As the phone fell noisily to the floor, Nanako could hardly comprehend the idea that Kyouya was a victim of the assaults on Namimori's strongest. It had never struck her that someone of such phenomenal strength, such sheer arrogance could have fallen among the injured. And if he had, then just who were Namimori dealing with? Her mind shuffled over towards her cousin and the conversation between her and Reborn from earlier that afternoon, and she shuddered. If Kyouya was at threat, then someone as weak and innocent as Tsuna was going to be in a dire situation.

"Nanako!" a voice barked, knocking her out of her musings, and once again she was faced with the frenzied appearance of her stepfather, frown lines thick and engraved on his forehead, his eyes glossy with possible tears and his back hunched like an angry cat. She didn't quite know what to say to him. Surely he was aware of the attacks on Namimori students, perhaps that's why he was so irate, but still she didn't know how to even approach the situation. All she was certain of was that Reborn had an idea of who was behind this, even if he had denied it. That and it had been brought to her attention that soon Reborn and Tsuna would be tracking down the culprit, and she had a feeling that if she were to follow them both, away from Reborn's keen eye and against his wishes, she would find Kyouya. She had made her choice.

"S-Sorry you made me jump," she said, the wobble in her voice present, and she reached down to pick up the phone, pressing the end call button, despite the fact her friend was still on the line, she would make sure to apologise later, "Kyouya? Oh on the way to school he said he was going to patrol Namimori, y'know what with the attacks. A lot of his club have been attacked recently, he pretends not to care you know, but I went to visit a friend earlier today at the hospital and well I saw him patrolling there, keeping an eye on his 'minions', I think he said not to worry about him or something like that, like he's staying over. Kyouya stuff, you get it, don't worry, please."

She forced a smile as she finished her lie, she prayed that it was convincing enough, either that or she prayed that the man wasn't like her mother. That woman had an eagle eye when it came to lies. At first the man frowned, her lie was evidently not settling on him well. However, his shoulders soon drooped and his expression became slack. He had bought her story and she would be lying if she didn't feel rather guilty. Ok, not just 'rather' but insanely guilty.

"Oh I see, it just seems unusual, but if that's the case—

"Which it is," she intercepted, her fake smile increasing in intensity, come on just believe me already.

"Then that's great, I'm just worried that's all. He has a rather frosty personality I'll give you that, but he's a good boy deep down," the man finished, his tone still laced with his previous anxiety but seemingly less uppity than before. She begged to differ with his last statement, but at least the man was finally relaxed. She watched silently as he ran his long fingers through the front of his normally neat hair and with it the man heaved a sigh of relief.

"Well, um," the man appeared almost embarrassed, endearing if anything, it was peculiar really, "Thanks for telling me that Nanako, sorry for troubling you. Your mother should be home soon, I'll leave you be, you look exhausted."

She nodded as the man left quickly, sputtering nervous apologies as he exited, the door sliding silently behind him leaving her once again to herself. Rolling away from the direction of the door, she proceeded to then continuously smack her head into the soft pillow beneath her, why…the...hell… had she lied?!

Then again what could her stepfather have done? Call the police? It was quite clear that Kyouya was stronger than any average policeman. Plus if her stepfather was to go look for him, what if got into trouble too? Not on her watch, she didn't need her mother heartbroken once again, not in hells chance.

But then what could she do? She wouldn't be able to fight, it was evident that she was nowhere near tough enough to take on this person, but perhaps what she could do was find Kyouya and bring him home, or she could warn Reborn that he really needed to prepare himself as the culprit had quite possibly taken down her superhuman of a stepbrother.

She was thankful that tomorrow was the start of the weekend. She had a feeling Reborn and Tsuna would take advantage of that too and in turn go look for the culprit. Besides, when they did, she would be following them, from the shadows, or well at least to the best of her ability.

The alarm went off noisily, and Nanako would have groaned if her mind hadn't been filled with her current mission. She had no idea what time Tsuna and Reborn would be leaving to take this foe on, but all she knew was there was currently no one left to fight at Namimori middle school but Tsuna and Yamamoto. Currently, both of them had been spared, as if the enemies were lying in wait, anticipating the challenge as if it were one big game. It was 7am, she knew today was her mother's day off, and on days like this she would sleep like the dead, so she was no obstacle. She had already texted Kenji about her absence today, using a rather drab excuse of catching up on schoolwork, and in return the man had nagged her about her putting it off. Grabbing food from the fridge, she slugged it into her backpack, placing it haphazardly next to her Jitte. Giving the house a once over, she zipped up her hoody, pulled the beanie low, and disappeared out of the door. Perhaps with this sort of outfit she wouldn't get spotted, she wanted to go for something simple, unrevealing, covered up, but not so covered that she would seem suspicious. She couldn't afford to stand out if she was to keep hidden from Reborn. As she made her way to Tsuna's house, she became quite aware of the presence of another, who like her was also scoping the house. However, this person was clearly the worst stalker and not just that, injured. Gokudera clung by a nearby wall, a hand absentmindedly supporting his ribcage as he bent down. Was this guy even supposed to be out of hospital…?

