: Pull the Trigger :

First Shot, Warning

Disclaimer: Katekyo Hitman Reborn! is the property of Amano Akira.

Author's Notes: Life likes to throw curves a little too much sometimes. Between those curves balls and my own spectacularly fail writing methods, I finally managed another chapter. Sorry for such a long wait, guys.

Warning Eight: Lost in Transition

"The number you have dialed has been temporarily disconnected. Please hang up and try again later." Thosewere not exactly the words Sawada Hiroyuki wanted to hear at the moment. Annoyed, he rubbed at his tired eyes and forced thoughts of sleep out of his mind. It was bad enough he had fallen asleep on the way home when he should have been thinking over the whole information overload that was trouble in the making. Where are you, Daichi? Pick up already.

Every single time he punched in his friend's cell number, the same computer animated message greeted him. It didn't make sense. Switching tactics, he turned his school bag inside out in hopes of locating his agenda, the only place Reiko's mobile number was listed in case of emergencies. This probably wasn't an emergency, but it was weird that he couldn't get in contact with his friend. There hadn't even been one message on his home phone or his cell from Daichi, implying something was definitely wrong. Never mind that it was a quarter after midnight and normal people would have been asleep by now.

Finding what he was searching for, he pulled the small notebook out and flipped to the contacts page. He dialed the number he needed quickly and waited for someone to pick up on the other end. When no one answered on the first try, he redialed and planned to keep redialing until there was an answer. The ringing was interrupted as a drowsy Reiko mumbled a, "Hello," into the receiver.

"I'm sorry for waking you up, Yoshida-san," Hiro apologized, and then jumped right into why he had called. "But I can't get a hold of Daichi and I was hoping you could help me out."

Reiko sounded much more wake when she spoke next. "Hiro-chan, is that you? What do you mean you can't get a hold of Daichi?" There was a shifting of covers on the other end as she no doubt got out of bed. "I just talked to him this afternoon. Are you sure you dialed the right number?" She seemed to realize how absurd that sounded on her own without Hiro needing to point out that he would never forget his best friend's number. "What am I saying? Of course you did."

"Yoshida-san," Hiro cut her worrying short as something clicked in his mind, "is there a reason you sent Daichi to stay with his uncle instead of asking us?"

The silence on the other line spoke for itself. "You don't understand, Hiro. There was no choice. You make it sound like there was, but there wasn't." There were too many people with secrets lately, was he surrounded by them?

"What's going on?" questioned the blonde flatly, staring straight ahead at his door. The floorboard had creaked outside of his room and he was pretty sure his sister was up still. "Hold on for a second." He covered up the mouthpiece without waiting for a reply, approaching the door as quietly as he could on the off chance it wasn't Emiko. The door knob wiggled and turned on its own before Hiro could get to it, a brown haired girl peeking around the door when it opened a crack and confirming his suspicions. He put a finger to his lips and then motioned for her to have a seat in the room, shutting the door after her. "Sorry about that, but I still want to know what's going on."

"I'm afraid I can't tell you," Reiko said shortly. Her tone expressed regret, but she wasn't talking no matter how convincing Hiro decided to get. "I should call Daichi, though. When I get a hold of him, I'll give you a call back." She hung up before Hiro could get another word in edge-wise.

"And what was that all about?" wondered Emiko curiously. She had taken up a seat at his computer, playing a game of psycho explosion minesweeper with the volume turned down. Hiro made a sound of disapproval at her choice of entertainment and then walked over, phone in hand, to sit beside her with his back against the computer desk. "You look like shit," she commented offhandedly, clicking vigorously at the little explosions on the screen. He wondered how she could tell if she wasn't even looking.

"Yeah, well, I feel like it too." The older Sawada rubbed at his eyes again. "I don't know why you're not as freaked out about this as I am, Emiko. Our dad," he started slowly, "is a mafia boss. There is a kid," he continued, voice lower than low, "sleeping three doors down in our guest bedroom who claims to be the world's greatest hitman. And you're sitting here in my room, playing computer games, like everything is okay times three."

Emiko shrugged, brown eyes glued to monitor. "Mine froze up, stupid computer."

That was not what he meant. "You can't be serious. This doesn't bother you at all?"

"Well, it does." Finally, he thought, she's beginning to see reason. "But I'm not sure how to stop it from freezing. Any ideas, nii-san?"

He would have yelled at her about avoiding the real issue if his phone hadn't started ringing, intent on distracting him. "Yoshida-san? Did you get a hold of Dai -"

"She did," an amused voice he would know anywhere greeted him instead of the expected one. "Are you okay, Hiro? Mom said you didn't sound too good. But that's my mom for you, always making something out of nothing."

Hiro would have made a quip about that being a report's job, but he was too relieved to hear his best friend's voice and all thoughts of being sarcastic flew out the window. "Where do I start?"

"The beginning would be nice," supplied Daichi oh-so-helpfully. Hiro laughed a little and then glanced at his sister. He couldn't really go about talking about the subject he wanted to over the phone, let alone with his sister in the room, so he settled for diverting the conversation.

"Well, my problems can wait. I'm more interested in finding out why your phone is disconnected. You never told me it would be a problem getting a hold of you."

"I never expected you to call in the dead of night, either," Daichi replied, still amused, "so we're even. And it's nothing, Hiro. I guess mom just forgot to pay the bill, don't worry about it. If you need to get a hold of me, just use the number I called you with tonight, okay?"

"Okay," Hiro agreed, mostly to make his friend happy. He didn't feel like pressing the matter when it seemed Daichi wouldn't be willing to talk. Not that he could say anything without being a hypocrite. He had a secret to hide, too. It wasn't one he wanted to keep, but it was his responsibility to do just that. But maybe I'll tell Daichi. One of these days. They couldn't keep secrets forever, could they? "I guess I'd better go get some sleep."

"Eh? But didn't you have something you wanted to tell me?"

The blonde smiled weakly. "Yeah, but it can wait." If you're going to keep things from me, I have every right to tell you nothing. "Good night, Daichi."

"Good night," Daichi echoed, but there was disappointment there.

"Don't worry," Hiro decided to use Daichi's own words against him because he didn't know what else to say, "it's nothing. See you tomorrow."

