I don't own Katekyō Hitman Reborn!.

Guest Reviews:

NewFan: Thank you very much for the kind words! Hope you managed to get through your college day despite the sleep deprivation. ;) I'm a bit late on this one but finally there is more for you to lose sleep over, uhh, read!

Guest Reviews – The End.

If you find any mistakes, do tell me. It's a bit rough around the edges.

Target XXII: A Deal Hidden Behind Their Eyes

Tsuna didn't like hospitals. He still remembered his last visit vividly and the mere thought of it was enough to set off goosebumps. And while there wasn't a dangerous Hibari toying with him, or Gokudera enthusiastically talking him to death, nor a strange room of unknown origin, the atmosphere of the one he was in currently disturbed him nonetheless.

It was one thing that he disliked hospitals in general. Far worse to him was visiting his friends in hospitals.

The boy was still unconscious and attached to a respirator. His hair was a dirty blond, long and shaggy and unkempt as nobody had bothered with anything but trying to save his life. He looked young and Tsuna guessed him around the same age as him. Though he couldn't call him friend in no sense of the word, the sight reminded him of the two times his own friends had been hurt severely enough to be completely out of it and in hospital care. Ryohei, when he was assaulted by the then mysterious attackers from Kokuyo Park and Gokudera, when he faced one of them to save him out of all people, the useless, scaredy-cat Tsuna.

The boy had done the same and to a stranger even. It made the pang of guilt inside his chest grow all the stronger.

Silently, the door to the room slid open then shut as Dino entered. "How's Basil doing, Romario?"

Romario bowed his head before straightening, standing still as a rod next to the bed. "His life's not in danger. Looks like he's been trained well." Tsuna frowned and fidgeted on his chair. Trained? He was only a boy, who'd train somebody for the deadly situation they'd found themselves in?

He'd waited for nearly an hour now, as the doctors still worked on Basil and Fiona by the time he had been released from their care. Gokudera and Yamamoto were released the quickest, though more out of their own will than the doctor's okay. They'd left the hospital bristling with wounded pride.

After sitting around uselessly for all that time, he decided it was as right a moment as he could hope for to find out what exactly was going on. "Um... who is he?" He pointed at the boy. "Is he a member of the Vongola as well?"

Dino hesitated for a long moment. "No, he's not," he said eventually. "What I can tell you for sure, though, is that he is on your side." His smile was thin-lipped but warm.

"What?" The silver-haired swordsman had said the exact opposite: that he was from Vongola. How could it be? "What's going on? Vongola is the enemy and the one who isn't is on my side..." It just didn't make any sense. Was that man—Squalo, he remembered his name again—even allowed to go against him? He was the Tenth candidate— "I mean, I don't need enemies nor allies," he quickly added. He did not just go down that line of thought, no, no!

Tsuna really should've expected the answer. Reborn entered the room via window, landing on the nightstand and looking vaguely serious.

"But Tsuna, you can't say that anymore," Dino started, expression soft and almost pitiful.

"'Cause the rings have started to move," Reborn finished.

The hospital was situated on the outskirts of town. It was small, barely housing more than two dozen rooms, but it was clean and well-kempt. Once upon a time it had been the private property of a rich doctor but when he died without giving the hospital over to someone else; the City Council not interested in buying it after the new Namimori Hospital in the center of town had been opened; and people losing interest in it but for the occasional movie setting; the hospital was soon abandoned.

And that's when the Mafia came into play. They acquired plot and building and refurbished the hospital to new modern glory. Once again in private (and shady) use, the hospital found a new profession in offering a temporary base of operations (stashed with all sorts of dangerous things) for any allied family in the area below the actual hospital still in functional use when the need arose.

At least that's what the wrinkly brochure from the late 90s said about the history of this place. Fiona flipped through the remaining pages. What a mafia-enthusiastic writer. Half the stuff he wrote was romanticized shit. And without the generous Debiti family donating both medical equipment as well as professional personel, the hospital would not be the same.

