Okay. If you ask me Hibari has completely left character, so I'm not even going to really try anymore. Oh, and basically from her on out, I'm abandoning the timeline...there'll be some of the same events, but they'll be weird and out of order.

The next few days were peaceful. Well, they weren't exactly 'peaceful' but I guess when you're in the mafia that was as peaceful as it gets.

There were several times where Gokudera overreacted to something (or someone) and tried blowing them up with his dynamite. Sometimes he succeeded but most of the time Tsuna was able to stop him before he did anything rash. There were a couple times where Lambo injured himself and/or was being horribly annoying.

Nikko and I spent a lot of our time at Tsuna's house. We dreaded returning to the empty building we called home. It seemed like everyone else was always at Tsuna's too.

There we were introduced to the rest of the family. It included a lady named Bianchi who claimed to be Fedora's lover (if that wasn't creepy I didn't know what was). There was also this kid about Nikko's age named Futa. Thankfully they seemed to get along well and spent a lot of time playing together.

The thing I liked most about Tsuna's house though was how full it was. Full of people. Full of laughter. It was full of life. I found myself wishing that life like this would never end.

Of course, all good things have to come to an end.

It started with Tsuna complaining that he couldn't find Fedora. He mentioned something called a 10-year bazooka, which sounded dangerous even if you weren't aware it was mafia related. I didn't really know what it was, but I knew that it wasn't supposed to be dangerous, and that Fedora had disappeared after being shot with it.

This really scared me. Fedora was the one who had gotten us into Tsuna's family. I was highly grateful to him. It also reminded me that this was the mafia. The mafia wasn't all fun and games.

We agreed to form o search party. I was just supposed to randomly search the streets while the others tried more targeted locations.

After nearly three hours of walking in what were basically circles (even if they were very awkward) my stomach started rumbling. That's when I had to stop, because when I'm hungry, I'm hungry.

I was about to return to Tsuna's when I realized I didn't know where I was. I hadn't been watching where I was going. It was going to be a long trip back.

After almost another hour of random walking I found a familiar street. From there, since I wasn't good at relating streets to each other, I walked to the school. From there I planned on walking to Tsuna's. My plan was going smoothly, but I quickly realized there was a problem when I heard screaming and begging for mercy.

Almost immediately I was jogging towards the commotion, my natural draw to danger urging me on. Around the side of the school I found the source of the noise. It was some delinquent who had been loitering on school grounds. Hibari was now threatening to bite him to death.

I stood by quietly and watched as the guy was beat to unconsciousness. He really was a wimp seeing as it only took one blow. While Hibari was wiping the blood off his tonfa I trotted over to him. He looked up, surprised to see me.

"Kitten, what are you doing here? Are you trespassing?" He raised a tonfa menacingly.

"No." I explained, "I was on my way to Tsuna's when I heard the commotion." I gestured to the unconscious figure a few feet away.

"Sawada's?" What was that expression on his face? It was too brief for me to make sense of.

"Fedora's missing, so they organized a search party. I was on my way back to report that I hadn't seen him and grab some dinner."

"The baby?" He didn't question my nickname for the child. "He's fine. He's strong." There was that strange smile on his face again. Fedora was still just a kid, no matter if he was in the mafia. I didn't say anything though, and just nodded.

"Bye…" I started to walk away and was surprised when Hibari moved with me. We took a few more steps before I said anything.

"Are you going to follow me home or something?" His eyes narrowed and I understood why when he replied.

"I thought you were going to Sawada's house." I blushed a furious pink. I had been spending so much time at Tsuna's that I thought of it more as my home than our own house.

"I-I am… it's just an expression." I lied. I had never actually heard that expression and I hoped that he believed me. I don't think he did but he replied anyway.

"My house is the same way."

"Oh." There was an awkward silence. Or maybe it was just me that was awkward. Either way, I wanted to break it. Fortunately he beat me to it.

"Where's the herbivore?" It took me a slow moment to realize he meant Nikko. When I did though, it upset me. Nikko was not and herbivore. He was many things, but not an herbivore.

"His name is Nikko." I snapped back. I refused to answer Hibari's question until he corrected himself.

"Where is he?" That was close enough. At least he didn't say herbivore.

"He's at Tsuna's." Again, the narrowing of the eyes. I blushed again. "He's playing with a friend there." I couldn't help lying again. I wasn't even sure if Futa was home, much less playing with Nikko. I just didn't want Hibari thinking I was so attached to Tsuna or that I was so dependent on him.

