I'm back and alive! Whoa, what an exam…it almost killed me!

I just turned seventeen and I figured I could give a two-chapter update.

Well, enough of that, recently I only get a few reviews after I had published the previous chapter, I guess the maximum was only two.

I'm going to cut off Himeno from the fic for a bit and the next chapter maybe, since I want to view on what had happened to the other characters for a while after the battle, and to introduce my OC to you guys, and probably explain the thing about Byakuran's firstborn. You will find out in the end part.

Chapter 25

Himeno's head was hurting like hell, but no matter what she does, the pain wouldn't go away and she couldn't will her hands to grab her head to pound it to make it go away. She had noticed too that she has no control over her own body for some reason, and she felt her back lying on something soft like a bed. She couldn't open her eyes as well, feeling too weak or too lazy to open them. It was like getting caged and chained to something.

It was then when everything came rushing back to her until the time that she has passed out. Tsuna had used his X-Burner against Julian's father, but she didn't get to see the end of it. She remembered that she had taken the poisoned stake blow in place of her father, and was saved by the very ring that he had given her before sending her away.

Now she wonders what happened next.

She then heard a sound of a door open, and several pairs of feet had come inside the supposed room that she is in. She didn't bother to open her eyes or move an inch, wanting to know what had happened to her after that.

"Any news from the doctor?" a voice that she recognized to be Ai's asked. It was then when she knew that she was in a hospital.

"No improvement. He said that she will stay asleep for a while. It would take days for her to wake up, any person would," she knew that it was the voice of Risa.

"It's been a week since she came into a coma…I guess that poison really was dangerous," Shinkiro's voice said. "I don't even want to think what will happen if it got her in full…"

"Don't even say that," Risa stated. "I just hope she wakes up soon. Nori-san, Mori-san, and most especially her biological parents are worried sick about her the past week,"

She then heard someone sitting on a chair, or more possibly, a couch. "They hadn't left her side unless it involves some important things," Ai said. "The Vongola had done a lot to help our people along with the Mistress. They are busy as hell and they wouldn't let us lift a finger," she complained.

"I know you can't stand it if you don't move, but you have a sprain for goodness sakes." Risa lectured.

"I don't want to hear it from someone who broke an arm," Ai retorted.

Shinkiro's faltering voice started to reach Himeno's ears, "U-Um…can you guys keep quiet…? She might wake up,"

"What? We can make this kind of noise in Julian's room," Ai stated.

"That's because he's been doped with anesthetic from his surgery! Himeno's state is different," Shinkiro explained.

Himeno then heard a sigh from Risa, "Speaking of Julian, was what Byakuran said true? Did the Decimo really kill the child?" she questioned.

The brunette heard Ai scoff, "The guy's a total saint/sucker to kids. He wouldn't dare harm an innocent looking creature no matter how tainted they are with their sins," she explained. "Whatever happened, it must be an accident. Even the Decimo was shocked to hear that he had a child when the base had exploded, let alone him having a kid before Julian."

"I can agree to that, but we are yet to know the whole truth of it. The one who has the answers is doped up with anesthetic," Ai said, referring to Julian. "I wonder when Himeno will wake up. She has to face the Decimo sooner or later,"

That was all she heard from them as sleepiness had enveloped her again, as if her body gets tired on every little thing that she does. But the thing that has been sent to her mind right now was the worry over her best friend.

A six year-old Himeno was playing in the front garden of the Suiri house when she saw a white haired boy her age come out of the house across hers with a watering can. He went to the white anemones and started to sprinkle them with water. He seemed pretty peaceful in doing so.

Himeno stared at the boy. With her keen vision, she saw that the boy had striking purple eyes and its expression seemed a little sad. Now that emotion made her wonder about it. Flowers were supposed to make people happy, not depressed. Her mommy had told her just that.

The boy seemed to notice her staring, because he looked at her direction and smiled brightly. It made Himeno quite embarrassed for she was caught in the act of snooping. "Hello," he greeted and waved his hand. Himeno got out of the bush that she was hiding from and smiled at him. "Can you come over?" he offered.

Himeno nodded quickly. It was rare for her to visit a neighbor. As she went to the front garden of the boy, she saw the beautiful flowers of the garden complimenting the whole place. "Wow! So many flowers!" she said with her eyes twinkling.

