Chapter 54

Orders from the Prince of Wonderland

So…

Where to start…

Well, first is, here is the next chapter *hands over peace offering*I don't like it, and it's kind of boring, but it's better than keeping you waiting any longer.

Feel free to skip the next bit if you just want to read the chapter already, there'll be a line under the rest of the stuff.

I want to thank the many of you who nicely asked how I was doing instead of just blithely asking for the next chapter. I really appreciated that. The last year has been a bad one for me, but everyone gets them. It started back last November with my Uncle being in the hospital a lot, there was a lot of stress and tension about it for the weeks before, and eventually he died. I didn't feel up to writing something as serious as this for a while. Yet when I felt better, I got writer's block- I know I told a few of you this when I didn't update on time. This is because this chapter is a transitional one. I already have about three different versions of this chapter written and didn't like any of them.

Then we get to the period from Easter to September. Anyone who follows me in general, or follows Mafia Row, knows what a stressful time I went through and that I stopped writing totally more or less over this time. It comes down to changing bosses at work. Where I work is a small Italian café with around 5 staff. Most of them left when told of the changeover and I looking back I wish I had too- I wouldn't be in the state I am now if I hadn't stayed. However, I didn't want to leave my manager by herself so I stayed. Both bosses were bastards and decided to do the change over when she was on holiday so neither of them had to pay her. That left me to run the shop- which isn't easy at the best of times, let alone during a changeover. The old boss had left a lot of bills unpaid, and the new bosses didn't know how the café worked and kept on ordering us the wrong stuff, my manager and the new bosses/staff didn't get on, so the atmosphere in the kitchen was horrendous, and a load of other shit. I had sincerely had enough during August and eventually quit in September.

This time was so stressful that I ended up with emotional exhaustion over September, becoming very apathetic and unmotivated to do anything, not to mention mood swings. I'm still feeling like that even now although it's a bit better. Then in October I had a breast cancer scare. With my dad's mum dying of cancer and my auntie having it, my family were properly shit-scared about it. Luckily I got checked out and it's a benign tumour, so nothing to worry about and apparently common in girls my age (wish I'd know that bit of info earlier).

University has been really busy too, with a lot of group work. Sadly my groups are very unbalanced and I ended up doing a lot of the work (as per usual). I've been so tired recently that I've been having naps during the day practically every day just to have the energy to sit down at home and do my university work. I don't know what state I'd be in if I didn't live at home with my family.

So, that's why I haven't updated in over a year, and I hope you can forgive me. Between my emotional state and university, I can't promise regular updates like I used to. The best I can offer is a choice between long chapters and a long wait or shorter chapters and possibly a shorter wait. (Haha, me and short chapters, lol. That'll be the day.) I've written a little bit of this chapter during spare moments at university in the back of my notebook. It's about 5 pages or so. See I was thinking of you guys~

Right, enough of me blabbing on, you'll probably be wanting that chapter now. Off you go and read.

'Find Shinichi and KID', she had been told.

Sounded simple enough.

But half an hour and 8 different people later, she still hadn't found the pair. She had ended up trailing up and down this mansion, everywhere from the library to the armoury and everywhere in between. She received a variety of different looks when she threw her pride away and asked for help in finding the pair's location. Sometimes it was a broad grin and a laugh before they gave up a possible location. Sometimes it was pursed lips and eyebrows as the person thought long and hard before coming up with an answer. But the strangest, and weirdly the most common, was a look of pity.

As she walked off towards her new destination, the same phrase would always be shouted after her. "Good Luck." At first it confused her. But now she knew why.

They were nowhere to be found.

And as such, she was forced to start right back at the beginning.

"Hey, Ice-Queen, you lost?"

Turning around, she finds three increasingly familiar faces, Gokudera, Yamamoto and Sasagawa.

