Reborn had thought that would be the end of his interaction with the mysterious Black Cat. Out of all the relative 'rookie' hit men out there, the oddball girl had been the one that stood out in his mind. Considering his own reputation that was quite the feat.

Black Cat hadn't been impressed or terrified when they recognized him. They had treated him as a casual drinking partner and potential acquaintance without once reminding him of his small size and apparent 'age'. (Though he would admit the milk thing had thrown him for a few seconds until he realized she planned to drink it herself.)

The entire meeting had felt like a drink between equals, without any expectations or demands. It was...nice. Almost like he was with Colonello debating about guns or Shamal about women when he was still in his true age.

Except not even three months later, Reborn saw Black Cat again. And it made him frown because there was something slightly off about her that took him several minutes to figure out.

Apparently the girl had a cold, but was still coherent enough to fight when she stumbled upon his student's big breakthrough as a mafia boss.

Her aim was just a bit off, but it was enough that she was able to at least hit what she intended.

"Hey, are you alright?" asked Dino.

Black Cat swayed a bit, looking at him blearily. Reborn easily managed to get a better look at her eyes, before he cursed.

"I think Black Cat has the flu. They're certainly feverish enough and it is the season for it," said Reborn. She was definitely running a bit of a temperature.

"Wait, this is Black Cat?" said Dino gawking, before the hit woman nearly passed out. Why she wasn't in bed was a mystery, because she was clearly having trouble just staying upright. He quickly caught her and his expression when he registered her gender was rather amusing, but overall not important. "Romario, can you get the car?"

Romario didn't ask questions...they were already going to have to clean up after this particular mess.

"Is it safe?" asked Dino.

"From what I've heard of Black Cat, they won't be inclined to kill you in your sleep. Besides, they clearly need the bed rest and are too stubborn to stay put," said Reborn.

Which wasn't entirely true, but the limited information he had on the hit woman said that she wasn't the sort to stab someone who helped her out in the back.

Three days later...

Reborn was present along with Shamal who was about to check the girl's temperature when they notice her beginning to stir. She tried to burrow into the pillow before she heard Shamal's voice and nearly jolted up.

Her eyes, now that he got a good look at them, were rather cat-like and were a distinct shade of amber that looked very familiar. Little wonder she took the name "Black Cat", because with that choker and bell combination and those eyes she could be mistaken for one in low lighting.

"Where am I?" she asked somewhat hoarsely. She coughed a bit and quietly accepted the glass of water.

"The Cavallone guest house," said Reborn simply. It was within the limits of the mansion security, but separate enough that the odds of her making it into the main house without being spotted were very low.

"What?" she said in shock.

"You passed out from the flu, and Dino had you brought here," said Reborn. "Were you aware that the Petra famiglia were raiding your...apartment...when we arrived?"

She rolled her eyes in annoyance.

"I heard they were planning to make a move on me, hence why I was out of bed in the first place. Stumbling into that shootout was not what I intended."

"You've been out cold for the past three days, and you're underweight to boot," said Shamal.

"Kinda hard to buy groceries when I don't take many hits and have to pay rent," she snarked.

Reborn frowned at that. With her skills she should easily be able to afford decent places and groceries. She took one glance at the look on his face and snorted.

"Just because I'm a decent hit man doesn't mean I enjoy it. I might be a stray cat but I do prefer to stick to one place and work from there. The problem is I draw too much attention so half the time I'm dodging idiots trying to drag me into their famiglia to the point I have to move to get any peace," she said tiredly. "It's simply easier to eat cheap meals on the go than actually cook."

Reborn could sympathize with that. He could remember all too well the annoyance that was being a freelance hit man just making a name for himself, having to dodge multiple attempts to draw him into a famiglia. First because of his skills, and then because he was the strongest Sun.

"Well you should be able to get up and leave within a few days, maybe three," said Shamal. "Or within the next two, if you plan to be stubborn about it."

Dino knocked, even though it was his house.

"You're awake! You had a really high fever when you collapsed!" he said with relief...before promptly tripping on nothing.

"I see the rumor of the Cavallone boss being extra clumsy without his men is true," she said dryly.

