Disclaimer: I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn.

Hands that she didn't know who belonged to took her outside of the ruins. They made her sit outside where a crowd of locals began to grow. They murmured to each other fearfully. Mia could hear them. They said that her parents had awakened a curse inside the monastery, that the earthquake was the doing of the curse. Mia pressed her small hands against her ears to block them out.

That was a lie. There was no curse in those ruins. She thought, still rather much in shock.

But her mama was gone. She was never coming back and it was her fault. The words repeated themselves in her head, taunting her to no end. Her fault. Disappear. She wanted to fade into the dark. Her fault. The sound of the ground groaning terrifyingly around her, the look on her mama's face when she realized that Mia couldn't save her and the hand that still reached out. Her fault. Her papa's voice was loud and it completely silenced the crowd.

"Where's my wife?!"

"Papa?" He rushed towards her. He checked her for injuries but Mia wasn't hurt.

"Mia? Oh thank god – where's your mother? Is she here?" His glasses were broken and there were numerous cuts on her papa's face. Mia couldn't answer. Her papa shook her slightly. "Mia?" Reflected by those lenses she saw her own face. She was scared. But for who? Herself?

Her fault.

She should have stayed where she was. If she hadn't gone into those ruins and found that door…

Her fault.

Her eyes snapped open. Placing a hand against her cold cheek she winced as she moved her stiff neck. Sleeping while sitting was never a good idea. She sighed and leaned back on the train seat. It was still dark out but she was lucky that there was still some form of transportation accessible to Tokyo. For now, she was the only one in the train compartment.

Her fault…

She shut her eyes tightly and shook her head. No, this isn't the time for her to be wallowing in lost memories. She needed to check on her Papa and trick Ian into telling her what she needed to know. If he really believed that it was her who led whoever 'they' were, she wanted to know who 'they' are. The door from the other cart opened and Mia nervously tugged down her hat. An old woman came inside to sit on the opposite seat in front of her. She studied the other suspiciously. The old lady gave her a wrinkled smile which she politely returned.

Mia Matteis was paranoid. There, hoped that help. She had dressed herself as a boy. Of course, what with the way her body was her clothes weren't appropriate so she had to um… procure clothing elsewhere. Luckily for her, Tsuna had forgotten two or three shirts at her home. She used that, threw on a pretty sweet high collared jacket that was hanging outside of Hayato's balcony, stuffed her hair into Papa's lame cap and voila! Hopefully she looked like a guy. She even went through the trouble of flattening her breasts.

As much as she wanted to meet Ian, she had to know if her Pa was alright first. Rolling her head so that she could look outside, she wondered if Tsuna would high mighty be pissed off.

What was she thinking? Of course he would be pissed! Once he realizes that she left what would stop him from coming after her – or worse – fly after her? A small green chameleon crawled from out of her shirt. She looked down.

"Hey Leon," she greeted it. Leon licked her jaw then crawled back inside her shirt. She had to hold in her laughter as she felt him crawl over her skin.

She did feel better that Leon was with her. It meant that Tsuna couldn't go into Hyper Mode without the Rebuke Bullet. It did surprise her that Reborn let him come with her or that he even let her go in the first place. Smiling bitterly, she wondered if Reborn wanted to wash his hands of her.

She didn't go back to sleep, not wanting to experience a nightmare. Tsuna would be waking up soon. He always woke up early ever since she had gotten him into the habit. A few minutes after dawn she felt her phone vibrate. Preparing herself, she answered the phone and nearly had her ear blown off.

"WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU?" Oh boy was Tsuna mad. Still, she didn't expect for him to catch on pretty quick. If he hadn't figured out on his own then Reborn must have told him. The desperation in his tone told her otherwise. His intuition must have caught on to her.

"Tsuna, don't worry alright?"

"Don't. Worry." She cringed. "Of course I'm worried! You're injured for the love of – " Tsuna broke off into a growl of frustration. That was right, she thought. Touching her throat, her fingers grazed the healing bruises. She almost forgot how Reborn healed her but she doubted that Tsuna knew that. "Don't you understand the situation you're in? That bastard is still walking around! I can't protect you if I'm not near you!"

But that was the thing wasn't it? She didn't want to be protected. "You don't need to," she told him. "I can take care of myself."

There was silence on the other side. "You have got to be kidding me," he said in disbelief. "Did he hit your head too hard? Did you forget what he did?"

"How can I?" she retorted. "Damn, my head is still sore."

"Mia, come home," he pleaded with her. "This is stupid. Why are you even out there? Wherever the hell you are?"

How was she supposed to explain this? She didn't even know what the hell she was doing. There was just this… pull, a compulsion to know the truth. She had brought this on herself. So it was her responsibility to deal with it. It would have been easier for her to let the boys protect her but she had never been one to make the easy choices.

