"All is a riddle, and the key to a riddle…is another riddle."

Ralph Waldo Emerson


Shizuko stared at Reborn for what felt like a whole hour. Her eyes wide and her mouth slightly agape as Reborn kept his cool, just staring back at her.

"No," She breathes out, whispering so that no one will hear her. She shakes her head and looks at Reborn defiantly. "No." She answers more clearly. "No, Reborn. I'm thankful that you paid for my plane expenses and got me here. But no, Reborn. You might be able to control everything but you cannot play with someone's heart. I won't play with someone's heart. Especially not Tsuna's." She finishes as she looks at the famous hitman in front of her. Shizuko knew that she should have been fearful right now—defying a skillful hitman like Reborn is suicide but she stuck with her morals. Even if it meant an early death.

"Alright," Reborn nods, a small frown on his face. "But you do understand that you can't stay here, right?"

"Reborn-san!" Fuuta shouts in protests.

"It's alright," Shizuko turns to Fuuta and smiles. Fuuta sighs and backs away as Shizuko turns back to Reborn. "I understand. Well, I'll go now," She reaches towards her backpack and slings it onto her right shoulder. She grips the strap and turns to Fuuta and Lambo. "Thank you for the hot chocolate but I should leave, I still need to go and visit my parents." She turns to Yamamoto, Gokudera, and Reborn and smiles. "See ya!"

And with that walks towards the door, walks out, and closes the door. The resounding lock of the door filling the air as silence took over the kitchen.

Reborn sighs. Lambo and Fuuta frowns. Gokudera clicks his tongue. And Yamamoto remained quiet as all five stare at the double wooden doors.


"Were you expecting for Shizuko to agree, Reborn?" Gokudera asks, breaking the silence.

"Not really," Reborn says nonchalantly as he starts to make his way towards the double wooden doors. "How can that girl fix that idiots heart when she herself hasn't fixed her own?"

Everyone stays quiet as the door closes for the second time.


The outside was much colder than expected, Shizuko had mused as she walks on the pavement of the road. Her hands becoming so numb that she had to bury her hands into her pockets else they completely lose feeling. She keeps quiet as the only sound that was made was the swishing of the leaves in the air. The smile she had been wearing before she left the Vongola mansion disappears as a frown takes its place.

She stops for a moment and looks to the side and sees the beautiful landscape of Namimori. It made her heart swell for a bit when she thought of leaving the place just after she had arrived. She shakes her head and continues her trek. She had already decided that she did not belong in Namimori, no, she belonged in England, a normal life. A normal—boring—life.

"Ah, Shizuko-chan, how long has it been?" She turns her head to the left and small smile graces her lips. An old man—an old man she knew—stood just meters away from her, holding a long handled broom in one hand and a damn towel on the other.

"Grandpa," She acknowledges as she walks towards him and bows formally. "Too long for my taste."

He laughs happily as he too bows formally. He starts to walk forward as she follows him, keeping up with his pace. "This place hasn't changed one bit," She says in wonder. The old man laughs and nods.

"That's due to budget cuts, mind you." She laughs along with him as they both continue their trek in silence. Shizuko admiring the scenery as the old man just kept on walking beside her, quiet as a mouse. When they both reach an intersection, Shizuko turns to the old man and smiles. "This is my stop, I'll see you in a bit Grandpa." The old man smiles and nods as he continues his trek without saying another word. Shizuko smiles a bit and walks on the path of the intersection. As the dirt crunches beneath her sneak clad feet, a forlorn feeling takes hold of her as two gravestone become more and more apparent. Her stomach churns for a bit as she forces herself to keep on walking.

But as she stood in front of the gravestone of her mother and father, she drops to her knees and hangs her head low—so exhausted that she can't even cry.

"Hey," She says in a low voice. "Sorry it's been a while since I've visited. I was busy with…" She closes her eyes and sighs. "Hey, mom? Dad? What do you think I should do? Tsuna is my friend—my best friend—but it feels like high school all over again, where I'm the lowly bridge to their perfect love story. Should I help him out? I mean I do—I honest to God want to—but…but…" She takes her hands out of her pockets, opens her eyes, and stares at her hands. "Is it worth going through that again?" She shakes her head and chuckles sadly. "Maybe you could give me sign, should I leave for England or help out?"

