Chapter 7: Rich Youth

"I found out it's all a plot
Polar bears are getting lost
They just wanna get rid of us"

-Hayley Kikyo, "Rich Youth"

"Thinking of that boy, Nikita? Missing him already?"

Green eyes, once loftily scanning the dining area the two sat in (but there was a gleam to them, a sharpness, wasn't there? Those eyes, the older woman noted, could be cutting at times with their evaluation, but now softened when turning to her), flitted to land on Gabriela, and almost tartly, the younger girl smiled.

"Cloud," the younger Cavallone corrected, even going as far to roll her eyes at Gabriela's caution. She tutted, then leaned to grab her drink, eyes once again wandering as she slurped before speaking again, "If you're Ella, then I'm Cloud. I regret telling you my full name," she tacked on, complaining.

Gabriella allowed a small, airy huff at this. Nikita Cavallone was unbashful as usual, when presenting herself in public. Surely, Gabriela thought, she knew her place without conforming. Which was always interesting to witness, and Gabriella had always been an observer at heart;

The politics of their world were fickle and tricky, and yet it was always interesting to see how players such as themselves (those born into without given choice, the second-in-lines who are kept as cabinet pieces and spares) played these little games. Even so young, they were watched and revered, and the Cavallone name was well known, much more powerful than Gabriella's own family. She herself was pushed to make appearances, to flaunt herself and talk her family up in hopes of making more connections with others, to keep keen eyes and a glowing presence and pristine hands ready to shake always, always, and she knew the same pressure was placed on Nikita whether her family pushed this or not, and yet?

She held herself with casualness and confidence that should be alien to a girl her age. Her body was athletic, not crafted with elegance and grace, and yet retaining its own version. Even in this finer establishment, surrounded by others wearing suits and pearls, her clothes were casual and comfy (Gabriella even commented on her crop-top, showing her toned abdomen and Cloud had laughed the comment off loudly), and her hair hung loose and undone, messy even and only tamed a fraction her the girl's hand ran through it. Her appearance and attitude matched, and altogether this casualness earned its own form of attention:

Others around them would give the younger looks no doubt, but almost came to an understanding when recognizing the young girl. Unfathomable to Gabriella, Nikita Cavallone had already built a reputation for herself to where this behavior was a norm. Perhaps this was mostly due to her Family's standing, or even due to her friendship with a well-known and extremely feared assassin (she had met the boy herself on occasion, when he was either dropping off or meeting Cloud after one of her and Gabriella's occasional outings), and whether this blasé reputation was met with amusement or scorn, Gabriella knew that Cloud just didn't care.

Gabriella knew her younger friend could play the game, and had witnessed her do so; put on a pretty face, filter soft giggles, sprinkle in small talked. And Gabriella knew that she hated it, and therefore neglected to put on a face at all (but Nikita had never been much of an illusionist, had she? No, she was far more blunt and truthful at times). But Nikita Cavallone was likeable enough, her family was formidable enough, and her connections were strong enough to where the young girl could pull this all together and pull it off. And no doubt, with how the girl had been growing, she would be strong enough to stand on her own entirely without having to rely on any name but her own.

But until then?

She refused to fall in conformity, to become a single decoration, and for that, Gabriella admired Nikita Cavallone greatly.

"The boy, Nikita," Gabriella insisted, concealing this entire line of thought in a single blink and a calm smile.

"Takeshi?" the girl asked, raising an eyebrow and turning her attention to Gabriella. Another eye roll and a retort (with a slight pull at the corner of her mouth), "I'm not always thinking of boys, Ella."

"I was thirteen once too, you know," the older hummed.

"Who said I was a normal thirteen-year-old," Nikita shot back, sending a wink the older's way. A moment, a sip of a drink, and then a small roll of shoulders, "But yeah, I guess I do kind of miss hanging with Takeshi since we came back. We text and stuff, yeah? But it's not the same. Tsuna too, no matter how much of a mess he is…." And here, she trailed off, almost sad. No doubt, she was thinking of the boy's future.

"What about those girls?" Gabriela continued, happy to distract the girl from this train of thought, "You liked them as well, right?"

"Haru and Kyoko are cool I guess…." She then groaned, slumping on the table, "but I'm so fucking awkward around them! How do you like," she struggled pushing herself up and gesturing vaguely, "do the whole girl talk thing?"

"You're thinking too much about it," Gabriela said after laughing softly, "Just talk to them normally, don't build expectations. I'm sure they're love to just… what was the word you used? Hang?"

"Fine," Nikita huffed, "I guess I'll try it next time I'm in Namimori… but enough about me. You wanted to tell me something in person, yeah?" Shyly, Gabriela looked away.

"I wanted to tell you the good news…. I'm going to finish my studies in America!" Gabriela finished, turning back with a dazzling smile.

"Fuck yeah, your old man was finally convinced?"

"Well, he's been pretty pleased lately, since he thinks that it's Mr. Dino and not you I'm talking to so much…"

"And here you are, on a date with his sister instead," Nikita finished jokingly, raising her glass, "But jokes aside, you and Dino should meet sometime, you know. I think you two could really hit it off, if not romantically," she said with a wriggle of her brows, "then at least platonically."

"Maybe sometime after I get back. I'm leaving soon you know, and won't be back for a while," she added with a small apologetic smile.

"Keep the emails up, follow your dreams," Nikita said with a soft smile, "You're amazing at helping people, Ella. You're going to be a great doctor, with how selfless you are. I only wish…" she trailed off, looking at the contents of her drink with an almost sad smile.

Gabriela blinked, and then understood, reaching her hand to envelope Nikita's.

"You're more selfless than you think."

I was surprised when I got a text from Kyoko. I received it about a day after Dino had snuck off to Japan again to take care of some business.

I was lounging on my bed, sulking, pissed that he would go without me (despite the fact that I did the exact same thing to him, except what I did was worse because I was gone for two years as opposed to him being gone only a couple of days), even though he said he wasn't even planning on seeing Tsuna and the gang when he talked to me over the phone. So, it was safe to say that I was bored and annoyed, subjected to laying around, uninspired. Right when I contemplating contacting Bel, (since we hadn't hung out in a while) my phone buzzed. I was surprised when I opened it to see kanji instead of Italian.

[Hi, Cloud-chan! This is Kyoko. I was wondering if you would like to join me and Haru-chan on our girl's day out. Haru-chan mentioned talking about it to you before.]