"You're right, this is stupid." She admitted. "But you know me – I don't let people do my work."

"This isn't your fault –"

"Wrong. It is." She cut him off. "There's more to this than you think Tsuna and I'm going to figure it out."

"Then let me help you."

"I'm sorry." Then she cut the call and turned her phone off. She felt like a coward, just leaving him like that. But she pushed those feelings aside and steeled herself. She had brought this upon herself so it was her problem, not Tsuna's.

He stared at the phone he held in his hand. Mia had deliberately shut him off. Why was she so bullheaded? Why couldn't she let them help her? What did she think friends were for? Without knowing what he was doing, he had set his hand ablaze.

"Gah!" He shook his hand in fright. "I can't put it out!"

Out of nowhere, a huge steel ball – the kind usually used in construction but smaller in the size of a basketball – crushed his ribs against the wall. The flame extinguished itself and the ball was pulled away. He dropped to the floor groaning and cradling his aching chest.

"Dame-Tsuna, I told you to control yourself." Reborn hefted the steel ball as if it was nothing in his hand. "She said she'll take care of it so don't worry yourself."

"What do you know?" he found himself snapping at his tutor. He got up to his feet. "Mia isn't like me, Hayato or Takeshi. She's not a fighter!"

"Of course she is," Reborn calmly replied. "If she wasn't, then those Yakuza would have done all sorts of things to her, Mukuro would have taken over her mind. She would have let Ian kill her." Tsuna flinched as each scenario played in his head.

"B-but you said it yourself. She's a thinker, not a fighter."

"Stupid Tsuna, I told you she was a thinker first before being a fighter." Reborn tossed the steel ball on his bed. The weight made the bed bend into a 'V' shape. "Let her prove herself."

"I don't need to be proved anything!" he cried. His fists curled and he bowed his head. Was this the reason Mia left? Just to prove herself? She didn't need to prove anything that he already knew. She was strong, smart and stupidly brave. Hiding secrets was one thing, running off and leaving her friends behind to deal with her problem was a matter different altogether. It hurt him. All he ever wanted from her was to be safe because apparently, anything dangerous within ten miles attracted her like a Lord of the Rings geek convention.

He turned to leave his room. "I'm going after her."

He hadn't even taken a step when Reborn smashed him down on the floor. His spine cracked loudly and curses both in Japanese and Italian spewed from his mouth like a waterfall. The hitman stomped hard on his head and Tsuna ended up kissing the floor.

"Dame-Tsuna, I didn't let her go alone."

Tsuna tried to say something but was muffled. Reborn removed his foot and his student gasped for air. "What do you mean?" said Tsuna, panting.

"Rejoice, I left Mia in Leon's care."

It took Tsuna a moment to digest that. Leon. Reborn's shape-changing chameleon. Well, that did explain why he hadn't seen the little green guy. But wait, wouldn't that mean that Mia went alone with just a chameleon for company?

"Is that supposed to make me feel better?!" he squirmed underneath the weight of his tutor. Reborn pressed his foot at the side of his head, forcing him to look up at his tutor by glancing sideways.

"I gave her insurance." Reborn was frighteningly serious. Tsuna stopped squirming. "Leon is my partner and just as much as of a tutor as I am. Mia is much as my student as you are. This is her trial and in my stead, Leon went with her."

"Isn't he supposed to turn into a ball when that happens?"

"He would have if there was anything he could give."

"What?" From his position on the floor, his neck was starting to hurt as he tried to turn to look at his tutor fully. Reborn didn't answer and instead wrenched the steel ball back on to his bed. His bed didn't survive a second one as its metal legs gave out where it resembled a large mangled heap of junk. Reborn jumped off him. Breathing became much easier and he rolled to his back, wincing.

"Now, since you're so eager to go after your fair Lady – " Tsuna turned a wonderful shade of pink. " – I'll let you go on the condition that you have to beat me first."

The blood drained from the young boss' face.

Reborn smirked underneath his fedora, letting out a trickle of intense malicious aura fill the room. His student flinched when he sensed it. He watched as Tsuna slowly rose to his feet, fear written into every movement and twitch. Reborn casually took out a gun he had hidden in one of Tsuna's drawers and drew it.

"I don't have a single Dying Will Bullet Tsuna. Just so you know."

Tsuna balked at that. Reborn's smirk widened.

"Still gonna go after her?"

Tsuna visibly gulped. His eyes darted from the door to the window as if he was contemplating which route would be best to take. The brunette sighed heavily. "The things I do for that girl…" he muttered. Reborn would have grinned but it would break his act. He settled for a wicked chuckle.

"You're a thousand years too early to take me on."

