Disclaimer: I don't own KHR.

New Year

When starting a New Year, one must start it with a bang and Mia, our dear female protagonist, had decided to literally start it with a bang. Knowing how used to the Sawada household was with gunshots and explosions, she figured that Nana might not notice at all as she carried a packet of firecrackers that she had gotten from Hayato and a metal pot up to Tsuna's room. When Bianchi and Fuuta saw her, she placed a finger against her lips in an attempt to hide her mischievous smile. Bianchi suppressed a grin and led a questionable Fuuta downstairs.

"Try not to make a mess," Bianchi called out to her.

Mia scoffed. "Compared to you guys on a daily basis, I'm neat."

"If Hayato and the others show up, let them in!" She added. Bianchi hummed in reply and Mia continued on with her task of waking the Tenth Boss from his slumber. She carelessly walked in, knowing how much of a deep sleeper Tsuna was and proceeded to place the pot on his desk right next to the bed. Biting her lip to keep herself from chuckling, she dumped the string of firecrackers into the pot.

The boys had always pegged her for the mature type and Mia had to agree that yes, she was a bit of a stiff most of the time but her New Year's resolution was to loosen up and loosen up she will. She glanced at her best friend, noting how peaceful he looked. That was going to change real soon, she thought wickedly and lit the fuse. She darted out the room and shut the door, waiting.

Loud cracking exploded inside and she held a laugh as Tsuna suddenly yelped and screamed. She plastered herself against the wall and slid down, laughing into it as she heard him fall off his bed. The door was wrenched open and Mia froze. Her expression similar to a deer caught in the headlights. Smoke filtered out of the room and Tsuna towered over her, wearing a very creepy smile. Mia couldn't believe he had it in him to make an expression like that.

"Hey," she greeted him in a small voice.

"You were laughing." She cringed at how flat he said it.

She chuckled nervously. "Please don't be mad."

"Mad?" he looked at her, smile widening. "Not. At. All."

Faster than she could dodge, he grabbed her by the waist and pulled her into his room. She shrieked when his fingers began running up and down her sides, viciously tickling her until she was a complete and utter mess on the floor. Tsuna had this dark air around him as he tortured her.

"I'm sorry!" she gasped. "Promise I won't… do… it…haha… again!"

"Are you really?" he asked her, halting. Her hands shot out to grab his face and pulled his head down. She smacked her lips against his cheek catching him off guard. She pushed him off and ran as fast as she could downstairs, nearly tripping the way down and out the door. Several pairs of eyes turned toward her as she barreled through the gates and hid behind Yamamoto, who was the tallest and broadest out of the boys.

"Whoa there Mia, what are you running from?" Yamamoto looked down on her with surprise.

"MIA!" Came a loud roar from the second floor.

"Was that Tsuna-kun?" Kyoko placed a hand against her mouth. Mia laughed nervously.

"Yeah… I woke him up rather spectacularly and I don't think he appreciates it." She shut her mouth as Tsuna marched out the door still in his sleep clothes, a scowl plastered on his bright red face. When he saw that a crowd of his friends were in front of his house, his scowl melted into a frown. He looked at each one of them before zooming in on Yamamoto. The baseball ace froze and laughed nervously.

Pressed against his back, Mia whispered, "Please, please, don't move."

Tsuna crossed his arms, waiting. Mia could not see the look on his face, except that it made Yamamoto take a step to the side. He rubbed his head apologetically as her jaw dropped in shock.

"Yamamoto!"

"Mia." She shut her eyes tightly.

"You're not mad right?" She pleaded pitifully.

Tsuna sighed. "Just clean the mess you made in my room." She carefully opened her eye to see that Tsuna had his back towards her as he headed back to his house. "Spotless in five minutes!"

"I knew you still cared!" she called to him. Tsuna threw his hands up in exasperation as he went back inside. Everybody stared at her.

"What?" she said defensively.

They followed Mia back inside just as Tsuna came downstairs, dressed and pulling a jacket on his form. Mia dashed pass him while the rest went into the living room although Haru hung back a little to see the extremely short moment between the two friends… and Haru was no fool, in that minuscule of a second she saw it. The glitter in Mia-chan's eyes and Tsuna-san's quirk of the lips. They hadn't even looked at each other!

Haru had long labeled Mia Matteis as a rival, ever since she had realized her feelings for Tsuna-san. She was close to Tsuna, possibly more than Haru was and Haru did not want to lose. Haru will be honest, she doesn't like Mia all that much what with her unlady-like behavior and snarky attitude. She was jealous, as any young maiden in love would say and a maiden in love as she was, Haru will fight for her Tsuna-san! Haru could not lose to her.

So when the opportunity arose for her to participate in a Vongola New Year tradition, she was determined to win!