It wasn't long till Tsuna made his appearance and had spotted the man stuck to his wall. As per usual both of them began to engage in their everyday panicky conversation, Yamamoto not far behind. So Yamamoto wasn't leaving Tsuna alone, despite being miffed at the boy, she couldn't help but still feel an aching affection for the fact he hadn't ignored her completely. Possibly, he wasn't as bad she thought. She shook her head vigorously, trying her best not to give into useless contemplations such as those, if she was to be acknowledged by Reborn someday she would need to concentrate. No time to think about ridiculous, tall, baseball idiots…geez she was starting to sound like Gokudera. They began to head out, and for a while she hung back, allowing them to create a distance; staying too close would get her caught. The further they got away the harder they became to see, and she thanked the heavens for her cousin's unusual haircut. The journey seemed to be heading a certain direction and instantly she caught on to her surroundings. Where else better for a villain's hideout than somewhere as creepy and derelict as Kyouko Land? Hiding from them was a lot harder when it came to the abandoned highway, if she wasn't careful, soon she would be caught and sent on her merry way by Reborn, so she decided to lay low for a good 30 minutes, keeping silent. Perhaps going for a surprise rescue mission was what she was here for, she certainly had packed enough bandages and plasters for a start, she practically always had an emergency stash with her anyway. As she waited, she slowly munched on an apple and thought back to the presence from the day previous. That shadowy figure even now caused a shiver to run down her spine, and despite the fact the sun was out, she rubbed her arms briskly in order to eliminate the goose bumps. Just what was that? Or who was that? Was that the enemy that Tsuna and Reborn were about to face? Whatever it was it felt dark, seedy and chilling, something almost inhuman. She glanced down at her watch and threw away the remainder of her apple core before taking to the front of Kokuyo Land, surely from the silence and already obvious destruction that peered through the front gate, Tsuna and the gang had already made their move. Pushing the gate quietly, praying it wouldn't creak, she snuck silently into the open, observing the large hole that protruded in the centre of the area. Other shocking sights came along the lines of strewn corpses of dogs that littered the area. The repulsive smell caused to her wince and she closed her eyes momentarily, swallowing down the bile that rose in her throat at the realisation that there were some real sickos about if they were use methods such as these. Treading quietly, she leaned over hesitantly into the hole, squinting through the darkness. The smell of the nearby dogs broke her silence; her throat rejecting the salvia in a choky cough, and with her voice, movement below answered.

The sudden sound of a gruff and raspy voice jolted her body backwards, "YOU'LL NEVER DEFEAT HIM LOSERS! MUKURO WILL KILL YOU BEFORE YOU'RE EVEN CLOSE, HAHAHAHAAHAH!"

Who was this? And who was he referring to? Tsuna's gang? If that was so, that meant they were still alive so far, and whoever Mukuro was, had something to do with the Namimori assaults. Regaining her confidence, she reached behind her back, her hand messily unzipping her backpack so she could reach for her weapon. With it in her palm, she wedged it into the ground so that she stayed securely over the side of the hole's edge. She needed to get a better look at the first potential enemy.

Below, tied up, sat a feral looking, blonde teenager. His skin was tan and his features could have almost been described as wolfish. From what she could see, he was injured to a certain extent but nothing life threatening, on the other hand the fact he was so loud caused her to establish that clearly this guy was in no danger.

"I know you're there, I can smell you!" Nanako flinched, her hand tightening around her Jitte. He could smell her? Was this kid really pretending he was an animal? Possibly a furry? Then again villains in the storybooks were always a complete bunch of crackpots, possibly that was a reflection on real life too.

As far as she was aware, the villains had no idea who she was. She had not been attacked once, maybe that was their way of believing she wasn't strong enough. Then again she did keep her training a secret.

She wanted information from this guy, and she had a irking that he was going to give it to her; he had already told her the name of their leader without hesitance.

Lowering her voice, she spoke in a tone different from her own, well to the best of her acting abilities, "Who's Mukuro?"

The boy laughed wildly but then did a double take, before barking at her loudly, "Who the hell am I talking to?!"

Shit, obviously the rest had been up and gone for a while. Getting up speedily, she heaved her weapon from the ground and began to run into the direction of the destruction, leaving the voice to snarl and bite demands at her in the distance.

Coming into a clearing, she almost stopped in her tracks at the sight in front. Even more shocking than the last, she stared wide-eyed at a weapon she thought no real person could carry and beside it was a man, heavily wounded, his torso soaked with blood, needles protruding from it. Was this another enemy?! Scurrying over to take a better look, she noticed something wedged carefully under the man's head as if to present him with a little comfort.

Her cousin's hoody sat neatly folded under the man's head. If he was an enemy, why would her cousin provide him any comfort? Unless he was an ally?!

Kneeling beside him, and taking the jacket as a sign, she reached for the needles. If this was a weapon, they were incredibly precise to land so much damage. 'It's almost like if acupuncture went wrong' she thought to herself as she carefully pulled one out, testing if they were safe to remove. There was no bloodbath from her actions and thus she continued to pull them out, checking each time to make sure she wasn't producing any additional wounds. As per usual, her backpack provided a useful source of a makeshift first aid kit and out of it she produced a small amount of antiseptic and bandages. Even though she knew she was no medic, she quickly went to work on the man underneath. Once clean of blood, she sloppily applied bandages even though it was rather difficult down to the sheer build of the man. Checking his pulse and breathing, she bit her lip; the guy was steady but clearly needed proper medical attention. Scoping the area once more, a shape that was incredibly figure like caught her eye. Turning on her heel, she became ridged. Oh god no, just like she had predicted. Rushing over, her bag in her right hand, she collapsed to her knees.

