Yōkai could be energetic and mischievous when in a good mood, and a downright pain when they weren't. It got even worse when there was something that they wanted and didn't resort to violence to get it. Although Nana had given up her yōkai life for her human husband, there were times when she wished for simpler times when beating the shit out of whoever bothered you was enough.

But then again, dealing with fox yōkai were never simple. Nana had been in her kitchen cooking when she felt the appearance of a yōkai appearing behind her. The Fear didn't belong to any of her subordinates, but was familiar nonetheless. She gave a sigh of resignation and turned to look at the woman sitting at her kitchen table as if she owned the place.

Nana eyed the beautiful white kimono woven with such skill it could only have been made by yōkai, with a beauty to match. Her hair was immaculately done up with strands of shining silver hair framing her face, her face painted a porcelain white. "You don't need to wear something so fancy in my kitchen. Something more casual would've been fine. You look like you're about to go into a matchmaking."

The woman batted her long lashes at Nana. "Well, a beautiful woman must always be prepared for when they meet a handsome man, you know. I need a dependable man in my life."

"Of course, of course." Nana replied, preparing the water as she took out the tea set. "I haven't made any snacks for alcohol, so you'll just have to drink tea today."

"Mou, I suppose I'll have to accept that." The woman pouted slightly, eyeing the tea pot with some distaste. "I came here for a favour, anyways."

"If it's about a man, I told you I wasn't going to help you anymore. The last time was such a hassle." Nana said, bustling around the kitchen as she checked on the various dishes cooking on the stove and in the oven. "It was difficult trying to explain it to Tsuna, and my subordinates still make jokes about it sometimes."

The woman instantly opened her mouth to protest, but stopped and had the decency to look sheepish. "Well, it does have to do with a male, but not in the way that you think!"

"I've heard that one before, but I'll listen." Nana sighed, sitting down next to her. "What is this 'favour' that you need?"

All playfulness left the woman's face, and her golden eyes focused on Nana. "I think my son has returned."

Nana sat up straighter in her chair, looking surprised. "You mean— When? Have you found him?"

"No, despite everything we've done, he's a slippery thing." The woman sighed, tapping a finger on the surface of the table as she stared at the rising steam from the kettle. "It took so long to even find out if he was alive or not, but that's all we managed to do. He's a sly one."

The kettle began to whistle, and Nana got up to place the powdered tea into the pot before pouring the water in. She took her time in pulling out two cups and bringing the set to the table. "I'm… not sure what it is you're asking. Do you want me to find him for you? I told you I left the yōkai world behind when I married my husband, and I was never good at tracking anyways."

"And that's why I'm requesting that your son be the one to find him!" The woman said, sounding almost scandalized at the suggestion. Nana merely raised a brow, completely unfazed. The woman's shoulders drooped and she sighed. "I've heard things about your son, what he's capable of, especially when he's with Nurarihyon's grandson. I'm certain that if anyone can find him, it would be Tsu-kun."

"He's never met your or your children. Actually, I don't think he's ever met any of your kind before!" Nana argued, "He wouldn't know what to look for. And besides, he's just a child."

The woman scoffed, folding her arms in front of her. "If he were human, he wouldn't know about you or all the yōkai living here. And he wouldn't have made the effort to master his abilities like he has for the past four years." She shook her head lightly. "It matters little; once he becomes an adult he will become someone to watch out for, like you had when you came of age."

"I'm not all that strong compared to the rest of my family." Nana said dismissively, ignoring another scoff from the woman. "And I still don't see why it has to be Tsu-kun. His potential aside, he's still skittish around others. If what I've heard about your son is true, I don't think he would want to help."

"I suppose you're right, but it couldn't hurt to try."

They sat in silence for a moment while they collected their thoughts. When the smell of green tea was thick, Nana poured it into the cups and set them before herself and the woman. The scent was a good distraction, as it soothed the two of them. The woman picked up the cup and looked into the rising steam as her expression became nostalgic. "You know, that boy of mine used to be such a darling… and then he changed. I just don't know what to do anymore when it comes to him. Sometimes I wonder if I should have just tried for another daughter instead."

