Target 25:

The sun shone through the colored curtains, hitting Hitomi right on her eyes. The girl groaned, wiping her face and slowly opening her eyes. She wasn't in her bed, no, instead, she was at her desk, massive piles of schoolwork littered around the area. Leon's ever-changing form the night before had kept her up, and knowing that she wouldn't get to sleep any time soon, the brunette moved to her desk and started doing her homework.

The end result wasn't very good. She started doing it, not understanding anything at all; Hitomi moved onto using the internet for help and finished all of her math and English relatively quickly. Then it was time for science. And that kept her up until two in the morning just staring at it before she decided to play otome games on the internet. Hitomi fell out of the chair with a yelp, startling herself awake. She looked over to Leon, the little lizard staring back with a blank look. "Ah, Leon? Daijjobu?" Hitomi asked, squatting to be eye level with the lizard before she smacked herself, shaking her head, "Why am I asking this lizard if he's okay? He can't talk! Stupid Hitomi…"

The girl shakes her head before she stands up fully, looking around her room and she catches sight of her clock. Screaming loudly, Hitomi runs to her closet, pulling out her uniform and hastily putting it on as she leaves her room and tumbles down the stairs only to scream again and go back up the stairs. Solana watches her from the doorframe of the hallway bathroom. "Breakfast is on the table." Solana calls, "Lunch is next to it."

Hitomi shouts something unintelligible as she tumbles down the stairs once more, backpack full of papers and Leon and she sprints into the kitchen and out the back door. "Geez, that girl…" Solana chuckles, leaving the bathroom and heading down the stairs and into the kitchen just in time to catch Hitomi hop the fence, much to Solana's surprise. "Wow, that girl…"

"What?" Tsuna asks as he comes into the kitchen. He's tired—with bags under his eyes and sloppily dressed in his suit—carrying three coffee pots and a stack of papers, a pen stuck in his hair, "And, have you seen my lucky pen? I can't sign these papers without it…"

"It's close by." Solana giggles as Tsuna comes closer, placing all of the pots into the sink. "Ah, don't overwork yourself, Tsuna. You'll get gray hair—or worse, it'll fall out."

Tsuna only grunts, dropping the stack on the table and sitting down, scratching at his unruly mane of brown hair when a pen falls out and he's surprised. "So that's what you meant…" He mumbled, taking it into his hand, "Besides I'm doing this for Hitomi…"

"What do you mean?" Solana leans over his shoulder, staring at the documents and briefly scanning over one before her eyes widen and she stops Tsuna from signing the first paper. "Tsuna!"

"What, Solana?" He snaps, looking back at her. He looks so tired and ready to pass out in a second but the gaze is hard, determined and she knows this was a last resort for him. "You know I don't want to do this… but she's resisting so much… What else can I do? There's other people more willing—and qualified, by the way—to do this job. If she doesn't want it, then I'll give it to someone else."

"Yeah, that may be true, but Tsuna," Solana started, "You know that she can do this—that's why she's training! It's a lot to push on a girl like Hitomi! You can't base her experiences—experiences she hasn't even had, mind you—off of yours—you're two different people who grew up—or in Hitomi's case, are growing up—in two different ways and different times!"

Tsuna sighed and opened his mouth to retort but was promptly beaten to it by the newest occupant of the kitchen. Reborn stood on the counter, "Solana's right, Tsuna." Reborn nodded, "Even if you don't believe us, give me some time to talk to Hitomi. If I can't convince her then you can go ahead and sign those papers and give the job to someone else, alright?"

Tsuna sighed once more, running a hand through his hair as he did so, unearthing more than a few more pens and candy wrappers. Solana stared wide-eyed at the amount of things coming out of the man's hair and wondered if Lucia had been sticking things in there. "Alright. I'll give you until tomorrow morning to convince her but if you can't, the job's goin' to someone else."

"Alright." Reborn nodded and left the kitchen, leaving Solana and Tsuna alone.

"Okay now that that's settled," Solana pulled Tsuna up from his chair, "You're taking a shower and going to sleep… Look! That just fell out of your hair! A freakin' flat-iron! I've been looking for that! Why is it in there?"

"I think… Masayoshi tried to straighten my hair… or maybe Hitomi was trying to hide it from you…?" Tsuna replied, his voice sounding slightly far-off. Solana groaned, pushing Tsuna out of the kitchen and up the stairs.

