"Hey Mukuro" Mio asked idly, "Why are you unidentifiable?"

The boy looked up at her, "Hmm what's that, principessa?"

She rolled over so she was lying on her back and waved a hand, creating a shower of flowers. "All living things give off a certain essence that is unique to each of them. For instance, even if twins are exactly the same in looks and smell and everything else people use to identify them, to me, they're still different. They give off different" she struggled to find the right word, "auras?"

"Oya, and what does this have to do with me?"

"Well, you don't have one. Or rather, your aura is so blurred that it seems like you could even be not human at times."

Out of nowhere, Mukuro had her pinned to the ground, his hand at her throat, "And what would you know about that?"

Choking, she kicked at the boy angrily, and gasped, "What are you doing, you bastard? I just asked a simple question! If you didn't want to answer, just tell me!"

The boy didn't loosen his grip, "I'm asking you a question, Kiyomizu Mio."

He had never called her by her name before, always choosing to teasingly call her princess. For him to be this serious, she must have done something incredibly stupid. But that was no reason for him to attack her! Struggling to breathe, she hit him weakly in the side, trying to throw him off.

He held her down firmly as he hissed, "I have gone through many different lives, have been reborn, and have gone to 6 different hells. I, unlike most, remember all the lives I have gone through. Not all of them have been human, not all of them have been pleasant." His eyes flashed, "When you ask me why I do not seem entirely human, it is because I am not."

She had stopped struggling, and he quickly let go of her. The girl rolled over, coughing and gasping for air. "So what if you've lived past lives? What you're living right now is your current life, isn't it?"

Bitterly, he replied, "Have you ever woken up wondering if your life is all a dream and you're really some poor ant struggling to stay alive each day?" Tilting his head, he smiled, "No, you haven't. Your memories of previous lives are sealed. It is only because of this eye that I remember mine."

"Is it really so bad?" she asked, genuinely concerned, having pushed thoughts of the attack out of her mind.

He murmured something quietly to himself, something that she barely caught. "It is difficult when you remember a past life that someone else does not."

So that was it then. He had met someone that he identified from a past life, but the person did not remember any of the events in their past life. She sat up slowly, rubbing her throat and then concentrated. In her hand, a small purple lotus bloomed. She handed it to the boy and said, "A lotus for rebirth. The past is the past. You can always move on and create a new future but you can never go back and change the past."

He cradled the flower in his hand for a moment before using his own power to cause it to grow in size. "Try to stop me."

Immediately alert, she focused. Under her control, the lotus sprouted vines and they wrapped the boy up in a cocoon. He smiled at her, amused, and the vines shriveled. She ignored their outward appearance, continuing to believe that they were strong, and kept them wrapped around him, thwarting his attempt to overthrow her illusion and therefore gain control of her mind. She then focused on and started attempting to force the lotus to shrink. Mukuro raised an eyebrow at her mockingly, and she forced the vines to squeeze him more tightly. She glared at the illusionary plant and it slowly started shrinking until it reverted back to its original form.

"Kufufu you are doing quite well, principessa."

She frowned, "Don't lie to me. How much of your power did you use? Ten percent?"

"Oya oya you have such little faith in yourself." At her disbelieving look, he continued, "I used 15% of my power, but you are indeed improving. And your illusions have something to them that mine do not. They are filled with that life aura as you so put it. All that remains now is to train your mind to be unbreakable. You are too easily hurt and for illusionists, that is a fatal flaw."

"So…train myself to be an unfeeling robot basically." She said wryly. "Well, I'll work on it."

The problem with becoming heartless was that she just couldn't let go of her feelings. And she found that once she had really settled down and taken the time to dig through her mind, she was one unhappy individual. The past simmered deep in her heart, barely repressed, wanting to be released in a burst of anger. But ignoring it would no longer do, so she opened the lid. And then as soon as the flood gates opened, she couldn't stop crying. There had been a reason she had kept a lid on her past for long; because had she not, she would've been a mess and that would leave her vulnerable for more messes to happen. Now that she was finally facing her past, all she could do was helplessly sob, her voice wearing itself out slowly as she screamed and released all her anger and sadness.