Nana couldn't help but snort. "That would've made things more complicated."

"Being a mother is difficult sometimes." The woman said, giving Nana a look of approval. "And yet you seem to do so well with yours. How did you ever manage to let Tsu-kun go to Tōno?"

"Well, if he was going to test out his abilities, I certainly wasn't going to let him do it in the house." Nana replied with a laugh.

Koun appeared from the hallway, giving a curt bow to the woman before addressing Nana. "Tsu-kun's almost home. He's brought some friends along."

Nana smiled, pushing her chair back as she stood up. "Ah, that must be Rikuo-kun and the others. I'm sure they must be hungry."

"No," Koun shook her head. "It's the other human boy he's fond of, and a new one. It seems that your husband has made his decision."

The smile slowly disappeared as she realized who Tsuna was also bringing home with him. "So that means…"

The woman stood up gracefully, brushing out the nonexistent wrinkles from her kimono. She smiled at Nana as she left the kitchen. "It's time for the little spark to become a raging inferno, right?"

Nana laughed lightly as she followed the woman to the door. "It's hard letting one child grow up, I don't know how you managed with all of yours."

"Well, they all stay close even after they've grown. But it doesn't get any easier to see they don't need me as much as they used to." The woman replied as she stepped out the door. She turned to give Nana one last hopeful look. "You will ask for me, won't you?"

"I can let him know what's going on, but I can't guarantee that he'll agree." Nana replied with a small nod.

The woman sighed and shook her head ruefully. "I suppose that's all I can hope for. I'll be back in a few months to see if he finds anything."

"I'll send someone to let you know if we find anything." Nana promised, watching the woman leave in a swirl of silver mist. She watched until the woman was gone from sight before retreating into the house and back to the kitchen.

Koun was still there, sitting in Nana's chair and drinking from her cup of tea. "It's rare for the Lady to come and not cause mischief around here." She commented, watching Nana with shrewd eyes. "What new toy has she found this time?"

"Nobody. It seems that she's heard news of her son." Nana replied, going to the stove to attend to her cooking. "But they can't find him, so she wants Tsu-kun to try."

"Tsu-kun…?" Koun hummed thoughtfully, pouring more tea into her cup. "I can see why they'd ask for him, but wouldn't it be a better idea to ask the Supreme Commander? His information network is much better."

Nana nodded. "That's true, but the others are still a bit… grouchy after what happened. And yōkai have very long memories."

"Well, I suppose I should disappear." Koun said, pushing her cup away and daintily dabbing her mouth with the sleeve of her kimono. "As fun as it would be to play with the new arrival, I have a feeling Tsu-kun won't appreciate it too much."

"I'll leave some extras out for you." Nana replied, pulling out plates for the food she was preparing so they could sit on the table for when the children came in. She hummed a fond song the yōkai at the Nura clan main house usually sang during a party, swaying in rhythm as she moved about the kitchen. She had just set a plate of Salisbury steaks and shrimp tempura on the table when she heard the door open and the familiar chatter of two boys filling the hall. "Welcome back!"

"I'm home!" Tsuna called back.

Takeshi's familiar laugh floated after. "Pardon the intrusion!"

Nana came around the doorway to see Reborn, who smirked and tilted his fedora at her. "Ciaossu." He greeted.

"Oh my!" Nana gushed, crouching down next to the infant with sparkling eyes. "What an adorable baby! What's your name?"

Reborn's expression didn't change. "I'm Reborn, the home tutor. We spoke on the phone earlier."

Ignoring the disgruntled mutters from her son and the laugh from his friend, Nana beamed widely at Reborn. "Really? Oh, that's wonderful! You know, I'd almost given up getting him to improve!"