Tsuna rolled his shoulders back, preparing himself for the beat down of a lifetime. "I'll have to make sure to shorten that to ten then." said Tsuna breathlessly.

"Don't worry Tsuna. I won't kill you."

"That doesn't make me feel any better."

Ten minutes after setting foot in Tokyo, Mia was already knee-deep in shit.

It was nothing serious at first. She had just stepped out into the station, realized she had no map, and went to look for one. After buying one from a tourist stall, she had wandered away from the busy streets, wanting to be seen only by few lest anyone who had the brain to figure out she was a girl. After a few random turns she had run into a group of thugs who were mugging an innocent man in an abandoned alley.

"Oh shit," she cursed when they saw her.

There were four of them. All stupid and mean looking… Mia slowly backed away. She hated it when bullies get together. Somehow she wished Hayato was here to blow them to bits then quickly disposed of that thought. She was becoming too dependent. She didn't want that. One of them shoved her back and she hit a vending machine. She winced when her back acted up – it was still sore from her little dance with Ian. Reborn obviously didn't heal that.

"You saw nothing right?"

Mia licked her lips and looked down, the rim of her hat hiding her expression. "I-I saw nothing." From the corner of her eye, she could see the poor guy crawl away but didn't get far. He ended up passing out on the concrete floor.

They shoved her again, rattling her brain. One with a horrible puke-orange beanie brought his face close to her ear. "That's a nice jacket you have on. I like it."

Of course, being Mia, she couldn't keep her mouth shut. "Thanks, I picked it out from your mother's closet last night."

When deep in shit, one must be ready to duck. Or something like that as Uncle Ben directed her to. Beanie guy was so mad his face turned purple. The combination of orange and purple was enough of a warning sign to duck. Beanie guy's fist rebounded off the glass and he yelped in pain. Mia kicked him off her, sending him down on his back. She felt Leon crawl into her hand.

"You little shi – "

Something grew long in her hand that quickly became heavy. Fingers curling tightly around the object, she winged it as hard as she could and hit Beanie guy square on the jaw. He crashed against one of his friends and they fell backwards. Beanie guy was knocked out cold. Mia gaped in shock at what she had done.

"Where the hell did he get that bat?!" said one of them. "And why is it fucking green?!"

Mia looked down. Indeed, she was holding a green bat.

"Fucking waste that bastard!"

"Oh hell," she muttered and slowly backed away. She was injured, sore and aching. Fighting was out of the option. She needed a distraction. She looked down at the green bat, her eyes locking on Leon's yellow lizard orbs. "Leon, you can turn into a flash grenade right?" she pleaded.

Leon grew shorted, the weight becoming lighter, as he shifted into a new form. Mia grinned, looking to all in the world like a juvenile bomber. Her chameleon friend peered at her with his yellow reptilian eyes.

"W-What the hell is with that bat?"

"Is that… a grenade?!" They backed away from her as she held the grenade up threateningly.

"Back off!" she yelled. She slowly circled around to the unconscious person. Lowering herself to his side, she roughly shook his shoulder. "Wake up. Wake up," she said. "Come on man." The thugs slowly approached them. Her hand gripped Leon tightly. Thankfully he started to stir. She pulled off the pin, grinning, and threw it at her attacker's feet. Light flashed like thunder, completely blinding everyone in the vicinity except for Mia who had hidden her eyes underneath her cap. The thugs were clawing at their eyes and staggering around like drunks. Mia took this moment to get away.

Her companion (?) pushed himself up and she took his arm, wrapped it around her neck and pulled him up. "Let's go while they're still distracted." She hurriedly led them away. As she passed the group, she felt Leon crawl up inside her pant leg.

After hauling the guy's heavy ass, she dumped him on to a park bench and collapsed on her back on the lush green park grass behind it, exhausted. It hasn't even been an hour and already she was in trouble. Did Tsuna's luck (was it even luck?) rub off on her? After catching her breath she sat up.

"Thank you for helping me," said a voice from the bench.

"It's fine." She waved him off. Now that that was taken cared of… "Hey, can you point me out where Tokyo University is?" The guy she helped peered over the bench with thick nerdy black glasses to look at her incredulously.

"Are you a student there? I don't think I've ever seen you on campus before."

Mia took a closer look at her 'damsel'. He was thin, with a head full of bed head raven-black hair. Behind his glasses he had steel-gray eyes. Mia was suddenly struck with a sense of familiarity. "I… um… I was just going to visit a friend. So you're a student?"

He peered at through his crooked glasses. "I'm Hibari Eisen, a medical student." He introduced himself and held out a hand to her over the bench.

Mia was too shocked to take it. Of all the things… His hand fell awkwardly. "So you're…?"

Mia blushed and shot up standing. She bowed, embarrassed. "I'm sorry! I was just… uh… surprised." Eisen stared at her.

