Xanxus was the first one out the door the moment the meeting was dismissed. He disregarded the yells of protest of his Guardians and just kept on walking. The Varia head made his way to the infirmary, not caring if he knocked into anyone who happened to cross his path.

His red eyes narrowed when he approached the infirmary door. There was a presence he did not recognize in the room and it was close to the brat. Slowly, he opened the door with a hand hovering over one of his guns.

When his eyes caught sight of the supposed intruder, he was surprised to see a woman. However, he hid it under a blank expression but he could not help but feel slightly apprehensive because she resembled a certain marshmallow freak.

"If you're going to come in, I suggest you close the door. I'm sure you don't want the others to know that you're here."

Thae Varia boss scowled at her tone but eventually turned around to close the door. He then walked over to where the Vongola Decimo was lying and sat down in a chair next to the window. He plotted himself in the seat, crossed his arms across his chest, and leaned back against the wall behind him, all while eyeing the woman in front of him.

He could tell that this woman would not harm the brat but that did not ease the anxiety in his chest. If she was who he thought she was, then she was a dangerous person to deal with.

"So how was the meeting?" The woman got up from her seat and brought her hand to brush aside loose strands of hair on the brunette's face. "From what I heard, Lambo is partaking in the meetings now and you told Mammon about her, right?"

Xanxus stiffened in his seat as he focused his gaze on the woman sitting across from him. How did she know about the meetings? Only people in the brat's inner circle knew about them. "Who the hell are you?"

The woman just smirked at Xanxus's farce. "It just irks you that you don't know who I am despite the fact that you fully know who I resemble."

Xanxus shot a glare. His hands ached for the guns tucked under his belt but he resisted the temptation. "Don't test me, trash. I'm actually putting an effort to be civil since the brat is lying on her sick bed. Just try pushing my limits and I can't say I'll be keeping my word."

The woman clearly looked amused even though she tried not to laugh by covering her mouth. "Well, I apologize for acting towards you, Xanxus-sama." She turned in his direction and lowered her head in respect. "My name is Elaine Turvenion, but call me Ella or Touko. To answer your question, I'm simply one of Hime's maids."

"Like the hell you are and what is with the –sama shit? From the way you talk, I know you're not someone who'll lower their head so easily."

Elaine lifted her head and shrugged as she relaxed in her seat, placing her weapon back into its sheath. "I'm a two-faced shady character, who is a natural born hypocrite. I believe people are born bad and grow up to be good. That's why it's so easy to be evil and so difficult to be good, though there are some exceptions to my philosophy." Her eyes trialed down the sleeping brunette but she turned her attention to Xanxus.

Xanxus almost barked in laughter but chuckled softly at her answer. He went back to crossing his arms and loosened his tense muscles. He watched as the woman glanced at him before returning her attention to the brat, as if she was a predator protecting her young.

The Shimon brat had told him about another woman being the brat's maid but he did not expect someone of this character to be by her side.

"To be honest, I was surprised to see it was you who came to see her first. I was sure your Guardians or Enma would be first." Elaine fixed the blanket on her mistress's body, making sure it was kept at a moderate temperature or else the fever would come back.

Xanxus let out a snort. "Just because I like the brat now, it does not mean I'll tolerate what trash like you have to say. Anyway, if you know about the meetings, I can assume you know what's going on in that brain of hers, right?"

Light lavender eyes darkened to a certain degree but Elaine kept a calm composure. "I know what she's up to... most of the time."

"Then you should know that the longer she stays here, the more suspicious those worthless pieces of trash are bound to get." Xanxus's eyes lit up in amusement when he heard her utter a string of curses.

Elaine looked at Tsuna, sighing. "I guess I have to take back what I said about you. You're better than those buffoons she keeps around even if you're trigger happy." She dug her hand into her pocket, fumbling around for a specific object. "Do you think you could carry her back to her room?"

