(Past)

Mikan's eyes softened as she saw Hotaru back in full health faster than the usual. The effects of the poison was created by Boss after all, and the cure has always been with Notte Fantasma for quite a while since the opening of the Famiglia. Tsuna has given to her half of the cure but Hotaru has to drink it once more before she could get rid of the poison fully. Speaking of which…

"Feeling any effects from your poison?" Mikan feigned worry.

"I could concentrate better. What's got that to do with you?" Mikan smiled, shaking her head.

"Nope! Glad you're all better!" She grinned.

"What are you going to get for Hyuuga?"

"I don't know, Hotaru! What am I suppose to get for Natsume's birthday!?" Mikan panicked, but she actually knew what to get for him. It had to be one of a kind that she could get, or rather, any Notte Fantasma member could get.

He wasn't in tip top shape, but she could maximize his potential without his Alice killing him. In fact, there is even a better Alice for him than the current one. But it would be a wild horse to tame…

Since he could tame his current one, it might be possible that he could challenge the one on her hand.

The letter from Boss was very unsettling since it has the latest update on the Elementary Principal's activities. She never knew that they have taken up so much of Alices, and she doesn't even know how he has so many of them.

Boss is already complaining about the mission they have already. But it seemed that she has an assistant along with her to help this time.

Whether the assistant knows about the Famiglia would be a question, but Boss knows how to choose a member or her guardians very carefully.

Like, Nana…

(But they are halves of one soul after all)

Thankfully Nana didn't realize that Tsuna went out of the house, only during the meeting that he stepped out for his two cents. She hadn't received anything that had warned her of the fury the woman would have.

She moved off to the camera sector, where she was reminded that she has a mission to fulfill too. Everyone is still getting used to their own new Alices that were stolen by Boss.

Even by then, there are still leftovers unless they were ready to get another one from the batch.

By the time Mikan got back from her thoughts, she had lost Hotaru and mentally groaned. There goes the problem of navigating the way with a help from someone.

"Oi." Mikan turned around to find Natsume, who narrowed his eyes in suspicion. "Why did you give me that set?"

"You know well of your condition, Hyuuga." Mikan smirked, "It is your decision how you would like to use it, even if you have problems with it."

"What are you really planning to do in this school?" Mikan smiled as she patted Natsume's head.

"That would be another mission and case for me to solve. Don't worry about them. Just take care of your health."

"You have a game plan, don't you?" Mikan's eyes glint, giving a hint of crimson in her eyes.

"Of course! I'm the type of person who has contingency plans for contingency plans!" Mikan proudly declared. She smiled before leaving, the raven haired boy staring at her back slightly confused.

Christmas is coming up faster than anything Mikan could have expected. But it also meant to her that she would be away for the first time from Notte Fantasma for this mission. Sure, she celebrated with the rest of the Famiglia members for quite a few years, but she has promised a few of the younger ones that she would give them something interesting.

No matter, she would have to send them by another way.

Mikan couldn't use any powers except for Nullification Alice, and it is making her pretty frustrated. She didn't understand why Boss would want her to only show her main when there are much more within her.

Walking around the area, she glanced at the grand kitchen, where it seemed that she had no use for this place. She was then reminded of Snow's child, locked up in the same place as she is right now. Releasing the child would be no easy task too, being locked up within the deeper routes of the Academy.

Everyone could do many things with the use of their Alice, but she couldn't do much for now. She stopped her eyes on a girl who had hair covered by her eyes. They could cool down the cake, she sighed.

Mikan smiled as she helped out the girl, "Are you alright?"

The girl nodded, with a sense of loneliness. The both of them took up coats to cool down the sponge cake, only to find out the identity of the girl when she lifted her hair away from her eyes.

Those eyes of hers…..! Mikan realized the main fact; they look like the Snow's child… No, this is the Snow's child….

"What's your name?"

"Ibaragi Nobara." She softly muttered out, but almost inaudible to hear her. I knew it….