"Yamamoto! Yamamoto! Are you alright?!" she called, tapping his cheek lightly in an attempt to arise him from his current state. No response. Leaning in close, she ignored all insecurities and held herself close to his mouth. His breathing from the sound of it was gentle, as if he was sleeping. Not quite convinced, she lowered her head and pressed it to his chest, checking his heartbeat. Like his breathing, his heartbeat was relaxed and stable, and in response to this a choked cry left her lips, "You're ok! You're ok!"

Rolling back, she landed a bit uncomfortably on her backside but ignored this as she checked for injuries. Despite his healthy breathing, Yamamoto was certainly battered, but obviously due to the lack of the others around and no sign of their bodies, Reborn probably confirmed Yamamoto's safety. Nanako wasn't exactly keen on the fact they had left him though. Grabbing the tools from her last little amateur nurse job, she began to clean the wounds of his face, and more importantly his arm. There was a nasty bite mark there; one if not treated soon, would go septic. If he was awake, the antiseptic would have surely stung like a bitch, but luckily he was out cold, this guy didn't need any more pain quite clearly. As she finished patching up his arm, she got up to leave but grew hesitant, and once again took a seat on the floor, her legs crossing underneath her.

"Why do I worry about you?" she questioned accusingly as if he was awake. Pointing her finger in his direction, she repeated herself, "Seriously why do I worry about you?"

"Is it because you showed me a tad bit of kindness? Am I a fool? Why do I care about you even now? I mean you clearly hate me."

She let out a long groan, scrunching up a handful of black hair as she did, "I was really sorry about that costume you know, like you can't even imagine.

"Anyway, I better go find the others. I'm sure if you're like this, then they'll need a nurse on hand. Have to help in some way, right?"

Getting up for the second time, she ambled forward but once again swung on her heel. Hastily, she began to work on her hoodie, pulling the article off quickly before throwing it over Yamamoto's torso. Happy with her work, and reassured that the idiot was warm and seen too, she continued on.

This building truly put on a good, creepy act as she headed up its crumbling and grim steps. Just like the stairs, the walls crumbled also, each of them covered in moss. Plus it smelt damp, part of her would perceive that supervillains would try to make their hideouts more appealing but then again she assumed they were going for the eerie look. The sound of gentle footsteps came from behind, and she grew ridged with fear, her heart beating at full throttle. Swallowing down the fact that someone dangerous could be behind her, she clenched her fists, before quickly twirling around, readying herself for the possibility of an assailant. This possible assailant though, was no assailant, but instead the young boy she had seen with Auntie Nana a few times, she couldn't recall his name. What was it? While she tried to guess his name, she ignored the terrified gaze of the child in front as he himself was also doing his own calculating, his fingers clutching nervously around a book that rested in his palms. What was this kid's name? Fuma? Foot? Fu-Futaa?

"Fuuta?" she asked quietly, and that's when their eyes met, perhaps he didn't recognise her, he really did look incredibly frightened.

"Are you ok?" the boy still wouldn't speak, so she took a tentative step forward, holding her palms outright. Her best approach right now was to make sure she didn't seem threatening. The jitte would have to stay put in her bag for now.

Again instead of talking, the book in his hands opened hastily, pages flying, his eyes all over them, darting back and forth wildly. His brows furrowed together as he shut his book furiously.

"Do you go to Kyouko Highschool?" he demanded, his fingers clenching tightly around his book, and Nanako flinched, sheepishly rubbing her arm before shaking her head. Again the book was gripped in a death hold, and from what Nanako could see, soon it began to bend under the boy's small but surprisingly strong fingers.

"Then where?!" the boy cried out, and once again the book was open, and he began to flicker through it frantically as if he had missed something the first time round. In simpler terms, something was definitely up with the supposedly calm looking child that she had seen with her Aunt. As she reached over, leaning in a bit to get a closer look, the kid snapped the book together, and once again Nanako flinched at the frenzied act. Without warning, tears started to roll down the cheeks of the child in front, and without thinking Nanako felt her fingers meet gently with the boy's shoulders and in reply he winced, staring up with wild, tear-filled eyes.

"Fuuta, why are you here? It's dangerous for a kid," she said, trying hard not to sound anxious herself. Keep calm, grasp the situation; you need to calm him down.

"Who are you? There's no girl in my rankings book!" the boy cried out, and Nanako's once gentle grip tightened at the book's announcement. Rankings book, so she wasn't wrong! Originally, she had thought they were just attacked because they were undoubtedly strong, only in the back of her mind did she think that there was a strategic technic. And if this was the case, why had Fuuta let it fall into the wrong hands? Wasn't he like a little brother to Tsuna?!

With this in mind, she scowled at the child in front, before quickly snatching the book from his hands. She ignored the gasp from the other, but took a sneaky look back in his direction, noticing the tears had dissolved and instead horror etched his features.

