DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN KATEKYO HITMAN REBORN AND GUILTY CROWN. I DO NOT EVEN OWN ITS CHARACTERS which is such a shame...

A/N: Hello there! I'm so back~ I was quite busy the past weeks since I was processing some important documents for my driver's license (yay, I can drive!). I just received it, and due to my happiness, I almost forgot I haven't continued this yet so anyways, let's get on with the story. I want to warn you that this may also contain some OOC-ness. Thanks, and have fun!

EDIT: I've made some changes here, but it's no big deal, just trying to clear myself out.

Chapter 4

Mixed Feelings

Tsuna and his gang, even Reborn, Haru and Hibari, were hushed. They were either amazed or muted with her voice, or by the song she was singing.

It didn't sound right.

Her voice was magnificent, they wouldn't deny that. But a voice like hers sounded off with their school's anthem. She sounded as if she wanted to say something else, that she was trying to insert words in-between the lyrics, but all they heard was clearly the lyrics of their school's theme. No other words inserted, and she didn't even miss any note. She didn't dare to revise it or anything, and she seemed to just go along with Hibird's singing.

Clearly, they noticed her cheeks blushing, and her face looked as if she was happy. Not just happy, but also grateful, and her voice implied that. Even though her voice wasn't suited for the song she was singing, she was able to convey what she wanted to tell them.

Thank you.

Though she didn't understand what she was feeling, and though she wasn't able to recognize the emotions swirling inside her, she was able to convey them through singing. Such sweetness emanated from her, despite the fact that she was fighting fiercely with the war freak a while ago.

=/=

As soon as the bird noticed Hibari standing in front, it paused and flew over to him. Inori gradually halted as she saw that the small bird has flown to its master. Her blushing remained though, and even though she was unaware of the warmth she had emitted through singing, the strangers around her surely appreciated her feelings.

The bird then landed on Hibari's shoulder.

Silence...

Tsuna and the others gulped. Hibari was dead quiet too. He was just staring at the woman, or was he glaring? Inori wondered once again as to why he was looking at her like that. No one had ever looked at her like that, well, someone did looked at her like that but, no one had looked at her for a long period. As she quietly pondered, she felt that the reddening of her face just increased.

=/=

Everyone knew his gaze could pierce, and yes, it did pierce Inori, though in another way. Since his sharp eyes were fixed on her for at least a minute or two already, a surge of intense heat afflicted her, and her face turned redder and redder. She didn't know what it was that hit her, nor did she understand what she was feeling. All she knew was that if one blushed, it meant one felt embarrassed, or so as Gai had told her.

Is this...really embarrassment? If so, why does it feel so...intensified?

Many questions crossed her mind but her thoughts were broken when she heard the man spoke. "*Prayer." his tone ever so quiet.

"Yes?" Inori, shocked of being called with her first name with someone other than Gai and her companions from the Funeral Parlor, quickly replied. Her tone was even and quiet too, despite the fact that she was startled. She wasn't even sure as to why did she even reply in the first place.

=/=

Now that's astonishing. Even Reborn was surprised. It was the first time they heard Hibari call someone in a name. But since they didn't know it was her first name, they were saved from a fatal blow of shock. Everyone was frozen stiff, especially Haru, who knew that it was her first name. She almost lost it due to the shock she received.

=/=

"You are?"

"Eh?" she uttered. Her tone remained even despite the fact that her face was still looking like a tomato. "Yuzuriha Inori." she finally answered.

"EEEEEEHHHHHHHHHHHHHH?" Tsuna and Gokudera incredulously yelled in unison. Yamamoto just chuckled. He knew she was called Yuzuriha, but he didn't know Inori was her first name.

The shock was too much to bear it made Gokudera lose consciousness. Usually, it only happened around Bianchi, but since he had witnessed a battle of no shame—where the woman with pink hair just had to show them her panties, and then now the demon in front of him just did something unimaginable and unthinkable which even defies his sense of science and logic, he just lost it.

Hibari called someone in her first name, and that someone is a her!

"All right, herbivores. Time's up. Go back to your classrooms. If anyone of you gets late, you will be bitten to death." he ordered, as if nothing absurd just happened. His steel tonfas vanished, and he was fixing his coat too. He then looked at Inori, then Haru. "Please go back to your own campus. If you stay here any longer, I'll consider you to be trespassing and you will be bitten to death. That is all."

"Hahiii!" Haru yelped as she noticed the sky. Though she didn't have any watches with her, she knew they're going to be late on their next subject. "Tsuna-san! Sorry, we have to go-desu!" she then grabbed Inori's arm, and muttered to her, "Sorry, Yuzuriha-san. We'll come back here next time, and I'll make sure there'd be no more problems-desu!" Inori looked at her wide-eyed, and nodded. As soon as Haru dashed towards the exit, she followed. But once again, as they were already climbing down the stairs, she felt a sudden desire in her chest to look back, but she managed to contain herself and remained focused on the way.

They did come in late for their next subject. They hurried to their respective seats and went on with the classes until it was finally over.

Inori was about to go when Haru came up to her. "Want to walk home together-desu?" she smiled. Inori nodded without looking at her. Her mind seemed blank.

Walking through the hallway, Haru broke the silence. "By the way, Yuzuriha-san, can I call you Inori-chan instead?" By that time, Inori looked at her, wide-eyed.

