"Sorry, Judaime. I was unable to do anything to stop her." Gokudera said for what must have been the hundredth time as they all walked home together from school. Ryohei, Kyoko and Hana had already split off from the group, but Taiga and Gokudera were still tagging along.

Taiga's condo wasn't really in that direction, but she was following them anyways out of a hope for snacks.

"It really isn't that big of a deal." Natsumi said with a sigh. "According to Shirou-senpai the poison is almost completely magical, and my own Magic Resistance would have meant that even if I had been splashed, it wouldn't have been any worse than a bad rash."

The idea that something that could melt concrete was actually no threat to her at all was rather jarring. Even if she had gotten it on her, her clothes were all made to be flame resistant, and any skin that got burned by it could be immediately healed through the Flames of Restoration. Even if she had drank it, it wouldn't have been enough to kill her, though Shirou highly suggested not doing that. The poison was a lot less threatening to her than, say, a stick of dynamite.

Still, having no idea why Bianchi had done it was something that had haunted Natsumi all day.

Gokudera had tried to kill her because he had been told he could become the new heir if he did. Hibari had attacked her because he had been curious and wanted entertainment. These things were frightening in themselves, but Natsumi found the not understanding even more frightening.

Reborn said that she was his lover, but she had seemed more like an over affectionate cat.

"Grr… We'll need to find a way to get rid of her." Gokudera growled to himself.

"What!? But isn't she you sister?" Illya said, shocked by the boy's clear distaste for Bianchi.

"She's ONLY my half sister, and as far as I'm concerned, I have nothing to do with that family." Gokudera huffed. "There has never been love between us."

That's not what Shamal had said, and it wasn't what Natsumi saw when she saw the look of concern in the young woman's eyes.

"But, family is supposed to be there for each other." Illya said, looking depressed.

After learning what they knew about the woman, Illya started to paint the picture of a girl suffering under a curse in her head. Someone who would be set free, or learn that the curse wasn't really a curse all along at the end of a happy story. Even Gokudera's reaction fit the stereotype of a cursed girl being hid away or rejected even by their own family.

*Crack!*

"Ouch! Hey, what was that for!?" Gokudera shouted as Taiga cracked him on top of the head with a practice sword.

"For making Illya-chan depress, you insensitive idiot." Taiga snapped at him. "Saying something like 'only my half sister' when she and Shirou aren't blood related."

"Tch, not my fault she lives in a fantasy world. The brat should just grow up and realize that family like mine isn't worth anything. The bitch could die for all I care." Gokudera said.

*Roar!*

"What did you just say, you delinquent brat!?" Taiga roared, causing Gokudera to flinch and take cover behind Natsumi.

"Forget it Fuji-nee. Family isn't about blood. It's about the people you care about. If he wants to deny himself family, then that's on him." Shirou said, drawing the girl's surprise. His expression was back to being serious, and he had been almost silent during their walk so far. "I'm more interested in what is going on between Reborn and Bianchi."

"Well, Reborn said that they were lovers." Taiga said as she was distracted away from Gokudera.

"Lovers huh? According to Gokudera, Reborn and his sister have been dating for over four years. Reborn is almost seventy years old and has the body of an infant. I can't see him falling in love with a thirteen-year-old girl, let alone one who seems… as mentally off as Bianchi was." Shirou mumbled, eyebrows narrowed. "It isn't impossible, but I'd put my money on there is something more to it than that. Bianchi's behavior looked more like someone who was suffering from a really inept preformed charming spell, and as much as I hate the guy, I can't see Reborn placing something like that on someone."

Natsumi would admit that Shirou was right. Things had seemed extremely odd between the pair. ...It was like the gaga behavior that Natsumi's own mother displayed whenever her father had been around. Though Reborn wasn't even pretending to be flirtatious.

"Wait, Reborn is almost seventy?" Taiga said with wide eyes. "Holy cow, I thought that Bianchi was the cradle robber, but that is…"

"I'm much less concerned about the age gap than what else might be going on. If they really are in love, then good for them. If it is some kind of charm effect, then why?" Shirou asked before shaking his head. "I guess we are about to find out." The Emiya residence was coming up on their left and Shirou looked at it with a scowl. "Reborn and Bianchi are in our house."

