I decided to continue…

That small moment was enough. In my heart I devoted myself completely to Hibari. It wasn't a conscious decision; you can't really control those sorts of things. I wanted to stare at him for ages, but the commotion continued around us.

Afro was crying because he had been burnt to a crisp by his own grenades. (Where did he even get those?) Tsuna was yelling at him. Fedora was smirking as if he found something highly amusing. Hibari pulled out his tonfas and walked over to Tsuna, accusing him of being an herbivore and disrupting the peace. It looked like Hibari was about to beat the crap out of him, (I wasn't about to stop him. I would gladly help him. Who allowed a little kid to keep grenades?) but Fedora stepped in. To my surprise, this actually paused Hibari.

"Baby?" His tone was odd, filled with a strange respect. He respected the kid in the fedora? For some reason this spurred a strange jealousy.

"This is my fault Hibari. If you let Tsuna go, I'll owe you one." This made Hibari smirk.

"I want a fight, a real one." This utterly shocked me. Hibari was into beating up little kids? Before Fedora could do more than smirk again, Hibari had turned and strode back over to me. He just stood next to me, not even looking at us. Then Fedora spoke.

"Konowa Nekko, I want you in Tsuna's family." This was also utterly confusing. Maybe I was just in shock or something, but currently not a single thing made sense.

Family? You can't add people to a family. Well, unless you marry or adopt them, but I was pretty sure that's not what Fedora meant.

"Family?"

"Tsuna is the tenth boss for the Vongola family." He explained. "I want you to join his family," he repeated. This made Tsuna cry out.

"Reborn! I told you not to say that! I'm not going to join the mafia." Mafia?

The baby smiled. "You don't have a choice. The ninth chose you as his successor." Then he turned to me, waiting for an answer.

"Is this a joke, or a game? You guys shouldn't mess around with the mafia, it's not funny." That's what I wanted to say, but I didn't. There was something in the baby's tone and Tsuna's face that told me it wasn't just a game. Something in the way Hibari spoke to the baby and remained silent now, also awaiting my answer. I looked around, desperate for someone to answer the question for me.

Nikko was looked as confused as I felt. Tsuna looked miserable. Hibari was indifferent. After an awkward moment of silence Fedora, or Reborn (I think that was his name), spoke.

"Hibari's in Tsuna's family too." Hibari shrugged at my bewildered glance and said,

"Sometimes there are some good fights." I didn't know what to think of that, but that didn't stop me from talking.

"F-fights?" They were really in the mafia? I noticed Tsuna's hand flutter up to a ring hanging on a chain from around his neck. For the first time, I noticed a ring on Hibari's finger. It depicted a cloud and looked antique and valuable.

"We don't fight. Except when it's strictly necessary." This was Tsuna, obviously not wanting to be thought of as a violent mafia boss. Suddenly everything made sense about him. The way, despite his general pathetic-ness, some of the most popular guys in school hung around him. Why Gokudera called him Judaime. All the strange people that showed up at school and seemed to be affiliated with him.

He was a mafia boss.

Then it occurred to me that other people at school were involved in this. I tried to recall others I'd seen with a ring. I remembered Gokudera, Yamamoto, and an upper classman came to mind. Sasagawa, I think that was his name. I had seen him jogging on my way to school and remembered a ring bouncing on his chest.

I stared at Tsuna for a long time. To my surprise he stared back. I looked into his eyes, windows to the soul, and tried to read him. After several minutes, I deemed that he meant no harm, and was unhappy about the situation. He really was a good person.

Before I knew it, I was nodding slowly and saying, "Okay." I met Fedora's gaze, and since he seemed to be in charge, said to him, "I'll join Tsuna's family. The Vongola, was it?"

Fedora smiled. Tsuna looked bewildered. Hibari was still indifferent. Nikko, after an initial wave of confusion and shock, took on an accepting demeanor. That scared me. What nearly frightened me to death was what he said though.

"I want in too. Nekko's not joining the mafia without me." His natural stubbornness showed itself in his eyes, which had turned hard and steely. I was about to protest when Tsuna did it for me.

"There's no way! You're just a kid! Reborn, tell him!" I shot a grateful glance at Tsuna, but my hope dwindled when I saw the spark in Nikko's eyes had not diminished.

