Chapter 4: Burning the Bridge

1230 hrs, Sunday; January 3, Year 2100

"Hibari! You – you! How could you just leave like that on New Year's eve?" A muffled voice could be heard from behind the thick wooden door. It was very acid, vexation and aggravation dripping in every loudly enunciated syllable.

"I do what I want," someone else replied. His voice was unlike the other man's– it was collected and indifferent. He seemed to have said what he wanted to say, for footsteps were heard soon after, and she stopped listening; only opening her eyes slowly and with care.

Her head throbbed lightly. Sitting up and rubbing her temples in soft, round circles, she took a moment before realizing that she was on plush velvet. Her apron was placed on the coffee table in front of her seat, neatly folded, along with Miss Miura's coat.

"Ah!" she cried loudly, before raising both her palms to cover her mouth. As she took in a deep, slow breath, she took in her surroundings as well.

The room she was in was small and ordinary, only having a window on one side and the door parallel to it. Another table was placed up against the cream-coloured walls, a little coffee making machine on it, as well as several cups, a rack of teabags and a hot water dispenser. A shelf was placed above the table, carrying a bottle of tea leaves and a few rolls of paper towels. A teapot sat in its tray, steam wafting in elegant swirls around the air.

"Oh – oh! Don't get up yet, please don't! I'll – " a high-pitched accented voice wailed. "I-Pin will take care of this! Please, please, lie down and relax. If you're worried about work, you're not the only one who fainted on the first day! They understand!"

Before she could turn around to see who spoke, Tsuna felt a pair of small hands pushing her shoulders down.

"Gah!"

Before she knew it, she was pushed back into the soft cushions, a shadow looming over her face. The light had silhouetted the stranger's features, and Tsuna soon found herself with eyes squinted, trying to make out the face.

"You're very pale! Look, I just got off for lunch. Look, I've brought some green tea and dumplings. Let's eat together!"

If you want me to eat lunch with you, don't push me down again!

"Ah, th-thank you. Where's Yamamoto-san? Did he bring me here? " Tsuna offered a shaky smile before launching into a few of the thousand questions she held in her mind. The peculiar young girl that had settled herself adjacent to Tsuna seemed to redden up a bit, instead choosing to fiddle with her dark pigtails. Judging by her looks, Tsuna could only tell that she seemed only in her adolescence – she was probably as young as fourteen or fifteen. She was appalled; such a young girl was already working? As she observed the other maid a little further, she realized that this young teenager was also the same person back at the garage.

"Yes, yes, Master Yamamoto b-brought you here!" she clamped her eyes shut, before adding in undertone. "He-he carried you bridal style!"

"What?" Tsuna was now up, tilting her head in confusion.

"A-anyway! Let's eat! Forget that for now," the maid said, taking two boxes out of a plastic bag. She then got up and went to the table, picking up two simple Japanese-styled tea cups from the cup tray.

"By the way, what's your name? I'm I-pin," she asked as she carried the tray back to the coffee table.

"Oh. I'm Sawada. Sawada Tsuna," she answered, watching as I-pin poured the tea.

"Nice to meet you! Master Yamamoto told me to show you around the house and teach you a few things once you woke up. Oh, and don't tell him I call him 'Master', because he really dislikes being called like such," she smiled.

"Ah…I'll take note of that."

Both Tsuna and I-pin were biting into their dumplings now. Tsuna was surprised, for it was very delicious despite the simple ingredients inside it. She could feel its warmth crawl down her throat and settle in her stomach, and warmth in her chest, like a small light, glowing softly and gently. She flushed a bit.

"It's good… So many gentle feelings…" she whispered to herself slowly, eying the dumpling in her chopsticks with awe.

I-pin nodded her head eagerly. Her smile grew wider and her eyes softer, as though she were about to talk about someone near and dear. A faint pink glow was on her cheeks.