And at that moment, a strong gust of wing from the east suddenly rips out, almost sending Shizuko to the ground. She shakes her head and looks up confusingly.

Her eyes widen.

Her breath stops.

Her heart pounds.

As she saw hundred of Sakura Blossoms floating in the sky. She holds up her hands as some of the petals strayed and landed where she was sitting. A lone petal lands on her hand, she brings it close to her and stares at it as million of petals still fall around her.

She stares.

Then she smiles.

And laughs.

She stands up and twirls around as the petals seem to never end. She reaches up then finally falls on her back, looking up at the sky full of Sakura Blossoms.

"Wow, you guys!" She shouts. "That's some kind of sign you sent!"

She closes her eyes and relishes in the feel of the petals gently touching her skin.

"Okay," She opens her eyes once again, tears forming on the corner of her eyes. "I'll help out."


"It's unbelievable Matsudo! Millions of Cherry Blossoms were floating in the sky at one o'clock today. I wonder what kind of phenomenon could explain—"

Tsuna turns off of the TV and throws the remote to the side. His black tux hanging—unkempt—on the couch. His brown unruly hair falls in front of his face as a glass of gin sits idly to the side—half empty, the ice already melting.

His eyes were dark and a frown was etched on his face. It had been this day—he had remembered—was the day that Kyoko had told him about the great opportunity in America and tomorrow would be the day Kyoko had dumped him a year ago.

He chuckles darkly as he messes up his brown hair, he knew that he shouldn't be acting this way but the former school idol had been his first love—and it when she left, it hurt.

A knock brings him out of his senses as he turns his eyes to the double wooden doors of his office. He tells the person to go away but instead of the person respecting his wishes, he was greeted with more knocking. Tsuna sighs and rubs his forehead to keep the migraine at bay. If his hyper intuition was correct—the person on the other side of the door would be Reborn. He walks towards the door sluggishly and yanks it open—harshly than he had intended to.

"Look Reborn, I know you want me to get back to work already but—" Anything else he had to say died on his lips as he properly looked at the person in front of him. He opens and closes his mouth and tries to formulate something—anything—to say.

"Hey," Shizuko says as she raises her hand and waves. "You look like crap, Tsuna."

Tsuna's eyes widen as he snaps out of the former shock. "Shizuko…" He breaths out.

She chuckles lightly and smacks his shoulder lightly. "Is that all you've got to say? Honestly, after not seeing each other so long. Come here you idiot and give me a hug." She opens up her arms and Tsuna starts to walk forward but Shizuko drops her arms and wrinkles up her nose. "On second thought, go away. You smell like alcohol."

Tsuna shakes his head and laughs. "Yeah, you always hated alcohol."

"Indeed I do." She says, smiling.

"So, any reason for the visit?" He smirks and leans against the doorframe. "Or better yet why nobody told me of your visit?"

"Oh, well, you know," She shrugs. "Reborn."

Tsuna chuckles and nods, already understanding. "Yeah, Reborn."

"Anyway, let's go." Shizuko reaches forwards and grabs his wrist. Tsuna's eyes widen as Shizuko starts to pull him away from the office.

"Where are we going?" Tsuna asks confusingly.

"To Kokuyo Land." She responds, still dragging Tsuna.

"W-Why are we going there?"

"I'm on a mission," She says as she reaches the front door of the mansion and slams it open.

"A m-mission?" Tsuna repeats in a panicky voice.

"Yep," She grins widely as she lets go of Tsuna's wrist and places her hands on her hips, her back still facing Tsuna. "To fix your broken heart…again."

Tsuna sputters, mouth slack, eyes wide, and confusion just evident on his face.

"E-Eh?"


AN: Yay! Finally got the second chapter out~! Summer is finally approaching (For our country, anyway) and I have resolved to finish all of my unfinished stories~ Wish me luck you guys~