Much love to my readers, you guys were so nice :) Thanks and for all those reviews, here's another chapter! I don't have much to say here except for the disclaimer. So let's get a move on shall we?

Disclaimer: I don't own KHR. I just own my imagination.

She had received an anonymous message and it was pretty damn creepy. All it said was 'Meet me at Namimori's shopping district.' As if she was stupid to do that. But she was curious to see who it was so she texted back with, 'Mukuro, is that you?'

The reply was instantaneous. 'Bloody hell woman, just meet me at the bloody park.'

Now she was worried. The only British guy she knew had disappeared off of the face of the earth and now it seemed he was back at the worst of times. Would he still have the urge to punch her? God she hoped not. When she left Tokyo, he was less than happy to see her after what she said to him. The exchange was basically her suggesting something naïve (go back to the order) and he blowing up at her face. It wasn't a good way to start things off.

She had managed to extract the information she needed from Dino on Tsuna's whereabouts after delivering a swift punishment on him. Her ears were still warm until now at the humiliation she suffered. But instead of heading immediately to Tsuna's training grounds, she went to the park instead against her better judgment. When she got there, there was no one and that in itself was pretty suspicious. There should have been a few kids with their parents still out... or maybe there were people about and she just wasn't aware of it.

The sound like shattering glass notified that she hit the illusion right. The image gave away to show Ian waiting for her expectantly on the swing. However there were still no people around. Just him and her.

"You're getting better at that," he noted as she approached him. He was dressed casually. If Mia didn't know better he looked like any other University student ready to chill out but behind those good looks was a relentless man.

"T-Thanks." She stopped in front of him, weary. No matter what would happen in the future their relationship will be forever strained.

Ian continued to stare through her as if he was seeing something she didn't. "Illusions are fickle things," he says. "The moment a weakness is detected it begins to fall apart. The final blow is only delivered when the target is sure of it and the illusion breaks."

Mia scrutinized him. She was unsure why he was telling her this but without a doubt it was oddly fascinating to listen to. Now that she thought about it, she doesn't understand how her ability works. Reborn had explained it to her that she was a rare case but did not go into detail about it. Mukuro was too much of an asshole to ask and Chrome was a novice. Her curiosity piqued, she sat on the other swing beside him. However, now wasn't really the best time to poke about.

"Why are you here?" she asked him straight to the point.

"I was ordered to." He sounded so damn miserable that it immediately annoyed her.

"By who?" her Italian accent leaked into her English, giving it a rather rough emphasis as she growled.

"By my superiors." He obviously wasn't pleased by the sounds of it. "They wanted me to observe you."

Observe? Suddenly her problems and worries tripled. It felt like she swallowed a bullet. The Order wanted to observe her? Her voice was small when she asked, "Why?" He glanced at her then resumed to staring hard into whatever he was looking at. He never answered her but she felt that his silence was damning enough. She felt sick to her stomach. Somehow it felt like a pair of great hungry eyes were looking at her. "Is that what you came here for?" she asked her voice oddly quiet. "To warn me?"

He let out a short laugh. "Don't misunderstand. I have no intention of being chums with you but someone really thinks you're interesting. Mind your pretty head now before you lose it." He glanced pointedly at her head and she realized that he must have seen her when Squalo attacked them. "Never expected you to be part of the Mafia, let alone the Vongola. You dance dangerously and with the Varia with all people?"

"H-How did you…?"

"There is nothing in this world that can hide itself from us."

Mia wondered just how far their connections went. But Ian didn't seem impressed that she was part of the Vongola. In fact, it was written all over his face – a look that Mia was accustomed to seeing whenever extra work was given to them from school – the 'do-I-really-have-to-do-this-?' look. But did he know everything then? It wasn't like he was all-seeing.

"Did you know about my friends?"

He waved his casted hand. "The little bastards from last time? It doesn't take a genius to figure it out and it explains so much why that little shrimp is such a vile beast."

"That 'vile beast' you're referring to happens to be the next boss of the Vongola." If Ian made any recognition that he was shocked by that, it would be when he completely froze on his seat. Whether he believed her or not, it left him greatly unsettled. "That 'vile beast' also really hates your guts," she added with a hint of glee. He shot a withering glare at her.

"Great. Just absolutely fantastic." He stood up. If possible it seemed that she troubled him more. Not that she regretted it. He paced a little, a hand to his mouth. He gave her a glance before snapping his fingers. It was like a veil had been pulled away as sounds of playing children filtered into the silence then people appeared like they were never gone to begin with. No one paid any attention to them. They went about their business as if they weren't there. She stood up and looked around trying to understand what was going on. She was going to ask but when she turned around, he was gone.