"Yeah, see you then." He didn't particularly like the way his friend's voice broke, too much pent up emotion hiding behind that usually happy facade. Daichi was bad at that, locking everything away. But … Am I really the one who upset him that much? Before he could apologize, ask what was wrong, the line went dead and Hiro didn't think calling him back would solve anything. Not this time.

- XI -

There were only two things that could cause such a crushed expression to appear on her brother's face like that. Either Daichi had started something that could potentially drag out for days or the convenience store down the road had run out of bubble tea. Emiko was fairly sure the convenience store was closed this time of night. That left only Daichi as the culprit.

That being the case, she closed the game she was currently playing and opened up her brother's instant messenger. They had a wireless connector for the internet, which meant they were always online if the computer was on, so she used that to her advantage and brought up a pop-up window with Daichi's screen name. He apparently was online as well, though she couldn't quite figure out why there hadn't been a message meant for her brother yet. Just what the hell is going on with you, lover boy? While her brother was busy moping on the floor, or possibly sleeping given the weird angle of his head, she typed out an IM for Daichi, clicked send, and waited as patiently as she could for a reply.

She belatedly remembered to turn the volume completely off after the little jingle played its self out and then read the response with growing annoyance. What do you mean I have to apologize? I didn't do anything, Emiko, and don't think I don't know it's you. That had been the whole point of the message to begin with, she thought, to make sure he knew it wasn't Hiro he was speaking with, but whatever. The important part of that was Daichi didn't seem to want to be forgiven. How was she supposed to get anywhere with that kind of attitude? Given, she could just ask Hiro, but he was too busy lost in his own thoughts of woe and despair. She snorted a little, because her brother could be a little melodramatic sometimes without even realizing it.

Real astute, Yoshida. Now just answer the question: what did you do? The answer to that was instantaneous, which kind of surprised her since he wasn't the typical person willing to talk this time of night. Usually he was all about the sleep. But there it was, in black and white: Can we not talk about this with Hiro around? Meet me outside the subway station tomorrow morning. Well, if you don't mind being a little late for class. Yeah, like Emiko ever minded being 'a little late for class'. I'll be there, she typed quickly, noticing her brother beginning to stand. No doubt he was ready to find out what she had been up. What with the past few minutes spent in near silence, a rarity on any occasion unless pure disaster was about to strike, he had to realize something was going on.

She managed to exit out of the IM just as he leaned over her shoulder, asking the expected, "What are you doing?" To which Emiko merely shrugged, glanced his way, and smiled. He seemed even more suspicious with her nonchalance, but didn't bother to call her on it. Instead, he set his cell down on the desk, shrugged as well, and plunged face first into the nearby futon. "Wake me when it's time for school."

"Will do," she replied brightly, pushing away from the computer and enjoying a nice spin in the chair. "Oh hey, Hiro, before you sleep, you should probably know there's a ninja sneaking in through your window." It had been meant as a joke to make her brother paranoid all night like when they had been kids, but no sooner had she said it a little kid in black ninja gear made an entrance through a once locked window. Well, that thwarted all plans of it being a joke.

"Yeah, right. Just leave me alone, Emiko." Or at least that was what she guessed he had said. It was hard to tell with his face currently making best friends with a pillow.

"No, I'm not kidding," she tried in vain to warn him. There was a ninja sneaking up on her brother, shouldn't there have been alarm bells going off somewhere? "Uh, nii-san, it's about to -" Her last feeble attempt at a warning was cut off as the little ninja of the night jumped straight onto her brother's back. Then, promptly made its self comfortable and pulled out a cup of tea from seemingly no where, but this was a ninja. Anything was possible with ninjas. "Who are you?"

"Hm, I'm disappointed. And I thought you were the smart one," the ninja chided in a high-pitched, little boy way. Emiko grinned and took the offered cup of tea being held out to her.

"Reborn!" At least they weren't in danger of being kidnapped by an elite force of secret agent-like ninjas; that was a relief. "What are you doing here?" She stressed the 'here', not sure what to make of their new home tutor sneaking into this particular room in the middle of the night. "I thought you were having secret conversations with my dad or something."

"Oh, I was," assured Reborn, pulling down the fabric covering his mouth and calmly sipping at his tea. Emiko could already tell she was going to like this kid. "But then I figured I should make sure my students were sleeping like good little students. Which they aren't. What about yourself?" That was fast, turning the tables around so she was the one being interrogated. This kid was interesting.

"If no one's noticed," Hiro chose that moment to muffle out, severely lacking a little something called air, "I can't breathe!" This response was followed by some interesting gasping for air sounds. Reborn finally got up, allowed Hiro to gratefully roll over and suck in a deep breath, and then sat back down on the blonde's stomach causing said deep breath to be wheezed out. "Oh joy," was the dry comment that was neither appreciative of the small act of kindness or the fact that he was being allowed the much needed air.

"Nii-san," chided Emiko, but she needn't have bothered since Reborn took care of ungrateful people in his own more painful ways. Namely putting them in headlocks until they made funny noises again. Emiko wanted to learn that move. Just not to use on her brother. "Um, guys, not that it doesn't look like you're having fun," she interrupted the strangle-flail routine that was she was baring witness to, "but it's way past our bedtime. So …"

"Right." Reborn let go of Hiroyuki altogether, dusting off his hands. "Off to bed with you, then."

Emiko raised an eyebrow before rolling her eyes and laughing. "I meant you too, little guy. You might be some kind of genius, but you still need sleep." What she was not expecting was for the green cup in Reborn's hands to change into a green creature thing that morphed into a gun a split second later. That was just creepy. And really cool. "Woah, where can I get one of those?"

"Oh, this?" It didn't seem like the kid was intending to use the gun as a threat after all, since it changed back into the green creature thing and Reborn was petting it like any good pet owner would. "This is Leon."

"Is that short for chameleon? Real smart," commented Hiro in that I'm-so-asking-for-punishment sort of way lately. Must be a reflex or something; that was the only thing Emiko could guess. The retaliation to that comment was swift as the green little creature shifted into a spork and proceeded to spork her brother in a few places. By itself. Apparently it was truly and deeply offended by such a remark. "Ow, ow, okay, I give up! Leon is a really cool name and I'm not being sarcastic at all!"