"Oh," he mumbled.

"I'm Hinata… Sui Hinata. I'm only in my third year in middle school." Hopefully he couldn't tell that she wasn't Japanese. "My apologies Eisen-san, I didn't mean to be rude."

Eisen also stood up. He pushed his glasses slightly up. "No, it's fine. I owe you for the save back there." She nodded, head still bowed. "Since you seem like you're not from around here, I'll help you. I have classes soon. Come on, it's this way." Mia trailed behind Eisen as he picked up his bag from a garbage can. Eisen was a Hibari. She wondered if he was related to the Hibari back home. Although judging by his expression earlier, it was likely that he is related to Hibari Kyoya. It was weird because she always had an impression that all those in the Hibari clan were frighteningly scary… and strong. But Eisen looked as harmless as Tsuna did before Reborn began training him.

As if he knew what she was thinking, he suddenly spoke up and nearly scaring her disguise off of her. "I'm not quite like the other members of my family."

Bewildered, Mia said, "Huh?"

He glanced back at her. "So which Hibari did you meet?"

"Um… Hibari Kyoya."

Eisen nearly tripped over himself when he heard that. He stopped and stared at her with wide eyes and jaw hanging loosely. "For real?" She nodded. "Is he still beating the crap out of people?" She nodded again. Eisen ran a hand through his hair. "I haven't seen him in years. He hasn't changed a bit."

"So um…" she started nervously. "You guys are…?"

"Cousins." With that, Eisen turned back around and resumed walking. Mia let it drop there. It was clear that Eisen didn't want to talk about it anymore. She was ashamed to admit that she expected Eisen to be like the Chairman. He seemed like a nice guy albeit a bit withdrawn. He liked people as much as Hibari Kyoya did. He stuck near the road and walked at the edge of crowds. She wondered if all those in the Hibari clan were like that.

When the large gates were clear to her, Mia stopped to admire the view. For every university or college she went with her Pa, she had to admit that Tokyo University was in her top list of impressive institutions because it was certainly impressive although in her opinion, even if she had never stepped foot into the place, it couldn't match Oxford by tradition and grandeur. The shape reminded her of an organ that was found in old churches that could have looked like they had come from Dracula's time.

"Hey." She looked to find Eisen staring at her oddly. "I'm leaving you now."

"Oh! Ah… thank you very much Eisen-san!" she bowed in gratitude.

"Yeah. Good bye Hinata-kun." Without even giving her a final glance, he left. Her mouth turned downwards. Another thing he had in common with the Chairman… crappy social skills. She was exaggerating though – Eisen was definitely much more polite than his cousin. Still, if that wasn't rude then it was hella awkward. The noon sun heated the exposed skin on her neck, reminding her that she had important things to do. Glancing up once more at the building, she went in.

A sense of urgency was steadily growing inside her with each step and worry began to gnaw her stomach. She walked faster, not really thinking but not necessarily bumping into anyone either. The campus was too large. She ended up asking a student to point her in the right direction. Luckily for her, they knew her Pa. After thanking them, she headed off to the direction where the student pointed. She was going to see her Pa soon. If Tsuna was right, then she'll never doubt his Intuition ever again.

Something just felt wrong though. Granted, she knew she could walk into a trap. If Ian was really after her head, he would hit where it would hurt her most – her family would be the first in mind. This would sound really wrong but she would do the same if she was planning on killing someone in revenge. She stopped walking and looked behind her. The corridor she was in was empty and it was quiet. Her breathing hitched in her throat. Where were the people? A feeling akin to ice was sliding down her spine. When did she stop paying around her surroundings?

…Was Ian here?

No. Stop it!

She forced herself to think. Ian couldn't possibly have managed to corner her all alone in the middle of day classes. It felt constricting, like she was boxed in with nowhere to hide. Help. She needed to call for help but before she could utter a word, she noticed that the corner of her vision was blurred. Standing a few meters away from her were two female students chatting happily. Mia remained completely still, unable to move, she was too scared to lose this opportunity. She didn't even move her eyes. Their image was blurry, as if she was looking at a TV with horrible reception. Faces were blurred but somehow, she knew they were real although she couldn't hear a damn thing they were saying. It was like the audio was cut from the footage. They passed by her and she smelled the other girl's perfume of scented flowers. She whipped around, to look at them fully but was met with the mirror image of the empty, silent corridor.

"Am I hallucinating?" she murmured to herself. She felt worried, frightened and perplexed.

The silence was damning to her ears.

Never mind that there was at least ten feet of open space around her – she felt trapped like a hunted animal. But it couldn't be, her mind rationalized. She had walked into a university in the middle of the day while it was still full of people and from her experience, no matter where you are or what country you were; students were bound to be noisy. A professor's voice could always be heard through doors, pens scratching against paper, the tapping of a finger on the surface of a table out of boredom, and constant chatter.

