A/N :

Madam3Mayh3m : Ah well~ There are silent readers. I do want to know what they think tho. Anyways, I appreciate your reviews and your anticipations for this story ;D

ghostsmile96 : Or it's her ass going to be kicked? Teehee~

BigRabbit : Oh wow. Hopefully this chapter is a good redemption for your long wait!

Rogue was looking at his reflection in the mirror while humming lowly to himself. The breakfast that the maid brought in earlier was barely touched.

"Are you going somewhere, Master?" A butler, in his late 40s, asked Rogue in a respectfully manner. His master was putting on his best suit and had his happy face on.

Rogue nodded. He was busy fixing his three-piece suit. "Yes. It's time to send greeting to a certain family."

The butler nodded, understanding his master's wish. "Anything else I can help you with?"

"Yes. Prepare him. He is, after all, an important chess piece of my board."

Gokudera clenched his fist at the sight before him when he entered the conference room. He knew full well that face.

That was the same face that almost finished him and Belphegor off.

The same face that Aria fought before.

"What the hell are you doing here, you son of a-" Gokudera stopped as Tsuna shut him up with his hand. "Tenth..."

"I'd like to know what are your intentions now." Tsuna said with a stern voice. Even his expression was not the usual kind and calm one.

"You mean Aria?" Rogue took a seat leisurely with Alvise stood behind him. "I'm here to tell you everything you need to know about her."

That alone, sent shock to the whole room. The air-conditioned room was not helping in cooling down their heart at all. In fact, it made them getting more heated up.

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN BY THAT?!"

Rogue just chuckled. "Let's see...shall we start with who's this man behind me now?"

Kyoko and Haru were sobbing at one corner with Bianchi and Fuuta consoling them. While Tsuna and the rest of his guardians had a very painful expression marked on their faces.

Who would have thought Aria had a heart-throbbing past like that?

It's no wonder that she didn't want to have any attachment in any possible way with anyone.

"She must be lonely all these times."

"Aria-chan..."

"To feel all that horrible feelings and can't let them out..."

"Tenth!" Gokudera turned to his boss. "We have to go with her!"

"I agree with octopus-head!" Ryohei seconded Gokudera's suggestion. "We must stand by her at this important times!"

"Stop being an idiot." Hibari voiced out. "This is obviously a trap laid out by that sick old man."

"That maybe so, but we can't let Aria-san do this alone." Tsuna disagreed with his Cloud Guardian. "I know she is strong, but her attachment to that man is not something we can ignore."

Hibari sighed. "Attachment or not, that is up to her to decide. If you get in her way, you'll be the first to get killed."

Tsuna froze. Hibari already walked out of the room, followed by Kusakabe who just stood by him the whole time.

"Tenth..." Gokudera looked at Tsuna worriedly. "Do you think he's serious?"

Tsuna shook his head. "I fear he's speaking the truth."

By this time, Aria had reached the Forest of Death. It was thick with mist, making anyone who entered it lost their sense of direction before rotting in despair and even if they're not, there was poison emitted from the trees.

Either way, chance of survival for average person was 0.

"What are you doing dilly-dallying there, herbivore?"

Aria was shocked. There was only one person that she knew who used the word 'herbivore' and that person was also the least human being she would expect to meet!

"What are you doing here?"

Hibari showed himself. He was 10-steps away from where Aria was standing. "The other herbivores are worried about you."

"Still doesn't explain why you're here."

Hibari sighed. "I know women in general are useless and forgetful, but to think you're one of them..."

Aria didn't reply. Hibari didn't elaborate further. Both of them were standing and staring into each others' eyes.

"Go back. This is none of your business." Finally Aria said, while bypassing Hibari. But, the skylark grabbed her arm in the process.

"Herbivore should just act like a herbivore, idiot."

Aria said no more. Her sphere of defense was activated and threw Hibari out of her personal space. Hibari managed to leap from one tree to another rather than biting the dust.

"If this is you being serious, you're gonna get killed by that creepy old man who's obsessed with you."

The lass was taken aback. "How did you know about Rogue?" Aria clenched her fist. She gritted her teeth. Her eyes couldn't be any more dangerous that Hibari could remember.

Hibari smirked knowing he had successfully baited the woman. "Make me."

Boy versus girl. Flame versus aura. Carnivore versus herbivore. And present versus past.

Their fist collided. Their emotions mixed up. Their attack just continued to be aimed at one another. But neither sides were giving up.

Hibari sighed at Aria's random and thoughtless pattern of attacking. It was obvious she wanted to make him spill the details of Rogue and how much he knew of her. She was strong, he admitted. But emotions truly affected one's power.

In this state, it weakened Aria.

Bored with the fight, Hibari made one final move. He evaded Aria's thousand cards and grabbed her by her fist. "You can never beat me, herbivore."

His sharp, chilly tone struck Aria hard. Aria stopped attacking and her sphere disappeared. "It doesn't matter whether I can beat you or not." Aria looked Hibari in the eye. "I just need to fulfill our promise."

"What promise?"

Aria didn't say. She broke out of Hibari's hold by force. "I'm not going to protect you."

Hibari scoffed. "Who says anything about wanting to be protected?" He just watched as Aria walked ahead of him. "I also have a promise to hold, dumb herbivore."

At Rogue's hideout, Hibari's face was displayed on the big screen.

"Decimo's Cloud Guardian." Rogue was amused. "He's strong, just as the rumours said."

"Will he ruin our calculation?" Novi asked, a little worried.

Rogue gave a thought to it. "Who knows? He somehow survived Forest of Death. Not to mention he somehow knew how to hit our Aria where it counts."

"'I want him gone."

"They'll be arriving in three days if everything went well. This should be good~"

Novi looked at his partner. "I don't mind you having fun, but if anything went wrong, your head will be the first to roll."

Rogue laughed hard. Then, he looked at Novi with eyes full of bloodlust. "Then, maybe we should accelerate the game?"

"What do you mean?"

"I wonder what will Aria do if we go after Vongola and Cavallone?~"