[IC] As One | Katekyo Hitman Reborn!

[Dusset]

Benjamin wasn't entirely sure what to do so he just stood off to the side. He didn't know English and was sort of useless and even in the moment he did try to help, he'd inadvertently scared the girl. Screw it. But then Sonya appeared and he had something to do. When she landed he wasn't startled as much as he was put on guard. She was terrifying. If only because he witnessed her throw someone through a wall. Was the Vongola gonna fix that? Though when the red-haired woman explained that if they didn't complete their task they be put through punishment games, he didn't want to imagine what she could possibly have in store.

Wait. Who's Fionn?

He knew Naoto, of course, despite having never spoken to him for a length, but he didn't remember anyone named Fionn from the other day. Looking around his group he deduced it was the small boy to his right, seeing as he could name the rest. He tapped Fionn's shoulder and held out a hand. "I don't think we've been formally introduced. My name is Benjamin Silva." Actually, considering they'd been together for a day or so he might come across as rude if the boy already knew that. Ben couldn't be penalized for being uninformed, could he? "I suppose we're fortunate, hmm? We've been paired with our very own jefe."

[TwilightDragon]

Naoto and Prospero reappeared—the magician started to laugh much like a goofball before he began to explain himself. Ah, so he was part of the mafia. That was unexpected. However, what Cyril didn’t understand was what was going on with the two new appearances. The two were still there, and one had been saying something about an assassin. Though, it seemed that they calmed down as soon as the two popped back into the picture. Cyril crossed his arms, still a bit confused. What was this about an assassin? Did everyone just forget about the threat? Maybe it’s all settled. Maybe that girl was just confused and started to blather nonsense.

Sonya approached them, and stated that they were to search for the missing audience. Cyril had forgotten about the audience… so many things were going on around him. He turned toward the red haired woman and listened to their… groupings. She was sorting them into groups. Groups. Why couldn’t he just search for the audience by himself? Especially since he was sorted into a group that had Abby and Daisuke in it. How am I even going to retain Daisuke’s attention span for that long of a time? He’s probably going to wander off.

Then again, he should probably trust Daisuke a bit more. There was a reason that Sonya was putting him in the same group as him. Maybe he should understand the brown haired boy. ”We should get moving.” Cyril told Abby and Daisuke. He was trying to establish control—he wanted them to know that he was the one in control. ”I don’t think he’s transported the whole audience too far. And he should have poofed them somewhere with a large space that could hold them all.”

Cyril glanced back at Prospero and Jak. He still didn’t know what was up with that guy… and yet, they were trusting him as if nothing. Well, Sonya didn’t say anything. Maybe this was another type of test? Maybe Sonya wanted to see if they could find out what Prospero was really thinking before he actually hurt someone? The dark haired teenager turned back to Daisuke and Abby, a little bit unnerved. ”Come on already, we have to go.” he said, beginning to lead the way down the street.

---

Prospero didn’t answer his questions. Fionn found himself huffing a bit too loudly at that; in fact, he was a bit irritated. Not because he was angry that he didn’t get his questions answered, but because he didn’t know much about this Prospero character. And that frightened him. What if Prospero was lying and he wanted to kill everyone in their sleep? Fionn ran a hand through his hair, looking a bit too distressed. And his stress level kept on going up. Especially when someone touched his shoulder.

If one didn’t think that Fionn could get any more pitiful, they would be proved wrong by what happened next. The blond haired Welshman jumped in fear, letting out a loud, high pitched screech. He whirled around to see who his assailant was—only to see it was Benjamin. A bright red blush shot across his face, and he scratched his head to somehow cover his embarrassment. It wasn’t his fault that he screamed like that! Benjamin shouldn’t have approached him from behind, seeing that he was frightened out of his wits.

He continued to scratch at his head until his amber eyes dropped down to Benjamin’s outstretched hand. Fionn raised a shaking hand himself, and shook the other boy’s as properly as he could. ”O-oh, I know who you are.” Fionn told him, offering him a very meek smile. ”I know… I know most of your names. It’s just that everyone… you know… forgets mine.” he let go of Ben’s hand, listening to what he said. So… we’re paired with Naoto as well? He didn’t know much Spanish, but he had heard Ben call Naoto jefe as well.

