Chapter 12: Why Promises are Made

"Are we living a life that is safe from harm? Of course not, we never are. But that's not the right question. The question is are we living a life that is worth harm?"

-Welcome to Night Vale

"When you strike, make sure it counts." I side-stepped Gokudera's lunge and we fell into rhythmic movements; him wildly throwing punches and me simply dodging his desperate attempts. "If all your attacks are useless and meaningless," I continued, leaning back on one arm and swinging my whole body around, landing a square kick in my student's stomach, effectively taking him down, "then you won't have any energy left for the attacks that matter. Conserve your energy and put it towards game ending moves."

"Is that why you just dodge all the time like a coward?" He asked bitterly, pushing himself up from the ground.

"Cowards survive," I responded without hesitation. "And with your opponent, you need to think like one to survive. You can't afford to waste your time and energy on meaningless attacks in your battle. When you attack, aim for places that are crippling, try to make sure that if you run, he can't follow."

"Are you saying that I should just run away and not finish the fight?" Our eyes met, his filled with fiery passion, countering my calm logic.

"Only if you know that he can't follow," I responded coolly.

It was strange, actually being too tired to meet with Mukuro and Hannah for once. I guess that also I wore my mind out when I went overboard….

Okay, maybe overboard is a little bit of an understatement for what I did.

It took me a while to get a firm grasp of my surroundings. I figured I was in a hospital like room, considering the beeping noise beside me. I guessed that it was the hospital Dino rented out, since I don't think they would put me in any other hospital. The fact that I was in a different place brought up a number of questions.

Who brought me here? How long was I out? A sudden coldness hit me suddenly, recalling:

Was Bel okay?

All of the questions stopped when I heard the soft turn of a page and the light scratching of pencil on paper beside me, alerting me to the fact that there was someone else in the room with me. I stiffened immediately, knowing that whoever it was had enough experience to conceal their presence to where the things that gave them away were the pencil and paper they were holding. There was a pause, and the sound of shifting cloth. Then they delivered a strong kick to my leg. I groaned loudly, opening my eyes and turning my head to face the figure sitting beside my bed.

"Since you're awake now, you can help me with this crossword puzzle," a familiar voice drawled in German. "What is a five letter English word for extremely stupid?"

"Idiot?" I supplied, after confirming who it was.

"Cloud," she corrected, snapping the small, crumpled book shut and dropping it onto the floor. I looked away from her intense gaze.

"Hey, Zhanna," I awkwardly greeted. "Really didn't expect to see you here."

"After a short mission in Japan, I decided to come visit my young, stupid,friend just to say hello, only to find her almost dead from flame exhaustion. I dare you to try to guess how pissed off I was."

"How'd you find me anyway?"

"Ahya," she replied irritably, swinging her feet up on the bed and leaning back in her chair, clearly still pissed off.

"Ah," I muttered, understanding instantly. Zhanna was the youngest of four, her oldest brother being next in line to be the boss of the Giegue Family. Each sibling excelled in a certain area, Zhanna's area of expertise being strength and her sister's, Ahya, being tracking. In fact, her older sister is renowned for it, known to be able to track down anything and anyone. So, finding a friend of her little sister's would be no problem for her, which led to Zhanna sitting in front of me now.

"You haven't even contacted Green yet, have you?" I blinked, then groaned loudly again, bringing my arm up to smack my head. This resulted in a rather large head ache on my part.

"Don't move around too much," Zhannah advised me, "You just need to gain back the energy you wasted."

"And how do I do that, exactly?" I asked, rubbing my temples.

"Resting and eating. Don't worry too much, little horse," she poked me roughly in the shoulder, giving me her best assuring smile (which was more scary than reassuring, but I was kind of used to it by this point). "I know what to do in this situation. After all," she crossed her arms behind her head, and got comfortable in the chair. "I went through the same thing when I was about your age. Although the symptoms are always different for everyone."

"You overused your flames?" I asked, interested. It was hard to picture Zhanna in a weakened state.

"Yeah," she confirmed, "back when I was an amateur, like you."

"Thanks," I muttered dryly, falling back into deep thoughts. "How's Bel?"

"Alive. Not up yet, but alive," she answered with almost an annoyed and slightly angry tone. I decided to let that slide for now, not wanting to question her about it in case she would get angry. "That was a stupid thing to do, little horse. Healing an enemy, huh?"

"He's not my enemy," I corrected, "he's my friend." She huffed and looked at me with judging eyes. She then let out a bark of harsh laughter.

"You're a gray character, little horse, with dangerous friends in dangerous, strange places."

"And you're one of those dangerous friends," I reminded her, leaning back onto the bed feeling a little more at ease knowing Bel was alive. She smirked and nodded her head in agreement. A calm silence filled the room and Zhanna left me to my own thoughts. She picked up the crossword puzzle book I had given her some time ago (to help her learn English. However, all it really seemed to do was piss her off, leading to it being so crumpled) and flipped through it once more, while I thought about my actions.

I probably confused Tsuna and his group that was standing there. There was also Dino to worry about. No doubt, he would be worried and wonder why I passed out and why I'm so weak now. And of course that led to the flames that I was kind of supposed to be hiding. I sighed and looked at Zhanna. Our eyes met and after understanding why I looked so nervous, she handed me my phone from the small table sitting beside the bed.

I was impatient as I waited for him to pick up. Meanwhile, Zhanna moved to the door to watch for people barging in while I contacted the scientist.

"So, Verde," I greeted when he picked up. "Exactly how bad would it be if, say, a few people found out about the flames and the gloves?"

"…. You're an idiot," he concluded after my first sentence. "How many know?"

"Well," I began, using my fingers to count. "Basil and Kyoya know, but I don't think they know about flames and stuff. That's two who have for sure seen it, and possibly Bel if he was even conscious when I was healing him. But, after what I did," I said that part quickly and quietly, "I'm pretty sure others will start to ask questions." There was a long, tired sigh on the other end of the line before he spoke.

"The reason I told you not to tell anybody is so that no one else could steal the concept or the prototype and sell it as their own. Who are the ones that will question you about it?"

"Dino and Reborn, most likely." I could practically hear the scowl he was wearing.

"Him, huh? I guess he's too prideful to do something like that….. As long as it doesn't fall into the wrong hands and you're smart about who knows, I'll let your little slip up slide," he moved on almost immediately. "Now, what are the side effects of the prototypes?"

"Immense pain," I said immediately. "It heals, but it's an extremely painful process. Also, exhaustion on my part, which kind of led to flame exhaustion."

"Of course you would use too many flames," he scolded, "you don't have many to begin with. That's why it's good you have such precise control over them, but you still need to practice until you have perfect control, if you're going to get better at healing. I will also work on the gloves, making it easier to control the amount of flames you use and be precise about that amount. I was expecting it to be a painful process as well."

"Wait, you knew it was going to hurt the person I healed?"

"The flames that you use to heal are pure sun flames, but your flames in particular are quite…. harsh. Almost acidic. Basically, what you're doing is accelerating the healing process so that what can be done in weeks can be done in seconds. It's only natural that when you speed up that natural process that it would be painful for the person who you're healing."

"Right, right," I nodded, a little miffed that he knew this, but failed to tell me, "good to know that I bring people pain when I heal. Will all sun flames heal like this?" I asked, not remembering Lussaria or Ryohei having this effect when they heal.

"No. Your flames, the speed at which the wound heals, and the flames directly contacting the skin all contribute to the pain. You could use this to your advantage and build up a high pain tolerance."

"Good to know. Anything else?"

"No. Just be careful with the gloves. Don't act like an idiot again."

"Right," I replied dryly, "I'll try not to. Thanks, Verde." He simply ended the call. I sighed and put the phone down. Zhanna walked back over and sat down again.

"Good timing, Little Horse. You're brother is just about to barge in."

"Oh, great," I grumbled, already tired just from talking to Verde. "Now I have to explain stuff." Zhanna shrugged and leaned back, propping her feet on the bed again.

"You could always pretend like you're asleep," she supplied. I blinked.

"Oh, yeah. I'll just do tha-" Dino decided to walk in that exact moment, Romario behind him. His eyes went from wide and surprised to narrowed when he saw me awake.

"Good, you're awake. You have some explaining to do," He said, with a half-relived, half-you're-in-trouble look on his face.

"Fuck." I turned to Zhanna. "Help me?" She simply chuckled in response. Dino seemed to notice that she was in the room only at that moment. Although discrete, his posture stiffened a bit.

"I see that you're still here, Ursa." Dino greeted Zhanna.

"I stay by my friends," she replied slowly in Japanese, smirking. I stared at her. She noticed my gaze.

"What?"

"You know Japanese?" She nodded. My eyes narrowed.

"Then why have we been speaking German?" She shrugged.

"I'm better at German."

"And Ursa?" I asked.

"Somewhat of an assassin name," She replied, switching back to German to move the conversation along. Meanwhile Dino stood there numbly watching our interaction. He then shook his head and got back on subject.

"Cloud, stop trying to avoid my questions," he scolded. I blinked up at him owlishly.

"I haven't been avoiding them. You haven't asked me any ques-"

"What are these?" He held up my gloves. I kept a calm face.

"Well, Dino," I started. "Those are gloves." For a moment I thought he was going to smack me with the gloves, but then his expression deadpanned. He took a moment to calm himself, then continued (Romario and Zhanna were attempting to hold back laughter at my answer. Well, Romario was trying, Zhanna just burst out laughing).

"I know," he started slowly, "that they're gloves, Cloud. What are they used for? You got them after you went to Mafia Island, and you've had them with you everywhere you go. Then, she," he pointed at Zhanna, who had somewhat regained her composure at this point, "brings you and Belphegor here, looking like a corpse."

"Did I really look that bad?" I interrupted him. He ignored me and continued.

"And from your symptoms, you look like you have flame exhaustion, which leads me to thinking that these gloves are some kind of weapon that require flames. But, I have no idea how you could have known about flames, or where you could have gotten a weapon that uses them. You want to explain this to me, Cloud?" He finished with a stern look.

I let out a sigh of relief and laughed lightly.

"Oh, good, I didn't know if you knew about flames yet," I said, smiling. Dino's expression dropped and was replaced with a very confused look.

"Huh?"

"Well, I might as well tell you know, I wasn't just training with Colonello at Mafia Land," I admitted. "He managed to contact Verde, you know, the green Acrobaleno with mad science skills, and Verde figured out my flame types and gave me some new toys." Dino blinked, processing all the information I had just thrown at him.

"Okay," he said, nodding his head numbly, "Okay. I have a few - no, a lot of questions. First, did you say types? As in multiple attributes?"

"Yep," I said, popping the 'p'. "Rain, cloud and sun."

"And then you said he gave you multiple things?"

"New guns, new rifle and gloves," I elaborated.

"And he just gave this to you? From what Reborn said about that guy it seems unlikely that he would just give away things like that."

"... yeah. He just... gave them to me." Zhanna snorted at my response and rolled her eyes. Dino seemed to it slide and moved on.

"Well, I didn't expect you to tell me that so easily," Dino admitted, rubbing the back of his head. "Okay, last question; at what point did you think that it was okay to do all of this without my permission?"

I opened my mouth, ready to answer. Then, thinking better of it, I promptly shut my mouth. I smiled nervously up at my brother. His expression remained unamused. A moment of silence passed.

"Love you, Dino?" I tried. He shook his head and began turning around.

"You're grounded." I blinked, processing his words.

"Wait, what?" I tried to push myself out of bed, but Zhanna's arm shot up and pushed me back before I could react. I shot her a glare (which she gladly returned) before turning my head back to Dino.

"You're grounded," Dino repeated as Romario opened the door for him. "You are not to leave this hospital until I say you can. I'm tired of you always going off on your own and doing dangerous things. So, you're grounded."

"But that's not fair," I whined, even admitting to myself that I sounded childish.

"I'm doing this for your own good, Cloud." And with one last stern look, Dino shuck the door. I groaned loudly, rubbing my temples.

"If I'm not mistaken," Zhanna commented, clearly amused by the outcome, "You've had this coming for a while."

"Not helping, Zhanna."

"It wasn't my intention to, Little horse."

Hibari managed to catch the girl before she hit the ground. Not knowing what else to do he laid her on the ground, then looked around.

It was rare that Hibari Kyoya was in a situation where he had absolutely no idea what to do. Usually, he would resolve things with pure strength and violence, but in this scenario that would not work. From what he understood, the boy Cloud was healing was an enemy to Tsunsyoshi Sawada's group, which is why he was confused when she helped him. He was aware of the fact that the girl was close to Sawada and was on his side, yet she helped his enemy.

Not only was he confused, but he had no idea what to do with the unconscious bodies in front of him. Just when the thought of leaving them there entered his head, he tensed up and drew his weapons, sensing major killing intents coming his way.

He whipped around as two shapes jumped through the already broken window behind him. His eyes narrowed as he surveyed the two strangers; two females, the smaller of the two wearing a skull looking mask and the other's bare face covered in scars.

He immediately pinned the larger one as stronger; more of a threat, more of a challenge. The larger woman's eyes darted behind him, seeing Cloud on the ground. Her eyes narrowed and met his again, filled with rage. Hibari's own eyes widened, not out of fear, but out of excitement. He smirked, looking forward to a fight. With the intense aura this stranger had, there was no doubt that she was strong.

"Who the fuck are you and what the hell did you do to her," She snarled in slow, broken Japanese. Hibari's smirk widened. The woman's fist clenched, and she moved to step forward.

An arm shot out in front of her before she could make her move. Her head snapped to face the smaller of the two women, the one wearing the mask. Hibari's eyes narrowed as the masked woman spoke in another language; their conversation went right over his head, irritating him. He snarled, fed up with waiting, and eager for a battle (since he was stopped earlier) and he lunged forward.

The woman with the scarred face was his target, naturally. He saw her smirk as he swung his tonfa towards her. With one arm she grabbed it, pulling the tonfa down. In the next few seconds she swung her leg around, nailing the boy in the stomach, sending him crashing into the wall a few feet away. She smirked triumphantly as Hibari shakily pushed himself up, coughing up a bit of blood. The smaller woman let out an audible sigh, putting her head in her hands and shaking it.

Hibari tensed as the scarred woman stepped forward again, but was stopped when the other put her hand on the larger one's shoulder. The masked one shook her head, then after a few words that Hibari could not understand, she gestured towards Cloud. She then looked back at Hibari, who was scowling at them.

"Forgive my little sister for her actions," the masked woman said in almost perfect Japanese, only tainted by her thick accent, "when provoked, Zhanna can become quite...ravenous. We are simply here to check on a friend of hers." She glanced over at 'Zhanna', who was checking Cloud's pulse.

"And I'm sure she is glad we did check. Although," her tone become darker as she revealed more of her aura, "I would not provoke her again in the future. You are lucky that I was here to prevent her from finishing the job, but I will be leaving soon and I assume that Zhanna will stay with her friend for some time. If you do not want to be humiliated again, I would advise you not to approach my little sister."

Hibari remained silent, his pride slightly wounded. However, thinking back, even he would admit to himself that these were not people he should be messing with. They were too strong and had experience. He knew this just from looking at Zhanna's eyes, and he was sure that if the other was not wearing the mask, he would see the same thing. These people were out of his league and he could not defeat them... yet. When he attacked, he rushed forward simply because he was still on the battle high from earlier.

Next time, he would be more careful. His eyes wandered to the larger one, the one the other called Zhanna, and vowed that next time he fought her, he would win.

"If you are allies with the girl," the smaller woman continued, drawing his attention away from Zhanna and back to her, "rest assured that she will be taken care of. My little sister chooses her companions wisely and stays by their side. She will take the girl back to her family and look after her."

She ended the conversation with that, then walked over to Zhanna, who was about to pick Cloud up. Hibari watched as the two talked for a bit and met Zhanna's eyes when she looked over at him.

He involuntary shivered and she grinned eerily at him, the numerous scars on her face adding to the effect. He calmed himself and managed to glare back. She laughed, flicked him off, and draped both Cloud and the unconscious blonde over her shoulder.

His body shook again, but this time, it was because of rage. And with that rude gesture still fresh in his mind, the two women escaped out the window, leaving a furious Hibari Kyoya behind. In that moment, he made a vow, a promise he would be sure to keep.

"I'll bite her death!"

The door was violently kicked open, revealing Zhanna carrying multiple grocery bags walking into my hospital room.

"Back," she stated coolly as she dumped the bags in the chair. "You didn't try to go anywhere, did you?"

"I couldn't of," I elaborated, holding up my arm as much as the chain allowed me to, "You handcuffed me to the bed. You know, I didn't really expect my own friend to help keep me locked up here."

"You need to stay put for recovery," she said sternly. She grabbed a bag and threw it on my lap. "Eat." I peeked inside and looked back at her, raising an eyebrow.

"That's a lot of food." She nodded. "I can't eat that much food." She huffed and leaned in, closer to me. I resisted the urge to lean back.

"Look, you want to get better or not? Because right now, I'm feeling gracious enough to take care of my friend and help her get better. Are you saying that you don't appreciate my help?"

"I'm not saying that I don't appreciate your help, Zhanna," I began, choosing my next words carefully, "it's just that I don't see how eating a bunch of food is going to help me get my energy back."

