I am so sorry minna! I was snowed in and it was too dangerous to visit the library until the snow melted (it's at the bottom of a steep hill). So to make up for being gone so long I'll post a double update!

It was a rather strange way to meet someone, he would admit later. Though apparently such things were par for the course in her life.

He hadn't thought that going to the bank that day would lead to being held up in a robbery...or that he would meet such an interesting little kitten.

There were worse ways to meet people.

Renato Sinclair, World's Greatest Hit Man, walked into the bank with the full intent of withdrawing more than the ATM's would ever allow. He preferred to take out large amounts because cash was much harder to trace than mere plastic. Especially with how quickly hackers were adapting to current technology.

A few feet away was a rather cute female making an inquiry as to a new account she considered opening at the bank.

She was about to start the paperwork when it happened. It was all very cliché in his opinion, and he had to hold back a curse when he saw one idiot female hit the silent alarm.

Didn't that fool know that the cops only made things more complicated?

"Everyone into the vault!" snapped the idiots. It hadn't taken much to peg these morons as either civilians trying to make a quick buck, or low ranking thugs who clearly didn't know that they should have picked another day to hit the bank. If he even got his hands on one of their cheap guns they were all dead men for pissing him off.

Almost instinctively, the other hostages migrated to a corner away from him. Considering the amount of pissed off aura and deadly intent he was letting off, it was pretty obvious why. All but one.

The rather cute girl who had been about to open up a new account was the only person who dared to come anywhere near him, though she kept a respectful distance unless he didn't want to talk to anyone.

He decided to observe the only person brave enough to come near him out of boredom.

She was small, barely five foot seven, maybe eight. She had caramel hair that was slightly spiky, but fell neatly down her shoulders. Her eyes were a rather fascinating amber color, almost the exact shade of the sky during twilight, and wide. She wore clothes that were worn, but clearly well loved and clean... her shirt was just a tad bit too small for her figure and her pants ended just above her knees. It was neither fashionable nor trendy in the least, and yet it suited her well enough. She wore a pair of slightly new shoes that were made more for running than anything else.

Her skin tone was slightly tan, but there was a hint of Asian in her features. From her appearance he would have to guess she was half-Japanese, or possibly Chinese. Considering his only real reference for such a thing was a Chinese colleague he couldn't be entirely sure which it was.

She was either a high C or low D cup in the bust line, and she had a petite figure that was built more for speed than power, and overall had the aura of a skittish kitten.

Not exactly the sort of person who would dare to come near him while he was in a foul mood, but he'd give her silent approval for being brave enough to be this close.

It took him several moments to realize there was something on her shoulder. It was small, barely the size of his hand.

He had to stare when a small lizard...a chameleon his mind supplied... dropped it's cloaking and stared at him. It was small, lime green and had big orange eyes with a slit pupil. The tail was curled up in the air, almost looking like a scaly version of his side burns. It blinked at him with both eyes, making him blink back in some surprise.

"Why a chameleon?" he asked. He would have pegged her for a cat person...and why bring it to the bank with her?

"His name is Leon," she said in slightly accented Italian. "My name is Mia, what's yours?"

He couldn't detect a lie, though he had the feeling "Mia" was more of a nickname.

"Chaos. Renato," he said, lightly kissing the top of her hand. The blush she gave off was spectacular and made her even cuter in his eyes.

He hid a dark grin. It was so obvious she was inexperienced...the sort of person that was fun to play with for a while before they got scared off by his job. Or they were worn down by his more darker side and finally gave up trying to change him.

However what the little kitten said next had him reassessing any thoughts of her being an innocent little kitty cat.

"So... do you think those idiots outside are low level thugs or civilians trying to pretend they're hardened criminals?" she asked.

He had to blink, before resisting the urge to gape at her.

"Civilians," he said without thinking.

"Considering the fact they can't aim worth a damn and seem to be borrowing entirely from movies and television, I'd have to agree." said Mia dismissively. "The type of fools who would make really, really stupid decisions when the stress gets to them."

Renato had to stare at her in disbelief for a moment, before a slow, dark grin formed on his face.

"I think I like you, little kitten."

"If you could get your hands on one of those knock offs they're using, do you think you could resolve this before the cops make a mess of everything?" she asked seriously.

"Any gun would work," he agreed. He'd rather not deal with the cops either, and from the increasingly panicked sound of the morons outside it was clear they were already starting to fall apart.

Mia reached to her shoulder and Leon walked onto the top of her hand. With the way she was holding the chameleon it was almost like she expected it to turn into...