"Yes, my master, Fong, taught me how to make these dumplings. I like to make them for lunch every day. I'm really glad that you've received the feelings I put into them!" she turned and looked down. "After all, Master said that the most important part is to put feelings into them, so they'll taste good. But…no one has really realized that. I've made them for many others, they just smile and say it's nice, then go on their way again. It would be nice if…if people just started savouring things again," she said wistfully.

"So…" she turned back to Tsuna. "Thank you very much!" Her eyes were glistening now, gratefulness reflected in her dark brown pupils.

Tsuna just returned her warmth in the form of a genial smile.

After the two had settled their lunch, Tsuna put on her apron again, dusting off her skirt and rearranging her hair.

"S-so, what are we going to do now?" she asked, unsure. She knew for one that she had to look after the pets, but surely there were other things she would be tasked to do.

"I told you already! Master Yamamoto asked me to show you around the house, then teach you about certain rules we have here. It's big around, so you'll just be spending today getting used to everything. Although," I-pin scratched her chin sheepishly, eyebrows curling up and the side of her mouth twitching, "I think it will take a long time to get used to the people living here."

"Eh?"

The pair was now walking down a narrow corridor, passing by various scurrying maids who took but a mere glance at Tsuna before bustling to their destination. Tsuna noticed that all the maids seemed dissimilar to her– their uniforms were slightly different, of a dark brown colour instead of the black which she wore. But then, it was always not about them being different, but it was about Tsuna not being the same. Again, Tsuna felt like an anomaly – but such a feeling was far from foreign to her. She slouched a bit more, feeling meeker as they walked out of the corridor and turned out into the main hallway.

"Let's just say, apart from Master Yamamoto and perhaps Lambo-san, you won't be fainting only once during your working time here. A lot of maids from your agency have run out of here crying, hehe," I-pin chuckled, slightly embarrassed.

"B-but why? What do they do here?"

"I guess I have to explain how things work here. See? Your uniform, although similar to mine in design, is of a different colour. The maids in dark brown dresses are directly employed by the Vongola Entertainment Company – they own this piece of land, and this building," she said, looking at Tsuna. She nodded slowly, confirming the comprehension of what I-pin had just said.

"Then why do they need to employ people from Miss Miura's agency?"

"Ah, I was just getting to that. You'll notice that you're the only one wearing black here. Which means you're tasked with the more personal chores," I-pin explained. "You'll be the only one allowed to enter the masters' rooms, whether to clean or deliver food, should they request it. You see, each one of them wish to lead more private lives, but it's really hard for them to clean their own rooms since they all lead very busy lives. So the higher ups decided to employ highly trained maids from an external agency, and only allow one to enter their rooms to clean up. Though, you're an exception. You're the first to come here without any prior training."

Exceptions, exceptions, always exceptions. Tsuna had grown up an exception, but of course she would be an exception now. Fate was cruel; she could not change what had been established of her since the beginning of time. She drew a long sigh, but I-pin noticed and immediately raised her hand, giving her a pat on the shoulder.

"It's a highly coveted position, you know! What a maid here wouldn't give to just have a glance at their rooms? Although – " she paused for awhile, "no one has ever been into Master Hibari's or Master Mukuro's rooms. They aren't allowed. Why the maids were sent out was because – because – they dared a peep inside. The more fortunate ones were on the receiving end of Master Gokudera's temper, but even that was enough to get them to quit. I-I don't really blame them though! They're always so busy, busy, busy. Don't you know what they work as?"

Tsuna shook her head. She was not that interested in their personal lives – all she wanted was to earn some money, and live till she died of old age. That was the only pathetic goal in her life. Why should she poke her nose into other people's businesses? They could be rich and good-looking, but what they did was of no relation to what she would be doing. The pair now stopped, right in front of a window overlooking the backyard. The sky was grey and overcast, sullen and dark. Little snow drops fluttered down, some landing on the glass, the rest joining the coat of snow that had formed over the window panes.

I-pin bent over, adding in a conspiratorial whisper.

