Edit 6th May 2016: Just here to fix some things.

Hello and this is the story.

Note: the chapters/ideas are inspired by the game Deemo.

Contains: adult!Acrobaleno, fem!27, some violence/blood, may contain swearing in the future.

Thank you to my cute bunny friend who helped me edit this chapter.

Disclaimer: I don't own KHR.

… Dream …

This little girl is and was a girl with many secrets. But we don't know for sure what secrets because secrets took time to grow or fade, just like how humans, us, took time to grow and age. Then we have begun, with one question. Why did they leave her behind?

It happened. Rather often, actually. Parents who abandoned their child because they could not afford to feed another child or they were not wanted in the world. In this case, it was because the younger of the two children was preferred over the elder. The five year old boy compared to the older twin girl was far more capable. He was smarter than her and could do many more 'outstanding' things. He was very charismatic and shined far brighter than his sister.

Heck, he probably never 'noticed' his sister, like how siblings interacted in their own way, until the two turned six. His parents saw him as a mischievous healthy boy, but he was pure evil in the eyes of the girl, although she could not bear the thought of disliking her brother. Even a six year old boy can create some of the biggest threats. The girl, noticed this, had a pure heart and sealed it away so that she would not be both mentally and emotionally broken. The boy however, tried to break her. He directed their oblivious parents' attention and affection to him, and indirectly insulted her. Sometimes, he would do something on purpose and then leave his sister to blame for. For example, she had 'supposedly' thrown glass cups at her little brother.

The crying came first, then the blame. The boy probably smirked evilly on the inside but all the parents could see was an obviously innocent and crying boy where his sister had almost killed her younger brother. It was a sort of obsession, even thrill thathe found pleasure in. Putting the blame on someone else without being found out. Needless to say, the boy had managed to pull off minor wounds which were only old bruises caused by his own carelessness. Using them to his advantage, he whined about his 'stupid sister' and shed fat tears as he naturally put the blame on to his sister. He said that his sister had punched him and scratched him because she wanted to shut him up in order to blame the damage to the glassware on him.

She tried all she could to protest but to no avail, she failed in doing so with her weak heart and inability to speak against others. Forced, she was kicked to the ground, and was sprawled all over the floor. Upon contact, the glass shards cut into her pale skin, created small beads of blood roll off her fingers, arms, knees and legs. She was then ordered to clean up the mess, her blood that painted the kitchen floor; and started to gather all the pieces. After making significant progress picking up individual glass shards, she was tripped by her brother, and had to start all over again. He laughed, said something about how 'Dame' she was. Once again, she had angered the parents. They slapped her straight across the face, spitting out that she was absolutely useless. The father glared at her, commented something about why he had such an idiotic daughter and why she was nothing like his 'precious son.' He dragged her away to the next room, and delivered a few hard kicks, something which a 6 year old girl should not experience, nor should any other human being.

The day after was just as worse. An old man, identified as their grandfather, had visited while the girl had to stay in her room and her brother allowed to go play with the old man. As powerful as he was, the old man never noticed the other presence in the house who watched him as he played with the boy. The boy had done something, she couldn't see what, but he was crying. That crying just sounded so painful she pitied him. She just couldn't bring herself to hate the family who abused her so much. A flame erupted around the boy and she recognised it all too well. Her eyes widened in surprise.

The boy was praised in 'unlocking' that flame while the father and grandfather laughed and smiled at him with sparkles in the air, only to leave the girl wondering.

I was able to do that… yet, they didn't even look at me…

…

Was there hope left? Half beaten and bruised, she was in no state of running away. With no ability to move properly, and no money to use to get away and get bandaged up, there wasn't any hope in sight. She sighed, just as her bedroom door swung open. Her enraged parents were shouting at her about how it was all her fault about something incoherent to her, considering the raging headache which muted herself. Without protesting, she was dragged across town and literally thrown away. She had no idea how to get back. There wasn't a single time she remembered that she was able to go outside freely.

