Disclaimer: No, I don't own Katekyo Hitman Reborn! or any of the characters. All rights go solely to Amano Akira.

A/N:

It has been far too long since my last update.

But I'm here, I'm alive, and I'm so thankful for those who have supported me, and those who are still here.

I'll be including a longer author's note at the end of the chapter, so if you want to hear anything I have to say at all ( and I kind of really hope you do ) that's where I'll be. After around two and a half years, I'm sure that any of you that are still here are itching to read what happens next. I know what that's like.

And so, to keep it short and simple in this top part; Thank you for waiting. I'm sorry that you had to wait.

This story will see completion one day, whether it be months from now, or years-but it will happen.

So finally, the fifteenth chapter of You, Who Will Never Be Bound. ENJOY!

CHAPTER FIFTEEN;

"Sparks"

I was slightly nervous as I entered Nami Middle's main entrance, the hallways still vacant and the air still. It had been a few days since I had last stepped foot in the building, but it felt like I had been gone for years. Everything almost seemed new to me again—just almost. It felt like I was on a novel adventure once more, and I couldn't help but smile through my anxiety.

My stomach fluttered queasily, because I was going to see Hibari again after a handful of missed days. I wondered if anything would change between us—would he tell me to get out again and truly mean it, like when I had first come? Had any and all progress, if that even occurred, vanished with my absence? I hoped desperately that he wasn't going to push me away again and rebuild all his walls, because I hadn't even had the chance to try and break them yet.

Being bedridden for a while gave me a lot of time to think, and I was slightly embarrassed to admit it, but I found myself thinking about Hibari a lot. Not in any romantic sense or anything, but I was curious about him. Fascinated. Perhaps it was his loneliness and his desire for solitude that made me gravitate towards him, because I was the complete opposite. I liked being with other people, and being alone made me feel... uneasy. Sometimes.

Maybe most of the time.

A part of me believed that a lot of it had to do with the fact that Hibari always seemed so lonely. And misunderstood. People were always avoiding him like he was the plague, or they were afraid of him like they believed he would just whip out his tonfas and murder them on the spot—not that it seemed too far-fetched, but still!

Hibari was kind. Just... in an odd way that you had to look for. And nobody really looked for it in him. I wanted people to see that part of the skylark. I wanted to see more of that side of him. Surely, even to someone who preferred to be alone, being pre-judged and just a label must be suffocating. I just hoped that I could somehow bring out the kinder side of the Cloud Guardian.

The Sun Arcobaleno had said all I needed to do was be myself. Dino had always said something similar to that, too. But I felt like by being myself, all I was doing was annoying the prefect. He didn't seem to like me very much, and although I wasn't going to give up on befriending him, it was impossible not to feel slightly deterred.

Shaking my head roughly, I chided myself. I wasn't supposed to be mulling over this stuff or brooding. I was going to be Hibari's friend. Definitely. It was my goal from the very beginning, and I was going to see it through.

Stopping in front of the Disciplinary Committee's room, I inhaled deeply and shut my eyes, giving myself a moment to compose my thoughts. As I exhaled slowly and got a grip on my emotions, I found myself grinning at the thought of seeing the aloof Guardian after so long. Reaching forward, I slid open the door loudly—I had been a bit too forceful due to my newfound excitement—and immediately, my eyes landed on the person that sat behind the mahogany desk.

Nothing had changed in the slightest. His paperwork was in their usual two stacks, his curtains only halfway drawn. There was no garbage or idle items anywhere; everything had a spot, and everything remained there. Well, until I came and—unintentionally and only occasionally—created a small mess. Tiny ones. I always tried to clean up after myself, too.

Hibari was sitting there, pen in hand as he gracefully slid it along the paper to form his signature. His obsidian strands remained neat and unfazed, his blue-grey eyes still as icy and cold as ever. The features of his face immediately contorted upon resting on me, but I still couldn't read him well enough to tell if it was good or bad.

"Good morning, Hibari!" I exclaimed brightly, my smile so wide I felt like my face was going to split in half if I tried to smile even the tiniest bit wider. I skipped into the room, almost forgetting to shut the door behind me as I entered. I placed my bag down on the floor next to the couch in its usual spot and approached the Guardian who eyed me warily and in distaste.

"You're back." It was a statement, not a question. He didn't sound pleased about it, either.

Amused, I nodded my head and placed a cup of untouched coffee down onto the desk, pushing it towards him. "Yup! Sorry I've been out so long. I got you some coffee. How have you been lately?" I had to stop myself from blurting out that Dino had told me about his unusual behaviour.

He glowered at the coffee cup for a moment before shifting his narrowed eyes up to meet mine. "Be quiet. Your constant jabbering is too noisy and annoying."

Undeterred by his response and his glare, I merely continued smiling at him. I couldn't let his words hit me too hard, or else I would just end up getting discouraged again. I honestly couldn't spot anything different about him—his reactions and his words seemed perfectly normal to me. I didn't understand what about him was unusual or peculiar. Had he just been feeling a bit sick the times he had met up with Dino?

"I'm sorry about all the trouble I might have caused you," I apologized, the upward tilt of my lips turning sheepish.

His eyes narrowed a fraction more. "Ho? How arrogant. It appears that you must have damaged your brain. Herbivore, you aren't so significant."

