Taking this opportunity to thank the reviewers whom I could not reach due to not being logged in or being anonymous. You're all lovely and wonderful people!

Disclaimer: FANfiction. I only own the OC. Any changes to the original canon story is due to the fact that this is fanfiction.

Warning: Coarse language.

"TURN DOWN FOR WHAT!"

"TURN DOWN FOR WHAT!"

The heavy rap music blasted in Riko's ears as she turned a corner, stepping aside to allow another pedestrian who was walking in a faster pace, past her. The streets were beginning to look familiar, and muscle memory allowed the girl to walk without worrying about getting lost.

A blur of yellow seen from the corner of one eye caught Riko's attention. Looking up, she could see a yellow-feathered bird gliding through the air, chirping happily as it circled overhead. Of course, if Riko hadn't had loud American music blasting in her ears, she would've heard the bird repeat the phrase: 'Hibari! Hibari! Prey! Prey!'

Pulling out her iPod to change the track, Riko shuffled through a few songs before settling for a new one. A catchy, infectious melody started playing, and Riko bobbed her head along to the music, parting her lips in anticipation for the chorus that she knew all too well.

"I KNEW YOU WERE TROUBLE WHEN YOU WALKED IN SO SHAME ON ME NOW!"

Ah, trashy, pop music. God bless America for America's Top 40.

Opening her mouth, she started to sing along to the lyrics rather loudly, attracting a few curious stares that didn't last very long. She had been sent out to do some shopping for Bel, who seemed to regard her as a slave and an errand-girl rather than a comrade-in-arms, and that was why she was once again alone.

No matter, because a pair of expensive leather shoes clicked ominously on the concrete pavement as they stopped a little way behind the slowly-advancing assassin.

Trouble was definitely walking in.

A cruel smile played on the person's lips; eyes of cold stone-grey glinted with a malice that was unmatched.

Time to go in for the kill.

Hibari calmly caught up to the unsuspecting girl in a few long strides. Standing directly behind her, he held up a tonfa with one had, and used the other to yank the earbuds out of her ears.

She immediately helped and spun around; a wild look flashed in her eyes as she raised her sleeve-covered hands to shield her face. The prefect left no time for his prey to assess the situation before dealing the first blow. Riko gasped and leapt backwards, narrowly - once again - missing being hit. A bad feeling she had about the weapon was that she could see herself breaking a few bones because of it, and she would be damned if she let it hit her!

The assassin caught the dark smirk on her attacker's face, and her heart immediately dropped down to her stomach like heavy lead. Fear slowly crept up her face, and she pulled her upper lip over her teeth in a half-brave and half-afraid snarl. "H-Hibari Kyoya!"

"I never fail to catch my prey."

She started backing away, but for every backwards step she took, the prefect took another step forwards, keeping the distance between them unchanged.

Finding the girl had been difficult, and Hibari had to give her props for being able to evade him for this long. It had been a couple of days since he had marked her as his prey, and hell was going to freeze over if he allowed it remain that way.

So, he had gone to the police station where he had a couple of connections, and intimidated their sketch artist into drawing up an accurate portrayal of the girl he was after. Satisfied, he'd left several grown men trembling in his wake as he exited the station, and had gotten Hibird to memorize the picture of the girl and had it take to the skies to find the girl.

He had never gone this far for a piece of prey before. But then, no prey had ever been able to escape his wrath for this long, either. Gripping his tonfas in his hands, he replayed the humiliation of losing to Rokudo Mukuro for the first time over two years ago in his mind, and knew that there was no way that this little herbivore was going to be allowed to disrespect him and get away with it. The humiliation itself would be unparalleled to what he had suffered at the mist guardian's vindictive hands.

He lunged for her again, aiming for a body blow. Riko yelped and jumped, launching herself above him, then somersaulting and landing behind him with a silent tap of her boots.

Realizing what she had just done very belatedly, Riko swore. "Oh, fuck."

That was not supposed to happen.

Hibari turned to regard her with a cold expression of clinical interest on his face. Oh? It seemed that this particular herbivore was slowly evolving into something less pitiful. He could feel the intrigue grow within him; seeds of curiosity sprouting within him.

"So the herbivore has some skills other than running away and disturbing the peace, I see."

Hibari aimed his fist at her, and she grabbed his wrist and used it as a platform to launch herself into the air once again. The prefect immediately turned around and aimed a strike with his tonfa, seizing the opportunity to land a hit while she was still midair.