"No, I am not lost. Although it seems that Shinichi might be; I have been looking for him for the past hour now. Whilst I know this mansion is incredibly large, I am quickly coming to the conclusion that Shinichi is actually not here at all. No one can give me his exact location."

To her distain, the trio laugh, Yamamoto even going as far as to ruffle her hair- earning him an icy glare. "That's not surprising. He and KID have always been hard to find." Yamamoto consoles, still laughing.

"They are extremely good at hide and seek." Sasagawa agrees, nodding.

"Aren't you used to trying to find him?" Gokudera questions, looking down at her. After all, she has known Shinichi for longer than they have.

Haibara frowns. "Well, yes and no. We didn't live together, so often I didn't know where he was, and he had a habit of running off by himself to investigate something. But I have never heard of him being hard to find- at least not like this. But everyone I've met acts like this is normal behaviour." Which was not consistent with what she knew of the detective. As Conan, he had been pitifully easy to find, often where ever Ran was.

"Well yeah, ever since we've brought him and KID into the Family, they've always been hard to find." Yamamoto answers, looking into the air above her head as he thought back.

"Hn, must be that thief's doing." Haibara snipes, almost grimacing as the word 'thief' left her mouth. That thief was a bad influence on Shinichi, she had never liked him.

"Anyway, if you want to find Shinichi then the best place to be is in here," explains Gokudera, knowing from experience how frustrating it was to try and find Shinichi and Kaito sometimes. He opens the door to the Guardian Lounge and ushers her inside.

"Your options are to speak to thin air in the hallway or in here. At least you have privacy in here and don't look crazy. We assume their rooms are around here somewhere, but apart from Reborn, none of us know where exactly." Gokudera frowns. The betting pool was still on for who would find their rooms first.

Haibara nods, thankful for the information, however dubious it sounded. But by now she was willing to follow nearly any piece of advice to finally find Shinichi. If this was merely a joke, then those three would quickly learn why not to anger a chemist. It wouldn't be too hard to put something in their drinks at dinner.

But then it slowly dawned on her why the pair were acting like this- if the information was indeed true. Both were wanted dead by criminal organisations, so it was no wonder they hid their sleeping quarters away. She herself knew how hard it was to sleep in the days after a run in with the Black Organisation. Add in the probable habits of a Phantom Thief…

"Well, we'll see you later Haibara~" Yamamoto smiles, dragging the other two away.

"Good luck finding them to the extreme." Sasagawa wishes before the door closes behind them.

Which left her in a room by herself.

"Shinichi, if you're not in front of me within the next ten seconds, I'll tell everyone the most embarrassing story I know about you. Bring that thief with you too." She says loudly. If talking to thin air meant she didn't have to walk any more, then that's what she'd do.

"You don't have to say my profession with such distain, Ojou-chan." She jumps, spinning around to face the window where a back-lit shadow sat. Her hands had twitched for the scalpel she kept in her lab coat; she was not being a defenceless female child in a house filled with organised criminals. Plus everyone here had weapons on them anyway.

Needless to say it was the thief himself in all his white-clad glory.

"Can't you two get along? You're both technically Family now anyways. Surely you can trust each other?"

Haibara jumped once again, her heart hammering against her petit chest at the dual scare. Just out of her line of sight sat Shinichi in an armchair, in something other than his blue suit and red bow-tie. It was strange to see him in black clothing. Although now that she took a closer look, the suit wasn't pitch black but closer to midnight blue. Somehow the difference was a relief.

"Trust is a dangerous thing, especially when misplaced." Haibara answers, still keeping half an eye on the thief.

Shinichi sighs, looking between the two. It was probably best to just move on. They'd get used to each other eventually. He hoped. And maybe one day, even like each other. Wouldn't that be nice? Not to mention easier.

"To what do we owe this pleasure?" KID asks, drawing attention back to the reason for their summons.

"Shoichi asked me to find you both. Something about Flame checkups and tests." Both males grimace. "Reborn's orders." The pair sigh and stand.