…

…

…

"My legs fell asleep!" Haru cried and flopped on the cards.

Kyoko-chan comforted her. Unfortunately, they lost. Going with how unlucky they were, Haru waited with anticipation as Mia stepped up to face off with the only woman in Dino's company.

"For this match, we'll be playing campana."

"Campana?" Haru questioned.

"Hopscotch," Mia answered darkly. She glared at Reborn's direction. Haru bristled at her nerve. How could she send such a dirty look at an innocent angel? But returning to the moment at hand, why hopscotch?

"We've been playing Japanese games all time, why switch to Italian Reborn-san?" Gokudera asked.

"You didn't run out of ideas did you Reborn?" Mia spoke out loud.

"Actually, this is paying homage to your heritage Mia," Reborn answered. "I heard from your Father you didn't play that much with other kids."

Mia flushed in embarrassment. "I did so too!" she said and struggled for an answer when Reborn waited for her. "IO… ho giocato verità o osare!" ("I… I played Truth or Dare!")

"Hai scelto la lotta con la tua classe prepotenti. Egli ha osato a salire sul tetto. Non suonare." ("You picked a fight with your class bully. He dared you to climb on the roof. That's not playing." )

"IO HO vinto quello." ("I won that one.")

"Lei è caduto dal tetto." ("You fell off the roof.")

"e ho camminato lontano da quello." ("And I walked away from that.")

"Con una gamba rotta?" ("With a broken leg?")

Haru wasn't the only one who clearly didn't understand what was going on between Mia and Reborn. Kyoko-chan, her brother, I-Pin and Yamamoto Takeshi were similarly confused. The only ones who weren't were Dino and his company, Gokudera and Tsuna-kun. Dino was muffling a laugh with his hand while his companions chuckled; Gokudera and Tsuna had similar expressions of incredulity.

"Enough," Reborn said with finality. "You're playing and that's it. You do know how to play?"

Red-faced, Mia snatched the offered marker from Reborn's hand. "I know enough."

Like all their other games that came before, this one had its twists. If one wasn't careful with their weight they could have possibly set a landmine off and at the same time their marker weighed as much a ton. The look on Mia's face when the ground she was on nearly blew her off sky high nearly made Haru feel bad for her. But this was a game so she really can't get hurt… won't she?

After a couple of explosions, Mia was declared as the first ever winner, giving them three points to go toe to toe with Dino's group. Reborn didn't look happy that she won.

"That wasn't fair you know," he told Mia.

The winner was covered head to toe with dust and glared at the baby. "I kept my feet inside the square." Her tactic to avoid the mine was simple – hop around the edges.

Reborn sighed. "There's not a single drop of sportsmanship in you is there?"

Enraged, Mia looked right then and there to hurl her marker but was stopped when Tsuna-san and Gokudera dragged her away. Then the last game came between Dino and Tsuna-san happened and it was safe to say, as any Reborn episode would go, nobody wins freaking anything.

Snowballs

The skylark did enjoy the winter season like any person would do. As he had said to Sawada Tsunayoshi previously before that he did like snow fights… when he throws them at unsuspecting herbivores and watch as they scramble about like small critters in panic. He had returned to the roof to watch as Sawada Tsunayoshi's company began their little fight. He threw in a few snowballs and watched as those who were hit would frantically look for the person who got them and find none or mistake someone else.

Still, it was all funny until he managed to hit his unofficial secretary. It hit her at the top of her head and the girl had the sense to look up. Blue met steel grey eyes and the little cub discreetly left the field. Hibari felt a bit annoyed with himself. No doubt that she would come bother him now which she did a few moments later.

She brushed snow off her shoulders as she scowled at him. Hibari decided to divert his attention because while the little cub did not nag – surprisingly so – she had her own brand of being annoying. She crossed her arms and stood beside him.

"If you liked throwing snowballs at people, you should come join us." She grinned at him.

"I don't crowd," he replied curtly.

Insolent she was, she rolled her eyes. "So you've said for the hundredth time."

Screams of mirth erupted from below. Mia peered down at them, a smile crinkled around her eyes. She held out a hand towards him. He glared at her hand.

"What? Can I have a snowball? I know you have a pile of them somewhere."

She waited and smiled when she felt him drop a ball on her palm. Taking aim at Ryohei, she hurled the ball in his direction and cheered when it met its mark. What she didn't expect was that it started a serious snow throwing fight with Gokudera. She bit her lip when the fight got a bit out of hand and shrugged. Her eager eyes searched the field for a new victim.

Blonde hair attracted her attention. Dino had knocked Tsuna down and was laughing. She bent down and scooped handfuls of snow. While she busied herself with the task of making a snowball the size of a basketball, she talked with Hibari.

"How good is your aim Chairman?"

The prefect glanced at her with the corner of his eyes and didn't answer. She hummed, taking it as a 'yes'. She continued on.