"Food gives you energy, so if you eat a lot of food, you get more energy." I blinked, trying to absorb her logic.

"Look, although that... makes sense, I really don't think it's doing any good just lying in bed. At least let me get up and walk around. Let me see Bel! Dino said that I can't leave the hospital, and Bel is in the hospital. At least let me see my friend."

I gave her my best pleading look. She seemed to think about it for a while, then moved to unlock the handcuffs.

"Fine. Just try to get up."

I was hesitant at first, not fully trusting the smirk on her face. But, the urge to see my best friend drowned my suspicions and I quickly pushed myself up, and swung my feet over the bed. The moment I was standing, I immediately regretted my decision. Black spots clouded my vision and I began to lose my balance. I swayed to and fro, suddenly light headed, trying to find stability. Zhanna offered no help as I fell back onto the bed. She looked down at me, still smirking.

"Told you. Now eat," She demanded, grabbing my arm and moving me back to laying correctly on the bed.

"Where's Dino?" I asked as I started eating, eager to move on from that embarrassing point.

"I passed him on the way in. He was going to the rain battle."

"He told you that?" I asked. She snorted.

"No. Your brother is wary of me," she said, almost proudly. "Smart man."

"I'm not scared of you," I pointed out.

"That's because you're an idiot."

"Wow, thanks. But I can't believe he went to Yamamoto's and Squalo's battle without me," I complained through mouthfuls. Zhanna let out a bark of laughter.

"Yeah, sure! Like you're in any state to be going anywhere. You can't even stand up, Little Horse. Or do you need to try again just to be sure?"

"No, no, I'm fine," I quickly replied. "But I really do need to go to the battle tomorrow."

"Hm?" Zhanna raised an eyebrow at me. "Why tomorrow?"

"The person fighting... he's a pen pal of sorts," I elaborated, trying to find a word to describe my relationship with Mukuro. "And I'm pretty sure he wants me to be there, to watch him fight." Also, I needed to meet Chrome, too. After all, I need to keep my promise to Mukuro to take care of her, and in order to do that, I need to get to know her. Zhanna blinked, as if just remembering something.

"Oh, yeah, speaking of fighting," she started, swinging her feet up on the bed again as she sat down, "I've been meaning to ask you. When we found you there was this annoying bastard with you. Dark hair, school uniform, pissy look." I blinked and stared at her, knowing exactly who she was talking about. I paled.

"Fuck me, what did you do?" She shrugged nonchalantly.

"He provoked me, pissed me off and ran at me so I kicked him into a wall," she recalled as if it were nothing. For a moment, I simply sat there with my mouth open, trying to picture Zhanna kicking Kyoya into a wall. The image came a little too easily. I sighed, shook my head and resisted the strong urge to facepalm since I did not want a stronger head ache than the one I already had.

"That guy holds grudges," I warned her, "I have no doubt that he's planning to kill y- no, he's planning to bite you to death as we speak. Now, I need to know, is that all you did?" She scratched her chin, thinking.

"No, no," she recalled, motioning with her hand that was missing her pinky and pointer finger. "I flicked him off too," She said a little too happily.

"You flicked him off?" I repeated slowly. She nodded proudly.

"Yeah, I flicked him off. His expression was pretty funny after I did it too," She admitted laughing.

"You flicked Hibari Kyoya off?" I repeated once more, for my own sake. "You know, if you were anyone else, I would be fearing for your life, but sense it's you... I'm actually a bit more worried for Kyoya." She shrugged once more.

"Bastard had it coming," were the words she ended the discussion on, and for once, thinking about Kyoya's actions towards people he thinks are strong, I fully agreed with her.

"You wrestled a bear?"

"You say that as if it were a strange thing, Little horse," Zhanna stated as she leaned against the wall as we waited for Verde and her father to end their private discussion.

"Well, normal people don't wrestle and kill bears, Zhanna," I informed her. She scrunched her nose and titled her head.

"Then normal people must have boring lives. It's fun to challenge dangerous animals that are much bigger than you. I enjoy hunting them and bringing them down with just this," she held up an impressive looking knife she had been twirling around in her hand was we talked, "and raw strength." I stared at her, not really knowing what to say.

"You enjoy that?"

"It's not like I do it just for the fun," she corrected me. "The first animal I took down, the bear skin I wear now, was taken down to protect my family when I was 14." She gestured to the fur around her hips.

"You took down a bear when you were 14?" I repeated. She nodded.

"Although I almost died in the process. My brother was hurt and we were escaping. It attacked us first, so I fought back. Almost died. But, I didn't. Father found us, later, but I will never forget that feeling. The greatest feeling in the world, little horse, is the emotion you feel when you take down the object that had once seemed impossible to overcome; when you complete the impossible challenge," she finished her story with a smile that could easily be mistaken for a grimace.

"I prefer to live in the moment," she explained, snapping out of her nostalgic gaze and turning her head towards me. "There is always a challenge to overcome, always a challenge presented. It's just that sometimes," she twirled the knife one final time, then sheathed it with skill, "you have to present the next challenge yourself. That is how I live my life, little horse." She looked me in the eyes, and for that moment, I felt as if I were looking into the eyes of one of the beast Zhanna had faced and killed herself. She smirked, as if she found something amusing while looking into my own eyes.

"Now, I wonder how you will choose to live yours."

It took about five minutes before Zhanna became bored out of her mind.

"That's it," she concluded, standing up and going towards the door, "I'm gone."

"Where're you going?" I asked, looking up from my book.

"To the ring battle," she replied simply. "Unless there's something else to do in this boring little town." she yawned then opened the door. "See you."

"Wait," I stopped her, "Aren't you supposed to be taking care of me or something? Didn't you say something about staying by my side?"

"Yeah, but that was before I got bored." And with that she slipped out. I stared at the closed door, then slammed my book shut, annoyed that Zhanna got to go watch the battle and not me. I huffed in annoyance, then a thought entered my head. I was alone in my room. That meant there was no one to stop me from getting up.

Now, I knew for a fact that I wouldn't be able to go watch the battle. But, I could at least try to find Bel.

With new determination, I carefully pushed myself up. I was glad to know that there weren't as many black spots as I stood up and I found I had a little more balance than last time. I would never admit it, but eating that food and resting actually helped. It was a challenge getting to the door, but with the support of the wall, I managed to reach. I grinned triumphantly as I opened it, only to fall out into the hallway. After a few moments of wallowing and complete and utter dizziness, I slowly managed to pick myself back up.

Now, to find a wheel chair. Hospitals should have those, right?

Zhanna let out a low whistle as she propped her elbows on Tsuna's and Gokudera's shoulders after the Cervello had finished explaining the terrain of the battle.

"They did a lot for this battle, yeah?"

The two boys immediately jumped away, Tsuna even letting out a small squeak. Yamamoto, Basil and Ryohei immediately retreated back, away from the stranger that had somehow appeared in the middle of their group. She laughed, putting her hands behind her head, then turning to Tsuna.

"So," she started. "You are the next Vongola boss?" She went on without Tsuna responding. "You seem pretty small to me." Tsuna was almost frozen in fear looking up at the tall, intimidating woman staring him down. Yet, even with him scared out of his wits, he maintained eye contact, and with that contact, looking into her eyes, he realized that she wasn't dangerous. At least, for now, she wasn't dangerous. She was scary, yes, but not a threat at the moment. It was because of this realization that he had enough courage to speak up.

"W-who are you?" She raised an eyebrow and him, surprised he had the courage to speak after the little scare she had given him. But, instead of answering his question, she looked to her right with an almost amused expression on her face.

"You can put the gun away, Acrobaleno, I'm here to watch, not to fight," She explained casually to Reborn, who had his gun aimed at her.

"I didn't expect a visit from the Giegue," Reborn answered, following her lead and speaking in her native tongue, "especially not from someone high up or as strong as you, Ursa. Why are you here?"

"Like I said, to watch."

Meanwhile, Tsuna and the others were staring dumbly at the pair, not following the conversation they were having in Russian.

"What are you doing here, Ursa?" They looked up to see Dino walking towards them. He approached Zhanna, who had a blank, almost bored expression on her face. "I thought you were watching over Cloud?" She shrugged.

"I got bored babysitting," she stated simply. Tsuna blinked, taking in Dino's words.

"Wait, Cloud knows her?! And what does she mean by babysitting?" Tsuna asked. He was aware that Cloud got hurt (somehow. He wasn't even sure if Dino knew how she got hurt. Tsuna was so occupied training that he had almost forgotten about her), and that she was currently resting in the hospital.

"She got grounded," Zhanna explained with an amused tone.

"I don't even know if you can be here," Dino continued, not trying to cover up how he felt about the woman being there.

"Cloud... got grounded?" Tsuna asked, not knowing how to take this information.

"He's right," one of the Cervello said, jumping done to the same level as the group. "Those not directly involved in the Ring Battle are not permitted to watch." Zhanna's earlier smile dropped as she looked towards the Cervello, who stiffened under the intense gaze.

"The Giegue family is allied with the Vongola, or some shit like that," Zhanna spat out, walking up to the Cervello. "So, who are you to stop an ally of the Vongola, anyway?"

"We are the Cervello, directly under the jurisdiction of th-"

"I don't really give a fuck about that," Zhanna interrupted, looking down at the Cervello. "I just want to watch a good fight, maybe see some blood and gore. You really going to stop me form that? Now that I think about it, can you stop me from that?"

It took a second before the Cervello retreated back to the second level.

"As an ally of the Vongola, you have permission to watch the ring battles," she concluded, looking away from Zhanna, with a surprisingly calm voice for how much the encounter had shaken her.

"You have a way with words," Reborn commented sarcastically. Dino simply sighed and shook his head.

"Why does my sister have such dangerous friends?"

"Because she's an idiot," Zhanna supplied dryly, walking back to the group. "But it looks like I might have drawn some attention to myself and you guys." Zhanna jerked her head up, pointing out the group above them.

"The Varia! Xanxus!" Tsuna looked up, surprised that their leader had shown up.

"Pathetic dogs should just disappear. You worms can get rid of the trash for me." And with those words, Xanxus turned and walked away, with Squalo yelling after him.

"Xanxus was serious," Reborn commented, making Tsuna gulp.

"Don't scare them before the match has even started Reborn," Dino scolded while keeping Zhanna in his sights, making sure she doesn't cause any trouble. Seeing that she was occupied with reading something on her phone, he turned to Yamamoto.

Zhanna's eyes narrowed as she scanned the words on her screen. A snarl-like smile slipped onto her face, amused by how much knowledge her friend had. She chuckled, looking back towards the battle field.

"Cloud sure does have some interesting friends, doesn't she Acrobaleno?" She asked in Russian.

Reborn couldn't help but agree.

Belphegor's eyes snapped open, the small sounds of angry muttering and cursing outside of the door waking him up. He waited tensely as the door opened, not bothering to close his eyes, since they were concealed by his bangs anyway. A click, and the door popped open, revealing a wheelchair that was soon rolled in.

Belphegor held back a wince, seeing her state; typically tanned skin now paled, vivid purple skin under her eyes, and even her usually strong arms (still with the weights, a fact he found ridiculous but fitting) shaking as she pushed the wheelchair forward. Steering inefficiently, she made it to the bed,

Pulling herself up to lay by his side, falling to the bed with a huff, and staring at the ceiling with ragged breaths.

A moment, and Belphegor listened carefully the sound of her heartbeat. He restrained his own hand, so badly wanted to intertwine his fingers with hers, the warmth of her hand just beside his.

"I know," she said after a few more moments, "that you're wake Bel. And scoot the fuck over, I'm almost falling off the bed here."

A sigh, and he complied, shifting over, but his next words contradicted this small bit of consideration.

"What are you doing here, Nikita." From the corner of his eyes (still staring up at the ceiling), he noticed her wince at his use of her actual name.

"Checking up on my best friend who almost died," she said quietly before adding, "because of me."

"And how the fuck is this your fault," he snapped finally seething, his head turned towards hers, and in that moment, his hair shifted. Nikita frowned, seeing the turmoil of emotion in his eyes. And what he translated as pity (from her, from her of all fucking people) only angered him more.

He pushed himself up suddenly, ignoring the blossoming of pain across his entire body, and sat up on the bed before turning his back to her. His heaved, breathing heavily, these large breaths straining against the strait jacket her brother had put him in.

"You should have just let me die," he spat out. Another moment, slicing and tangible.

"Fuck you," she said, breaking this, and then growing louder, "Fuck you for saying that!" She said again, weakly pushing his back, "How the fuck could you even say that, knowing me like you do, you bastard! You know full fucking well that I could never let someone die, let alone you, Bel! And when it's my fucking fault that you lost –"

"Will you fuck off with that?" he snapped turning to her violently. He opened his mouth, and froze however, seeing tears in her eyes. They welled, and then streamed down her face as she stared at him with wide (hurt) eyes.

"I'm," he stated slowly, taking a shaky breathe and forcing himself to calm down, arms still straining against his restraints, "I'm Varia Quality. A prince," he continued, slow and methodically despite his voice still edged with rage, "is not supposed to lose. You should have let me die."

She opened her mouth once more, hurt and rage in her eyes but he interrupted her before she could say anything, trying a different approach,

"Because when they figure out I'm still alive, they will kill me," he told her, starting loud but dwelling to a hoarse whisper, "and I know that you can't handle losing someone again."

A moment, and she stared at him. Briefly, he panicked, wondering if his quickly thought up tactic would even work.

But then, before his eyes, he witness her break. Her lips quivered and she nearly collapsed forward, wrapping her arms around him. He allowed this, stiffly. And he let her bury her head in his shoulder, feeling the wetness of her tears.

"They won't kill you," she finally murmured into his shoulder after minutes of her softly crying, "I won't let them."

"Princess," she muttered tiredly as she gently pushed herself up, "You don't have a say in this."

"I promise," she said, wiping under her eyes before her expression changed. A breath, and she then pushed his chest in mock playfulness.

"But you have to stop pouting like a child," she said, forcing a smile that soon bubbling into a laugh upon Bel's response.

"The Prince doesn't pout."

"Mine does," she shot back with weak laughter. He allowed a snicker, joining in with her laugh, and then let the sound to die softly.

"You know I'm going to kill that smoking bomb brat next time I see him, right?" he warned her, almost curiously.

"Please don't kill my student," Nikita said, the words coming out as a sigh rather than a plea.

"No promises," he replied with a grin, giggling once more, finding glee in imagining the act of him slicing that brat into bits. He quelled however, seeing a serious expression on her face.

"I mean it. About the promise," she said again. "I'm not going to let them kill you. They won't."

"Promises are made to be broken," he said blankly, allowing his grin to drop completely.

"Not mine. Not this one. Trust me," she said, bring a gentle hand to the side of his face. He frowned, staring at her features. Before sighing.

"Fine. If it will get you to shut up about it."

She smiled, scoffing, before letting her hand fall.

"That's good enough for me."

"You going to get him?" Zhanna asked, dropping down to stand beside Dino, who managed not to jump when she did so.

"Do you make a point of trying to scare people?" He asked her dryly. She shrugged, a smile on her face.

"It is fun," She admitted, "I have the face for it, so why not?"

"And how do you even know what I'm doing?" Dino continued, holding a hand up for Romario to put down the gun he had drawn.

"You wait until the others leave," Zhanna starts, bringing her knife out of its sheath and beginning to mindless twirl it between her fingers, "Then you call more of your men, telling them to come with equipment. You also already have more of your men set up around the area, already working on lowering the level of the water. I am smart enough to put things together, big horse," she finished, then added, "That, and your sister told me she thought you would do this." Dino sighed, losing the professional mood had had previously been in.

"She brings trouble even when she's not here," Dino complained, running his hands through his hair. Zhanna let out a bark of laughter.

"Who says that I am trouble? She asked me to help," Zhanna explained, then began to move towards the sealed building. Dino walked briskly after her, trying to match her pace, with Romario trailing behind.

"What do you mean by help? How can you help?" Zhanna ignored him as she threw the door open. She didn't even look down as she stepped through the layer of water that already covered the level they were on, reaching their ankles. She quickly shrugged off her jacket, throwing it at Dino, who barely managed to catch it. His eyes widened when he realized what she was doing. He roughly grabbed her shoulder, surprised by how much effort her had to put forth to pull her back.

"Are you insane? We already have preparations set up to save the loser and my men are on their way with equipment to handle this so we don't have to deal with tha-"

"The quicker we get him out, the better off he'll be," she countered with her simple-minded logic. "And right now, this is the quickest way to get to him."

"By jumping in the water with a shark?" She nodded, as if she didn't understand how dangerous the situation was. "Okay, okay," Dino shook his head, trying to go about this another way, "Even if you did find Squalo in time and by some miracle the shark isn't around him, what are you going to do if the shark attacks you?" She grinned at him, a grin that threatened to send shivers up Dino's spine.

"Who says I don't want it to attack me?" Dino watched blankly as she prepared to jump into the water.

"Wait! How are you going to take down a shark?" he asked, still trying to comprehend her level of insanity. She smiled again, this time softer, as if remembering the words of another. She twirled her knife one more time and held it up proudly.

"With this," she answered with a feral grin, "and raw strength."

"So," Bel started as we sat across from each other in his hospital bed, playing cards. I was holding his hand of cards for him, considering he was in a strait jacket, and therefore could not hold them himself, facing the cards towards him so I did not see them. "What is your brilliant plan to sneak out tomorrow night to get to the mist battle?"