"That is why I'm here. I will evaluate him immediately." Reborn said and paused as his stomach let out a loud grumble. "Right after we eat."

The three of them watched the infant disappear into the kitchen before Takeshi let out a laugh. "He's really an interesting kid, isn't he, Tsuna?"

Tsuna grumbled something about grade school, but didn't give a proper reply. He jammed his hands into his pockets as he started towards the stairs. "Want me to bring your stuff upstairs, Yamamoto-kun?"

"That'd be great! I don't want to miss your mom's cooking." Takeshi grinned as he tossed his bag over to Tsuna. "It's almost as good as Dad's sushi."

"Mou, Takeshi-kun," Nana giggled, waving a hand, "it's just average housewife cooking, but I'm happy you like it."

"You'd better hurry up, Tsuna, or I'm going to eat all the food without you!" Takeshi called as he disappeared into the kitchen. The two in the hall heard his voice as he tried to make conversation with Reborn, though the infant wasn't being too cooperative as he gave vague replies.

"I feel like if I didn't know about any of this, I'd think someone was pulling some sort of prank on me." Tsuna said after a while, leaning his back against the wall. He shook his head, scoffing, "A baby for a home tutor?"

Nana smiled. "You call a weasel your big brother."

"But he's much cooler than a baby! And he's a much better teacher, too!" Tsuna protested, sending a half-hearted glare towards the kitchen. "How much can a baby like him teach me?"

"I think you'll be surprised." Nana said, a small smile on her face as her gaze also went to the kitchen. Then she turned back to Tsuna and shooed him away, "What're you doing? Hurry up! I made your favourite today."

"You did? That's—wait." Tsuna squinted suspiciously at his mother, who kept a look of innocence on her face. "Did you know? That he was coming today?"

Nana gasped at him with a look of surprise. "Me? Of course not! Since Rikuo-kun and his friends are here for a visit, I thought it'd be nice to cook a nice welcome meal for them. I'm sure they'll be very hungry, since all of you are still growing."

Tsuna looked as though he was arguing with himself, which he likely was, before he dropped his suspicion. "Yeah, sorry. I-I don't… never mind. I'd better go put away our stuff." He said, quickly running up the stairs to his room.

With a shake of her head, Nana went back into the kitchen to see Takeshi eagerly digging into the sushi—which was already half gone—and Reborn was eating a Salisbury steak. And it wasn't the first one either, judging from the small dent in the pile she'd left on the table when they came in. "My, aren't we hungry today? I'm glad I made plenty today!"

"This is a lot for just two boys," Reborn commented, looking at Nana. "Do you always cook so much?"

"Normally, no. These two like their food, but even they have their limits." Nana laughed. "Right now, we have guests staying with us so I made plenty."

Takeshi paused to swallow a piece of sushi before he added, "I think you still need more, Sawada-san. I don't know about the others, but I know Rikuo always eats enough for two people, haha!"

"That he does." Nana said, going to the fridge to pull out more ingredients. "And that is why I went grocery shopping before you two came home, so don't you worry about holding back!"

"Is this 'Rikuo' a friend?" Reborn asked this time.

Takeshi was the one who answered. "Tsuna's cousin. They're really close. Almost like brothers, you know?"

"Do they visit often? They must live close by if they are so close." Reborn asked, sounding very much like a child who always asked many, many questions.

"Tsuna sometimes disappears to visit them, so I guess they visit each other?" Takeshi shrugged, reaching over to get another piece of tempura. "I don't know where they live. I don't think they live here, though."

"They live in Tokyo." Nana commented over her shoulder. "Usually it's just Rikuo, but it seems his friends decided to tag along this time for an adventure."

"Oh yeah! Kiyotsugu mentioned that they were going to look around for something today. Something about spirits, I think?" Takeshi mused thoughtfully. He shrugged. "It's always something new, so I'm not sure."

Tsuna entered the kitchen then. "What about spirits?" He asked, taking a seat next to his friend.

