【002 є η ∂ ¢ є 】

Pastel blue hues stared at the door to the Discipline Committee's room in slight trepidation. Yesterday's events had felt like a lifetime ago, and now that Rumi had time to reflect upon her actions, she wanted to bury herself from the shame and embarrassment. Had she really bitten Hibari like that? The Rumi she knew would have run and died in some gutter like Hibari had asked, not bite him on the ankle like a wild animal.

Scuffing her shoes together out of anxiety, she decided on a gentle rap on the door to announce her presence. Her day at school had been spent worrying about what exactly Hibari would do to help her, assuming that he even remembered the deal or did not change his mind.

Promptly, the door slid open to reveal Kusakabe, Hibari's right hand man. His soft, kind eyes stared at her frightened form with friendliness that she never expected an associate of the Namimori Demon to have. "Sato-san?" He questioned her, to which she could only shyly nod.

He handed her a wooden staff normally for training in martial arts dojos. She gazed at the wood in her hands before staring at him inquiringly. He only gave her a reassuring pat on the shoulder, "You're going to need it if you want to train with Kyo-san."

Without another word, he left her alone to face the demon himself. Her fingers tightened around the staff with a firm resolution to face her fear. Giving up was not an option at this point, considering the anger it would invoke from Hibari.

The moment she walked into the room, she barely had time to react as tonfas rained down to bash her on the head. She raised the staff in a defensive position while Hibari only yawned in an unimpressed attitude. "Weak defense." And with a well-aimed kick, he brought her crashing to the ground in a tangled heap.

Rumi quickly got up, seeing that Hibari came charging at her once again. This time, she managed to block off his tonfas and aim a whack to his chest, until he effortlessly brought a tonfa down to her unguarded back. Another ungraceful fall to the floor.

"Learn quickly. I don't have patience for slow learners." He muttered when she didn't get up the second time. He walked dauntingly closer until he rose one foot over her hand. With a swift stomp, he crushed her hand underneath his foot. She flinched and wanted to scream in pain, but not one sound came out of her mouth. "I'll beat survival strength into you and either you learn, or die first."

Her eyes hardened in resolve as her previously stepped on hand enclosed around Hibari's leg. She pulled him down to her level so as to deliver a blow to his shoulder by utilizing the handy wooden pole. He was moderately surprised that she could pull off a stunt, but raised his left arm with his tonfa to counter, only to find that she had nimbly climbed over him to lodge the tonfa away and out of use. The wooden staff hit him with a decent amount of force, not enough to be of concern, but enough to be of slight annoyance.

As she panted heavily on top of him, he stared at with keen interest. Those mesmerizing eyes were full of fierce tenacity, that reminded him much of his own. Except those eyes resided in one of the weak herbivores he so detested.

His hot breath tickled her face as he spoke. "Interesting." Then he pushed her into a wall with the brute force of his tonfas.

"In exchange for wasting my time, you'll be filling out paperwork for the Disciplinary Committee." Hibari stated, tilting his head in the direction of the large heap of paperwork on the desk. "You won't be able to leave until you finish all of it."

She nodded her head in agreement, since it was only fair that she contribute something for the man who was beating her up so she could become stronger. She settled herself comfortably on the chair, even though the cuts and injuries throbbed and ached.

Rumi's mind drifted as she thoughtlessly completed the paperwork. This would be her routine from now on. Get beat up by Hibari. Do paperwork late into the night. Complete homework at home. Sleep and eat whenever she could. It would be a stimulating lifestyle, nonetheless.

She made sure not to make any unnecessary noise so as not to wake Hibari up from his nap. He had especially warned her he was a light sleeper, and if he woke up, he would bite her to death. She didn't need to get beat up more times than necessary in one day. By about eleven o'clock she finished all the paperwork. Silently slipping out of the room, Rumi left for home on wobbly legs, sustaining the injuries without one grunt of pain.

Hibari opened one sharp eye to glance at her back as she left. His instincts told him that now that Sato Rumi had fallen into his life, she would be sticking around, whether he liked it or not.

The dim streetlight lamps barely brightened the road toward her apartment. The normally bright moon didn't help as much either, and Rumi shuffled quietly towards her apartment, all the while clutching her school bag. No matter how many times she trudged home by herself, she always prayed for safety the whole way home. There was a danger lurking at every corner, and she was more than aware.

Just as she cleared the last corner to her apartment, she released the last breath she had unconsciously been holding in and let her shoulders relax. Maybe she would be alright after all.

But how the world loved to prove her wrong. A dark, but obviously bulky figure approached with a confidence swagger in her step. Her anxious mechanisms fell into place and opted to stare at the ground as she passed the stranger. There was something about him that wasn't right.

Rumi sucked in another breath as she passed by him. Maybe she was over-exaggerating the normality of the situation. Just as she was about to part ways with him, his coal eyes made contact with her.

"Sato, Rumi?"

Without even bothering to reply, she took off like the wind. His loud footsteps took chase after her, and she willed herself to resist the urge to look back. The moment of hesitance always ended the chase, with the chaser as the victor. She cursed the incapable witness protection agents who had reassured her she would be in no harm. This occurrence had been far too numerous in the past month for her comfort.

His hand set on her shoulder as he pulled her back. She elbowed him hard in the gut, but he was already down on the ground before she could fight back. Rumi cautiously stared at the man with wonder. It was indeed a yakuza member; the red tattoo on his right hand confirmed her suspicions.

"Ciaossu." A baby dressed up in an immaculate suit greeted her with a tip of his hat. She observed the finger on the trigger of his hand.

She pulled out her notebook and scribbled a quick response. Thank you for saving me! Can I pay you back in some way?

The mature baby nearly smiled with twinkle in his eye. "Sato, Rumi correct?"

She stepped back out of instinct and eyed him uneasily. Was he a yakuza member too, come to kill her off?

"No need to be uneasy. I'm Reborn, a hitman tutor for the mafia." He smoothly explained nonchalantly.

First the yakuza, now the mafia? How the hell did she attract a mafia member?

"You seem like a perfect family member for the Vongola family! You'll be a great ally for Tsuna!"

Tsuna? That sounded familiar. He was her classmate if she remembered correctly. No good Tsuna? A mafia man?

I'm afraid I'll have to turn down. I'm already in trouble enough as it is…

"In a failing witness protection program? The agents aren't really that capable. If you join the Vongola family, we'll be sure to protect you from the petty yakuza." He suavely bargained.

Why me? The question mark dot was deeply dotted from her deep concentration over the matter.

He merely smirked. "Have confidence in yourself. You want to become stronger don't you?" He tossed a pair of shiny bracelets, which she caught with deft hands. "Consider this a present, think of your resolve when wearing them to defend yourself. Ciao, ciao!"

She bowed respectfully after him as he faded back into the darkness before inspecting the strange bracelets closely. The bracelets were classy silver, with fancy loops and engravings that she couldn't exactly make out.

Resolve, huh?

She slipped one on each of her slender wrists as she clutched her hands together in a prayer-like gesture. I want to become stronger. Someone I'm not ashamed of being.

A bright yellow flame lighted the dull darkness.