Xanxus glanced at her and then at the brat. "You better get your eyes checked, trash." He bent down and scooped the sleeping brunette into his arms, carefully placing her head in the crook of his arm. "Are you coming or what?"

Elaine looked up at Xanxus after placing on a ring. "What's this? You need someone to walk you to her room?"

Xanxus bit back a growl as he made his way to the door. "I'm not a child, pipsqueak. If you can't see, both of my hands are occupied. Unless you want me to sling her over my shoulder, then I'm with that."

The white-haired woman shot Xanxus a glare as she got up from her seat and headed for the door. "It couldn't hurt to ask for help."

"Ha, over my dead body."

Elaine blinked in amusement before following Xanxus out the door. "I think I'm going to like you."

Xanxus gave her questioning look before shaking his head back and forth. "I'm not some stupid pet."

"I'm just telling you that you're on my good side. I mean, who wouldn't want to be on Nue's good side?"

Xanxus stopped walking and watched as Elaine kept on walking. "It's official. I was screwed the moment I met the brat."

Elaine shrugged as she turned around, waiting for Xanxus to catch up. "I don't know about that. I mean I've seen you change, but you're still the same bastard that shoots anyone who dares insults you or the Vongola. I have to say that you were granted a fortunate curse. Simple as that."

Xanxus smirked as he walked alongside Elaine. "How the hell did she find you?"

Elaine's eyes became soft as she continued walking. "That's a story for another time."

The moment the men entered the room, they were slightly taken back by the two women positioned beside the Shimon head. Few of them recognized the white-haired woman while others recognized the black-haired woman. The only thing that bothered some of them was the murderous look on the former while the latter remained stoic but bits of murderous intent could be felt.

Enma sighed to himself and looked out the window from the corner of his eyes. His eyes softened when one of the people he saw waved at him. He muttered something into the ear of the white-haired woman, who scowled in return but nodded. He made his way toward the door with his Guardian, Mizuno Kaoru, following closely behind.

Surprisingly, it was Lambo who spoke up after Enma left the room. "Ella-san, I thought you were not coming back until Tsuna-nee called for you." He took the seat between the two women, deeming as the safest seat in the room for now.

Elaine smiled as she ruffled Lambo's hair. "Well, after Enma called me about Hime's collapse, I had to come back."

Lambo nodded at her answer and scooted his seat near Mirabelle since he had an idea that a fight was going to play out between his sister's two former instructors and he was right when the two made eye contact.

"What are you doing here, Turvenion?" His hand was itching for the gun hidden his coat pocket, but the sight of the other maid told him he would end up hearing her snappy comments, so he decided against it.

Elaine rolled her eyes at Reborn's so-called tantrum and placed her legs on the table. "Are you deaf or something? I just told Lambo why I was here. However, I am interested on how you're getting along without my espresso."

The hitman growled in irritation but proceeded to take his seat with the others following his actions.

If he knew that this woman was going to be here, then he would have ordered security to toss her out on sight. Ever since that incident with Lambo, everything that has happened grated on his nerves to a dangerous degree. He was honestly like a ticking time bomb waiting to implode on someone. Speaking of Lambo, the hitman shot the cow a glare before making himself comfortable in his seat.

Lambo swallowed a gulp of air, inwardly praying to the gods that he would come out alive.

The Storm Guardian was clearly confused when he gave his fellow companions a questioning look before shooting his counterpart a glare. "What the hell happened while I was out?"

The Rain Guardian awkwardly scratched the back of his neck with a nervous chuckle. "I actually don't know where to start."

Gokudera sighed as he placed his forehead on the table. He could foresee that this was going to be a very angry meeting. He then placed his cheek on the table and eyed the two strange women. One eerily looked like Byakuran while the other looked familiar. He sat straight up when those blue orbs were looking at him coldly. "Blanc?"