"My name is Sakura Mikan. Ya know our job is to turn these sponge cakes to cool. So what's your Alice?" Mikan felt like slapping herself. What's with the idea of using her Kansai Ben for this?

"My… Alice is Ice…." Mikan smiled.

"So you could cool the sponge cakes?" Nobara looked very uncomfortable, but she nodded. Deciding to try her best, she accidently froze all of the sponge cakes. It left everyone stunned for a moment, especially Mikan.

Oh gosh…. Boss's Snow didn't say that her child has such a strong Alice!

Thankfully, the ice all melted, leaving everyone to feel relief. Natsume who happened upon the area didn't step in. Mikan is much stronger than anyone he has known except for an exceptional few, but she could protect herself from any immense danger around her.

Mikan patted Nobara's head, smiling. "Don't worry. I'll help you with the cooling down. My Alice is Nullification after all!"

Natsume moved away when a small smile was directed to him by Mikan, grateful that he didn't step in.

They helped out with the cooling when Nobara wanted to help out with other matters. She disappeared from then, only to make Mikan grit her teeth in frustration.

Don't worry, dear Elder of the Snow. I will save your child soon. Just you wait….

Being used by Ruka and Youichi, Mikan felt the small presence of someone with a Death Alice. With the information on her hands, she knew it would be the man named Persona. The Comet from Boss had released that part of the information along with her. They were always very informative on their part in terms of the Academy anyways.

Narumi had been poisoned by him, Mikan could feel it. But it would take some time before it would reach his heart, so it wouldn't be much of a problem.

Knowing Boss's character, Narumi wouldn't be dying anytime soon.

The last dance has to occur, and unexpectedly she had been put together with Natsume. It was a little awkward but she gave a small smile and shrugged.

Natsume looked away before making eye contact with her. They quietly danced though the song, with Mikan trying not to feel embarrassed or anything of that sort. He does look handsome in a way.

A tiny crush wouldn't affect her, and it would go away soon.

They slowly danced without a single whisper, and it was only until some weird couple bumped strongly on them that something happened.

Mikan widened her eyes. That….

That is my first kiss!

Natsume seemed nonchalant; Mikan really resent that fact very much so. (Not to mention she had forgotten the fact that she had it first stolen while traveling to the future.)

Mikan had the strong urge to start screaming in all the languages she knew, using all the profanities of the world. Natsume insulted her on top of that, but she was hearing none of it. She still had today's mission to pass through before the day ends.

She moved away, looking calm before finding the next partner for a dance. She still need to improve this skill of hers for the future, and looking at the Bosses of the Notte Fantasma, they were going to move another piece of the puzzle which is Namimori. Namimori may seem a little underdeveloped, but they were going to built something unexpected out of the place.

Heck, they were already asking Tsuna to design as much as he could. (Only to have many of them rejected and go under [Project Uni], or another form to say a collection of school uniforms…)

Yet again, Mikan felt to pray for Tsuna once more….

For his sanity or for his innocence, Mikan wasn't very sure…..

A boy moved towards her, with a messy bow on his collar and black shirt attire. Mikan knew better who he was, or who he actually came from.

Elementary School Principal, Kuonji: The man who started the dark schemes of the school. While Nana-san had to make an appearance instead, and caused Madre to hide away. The man who killed Padre and many others….

Mikan internally grinned as she closed her eyes, a slight change in her hazel eyes before opening them. It wasn't visible, but it still had the tint of crimson on her eyes if one were to look closely.

"Would you like to have a dance, Mikan-chan?" She smiled politely.

"Why, of course. But how do you know me?"

"You're Natsume's famous partner, and I find you naturally cute."

"Thank you for the compliment then." Kuonji twirled her when her mask was going to fall to the ground. Mikan took advantage of the same situation to drop his mask on the ground. He was surprised for a moment before schooling his expression.

Mikan knew from that point that he was letting his guard down since he thought he has the upper hand.

"Ah….. Be careful not to lose something dear to you."

Mikan smirked as he moved over to take up his mask, "As the same, I will say to you."

