. He shouldn't pick fights like that, that's wrong."

"That's not-" what I meant….- Nagi wanted to say that, but in the end she changed her words, "You don't get it! You don't know-"

"I know Nagi-chan….." Kyoko whispered under her breath with a faraway look in her eyes. "I know. Because my older brother, too, is just like that."

"And I hate it." She grimaced. "I hate it when he picks up fights with others and get hurt in the process." she then looked up at Nagi and insisted, "So I know what you're going through, Nagi-chan. And it really doesn't get better."

Kyoko closed her eyes and sighed sadly, her shoulders sagged as she mumbled, "All you can do is to smile and pretend that everything's fine, even though you know it's not."

.

Unfortunately, things didn't get better even by the next day. True to Tsuna's intuition, Kyoya hadn't returned back to their room the whole night, and had spent the night patrolling around the camp to calm his irritation. He had returned at dawn, and that too to take a shower, before he joined the Parkour Class along with Yamamoto and Tsuna. Takeshi tried to ease the tension by cracking jokes, but Kyoya's mood was already bad and nothing eased his irritable mood. Tsuna did apologize to him for his impulsive words yesterday, but Kyoya only nodded at him before he left them to their own devices as he picked up his pace and jumped from tree to tree.

"Come on, brats! Show some energy!" The woman cackled as she urged the kids to keep a better grip so as not to fall on the ground. "Don't forget the reward! The one who finishes the route in record time and reaches the camp first gets to eat the largest scoop of chocolate chip ice-cream!"

There were two other adults supervising their parkour, knowing that Hikari was too much of an adrenaline junkie and hence shouldn't be trusted to supervise the children alone, especially when most kids here were beginners at parkour. So, while Hikari handled the experienced kids –and especially one demon child of Namimori who was rather quite irritated this morning- they were tasked to keep an eye on the beginners.

"Don't mind her." One of the adults waved her comment off and jogged towards a kid who somehow got stuck on a branch of a short –but dense- tree. He helped the kid down and spoke to the others, "She's just had too much sugar this morning, and needs to wear it all off."

"It wasn't really Suzuki's brightest idea to dump that much amount of sugar in Hikari's coffee." the other man grumbled as he bandaged another poor kid's sprained leg who had jumped off the rocky terrain on wrong foot.

The former eyed the panting-and mostly wounded and exhausted- kids scattered around the clearing. Among the sixteen children who took part in parkour, six had gotten scratches and wounds from rough landings, three had gotten sprains- and there was even a boy who hit his head hard enough and fainted. Almost every child here was exhausted as they tried to keep up with their insane mentor and her competitor –another demon of his own right- and other than the older Hibari child, there were only four other kids who were gutsy enough to still keep on this activity despite being exhausted to the bones. Two of them were twins who have been doing parkour for about two years, and hence were somehow able to keep up with their insane teacher. The third one was one Yamamoto Takeshi who, even while panting like crazy, had a happy grin on his face, as if enjoying this hard-paced task. Considering what they remembered Takeshi as an outgoing baseball layer, it wasn't that surprising to see him doing so well in this activity since the kid already had enough experience in sports to not falter in this exercise. What was surprising was the brunette at the very end of their trail, who sweated heavily and gasped deep breaths as he followed the normal parkour route. Sometimes, the kid would halt for a while, and just when they would think that the child had had enough and was going to quit, then the fluffy brown haired boy would glance up at the trees –and stare at the irate Hibari child jumping trees like a pro- and his eyes would flash amber before he would take a deep breath and continued on with the activity.

Hikari exclaimed that the kids were gutsy enough to try to keep up with her. The two of them just thought that these kids were masochists.

The man sighed and sent a text back to Nayuki to send some more people from staff to carry the injured kids. "Kagami is going to kill us." He grumbled under his breath.

"No," The other man scoffed, "He's a smart man. He'll kill the crazy menace off. He will just spare us knowing that we too are the victims here. After all, we're not the ones who are childish enough to compete against a nine year old -who happens to be the demon child of Namimori. "

As if on cue, the woman's enraged screams rang around the woods, and the two of them turned towards the source of noise, wondering what had made their resident menace outraged this time.

"You damn brat!" the woman howled as she somehow caught a lower branch mid-air and stopped her fast descent towards the ground, and barely saved herself from splatting on the ground. "What's the big idea?!"