Surprise covered my expression as I tried not to wince at his words. Harsh. I reminded myself that it was Hibari—Hibari—although my free hand absentmindedly clenched into a loose fist. I almost choked on my own saliva at his words, a sigh threatening to escape me. He really couldn't have put it in a nicer way, could he? But it wasn't because of his cold words or tone that threw me off. It was the fact that he completely misinterpreted what I meant.

"No, no!" I objected, blinking at him for a moment. "I don't expect you to be fazed or anything. It's just that I know Tsuna and Yamamoto and everyone... They might have caused you trouble because they have a tendency to panic. I'm sure that they must have bothered you about visiting or something. I'm sorry about that. I know you don't like crowding."

The look he gave me was scrutinizing. It was an apathetic, rather disagreeable kind of gaze, but it somehow remained faintly contemplative. I could only stare back at him, eyebrows pulled together slightly and an awkward, perplexed expression on my face. I didn't know why he was looking at me like that—did I have something on my cheek? Was my hair still sticking up everywhere like a bird's nest, even though I had thrown the long strands into a messy side braid?

My eyes widened in horror when a thought hit me—was my tongue still dyed that terrible shade of lime green from that candy Lambo had given me this morning?

Embarrassed and a bit mortified, I immediately reached up to slap my hand up against my mouth in a pathetic attempt to hide what he had already seen. I felt my face warm, and it took everything I had not to just turn around and run to the nearest washroom to scrub that colour out. He probably thought I was joking this entire time and wasn't taking him seriously! What was I going to do if he thought I had a green tongue permanently because it was some kind of side effect of the antidote Bianchi gave me? What if he thought that my tongue was poisonous?!

Flustered, my words came out muffled and tripping over one another, because I refused to move my hand and flash him my blinding tongue. "It's not what you think! I didn't—I know it's a bad colour and you probably think I was turned into a half-monster human or something, but it's not that! This morning, Lambo gave me some candy and I didn't even think about it when—"

"How strong is he?" His unexpected question threw me off, making my mouth snap closed instantly upon hearing him speak. His eyes dropped down to stare at the documents in front of him for a moment before meeting mine again, the look in them piercing.

Confused, my eyebrows knotted together. "Lambo? Well, he's still only five, so he's not too strong physically, but give him a few years—"

"Not that small animal," he interrupted again. His expression was solemn as he elaborated curtly, "The one you fought."

Realization dawned on me, and I felt stupid for not understanding who he meant right away. I almost wanted to slam my head into the wall, because I felt a bit embarrassed, too. Why would he want to know about Lambo randomly, anyway?

"Masaru's..." I paused, trying to find the right word for the infuriating poison-wielding man. Just thinking about him made me want to punch something or roll around in my bed and scream into my pillow. Everything about him was so—so—maddening. I frowned deeply at the thought of him, and eventually settled with saying, "Difficult."

"You're merely weak," he objected flatly.

"Maybe," I admitted carelessly, "but rather than his abilities being unique and frightening, I think what's most difficult about him is his attitude. I don't think I've ever met anyone who has irked me so much." At least with Levi we were both relatively civil with one another despite our mutual dislike for the other. The Varia member would always try and throw insults that would hurt me or cause my feathers to ruffle, but he never tried to break me.

And that had been exactly what Masaru had been endeavouring to do.

The skylark shifted his attention from me down to his paperwork again. His pen hit the paper, and he had an air of disinterest as he stated, "How boring."

"You're not interested at all?" Curiosity laced my voice. I was aware that Hibari didn't like wasting his time fighting people that he didn't consider worthy, but he just brushed Masaru off so easily. "He's a skilled fighter. I think his poison is what makes things tip to his advantage, though."

"No. Rather than 'difficult,' poison is exasperating," he retorted without even batting an eyelash.

"It is," I agreed. I tried to imagine Hibari and Masaru engaging in battle together, and the more I thought about it, the more I wanted to cringe. It didn't take a pot of creativity to see a really tense scene—they would definitely not make a good combination. I could imagine Hibari getting incredibly angry, and so would Masaru. "M-Maybe it's better that you don't want to fight him."

Pivoting on my heels lightly, I turned and walked back to the sleek couch, plopping down on it. Grabbing one of the cushions, I placed it in my lap and hugged it to me. I took a sip of my own black coffee before asking him, interested, "Has anything worthwhile happened while I was away from school?"

"What a pointless question," was his response. It told me everything that I needed to know, and I almost wanted to laugh and sigh at the same time. Hibari was a horrible conversationalist. I wondered whether he spent his days just milling around Nami Middle, or if he had skipped out and done other things. I couldn't picture the onyx-haired Disciplinary Committee leader not coming to school, though. After all, he was so attached to this place.

Something resurfaced in my mind while I continued to muse about the Guardian, and I nearly slapped myself for not remembering to ask this earlier. It had always been something I'd been meaning to inquire about, too! "Hibari, why are you still at Nami Middle? It's not a big deal or anything, but I thought that once you hit sixteen here in Japan, you end up having to go to high school."

He stilled for a moment before continuing like nothing was wrong. But he didn't answer me. The prefect merely continued to read over the content in the documents, his cold eyes sliding back and forth along the lines quickly. His lips seemed to slant downwards into a frown.

From the way he reacted, it was clear that it wasn't a subject he would open up on anytime soon. My lips thinned a bit as I pondered about what his reasons could possibly be. I came up with numerous scenarios, like him loving Nami Middle too much to move on, or not being able to attend because he had missed out on the exams, or something of that sort. I didn't think that Hibari couldn't make it because of his grades. Albeit he didn't seem like the studious type, I knew he was clever and intelligent. Perhaps none of the high schools would accept him because of his menacing aura and for his... much less-than-perfect record. After all, he got into fights so frequently, it was almost like he had to beat people for nutrition.