"Well," I answered, having already informed of the circumstances of my grounding and my need to get to the next battle, "To get to the battle I have to get past my baby sitter."

"Your brother?" Bel asked, motioning with his head which card to lay down.

"No. I'm pretty sure he's going to be occupied with someone else," I replied, then frowned and let out an audible, sad sigh when Bel won the game. He snickered, a large grin spreading across his face. I stuck my tongue out at him as I reached into my pocket, bringing out a small vile of medicine. "Anyway, while I was looking for a wheel chair to get here earlier, I found this as well. This," I shook the bottle lightly, "is my ticket out." Bel hummed and nodded in approval.

"Hyponic drugs. Nice," he approved. "Ushishi, you're becoming quite devious, princess." I shrugged, placing the vile back into my pocket and beginning to shuffle the cards.

"It's a trait I probably picked up around my illusionist pen pal," I admitted.

"I still think Mammon's going to win," Bel stated. "I'm pretty sure he said he was going to go all out as well." A grin slipped on his face as he snickered once more. "I almost feel sorry for your illusionist friend."

"Pen pal," I corrected him. "He's not my friend. He's more like... my therapist," I nodded, conforming the title for myself as well. "Yeah, he's my therapist." Bel snorted at my wording, then jumped back to our previous subject.

"You never said who your babysitter was," He reminded me.

"Oh, yeah. Hey, do you think that little bottle is enough to knock out a bear?" I asked, beginning to worry that the small amount would not fully work on Zhanna. Bel cocked his head, confused by the sudden question.

"I don't know. Why d-" There was a loud bang as the door was kicked open, an entrance which Zhanna seemed to prefer, and the assassin herself stepped in, clearly wet with large blood stains on her clothes. She saw me immediately as she entered.

"Hey, do you know if shark meat is good?" She asked, as she stepped in. I was relieved that she was uninjured, as far as I could tell from her posture, and that the blood on her clothes didn't seem to be hers. Without waiting for a response for her first question, she was about to continue, when she saw Bel.

She scowled. I looked over at Bel to see a similar reaction.

"Why the hell is she here?" Bel asked in an annoyed tone. I looked between the two, sensing the tension in the air. Sitting between them, being one of the only obstacles in the way, I suddenly felt slightly nervous about my position.

"I'm assuming that you two know each other?" I tried, confused by their reactions to each other. Zhanna scoffed, moving from her spot and coming closer to me. Bel's attention remained trained on her, as if she were some wild animal that could attack at any moment. Which, truthfully, was a pretty accurate description.

"We've ran into each other before," Zhanna elaborated, roughly grabbing the wheelchair and moving it closer so she could sit. "And those encounters were not pretty." Bel snickered coldly; his way of agreeing with her.

"So," I dragged the word out putting the pieces together, "I take it that you guys don't like each other?"

"The prince prefers the words loathes," Bel corrected.

"I prefer the term 'fucking hates his guts and wants to rip them out'," Zhanna inputted her choice of words. I looked between the two again, and sighed, not looking forward to their interactions.

"Well, can't you two just pretend to get along? For my sake?" I added, giving both of them my best puppy eyes. For a moment, Bel seemed like he was considering it. Then, Zhanna spoke.

"Like hell I'm going to pretend to get along with someone I fucking hate," She growled. "That's bullshit." Bel snorted and looked away, his earlier consideration gone.

"A prince can't lower himself to pretending to like someone like her," he agreed.

"Whatever," I sighed, giving up. I returned to shuffling the deck. "You don't have to get along to play cards with someone," I concluded, then looked up at Zhanna.

"Want me to deal you in?"

"You're an idiot," was Mukuro's very first statement the moment I entered my dreams.

"Four," I concluded the count. "Apparently, calling me an idiot is a popular thing today." Hannah huffed and rolled her eyes.

"You're always an idiot," she muttered.

"Well, thank you inner conscious!" I replied sarcastically. "I was really relying on your moral support. So," I moved on, turning to Mukuro as I crossed my legs in the grass and leaned back on my arms, "You ready for your battle?" He chuckled in response.

"Kufufu, of course I am, little Cavallone. I have full confidence in my ability," his expression changed to one of doubt after his words, "but, are you sure that the battle will happen exactly as she," he motioned to Hannah, "showed me? I'm not quite sure my dear Chrome would be beaten that easily."

"Mammon shouldn't be underestimated," I warned him. "He's an Acrobaleno after all, so it's no surprise that he over powered Chrome." Mukuro frowned at my words, then hummed thoughtfully.

"Fine, little Cavallone. I will heed your warning about my opponent. When Chrome falls I will step in and finish him," Mukuro promised with a wicked smirk.

"That's what we want to happen," I agreed. "And don't show off too much, save your energy." He chuckled again.

"What this? Are you telling me what to do?" I sighed and rolled my eyes at his ego.

"Suggesting," I corrected him, "I just making logical suggestions. I swear you and Kyoya are too similar." He scoffed at my comparison.

"I am nothing like the skylark. He is nothing more than a dumb, wild beast."

"That could easily kick your ass," I reminded him.

"Last time we fought, he was unsuccessful in doing that," Mukuro pointed out smugly.

"He stronger now," I reminded him. "You have a problem with underestimating people, you know that?"

"Well, I might just pay him a visit then, just to see how much he's grown," Mukuro mused. Hannah and I blinked slowly, and stared at him. He raised an eyebrow at our reactions.

"Why would you waste your time doing that?" Hannah asked.

"Yeah," I nodded, agreeing with my old self, "Doesn't it take energy to materialize anyway? Why would you waste that energy you could use in battle just to taunt a guy you beat up once?" Mukuro opened his mouth, trying to find the right words. Hannah interrupted him before he could speak.

"You know, you going to see him only shows how much you're obsessed with the guy," she pointed out. I nodded in agreement.

"I am not obsessed with him," Mukuro shot back, trying to remain calm and keep his irritation in check.

"For once, I agree with Hannah," I admitted. "If you willing to waste energy materializing just to see one guy you beat one time, then I would call that obsession, or something close to it."

"I am not obsessed with him," Mukuro hissed, losing his cool demeanor. Hannah and I turned to each other, ignoring the now, officially pissed off illusionist.

"He's totally obsessed," I concluded. Hannah nodded confidently.

"Totally."

"Perhaps it's love?"

"It is not love!"

"Why am I not surprised," I said through ragged breaths, "that you wrestled a shark and killed it," I finished, huffing out the words as I completed the last sit up. I clambered up to the bed and threw myself down, disappointed at how exhausted I was with the measly set I just finished. Zhanna sat in a chair beside the bed, getting frustrated with her crossword puzzles.

"Your brother got rid of the carcass," she said, annoyed with both Dino and the book, "So I couldn't do anything with the meat. And I can't fully claim the kill all for myself. That guy had already wounded the beast by the time I got there. In the end, I guess he decided that he didn't want to die after all."

"Leave it to Squalo to deny death just by instinct," I sighed, my breathing getting back to normal. I flipped my phone open, noting the time. I reminded myself to remain calm and casual as I pushed myself back up and walked over to the coffee machine Dino had ever so graciously placed in my room (saying that even if I'm grounded, he didn't want to deprive me of the thing that gives me life every morning). "You want any coffee?" I asked Zhanna, already knowing the answer.

"Sure," she replied nonchalantly. "I could use something to keep me up. It's getting a little boring in this room after all."

"You going to the battle tonight?" I asked, keeping my tone nonchalant.

"No, I have to stay here and make sure you don't go," she replied, sending a stern look my way.

"Oh, come on, Zhanna!" I pleaded, playing along so she wouldn't suspect my plan. "Can't you just let me go? It's not like I'll be doing anything strenuous."

"No way," she ended the argument. "Today, we're building your strength back up. You're not wasting time going to the battle when you could be getting back what you lost." I then shut up, turning back to the coffee mugs, giving her the impression that I had given up trying to argue with her. I placed myself in a position where my body covered the mugs, so that Zhanna could not see what I was putting in them, or more specifically hers. I began walking over to her, hoping that the amount I put in her mug was enough to knock her out for a few hours.

"Just to clarify," I stated, pausing before I gave her the mug. "That's a definite no on letting me go to the mist battle?" She nodded gruffly, taking the mug from my hands herself. Zhanna took a large swig from it as I retreated back to my bed, my own coffee in hand, preparing myself for the already agonizing wait.

The next thirty or so minutes passed by quietly with me in bed, pretending to read and Zhanna occasionally asking the definition of English words. At one point, to ease my anxiety, I began humming absently mindedly. Zhanna looked up, as if recognizing the tune.

"What are you humming?"

"Hm?" I remained casual, thankful for the distraction. "Oh? It's…." I trailed off, having to think more on the question to answer it myself. "A lullaby…" I answered slowly. "A lullaby that my mother used to sing to me when I was little."

"Ночь пришла."

"What?"

"That's the name of the lullaby," she elaborated. "The night has come…" she trailed off then let out a loud yawn, looking around in confusion with extremely tired eyes. "My sister used to sing it to me…. that's weird…" she muttered drowsily, dropping the conversation. "I'm not usually this tired at this time... unless," she looked over at her now empty coffee mug then back at me. A gargled, sleepy growl emitted from her throat as she attempted to push herself from the chair and towards me.

"You're dead... Cloud..." she slumped to the floor, drifting into slumber. I waited a few seconds, making sure she was out. Then I got out of the bed, crouching down to poke her in the cheek.

"Powerful stuff," I mused, seeing that she didn't respond to my poke. I gazed at Zhanna, thinking back on our conversation, making a note to ask her about it later. But for now, there are more important things that reside in the present, as opposed to the past. I went to the door, locking it from the inside just in case Dino decided to pop in and check up on me.

I looked at Zhanna, asleep on the floor, trying to decide whether or not to move her to the bed. After figuring it will be too hard of a task, and she was going to kill me when she woke up either way, I decided on simply leaving her there. After grabbing my gloves and one of my guns (just in case), I opened the window carefully, looking down to make sure none of Dino's men were lurking about.

Taking a deep breath, I began my descent down to the now empty street, hoping, praying, that I wouldn't get caught.

"Ah, Cloud."

I stiffened at the voice, slowly turning my head to see the speaker. I relaxed when I saw Reborn and Basil, who was carrying an unconscious Tsuna on his back, approaching me. "I didn't expect to run into you here."

"Yeah," I said, awkwardly rubbing the back of my head, "Just on my way to the mist battle." I chuckled nervously, getting an uneasy feeling from Reborn's evaluating stare.

"We were heading there as well," Basil said happily. I gestured to Tsuna.

"What happened to him?" Basil began to answer but was cut off my Reborn.

"Nothing you need to worry about," he squeaked, jumping onto my shoulder, "But what I'm worried about is you, Cloud."

"Me?" I repeated, faking surprise.

"It seems like you know a lot more than you're supposed to," Reborn elaborated. Basil remained silent as we talked, a suspicious look slipping onto his face.

"If you're talking about the amount of blackmail on people," I said, trying to ease the tension with a light smile, "I just want to point out that you inspired me in that department and gave me my start."

"Although it's not that noticeable unless you think about," Reborn continued, completely ignoring my comment, "The way you trained Gokudera was fitting, close to perfect in fact, as if you knew exactly what the battle terrain would be like. Of course, you already had the information about Belphegor, and knew how he fought, but that information was not enough for Gokudera to beat him. You knew what the battle would be like and you forced Gokudera to be able to cope, to become used to what the battle would be like so that fighting in a terrain like that would be almost easy for him."

"There's that," he paused letting his accusations sink in, "and the fact that you know Mukuro Rokudo. Care to explain, Cloud?" I avoided his intense stare as my mind scrambled to think of an answer. Surprisingly enough, one popped up out of nowhere, giving me a plausible answer that had high chances of satisfying the hitman.

"My relation to Mukuro," I began carefully, "Is why I knew about the terrain of the storm battle. He told me," I coolly lied, hoping that a certain illusionist wouldn't be too mad at me for placing the blame on him, "but I don't know how he knew about it. As for how I know him, he contacted me first, and we've had frequent visits ever since," I finished, hoping Reborn would believe my somewhat true tale.

My plan was to make Mukuro the bad guy, which wasn't hard since he was already the bad guy once, and to make myself seem like the innocent victim that Mukuro hopes to use in a later scheme. From what Reborn knows of Mukuro, it should be a believable tale for the hitman.

"When you say contact, what do you mean?" Reborn moved on, "How does he contact you?" I held back a sigh of relief. It seemed like Reborn believed me, if only a little bit. It was clear he still had suspicions, but a little belief from him was all I needed. The last thing I needed, however, was Reborn on my case.

"By dreams," I replied truthfully, figuring it wouldn't do any harm to tell him that. "I don't know how he does it though," I trailed off, adding some insecurity in my voice for effect, "It's confusing sometimes, the things he says and the questions he asks."

I hugged myself, and looked off, hoping the image of 'confused and slightly scared victim' would come across.

"It's okay, Cloud," Reborn patted my shoulder, "Thanks you for telling me. Although I do wonder how Mukuro knows so much."

"Who knows," I replied, trying to keep my excitement in for actually getting away with my explanation.

"Tenth! Are you okay?" We looked over to see Gokudera rushing up to us, going immediately to Tsuna to see if his beloved boss was okay.

"Tsuna's fine, Gokudera," Reborn assured the right hand man. "He just fainted like the wimp he is." Gokudera, who either didn't hear or ignored the wimp comment because Reborn was the one who said it, was relieved, but insisted the he be the one the carry Tsuna.

"Yo, Cloud!" Takeshi walked up with Ryohei behind him. He slung an arm around my shoulder and pulled me close, giving me a half hug. "Where've you been? I haven't seen you around for a while! And that one time you came, you ran off. What happened?" I waved him off, giving my best fake smile.

"It was nothing," I assured him. "Just helped a friend in need."

Takeshi's eyes barely narrowed at this, easily catching my faux expression. He let it go however, and reached in his pocket to mess with his phone, signaling me to text him about it later.

"You did an extreme job of training octopus-head!" Ryohei complimented me, clapping his one good hand on my shoulder (which resulted in a bit of dizziness and nausea on my part). Gokudera's head snapped up from trying to convince Basil, and turned in our direction.

"Who're you calling octopus-head, Lawn-head!" Ryohei ignored him, and continued his conversation.

"Master Colonello said that he trained you as well!" He continued in an excited tone. "I would love to spar with you sometime! We're both students of Colonello after all, so that basically makes up sworn brother and sister." I laughed nervously and shook my head.

"I'm not sure a fight is such a good idea..." I trailed off when I noticed the boxer's wounds, and frowned. My frown deepened when turned to see how much Takeshi was patched up.

(God he fought Squalo, he thought Squalo and survived; and the only thing that kept me from worrying about Squalo was the fact that I knew Dino would not let him die either)

Gokudera, I noticed as the group began to head towards the school, was even more injured than I remembered from the manga. One of his arms was in a sling and he had a nasty looking black eye along with various other injuries covering his body. We met eyes and I saw something in them, pride, thankfulness? He made his way over to me, sending an angry look back at Basil, who had apparently won their argument over who got to carry Tsuna.

"He wouldn't let me carry the Tenth because I'm injured," he grumbled.

"Well, you shouldn't be carrying him if you're injured," I pointed out blandly before softening. "You okay?"

"Okay? I'm great!" He said with a wide smile on his face. "I made the Tenth proud." He held up his hand, showing me the completed ring on it. "And..." he trailed off, a small blush from embarrassment across his cheeks. "I want to thank you for that," he said quietly.

"What?" I said, half not believing he was actually thanking me, and the other half just wanting to hear him say it again.

"I said thanks, okay, woman!" He growled, losing the soft side he had shown me. "Without you," he sighed, rubbing the back of his head with his good arm, "Without you, I would of either lost or been killed by that guy. I took your advice... and ran the moment I had to ring. I'm not proud of that, but I am proud that I won... and that I survived."

"And I'm proud of you for winning, student of mine," I said happily, reaching to pat his head. He growled and swatted at my hand, moving away from me as we entered the school gates. My smile dropped as I watched him go, slowing down to where I was behind the group, not a part of it.

"Yeah, proud," I muttered quietly, trying to convince myself.

I met Tsuna's confused stare with a raised eyebrow. He had woken up a few minutes ago and after talking to his guardians, Reborn and Basil for a bit, he seemed to have noticed I was there.

"What?"

"Wait... weren't you grounded or something?"

"No, I wasn't."

"But, that woman sai-"

"No, she didn't." I gave him a hard glare, and he gulped, getting the hint and ending the conversation. As Tsuna became distracted once more, I allowed my eyes to wander to the other side of the gym, a place I had been trying to avoid.

The empty gaps in the Varia were glaringly obvious to me.

As I scanned over their faces, Xanxus's eyes met mine. I stiffened, wondering what he would do. The boss of the Varia had always been a distant figure to me as a child. He had never directed his anger towards me, but it wasn't like he showed any affection either. Mutual, was a good word to describe him. An understanding had passed between us some time ago. I understood not to bother him and he understood my intention not to.