As unintentionally sarcastic as that sounded, Leon still let up on his assault, turning back into his bright green self and curling up on the Hiro's chest. Emiko laughed at the confused look her brother was now wearing. "I like your pet, Reborn-chan. It's kind of funny." The little chameleon seemed to preen at the praise, but Reborn held up a hand.

"Ah, but Leon isn't my pet. He is my friend." Leon made a noise that Emiko could only associate with purring as it moved closer to the small, ninja disguised kid. "Now, weren't you heading to bed?"

The young girl was disappointed and wanted to stay longer, figure out what Reborn meant by Leon being a friend, but the dismissal was clear. "All right, all right. I'm going." She sulked the entire way to the door. "But it's not fair."

Reborn replied with an amused, "Nothing is ever fair, you'll learn that eventually. Goodnight." Her brother let out an undignified shriek, with the kid no doubt twisting his arm, and another goodnight joined the first. She muttered a sour one back and left, shutting the door louder than necessary. Thankfully neither her mother nor father came out of the room down the hall to correct her and so she loitered outside the door after making a show of stomping away.

"So why are you still here?" She heard her brother ask the tiny hitman warily. There was a moment of silence from within the room and then the reply finally came.

"Waiting," was the answer.

"Waiting for what?" She could just imagined how annoyed Hiro looked by now.

"For your sister to leave," continued the hitman like he was discussing the weather. Emiko flushed, even if they couldn't see her, and headed back to her room as if caught with her hand in the cookie jar. How did he know? Mom always falls for that trick …

- XI -

"Now then," Reborn was smirking. Hiro did not like a smirking Reborn. The kid was evil incarnate when he smirked. "That out of the way. I want to know what exactly that idiot father of yours said out in the hallway."

"You mean you don't know?" the blonde mocked in such a way as to appear shocked. "Are you sure you're a hitman?"Leon transformed back into a gun-like shape and Hiro gulped, wondering if he could take back what he said.

"I'm positive, ragazzo. And, as for your question. Unfortunately Hayato was talking non-stop about something troublesome and none of us could hear properly. A pity, really."

Storing that information away for later, intrigued by what troublesome could mean, Hiro offered a raised eyebrow and a curt response. "Why would you want to know what we were talking about, anyway? If my dad didn't tell you, why should I?"

A click resounded in the room as the safety of the makeshift gun turned its self off. "Because knowing that idiot, he said something." But Reborn didn't appear willing to say what that something could have been.

"I was only telling dad my decision, nothing more, nothing less. He then encouraged me to do my best and that was that." The blonde shifted uncomfortably where he was sitting. The kid next to him stared with such vacant eyes that Hiro didn't know what could possibly be going through that mind. It was an unnerving phenomenon. Usually he was pretty good at reading people, but not Reborn. Reborn just seemed to shut himself off without batting an eyelash. It kind of reminded him of Michi.

"And what was your decision?" the kid wanted to know, releasing Leon from his hold as the chameleon changed back. "If you're anything like your father, I think I can take a wild guess, though."

Hiro grimaced and looked away, staring off in the opposite direction. "Does it really matter?" He had told his father what he had thought without holding back, but telling someone else seemed different somehow. It was embarrassing. Was he maybe being too rash in his decision? His mind answered with an obvious duh.

"Of course it matters." And the way it was said, Hiro could imagine he had just been 'duh'ed in someone else's mind as well.

"Then I'll tell you what I told my dad." Hiro kept his gaze on the floor, fidgeting with the hem of his shirt for a lack of anything else to do. "I want to be the next boss." When nothing was said, the blond finally glanced in Reborn's direction. The kid was staring at him again, but this time it was more inquisitive, as if the tiny marksman had found a puzzle worth solving. "What?"

"You." The kid looked away at last. "Maybe this assignment won't be so pointless, after all. You're nothing like your father." For some reason, that stung, though Hiro didn't know why. "Well, if you really want to be a boss, then so be it." That smirk Hiro didn't like was back and the blonde gulped again. "Training starts in the morning."

"Great," Hiro didn't sound too thrilled.

For a second, it looked like Reborn had raised a hand to slap him and he flinched instinctively, but the hand landed in his hair, ruffling it much to Hiro's annoyance. "Goodnight, ragazzo."

Even more annoying was when he actually said goodnight back, and he didn't even have to be under pain to say it. That couldn't be a good sign. Don't tell me I'm starting to like that sadistic jerk.

- XI -

The morning arrived too early after such a long night. The curtains were still open, much to Hiro's sleepy mind's displeasure, light streaming in through the window and landing on his face. Once he was awake it was hard to fall back asleep. He had another hour before his alarm would go off, according to his clock, so he took advantage of it and logged on to his computer, determined to find out what Emiko had been up to last night. She had definitely been up to something; she was always up to something. The problem was where to look. Internet, maybe?

He opened up his internet history and noticed the last activity was, indeed, last night. What was she doing on my instant messenger? Going into his IM log, he found what he was looking for and didn't like it one bit. So my best friend and little sister and meeting up without me? Yeah, because that's perfectly normal. He debated for a moment whether or not to follow them, but decided against it. If Daichi needed someone to talk to and that person wasn't him, he shouldn't be getting upset. I'll go to school like normal and pretend like nothing's wrong. That's what I'll do. He pushed away from the computer and started getting ready for his day, forcing his mind blank.

So what if he was a little jealous of his sister? It was his own fault Daichi didn't want to talk to him. He paused halfway through pulling on his uniform. That wasn't right. What had he done wrong? Nothing, that was what; it was Daichi who was keeping secrets. No, that wasn't right either. The problem was they both had a secret.

Finishing up with his uniform, he hurried to find a brush and comb his hair as the patter of feet out in the hallway signaled he was about to get an unexpected visitor. He was betting it was his sister, ready to make up an excuse on why they couldn't walk to school together. It was a good thing he wasn't betting money, he would have been broke as soon as the door slammed open.

"Ciaossu." Reborn was once more dressed in a small tuxedo, a fedora titled down to shade his face. The smirk was hard to hide and stood out as an ill omen for the day. "Training begins now."