Haru became nervous. She was sweating when she replied. "Well...you see...I-er, you know...um... Well, Haru just likes your first name-desu!" she stuttered. She was also forcing a smile. She knew she sounded awkward but she just had to voice it out. It was what she felt anyway.

Inori kept quiet, and kept staring at her.

She let out a sigh and looked down in disappointment. "Okay... Haru would continue calling you Yuzuriha-"

"It's okay." Inori finally voiced out, interrupting the disappointed Haru. She quickly turned to her, and her face gradually looked brighter.

"I really like your first name-desu, and I like you too, Yuzuriha-san! Please, let me call you Inori-chan-desu!" she declared, her cheeks slightly flaming. Inori nodded, her lips curving slightly, forming a small shy smile. "Thank you, Haru." Having called Haru in her first name, Inori blushed and she quickly palmed her mouth.

Haru was also surprised. Ever since the day she tried to befriend her, she never called her in her name, even in her last name. She was glad. "Inori-chan, please don't feel uncomfortable with me. You can call me Haru-desu! We're friends anyway!" she happily exclaimed as she took her hands from her mouth and softly pressed them. Without saying anything, she beamed. "So, let's go."

Inori stared at her for a while, admiring her upbeat character. She was amazed by her charms too. And she was warmed by her words. "Friends..." she softly whispered under her breath. As Haru led the way, she unconsciously drew a wider smile on her face, and before she knew it, she was already beaming. She felt something light and warm, soft and fuzzy.

Is this what you call having fun? Is this the so-called 'comfortable' feeling?

Though she still doubted, she let her emotions to surface. She thought if it was Haru, then it was fine.

"Welcome back, Inori." Gai greeted as soon as he heard the door creaked open. He was sitting on a sofa, watching television while eating instant noodles. He glanced at Inori, and upon seeing her face, his eyes widened in shock.

Inori's face looked a bit, well, refreshing.

She bowed her head as she faced Gai, and then quickly advanced to her room.

"What happened? You look happy." Gai suddenly said with a hint of disbelief in his tone. Then, he took a little sip of the noodle's broth.

Hearing him, Inori paused. She looked at Gai and asked. "Is this...happiness?"

"Yes, Inori." he said as he swallowed the noodles next. "It's written all over your face. What happened?" he asked once more.

"Friends." she said in a quiet tone, but there was a hint of trembling. "I made friends." she continued, and then she slowly chuckled. "I made friends, and she's very warm."

Gai looked at her with satisfaction. He drew a small smile as he spoke, "That's good, Inori." he finally finished his instant noodles. "I'm glad you made friends." Inori nodded, and smiled. Gai was relieved as he saw her smile. "All right, there is still some steak left from lunch. It's in the fridge. I'll heat it up." he declared as he grabbed the TV's remote control and switched it off. "Oh, and after you eat dinner, go to sleep." he continued as he stood up and put the remote control over the table. He traversed the living room and went to the kitchen. "Oh, and one more thing," he peeked from the entry. He looked at the dumbfounded Inori intently. He then sighed and waved a dismissive hand. "Oh, never mind."

"Gai?"

"No, never mind Inori." he then vanished from her sight as he entered the kitchen. The noise of the fridge being opened and closed was heard. Next was something opened, and a device working sounded.

It must be the microwave.

Inori was troubled though. "Is it a mission?"

Gai didn't say a word until the microwave rang which signalled that it has accomplished its work. She could hear Gai heaving a sigh.

"You're unusually happy, so I decided not to tell." The screech from opening the microwave and taking out something was loud. "Seriously, we have to buy a new microwave." Gai grumbled. "Anyway," holding a plate with steak on it, Gai came out from the kitchen. "My acting was poor, huh?" he leaned his back against the column of the entrance connecting the kitchen and the living room. His smile was filled with sarcasm.

"What's the job? When do we move?" Inori plainly replied.

"You don't have to go."

Silence...

Inori stared at his eyes. It was the start of a staring contest and after a whole three minutes, Gai looked away.

"What's the point of reheating the steak." he said as he went back to the kitchen. Inori followed him. "Gai..." though her voice was soft, her quiet tone surprisingly indicated her impatience. Gai fretted. He knew she wanted some explanations but he figured he can't tell her yet.

He put down the plate on the dining table. "Later, before dawn, at xx Hotel, we were told to..." he suddenly paused and searched for something in his pocket. He took out a small piece of paper with an image on it.

It was a photograph.

"We were told to kill the man in the photograph."

To be continued...

A/N: I'm not really sure if my title suits this chapter but anyways, I'm glad it turned out to be longer. x)

Also, the "xx Hotel", well, I can't give out hotel names since I really don't know the name of the hotel that Dino-san and the Varia had stayed before. Don't worry, I'll go research it, or if someone out there knows it, please PM me. You're also free to guess who it is on the photo. Thanks!

Anyways, I'll try to finish the next chapter this day so as to make up for the past few weeks, hehe... Anyway, please feel free to suggest or anything, I do need some help too~

EDIT: See that "*" ? Inori's first name is "Prayer" when translated into english, it's the main reason why they seemed confused and shocked when Inori responded, leading them to the conclusion that it was how she was called. Also, it's how Hibari understood Inori the first time they met, since her voice was too soft.