But now, standing on different sides of the battlefield, I wondered if that understanding was still relevant, if that mutuality still existed. He raised an eyebrow, our gazes still locked. I looked away first, not daring to look back, even though I recognized the bored, only slightly amused expression in his eyes that were always there when I looked.

I was snapped out of my gaze by the exclamations Tsuna, Gokudera and Takeshi were making. I looked over towards the door to see Ken and Chikusa entering. Gokudera stiffened, placing his hands in a position to where he could easily draw his weapons. I approached them as Reborn was calming them down. Takeshi and Gokudera began arguing as Tsuna began piecing things together.

My eyes moved to look past Ken and Chikusa, but I only managed to catch Chikusa's eyes. Vague recognition flashed in them, and he moved to the side. Getting the hint, I moved towards him, but stalled as I saw the person behind him.

She walked gracefully into the gym, her skirt and shimmering hair flowing nicely with her movements. Her large doe eye took in the details of the room shyly, flitting to me for only seconds before landing on Tsuna. Pink lips (probably soft) came together, pursing slightly before speaking to the group.

I blushed heavily, realizing I had come to a sudden stop beside Takeshi and was blatantly staring at the girl.

"Fuck me," I muttered, looking away with a slightly pink face (causing Yamamoto to look over, looking between Chrome and I momentarily before giving me a knowing and sly smile). I quickly turned to face Chikusa, who by this point had made his way to speak to me while Chrome addressed the others.

"I'm guessing that you're Nikita Cavallone," He asked as I approached. I nodded in response, slightly distracted by the other's reactions to Chrome and their argument over whether she was really Mukuro or not.

"And that's Chrome?" I asked, as if I didn't know already. "She's..." I trailed off as Chrome kissed Tsuna on the cheek, setting off rather humorous reactions from Tsuna, Gokudera and Ken. "Affectionate," I finished. Chikusa simply sighed in reply.

I quickly gathered myself, getting over my initial reaction and walked up to tap Chrome lightly on the shoulder before anything happened.

"I'm Cloud," I introduced myself, "Or Nikita, if you prefer. You're Chrome right?"

She nodded shyly, a slight blush on her cheeks.

"Are you the one Mukuro told me about?" I nodded, feeling a little more confidence seeing her blush as well. She bowed slightly, however, sending me back into a slight panic:

"Please take care of me."

I laughed nervously, motioning her stand back up, hoping the others were too distracted by Yamamoto holding Gokudera back to notice our exchange (and notice how quickly I was falling a part in front of her).

"It's fine, it's fine," I told her, waving my hand, "No need for stuff like that. Oh, and you also might want to not do what you just did," I informed her. She tilted her head, confused. "The kiss," I elaborated, "you might not want to go around kissing people as a greeting."

"Well actually," I amended, reminding myself that I did that plenty of times, and that it was rather normal greeting to me, "never mind, that's actually pretty normal to me, but to that one," I gestured to Tsuna and the rest, who were on the verge of an argument with Ken and Chikusa, "That boy cannot handle affection from random really cute girls, so you at least have to give him a warning."

"Ah," she said, blushing once more. I blinked, realizing I had blatantly just called her cute. I opened my mouth, perhaps to dig myself a deeper, but fortunately Chrome was distracted by the other group. She was about to speak again, when we looked over to see Gokudera ready to attack Ken and Chikusa. Chrome stepped forward to calm them.

"Ken, Chikusa, calm down. This isn't for you to decide," she said quietly, then turned to Tsuna. "Boss, is it that I am not worthy of the position as the guardian of the mist? I wish to battle as the guardian of the mist, but... but if boss won't allow it no matter what, then I'll abide by his decision."

I watched and stepped back, trying to not let an amused expression slide onto my face as Tsuna scrambled for an answer, blushing. Looks like I wasn't the only one who was awkward around cute girls (but I was already well aware of this fact).

"You're asking me to decide just like that?!"

"However, besides Chrome," Reborn reminded, jumping up Takeshi's shoulder, "there are no others who can battle as the guardian of mist."

"Even Reborn is saying things like that," Gokudera marveled, still against Chrome battling for them. Meanwhile, Tsuna looked like he was deep in thought. I frowned, trying to imagine the pressure on him as boss. Soon, there was a resolved look on his face.

"Then we'll leave it to you."

"What? Is that really all right, Tenth?!"

"I don't really know how to put it," Tsuna responded to Gokudera's outburst, "but it seems like it wouldn't work... if it wasn't her." Chrome let out a relieved sigh, and Ken smugly rubbed Tsuna's decision in an angry Gokudera's face. I was about to move to calm my student, but Colonello's entrance distracted me.

I smiled as he flew in and watched as he talked to Reborn about Mammon. After their conversation, he sent a nod in my direction and I nodded back, changing my position to where he could clearly see I was still wearing the weights. He grinned in approval.

"Oh yeah, where's Dino?" Tsuna turned to me. "Is he not coming today..?"

"That's right, he isn't here yet," Takeshi commented, looking over at me as well. I opened my mouth to answer, but Reborn beat me to it.

"Some urgent business came up last night and he went to meet with an old friend." I hummed and nodded in agreement.

"Yep," I said, popping the 'p'. "Urgent business."

"Let's make a huddle!" Ryohei suggested. Takeshi agreed, pulling me in as well as they prepared their huddle.

"That's all right," Chrome dismissed them. "I don't need that kind of thing. I'm going."

I sighed in relief, glad that she didn't promote the embarrassing team huddle. I listen impatiently as the Cervello explained the terrain and rules, and Reborn then explained the role of the mist guardian.

Truthfully, I zoned out for most of it, only really paying attention when the audience arena lowered to the ground, trapping up inside with the infrared-triggered lasers. For once, I was excited to see this illusion battle. No doubt it would be interesting, and I was kind of sick and tired of only seeing Mukuro's illusions.

"The battle of mist: Mammon vs. Chrome Dokuro. Begin the battle!"

I blinked, then rubbed my eyes, watching as the battle between the two illusionists started. Although, something was missing from the picture. I saw the illusionists, facing each other in battle.

The only problem was that I didn't see the illusions they were fighting with.

I rubbed my eyes again, blinking hard. I tilted my head, completely and totally confused. I looked over to ask if anything is happening yet, but was surprised to see everyone else freaking out, falling to the ground and flailing. I glanced over at the Varia's side, but only saw Levi reacting like Tsuna and the others.

Mammon drew my attention back to the actual battle by jumping on a zig-zag pattern towards... a basketball cart? A toilet paper looking stream shock out at the cart, wrapping around it. Meanwhile, Chrome calmly walked around to where she was behind Mammon. I noticed the others had become more grounded, and I realized that Chrome's first illusion had been broken.

"Much too weak," Mammon commented dryly. "You won't even make a good side show." Chrome, behind them, smiled softly.

"Who are you talking to?" She asked, giving away her location. "Over here."

"The girl turned into a bunch of basketballs?"

"How... how did that happen?" I decided to stay quiet for the moment, still trying to figure out for myself why I wasn't seeing the illusions.

"It's an illusion," Reborn answered.

"Illusion?!" Tsuna parroted.

"Both creating illusions without yielding a step, deceiving each other without stopping for a breath. This kind of impressive battle is something you won't get to see very often," Reborn informed them. I huffed and turned away as Tsuna began making connections to Mukuro once again. A pouty look slipped onto my face.

"Impressive, huh?" I muttered irritably. "It's definitely something I'm not fucking getting to see."

Takeshi looked over, noticing my expression. He opened his mouth to question me, but we were both distracted by the clinking of chains as they fell to the ground. I looked up, hopeful that maybe it was an illusion as Mammon's frog shed its darker skin, breaking out into a snake-looking frog biting its own tale. That hope only soared as Mammon began to float, emitting light from their pacifier. My hope was crushed as I looked down to see Reborn and Colonello's pacifier's glowing as well, reminding me that this wasn't an illusion, and that I had seen this before.

"That curled up frog and indigo pacifier... so they're alive, hey!" Colonello concluded. Reborn nodded in agreement.

"As I thought," the Sun Arcobaleno said confidently, as if he knew all along (which he probably did, but I'm not admitting that, even to myself), "their true identity is the Acrobaleno, Viper."

I sighed in defeat, quickly becoming bored with the battle. This revelation was nothing new to me, and I had already seen Mammon float once or twice in my childhood. Therefore, this battle was making me lose interest.

"What!? They... they're floating! They're an Acrobaleno?!" On the other hand, Tsuna not handling all this information being thrown at him was quite amusing to watch.

"Yeah," Colonello nodded, diving into an explanation. "They're also part of the group of the strongest babies, the Arcobaleno."

"Viper of the indigo pacifier," Reborn continued. "It's said that they're an illusionist and the only one among the Arcobaleno who possesses physic abilities."

"Psychic..?" Gokudera inputted, his interest piqued. "You mean ESP?! That kind of occult?"

"I had heard that they were missing in action," Colonello continued, completely ignoring my student, "but I didn't think they were still alive. Why didn't the pacifiers light up until now?" He asked, looking down at his own.

"I'm not sure, but it seems to have something to do with that chain-like implement. It seems to have sealed the pacifier's powers," Reborn guessed correctly.

"Foolish babies like you wouldn't understand," Mammon taunted from above us. "It is a by-product of research. Unlike you, I am never negligent of the effort to lift the curse." Reborn and Colonello tensed, causing to Tsuna to voice his confusion.

"...what are they talking about?"

"This isn't good. The average illusionist can't stand up to that stupid baby, hey!" Colonello turned to Reborn with a hard look.

"Don't be so quick to decide that, Colonello," Reborn warned. "Dokuro is no ordinary illusionist."

"No matter who you are," Chrome declared, bracing her trident, "I won't lose."

I sniffed and absentmindedly rubbed my nose as Chrome lunged forward again, and apparently, according to what Mammon was saying, eventually creating the illusion of a snake around the Acrobaleno.

"Figures, I would be looking forward to the battle and this would happen," I sighed, putting my hands behind my head. Takeshi looked over at me curiously.

"What do you mean, Cloud?" I hummed, trying to find a good way to say this.

"Well," I started as Tsuna yelled something about a state of beasts. "I kind of can't see the illusions they're using."

"Really? That's really wei- watch out!" Takeshi then tried to reach out for me, then winced and stepped back. I raised an eyebrow at his actions.

"What?"

"You... you're not burning?" I looked down at my body, then back up at him.

"I don't think so?" I answered slowly.

"Well…" He started, rubbing the back of his head. "You're kind of standing half way in a column of flames."

"Am I?" I mused to myself, not actually amused. Takeshi was drawn back to the fight, then began hugging his shoulders, as if he were cold. I noticed the others had similar body language, even Reborn and Colonello.

"The art of illusion seizes control of the person's perception- that is to say, it infiltrates the brain that governs the five sense," Mammon explained, hovering above Chrome. "The stronger the illusionist's abilities, the more complete the infiltration. Their illusion's rate of success is also heightened, and its hold over reality stronger. Thus, in the illusionist's case, if their illusion is successfully countered with illusion it means that control of their own perception will be completely shattered."

According to the other's reactions, something was happening to Chrome, but I couldn't see it thanks to my block with illusions. It didn't matter anyway, since I had been thrown deep into thought by Mammon's explanation.

They said that illusionists infiltrate the mind, but what if they couldn't get into the mind they wanted to infiltrate? Mukuro himself had trouble entering my mind, and that was breaking into it, not just casting an illusion. An improper fit, he had called it. Mammon himself had told me years ago that my mind rejected anything that tried to get in naturally. Then, if he could get in years ago, even if he had to use a little bit of force to, then why couldn't I see his illusions now? Can I see any illusions at all? The only conclusion I could come up with, I decided as I watched Chrome fall, wincing as she hit the ground, was that my otherworldly mind simply rejected the infiltration.

"This is bad," Colonello noted, drawing my attention back to the battle.

"So it is," Reborn agreed with him. I frowned as Mammon floated closer to Chrome, who was clutching her trident tightly. I slipped my arm around Takeshi's, anchoring myself and forcing myself not to rush in to help the girl.

(Mukuro would come, I told myself almost as a prayer)

"It seems as though that weapon is fairly important to you," Mammon noticed. Chrome's eyes widened in fear, seeing where her opponent was heading.

"Don't, don't!" she pleaded desperately as Mammon's pacifier glowed. The trident then shattered, twinkling to the ground. Ken and Chikusa scowled behind me. Chrome's reaction was immediate as she began coughing up blood, falling down to the floor, her stomach clearly collapsed. I tensed, and leaned in Takeshi more, silently telling myself that Mukuro would be, he would come soon and not make her suffer any longer. Takeshi seemed to pull me closer to him, concern evident on his face as well.

There was that little doubt of fear in the back of my head that was worried that maybe, just maybe, there was a chance of this going wrong, or that he wouldn't come. There was a part of me that didn't want to trust Mukuro (and it had a good reason not to).

I silenced that voice when I saw Chrome muttering his name, over and over again. I then did something that might be considered stupid.

I trusted Mukuro. I trusted him to be here for Chrome, because from what I've seen, from the promises he made me make, I knew he cared about her. Although, I doubt he would ever outwardly admit it.

"Mukurp...," Chrome breathed out, tears in her eyes. "I wanted to help you..."

There was a sudden pulse, as if all the lights in the room had gone out for a millisecond. I looked at the others, but the only change I saw was in Tsuna's eyes.

"You did well, my cute little chrome."

Tsuna's eyes widened, recognizing the voice. A strange, unnatural, yet familiar, feeling washed over me.

"You rest for a little while."

My eyes cut back to Chrome and I was surprised to see a white, smoky mist billowing out from her body.

"You've got to be kidding me," I muttered, slowly sinking in denial, "you've got to be fucking kidding me."

"The girl is being wrapped up in fog!" Ryohei shouted, confirming that I was not the only one seeing this.

"Ah, this? Marshaling the last of one's strength to conceal their own unsightly corpse. It's a common behavioral pattern of female illusionist," Mammon brushed the tense atmosphere off. I looked over to see Tsuna not handling Mukuro's presence as mildly as I was, clutching his head in agony. I felt pity towards him, remembering the full week I suffered through when Mukuro first entered my head.

"...He's coming! It's him... He's coming!"

The others looked down at Tsuna in surprise, sharing worried glances between each other.

"ROKUDO MUKURO IS! MUKURO IS COMING!"

Reborn's eyes moved away from Tsuna and met mine. I stiffened under his gaze but gestured back to the battle, as the mist swirled violently around Chrome's body. Everyone stiffened, clearly confused, as Mukuro's trademark laughter echoed throughout the gym.

"Muu? A man's voice...?" Mammon muttered. I forced my face to remain neutral, trying to stop two things happening: me calling Mukuro out on how dramatic he was being with his entrance, and not screaming in frustration over the fact that the only illusions I can see are Mukuro's. I sighed in defeat, lifting the arm that wasn't looped with Takeshi's, and rubbing my temple.

"I hate my life," I muttered in defeat. Luckily, everyone else was distracted by Mukuro knocking Mammon back by hitting his trident on the ground to see or hear my grumblings.

"Kufufufu... you're showing off quite a bit, aren't you? For mafia style." I bit my bottom lip, stopping myself from pointing out the irony of his statement.

"Who...?"

"Who's that..?" I looked over at Basil and Ryohei, the only ones on our side who hasn't met Mukuro before

"Rokudo Mukuro...!" Gokudera confirmed. I noted the hatred in his eyes. "There's no mistake."

"Mukuro... he's alive," Tsuna breathed out, looking rather pale. Takeshi glanced over at me, noting my lack of surprise.

"You know him, Cloud?" He asked in almost a hushed tone.

"You could say that," I admitted, my answer almost coming out as an exasperated sigh.

"It's been a while," Mukuro commented idly, as if he weren't in the middle of a battle. "I've come back… from the other side of the cycle."

This time, I did roll my eyes at his over-dramatic-ness. He seemed to see this, and sent a smirk my way. I huffed, glaring at him until he turned back to Mammon.

"Rokudo Mukuro..." Mammon sputtered as they pushed himself up, "I was wondering where I'd heard that name before. Now, I remember." At this point, they were floating again. "About a month ago someone attempted an escape from the Vindice prison. The person's name was Rokudo Mukuro."

"What!"

"He... He broke out again?!" I raised an eyebrow at Tsuna's exclamation.

"You're surprised?" I asked him. Tsuna struggled for an answer, then scratched the back of his head.

"Well, no, but... wait, how do you know him?" I blinked, then glanced back at the fight.

"Look, they're talking," I pointed out.

"Huh?" Tsuna looked back at the fight. I stared at him, surprised. Huh. That actually worked. If only it were that easy to distract Reborn.

"I heard that he was thrown back into a prison even more difficult to escape from," Mammon continued.

"Kufufu. The information net of the Vongola's elite special assassination squad Varia isn't that well informed, after all," Mukuro retorted casually. "I am here, aren't I?"

"What a troublesome guy. All right. Let's clear things up. You are merely an illusion created by that girl, right?" At this point, judging from the others reactions, I assumed Mammon created the illusion of a blizzard. However, as the others were freezing I was pondering over Mukuro.

He was... different somehow. It was strange, really. His presence felt the same, but his actions felt reserved, more difficult to read than the open Mukuro I was used to dealing with in my dreams. Yet, at the same time, even though it felt like he was difficult to read, I felt like I noticed more things than usual. I could clearly distinguish his attitude, his actions, his mood. So, even though he felt more reserved, it was like I was a child reading a difficult book; the words might be more advanced, but I could still understand them or at least guess what they meant.

