Tsuna stared at Kazumi, horrified. Disgusted. He was nauseous after listening to everything he just heard. To go through all of that since she was, what… Lambo's age?! Younger now, actually. He really felt like he was going to throw up. And the haunted look on Kazumi's face wasn't helping either.

And what do you say after hearing a story like that? Tsuna held his hands in tight fists in front of him, because for all that Kazumi's story made him sick, it made him equally frustrated. "I'm sorry, Kazumi-san. I'm so sorry."

Kazumi, having been pulled from the dark corners of her thoughts, regarded him with a tilt of her head and brows knitted together. "Why are you apologising? It's not like you're responsible for anything." She asked, only to follow with a resigned expression. "There was nothing you could have done. Rather, everything you have done already has been more than enough. So really, I should continue to be thanking you." From her seated position across the table, Kazumi managed a small bow directed at Tsuna.

"N-NO! You don't have to go that far!" He stammered out, frantically waving his hands in front of him. "Plus, you already thanked me in the hospital; I've hardly done anything worth so much."

"I disagree, but we can leave it at that." Kazumi deflected, putting an end to their forever circling conversation. She turned to Reborn, who had been watching and listening patiently. "Did you have any further questions?" Reborn stared at Kazumi, and whether he was contemplating or assessing her story, neither she nor Tsuna could really tell.

"Just one." He said, finally. "What do you plan to do going forward? Surely you know that betraying your Famiglia comes with a heavy price. You won't be able to go back."

"That's fine; I have no plans on wasting my life when it was already so generously spared." For a moment Kazumi hesitated to continue. "For now I'll rest and make sure I'm healed before making any hasty plans." At that Reborn let a smirk creep onto his face.

"I see. Then for the time being, Tsuna has granted you his protection; you're welcome to stay here as long as you need." Tsuna, in that moment, instantly recognized the tone Reborn used when he was planning something. "I have one condition, however. You mentioned your skill for sensing flames; I'd like to put that to the test."

"Hah?" Kazumi and Tsuna cried simultaneously.

"I-I suppose that would be fine…" She answered, despite some uncertainty.

"W-wait! Kazumi-san, you don't have to listen to him." Tsuna tried to intervene, only to be interrupted by a quiet laugh from Kazumi.

"It's fine Tsuna-kun. It's not like sensing flames puts any physical strain on the body. This much is something I can definitely do." Tsuna for his part looked like he wanted to protest further, but seeing Kazumi had already accepted the task, there was no turning back.

"Excellent. It's late now, so make sure to get some rest; I'll have everything ready for tomorrow morning." Reborn spoke jovially, jumping down from his seat, clearly satisfied with Kazumi's interrogation for the time being. He made it to the doorway before he stopped and turned around, as if suddenly remembering something. "Hum, that's right. Kazumi. You did well protecting the kids from a potential intruder earlier." He said, and then carried on his way.

"Huh?" Was that all he had to say? Kazumi turned to Tsuna, who looked just as confused. "What does that mean?" Tsuna just shook his head.

xXx

Morning came early again. Tsuna was once more rudely awakened by a Leon-mallet, and ordered to get up and change quickly. He eventually untangled his limbs from the blankets and got ready while rubbing at the inevitable lump that would form on his head later. By the time he made it downstairs, Kazumi was already seated and eating breakfast.

"M-mornin'." He managed, slightly surprised at seeing Kazumi well awake before him.

"Kazumi has already been awake for an hour helping Maman in the kitchen." Reborn supplied, supposedly reading his student's mind as he refilled his cup. "You should eat quickly Dame-Tsuna, we'll be heading out shortly for our test."

"This early?" Tsuna asked, though not hesitating to get in a bite to eat while he could.

"You're the only one who thinks 8am is early." Tsuna didn't bother to dignify a response, rather he sent Kazumi a look, making sure she of all people was actually okay with this. Having been silently watching their interaction, Kazumi didn't miss his stare. She answered by choosing to not look at him. "Seriously?" He muttered to himself, sighing in defeat.

Before he knew it, they were out the door, though being courteous and maintaining a pace that was comfortable for Kazumi. They walked quietly, being led by Reborn down the main road until they came to the park. There was nobody else there, no surprise, was Tsuna's first thought given it was early, but still followed Reborn until they were roughly in the middle of the grounds.