I hesitated before I texted back, but I remembered Gabriela's advice and recalled Dino's want for me to broaden my choice in friends. Feeling a small blush creep onto my face, I reread the messages once more before dropping the phone on the covers, waiting. Her reply was quick:

[We can meet at the shopping district in two days. I'll let Haru know. Can't wait to see you again, Cloud-chan!]

I blushed again, smiling at the multiple emojis she tacked on at the end of the message. My thumb hovered slightly over the keypad, before I sent back a winking face. I snapped my phone shut, throwing it on the bed once more before rising myself, setting on packing a small bag.

Two days to get to Namimori was plenty of time.

(and so I made my plans conveniently not letting anyone know about them)

"I'm back!" Tsuna slammed the door behind him and walked by the kitchen only glancing in momentarily before starting the trek to his room.

"Yo, Tuna-fish."

"Hey, Cloud..." he mumbled, dragging himself up the stairs. He froze for a moment, and then ran back down, nearly tripping in the process. He stared into the kitchen, eyes wide. "CLOUD?" I waved happily at him from my position at the table, sitting in front of his mother.

"Isn't it wonderful?" Nana chirped. "Cloud has come to visit again! She's going to be staying for a couple days." I nodded in agreement, still smiling up at Tsuna who continued to stare at me in shock. He blinked.

"A couple days?" he seemed to snap out of his trance. "Ah! Does that mean Dino's here too?" He looked around wildly as if he was expecting my brother to just pop out of nowhere. I huffed in response, rolling my eyes.

"It's not like everywhere I go, Dino has to be there too," I sighed. "I'm my own independent person, and I feel like I've made it pretty clear that I do what I want." Reborn hopped on my shoulder, again appearing out of nowhere.

"Reborn!" Tsuna shrieked, already sensing the situation escalating further out of his control.

"He doesn't know you're here, right Cloud?" I blinked, taking in the tutor's statement.

"Oh. I guess I forgot to tell anyone I was going." I rubbed the back of my head. "Whoops. I'll just tell them later or something..." Tsuna blanched, amazed by how irresponsible I was. He sighed, slumping forward and accepting my unannounced visit.

"You're unbelievable, Cloud."

"Unbelievably hot?" I tried. He stared at me.

"...I didn't mean it like that."

"You didn't deny it either," I quipped. He face palmed. I grabbed my bag from beside me and passed the unresponsive Tsuna as I walked out of the kitchen. "I'm going to put my things in Bianchi's room, Nana."

"Okay, Cloud-chan!" She nodded softly, but then cocked her head, "but please, you can call me Mama!"

Tsuna's eyes barely narrowed, seeing my quit stutter of hesitation. I simply hummed and nodded, turning quickly to make my way up the stairs,

Tsuna leaning to look after me, quizzical, but concerned.

"Hey, Cloud?" I looked up at Tsuna beside me. We were currently both sitting on his bed, leaning against the wall, reading peacefully. I picked up my head, which had been previously been laying on his shoulder to acknowledge him.

"Yes, Tuna-fish?" His eye twitched in response to his nickname, but he managed to ignore it and continue on with the conversation.

"I was just wondering… why do you curse in Chinese?" I blinked at him as he waited for an answer. I hummed thoughtfully and scratched the back of my head.

"I guess it's really so Dino can't get onto me for cursing," I admitted numbly, shrugging. Tsuna's expression deadpanned.

"Really? Just so you can get away with it?" I raised an eyebrow and shot him a confused look.

"What? Were you really expecting another kind of answer?"

"Well, no…" he trailed off, rubbing the back of his head. "I mean, doesn't he know you're still cursing? Dino's pretty smart, right?"

"Of course he knows, he just can't prove it," I explained. "He knows I'm cursing, he just doesn't know what I'm saying."

".. that doesn't make any sense."

"Whatever. Works for me."

"But, why Chinese? Don't you know other languages?" I looked away, having never thought of this before the future don brought it up.

"I suppose I can curse in other languages… well, not German, Italian, English, or Japanese, because Dino knows those. I guess I curse in Mandarin because I've spent most of my time in China, and it's one of the languages that comes more natural to me," I shrugged with a blank, nonchalant expression. "It's just become a habit, and a bit of a release."

"But…" Tsuna's face scrunched up, "Should you really be cursing at all? It's a bad thing to do… right?" He had an uncertain tone. I stared up at him a bored expression.

"I've grown up with one of my brother figures yelling curse words every other word. Literally yelling," I elaborated. "I've never really seen it as a good or bad thing. But," I held up a finger, wanting to make a point. "I try not to curse in front of Ipin."

"That's…. actually sweet. You really view her as a little sister don't you?"

"You seem surprised, Tsuna," I said warily, narrowing my eyes. "Is that because you think I'm a bad person?" He paled as I stared him down, obviously thinking of his next words carefully.

"O-of course not, Cloud!" He laughed nervously. "I t-think that you're… a wonderful person?" I ignored that that last part of the sentence was a question, and smiled confidently turning back to one of the manga volumes Gokudera was letting us borrow.

"Fuck yeah, I am."

"Sakura viewing?"

"It's a competition to get the best spot, so I'm preparing," Bianchi explained, packing more poison cooking into the bentos. I paled, and started to lightly shake my head.

"I don't think that's it..." That's when Tsuna burst in, putting a voice to my concerns.

"Hey Bianchi! You aren't going to kill people just to get a spot are you?!"

"It's a competition for the best viewing spot, isn't it?" She repeated, rolling a rice ball. "I'll show them!" I sighed as Tsuna tried to stop her.

"Stop! Stop! Stop! Sakura viewing should be a happy and elegant event! You're being too blood thirsty!"

"If you're so insistent, you go get the seats," Bianchi rebuked. Of course, this caused the famous, Tsuna freak out. I stayed back, not wanting to get caught up in the events. I planned to go, but only after they had gotten the seats. If I remembered correctly, then a certain someone I did not want to face for the time being would be there. Ah, but Reborn always did ruin plans.

"Cloud you go with him."

"What?!" Tsuna and I looked at each other after we said the word in union. "No thanks, Reborn. Tsuna can handle this," I said, patting the said boy on the back.

"Yamamoto will be there."

"Done." I pushed Tsuna out the door. "Let's go Tuna-fish!"