"Huh? How can you tell?" Illya asked.

"Just like you and Natsumi can see magical energy, I can smell it. Both Reborn and Bianchi produce very strong smells." Shirou explained. "I have no idea how they got past all of my wards. I could maybe understand a slippery thing like Reborn somehow managing to get in but Bianchi… mom must have invited them in." Shirou said, seeming unhappy about it. Suddenly, Natsumi realized why everyone always seemed to wait at the very end of the driveway whenever they weren't invited. "I swear, if that woman is in my kitchen..."

As Shirou was saying this, Gokudera started to try to slink away quietly.

"Where do you think you're going?" Shirou said, reaching out and grabbing the boy's collar, lifting him up. "You're part of this mess, I'm not letting you get out of it."

"Hey, let me go!" Gokudera struggled against Shirou's iron grip. "I can't go in there! If I so much as look at her face I become sick to my stomach!"

"Honestly, how inept are you people?" Shirou said before pushing Gokudera to the ground. "Hold still." He instructed said as he held Gokudera's face and held it tight with one hand as his other went to the boy's forehead. Natsumi watched as Shirou traced a rune on Gokudera's forehead, leaving a bluish trail of magical energy, while mumbling something to himself, Gokudera's eyes wide as they stared up into Shirou's. The entire thing didn't take more than three seconds, before Shirou let go of Gokudera. "Done."

"What… what the hell did you do to me!?" Gokudera demanded.

"I used a basic hypnosis in order to erase the cognitive connection between your sister's face as your stomach cramps. Consider yourself cured."

"You can do that?" Taiga blinked in surprise.

"Weakening an existing connection for someone with almost no Magic Resistance at all is a piece of cake, even for a third rate spellcaster like me." Shirou said with a shrug.

"Third rate spellcaster?" Natsumi repeated, laughing a little at Shirou's self defacement, though Shirou looked at her in surprise at her disbelief.

"...Did I never tell you? I never actually finished my apprenticeship. Actually, I lacked the talent to finish it. In Magus Society, I would be considered the equivalent of someone who flunked out of highschool and became a plumber."

"...You're joking, right?" Natsumi said. If Shirou was a highschool dropout, what was a full fledged wizard like?

That thought haunted her as they moved towards the Emiya residence, Shirou dragging Gokudera along against his will.

"Welcome back everyone, how was your day at school?" Irisviel asked cheerfully as she sat on the family coach, across from Bianchi and Reborn who were in an armchair, Reborn sitting on the woman's lap.

"School was good, though Hibari is still a pain." Shirou said casually as they came in and took off their shoes. "Mom, I thought we had a talk about inviting strange people into the house."

"Reborn and Bianchi aren't strangers. Your father and I have known them for years." Irisviel said with a giggle. "Bianchi was around your age when we first met her, and so cute. It's really something, thinking how she's grown up into such a lovely young lady in such a short period of time."

"I'm grateful for everything that you and Kiri-senpai had done for me in my pursuit of love." Bianchi said with a gentle smile.

...Natsumi didn't even want to know the kind of love advice the woman had received from Aunt Iris. That knowledge would probably only frighten her.

"Stop being a baby and greet your sister." Shirou said, flinging Gokudera forward, towards Bianchi.

Gokudera held his eyes tightly shut at first, but slowly looked up at Bianchi's face.

"It's good to see you are feeling better, Hayato." Bianchi said as she saw her little brother.

Gokudera stared at her for a moment, blinking a bit before he started to laugh. "Hahaha, I'm cured! I'm really cured!" He said getting back to his feet, a look of pure happiness on his face… before the look turned a little more sinister. Natsumi was horrified as she saw Gokudera reaching for his dynamite. "Which means I can finally get my payback for all…"

Before Gokudera could finish that thought, magical energy came rushing up out of the floorboards and towards the silver haired boy. Gokudera shook violently before collapsing to the ground in a twitching mess.

"Hayato!?" Bianchi shouted in surprise, going to her brother, not seeming concerned at all that he had just been about to attack her.

"...Why?" Gokudera mumbled from the ground.