For one fleeting moment, Hiro thought the book in the little kid's hands was meant as an actual study guide or something. But that thought proved false as soon as the kid opened the book and a cluster of knives made themselves known. The first one he managed to avoid, but the second, third and fourth grazed his skin in warning and he ducked just in time as the fifth went soaring over his head. All in all, Hiro had not been expecting a wake up call to involve near death experiences, but that was just what he was getting.

Once Reborn ran out of knives, Leon made a quick change into a gun and shot off what the tiny hitman called amateur shots. It took all of Hiro's concentration to avoid them, noting with annoyance that his body's slow reflexes were going to be the end of him if he didn't improve. Especially with this crazy kid running around trying to shoot him to death.

"You're distracted," Reborn stated grimly. "Either pay attention or I will kill you, ragazzo."

Thanks for the encouragement. The blonde rolled his eyes and then quickly hit the floor running in his haste to get to the door. "I've got school today! Can't we do this later?" Or never, he added silently. He stood back up slowly, watching the hitman with cautious eyes. The gunshots had stopped for the moment, but the calculating gleam in those eyes didn't allow for a chance to relax.

"Fine," the hitman finally relented, letting go of Leon as he changed back into his bright green self. "But I'll be accompanying you to school for the day."

Hiro bit back a groan. At least it was better than being potentially killed after his fourteenth birthday, but at what cost? He made a grab for his book bag, slung it over his shoulder, and ran a quick hand through his hair to flatten it back down. He knew he probably looked like he had just gotten into a fight with a weed-whacker (and lost), but he didn't have time to change if he valued making it to school before the first bell. Unlike some people, he thought with some form of bitterness. He forgets my birthday, doesn't call, and when I finally get a hold of him, he tells me nothing! Acts like I'm the idiot! He nearly ran into Emiko going down the stairs being so lost in thought.

"Ow, watch it, nii-san!" It was bad enough he clipped her with his backpack, earning a glare and a slap upside the head. She bounded up the stairs afterwards and out of sight. He watched her go until she was around the corner and then shook his head, suddenly sad and no longer angry. He was getting as bad as Daichi. Maybe it was for the best they spent some time apart.

"Did your sister do something wrong?" Reborn spoke up from where he was walking on the staircase railing, causing Hiro to jump, stumble down the last couple of steps, and land with an oof at the base of the stairs. He should have known better than to forget the kid was following him. "You're a stupid kid. Hurry up and grab breakfast or I'll leave you behind."

Glad at the directional change in conversation, the blonde did just that, slipping into the kitchen and retrieving an apple from the fruit bowl on the table. He wished his mom good morning, ignored his dad snoozing next to a bowl of hot oatmeal (which leaned precariously and would no doubt end up in his hair), and then made a hasty escape to the front door.

- XI -

"Okay, Yoshida, spill," was the way Emiko greeted the dark haired judo member as soon as he stepped off subway train, face pale and eyes downcast. "You look like hell warmed over, by the way. Did you get any sleep last night?"

Daichi didn't respond to the critique, another warning sign that something was wrong, and motioned for her to join him in a secluded corner. A place where they could talk in semi-private. "Not really," the older boy finally mumbled, slumping against the wall and letting his book bag fall to the ground. He palmed at his eyes, obviously trying to stay awake. "I was up all night, trying to … trying to figure things out," he finished lamely, even by Daichi standards.

"What kind of things could keep you, of all people, up that late?" Emiko demanded, brown eyes brimming with rage. "You're not the only one who had a rough night, you know. Hiro, he …" She didn't know how to explain. "He has a lot on his shoulders right now and I think you scared him, not calling, not wishing him a happy birthday. He relies on you, Yoshida, and you just …" The younger Sawada gestured broadly with her hands. "You let him down!"

She expected him to yell, say she needed to mind her own business, but instead Daichi bowed his head, agreeing. "You're right, I let him down." His entire body was rigid and she had a feeling if he wasn't so tense he would have been shaking. Not knowing what she was doing, she reached out a hand and rested it on his shoulder. He seemed to relax a little, realizing he wasn't alone. "It's my fault, Emiko. I didn't … and if I had … I have to protect him." The mumbling made no sense, but she listened in silence, letting him get it off his chest. "But I can't. Because if I do, they'll … and he'll …" His voice broke and he stopped speaking.

Hiro always said Daichi came back different after visiting his uncle, but this was her first time seeing it in person. What had happened to cause such a change? Did she even want to know? Deciding that yes, she did want to know, damn the consequences, she plowed ahead, asking what needed asking. "What happened to you, Yoshida? What are you talking about?"

That snapped him out of it at least and Daichi came back to reality, still looking too somber and pale. "Emiko. It might not happen now, it might not happen until months from now, but sometime soon, there will be worse people than a Phantom Thief to deal with."

"How would you know anything - ?" Emiko didn't get a chance to finish as her upperclassman grabbed her by the arm, dragging her into a hidden alcove and looking around him with frantic eyes. "What are you doing?" she hissed, disliking the tight space and the uncomfortable position they were in.

"Be quiet," ground out Daichi irritably, "we're being watched."

- XI -

Hiroyuki was sulking. Not the typical, teenage, I-hate-my-life sulking either, though that might have had something to do with as well. Given he had found out only yesterday he was first in line for a mafia, it was understandable. But that wasn't all there was to it. Something felt wrong, like a shift in the balance of power, and it was speaking to him of danger. And not only that, but a little kid was following him to school and cheerfully humming Hilary Duff's So Yesterday.

He wanted to tear his hair out in exasperation.

"Would you cut it out, Reborn?" It was bad enough he recognized the song (his sister had gone on an oldies Western kick a while back), but it was mocking his sulky disposition and probably his fight with his best friend and he just couldn't handle that right now. "You're being a brat."

"You're being a brat," corrected Reborn as he did a little back flip on the sidewalk. "I'm being perfectly professional."

In a gymnast costume? Hiro wanted to ask, but he didn't. It would have earned him a slap or a kick or something worse no doubt. He shifted his book bag to distract himself, making a mental note to finish his homework in home room. Let's see, I still have history, Japanese, bio … He went through the list of subjects he needed to work on and forgot about the world for a little bit.