"Why me!?"

From my position latched onto Takeshi's arm, I gazed around and up at the sakura wide eyed. I let out a low whistled.

"It's beautiful. I've never seen Sakura trees like this before," I noted, leaning into Takeshi a bit.

"Woo, lucky!" Yamamoto grinned, bumping me a bit with his hip.

"Now I don't have to die..." Tsuna sighed out of relief, slumping.

"We're the first ones here!" Takeshi noted, looking around. I frowned, seeing the lack of logic in this scene.

"But isn't it weird tha-"

"This place is off limits." We turned around to face the voice that interrupted me. A blocky man (middle schooler) stepped out from the shadows of the trees, continuing his threat, "All the Sakura trees around here have been preserved. Scram."

"Oh, so that's why there aren't any people," I muttered, "Elvis scared them off." His eyes barely twitched at the comment, but Takeshi stepped forward before he could.

"Hey, that's not fair," Takeshi said, putting himself between me and the guy, "It's not like this is private property."

"I never said that this was open for discussion," the stranger sneered, cracking his knuckles. "If you don't leave you better watch out." I snorted at the threat while Tsuna squealed and hid behind me. Gokudera, however, had a much more physical reaction, moving towards the guy and kneeing him in the guy.

"Shut up," the bomber spat, sneering down at the fallen opponent.

"Gokudera!" I turned my head to face Tsuna.

"you're actually surprised by his reaction?" I eased lightly, causing Tsuna to blush:

"S-shut up, Cloud!"

"I was wondering who was being so noisy. So it's you guys?" A smooth voice interrupted our bickering. I smiled nervously at the new comer, paling slightly. We turned to see none other than Hibari Kyoya leaning against the trunk of a tree nearby, looking rather cool as he reviewed us.

"Hibari-senpai!" Tsuna squealed, once again shifting and hiding behind me. His eyes went back to the other guy, noticing the red armband he adorned, "Ah! He's a member of the disciplinary committee!"

"Nice deductions skills there, Sherlock," I mumbled halfheartedly, still focused on Kyoya. I half expected him to charge at me. He seemed to notice me by this point.

"Kumo," He acknowledged me, nodding. Hiding my confusion, I nodded back.

"Kyoya."

"I'll honor our deal for now," the prefect informed me, "after all, I look forward to biting that person to death." He let a bloodthirsty smirk slide on his face. I searched my head, trying to remember what he was talking about. That person, that person...oh, yeah. He's talking about Dino. I relaxed my stance, feeling a lot better knowing that he honors his deals. Kyoya then turned back to Tsuna, who we had completely lost during our conversation.

"I don't want to view the Sakura with a crowd, so I got him to chase people off," He sauntered over to his subordinate, who was pushing himself up off the ground. "But it seems you weren't of much use. I'll take care of the rest." The man looked up at him, admiration on his face.

"P-president…"

"Weaklings," Hibari swung his tonfa, knocking the poor guy backwards, "should just decompose." I frowned, shifting slightly, unnerved by Kyoya's swift dismissal of his own men.

"He's beating his own people!" Apparently, Tsuna and the guys didn't approve either.

"You guys saw it too. I'm not used to standing above people," Kyoya turned to us, tonfas bared. "I'm only assured when I'm standing above corpses."

"Cool line from a shitty guy," I muttered, causing Takeshi to give me a quick sideways smile before he turned his attention back to the threat at hand. Kyoya paused before delivering any blows, however, when another voice interrupted:

"Ah, what a nice view. Sakura viewing is such a nice thing." A shiver went down my spine as I distinctly recognized the voice with the slight slur to his words. We turned, seeing a man leaning against a tree trunk, using it to support himself; his appearance was scruffy, almost rugged, wearing a disheveled looking doctor's coat, the outline of a flask obvious in his front pocket. But despite his clear drunkenness, his other hand was resting in proximity of his front lower pocket, where no doubt he kept capsules of mosquitos.

"Doctor Shamal!" I stiffened when I heard Tsuna's introduction, and had the right to be wary; the man's eyes lit up when he saw me, and he immediately moved forward with far more speed expected from a man so clearly intoxicated.

"Hello, cutie~" Shamal tried to pounce at me, but I panicked and ended up nailing him in the head with a kick. The boys blinked, baffled by my quick disposal of the doctor. Tsuna was the first to react, loudly per usual.

"Cloud, why'd you do that?!" Tsuna freaked, startled by my reaction.

"Sorry, I panicked," I waved off, nonchalantly.

"You panicked?!" He repeated. "That" he pointed at Shamal's body, now on the ground, "was your reaction to panic?!" I shrugged, causing Tsuna to pale at my indifference to knocking a man unconscious.

"That pervert-doctor's still here?" Gokudera scowled.

"I got him to come." We looked up to see Reborn perched in the tree, wearing strange clothes again.

"Even Reborn's here!" Tsuna bemoaned.

'Hey, kid," Kyoya looked up at Reborn. "It's nice to see you again."

"We want to see the Sakura too," Reborn explained. My eyes narrowed at the kid, knowing that he was starting something. "How about it, Hibari? Tsuna says to compete, using the spot as a prize."

"WHAT? WHY ARE YOU DRAGGING ME INTO THIS?" Of course, he was ignored.

"You know that you have no saying in this at all, right?" I looked back at the depressed Tsuna, who looked close to tears.

"A game..." the prefect mused, "Fine, I've been waiting to kill you guys anyway. How about you three each fight me separately?" He suggested. "Whoever has their knees touch the ground loses."

I moved from Tsuna's group as they debated (more like Takeshi and Gokudera were totally for it, and Tsuna was just getting dragged along) and went to stand under Reborn's perch, quite happy that Kyoya didn't include me in this and kept to our arrangement.

"Don't worry," Reborn chirped from above me, playing commentator per usual,"That's why I called a doctor."

"THAT GUY ONLY HELPS WOMEN! AND BESIDES, HE'S NO USE NOW!" Tsuna pointed at the fallen Shamal, who to my surprise was pushing himself up. I narrowed my eyes, noting that he had managed to avoid a serious hit from me. I aimed for a spot where I was sure he would be knocked out, but for him to have avoided the brunt of my attack in that little time, and drunk too, proved that he was not one to be messed with. Trident Shamal indeed.