And when she had cried herself to the point of hysterics, she suddenly stopped. The tears stopped flowing, she wiped her face, and lay on the floor, exhausted. Why was she so sad about something that had happened so long ago? Why did she have to allow this one event to control her life? Why did she need so deeply to be accepted? There was no answer; rather, it was something that was so deeply engrained in that by this point trying to deny it would be futile.

The doorbell rang and she went to answer it wearily. To her surprise, Gokudera was standing in front of her door. His familiar smell enveloped her and she resisted the urge to throw herself in his arms. "Ah Gokudera-kun" she greeted him quietly, "What brings you here?"

He frowned at her weak voice but said, "I was wondering if I could eat here before my battle tomorrow. I want to be in my best condition."

She nodded absentmindedly. Chrome would be with Ken and Chikusa so there was nothing to worry about. "Was there anything you wanted in particular?" she asked, going over to the fridge.

She was suddenly grabbed from behind, "Oi woman, what's going on? Why is there crap thrown all over the place and why do you sound like you're about to collapse any second?"

She quickly pushed him away. If he didn't get away from her, she would end up depending on him and dragging him into her mess. She didn't want to get him involved. He refused to let go however and in one swift motion, pulled her bangs out of her face. The eyes staring back at him were dull, dark bags of exhaustion under them. "What the hell have you been doing?" he growled.

"I've just been a bit busy is all."

Her weak voice grated on his nerves for some inexplicable reason and he exploded, "You disappeared for a week when the Tenth needed the support of the family most and now I find you looking like you're about to die! What the hell is going on?"

She frowned, "I haven't even seen any of you at school. Obviously there's something going on that you're hiding from me. If you don't want me to know," her voice rose, "then don't try to drag me into it when it's convenient for you!"

In a low voice, the boy muttered, "I think I'll pass on the meal after all. You're not acting right. I'm outta here." He left, leaving only the smell of smoke to linger.

She sighed; she shouldn't have blown up on Gokudera like that for no reason. It wasn't his fault she was unstable right now. Leaning against the kitchen counter, she giggled a little. The small giggle became full blown laughter, and weak with giddiness, she collapsed on the ground, laughing so hard she couldn't breathe.

"When I told you to gain full control of your emotions, this wasn't what I had in mind."

Mio looked up wearily, "What…what happened?"

Mukuro sighed, "You laughed until you passed out. Just what exactly was so funny, if you don't mind me asking?"

"That was…well, I'm not sure. I just couldn't stop laughing…"

"Driving yourself into hysterics is not how an illusionist becomes stronger. Please be more careful next time, principessa. I can't always be rescuing you."

She nodded in understanding and then suddenly thought of something, "How is it that you can enter my mind so easily Mukuro? Are you sure you aren't possessing me as you are Chrome?"

"Kufufu I was wondering when you would ask. Your mind is oddly enough, very compatible with mine. I can enter your mind much easier than I can enter the mind of someone such as the storm guardian for the Vongola. It is even easier than entering Chrome's mind. We are oddly linked, you and I, both with an affinity for illusions, both abandoned by our families."

"Are you implying something Mukuro?" she asked suspiciously.

The boy smiled sadly at her, "No. Nothing at all. Rest well principessa."

She urged her body to go faster. But she was already running as fast as her legs could carry her. The sound of a gun cocking sent her into a frenzy and she pushed herself to the limits. There was a single shot and something cold entered her back. As the blood filled her lungs, she choked and collapsed. Trembling hands reached for the photo in her pocket. She would be joining him soon. He would be glad to see her, right? Despite her not being able to keep the promise of living until she was an old grandmother. Her eyes ghosted over his profile. The funny spiked hair that he was so proud of.

Funny spiked hair? Mio was awake in a second. She focused intently, calling for Mukuro deep in her mind. The man showed up moments later in her mind. "Oya oya, even criminal masterminds need time to rest, principessa."

