A tender hand slowly combed through his hair, gently parting the strands that stubbornly stuck together.

"You have nice hair, Yusuke-kun," a warm voice murmured.

Yusuke broke the serene atmosphere of his surroundings by snorting rather inelegantly. A soft breeze drifted by and ruffled Yusuke's hair, taking the sound of the snort with it.

"Right," Yusuke said rather dubiously.

There was no voiced response, but Yusuke could feel the smile that was directed at him. He relaxed, allowing the calm atmosphere to lull him back into lassitude.

And that was how Reborn found Yusuke five minutes later.

Xxx

Urameshi didn't react as Reborn stepped out onto the backyard of the Sawada household.

"Mama," Reborn greeted as he sauntered towards them.

Mama closed the scissor she held in hand with a final snip before turning to face Reborn. "Reborn-kun," Mama said with a smile on her face. "Welcome home. I can't believe how fast time passed. Tsu-kun is home from school already?"

"Yes," Reborn answered, coming to a stop beside Mama. He glanced at the pile of hair lying by Mama's feet. "Mama, what are you doing?"

"I'm cutting Yusuke-kun's hair," Mama answered. She turned back to Urameshi when he shifted. "Yusuke-kun," Mama said sternly, "Please don't move."

"Are you done yet, Maman?" Yusuke asked.

"Not yet," Mama said. "Your hair is wonderful, Yusuke-kun – "

"Not," Urameshi deadpanned under his breath.

Mama continued as though she was oblivious to Urameshi's sentiment regarding his hair. "But it's just so long and heavy," Mama said. Uncontrolled and wild like its owner would have been the words Reborn would have used. "I'm having some trouble cutting it."

"It's fine like this, Maman," Urameshi said, turning his head to look at Mama.

Mama used her free hand to guide Urameshi's head back to its original place. "No," she said sternly, determination entering her eyes. It reminded Reborn of Tsuna. "I'm not done, and it's not going to look good at this rate. Since I'm the one who suggested helping you cut your hair, I should at least finish it."

The steely look in Mama's expression faded the next moment as concern replaced it. "Oh no!" Mama intoned as she recalled. Both Reborn and Urameshi's attention snapped to Mama. "I forgot to cook lunch. Tsu-kun and Reborn-kun should be hungry by now."

As a matter of fact, Reborn was getting a little hungry.

"What should I do?" Mama said, glancing at sliding door leading into her house.

"Maman, don't worry about it," Urameshi said, slowly standing. He turned to face Mama, and with the plastic sheet that surrounded Urameshi like a cloak to prevent any cut hair from entering his clothes, Urameshi looked rather silly. Pieces of stray hair hung vainly onto it and Urameshi's head.

From the front, Reborn could see why Mama declared the haircutting unfinished. The length of Urameshi's current hair was an awkward length, as though he was struggling to decide whether to leave it long or to just cut it short. One side of it was uneven and moreover, the current hair style didn't seem to fit Urameshi at all. At a different angle, Reborn was sure that Urameshi's hair would look like a pasted-on wig.

"Are you sure…?" Mama asked hesitantly. It was obvious that Mama struggled between deciding whether to finish Urameshi's haircut or cook lunch to feed her child.

Reborn, never the one to let a chance of shooting his idiot student with the Dying Will Bullet go to waste, was about to tell Mama to not worry, Tsuna would cook lunch with his Dying Will, when it suddenly occurred to Reborn that there was another solution to Mama's dilemma.

"Mama," Reborn called out, drawing the attention of both Urameshi and Mama. A smirk slipped across Reborn's face. "Why don't you let me finish cutting Yusuke's hair?"

Reborn quickly donned his barber cosplay outfit.

Mama let out a small squeal at the outfit as Urameshi's eyes widened with surprise at his suggestion.

"Reborn-kun, thank you," Mama said, beaming at Reborn. She bent down to Reborn's level. "I'm so happy that you want to help. Here," she said, carefully taking her fingers out of the scissor hoops to hand the cutting implement to Reborn. "Use this to cut Yusuke-kun's hair. Be careful not to hurt yourself, all right?"

"Yes, Mama," Reborn said dutifully. A glint entered his eyes.

"Wait, Maman—" Urameshi called out, finally coming out of his shock.

