Should Leilani have expected that Colonnellos yelling alarmed the other arcobalenos? Probably.

Did she not consider this? True as well.

Should she have assumed that she wouldn't get away? Definitely.

Did she expect their reactions though? No, not at all.

Seriously, she could have imagined a lot of possibilities how their next meeting would play out but she for sure hadn't considered this urge of action.

Did she at first think Lal straight up body tackled her? Yeah. Same as Colonnello actually and she was already trying to get out of the grip when she realised what Lal was doing and this little detail completely let the cloud freeze.

Why was Lal hugging her? Honestly? Lal?

Her brain was stagnating, a shrill beeping sound and Skull was just lying there as the former rain still kept her in a tight hug.

What kind of sorcery or even sick joke was that?

"Goddamn Skull. You're alive!"

Leilani truly had to get her brain to go back to working again. This was… She didn't know. She didn't even understand it.

In all honesty the three years of being a hermit in the woods probably didn't help her react to the sudden skinship she had never really been used to.

The more her thoughts circled around it, about when she actually last had a real hug she just blanked out. There hadn't been much skinship in the circus, maybe a pat on the back or sometimes a kiss on the cheek from one of the women but a hug? Or anything resembling it? She couldn't remember.

The last time she actually had been hugged had been over 4 years ago… it had been when she still was at Hogwarts, when Hermione hugged her to wish her luck for the last task.

The realisation left her even more flabbergasted.

While she got pulled inside the house she could only blink. She felt steamrolled and quite lost and the memories of home that kept circling in her head didn't help her much to keep her composure.

Not that it helped Leilani in any way as she stared straight at the group of the cursed toddlers, minus Luce obviously.

Her eyes darted around, taking in the faces of everyone, the relief she could see on everyone and she didn't understand. Why?

Why was everyone relieved? Why had they been searching for her? Why had Lal hugged her?

They had betrayed her. They had omitted Luce's lie from her. None of them had done anything when Luce made her false promises. The sky had even said that the curse hadn't been possible without her. They were the cause. They had pulled her back, over and over again. They hadn't let her go. So what was all of this? What did any of it mean? Why had Lal hugged her?

It didn't make sense. Those were the people that were the reason why she had to leave the circus. Why her hope got shattered and now she was supposed to sit at the same table?

The influx of memories from her home didn't help either.

Fon smiled at her "I'm glad we finally found you Skull. It was unusually hard to find you without your name but I'm glad Colonnello stumbled across you."

Fon was fake, he had to be. He always had this smile on. He didn't mean it.

Reborn leaned forward "Lackey? How about you give us your name now? We were seriously worried."

Her name? They wanted her name now? Them?

"Lackey?"

She could only stare. Why were they pretending to be nice? Why was Reborn trying to be nice? He was the one who screamed at her last time. He was the one who kept on pulling her back. Who made it possible for Luce to lie to her.

She wasn't over it, far from it. She didn't want nice words. She wanted anger, rage. She wanted to have reasons to hate them. They were at fault.

She didn't want hugs, she didn't want comfort or friendship. Why should she?

The last time she had opened up to them… the last time she had been Leilani in front of them she paid for it. This was cruel. She hated it.

Leilani had never been violent. She hadn't even hated many people in her life. She had hated Voldemort and Luce but she hadn't even hated the Dursleys. She hadn't liked them but the Dursleys at least hadn't pretended to be nice to her. They had been honest with her.

Honestly she didn't even want to entertain the thought that they were serious. Their behaviour last time had to have been a lie. They had been her kidnappers. They must have been relieved for her to finally calm down.

She had to change it. She didn't want this. She wanted to have them pay for what they did. She wasn't a toy and no one you could play pretend with. They were at fault.

Leilani slowly lifted her chin up, her eyes sparking up "My name? You want the name of the great Skull-sama?"

"Lackey? You don't have to pretend."

"I'm not though?" she stared at him, provoking him with a mockingly raised eyebrow "You don't have the right to the name of the great Skull-sama. You're unworthy."

It was Verde who interrupted the staring contest, pushing a phone towards her "I made you one. I kept it on me for the chance that I would find you. We can stay in touch through this."

"Why would I need that?"

"To exchange information on the curse for example. To keep us updated on how you're doing and telling us your location would be another use for it."

She tapped her chin slowly, her eyes still darting across the room "So did you find a way to break the curse?"

"Not yet."

"So you found nothing?"

Lal turned slightly from her seat next to the cloud "Skull… it isn't that easy. there is nothing about it even in the vongola archives. It's like someone deleted anything that could have even hinted at Checkerface."

Leilani leaned back in her chair, her eyes finding Reborn's untelling once again "So you're telling me you spend three years compeltly uselessly dilly dallying around?"

The words left a bad taste in her mouth. She wasn't one to needlessly spit rude words. "And that this meeting is completely useless? What? You're all so lonely you have to bundle up together and cry over ice cream? What comes next? Do you meet every Sunday to watch chick flicks and bawl your eyes out? Ooh I got it! You are meeting because senpais ugly ass shoes got smeared with dirt and he needed an impromptu therapy session to get over the huge ass disappointment he is?"

Reborns eyebrows twitched slightly "Lackey. Watch your words. We are trying our hardest."

"Or what? It's not my fault the supposedly 'strongest' humans are just useless losers that can't get shit done." the air quotes she made were supported by the mocking sneer in her face.

The hitman jumped up "Take that back. Right now."

"or what? You gonna weep? Don't worry Luce will probably bake you a cake and hold your hands while you complain how the meanie civilian was telling you the truth."

In the next second she was pressed against the wall, Reborns fist clenched in her suit and she could feel the enraged tremble going through them. "Don't even dare to imply I am close to that vile woman!"

Leilani just laughed, this was more like it "Ah but you seemed so schumy to me when you were keeping her lie. You told me yourself. Don't you remember? What did you say exactly? That I was too stupid to even realize it? That I was bawling over not getting home? That we have bigger problems?"

She felt him recoil, but she didn't stop, her chin still pridefully raised " I don't see you fixing them."

"Lackey… I-"

"Save your breath Senpai. Anything you say I consider lies. You betrayed me first. You were the one who brought me back constantly no matter what I said or did. You made it possible for her to lie to me and you knew. You knew that she lied and you kept it a secret. She herself said that it was only possible to curse us because I was there. You are at fault."

The sun stood in front of her, his hands dropped and his face shadowed by his fedora.

Skull left him standing, going around him "Are we done here now? I've got better places to be."

The whole room was silent, no one actually sure what to say to her.

Leilani just chuckled at the situation. It wasn't funny but she couldn't stop herself. She turned around, already heading towards the door.

Fons voice rang out, an undertone in his voice she couldn't quite place "Your phone.. you… we need to keep you updated."

She snorted "Sure, I'll take it. Wouldn't want to miss all the incredible discoveries you make."

She turned back to the table, snatching up the phone before heading out the door.

Her conscience was burning in her, weighing her down, telling her what she did was cruel, uncalled for and just plainly wrong but she wouldn't be sorry for what she said. She couldn't.