Mukuro seemed amused by Mammon's illusion more than anything. He stood completely still as Mammon approached him, waiting for the opportune moment to counter attack. I was taken aback by the column of fire that shot up, not used to seeing illusions. The next thing I knew, Mammon was covered in lotus vines and blooming flowers. Mukuro began chuckling again, as more lotus flowers bloomed around the small illusionist.

"Just who is an illusion?" He taunted.

"What's this… power..! Th-the pain..." Mammon struggled as more vines encased them. I took a sharp intake of breath, the sheer power Mukuro possesses just now hitting me. It was hard to believe that this was a man I willingly let into my mind. It was even harder to believe that a man this powerful was almost intimidated by the fragility of my mind.

"Even that Viper is completely overwhelmed..." Colonello admitted.

"That is Tsuna's mist guardian, Rokudo Mukuro," Reborn explained with a smirk.

"He's the real thing after all..." Gokudera concluded. "But, if that's the case, what happened to that girl?"

"You cannot consider Chrome and Mukuro as separate beings," Reborn explained, "Because there is Chrome, Mukuro can exist, because there is Mukuro, Chrome can live." There was a moment of stunned silence, before Tsuna finally broke it.

"No... I don't get it."

"That's all I can explain for now," Reborn shrugged it off, mysteriously. I managed to keep my scoff down.

"Come on... what's the matter Arcobaleno?" Mukuro jeered at Mammon as they continued to struggle. "If you keep taking your time, I'm going to wrap things up, you know."

"Muu!" Mammon burst out of the vines, floating higher into the air. "Don't get cocky!" It was the weirdest thing, only seeing one side of the illusions used in the battle. Mukuro smirked, amused as always, as a flame appeared over his right eye.

"So weak," he commented, slicing the air in front of him with his trident as Mammon quickly floated away.

"That flame in his eye! It's the hand-combat skill, the state of Shura!" And there was Tsuna with his brilliant commentary.

"An illusionist who resorts to hand-combat is heresy!" Mammon yelled out, clearly starting to feel the pressure of the battle, and seeing how dangerous Mukuro really was. "I denounce you and your reincarnation cycle rubbish!"

"Oh?" The Acrobaleno's speech only seemed to amuse Mukuro even more.

"Humans will repeat the same life many time in infinite cycles. That's why I must keep hoarding my money!" The others began flailing frantically again, falling on the floor and squirming.

"That viper is using their full strength." I looked up to see Colonello's hawk carrying both the soldier baby and Reborn.

"They really has no other choice," Reborn noted.

"Sorry to disappoint you, Acrobaleno, but I have met living proof that human lives do not repeat," Mukuro informed him, sending a glance in my direction that I really hope nobody (namely, Reborn) saw. "However, it is quite interesting to see such a greedy Acrobaleno. But, when it comes to greed..." Mukuro bared his trident, readying his next illusion. "I won't lose either."

I let out a small gasp of surprise when columns of fire, decorated with lotus blooms and vines burst to life around us. I couldn't help but admit that his illusions were beautiful, gorgeous even. Of course, that is something I will never tell Mukuro. However, it seemed like the others were not admiring the illusions like I was, seeing that most of them were holding their heads in agony thanks to the nausea and pain.

"They're starting to get corrupted by the illusion," Colonello noted.

"Yeah. Because these illusions act on the mind directly, and they've been continuously affected since the battle began. Except for you, Cloud." I gave him a nervous smile. "It seems like you're not affected at all. I wonder why that is..." I shrugged.

"Who knows?" was my lame response. "Ah, look!" I pointed back to the battle, and surprisingly enough, both of them looked, watching as Mukuro made his way through the columns. I assumed Mammon had just frozen them (if my memory of the original plot was correct) so it was pure luck that I had pointed to the battle at that moment.

"Uuuaaa... my head..!" I glanced over, then went over to Tsuna concerned by the amount of pain he was expressing. I froze before I could reach him, staggering for a moment as images flickered in front of my eyes. Takeshi, despite being in pain himself, saw my fall and went forward. Barely, I felt his hands grip my shoulders, keeping me from crumpling

In one moment, I felt as if I was underwater, unable to breathe. In the next I heard the voice of Mukuro, telling someone to split up. Then, a bone chilling voice. I realized, between these flickers and images, that I was seeing what Tsuna was, although not as strongly as him. I swayed again in Takeshi's, putting my hand to my face, feeling sharp stabs of pain.

This was something I wasn't supposed to see, I realized as I saw flickerings of Mukuro's conversation with Iemitsu. Lastly, the strongest image yet, was Mukuro underwater, in his prison cell. For one moment I felt strong empathy for him. I then realized that it was Tsuna's empathy I was feeling.

"Cloud, are you okay?" Startled, I looked over to see Takeshi looking down at me.

"Yeah," I nodded my head, dismissing the shaky feeling I had and pushed myself from where I was leaning against his chest. "I'm fine."

I looked back over at the battle in an attempt to distract myself. I watched as lotus vines burst to life from around Mukuro, apparently dispelling Mammon's illusion they had cast to trap Mukuro earlier (according to Takeshi, who now believed it to be his job to tell me what was going on since he still thought I couldn't see any illusions).

"Descent into Hell, then return again."

There was a moment, where we all just stood there dumbly staring at the two ring halves between Mukuro's fingers. Levi broke that silence.

"Impossible! That Mammon...!"

"He won..." Basil finished.

"Completely over powered," Ryohei added. Ken smugly chuckled behind us. I waited, still tensed, knowing it wasn't over yet. Mukuro waited as well, knowing the exact same thing. Looking past Mukuro, I noticed Mammon pushing themselves up off the ground, panting. I guessed that they were covering themselves with an illusion since I seemed to be the only one noticing them.

"Wait!" Mammon gasped in between their words. I assumed their illusion was dispelled, because Mukuro and the others were looking at them as well. "I was just playing with you. Don't get so cocky! I have yet to show you the full extent of my powers!"

"You know this very well, don't you?" I looked up to see Mukuro standing on the side of the wall, staring smugly down at Mammon. "What it means when your illusionary powers are countered by another's. It means," he said as Mammon's own pet wrapped around their neck, strangling them. "that you have completely lost control over your own perceptions."

"Gyah! Stop! Fantasma!"

"Come, shall I show you what this thing we call power really is? Shall we?" Mukuro jaunted as the floor caved in where Mammon was. My arms flailed as the ground beneath us fell. Takeshi managed to grab a hold of me and Tsuna as we fell.

"We're falling!"

"Dammit, Mukuro! Stop being such a fucking show off!" I muttered angrily as I clung closer to Takeshi, who was trying to calm Tsuna down.

"Kuhahah! How does it feel like? Arcobaleno! This is my world!" Mukuro dove downwards until he completely lost shape, then the shape that used to be Mukuro was forced into Mammon's mouth, making them grow larger inside until they looked like they were about to burst.

"Stop it!" He pleaded. "I'm going to die! I'm going to die!"

"The reason you lost," Mukuro's voice echoed in my ears, sending a cold shiver down my spine, "was because you had me as your opponent."

And with that, Mammon literally burst. All at once, the room swirled back into place, revealing the gymnasium, completely unscathed from the battle. Mukuro was kneeling in the center and holding out the whole ring of the mist to the Cervello.

"Is this acceptable?" The Cervello shared glances, then nodded.

"The mist ring now belongs to Chrome Dokuro. With that, the winner of this battle is Chrome Dokuro," the Cervello concluded.

"Eh, wait!" Tsuna stepped forward, catching Mukuro's attention. "How could you... you didn't have to go that far..."

"Even now, you're still showing such sympathy for the enemy. Just how naive can you get, Sawada Tsunayoshi?" Mukuro sighed and shook his head. "There's no need to worry... I should say. That baby managed to escape. From the start, they had every intention of reserving enough energy to escape. They're shrewd, that Acrobaleno."

"Gola Mosca, after the contest battles are over, eliminate Mammon," Xanxus ordered, reminding us, or at least me, that he was watching the whole time.

"My, my," I resisted the urge to face palm as Mukuro began to taunt Xanxus, something I specifically told him (tried to tell him) not to do, "You really are the dark side of the mafia, aren't you Xanxus? Even I would feel awed at this terrifying scheme you're thought up."

The tension between them was almost too much. Luckily, Mukuro turned away and began walking back to us.

"But, I have no intention of poking my nose into your business, because I am not such a nice human being. Just one thing though... the other candidate for successor, though smaller and weaker than you, is not really someone you should trifle with, for your own good."

"I swear to god, he just flipped his hair as he turned away," I muttered narrowing my eyes.

"What?" Takeshi looked over at me.

"Nothing," I replied quickly, watching as Chikusa and Ken happily greeted their leader.

"You bastard! How dare you show your face here!" Takeshi stepped forward as Gokudera readied himself to fight. I stayed were I was, calmly looking at my student with a tired expression.

"It's good to be so vigilant," Mukuro said as he neared, "but, I have no intentions of colluding with the mafia either. The only reason I have become your mist guardian is to set myself in a better position to possess your body, Sawada Tsunayoshi." He turned to me, as Tsuna managed to stop Gokuder from full out lunging at the illusionist.

"So, little Cavallone, what did you think of my display, hm? It was your fist time seeing my illusions, wasn't it?" The others went silent when they connected two and two, realizing that Mukuro was acknowledging me.

"Tacky," I answered. I managed to catch the smallest trace of an eye twitch. "And a little bit unoriginal. Too flashy. You should conserve more energy instead of wasting it to show off." He chuckled, brushing my comments off.

"And why should I care about your opinion?" He looked down on me, then seemed to notice something. "Oh, you're shorter here." I froze as he pinched my cheek. "It's kind of cute, you know?"

"Let," I breathed out, "go." He chuckled, but released my cheek.

"Oh? Did I make you mad, little Cavallone?" He ended the question with a yawn. "A little tired now... remember to look after... her..." he said the last part quietly, so only I could hear. The next thing I knew, he was falling into me. I blinked and it was Chrome who I had to catch.

"T-that pineapple bastard..." I huffed and laid Chrome on the ground, checking to make sure she wasn't injured.

"He's turned into a girl again! What's going on?"

"He expended his power to transform into reality," Reborn explained to Tsuna. "He probably won't be able to come over again for a while..." as he trailed off his gaze lingered back to me. I pretended not to notice this, as Tsuna looked towards me.

"What about the girl's internal organs?"

"She's fine now," I answered when I realized that he was waiting for me to answer him.

"It's thanks to Mukuro's powerful illusions," Reborn added as he jumped on my shoulder.

"She's asleep," Tsuna said, relieved.

"What exactly is your relationship with Mukuro, Cloud?" Reborn bluntly asked me. I tried not to show that I was scrambling for an answer.

"I don't really know myself," I admitted truthfully.

"What are his motives exactly? Do you know that?"

"I don't know much about that either, but it seems like he wants to help you guys more than he lets on."

"Hm? Is that so..." Reborn trailed off with a thoughtful look. "It seems like he has placed Chrome in your care, right, Cloud?"

"You heard that, huh?" He smirked.

"You should know by now," he chided, "Nothing gets past me."

"We will continue with the next contest battle," the Cervello announced, catching our attention.

"Wait! It's four to two now," Gokudera argued, stepping forward and holding up the hand that proudly displayed his ring, "We have more rings on our side! Doesn't this mean that we win?"

"We shall still continue the battles until the rightful guardians are chosen. These are the ninths orders," the Cervello restated, a bit nervously. Gokudera scowled at them and Reborn frowned from my shoulder, seeing that something wasn't right, but he kept quiet, realizing that arguing would get him nowhere.

I narrowed my eyes. That's right, Xanxus is really in charge, so even if we were winning, he still needs to go through with his plan. He wouldn't just let us win just because we have more rings. So, even in an unlikely scenario like this, he would still have a back up to make sure he reaches his ultimate goal. They even pulled 'the boss's orders' card to pull these ring battles out longer.

"Tomorrow will be the battle between the Cloud guardians."

"It's Hibari's turn," Gokudera realized.

"Yes!" Takeshi smiled, having faith in their school prefect.

"Oi, Xanxus," Reborn jumped off my shoulder and onto the ground. "You've already lost. Even if you have the sky ring, the ring count is already in our favor. Tsuna's side has already won, yet they're still continuing. This is simply dragging out until you officially lose."

"The ninth's orders stated that each battle deter-" The Cervello that stepped forward was interrupted by Xanxus.

"You act like it's my fault that they're continuing," he sneered, glaring down at Reborn. "It's the old man's orders, right? If you're really that worried I'll put everything on Mosca's fight. After all, it's not like you trash are in danger of losing anyway, right?"

There was a moment as we took his words in.

"Fine. If it's the Ninth's orders," Reborn concluded, then turned to walk out. "Let's go back home."

"But, Reborn!"

"Let's go, Tsuna," Reborn repeated, grabbing Tsuna by the arm and actually dragging him out. I picked Chrome back up gently and followed Basil, Colonello and Ryohei, with Gokudera and Yamamoto falling into step behind me. Reborn stopped once we were a little ways away from the school.

"I don't like this," Reborn said. "Xanxus is planning something."

"Shouldn't we have won after this?" Ryohei pointed out. "Octopus-head, Yamamoto, that illusion guy and I have already won! Doesn't that mean we win?"

"It should," Reborn agreed, "but the Cervello are continuing, which is strange. I have a feeling that it's part of Xanxus's scheme."

"Well, it doesn't matter anyway, right?" Takeshi said, bringing a little cheerfulness to the group, "Hibari's going to win tomorrow anyway!" There were nods all around.

"Yeah," Gokudera agreed, "There's no way that guy would lose."

"Then we'll be back tomorrow to finish this once and for all," Reborn concluded. "Are you taking Chrome back to the hospital, Cloud?" He asked as the others dispersed.

"Yeah," I nodded, "Just to make sure she's okay."

"Good, good," Reborn nodded. "Tsuna, go with her."

"What?!"

"I've got to check up on something. You accompany Cloud to the hospital."

"Why do I have to? She can take care of herself, right?"

"A true gentleman and Mafia boss should walk girls back home when it's dark," Reborn explained.

"But I don't want to be a mafia bos-GAH!" Tsuna was then very gracefully kicked by Reborn as I started walking off. I giggled, re-positioning Chrome a bit in my arms.

"Wow, you're such a gentleman for walking me back," I teased as Tsuna grumbled quiet curses towards Reborn.

"S-shut up, Cloud! Ah! Now I'm all worried about this battle! I thought that we won for a while, then Reborn had to go and say that!"

"It's fine, Tsuna," I tried reassuring him. "Everything will be fine in the end."

"You're dead, Little horse."

"... at least, it will be for you."

We both tensed as Zhanna jumped down from the wall, twirling her knife as she rose in front of us. Tsuna let out the smallest sliver of a whimper, feeling the intensity of Zhanna's rage.

"Hey, Zhanna!" I greeted cheerfully in German. "Did you have a nice nap?" I quickly regretted my words as I moved my head to the side, dodging the knife that embedded itself into the telephone pole just behind me. I gulped as Zhanna stalked forward. My mind raced for a reason for her to stop. I looked down at the unconscious Chrome in my arms.

"Wait, wait! You can't hurt me right now! I'm carrying an unconscious person! It's a rule, it's a thing!" I pleaded as I backed away from Zhanna. She paused, hesitation in her eyes. Luckily for me, that little bit of hesitation is all I needed.

"That's not a thing," she rebuked.

"Yes, it is! It totally is!" She gave me a disbelieving look. "Okay, fine, it might not be a thing, but," I stopped her before she could start again, "at least let me get her back to the hospital, then you can go at it. Just let me take care of her first."

It took a moment for her to decided, then she walked forward. I froze as her hand shot out towards me, but she was only retrieving the knife she had thrown earlier.

"Fine. We'll do it your way, little horse," Zhanna huffed, then turned to walk back towards the hospital. Tsuna breathed out a sigh of relief beside me, reminding me that he was there. I noticed he looked rather pale.

"W-what... what did you do?" Tsuna asked. Even though he didn't understand our conversation, it seems he got the point that Zhanna wanted to kill me.

"Oh, I just drugged her so I could sneak out to see the battle," I casually explained as I started walking as well. He stared at me.

"You... drugged her?" He repeated.

"Yep," I said, pooping the 'p' as usual. "Oh, and remember not to let Dino know I snuck out," I reminded him. "I'm kind of supposed to be grounded." Tsuna continued to stare at me, as if he was still trying to comprehend my words.

"... you're insane," he concluded after a while. I gave him a cheeky smile.

"You know it, Tuna-fish."

"Don't call me that!"

"Alright," I concluded after I was done making sure Chrome was completely safe. "Everything seems fine." I smiled softly as I turned to face Tsuna, turning my back on Zhanna.

"Thanks for accompanying us here, Tsuna. It was very sweet of you to do that, even if Reborn forced you to. Now, if you'll excuse me, I do believe I am in danger of being pulverized by a Russian assassin."