"Don't worry, Yusuke-kun," Mama said, already heading towards the house. She slid the door open. "Reborn-kun will finish the haircut for you."

Mama entered the house and slid the door close.

Urameshi face-palmed. "You're kidding me," he muttered. He parted his fingers a moment later to glance down at Reborn. "A three year old is going to cut my hair."

"Five," Reborn corrected, and for the first time, he didn't feel irate at the reminder of his current age. In fact, all he felt was mirth. He dropped the scissor Mama gave him and slipped his tiny fingers through the loops of his Leon-scissor instead, rapidly moving the blades of the scissor. Snip, snip.

The smirk on Reborn's face widened and the intensity of the glint in Reborn's eyes increased. He was having fun with this. "Why don't you take a seat, Yusuke-kun?"

"Mad," Urameshi uttered with the shake of his head, disbelief tinting his voice. A half-incredulous, half-amused smile slid across his face as he sat down anyway. "No offense to Maman, but you guys are all dipshit mad."

Reborn hmmed as he jumped up to the top rail of the chair, situating himself there to give himself the extra height necessary to reach Urameshi's head. "That makes us both."

Reborn was rewarded with Urameshi's laughter at his words, his shoulders shaking lightly with mirth.

As Reborn felt his mouth unwittingly curling ever slightly in response, Reborn thought Urameshi had a contagious laugh.

Reborn cut off that thought as he lifted some of Urameshi's hair and snipped.

Xxx

Hair rose up on Yusuke's arm as Reborn's scissor inched closer to his neck. Yusuke held still, not sensing any ill-intention from Reborn and knowing attacking like that just wasn't Reborn's style. Reborn may cosplay and he may be the top dog of the Underground, but he was no doubt one of those gentlemen mafioso.

Besides, Leon was the scissor and he trusted the little chameleon. Animals didn't lie, not in the way humans and demons would.

Soft rustles reached his ears as a breeze went through. The sense of calm Yusuke previously felt slowly seeped into his bone again. Yusuke allowed himself to relax and closed his eyes, listening to the rhythmic snips of Reborn's Leon-scissor.

The next time Yusuke opened his eyes, it was because of the appearance of another presence.

Yusuke blinked slowly at the little kid by his feet, who gazed up at Yusuke in the way only kids can pull off: wide-eyed, innocent and bright with curiosity.

"Hey," Yusuke said, watching as the kid suddenly jumped at Yusuke's words. Yusuke became aware of the fact that the snipping of his hair stopped, most likely so Reborn could watch what Yusuke would do.

The kid quickly composed himself and jumped back, smoothly rearranging his arms and legs so he could fight at the moment of notice. His face scrunched up as he squinted fiercely at Yusuke.

"你是谁?" the little boy with the single braid demanded, not at all letting down his guard. Whoever taught him did a good job.

Xxx

Reborn jumped down from where he stood, expertly landing on the ground. He moved, choosing a place so he could observe both I-Pin and Yusuke's interaction, before settling down.

He watched as Urameshi unexpectedly brightened at the words I-Pin spoke.

"Hey, you speak Chinese," Urameshi said, a small grin spreading across his face. "Wait. Let's see…"

From the way Urameshi acted, it shouldn't have been surprising what happened next. Yet it was, simply because Urameshi once again exceeded Reborn's expectations.

"Hello, kid," Urameshi said in Chinese. His accent wasn't too noticeable, but from the way that Urameshi was carefully forming his syllables, it was apparent that he hadn't spoken in Chinese for a long time.

I-Pin blinked, the surprise at meeting someone who also spoke Chinese causing her to drop her fighting stance. "You speak Chinese," I-Pin exclaimed happily.

Like a child forgetting why she wasn't supposed to speak with strangers, I-Pin trotted up to Urameshi happily. "Who are you?" I-Pin asked again, only this time her tone contained no hostility. I-Pin gazed up at Urameshi with unadulterated interest. "Why are you here? How come you know Chinese?"

And that was why Reborn could at minimum tolerate children. They were inquisitive by nature and asked a lot of questions that others wouldn't or couldn't ask. Because of their young age, they were often forgiven for transgressing into topics that were not to be spoken. Moreover, children always received a response to those questions they so carelessly ask.

Now what would you do? Reborn wondered, dark orbs concentrated intently on Urameshi.