"You can't use that as an excuse. That 'Reborn' can't be more than three. That afro kid over there can't be more than six. If they're in the mafia than I can be too." Nikko would make a great lawyer one day… but that wouldn't happen if he joined the mafia.

"They were born into the mafia!" Tsuna protested.

"That makes no difference. If you stood by what you said about age then you wouldn't allow them to actually be involved until they were older." That seemed to really throw Tsuna off.

"I didn't do that! They were mafia before I even knew them. They dragged me into this." Before Nikko could make another retort Fedora stepped in.

"You're good. You're in. Welcome to the Vongola family." Tsuna was about to protest again but I beat him to it.

"If me being in Tsuna's family means Nikko is too, I'm out. Nikko is not going to be part of the mafia." Nikko started objecting but I cut him off.

"This isn't a game, Nikko. This is dangerous and you're still a kid who doesn't fully understand it. You have a future, a shot at being someone. You're not going to throw that away to join the mafia."

"You're smart too! You could be anything you want. You'll probably win a scholarship and be a super rich genius!"

"What would I do with that? I follow the books but I don't have any real skill. I could never make anything or do anything that wasn't taught to me. You can. That's the difference between us. That's why you can't join the mafia." My tone rang out with authority and finality. I half expected Nikko to shut up and agree, but that would have been too easy.

"You can't stop me."

"Shut up Nikko. I'm your legal guardian. You have to do what I say or I can send you off to boarding school. Let's see how you join the mafia from there." This immediately froze everyone in their tracks. I found myself desperately wishing I hadn't said anything. Everyone was staring at me and I was gnawing a hole in my cheek.

"W-what? M-mom and Dad would never let you…" There was a hint of uncertainty in his eyes. I hadn't told him yet.

*flash back*

The phone was ringing. It must have been two in the morning. I snatch it off the hook halfway through the first ring so it won't wake Nikko.

"Hello?" I whisper into the receiver. A quiet, indifferent voice I'd recognize anywhere spoke to me.

"Nekko. This is your mother. Your father and I just want to tell you we won't be back for a while."

Silence.

"Why not?" I could almost hear her shuffling her feet nervously. Almost, but not quite.

"Well, we were offered a job…and it involves traveling, we won't be able to come home very often or for very long."

Silence.

Silence.

"Nekko, we have to make this quick, this is a long distance call."

Silence.

"Nekko?"

Silence.

Finally: "What was the point of moving to Japan?"

Again, the almost heard shuffling of feet.

"Well, your father and I weren't sure we'd get the job, and it would be nice to move to Japan…but if we did, which we did, we knew how much you and your brother admire the Japanese…"

Silence.

"Why didn't you just tell us before you left?"

"Well, we didn't know for sure yet, we left for a final interview. We were hired, so we're starting right away."

Silence.

"What's going to happen to us?"

"I hired a nanny of sorts. She'll be responsible for checking in on you every once in a while, but not too often. Maybe two or three times a month. Ultimately you have the final say of what happens to Nikko. In health, school, everything. You'll act as his guardian. All the necessary documents and forms you need are in the drawer of our bedside table. They're all filled out and official."

Click.

I hung up on her. A numb anger filled me. So they just dumped us here huh? Whatever, we didn't need them.

*End of flash back*

I felt like my cheek was about to start bleeding so, not without effort, I eased my teeth off of it. Two seconds later they were back and chewing away. Nikko's gaze was piercing, trying to find the truth through my eyes.

I refused to meet his gaze, which was just as bad.

"Nekko, what happened to Mom and Dad?" His voice was demanding. I couldn't blame him, he deserved to know. It was my own stupid fault for trying to use it in my favor and letting too much slip.

"Nikko, not now." I pleaded. I didn't want to have this conversation with him at all, much less in front of Hibari, Tsuna, Fedora and Afro.

"Nekko?" He was eight years old but his voice was convictive. He was in charge now, and he knew it.

"It doesn't matter. What does is that I'm in charge now. My word is final." I tried to regain my earlier demeanor, but only a fraction of it returned. My voice was barely a mumble. It had an effect though.

Nikko's jaw slacked. The light in his eye died out. He returned to being the lonely eight year old he was.