But a thought slammed into my head so hard, I almost toppled over. Before I could stop myself, I blurted out worriedly, "I-It's not a family thing, right? Y-You don't have a sister or someone who's in the hospital and you have to pay their medical bills and that's why you can't afford to go to high school, right?!"

"... You must be an idiot," he remarked, not even sparing me a glance. "What a cliché reason."

"You're evading the question!" I exclaimed, my breath still held in horror. My eyes were wide as I stared at him, concern bubbling in my stomach. Could it be possible that Hibari did have such an unfortunate circumstance? Did he really have a younger sister that was resting in a hospital?

He let out a barely audible sigh that frayed with irritation at the ends. "No." He paused briefly. "And if you insist on being so loud, I'll assume you're ready to get punished."

Unable to help it, I let out a laugh. I held a hand forward, palm facing him in a sign of surrender. "Sorry, sorry! I'll be quiet." It surprised me that he would even let me speak for so long. Normally, Hibari would only allow a few words of conversation before he told me to shut up or something along those lines.

I observed the Guardian with a smile stretched across my face. Somehow, even though I hadn't seen him in a while, it felt like rather than growing more distant with each other, we somehow got closer.

And from the way Hibari reached out fifteen minutes later to grasp the coffee cup and take a sip, I wanted to believe so, so badly that I wasn't the only one who thought that way.

"The Tanabata festival is coming up soon," Kyoko told me, a bright smile stretching across her face. Her eyes seemed to sparkle as she spoke of it, and she invited excitedly, "You have to come with us, Azumi-chan!"

"Tana... bata festival?" I repeated, befuddled. My eyebrows scrunched together as I stared at the orange-haired Nami Middle student sitting in front of me, my chopsticks carrying an egg roll halfway up to my mouth.

It sounded so familiar, but I still wasn't entirely sure what it was. I couldn't pinpoint it. I didn't think I had ever attended a festival that went by that name. Visiting in the summertime as a child was rare, and when I did, it would always be near the beginning of June or the end of August, when Iemitsu was allowed a short break to go home. I had never been in Japan during the month of July.

"Oh, that's right." Tsuna blinked his walnut eyes at me. "Since you were raised in Italy, Azumi, you probably don't know what a Tanabata festival is."

Curious, I stuffed the food in my mouth and chewed quickly, swallowing loudly before asking, "What is it?"

"It's basically an average festival," Gokudera stated matter-of-factly. "Except, for whatever reason, people are deluded into thinking that writing their romantic fantasies on differently coloured paper and tying it up on bamboo trees will somehow grant their wish." The small scoff that lit up the end of his sentence told everyone that Gokudera did not believe in such legends or rumours at all.

A small gasp left me. "Does this mean we get to wear yukatas?"

"Yes!" Kyoko clasped her hands together, so much happiness in that one word that I felt like it was a ball of sunshine and rainbows. "Have you ever worn one before, Azumi-chan?"

"No," I shook my head. Leaning forward, I could feel excitement swelling up inside of me as I exclaimed, "But I really, really want to try wearing one! I always see pictures of people wearing them around and they look so pretty!"

If possible, Kyoko's eyes shined even more. They practically looked like stars now, nothing dimming down the delight that ignited in her orbs. "Haru-chan and I plan to go shopping this weekend for our yukatas. Would you like to join us? It'll be so much fun with you there!"

"Can I?" My cerulean eyes were wide as I stared at her hopefully. It would be the first time I ever went yukata shopping, and I wanted to roll around on the floor in excitement. I had always wanted to wear one, but I had never visited Japan on occasions that allowed me to wear one in public without attracting odd looks. I had seen so many different colours and designs, just imagining the patterned fabric made me want to grin. Something about a yukata or a kimono was just so... grand. It was hard to explain, but ever since I was young, I'd always wanted to wear one. To finally be presented the opportunity and to actually go to a festival made me so giddy.

"Of course!" Kyoko nodded with gentle vigour. She beamed at me. "How does Saturday at eleven sound? Namimori Shopping Centre?"

"Great!" I agreed immediately, a wide smile stretching across my face. I could hardly wait that long—I was practically bursting with pleasant anticipation, my blood already thrumming.

Yamamoto laughed, the sound warm and full. When I looked over at him, he was lounging back on the palms of his hands. His light toffee eyes met my own questioning ones, and he flashed me a big smile. "You sure are excited, Azumi. You really haven't ever worn a yukata before? Do they not sell it over there in Italy?"

"I haven't ever encountered a place that sells them," I sighed. "And every time I've come to Japan, it's never been at a time appropriate to wear yukatas, so I never got the chance to buy one. I'm so excited!" I was practically bouncing up and down where I sat, the delight of the thought tingling through me. I'd always had some kind of affection for traditional Japanese clothing—the beauty and the regal aura were too astounding to resist.

"It's not like yukutas are a rare, exceptional thing here," Gokudera shot at me, his lips curling a bit downward. "Getting so happy over it makes you look like an idiot."

"But I'm not fully Japanese, and I've lived in Italy for most of my life, so I'm a foreigner!" It was only after the words had left my mouth, just a burst of exhilaration, before I realized how stupid that probably sounded. But it didn't even matter, because technically, I was considered a foreigner, wasn't I? I was sure that most people viewed me that way—blonde hair, blue eyes, somewhat tanned... I didn't have the standard Japanese kind of look, and I wasn't born or raised here.