Dino winced. That was not how he wanted this first impression to go.

"Then again I was extra clumsy when I was a bit younger, so don't feel bad."

That did make him feel slightly better.

"So... Black Cat is a girl?"

"Do you have any idea how annoying it is trying to make a name for yourself as a hit man when you're a guy? It's ten times worse when people know you're a female. Everyone expects you to suddenly act like a cat in heat around powerful Skies and they get extra annoying about it, or to go the whole floozy route when it comes to doing jobs," said Hotaru in open annoyance.

There was a reason she idolized Daniela Vongola and it had nothing to do with the fact she was a Sky. She would kill to get an autograph from the woman.

"So...how old are you?" asked Dino. He was really curious about her, because she was becoming very well known in a short amount of time. It wasn't just her skills...that would have made her interesting but not noteworthy.

No, most of it had everything to do with the fact that almost no one knew a thing about her. The mystery behind her true identity and who she actually was got most of the bigger names interested, especially since no one had a clue what her flame type was. The big money was on Cloud, since she was clearly a 'stray cat', but if that was the case then the real question was what her territory was. She didn't really exhibit the more violent cloud behavior patterns, but she definitely wasn't an inverted one like the Cloud Arcobaleno Skull.

She was tricky, but she didn't use any of the familiar 'mind games' of a Mist and outside of her gun always being present, no one could pin a single instance of her ever using illusions.

Some speculated she was a Sun (mostly due to the rumor she might be related to Renato Sinclair or possibly Reborn himself), but she was far more discreet than Reborn had ever been and didn't really draw attention to herself.

"There is one thing I don't get though...why do you have a seal on your Flames?" asked Shamal.

Hotaru turned to look at him oddly.

"My Flames?" she repeated incredulous. "I didn't even know I had any."

"A seal?" repeated Reborn, sitting up.

"It's old...she would have been about five, maybe six at the least. And it's starting to fall apart...it almost feels like Swiss cheese to be honest," said Shamal.

Something was eroding the seal at a fast rate, and it felt strangely cold.

Reborn looked at Hotaru oddly.

"How old are you?" he asked.

Hotaru did a bit of mental math in her head...it wasn't like she bothered to keep track of her birthday since she didn't have anyone to celebrate it with.

"Almost seventeen, I think," she said. "It's been a while since I bothered to remember how old I am."

Mostly because mentally she felt much, much older. She had over fifty years of extra memories to work with, after all.

"Do you remember anything?" asked Shamal. From what he could tell, the girl had active Flames when that seal was applied and there was no telling what sort of damage that could do to her. It was a miracle she was this well adjusted.

Then again kids were pretty resilient.

"I remember the moron who calls himself my father showing up with an old man who insisted I call him 'grandpa', then blacking out shortly before they were due to leave and feeling really cold and sluggish. He had a rather fancy ring on his finger and the idiot acted more like a subordinate than anything. Pretty sure that the old man was his boss, or close to it," she said after a moment, before looking at Shamal. "Is there anyway to remove it?"

"From what I can tell it was applied by a Sky, and not a very experienced one. The seal itself was half assed and is barely keeping your Flames behind it...it doesn't help that whatever you've been using has been eroding it at an accelerated rate...it might collapse on it's own in a year or two, possibly more," said Shamal.

Hotaru thought about that, and quickly figured out what was making the seal erode.

She was already involved in the mafia, but did she really want to add Flames into that?

...Nah, not really. Not unless she had to anyway. As it stood now she still had a chance to go civilian since so few knew anything about her. If she were Active then she'd have a much harder time adjusting back to 'normal' life.

Hearing her stomach rumble (it had been four days since she had been able to hold down anything solid), she blushed.

Reborn seemed more than mildly amused at the way Dino was interacting with the hit woman. From the way she reacted it was clear no one had bothered to properly flirt with her before. Then again very few people were even aware of her gender.

Which was why Reborn didn't chastise Dino when he openly considered asking the mysterious hit woman as his temporary date to the upcoming Vongola ball. It was a relative boring affair, not really worth noting save for the fact that the Ottavo would be present along with the current boss.