She still didn't understand this place. Maybe it should be called Wonderland instead, for everything was backwards, yet logically so. It seemed that the younger you were, the more respect you were given. Everyone around here revered the ground the baby Reborn stepped on and worshipped his every word. To get thwacked by his green hammer seemed to be the highest honour. When she asked about him, he seemed to be a celebrity, supposedly the world's best assassin and hitman. A baby. A baby held that position. It just increased her suspicions that the baby was like them, an adult underneath. She knew no one but her and Shinichi would come to that conclusion.

Maybe Shinichi had already come to the same conclusion, or maybe he knew the true story. But either way, he treated the baby as an adult, with feared respect. It might be a good idea to follow the crowd on this one when it came to dealing with Reborn.

"Why did they ask you to find us?" Shinichi asks as he holds the door open for her. "They could have contacted us on our communicators." He taps the wireless headset currently attached to his collar instead of on his ear.

"I bet Reborn told him to." KID states, walking on Shinichi's other side. He knew what Shinichi was trying to do, and so continued. "Ojou-chan looks tired and frustrated, so I expect she's been most places around the mansion trying to find us. It's a good way to learn the layout of the mansion, whilst improving her relationship with the general Mafioso. They'll feel sorry for her having to try and find us. We are famous around the house for being hard to track."

That might be true, Haibara considered. Ever since she had promised Reborn to join the Family, they had stopped watching her 24/7. The only other girl around here (Kitty and the other female Box Animal didn't count since they were weapons), Chrome, had kindly showed her the important places that she needed to know, made sure that she had everything she needed for her room, and then more or less left the chemist to her own devises. She was no longer escorted by Chrome everywhere like a child minder.

The walk to the laboratories didn't take very long, especially since she wasn't going in random directions anymore. They pass her room/lab on the way. She was actually very surprised at how well equipped this mansion was, to even have fully functioning laboratories, garages and all manner of technological rooms underground. She didn't think it was normal to have such, even for a Mafia Family.

"Ah, there you guys are, I was starting to get worried. I know how easy it is to get lost around here." Shoichi gives the trio an uneasy smile, a hand to his stomach. He still got lost on a regular basis. It was a good thing Spanner had a tracking device to find him with.

"I had to track him down with the Mosca." Spanner adds in carelessly, causing Shoichi to blush in embarrassment.

"It seems like no one gave her proper directions." Shinichi supplies, Haibara still looking annoyed.

"At least you guys are here now. Did she tell you why I called for you?" Shoichi asks after nodding. He sorts through the piles of paper and blueprints on his desk, looking for the files he needs. He gives out a yelp as a pile falls off the desk and all over the already littered floor. With a sigh and a press of a button, a little Mosca comes out of nowhere and picks the pile up for Shoichi, placing the papers back on his desk before disappearing once more.

"She did," Shinichi sighs. "Never in my life did I think I'd get prodded with needles and scanned as often as I am." It was a good thing he wasn't scared of needles.

"Well, this should be the last time in a while," Shoichi solaces. "We are very close to finishing a device to capture the Flames from your Rings instead. We just need a little more time to finish perfecting the compound that we need."

"That's good news." KID says. "But does the little lady know why she is here?"

"No she does not." Haibara adds in, voice sharp. She'd appreciate if it they stopped talking about her as if she wasn't even in the room. She looks between the men in the room, expecting an answer quickly.

"To learn." Spanner says before pointing to a chair next to him. After Shinichi gives her a nod and a small encouraging smile, she walks over and sits in the offered chair (which was already altered to suit her miniature stature). She blinks when suddenly a lollipop appears in her vision and hesitatingly takes it. She watches as Shinichi, KID and Shoichi take identical lollipops with much more enthusiasm.