The doctor pushed himself up and looked around, his eyes landing on me again (much to my annoyance).

"Come here, beati-" Unfortunately, he happened to land beside Kyoya when I kicked him, who found the doctor's pursuing to be rather irritating as well.

"How annoying," Hibari spat, "Scram." And with a swing of his tonfa Shamal was knocked back again, hitting a tree. I blinked, not expecting this outcome, then shrugged, accepting it. Thanks to Kyoya, the pervert was far away from me. But thinking of the prefect reminded me of another thing that had fallen from the center of attention.

I scanned the area looking for a specific person. My eyes lit up when I saw Kyoya's fallen subordinate, who was slowly pushing himself up. I walked over to him as the first fight began.

"Yo, need some help?" I asked, tenderly grabbing his arm and helping him stand. He seemed startled by my presence, and a tough look slipped on his face.

"What do you want?" I snorted.

"Drop the tough guy act, dumbass," I said, pulling a small first aid kit I almost always kept with me out of my jacket pocket. "I'm helping. Just want to patch up that nasty bump on your face." He looked like he wanted argue, but after an encouraging smile from me, he was silenced. I leaned him against the tree and opened my kit, getting to work. He blinked owlishly, as if just realizing something.

"Y-you're Kumo-san." I eyed him.

"...yes?" I said, unsure if that was the right answer.

"Kusabake-san told us about you," he explained when he noticed my confusion.

"Ah," I breathed out, starting to put the bandages on (really, when I said 'bump', it wasn't really a bump. Unfortunately, this guy got the full force of Kyoya's tonfa). I frowned, remembering the guy who inflicted this wound I was patching up in the first place.

"Hey, Man." He blinked at the casualness in which I reference him, "If Kyoya does this stuff to you guys a lot," I gestured to the patch on his face I had just finished making, "then why does he have followers like you?"

"The president is a good and strong leader," He started, admiration swelling up in his eyes," even if he's a little strict." I scoffed.

"A little, huh?"

"And he has an amazing devotion to the school and town that we all share!" He explained, his eyes burning with pride. I shook my head, the frown still on my face.

"But he still shouldn't treat you guys so poorly. Doesn't he know about family?" The guy shook his head.

"Hibari-sama's just that way. Nobody can change him." I sighed.

"Somebody fucking can try." The guy gave a small smile and pushed himself up.

"I should go before the president sees me," He excused himself. I nodded, letting him go.

"Try not to get hurt again," I waved him off, "And I'll get to work on that changing him thing!" I called after the guy as an afterthought. I turned my attention back to the fight just in time to see Takeshi defeated. I winced as he hit the ground.

"Dammit, I lost again."

"YAMAMOTO!" Tsuna yelled out, clutching his head.

"Next up is Tsuna," Reborn informed his student as I ran over to check on Takeshi.

"You okay?" I asked as I helped him stand. He waved me off, clearing hiding his injuries.

"I'm fine, Cloud, really.

"Uh huh," I dead panned, giving him a disbelieving look. He seemed to want to argue more, but became distracted by the fight currently happening.

"A... duster?" he muttered, his eyebrows drawing together. I looked up to see Tsuna in dying will mode attacking Kyoya with, yes, that was indeed a duster. I rubbed my eyes.

"You're sure inconsistent; sometimes strong, sometimes weak," the prefect admitted as they braced, "I can't read you at all." They broke off and started exchanging blows again before Kyoya came to a decision:

"I'll just kill you then."

"His logic is just brilliant," I noted quietly.

"Whoa…" Takeshi breathed out, still leaning into me.

"It's a tie..!" Gokudera announced, clearly inspired by his boss. This went on for a little longer, that is, until the flame on Tsuna's forehead sizzled out, leaving behind a very freaked out Tsuna.

"Wah! Hey, wait!" He held up his arms as Kyoya came forward, only to fall to his knees, much to everybody's surprise.

"HUH?! EH? NO WAY! DID I DO THAT?" Tsuna yelled, his hands waving.

"Of course not. He did it." Reborn pointed at Shamal, who was rubbing his head, still leaning against the tree.

"Hey, ow. It wouldn't do to wreck my handsome face."

"Doctor Shamal!" I put myself behind Takeshi as the doctor came over to the group.

"Shamal released the trident mosquito on Hibari the second he was hit," Reborn explained.

"That drunk is that strong!" Tsuna exclaimed.

"Sorry, but I've faced far more life-and-death situations than you have. As a side note, the disease he has is one where he can't stand up near Sakura. The Sakura Disorientation Syndrome." Tsuna stared at the doctor, bewildered by the strange disease.

"Hibari-san!" Our attention was drawn back to the prefect as he forced himself to stand up.

"Rules are rules," he relented, a blank expression on his face. "Go ahead and enjoy the Sakura." He walked away, swaying. I narrowed my eyes, a decision forming in my head.

It was tempting. Incredibly tempting to get the cure from Shamal right now and cure Kyoya, but... I couldn't. But damn did I want to. Kyoya needed to get beaten by Mukuro. Not only because Tsuna needed to beat Mukuro in order to get stronger, but because of that loss, his first loss, Kyoya realized that he needed to become stronger. It forced him to realize that he wasn't the strongest person and forced him to become stronger. If I cure him, then he has a chance of beating Mukuro and if that happens, even if it was a slight chance, then they wouldn't be strong enough to beat the Varia when they came. And they needed to be as strong as possible for that.

(God, I realized in that moment, God I never want that day to come, where my family here fought against my family there)

"You know, such a sad look that doesn't suit your pretty face, Miss Cavallone."

I looked up, startled to see Shamal walking over to me, a little more sober now. I looked around to see that the others had arrived while I was lost in thoughts, and the boys had gone to greet them. My eyes narrowed at the doctor.

"What do you want?" He chuckled at my abrasiveness.

"Whoa! Such coldness from the little lady I saved so long ago!" I raised my eyebrow at him.

"You saved me?" He nodded.

"At your brother's inheritance ceremony," he pointed to himself, proudly. "I'm the reason you're alive today!" I blinked, letting this information sink in.

"Fuck," I admitted, running a hand through my hair, "Forgot about that. Thanks, I guess?"

"Do I get a thank you kiss?" He puckered him lips and leaned forward. My expression fell flat. Ignoring him, I joined the others, slipping on a fake smile.