Gokudera's palm connected with his face. "Idiot," he muttered under his breath.

"You'll love it!" Kyoko reassured me happily, nodding her head.

"We should all go together, to the extreme!" Ryohei exclaimed from where he sat next to his sister. He was grinning widely, his lips stretching from one side of his face to the other. "The festival will be much better if we're all together!"

"It'll probably be easier for Azumi too, since it's so crowded at festivals," Yamamoto mused aloud thoughtfully, laughing at the end. He probably imagined me getting swamped by the mobs of people, but I was sure that I wouldn't get lost. More like... Temporarily confused and directionally challenged.

Tsuna nodded in agreement, a slight smile gracing his features. "Yeah. Let's all go together."

"Will the Mist Guardian be joining us as well?" I asked eagerly, beaming at them. It had been a while since I first came to Namimori, and I still had yet to meet Chrome and the Kokuyo Gang. I had received a bit of information on them before coming, but there hadn't been much. It had all been quite vague. I had always meant to ask Reborn about that, but I never had the chance to. The reports on many of the Guardians weren't detailed and extremely short—for the background portion, at least. I was sure that he had obtained more information than just those tiny excerpts, though.

But then that made me wonder why he would purposely withhold that information from me.

The mention of the mysterious Guardian seemed to darken the bright topic a bit. Tsuna had practically frozen the moment the word "mist" fell from my lips, and the three other Guardians present seemed to share looks—although Ryohei and Yamamoto seemed to do so in a more oblivious manner than Gokudera.

"Uh... W-Well..." Tsuna scratched the back of his head awkwardly, avoiding my eyes.

"I don't see why not," Yamamoto said after a moment, shrugging his shoulders. An easy smile spread across his face. "We can go and ask her sometime!"

"Can we go today after school?" I asked hopefully. When Tsuna gave me a helpless look, I gave him a sheepish smile. "I really, really want to meet her."

"The Tanabata festival is still weeks away." Gokudera scowled fiercely at me, his arms folded across his chest. "Don't drag the Tenth around just to satisfy your own curiosity!"

"The festival's actually, um, just one week away, Gokudera-kun."

"Did you hear that, woman? Exactly what the Tenth said!"

Rolling my eyes good-naturedly at Gokudera, and ignoring the ruckus he and Yamamoto made as the baseball player restrained the Mafioso, I raised my eyebrows at Tsuna. I played the only card I had that would sway his mind. "Don't you think Reborn would want you to bond with your Guardians?"

My childhood friend opened his mouth, then closed it. He opened it a second time, looking like he had come up with a better protest, before he paled and shook his head, thinking better of it. I couldn't help but feel a bit guilty at the lifeless look that entered his eyes. "Y-Yeah, I guess you're right..."

"Why don't you want to go?" I asked him quietly, genuinely confused. Tsuna wasn't by any means a social butterfly, and he was definitely against being pushed out of his comfort zone, but it was really rare to see such utter hesitance and reluctance in him. I had my own reasons for wanting to go, and my own reasons as to why every fibre in my being was telling me not to. I was pulled in so many directions, but there were two things that I knew for certain.

One: I wanted to meet the Mist Guardian. My excitement stemmed from the idea of meeting Dokuro Chrome, but I knew that she was connected to Rokudo Mukuro in a way that was hard to truly comprehend.

Two: The fact that I survived through that poison meant something—it meant that there were so many people that fought for me as hard as they could, providing me with more time, more life, more everything. They believed in me for a reason, and because of that, I needed to fight just as hard to improve myself.

Those two reasons were enough to have spurred on this excursion.

He shook his head, his eyebrows furrowing together just slightly. "I-It's not that I don't want to go... The Kokuyo Gang and us... well, we just—we didn't really, uh, get off on the right foot, you know?" He paused, sighed, and then said, "It's just a bit weird."

I stared at him for a moment, taking in the anxious darting of his eyes and his refusal to meet mine. I stated, rather than asked, my next words. "You still don't trust Rokudo Mukuro."

"How can we?" the dynamite user hollered, butting into the conversation. "He nearly killed us, godda—" The rest of his words were muffled, replaced by Yamamoto's laughter and reassurances to Kyoko that we were just playing a game.

"... Gokudera-kun is right," he mumbled. His eyes shifted to meet mine, and he stared at me solemnly. "Like we mentioned before, we haven't had all that much time to get to know each other. Whether it's Chrome, or Rokudo Mukuro... We still don't know much about them."

Something cold formed in my chest, starting where my heart was and slowly branching out to my lungs. I wanted to say something, say anything, in the defence of the three men that composed the Kokuyo Gang, but I didn't know what I could possibly say. After all, it was normal to distrust people that had been previously trying to kill you. This whole Family business was something that was hard to adapt to, as it went against so many of one's natural instincts and thoughts.

If I hadn't grown up being taught the customs and the ways, I was sure that I would've felt the same way that the rest of them did. Honestly, it was such an odd revelation—I was the weird one here. Not Yamamoto, who still thought of this as a game despite the real injuries he'd sustained. Not Ryohei, who was somehow still oblivious to the fact that he was engaging in Mafioso activities and had this love for the word 'extreme.' Not Gokudera who was... well, Gokudera.