The white haired boy smiled, "I'm glad you like it,"

Himeno looked at the boy. She knew that she hadn't seen him around before, "Are you new here?" she wondered, "I hadn't seen you here before…"

"Oh, yes, I just moved here alone a week ago. I came from Italy," he said, "My name is Julian by the way,"

Himeno smiled at his friendliness. "My name is Himeno," she introduced, "Have you any friends?" she asked.

Julian shook his head, "You are the first," he stated.

Himeno was delighted by that information, "Then count me as your best friend!" she said happily.

.

"I don't really see why you should hate your real parents Himeno," Julian lectured the eight year-old Himeno who was on the bed after her stunt on her eighth birthday celebration days before.

Himeno huffed indignantly, "Well, why else would they leave me in the hospital Juls? They clearly didn't want anything to do with me!" she shouted.

"Yeah, but think about it, they might not have been able to take care of you properly, did you ever think of that?" he reasoned. Himeno kept quiet, not thinking about it before. "Maybe they wanted you, but can't keep you,"

Himeno shook her head, "Maybe, but when they checked the hospital for the mothers that had given birth three days prior to finding me, they found no records of me! They left me there in the hospital on purpose!"

"And because of that you became a child of the Suiri family," he added into the mix.

"Regardless…"

Julian made a groaning sound, as if wanting to take that subject out of the conversation, "Will you stop prospecting? Look, I won't tell you how to feel towards your birth parents, but just think about your life right now. If your real parents had kept you, would you have this happy and exciting life? No. So just forget about it for now and live your life,"

Himeno smiled at him, "Thanks Juls. You really do know what to say sometimes,"

Julian twitched, "'Sometimes' is an unnecessary add-on,"

"You really are my best friend," she said.

…

Tsuna looked at Himeno's sleeping form. It has been a week and a half since her confinement and neither Himeno nor Julian had woken up even once. He looked at the different contraptions attached to her, most especially the oxygen mask. They had discovered after killing Byakuran permanently that the poison that had been shot at her had some deadly properties, and a large dosage of it would mean her death. It was a close call that the amount of poison that had gone inside her was only a fourth of the amount of that dosage. But still, it did not change the fact that she had almost been dead because of him.

Tsuna held her hand and held it tight. He looked at the daughter he has not seen closely before. She had his hair and Kyoko's eyes, but what was more alluring was that she had his face, and she was popular among her peers, unlike him in his younger days. The girl was his polar opposite. She was talented, he wasn't, she's smart, he's below average etc., and it would take days for him to classify every difference that he had with his daughter.

He head dreamed of watching her grow as a woman, but he wasn't given that chance because of Byakuran. The man was practically automatically set to ruin his life, most especially his connection to his only daughter. The Suiri couple had told him all about Himeno the past week that she had been out, and he could imagine being there himself, but he felt fake. He had no right to act like a father all these years, but what choice did he have? If he had kept her close to him, she would be having assassins on her tail, and he couldn't risk it. It was a father's duty to make his child safe from harm, but based on the things that had gone on, he just ended up endangering her.

"You have grown well over the years…I'm sorry that you have to get through this…"

This whole ordeal was his fault.

"This is my fault…if only I tried to find you as soon as I could…then this wouldn't have happened…"

"You know you can't change the past Dame-Tsuna," Reborn said as he entered the hospital room.

Tsuna looked at his former tutor, "Reborn…" he then turned back to Himeno, "I know that…but I wish…it could have gone more differently than this. She didn't have to get in danger for me to find out the truth…and for it to be used against me," he stated.

Reborn looked at the miniature Tsuna sleeping on the bed. "You know that Byakuran would use that weakness sooner or later, but we have to face facts. It's already happened. All that's left to do is to wait for her to wake up and tell her your side of the story. Then she will make her choice,"

"Choice?" Tsuna repeated.

"Either she will take over the Vongola after you, or remain in her current lifestyle, or the choice of forgiving you or not,"

Tsuna's head drooped, "Now you're scaring me…" he muttered. Reborn then hit him with a Leone paper fan, making the man wail in pain, "What was that for?"

Reborn didn't answer, and went to the door, "Something that you are overdue on Dame-Tsuna," he said and left.

Tsuna wondered what was up with Reborn, but he didn't want to think about it. The Arcobaleno was hard to understand—scratch that, the Arcobaleno cannot be understood, especially his intentions.

Turning back to his daughter, he gave one last glance and took a seat beside her bed and laid his head on the side of the bed, and after a while, sleep overcame him.