"Mukuro" she said urgently, ignoring the teasing, "Did you know me in a past life? Before, when I mentioned the dream with the photograph to you, you seemed worried about something. And just now, in the picture, a man with the same hair as you…"

The man smiled sadly in her mind, "It's nothing you need concern yourself with. It's all in a past life."

"Don't just pass this off Mukuro! This is important! You were the one who told me about past lives! What if this is really important-" She broke off as she came to the realization, "You remember this, don't you…? This was what you were talking about that time…"

Mukuro was silent for a moment before sighing. "I would rather you not remember. Although we were in fact in love in a past life, it was nothing more than an infatuation on the parts of two inexperienced children. You would do well to stay with the man you love now. It will do you no good to love a wretched man like me."

"I don't love anyone right now…and more importantly, don't decide what's good for me or not!"

"Hmm, is that so?" Mukuro mused.

She tried to bring up the subject again, but the man simply chuckled, "Forget these memories of yours lest you make the same mistake."

When she woke up the next day, she had no recollection of the dreams at all.

Chrome slipped out of the bed silently, trying not to wake the girl who slept beside her. Mio waited until the girl had left before getting out of bed to follow her. She and Mukuro were hiding something from her. She had felt the nervousness pouring off of the girl and the boy had stopped visiting her as frequently. Maybe this would be her chance to find out what was going on.

She followed the sound of Chrome's footsteps as well as the slight citrusy scent that followed her. To her bemusement, they ended up at Kokuyo Land. Maybe the girl was just visiting Ken and Chikusa? But it seemed as if that wasn't her final destination because the two boys followed her out of the decrepit amusement park. Taking care not to alert Ken's animal senses, she followed them to Namimori Middle. They arrived at the gymnasium and Mio listened from outside. Tsuna and the rest were evidently inside, chatting happily. At Chrome's entrance however, they immediately became defensive, Gokudera already pulling out his dynamite.

"It looks like you don't believe me." Chrome said to the people inside.

"'Course not! Tenth! Just look at that weapon! Besides that, that eyepatch is hiding that shady eye!"

"But she's not…Rokudo Mukuro…" Tsuna said slowly.

"No? Do…do you really think so?" Gokudera asked.

"It's not…um…but for some reason…"

"You spoke for me." Chrome approached the boy and said softly, "Thank you boss."

Evidently that wasn't all she did because the boys started freaking out. Ryohei brought them back to the matter at hand by asking, "Well, what should we do? Let her join us?"

"Why should we let her join us! Besides, we don't even know where the hell she popped up from!" Gokudera grumbled.

He and Ken started arguing, but Chrome calmed the beast boy down before turning to Tsuna and asking, "Boss, is it that I'm not worthy of the position as guardian of mist?"

"Eh…?"

"I wish to battle as the guardian of mist, but if Boss won't allow it no matter what, then I'll abide by his decision."

"However, besides Chrome," Reborn piped up, "there are no others who can battle as the guardian of mist."

"What about Kiyomizu Mio?" Gokudera asked bluntly.

The girl felt her heart skip a beat. Had Gokudera just stood up for her? She smiled a little, happiness making it difficult for her to stay still.

"No. Mio cannot be the mist guardian. That is not to be her role. Creating something from nothing, and nothing from something; thus bewildering the enemy. Rendering the family's true form intangible with visions of deceit. Mio cannot do that. She is too dependent on the family itself."

Although it didn't explain much, they were forced to accept it. Tsuna seemed to think for a moment before saying, "Then, we'll leave it to you."

"What? Is that really all right, Tenth?"

"I don't really know how to put it, but it seems like it wouldn't work if it wasn't her…"

A flapping behind her had Mio ducking out of the way to hide. Inside, a new voice joined the others. And then the battle began. It was a battle of illusions that had Mio on her wit's end as she tried to discern reality from imagination. She was able to pick them out while concentrating, but then Chrome's opponent suddenly froze her pillars of fire. It happened so quickly that she didn't even have time think of the possibility of it being an illusion.