"For headaches." Shinichi explains before popping the sweet into his mouth. "I don't think I need to explain to someone like you how they work. Spanner makes special ones for me since the pow… eh… power, of my Flame is hard on my eyes and brain." Shinichi looks away from Haibara with a look of embarrassment. "I feel really silly talking about super powers seriously with you." He mumbles. He had never been one for believing in super powers, finding them illogical and made up. He just went along with the children when talking about superheroes. Furthermore, Haibara was a scientist, which made the topic of magical powers even more childish-sounding. It was the first time in a while that he had felt like this since everyone around him took Flames seriously.

Haibara laughs at Shinichi's expression, finding it amusing. However she does get out a notebook. "Yet another thing I'm going to have to look after." She sighs. "You're very demanding you know." She smirks. "High maintenance."

Shinichi rolls his eyes, knowing she's teasing him once again.

"There is very little we know about the Star and Moon Flame types, so it'll be part of your job to discover more about it. We can show you our research on the more common Flame types so you have a feel of what you'll be looking for. We decided this would be best left to you since you can handle it if anything triggers a change in Shinichi." Shoichi explains, looking between the pair.

"Reborn said that you'll be under our care, so that means you'll be helping us create new technology using Flames. We also double as strategists during battles, providing back up away from the battlefield. We only work for Decimo and the Guardians though, we don't plan much for the normal level mafioso." Shoichi rests a hand on his stomach, glad he didn't have the job of planning for the whole of Vongola. How Nono managed it he'd never know.

"So I'll be in R&D as well as playing Doctor." Haibara checks. Receiving a nod from Shoichi, she nods to herself. She could handle that- away from the bloodshed. "So, what is my Flame then?"

The males blink before looking between each other. KID opens his mouth to offer to do the service, but Spanner shakes his head before rummaging around for something in a nearby desk.

"She needs to learn." He reiterates. The boys understand and let the mechanics lead. If Haibara was going to be working with them from now on, then she would need to get used to their current technology.

Spanner turns to Haibara, a small device in his hand. Gently taking her hand, he places a small ring on it, attached to the device in his hand via wires. "Summon it." He asks, looking down at the device to be ready to analyse the read out.

"I don't know how." Haibara explains.

"Flames generally run off of one's resolve or determination to do something. The stronger the will to fulfil the resolve, the larger and stronger the Flame." KID outlines, Shinichi nodding along.

"Resolve?" Haibara repeats, sounding confused. "Can I get an example? What's your resolve?"

"To protect those precious to us."

Haibara wasn't expecting that response, surprised to find Shinichi and KID's rings lighting up in Flame. As do two rings in the corner of her eye. For it wasn't four voices that had said the exact same words, but six. Six voices ringing out with a resolve drilled into their hearts.

The four boys in her vision share laughing smiles and knowing looks, obviously surprised that they had all said the exact same thing, but not surprised at the same time, as if it were to be expected.

Haibara takes a few moments to think about those words. Their resolve was to protect. It didn't sound like something a group of Mafioso would say. Should she find it a relief that a superpower only worked when they wanted to protect? It was better than it working for sinful causes like greed and power.

"You will find that the response will be repeated throughout the majority of Vongola, my Guardians especially."

Everyone turns to the entrance of the room where Decimo and his Right Hand man were standing. She finds it strange that all four boys lower their heads slightly, their body posture reigned in, a sign of deference. But wasn't this the same boy they had been laughing and teasing over dinner last night? The only difference she could see was that he was stupidly wearing a cloak indoors and that his eyes were now... amber? Was he playing dress up?

"Your looks have not gone amiss, Haibara. This place confuses you. It is not surprising. You expect us to be covered in blood, fighting for fame and fortune, right? You expect us to be criminals out for our own personal gain, without a care for who we step on along the way. You would not be wrong, if we were normal Mafioso. But as we have explained, I am not like that. Vongola under my rule will not be like that either."

The aura around him was different too, she noticed. It was colder, concentrated and adult. A flip to the whining, laughing teenager she had seen over the past week since he had returned home from his kidnapping.