Ian was a very different illusionist and in his own way, much more dangerous than Mukuro.

But she wiped the troubled look that had taken root on her face as she went back to Tsuna's house. Soon he would be home and the last thing she wanted was for him to throw a fit. It would be fine not to tell him, she thought. It wasn't like Ian was out to get her anymore. If she had a say it would be that Ian didn't want to have anything to do with her. She was taking her shoes off when Tsuna's dad suddenly popped out from the living room.

"Mia-chan! Back so soon? Is Tsuna with you?"

She had been a tad bit cross with the man earlier. He doesn't seem like a bad person, just a lame father. For that, she pitied the fool. She kissed him on the cheek like she would have with Tsuna's mother.

"Tsuna went out to train with Reborn but I know they'll be back for dinner." She went straight to the kitchen, leaving Tsuna's dad stunned.

"Mia-chan!" she squealed when she was suddenly pulled into a bear hug. Iemitsu Sawada reeked of alcohol and sweat. It was sort of gross. "I was so worried about his future before but then you came into his life! One moment your son cries at the sight of you the next he kicks you out of his room like a man! I have you to thank for."

"S-Sawada-san!" She clawed for air.

"Oh honey!" Nana Sawada appeared. At the sight of Mia, who was considerably smaller than Iemitsu, trapped in her husband's arms, she burst out into giggles. She walked over to them and swatted his arm. "Don't hurt my girl now or else I'll set Tsu-kun on you!" He set her down and patted her head.

"Tsuna picked a really good one eh?" Nana smiled fondly at her and Mia blushed. No matter what, Iemitsu is not getting any points for that. She wanted to speak up and say that Tsuna liked Kyoko, not her but hearing his parents talk of her that way made her happy. She went upstairs after that and waited for Tsuna to arrive in his room. She sat on his bed, her knees drawn to her chest.

Would it be alright to think that way? She let herself wonder but then quickly shook it all away. What she had with Tsuna was more than she could ask for and now was really not the time to think about romance. She had better things to worry about, like the Varia. What was she going to do though? Just then, an exhausted Tsuna stumbled through the door. Mia would have run up to him if he wasn't shirtless. Perhaps she would have noticed before – like in the last fight with Squalo – if she wasn't preoccupied with her injured friends and dying but now that she wasn't so busy she wondered when the hell Tsuna developed abs? Before he was skinny – all bones and skin – but now his body bore evidence of Reborn's tutelage. He had developed muscles – not like Sasagawa-san – but enough for a lean and defined physique.

Mia would be lying if she said that she wasn't feeling hot that moment.

He saw her and dumped his torn shirt into the laundry basket before collapsing on his backside on the bed beside her. "Everything huuuurtssss…" he moaned into the mattress. She looked away, not wanting her eyes to wander to places where best friends were not supposed to go. "You'd think Reborn would let me off of school but no… I still have to attend morning classes tomorrow."

"Uh-hmnn."

"Hayato looked so happy to have the Storm ring. He would, wouldn't he? It is his dream to become my right-hand man," Tsuna mused.

"Hmnn." She hummed.

"Takeshi went off somewhere but Reborn said not to worry."

"That's good."

"Colonello came here under Reborn's request. He's training Onii-san."

"Cool."

Tsuna frowned and turned his head. Mia was looking intensively at his alarm clock. "Dino said he had some problems with Hibari-san but now it's all okay. He called saying you helped a lot."

"Uh-huh."

"D-Did Reborn switch my clock with a bomb?" he asked her.

"Maybe," she replied.

He sat up, ignoring the ache in his muscles and touched her shoulder. The reaction was instantaneous. She flinched and her face went red. "Mia, is something wrong?" he asked her worriedly.

"Nothing is wrong!" she cried and jumped off the bed. "Does your back hurt?" she asked him.

"Wha - ? Yeah." He was confused as to why she was suddenly jittery.

"I'll give you a massage."

"Massage?"

"Just lie down on your stomach!" she said loudly. Tsuna wondered what was going on with her but did as he was told since the offer sounded really good at the moment. His heart suddenly jumped into his throat when he felt her weight as she sat on top of him.

"M-M-Mia?!"

"Shut it," Mia muttered as her hands began kneading into his shoulders. Immediately he melted and laid his head back down, a happy sigh leaving his lips. Meanwhile Mia was panicking in the inside. What was she thinking? Offering him a massage of all things?! All she could think about was laying her hands on his skin – which was just marvelous by the way – and she just blurted it out. Now she knew just how effective Reborn's training was but he did have a lot of knots. Her heart slowly calmed down as she kept on her work, letting her mind focus on her task. She rubbed and kneaded his shoulders and arms. As she made her way down his spine, she began to rock so that she could apply more weight to her hands.