"The art of illusion seizes control of the person's perception- that is to say; it infiltrates the brain that governs their five senses. The stronger the illusionist's abilities, the more complete the infiltration. Their illusion's rate of success is also heightened, and its hold over reality stronger. Thus, in the illusionist's case, if their illusion is successfully countered with illusion, it means that control of their own perception will be completely snatched away."

The opponent proceeded to throw the girl around and then even as Chrome screamed not to, broke her trident. Mio rushed into the gym, worry etched all over her face. But a presence stopped her. That was unmistakably Mukuro!

The rest of the battle passed by in a blur with Mukuro crushing the other side's illusionist.

"How could you…you didn't have to go so far…" Tsuna exclaimed.

"Even now, you're still showing such sympathy for the enemy. Just how naïve can you get, Sawada Tsunayoshi?" Before the boy could respond, he continued, "There's no need to worry, I should say. That baby managed to escape. From the start, he had every intention of reserving enough energy to escape. He's a shrewd one, that Arcobaleno."

From across the gym, Mio heard a gruff voice say, "Gola Mosca. After the contest battles are over, eliminate Mammon."

There was a large expulsion of air and then Mukuro commented, "My my, you really are the dark side of the mafia, aren't you, Xanxus? Even I would feel awed at this terrifying scheme you've thought up." He smirked, "But, I have no intention of poking my nose into your business, because I am not such a nice human being. Just one thing though…the other candidate for the successor, though smaller and weaker than you…is not really someone you should trifle with for your own good."

He walked towards Tsuna and the rest. Gokudera was already yelling angrily, "You bastard! How dare you show your face here?"

"It's good to be so vigilant. But, I have no intention of colluding with the mafia either" Mukuro smiled mockingly, "The only reason I have become your mist guardian is to set myself in a better position to possess your body, Sawada Tsunayoshi."

"I knew it you bastard!" Gokudera shouted, taking out his dynamite. Before Tsuna could stop him, he had already thrown the dynamite.

Mukuro would be too tired to defend after expending all that energy. Mio pulled her gun out and assembled it into its longer form. Running towards them, she swung at the dynamite and sent it flying to an empty part of the gym. "You idiot!" she shouted. "Do you want to kill everyone around you!"

"What are you doing here now, stupid woman? Why didn't you show up earlier?"

The Cervello added, "Unauthorized people are not allowed to be here."

"I followed Chrome here because none of you assholes would tell me what was going on!" she retorted. To the Cervello, she said, "I'm supposed to be part of this family. Don't call me unauthorized!"

Tsuna started to apologize, but she interrupted him. "No, you listen to me. I stayed in this so called family because I didn't have anywhere else to go. I thought that with time I would become more accepted. But all you've done is push me away. And now even Mukuro who was originally your enemy knows more than me?"

"I didn't want to get you involved" Tsuna said apologetically. "You shouldn't be pulled into the mafia when you could live a normal life, Kiyomizu-chan!"

"But you could pull Chrome into it?"

"I didn't know! I didn't know who the mist guardian was until today!"

"Kufufu don't tell me you're jealous, principessa?" Mukuro chuckled.

Mio screamed into her hands, the sound only slightly muffled. "Of course I'm jealous you insensitive-!" Face still covered by her hands, she mumbled, "I'm jealous that they're willing to use you when they don't even consider you part of the family, whereas I'm pushed aside because they didn't want to get me involved."

Standing up, she turned to leave. "Kiyomizu-chan!" Tsuna called.

"Kiyo-chan, wait!"

"Oi, stupid woman! Where do you think you're going?"

She whirled around and hesitating for a brief second, had her gun out and pointed directly at Gokudera, "Don't try to stop me. I've made up my mind so don't even think about saying anything! If you cared, you would have told me what was happening!" She couldn't let petty feelings get in the way of her goals. Gokudera may have been more accepting than the others, but in the end, he stood by Tsuna and not her.

Nevertheless, Gokudera ignored her warning and grabbed her arm, forcing the gun down. "The Tenth was doing that out of concern for you, stupid!"

She shook him off, "I told you that wasn't what I wanted! Even when you all went to confront Mukuro, I was left behind! What's the point of staying in a family that doesn't want me?" She asked bitterly, "Why do you care whether I go or not anyway?"