Yeah, only that now the Debiti family disbanded due to taking up too many loans that they couldn't pay back. It's not that they were rich to begin with. Couple that with the fact that its members had always been way too altruistic for their own good and they did a great job spiraling towards their own doom. All the other mafia families profited, so nobody really bothered helping them.

There was a knock on the door before it gave in and Dino popped his head into the room. "You up?" he asked.

"Mhm," she hummed, still scanning the content of the brochure lazily. Dino slipped inside and sat down on her bed. Fiona rose a brow—sitting equals talking. Lots of talking. Apparently he was in for the long haul. For that there could only be one reason. "I assume Tsuna didn't take the news kindly?" she asked.

Dino grinned sheepishly. "You got me." She's a ridiculously good informant, that's why. There's also the fact that his puppy-eyed face is ridiculously easy to read, especially when he's let down, but psst! "He still thinks he can avoid responsibility."

Fiona raised her other brow to keep the first one company. "Are you one to talk?" Tsuna wasn't supposed to get the Vongola Rings before his eighteenth birthday. Things were only going to get messier from now on.

"I learned to be a responsible boss at some point!"

"After, like, 277 escape attempts?"

Dino's eyes widened. "How do you know the exact number?"

"Reborn and I occasionally hold a conspiratorial meeting in which we have an important exchange of information that are crucial to the success of our mutual mission in Namimori."

"... You mean you're gossiping."

Fiona shot him a brilliant smile. "Me? Never." He shook his head and laughed.

"How are you holding up?" He asked next. "You knew that the rings Squalo took from Basil weren't the real ones, but to go as far as to take a direct hit to make it look real is commendable."

Her eye twitched in annoyance. "Did it look like I wanted to get hit? My dress is ruined." Perhaps Kumiko had some miraculous tricks that would help get the stain out but otherwise there went her only white summer dress. "Still, he didn't manage to hit anything vital. The wound just bled like a bitch."

That was the strangest thing she couldn't get out of her mind. With his ability, Squalo could've easily landed a lethal blow on her or at least a severely incapacitating one. He had to know that, despite having to keep from directly interfering (as she was still part of Vongola), she would become a problem for the Varia sooner or later anyway. Maybe he was just that sure of Xanxus.

If Xanxus won, if he turned the next Tenth, Fiona was obliged to obey his orders. All of Vongola would have to. It might be that the only thing saving her from certain death had been her particular skill set. Squalo would know her worth—they'd worked together before.

With the Varia's infamous success rate of 90% it was inevitable that an up-and-coming informant from the Vongola would catch their attention eventually. They never offered her a spot inside their own ranks—they were an independent assassination squad after all—but they did ask for cooperation on the narrow 80-89% chance cases that their own informants couldn't raise any further. She upped their chances all the way to 95% but it was among her most notorious work dealings. Half her bad reputation stemmed from these independent contracts.

Alessio did somewhat regular work with them, supplying the organization with the needed passports to cross borders. Apparently the one in most need of his skills was some kind of prince in hiding. She never really bothered to dig deeper. She'd mostly talked to Squalo, the de facto leader of the Varia at the time, and that was an experience in and of itself.

She put the brochure away and placed her palms over her stomach. It was strange how quickly things managed to escalate out of their designated patterns. Tsuna was supposed to get a lot more training before the rings were to be brought up. This early, a scandal with Xanxus at the center of it and Iemitsu in Japan...

She doesn't like the sound of her own voice. It's pathetic but she can't keep the desperation out of it. "I need you to vouch for me. I told you the truth, so please."

Iemitsu doesn't move from his position and his face is expression is set in stone. Only his eyes, they betray his feelings with both an indignant and sad glimmer. "Is this really the only way?"