"Give it back," he ordered, shaking with…was that fear or anger? Nanako couldn't quite fathom, but either way, she was wanted to be sure that the book was the object behind the attacks. Skimming through, even with the child beginning to yell at her, she finally hit what she was looking for. Biting her bottom lip, she scrunched her eyes at the evident list of Namimori Middle School's strongest. Just like she had expected, the list was topped by her missing stepbrother, but her worst fears were confirmed when she noticed handwriting, different from the list, besides the names, as if they were notes.

'Dealt with', the words scribbled by Kyouya's name caused her to grimace, dealt with how?! Dealt with how?! As she reached the bottom of the list, she noticed how it got unmistakably weaker, and some of these were unconsidered even by her standards.

"I never make a mistake, who are you? Give it back!" the boy's cries got louder, his hands now scratching at her for the book. She smacked him away, there was no sympathy now.

"Fuuta, who's notes are these?!" she snapped, turning the book around and stabbing angrily at the annotations beside the list.

"I-I…they're… give it—

"FUUTA," the kid's frantic persona was rubbing off on her but she needed to know, these notes, belonged to whoever was behind these attacks, and she needed to know not only for her cousin's sake, and not just Yamamoto's, but also Kyouya.

"They're mine."

He laid, battered and bruised on a dirt covered floor, he had no idea where he was, but he was aware of one thing, he was furious. How the hell had Cherry Blossoms suddenly become his weakness?! He was Hibari Kyouya, he didn't have weaknesses, and if he did they wouldn't be something so pathetic! Growling as he sat up, he tried to deny the aching in his joints and the fatigue that developed greatly. How long had he been here? It felt like forever. He was aware he had been sleeping a good time ever since the bastard with the pineapple haircut had taken advantage of that stupid weakness and knocked him out. There was something not quite right about that bastard also, how on earth could he summon stuff out of nowhere? That was physically impossible; in fact Kyouya could only weigh up in his mind that the other was possibly a magician, monster, hypnotist, or all three put together. Either way Kyouya decided that his tactics were nothing but dirty tricks, perhaps without his dirty tricks Kyouya could murder him. He had never considered murder up to now, but it boiled within him thanks to the humiliation of the state he was currently in.

The room he was in seemed to possess no door, nor did it have windows, or anything else that could be exited or entered, in fact how he was put here was beyond him. In spite of the emptiness, he wasn't the only living lifeform detained there, and instead a testy little bird resided not far from him, and when it finally caught sight of him in the dark, it launched for him, pecking wildly at his cut up cheek. It didn't hurt though, in fact, he smirked, regardless of the humiliation he felt, the bird reminded him of something in particular, well not something but someone. The lacklustre but enthusiastic attempts to hurt him were so reminiscent of the girl at home that he couldn't help feel better. Despite the fact she drove him wild and left him confused to no end, the strangely pleasant feeling he got from recalling their hug lingered on his mind. He wasn't one to feel happy about affection, if Hibari was anything he was most definitely not a romantic, but even he, who declared all affection was disgusting, couldn't help fall for the lure of the warmth of someone else. It had been years since he had been hugged or hugged anyone, and like his childish self he had given into as if a memory locked away had triggered it into him. His last hug previous to that one had been from his mother before she had selfishly left his life. He was just glad that the hug they had shared had been nothing like the sweet smelling woman of his childhood, but instead had its own scent. Anti-septic, blood, sweat and a perfume far different from his mother's, the hug was far more distinct than those he had experienced. Again, just thinking about it caused a warm flurry to spread throughout his body, and while comforting it was, it also caused him to scrunch up his nose in disgust. The prospect of being attracted to anyone, let alone someone he was supposed to consider a sibling, was so weak and revolting. The only thing keeping from crossing the line now was the words of the other's mother and the way she had practically begged him to look after her daughter, his little sister. Who knew, perhaps he didn't just a soft spot for just animals and children but women as well. It bugged him now; here he was laid on the floor, hardly able to move, when there was the possibility that even she could have been attacked by Namimori middle school's attackers. The whole thought seemed far too plausible for his liking also because he was more than acquainted with the fact the girl was a magnet for trouble, almost as if it was metaphorically enticed by her.

In his delirious state, the bird that continued to peck him throughout his thoughts, and grown tired and instead looked rather exhausted. In spite of the fact he could hardly move his arms; he lifted his arm up, ignoring the weighty feeling, and ran his fingertips over the bird's fluffy body gently. First it flinched, but after a while, it had relaxed into the touch of his fingers. Retracting his hand, the bird tweeted in protest, but as if it was aware of his condition it ended its noisy habit. It's beady, black eyes blinking back at him as if it was feeling sympathy towards him.

How ridiculous, being pitied by a bird, but at the same time, the sincere sensation was back, especially when the bird proceeded to curl up beside his cheek in an attempt to keep him warm. Yup, the earnest personality of this bird was far too reminiscent of his idiot stepsister.

A disconcerting pair of eyes and a shit eating grin was the first thing Nanako observed, followed by a disposition that mocked one of someone approachable but instead caused goose bumps to decorate her arms. Who was this guy?

"Now just who might you be?" a voice as smooth as his apparent laid-back mien initiated her taking a step back. Was it out of fright or the fact something about this guy just felt so wrong?