"I propose a challenge then." She held out the huge snowball in front of her and marveled at its size. "If you can hit that blonde guy down there, I'll make you a Salisbury steak."

Hibari only had to look once at the field below to know who she was talking about. He held out his hand silently without looking at her. Grinning, she placed the ball on his hand. Hibari tested its weight before taking aim and throwing it. Like Mia planned, it knocked Dino flat on his back, taking Romario out behind him.

"I'll leave it on your desk on the first day back," she said.

"Hn."

"Oh and Chairman? Sweet shot."

Melancholy

During Nicolas' stay, he and Tsuna's mother had gotten along well and he would even say that they were friends now. It was strange. Nana was bubbly, a doting mother and a bit of an airhead. The two of them couldn't be more different but here they were, having coffee while the kids were out.

"And then Tsu-kun went gwaaaa and started crying! I feel kind of bad that he tripped but he was so cuuuute!" Nana gushed to him. This was how they often spent their time. Apparently Nana didn't have a lot of people to talk with about her son and husband. As she moved on to gushing about her husband with stars in her eyes, Nicolas couldn't help but blame himself for his current predicament. He nodded along and listened but he supposed it wasn't all that bad.

Compared to the strain of his workload and his personal issues, it was a nice change of pace. He also didn't have a lot of friends that were women and he was socially awkward at best so he appreciated Nana's advice from time to time.

"Nick-kun, don't you have any stories for me about Mia-chan?" Nana questioned him after she was done telling her story. He peered at her over his spectacles and she stiffened. "W-Well don't you think they have good cake here?" She switched the topic. To an outsider, it may seem like he didn't want to talk about it but in reality he just didn't know what to tell her or where to start. It didn't help he was born with a face that at the slightest crinkle, would send people the other way.

"Mia once broke her leg when she was younger. Fell off the roof of a shed on a dare." He said offhandedly. He had been furious when that happened and unintentionally lashed out at his daughter. He wasn't proud of how he acted back then.

The mood shifted between them and Nicolas silently cursed himself for the awkwardness.

"And what happened after?" Nana coaxed him gently. He paused.

"I got mad - I scolded her so bad she cried." Looking back on it now, he was severely spooked. "I - I didn't mean for that to happen. I got so worked up I tried cheering her up with anything I thought I could use. Dolls, books, Disneyland... ice cream works apparently." They shared a chuckle.

"How do you do it Nana?" He asked her. To her credit, she understood him.

She tapped her chin, her smile taking a sad curve. "Maa... I did get some help here and there but it was important for that Tsu-kun had that normalcy you know? I'm lucky that he didn't grow up to be a wild child." She sighed softly. "I do wish sometimes that honey was around but it can't be helped. Don't doubt yourself too much Nick-kun, Mia-chan grew splendidly too. Just... do your best to remind her that you love her."

It wasn't the first time he wished that his wife was there to help him and it wouldn't be the last. Still, with Nana's advice in mind until evening, Nicolas decided he could try a little better. So when Mia was about to go to bed, he followed her to her room.

"Pa?"she asked, her brow furrowing. "Is something wrong?"

Nicolas smiled slightly, feeling silly for being worried. Mia was his daughter. What was there to be nervous of? "Nothing really… I just hope that you don't mind being tucked into bed."

Her eyebrows rose but she didn't deny his whim. There was a flicker of want behind her eyes. "You don't mind Papa?" she asked him in a soft muted tone, almost childishly hopeful. Nicolas wanted to down a glass of scotch. He hadn't heard her call him that for a long time. Instead, he ruffled her hair.

"Time for bed love," he said.

He didn't need to tuck her. Mia had crawled under her covers and was already curling into them. He sat on the edge of her bed. Unsure of what to do, he decided on running his fingers through her hair. Tension loosened from her small frame as he mechanically did so and he could already see her eyes were fluttering to a shut. Melancholy filled him once she finally fell asleep. He turned off the lights and shut the door silently. He almost sagged against the door. He fixed his glasses and smiled grimly at nothing in particular.

Valentines

Lots of guys waited with anticipation when February rolled in. It wasn't hard to guess why because Valentines was just right around the corner and girls will soon be giving out their chocolate so why? Why for the love of all that is right in the world did Mia not care? Well, she didn't give him anything last year but still! Tsuna was actually curious if Mia even had someone to give chocolate to but then the boys noticed that Mia was being her usual self while all the girls were excited. Yamamoto confronted her about it. She looked at them blankly.

"Uh… want a snicker?" she offered them a candy bar. "Sorry, I only have one."

"That's not what I meant Mia." Yamamoto laughed.

"Then what is it?"

"Valentines is tomorrow you know?" Yamamoto smiled at her.