Mirabelle's eyes narrowed as she gazed at the Storm Guardian, who hesitantly broke eye contact. "I see that you're the same as ever. Though I'm surprised that you're not pushing daisies because of all those cancer sticks you stuff in your mouth, Hayato."

Gokudera fumed at her remarks but did not do anything to rebuke it. Something else was bothering him, Hibari and Mukuro. Those two, for once, were not at each other's throat and were actually being tame even though they were three seats away from each other. He could feel something ominous was going to happen.

The doors were suddenly slammed open as an individual with questionable characters strutted in. "Why, hello, everyone. I see you're all being boring as always."

"Byakuran-sama, I don't mean to be rude, but that is no way to treat the members of a family you're allied with." Mirabella sighed when the man smiled at her.

Byakuran eyed the men in the room and tilted his head to the side, sighing. Why did Tsu-chan want to be with these people? He would never understand a maiden's heart. "Oh, yes. Where is my Tsu-chan? I came to visit her. I also brought a surprise with me…" Byakuran looked behind him and was rather disturbed that the person was not next to him. "Oya… I swore she was just behind me."

"Byakuran-san, I believe you left her at the entrance when you heard Tsuna was going to hold a meeting today. Sadly, I have to inform you that she's resting in her room."

The Gesso head turned around at the sound of the deep voice and smiled when he saw the person come in with two others. "Enma-kun, I forgot to say thanks when you went out of your way to greet us. You know how I get when Tsu-chan is mentioned and look, you brought Uni-chan with you."

Reborn straightened himself in his seat and was not amused to see the young girl walking into the room, placing herself next to the dangerous man. "Uni, I thought you were in Japan and where's Gamma?"

Uni bowed in respect before speaking. "Byakuran told me that he was going to visit Tsuna-chan, so I tagged along. Gamma is currently at the villa where we're staying at until the mission is over."

"What mission?" Elaine looked at her brother and knew he was up to no good again.

"Ah, yes, that reminds me. Thank you for mentioning that, Uni-chan. Kikyo and Bluebell are unavailable at the moment, so Uni-chan and I will be acting Tsu-chan's back-up during her mission with her Cloud Guardian." Byakuran answered gleefully as if he was looking forward to a field trip.

"I bet you blackmailed the two into letting you take their assignments." Elaine rolled her eyes when her brother pouted at her, but she knew it was a better choice if Uni and her brother played back-up since they were both powerful but the two attracted a lot of unneeded attention.

"El-chan, that hurt. Where have I gone wrong when I raised you? Why don't you ever come home to visit me and the others? I'm always thinking of you." Byakuran ran up to his younger sister and pulled her into a hug. His eyes caught sight of the hairpin in her hair, making his eyes soften. "But seeing you like this makes Onii-chan happy, so you don't need to visit if you don't want to."

Elaine wanted to gag the moment her brother had his arms around her, but hearing his last line made her wary. Usually, her brother begged her to come up until she threatened him at gun point. Did syomething happen? She knew she was not going to get any answers from her cryptic brother, so she just patted him on the head until he let go. "You want to see Hime, right? Mira will take you two to her room. I still have some business to take care of before I can meet up with you."

Byakuran gave her a quick kiss on the forehead before walking away. "Well, that's alright with me. There's no need to rush. Have fun, everyone."

Uni giggled at her friend's antics as she followed him out the door with Mirabelle at her side.

Enma sighed as he closed the doors before taking a seat that was previously Mirabelle's.

Kaoru positioned himself behind his boss, looking observant as always.

"Since both Xanxus and Tsuna are out for the mean time, I'll be in charge of this meeting. I know that Reborn should be the one leading this meeting, but I thought it would be best if I played the neutral role," Enma stated calmly.

Reborn sank his seat as he forced himself to calm down. "That's fine with me. So what is this meeting about?"

"Whether Tsuna goes on the mission or not."

"I'm not going on the mission with the herbivore. I don't need someone who is going to collapse on the job and become extra baggage," Hibari stated curtly.