"Lord help me if I don't smack these mafia people…"

"It's a good thing you came back to school, Hitomi…" said Kaoru as she continued painting her portrait of Hitomi. It was half-way done when Hitomi moved slightly, painting her own picture.

It was more abstract than anything, using dark reds and oranges and fading into deeps blues and turquoise. Hitomi shrugged, looking to the third member—a girl who Hitomi learned was a transfer student. Her name, at the moment escaped Hitomi's mind as she stared intently at the girl. Her hair was a strange orange color and her eyes were about as green as Emiko's, maybe even more so. And Hitomi could see faint freckles on the girl's face.

"Arancione-san and I would've been sad if the club had to close down because we were the only two in the club…" Kaoru finished, giving Hitomi a smile.

"Yes," the other girl spoke, "We're glad it didn't have to come to that."

Hitomi smiled a little, nodding slightly, "Yes, I sorry to worry you so much…" 'Arancione is Italian… is she…? No, don't be stupid Hitomi. Not every exchange student is a part of the mafia… you're being crazy and you've been hanging around Reborn too much…' Hitomi shook the thoughts away and focused on her painting. She wanted to finish this before she left for the day. But there was just something about that girl that Hitomi didn't like. She was suspicious.

Hitomi trudged home from school after her club activities with the promise of their field trip to the Namimori Art museum that weekend still fresh on her mind. She was happy, even if class didn't go the way she wanted it to. She sighed thinking back to it. Leon had gotten out and she'd had to chase the little monster around the school and ultimately got whacked by Collins in her attempt and ended up in detention for an hour and when she was released and went back to class, she was late and the teacher made her stand outside to be collected for detention once again.

And after the second detention, Hitomi had to clean out the hamster cages in the biology room and was attacked by the small beasts. "Speaking of small beasts…" Hitomi opened her bag to stare at Leon. She yelped as she dropped the bag. It hit the floor with a thud, cracking the ground underneath. "Leon! Why are you an anvil?" Hitomi watched Leon shift and shape into various different things before he settled on a hammer and Hitomi picked up the bag again. "Ah, baka-lizard…"

"You're the baka, Hitomi." Reborn said, hopping onto the girl's head. Hitomi squeaked, flailing around before tripping over her shoes and falling on the ground. Reborn hopped down, standing in front of her looking unimpressed.

"Y-You're back." Hitomi breathed out, frowning, "What's going on?"

"Follow me." Reborn only said as he turned and walked down the road. Hitomi got up, reluctantly following him. The walk was mostly quiet barring the sounds of Leon in Hitomi's bag and their hoes scuffing against the dirty path and before Hitomi knew it, they were in the park.

However Reborn didn't stop until they were at the picnic tables under the Gazebo, a place Hitomi remembered vividly. He climbed up onto one of the tables before he turned and looked at Hitomi. "Hitomi, I have a few things I want to ask you." Reborn's tone sounded deathly serious and Hitomi was a little scared as she stood there, watching him. "Do you… want to be in the mafia?"

"Wha-What kind of question is that?! Of course I don't! But I thought I didn't have a choice!" Hitomi replied loudly.

"Well Tsuna's giving you a choice—and that means he's given up on you." Reborn replied. His stare was still intently on Hitomi's face, searching for anything. "But I haven't—not yet—and until you tell me that you don't want to be in the mafia, I won't take your weak attitude towards it seriously."

"But I am serious, Reborn." Hitomi emphasized, "I'm so serious."

"Then say it." Reborn replied, "I want you to say 'I, Hitomi Angela Sawada, no longer want to be a boss candidate for the eleventh Vongola generation.'"

Hitomi stood there for a minute, watching Reborn. Was he being serious? It was kind of hard to tell for her at the moment, but… this was what she wanted, right? What she'd tried to accomplish since she first found out about it and she was getting the easy way out—her dad was actually giving her a way out now.

Hitomi opened her mouth to reply but was quickly silenced as her phone rang loudly from her pocket. Surprised, she pulled it out and stared at it. On the caller-ID was Kita's name with her picture underneath. Confused, Hitomi answered. "Moshi-Moshi?" She greeted, "Kita?"

"Is this Hitomi?" Someone who didn't sound like Kita answered the phone. Confused even further, Hitomi waited a moment, "S-Serious?! Hurry i-is this Hitomi or not?"

"Y-Yeah it is! Who is this?" Hitomi answered. She could feel a panic rising in her chest as the person breathed out and she could hear crying and loud machines in the background.