"To protect those precious to us will be the guiding rule of Vongola under me, and those who cannot follow that will be kicked out. I cannot do a lot to change the current generation of Mafioso since Vongola is still under Nono's rule. But one day it will change, and we'll change the Mafia with us. You would not expect Shinichi to align himself with ill-hearted criminals no different than those he is trying to defeat, now, would you?"

Those amber eyes felt as if they were looking straight into her, reading her like a book. She hated the feeling, but was awed by the ability at the same time.

"Oh, I hate it when he does that." Whispers KID, the other three nodding. "Although Tantei-kun's is scarier, especially when his eyes are blacked out." Shinichi jabs KID with an elbow for the insult, and to make him shut up.

"You'll have to excuse my lack of faith; my experience with criminal organisations does not paint a hopeful picture. I will reserve my judgement until I see further proof. However, I believe in Shinichi's judgement, his sense of justice is a little straighter than most." Haibara replies, sounding and looking more like her normal self.

Decimo regally nods his head, accepting her words, even if his Right Hand looks as if he wants to explode at the lack of respect her words and tone indicate. His amber gaze moves on to his two Guardians instead.

The four males bow slightly, Shinichi pressing softly on Haibara's shoulder to get her to do the same. It was clear Decimo was about to move onto business.

"How can we be of assistance Boss?" Shinichi asks.

"I am sorry to interrupt Haibara's lesson, but I need to borrow the three of you. I did not realise Reborn had sent her on a wild goose chase until my Guardians informed me, I though you would have finished by now. My matter cannot wait. I will return her to your hands afterwards." Shoichi nods and Spanner shrugs, saying they don't mind, they could induct her at any time.

At that, Decimo turns around and leaves, his Right Hand following closely behind. Shinichi and KID rise from their half bows and follow, pulling Haibara along with them.

"Don't worry Ojou-chan, Boss hasn't hit his head nor does he have split personalities. This is just the side of him that comes out when he has to do Mafia stuff. It's brought about by the increase of his Flames, hence why his eyes are amber." KID says in hushed whispers as they follow Decimo down the corridor.

"Whenever Boss's eyes are amber, and especially when he's wearing that mantle, you have to treat him like a Mafia Boss, your Boss. If it helps, pretend you're talking to a Prince. The rest of the Mafia world will treat him as such. That means bowing, being respectful and doing whatever he says. Remember this is the Mafia, not a company. The rules are different here." Shinichi continues, using whispers too.

"If he says 'jump' you don't even have the time to ask 'how high?'"

"Tsuna isn't usually like this, usually he acts just like any other 19 year old. He does this to make it easier for not only himself but for us too. They already had the system in place before we came here, but the dramatic differences are so it's clear when we're friends and when we are boss and subordinate and can act accordingly. This way there are no hard feelings when he has to punish us for doing something wrong. We know it's business, not personal."

Haibara nods, understanding the concept. Just another thing she'd have to get used to.

"And don't be too worried about Boss reading you like a book. It's part of his bloodline and is called the Vongola Hyper Intuition. It helps him get out of tight spots, sense traps and deceit and also read the hearts of people around him. He doesn't use it very often unless he wants to clear something up. It's scary to watch and even scarier to be the one it's directed towards. We've all had him do that at least once with us, so we know how you feel. It was just worse for you because not only was it your first time, but he was in Boss mode at the same time. It's not as bad when he does it as Tsuna instead."

They finish their hushed conversations when Decimo stops and turns to face them.

"Star, Moon, this is a rare opportunity I would like you to take advantage of. This room will allow you to see what is happening in the main conference room. Inside are some of the more important member of the Alliance. I would like you to study them for future reference, being able to impersonate them in the future would be advantageous. Star, I expect a full report of what you observe afterwards. There is a range of refreshments inside to help keep your Flames replenished, Nono warns me these meetings can go on forever some times."