It takes all her strength not to fall to her knees then and there. Her wounds are still fresh and scarring and she's lost more weight than she initially thought. "I know I'm only adding to your burdens but," she grits her teeth—a pang that makes her blink white—but she can't take the morphium, it makes her mind sluggish, "you can't tell a living soul."

He nods. "It's your head on a platter."

She'd need to talk to Iemitsu. Amidst the chaos Xanxus caused it would probably go unnoticed but still, she had to be careful. Fiona gingerly touched the left side of her rib cage, an old wound above the one Squalo had inflicted. The less she thought of it, the more she shut it away, the better her chances of survival.

So she did. As always.

She stretched to keep her hands occupied and changed topics. "How's the boy?"

"In a worse state than you but stable. He should wake up soon." Dino leaned against the foot end of the bed, casually occupying the space next to her legs. He drew a hand through his blond mane in thought. "Is it true you weren't informed of our arrival beforehand?"

Fiona nodded. "It's why I was at the airport in the first place. Reborn sent me out to find out what someone was trying to hide from him. I guess it was Iemitsu's plan to enter the country as stealthily as possible but we can't be careful enough." She frowned as an idea clicked together in the back of her mind. "If the boy was a decoy, who has the real rings?"

Dino fumbled out a black and gold-rimmed box with the Vongola insignia on it. He gave her a lopsided grin. "Tsuna ran off before I could give him his half. We still have to distribute the rest to their respective owners."

Fiona stared at the box and she stretched out a hand. "Give them to me."

"Huh?" Dino looked protective of the box all of a sudden, stashing it away in the inside of his jacket again. "They were entrusted to me. By the external advisor no less!"

"You'll trip and one of the rings will fall into the sewers or something," she deadpanned.

"I'm not that naïve!"

"No, you're just clumsy."

"I swear it was the shoes back when we were running across the parking lot. Look, I'm wearing a different pair now."

"Dino, we can hold this discussion all night long."

"But then I won't be able to distribute the rings." He sent her a cheeky grin.

Sometimes, and only sometimes, he was really stubborn. It was too bad she had a soft spot for that smile of his. She raised a single finger. "You can at least tell me who the Guardian of Mist is going to be. Though I have a vague idea, it's physically impossible."

He blinked. "You know the rest already?"

"What do you think I've been doing the past seven months? Gathering daisies? These boys' personalities speak volumes. My job was to supervise the potential candidates and cultivate the proper traits if need be. It's how I support Tsuna's growth." At his expression (sad puppy) she quickly added, "It sounds worse than it is. I'm not going to force them into accepting their roles. Besides, they naturally grew into them anyway."

He shook his head. "Informants. I get your use but the things you're juggling are scary. I'll tell you everything you need to know, don't worry. But first I need to consult you on another matter. Reborn said you're an expert on it."

"Shoot."

"The Cloud Guardian..." Dino pulled out a slip of paper from his front pocket—she felt severely underdressed in her patient garb—and turned it around to reveal a photo. Fiona blinked in confusion, then full-on laughed. Expert, my ass. Reborn's a first-class jerk.

Dino's eyes jumped from the photo to her, wry smile playing by his lips. "What's so funny? I heard he's a troublesome guy."

"Oh, definitely but I know how to get to him," she chuckled. She genuinely needed to get her hands on that photo. It was cute. It had Hibird on it, which was a rare thing. The bird landed on Hibari's knuckles, one tiny leg still in the air and wings fluttering, while he observed the action. He looked remotely intrigued and even friendly. The photo would make for superb bribing material, especially when in need of Kusakabe's attention. "Make sure to mention the names Tsuna, Reborn, Fiona, and if you can manage to slip it in, Kokuyo City. You can use variants such as baby for Reborn or your best buddy for me. That's all. He's really easy-going after that."

"I get the feeling I'm walking right into a trap..."

"Me? Never."

As the day drew to an end, Tsuna wished only for one thing: to escape to his room and fall asleep. Avoid everything and everyone that was even remotely involved with stupid mafia stuff. It was a pain in the ass, only hurt others and definitely illegal and dangerous.