"You broke the rules of no violence in this house and the bounded field I set up punished you for it." Shirou said, just before Hayato lost consciousness.

"...Wizards sure are scary." Taiga said, as she swallowed and put away her practice sword gingerly.

"Don't worry. You and Natsumi are both registered with the bounded field, so it won't target you. The point of the barrier is to give you a fighting chance against a stronger intruder, not to stop you from fighting back. The only reason Gokudera was knocked unconscious is because he lacks any Magic Resistance." Shirou explained.

"Honestly, Hayato is always like this." Bianchi said with a sigh. "Is there anywhere we can put him while he is recovering?"

"I think I saw a garbage can outside." Taiga mumbled, getting a weak laugh out of Natsumi.

"Help yourselves to anything you like." Shirou said after he set out several plates of snacks and some tea, giving Bianchi her own separate plate.

"Thank you for the hospitality." Bianchi said before reaching out and picking up one of the cookies.

Natsumi and Illya felt a little ill as in their eyes, the normal cookie turned a horrible shade of purple and they thought they could see bugs crawling around on it. Not that it seemed to bother Bianchi at all, as she simply ate it.

The girls were aware that it only looked like that because of their ability to see magical energy, and that no one else could see anything off about it, but it was still disturbing.

"How can you eat something like that?" Illya asked.

Bianchi blinked before realizing what Illya meant and replied with a light smile. "It's not so bad. You just need to focus on the feeling inside of the food, rather than the taste of the food itself."

Hearing her say it with such a gentle smile was absolutely heartbreaking.

"Ah! Introductions! I forgot to introduce myself!" Illya said in a panic before giving her curtsy to Bianchi. "I'm Emiya Illyasviel, but you can call me Illya."

"It's nice to meet you. I'm Bianchi, Reborn's lover." Bianchi replied. The introductions continued until they got to Shirou, when Bianchi seemed to register something. "Oh, so you were the one Reborn was talking about."

"...I'm almost afraid to ask what he said about me." Shirou said with a sigh.

"It was nothing much. He just told me that you were a metalworker and that you were working as his intern." Bianchi replied.

"...What?"

"Congratulations on your promotion. Intern is a huge step up from lackey." Reborn said cheerfully.

"If I'm your intern, I'm not getting paid nearly enough for the work I do." Shirou said, rubbing his eyes in tired resignation.

"I gave you a suitcase full of the most valuable gems in the entire world." Reborn said flatly.

"And I'm still not being paid enough to put up with you!" Shirou half shouted. Irisviel couldn't take it and broke into giggles, unable to take the absurdity. Taiga and Natsumi's chuckles being more of the kind given by people who have resigned themselves to the fact that this was their lives. Illya and Bianchi didn't seem to understand it.

"Um, Bianchi-san." Illya said nervous in order to get the young woman's attention. "Sorry if this is rude but, how old are you?"

"Hm, I'm seventeen." Bianchi replied.

"Then you really are as young as you look." Illya mumbled before blushing in embarrassment. "I mean, I'm sorry. It's just that I was surprised that you and Reborn are an item. I wasn't sure how it worked since Reborn is so much older, and is a fairy and all." Illya stammered in that flustered way she had.

Bianchi just smiled and shook her head. "That's alright. Age, race, gender, none of that stuff matters when it comes to love. Anyone who tries to put taboos or restrictions on it is a fool. How can any law be allowed to restrict something like love, when love is the only real justice there is! That is why, as a Magical Girl, the love and justice that I fight for is LOVE and LOVE!"

"Y...yeah!" Illya said, looking up in a mixture of shock and admiration at Bianchi's bizarre declaration.

Natsumi and Shirou's heads both fell into their hands.

"She certainly is a unique individual." Taiga said with an awkward smile as they left Bianchi and Illya to watch TV together while the rest of them sat together to discuss things for real. Taiga wasn't really sure how to begin, and was making benign conversation. Shirou just cut to the point.

"Why did Bianchi attack Natsumi this morning?" Shirou asked Reborn directly.

"Yes, sorry about that. Bianchi doesn't exactly like to have to compete for my attention, so she was trying to remove Natsumi to free up my timetable for her." Reborn admit. "She tried to do the same thing with my last student as well."