"Jesus motherfucking Christ!" Riko drew her leg up to shield her torso, and blocked the hit with her shin. Landing on one foot with a stumble, pain shot through her leg as she crouched down to survey the damage done. It was already turning an ugly blend of purple and blue, and from the growing bloodlust on the boy's face, he was just getting started.

As he walked closer towards her, Riko cowered and squeezed her eyes shut. 'Looks like this is the end for me. Goodbye, halcyon days of mine! It was good while it lasted! Sixteen years was already an achievement in itself; I will never forget them!'

Bang!

A gunshot erupted, leaving a ringing that wasn't unfamiliar in Riko's ears. She opened her eyes to see that Hibari had jumped backwards; there was a crack that had split open in the pavement where a bullet was embedded.

The prefect turned to glare at the shooter. "You," he hid his annoyance well as he acknowledged the person who had interrupted them.

Upon hearing Hibari's short non-greeting, the Varia assassin looked up to see a familiar black-suited man holding up a gun in his hand, tipping his fedora in greeting.

"Reborn!"

Spinning the gun in his hand, the Italian shoved the other hand into his pocket as he surveyed the damage in front of him. "Well, Hibari. I can see you've met the Varia's new assassin."

If he was surprised, he showed no signs of betraying it on his face. A bored expression remained on Hibari's face as he said, "Oh? You know this little herbivore?"

A vindictive smirk appeared on the man's face. "She's our ally, Hibari."

"I don't associate myself with groups. I hate crowding."

"You can be an ally without needing to crowd. Hurting Yang Riko would be hurting our ties with the Varia."

The hitman had never interfered with internal affairs like this before, but he knew it was time to be diplomatic. He had heard through the grapevine that a particularly influential teenager was out for blood — Varia blood, to be precise, and while he doubted that Hibari knew of her association with the assassination squad, he was still going to end up almost killing the girl if he decided to be merciless.

Hell hath no fury like a Hibari Kyoya scorned.

He usually left the aloof cloud guardian to do whatever he pleased; after all, he was the cloud that could not be tied down by anything or anyone. However, their relationship with the Varia was already unstable as it was, and one of their top members getting assaulted by their strongest guardian was not PR-friendly. They would be out for blood within seconds, and Tsuna could kiss goodbye to the chance of ever having the Varia respect and accept him as the heir of the Vongola Famiglia.

Waiting to see how Hibari would react, a tension sparked in the atmosphere. The prefect sighed, and walked towards the girl sitting on the ground. Bending over, he hooked a finger over the goggles that masked the upper half of her face, and yanked them down.

Green eyes met slate eyes with a defiance that barely masked the fear and resentment she felt for the ebony-haired prefect. A satisfied smile found its way to his face - she had been put in her place. He leaned forwards, and Riko winced, squeezing her eyes shut. He stopped beside her ear. "You are now my lackey, Yang Riko. Welcome to hell," he whispered, sending ominous chills down the girl's spine as his breath touched her ear.

Straightening his back, Hibari stepped back. Turning to face Reborn, he regarded the Sun Arcobaleno with a passive face. Without saying another word, he then turned around and started walking towards the direction from where he came, heading back to where ever he had previously been.

Shaking his head, Reborn watched as the assassin struggled to get up, noticing the bruise that had bloomed across her leg. Hibari hadn't left her unscathed, after all. "You agitated him, didn't you."

A statement, not a question. The hitman certainly knew his boss's cloud guardian well. Riko grimaced as she pressed a hand to the bruise. An external wound — she breathed out in relief. For a few minutes, she had thought that her bone had been fractured. That would've meant a few weeks out of action, which meant a few weeks with a very pissed off Squalo yelling at her for being a careless fuck. "In my defense, I didn't know it was that stupid fuck when I threw that takoyaki container at him."

Takoyaki container? Reborn decided he wasn't curious enough to ask. "Once Hibari marks you as his lackey, you're never going to be able to break away from him."

"He doesn't even know where I live."

"Hibari's got more influence here than you realize. How else do you think he was able to find you so quickly?"

Riko paused, mulling over the hitman's words. He wasn't wrong. How had he? She decided she was better off not knowing. The past was the past, anyway, even if it had been a mere ten minutes ago.

"Congratulations, you've just become a bridge," the hitman said with a small smile. Hibari had done his job for him, and he would have to thank him later, even if he had done so without realizing it. That was the cloud guardian, for you. "I look forward to seeing you a lot more now."

Reborn's words rang in her head as she slowly processed them. A bridge? Between what? The tenth Vongola Famiglia and the Varia?

Riko blanched.

"Oh, you can't be fucking serious."

The boss was going to kill her if he ever found out.

Ooooh Xanxus is gonn be pissed.

Delphoxi