"Here, your test begins." Tsuna and Kazumi reactions were very different; Tsuna, confused and looking at Reborn for his explanation, and Kazumi, instantly alert, began to assess her surroundings. The reaction made Reborn happy enough. "No need to worry, I'm only going to ask you to locate the people I've asked to hide before our arrival." Kazumi fixed her gaze on the Archobaleno, assessing his words before relaxing, letting out the breath she had unconsciously held.

"The people you asked to hide? What people are you talking about?" Tsuna asked.

"That's the test." Reborn explained. "Kazumi will be the one to tell us."

"Very well." Kazumi responded, closing her eyes and taking another calming breath; even her posture relaxed. When she opened her eyes again, they were somehow distant and yet focused. Kazumi shifted her gaze to the left, and with a tilt of her head in the same direction, she began,

"Gokudera-kun is just behind the treeline over there." She turned around and nodded towards the entrance opposite the way they came, "Takeshi-kun is around that corner." This time she simply turned in the direction of the sun. "Sasagawa-senpai is on the next street over… Doing laps?" Kazumi tilted her head curiously at that, as if uncertain, but quickly moved on with a shake of her head. She adjusted so that she was facing slightly more to the left, but rather than answering who the person was right away, she paused as her face seemed to twitch, almost bemused. "And that Hibari-san is… at the school…"

"Hah? What's Hibari-san doing at the school this early, and on a Saturday no less?" Tsuna asked out loud, despite knowing he wouldn't get an answer. Reborn however smirked from underneath his fedora.

"I'm impressed."

"Thank you, but there's still one more flame that I don't recognise." Kazumi stated, turning to look behind her once more.

"I was wondering if you would notice; consider it a bonus test." Reborn answered before pulling out a Leon-walkie-talkie. "The test is complete, everyone can come out now." Within moments, everyone arrived from the very directions that Kazumi had pointed to.

"Whoa…" Tsuna couldn't help saying, once everyone came out.

"Yo Tsuna, Kazumi!" Takeshi greeted as he came around from the park entrance. "How did the test go?" Followed by Hayato emerging from the treeline, hands stuffed into his pockets and face scowling. Ryohei and Bianchi also quickly joined from the same entrance they had arrived in prior. The only person who didn't arrive, not to anyone's surprise, was Hibari.

"Oh, so the extra person was Bianchi then?" Tsuna said quietly, conveniently identify Bianchi for Kazumi, who turned to the pink-haired woman and carefully bowed her head to her as a form of introduction. "Right! Reborn, how did Kazumi do?"

"The main goal of this test was to find out how accurate Kazumi's ability is." Reborn informed everyone present. "I asked Bianchi to take part since she and Kazumi haven't had the chance to meet yet and served as a good opportunity to do both. Consider it a bonus question, if you will." He wouldn't bother telling them that Hibari hadn't originally been part of the test. "I'll admit to being surprised with your range though; the school is a bit of a ways from here." Reborn brought Kazumi's attention back to him.

"That might have more to do with familiarity." Kazumi answered promptly, though her expression remained thoughtful. "I've noticed it becomes easier to pick out flames from individuals that I'm familiar with. For example, while I've only run into Hibari-san a few times, that's been more than enough for me to at least recognise his flame. If it had been Bianchi-san that far away instead, I most likely would have missed or overlooked her completely."

"I see. Nonetheless, it's an impressive skill. You might just be one of the best sensory types in the Mafia." Kazumi blinked in surprise, not at all expecting such high praise. "Based on this test alone, I can say that your ability is as good as it gets. With that, I'll get to the other reason why I wanted to conduct it in the first place." This had everyone's attention now. "I'd like for you to teach Tsuna and his Guardians the fundamentals for sensing flames."

"HAH?!" Kazumi shouted. "Wait, wait, wait! That's easier said than done! And I don't really think I'm qualified to teach that; I have no formal training myself, let alone the knowledge to teach others!"

"You've already proven multiple times that you're capable of teaching others." Reborn interrupted Kazumi's protest. "Besides, it's not like you'll be doing anything advanced, teaching the bare minimum of sensing flames should be well within your capabilities." Kazumi just stood there in disbelief. What part of sensing flames wasn't advanced?

"Is it always like this?" She finally asked Tsuna.

"Unfortunately, yes." He answered, sympathising with her. Kazumi didn't know how to even respond to that, so she took a moment to sort out her thoughts before finally letting out a frustrated sighed.