(Looks like I was going to spend my first Sakura viewing with a guilty conscience)

I waited patiently outside of the school gates for Tsuna, and slung my arm around him when he appeared. Gokudera gave an annoyed huff at my actions because they separated him from his beloved boss.

"Yo, Tuna-fish."

"C-cloud! What are you doing here?!" Tsuna glanced around nervously. Other students stared and whispered around us, already spreading rumors of dame-Tsuna having a pretty foreign girlfriend. Not that I really cared what they said anyway.

"I need directions," I told my 'brother' with a smile. "Haru, Kyoko and I are going shopping later this afternoon and I need to know how to get to the Namimori shopping district and a certain cake shop there." I looked around, noticing that it was only Tsuna and Gokudera. "Oh, and where's Takeshi?"

"He had a baseball club meeting or something," Tsuna informed me. I frowned.

"Ah, shame." Gokudera seemed fed up by this point.

"Listen woman!" He turned to me, an accusing finger pointed. "The Tenth doesn't need to help you! He's had enough trouble today with that Longchamp guy anyway!" I blinked and scrunched my nose.

"That guy? He's horrible." Tsuna looked at me, surprised.

"Huh? You know him, Cloud?"

"Unfortunately, I had to meet with him in Italy a long time ago. That day stills scars me," I shuddered, just thinking about the annoying guy.

"He caused way too much trouble for me, and on the first day back too. In between Reborn and Longchamp, this day has been chaos..." Tsuna grumbled. I patted his back reassuringly. Gokudera tried to smack my hands away.

"Don't touch the Tenth so familiarly!" I ignored him, still focusing on Tsuna.

"Well, I guess you don't have to lead me to the cake shop. Directions will do just fine. And just to make you feel better," I winked at him, "I'll put in a good word of you for Kyoko." He gazed up with me, hope shining in his eyes.

"C-cloud! You're so nice!" I waved him off.

"It's nothing! Hey, we're basically family, right? Now where're those directions?"

I sipped my drink, waiting at the small table outside the small cake shop for the other girls. Haru arrived first, adorned in her school uniform.

"Cloud-chan!" She ran up waving. I smiled (perhaps awkwardly) and returned the wave. "Huh? Is Kyoko-chan not here yet?" Haru asked, glancing around. I shook my head.

"Not yet." No sooner had the words left my mouth, we heard a voice coming towards us.

"Haru-chan! Cloud-chan!" We turned to see Kyoko making her way towards us, sparkling atmosphere in tow. "I'm so glad you could make it, Cloud-chan! You're lucky too, today's our appreciation day!" Haru nodded vigorously beside her. I cocked my head, curious.

"Appreciation day?"

"Mm-hm. I was worried because we had to move it from the usual Sunday, but I'm happy we did so that Cloud-chan can be with us!" I blushed, but was amused by their enthusiasm. I was suddenly grabbed by both girls and dragged into the shop.

"Come on, desu!" Haru called, grinning back at me before turning to Kyoko. They began jabbering about their favorite cake flavors and which ones I should get. I laughed, letting them talk; I didn't mind being the observer in this group. I could never keep up with their enthusiasm after all.

"I'll just have chocolate," I told the employee.

"Hahi! Cloud-chan, that's a little boring," Haru complained as we sat down at the same table outside. I shrugged.

"I guess that I enjoy simple things." They giggled and shrugged.

"Whatever you say, Cloud-chan!" I smiled, genuinely, despite still blushing lightly.

Today was going to be a good day.

(I hoped)

The three men eyed the trio of girls as they walked down the street.

"How lucky, to just get out of jail and come across such easy targets," The eldest brother mused.

"I'll go first, brothers," the youngest stood up from the table and made his way to his targets. "After all, I am 'Pickpocket Saburou'."

He slunk through the crowd, eyeing the foreign looking girl's back pocket where he had saw her stash her wallet earlier. He smirked, thinking of how easy this will be. He was wrong, naturally.

The girl shuddered when he touched the pocket and spun around, nailing him with a kick in the jaw.

"Get away you fucking perv!" The girl glared at the pick pocket, clearly thinking he had other motives than stealing.

"Cloud-chan!" Her friends went to the girl's side, worried looks plastering their faces. "Are you okay?" She waved them off.

"I'm fine. Come on, let's leave this pervert." She hooked arms with them and walked off, leaving the fallen pathetic excuse of a thief behind them. The older brothers watched in horror as the scene unfolded. The second oldest brother rose, holding a vase.

"Don't worry, I'll get revenge for our little brother! After all, I am 'Pickpocket Jirou'."

He stood in the street, holding the vase, waiting for the group of girls to pass him.

"Little girls like them are easy targets when it comes to my tactic," He thought to himself, smirking confidently. "They'll feel guilty when they end up 'breaking' this vase and I'll pretext them to get money."

As they walked by, he brushed one of the girl's shoulders, effectively dropping the vase. The girl's eyes widened as she saw it fall. He tried to hold back a smile as it lowered to the ground, but his eyes widened dramatically as a foot lightly kicked the vase back up and a hand caught it. He looked up to see the foreign girl catching the vase tenderly, giving him a blank look.

"You should really be more careful," she chided lazily, handing the vase back to him. He took it mechanically, too shocked to respond. The group of girls walked on.

"Wow, Cloud-chan! Haru is impressed by your reflexes, desu!"

"Ah, it's nothing!" She waved them off, pink dusting her cheeks.

"Useless! Both of you!" The eldest brother slammed his hands down on the table across from his younger brothers. "You can't even get money from a group of middle school girls!"

"I'm sorry, Bro, but that foreign girl is scary!" The other brother nodded in agreement. Both of them were shaking in fear thinking of the orange haired beast of a girl. The eldest brother sighed and stood up, fingering his glasses.

"I'll be the judge of that! In the name of 'Ichirou the Swindler', I'm going to get money from those girls!"

He approached the girls as they were sitting outside of a little shop, chattering. His smirk turned into a brilliant fake smile.

"Hello, young ladies, I couldn't help but notice your school uniforms! I was wondering if you'd be interested in scholarship opportunities. All I need is your signatures, of course!"

"Scholarships?" The girl with short, light hair questioned, showing interest. He bit back a smirk as he nodded.