Black Cat seemed interested (she was a fan girl of the Eighth Vongola boss, surprisingly enough), but she was adamantly against putting on a dress.

"Can I at least have a name to call you?" asked Dino. He could live with his date wearing a suit...she was boyish enough to pass as a guy.

"...Hotaru. My real name is Hotaru," she said, having great trouble looking him in the eye. Stupid hormones.

Dino brightened at that.

"Your real name is 'firefly'?" asked Reborn amused.

"I'm half Japanese and I spent most of my first eight years living in Japan," she deadpanned.

Daniela was looking forward to the upcoming ball. Mostly because her Intuition had been going off like crazy lately that something chaotic...but in a good way... was going to happen then.

She could only hope she got to enjoy it when it did.

Hotaru was annoyed, there was no other word for it. At least it was a kimono and not some ridiculous outfit that showed more skin than cloth.

"I don't know how you got me into this thing, but if anyone recognizes me I will may you suffer," she growled.

Dino laughed nervously.

"I had nothing to do with picking the outfit out... Reborn insisted he handle it," he admitted.

Hotaru glared at him.

"Just for that I'm going to dangle my family name over your head while you drive yourself nuts trying to figure out which famiglia I might be part of," she said annoyed.

"Is that a challenge brat?"

"I'd like to see your expression when you find out what my father does for a living, old man," she countered.

It was almost like having Sven back. Almost.

Dino watched with morbid fascination as Hotaru and Reborn bickered with good nature. She might be uncomfortable wearing a kimono, but she seemed to calm down around Reborn. Which was rather strange, because he put most people on guard. Even stranger was the fact that Reborn seemed to be openly enjoying himself and was actually relaxing around her.

He had to admit, it was really nice being around Hotaru. She was a bit snarky, but she was very cute when she smiled.

"Any idea where the bathroom is around here?"

"Down that hallway, and take a left at the second door," said Dino, pointing it out.

"Thanks."

Hotaru wasn't really enjoying this party. It was boring and she had to deal with way too many interested parties around her.

Besides, she was avoiding Vongola Nono like the plague the second she recognized who he was. The last thing she needed was for that senile old man to make the connection between the girl he sealed and the mysterious hit man known as Black Cat. She liked her freedom too much.

It took her a few seconds to register bumping into someone, but when she did she nearly went into total fangirl mode.

It was Daniela Vongola, the Eighth Vongola boss!

Daniela smiled at her, clearly not that bothered about the minor mishap.

"Sorry about that. I wasn't expecting anyone to be using this particular bathroom when the party is in full swing."

"Not much of a party," commented Hotaru. "I've seen college dorms have more fun than this place."

Daniela grinned.

"I agree. My son's taste are far too boring. So who did you come with?"

"Dino Cavallone. I'm his plus one, though I will be getting Reborn for choosing the outfit. I normally don't wear anything like this."

"Too Asian?" she guessed.

"Too feminine. I hide my gender for a reason, and most of it is to avoid the ridiculous stereotypes that female hit men have to deal with," Hotaru corrected. Seeing Daniela's interest, she grinned. "I'm Black Cat."

"Not that delightfully mysterious hit man who always delivers the line 'I've come to deliver some bad luck' to their targets!" said Daniela with surprise.

"Well every time a girl says they're a hit man people automatically expect them to be a fem fatale or to use their gender to get their targets into bed. Having a small bust makes it easier to hide as a boy and get recognition without seeming cheap."

Daniela's eyes gleamed.

"I know exactly what you mean. It was such a pain getting taken seriously when I became the Eighth, and even then it took going through a massive war and holding the family together before anyone realized I wasn't just a pretty face!"

Seeing the younger girl's interest, Daniela cheerfully kidnapped Hotaru to tell her all about being the Vongola Donna during WWII.

With Dino...

"Have you seen my date?" he asked. She was taking some time in the bathroom.

Reborn snorted.

"She was kidnapped by Daniela," he replied with amusement, pointing her out.

Sure enough Hotaru was chatting amicably with the former Vongola boss, who was looking rather lively.

Reborn snorted. It looks like the Black Cat had made a new best friend.