And not Tsuna, who was... kind.

I didn't know how to feel about being considered weirder than all of them.

"... You can't get to know them if all you do is avoid them," I said eventually. It was only after I said it aloud that I realized those words applied not only to the Kokuyo Gang, but Hibari as well. I wondered if I'd been doing it subconsciously all along—directly putting myself into situations with the skylark because I knew that it was impossible to know someone if you weren't really there with them.

Tsuna stared at me silently, as if turning the words over in his head. He thought hard about it, his expression contorting into one of earnest contemplation. Even though he was so conflicted about it, I knew him well enough to know what his answer would be even if he didn't know it himself.

Eventually, he shook his head and sighed, his expression relaxing. He gave me a small, slightly more determined smile. "Yeah, you're right, Azumi. L-Let's go and see if they're there after classes are over."

"I'm in! I don't have baseball practice today," Yamamoto said, evidently finished with his playful tussle with Gokudera.

"If the Tenth is going, so am I!"

"Sounds like it's going to be extreme fun. Count me in!"

Relief and gratitude flooded through Tsuna's features. It was obvious that, despite his constant denial of Family and anything Mafioso related, his Guardians provided him with ease and security. His dependence on them and the effect they all had on each other was undeniable. Call it friendship, camaraderie, Family—regardless, they shared a bond that ran soul-deep. It was so heartwarming to see something like that. To see, firsthand, the absolute desire to protect those that mattered to you.

Did they understand just how truly wonderful that was?

"Thank you, Yamamoto, Gokudera-kun, Onii-san!"

"Please be careful," Kyoko said, smiling at us brightly from where she was. She didn't ask if she could be involved with what we were doing, as if already knowing it was something that wasn't meant for her. But it was such an admirable trait—to willingly resign yourself to exclusion for matters that you wanted to be a part of. "Onii-chan, don't come home too late."

Ryohei laughed, just a tad bit sheepishly. "Of course not, Kyoko! It won't even take 'til sundown. You don't need to worry, I'll be home before you know it!"

The bell signalling the end of lunch hour sounded, and almost absentmindedly, I looked over to where the small square device was attached to the wall. I began cleaning up, following the lead of the others. As I did so, I asked, "How does meeting in front of the school after classes sound?"

They gave a round of affirmation, and that was how, after a few more grumblings and pouts from Gokudera, we found ourselves at Kokuyo Land a handful of hours later.

I'd already very briefly visited the place before heading to Namimori and meeting with Tsuna, but coming here a second time still evoked the same feelings as the first. The entire place gave off such an eerily desolate, nearly hopeless, aura. The dark clouds that seemed to perpetually shroud over the abandoned amusement park was a large factor in the haunted atmosphere. It was like sunlight hadn't even skimmed the dirtied windows, the fallen debris, the nearly broken ceiling in years.

Even the air seemed colder here, creeping along your skin, shivering as it entered your system.

Something heavy entered my chest as we continued our way up the cracked, winding cement to the main building. The same feelings of guilt, of horror, of absolute sorrow bubbled up inside of me, hitting me just as hard as the first time I'd wandered by. When I'd been so excited asking about visiting the Mist Guardian, I'd forgotten just how upset this place made me. I'd forgotten just how hard it was to face your fears, to walk knowingly towards something that terrified you.

Every steady step I took forward cried for another eighteen steps back.

"Something wrong, Azumi?" When I glanced up at Yamamoto, startled, he was staring down at me with eyebrows raised in concern. He had his arms thrown behind his head, his fingers interlocking. It was such a carefree pose for someone who'd just entered this kind of territory. "You've been frowning this entire time."

"Oh." My eyebrows pulled together. "Have I been?"

"Yup!"

"Stupid woman has probably just realized how ridiculous this is," Gokudera muttered, hands in his pockets and a scowl on his face. He kicked at a loose piece of debris that was on the ground, the tiny projectile flying up and over a crumbled garden wall and into the bushes that lined the building.

Tsuna's concern emerged. There was a slight note of panic in his voice as he asked, "Are you feeling sick? Are you sure the poison has completely left your body? Maybe we should go back and ask Bianchi-san to make sure—"

"I'm fine," I reassured him, laughing a bit under my breath. "I am ten-hundred percent sure that the poison has left my body."

"So then..." he trailed off, gently prompting.

I stopped in front of the row of glass doors, lined up in pairs so that enormous waves of people could get inside without waiting too long. There were so many chipped corners, and the hinges of the doors were beginning to be tainted reddish-brown with rust. Inside, a dark and empty expanse stretched out before us—damaged and stained tiles, shattered pieces of glass from broken lights and windows, holes in the wall directly across from us. I felt cold as I stood there, staring into the darkness that stretched and curled along the edges of the room, like shadows that were longing for a different place.

Improvement, I reminded myself. It became a chant inside my head. I was alive because of Vongola, I was alive because of my friends, I was alive because of the people that I considered as part of my Family.

I needed to be better.

"Let's go," I forced through my gritted teeth. My breathing came out harsher than I would've liked, sounding loud and laboured. From the way the four males around me shared looks, I knew that they could tell there was a difference, too. Despite the fear that was shooting up and down my spine, I grasped the door and swung it open, stepping inside.

It took nearly everything I had not to turn tail and run.

If Xanxus or Suzu—anyone in Varia, basically—saw me like this, practically quaking in my boots, they would kick me out and execute me for sure. It was pathetic, the way the blood in my system seemed to freeze and the way my heart beat so hard.