No one passed the area in which she was, despite it being broad daylight. She was left in front of a medium sized magnolia tree. She admired the astonishing beauty and before she got jealous of a tree. It stood out so much, with its gleaming snow white petals, as if untouched and ever so pure. It was silly and stupid to get angry at a tree; it was merely a piece of nature. She leaned her bruised back against the trunk, feeling the broad, rough bark through her dirty clothes. The soothing wind caressed her wounds, as she gently closed her brown, golden hued eyes, in hope that she would wake from such a horrible nightmare.

Quite some time had passed- when she slowly opened her eyes again, she was met by the orange hue of the sunset. The majestic ball of fire set, and was replaced by the pale moon. As it became darker and darker, she became more tired and scared. She couldn't survive like this. Without medical attention, she'd probably end up dying from infection, lack of water and food, hypothermia or something.

With that fear in place, she started to feel warm. The flame she had once called on, coursed through her veins, as if it was trying telling her something. She tried with her all her will to light that orange bright flame, and was rewarded with a small flame in her palm that flickered in the wind. She watched with curiosity as it grew bigger and brighter, until it was the size of her hand. The flame danced around her fingers and she smiled as it tickled her hand and warmed her entire body. There was something wrong but it did its job as it encased her with warmth that she should have felt from a loving family member. Most of the pain had already subsided.

"Are you sure this is okay boss?" A voice pierced the dark. She quickly extinguished the flame, fearing that the stranger had noticed her flame and yet hoping that the stranger would notice her and take her somewhere else but back there.

"Yes." The second voice was stern and powerful but it sounded like a mere disguise for the warmth that was hidden carefully.

She wondered who the two were and so, shifted around the tree, only to fail as she felt her body send jolts of pain. Something tickled the back of her hand. Looking down at her hand, all she could see in the darkness of the night and the feeble moonshine, was something that was brightly coloured, white or a pale pink. Thinking it was just a magnolia blossom, she paid no heed to it, only until she felt something bite into her hand. Yelping in pain, the people who had previously been talking in the distance jolted at the yelp and turned to the little girl who was sitting against the tree.

"A child?"

She was crying from the pain which had soon dulled but she could tell something was wrong with her body. The numbing sensation went from her hand to her entire body.

"That was the- Jager, take her back."

With a swift nod, Jager picked up the girl and stepped through a black portal.

"Now that pesky magnolia creature…" said the one remaining as he summoned chains out of nowhere and stabbed a white flower which the magnolia creature had mimicked. It oozed out pink goo but it no longer moved. He glanced at the tree. The tree was prone to more since it was still young. Give or take, the tree in ten more years should be poisonous creatures free. The night wind swept and destroyed anything that even close to looking like magnolia blossoms in the vicinity. Knowing that the tree would produce more, unnaturally, by morning the bandaged man clad in black and a top hat with feathers, left the scene to return to where his right hand man waited.

…

"She was bitten by the magnolia mimicker?" asked his right hand man.

"Yes," said the man grimly. A magnolia mimicker was a unique yet deadly creature able to mimic a magnolia blossom. The poison would spread across the person's body and once they were fully paralysed, they would become unconscious and then be devoured by hundreds, maybe thousands of more of the creatures, which first cover the body in its flower bodies and then begin their feast.

"But even if the paralysis wears off, that poison is going to stay there." The right hand man raised an eyebrow, or at least where the eye brow would be, and then stared at the frail body as it slept on the black leather couch.

"Are there any permanent… damages? The human body is far more complicated than ours…"

"It ranges from different people, but the younger the person is, the worse it is. That poison can severely shorten her life span. If she's kept in this frail state, she might not even live than two years," said the boss. He was not the type of person to care for other people but he had felt the presence of one of the purest sky flames he knew of from that little girl, and was worried that it would be tainted.

"There's also the possibility it might increase any symptoms that she already has. Allergies, asthma- things like those would eventually worsen and kill. The wounds that she had will take longer to heal as well."

"Is that why you decided to exterminate the creature by your hand?"

"Yes, Jager. Now, is that female Vindice on a mission?"

"She's still in the manor. Shall I call her, Bermuda?" asked Jager. His boss nodded as Jager stepped through a portal to quickly get to the female. Each Vindice member respected each other, however Bermuda was the leader and the one who wasn't as rotten as the others were- physically, he meant.