She bowed as he moved off, while she took the mask on the floor.

Losing something important of mine huh…? She shifted her position to the top of the tree, before concealing herself and her voice from the ballroom. Laughing hysterically, her eyes turned fully crimson on her. Insanity could be seen in her eyes, as she grinned manically and called using her device.

"Bonjour~"

"Oh?" The recipient seemed interested with the sudden atmosphere change. "Something interesting happened?"

"Of course~ After all, Alpha has been completed." The person on the phone laughed.

"Perfect. Beta will commence then!"

"Indeed. I will be finishing this soon."

"Get back soon~"

"I have to get back of course. I still need to find my guardians!" Mikan laughed before they ended the conversation.

Natsume had been within the range of her barrier, listening to her talking. But he was interested with her eyes. What happened to be hazel turned crimson, and if he didn't know better, she looked like a vampire.

With no fangs and sucking of blood, that is.

"Who knew you have communication from outside…."

Mikan turned her head towards him, not surprised at the appearance.

"I do have them; just that you and I do different things." Mikan sat on one of the branches. "But I'll be disappearing after next month. That's why I asked the question of your Alice." (Reference to Chapter 16)

"You finished part of your mission, but are you going to bring an external force towards the school?" Mikan looked scandalized.

"What?! No! Why would I do that!? A one man team is all that is needed for this mission. We intended for this in the first place!"

"So you will only do what is necessary for the school?"

Mikan smiled as the crimson shade fade from her eyes, replaced by the hazel. "It is a promise to a person who is very important to me. After this, do you want to see the world?"

Natsume slightly widened his eyes. Once an Alice enters the school, they could only leave the school by death, losing one's Alice or after they finish school.

She has the intention to finish it as a mission, and leave the school?!

"You haven't answered my official question, Hyuuga Natsume." She smiled with mirth, "Will you join me and the rest of the members?"

Natsume slowly walked back to his room, reminded with Mikan's words. A black rose was given by her, and he had no idea what was really going on within the school.

Seeing Persona wasn't helping him as he had to set off for another mission. Tiring and cold, those were the first few words to describe his situation.

What does he really want?

His sister? Freedom? A life of his own?

There are always questions that he couldn't answer well, with all that killing emotions.

He could save whoever he wants if he went along with Mikan's plans, but if he doesn't….

He closed his eyes as he took up the stone in his pocket. It wasn't a stone as per say, but rather a ruby that Mikan decided to grace him with.

It was the type that could heal him from his 4th stage of his Fire Alice, but yet there was something different with this stone. Deciding to make an experiment out of it in his room, he locked the place down.

He didn't want to let anyone know what he was doing after all.

He lit up his Alice on the ruby, only to have it burning all over him. He gritted his teeth when he stared at the color of it. It wasn't hurting him; however, it seemed to be attracted to his fire.

It turned to a high altitude of a temperature of 1500 Degree Celsius, the room became extremely hot. He was the only one unaffected by the temperature, warm in fact.

He tried playing a while more, and his Alice didn't seem as heavy as before. He slowly changed the colors to white to orange to red. Each and every one was warm in his hands, but the ruby had better ideas as it shone brightly in the room.

Natsume had to drop the diamond as it burned slightly from his hands.

Right before him now is a ruby ring with 2 sapphires next to it. The ruby itself turned from a 10 karat to only 5, while the sapphires turned 2.5 karats each. If this was to be found out in the world, every rich men and women would be anticipating getting the infamous ring.

He turned the internal side of the ring, where the word Ignazio laid there.

Never will he ever know that it will be the start of something new.

Mikan smirked as she licked the blood off.

She took up her phone, dialing. "Mission complete."

"Perfect, Mikan. Get ready to get some of them out."

"Yes, Boss." Mikan's eyes shone crimson, glancing at the child's body of the elementary principal.

In a certain degree, no one would have ever realized that the infamous Kuonji would be killed. She disappeared at a snap of her finger.