"U-Uh… could you come down to the hospital?"

"The hospital? W-Why?" Hitomi's voice rose and Reborn looked on curiously as Hitomi awaited a reply.

"Kita's injured."

Hitomi's phone dropped from her hand. "We-We gotta get to the hospital!"

The hospital waiting room was extremely sterile and impersonal when Hitomi had arrived. She was panting as she came through the sliding doors and into the waiting room. "Hitomi!" The girl looked up. Emiko, Kamiko, Katsumi and Kita's family were waiting in the room. Hitomi rushed over to them, her eyes traveling to Kita's mother who was practically bawling her eyes out.

"Wh-What happened?" Hitomi panted out.

"W-We don't know…" Katsumi said, "We, um, just got this call and came down to the hospital… we thought you might know something…"

"No, I don't know anything…" Hitomi admitted, frowning. "How long have you all been here?" Hitomi then asked, looking around. Kita's family seemed to be of worse wear.

"We just got here maybe ten minutes ago." Katsumi answered, "But, um, Watanabe-san has been here all day…"

"And how long until we can see Kita?" Reborn asked, "Did the doctor tell you?"

"N-No… not yet." Miyu responded, a frown permanently marring her features. "He just said someone found her outside—all bloody and-!" Miyu leaned into her husband, tears forming as she silently sobbed.

"Kusakabe-san, do you know anything?" Kamiko asked, "If there's anybody targeting Kita—or us?"

"Of course not, Kamiko." Kusakabe said, "I can't think of anyone that would even know about you guys… but clearly there's someone that knows. This could be the first attack of many—and you're not even fully formed yet."

"I knew this mafia-thing was bad news!" Lolo crossed his arms, frowning.

It wasn't until Kita's parents started talking to the police did Hitomi get another piece of information. "We thought she just went off by herself!" Miyu added, "S-Sometimes she'll just disappear for a few hours or maybe a day and come back unharmed—but this time… She was gone for three days!"

The room was mostly quiet after that and most of them took a seat while Hitomi stood around, feeling jittery. She looked around, hands tapping against her thigh as her eyes darted around the room. She couldn't believe something like this had happened. She didn't want to believe it, and until she saw Kita, she couldn't believe it.

A few hours later Hitomi was on the phone with her mother, reassuring the woman of where she was and confirming that Kusakabe would take them all home if they couldn't see Kita that night. When Hitomi hung up the phone, she turned around just in time to see a doctor approach them.

"Um, excuse me." The doctor said, standing in the threshold separating the waiting room from the actual hospital. "You're all here for Watanabe-chan, aren't you?" The group nodded, "Well she's not awake—and she won't wake up until sometime tomorrow—so you'll have to come back then."

"A-Alright…" Miyu said, sniffling, "U-Uh, c'mon girls, we'll come back tomorrow…"

As they left, Hitomi took one last look at the doctor before she filed out with the rest of them.

It was almost midnight when Hitomi finally fell asleep only to be woken up by some loud knocking at her window. The girl groaned, rolling over and going to check out the noise. In one swift motion she yanked up the window and was instantly pegged with another rock. Yelping in pain, Hitomi held her nose as she stared out the window, glaring at the people below.

"Oh shit! You hit her, Katsumi!" Emiko scolded, smacking the older girl on the arm. Katsumi muttered an apology, frowning and looking away. "Hitomi get down here!"

"Why?!" Hitomi whisper-yelled back, "It's late and there's school tomorrow!"

"Well put on your uniform and that Halloween cloak you have and bring it down here! We're going to the hospital!" Katsumi replied, "We're gonna see Kita!"

Hitomi looked down at them before looking around her room. She sighed, knowing there was no way to back out of this now. "I'm coming down!" She said before closing the window and changing just like Katsumi said.

"You're going out?" Reborn was in the kitchen when Hitomi had made it down the stairs without any mishaps, much to her surprise. Hitomi glanced at the baby who was nursing Leon and a cup of coffee.

"Yeah, to the hospital. Are you coming?" Hitomi told him, rubbing her eyes.

"I might as well." He stood up, leaving his cup on the table. As Hitomi passed him, he jumped onto her head and Hitomi left the house as quietly as she could. "I never took you for one to break into a hospital."