"We're being followed," Reborn scolded for the benefit of his distracted student. "You could get yourself killed with the way you act, ragazzo."

"Huh?" Brow furrowed, the blonde glanced around uneasily. His gaze landed on someone familiar and he smiled, all suspicion gone. "Oh, that's just Nakamura-senpai. He goes to my school too." He waved at the senior, a bit shyly, and then continued walking. "He's captain of the archery club, everyone's idol," he stated wistfully, refusing to look back again. "I kind of wish I knew him better. He helped me and Emiko a while ago, but I don't think … well, I doubt he considers me a friend."

The tiny hitman scoffed and jerked his thumb back at the older boy in question. "Then why is he bothering to catch up with us?"

An eloquent "Huh?" was the response to that and Hiro looked over his shoulder in askance. Nakamura Michi was indeed running towards them at a rate that would have them meeting at the next intersection. Hiro slowed his pace, curious, and waited for the senior to catch up completely. "Senpai," the blonde greeted with a small smile. "Running late, aren't you?"

Michi took a moment to get his breath back, brushing stray locks of black, red-tipped hair out of his face. "You walk pretty fast, Sawada," retorted the upperclassman, straightening his shirt where it rode up and readjusting his backpack quickly. "And yeah, my alarm didn't go off this morning," the stoic captain shrugged, uncaring, "but I guess it works out, since I got to see you."

Unsure how to take that, Hiro decided on flattered and let his smile grow a bit more. "Yeah, well, it's good to see you too, senpai."

"Don't misunderstand," the captain continued in what seemed like haste, but wasn't when associated with this particular person. Everything was slow and deliberate when it came to Nakamura Michi, the archery captain not one to be easily flustered. "I wanted to speak to you about something and I didn't think it would be this easy."

"Okay," Hiro went along with what the older boy was saying, even if it did leave him baffled, "what did you want to talk about?"

"Your birthday," stated Michi uncomfortably, and then his darker than black eyes settled on Reborn and widened fractionally. "Who's this? Your little brother?"

The blonde stopped walking out of shock, not registering anything but one thing. Nakamura-senpai knows my birthday? Then he realized that might not be such a good thing. "What about my birthday?" Hiro asked cautiously, but was interrupted as Reborn jumped onto his shoulder, tugging on a lock of his messy hair. "Ow, Reborn!"

"Are you going to introduce me to your friend or not, ragazzo?"

"Um, Reborn, Nakamura-senpai. Nakamura-senpai, Reborn." The blonde gestured to the tiny hitman and decided a little white lie was in order. "He's my … uh, cousin. Visiting from overseas." It didn't sound very convincing, but it was enough and Michi nodded as if accepting it as truth.

"Cute kid," commented the captain and then changed the subject back to what he wanted to say in the first place. "So, about your birthday. I suppose I missed the celebrations, but I do have a gift for you." Hiro couldn't help but brightened a little at the prospect of a gift. It meant he was beginning to get pass the aloof demeanor Michi always wore, making an impact on him, slowly building a friendship he could look back on and be proud of. "Could you meet me at the clubhouse after school? I know today's not a practice day, but I don't think the soccer team will mind the two of us."

"Sure!" Hiro agreed readily. "But how did you know about my birthday?"

Michi looked as if he wanted to smile. "I overheard Yoshida raving about it. What did he get you for your birthday, anyway?" It was said with such nonchalance that Hiro didn't even think to question it. The mention of Daichi might have had something to do with that, though.

"He … that is, he …" Hiro floundered with how to explain without putting his best friend in a bad light. "He's out of town," the blonde settled for hesitantly, "I haven't seen him since the day before."

"Oh, that's too bad," Michi didn't sound like it was 'too bad' at all. "Well, I hope his gift is well worth the wait. I promise mine won't be late next year, Sawada, if that's any consolation."

Hiro shrugged, but there was a grin tugging at his lips. "I'll hold you to that, senpai, don't forget."

"I won't."

Annoyed at being treated as if he weren't there, Reborn tugged on the blonde's hair again in an effort to redirect the attention. "Oi, if you don't want to be any later than you already are, I suggest you two stop chatting and start walking."

Letting out a short, "Hiiiie," Hiro took off in the direction of the school with Michi by his side, the older boy out-right smiling at his antics. He could get use to running to school if it meant earning a smile from his senpai every once in a while.

- XI -

A young brown haired girl screamed as a blade cut into her arm, running for all she was worth as the knife clattered to floor. A dark haired boy hot on her heels tried to protect her as best he could from the onslaught of sharp projectiles, but it was hard to do when he was trying to protect his own vitals as well. "Run faster, Emiko, the exit's just ahead!" She fell out of the exit like a baseball player sliding into home base. He couldn't resist cracking a small smile as he pulled the door shut, the thump, thump, thump as knifes embedded into the door behind him not putting him off. He shouted with a laugh, "Safe!"

Then he grabbed the dazed girl's arm and dragged her along, sprinting as far away as he could from the subway. The door behind them blasted off its hinges and an angry roar signaled they were still being pursued. They didn't dare look back.

"Who. The. Hell. Was. That?" panted the girl, holding her side with a pained look on her face. "They nearly killed!"

"Still could kill us," suggested Daichi. He ducked behind a nearby dumpster and pulled Emiko with him. "Now be quiet. Let's see if we can't get rid of that nasty girl with the knives."

"You have a plan?" Emiko didn't bother to hide her shock.

The dark haired judo boy grimaced. "You don't have to sound so surprised." Grudgingly he admitted, "Well, it's sort of a plan, but it's not going to work if you keep talking."

"What do you mean, 'sort of a plan', lover boy? It either is or it isn't."

They both fell silent as the crazy girl chasing them came into sight, four knives in each hand and a dull expression on her face. Her eyes, a deep ocean blue, were blank, no spark of life left behind in them. If she hadn't been coming after them like a raving lunatic, they would have mistaken her for a zombie. Then again, it was all too feasible she was after their flesh and blood. She was doing a good impression of the living dead and it wouldn't be too much of a stretch.