That his father came home didn't help his mood one little bit. It actually worsened at the sight of the drunk man sprawled out on the carpet of the living room, empty beer cans surrounding him like a halo.

With that kind of Dad it was no wonder no one took him seriously.

Earlier than usual Tsuna went to bed, hoping that the next morning would bring some semblance of peace. He was doubtful but eventually he fell asleep.

Not for long.

When his door crashed open he shot up screaming, survival instincts kicking in. The light from the hallway momentarily blinded him and before he could try to escape the huge shadow standing inside his room, it spoke in an annoyingly familiar manner.

"Tsuna." It sounded warm and goofy, if that was possible. Not at all threatening.

Tsuna rubbed his eyes. "Wha—?"

Filling out nearly the entire door frame was his father, complete with fishing net and rod. "Want to go catch breakfast?!"

"Wha..." Tsuna slurred out more slowly, eyes as big as saucers as he watched the near-ecstatic face of his father. Much too early in the morning. "No... I have school tomorrow... I pass," he said tentatively.

Iemitsu only continued grinning. "All right." And then he crashed the door back close.

What was that? Catching breakfast? Was that the first conversation in two years...? Tsuna lowered his head back into the pillow. Well, if he wasn't just steamrolled by his own father 4 o'clock in the morning... If things continued this way, coupled with Reborn as main dish, his life was going to be a wreck by the time weekend came. Perhaps it was all a dream after all. With a shudder he closed his eyes and fell back into a restless sleep full of fish-headed Reborns. His father was trying to catch one while Fiona loaned him a boat. Weird.

Little did he know about the surprise waiting in store for him the next morning. He awoke to sounds, a happy shrieking to be precise. "High and high you go~" Shriiiiek-gyahahaha. Tsuna blearily opened his eyes. After a moment's confusion, he recognized both voices. Dad... he thought as he stretched. I bet he's playing with Lambo now.

Just then the cow-printed form of Lambo soared past his window and Tsuna jumped from his bed to the window. "So high!"

Lambo landed with a loud crunch in the grass. Moments later he started wailing. "Sorry, I wasn't looking," Tsuna heard his Dad say. "Oh, I know. Let me give you a magical water that will stop the pain!"

In record speed that would have made Reborn proud, Tsuna was down at the balcony and slid the door open. "Don't make Lambo drink sake again!" He quickly threw away the cup in Lambo's eager hands. He screamed and went to get it back immediately.

Meanwhile his father (and here he'd hoped that it all had been just a very bad dream) was in a similar state as he'd found him yesterday; half naked, with only his boxers and a tank top for dignity. "Hey, Tsuna~" he slurred. He couldn't be drunk already, could he? It was seven in the morning! "You've been sleeping ever since Daddy came home. I thought you were avoiding me and that broke my heart..." He even snivelled a bit—wait are you actually telling me I'm the reason for your excessive drinking?! That's the lamest excuse ever!

"The one who was sleeping all day yesterday was you!"

His father seemed undeterred by his words, even happy as he scratched his stomach and watched his son. "And how is it? How's school?" He pat the space next to him. "What was it, math? Isn't that some funny stuff?!" He laughed. A little too loudly.

Tsuna nearly slapped himself. He's forcefully trying to keep a conversation going and it's awkward. Besides, he was going off tangents! "It's... nothing funny." He could just use breakfast as excuse to escape this situation, right? Right, where was Mom when he needed her...

"I see, I see." Dad pulled out a memo block out of... oh god he better not think about where. "While I lived overseas, I wanted to tell you about all sorts of experiences that I had. So I made memos for all kinds of things." He still grinned like an idiot. Tsuna really hoped he wouldn't inherit that sort of smile. It was embarassing.

"Eh?! I-It's okay... I don't have to listen..." Your life won't make a good example anyway. Why did he have to put up with so much stress early in the morning? Mom, where are you, please distract him...!