"Look, I appreciate that you seem to think highly of my abilities, but I don't even know where to begin. I may be self-taught, but that was a long and grueling process of trial and error over literally years." Kazumi rubbed at her temple with her uninjured hand. "And I get that saying 'no' isn't exactly an option for me at the moment, but at least give me time to work out how I'm supposed to do this in the first place?"

"Hum. Very well." Reborn answered, seemingly satisfied for the time being. "Then, since everyone is here, we'll go through with regular training. 100 laps around the school track, 100 sit-ups, 100 push-ups, and 100 squats should be enough to get you warmed up." Tsuna could feel the blood drain from his face.

"Yosh! Extreme training! Let's go Sawada!" Ryohei cheered, instantly rushing off.

"Sounds like fun. Should we race?" Takeshi asked as he prepared with a few stretches.

"Idiot! Who would want to race for 100 laps?!" Hayato retorted, doing his own preparatory stretching. "Right Tenth?"

"I feel like I'm going to regret waking up today." Tsuna groaned, but moved his feet forward anyways. Kazumi stood watching them take off one by one, wearing the most perplexed expression.

"You're not expecting me to go with them, right?" She asked, if only just to clarify.

"No, you can focus on resting." Reborn answered, shielding his face with the brim of his fedora as he did. "For now." Kazumi felt the chill go down her spine. Yupp, she was definitely going to take full advantage of her injury while she could.

"In the meantime, you'll spend the day with me." Bianchi announced, gently taking Kazumi by the shoulders and leading her out of the park in the opposite direction of everyone else. Confused as she was, Kazumi didn't protest and simply let Bianchi drag her along.

xXx

Bianchi had taken her to a bathhouse.

Kazumi wasn't exactly sure what to say once she realized where they were. After all, she expected a lot of possibilities when she was basically kidnapped by the older woman, but a bath was not one of them.

"It must be difficult to wash your hair properly with your injuries." Bianchi addressed her unasked question with an air of nonchalance. "And it's the perfect place to relax."

"O-oh." Kazumi responded lamely. Truthfully, it had been difficult. Before the first shower she had taken after leaving the hospital, she hadn't put much more thought into bathing other than that she would have to figure it out one-handed. She didn't even take into account having to lift her arm with her broken ribs, let alone the open wound on the other, which she only remember last minute to cover. It had been a painful and exhausting ordeal. "Relaxing does sounds like a really nice idea." She admitted with the hint of a smile while following Bianchi inside.

Undressing was a process, but Kazumi managed much in the same way she did every morning; slow and steady. She only faltered when she caught a glimpse of the black and blue bruising on her side in a mirror, bringing her actions to a halt while she stared at the mark with a look of disdain. Her darkening thoughts were only interrupted when a hand landed on her shoulder, causing her to momentarily panic; grabbing the hand in as tight a grip as she could manage before pushing it away and turning towards her potential attacker. Only to find Bianchi holding her hands up between them in a placating gesture.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you." Bianchi apologised, and then carefully offered the towel she had been holding to Kazumi. "No one will question you if you want to wear this." She herself hadn't bothered to cover up her tattoos. "And I want you to know you can trust me; if we were to be attacked here, you'll be safe." Despite not even really knowing Bianchi, Kazumi could feel the sense of trust, even if it only bottled down to comradery between women.

"Right. Thanks." She breathed, taking a moment to regain her composure. She took a few more measured breaths as she fought against the pain that came with the suddenness of being prepared to fight, but she was quick to follow Bianchi to the shower area while awkwardly wrapping the towel around herself.

Bianchi had been right; no one paid attention to the fact that she had chosen to wear a towel. While it could have been due to the lack of other patrons, those who were present also paid no mind to Bianchi's blatant display of ink. And while she was curious, Kazumi didn't dwell on it so as not to draw attention to herself. She simply sat on the stool at the shower, and before she could contemplate on how she was going to wash herself, Bianchi was already running water through her hair.

"Thank you?" She said to the unexpected care.

"I did say we were here to relax; leave the hard parts to me." Kazumi didn't reject the offer. Not that she could, mostly because of her situation, but also because honestly, Bianchi was in the wrong profession. The head massage that came with shampooing her hair was heavenly. It was inevitable that she would end up completely relaxed well before they climbed into the hot bath.