She couldn't hear anything.

She couldn't see anything.

But she could still smell.

A newly waxed floor, the mixed scents of musk and perfume, hell, she could even smell the carbon of a soda from where she stood. Two of her senses have been rendered useless but her sense of smell was still there. After realizing that, small cracks began appearing at the edge of her vision. She had experienced this before but under different circumstances.

Her blood was pulsing hotly beneath her veins as it dawned upon her.

None of it was real.

The cracks became bigger now but things had gotten hazy as well. It was as if someone had implanted glass eyeballs in her head and film covered them like mist. Something inside her rolled, like a switch was flipped and suddenly she could feel the small pinpricks of needles trying to invade her mind.

Illusions.

As soon as she realized it, the cracks had grown all across her sight. Was Ian an illusionist? There was no time to consider that. All that she knew was that someone was using an illusion on her.

"Freaking hate illusions," she growled under her breath. Swiveling on the spot, she headed towards a glass-encased box that was sitting plainly in the open. This illusion was meant to trap her into thinking she was all alone when that was a lie. It tricked her into thinking that there was no one around however her surroundings remained unchanged. Despite her hazard sight, she could make out the fierce snarl of defiance on her face reflected by the glass. Written on the glass with bold red letters was 'Pull during emergency.' Inside was a red lever.

Who was the hunted now? She thought indignantly and smashed the glass with her elbow. Glass rained down on her feet and her arm stung but she ignored it. She flexed her arm and then she pulled the lever down.

Sound exploded into her ears as the fire alarm sounded off. The illusion lifted and Mia stood there for a moment, admiring her quick thinking before she realized what she had done. Doors burst open and students, all in panic, were running down the corridors like a tsunami. Mia didn't want to be trampled to death and ran. The siren was still wailing wildly and Mia had no idea where she was going. A hand suddenly came out of nowhere and jerked her inside a room.

"Ow! Hey! Hinata-kun it's me!" Mia stopped fighting. She stopped biting the hand that held her to look up.

"Eisen-san!" she exclaimed, horrified and released his poor hand.

The older boy cradled his hand. "Did you think I was going to kill you or something? Man you bite deep." He prodded his damaged bleeding skin. He hissed.

Guilt flooded her. "I-I'm sorry. I thought you were – you caught me by surprise."

He glanced at her briefly then back to his hand. "Just wait a minute alright?" He got up and went towards the back of the room. Mia realized that she was in a biology room. Well, she thinks it was. A mannequin of the human anatomy was standing at the corner. Charts of things like the nervous system hung above the white boards. Eisen returned to her, carrying a first aid kit. He began to treat his wounds with practiced ease. Outside, she could still hear the fire alarm still going on.

"Why aren't you outside with the rest?" she asked him. He didn't look at her as he wrapped gauze around his hand.

"And get run down?" he scoffed. "I'd rather wait out until I'm sure I won't get trampled over."

"What if there's a fire?"

He quirked an eyebrow at her then jerked his head towards the windows. "We're on the first floor. Pretty sure I can get out from here."

"Well why am I here?"

He finished wrapping his hand and leaned on the high desk to look at her. "I want know why a girl is disguising herself as a boy." Mia stiffened. "You're not a stalker are you? Going after a hot 'senpai'." He quoted with his fingers mockingly.

"I – how did you know I was a girl?" she asked him, still very much in shock.

"Mannerisms. Did you know your hips sway when you walk?"

"You knew just by looking at how I walk?" she said, completely thrown off by his observation skills. She didn't even notice him watching her when she was watching him the whole time! He shrugged.

"It was just a speculation. Then you proved me right when you admitted it."

The shock had worn off when she realized he tricked her into admitting the truth. Mia wasn't angry – although she was at herself – in fact; she was impressed by his cleverness. "Huh," she said mindlessly and pulled off her cap. Her hair tumbled down her shoulders in a mess. "You're good."

He blinked at her and fixed his glasses accordingly.

"Give me your arm. It's bleeding." It looked like he was unprepared for that.

Mia glanced down. Blood stained her jacket and it dripped down her fingertips. She hadn't noticed it before but now that she did, her elbow was starting to sting badly. She set her bag down and winced as her back ebbed with soreness. She carefully shrugged off her jacket and showed him her arm. Eisen had her sit on a chair while he cleaned her cuts. She tried to ignore the sound of glass clinking on the counter top. She didn't want to think or imagine how it looked.

"So… um, why are you dressed like a boy?"

"I needed to check on my Papa, to see if he was okay. He's a professor here." She hissed when he pressed disinfectant on to her open cuts.