"Oh, okay." After a moment's pause, Dad noticed something and perked up again. "What's that, Tsuna?" He whacked him in the arm. It hurt. "You're looking sexy. Isn't that a pendant?"

A what? "Eh...?" Tsuna looked down at his chest. And then he saw it—looking conspicuously innocent—glinting in the sunlight, all metallic and cold and...

He caught the ring around his neck in a death grip. "What?! This... this ring is...! That horrific Vongola ring?!" The ring with the ultimate bloody history. The ring with which he had wanted nothing to do with.

Ignoring his father entirely, he ran to the one person he knew had tangled him up in another mess: Reborn. He slammed the door to his room open in a rare fit of angry panic. "It's you, isn't it? The one who put the ring around my neck!" he yelled.

The baby hitman sat in his miniature chair enjoying a miniature coffee. "Not me," he promptly answered and took a sip.

"Don't lie! Who else besides you would do it?!"

There was a sharp edge to Reborn's eyes but it was gone so quickly, Tsuna thought he might've imagined it. "You didn't hear anything from him?" Sip.

Tsuna frowned. "Him?" Who was he talking about? Dino? "A-Anyway, this has nothing to do with me. Don't involve me!"

Reborn looked at him. "What are you saying? It has everything to do with you." Sip. "The Vongola Ring is the proof of the next Vongola Boss."

Silence.

Sip.

Tsuna succumbed to panic. "WHAT?!"

It didn't take long for Reborn and Tsuna to leave the house. Fiona watched the pair leave, Tsuna pulling at his hair while Reborn looked as if he didn't care the slightest.

He did. He may not show it through his expressions and actions but this was an emergency situation. The hitman cared for the Tenth-In-Training in his own way. Fiona slipped from the roof and righted her school uniform before ringing the bell.

Nana opened the door with a big smile. "Oh, Fiona-chan, what a surprise! I was just about to hang out the laundry," she greeted her, a basket full of overalls in her hands. That Iemitsu... his choice of clothing just doesn't get any better. "Tsuna just left the house. You can still catch him if you hurry."

I don't think so. Reborn will most likely put him under a strict training regime after he's met up with the rest. She'd left the hospital just as Gokudera entered. From his determined expression to the ring dangling from his neck it was clear the bomber had been called over for a meeting of sorts. The rest will follow. I waited for this moment. It's my only chance to talk to him in private. "Actually, I wanted to say hello to his father. Sawada Iemitsu-san, right? He and my uncle work together, and I've heard a lot about him." The lie passed her lips with ease.

"Oh my! Is he a man of dirt, too?" Nana's eyes practically shone with excitement.

What exactly was Iemitsu telling the woman?

Fiona smiled politely. Just play along. "No, my uncle's the paper pusher guy. He regulates all the formalities of the job."

"Of course! How else would anyone get their paycheck!" Actually, Alessio was pretty harsh when it came to paying. He constantly found a way of cutting her salary, that's for sure. Like, 'a suspicious dust particle was found on the desk. There's a chance it could be traced back to you. Sloppy'. That's the kind of guy he is. It made her plot for revenge just thinking about it—"Dear, you have a visitor. It's Fiona-chan, your colleague's niece!"

Who was plotting for revenge? Surely not she. Back to business.

Iemitsu came out in nothing but an undershirt and boxers, scratching his stomach. "Wha—"

"Alessio," she chirped in between. "Definitely heard of the man."

Despite the sunglasses she had a feeling her glare came through. Iemitsu laughed and it resonated with warm recognition. He's good, she'd give him that. "Of course! That stuck-up guy! Isn't his birthday coming up soon? I should send him some good wine as present."

Oh, you little... Fiona put on her sweetest smile. "Please don't. We don't want a Sahara-Siberia incident ever again."

"Maybe sake?" He pulled out a bottle.

"Over my dead body."