One Hibari Kyoya pulled a bunch of leaves away from him, and smirked downwards at the shorter haired woman dangling from a lower branch, "Not my fault you tripped on thin air, Se-n-sei~"

"You little shit, don't think I didn't see you tripping me on purpose by smacking that branch at me!" Hikari hissed at him as she grabbed another branch and tried to climb up the tree to grab Kyoya and literally knock some sense into his thick head.

Kyoya just smirked smugly at her. "Hn."

"I'll strangle you with my bare hands, you little-!"

Kyoya didn't wait for her to complete her profanities before he threw a tonfa downwards at her –where the hell did he even get that?- which Hikari barely dodged. By the time Hikari had reached the top branch where the boy had been hiding a few minutes ago, Kyoya had already disappeared from there, and appeared some distance away on the top of another tree, grinning challengingly at her.

A vein twitched over Hikari's head as she glowered at the ravenette in annoyance. "Just you wait, you damn brat! I'll make you pay for that little stunt you pulled right now!"

A few hours later a certain spunky woman found herself at the short end of the stick as she faced an irate Nayuki and a thoroughly pissed Dr. Kagami who chewed her ears off on her carelessness and her disregard of children's health. While a certain chibi-Skylark smugly sat at the opposite corner of cafeteria, and raised his brows provocatively as he shamelessly ate the biggest scoop of choco-chips ice-cream that should've been hers- all the while ignoring the pitiful looks of Tsuna and Takeshi as he ate the ice-cream all alone, without sharing even a spoonful of it with them.

(After all, a Cloud can hold even littlest of grudges for a very long time.)

"That brat is so dead." She vowed as her darkened violet eyes narrowed on the smug brat taunting her at the other end of cafeteria, and she barely dodged Nayuki's hand that had smacked the back of her head to make her stop glaring at the poor, innocent child (Ha!) who was enjoying his reward of winning the impromptu parkour race.

The girls sat on a different table during breakfast that day. Nagi hadn't wanted to face Kyoya so soon after their fight yesterday, especially when she wasn't going to give in first and apologize –and as far as she knew her brother, neither would Kyoya. So, the Hibari siblings were at a stalemate. Nagi didn't think she was courageous enough to keep a calm face before her brother without giving in the urge to drag him to the infirmary for a check-up, not that Kyoya would actually let her do something he wouldn't agree to. Nagi vowed to ignore Kyoya until he comes to his senses and realized that he was being an utter brat, and that sometimes he needed to have his ego pegged down a bit and think about the impact his reckless actions have on those who loved and cared for him. It's not like Nagi's banning him from his fighting and patrols. She knew her brother better than anyone, and hence she knew how much Kyoya loves fighting, especially when he comes across a stronger opponent. Kyoya relished the control he has on everything under him –his people, his territory, his loved ones, his enemies…. and anything that threatens that control is bitten to death. Nagi didn't want to stop him from doing what he loved. All she wanted was for him to take care of himself better, and not do unnecessary things that are more along the lines of suicidal rather than foolishness. Was that really too much to ask?

In her trance, she didn't notice herself gripping the glass of water a bit too tighter, and before she knew it, the glass cracked into pieces, and the sharp ends of a few shattered remains cut through the milky white skin of her palm, making them bleed. Nagi winced in pain as she tried to move her bleeding hand. Maybe strengthening her limbs with indigo fire while thinking depressing thoughts wasn't such a good idea after all….

"Oh no!" Haru screamed.

"Nagi-chan!" Kyoko exclaimed in shock. "You're bleeding!"

Their screams attracted the students nearby them, who crowded around them and started whispering, wondering what had happened that Nagi got hurt like this. Nagi was already in a bad mood, and the crowd didn't help at all. No wonder her brother hated crowding. The damn herbivores –as her brother called them- were useless, and would rather watch someone bleed than help out. Tch, herbivores, the lot of them.

A few teachers parted the crowd and rushed towards her, and Suzuki-Sensei immediately dabbed the wound with cotton to lessen the bleeding. It wasn't long before Kyoya too got the news of Nagi's injury and immediately arrived with Tsuna and Takeshi and demanded to know what had happened.