…

Ayako was very displeased at her boyfriend right now. "What did I tell you with ending up in the hospital?" she shouted at him. Seishiro was currently on his hospital bed with bandages on his head, arms and patches on his face. The room was shared with Narumi and Gilbert. Only Kantaro and Gino had ended up with scratches.

"Don't end up in the casket or the emergency room?" he tried to remember.

"And you got yourself confined in the hospital anyways." She grunted. It was the first time that she was visiting the boy after getting out of the medical room at the Vongola base because of her injury.

"Hey, it's been rough," he reasoned.

Narumi looked at Ayako, "Any news about Himeno yet?" she wondered, worried about her cousin.

"None at the moment Narumi. She's the same as the day she was sent here," she informed. "Still out cold…"

Narumi's head bent down. "I see…I hope she gets well soon…"

…

"I wonder when she will wake up…" Anya muttered on her hospital bed after breaking a leg. The entire team of the miniature Varia, besides Regine who was helping out her father, was all in the same room, with Athena fussing over Rinsel who had some bad cuts on her body, Martin with a sling, Jonathan with a bandage on the head and Yohannes was sitting on the couch lazily with a book in his hands and some patches on his face.

"The doctor said that it is still unknown. Why are you so worried about her?" Yohannes wondered.

Anya sighed, "Someone like you would never understand Yoh," she said.

The said boy snapped his book close, "Care to explain?" he urged.

"A boy cannot understand a girl's view," she further refused.

Yohannes shut his book close, "Fine, don't tell us," he said as he kept quiet.

The others sighed at the silent war between the two. Athena was the most exasperated. 'I guess this is what they call as a silent unknown love quarrel,' she thought. For years, there has been talk about getting Anya and Yohannes together behind their backs, but as of now, it still seemed to end in vain. Yohannes can't understand a girl, and Anya doesn't want to be understood. What a pair.

It was then when Regine burst into the room, as if looking rather stricken.

Rinsel looked at the girl, "What's with the face?"

"Someone came to the hospital and asked to see Julian," she informed.

The others frowned. As far as they were concerned, Julian had almost no relatives except for his grandfather on his mother's side who had come to visit just after they were admitted in the hospital. The old man was quite aware of his grandson's life.

"That's impossible," Martin stated.

Regine grunted, "Well if you don't believe me, then fine. But there was something weird about the guy. He's practically the carbon copy of Byakuran, except for the black hair," she stated. "I think he's about nineteen, and Yuni-san had already called for him to talk,"

They all knew that something was a little off. No one in this world would be identical coincidentally to the father and son. As far as they were concerned, after hearing that little tidbit about a boy called Lennan, Julian was the only one identical to Byakuran.

Anya then caught up, "That means…"

…

Yuni was beyond shocked when she heard the news in the reception room. There was a man with black hair and purple eyes looking for one Julian Gesso, who was in his hospital room. The man was said to be nineteen years-old, old enough to live by himself. Right now, Yuni was outside Julian's room with a bouquet of anemones, his favorite flower, when he had encountered the teenager.

What shocked her was that he has a striking resemblance to the recently deceased white haired mafia boss.

"Who are you?" Yuni asked.

The teenager smiled as if he has known her, "I believe my father never mentioned me before? If he has well…I'll give you a hint Madame," he started, "I'm supposed to be dead,"

Yuni realized now who the boy was, "You…you're not Lennan aren't you?"

The black haired teen just smiled, "I am, and I am Julian's older brother,"

…

Gokudera spat his coffee when he and the other guardians had heard the news about someone, calling himself Lennan had appeared at the reception, and Yuni had called to meet the said boy. "So that kid's alive?" he said.

"So the source of the problem this past fifteen years was alive after all," Dino stated. He then looked at Irie, "By the way Irie-san," Irie looked at Dino, "Why didn't you tell us that Byakuran had a child before Julian?"

Irie sighed as he tried to get the answer out of his tongue. Everyone in the lounge was looking at him, "To tell you the truth, I knew nothing about that," he answered. "Byakuran-san was a secretive person, even to me, but I knew the woman that bore the child." He started. "She was a former college friend, and I was aware of their relationship with each other. But after a few years, she died in an accident, but Byakuran-san didn't want to utter another word about her ever since. I guess he hid the fact of the boy from me because he knew that I would have used it as a threat,"

"I see…" Dino replied.

"Where is the boy now?" Mukuro wondered.

"He's with Yuni-sama in Julian's room no doubt," Gamma replied.

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