In fact, just the other day I had refused to allow Nikko to be alone with Tsuna at school. Now I was leaving him alone at Tsuna's house.

The rest of the short walk was quiet. It wasn't long before we were in front of Tsuna's house. Hibari was going to keep walking without a word of goodbye, but I caught his hand. His whole body stiffened, and I couldn't help wondering whether he was contemplating pulling out a tonfa and breaking my hand off. I decided not to give him a chance to do that.

"Why don't you come inside?" That's right, I actually said that. It wasn't even my house and I was inviting him in. Two seconds later I was gnawing on my cheek wishing I hadn't said that. He was going to think that I was all homey with Tsuna and…that would be bad.

His eyes narrowed, and he jerked his hand away. I mumbled an apology and turned to enter the house. The door was unlocked so I was already halfway through it when Hibari moved. He followed me into the house and inside I was jumping.

Tsuna's mom greeted me. "Hello Nekko-chan. Nikko is upstairs playing in Tsuna's room. Lambo, Ipin and Futa are with him."

"Thank you Nana, is Tsuna back yet?"

"Hmmm… he came back but he just disappeared. I can't find him anywhere..." Something about her words made me uneasy. '…he just disappeared…' Just like Fedora. I was about to hop up the stairs and get Nikko when Nana asked about Hibari.

"Who is this young man?" She smiled at Hibari and Hibari glared back. Way to make a first impression I thought grimly.

"This is Hibari Kyoya, he's also Tsuna's friend."

"Well then, welcome. Any friend of Tsuna and Nekko's is welcome here. Feel free to ask for anything." She finished with a smile. I blushed furiously. Did she really have to mention my name? Hibari's glare intensified.

I hopped up the stairs only to dodge out to the way. Futa and Nikko ran down the whole, chased by Lambo, who was pursued by Ipin.

Nikko and Futa ducked behind me. Ipin jumped on Lambo's head, sending him into a fit of tears. He pulled a long purple gun-like object from his hair and was about to point it at himself when Ipin jumped on him again. The object came flying towards us.

Hibari immediately pulled me out of the way. It wasn't a millisecond later that I was back in a similar position. I had realized that it was about to hit Nikko so I jumped over him. I was hiding him in my arms when there was a poof and I breathed in smoke, making me cough.

I lay still with my eyes shut tight. I only moved when I felt Nikko squirm under me and I realized that I was lying on top of him. Wait… how did that happen? We had just been standing up…

I sat up and blinked in my surroundings. We were in some sort of a meeting room. Nikko was on the floor next to me, also sitting and looking around. Everyone in the room was gawking at me. At the table sat Tsuna, Gokudera, Yamamoto, Fedora, Bianchi, a woman I didn't know, and… Futa?

He looked like Futa, but he was at least fifteen. The Futa I knew was a little kid. This guy looked just like him though…

"Nekko-ne! Nikko-nii!" He really was Futa!!

"W-what the heck?"

Suddenly the woman I didn't know stood up. Her were wide in disbelief and…horror?

"Nekko-san!" The way she said my name you'd think we were lifelong friends. The more I looked at her though, the more I was sure I didn't know her. She had long blue hair and flame tattoos on her cheeks. She wore an old stitched up tank top and a cape. She didn't look like anyone I'd ever seen, but she looked like someone I wanted to know.

"Nekko… oh no…" She suddenly jumped up and started walking towards the door.

"Lal!" Tsuna jumped to his feet. Tattoos (what kind of a name was Lal?) forced him back into his seat with just a look. Man she was scary.

"I have to go check on something." You could tell from her tone that she had the authority in the room. No one objected after that. She left with just a final glance at me.

After that everyone left in the room stared at us for a moment before beginning a whispered conversation amongst themselves.

I glanced at Nikko to make sure he was watching me. Of course he was. I swiped a hand over my right cheek and down my neck, making it look like I was flipping hair over my shoulder. Which, in actuality, was unlikely since my hair only reached my chin. He got the message.

His line of sight shifted to the table full of whispering people, watching for an opportunity. All the while he was slowly scooting back. When, for a second, all eyes were averted from us, Nikko vanished around the corner of the open doorway. No one noticed anything for another 3 minutes, that's how awesomely stealthy he was.