Daichi felt around on the ground, searching for something, and when he found it, he gripped it tight. Then, pitching his arm back, he sent the whatever-it-was flying in the opposite direction, down a side alley that would lead the girl away from them. The noise drew the attention of their psycho stalker and she went off to explore the alley with careful, measured steps. She barely made a sound as she walked, as if her feet weren't touching the ground. Emiko shivered, thinking ghost. Her brother probably would have a better explanation, but she didn't.

A tug on her hand drew her attention back to the fact they needed to escape now or they would not be given another opportunity. The girl would come back and, by then, they would be trapped with no where to run. Without a word to each other, the two of them hurried down the street and hung a right at the first alleyway they came to that wasn't a dead end. As soon as they were out of the other side of alley and closer to school, they took off running. "We are so late," Daichi remarked cheerfully, back to his old self now that they had survived a could-have-died moment. "I bet Hiro's worried sick about you."

"And you," grumbled Emiko, speeding up her pace in hopes of leaving the judo geek in the dust. No such luck, he kept up with her almost effortlessly. Stupid jocks and their training. "I don't get it. If you can run from a psycho and laugh about it, why can't you just talk to Hiro? He isn't exactly scary, you big idiot."

Daichi faltered mid-step and nearly face-planted into the street, but he caught himself in time and kept going with a renewed vigor. "I just can't. It's not that easy, Emiko. He wouldn't … he wouldn't understand."

"He wouldn't understand how much you like him?" Emiko fished for information, mentally patting her self on the back when a light dusting of red lit up Daichi's tanned cheeks.

"That's not it at all, Emiko!" yelled the judo member maybe a little too loudly. Bingo, the girl thought victoriously. "You've got it wrong. I like him, sure. As a friend," he hurried to add with a glare, willing that smirk off the girl's face. "But this is about … it's about more than that. Someone is planning to hurt Hiro and I can't do anything about it without -" He stopped himself from going into further detail. "Anyway, what I want to know is … when the time comes, and I can't do anything, will you do something?"

Emiko wondered why he had to bother to ask. "Of course I'll give my all! Idiot." She would have smacked him upside the head if she wasn't as concentrated on staying on her feet as she was at the moment. "I'm his sister and he's my brother. It's in my blood to look out for him."

"Good." One word spoken with such relief that Emiko felt her heart go out to the older boy and she wished she could say something to reassure Daichi that everything was going to be okay. Instead, their shoulders brushed and they shared a smile. It was enough. "Thanks, Emiko."

For some reason, despite years of fighting and disagreeing, they had become a part of each other's life and they knew who they had to thank for that. The same person they would protect with everything they had.

- XI -

Lunch was awkward. Hiro kept avoiding Daichi like the plague, Daichi kept leaning precariously over the railing admiring the drop, and Nico had chosen today of all days to join them for lunch like he was prone to doing from time to time. Emiko wasn't impressed at all. "Hitomi, boys are idiots."

The dark haired girl looked ready to agree, but caught herself when Hiro glanced their way, eyebrows raised. "What was that, sister dearest?"

"You heard me," she snapped, glaring daggers at her oblivious brother. "What the hell is wrong with you today? Daichi's back and you're ignoring him like he's done you a horrible wrong! I'll say it again: boys are idiots!"

"We are not!" argued Hiro petulantly, hands on his hips. He hadn't even bothered to fake-eat his lunch and Emiko knew he was itching for a reason to leave. She wasn't going to give it to him.

"Fine," she conceded, "not all boys are idiots." She glanced reproachfully at Daichi. "Right, Yoshida?"

The dark haired judo boy seemed to get the hint. "Right," Daichi agreed warily, turning to face Hiro and locking eyes with the shorter boy. "Right," he said again, as if to convince himself of that fact, and then continued on in a rush. "Look, Hiro, I'm sorry about last night, I was just out of it and I didn't mean to upset you, but I had a lot going on and I guess you did too and it was just a really bad time and I wanted to say I'm sorry."

Hiro stared for a while, gauging the sincerity behind those words, and then broke their eye contact with a long-suffering sigh. "I didn't understand a word you just said." When he looked back at the incredulous face of his best friend, he grinned slightly. "But I think you kind of said sorry twice."

In response, Daichi flashed a winning smile like he had been expecting that all along. "We're good then?"

"We were never not good," Hiro stated flippantly with a dismissive wave of his hand, leaning back against the railing. "You worry too much."

Emiko snorted derisively, mumbling yeah, right and something about boys being ridiculous. She glanced over at Nico from behind her eyelashes and noticed how rigid her classmate's posture had become. With the two best friends on speaking terms again, he was left out. Rolling her eyes, she took a bite out of her tuna roll and waved her bento box in the direction of the Italian kid. "See, Hitomi, boys are stupid. Those two don't even realize how jealous they make people."

This time Hitomi had no trouble agreeing. "You're right of course, Emiko-sama." The brown haired Sawada twitched at the honorific, but said nothing. At least Hitomi was beginning to use their individual names now, more so than she had in the past. "But are you sure it's just the boys?"

Emiko had no reply for that ready and shrugged, offering out her bento to the other girl. "Dunno. But anyway, I've got a lot to ask you about some things. And no, it has nothing to do with what you're being all cryptic about. Spend the night at our place tonight?"

"Okay," answered the older girl demurely, bowing her head out of respect for her boss's daughter. "I suppose I owe you an explanation."

"Or two," Emiko grumbled, starting up a chopsticks war with Hitomi. She already knew she would win, mostly because her friend had a habit of losing on purpose. They were going to have a serious talk tonight about that and all this subservient crap. Enough was enough.

- XI -

If there was one thing better than making up with your best friend after a petty fight, it was getting a gift from that very same best friend and having them look at you in that way that only a best friend can. All soft eyes and quirky, irreplaceable smiles. It made everything worth it. The fights, the confusion, everything. Because you knew there was someone out there in that confusing world that still cared, that you still cared about, and despite it all you hadn't gotten lost within that confusion and let it change you.

"Do you like it?" Daichi asked nervously. It was obvious the judo member was taking the silence as a bad sign, afraid they were going to start arguing any minute now. Not an unjustifiable fear given they had been on shaky ground lately for reasons they themselves couldn't understand. "I … well, it's a family heirloom. I couldn't think of anyone better than you to give it to."