The little girl and the boss were left alone; Bermuda started to check for any improvements. Given that the child was about five or six, the paralysis would wear off after a few days. For a full grown adult of size 5"5 the effects would have worn them out in a few hours. The child's breathing was laboured, as if every rise and fall of her chest would cost her a year off her life.

"Bermuda, you called?" asked the female as she stepped into view. She scanned the room, and looked suspiciously at the resting human child. "Is this the reason?"

"Yes. As of today, you are to take care of the child until she is fit to return to her family," said Bermuda.

"Of course, Bermuda-sama. I will take utmost care with the young child." She said as he bowed. The female's name was Elma. An Italian name for 'protection.' Despite being the only female of the Vindice, she had kept up her name as being the protector of the Vindice. Constantly at the front lines, she worked the hardest and yet the least. She couldn't even begin to compare herself with the other Vindice. Because the Vindice had rarely gotten into any trouble, she was often at the manor, protecting it from any loose creatures that dared to infiltrate them. She also kept the prisoners in the Vendicare alive and imprisoned, while doing what many other females of the world do. Despite her bandaged appearance, she was just a 'dead' female body. Compared to the others, she was a bit more humanoid than Small Gia, although she was older than the half the members in the Vindice.

Since the little girl in front of her reminded her of how she ended up dying, which was not a good experience, she empathised with her. She begun to think of different reasons of why Bermuda-sama would keep her. She inspected the child's body, finding multiple wounds and then got to her hand where a strange mark was. Without any knowledge of how she ended up here, Elma decided to get on with it and do what she could.

Always getting hurt when she was younger, she often had to help herself to the range of bandages and cotton buds with antiseptic. Her hands worked wonders, one should say. The fragile girl seemed to have never fought back against whatever attackers she had. Either that or she was just really weak or was hurt badly enough not to be able to fight back. Picking up the girl, she went towards the infirmary where the other Vindice members would only go should they have an arm or a leg unattached to their rotting bodies.

Her previous element was sun, so she was also the healer of the Vindice. Laying the small body on the cloth bed, she took off her cape and some of the bandages on her hands in order to begin her work. The small glass shards that were stuck in her palms made her job harder and they would have to be immediately bandaged up or they'll just start to bleed. She took out a tweezer and plucked out the glass. She worked her way down the child's body, until the unexpected happened.

The child's eyelids fluttered open revealing large doe brown eyes which brimmed with sadness but was devoid of any emotion. There was a small spark of happiness but it was hidden away. Although the girl did not say anything, Elma could understand that she just needed to complete her job and it should be fine. After ten or so minutes, the girl spoke quietly.

"W-where am I?" she asked in Japanese. Though Elma originally spoke English and Italian, given her Vindice priorities, she could understand all other languages while being able to speak them.

"Hm?" replied Elma, purposely. She wanted to get the girl a tad shy. She couldn't help it! The girl was just so cute!

"Uh… um…"

"She is awake?" asked a voice.

"Yes Bermuda sama," said the female member as she kneeled, immediately getting rid of the expression of amusement. Bermuda simply told her to arise from her position and help the girl sit up.

"This is certainly unexpected…" said Bermuda quietly. Then shook his head. There was no need to get attached the child if she was already awake. If she was alive and not affected by the magnolia then they could simply set her free and return her to her home. If there were any after effects at all, they would just have to make sure that they tricked the people around her into thinking some tragedy had befallen her.

Knowing what the man was thinking, Elma tried intercepting but was only silenced. With a swift sweep of the long night cloak, the child was instantly asleep again and was taken through a portal back to where her presumed family lived.

When the child awoke she wasn't in the surprisingly dark, cool yet welcoming rooms of the Vindice manor, but in the bed of own home which was so ever so warm and scary. Drifting off to sleep, she felt as if that everything that happened to her up to that point was just all a dream.

…

I hope you've enjoyed the first chapter!

If you don't know, the little girl is Tsuna. As far as I am aware, there are 8 'main' Vindice members, which are Small Gia, Big Pino, Jack, Alejandro, Jager, Bermuda and the two unnamed members in which one is female and the other male. So I just gave the female a name. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure that's right.

Oh man, how funny that Elma just means protection.

I hope you enjoyed.

Zaira Swift

P.S.

Bunny or Usagi is my editor says- qoq - Imagine it as a face