I then promptly ducked, just as Zhanna's fist came flying in, luckily just stopping about an inch in front of Tsuna's face. I rolled sideways and sprinted out the door as quickly as possible, Zhanna right on my tail. Luckily, although strong, Zhanna wasn't a fast runner. Even though I felt like I was dying at the moment, I could outrun her.

The only question is, how long I could outrun her. I squeaked as I dove to the side, barely dodging a knife she had thrown at me. I scrambled around the next corner, hoping that she would give up at some point.

"You're dead, Cloud!"

Sadly, that was a lost hope.

"He really isn't saying anything," Dino sighed as he walked through the lobby of the hospital. "He's really taking this to the grave, huh, Romario?"

"It seems so, boss. Why don't you let the princess talk to him?" Dino shook his head.

"I doubt he would say anything to her, and," his face deadpanned, "I don't want her to know where he is, since she'll just talk to him even more. She already found out where Belphegor was. She has enough dangerous friends as it is, including Ursa. I don't even want to know how she met that monster. Anyways, I really don't wa-"

"Dino, move!"

Instantly alert, Dino side stepped Nikita as she came barreling through the lobby, breathing hard and looking exhausted. By the time Dino had gathered his wits, he saw she was headed for the door.

"Cloud, you don't you dare walk out that door!" Dino scolded her, using what his sister liked to call his 'boss' voice. "You're grounded, remember?" The girl managed to turn just before she exited the door, sending a glare back at her brother. Dino was about to speak again, but was silenced by the knife that flew right past his face and landed right beside his sister's.

"How," Nikita breathed out, "many knives do you even have!?"

She then squeaked as two more came flying at her. Dino and Romario could only watch in numb shock as Nikita raced down another hallway, just in time before Zhanna could completely enter the hallway.

The Russian assassin laughed in amusement, bringing two more knives, twirling them as she prepared to start her hunt again. She seemed to notice the two men and gave them a nod of acknowledgment before starting after her prey. A moment of stunned silence passed between the boss and right hand man before Dino said anything.

"Do you think," he asked Romario, "that I just sealed her fate by making her stay in the building?" Romario shrugged, then began making his way to Belphegor's hospital room once again.

"She has to learn that there are consequences somehow, boss."

I threw open the door and swung myself into what seemed like the only hospital room that was unlocked. However, in my haste I wisely closed the door quietly and slid against it, calming my breaths so you couldn't hear them from the hall. I tensed as I heard Zhanna's loud footsteps run in front of the door and continue down the hallway. I only allowed myself to relax after I knew she was gone for sure. I returned to my ragged breathing, and let myself slide almost completely to the floor. Although I would never admit it to her, Zhanna was right that it would have been best for me to rest. After running away and dodging her for about half an hour or so, I felt dead. Well, almost dead.

I froze, realizing that I wasn't alone in the room. I pushed myself up only to meet the steely eyes of Hibari Kyoya. For a while, all we did was stare at each other.

"What," he started, his gaze sharpening, "Are you doing here, Kumo?"

"What," I breathed out, still trying to catch my breath, "are you doing here?"

His eyes narrowed. I raised an eyebrow. It was strange; It seemed like he was embarrassed that I found him. It was only then that I noticed he was shirt-less and was in the middle of wrapping bandages around his torso. "Oh," I muttered, putting the pieces together. "Oh," I repeated when I remembered who gave him those injuries.

"Why did you come here to tend to it?" I asked him cautiously. He turned his head away from me, and I thought he wasn't going to answer.

"I ran out of bandages at home," he muttered quietly. Ah. So he was taking care of it, or at least, trying to take care of it. He probably didn't want to ask for help just because he didn't want others to know he was injured. However...

I almost winced looking at the half-wrapped wound, clearly seeing purple and red skin.

(this was my fault)

"Your battle is tomorrow, right?"

"Yes," he replied simply, going back to wrapping his wound. I pushed myself up and began to walk over to where he was leaning against the bed. He raised an eyebrow at me.

"Kyoya, let me heal you," I said.

"What?"

"Let me heal you," I repeated bringing out my gloves from my pocket. "Your battle is tomorrow and it's clear that this wound is going to slow you down. It would be better for everyone if I just heal you. That, and nobody would even know you were injured."

His glare lessened, giving me hope that he was actually considering my proposal.

"Fine."

It was almost a growl. There was a moment where I was actually processing that he was allowing physical contact. I then realized, as I moved with a start to get my gloves on, that this wasn't really surprising, since the only reason he was letting me do this was so he could go all out in his fight tomorrow, proving how much of a battle freak her was.

As I shakily gathered my focus (dutifully ignoring how bad his injury actually was now that it was completely uncovered), it being much harder to gather the energy for the flames this time, I slowly began putting the pieces and details together to distract myself.

So, Kyoya managed to piss off Zhanna (which isn't hard to do. I should know best) and she ends up nailing him in the ribs and stomach (she said she was holding back, but from these wounds I'm not sure so sure. However, if she was holding back, that just made me escaping from her even more crucial). Kyoya, who is too prideful to ask anyone else for help, tries to treat the wound himself, but ends up making it worse by not going in for professional help.

Eventually, he either realizes this, or just runs out of supplies to treat himself as he told me (however, I don't know if that's the truth, or if he was just being prideful as always). Knowing that Dino had rented out this hospital, Kyoya probably managed to sneak past Dino and the guys to use the hospitals supplies. I knew Dino didn't know Kyoya was here because A) Kyoya wouldn't want him to know and B) If Dino knew, he would be in here mother-henning over him.

It was probably a good thing that I was the one to discover him actually, I realized as my breaths became more ragged and I struggled to keep my exhaustion concealed. If Kyoya just treated himself as he had planned, then he would still be badly injured in his battle tomorrow. And in the end, I thought with a frown, if he was injured, it would be my fault. Of course, I don't know how that would affect things as a whole, seeing how I've already screwed up the plot anyway.

Throughout this process, I tried not to make it obvious that I noticed how much pain he was in. Although, out of all my patients I've had so far (which is like, what? Two?), Kyoya was handling the painful side effect of my healing the best. Then again, Bel was unconscious during the process, so I guess I can't really count him. I tried not show how much this bothered me, seeing how much pain he was enduring while I healed him. My mind drifted, wondering how much agony Basil felt when I was trying to 'help' him.

I wondered, even though he was unconscious, if I was hurting Bel when I was attempting to 'save' one the most important people to me.

I frowned, and pushed away from the bed, away from Kyoya, who let out a heavy sigh and released his iron grip from the bed railing. I tried to stand up, but ended up giving up and falling back onto the bed, just as Kyoya was standing up, tenderly touching the spot where the wound was and twisting slightly to see if it was completely healed.

I watched this as I was holding back coughs, eventually failing, just hoping I didn't begin to cough up blood again. I noticed Kyoya was staring at me (was it with respect? Thankfulness? Suspicion?), then I realized he was staring at the gloves on my hand.

"What is that?" He asked. I blinked, not understanding what he was asking, and trying to see clearly as my vision blurred. "That light that was on your hands," he continued.

"Flames," I coughed out. I cringed, cursed and rolled over, raising a hand to wipe the small bit of blood off my mouth. "Dino... will explain..." I coughed again, my whole body shaking. I looked at Kyoya one last time before my vision completely faded, only managing to sputter three more words.

"Kyoya...find Zhanna."

"There's something wrong with your sister."

Dino almost jumped when he heard the voice. He turned around to find his student, staring at him intently. Dino let out a sigh of relief, and Romario laughed lightly behind his boss.

"A lot of things are wrong with Cloud, Kyoya. You just got to learn to get used to it," Dino said jokingly with a smile. Hibari's eyes narrowed and with his next words, the smile on Dino's face dropped instantly.

"She's injured."

"Where?" were the first words out of the don's mouth. Hibari was almost surprised by the intensity of his eyes and by the change of mood. Hibari wordlessly turned down the hallway once more, only fastening his steps when Dino threatened to take the lead. The moment the prefect slowed to stop in front of the already open door, Dino was ahead of him, in the room. Hibari, not knowing what else to do, watched by the door as his tutor checked his sister's breath and pulse, the look on his face growing more worried as time went by. Her eyes were barely open, yet Hibari understood that she was seeing nothing.

"She's barely breathing." It was almost a whisper. Romario pulled his boss away, but Dino barely reacted. The shocked, broken look remained on his face.

"I can't feel her pulse anymore."

Hibari's fist tightened. He glared at the girl, trying to understand why simply healing him would push her this far. It was weak, stupid. The herbivore was dying because of him.

Hibari tensed as he felt a presence, a familiar, almost terrifying presence approach from behind. He barely moved a step when he was roughly pushed against by the woman who entered the room. His eyes snapped up to hers, but he was surprised to find them not looking back. Instead they were trained on Nikita, and in those eyes he saw hate, pity, annoyance, and the smallest amount of fear.

This was not a time for a fight, Hibari understood. Looking around the room once more, seeing her limp body, with her chest not rising, how broken Dino was, and his right hand man's failed attempts to revive his boss's dear sister (that was dear to him too, dear to all of them, their dear princess), Hibari realized that this was not a place for a warrior. And so, he stepped back, allowing Zhanna (someone he met as a warrior, but now, in this room, did not carry that same title) to take on a new, needed role.

Dino's once frozen, shocked eyes moved up, turning angry when he met the Russian assassin's scarred face.

"You said you would take care of her!" Zhanna simply glared back and grabbed Romario's shoulder, throwing him away from the girl lying limp on the bed and into his boss.

"What are you doing?" Cold, rage filled eyes met his and a sneer slipped onto her marred face.

"Taking care of her," was her simple reply in slow Japanese. "And if you want me to do my damn job then stay the fuck out of my way."

Leaving them slightly stunned, she reached for Nikita's hands, easily pulling the gloves off. Fitting them over her own hands, Zhanna moved her fingers, stretching the fabric. "Let's hope this works," she grumbled before putting her hands on Nikita's chest.

Dino's eyes narrowed, not understanding what the assassin's plan to save his sister was. Then, as a sharp green light sprung to life against Zhanna's hands, he understood all at once.

"Wait, stop!"

"Can I rant here for second?"

Mukuro opened his mouth to reply, but I cut him off before he could say 'no'.

"Apparently, when I heal someone, they end up feeling even more pain!" I threw my arms up in the air, then roughly crossed them, leaning closer to Mukuro in my rage. "How messed up is that? I set out to help people and I just make it worse!" Mukuro sighed and frowned, raising an eyebrow at my actions. Hannah huffed form her position leaning against the tree.

"You seem bothered by this," Mukuro yawned, obviously not as invested in the topic as I was.

"Fuck yeah, I am!" I kept my angry glare until it melted off in the face of his bored expression. I sighed sadly and laid back on the soft grass, staring up into the leafy, sunlit canopy of my garden. A light, almost chilly breeze accompanied my sigh.

"I just want to help the people I care about, not hurt them," I explained to the illusionist, not bothering to question myself why I even told him this (although I questioned it later, thinking back on it). "And if healing them hurts them so much, then why even do it? It just seems like all I ever do is make things worse."

Mukuro scoffed, chuckling at my words. I shot up angrily, offended that he would laugh when I opened up to him.

"Don't be hurt, Cavallone." He held up a hand, stopping me before I could say anything. "Do you not realize the uniqueness of your ability? From what that one has told me," he gestured to Hannah, "your healing ability is not only accurate, but it can heal in an incredibly short amount of time. If you continue to improve this skill, and focus on concentrating your flame even more, you might even be able to perform delicate procedures, or speed the process up even more to be useful in the middle of a battle. The pain is only a small price to be paid, and if they can't handle that, then I say they don't deserved to be treated. Not to mention, it can also improve your own pain tolerance when you heal yourself."

I blinked, letting the words sink in. My eyes narrowed.

"Did you just compliment me?"

"Of course not, I was simply complimenting your healing technique; not you."

"Enough of this feelings, insecurity bullshit," Hannah called out, pushing herself away from the tree trunk, obviously fed up with our conversation. "What I want to know is why she," she pointed a finger in my direction, "Could only see your illusions."

"Which, is something I'm not very happy about," I added with a huff. "I want to see illusions other than yours, thank you very much." Mukuro rolled his eyes at my statement before sitting down with a thoughtful look in the throne that grew up from the ground behind him.

"That was actually something I was wondering about myself," he admitted with a thoughtful hum. He continued, "And it was one of the reasons I wanted you to see my battle. To test a theory."

"You knew I could only see your illusions?" I asked, making myself comfortable on the grass. Hannah sat down beside me as Mukuro explained further.

"I didn't know for sure," Mukuro admitted. "It was simply a theory, however it made sense. Even I had trouble infiltrating your mind, so I wouldn't think you would be affected in a simple illusion battle, especially since you weren't the one being directly targeted. It takes you actually letting someone in to get into your mind," he concluded, then added, "without completely breaking it, of course. It's such a fragile thing, after all."

"Then," I drawled, putting the information I was just given together, "in order for me to be affected by illusions, the illusionist must already have access to my mind, like you do now?"

"But didn't you let Mammon in a while ago?" Hannah inputted.

"Yeah," I agreed, remembering when Mukuro first came into contact with my mind, "then why couldn't I see his illusions in the fight?"

"His presence either wasn't there long enough, or it fades over time," Mukuro guessed. "Or he simply wasn't strong enough to leave an imprint," he added with a smug smirk.

"Okay, just because you won once doesn't mean you can get cocky," Hannah noted, rolling her eyes.

"Isn't he always cocky?" I questioned, tilting my head.

"Despite how cocky I am, and with reason," Mukuro drew us back to the topic on hand, with the slightest twitch of the eye. "You have a great advantage, little Cavallone."

"I do?" I repeated, not seeing his point.

"You can't see illusions, which means you can't be tricked in battle," He explained. "Therefore, any illusionist you encounter will be useless against you, of course unless they're skilled in combat, which, fortunately for you, most illusionist aren't. However, you are still powerless to my own illusions."

"Then it's good we're on the same side," I reminded him with a sly smirk. He returned with a smirk of his own.

"It's cute that you believe that, little Cavallone," he chuckled, narrowing his eyes.

"Also, there's something else I wanted to ask you about," I admitted, remembering something. "Did you notice anything... weird about me when we talked?" His eyebrows collided, not understanding my question.

"What do you mean by weird?"

"I mean..." I struggled for the words. "Okay, look, when I saw you, you seemed more... reserved than you are when you're in here. But, at the same time, I could still understand you. Well, understand you as much as I can understand you in here, which isn't that much," I tried my best to explain. Mukuro tilted his head down, thinking. Then, as if something suddenly clicked, he let out a soft 'ah' and chuckled.

"Kufufufu, we simply saw for the first time how we acted in the real world. In here, in your mind," he held his arms up, gesturing at the space around us, "What we see when we interact is simply our conscious. When we say and do things in this realm, there is no physical process we must step through; the words and actions just come out, sometimes without us even realizing. Therefore, when we met each other in the real world, we are both different, more reserved in our actions and words, even appearances. For example, even when talking to you for that short amount of time, I noticed that you are for more reserved in both words and actions in real life, more careful in what you say. However, that might have just been because that Acrobaleno was watching you like a hawk," he smirked, as if the fact that Reborn stalking me was amusing to him.

I made a small 'o' with my mouth, just remembering something.

"Speaking of Reborn," I started with an awkward smile directed towards Mukuro. His smirk dropped instantly and he narrowed his eyes.

"What did you do?"

"He may have kind of noticed that I know you," I continued on, looking away from Mukruo's intense gaze. "And he might have maybe asked me about it. So, to get him off my back, I might have maybe, sort of..." I trailed off, meeting his eyes again. He sighed and rubbed his temples.

"You blamed it on me, didn't you?" He sighed.

"I figured you wouldn't mind being the bad guy in this, since, you know, you're kind of already the bad guy anyway," I said, relieved that he wasn't too mad.

"So, what?" He said in an annoyed tone. "You made yourself look like the victim? The damsel in the distress?"

"That's exactly what she did," Hannah said before I could answer myself.

"That's not the point," I object quickly. "but it's not like you were helping when we talked," I accused the illusionist. "Dropping little hints everywhere, pinching my fucking cheek," I hissed, lifting a hand to touch said cheek. "You're not even trying to hide our relationship." He scoffed.

"What relationship? What am I to you, little Cavallone? What are you to me?"

"Well, I figured you're like my therapist or something," I admitted a bit sheepishly. His expression dead panned.

"Your therapist?" He repeated.

"You really need some help if you have him for a therapist," Hannah relented, giving me a sideways look.

"And why, little Cavallone," Mukuro said with a now amused tone, "Do you consider me your therapist?

"I'm saving the counselor title for the other one," I answered simply. Mukuro stared at me with a blank face. Then, one eye twitched. His trident materialized beside him and he grabbed it, using it to push himself up.

"You're dead, little Cavallone," he promised with a smile.

"You're quite popular today," Hannah noted as I began scrambling away with every step Mukuro took forward.

"I know right? Two people that want to kill me today," I joked, trying to ease the tension. "I mean you'd think one was enough, right Mukuro? Please?" I pleaded more desperately, backing all the way up to the wall. As this was happening, a violent wind was picking up around us, seeming to shake the very environment we were in.

It seemed Mukuro remembered the danger of frightening me when he was forced to dodge a slew of vines arc from the wall, which he sliced easily with his weapon. He took a deep breath, and let go of his trident, which dissolved like sand into the wind. I took a few calming breaths myself, until the wind died down to a calm breeze.