"His name is Nicolas Matteis?" said Mia in a strained tone as he continued to clean her. Eisen didn't answer her until he finished bandaging her elbow. He stood up while she carefully put her jacket back on.

"I know him." Eisen peered at her with scrutinizing eyes. "But why go through the lengths?"

Mia frowned, thinking. She decided it wouldn't hurt to have another pair of eyes. "There's someone who's really mad at me. Wants to cause bodily harm for something I didn't do. I have to prove to him that I didn't do it and find the real assholes that wronged him. I was worried he would come after my Pa and came here. Things got a bit complicated though and…" she waved her hand helplessly, gesturing at the still ongoing sound of the alarm.

His eyes widened behind his glasses in surprise. "You pulled the alarm?"

Mia cringed at the patronizing tone and spoke up defensively. "Listen, it was an emergency okay? I had to."

He pushed himself off the desk. "So you're saying he's here?"

Mia didn't answer him immediately. "I'm not sure if it was him." She said after a moment of thought. "But someone was definitely after me."

"What are you going to do now?" he asked. Mia looked at him with surprise. "Whoever is after you, they've baited you by using your father. From what I know, they know you're here. You can't stay here." He frowned when she gave no reaction. It took him a minute to realize why. "Wait, you knew? Are you crazy?"

She gave him an 'I-know-what-I'm-doing' look and fixed her hair to be stuffed back in the cap. "Listen Eisen-san, I don't have much time and you're right, I can't stay here. The person who's after me is here – can I ask for a favor?"

"A favor?" he said incredulously. Mia nodded seriously.

"Will you watch over my Pa – er – Father?" she asked him. "I'd feel better knowing he's not involved in my mess."

He stared at her. "Well… um…" he stumbled over his words, suddenly uncomfortable of being asked to do something so serious.

Mia walked past him to look out the window. She turned back at him, her expression calculative. "Will you help me?" she asked him. He gulped at her expression. It was more intimidating than he liked to admit.

"Fine. I assume you don't want him to know?"

She smiled wryly. "Not a word."

Eisen removed his glasses and rubbed his eyes tiredly. "You're insane but whatever, I'll help. Just –" he put his glasses back on and gave her a determined look. "When time comes, you'll do me a favor." Mia's serious expression broke into a smile. She came up to him, turned on her phone and handed it to him. He gave her a funny look but typed in his number anyways and gave it back. She took her phone from him, smiling at the number that showed on screen. She did so likewise with his phone.

"Thank you Eisen-san. I'll remember this." She saved it and shoved it in her pocket. Pausing to consider that she had just made an ally in the most uncertain time, she smiled to herself. A bit of the weight had lifted off her shoulders but it didn't change the fact that things were still difficult. She picked her back-pack off the floor and strode towards the window.

"I suppose you can't take the normal way out?"

"Nope." She opened the window and hopped out. He followed her to the window and watched as she disappeared around the corner of the building. He let out a long sigh.

"I forgot to ask for her name."

She ran as fast as her body allowed her to. When she was far enough from the university, she turned around. A huge crowd had formed outside. Even though she had practically left the safety of her Pa to a complete stranger who she had just met, even if he was taking all this rather well, she couldn't help but look out for her Pa. Her phone vibrated. When she checked it, it was full of missed calls and a hundred tons of messages from her friends.

"Well shit," she muttered. Leaving her phone in vibration, she put it away. She gazed longingly towards the university one last time before incoming sirens forced her to turn around and leave.

Nagi stared up at the figure that was deeply asleep up in her family's tree. She couldn't make out the face but perhaps it was a boy, judging from the clothing. She had just woken up a few minutes ago when she noticed something outside of her window and went down to investigate it. Now that she knew it was a person, Nagi was unsure of what to do. Should she wake him?

"Nagi!" her mother's screech made her jump.

"Y-yes mother?" Nagi brought her hands to her chest, as if she wanted to protect her heart. Her mother, a brunette that Nagi couldn't believe she was related to, marched towards her like an angry bulldog.

"Get inside right now and change!" her mother ordered her too. "What were you thinking going out here? At this time? Just wearing that?" She gestured angrily at Nagi's nightgown. "I didn't raise you to be an idiot!"

Nagi wanted to say 'But mother look, someone is sleeping up on our tree!' but the words died on her tongue as her mother reprimanded her continuously. Her mother grasped her by the elbow and shoved her towards the house. "Well what are you waiting for? Are you deaf?" Nagi shook her head.

"Yes mother," said Nagi hollowly. She went back to her room, unaware of a pair of blue eyes following her inside. She slowly changed into an appropriate attire that her mother would accept. She dreaded to think that her 'parents' were still home. Nagi knew they were going to head out for work soon but she hoped they were gone now. Tip-toeing quietly downstairs, she checked to see if her parents were still there. After a moment of blissful silence, she slowly went back outside. The person was awake now and was watching her with piercing blue eyes atop of his branch.