Urameshi chuckled and gestured I-Pin to go closer to him. I-Pin went. "You're a curious kid, aren't you? How did you get in here?"

"I-Pin jumped over the walls," I-pin explained.

Urameshi blinked. "Wow," he said. "You must be pretty strong then. Whoever taught you did a good job."

At that statement, I-Pin perked up considerably. "Master!" I-Pin answered, beaming up at Urameshi. "Master taught me."

A smile spread across Urameshi's face at I-Pin's obvious enthusiasm at the mention of her master. "That's good," Urameshi said, leaning down to pat I-Pin's head. The child preened under Urameshi's attention. "Who's your master?"

Reborn observed Urameshi carefully as I-Pin answered, "Fon-shishou."

Urameshi paused in patting I-Pin's head. "Fon," Urameshi said slowly, surprise causing him to switch to Japanese. "The Acrobaleno?"

I-Pin nodded, recognizing the word Acrobaleno. "Do you know Master?"

"Erm, no," Urameshi answered, switching back to Chinese. "Not really. I heard of him though."

I-Pin beamed at Urameshi with delight. "Master is famous!"

Urameshi chuckled at that. "Yeah, yeah," he said. Then he paused for a moment and gazed down at I-Pin with an inscrutable look. "Wait… I thought Fon had a female apprentice."

Red climbed up I-Pin's face at Urameshi's incredulous tone.

The Pinzu-Timed Super Explosion is activated, Reborn thought. He watched as I-Pin launched herself at Urameshi's leg.

"Wait, what?" Urameshi said, gazing down at the child stuck to his leg.

"You might want to pull her off," Reborn spoke up, glancing at I-Pin as the countdown reached eight. "I-Pin is known as the Human Bomb. She would explode when the countdown reaches 0."

"You're kidding me," Urameshi said, in the same tone Tsuna used whenever something crazy happened within his life. He reached down and tilted I-Pin's head back, staring intently at the countdown that was now at seven. "I-pin," Urameshi said in Chinese. "Stop the countdown."

I-Pin shook her head silently and clung tighter onto Urameshi's leg. "Can't."

"The countdown activates when I-Pin is shy, angry or embarrassed. Once it starts, it cannot be stopped," Reborn said. Urameshi glanced at him with a look, before gazing down at the five on I-Pin's forehead.

"Throw," I-Pin muttered, even as she held on even tighter. Four.

"I'm not going to throw you," Urameshi said, exasperated, putting his hand on I-Pin's forehead again. Three.

Urameshi closed his eyes, seeming to concentrate and showing no signs of planning to throw I-Pin. "Calm down, I-Pin," Urameshi said, his voice soothing. Two.

Reborn wondered what Urameshi was planning.

"You won't explode," Urameshi said confidently. By then, much of I-Pin's initial embarrassment at being mistaken for a boy once again was gone. One.

I-Pin held on tight as the countdown reached zero, and the whole world held its breath.

Nothing.

Reborn could hardly believe his eyes as I-Pin slowly let go of Urameshi's leg. The countdown on her forehead was gone, but I-Pin didn't explode at all. Reborn only knew one person in the world who could do that.

"You're like Fon-shisou!" I-Pin exclaimed. I-Pin dropped her head a moment later and shuffled her feet. "Sorry for almost exploding."

Urameshi grinned. "It's okay, I-Pin, I'm tough. You shouldn't accidentally activate the bomb so easily though."

I-pin twirled her fingers nervously, occasionally looking up at Urameshi before her eyes darted back down. "I know… Master is trying to teach me to control it, but I don't understand." I-pin glanced up at Urameshi. "How did you stop it?"

"I had a master too," Urameshi said quietly after a beat. "She taught me how to control qi and energy. If you practice Chinese martial arts, you should be able to do it too."

I-Pin shook her head sadly.

"Don't look so sad," Urameshi said after another moment. "You already mastered a lot of martial arts at your age, more than any other people five or six times your age. Qi is something that grows as your body does. I think since you are still growing, you have a hard time stabilizing your qi. You should be able to when you get older."

I-Pin perked up slightly. "Really?"

"Yup," Urameshi answered. "So stop looking like someone just killed your puppy."

I-Pin beamed up at Urameshi with a smile. "Thank you, Mister."

"Yusuke," Urameshi corrected. "Don't do the 'mister' stuff with me. It makes me feel old."