"You're getting better at controlling it," Hannah reminded me. I let out a sigh of relief, then noticed Mukuro looking at me curiously.

"You mentioned there was someone else you wanted to tell of your... predicament in one of our earlier conversations as well," Mukuro pointed out. "And I want to know who it is," He finished with a forced smile. Hannah interrupted me before I could answer.

"You sure we can even trust them?" she pointed out. "This person... telling them would be risky," she reminded me. I shrugged, brushing it off.

"Besides Mukuro, they're the only one that could possibly believe me."

"I'm still against it," Hannah turned away, crossing her arms in defiance. I sighed, but turned away as well.

"It doesn't matter. We have a long time before we even run into them," I ignored Mukuro's annoyed expression for neglecting his question.

"At least," I added as an afterthought, "We should have enough time as long as I don't screw with the plot too much."

"I have to say, little Cavallone," Mukuro said with a dark chuckle. "I'm surprised you're managing to block out the pain you're supposed to be in right now."

Now, this got me to stop ignoring him. My head snapped to him, confusion coloring my expression.

"What?"

"Mukuro, don't tell her that!" Hannah scowled at the illusionist, who simply shrugged in response.

"You've been mentally blocking it off for long enough now. Besides, it's going to reach her anyway, no matter how hard you try."

"Hannah," I looked at my old self. "What does he mean?" She sighed and crossed her arms, irritably.

"When you're in here for as long as I was," she sent an ungrateful look my way, "You get to know little tricks."

"Yeah," I agreed with her, already knowing this, "That's how you're able to show Mukuro memories in such detail, but you said something about suppressing pain, blocking it or something?" She looked up with slightly guilty eyes.

"Not for much longer."

I reached out for her, then fell back with my mouth gaping as an unbelievable striking pain blossomed from my chest. I expected to hit the ground, but nothing was there. It was void. Everything was gone, everyone was gone. I was alone. I was alone in the void with only my pain.

I screamed.

"Ow!" Tsuna stepped back, blinking rapidly and rubbing his head to get over the shock of being hit by one of the front doors of the hospital. "Ah!" He looked up, recognizing the girl immediately.

"Boss…" Chrome uttered, surprised to see him as well.

"Erm… that is… wh-what should I call you?" Tsuna asked lamely. "Chrome? Dokuro?"

"Anything is okay," she responded quietly. Now that Tsuna was thinking about, she was always quiet. Chrome was a rather reserved girl. He blinked, coming out of his thoughts as she began walking away.

"Er, wait…where are you going?" She turned towards him.

"They said Ken and Chikusa ran off somewhere, and I couldn't see Nikita since she's resting now."

"Eh…" Tsuna sweat-dropped, realizing that her 'friends" left her behind. He then took in the second half of her sentence.

"Nikita? Oh, Wait?! Cloud resting? What does that mean? Is she hurt?" Chrome took a step back as he leaned forward.

"They told me she was injured badly," Chrome answered nervously. With a worried look, Tsuna looked away from the girl and towards the hospital.

"Cloud..."

"Um, boss?" He looked back to Chrome, finding her staring at him with shy, curious eyes. "What… what kind of person is Nikita?"

"Eh? What kind of person….?" He looked down, deep in thought. Memories of Nikita flashed through his head, (her always making him feel better just talking to her, Nikita always insisting on helping his mother, the loving nicknames and light jokes she says around him) and he smiled. Then, then smiled turned into a terrifying expression as he remembered other memories of Nikita (her using him as a sled, sacrificing him to Hibari so she could escape, her constant nicknames and pokes at him).

"Insane," he stated. "She's completely insane."

"Dino…are you okay?"

"Hm?" The older mafia boss snapped out of his thoughts and looked down at Tsuna. There was a pause, then Dino laughed nervously.

"Of course I am, Tsuna!" He swung his arm around "I already told you that Kyoya was going to be fine in the fight! There's no need t-"

"Is it about Cloud?" Tsuna's serious eyes met Dino's. "What exactly happened to her? What's going on with her?" Dino sighed and rubbed the back of his head.

"She's just… look, I don't really know. I don't understand much of what's going on with her lately. Guess it's her rebellious phase or something?" He laughed a bit, but Tsuna could tell that it was forced. "She's just been doing a lot of risky, stupid things lately and she got hurt. Really hurt. Zhanna…" he trailed off, his eyes hardening. "…she's being looked after."

A tense silence passed between them.

"No offence or anything, Tsuna," Dino started, wanting to change the subject, "but don't you have other things to worry about other than my little sister?"

"Huh? Like what?"

"Like the battles being dragged out even though it's obvious who the winner is going to be," Dino said, frowning. "Even if Kyoya loses tonight, which he won't, you guys are still ahead. It's suspicious that they're continuing. This could turn into something dangerous."

"And that's exactly why you have to continue your training. You must perfect the dying will zero point breakthrough by today." Both stiffened at the familiar voice, and slowly turned to the window.

"Reborn! N-ninja? Wait, what did you say? It's already over isn't it? And Hibari is going to win tonight so that's even more reason why I shouldn't have to train anymore!"

"Dino was right when he said this was dangerous," Reborn explained, perching on the windowsill in his ninja costume. "What will you do if something happens?" Tsuna made an aggravated sound, bending his knees and clutching his head.

"Eh! But something always happens!"

"She's still out cold."

Dino didn't even bother to look at the voice as he walked into the room, instead going straight to his sister's side. He grimaced, noticing the bandages wrapped around her chest, but was relieved to see it rising and falling rhythmically. He repressed the memory of when it wasn't, and instead turned cold eyes towards the person he blamed for this. Truthfully, he was just looking for a scapegoat. He was tired of putting all the weight on his own shoulders.

"Was it really necessary to use your flames on her?"

"Yes," Zhanna replied staring him straight in the eyes, "it was."

"It almost killed her," he growled, gesturing towards her wrapped injuries.

"And yet, if I hadn't done it, she would be dead."

"… you don't know that," Dino said, mostly trying to convince himself. "You've barely known her. What right do you have to be here? To protect her?" Dino's voice began to rise, stress catching up to him causing him to let go of all the emotions that have been built up over time.

"She's all the blood I have left, it's my job to protect, to give her what she wants and needs! She's my sister, my family. It's my job to take care of her," He grew quiet, then, in a movement that almost look like falling, he sat down in the chair behind him. His expression was broken, not being able to hold back the image of his sister, lying still, cold, unmoving. Dead.

Meanwhile, while Dino was growing colder, the assassin sitting on the other side of the bed was filling with harsh rage. She gripped the arm rest of the chair with her fist, eventually breaking it. She stomped her foot down, causing Dino's head to snap up. His desperate eyes were what sent her over the edge.

"I've saved your sister twice!" Zhanna snarled. "You say you want to protect her, but you're too pathetic to even do that! It's your job to look after her, to give her what she needs, what she wants? I know more about what she wants than you."

"And what does she want?!" Dino asked, desperate, pleading. "I've never understood that! I've never understood her! She just goes off and does what she wants without thinking of the consequences and for what? For herself?"

"No." The answer was immediate, firm. "Never for herself." Zhanna's eyes were angry, offended even. It was enough to make Dino feel ashamed for even assuming that.

"Everything she does is for everyone else, everyone but herself, and yet she still thinks of herself as selfish. She wants to grow stronger for you, for family. She's almost died twice, throwing her life to heal, to give back. You want to understand her, but why should you? Why do you have to understand her?"

"Because… because she's my sister. Aren't siblings supposed to understand each other?" Zhanna let out a harsh bark of laughter.

"I have three older siblings, and do you think we understand each other? Hell, no! But, we do trust each other and that's what you need to do with Cloud."

"It's not that I don't trust her!" Dino argued, "It's that I don't trust that she'll be safe! How can I know that?"

"You can't," Zhanna shrugged. "You'll never be able to know for sure. But that's reality. That's life. And you have to trust life."

"What do you do when life betrays that trust?" Dino asked quietly, thinking of his father, his mother, and the many family members he has already lost.

"You move on," Zhanna said coldly. "You keep moving with your own strength. It's hard," Zhanna said, meeting his eyes. "Nobody waits for you. You must keep moving, or you get left behind."

"Did you get left behind?" Dino asked quietly.

"No, but someone else did and I didn't wait for them." A sharp silence filled the room. Dino understood that it was a topic the assassin was not interested in talking about.

"You can't," Zhanna continued, tearing through the silence, "just fall apart when something gets taken from you. Even if that something is all you have left. I know you are capable of being strong, Bronco. I know that you are forced to be strong. You must sustain that strength through everything, even when you are about to break."

Dino took a deep breath, tilting his head up to look at Nikita. He moved his hand until it was on top of hers, simply sitting there, reassuring himself.

"I have to admit," he said quietly, "I never thought someone like you could give such an uplifting speech." Zhanna scoffed and pushed herself up, swinging her arms and stretching them.

"Don't get the wrong idea, Bronco," she sneered, her Glasgow scar grinning eagerly. "You just pissed me off, so I went off on you. But on a more serious note-"

"What? We weren't being serious enough?" Dino remarked dryly.

"She needs to learn how to control her flames." Dino's eyes flickered away from his sister, focusing on the assassin. "She completely disregards her own health. Although the gloves worked, they're still prototypes. Broken prototypes now. But, the point is that she still has a long way to go before she can do what she really wants to do with her ability. The problem is that she thinks she can do what she wants now…." Zhanna paused before continuing, as if debating whether or not to ask him this now, if this was the right moment. But, as always, Zhanna decided to charge straight ahead.

"I'm taking Cloud with me to train her to learn how to use her flames."

"… what?" Dino stared up at the assassin, whose arms were firmly crossed, determined to stand by her words. "You can't just take my sister. Now after what you did to he-"

"To save her life," Zhanna finished for him. "And we both know that this needs to happen. She has to learn how to use her flames properly. We both know that if this doesn't happen now, that," she pointed at Nikita, "will keep happening. She's stupid and stubborn enough to keep it up. I'll let you come to terms with it," she said as she began to walk out of the room, "and besides, it's not like you can actually stop me if I really wanted to take her."

And with that, Zhanna slammed the door short, leaving Dino alone with an unconscious, injured sister and a heavy mind.

"Oh, and just a warning if you talk to her later," Zhanna stuck her head back in the room, scaring the mafia boss, "she's going to be in a lot of pain from that, so there's a lot of pain meds in her system. Basically, until she's a bit better and when the last of the meds gets out of her system, she's going to be spouting all kinds of shit when she wakes up. You know, all fucked up 'cause the meds, not in her right mind… well, more than usual. Should be interesting to see, yeah?"

Dino's eye twitched as she slammed the door again. His head dropped and he let out a loud sigh.

"Forgot about blaming this on her," he complained, looking up at his little sister. "I'm just going to blame it all on you, Cloud. It's usually your fault anyway, right?"

"Listen up, people! No matter what happens, we have to win!"

"What are you talking about Gokudera? Haven't we already won?" Yamamoto pointed out. "And besides, it's Hibari who's fighting, so he'll win anyway."

"What's the point of getting so worked up?" Ryohei agreed.

"You idiots! Don't you get that something's not right here?! We have to be prepared for anything, for the Tenth! He's counting on us! So we have to be careful! Make sure you don't miss one thing!" Gokudera announced, shifting his eyes around, already on the lookout for suspicious activity.

"That's right," Zhanna said, roughly swinging an arm around Gokudera's neck. "Can't let anything sneak up on you, right?" He made choking sound, and pushed away from Zhanna, who easily let him out of her grip, laughing.

"You! What the hell are you doing here?!" Gokudera pointed an accusing finger at her while both Yamamoto and Ryohei tensed, immediately sensing how dangerous this person was.

"Same as last time, Smoking Brat," Zhanna replied casually, resting her hands behind her head, "to watch. But, you guys are wise to wary. That type will do anything to get what he wants. Fun guy, right?" Zhanna then looked behind them and pointed. They turned to see Hibari walking towards the group, already bringing out his tonfas when he caught sight of the Russian.

"Well," Yamamoto smiled, the first to believe Zhanna's words, and turned to Hibari, "here's the man of the hour." Zhanna grinned as Hibari stalked closer.

"As much as I'd love to spill some of your blood, brat," she sneered coming forward to meet him, "I'm afraid I'm not your opponent tonight."

"Oh?" Hibari smirked, glaring up at her with fire in his eyes. "Are you backing out?"

"Never," Zhanna snarled in reply. "Just prolonging your death by my hands, so you better not fucking die in this battle." The other three watched this encounter with tense expressions, expecting the two wild animals to attack each other at any second. Hibari scoffed in response.

"I'll bite you to death before that happens."

"You deaf, brat?" Zhanna growled, not liking to repeat herself. "I already fucking told you. I'm not fighting you tonight. He is." Zhanna pointed behind her just as Gola Mosca jumped down, revealing himself. Hibari sent Zhanna one last glare before stalking forward again to meet his opponent.

"First, I'll bite this one to death, then I'm hunting you down," he promised her without turning back. She let out a bark of harsh laughter.

"Then you better make this a good show for me, brat."

"Oh, you're awake."

I blinked rapidly, staring quizzically at the ceiling. Everything was… floaty. I felt nothing. Absolutely nothing. My eyes widened and my arms flew to where my legs should be, patting them wildly to make sure they were there.

Zhanna quickly reach over and grabbed my arms, stopping them from moving.

"Holy shit, calm down," she said, giving me a strange look. "What the fuck was that about?"

"I had to check," I told her in a serious tone, talking in extremely slow German since I was having trouble remembering the words.

"Check what?"

"To see if I still had legs," I said, my eyes leaving her face. Zhanna squinted at me. I squinted back. "Do you always look like that?"

"Like what?" she replied with a dangerous tone.

"Like you're smiling," I said, weakly lifting an arm to point at the Glasgow grin on her left cheek. I giggled, a thought entering my head. "It makes you look happy." She blinked, not knowing how to respond to me in the state.

"You are so high," she muttered quietly.

"Is that why I feel floaty?" I wiggled around, maybe to see if I could actually float off the bed.

"Stop. You might open up your wounds." I blinked at her confused. She raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"I… have wounds?" I repeated. She nodded and pointed to my chest. I looked down, extremely surprised to see thick bandages wrapped around my chest and torso under the hospital gown I was wearing. "But…" I trailed off, my eyebrows knitted in confusion. "If I'm hurt… then why don't I feel anything?"

"That's the meds doing their job," Zhanna explained slowly to me. "And that's why you're acting like this. Don't know what to think of it yet, though."

"Oh." I went back to staring at the ceiling, but it wasn't long before another thought enveloped my mind completely. "Wait. I got hurt," I repeated. "How… how did that happen?"

"Well," Zhanna trailed off sheepishly. "I kind of had to defibrillate you." I stared at her with squinted eyes, trying to make sense of the words. She sighed and rolled her eyes. "I zapped you with my lightning flames."

"Oh. I get it," I nodded happily, most likely not really getting it. "Then what happened?"

"That's… that's pretty much it with you," she admitted. "You've been asleep this whole time. Missed the Cloud Battle. A bunch of shit went down there."

"So, what happened at the..." I paused, searching for the word, "battle?"

"Well," Zhanna began, propping her feet up on the bed and leaning back in the chair like she always does, fully prepared for this question (it was like she was just waiting for the chance to explain it to someone),

"The prefect brat takes the robot down like it was nothing, which it probably was nothing with how quick that fight lasted. Everyone thinks it's over, even with the bullshit order those bitches said the ninth gave about going all the way to the end and choosing the correct guardians and all the bullshit, but then Xanxus and the brat start fighting, but the brat is shot in the leg by the robot, which is still functioning. You getting this?"

I blinked, then nodded, giving her a goofy grin. She rolled her eyes and continued, but not before muttering something about maybe not telling me when I was in this state or something along those lines.

"The shitty robot goes berserk. Missiles and bullets flying everywhere, mines going off like crazy. Xanxus sputters some bullshit about the restraining system breaking, but it's clear that he planned this. Of course, it become obvious that this was the reason he had to pull the fights out longer, because he needed the robot to go berserk. So, the pissy brat's injured, shit has hit the fan, and here I was ready to step in myself. Then the Vongola brat flies in like some god damn hero and ends up destroying the robot."

Her voice grew serious at this point.

"The robot had the ninth Vongola boss in it. Xanxus had kidnapped the boss, placed an imposter that he controlled completely in his seat, and put the real one in Gola Mosca. So, Tsuna ends up destroying the robot, and hurts, almost kills, the ninth in the process. Xanxus goes on this big rant about Tsuna being the one to cut the ninth done. Which, he did, but that's not the point. Anyway, the old man, who looks like he's about to croak, starts talking about the cradle affair. You know about that?"

"Yep," I replied, then continued making small popping noises.

"….Right. Thought you would. Technically, I'm not supposed to know about it, but fuck that, you know? Then, after talking about that for a bit, the old man starts spouting off about all this warm, feelings stuff, which was boring, so I'll skip a little. Then it looks like the old man kicked the bucket, right then and there, so Xanxus starts off again how the brat killed the boss and all that shit. Says the ring contest is meaningless, vows to kill the brat for vengeance. Reborn finally connects things together for everyone else, and explains this was what he really wanted; to make someone else the villain so he could be boss, no fucking problem. So, the whole ring battle thing was just a rouse anyway, and really none of the fights mattered in the end, despite who won or lost. You spent all that time training the bomb brat for nothing, really."