"The Tenth won't like it if you leave." Gokudera growled.

Something in the girl snapped. No one had really been thinking about her. It was always about someone else. They were all just using her, tossing her and pushing her away when it was convenient. Burning with rage, she pointed her gun at the bomber and fired. He threw himself out of the way, cursing. "What the fuck are you doing?"

She didn't answer, instead she clenched her hand; out of the floor exploded vines. They wrapped themselves around Gokudera who struggled weakly, still injured from his own fight. He threw a few rocket bombs at her but her illusions blocked them. Not giving him a chance to react, she fired her gun at him again.

The bullets were deflected by Yamamoto who had gotten to them in the nick of time. He stood in a defensive position in front of Gokudera, sword drawn, and said tersely, his usual cheerful disposition gone, "Kiyo-chan, you can't do that."

She reassembled her gun and ran to grapple with him. The boy had improved greatly after his fight with Squalo however, and her attacks were ineffective. Gritting her teeth, she had the vines multiply until they were wrapped around him too.

"Oi trash. Join the Varia." A gruff voice brought her out of her sudden anger. To their shock, it was Xanxus who had spoken. The man was looking at the girl, a glint of interest in his eyes.

She took a small step towards the man and Tsuna asked incredulously, "You can't really be thinking about joining them?"

She knew it was the wrong decision but she couldn't help herself from saying, "Why not?" deridingly, "At least with them, I know where I stand. I'm a subordinate; no more, no less."

It was at that point that Mukuro finally decided to interrupt. "It seems like I'll have to stop you myself then, principessa. Since you are firm about your decision."

"Don't come near me, Mukuro" she snarled. "I don't trust you."

The look on the man's face surprised them all, but the blind girl didn't see a thing and chose to ignore the waves of hurt pouring off the boy. "You certainly shouldn't trust me" Mukuro murmured, "It is not the first nor will it be the last time I betray you." He turned away without another word.

Mio walked over to stand with the Varia calmly. "Ushishishi looks like we found ourselves another peasant to play with, eh Boss?"

"Don't touch her, trash. She's mine."

"Boss! We can't trust some brat from the Vongola! This could all be an act! She could be a-" Levi started yelling.

"Shut up trash." Xanxus growled. "I told you. She's mine."

Life with the Varia was as miserable as she thought it would be. No one cared about her, no one attempted to be friendly with her. They all pretty much left her alone, which of course meant there were no attempts to kill her either. In all reality, she supposed she had Xanxus to thank for that. After marking her as his territory (or prey, however you wanted to look at it), the officers were smart enough to stay clear of her path, and the lower ranks that had come with them to Japan were terrified of her.

With Mukuro gone from her mind, she was lonely and bored. But she refused to regret her decision. It was their fault for refusing to tell her anything and forcing her to take drastic measures! She would stay with the Varia for as long as she needed to.

And it wasn't all dull. For all that everyone else avoided her like the plague, she sometimes ran into Xanxus who would do either one of two things that she come to expect. If he smelled overwhelmingly like alcohol, he would most likely throw something at her. But if he was a little more sober, he would drag her out to behind the hotel where he would shoot at her. At first she thought it had been some kind of sick punishment, but slowly she began to see that this was the man's way of teaching her. By listening to the way he moved while using his guns, she learned much more than she had been able to teach herself. He may have been a violent alcoholic, but she had to admit the man knew his way around weapons.

She took the opportunity to improve herself and spent most of her time behind the hotel working on her footwork or shooting at random targets. Xanxus had never spoken more than five words to her each time they trained, but she sensed that he was pleased with her progress. When they had first started training together, she had tripped over herself trying to avoid his fireballs; now she listened and controlling her breathing, danced out of the way. She avoided making unnecessary movements and was a deadly shot with her gun, able to hit a butterfly in flight with a bullet. (Xanxus could do this too, but the butterfly was incinerated along with everything else in the vicinity so she couldn't really decide if it counted or not).