"Isn't that cute, she was jealous." Irisviel giggled.

"That isn't cute, that's terrifying." Taiga said, while Natsumi swallowed hard.

"I talked to her, and she's accepted that I hired Shirou-kun to lighten the load so that I would have more time for her. So she shouldn't be trying to kill anymore… though I do suggest you keep an eye on everything you eat from now on." Reborn suggested.

"So you do think she's going to try to kill me." Natsumi cried weakly.

"The opposite. I think she will start to take a liking to you all, and Bianchi likes to show her affection by cooking for the people that she likes." Reborn explained.

"...What?" Shirou's voice was dark as his eyes moved to where Bianchi and Illya were getting along VERY well. A dagger started to form in the air, pointing straight at the woman's back, only to be slapped out of the air by a green whip.

Shirou and Reborn glared at each other with hard eyes. A vision of a massive mammoth seemed to appear behind Reborn, while a savage tiger appeared behind Shirou. Natsumi and Taiga were getting nervous, though Irisviel just continued to smile and eat the snacks, as if nothing was wrong.

"With how strong Illya and Natsumi's flames are, they can easily detect when something is wrong, and even if they do accidentally eat something, it won't hurt them beyond a serious stomach ache. Killing her is overreacting a bit." Reborn said harshly.

"Yeah, but what about the rest of us?" Taiga mumbled weakly.

"Reborn, what is the connection between you and Bianchi, and don't say she is your lover. I want to know what is really going on." Shirou said coldly. "You clearly feel responsible for the girl, but why is that?"

"...Fine. I'll tell you." Reborn said with a sigh. "I am the one who sealed Bianchi's flame."

Natsumi couldn't help but to gasp, her entire body going rigid as she heard Reborn's confession. Memories of her own experience with seals coming back to her. "Reborn, how could you?"

"I first met Bianchi when she was about your age, right after a personal tragedy had caused her flames to go completely out of control. She didn't even need to touch things to spread her poison and it was growing at such an alarming rate that even her own body was breaking down. Not only that, she was burning through her lifeforce faster than it could recover. So, I did the only thing I could do to save her life." Reborn said.

"I had a feeling it was something like that after Shamal talked about how strong her Cloud Flame was, even though it appears to be only a secondary element to me. Bianchi didn't fall in love with you, you made her become obsessed with you." Shirou said, though he didn't seem happy about being right.

"Shirou, what are you talking about?" Taiga asked, confused.

"Each of the Dying Will Flames is related to one of the Chakras, and each of the Chakras has its own Yin and Yang that act as activators and inhibitors. For the Sky Flames, the activators are things like self-confidence and compassion, while the inhibitors are fear and distrust." Shirou explained. "In the case of the Sahasrara, which is connected to the Cloud Flames, the Yin is the ability to let go of your connection to the material world, while the Yang is clinging to those attachments. By causing Bianchi to become completely and utterly obsessed with him, Reborn effectively slapped a seal on her Cloud Flames. Though unlike the seal on you that completely stopped the flow of energy, this only weakens the flow. So while it still has an effect on Bianchi's mental state, it at least isn't a threat to her health."

"I should have known you'd figure it out." Reborn said. "When I first met her, I formed a bond with her in order to use my own flames to restore the flames that she had lost and to help her body break down the poison she had infected herself with."

"A bond? I thought bonding was part of the Sky Flames." Natsumi asked.

"While the Sky Flames are the best at doing it, they aren't the only ones that can form bonds. Sun, Cloud and Mist Flames are all compatible with one and other, as are Rain, Storm and Lightning Flames." Reborn explained. "But when the relative power between the two Flame is too great, it can cause problems, and my power was way too much for Bianchi, causing her to become obsessed with me. Her poor mental state at the time didn't help matters. Now, if I don't maintain the connection, her condition will deteriorate again and she will likely go berserk."

"No way." Natsumi said, looking over to Bianchi.

"So tell me, Shirou-kun, do you think I am a monster?"

"...Yes, but not for that." Shirou said with a sigh. "I probably would have done the same thing if I was in your shoes."