Nagi stopped herself short. She was paralyzed by the deep depths of the stranger's eyes. They reminded her of a mist-filled sky – unreadable, enticing and dangerous. Her heart started to beat faster when the stranger continued to watch her, his eyes turning more thoughtful than suspicious. Her jaw slacked as she thought she would say… what can she say anyway?

He suddenly shrunk back into the canopy, blue eyes alarmed at the figure standing behind her. Nagi turned around. Her mother was squinting at the tree suspiciously. "You've been looking at that tree this whole time."

"I-I just saw a bird," Nagi lied.

"A bird," her mother repeated. She then let out a dignified snort, as if what Nagi said was obviously expected. Her mother had that look that she wondered why she ever bothered to be curious over her daughter's strangeness. Nagi tried not to embarrass herself further by looking down at her feet. "Whatever, your stepfather and I are heading out. Don't make a mess."

"Yes mother," she dutifully replied. Her head bowed.

Her mother didn't want her around. She didn't want Nagi to touch the things around her house. To know that made her feel like she was worthless. She didn't raise her head until she heard the front door click shut and she was all alone in the house. With misty eyes, she looked up at the tree again. The boy was staring at her with a different look, a softer expression, one that made Nagi feel like she could break out in tears just from looking at him. Because it almost felt like he could understand.

There was a glimmer of regret in his eyes and before she could even say a word, the boy disappeared from his branch. The distinct sound of shoes meeting concrete told her that he had jumped over to the street behind her house.

"Wait!" she cried out. She dashed back inside her house and fumbled to put her shoes on. She burst through the door with such energy it surprised her. The day may have started normally as it always did but something was different… and she wasn't just thinking about finding a complete stranger sleeping in her tree.

She circled around the back to find no sign of the strange boy. Her enthusiasm slowly faded, replaced by disappointment. Something brushed against her leg and she looked down. A tabby grey cat with mismatched eyes was rubbing itself against her leg. Nagi bent down and stroke the cat's spine and in response, it purred. She smiled slightly.

In her soft voice she asked, "Have you seen a strange boy around?"

The cat didn't respond. Nagi didn't expect anything – she knew how odd she acted – but it surprised her. It mewed then went towards a certain direction where it paused to look back at her as if it wanted her to follow it. Nagi followed it. It led her through a labyrinth of paths – away from where people dwelled mostly, she noticed – and often waited for her when she lost sight of it. The absurdity of her situation reminded her of a story she once read. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland was a favorite of hers since she was a child. The situation felt similar except that Nagi was chasing after a cat, not a rabbit.

Soon she could see a figure standing in the distance. He had his back towards her but Nagi didn't need to see his expression to know he was alert. His shoulders were tense, the muscles at the back of his neck were straining but there was a certain air of being resigned about him – like the boy was dreading to do something he had to.

The cat that was leading her suddenly sped up and with the finesse that all felines possessed, leaped up at the boy. The strangest thing about him that Nagi noticed? The strange feminine cry that erupted as the boy struggled to get the cat off him. He caught sight of her and his blue eyes flashed. Whether it was the light in the middle of the street or not, Nagi could have sworn the boy's eyes changed into a different color that wasn't blue. The cat dislodged itself and had landed on its feet before Nagi, hissing at the boy.

The boy returned the sentiments likewise with a disdainful scowl.

"You," he pointed viciously at the cat as if knew him. "I really, really hate you and that's surprising because I love cats. You – you're a little furry shit from hell that just looks like a cat. What do you want now? My wallet? Oh wait – you were the reason why I don't have a single yen on me!" The boy's face was blotchy red. "Do you own this little shit?" the boy demanded from her suddenly.

"N-No… he's not mine." Nagi frantically replied. She held her hands up, suddenly afraid at the sudden hostility. But as soon as she said that, he deflated.

"Right. Sorry," he said to her, then turned back to berate the cat only to see it gone. The look of shock soon turned into intense aggravation. Nagi could make out the miniscule twitches on his face. He started to curse in a different language, completely catching the young girl off.

Nagi did not know what the boy experienced with the cat and if she were to be honest, she didn't want to know. It sounded like a dangerous topic judging from the way his hands were itching as if he wanted to strangle something. Something came to mind that he said that did tickle her curiosity.

"You…have no money?"

He was quick to close off his expression and just as fast to deflect her. "You're outside of your house?" he shot back calmly. Nagi flinched at the reminder. She didn't know how he knew but she wasn't allowed to leave her house. Her mother didn't like her to wander. Today was the first time she had gone so far that wasn't her house or school. His words stuck fear into her. She didn't want to hear her mother angry.