Kazumi let out a satisfied sigh as the hot water surrounded her, getting straight to work on loosening all of her tight muscles. She leaned back against the wall of the tub, embracing the heat and steam that made her exposed skin sweat, while Bianchi sat beside her, equally satisfied. Kazumi watched her for a moment before sighing and leaning her head back even further.

"So, why are we really her Bianchi?" Kazumi spoke, switching to Italian so their conversation wouldn't easily be listened to. Bianchi seemed to be genuinely surprised when she faced Kazumi, so she continued. "I'm not stupid; a public bath to shower and relax? Yes it's been difficult by myself, but by no means impossible. Please stop beating around the bush and just ask your questions." Bianchi for her part had the gall to smirk.

"You're much more clever than you let on." She answered. "Very well, I'll just come right out and ask; if this were all to be over tomorrow, what would you plan on doing?" The question caught Kazumi by surprise, and she found herself genuinely digging for an answer. If everything was over, and with a positive outcome? Free from her father's control and constant surveillance? There was really only one thing she could think of.

"If I was given the chance to do nothing else, I'd want to go home. Even if it was just once."

"Home?" Bianchi asked, to which Kazumi only gave an audible affirmation without further elaborating. Her thoughts were deeply stuck on the memories of rolling hills and flower fields that she had almost long forgotten.

xXx

Tsuna was sprawled out face first onto the veranda when Kazumi and Bianchi returned. He was exhausted and sweaty, and didn't have the energy left to even crawl to the shower. Reborn had worked them to them to near death, and wasn't satisfied until of them were sweating worse than a hot day in middle of summer.

"Are you alright?" Tsuna's head perked up at the sound of a voice above him; he hadn't even heard the door open. Kazumi was looking down at him in curious concern, looking much better than she had just this morning. Somehow Tsuna found the strength to at least pull himself into a sitting position and at least talk to Kazumi properly.

"Honestly, I think that depends on your definition of alright." He did nothing to hide the exhaustion from his face, earning a soft laugh from Kazumi in response.

"Metaphorically dead, but functionally alive?" She offered as she took a seat next to Tsuna.

"Yes." He over extended the word. "Finally, someone who gets it!" This brought out a genuine laugh, which Tsuna couldn't help but find endearing. "How was your time with Bianchi?" He asked, changing the topic.

"Refreshing. The onsen was exactly what I needed." Kazumi answered quickly, a smile still sitting gently on her lips. "What about you? How did your training go?" Not that I need to ask, she thought after having observed his prior state.

Tsuna responded with a very audible groan as he slumped in on himself. "I can hardly feel my arms and legs. And it's taking all my effort to not fall over and just sleep on the floor."

"T-that… sounds rough." Kazumi wasn't really sure how else she was supposed to respond to that. Until an idea hit her. "I think Nana-san had some ice cream in the freezer; would you like some?" Tsuna looked at her skeptically.

"You're not going to put weird stuff in it, right?" Kazumi had half the sense to be embarrassed on being reminded about that.

"WHAT? NO!" She shouted, her face turning as red as her bangs. "Never mind, I'm not sharing!" She promptly getting to her feet and marching inside.

"HUH?! WAIT, I'M SORRY! PLEASE LET ME HAVE SOME!" He called, finding the energy to follow her inside.

xXx

SAME DAY – SOMEWHERE

Goro was sitting comfortably at his desk, reading through a report and savouring a glass of wine when a single knock came to his door. "Enter." He called, without even taking his eyes off the paper. He took note of a particular section of the page while the person on the other side of the door quietly walked in.

"You called for me, Sir?" The young man had asked.

"A small mission for you." Goro answered, cutting to the chase as he lifted to pen to sign the document, sort it into one of the many piled before moving onto the next. "I want you to look into Kazumi's condition, and take care of her as needed." There was a beat of silence, interrupted by the scratching of Goro's pen.

"Is that all, Sir?"

"That is all."

What is this? I'm still alive?!

Shocking, I know.

I had such a hard time writing writing this chapter and getting back into the groove after writing Kazumi's backstory (which even now I'm still not satisfied with it), it was difficult getting the story to go in the direction I've always intended. (It should come as no surprise that it's taken on a life of it's own in some way...)

Unfortunate I can't promise regular updates going forward (not that they ever were...), but I WILL promise to continue working on this fic. Slowly, but surely. I'm forever dedicated to telling Kazumi's story, however long it takes.

Happy reading my lovely readers, and a Happy Easter to those who celebrate.

~ Rahxe