Tsuna turned rigid, the motion spurning unwelcoming thoughts into his brain, things that he shouldn't think about especially with Mia. She must have felt him and stopped.

"Tsuna?"

"I-I-I'm okay now," he told her shakily.

"Why are you guys stopping?" Reborn said from the window sill.

"Reborn!" Both exclaimed. Tsuna pushed himself up with his arms so fast Mia fell off of him. Their faces were matching shades of red. The hitman turned to Mia.

"As expected of my student – you took the initiative." Reborn had a sparkle in his eye as he nodded appreciatively at her. Mia blew a fuse as smoke came out of her ears.

"I-It's not what you think Reborn!" she tried to explain.

"Right! Right!" Tsuna agreed with her.

"Really?" He sighed. "But it seems you're now ready to move on to the next part of your training Mia."

"Huh?"

"You've worked on learning as much as you can from the Vongola documents, you learned how to wield and shoot a gun and have taken basic self-defense from your Uncle. The next part of your training will begin now."

"Training? What training?!" Mia asked.

The door slammed open and Bianchi walked in. "The art of Seduction," she said in that business tone of hers.

Mia could only gape in shock. It was like someone had told her to strip on the spot. "Se-Se.."

"SEDUCTION?!" Tsuna bellowed startling Mia from her position on the floor.

"There's intel that the boss of the Varia, Xanxus, has a thing for blondes." Reborn nodded towards Mia. "Lucky for you with a little work he might be licking whip cream off of you." Her mind couldn't load the image of herself with a faceless man. She couldn't. Another fuse went off. Tsuna meanwhile was seething. He had long gotten up and was standing in front of her.

"Over my dead body," he snarled.

"W-Wait Tsuna, maybe – " He rounded on her, his eyes darkening frighteningly.

"You will do no such thing. You are not going to seduce anyone." He growled and she stared in shock for the umpteenth time that day. "She is not going to do it Reborn!" The one who answered wasn't Reborn but Bianchi. She stared the young don with obvious distaste.

"A woman cannot expect herself to survive in the mafia without using all that she has." She knelt before Mia and stared into her eyes. Bianchi was obviously trying to communicate a deep message with her but she hadn't recovered from Tsuna's order. He had never talked to her that way before. He was just concerned for her well being like he always had but what else could she do? Stand and watch like a good girl? All their friends will be putting their lives on the line and even Chrome was going to fight! She wanted to help however she can and if seducing this Xaxus guy would help then why not? She wanted to argue with him but Tsuna had gone and pulled her away from Bianchi. He pulled her to his chest protectively and she squeaked at the closeness.

"No."

And just like that she couldn't find the words to argue against him. Something told her that if she did that Tsuna wouldn't just be angry. More like along the lines of a cosmic explosion of catastrophic proportion. His rage was unimaginable and she shuddered just from thinking about it. It was wrong. Correction. It would be terrifying.

"Okay Tsuna," she relented. "I won't do it." She rubbed his bare shoulders soothingly and he searched her with those eyes of his that she knew he was using his Intuition. He didn't need to worry. She had no intention of doing it if he was so vehemently against it. If he needed convincing she turned towards the hitman. "I'm sorry Reborn. Surely there's something else I can do?"

"Very well," the hitman sighed in clear disappointment. Bianchi did as well.

"If I'm not needed here then I'll be going." Before she left she glanced back at Mia. She didn't look at the hitwoman but she knew that if she ever wanted to take those classes, she would know who to ask. She turned her attention back to Tsuna who was taking deep breaths to calm himself down.

"Tsuna, could you let go? I still need to go home."

"You'll be staying here in the meantime Mia." Reborn fixed her with a look that told her not to argue with him as well. "It's dangerous for you to be alone. Some of your things were brought here by Dino. It won't be long just until this whole thing is sorted."

Mia wished she could be casual about it like the tutor did. Like everything was going to be fine. But she wasn't that much of an optimist. When things finally calmed down and it was time for sleep, Mia once more took Tsuna's bed. She stared at the ceiling in the dark, her insomnia refusing to let her sleep a wink. Too many worries burdened her mind as she laid there.

"Mia?" a voice whispered in the dark.

"Yeah?" she whispered back.

"You can't sleep?"