"Yusuke," I-Pin chirped.

Urameshi's lips quirked. "Alright. I guess you're looking for Tsuna?"

I-Pin nodded.

"Run along to him, would you? I still have a haircut I need to finish," Urameshi said.

"Actually," Reborn interrupted. "It's done."

Urameshi raised an eyebrow at him. "You didn't just randomly snip my hair, did you?"

"Yusuke, I know how to kill a man in hundreds of different ways. Compared to that, cutting your hair is nothing."

"Actually," Urameshi said dubiously. "I'm pretty sure those two things require completely different set of skills."

Urameshi turned to I-Pin. "I-Pin, does my hair look alright?" Urameshi asked. Reborn had reverted Urameshi's hair back to the same style of when he first saw him. Urameshi only needed to use some gel, and then his hair would look exactly the same as before.

I-Pin nodded enthusiastically. "Yusuke handsome!" the girl declared in broken Japanese.

Urameshi blinked, astounded by I-Pin's words, before chuckling. "Alright," he said, bending to pick I-Pin up. I-Pin allowed him. "I trust you."

Urameshi turned to Reborn. "Do you know where I can get a broom?" he asked, tugging off the plastic sheet around him. "I need to sweep all this hair up."

"Ask Mama," Reborn replied.

Urameshi rolled his eyes. "Of course the Great Berorn wouldn't know where a broom is," he said exasperatingly, referring to one of Reborn's alias.

Reborn delivered a kick towards Urameshi, which he dodged. "Just get the broom, idiot," Reborn snapped instinctually.

Something like reminiscence flashed across Urameshi's eyes. "Yeah, yeah," Urameshi said flippantly, heading back into the house.

Reborn bent down slightly the moment Urameshi turned away, smoothly straightening up to his normal height by the time Urameshi turned back around. "You coming?" Urameshi asked, holding the door open for Reborn.

Reborn slipped through the door and headed up to his dame-student's room, completely ignoring Urameshi once he was in the house. In the pocket of his suit was some of Urameshi's hair.

Xxx

Half-lidded eyes quietly examined the envelope before him. From what he could see, the package was normal in every way, except that it was addressed to him. No one should know where his workstation was, much less than be able to send him anything, so just who was it?

His gaze paused upon the writing written on the parcel: Reborn.

Of course, Verde thought, a second before curiosity fit for his current age set in. After cautiously checking the package for any traps or the like, Verde opened the tiny package. Inside was a single paper, folded into two.

Verde could tell more words were written inside. He picked up the paper to examine it closer, and a small clear bag slipped out from between the folded pages.

Verde spared the content of the bag a quick glance – a single, almost invisible black, short, thin stalk. Most likely hair – before bringing his attention back to the paper before him. He could examine the bag at a later time.

He opened the paper.

Curious about the hair? Go ahead and experiment with it. – Reborn

Verde's genius mind whirled as his gaze dropped back to the piece of hair sitting innocently within the bag it came with. Whose hair was that? Where did Reborn obtain that?

Verde's tiny hand reached for the clear bag and lifted it up into the light. It looked like normal human hair, so just what about it was so special that Reborn fostered an interest in its subject, enough to ask Verde for help?

And oh, Verde knew Reborn was asking him for help. While they both were Acrobaleno, both of them had very limited contact with each other. They wouldn't cross paths if they didn't truly have to and for Reborn to initiate contact… Verde shifted the bag in his hand to examine it at another angle.

Curious. How curious.

A slow smile spread across Verde's face, and he dropped his hand. So that was what Reborn was playing at. All the mysteriousness and the scant information regarding the little parcel that Reborn sent him… Reborn wanted Verde to become curious. Reborn wanted Verde to experiment and study the hair, to learn everything down to the last strand of DNA within it for Reborn.

Fine. Verde will play this Reborn's way for now. After all, he was curious about the strand of hair.

As Verde ambled to his seat in his laboratory, pausing beside Keiman to pat his alligator's head, Verde smiled smugly. Reborn was very intelligent, playing on Verde's curious mind as a scientist so Verde would do his dirty work, but it seemed like even the world's greatest hitman can miscalculate.

Verde would study the hair, alright, and learn all of its secrets.

But there was absolutely no guarantee that Verde would share his findings with Reborn.