(Present)

Tsuna stared as his estranged Uncle from that man's side. He had seen him drinking wine for some time before he decided to speak. They would have to wait for the judges to explain the rules after all.

"Need stronger wine, Xanxus di Vongola?" Xanxus threw the wine, grunting with the fact that he wanted heavier alcohol content. Tsuna threw towards Xanxus a clear bottle, surprising the Varia when he caught it. Xanxus merely raised an eye as he stared at the label.

"Everclear…"

"Fantasma Notte has it anyways. We prefer ciders actually." Tsuna shrugged as Xanxus opened up the alcohol and started drinking on it.

Silence engulfed the area for a moment when two women appeared at the sides wearing the same thing that they could be considered as twins. With the outfit to the mask to the attitude showed outwardly, they look too much robotic to Tsuna and the rest of the guardians.

"We are the Cervello, the advisors of Vongola Nono. After an official conference yesterday, the battle order for tonight's Heir Conflict has been decided." Tsuna yawned just at the same moment. "The first battle will be between the Guardians of Sun."

Hayato sighed as he spoke. "As expected huh?"

"Extreme! I'm first!" Ryohei punched through the air as he prepared himself. A flamboyant man stared at Ryohei as he analyzed his features and movements.

"So my opponent is that boy."

One of the Cervello spoke as she guided them towards the competition area. "We will now begin the Heir Conflict over the position of Tsunayoshi di Fantasma Notte and his guardians. Please look over there."

Tsuna stared at the special ring in front of them before turning to Xanxus.

"Hey…." Xanxus turned towards the brunet, "why do you want us to join Vongola instead of letting us inherit our own Famiglia?"

"That trash is weak. Only the strong survives." Tsuna narrowed his eyes, not liking how they valued power than what is important. Tsuna sighed, hoping that this would end sooner.

Wyatt stared at Ryohei's opponent before moving towards the sun/moon guardian. "Don't use all of your power. He's not worth it."

Ryohei gives an enthusiastic nod, but if anyone were to see his eyes closer, it had a serious glint. Kyoko who happen to be there and decided to be with them for the day kissed her brother on the cheek as part of a good luck charm.

She glided towards Tsuna, giving a kiss. "You don't mind Onii-san fighting today?" Tsuna mused.

"Onii-chan should know best what to do with his opponent. And he doesn't get to fight that much since you always leave the fighting to Mukuro, Chrome or Kyoya." Tsuna smiled, knowing very well.

"Go for it, Onii-san." Ryohei closed his eyes as he waited for the time.

"Let the Battle of the Sun begin!" The Cervello announced. Before the man could do anything, the bulbs of the ring all broke, leaving only darkness surrounding the area. Tsuna smirked.

Tsuna mouthed, "Once a notte,"

Ryohei completed the sentence, "Always a notte."

Wyatt gave a minuscule smile of his own. He was used to the phrase that the Notte Fantasma had used. In fact, it was their main motto, their pride.

"Ara~ You don't like the lights that the ring gives in?"

"Extremely not! Lussaria, Sun Guardian of Varia!" Ryohei prepared his stance, showing that he is serious. Kyoko smiled wider, "Seems like he's taking this time easy."

Wyatt nodded, looking bored but anyone knew it well that he was excited at the opponent's defeat soon. Ryohei did an upper cut, only to be blocked by Lussaria's thigh. Ryohei smiled, before he disappeared.

Tsuna smirked as the rest stared at their leader. "Onii-san knows huh…"

Xanxus narrowed his eyes in irritation. "What do you mean, scum."

"Look up and out of the building." The only answer made the opponents looking out, seeing nothing but a full moon. Xanxus remembered the phrase that was spoken.

"F***, he's a Luna." Lussaria was being hit everywhere, but there was no sign of the hyper boxer. Certain cracks could be heard as they were hit against, and Lussaria wasn't getting it easy even with the lights out.

Kyoko decided to chirp the next word. "Game-"

"Set!" Ryohei gave the last punch as Lussaria fell over from his position.

Ryohei jumped down from the ring, being announced that he was the winner of the battle.