"We understand." Shinichi and KID reply.

"Good. Then I shall leave you in Storm's hands then." Decimo says with a final nod before leaving the group.

"Good luck Juudaime. I'm sure you'll be fine." Gokudera says, giving Juudaime an encouraging smile. He knew how worried Juudaime had been about this, hence why he was already in Boss mode even before entering the room.

"Why did Decimo take me away from my lesson and then not give me any orders?" Haibara inquires, having watched the exchange in silence.

"Che, to learn of course." Gokudera replies, turning back to the group. Haibara rolls her eyes, it seems that everyone wanted her to learn something. "You should count yourself as lucky, many people don't get Juudaime's personal attention, but he's trying his best to help you settle in here and learn what you need to as quickly as possible. He not only wants you to learn more about the Allied Bosses, but also more about Moon and Star and how they work. I believe you already know your job here is to research the Flames of the Night Sky?"

"That's the posh name for our Flame type. Our Flames are rare types unlike what the others have so they are classed differently." Shinichi explains.

"So get acquainted with it. Get used to seeing it in action and understand how the boys use it. Once you know it better you can start playing with it. The mechanics will help you with that. Although I believe Reborn would also like you to look at biological applications of Flames. The mechanics have no knowledge of anything that's not made of metal and wires so our research in that field is limited. But anyway, that comes later. For now we should get inside, the meeting will be starting soon."

Gokudera ushers them inside the room, opening up a previously unseen panel in the wall.

The meeting itself was kind of boring in Haibara's opinion. She didn't really understand half of what was going on in the room. But then again, that wasn't why she was there. It was interesting to see, however, that the comments about Tsunayoshi acting differently and being treated like a prince were true. Whilst the youngest male in the room by quite a few years, he was still treated with respect and like an equal. Decimo spent most of the meeting just watching, listening and learning. Nono was slowly bringing him into meetings like this to get a better picture of what a Mafia Boss did, and to slowly bring him up to speed on Vongola's place in the world.

Although Haibara spent a lot more time watching her two charges, trying to accept what she was seeing in front of her. Over the past week or so she had gotten more and more used to seeing these 'Flames' randomly materialise out of these rings or on certain objects. Her suspicions were still high, and she kept half expecting for everyone to burst out laughing and call it a joke.

It was an experience, watching the boys follow their orders. She had half expected KID to mysteriously disappear, he didn't seem like the type to follow anybody's orders, yet here he was, sitting quite calmly next to Shinichi, observing the room beyond. She spent a lot more time watching the thief than she did Shinichi. She knew how Shinichi worked after all, having watched him many many times as Conan, and the difference of growing up hadn't changed much. In fact the only real change she could see was that instead of mumbling to himself about his deductions, he instead wrote it all down.

Of course seeing a pen write with glittering black ink in mid-air was a shock when it first happened, but she had had nothing but shocks and strange occurrences since getting here. She was getting used to them, annoyingly. The sight of Shinichi's eyes changing had freaked her out at first, and to be honest, it still did. But he had been keeping them that way for a while now, calling it an exercise in extending the time he could use them for, although she expected it was more for her own benefit than his.

But back to the thief. He was sitting still, his hand against the wall between him and Shinichi. There was a Flame coming out of his ring, and she watched as it kept changing colours depending on where his eyes had flicked to. Haibara noticed that Shinichi would watch the Flame change colour too (hence why KID's hand in such a weird place to start with), before writing with his pen. When she looked at the writing Shinichi was doing, she could see that he had made a note of which people in the room had what mix of Flames and to what purity. There were tiny notes all around these Flame notes, and she recognised them as a researcher's way of writing questioning notes to one's self. She did it often on her own research work, lest she forget the question as her thoughts changed track.