"This morning, Kiyotsugu said they were looking for something today." Takeshi said, passing over a plate of what remained of the steaks. "You remember what it was?"

"Spirits?" Tsuna frowned, pulling several of his favourite Salisbury steaks onto his plate. "It's hard to tell with Kiyotsugu-kun. It's more of whatever they find out there."

Nana brought freshly made Salisbury steaks to the table, setting the plate next to Tsuna as she absently noted the remaining dishes left on the table and started to collect the empty plates. "It's good too see those children so energetic! But they must be hungry by now. Do you know when they'll be back?"

Tsuna's eyes looked up as he chewed thoughtfully. "They should be back soon. Rikuo said that they needed some help this time getting information, I think." He mumbled, glancing at the clock.

As if on cue, there was the sound of the door banging open and the loud voices deeply involved in some sort of conversation—most likely some sort of yōkai—interrupted them.

"—never want to go back there again—"

"—me what it looked like—"

"—it was actually kind of—"

Rikuo was the first to appear around the door, and noticed the people around the table. He gave an apologetic smile and waved. "Ah, we're back!"

"Good timing!" Takeshi grinned, gesturing to the table. "Sawada-san just made all this food for you guys!"

The rest of the group quickly followed after, the girls' eyes sparkling as they spotted the table filled with food. "I needed something to comfort me after what happened!" Saori groaned, falling into a chair and trying to decide what to eat first. "Thanks, Sawada-san!"

Kana looked a little uncertain, but after a few assurances from Nana, she was eagerly digging into the food as the others were. Natsumi took a seat next to Saori, not needing much encouragement before she was nibbling on some delicious tempura and comforting Saori when the girl mumbled bits about what had happened. The boys had quickly fallen on the table and were eating whatever was in sight, though the sound of Nana clearing her throat and a look of askance from over by the stove made them slow their pace significantly.

When Rikuo paused, Tsuna looked over at him with a grin. "Let me guess; they found it this time?"

Rikuo grinned right back like it was all a sort of joke. "More like it found them."

Peeking a glance at where Kiyotsugu was looking slightly dejected even as Jirō tried to console him, Tsuna managed to put the pieces together and snickered a little to himself. "So it's just the same as usual, then."

"What were you guys looking for this time?" Takeshi joined in, leaning a little closer to the two. "Some sort of spirit or something?"

"A yōkai of some kind. Kiyotsugu heard some sort of rumour from his website, so we were trying to find it in here." Rikuo said, glancing over at Kiyotsugu. "The rumours didn't say exactly where we could find it, so we ended up trying to ask around."

"What exactly were looking for?" Nana asked, joining the table with some fresh dishes to set on the table and clear away more of the empty ones. "Something not too dangerous, I hope?"

"A Yanari!" Kiyotsugu declared, now having caught onto the conversation. His inner fire had lit up again, and he was about to go into a lengthy explanation about the yōkai when Nana interrupted him.

"Yanari?" Nana asked with a look of surprise, "Do you mean that you spent the day going around looking for new houses to look at? But there's so many areas with new construction!"

Natsumi giggled, "That's all right, I thought it was pretty fun! Maki and I got to look at the newer houses, so it wasn't too bad." Saori shot her a look that bordered on tears so Natsumi quickly amended, "Well, until we found it."

Saori picked at her food. "How does these things always manage to find me? Kiyotsugu-kun is the yōkai fanatic, they should flocking to him!"

"Hmm, maybe they just really like you?" Natsumi suggested with a smile.

Kiyotsugu pouted. "That's not fair, Maki-kun. I specifically sent you guys to the more modern houses so I could find the Yanari. And you still found something!"

"It's not like I want to be found by some gross looking yokai!" Saori argued, then shivered. "It was so disgusting, too! Like it was covered in mud or something. Ugh, it makes my skin crawl just thinking about it."