"It's nothing you should concern yourself over." Nagi retorted at him, her temper worsening at the sight of her brother, whom she was still angry at. Her patience was running thin, what with the chattering crowd only worsening her headache –and the stinging pain from the wound that just wouldn't stop bleeding didn't help in soothing her already raised hackles. "If you can brush off your suicidal jump from a height of about eighteen feet, then I sure can endure a few scratches, can't I, Onii-sama?" Saying this, Nagi snatched her wounded hand from Suzuki-sensei's grasp –the bandages that the woman had been trying to tie became undone as Nagi didn't even wait until Suzuki had tied them safely- and stormed out of the cafeteria.

Tsuna shot Kyoko a look, who immediately understood his unspoken words as she stepped forward and declared, "I'll make sure to take her to the infirmary to get her injury look over." and soon, she followed Nagi out, leaving behind a glowering Kyoya, a confused crowd, and only Tsuna, Haru and Takeshi for damage control.

"Sensei, you need to look over Nagi-chan's wound!" Kyoko exclaimed in concern as soon as she walked into the infirmary, dragging Nagi with her, all the while ignoring the Doctor they had just startled with their sudden entrance.

"What wound?" Dr. Kagami asked doubtfully, before his light blue eyes –that people don't usually noticed because of his spectacles- fell on Nagi's wounded hand –that wasn't bleeding as much as before. "Oh my-!" He exclaimed and he immediately got off from his chair and gestured Nagi to sit on the infirmary bed in the corner. He then quickly grabbed a first aid kit and started swabbing the wound with a bit of alcohol. Nagi flinched at the slight stinging pain the disinfecting caused, but other than that she didn't make any noise. It didn't take long before her wound was bandaged.

"Thankfully the wound wasn't deep, or else your friend's condition would've been a little tricky to treat." Dr. Kagami told Kyoko, who finally sighed in relief. The doctor then brought his clipboard and told the girls with a small smile, "I need to fill a few entries regarding your visit, so I hope you cooperate."

"Of course!" Kyoko nodded happily.

"Alright then," The doctor said as he put the nib of his pen on the papers attached to the clipboard and asked, "What's your name?" He asked Nagi.

"Hibari Nagi." Nagi replied softly.

Her reply startled Dr. Kagami a bit too much. His eyes widened and he almost dropped his pen in surprise at her words. "Hibari? Are you by any chance related to Hibari Kyoya-kun, Nagi-san?" Dr. Kagami asked.

Nagi smiled politely and answered, "He is my elder brother."

"Oh," The man blinked his light blue eyes. "I didn't know that…." He muttered under his breath. Shaking his head, he finally did write her name on the papers.

"Age?"

"Seven."

"Gender- Never mind, that one's obvious." Dr. Kagami said in a joking tone, making Kyoko giggle and Nagi smile a bit.

After that he still asked a few simple questions to Nagi, which she replied with ease. "Well then, that's all there is to it." He said as he re-checked the information he put in the papers. "I'll fill the entry in the computer now, so you can go back to cafeteria if you want." He then glanced at the wall clock hanging on the opposite wall and said, "There are still a few minutes till the end of breakfast hour. I'm sure you can grab something to eat real quick if you hurry there."

Kyoko beamed at him, "Thank you, Sensei!"

"Your welcome." Dr. Kagami ruffled her hair fondly and then turned to Nagi, "Nagi-san, if your wounds hurt a bit too much, then do visit the infirmary and get some painkillers from me, okay? You can come in the evening after dinner if you want, I usually get free from work at that time." He then added on as an afterthought, "Also, I don't need to remind you to take it easy for a few days and to not agitate your injury, right?"

Nagi shook her head. "No Sir, I will keep your words in mind."

The young doctor chuckled. "Well, at least one of you siblings take the Doctor's advice seriously."

Nagi's expression shuttered off for a moment, before she replaced it with a pleasant smile. "I think we should go now." Nagi said politely as she nodded at him. "Our classes would start soon, and I didn't get to eat my fill before this incident happened."

"Ah, of course." Kagami said as he ushered them out, "If you hurry back and ask Nayuki-san for it, I'm sure he'll contact the kitchen staff and get you something to eat."

"Once again, thank you for everything, Sensei!" Kyoko waved cheerily, before she walked out of the infirmary with Nagi, leaving a smiling doctor behind who waved at them.

The polite smile on Nagi's face slid off her face as soon as she walked out of the clinic. "No wonder Onii-sama refused for the check-up." Nagi muttered wryly.