"The notes…are yours?" she muttered, her stance leaning back defensively, one hand travelling into her bag as she subtly tried to grab for her weapon, her fingers wrapping around it loosely.

"Yes, you did ask, and now I've answered a question of yours, then perhaps you'll do me the pleasure of answering mine," the stranger spoke without a hint of hesitation, and far too politely at that.

Shaking her head, the start of a deep scowl had begun to surface on her face, he fingertips now firmly secure around her weapon.

"So you're behind this!" she had found her voice this time, her hand pulling the weapon out of her back and pointing it in his direction. At the sight of the weapon, she noticed the light in those unnerving eyes sparkle, and the grin had been replaced with a smarmy closed mouth smile, her body shuddering in reply to it.

"Now, now, no need to be rude," the other chuckled, before his eyes narrowed at the younger boy in the room who was cowering even harder than she was. If they were working together why would Fuuta be so terrified? That's unless—

God damn it, how could she have been so thoughtless, it was more than clear that the other boy was being threatened by this fucking creep opposite. And she had yelled at him, shot such a glare at him as well. There was no time to linger in the guilt though as the other took an intimidating step closer to Fuuta, the little boy flinching in response, his eyes squeezing shut as if this man was just a bad dream.

"Fuuta, I feel like I've seen her around Namimori Middle School, why wasn't she on your list?" the other stated, his voice superficially pleasant as the other trembled.

"I-I don't know, I don't know, maybe she's not a fighter—

"Yet here she is pointing a very unique weapon at me Fuuta, plus from the definition on her arms, there's certainly evidence of physical training, so tell me why did she not make it onto your list?" the guy's pleasant act was slipping and soon his tone got more venomousness.

The boy continued to tremble, obviously too scared to even speak, his lips trying to form words, but only gasps and whimpers escaped from his lips.

"Fuuta—

She had enough, without thought, she shot between the two, defensively placing the weapon in front of her as the villain's eyes widened in surprise.

"Quick and forgotten, perhaps that's why someone like you wasn't on the list," the other pronounced, his smirk increasing and his eyes sparkling at the prospect of a possible challenge. In spite of the brave face and her current set of skills, for Fuuta to appear so horrified just by the mere presence of this teenager was enough to make Nanako realise that running away, taking Fuuta with her was feasibly her best option. She wasn't weak anymore, she had proved that by taking down the group of hoodlums but even that was a struggle for her. The training had been going on for months now, but there was still much room for improvement, frankly there was a lot of room. Besides, if Kyouya had fallen victim to this man like the notes had indicated then what chance did she have.

"You're not as good at your job as I thought Fuuta," the other chided, shaking his finger in disapproval to the boy cowering behind her. It wasn't long till she felt Fuuta's fingers grasp tightly onto the bottom of her shirt, his shaky manner coursing through her clothes and through her body. He was no longer the only one frightened at present; soon she too was experiencing the effects of the aura leaking off the teenager, it outwardly dark, thick and bizarrely suffocating. Not taking her eyes off the boy in front, not even for a second, she issued her plan of action for the little boy behind her, "Fuuta, go now, get out of here!"

Nanako could sense the boy's hesitance and alarm as she ordered him, but it wasn't long till those fingers entwined with her shirt had been removed and the sound of hasty footsteps made its way down the corridor, until soon they could no longer be heard.

Neither one of the two remaining spoke, and as if substituted for words, a stare off was born. Hazel met heterochromia, and unlike her, whilst the other wasn't glaring there was something seemingly venomous about the way he was staring at her. What she didn't expect was for him to take a step forward in her direction and instantly out of reaction she retreated backwards, swinging the weapon wildly in the space between them.

"Stay back," she barked struggling to sound more assertive and less like the petrified little girl she actually was. She needed to be brave; she had to stay brave, for her own sake. There was no way she was giving this guy even the benefit of her fear.

"It's funny, for someone not on Fuuta's list, how is it you know him?" the other asked, tilting his head closer, looming over her despite the weapon wedged between them.

It was hard not to flinch then, nevertheless Nanako remained silent, she wasn't about to give herself away. If Tsuna was the possible result target of all these attacks –in which she was certain he was- then being a family member would set her cousin at a disadvantage if she were to be attacked. For now the plan was to bluff her way out and in the process prove that she was no advantage for whoever this guy was.

Had she heard this guy's name before? Putting two and two together, she recalled back to the voice that had shrieked at her from inside the dark hole towards the front.

"You're Mukuro, aren't you?" The way the other's eyes flashed in recognition at her words confirmed it for her. This guy was 'Mukuro' and if she remembered correctly, the voice from the whole at practically screamed at her that 'Mukuro' would 'kill' anyone before they would even get a chance to defeat him.

"Oh, it seems you know my name? How sweet. Now where did you learn that?" his words dripped with venom and the pretend sweetness dispersed completely, leaving only a hard and spiteful looking appearance. In reaction to this, Nanako couldn't stop her back hitting the wall and this time, even with the tip of her Jitte pressing firmly into his chest, he was well in truly too close to her, his body inclined over her in an intrusive fashion. Trapped, she was utterly trapped this time.