"Yes! You see, with this, money is not a problem at all!" He looked around at the group, seeing the smiles on the first two girl's faces, but froze when he met the lazy green eyes of the foreign girl. She was clearly unimpressed. She sighed and stood up. He jumped when she slung an arm around the man, turning him away from the other girl's curious gazes.

"Listen, dumbass," she drawled an intimidating aura surrounding her. He shuddered, genuinely scared by this point. "My brother is the boss of one of the most influential mafia families. As pathetic as it was to see you try to con us, you and I both know that this won't work. So," a smile slipped on her lips as she patted his back. "Do yourself a favor and scram before I get even more annoyed with you and your pathetic brothers."

He froze for a second, not moving due to shock. Then, when logic returned to him, he bolted, not wanting to go to jail a second time. The other girls stared as he ran off, confused.

"What was that about, Cloud-chan?" Kyoko looked up at her friend, who was slipping back into her seat, a confident smirk on her face.

"Oh, nothing. They were just trying to scam us, so I just convinced him to change his ways and leave us alone."

"Hahi! Cloud-chan is so smart!" Haru clapped her hands in admiration. The Italian girl smirked and flipped her hair, turning in order to hide her blush and keep her confident facade.

"I suppose I am, Haru-chan."

"Cloud?" I looked up to see Tsuna staring at me.

"Hm?" I slurped another mouthful of ramen. He sweat dropped.

"Are you really eating a cup of ramen for breakfast?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Don't you need to get to school or something?" Tsuna jumped up.

"Ah! I'm going to be late!" I watched in amusement as he ran out the door, tripping as he went. I chuckled lightly and cleaned up after myself as I finished my ramen cup. Lambo and Ipin ran in with Nana behind them.

"Ah, be careful you two!" I managed to grab Lambo as he tried to chase Ipin. The young Chinese girl hid behind my legs and glared up at the kid.

"Whoa there, brat," I held Lambo up, giving him a firm stare. "What exactly are you trying to accomplish by chasing Ipin?"

"S-she's taller than me!" he blubbered, tears brimming in his eyes. I snorted.

"And because of that fact you decided to chase her?" He nodded defiantly. Nana sighed.

"They're a handful, aren't they?" She laughed and wiped her forehead, tired from having to chase the kids. I frowned, noting how stressful it can get taking care of these kids every day, a pang of pity running through me. I brought Lambo closer to me, taking away his grenade he was about to throw.

"Nan- Mama," I caught her attention. "How about I take the kids out today so you can rest?" She clapped her hands.

"That would be great, Cloud-chan!" I forced a smile and scooped up Ipin, telling her what we were doing in Chinese. She seemed to like the idea. "Be sure to take Reborn too!" Nana chirped. I blinked.

"Huh?" Reborn jumped on my shoulder.

"Yeah, Cloud. Let's have some fun." I paled, not particularly looking forward to babysitting the demon tutor.

"Why are we going to the school?" I drawled towards Reborn as I watched Lambo happily skipping in front of me. I held Ipin in my arms and Reborn perched on my shoulder.

"Because it's a half day and we're going to help Tsuna."

"I can't, Reborn," I gestured to the kids. "I'm babysitting." He waved me off.

"Just ditch Lambo somewhere and bring Ipin with you. She won't do anything," He suggested, showing the lack of care he had for the brat.

"I promised Nana that I would take care of them," I chided. Lambo tripped, falling flat on his face. We stared down at him unimpressed as he began shaking.

'T-tolerate... WAH! I CAN'T DO IT!" I sighed and tried to shush him as other students around us stared at the brat as they made their way home.

"Oh! Cloud-chan!" I looked up to see Kyoko walking towards me. She saw the crying Lambo and a soft smile slipped onto her face. "Do you need help?" Reborn beat me to answering.

"Can you take care of Lambo and Ipin for a while, Kyoko? Cloud's busy helping me help with Tsuna." I glared at the tutor.

"You can't just ask her that," I hissed. Kyoko laughed and waved me off.

"I don't mind! Maybe I can even ask Haru-chan to come and play too! I like spending time with the kids anyway," she admitted picking up Lambo and calming him.

"Are you sure?" I asked, tilting my head, trying to squish the jealously I felt when I saw her calm Lambo so easily. She nodded.

"It's no problem at all!" I relented and told Ipin what was going on. I let the girl down and she happily walked off with Kyoko and Lambo, off to play in the playground nearby.

"I feel kind of bad for dumping them on her..." I muttered, frowning, still a little jealous over her ease when handling the kids.

"You should feel better knowing that you get the honor of helping me." I turned around to face Reborn again. He held out a bundle of Egyptian looking clothes and a Cleopatra wig to me. "Put this on," he commanded, already getting in a sphinx costume. I frowned.

"No. I'm not getting caught up in this again." He frowned.

"Then the least you can do is carry me," he said, giving me a sad look. "I can't move in this costume. Look how vulnerable I am." My eyes narrowed.

"Are you trying to make me feel guilty? I'm not Tsuna you know."

"Fine. Carry me or die." I sighed and picked him up.

"Whatever, Demon Tutor."

After stopping by the front office to get a visitor's pass (I learned my lesson from my first visit to Namimori), we went off to find Tsuna. It didn't take long. I set Reborn down on the window ledge and leaned on it beside him, waiting for Tsuna to notice us.

"I think this is a good idea," Reborn chirped, commenting on Longchamp's suggestion to do something this year. Tsuna whipped around to face us, his eyes growing wide when he saw his tutor's costume. "Let's begin!"

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"

"I was thinking of starting pyramid powers during the new semester," Reborn explained.

"YOU CAN JUST START LIKE THAT!?" I laughed at Tsuna's freak out, drawing attention to myself. "Huh? Cloud? Why are you here?!"

"Technically, I'm babysitting Reborn for your mother," I informed him. He stared at me, still trying to process the fact that I was here.

"Ah!" Longchamp pointed at me. "I know you! You were that girl I went on a date with that one time!" Tsuna started laughing.

"You w-went on a date with him?" I frowned, not liking being laughed at.

"It was for business reasons only," I rebuked.

"Anyway, Sawada-chan, who is that!? This really cute baby!" I raised an eyebrow and smirked at Tsuna.

"Sawada-chan?" I questioned. Tsuna turned red and glared at me.

"S-shut up, Cloud!"

"I'm Tsuna's home tutor, Reborn," said baby explained. Longchamp was clearly impressed.