”I guess that’s okay.” Fionn murmured softly, shuffling his feet. ”I don’t know a lot about Naoto. I don’t even know what he thinks of me. Heh… he probably thinks I’m as useful as an empty soda can.”

[Vongola_Hasayo]

Naoto stood, unwrapping his scarf from around his arm and replacing it around his neck. Prospero answered his questions and Naoto didn't feel he was lying. "Next time you wanna test me, don't make such a spectacle...if you can help it." Naoto could tell Prospero was the kind of person who liked to put on a show. The tickets to lure is here and the villain act had to be all his idea. That mafia witch is to straight forward to beat around the bush like this.

After being awkwardly hugged by Daisuke and his introduction of the man that set off alarms in Naoto's head Sonya appeared. "Speak of the devil." She began barking orders and assigned teams. Her smile was one that Naoto had seen before from his own mother which made it ten times more frightening for him than it probably did for the others as he broke into a cold sweat. Naoto wanted to hurry and find that audience and avoid whatever evil thought brought about Sonya's smile. Before he did though, he looked over at Jakki and Prospero.

Since their fight Naoto was seeing people differently. Like he was looking straight at their core. It was still hard to grasp what he was feeling from others but with Prospero he at least knew that he wasn't a bad person. Although, he also felt like he wasn't necessarily an ally. And when Naoto turned his gaze on Michael he just looked away. Michael...there was nothing to see. His core was completely hidden from Naoto and he didn't like it. Naoto walked over to Jak and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Please, make it quick and get back here to help me find that audience." Naoto whispered deciding not to alarm her since he wasn't completely sure where thid newfound insight was coming from our out it was even right. Instead he made it sound as if he was terrified of Sonya's punishment, which he was, hoping to get her group away from Michael as quickly as possible. Jogging back to Ben and Fionn he gave Fionn a quick slap on the back getting Fionn's words. Don't count yourself short pal. C'mon, let's not find out what Sonya had up her sleeve." He said heading to start looking for the audience.

[Dusset]

Ben just cupped Fionn's shoulder for a moment and gave him a half-smile. Naoto dashed off for God knows why and left the two alone for a silent moment. Naoto could stand to calm down a little. You don't get anywhere racing around. Ben gave their boss a nod and followed suit. Instead if running off he strolled through. He moved slowly but he scanned thoroughly, pausing at alleys to look down them. His expression didn't change much as he followed Naoto. He only followed his trail, really. He wasn't keeping pace not did he want to. As he passed a thin street he did actually find four audience members, disoriented and confused. For the sake of immersion and since he was feeling nice he explained to them that due to the sheer size of the crowd, Prospero missed a few times as he teleported people home. He had been 'sent' out to track down the missed 'ports.

Once he finished explaining that, he sought Fionn. He wasn't far off and he seemed friendly enough. It would be wise to build bridges within the group, if it was only one. "Fionn, I'll stick with you. We'll be more successful with a tandem effort." Ben said as he walked over. "I don't recall you sparring with Sonya the other day. You should have spoken up." Considering they'd only just met there wasn't a whole lot to discuss. But a mutual respect and/or fear of Sonya could almost be ensured. With such terrifying resources why did the Vongola even need kids like them? They weren't hitman they were high schoolers. They couldn't shoot a man, they could barely defend themselves. Granted, Ben had never tried to shout a man but he'd never had to grapple with the psychological effects of ding so, either. It could come naturally, he supposed. Perhaps that's why they were chosen? Because somehow the Vongola knew they were cold-blooded killers? That felt like something he himself should know before others.

[Solace]

Sonya Dmitriev... so that's who their tutor is, huh.

Michael had eyed the redhead woman with interest momentarily as she began to split up the candidates into their search parties, warning them about the consequences of failing to find the crowd that the Mist kid warped. He admired the way that she seemed to dictate with an iron fist, though the praise fell short as it failed to phase him to say the least. Being under this fake identity and guise started to make him feel embarrassed since he had to portray emotions and say things that he would otherwise never display, and it was an agonizing feeling.