He stared in shock. The chameleon had just turned into an odd green colored hand gun. What the hell?!

"Would this do?" she asked innocently.

"How..."

"He's special. I would do it myself except I'm more of a hand to hand person and my aim isn't as good as I would like for this sort of thing," she admitted.

Renato's grin was positively terrifying. He distinctly heard the sound of one of the other female hostages whimpering openly at the sight of it, and the men were discreetly trying to shield the girls from a far closer threat than the robbers who shoved them in the vault. Some looked like they were contemplating removing Mia from his presence or removing what they thought was a fake gun from her hands before she got herself killed trying to be a hero.

"If your little friend is able to shoot real bullets, I'll owe you a drink."

"If you let me join you in avoiding the cops, I'll take you up on it," deadpanned Mia.

Oh he definitely liked her.

The vault door opened and Mia hid the fact Renato now had a gun that felt sufficiently heavy to make him believe it might actually shoot proper bullets and wasn't simply for show. She smoothly moved behind Renato when the rather idiotic robber went to start threatening hostages in front of the cops.

BANG

There was a dark feeling of satisfaction on his face seeing the idiot go down, blood already pooling from the wound. He didn't even bother to care about the sound of one of the women (not Mia...she was staying firmly behind him) screaming in horror at the sight or the fact that one of the weaker men had already fainted at the sight of a new corpse in front of him.

Renato was already moving, absently noting that Mia had the sense to stay out of his line of sight, but still within easy distance that he could sufficiently protect her. He made very sure to shoot out the cameras the second they came within range so the cops never got a good look at his face. His fedora kept his face obscured when they were walked into the vault.

True to Mia's word, when one fool tried to sneak up behind him she used some rather simple, if highly effective hand to hand to take him down first. Renato still put a bullet to his head...he didn't like leaving a potential enemy behind him, though why he trusted Mia to have his back was a mystery he could solve later.

The fact she trusted him enough to give him an actual gun was baffling enough.

By this point the robbers who had actual common sense were fleeing the bank, hoping to throw themselves at the mercy of the cops.

Renato and Mia went through a side door, one that was partially locked from rust and more or less forgotten about due to the fact it lead into an alley that was a bit snug. They managed to slip out the door and away from the growing crowd in the front though.

He was still getting a new jacket. This one was ruined thanks to the muck on the walls that they had to squeeze through in order to reach the street on the other side.

A few blocks away, Renato almost had to laugh at the absurdity of the situation.

He had just been involved in a botched robbery/hostage situation, only to be saved not by some cops but by the only other person who could tell that the idiots were total amateurs and had a strange pet that could turn into a gun.

Speaking of the odd reptile, it had turned back into a chameleon again. The reptile apparently liked him enough that it crawled up his arm at some point during the escape via the narrow alley and was currently perched rather comfortably on top of his fedora.

He found the entire thing ridiculous enough that he pretended to ignore the fact he had a chameleon on his hat. It weighed so little that it was easy to forget it was there in the first place. He was so looking into finding one of his own later though... having a pet like that who could turn into a real weapon that couldn't be detected by normal means was far too useful not to try and find one of his own. The weight was perfect for his hand and made firing an almost instinctive thing.

After a moment he registered the fact that Mia was shivering. Likely the fact that the adrenaline was wearing off, or it could have been the mild chill in the air. He didn't even think twice...he removed his ruined jacket and wrapped it around her shoulders.

"Thanks," she said quietly.

"You're welcome little kitten," he said amused.

"I'm not a kitten," she pouted.

"Well you certainly look like a shivering little kitty cat to me," he said with a smirk.

Her pout was so adorable that it was hard to believe she had tied to the underworld.

"So why did you trust me? Why not stand with the other women in the bank?" he asked.

Because now that he thought about it, it was rather strange that the girl hadn't gone to stand with the other females in a show of solidarity and potential protection. Instead she had gone straight to him, despite the fact he was clearly the most dangerous one in the vault.

"You were the only one with active Flames. If anyone had the potential of dealing with those idiots and getting out alive, even if it meant removing them in a permanent manner it would be you," she said immediately.

He nearly stopped at that.

"Omerta?" he asked quietly.

"Vindice," she replied with absolutely no hesitation. Which only confirmed that she was either part of the underworld or aware of it to a greater extent than most.

Renato had to wonder why he felt so at ease with the little kitten following him. They were more than well enough away that the odds of the cops finding them were nonexistent. And yet he wanted to keep her close. It was strange.