"The mafia. I heard they are into dark underground trades. Killing, murder –that's why they don't want many people to walk into their rooms. The maids that have dug up information they don't need to know have gone missing overnight. Missing…missing…missing… "

"Boo!" she yelled loudly and suddenly.

"Wha – what! Wha! "

"Just kidding, just kidding! They're actually a group of musicians that the Vongola Entertainment Company are trying to put together to form a band. Don't you know? Project Vongola Guardians? Although they just call it Project Guardians. They're not quite well known yet, but their fame is spreading quickly. They make really good music! Surely you've heard of them!"

"Y-yeah, I have..."

I-pin looked at her, puzzled by the lack of reaction. She peered up at Tsuna for a short moment, before returning to her original position.

Oh yeah, she did mention the Vongola Entertainment Company before. Tsuna, you're so stupid. So, so very stupid. How could I fall for that?! Tsuna thought as she placed her palm across her face. She had the urge to bang her forehead on the wall now, but she decided to leave it for later. There was work to do.

By the end of the day, Tsuna and I-pin had done a lot of walking. Tsuna had learnt the basic outline of the entire mansion, where she was supposed to work and how to get about. She had also learnt a few rules of the mansion. Although they had spent the day on their feet walking around, they did not bump into any of the people who lived there, save the live-in maids. Tsuna had wanted to go meet Yamamoto to thank him again for picking her up and showing her around, but alas, he too was missing. It was evening, one could tell as the sky was a darker shade of grey now. Tsuna held a piece of paper in her hands, a list of notes that I-pin had kindly made for her. They both sat at the huge fountain in the back of the mansion, resting their tired feet for a while.

Tsuna unfolded the paper and spared it a glance, before putting it back into the coat pocket. She jerked her head up in sudden realization.

Oh dear! I left my sweater at Miss Miura's. Oh well, I'll just have to collect it tomorrow. She sighed again, cursing her muddle-headedness.

"So – " I-pin started in a sing-song voice, "how was it?"

"Ah, it was very interesting. It would have been nice to take a look at who these masters you talk about are. But since you mentioned they have a packed schedule…"

"Oh, yeah. They're probably recording at the Namimori branch of the Vongola Company too. You're really lucky not to have to deal with them on your first day though. I guess you'll meet most of them as time goes by."

Tsuna just nodded, turning her head up, staring at the dirty and polluted sky.

"Well! I best be leaving now. I have got school tomorrow."

"H-huh!?"

"Ah? I forgot to tell you! I only work here part-time! I'm just a student. I'll probably only see you the next weekend," she said, slinging her small bag pack over her shoulders, "so, good luck for tomorrow!" she turned, waving the back of her hand at Tsuna. She then walked at a quick pace, disappearing around the corner.

"B-bye…" Tsuna muttered to herself, before lifting herself up. No sound could be heard, none but the howls of the cold wind, the rustling of bushes and the cries of the crow flying overhead. It was dark and sad, Tsuna realized, as she stood in the middle of the desolated back yard that seemed to carry no life at all. The lights that surrounded the fountain came on, one by one, casting a dark shadow before her. From there, she could see the mansion lights coming on and maids scurrying to prepare the dinner table.

She turned back and stared at her feet as she walked away from the empty garden and begun her journey back home.

A/N: Nuts, I'm seriously muddle-headed. I put the date wrong for the previous chapter, and I didn't even check if I had accidentally removed a sentence, so here I offer my greatest apologies for those who've been confused by my hare-brained antics! (Maybe I should get a beta. I don't know yet. I really don't.)

Er, anyway, I did say it was either yesterday, today or tomorrow that I'd upload a new chapter, if not only after 2 weeks. But after rushing some homework, I squeezed in some time to write the chapter, so there you go! But I can't promise you a new chapter very soon. Sorry!

Anyway, thank you for all the reviews and whatnot! I really appreciate it. Look, here's a smiley. :)

And thanks for reading!