Incompetence was rooted out and destroyed in the Varia so when Mio practiced with her MAC 11, she made sure to stay hidden from the rest of the squad. If they ever saw her with it, they would most likely kill her or die laughing on the spot. Which was why she was at such a loss. She had her MAC 11 in hand and yet, standing before her was Xanxus; and he wasn't attempting to kill her.

The man reached forward for the gun and she resisted the urge to flinch. If he was going to shoot her, he would've done it with his own guns, right? "Oi, brat. Stop looking so fucking terrified all the time and pay attention."

She jerked; that had been the most he had ever said to her at one time since she had gone with the Varia. This must be important if he was taking the time to talk and not just shoot. "You don't need this gun to shoot the enemy with. Use it to move around the battlefield."

The look on her face was evidently enough to inform him that she didn't understand his meaning. He pressed the trigger and the torrent of bullets tore into the ground and he flew backwards. "It's the same as what I do with my flames. Use the force of the bullets to propel yourself in the opposite direction."

"But isn't that your move?" she blurted without thinking.

"If you learn to use it, I don't care." He smirked and he challenged, "If you can do it, that is."

He tossed the gun back at her nonchalantly and left without another word. She thought silently for a moment. It was true that more mobility would help her in battle, but would she be able to use this technique. If she was in mid-air, she would lose her bearings. But that quick burst of speed may be what she needed.

She reloaded the gun and pointing the muzzle at the ground at a 45 degree angle, she pressed the trigger. The force sent her falling backwards and she twisted to avoid hitting the ground on her back. This technique wasn't as easy as Xanxus made it look. She gritted her teeth and tried again; by hell, she would master this if it was the last thing she did.

She and the Varia were on slightly better terms now. Bel had come across her as she was training and after informing the rest of the officers, she was now acknowledged as at the very least "not useless". Unfortunately, now Bel had taken to popping by her training sessions and throwing knives at her.

She supposed this could be one of those times. Except Bel was just sitting there watching her shoot moving targets. Unable to stand the awkward situation, she turned in his direction and asked, "Did you need something?"

Bel snickered, "The prince was just wondering why Boss would want a girl like you in the Varia."

She snorted, "Shouldn't you go and ask him then? He's never said anything about it to me. Why anyone would want a blind girl in an assassination group is beyond me."

Silence followed by an intake of breath, "You're blind?"

"You…didn't know that?" She asked.

Bel shook his head but then realizing she couldn't see, replied, "No one ever told the prince."

She shrugged, "Well, I am. And before you start pitying me or treating me like I'm shit, just remember, I'm blind. Not stupid."

"The Prince wants to hear the peasant's story." He walked over and grabbed her by the arm.

"I have to practice or Boss will fry my ass" she protested weakly.

Her pleas were lost on the blonde boy's ears. He sat her down and commanded, "Speak."

"There's not much to tell" she mumbled uncomfortably. She always had trouble telling people about her past. The only person she had ever voluntarily told was Gokudera. "My parents abandoned me when I was eight. I had an accident and I was left blind and on my own."

Bel examined her for a moment silently and declared, "Boss brought back an interesting peasant." Grinning widely, he left without another word.

Mio dismissed the incident as an odd quirk of a Varia member. They all seemed to be insane one way or another. As long as they bother her too much, she didn't mind.

Author's Note:

I hope this was a good chapter! I'm afraid Mio's turning into a bit of a bitch, but it was necessary for her character development! (Plus I had to get the Varia in there somehow haha).

Have you ever had that feeling when you just start laughing for no reason and then you can't stop? ...No...? Just me...? Well...Idk I thought it showed just how unstable her mental status was at the moment :P

That was a low blow to MukuroXMio supporters. I'm sorry, but I had to turn the story back to Gokudera even though pretty much everyone wanted Mukuro. I'M SORRY! Don't worry though, I'm planning on giving him a bit more time! And the past will be explained later!

Before I forget (because I have for the past like 5 chapters), I wanted to thank everyone who reviewed and wasn't logged in. I wanted to reply but...there was kind of no way haha. Thank you so much! It really means a lot! Thank you also to everyone else who reviewed as well of course! :3

Please read and review~