"Don't," I snapped at her somewhat groggily, "remind me. But that doesn't matter, because I taught him a good lesson anyway, so in the end, it was worth my time….. yeah." She raised an eyebrow at me.

"… right. So, the Cervello tell Reborn to shut up-"

"They didn't really say that."

"Fuck off. This isn't verbatim. So, they tell him to stop with the 'theories bullshit', basically revealing that they were on Xanxus's side the whole time. Reborn gets pissed, and Tsuna stands up and challenges Xanxus with his guardians backing him up and they're fixing to have an all-out battle then and there, which I would have gladly participated in. Then the Cervello bitches interfere and set up another battle for the next night. Then your brother shows up with all his goons-

"His men. When you…. Call them goons it makes….makes Dino sound like a villain or something. Which he is defiantly not… he'd make a really bad supervillain. Although, he does have the chair for i-

"Shut it. All the meds really are going to your head aren't they?"

I nodded happily. She laughed.

"You're annoying all drugged up, you know that, brat? Anyway, your brother tells us about the fake in Italy. Well, I said us, but he told Reborn and I happened to overhear. And that's basically all the shit you missed. The sky battle's tonight, and before you even think about, you're way too drugged up to even try sneaking out. And, you're chained to the bed."

I blinked and looked down, seeing my ankles attached to the end of the bed by chains, stopping me from getting up.

"Oh. Yeah," I giggled. "I am chained to the bed. You do that? That's some nice… chain work."

She stared at me, as if trying to understand how stupid I was.

"I wonder if you act the same way when you're drunk," she muttered curiously. I giggled again.

"Let's find out!" I said happily, weakly throwing my arms up.

"You are not going to get my sister drunk," Dino announced, walking in with Romario behind him. Dino gave me a strange look that I didn't understand, then sent Zhanna a strange look, something else I didn't understand. So, not understanding much at the moment, I opted for waving my hand weekly.

"Hey," I slurred out the word, suppressing giggles. "Just in time, big bro! We," I pointed at Zhanna, then at myself, "were just about to get drunk."

"No, you aren't going to, Cloud," Dino said seriously. "You don't need anything else clouding your judgment right now." I pouted, completely missing the look Dino sent Zhanna's way.

"You really think I'm low enough to get her to agree to come when she's like this?" Zhanna snarled, causing me to flinch back thanks to her tone. Taking in her words, I noticed something that interested me.

"Dino," I weakly pulled his sleeve, "Am I going anywhere?"

He answered no as Zhanna said yes. They glared at each other. I let out a loud yawn and looked over at Romario.

"What's their problem?" I whispered loudly to him in Italian. He simply laughed in response and patter my head.

"Cloud," Dino said as my eyes were beginning to droop. "You don't have to go anywhere if you don't want to."

"Don't worry, Dino," I said quietly. "I don't want to leave here. A lot the people I love are here… you, Bel, Romario, Tsuna, Ivan, Gokudera…" I yawned loudly, and closed my eyes. My head sank deeper into the pillow as I continued talking until my voice was barely a tired whisper. "…Bono, Squalo… Lussaria, Takeshi, Zhanna… Dino... I don't want to leave you guys…"

And I was asleep.

"Cloud?" I looked down from where I was blankly staring at the ceiling (I was thinking about something…. what was I doing?), to see Tsuna sticking his head through the door. "Ah! You're awake. I saw Zhanna on the way here. She said they put you on a lot of pain killers so you might be asleep. You feeling okay?" I blinked up at him lazily as he came to stand beside the bed.

"I'm supposed to be feeling something?" He sighed and then laughed nervously.

"She was right when she said you're on a lot of medication. You really don't feel a thing?"

"I guess not," I replied with a yawn. "Even though these marks on my chest look pretty bad," I muttered, lifting the fabric above the bandages over my chest and fingering them. "I saw them earlier when Zhanna was changing the bandages and they lo-"

Tsuna, red faced and ears burning, grabbed my hand quickly.

"Don't do that, Cloud! I don't want to see anything!" He said with his eyes shut tight. I stared at his hand holding mine, trying to understand why he was so embarrassed. Then it clicked.

"It's not like I was going to show you m-

"Nope!" He released my hand and covered his ears. "Not listening! We are not talking about this when you're drugged like this!"

"… then we're going to talk about it later when I'm not drugged up?"

"No! We're never going to talk about this!" I scoffed.

"Then why did you bring it up?" He stared at me with his mouth gaping.

"I-I d-didn't! You were the one who… Augh! I came here to talk to you, but this isn't helping at all! I don't know what to do!? All of this stuff is happening and I'm scared to fail everyone. Usually talking to you makes me feel a little better, but with you like this, it isn't helping at all!"

"Don't worry," I swatted my hand lazily in the air to calm him. "Everything will turn out fine in the end, Tuna…"

"You always say that! How do you know that?"

"Oh, Tsuna, Tuna…. I know a bunch of things. For example, I know your birthday is October 14th. I know that you couldn't ride a bike without training wheels until 5th grade. I also know that you're afraid of cockroaches."

He stared at me in shock, maybe even in fear.

"Cloud," he said slowly. "How do you know all of that? I haven't told you any of it!"

"I read it," I replied simply.

"Where the heck did you read things like that?"

"The internet." He opened his mouth, then promptly shut it again in order to think of a proper response for my words.

"…that's," He paused, still taking this in, "those facts about me… are on the internet!?"

"Everything's online now a days, Tuna-fish! Get with the times!" I managed to push myself up and messily pat him on the cheek before falling back down. I frowned when I landed, noticing something.

"Ow. That actually kind of hurt." I turned to Tsuna. "I need more drugs."

"NO, YOU DON'T!"

"Ssssshhhhh!" I waved my hand in the air again, grimacing. "Shut up. I'm actually starting to feel things now and you yelling doesn't help."

"It's not like you're helping me either!"

"Look, Tuna-"

"Don't call me that!"

"Tuna, what you got to do…" I trailed off, forgetting what I was going to say. Tsuna continued to stare at me, until I found my words again. "What you have to do, is remember these three things."

"Three things?" He parroted.

"Three things," I groggily confirmed. "One, believe in yourself. Two, believe in your family. Isn't that easy and simply, Tsuna? That's all you have to do." I moved my head, staring at the ceiling again with a curious look.

"Cloud?"

"Hm?" I hummed, forgetting that he was still in the room.

"What's the third thing?"

"The what?" I moved my head to face him again. His expression dead panned.

"You…. forgot the third thing you were going to tell me?" I shook my head slowly.

"No," I replied. "…. Okay, yeah. I'll think of something, just give me a second." He was either nice enough, or felt sorry enough to give me enough time to think.

"The third thing to remember," I announced, "Is to not seek advice from me when I'm drugged up on pain meds. It's just a bad idea, right Cloud?"

"You're Cloud," he corrected me.

"Right, Tsuna." He sighed in defeat, deciding it to wise to take my third piece of advice.

"Alik, you bastard! You'd do that for me?" Zhanna leaned against the wall of the hospital hallway, grinning broadly and talking loudly in Russian.

"Of course, I will! After all, if I didn't I'm sure you'd make me regret it."

"You know me well, Uncle," Zhanna teased, switching hands to hold the cellphone. "You're the best at flame control. And the best at teaching it."

"And you're the strongest in the family. To refuse you is to wish for death."

"Enough with the bullshit compliments, already," Zhanna barked, getting back to business. "When should we head up?"

"If you want your little friend to get the full training experience with the whole family, then you two should come as soon as possible."

"Of course, I wouldn't want her to miss out on your hellish training," Zhanna laughed. "This should be a good show. Thanks, Alik."

"You sure you want to put her through this, Zhanna?" her uncle asked just before she hung up.

"Dead sure," Zhanna replied without hesitation. "She needs to learn there are consequences sometime."

"Is this necessary? The prince doesn't enjoy being treated like this."

"Absolutely. We can't have you getting away and trying to help your boss," Dino said, watching as his men finished strapping Bel into a wheel chair, even though the self-proclaimed prince was already in a straitjacket. Dino glanced over at Squalo, but sighed when the swordsman pointedly looked away.

"Still not going to talk, huh?" Dino whispered quietly and with a frown.

"By the way," Bel drawled, completely bored of out his mind, "where's the princess? She hasn't visited me for a while. The prince has been rather bored without her to entertain me." Bel's eyes narrowed as he saw Dino's fist tighten.

"She got injured," Dino explained, reminding himself that this boy was close to Nikita (and he would want to know, wouldn't he? As much as she talked about him, he should care about her too, right?). "She's resting now."

"Hm?" Bel scoffed. "What the hell did she do this time?"

"She went overboard healing my student," Dino explained quietly, "and ended up hurting herself instead." Bel clicked his tongue and looked away, almost expecting this outcome.

"Again?" The prince muttered darkly, lowering his head. "What an idiot."

"This is so weird."

"This," Hannah waved her arms wildly as she floated in midair, "Is all your fault… are you even listening to me?"

"….no." I held onto the grass, staring at all at the many shades of green swirling throughout it. Shapes were blurry, yet at the same time, I knew exactly what they were. I let go of the grass, not afraid to float off, just as Hannah was doing, only nothing was there to anchor me down. I would be free. Just as I was about to completely float off, someone grabbed my arm.

"I leave to gather an ally, directing them so they could help a group I once was against, and this," he gestured around us, at the blurry-shapes, swirling, almost abstract landscape surround us, "is what I come back to? Care to explain, little Cavallone?" I blinked at him, trying to pick apart the many words he used, and figure out what exactly he was asking me.

"Oh. You want to know what happened." I abbreviated. He nodded irritably. "Zhanna zapped me," I explained simply. He stared at me blankly, then let me go, free to float off wherever I wanted to. He then promptly turned to Hannah for an explanation with a raised eyebrow.

"She's on really strong pain medications," Hannah explained to the illusionist.

"Ah," he muttered. "That explains it. When was she given it? I would like to know when it will wear off so I can know when I sho-" He stopped midsentence, as if sensing something. Mukuro tilted his head, his eyes glazing over something for a second, then returned to our small reality we were in.

"It seems like Lancia has found his way into the fight, just in time. I let Chrome know as well, so she can tell the others that help is on the way."

"Well," I drawled as I floated onwards, now hugging my knees and spinning. "Aren't you talented?" Mukuro stared at me as I floated away, eventually grabbing onto a blurry line that swirled with different colors and shades of the garden. He then looked at Hannah, floating freely in the space, the only thing holding her in place being the chain that wrapped around a now-wriggling wall. He raised an eyebrow and tilted his head in my directions.

"Did she just…?"

"She did," Hannah confirmed. "And strangely enough I think she meant it." Mukuro's eyes narrowed, as if not knowing what to make of my current state. Noticing his gaze, I turned to him, puffing out my cheeks, then making a popping sound, causing a wobbly bubble to form from in front of my mouth.

"I'm not sure if I like her better this way or not," Mukuro admitted as we all watched the bubble float up into nothingness.

"He did what?"

"After he got his ring and cured himself, he went after Xanxus." I closed my eyes resting my head completely on the pillow.

"You sure I'm completely clean now? This isn't some tripped out hallucination."

"Nope, Hibari actually went after Xanxus in the middle of fight." I connected the pieces together by myself after that (yet more proof I was clean of the pain medication I was given earlier. Other proof was that I could now, very clearly feel the pain on my chest where Zhanna defibrillated me).

"Fall asleep for two days and look what you miss," I muttered dryly. "But you guys needed up winning, right?"

"Yep!" Takeshi laughed, pulling at the chain around his neck to show me the rain ring. "You missed the party we had earlier, too! It was really fun!"

"Uh huh. Don't remind me. Anything else important happen that I need to know about?" I asked the now-official rain guardian.

"Well, we had a little trouble with that hooded kid taking Chrome hostage. He confused us with some illusions and managed to get our rings, but not before we saved Chrome. Then…" he trailed off, deep in thought, then laughed. "Well, a bunch of other stuff happened like Dino showing up with Squalo and that knife guy-"

"Bel. His name is Belphegor," I reminded him, my eyes wandering over to my phone lying on the table beside the baseball player.

"Right, that guy! Anyway, they showed up and Squalo… well, he talked about something, and some other stuff happened but then we won!"

"Did Kyoya and Tsuna… fight together or something?" I asked, the mental image I had not fitting reality. Takeshi hummed and scratched the back of his head.

"I don't really know, actually. When we got there, Hibari was standing back. He was hurt pretty badly, but I think he realized at some point that this needed to be Tsuna's fight. Xanxus was pretty beat up too, but we didn't see the fight because Gokudera and I were busy with the hooded kid until he escaped from us. You're lucky, Cloud!" He laughed goodheartedly, "I mean, you don't have to worry about illusions at all since you can't see them."

"Yeah, about that, Takeshi," I said seriously, "Can you kind of keep that a secret? I don't want that getting out and around, if you know what I mean." He nodded and made a zipping motion over his lips with his hand.

"My lips are sealed," he said with a wink.

"Okay, next question," I said, confident that I could place my trust in him. "Answer me this; exactly how bad was I when I was all drugged up, because I barely remember any of it."

"Really? Nothing?"

"Just vague images and memories," I elaborated. "But nothing whole that I can go off of."

"Well, I only really know what Tsuna told us," Takeshi admitted. "He was really embarrassed about it too!" I paled.

"What," I asked, trying to keep calm, "Did I do?"

"Um," Takeshi said nervously and with a slight blush creeping on his face. "He said that you tried to take your shirt off..."

"…what?" Takeshi waved his hands in front of him quickly.

"But you didn't get far, don't worry." I sighed, but stayed still, reminding myself that if I moved around too much, I would feel pain. After days of feeling nothing, slowly beginning to feel more and more pain was not very fun.

"We are never going to speak of this again," I declared. "Moving on," My voice grew more serious. I glanced at the door before I spoke, as if expecting it to burst open at any second to interrupt our conversation. "Have you noticed anything weird about Dino lately? Like, has he been acting weird around you guys?"

"Hm?" He tilted his head slightly. "No, I don't think so." I sighed, slipping into a frown.

"So, it's just me after all." Takeshi frowned and leaned close to me, clasping his hands together.

"Why? What's wrong?"

"He's been acting weird around me ever since... well, I guess ever since I woke up."

"Acting weird? Like what?"

"He keeps giving me these sad, worried glances. I don't know what I did wrong!" I winced as I sat up, but dealt with it. Takeshi gave me a worried glance, but let me move freely.

"Well, I don't blame him for being worried. I mean," he scratched the back of his head, "You did almost die twice in the span of one week, right? If I was a big brother, and that happened to my little sister, then I probably would worry even more about you. Plus," he added, growing somber, "I mean, we were all worried you know? I care about you, right? So I can't imagine how Dino felt."

"…. I never thought of it that way," I muttered, looking down at my lap. Suddenly, everything, all those times I just ran off on my own, head first into dangerous situations, not thinking my own health, and because I wasn't thinking about myself, I wasn't thinking about others. I wasn't thinking about how much I meant to others, about how much I meant to Dino. With our parents gone… we only have each other. Sure, we have the guys, but that's different. Dino and I are blood.

I scoffed roughly, gripping the sheets of the bed with anger.

"I'm so fucking stupid!" I lifted my fist up and threw them down again. Lifting my body up, I faced Takeshi, ignoring the pain when I moved my shoulders and torso, stretching the still healing marks underneath the bandages around my chest.

"All this time when I was trying to help others, I've just been hurting Dino with all the stupid, idiotic, immature… Selfish! I'm just selfish, aren't I?!" I snarled angrily, not even looking as Takeshi was trying to grab my arms, trying to calm me down.

"Cloud, stop! You're going to hurt yourself!"

I froze, his words reaching me. I slumped, eventually falling back onto the bed. A calm, serene silence passed between us, the short storm before completely gone from my system thanks to Takeshi's simple words.

"Tell me I'm an idiot, Takeshi," I said, lifting an arm to cover my face, blocking out the artificial lights of the room. Yamamoto sighed, a sad, tired sound.

"You're an idiot, Cloud."

"…thank you."

"For what?" It was a sad, heavy question. And with that question I realized that Takeshi, the rain whose job was to wash away others sorrows and put on a happy face for the family, might just need another rain to help him.

"For doing your job," I replied, moving my head and peeking out at him from under my arm. A gave me a sad smile, which, like water, I reflected.

"…thanks."

"For what?"

"For making my job easier." His smile faded and he slumped back into his chair, the weight of the battle they have just won being completely lifted. I realized that he must have been keeping this, this frustration, stress, sadness, all to himself. And he just needed someone to share it with, to understand. And I did.

"So," I asked, eager to change the subject, "How's it going with Marco?"

AN:

Brrrruuuuuuhhh this is such a long chapter, but I wanted to get the rest of the Varia arc done with in this chapter. Now onto the future arc! My least favorite, whoo! At least since I'm reposting/not writing that much and just really proof reading at this point, so it won't be too bad. After all, I've been flying through these chapters so far, so I'm not too concerned.

Thanks for all the reviews, favorites, and follows!