Yamamoto brushed past me, arms still up in that easygoing posture. His back and shoulders betrayed him though, revealing the slight stiffness there. He led the way, throwing a small grin over his shoulder. "I remember this place well, so I won't get lost!"

"As if, you baseball freak," Gokudera hissed, shouldering past me to walk beside him. "Your memory is terrible; I'm not going to let you lead us in circles and get us lost! The Tenth has better things to do!"

Glass crunched beneath our feet as we walked, and I nearly flinched at the sound. My senses were on high alert, waiting for any sound or any movement that didn't belong to the five of us. The walls that enclosed us were grimy, and the paint was peeling off in various places, revealing dark wood underneath. Some had a lot of holes in them, while others simply had faded paint and stains.

Tsuna kept peeking at me from beneath his lashes, looking both concerned and curious, but I avoided his eyes.

Just as the white tiles ended and the wooden floorboards began, Yamamoto and Gokudera stopped. I was just about to ask them what was wrong, but a loud voice exclaimed, "You Vongola!"

"Yo," Yamamoto greeted happily.

"We meet again!" Ryohei exclaimed from beside me, his fists placed on his hips.

Gokudera, unlike the others, merely looked away. "Tch."

"What the hell are you guys doing here?" The one I assumed would be Joshima Ken asked, sounding disgusted. "You guys here to pick another fight? I'll take you down in a heartbeat this time!"

Immediately up for it, Gokudera was already reaching for his dynamites. "Bring it on, you animal-switching maniac."

"G-Gokudera-kun!" Tsuna protested.

Stepping forward so that I could pop my head out between the dynamite user and the sword wielder, I swallowed and greeted, "Sorry to intrude; we aren't here to pick a fight."

Joshima Ken, with his spiky blond hair and coffee eyes, stood with his hands in his pockets and a slight hunch to his shoulders. He had his lips pulled up into a taunting smirk, his tongue peeking out at one of the corners. Just a bit behind him and off to the side, Kakimoto Chikusa stood, hands in pockets like his partner, though his entire back seemed to hunch just slightly. It was a lazy posture, one that said there was better things to do than be here. Dark hair, lightless royal blue eyes, tattoo on his left cheek, glasses and an off-white beanie—he eluded the same vacant aura up close as the picture attached to this profile.

This was them.

"Oooh?" Ken stretched the word out, and his smirk stretched wider as he took another step forward. "Who the hell are you?"

"Shimizu Azumi," I introduced. I would've offered my hand if only he hadn't looked like he'd try to eat it. I couldn't help but glance between the two, taking notice of everything about them. My heart stopped beating the rhythm of petrifying fear."We're actually here to speak with Dokuro Chrome... Is she here?"

Ken scoffed, turning his head away. His expression contorted itself into a scowl, and he straightened himself out just a tad. "As if we'd know where that woman went."

"Isn't it bad if she goes out alone?" Tsuna blurted, his eyes wide with worry. Despite his distrust and wariness of Rokudo Mukuro, it seemed like Chrome herself was someone that he didn't have a problem with.

"What, you want to go and play bodyguard for her?"

"I-I just thought..." Tsuna shook his head. "I thought that you would want to make sure she's OK because Rokudo Mukuro..."

"She went to take a bath." Blank, flat, cool. Those seemed to be the words that encompassed Chikusa, though there was surely so much more than that. The fact that he'd even bothered to remember where she was going was an indication that these two weren't as heartless as they portrayed.

"Oh, that's right! You guys probably don't have running water in a place like this. I forgot because there are still some lights," Yamamoto laughed.

"Where do you guys bathe, then?" I asked, genuinely curious. I hadn't gotten any detail about Kokuyo Land itself, but only the people that resided within it. I'd thought that since there was still enough electricity to keep some of the lights on, it might've been possible to access small quantities of water as well.

"Down the street somewhere," Ken answered flippantly. His eyes narrowed into a fierce glower as they skimmed us. His words were hostile. "What the hell do you want with her, anyway?"

I raised my hand, smiling a bit sheepishly. "I wanted to ask Chrome if she would come to the upcoming Tanabata festival with us! And, I mean, if you guys wanted to, then maybe—"

"No way in hell!" Gokudera interrupted.

"Moron." Chikusa.

"Are you some kinda shitty comedian?" Ken sneered.

Eyebrows raised, I held my hands up in a surrendering pose. "I was extending the invitation just in case." A small smile made its way onto my face, hopeful and hopeless both at once. "I just thought it would be nice since I heard there would be fireworks. It'll be so bright and colourful. So full of... light."

Ken and Chikusa stared at me for a moment, their usual expressions frozen in place. The glint in their eyes were suspicious, angry, calculating. It was like they were trying to figure out what my interior motives were, but didn't even know where to start.

Before any of them could say anything, a feminine voice rang out behind us. "Boss?"

"C-Chrome!" Tsuna exclaimed as he whirled around, surprised.

She was standing just a couple of feet away, dressed in the olive green Kokuyo Junior High uniform just like her companions. Violet hair put up in a high, spiky ponytail and a skull eyepatch over one eye, she held her trident in both of her hands. There was a tentative air that surrounded her, and she looked stunned to see us there. "I-Is something wrong, Boss?"

"No, no!" Tsuna waved his hands up in front of himself vigorously. "There's nothing wrong at all, Chrome."