Shinichi and Kaito were still working on telling what mix of Flames a person had. Not everyone in the world was lucky to have as pure Flames as the Guardians did, most people had a mix to reflect the nuances of their personality type, all swirled together into a mixed colour, with one predominant Flame type overall. So far they hadn't met someone else like Gokudera who could manipulate multiple Flame wavelengths to the extent he did.

"Boss is going to have a hard time when he takes over." Shinichi comments, his voice so fast to be almost intelligible, the constants too sharp and vowels too long.

Haibara looks at Shinichi as if he's gone mad before looking at the other two people. Gokudera looks only slightly less confused than her, whilst KID just smiles softly.

"Nice try Shinichi." KID says, trying not to laugh at the split second glare Shinichi gave him. KID turns to Haibara and Gokudera before explaining, "His brain speeds up because of his Flame, remember. His body can't keep up, so he ends up sounding weird. He's still working on it, so he doesn't do it in public a lot." That was mainly because the Vindice laughed at him until Bermuda smacked them one.

"See if I don't laugh at you when you crash later," Shinichi says, a smirk twitching at his lips. His eyes were closed and he sounded back to normal again. KID sent him a 'I dare you to' look, even if Shinichi couldn't see it. "I said, Boss is going to have a hard time when he takes over."

Gokudera growls, getting defensive. "We know it ain't going to be easy, but there's no need to make it sound like that. What's the problem in there?"

"It's the way the other Bosses look at him. All apart from Don Chiavarone look ready to tear him to shreds. They're hiding it, but you can see it in their body posture. After all, who would want the most important Mafia Family to be run by a child? And a half Japanese one at that." Shinichi explains realistically.

"They are going to be even less happy when Vongola changes under Tsuna's rule. The whole Mafia is going to be thrown into disarray. Things are going to be messy for a long time afterwards." KID adds in, eyes sharp.

"Che, I know that fucking best." Gokudera grumbles before looking away. "I just don't want to worry Juudaime by talking about it. He's stressed out enough trying to adjust to this lifestyle. He doesn't need to worry about that on top, especially when Nono won't be kicking the bucket for a few more years yet. We've got to get stronger in the meantime, so we can handle the aftermath."

"It's good to know that you guys have some common sense in your brains. I was starting to get worried." Haibara comments, drawing a growl from Gokudera along with an affronted look. "I do wonder at the naiveté of yourselves sometimes, but it seems like you have been thinking realistically about this. I wondered whether I was the only one seeing these problems because I'm an outsider."

She folds her arms and looks up at Gokudera with a no nonsense look. "In my personal experience, criminals and organisations do not like to give up the luxuries and power they are drunk on, and you guys want to come in and slap their wrists like naughty children- if I understand things correctly. Retaliation is to be expected. To a high degree. It would not surprise me if Tsuna is killed not long after he announced his plans."

"You take that back!" Gokudera shouts, trying his hardest not to lunge at the woman and shake her senseless.

"She's right though Gokudera, and you know it." KID sighs.

"Pandora doesn't think so." Shinichi chips in, voice light and speculative.

Haiabra gives him a cold look. "I really wonder whether these people have given you brain damage when they tried to cure you. From what I've been told, Pandora is a rock that the thief was looking for. How can a rock think anything?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you. I'll have to see if Reborn wrote a file about Talbot's history of the Rings. You'll understand better then." Answers Shinichi, not willing to argue with her, especially here of all places.

"Well, if Pandora doesn't think Tsuna will die, that's a good thing, right? Plus, you guys went to the future and Tsuna was still alive and a Mafia Boss there. So stop worrying, things will be fine. Plus, you've got Meitantei-kun and I here as extra protection this time around. We won't let Tsuna get killed." KID reassures, smiling and tipping his top hat.

Gokudera leans back, feathers still clearly ruffled, but doesn't press the matter. The stupid girl was still new here after all. "If you're done here?"

Shinichi and KID nod.

"I've got all I can glean here." Shinichi replies, using his pen to flick through the notes he had written.