"Where are they?" He was whimpering. It was like a kick in the gut to remember what those unloving creeps did. "Nekko? Aren't they coming back?" The way Nikko had such a scared look on his face... He was so worried and it was their fault. It filled me up with an angry flame.

We loved them and they didn't love us. We'd always loved them, and they'd never loved us.

This was what happened when a family was put in that situation. Hearts were broken. In this case, it was going to be Nikko's.

"Forget about them Nikko! They're bastards who left us! They dumped us here and got themselves new jobs and new lives! They don't care! Okay!? They don't care! We've just got each other, and that's all we need! Okay!? We don't need them and we don't need this! We've got each other. Okay? Okay…"

My rant died out to a whisper. I fell to my knees. My eyes had been streaming in anger the whole time. Nikko ran forward and jumped into my arms, like he did when he was littler.

We sat there and hugged each other for a long time. Nikko mumbling "Sorry" over and over again. Me mumbling it back. It was a soppy moment; we showed our weaknesses to each other and cried about them. It must have looked pretty corny from the outside, but everyone needs a moment like this from time to time.

Eventually I felt a hand on my back. I wiped my tears on Nikko's shoulder and turned to see who was attempting to comfort me. I was surprised to see Hibari.

He looked extremely awkward and embarrassed, like he really wished he hadn't seen that. He was stiff and obviously wanted out of there fast. I was surprised he had even acted at all.

I heard a voice to my right and noticed the Fedora speaking. It was a moment before I processed what he was saying, but when I did, it confused my heart.

"That's exactly why you need us." I wanted to disagree. To say that we didn't need the mafia, especially not Nikko. I wanted to but I couldn't. Nikko and I could take care of each other, but it wouldn't be the same as having a whole family. That would be a gap the Vongola could fill.

Since I was mostly going by feeling at that moment, and not by my head, I found myself nodding silently. Suddenly I heard a bell, and more people came rushing up the stairs.

Gokudera, Yamamoto, and Kyoko all came rushing out, worried about Tsuna and Afro (or, in Gokudera's case, hoping Tsuna had beat the crap out of Afro, as he soon made clear). It must have been a strange sight for them to take in.

The roof was scorched from Afro's bombs and all of us were slightly scratched or dirty but largely unharmed. Afro was still whimpering away by himself. Tsuna was standing solemnly and Fedora was smiling to himself. I was on my knees, my face wet with tears, and holding a very upset Nikko. Hibari was still standing behind me, though he had snatched his hand off my back the second people appeared. (I think Gokudera saw anyway based on the way he was staring dumbly at him.)

Everyone immediately launched themselves into a loud, worried mode. Asking what had happened? Was everyone okay? If we needed anything.

I hauled myself to my feet and dragged Nikko up with me. I wiped myself off and cast off the gloomy feeling. Wiping away the last of my tears, I put on a smile. These people who barely knew us were already fussing over us, which, in a different time might have irritated me. But not now.

After being told that we were all fine, everyone calmed down and laughed off the incident. There was a slightly formal introduction as I was introduced as part of the family. Fedora didn't mention Nikko joining and I found solace in that, but the look he shot me told me we were going to have a talk about that later.

I noticed that they were careful not to let Kyoko overhear. They sent her off to check on Afro, or Lambo, as they called him, before mentioning the Vongola. So she wasn't in it?

Hibari was about to stalk off saying, "Come on Kitten." Fedora interrupted him, saying that I needed to get acquainted with the family. Hibari turned to leave when I asked him,

"Why don't you stay?" He didn't even break stride or turn around when he answered.

"I don't crowd together." Yamamoto laughed and Gokudera commented.

"I guess its saying something that he didn't beat us up for 'crowding'." He stared at me carefully while he said this.

After Kyoko came back over we all ate a peaceful, happy lunch, joined by Hana Kurokawa. It was full of laughter and friendship. Nikko and I found ourselves laughing and actually participating in the conversation. The group welcomed us as if we'd been there all along.

I realized that maybe this was what we needed.

Okay, this was a highly corny, fluffy oc-ish chapter. This was basically about Nekko and all her 'family' issues. Hope you enjoy. It's one of my longer chapters...

I know I'm a day late. I'm sorry.

thank you all for your support. I really love your reviews!

P.S. I don't own Reborn... yada yada yada...