It was Tsuna who noticed. "Ehh? Where's Nikko-san?"

"He went to the bathroom." It wasn't hard lying with a straight face. It was one of my few skills. The only problem, sometimes my face was a little too straight. Thus, it didn't appear Fedora was fooled.

"Tsuna! Go find Nikko and make sure he isn't lost."

Ehh? Ohh…ok." Tsuna scurried off to find a Nikko that was long gone. He had disappeared along with Tattoos, commanded by one of our secret codes.

Nikko

I crept along the wall, making sure to keep a minimum of 2 corridors between me and 'Lal'. Nekko had wanted me to follow this person. I was going to do it right. As I slunk down hallway I thought.

Not about being in a strange place with strange people, though I probably should have. No, instead I was remembering. The time when Nekko and I had come up with the codes.

It had been one of the many times Nekko had got us caught in a sticky situation.

Flash back

We were trapped in the principal's office. We hadn't been participating in the fight, or even egging it on. We were innocent kids who just happened to be watching.

Nekko couldn't get into trouble here; it wasn't her school. She had just been picking me up when two of the fifth graders had broken into a fight.

It wasn't really dangerous, like most of the things she got involved in, but it wasn't walking puppies either. Especially not when the principal had come strolling by and spotted the scuffle. One of the boys had scurried off like the wimp he was. The principal only saw a beaten up 5th grader and a thirteen year old standing near him. Never mind the latter was a girl, or that she'd gotten nearly straight A's at this school, or that she couldn't pass PE to save her life. (Well, this was before she met Hibari, in which case she really did need to save her life.)

The principal took it as the common case of bullying. I would get in trouble for not trying to stop it. Nekko would get a call home. The two kids would get off scotch free. There was no way they would fess-up to save our hides.

After seriously reprimanding us, the principal stepped out of the room to grab our files, more specifically, my file. Nekko flipped her hair over her shoulder while pointing behind her. She wanted me to follow.

'The file!!' she mouthed. I tiptoed out the door and into the room where I knew the principal was. I peered around the door. He was scouring through a filing cabinet. I needed a distraction.

I ducked back into the hallway. There was a lone kindergartener, on his way to the bathroom. He was about two, three years younger than me. It would be too easy.

I crept up behind him then lashed out with my foot at the bend of his knee. He collapsed into a pile on the floor. The first look on his face was shock, but was quickly scrunched up when he burst out bawling. I hadn't kicked hard, but hard enough.

I ducked into another hallway and made a square, so that I ended up in the original, but on the opposite side. I was there in time to see the principal come rushing out to escort the child to the nurse. Not that he needed to go to the nurse, but Mr. Mox didn't need to know that…

I casually strode into the records room, grabbed my file, (which Mr. Mox had thankfully pulled out before I had interrupted him) and strode back to Nekko. Her face lit up with relief when she saw me.

"What happened?" I considered, then decided to down key the whole event.

"There was a minor mishap with a kindergartener but he's okay, and I got the file." She looked surprised, but quickly regained her composure. She took a second to scold me jokingly.

"Nikko, didn't we tell you to stop beating up little kids?" she smiled as she said so, and I knew she wasn't upset. I handed her the file, which she quickly shoved in her backpack, taking are to shove it in a large binder containing several similar folders. "In case he checks our bags," she replied to my inquisitive stare.

"We should prepare for when he gets back. Prepare to turn up the water works when I give you the signal."

"Why me?"

"You're younger and-" Nekko was cut off when a very irritable Mr. Mox reentered the room. He began accusing us of stealing the file, which Nekko claimed was ridiculous and unfounded, even when she knew he was spot on. It unnerved me how well she could lie.

Suddenly, she placed her hands over her eyes, as if the entire ordeal had tired her out. Was that the signal? Then, too quick for the principal to notice, her hands balled up and twisted, as if she were a cartoon crying.

I screwed up my face and forced tears out, imitating the aforementioned kindergartener. Mr. Mox was surprised, while Nekko did her best to look so. (Which was pretty good.)

"I-I'm s-so SORRY!!!" I blubbered between sobs. "Th-that kid was being so m-MEAN to me!!! He kept picking on me!! We were just trying to get him to stop!!" The principal seemed to be buying it.

Nekko apologized and after being told what to do if a similar situation occurred in the future, we were let off the hook.