He grinned as he took off the ring throwing it off to the Varia Leader, getting back down with everyone giving satisfied nods and grins.

Tsuna smiled as he hugged Ryohei with a congratulating heart. He spun himself around as he smirked.

"Who's next~?" Each and every one of them leaked off bloodthirsty intent. Ienari along with his guardians and Reborn had been hiding for a while, and they didn't expect such a change in each of the council's character. Even Takeshi seemed different, like….

"A natural hitman." Reborn muttered as he pulled his fedora down. He frowned at the amazing potential that each one has. All that was taken were the best in their generation, and it felt that Primo's generation was already inferior to this.

"Ara? Why don't you come out, Reborn-san, Nari-kun, and your guardians?" The mentioned sans Reborn jumped in shock as Nana smiled graciously. "Everyone's watching, including CEDEF."

The Cervello shift their heads, giving a nod before one of them announced. "The next battle would be the Lighting Guardians."

Lambo who was drawing at the side shot his head up in sudden rapid attention, looking around as he wasn't paying attention. He knew that they were going to win, but he didn't expect his battle to come up so soon. Fantina whacked his head, speaking in rapid French before him doing the same.

Tsuna shook his head while Mikan rolled her eyes. It was very typical for Lambo not to pay attention except for Arts.

Or weapons….

Keeping the sketchbook and leaving it to Fantina, everyone had to move up to the roof for the battle.

Lambo looked up to the sky and smiled.

"Seems that today is a good day for the Northern Lights huh?"

"What?" Leviathan narrowed his eyes in anger.

"You may have your reason why you want to protect that leader of yours, but I have business to keep up with Mezza Cielo. Especially tomorrow…"

"Oh yeah… you have a shoot in Las Vegas tomorrow…" Nana noted, "You need to relief yourself from this one, isn't it?"

Lambo nodded. "I need the entire week, though I hate being with another model for this." He droned, seeing that he need to handle another nameless model in his eyes.

"I got to settle this fast. Who know what happens if my manager starts complaining about not having enough beauty sleep?"

The ones working along with this profession knew what he was talking about very well. Tsuna ruffled his hair, smiling at Lambo who gave a look to his leader. "Have fun~"

"I will finish this in a snap." Lambo started stretching as the Cervello continued.

"May the Battle of the Lightning begin!"

Lambo hasn't moved into a single step while Leviathan took out the parabolas concealed behind him. Seeing Lightning strikes is normal for Lambo, but it isn't as beautiful as his favorite element.

As soon as it struck him, almost everyone sans the Fantasma Notte members were having thoughts of them losing this particular battle. Instead, Lambo was unharmed and yawned as he held the ball of lightning in his hand.

"Never knew you would throw such a cute pet at me…." The ball of lightning grew alive as it shook itself and stretched. "A little lightning tiger cub isn't going to be a good idea you know."

It brushed against him, purring and enjoying the comfort of the petting.

Hayato huffed, "Stop playing with every lightning animal you see, stupid Aurora."

"Says you who didn't even have time for your own pet, idioti Cometa." Lambo retorted.

"Now, now… Let's not fight now. You wouldn't want to spend time with the Primas and Primos of Fantasma Notte." Kyoko reasoned, making the argument stop for a moment.

Silence ensued the entire battlefield, with none of the members even making small chat. It was that critical that none of them would want to spend time as a Famiglia even though they are somewhat related to each other sans Ryohei and Kyoko.

But the both of them are always part of their good grace, so they didn't have much problem with the Luna members.

The Lightning tiger cub dispersed away, with a simple promise from Lambo that he would play with it later. He took his hands and clapped together, looking like there wasn't even a lightning strike on him. He smiled, "Now since you are done with your little show, it's my turn."

A rainbow formed on his hands, forming more like an art. His eyes gleamed in excitement, "Now this is art!"

Light shone through brighter than the sun, and without even a single movement, Leviathan was down with at least 3rd-degree burns on him. Lambo walked away as he recollected his drawing materials from Fantina, giving her a kiss on the cheek in the process.