Tsuna and Nana looked confused, though Nana was a lot better at hiding her confusion. Yanari weren't yōkai who were dirty, gnerally. They were supposed to be spirits possessing a new home and just making noise. Nothing more than troublemakers compared to some, really. And as far as they could recall, there weren't many yōkai who fit that description either... so what had they found?

"Kana-chan and I were the closest when we heard Maki-san scream, so we came as fast as we could." Rikuo said, "We found them in the basement of one of the houses. It's a newer one, but the underground area has a dirt floor."

Ah, that made a lot more sense, then. Tsuna nodded thoughtfully as he realized who the girls must have encountered.

"A Dorotabō!" Kiyotsugu said triumphantly, pointing into the air. "Not particularly powerful spirits, but they are vengeful ghosts of farmers who were wronged by people who own their lands!"

"Oh! Then you must've been in the old part of town!" Nana brightened as she nodded to herself. "It used to be an area for rice paddies long ago, but it was decided it would become a restaurant chain there now!"

Kiyotsugu nodded. "That's right! And according to my research, the previous owner of the lands was the grandfather of the current owner who died around ten years ago. So he must've become a yōkai in death and become a Dorotabō!"

Rikuo laughed amicably, even as Kiyotsugu started going off on a tangent about how the Dorotabō must have come back to gain revenge and was planning on concocting a complicated plot to make his grandson change his ways that somehow connected to a third party. Nana and Tsuna were smiling fondly, even as Takeshi goaded on Kiyotsugu with comments that made it turn into a one-sided argument as Kiyotsugu attempted to 'educate' Takeshi on the ways of yōkai.

And then Rikuo happened to glance to his side, and nearly jumped when he saw Reborn sitting on the table next to him. "Wha- A baby? What's he doing here?"

Tsuna shrugged miserably and avoided looking at Reborn. "We found him in the forest on the way home. And, well, he kind of... followed us home."

The explanation had earned him a harsh kick in the head, which had caused Tsuna to howl in pain and for Rikuo to shift uneasily and attempt to move subtly away from the hitman.

"What, is he a relative of yours, Sawada-san?" Natsumi said, smiling brightly as she cooed at Reborn. "He's so adorable! Wah, I wish I had as many adorable relatives as you do!"

"This is Reborn, Tsu-kun's new home tutor!" Nana said with a bright smile. "He just arrived today, but he'll be helping to improve Tsu-kun's grades."

Saori scoffed, giving Tsuna a knowing look. "About time. You really need that boost in grades, Sawada-san. No offense, but they're pretty bad."

"Yeah, well," Tsuna chuckled sheepishly, "I guess... school just isn't my thing...?"

"That's no good, Sawada-kun!" Kana said with disapproval. "School is important, you know? You should keep up with your studies, like Rikuo-kun!"

Takeshi laughed and slung his arm around Tsuna's shoulders. "Maa, isn't it alright? I'm even worse than Tsuna when it comes to grades, but I'm doing just fine, you know?"

"That's no good. Good little boys should go to school and learn properly." Reborn spoke up for the first time since they had all gathered together. "That's how you'll be successful in the future."

Most of the group looked surprised to hear an infant say such a wise thing, before the girls started cooing over how adorable he was to say such a thing. The boys gave each other a confused look at each other over the table, but shrugged it off and continued eating.

"Oh my!" Nana said, looking through the cabinets for something. "Seems like I've run out of oil. Hm, I think I still have some left in the storage room... Tsu-kun, please keep an eye on my cooking, will you?"

As Tsuna's mouth was full of sushi at the moment, he only let out a muffled sound of agreement before Nana disappeared around the corner.

Reborn waited a moment to be sure Nana was gone before he spoke. "Does she always make so much food?"

The children paused, wondering what he was talking about. Tsuna was the one who caught on. "Oh, you mean Mom? Well, yeah. Cooking is a hobby of hers, I guess? So she's always happy when company is over, 'cause she gets to cook a lot of food."