Michael trembled slightly as Sonya finished, gripping the side of his shorts. "Did she just jump down from a rooftop?" his finger pointed towards one of the buildings and trailed down to the woman's feet, blinking in surprise. Though, before anyone could answer him, she dismissed the candidates to their task while entrusting two of them to guide him and the other girl to wherever they were going. Whatever, at least I know where these runts are located, now.

"Wait!" Daisuke rang out in English just as Michael began to step towards Artemis and Prospero, stopping him. The boy dug into his pockets and reached for something, sighing as he pulled out a handful of nothing. "Okay, I don't have a pen or anything, but..." he scratched his head, pointing towards a seemingly random direction. Michael nodded in understanding as the boy gave him his address out loud, seeing Daisuke scuttle off towards Cyril and Abigail with a hand waving in front of him.

Well, speak of the devil. If these people live really close to one another, this will be one hell of an easy job.

"Sorry, I had to talk to him for a second," Michael referred to Daisuke as he trotted up to the pair that was to guide them throughout the town or city, give or take. "A little too energetic, but he's pretty cool and friendly," he lied, a bright smile on his face. "Where to, now?"

---

"I'm coming!" Daisuke shouted as he ran after Cyril and Abby, who were already a ways down the street. He loved meeting new people and enjoying new experiences, but challenges like the one that the scary woman had just tasked them with made him a bit daunted and frustrated. He was never one for complicated puzzles, but this should have been relatively straightforward; just like a simple game of hide and go find the Italian people, right?

"Hmm, to start off..." Daisuke mumbled when he finally joined up with the two, putting on the look of a detective as he scanned their surroundings carefully. Easily one of the most serious expressions that anyone could have seen on his face, the mind of the Japanese boy began to process a million thoughts as all of the tactical deductions and theoretical explanations pieced together, finalizing the production of a viable solution as Daisuke delivered it to his brothers in arms. "I don't know."

[RainDash]

Jak turned to listen to Naoto's whisper. He dashed off before she could respond, however, so she was left with an uneasy feeling about his statement. I'll be quick, depending on where the hotel is, I know a decent amount of shortcuts, and I can guide Prospero while looking for the audience. It's not like the newcomers are gonna pull out a gun and shoot me. she did wonder why he was so worried about it though. Well, if we team up, we might get to be exempt from Sonya's crazy game. Maybe that's why he wants me back quick.

She'd been so lost in thought that she been surprised when Michael walked back up to them. "Don't mind Daisuke, he's a nice kid. As for where we're going is to your hotels, could you tell the english looking girl? She's been staring at me blankly, so I think she doesn't speak Italian. Once we know where your hotels are, I can get you guys there pretty quick. Then show Prospero around, if he wants." Jak smiled and gave a thumbs up. "I'm ready to go whenever you guys are."

Jak tried to recall any English that she'd picked up through watching American baseball, but she only knew the words 'safe', 'home run', and 'baseball'. Not exactly applicable right now, and even if the girl said something in English, Jak wouldn't understand it. Which made her glad to have Michael along. He knew both apparently and could translate easily. I wonder why she came here without learning any of the language. It's only gotten her into trouble so far.

If it was possible to have heart palpitations from fear, Artemis would be having them. The second they realize that I'm lying about hotel or appear a threat they'll kill me. The girl with the black hair is staring at me and talking to me, but I think she's only saying how much she wants to kill me. She gave me a thumbs up. Who in their right mind does that? Not to mention the assassin was lurking around, probably close by. She didn't have time to be panicking. She needed to be calm. Breathe in, breathe out. Think, Artemis. Don't panic. You can find a way to learn more Italian... or maybe I could make something that could translate for me... Artemis was lost in thought as the figured out ways to create a translator, and so was completely out of it again.