Realizing they were close to one of his safe houses, he made a beeline to the nearest bar. He did owe her a drink, after all.

He had to grin as the kitten tried some of his drink and nearly sputtered. He had strong tastes, though she had the sense to shy away from any of the frilly mixed drinks that most women seemed to prefer. She chose a sedate straight bourbon before knocking it back with ease.

"You're experienced," he noted with amusement.

"When you've had to deal with as many headache inducing idiots who insist on creating far too much paperwork, you would learn how to drink real liquor too. Though I will credit a second cousin of mine for at least helping to introduce me to the good kind, not the cheap nonsense that tastes like ass," she admitted.

Renato had to chuckle at that.

"Sounds like you have an interesting family."

"I wouldn't trade them for the world," she admitted. "My father, on the other hand... I wouldn't mind sinking that narcissistic ass in the ocean with cement shoes and a ball gag, regardless of how cliché that death actually is for a mafioso. Or was it the mob who did that nonsense?"

Renato snorted in amusement.

"It was the Americans who came up with that ridiculous death, thank you very much."

It was strange how relaxed he was around the kitten. Here he was in a random bar after that absurd situation in the bank, actually enjoying himself and laughing. After a moment he realized with some surprise that Mia wasn't afraid of him. At all.

It was with some reluctance that the two parted ways, and Renato returned Mia's odd pet to her. He would swear the reptile was pouting if the look he was giving him was any indication.

As he walked into his apartment, he felt a pang of loneliness. It had felt rather comforting to be able to sit with someone who knew exactly what he was and showed absolutely no hesitation in trusting him during a dangerous situation. Who not only had his back, but was able to easily joke with him for drinks after.

It was one of the downsides of being a famous hit man... the number of friends he could actually trust could be counted on one hand with fingers left over.

He wouldn't mind seeing the little kitten again.

Mia's POV

Mia looked at the retreating Renato's back and had to hold back a sigh. She knew who he was, who he would become. Leon clearly recognized him as well, but giving Renato his partner back wasn't an option. Not at the moment anyway.

She didn't know how or why she ended up in the past before the curse was used...but she wasn't complaining. Following Renato's lead had come naturally, once she realized who the glowering hit man in the corner actually was.

It was the side burns and fedora, she would swear. That and she could feel his Sun Flames shining brightly in his corner, just waiting to be unleashed.

She wanted to go up to him, to let him know who she was. But he'd never believe her. After all, the Bovino had yet to successfully play around with time travel to the point it became almost commonplace. It was still the stuff of science fiction and fantasy at the moment.

She had come to terms with the fact that the odds of her getting home were dwindling with each passing day two months in. Considering Byakuran had been involved in their little project, odds were she wasn't just in the past but another world entirely.

The memory of the incident that lead to her being sent with the untested device when they only realized at the last second was set to the wrong time still hurt like hell. They were only supposed to send her to roughly around the time Mukuro originally made his escape from Vindicare and came after her, not to the time period before the Fated Day.

She had arrived with only her clothes, her purse, Natsu's ring and for some reason, Leon with her. Her Vongola ring was completely missing, but she was still able to use her Vongola Gear. However the familiar writing was now completely blank, leaving no way to positively ID her as the Vongola Decimo.

After some consideration she had decided that was a good thing. Bad enough she was a Sky...she didn't want to get dragged into the Vongola's succession problems in this time period too.

It had taken very little effort to discover a few disconcerting facts that made her question whether the Vongola actually knew what they were doing when it came to training their heirs or not.

According to the few Flame actives she had managed to locate in order to get basic background information... thanks to her innocent appearance and Sky aura, the few people she managed to locate had been nice enough to elaborate on certain facts that fit with what she knew, and a few things she had been unaware of but was common knowledge to the older Flames... it was entirely possible that she had never properly harmonized with her Guardians.

Oh, they'd go to hell and back for her, but the feeling that the older Flames spoke of that was attributed to a proper Harmony had been missing save for a partial one she had with Lambo...and possibly the odd double bond with Mukuro and Chrome.

Considering she hadn't felt any of the 'pains' that the lone Guardian who had lost his Sky described (he couldn't bear to stay with his famiglia without his Sky and had been allowed to leave peacefully), she could only conclude that they had never harmonized in the first place.

Which hurt in it's own indescribable way.

But with Renato, she felt an odd twinge in her heart. One that almost sounded like it was trying to welcome him, to give him a place he could rest his guard and call home.

With any luck she'd run into him again, and soon.

Though this time without the whole 'failed bank robbery/hostage situation' mess. That had been very annoying.