There was slight surprise in Elaine's eyes but from what Enma told her over the phone, the Cloud Guardian would not want to endanger the brunette's health any further, since he was likely the cause that pushed her to her collapse. "Hime had ordered the destruction of the Estraneo and I know she's not the type of person who does not follow through. I talked with Shamal and he says she'll be fine for the mission tomorrow and it's too late to find a replacement by now."

Reborn took a deep breath before speaking. "I understand what you're trying to say, but Tsuna has to take care of herself and rest. We cannot risk her collapsing again on the job. Her life is our main priority."

"That is not my priority but yours. Mine is to honor her wishes and this is what she wants to do. Also, she has my brother and Uni as her back-up. If any problem occurs, I'm sure they'll take care of it."

"I have to agree with the Arcobaleno. A broken toy does not need to be broken any further."

Elaine glared at Mukuro but kept a calm expression. "Even a broken toy can be fixed."

Yamamoto understood where the white-haired woman was coming from but he understood what his fellow Guardians and Reborn were trying to say. "You were Tsuna's teacher before, right? The one who taught her what Reborn could not?"

Elaine's eyes narrowed at the question. "What about it?"

"If you're the one who taught her, couldn't you go on the mission instead? I'm sure you would be more skilled since you were the one taught her."

Elaine let out a sigh as she placed her feet on ground. If she was going to make an argument, it was better if her legs were off the table. "I have other affairs I have to attend to in Japan. I would have taken her place, but from what I could, the Cloud Guardian and I would not make a convincing couple." That and the issue with Chrome was something she had to take care of before it got out of hand.

Lambo just remained quiet. He already knew too much from the meeting he attended last night. He could not risk making another mistake like last time.

"Gokudera-kun, what do you think? You've been quiet for some time. I'm sure you want to say something about this subject." Enma had noticed that the Storm Guardian was being abnormally quiet. Usually, when it concerned the welfare of his boss, Gokudera would be the first to be against it if it brought harm to his boss.

The Storm Guardian had a frustrated expression on his face before pointing to Elaine. "I have to agree with what she is saying. No one but Jyuudaime is qualified to go on that mission with Hibari. There is no one else. Even if we do find a replacement, I doubt Hibari will work well with them."

Elaine was clearly surprised but she did not show it though a small smile did appear on her face. Something must have happened between her mistress and the Storm Guardian while she was gone. Elaine did not know what it was, but the Storm Guardian appeared to be more trusting of his boss's skills than the others.

Reborn's eyes darkened when he heard Gokudera's answer. He did not think the Storm Guardian would be for it. Honestly, he thought he would be against it. "I still forbid it. I will not allow a former student of mine to enter what may become a dangerous situation."

Elaine's face hardened when she heard those words being uttered. "I can't believe what I'm hearing, Reborn. I thought it was not true, but you've gone soft over the past decade."

"What are you trying to say, Turvenion?"

Elaine got up from her seat and looked down at the Sun Arcobaleno in disappointment. "Do I really have to explain it to you? What happened to your sharp mind? Has it finally gone dull?

For goodness's sake, Reborn, we're in the goddamn Mafia, the Mafia. It's kill or be killed. There's no protect or be protected. If we were talking about Dino, then you would not have hesitated this much. Are you even listening to reason anymore? I think you're too wrapped up in your emotions to even see straight anymore. I know you care about Hime, but she's no longer that girl that first started out ten years ago. She's a woman who can protect herself and a boss of a powerful organization. Stop trying to convince yourself otherwise and this goes to all of you."

The Guardians suddenly felt uncomfortable in their seats. Before any of them could speak up, they were interrupted by a knock.

It was Mirabelle. There was a grim expression on her face. "I hate to intrude, but I require your assistance with a couple problems outside."

Elaine wanted to say more, but this issue was more important than knocking some sense into a couple of buffoons. "Where are the intruders located and how many of them?"