"No…" She rolled to the edge of the bed to look down at Tsuna. A beam of light from the moon shined over his face. He was worried and regretful.

"I'm sorry for shouting at you earlier."

"I deserve it."

"No you don't. I should never treat you like that. I felt like I was too controlling, like I was…"

"My dad?" she suggested. He chuckled.

"Yeah. Something like that."

"You were just worried. You always were and always will be," she said softly.

"I just hated thinking that you would have to use yourself to-to…" She imagined him gritting his teeth because that's exactly what she was hearing.

"Careful." She joked. "Your blood pressure is rising."

He released a sigh. In a quiet voice that she had to strain her ears to hear he said, "Other guys touching you, using you like you were a thing to screw around with pisses me off. I can't believe Reborn and Bianchi thought it would be good for you…"

She felt a little disappointed that he didn't act like he was jealous in the least. He sounded like his normal chivalrous self. But that's what she liked about Tsuna – he was good. Much too good for the mafia in her opinion. She could see herself going that low but Tsuna was better than that. She didn't want to show him how sad she was so she joked about it.

"I know right? Who in their right mind would do me anyway?"

Unfortunately Tsuna didn't laugh in the least. He was quiet for a while before he said, "Don't sell yourself short Mia." He turned away from her then. Instead of feeling better she felt like a fake. She wished he didn't think so highly of her because it would have made doing degrading things easier. She faced the wall. This was why she didn't want to confess. Because she was that kind of person. Rotten, selfish and incredibly dumb at times. If Kyoko and Tsuna were to ever go out she would support them all the way. She would be good to him which can be said was more than Mia could ever do. Tsuna's parents would like her too. There wasn't a single thing about Kyoko Sasagawa to dislike and for that, Mia was grateful to have her around. It meant that Tsuna could have a shot of happiness with someone he genuinely felt for.

Thinking like that, she hadn't noticed the tears slipping till she felt it on her pillow but she never made a sound. Crying never did anything for her. It didn't bring her mama back, heal her papa's shattered spirit or solve her own heartbreak. With that thought she willed her heart into steel. She had better things to be concerned with than pitying her pathetic self.

The next day at school, Mia had come across an unexpected event. Someone called her out to confess to her. She didn't know who was more shocked, the boys or herself. Definitely the boys, she thought as Hayato began to glare at every single guy in the room as if one of them was the one confessing. It was definitely a first. Also the letter was pretty romantic. Props to the guy.

"I want to go," she automatically said. She missed the look of concern the two directed towards their boss who went a few shades paler at her declaration.

"Mia…"

"Don't follow me," she cut in and her eyes narrowed warningly at them.

"But my Lady!" Hayato tried to convince her but she brushed him off with a calm look.

"For crying out loud guys this is a simple confession right? Its also our last year in middle school. There wasn't anything like this in Italy or in America, I'm sort of interested how this thing works and damn it guys, it's not like he's going to jump me in school where Hibari is." They didn't have a comeback for that.

To their increasing worry, the boy in question had asked to meet up after school which was at the time where they wouldn't be around as they had their own respective training to go to. They were only staying up until lunch time after all. Tsuna was especially worried but Mia merely waved him off. It was just a confession after all. When she arrived at the meeting place someone was already waiting for her. He was someone she never met before. He had black hair and eyes and while he was attractive, his face wasn't all that memorable.

"Matteis-chan." He beamed when he saw her.

"Tobio-san I presume?" she asked. He smiled widely at her, his cheeks reddening as he bobbed his head into a nod. She smiled back. "So you called me out here to…?"

"I like you." Well wasn't he straight to the point? But his confession sounded flat, bland even. Maybe he was just nervous?

"I'm sorry Tobio-san." she answered immediately, a little remorseful. "But I'm not interested in dating."

"Do you like someone else?" he asked her, looking oddly curious even though he had been just rejected.

She sighed. "I think so."

"Who?"

She glared at him. "None of your business. I really am sorry Tobio-san but I'm just not ready for dating. I'm sure there's another girl out there that would love to date you." She bowed. She expected him to get angry or sad like from the scenes from a shoujo manga. Instead she got a "Shishishishi…" snicker and it was creepy as hell.

"That's a first time someone said no to a prince." She slowly looked up when a knife was suddenly pressed against her neck. Tobio had gone and instead a blonde guy with long bangs that covered his eyes took his place. His lips spread into a sinister grin. She felt the knife's tip drag across her skin lightly up to her cheek. She dared not to move and sweat trickled her brow. Her eyes wandered to his black coat where a crest boasted arrogantly on his chest.

Varia.

Thanks for reading!