The closer he got, a dreadful feeling pooled in her stomach, it wasn't the first time she had experienced this, in actual fact, she had almost felt like she had met Mukuro before. To be more specific, even though she had not once seen his distinct features, the figure that loomed behind these gates and had rushed towards her like a phantom as she had walked past Kokuyo land previous was most definitely him. So to some degree in her mind, the guy in front wasn't entirely human. Or if he was simply a human there was power he possessed that no average Joe could acquire. Peering up at him, she hit his eyes dead with her gaze. Perhaps his eyes were the cause of his powers. Standing in front of her was a monster in human form, and though she hadn't seen what he could do, she could imagine that to strike such fear into a child (despite having the face of a harmless and charming teenage boy) meant it was grisly. She wasn't in a fairy tale anymore; once again she couldn't compare this guy to the bullies. If she was to get out unscathed, she would need to run and run faster than she ever could before. Reborn was right, she was not ready for this, but then a frightful thought wracked her brain. If she was not ready, then how could someone like Tsuna be ready for this? She prayed for their sake that Reborn had a back-up plan.

The weapon that seemed to be her saviour at the moment was being glanced at; the smirk returning to his face as the boy gently ran his fingertips down the body.

"I've seen a weapon very similar to this a few days ago, a certain prefect came by, he was at the top of Fuuta's list, a disappointment really."

KYOUYA! As if her thought at triggered something the other's hands were around her neck, her weapon clattering to the floor loudly, her back hitting the wall again sharply, the air escaping her lungs.

A childish laugh resounded in her ears, but she could hardly concentrate thanks to the hold Mukuro had on her throat.

Limbs squirming, trying to ignore the pain, she reached up and clenched at the wrists around her neck. Wrenching them off, she took a deep exhale, but the battle hadn't ended there and his hands were again gunning to be wrapped around her throat until it snapped.

A struggle began and the overwhelming strain of pushing back the other and the effects of the previous chokehold were wearing on her, if it wasn't for the adrenaline she didn't know how she would be coping.

"That's it, you came here for him didn't you, who knew that monster had someone, so what are you to him? His girlfriend?" the other spat, leaning in closer as she momentarily stumbled.

Keeping up the fight, she spat back, "The real monster is you!"

That laugh exploded yet again, followed by the most distressing of all of his current expressions, the bloodlust shimmering in his eyes, "Yes, I am! But don't worry, neither of you will be around to see my success."

This guy was off his rocker, Nanako needed to find Tsuna now, he was here somewhere, and she needed to warn him beforehand. Needed to warn not only him but his friends too, Reborn also!

Using his blood-lust and arrogance to her advantage, she dropped to her knees and reached for her weapon, quickly clasping it before scrambling away in the other direction. What she wasn't prepared for though was a hand that yanked her back in her assailant's direction. As she began to tumble, she tried to increase the weight of her fall, if she was going down; he was certainly not going to have the upper hand of being on his feet either!

The plan worked and both of them hit the floor unceremoniously, a gaggle of tangled and writhing limbs. Yet there still remained a problem, if she stayed underneath him for too long those constricting digits would once more be gripping her throat. With the momentary stun of the other, she rolled to face him sideways, kicking her legs out viscously into his stomach, before rolling again. Springing to her feet, she darted to the end of the hallway, not bothering to look back, as long as she had her weapon –which is securely in her right hand- then glancing behind would merely get her caught again.

Finally sure that the other wasn't chasing her down, the evident smell of blood hit her nostrils and like a lot of what she had already seen today, she was greeted with the sight of two bodies. What was different on this occasion though was one belonged to the boy she had seen sat in the hole. So these were Mukuro's minions?

Who had put these guys out of commission though? Were they even still alive? From the sight of the hallway and the marks of a small explosion she had a feeling Gokudera had partaken in their downfall, but a familiar bruise on the cheek of the minion she didn't recognise filled her with some relief. The shape was reminiscent to a mark she had once received from a certain someone and despite the situation, she couldn't help feeling pleased. Her stupidly arrogant stepbrother had been here! And if he could fight these guys off then surely he wasn't as Fuuta's book had proclaimed! What a relief! Now her attention could have been brought to other important things such as finding Tsuna. On the other hand though was that the mark on the other's cheek was so half hearted and rather lacklustre for someone such as Kyouya, regardless of the fact the minions were down, there a possible chance that her stepbrother was on his last legs too! Heading up the steps, she nearly screamed as the boys in front got up effortless, as if possessed by a higher power. Their eyes resembled dead fish, stony and distant. The way they shuffled forward couldn't stop Nanako from wincing at the sight, their wounds dripping disgustingly onto the floor beneath them. Were they zombies?!

Getting prepared for battle –these were villains after all- she stepped back into a stance, pointing the Jitte defensively in their direction. Glassy eyes, cold and dead as if they belonged on a corpse blinked back at her momentarily, and one set lingered more than before grinning wildly. Swallowing down the fear that convulsed through her body, she took a few cautious steps in their direction, her Jitte held outright.