Nana picked up on her work, humming as if everything was just fine. Fiona entered the house and followed Iemitsu into the kitchen. For once it was empty and quiet.

Iemitsu plonked down on a chair, every bit as comfortable as his appearance. Too comfortable, actually. He looked like a hobo with his stubble and the bottle he still kept in his hand. "So, what do you need, Fee-chan?"

Fiona made a face. What a horrendous nickname. "The same as always: information." But she wouldn't give him the pleasure of getting riled up. He was the head of CEDEF after all and he knew she preferred her full name.

His eyes were the same color as Tsuna's; a vibrant brown. Only that he eyed her with the look of a dead fish. "You're too serious. Wind down for once, you just got out of hospital."

She sat down opposite of him, mindful of her sore side. He's well informed. "With you in the country and the Half Rings in Tsuna's possession? No way."

He slammed the bottle on the desk, grinning, but this time she could spot the faint glimmer of seriousness in his besotted eyes. Iemitsu acted as well as she did and she'd made it a habit to watch for hidden signs in his eyes. The rest of his body language was useless to her—too good a self-control to slip up. "Don't worry about my being here! I'm just here for private reasons right now."

"Of course you are. I doubled-checked protection for you." Fiona glanced at the door to the balcony but it was shut close and Nana busy with the laundry. "Until your little ploy with the rings is found out, that is. Then you're here on official business and I'm gonna shove you into the limelight to deal with it."

"Bit egocentric, are we?"

"Bit trustful, are we?"

He rubbed his stubble, eyes playful. "I thought you pride yourself in your ability."

There was a reason she started wearing shades. It sat in front of her. She would not give him the pleasure of reading her eyes. "For your son I wish we met under better circumstances but I'm glad to see a friendly face." Fiona smiled and this time it was genuine. "The shit you talk aside—it's good to have you on our side."

"Haven't reached my limit yet."

"I'm not letting you, Dame-Leone."

"Now you sound like Reborn."

She placed her hands on the table. "What's going on in Sicily?" Even if Nana wasn't one to eavesdrop, it was better to stay careful so she switched to Italian.

He was suddenly more open in his behavior. "To be frank, everyone is moving according to my bad hunch," he said, his fingers steepled. It made for a queer picture, him in underwear but being all serious. That's why she didn't trust his body signs. "I'm buying time. I've just sent a message to the Ninth and am waiting for official orders."

Perhaps he was more talkative because he hadn't had the chance to before. If CEDEF was acting on his orders alone... Basil hadn't even been informed about the rings being fake. Something was definitely off with the whole situation. And she was perhaps one of the few persons he could talk to about it without risk of revelation. You really do trust me wholly after that time...

Then again, she'd played right into his hand. He knew he could trust her unconditionally because she needed him.

Her expression blank, she went straight for the issue. "Official orders on what?"

"He wants Xanxus as his next heir. I don't. We need to come to a consensus."

Fiona briefly looked to the side then back to him. That was the only reaction she allowed herself, an open sign of thoughtfulness for him. "Not his usual pattern."

Iemitsu leaned back into his chair, watching his wife hang out his clothes in the garden. "It sounds very out of character, doesn't it? Something must've changed his mind." His eyes hardened. Fiona frowned. "You probably haven't heard about it but Xanxus has been back for nearly a month now. He's been leading the Varia again."

He's not telling her something. "And you think he might by vying for the position of Tenth via dishonest means. That's why you took your half of the rings and gave them to Tsuna." What was he keeping secret from her?

He nodded. "Exactly." He stood up and back was the goofy hobo air as well as his Japanese. "Well, it was nice meeting you! Give Alessio my greetings and this bottle of sake!"

She smacked the bottle away. "I'm in this, too."

Iemitsu caught the bottle before it rolled off the table. "No, you're not. You can't choose sides because both Xanxus and Tsuna are members of Vongola." His eyes were like steel now. "As are you."