[TwilightDragon]

Fionn waited for Ben’s reply when something hit his back. Once again, the blond haired boy seemed to leap into the air in surprise and fright. He even appeared to be trembling a bit more. He told himself that he had to man up, that he was a… well, man, not a mouse. And, supposedly, he was part of the mafia. That meant that there were people that were going to go after them, and they wouldn’t take kindly to him cowering at their feet. Hell, he didn’t even know how to fight… how was he going to go against the big guys? What was he even going to fight with? A stick? He didn’t know… and he didn’t want to find out any time soon. I wish we would have stayed in Wales… he thought as he began to follow Naoto and Ben. If I had stayed, I wouldn’t be in the mafia.

Naoto seemed to be leading their little group—he wasn’t surprised, he was the boss of the whole family. Ben stayed behind with him, making him blink up at the other boy. Ben was more confident in what they were doing. He even went up against Sonya without an ounce of fear. Well… almost everyone did. Even if he wasn’t ignored, Fionn wasn’t sure he would have steeled his nerves and faced Sonya. He could only thank God that she had forgotten about him. Ben was questioning why didn’t he speak up during the training exercises the other day, and he frowned. ”I really don’t know how to fight, and I didn’t want to be beat up by Sonya.” he muttered, giving him a shrug. ”I rather train with someone that won’t break my bones until I’m able to face her.”

Fionn sighed, lifting his orange colored eyes toward the streets again. He was only able to defend himself by tossing a few punches that didn’t even hurt when they made contact. He learned how to fight on his own, when he had been sick of being pushed around by his brothers. When they saw that he actually had the guts to fight, they left him alone… somewhat. Though, he was never crazy about fighting. That ugly, aggressive rush that washed over you once you actually took a stand against your enemies… it made him feel sick. It was probably because he wasn’t used to fighting… but that would no longer be an issue sooner or later.

”U-um… Naoto…” he tried to lift his voice so it could be loud enough to catch the boss’ attention. He wasn’t sure if the pink haired boy had heard him, but Fionn carried on with his tone of voice either way. ”Where… where exactly are we going? W-we can’t just be wandering around in circles…”

More like where exactly would Prospero put a large crowd of people…

[Dblade26]

Prospero looked around and saw that the strange English girl seemed to be paralyzed with fear. The magician guessed that if he didn't know any better and had just watched two people appear out of thin air and seen a crowd disappear, plus heard the word 'Mafia' over and over again he'd be a little worried too. If nothing else, that red-haired woman was enough to put fear in just about anyone's heart. He puzzled over it for a moment and decided that as long as she was in a state of heart attack-inducing terror he probably wasn't going to get a very good tour of the town. Plus while he tried to be stoic and keep cool externally, seeing someone obviously isolated and scared pushed on his empathy-buttons a lot more than the masked boy was willing to admit. Thus, as one of the few English speakers in the group and the only one who didn't have his head totally up in the clouds or...wherever that Michael guy's brain seemed to be, he decided to take action.

"Hey um...don't worry so much, okay? These guys are really just ordinary middle-schoolers mostly I think and all the disappearing stuff was a really fancy magic trick! The red-haired bruja's pretty..yeah..but the good news is we're all kinda running from her at maximum speed, y'know? Um, anyways she made me the official translator and I'm totally not a bad guy who'll make you disappear, honest! If you want I'll even give you an autograph! Oh um, the black haired chica says she's ready to go when we are by the way, so let's get this magical mystery tour on the road, yeah?"

Prospero hadn't spoken English in a little while, or for that matter really interacted with people in a context outside of talking to fans, interviewers, businesspeople managing him and various mafiosi and underworld types on his quest for vengeance, but he was pretty sure he did a good job reassuring the English girl, yup! Now for the American tourist and the black-haired girl! He was gonna make so many friends and then being a dark avenger dedicated to perfection wouldn't be so lonely! Yeah! He started switching between Italian and English as he chatted with them, or tried to chat anyways. He was more than a little rusty. First he turned briefly to Michael, smiled and winked before talking in a more energetic, excited and childish manner than usual.