"Hmm. I could still do with a bit more data, but unless you send someone in there pretending to assassinate them all, I don't think I'm going to get it. I'll have to make do with what I've got and add to it at a later date." KID supposes, looking at the Flame of his ring.

"That's true, you haven't mentioned that anybody is 'complete' yet." Gokudera nods. "Oh well, that's to be expected. Let's get out of here then, it's getting a little too stuffy." The others nod and exit the secret room.

"I'll come find you when Juudaime is finished, he'll want a report." Gokudera says to Star and Moon, the pair nodding in reply. He then turns his gaze to Haibara, still trying his best not to smack her for her comments about Juudaime. "Until Juudaime tells you otherwise, it's your job to stick to these guys like glue when they are in the mansion and learn as much as you can about their Flames. Don't stop until you know them as well as the boys do. What research you conduct is up to you, although anything potentially dangerous or damaging must go through Juudaime first. We still need them to take on missions. If you need any equipment, chemicals or other supplies, it's best to come to either myself or the Mechanics. We'll probably be the only ones to understand what on earth you want."

"Because Gokudera-san is a 'genius', desu~" KID sings in a familiar woman's voice. Gokudera and Shinichi grin, biting back laughs. Haibara continues to look weirded out. Just how insane was this thief?

KID coughed. "If that's all?" He asks, walking away from the group before Gokudera can answer. Shinichi follows after a quick nod to Gokudera, and pulls Haibara after him.

"KID wait up," Shinichi calls, doing a bad job of hiding his snigger. "You can't escape, Haibara needs to do her research, and this is a key part of it. They're orders."

KID whirls, cape flaring out behind him. "Stop laughing herbivore or I'll bite you to death."

"Fine, fine, I'll stop laughing." Shinichi sighs, although once KID turns around again, his grin returns. "What you are witnessing here, Haibara, is Moon's Flame crash, as I call it. Because he was observing so many people at once, and therefore cycled through the different types of Flames so often, it's kind of gotten stuck. He ends up impersonating people he's met before that are related to the Flame type his ring shows. See how it's flickering and changing colours every few seconds?" Haibara nods, before starting to smirk herself. She could see the way it was annoying the thief, and anything that annoyed the thief pleased her.

"I have no control over it, to the Extreme! If you can find a way to get rid of it, I'd be Extremely grateful!" KID half shouts, the ring on his raised fist a blaring yellow colour. When he quickly lowers his fist, he also throws a smoke bomb, filling the corridor.

Shinichi laughs when the corridor is unsurprisingly empty as the smoke clears. "He's conscious about his image. He usually hides when this happens, unless he's found a victim to terrorise. I think the guys filmed it when it happened the first time since they found it so funny; I'll have to see if I can find them for you to analyse."

"Shinichi, why do you sound so unaffected by all this? You act as if this is an everyday occurrence." Haibara asks, looking up at Shinichi with analysing eyes.

Shinichi doesn't stop the laugh that escapes his lips, even if it offends Haibara. "Because it is normal. At least around here it is." He places a hand on his shoulder. "Welcome to the Vongola, Haibara."

Haibara wasn't sure if she liked that revelation as she once more asks herself:

Where has she ended up?

Anyone want to take a crack at what Flame type Haibara has and why? You guys know her better than me after all.

I've got a few things to clear up next chapter, and after that we'll be going back to Japan to address the missing pair of The Gosho Boys.

Things to be addressed next chapter include some sort of 'quality time' between Haibara and Tsuna because a reviewer asked for it, and the introduction of Hunter to everyone (I started to write that in ver.2 of this chapter but it didn't go anywhere). These are subject to change depending on whatever gets written to be honest. But if there is anything else you'd like to see, just write it in a review. I can't promise I'll get it in, especially if I get loads of requests, but I'll see what I can do.

No promises on when I'll update next, I have a lot of university work to get done before I go back, but I'll try.

Phantom Hitman 1412

First Published: 01 January 2014