Fiona stood up, fueled by a seething warmth inside her belly. Her height was nothing compared to his but she knew how to fill a room in different ways: usually a blank slate, her presence when unsuppressed filled up the whole living room like a leaden weight; a constant static waiting to crush someone into obedience.

No, her presence was no less threatening than his, the Young Lion of Vongola. Her heart pounded against her chest. "You're not leaving me out of this mission, Sawada Iemitsu."

He smiled appreciatively. "I would let you in if I could," he started, "but I can't. As you may remember, it was me who vouched for your innocence during your trials. Therefore I'd like for you to respect the fact that you are still Vongola and not a vigilante as many treat you. Act the part."

This was not good. Getting riled up like this was not professional. But the mere thought of sitting and waiting made her sick to the stomach. It was like—

The door is opened for her. Immediately her nose is assaulted by the enticing smell of food.

She wants to vomit. On his face, if possible. Then again, that'd show a weakness and she's not about to show him anything she doesn't want to. "Good morning, Fiona. I hope you had an enjoyable rest. The previous day was rather... stressful, wasn't it?"

His right hand is covered in bandages. Good. The men flanking her push her inside, hard, metallic weapons a constant reminder of her situation. The smile slips easy onto her lips and her gait doesn't betray the sore wounds. "Well, it does so happen that the occasional person dies on the job. It's so tragic, don't you think so?" His smile is hidden behind a mask but she can feel it, the mockery, the smugness, the thin veil of victory he believes he's achieved.

As she raises her fork to eat food that doesn't taste, she knows that she won't kill him. She doesn't kill. Leave that to the hitmen.

No, she will send him into a hell worse than what he's put her through. Even if she has to die in the process, she will make sure he knows genuine fear.

Fiona snapped out of her memory a moment too late. Iemitsu observed her with a watchful gaze. It was happening more often recently. Maybe it was because of her staying in one spot too long, getting comfortable, working directly with the Mafia again. No, she knew better than that. It was all because—

"What are you going to do? I don't believe you to be the indifferent type." The sudden shift of focus rammed her with the full force of a train, that for a single moment she didn't even realize it was her voice speaking. The past forgotten, all she focussed on now was the presence.

Iemitsu scratched his beard again. "I'll be observing their training. Told you: right now, I'm here for private reasons."

Yes, technically he wasn't even here as the external advisor. And he was giving her a way out, a loophole inside the rules. Fiona thought of the ring bearers. Gokudera, Lambo and Tsuna were all part of the Mafia, if not of the same family. The other half, however, wasn't directly involved in the Mafia—Ryohei, Yamamoto, Hibari. And then there's the Mist Ring bearer...

And then she found it, the loophole. "Let me watch over the non-Mafia part for you. I mean, somebody has to instruct them on their... rights." Members of the same family couldn't fight. Members between allied families couldn't fight. But if someone wasn't in the Mafia, that left them ripe for the picking. Anyone interested could get involved.

Iemitsu's eyes glinted with mischief. Then he fumbled the sake bottle again, looking at the ceiling. "Well, if you say it like that, I can't really say no, can I? Technically they're not under anyone's jurisdiction. Bit unfair, don't you think so?"

She clasped her hands together dramatically. "Exceptionally so! It shall be remedied as soon as possible. Just leave it to me." Before she left him to his own devices she had one last question to ask. "Any changes I should know regarding the job description?"

He shook his head. "Nothing of concern."

She turned to leave, hair sailing behind her and heart soaring in anticipation. "See ya around then."

This time, things would go her way from the start.

A/N:

Oof. This chapter was written with hamster bite-progress. I'm swamped with things to do for college and work so the best I can do is try to whip out a chapter per month. Just a heads-up!

Anyhow, I'd like to hear your thoughts and suspicions on this one. We're getting into the thick of it, that is, about what the hell happened to Fiona. I'm excited! And hungry. Damn, it's late.

Translations:

Debiti — literally means 'debts'

Leone — Lion