Tsuna ruffled his younger brother's hair, congratulating on their youngest guardian on their victory.

"Winner: Aurora Lambo!"

Kyoya, Mukuro, and Chrome were standing by the side, but they have their own conversation before Chrome stepped up. Tsuna knew what was on their minds, agreeing to their plans. They weren't needed for such child's play anyways.

"The Battle of the Cloud and Mist will be given to Varia. The 3 of us are forfeiting on these 2 matches." Everyone looked confused by their decision.

"Forfeiting huh?! You trash can't take a loss on your side!" Xanxus bellowed as the Varia members followed the same as their leader. It halted when everyone on the opposite side started laughing hysterically.

"If that is true, then Lambo will be the least of your worries!" Chrome smiled as she leans towards Mukuro.

"We will even just set Mukuro-nii, Kyoya-nii or Tsu-nii on all members of Varia! We are powerful than any one has imagined!" Lambo laughed on his back, rolling on the floor as he tried to stop himself from howling laughter.

Some of the Vongola members didn't take this lightly, seeing that some of them growled in anger.

"And if you haven't realized, Notte Fantasma has no more than 40 members including the first generation! We could overpower the entire Mafia if we wanted to." Hayato explained as he smirked.

"Ma~ We are just making this game easier for you, and our Notte wouldn't want to fight too." Takeshi chirped, "So it's actually 3 wins for the Varia."

"Oh? You realize that fact huh, Takeshi? Never knew that you could read my mind this time." Tsuna felt slightly impressed. Takeshi doesn't usually think about what he actually would do, but he really was intending to join up with the 3 guardians with their decision.

"You don't have the time, Kaichou." Takeshi grinned, "You still have Autumn Festival and De Fashionista Fiesta next week. You're packed to the brim!"

Tsuna massaged his head, "And Mikan along with the rest is not going to be making any more time for them too."

Mikan walked into the office, where she will soon be taking over the position of a Kaichou again. It had been a tradition that they would change positions every session where the student population would want The Election. No one agreed to take up the position, and Tsuna has been very stressed in the eyes of the student congregation.

Her eyes glowed crimson as she moved towards the Notte Fantasma Mansion, moving into an area where the place was as cold as the Arctic.

"Hello there…"

The room was colder than the Arctic, but Mikan knew every well what was causing it. In this case, who caused the problem.

"Mikan-chan…." A voice no louder than a whisper spoke. It left Mikan thinking that she should really do something about the person's personality, but she was doing well on her own.

"Searching for something, Snow Princess?" The child nodded as she showed the data along with the winter designs for Mezza Cielo.

Unlike Tsuna who does all seasons of fashion designs, the Snow Princess is known as La Sneaux, or for short, the winter lady.

It's pretty funny that most of the famous designs came from teenagers than adults themselves. Fantina even once mentioned that the world is treating students as products that they created.

But of all people, she prefers to be called Neva, since she wasn't very used to her old name.

Mikan bit her lip as she looked through the information given.

"Mer-"

"Don't finish that word, Mikan-chan. There are cameras around." Neva chastised the brunette, who started looking around for them.

"And they are never seen!" Mikan felt exasperated. There are many things she would get punished even among the members. Being heir doesn't mean anything until she has received the emblem. The same has gone along with Tsuna.

Ignazio decided to enter the room at that moment, increasing the temperature of the room. If anyone were to say, Ignazio and Neva wouldn't be in the same room until Mikan or Tsuna is there.

"Is that the data of the Underworld?" Ignazio asked as he wrapped his arms around Mikan.

"No…" Mikan's eyes shone in crimson, making the area colder, yet making it biting and burning worse than fire. "We have found information about M."


I may not be updating for next month since I need to brainstorm some ideas out.

To 4311KING, yes... I wouldn't want to reveal too much yet. But the ones with Mikan has the ability to protect. But some are really OCs that are working for Notte Fantasma.

Word Count: 4,965