"So?" She looked at each one of them. "It's the day of love. Wonderful. Couples kissing, birds singing, love in the air – which reminds me, I think I need some bug spray."

Tsuna was ready to burst and tell her what they really meant but Gokudera had beaten him to it. "My Lady," he started. Mia crinkled her nose at the title. "Its tradition for girls to give chocolates to the person they like on Valentines."

"That's kind of sexist." She pointed out. Tsuna wanted to smack himself.

"There's a white day where boys return gifts," Yamamoto added.

"Huh," she said thoughtfully. "Then I'll give everyone then!" she announced.

Tsuna felt a heavy stone of disappointment drop at his head at her words. He wasn't the only one though. But Mia didn't appear to be finished yet and said, "Because I love you guys… as crazy as everyone is."

Blushes of embarrassment glowed bright on their faces at her earnest confession. Tsuna, while still disappointed, was happy to know that she thought of them so much.

Aside from the chocolate fondue Kyoko and Haru made for everybody, Tsuna was surprised and flattered to receive personal chocolates from the nice old lady he helped, Haru and Kyoko. Kyoko-chan especially was a big shocker and he thanked her for it while blushing. Kyoko was blushing as well and the two could only look at each other with fast-beating hearts before Lambo ruined the moment.

Kyoko left quickly and Tsuna was left feeling butterflies as he always did when it involved Kyoko-chan. Then Mia came along and gave him her own chocolate wrapped in purple paper. He almost hesitated to receive it. Almost. Mia frowned when she saw it but let him take the sweet away from her. Until she snatched it back from him.

"Hey!" Tsuna protested.

"Sorry Tsuna, wrong one." She rummaged through her bag and gave him an orange wrapped box instead. She laughed apologetically and held the wrong box with the purple wrapping up. "I forgot that this was for Hibari."

Tsuna almost dropped his chocolates in shock. "Hibari?" he asked, voice high enough to be a squeak. Not from fright like she thought, but more on shock because he couldn't understand how she could give chocolates to the Demon Prefect. Oblivious to his plight, she smiled as she tucked the box away.

"Yup. Dear Chairman likes matcha-flavored chocolate," she explained.

"H-How did you know?" he asked, not liking this particular revelation.

"He told me so." Mia was still smiling while Tsuna was gaping at her like a fish. He suddenly remembered when Hibari had come into class demanding where 'little cub' was and Mia was the only one not present then. Then… then…

"Does Hibari call you 'little cub'?" he asked, extremely unnerved.

Mia scratched her cheek. "Yeah." She glanced at her watch and cursed. "Shoot, I need to go now Tsuna. The Chairman will get grouchy if I'm late. See you tomorrow!" She then ran off, leaving him rooted on the spot like a rock. Reborn appeared before Tsuna, dressed like Cupid and tsked at him.

"Why are you surprised Dame-Tsuna?"

"Is that where Mia goes after school sometime?" he asked his tutor. Reborn smirked inwardly.

"Yup!"

Tsuna looked deeply unsettled. He did not like this at all. "What does she do?"

This, Reborn had honestly no idea. He had focused more on Tsuna at the time and just hoped that Mia would not get herself into trouble. He knew Mia had landed herself to be disciplined by the Committee after what happened with Nezu but what she did for them he didn't care to know and not knowing had its perks.

"Secretarial work…. Assistant…" Relief shone on Tsuna's face. "She cooks for him too," Reborn added, remembering Mia carrying a plastic Tupperware once. Just for kicks he said, "Probably feeds him as well. While sitting on his desk. Ooh, sounds something straight out of a romance novel huh?"

Tsuna was shaking on his spot, unable to believe it or more like he wouldn't believe it. He knew Reborn was messing with him at the end but for the life of him he couldn't get it out of his head.

Mia and Hibari-san?

Mrs. Mia Hibari?

He suddenly had a vision of Mia wearing the Japanese traditional wedding kimono. She was holding on to Hibari's arm, conveying her affections in a way that Tsuna had never once thought of. She was blushing like a new bride would and was sneaking sly glances at her Husband. What's worse was that Tsuna's imagination couldn't picture Hibari smiling, happy or anything with emotion so his brain decided to turn Hibari into every girl's shoujo dream… meaning he was one-hundred percent fucking hot.

"It's not real!" he screamed shrilly. He then ran off. Reborn watch his student run away and coughed into his hand. It wouldn't do to be seen laughing.

Author's Note:

Before anybody gets an idea, no, Hibari won't be a love rival. Although feel free to dream about it lol. Mia's relationship with Hibari is like a puppy to a very big dog. Mia's the small golden retriever puppy and Hibari is the doberman. I do love entertaining that idea because its so damn adorable. Tsuna misunderstanding was hilarious too - so it was fun writing the end part.

Anyways, thanks for reading!