Kyoko shot her a puzzling look. "Why did you say that?"

Nagi blinked her eyes and then shook her head. "Nothing. It's just, I had just forgotten that Onii-sama doesn't like fake-herbivores." She then tugged Kyoko's sleeves with her uninjured hand and said, "Come on, let's go to Purple Onii-sama. I have to apologize to him."

Kyoko asked, baffled. "But why? I thought you were angry at him?"

"Not anymore." she said as she quirked the corner of her lips upwards. "I just remembered that my brother may seem like a cold, unfeeling, violent jerk but is actually a very caring person from inside."

"So why are you going to apologize now, and not earlier?!" Kyoko asked. She really couldn't understand Nagi's sudden change of heart.

"I just feel like it!" Nagi said cheerily.

"Forgive me if I don't believe you." Kyoko said flatly.

Nagi shrugged. "That's your problem, not mine."

"Hey! That's not fair!"

Nagi's only reply to Kyoko's indignant cry was to chuckle. Kyoko tried to scowl, but failed a small giggles too escaped her lips. She then bumped her shoulder to Nagi's, and said, "I'm just glad you aren't angry anymore, Nagi-chan."

"Me too, Kyoko-chan." Nagi mumbled under her breath. "Me too."

OMAKE- Daughter-in-Law

The Cursed infants huddled around the latest photo faxed by Yuna to Viper –in exchange of contacting a certain subordinate of hers who was in hiding. The photo was of Kyoya hugging a brunette child -who was a head shorter than the older Hibari child- with a petulant scowl on his face, while the brunette had a cute blush on his cheeks as he clung to the older boy.

"Oh my god, they're so cute!" Colonello gushed as he stared at the picture in fascination.

"Who's the other kid?" Verde asked curiously.

"Another Godchild?" Skull exclaimed. The others turned to stare at Reborn, Fon and Viper suspiciously, as if wondering whose kid is this one. Reborn himself just gave the picture a cursory glance before he uninterestedly turned away and grabbed his cup of espresso from Aria as she walked out of the kitchen, carrying everyone's drinks.

Before Fon could retort, Viper beat him to the answer as they replied dryly, "Mou, that's not true. Don't just jump to the conclusion, you idiots."

The others shared a look a disbelieving look, but at least they did not make any fuss about it. Fon sighed. At least this time they didn't assume anything like they usually did –what with thinking that Fon had a threesome with Viper and Reborn and actually had children with them (Goodness, they actually believed that shit….. Tch, idiots.)

However, why did he have a feeling that this matter would definitely end in gunshots, explosions, and pure, pure chaos –like everything always did whenever Kyoya's name is somehow involved even in their conversations?

Aria handed everyone their drinks and then glanced at the photo curiously. Her eyes flashed orange for a second, and then she blinked, before smiling a mischievous smile. "Oh, that's definitely not the third child of Reborn, Fon and Viper-"

Colonello whispered conspiringly to Lal, "Why is she speaking like there's actually a third kid of the Reborn-Fon-Viper threesome of whom we aren't aware of?"

(Somewhere in North Italy, Mukuro sneezed.

"Oya?" He frowned, "Why do I have a feeling I am missing a golden opportunity of causing widespread mayhem in Cosa Nostra?)

Aria just ignored Colonello's mumbles and continued on, "-because that child is actually Reborn's daughter-in-law."

Reborn-who had been taking another sip of his deliciously made Espresso- did a spit-take at her words, "Say. what. now?!"

Needless to say, all hell –and sweet, sweet chaos- broke loose.

(Fon thwacked his head against a wall repeatedly, bemoaning his luck, all the while ignoring the chaos going on in the background –where Reborn was spouting of curses and declaring to scare off the poor brunette kid so he doesn't try to land his filthy paws on his sweet, sweet son; Viper was conspiringly telling reborn that if he can pay them a large sum, they'd happily give him the brunette's information; Verde and Lal were trying –and failing spectacularly- to restrain "Mama" Reborn from going on a rampage; all the while Colonello and Skull were cackling in a corner, throwing confetti and ribbons as they planned their "supposed" godson's Grand Wedding.

"Why Aria, why?" Fon bemoaned. "I thought you were one of the sane ones among them!"

"Sorry Fon!" Aria chirped with a giggle, as she placed her palm over her protruding tummy and patted it lovingly, "I couldn't resist!")