Hiro rolled the ring between his fingers, admiring it. There was a golden chain attached to it, which was more his style than wearing rings, and Daichi had remembered that too. But a family heirloom. How could his friend so easily give one of those away? His frown must have given him away because Daichi seemed to pick up on it and assured him it was a heirloom that was meant to be passed on to someone else, someone you truly cared about, someone you wanted to protect.

"It's from my mother's side," Daichi explained with a certain fondness to his voice. "Mom gave it to me before she left, said I had to give it to someone important, and that I would know what to do with it …" He shook his head, clearing it, and smiled sheepishly as he went on. "But that's not all, 'cause I don't do sentimental without a good cause in mind, so yeah." A box of chocolates was flourished in front of the blonde, taken from behind Daichi's back. "I figured I owed you some candy," he stated smugly, "and you owe me a pocket knife."

Brown eyes widened and Hiro slapped himself on the forehead. "I completely forgot about that! You'll to come over sometime so I can give that back to you."

"How about tonight?" suggested Daichi brightly, grabbing the necklace out of his friend's hands and slipping it over the blonde's head. "Looks good on you," he commented dismissively and started for his next class. "So how about it? Okay if I spend the night?" He tapped the box of candy against his friend's chest, flashing a smile. "Call it returning a favor?" the dark haired boy mimicked his friend's words from a few days ago.

Grumbling something about wise guys and their stupid jokes, Hiro nodded reluctantly. "Oh sure, bribe me and then ask me that. I see how you work, Yoshida."

"You know you love me," cheekily replied the taller boy, ducking into his biology class with a laugh when Hiro tried to swat his arm. "Better get to home economics," Daichi sing-songed, "before you're late, Hiro-chan." Hiro flushed an angry red in the classroom doorway, glaring. "And I expect my cookies not to be burnt this time."

This earned a few sniggers from Daichi's classmates and the blonde turned in a huff, completely missing Fujihara Yuko and her furious look following his retreating back. Daichi didn't and frowned in the direction of the girl he had once thought he liked. It was about time he had that conversation with her, concerning a lot of things. "Yuko, can we talk?" She was pleased enough with that development and he almost felt bad for what he was about to do. Almost. Happy belated birthday, Hiro-chan.

- XI -

With the day progressing the way it was for the better, Hiro had more or less forgotten about a certain child-like assassin that had followed him to school today. So when the kid had appeared out of no where, dangling from the ceiling like a spy and wearing the tethered rope to prove it, the blonde was taken off guard and screamed. Though he would later deny that he had shrieked like a little girl.

"Reborn, stop trying to give me a heart attack! What the hell?"

It was thankfully time for school to let out and that left only a few stranglers to witness his mortification. He clutched at his chest, willing his heart to calm down. "Have you seriously been here all day?" he questioned in a low voice, glowering up at the hitman. "Because that's kind of creepy and I'm telling dad."

An amused curl of the lips gave the child assassin away. "Go right ahead, I'm sure he won't be surprised." Reborn paused and unlatched the tether keeping him up in the air, landing gracefully on the ground after showing off with a back flip. A quick tug on the zipper for his spy costume and it gave way to reveal a Russian acrobat get-up. "Ready for part two of training?" the boy asked innocently enough.

Hiro wasn't fooled. "If you're going to try and kill me again, could you have the courtesy to wait until after I meet with senpai and snag Daichi for the walk home?" Unconsciously he fiddled with the necklace his best friend had given him, wishing Daichi were somewhere close by. At least then Reborn would presumably not kill him.

"When did you get that?" There was suspicion in the otherwise calm voice of the hitman.

The blonde looked down at the silver ring in his hand, smiling. "Dai gave it to me after lunch."

"… Interesting." Reborn stood up on his tip-toes and pulled at the chain, forcing Hiro to lean forward or end up choked. "That was nice of him. Did he tell you anything about this ring?"

"Just that it's a family heirloom," Hiro said, unconcerned.

"Wear it every day," demanded the miniature hitman. "And I think you should consider inviting this boy into the Family."

Smile playing at his lips, Hiro pointed out, "But Daichi is already a part of the family."

"Not family," Reborn stressed, "but Family. He would do well as a right-hand man."

"W-What?" The boy stumbled over himself, dropping his hand from the ring. "You mean … but I can't!"

"You want to be the boss, don't you?" Reborn raised an eyebrow. "Then start acting like one. You'll need Guardians and he has promise."

"What would you know?" wondered the blonde, still skeptical.

"Do you need me to spell it out for you?"

Hiro was about to say yes, that would be nice, but stopped. Was he spying on my best friend too? That was creepier than just spying on one person. "All right, fine, I'll talk to Daichi about it. What's a Guardian, anyway?" Secretly he was thinking more along the lines of Yeah, right. Like I'll let my best friend get involved with the mafia, but decided voicing those thoughts would only end in pain. Still could, to be honest, if Reborn went and did that whole mind reading thing again.

"A Guardian is -" But whatever a guardian was, Hiro didn't get to find out.

A tall boy in a white judo uniform was running toward them, grinning, and that was enough to successfully interrupt what could have been an enlightening conversation. "Yo, Hiro! Waiting for me?"

Reborn hopped onto the blonde's shoulder, studying the newest addition with intelligent eyes. "You like fighting?"

"Sure do, kid." The judo member turned toward Hiro with a curious look on his face. "Some other cousin I don't know about?" he hazarded, pointing at Reborn to get his message across.

"Something like that," evaded Hiro, glancing away. "So, uh, what's with the uniform? I thought judo didn't have practice today."

"We don't," Daichi assured, "I just felt like keeping up with my routine. Good for the body and all that."

"Hm, you should teach that kind of resolve to this one." Reborn flicked the side of the blonde's neck, hard, causing the boy to wince and close his eyes in pain. "He's hopeless."

"Tell me about it," teased the dark haired boy, eyes alight with mischief. "So ready to head home, Hiro?"

"My home, you mean," Hiro concluded, exasperated. "Yeah." Then, remembering something, he pulled a face. "Ah, wait, not yet. I have to meet Nakamura-senpai. He has …" One of those annoyingly intuitive feelings decided to sneak up on him, telling him not to finish that sentence.