"No way! So cool! Even though you're so young!"

"Don't underestimate him no matter what, Longchamp-kun!" He turned to look at the new voice. I scowled when I saw the butler guy with two other weird looking people standing behind him. He rudely pointed at Reborn. "He's the Vongola's number one assassin!" Tsuna stared at the trio in horror. I looked away, bored with the direction the conversation was going as Longchamp introduced the people. After all, I was only here to 'babysit' Reborn.

"Oh! Club! Bull's eye! Good idea!" Longchamp jumped around, excited. I blinked noticing that Reborn was gone. I started to walk off to look for the baby, or otherwise known as my responsibility for the day. Tsuna gazed after me pitifully as Longchamp dragged him off to go join clubs.

"Cloud! Wait, don't go!"

"Sorry, 'Sawada-chan', but I gotta go find your demon tutor," I waved him off as he was dragged around the corner.

"Now where'd that brat run off too...?" I mused out loud. "He couldn't have gotten far, seeing how he can't move much in that costume." I sighed and began walking around the school, not all that worried about my lost charge. I rounded the corner, surprised to see Kyoya beating some poor guy to a pulp. He finished up quickly and turned around to face me, an eyebrow raised.

"Oh? Kumo is here?"

"Oh!" Quickly remembering something, I whipped out my visitors pass from my pocket. "Don't worry, I'm legally here," I piped, presenting it to the prefect. He looked it over and nodded in approval. Reborn then appeared, floating inside a pyramid. We blinked up lazily at him.

"Hello, Hibari, Cloud," He greeted us. I nodded in acknowledgement.

"Baby, it's nice to see you again," Kyoya returned.

"Same here, Hibari. I just wanted to inform you that Tsuna wants to join the Disciplinary Committee." The prefect raised an eyebrow.

"Hm? That small animal?" He shrugged and started dragging the body of the person he beat to a pulp. "We'll see." Meanwhile, I was staring at Reborn, trying, and failing, to figure out how he was floating. I turned when I heard Tsuna behind me.

"Hibari-senpai!"

"Hey."

"Ah, and Cloud, there you are!" I blinked, and waved from behind Kyoya. "Hibari-senpai is a 3rd year now... right?" Tsuna asked hesitantly. Kyoya dropped the body and crossed his arms.

"I always pick whatever year I feel like." I sighed.

"Your logic is breath taking as always, Kyoya." He snorted at my comment. Longchamp ran up to Tsuna, shouting about staying together and what not. Tsuna stiffened, most likely afraid that the guy would annoy Kyoya and they would be bitten to death.

"I heard you wanted to join the Disciplinary Committee, right?" the prefect asked, surprising Tsuna.

"Uh! Who told you that!?" Tsuna paled.

"I heard it from him," Kyoya pointed behind us at Reborn, who was still in the floating pyramid costume.

"Ah, good, good!" Longchamp slung his arm forcibly around Tsuna. "let's do it, Sawada-chan!" He waved at Kyoya. "Aw, hi there! I'm the eighth leader of the Tomaso, Naito Longchamp!" Kyoya remained unimpressed. I sighed.

"Sure, just say you're in the mafia," I commented. "It's not like that'll get you killed or anything." I watched in amusement as Tsuna pushed Longchamp away, much to the latter's surprise.

I blinked owlishly as Kyoya used his tonfa to reflect a bullet. I squinted up at the roof to see the butler guy from earlier, aghast that the bullet was deflected.

"That sound just now…" Tsuna muttered in disbelief, "Was it a gunshot towards Hibari-senpai?" The said senpai let a small, violent smile sneak onto his face.

"What's this? If you want to fight me, just say so." Tsuna freaked out, of course. I remained idly observing from behind Kyoya, not reacting when Longchamp got shot and became depressed (which did not help the situation in the least, even making Kyoya more excited to beat them up), or when Tsuna followed soon after. Kyoya stopped and stared at the two pathetic beings. For a moment, I thought it actually worked as the prefect started walking away.

"There is nothing less amusing than destroying those who have no will to live..." he looked back at the two, pausing. "Well, maybe not," he turned back and began beating them mercilessly.

"Kyoya used 'Tonfa'! Critical hit!" I joked, finding their antics to be amusing.

"That's Hibari alright," Reborn appeared beside me, in the sphinx costume again. I stared down at him.

"How the fuck did you get back into that costume so fast?" He looked back with 'innocent' eyes.

"It's a mystery." I sighed and looked back to the one-way massacre, not even trying to figure out the wonders of Reborn and his strange costumes.

"What!? Is that true Romario?"

"Ah, y-yes, boss. The princess is missing. We took a few days before calling to look for her ourselves and not to worry you, but after checking her recent purchases, we saw that she had bought a plane ticket to Japan. So, as of now, all we know is that she is in Japan..."

"Sorry, Tsuna! Something came up! I'll find somebody to take my place!" Dino yelled back as he ran out of the bowling alley.

"Dammit, Cloud! Why do you always go off on your own!" he muttered as he made his way to the Sawada household, his first check point.

I happily made my way to the bowling alley, thinking of how great it would be to see one of my favorite people. I had realized that I hadn't seen my favorite baseball player the whole time, and since I planned to leave tomorrow in order to see Gabriela before she left for America (I wasn't surprised at all when she told me the good news), I set out to spend today with him. After going by the sushi shop, I was informed by his father that Takeshi was at the bowling alley with the baseball team, and after staying and talking with the man for a bit, I set out on my journey. I almost got barreled over on the way, however.

"Dino?" I glanced at the figure that was racing down the road, not even looking in my direction. I shrugged and continued to my destination. I entered the bowling alley and glanced around, in search of a familiar face.

"They seem to be having fun!" I smiled and made my way over to the voice.

"Yo, Takeshi!" He turned toward me, smiling widely.

"Ah, Cloud! I haven't seen you in a while." He ruffled my hair as I latched onto his arm.

"I've been in Japan for the past few days, but I'm leaving tomorrow," I explained to him as we walked away from the struggling Tsuna and two... unique looking girls. "So for my last day, I wanted to spend time with my favorite baseball player!" He laughed.

"Aw, that's sweet! Well, I'm sure you can join us in bowling. I'm here with the baseball team," Takeshi assured me, gesturing towards a group of middle school guys who were all staring at me curiously.