"A lot of food? More like food fit for an army!" Takeshi grinned, pointing at the kitchen counter, which was still full of dishes in the process of cooking and waiting to be cooked. "Sometimes I wonder how you manage to finish it all by yourself. You're just so scrawny!"

Rikuo grinned at him cheekily. "That's why he brings you over so often, Yamamoto-kun. You eat enough for three of Tsuna, haha!"

"Well, why do you think he's so big?" Tsuna retorted with a smile. "I can't help it if I can't keep up!"

"Ne, even if Yamamoto-san is a giant, it doesn't mean anything if he's clumsy." Saori pointed out. "I bet that Nura-kun could run circles around him."

Natsumi frowned thoughtfully as she looked at the five boys. "I dunno... Isn't Shima-kun in a lot of clubs? So you have to be really good at it, right?"

"If it's about ability, then Kiyotsugu-kun is the best!" Jiro declared, looking absolutely sure of himself. "He's the guy who was blessed by the gods!"

"Everyone, calm down. Our abilities aren't all that important, you know." Kiyotsugu said with a serious expression. The others rolled their eyes with a sigh, except for Jirō, who nodded fervently and with an intense focus. "After all, we are nothing compared to that person! My idol! The person who rules above all other!"

Nana's voice floated into the kitchen. "Boys! I need some help carrying the rice into the kitchen! Would you give me a hand?"

Rikuo and Tsuna grinned at each other and hurried out into the kitchen with Takeshi. Kiyotsugu slumped a little, but he and Jirō followed, albeit more slowly. The girls looked after them in amusement. "You know," Kana said, "Sawada-san always has good timing."

"I know." Natsumi nodded, "It's like she's psychic or something."

"Who was he talking about?" Reborn asked, tilting his head slightly. "His big brother?"

Saori snorted and shook her head. "I wish, then we wouldn't have to end up in such creepy places all the time. I don't really know who it is, but I apparently it's some guy who saved him when he was a kid."

"Oh, I think he said that it was during the field trip to some mountain!" Natsumi said. "I wanted to go, but I caught a cold so I didn't…"

"Well I don't like those icky sort of things, so I didn't go." Saori propped her arm on the table as she leaned her chin in her palm. "How about you, Kana-chan?"

Kana shifted a little uncomfortably. "Well, I did go, but Rikuo-kun could probably tell you about it better than I can."

"Ah, sorry, you don't like yōkai either, right? Well, the boys are the only ones who like that sort of thing." Saori sighed. "And Kiyotsugu is the worst of the lot."

"Yōkai?" Reborn muttered to himself, frowning. He spoke a little louder to gain the attention of the group, "Aren't those monsters from folk tales?"

Natsumi nodded. "Yeah, like kitsune, yuki onna and stuff. Kiyotsugu has a whole site devoted on it, and apparently a lot of people use it to exchange rumours of yōkai sightings."

"Which then leads to him taking us on some weird trip that ends up with us meeting it face-to-face." Saori scowled. "I don't know why we still do it."

"The secondary houses."

"…It's a good thing he's rich."

A / N : Sorry it's taken a long few months to get a new chapter posted. For some reason I can't upload anything I write onto , and I have no idea why. I finally managed to get it up by uploading it through my school internet server, but I don't know what I'm going to do in a month when I'm on summer vacation. But we'll see what happens when we get to it, eh?

Regarding the chapter itself, I'm really not satisfied with how it turned out, but I really didn't want it to degenerate into twenty pages of useless dialogue. I'm fairly certain there's some errors in it, since I didn't want to re-read it. I'd really appreciate some thoughts on it, because I really feel like it's not really making the story move enough.

Next chapter, it will most likely be where Mukuro make his move. I'm curious if people mind if his debut is similar to the one in the manga, or would they prefer if it's totally different. I have ideas to have it follow the manga slightly, but of course it's going to be different (or that would be copyright) considering his background. But if people would prefer it to be totally different, I will try my best to make it original!