"So then, would you consider helping her?" Reborn asked.

"Help her how?" Shirou asked, looking genuinely surprised.

"I have no idea. If I know how, I would have done it himself years ago." Reborn replied.

"Fixing a distortion in someone's energy flow is far beyond me. Even among Magus, the Origin required to make that work is one in a million. Even if I could, I wouldn't. There are consequences in messing with someone's soul." Shirou said with a shake of his head.

"So you don't have a way of stopping her flames from snowballing out of control?" Reborn said.

"That would just be replacing your seal with one of my own, and I don't have one that would be safe to use in this scenario. If anything, mine would make things much worse." Shirou said. "...I might be able to make an external seal that you can use to counteract her poison touch, without hurting her. But that is about the limit to my abilities. She would still need something to stop her from bleeding herself dry."

"What would you need?" Reborn asked without hesitation.

"Any number of things could work. I'll just start with the most effective and work my way down, Tell me when it is something you can manage. …Can you get me the shroud of a true saint?" Shirou asked.

"Ah… What happened to your reasonable requests?" Reborn asked, seeming a little flustered.

"How about the venom of a manticore?"

"You're joking, right?"

"A meteorite?"

"...That one I can do. How much do you need?"

"Not much. Just enough to make a pair of regular chain bracelets and a necklace."

"I'll check with my contacts and get it here in three days."

"Then I'll get things set up over here." Shirou said before tiredly pawing at his face. "Another busy weekend ahead for me."

"I'll see what I can do to make it worth your wild." Reborn said cheekily.

"Yeah yeah, whatever." Shirou said, waving him off before changing gears. "Do you love her?"

"...Doesn't everyone deserve to feel loved?" Reborn counted.

"...I suppose you're right." Shirou replied with a sigh.

Reborn's sentiments seemed to have been enough for Shirou, though Natsumi couldn't help but wonder if that had been a yes or a no.

Reborn swallowed slightly as Bianchi placed a plate of what looked to be normal scrambled eggs and hash browns in front of him, a heart drawn in ketchup on the eggs.

It was the moment of truth, and while he knew that even if it was still poisoned, he wouldn't be harmed from it, his taste buds didn't relish the idea of a misstep. He had eaten Bianchi's cooking several times in the past, in order to not hurt her feelings, but it was never an easy battle, and with each passing year, her poison became more potent, and the struggle became harder.

Deciding to just take his leap of faith quickly, he scooped up a spoonful and shoved it into his mouth. "Um, it's good." He said, genuinely meaning it for the first time ever.

"I'm glad you liked it." Bianchi said with a wide smile of her how, her hands clasped in front of her chest, highlighting both the black chains on either wrist stopping her poison touch from her hands and the one around her neck to keep her mouth poison free. All of them removable, in case Bianchi needed access to her flames.

The Poison Scorpion herself had been moved to tears when she had tasted non-poisoned food for the first time in seven years, something she had resigned herself to never taste again.

"Would you like seconds?" Bianchi asked.

"Yes. That would be nice. And some coffee too." Reborn replied as he settled into his seat.

Today was a good day… He wondered how he should go about spicing it up.

Still haven't decided what I am doing with Taiga's pseudo-ring. Might just end up making it a blue cartoon tiger if nothing good is suggested.

People keep saying I am treating Gokudera unfairly, but I haven't had him do anything that was out of character, and most of people's reactions towards him are canon. Hibari does kick his ass for standing up to him, and Ryohei does freak out about smoking. Taiga is down for having a personal dislike for 'delinquents' and Shirou really should have killed Gokudera after he first showed up.

Even in the original canon, Tsuna didn't view Gokudera as a friend and saw him as a violent sociopath stalker for the first eight months or so that they were together. Not really admitting any amount of friendship until the festival after the new year. And Natsumi isn't nearly as desperate for friends as Tsuna was.

Unfortunately, because I was planning a chapter for Gokudera to grow up and allow Shirou and Reborn have an argument over the difference between 'Loyalty' and 'Obsession', I couldn't kill Gokudera.

Now, I think I am just going to not have such a chapter and have him die. Because fuck you fangirls.