"They're currently lurking in the outskirts on the mansion. Most of them are entering through the forest. There's approximately twenty of them." Mirabelle was not surprised to see her mentor open up a window. It was the fastest way to the forest after all.

"Mira, you go first, I still need to do a couple more thing before I can follow you." Elaine watched as her student nodded in understanding before jumping out the window. She looked at the men in the room before taking an envelope out of her jacket, tossing it on the table. "I wanted to see how far I could with my argument so I didn't take this out until now. No matter what you say, Hime is still going on that mission. After all, you can't deny your boss's order, right?" And then, she was out of the window.

Reborn got up from his seat and snatched up the envelope from the table, ripping it open and scanning its contents. His eyes flared in anger as he crushed the letter in his hand. He walked up to Lambo and grabbed the teenager by the neck. "You knew about this, didn't you? Tell me. What is Tsuna up to that she's not telling us?"

From experience, everyone knew that it was never a good idea to anger Reborn.

Yamamoto was going to say something but dangerous glint in Reborn's eyes stopped him. The Rain Guardian was just praying that Lambo was smart enough to answer Reborn's question.

Lambo was started to struggle to breath due to the fact his supply of oxygen was being cut off. "I-I'm not t-telling you. I s-swore myself t-to T-Tsuna-nee and I-I'm n-n-not go-going to b-back a-away from m-my w-w-word." Lambo tried to pry Reborn's hand off his neck, but his vision was starting to blur.

"Idiot, stop talking!" Gokudera wanted to help the youngest Guardian, but he was afraid of facing Reborn's wrath. However, at this rate, it looked like Lambo was actually going to die. It did not take long to kill someone by strangling, since it cut off the person's air supply to the brain if done effectively.

Reborn let out a snarl as he threw the Bovino back into his seat. His eyes narrowed at the marks around the teenager's neck but paid no heed to it as he made his way to Enma. "You're in on this as well, aren't you?" Before Reborn could take another step, Kaoru appeared in front of Enma.

Instead of giving up, Enma got up and placed a hand on his Guardian's shoulder. "I'll handle this, Kaoru. Thank you, but I think Lambo is in more need of protection than me. Can you please take him to the infirmary so I can check up on him later?"

Kaoru hesistantly nodded as he moved around Reborn and got Lambo on his back. "I'll see you later then."

Enma nodded and watched as his Guardian left the room. Then he turned his attention onto Reborn.

"So?" Reborn had never been this angry. Not only did that woman talked to him as if she knew everything, which he highly thought she did, but there were too many secrets being kept without his acknowledgement.

"To answer your question, it's true, but I know better than to fight you one-on-one, Reborn. Even if you try to get the answer out of me through force, you're not going to get one. All I can say is that Tsuna is looking out for her family in more ways that you can imagine. I suggest you reflect on what Sensei said before you end up doing you'll regret for the rest of your life and that goes to all of you as well." Enma looked at his friends before nodding. "Well then, the meeting is adjourned. Tsuna will be going on the mission with Hibari. So, please take care of her."

Hibari scoffed in response as he watched the redhead leave the room. He then turned to the former infant, waiting for his reaction.

When Reborn no longer saw Enma's figure, he angrily kicked the table in front of him, breaking a piece of the wood off. "Do any of you know what the hell is going on anymore?"

When no one responded to him, the hitman snarled in irritation. "That's it. It's time that I start tutoring her again."

EXTRA NOTES:

Oh my gosh, I'm done. I'm finally done with Chapter 20. It's not my best work, but I'll deal with it.

I apologize if there were some choppy sentences. It's been awhile since I've written seriously so I'm still trying to get the hang of it. I have to apologize to my readers for being away for so long. I hope the length of this chapter makes up for it. I'm still going to update until I head off for school in a couple months, so expect a steady run of updates. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter. I would love to hear what you have to say and please look forward to the next chapter.