"Is that your girlfriend, Yamamoto-kun?" One of them bravely asked.

"She's cute!" Another one commented, winking at me. Takeshi waved them off (with the beginning traces of a red on his cheeks) as I sat down and crossed my legs.

"Me and Cloud are just really good friends," He informed his team.

"Ah! I'm deeply wounded by your words," I faked offense, earning a laugh.

"So that means she's available?" One eager guy asked. Takeshi chuckled nervously and waved them off.

"Come on guys, stop pestering her! We came to bowl, right?" He managed to change the topic for the time being. That is until Reborn jumped on the back of the bench I was sitting on.

"Let's make this interesting," he suggested, calling the team's attention. I narrowed my eyes, not liking when he started a conversation with that. "Whoever wins the bowling match gets to go on a date with Cloud after the game." I blinked. The guys smiled, agreeing with this idea. Takeshi scratched his head.

"Are you sure that's okay, kid? What do you think about this, Cloud?"

"I ob-" Reborn threw Leon at me, who turned into an 'x' covering my mouth. I tried in vain to get him off, mumbling nonsense.

"Cloud thinks that it's a good idea," Reborn answered in my stead.

"But she looks mad," Takeshi noted.

"No, she's just showing how happy she is," Reborn corrected him.

"Oh! I see," Yamamoto smiled and then turned to get his bowling ball, clearly picking up on the situation, but playing along out of amusement. "Then I'll definitely win!" He declared, sending me a wink. As he walked away, leaving Reborn and I on the bench alone, Leon jumped off my mouth and turned back into lizard, returning to his master.

"What the fuck was that?" I hissed at the baby. He shrugged.

"I was bored." I stared at him.

"You were bored?" He nodded. "Therefore, you made me a prize in a bowling competition?"

"You're not the prize, Cloud," he corrected me, "What they're competing for is a date with you. Don't flatter yourself." My eye twitched. I started to say something, but after remembering exactly who it was that I was talking to, I settled with only a few select words.

"I really hate you, you know?" I grumbled, sliding down in my seat, making myself comfortable, knowing I was going to be here for a while. The tutor smirked.

"I know."

The competition actually took up the entire afternoon and went a little bit into the evening, due to the size of the baseball team and the number of games they had to play to see who won the date. Fortunately, I was quite content because the guys bought me food and drinks throughout the event as I watched. Honestly, I'll admit that all the attention went to my head at one point. I was a happy little prize.

Competitive Takeshi, however, was quite scary. I mean, I wasn't even playing against him and I saw this. Which is most likely the reason why he won in the end.

"I guess that I just got lucky!" He laughed as we walked out, arm around my shoulder per usual and Reborn on his shoulder. The rest of the team followed, a little depressed. "So, where do you want to go for the 'date', Cloud?" He looked down at me, hopeful and barely blushing. I pulled out my phone and glanced at the time, frowning when I realized how late it really was.

"Sorry, Yamamoto, but we'll have to plan it for some other time," I sadly informed him, ducking from under his arm to stand in front of him. "I have to catch an early flight tomorrow and I still have to pack tonight." He waved me off, but was clearly slightly dejected.

"It's fine, it's fine," he reassured me, ruffling my hair and forcing a bright smile. "As long as we get together sometime, you know?"

I laughed, and nodded agreeing with the easy-going baseball player. I paused however, before turning completely away.

"Until then?" I said, batting my eyes and teetering on the balls of my feet. Maintaining eye contact, I moved forward, reaching to cup the side of his face, and going on my toes to give him a quick peck on the lips. I grinned as I retreated, Reborn jumping from his shoulder to mine before I backed away.

"See you, Takeshi," I said with a wink, turning away as the baseball team either congratulated or joked with a red-faced Yamamoto.

"You gonna tell Dino?" I asked Reborn carefully as we made our way back.

"I think it will be more interesting to watch him discover this on his own," The Arcobaleno mused.

"Respect," I admitted, nodding to Reborn and opening the door of the Sawada house hold for him.

We walked in, surprised to hear sobbing from the kitchen. I peeked around the corner hesitantly to see a very beat up looking Dino and Tsuna sitting across from each other at the table. Dino seemed to be the source of the sobbing.

"When I ran off to look for Cloud," Dino continued, neither of them noticing that I came in. "I wasn't looking where I was going and almost got ran over. Then when I was yelling for her, some thugs came up to me and said I was disturbing the peace and they beat me up! I managed to get away, but then I ran into the cow kid and the little Chinese girl. The cow brat started throwing grenades at me, and I guess the girl thought I was Cloud because she wanted to spar with me. Finally, she realized who I was and led me back here," he finished, sniffling. Tsuna looked at him, shocked.

"T-they tried to turn me into a pencil case..." was Tsuna's lame story. I cleared my throat, startling both of them with my presence. I waved nervously at them.

"Yo," I said lamely.

They stared at me. It took Dino a while to do anything, but then he sprung at me, embracing me in a huge, strangling hug.

"Don't you ever go off like that ever again!" He scolded me as I tried to wriggle out of my grip.

"Sorry, sorry, sorry! I forgot to tell anybody!" I apologized, but focused more on escaping. "I'm going back to Italy tomorrow morning, anyway!" I managed to slip out of my brother's arms and run up the stairs.

"Cloud! I'm not done with you yet!" Dino yelled up at me, and tried to follow, but ended up falling back down the stairs thanks to his clumsiness. Tsuna stared at us in bewilderment as he witnessed the squabble.

"I'm so glad that I'm an only child..."

"It's going to be even more amusing when he finds out she kissed Yamamoto," Reborn quipped, having already made himself a cup of coffee. Tsuna nodded, taking a sip of his own drink before spitting it out.

"SHE WHAT?!"

AN:

Sup guys. Sorry I've been gone a while, but a lot has been happening in my life; I've been involved in a movie, I've had some close deaths, but I'm now medicated with my depression so that helps. So yeah, it's been a busy summer. But I'm trying to get back into the swing of things.

The daily life arc is over! Now onto the Mukuro Arc, or really, Cloud's Mukuro Arc. Whoo! Few things: I'm now taking requests on my tumblr blog, and I created a Buy me Coffee page, so if you like my work and want to support me, the line can be found on my tumblr blogs.

Review Response:

Tigaier: Thanks so much for the love, and hope you enjoy this update!

-Evenly