She heard a sigh. The boy was massaging the bridge of his nose. "Look," he started. "I didn't mean to sleep on your tree or to get you in trouble with your mom. For that and what I said earlier… I'm sorry."

There had to be a record for how many 'firsts' she had been experiencing today. No one had ever apologized to her… or be considerate off. Nagi didn't know how to react.

He sighed again, sounding extremely tired. Now that they were on conversational terms, Nagi just noticed how tacky he appeared to be. Despite his overwhelming presence, his clothing was tattered, dirtied and wrinkled. From what she had been able to figure out was that something happened between him and the cat that had him losing all his money resulting in him sleeping in her backyard tree. She couldn't imagine what he went through.

"Um… are you okay?" she cautiously asked.

He glanced at her, eyes widening for a fraction of a second before darting away it was as if he had realized she was there. "First off, I'm fine. Second, you need to get home."

"Eh?" Nagi stared blankly at the boy.

"Go home miss." He repeated sternly.

She continued to stare. "But – " she didn't even know why she was protesting. The boy's brow furrowed and she swallowed.

"I'm sorry if I'm being rude but I have things to do." He turned around. "So please go home."

"But I don't know how to get back!" she cried out then slapped her hands to her mouth. The boy slowly turned around, disbelieved. She lowered her hands, blushing. "I… I've never been this far outside."

"What are you? Rapunzel?" he sighed for the third time. "Nevermind… just… I'll help you find your place."

The thing was, Nagi couldn't remember how to get home. She had never really paid attention to her surroundings while she was following the cat. When she explained this to him, the strange boy merely pursed his lips and headed back towards the direction where Nagi had come from. Nagi didn't want him to be mad at her.

"Did you follow me?" the boy asked her while they were walking.

"N-No… the cat led me here." His expression darkened underneath his cap.

"When I see that furball again I'll skin it…" Nagi tried not to be frightened by his muttering.

"What's your name?" Nagi shyly asked him after his muttering subsided.

"Hinata." The boy replied. There was a pause there but Nagi didn't think so much about it. After walking for a few minutes, they stopped.

Hinata turned around, an uneasy gleam in his eyes. "I think we're lost."

Author's Note:

Writing Reborn and Tsuna's interactions had always been my second favorite to do after Mia and Tsuna. I just love how much of a bastard Reborn is. He gets away with anything but now that Tsuna developed some backbone, he needed to come up with a different way to be a likable character and be an asshole at the same time. It wouldn't be Reborn if he didn't abuse his students, whether they have balls or not.

In canon, Tsuna had some great clap back moments (while he was in Hyper Mode) and felt that it was okay to bring out that side of him more often in this story as he is a lot more confident in himself. It's really fun to write.

As for Mia's part in the story, I apologize for future OCs that might be bothersome to read. Though, I do think I did the characters justice. I had some fun using Mia's ability to resist illusions. That scene was awesome for me. But of course, let's not forget Chrome. It wasn't easy writing her part. I had to make sure the tone on her side would be different and not like Tsuna's or Mia's. The impression I get when she's thinking is usually either whimsical or faint. Or maybe flimsy.

Good guess by the way to animagirl and LD-2015. You guys managed to figure out that Mia wasn't going alone. My reasoning for having Leon as her companion? It was a nod of respect to Disney, specifically Tangled. I loved that movie, its in my top 5 favorites. I was thinking that Mia was a bit like Rapunzel, going off on a forbidden road trip with nothing but the clothes on her back and Leon is Pascal. Sadly, Mia's Flynn Rider is currently stuck at Namimori but nevertheless, the idea was hilarious so I used it. Turns out that Leon was the best idea to go with - he's a really 'flexible' character.

Shout outs to my lovely readers!

Anaisse Steighart - salamat sa comment mo. I really appreciate it (can't properly express herself in tagalog) and about TU, I really am working to finish the chapters before I post them. It makes it much easier for my stressful life when I do it like that. With SH, I just can't help but jot the story down on my notebook. I'm sorry for the delay but I'll work hard to post a new chapter!

sakuraaddiction - other people said to me that they've liked the way how dark I can get with this story without it being overwhelmingly uncomfortable but you're the first reader I've addressed about it. You're right. They're right. KHR still revolves around the mafia so as the story progresses, it may get darker as well. The example that I want to follow is the new anime 'Gangsta' which is everything I wanted when it comes to a Mafia-revolving theme. Oh yeah, Mia and Tsuna have a lot to deal with but those kinds of matters will be dealt with after Tsuna has officially inherited the title of Vongola Decimo.

To everybody else:

I'll say it again but thank you all for the support! I hope you all enjoyed this chapter!