"You can run for as long as you like, you won't get in the way of my plan though," a voice chimed from the boy's battered and bleeding lips and she gulped aloud. That voice, even if it belonged to someone else currently, was unquestionably Mukuro. Except how was that even possible! The fear to a certain extent dissolved and instinct took over, and she got to his level. The blonde ignored her and continued on up the stairway before crashing through the double doors clear in the distance. Yet, the other boy made a swipe, his scrunched up fist narrowly missing her forehead as she ducked just in time. Fighting on stairs was difficult, whilst ducking, she almost fell trying to keep her balance. In turn to his attack, she launched her own, smacking the Jitte into his chin in an uppercut like manner. It hit the other square on the jaw and in return the body seemed knocked back, but there was no sign of anguish from the other, but was there blood, yes, and an alarming amount; it splattering against her cheek. Flinching, the sight and feel of the wet substance on her cheek momentarily paralysed her and with this the other smiled, it smarmy and interested, but instead of taking her clear stun to his advantage, 'Mukuro' turned and followed the other, the sound of the double doors crashing loudly in her ears. Why hadn't he gone down? She had hit him really hard, why didn't he seem hurt, what was going on? The thought of that terrified her, and she shuddered violently, almost too petrified to take another step. Why did she get this cold feeling that the boy before her was no longer there but instead being controlled by Mukuro as if his minions really were his puppets and he was the disturbing puppet master. The fear mixed with the blood that still remained bright crimson and damp on her cheek created a brief hold on her unyielding body. Just why was she so alarmed by this? Knocked out of her trance, she commenced her chase after the two bad guys, in spite of the sickening feeling that piled in the bottom of her stomach. Would Mukuro get to Tsuna before her warning!?

Unfortunately for her the stupefaction that she had endured had caused her to lose track on the two males, and instead she was left to listen out to the sound of screams and angry cries, each pricking her ears, one her cousin and the other...Mukuro. Her worse fears confirmed, she continued on as the voices grew louder and louder as she proceeded up a certain hallway and that familiar voice that she had heard throughout many scenes of her childhood got more and more livid, something she thought she would never hear. Cousin Tsuna was definitely behind these doors and Mukuro had found him. Pressing her palms against the heavy frame, she cracked the doors open, but before she could advance, a light, so blinding and pristine filled her vision.

"MUKURO! EVEN IF I'M DYING I WILL DEFEAT YOU!" An announcement so strong and determined cut through the light and caused her to recoil backwards. Never in her entire life had she heard Cousin Tunafish sound like that, and as she pushed the door open more to get a better look at the scene, stood upright, intense with an aura like the most scorching of flames, was her wimp of a cousin. Just the mere sight of the brave, composed warrior ahead brought her to terms with why Reborn and the present boss of the Vongola were so insistent Tsuna was the successor. This was the true power her cousin had possessed all along. Flabbergasted, she watched as a scene of mayhem took place. Tsuna darted back and forth, effortlessly knocking the controlled boy from earlier to the ground as if he were merely a fly. What left Nanako really bewildered though was the fact that both Bianchi and Gokudera were taking turns at swiping at Tsuna. Everyone knew that neither of them would betray Tsuna in any circumstance, and that's when it hit her full on. Those dead-eyed expressions were not only for that seemingly immortal boy but they were also present on the faces of her cousin's friends. Her suspicions were correct; Mukuro really was the human equivalent of the puppet master. Tsuna took a heavy blow to his face thanks to Gokudera, and despite how painful it appeared, he didn't flinch, catching them both mid-punch and in the process rendering them unconscious before letting them down gently to the floor. Amber eyes graced her vision as her cousin glanced hastily across the room, looking for a certain something or someone and in return he stared callously as the figure of the tall, foreign mastermind she had fought from earlier arose from the floor, accompanied by that heinous snicker.

Even thoughshe could hear a fair amount of the conversation from the other room, in order to stay hidden, the door had to stay partially closed and in turn it made it harder to hear what Tsuna was barking at the other. If she was to attack now, she would not only expose herself but also put Tsuna at a disadvantage. Mukuro really was the real deal. The shameless and brutal attacks, all this bloodshed, it was him. Regardless of the playful expression on the other's face, she felt it held no affection like the one he had presented her with and with it the hairs on the back of her neck raised like a deer caught in the headlights. Itching to help, she sighed and realised all she was good for right now was observing and taking in the full aspect of the lifestyle that she had agreed to fall into.

The battle had been ruthless but without a doubt this time good guys had clearly prevailed, just like in the movies, but not without a price.

"It has ended," Reborn's words brought her out of her musings, and finally the door that she had been peeking through collapsed underneath her, rowdily announcing her appearance.

"N-Nanako?!" her cousin snapped in surprise but before the lecture could begin, a presence of someone or several others loomed behind her and the hazel eyes of her cousin widened in surprise and above her head flew chains, attaching themselves tightly onto the necks of the three obvious criminals in the room. Despite her cousin's protest, Nanako curled herself into a ball as three severely injured bodies were dragged mercilessly away in her direction, a limp arm brushing past her in the process. Wincing, she felt the drag of someone's fingernails scrap down her arm, but she didn't bother looking up. Once the cold looming manifestation and the demands of her cousin had died down, Nanako finally opened her eyes and stood upright; taking a few steps before once again company was present beside her, this time in the form of a gaggle of stretchers and lab coats. Through a sea of white, she felt oddly misplaced with her lack of serious injuries, despite the bruises, fresh scratch and hand prints decorating her throat like a sordid necklace , they were nothing compared to each stretcher filled with the sick and fatigued of Tsuna's gang. Her mission's prospect however finally made itself clear, as battered beyond belief and looking fragile, vulnerable, and alien on the pristine stretcher was no other than Kyouya. Without thinking, her hands reached out and stilled the stretcher that belonged to her stubborn, arrogant, step-brother. The doctor opposite tried to shake her off.