"Yeah…" Hitomi agreed as she met up with the others, "Me either…"

Getting to the hospital proved to be the easy part, but getting in was harder. Hitomi squeaked as she was pressed against the wall by Emiko as the security guards passed by their area. "Who knew they patrolled like this?" Katsumi asked in wonder as they began crawling towards their destination. The others shrugged, not offering Katsumi an answer.

"It's this one!" Katsumi almost yelled as she felt along the windowsill. It was the only window open and the white-haired girl stood up, climbing into the room, happy that Kita's room was on the first floor. Emiko was next and Kamiko followed, stumbling as Hitomi fell in, landing on her face.

In the room lit mostly by the moonlight, the four girls and Reborn saw Kita lying on the bed, tossing and turning, covered in sweat and dirtied bandages and mumbling something. "Wake her up." Emiko suggested.

"You're not supposed to do that! We just came to see her." Katsumi emphasized. Emiko scowled at her, crossing her arms.

"Whatever…" Emiko replied as Kamiko walked towards Kita.

"Kita. Wake up." Kamiko began repeatedly poking her, only to be smacked into the wall by Katsumi.

"I told you to stop that!" Katsumi practically yelled at the other girl. "Don't wake her up!"

"Too late for that…" Reborn commented, "She's already waking up." All eyes went to Kita as the girl's eyes slowly opened and she took in her surroundings.

"H-Hey! Where am I? What's going on? Ow! Ow!" Kita grabbed at her head, crying out loudly as she moved around.

"K-Kita! Kita calm down!" Hitomi yelped, running towards her, "You're in the hospital!"

"H-Hitomi?!" Kita practically yelled at her, eyes wide. "Hitomi, you're alright!" Her eyes darted around the room, taking in the sights of everyone else, "You're all alright! That's great! I thought you were goners for sure! I thought…" Kita sniffled, tears welling in her eyes, "I thought you all died…"

"D-Died….?" Hitomi questioned, feeling the need to cry as well, "Kita, y-you're the one whose close to dying… you've been gone for three days… and now you're in the hospital…"

"But I'm fine. It's you guys I was worried about… are you okay? Cause you looked kind of bad when that man captured you… but you all look fine now…" Kita explained.

"No! Kita, you're the one in the fuckin' hospital bed!" Emiko said, slapping her hands against the bars on the side of the bed, "You disappeared and we were here and you were gone—and now you're talkin' about some strange man? What's going on?"

"It's mafia related isn't it?" Hitomi asked. The room went quiet. All they could hear was the beeping of the machine and their breathing. Hitomi's eyes welled full of tears. "It's always mafia related."

"I-I guess it was…" Kita breathed out, "I… I thought you were hurt so I fought it."

"Kita!" Hitomi snapped, but she didn't have anything to say. "Y-Y—Why did you believe him?"

"Because it was so real…" Kita replied, "And you guys are my family. I'm supposed to protect you, right?"

"No!" Hitomi yelped, rubbing at her eyes, "We're not a family—we're not in the mafia! Look at you! You're covered in cuts and bruises because of this mafia stuff! You could've called the police or something! You didn't have to fight!"

"B-But it's my job…" Kita murmured, looking away from Hitomi, "Did I do something wrong?" The room was quiet again and they all looked to Hitomi who was standing there staring at Reborn, unsure of what to do or say.

"Don't look at me, she's not asking me, Hitomi…" Reborn said, "This is all you. It's now or never."

Hitomi fell into a squatting position, leaning heavily on the side of the bed. "I-no-Kita, no you didn't do anything wrong." Hitomi shook her head, "It's, um, it's me that's been doing everything wrong. I'm sorry I yelled at you… I'm just worried about you…"

Kita ruffled Hitomi's hair, looking down at the girl and smiling, "It's not your fault, Hitomi. So don't be sad." Hitomi sniffled, her tears falling freely as she stood up, hugging Kita. The brunette sobbed loudly and Katsumi joined them in their hug.

Kamiko frowned, pushing Emiko into the hug and joining it herself. "So what happened?" Emiko asked, after they broke the hug and everyone was wiping their tears, except Emiko, who had already wiped hers. "I mean how did you get… fucked up like this?"

"Well, I think I could tell you… It's all starting to come back…" Kita said, "Sit down, cause this is gonna take a while…"

So how bout a two in one, eh? Well that's what this is 24 and 25 on the same day! Oooh, I hope this chapter and the last one were good. And next chapter we'll find out why Kita's was in the hospital and who the mysterious man is… until next time! See you!