"He has what?" prompted Daichi obliviously.

"He just has some news about an upcoming tournament he wanted to talk to me about," finished the blonde hesitantly.

Daichi picked up on that and gave him a strange look. "All right. I guess I can suffer through an archery meeting. Won't take too long will it?"

"You don't have to come if you don't want to." Actually, Hiro was pretty sure his best friend shouldn't tag along. The last time Michi and Daichi had been alone together, they had given each other quite a few bruises to remember each other by. "It won't take long," he promised, hoping his friend would drop the idea of coming with him.

It appeared that he did, but the frown proved he didn't like it one bit. "If you're sure. See you by the school gates then?"

"Always," grinned the blonde, waving. "See ya!" Halfway down the hall, Reborn slapped him upside the head. "Ow, what was that for?"

"You forgot to ask him to be your Guardian." Hiro didn't believe that was the only reason, not by a long shot.

- XI -

The clubhouse was quiet, not a soul in sight, causing Hiro to call out a nervous, "Anyone here?" Two rows over, a locker creaked and then shut with an audible bang. Michi appeared around the corner, bow in hand and clothed in the traditional gi. He looked as if he had just finished changing. "Eh, senpai?" When they locked eyes, there was a determined glint to the captain's dark ones.

"I see you brought your cousin," noted the older boy, switching his gaze to the tiny hitman on the other's shoulder. "Could he wait outside while we talked?"

"Um, Reborn, could you …?"

A derisive snort escaped the kid, but he hopped off Hiro and headed for the door, clapping his hands. The clap must have been a signal because Hiro caught a distinctive flash of green and the door was opening of its own accord. Michi didn't even glance over, back to appraising his club member and refusing to be distracted. "I'm glad you came."

"Why wouldn't I?" Hiro kept his tone light, offering a half-hearted smile. "Are you practicing by yourself today, senpai?" Man, I should probably start doing that. Between him and Dai, I'm don't know who's making me look worse.

"I was hoping you would join me …?" The dark haired captain gestured to the door. "You don't have to change. Or grab your bow. I have a surprise for you."

Hiro nodded and trailed after the older boy as they headed to the practice range. They had limited space on the field, the soccer team taking up the majority, but it was enough for a close-range shot. He watched, admittedly fascinated, as Michi notched the arrow, going through the movements, releasing the bowstring at the opportune moment. Seeing the captain's form up close was a lot different than watching it from across the field and Hiro admired the grace behind it. So much self-assurance, so much pride in each calculated shift of the shoulders, each easy manipulation of the bow. Nakamura Michi was born to be an archer, of that Hiro was sure.

"Want to try?" And that same bow was being held out to him, the bow Michi always used and refused to let others to touch. It took a moment for Hiro to realize he was being asked a question and blushed, reaching out to take the bow after a stammered yes.

He went through the same motions as the captain. His muscles more tense and his body rigid with expectation. He wanted to impress the older boy and it was making it harder to focus. "Relax, Sawada. I'm not expecting a bull's eye." It may not have sounded like a joke, but it did the trick to get rid of how anxious he felt. Though, yeah, it probably should have felt more insulting than it actually did.

As he let go of the bowstring, he exhaled, releasing all tension at once, and smiled when it hit the board right next to Michi's arrow in the center ring. It wasn't bad for a shot he had been practically shaking through, but he knew he could do better. "Your bow feels really light, senpai. What's it made of?" He made a show of flexing it between his right and his left, enjoying the balanced feel in his palms. A bow like this had to be expensive.

"Fiberglass," confirmed the captain, inadvertently proving just how expensive it was. "I have three like it, but this one is my favorite." He has three of them? Hiro wondered just how rich his captain had to be to afford that, or more correctly, how rich his parents had to be to afford that. "And I want you to have it."

Hiro was fairly sure he had misheard. "You what?" The bow slipped out of his hands and hit the ground, the string snapping from the impact. That could be easily fixed, but his eyes went wide with fear, catching a flicker of annoyance across Michi's face.

"Really, kouhai, do you always have to make me repeat myself?"

A laugh caught in the blonde's throat. "No, I just … you can't be giving this to me. You don't have to give this to me."

"It's of no concern," Michi crossed his arms, eyes narrowing in thought as he observed the younger archer. "Or do you not like it when compared with his present?"

Automatically, a hand went to grip the ring hanging from his necklace protectively, though Hiro didn't know why. "Are you talking about Daichi? How did you know …?"

"Fujihara's been spreading rumors," answered the captain impassively. "What did you expect was going to happen when he broke it off with her?"

"What?" Now that was news to him. Why hadn't Daichi mentioned it? "Look, I don't know what you heard, but it's not true. Yuko-san has it out for me."

"As in wants to hurt you?" The captain took a step closer and Hiro instinctively backed up. Another step forward, another step back. They kept it up until the blonde felt his back hit a wall, the school now behind him, blocking any further retreat. "Yes, I think she does. Do you have any idea why she would want to do that, Sawada?" Michi slammed a hand against the wall, right next to the blonde's messy mop of hair.

"She's jealous?" Hiro supplied uneasily, but he didn't tear his gaze away from the heated one above him. Michi was acting weird and he didn't trust the boy not to lash out. "I-I don't know. She just doesn't like me."

"She hates you," corrected Michi, "and it has nothing to do with Yoshida." The older archer gave pause and considered it for a second. "Well, it doesn't have everything to do with Yoshida. I'm pretty sure of that."

"What do you mea -" Another hand slammed against the wall, stopping the question in its tracks. Hiro gulped and slumped heavily against the building behind him. He glanced from side to side, taking in the seclusion of the place, a perfect place to hide a body. They had ended up behind a cluster of trees, large sakura trees that hid the two of them from view. This couldn't end well. "Look, senpai, I'm sorry -"

"Be quiet," the captain hissed, glancing furtively off to the side. "Someone's coming." The way it was said, Hiro was pretty sure that this someone wasn't a good someone.

A split second later and that theory was proven correct as his body hit the ground, forced to do so when a knife went soaring over his head to smack into the wall. He caught sight of a girl with coffee-colored skin running towards them, but his arm had already been grabbed and he was off and running now too.