"Miss we need to tend to his wounds," the doctor stated sternly as her hands still remained routed to the stretcher. Just what was she going to tell her mother? Just what was she going to tell the worried man at home? It was blatant that she had lied about Kyouya's safety, and if he was to see this just how heartbroken would he be? What she felt really guilty about though was the fact she hadn't helped these guys sooner. She hadn't fought alongside them, and instead remained in the shadows like the creep and coward that she was. Mortified tears trickled down her cheeks and she fell to her knees.

"Nanako, let him go," Reborn demanded strictly, and with his reprimands her fingers slowly uncurled from the fabric, and just like that the stretcher containing Kyouya was snatched and carted out the door, leaving her to quietly sit in a regretful heap on the damaged wooden floor.

"I told you not to come here Medusa," Reborn uttered, and with it Nanako remained wordlessly, her face becoming progressively dirtier with her guilt-ridden tears.

"Stop crying, you're as bad as Tsuna," as she was told off, she sniffled louder, her hands dragging mercilessly against her now sore eyes.

"Reborn, I'm shameful," she announced into the empty room, her voice breaking out into small heartbroken sobs, "I should have helped. I should have ran faster! I was coming to warn you guys. I shouldn't have waited while Tsuna was attacked! I should have been with these guys. Perhaps if I were like Yamamoto or Gokudera everyone wouldn't have been so injured, if I were there perhaps I could have –

"Nanako, the results of today would have remained the same even if you had intervened. In fact, if you had, Tsuna would have had one more person to protect and can you imagine the trouble everyone would have faced, it might have ended in favour of the other team."

"What are these?" Reborn's tiny hands pointed to the marks around her neck. Nanako rubbed at her sore throat and shrugged.

"Medusa!" the nickname was back again, but it hadn't meant to sound endearing, the baby below her wanted answers.

"I ran into Fuuta earlier and in the process, I met Mukuro, I was trying to protect Fuuta, I wasn't thinking, we fought, I realised Reborn, you're right, the league he was on was insane compared to the level I'm currently on, for once…I felt true fear!"

Silence took over the space, and Nanako blinked through watery eyes as the baby's stare grew more intense.

"Nanako, tell me this," his tone was strangely calm, "Did Mukuro find out you were related to Tsuna? Did Mukuro find out your name?"

"No, at most he thinks I'm my stepbrother's girlfriend, but he never found out my name, not once," she mumbled through more falling tears.

In a flash, her collar was gripped and her crying came to an abrupt halt as she was met with two large black eyes boring into her.

"Nanako Euguchi, you can stay pitiful on this dirty floor or you can acknowledge something incredibly important."

'Incredibly important?'

"Nanako, Mukuro based the attacks on a chart made by a world class stats collector, and in terms of Namimori Middle School and their strongest, you didn't appear. Was it because you are not strong enough? Most would assume, but in fact if people were aware of your presence and your connection to Tsuna and the mafia then you would have been one of the first targeted. Nanako Euguchi, you are an unknown entity to Tsuna's potential and current enemies and for that you can become an ultimate weapon."

She didn't quite understand. What did he mean by unknown? Wouldn't family be the most known thing about a person over friends and acquaintances?

Before she could raise a query, Reborn stopped her in her tracks, "Just muse over it ok. Now let's go join the others."

Reborn perched on her shoulder and tapped the back of her head forward as if prompting her to get up and move, and in command she did.

"By the way, heard from the medic team that Yamamoto and Lanchia outside were tended too, so there might be a phantom Florence Nightingale around the area, now who just could that be?" the baby whispered teasingly into her ear.

"You did good kid."

Choking out one last guttered sniffle, a small smile cracked on her face as she realised that just maybe she wasn't as useless as she had thought.

A/N: Oh gee whiz I'm alive. University got me, like it's got me in its arty clutches. I've had like little to no time or drive for anything despite throwing out projects for my illustration course.

Here's a new chapter though, my apologies if it makes you cringe, and even though I believe I've proofed read it about a gazillion times , there is bound to be grammar or spelling mistakes in their somewhere, so I'm sorry beforehand :').

Hope I didn't butcher the characters; this chapter was freaking hard to write for god knows what reason.

I'm hoping to write some more soon, however, again might be difficult with university life.

Thank you to anyone who previously reviewed this story (honestly comments literally make my day), and those who have bookmarked my story, I appreciate it guys, seeing as I'm not the best of writers.

Don't wanna seem cheeky, but leave me a comment if you feel like you can. Hopefully I won't get a severe case of writers block for the next chapter.

The problem is seeing as i'm trying to go by the timeline of the actual manga chapters, and Enma is going to be a featuring character, I have to build it up slowly. Future arc and Varia is still to come and I've got plans for how Shimon arc will go but those two are currently being calculated.

Anywho, bye. Majora's mask remaster is out today in the UK, so I bought it for myself as a single girl present for valentines day hahah (It'll consume my soul).