A/N: This chapter was giving me some problems so I had to completely re-write it. It was an end drabble that morphed into it's own chapter. It sets up some things for the Varia Arc, so I figured it deserved to be longer. And did Mukuro know Shizuka was a ghost? Hopefully the drabble explains it. *sweat drops* As always, hope you guys enjoy and feel free to review!
Sweet Treat
"Alright Kuro, you're going to be a therapy cat. Just make sure he doesn't get up and actually rests." Shizuka whispered, remembering what happened the last time someone disrupted his sleep. The black cat looked annoyed but a brush of Mist flames made it more compliant. She wished she had known their affect on felines earlier, Meifeng had gotten a lot of strange looks when she bought five pounds of catnip. At this rate the pet store probably thought she was a crazy cat lady.
Kyoya glared in annoyance as something brushed against his arm, only to relax when Kuro began to purr. "That idiot sent you here, didn't she?" The cat purred even louder. "I'm being way too nice, but who else am I supposed to mess with while he's hospitalized? Maybe I should guilt Shamal into speeding up the healing process." Shizuka mutters under her breath, not realizing that Kyoya could hear her voice. It was barely audible, sounding like it was from a far off distance. Then again, a flower petal touching the floor was enough to wake up the teen. To say he had good hearing would be an understatement.
He looked around the room and, to his annoyance, saw no one there. Shizuka was near the window, looking at the prefect with exasperation. Apparently he inherited his mother's super hearing, meaning she would have to be more careful around him. She patted Kuro on the head and floated out of the hospital, planning to rest at her gravestone. At the moment she was running low on flames.
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She made her way through town easily, knowing the streets like the back of her hand. "There you are!" She heard someone exclaim and wondered why the hell the doctor could see her. She could understand Masahiro and Daichi, they were both like brothers and Fuuta was an actual psychic. Shizuka hadn't known the man long enough to have any sort of connection to him. "Could we get this over with? I really need to recharge." She says irritably. Shamal cleared his throat. "It shouldn't take that long, just testing a theory that Reborn and I had."
Before Shizuka could ask what he was talking about, she could feel the man's flames. They weren't as pure as her own Mist flames but there was still a comforting warmth, she was also surprised to find herself solid. "What did you just do?!" Shamal gave her a lazy grin. "Well, it seems you draw on the flames of potential guardians to fuel your own flames. Turning you solid was a precaution in case someone spots us." Shizuka bristled, not liking the fact a stranger could manipulate what form she was in.
Shamal hurriedly explained himself. "I'm not going to use this against you or anything, it was just too tempting not to investigate." She looked over the man briefly, searching for any signs of deceit. Other than his constant hitting on women and strange refusal to treat male patients, he hadn't sent up any red flags with his behavior. "So that means when I'm at the temple, that it's Daichi's presence there that recharges my flames." Shizuka looked thoughtful. It would explain why only certain people could see her.
"I suppose we should have a proper introduction this time around. I'm Shizuka LaGuardia, Tsuna's sister." Shamal raised an eyebrow, noting the refusal to use the Sawada name. With how little the CEDEF leader visited he would have been surprised if one of the children didn't hold the man in disdain. "Trident Shamal. That's an interesting last name." Shizuka face flushed with embarrassment. Of course someone from the Italian mafia knew what it meant.
"I thought it was more fitting than using Sawada. I've been protecting my brother since we were kids after all." It was the truth, before Reborn had shown up the only thing she'd done for herself was prank Kyoya for her own amusement. "You're no longer the only one with that job kid." Shamal comments, watching as her expression soured. Maybe that wasn't the right thing to say. "Wait, that came out wrong. What I meant is that you don't have to constantly follow him around. Isn't there something you want to do?"
Shizuka nodded slowly. "I like being around the Hibari family. And eating desserts is nice." She says thoughtfully, nearly tripping when Shamal suddenly stopped. "That's it, you're getting spoiled like any girl your age should be." He states, dragging the confused girl behind him.
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Shizuka stared at the large variety of cakes through the window with wide eyes. It would be the first time she could actually eat a cake without having to possess someone first. "I don't know what to choose." She mutters. In the background Shamal was flirting with one of the women behind the counter, not picking up on how they were slowly backing away. "Do you need any help?" The worker asks, Shizuka looked up with a sheepish grin. "Do you have any suggestions? They all look pretty good."