She visibly relaxed upon hearing that. Her tensed shoulders sagged slightly, and a smile began to pull at the corners of her mouth. It hurt to think about just how much suffering she must have gone through and still managed to be someone so soft-spoken, so soft-hearted. "That's good."

"We came to ask if you wanted to come with us to the Tanabata festival!" Ryohei explained to her. "Azumi was extremely excited about it, so maybe you will be, too!"

"A...zumi?" Her head tilted in confusion.

"That's me," I piped, stepping towards her. The only thing about her that reminded me of Mukuro was her hair—everything about them was different otherwise. Something twisted inside of me as I wondered whether or not he could witness everything through her. Was he lurking in the back of her mind, watching this exchange?

Rokudo Mukuro had a strange way of knowing things that he really shouldn't. Somehow, information that was confidential or known to just a few top elites would find themselves passing through his ears. He knew far too much, and he revealed far too little.

I didn't know how to feel about that.

Extending a hand towards her, I introduced with a smile, "Shimizu Azumi."

Hesitantly, looking at my hand like it was a foreign object, she clasped it lightly with her own. "D-Dokuro Chrome."

"It's nice to finally meet you," I told her. "You were the only Guardian that I hadn't met yet, so I really wanted to come and ask you to join us for the Tanabata festival. It's taking place in a week, and we were planning to go shopping for yukatas this weekend."

"We're all planning to go together," Yamamoto chimed in, grinning brightly at the younger girl. "The more the merrier, right?"

"Mhm, mhm," Ryohei nodded his head seriously in approval. "Yamamoto is correct to the extreme."

Gokudera stared at the two other Guardians for a moment, a look of disbelief fluttering across his face for just a moment. He looked away, eye twitching, as he mumbled under his breath, "Idiots."

Chrome blinked at all of us for a moment, quiet. Her eyes scanned over us, resting on me for a while longer. There was a slight furrow between her brows as she assessed me, but it was a look of befuddlement. She turned to Tsuna. "Is it really OK for me to come along, Boss?"

"You wanna go?" came Ken's incredulous reply.

She didn't even bat an eye as she looked at him and said, "Yes." She ignored Ken's spluttering sounds of annoyance, shifting her attention back to Tsuna. "Boss, do you not want me to?"

"T-That's not it!" he protested, stammering. He opened his mouth, shut it, and then ran a hand through his hair helplessly. Taking in a deep breath, he calmed his nerves and said, "We want you to come."

Her response was a beautiful smile. "Thank you."

"We're meeting at the Namimori Shopping Centre on Saturday at eleven in the morning," I told her with a grin. "Do you know how to get there?"

She nodded her head and repeated, "Namimori Shopping Centre on Saturday at eleven."

"We haven't planned the details for the actual Tanabata festival yet," Tsuna started, a sheepish tone in his voice, "but, um, we'll call you guys when we figure it out. Is... Is that OK?"

Another nod and soft smile. "Yes, Boss."

"Now that we're done, can we leave?" Gokudera asked, breaking the brief moment of joyful, warm silence between us. I almost tried to hit him for disrupting it, because couldn't he see that this was progress?

"Gokudera," I hissed under my breath, giving him a dirty look.

"What?" He folded his arms across his chest, a scowl on his face. "We still have to travel back to Namimori, stupid woman. Lawn-head said he'd get back before sundown, so we need to start heading back soon unless—"

Ryohei let out a noise of surprise, whirling around trying to find a window to gauge the light. Upon realizing that we were standing in the middle of a hallway with no windows in sight, he turned to Gokudera and exclaimed, "I told Kyoko sundown, and I keep my word to the extreme! Sawada, it's time to go!"

He was already beginning to jog back the way we'd come before any of us could even get a word out.

"O-Onii-san!" Tsuna cried after his retreating form.

"It was nice seeing you guys again! I'm looking forward to the festival," Yamamoto said, heading the way Ryohei went.

"Hmph," was Gokudera's goodbye as he turned away, walking extra slowly to make sure that Tsuna and I weren't going to lag too far behind.

"S-Sorry for coming and leaving so suddenly," Tsuna started. "We'll see you at the festival, Chrome."

"I'll see you on Saturday!" I waved, and she returned the gesture. I looked over my shoulder to where Ken and Chikusa were, offering another smile. "I really hope you guys go, even if it's not with us."

"Mind your own business!" Ken retorted, his tongue falling out of his mouth again. Chikusa, as a reply, simply pushed his glasses up and then turned away.

Instead of retorting, I simply linked arms with Tsuna and began heading towards Gokudera, who was moving at a snail's pace. When we caught up to him, we immediately picked up our speed to catch up with Yamamoto and Ryohei, who'd—with some insistence from the baseball player—stopped to wait for us, jogging impatiently on the spot.

It wasn't until after we had left Kokuyo Land and was halfway back to Namimori that I felt myself relaxing. I hadn't even realized I'd been so tense until after my muscles unlocked and breathing seemed to get easier.

That wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, but I also knew that it was because I was with people that I knew were dependable. It was hard to be overcome with paralyzing terror when everyone that I surrounded myself with had such a warm, comforting presence.

They had leant me their strength again, and they hadn't even known it.

How much longer until I no longer had to depend so much on the people around me? I believed firmly that your Family were there for you to rely on—you were there for each other, meant to be one another's support and foundation. But I also firmly believed that there were some things that you shouldn't lean on your Family for, things that had to be solved and concluded by yourself. Things that were meant for you to overcome, and solely you.