End of flash back

That incident was unimportant, but our code system had been born of it. The signals were refined and more were added over time, but it we were, in a way, always grateful to Mr. Mox for completely misunderstanding what he saw and forcing us into that situation.

It came in handy at times like today, where we needed all had to remain in control of our surroundings. I trusted Tsuna and the family to be honest with us, but it was obvious that this Lal person had a secret.

I continued following her at a distance, barely keeping her in sight. In fact, I nearly missed her when she quietly slipped into a room. She pulled the door behind her, but didn't completely shut it, so there was no sound to alert me. I was about to scurry past the room when I was alerted by a gurgle.

Wait…a gurgle?

I backtracked and crouched down in front of the door, peering in through the crack. At first, what I saw puzzled me, but as Lal turned around, I fully saw…

I never really imagined this moment, and if I ever did so unconsciously, I didn't imagine it like this. Seeing her through a crack in the door. Being eight and Nekko fourteen. In fact, it shocked me so utterly, I was so consumed in gazing at her, I didn't move as Lal put her down, and opened the door. I remained silent, staring at her, Lal staring at me, horrified.

She was perfect. Little, chubby, sleeping. She had soft black waves that fell to her ears. Her little lips were puckered, a slight snore emitted. I couldn't tell the color of her eyes, but I was willing to bet they were a vibrant emerald green, like her mother's.

I stood slowly and ghosted over to her. I wanted to see her eyes. I poked her stomach, half hoping she'd wake up and half hoping I wouldn't disrupt her sleep. To my surprise her eyes snapped open instantly. She smiled at me and mumbled something… she could talk? I didn't know, I wasn't listening to her. I wasn't really paying any more attention to her.

Her eyes… they were a cold, hard, slate blue. Then I realized, she had to have a father, but…why him? I realized that this was my fault. I had urged Nekko to talk to him. Now, looking at this little girl, I realized this wasn't what I wanted. He was too mean, too harsh, and too…wrong.

Lal, regaining her senses, strut over to me. I looked at her, I wasn't glaring at her, I was glaring at someone who wasn't even here. She seemed taken aback by the sudden change in my demeanor. I had been a ghosting, wistful person, oblivious to her presence. Now I was cold and hard, furious at myself for not realizing what I had been encouraging Nekko and Hibari into.

"Y-you…" Lal didn't seem to know what to say. She must have been surprised to see me here at all. It couldn't have helped that I had suddenly become furious and sullen.

"Don't tell her." I commanded without a second thought, not allowing her to form a complete a sentence. There was authority in my voice, authority I didn't have, but I was going to get. This Lal obviously wasn't used to being told what to do.

"Excuse me? That's not your decision." Now the glare was directed at her.

"It'll mess everything up. She wouldn't want to know." I lied smoothly. After years of watching Nekko at her art I had learned a trick or two. Lal looked surprised at this revelation.

"You don't know what's going on kid. You don't know where you are or who I am. Don't think I can be fooled so easily." She seemed confident in her reply. It's because it was true. I didn't know what the situation was.

"I know Nekko well," she continued. "not as well as you know her, but I know her enough to know what you just said was garbage. I also know you, and I know that you don't mean what you just said."

"Don't lie to yourself." It wasn't possible for her to know me…was it? I didn't know her… "You may think you know me, but you're wrong. I've never met you." This whole conversation was making me uneasy.

"I wish I could explain to you, but Tsuna would probably do a better job. If we go back now, you can catch the explanation with Nekko."

"Don't-" she cut me off.

"I won't tell her… yet."

"But-"

"I'll give you time to really think about this."

"I won't change my mind."

"I know you better than you think."

I would have argued, but we were nearly back at the meeting room where Nekko was.

"If Nekko asks, you caught me before I saw anything."

With that, I put on a shamed look, as if I really had been unable to fulfill my mission, and hoped that Nekko wouldn't see through me like she always did. Lal put a hand on my shoulder, as if she had been steering me, and led me through the door, an upset look on her face as well.

Damn. I want to take this chapter down sooo bad. I'm really scared about taking the story in this direction…

While I'd normally take flames, no flames on this chapter please, not that I've ever gotten any. Anyway, I'm really uncomfortable with this chapter.

The flashback is unnecessary and way too long. I don't even know why it's in there.

I know this chapter is ridiculously long. Double some of my other ones… I hope this makes up for any inconsistencies.

I don't own Reborn. It would suck if I did.