There was a chuckle behind them and Shizuka froze, seeing Nana and the other children in the house. "You're taking too long, Lambo wants a cake now!" Lambo whines, pulling at the helm of Nana's shirt. I-Pin shook her head. "No be mean Lambo, no cake for you!" Fuuta ignored the bickering and smiled at Shizuka. "Hi big sister Shizuka." Nana looked between the two. "Oh, you're a friend of Fuuta's? It's very nice to meet you Shizuka!"
"N-Nice to meet you as well." Shizuka says shakily, trying not to meet Nana's eyes. "If you want a second opinion, the fudge cake is divine." Nana says with a bright smile.
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"Shizuka, what are you and Doctor Shamal doing here?!" Tsuna whispers harshly, Shizuka hit her head on the table with a groan. "It was a moment of weakness. You try denying Mom anything when she's giving you those doe eyes of doom." She hissed, not expecting to be on the receiving end of the look. Since she was a friend of Fuuta, Nana had insisted that they join the family for cake. The moment Reborn spotted Shamal in the Sawada residence, he threatened to shoot the doctor if he made Nana uncomfortable with his flirting.
"Your mother would have learned of your existence eventually. Unless you wanted to leave your sweet mother as the only person in your family unaware of her daughter haunting her home?" Shizuka shot Reborn a glare. "Do you know how much practice and energy it took for me to keep this form? Before you arrived I could only stay like this for a couple minutes." She snapped. When Nana entered the room, everyone had fake smiles plastered on their faces.
"So how did you become friends with Fuuta?" Nana asks curiously, Shizuka rubbed the back of her neck and smiled sheepishly. "Actually I met him through Tsuna." Nana's eyes seemed to brighten. "Oh, you must be the friend that he was telling me about!" "Yeah, a friend." Shizuka agrees, looking up at Shamal with pleading eyes for some kind of assistance. The man just shrugged, Shizuka doubted there was much he could do anyways.
"Do you go to Namimori Middle as well?" Nana asks, Shizuka shook her head. "I go to a private school in another town." She says vaguely, making things up about her background as their conversation continued. Just enough to technically be an answer, but not detailed so she'd have time to create a better story to stick to. Mists were the masters of using deception to breeze through life. It didn't mean that Shizuka felt no guilt or remorse while lying to the woman.
XoXoXoXoXo
"Feel free to visit again!" Nana says cheerfully, seeing Shizuka and Shamal off. "I will, it was nice meeting you Miss Sawada." Shizuka says with a grin. Once they were out of sight Shizuka sighed. "If I wasn't dead already, I would've had a heart attack." She says, Shamal gave her a look. "She's a nice woman, that idiot doesn't deserve her." Shizuka nodded in agreement.
"The only bright side is that he went to be with the stars about two years. At least that's what Tsuna was told." Shizuka says, Shamal's eyes narrowed. "You do know your father is still alive, right?" She froze, her hair shadowing her eyes. "What?! That asshole is going to be dead if his dead beat self ever steps foot in Japan!" She exclaims.
Meanwhile, in Italy, Iemitsu felt a shiver run down his spine. He was already making arrangements to send Basil to Japan, only to be told that Coyote's granddaughter already volunteered to bring the decoy rings. As a relative of one of Timoteo's guardians, hopefully the Varia would be more hesitant in trying to kill the red head. And now he was getting an opportunity to see his wonderful wife and adorable son!
He took out a photo with himself, Nana and a seven year old Tsuna, gushing over his family. His subordinates ignored the hearts surrounding the man, already used to his off the wall behavior. He was a competent leader but as soon as his family was mentioned he turned into a moron. Thank god he wasn't the one to take over Vongola.
Thinking Things Over
When your body is trapped in a Vendicare containment unit, you tend to have time to think over your actions. While it hadn't quite registered when Mukuro was fending off what he considered the Decimo's female clone and the violent prefect he noted that something had felt... off. It was small details but they all began to stack up. Shizuka and her illusions didn't have any shadows, and there were also no records of Vongola having another heir. The second clue was that she looked exactly like the Decimo with a few tweaks to her appearance so they weren't identical.
Finally, there was the fact that during their fight that she would disappear for a split second. Not long enough to be noticed at first but it was like she would suddenly blink out of existence. If his body could move on it's own Mukuro would've face palmed. Of course! She was either an elaborate illusion or some sort of apparition! And if it was possible for an illusion to become solid, then who was to say he couldn't project himself outside of his body?