This was one of those things.

I knew that I needed to find the strength inside of me to work on all these weaknesses I had, but it was more difficult than a lot of people could imagine.

But I was trying, and maybe one day that would be enough.

Today wasn't the end—there would be so many more instances to challenge myself, to face my fears. I wanted to improve and to be better. I wanted to prove to everyone—to myself—that I could be more than just a mismatched girl always hanging in limbo, always haunted by things that had passed.

I wanted to be all that I'd ever hoped to be.

And maybe that was enough to be the start.

LOTS OF LOVE, GRATITUDE FOR AND ONLY POSSIBLE BECAUSE OF:

Lady Syndra, xXMizukiXx, Hisawa Kana, Yukaricchi, LeoInuyuka, TheBloodyArrow, Just your average awkward girl, Astin, Nomurai, R. Firefly, Animegeek123, MeLikesROFL, OneWhoWasForgotten, Amaya. rawrz, icecream flies, GodsOfDeathLikeApples, Ryuka Hayashi, XxSaphirezxX, CookieMonster, EvilBoyzR2Cute, UCHIHARUNO27, Ficchii, Michelle, randomizedthoughts, coldgazeproduction, RandomRoleplayer, White-Nostalgia, chibilaney4298, Snow0Redemption, Nyankitten, YamamotoFan, Cocoaspaces, Seere Klein, Anime-Kunoichi, Rikkai and hyotei lover, Rowen27, unknown1o1, Shinome Akira, ayamekyoya, tttttttttrrrrrrreeee, Matsuo Nozomi, partypoison, Gee, c, Guest, kalmaegi, 10th Squad 3rd Seat, MonoChromexX, Alice aquabld, Tsuna De Vongola Decimo, Viviene001, B. C, Lovina Rossi-Vargas, and HarukaDiamond999

Thank you so incredibly much to those who have also favourited and alerted.

There will be no replies to any reviewers for the previous chapter, but I want you guys to know that I reread all of them more than just once, and I gained so much strength and inspiration because of you guys. Thank you. I read each and every single one, and I appreciate all your kind words.

A/N:

So that's the chapter you've all been waiting two and a half years for. I know, I know- it isn't even anything spectacular. There was no mind-blowing scene, no extra suspenseful scene, no real action, but... I hadn't left off YWWNBB at that point, and I wasn't going to try and make some exploding comeback just to be like BAM, HEY, I'M HERE.

I'm incredibly sorry. I've been away for so long. Two and a half years is a long time to wait, no matter for what reason. In that time, so many things can change, whether it be you, your writing, your interests, your life. I want to say, and I really hope, that in the two and a half years that I've been gone, I've become a better writer. Which, really, is ind of humourlessly amusing, because how can I possibly be a better writer when I left you guys hanging?

I disappointed you. I know.

This chapter of YWWNBB is actually a chapter that was created out of many snippets and small chunks written throughout the two and a half years. I hadn't forgotten this story; it was just hard to find the same motivation to write it. But I just want to let you knows know that there were so many nights that I pulled out the document for this story and tried to crank something out. More often than not, I ended up just staring at it blankly.

This chapter, and all the chapters that will come, are because of you guys. I could hardly believe it when I was still receiving feedback from so many people, after so much time had passed. I was beyond shocked, beyond touched, beyond encouraged, by you guys who have read this and loved it and have shared that with me. Everything you guys said gave me strength.

Thank you so, so much for keeping the faith.

Thank you, to those of you who have stumbled upon this story even two years have passed since my last update, and still decided you would give it a go, even if it turned out to be a dead story. Personally, I could never do that. I have a problem with closure, and I always require some kind of ending eventually, or it drives me crazy. That might be the reason why, even after so many years, I've never forgotten any of the stories I have uploaded onto this site.

I'm not giving up on this story. This story will be completed one day, and whether or not you guys decide it's worth the ride is up to you. I just want you guys to know that you guys are absolutely wonderful, and I'm so grateful to have ever had you as a reader.

There really isn't any excuse as to why I've taken so long to upload. Many of you guys sent me in reviews telling me you didn't think this story will continue, and that you understood why. Thank you for being so understanding. It's always hard for authors and for readers when a story seems to just grind to a halt, and for you guys to be so empathetic and so considerate, I can't say thank you enough. I can't tell you guys how happy and delighted you guys have made me, how touched.

I'm trying to regain the fire I had when I first started writing this story, and to be honest, I still remember a lot of the main points. I still remember a lot of the scenes I wanted to include in this story, and I actually went back to reread some of it. Part of the reason why it took so long was because I had to immerse myself back into the fandom. I remembered certain character's quirks, and forgot others, and I wanted to be able to write everyone fairly IC again. Like for Ken and Chikusa this chapter... Lord. Save their souls because despite everything, I still feel like I butchered them. I spent a lot of time rewatching certain episodes or rereading certain chapters and everything, and I'm still not as knowledgeable as I was when I first started this story. I'm so sorry about that.

But I'm honestly trying, and it feels like 2015 is the year in which I'm restarting so many of my previous works all over again, but I'm so damn happy to be doing so.

I hope that this update shows you guys that your feelings and your support wasn't, and will never be, a waste.

I hope that this update brings you just was much joy that writing it and your words have brought me.

I'm not giving up on this story, and I hope that you guys can find it in your hearts to forgive me and fight for this story, too.

I'm sorry. Thank you.

XOXO,
-EverlastingxSong-