"Where in the U.S. are you from?~ I feel like haven't been there in foreeeever and I can't place your accent but it's nice to meet another American!~ What brought you to my show? I'm in a good mood so autographs are free! I'll sign anywhere you want, 'kay?~" His plan of attack here was basically to use the sort of behavior that worked with most of his fans. As far as he could tell, this guy was just a civilian tourist anyways. He turned to Jakki,and switched to Italian while keeping the same mannerisms

"So I think we're ready to go!~ Much more importantly what's your name and what's the nature exactly of your relationship with Naoto Alato?" The fact that he'd accidentally phrased a question about which Guardian she was in a way that probably seemed much more embarrassing and personal never crossed his mind.

[AgniSpirit]

Not wanting to stay in the presence of the crazy woman any longer, Abby hurried after the two dark-haired males. However, she didn't miss Artemis's whisper when she asked for them to chat tomorrow. Abby gave the English girl a grin. "Sure! I'll see you tomorrow then." Maybe it was a bad idea to befriend a suspected assassin of her new mafia family, but she couldn't help it. Friendship, especially female friendship, seemed to be limited in this little town. She didn't even know if she could call these crazy guys her friends yet, and Jakki was the only girl she could call a close acquaintance.

When she reached Daisuke and Cyril, she was able to catch Daisuke's intelligent deduction on where the missing audience was. Abby shook her head in exasperation. "Let's think about it like this; what place in Trespiano can fit a really large group of people? The only place I can think of is the beach because since that's the only place I've seen so far. You guys have been here longer, what do you think?"

---

Sonya saw her students scurry away under her fake smile and soon went back to her usual facial feature. For once, she wasn't actually sure what the outcome of this little exercise would be. She wanted them to be able to find the audience and prove they weren't as incompetent in teamwork and problem-solving as they were in everything else, but she still had a gut feeling that neither team would accomplish the goal.

Even if they didn't, it didn't really matter. The training regimen she had already planned was enough to be seen as a punishment game in most of the teens' eyes. No, Sonya's focus was on the two newcomers. The girl, even with her knowledge of the mafia and the Vongola, was harmless. It was the American boy she was worried about. Under her trained eyes, she could see the few forced movements Michael had made. If her calculations were correct, then he was the assassin Artemis had been spouting about...

It made the perfect first exercise. Why should Sonya make up her own life-or-death situation to throw at the Guardian candidates when one just happened to be passing by? This would be a great time to observe how the brats would react to a trained killer hunting them down. And if things got too bad, she'd swoop in.

... Maybe.

[RainDash]

You try saying that after having a gun put to your head... Artemis thought as she listened to Prospero. She also silently begged Michael to say his hotel so she wouldn't be tossed out or beaten up by the red head. She had to say something to Prospero though, and also to calm down a little. "It's fine, I'm just... there are a lot of people in place that are all way stronger than I am and I really don't wanna step on any toes." hopefully, that statement would keep up the ruse as well as placate Prospero. "Uhm, I need to think, because my parents," lies, she came here alone, "changed hotels quickly. It was kind of a dive, you know?" after a moment, she added, "how old are you anyway, Prospero?"

Jak, meanwhile, was turning bright red from embarassment. "Um... I don't... know how to really respond to that... except that we know each other because we live in the same town and Sonya recruited us both. We're not dating... or anything. Just good friends, I think." did he have to ask like that? Now she was too flustered to think properly. She wasn't dating Naoto, and she wasn't really interested in him like that anyway. "...let's just get going. Where's your hotel, Micheal?"

[Solace]

I hate kids.

Even though this boy was only four years younger than him, the way that this Prospero kid talked was already pissing Michael the hell off. It was actually difficult to not show annoyance, but after many years of this whole acting-like-another-peasant business, it wasn't impossible.

Michael nodded with a smile towards Jak, feeling yet another knife run through his gut as he had to force himself to sound reassuring once more. Even though she had been a bit terrified after he put a gun to her head and nearly blew her brains out, she seemed even more afraid by just being in the presence of these people. It was just as hard to not have pulled the trigger then and there than to not laugh at the moment.

"Yo," Michael spoke in the cringy, universal greeting of prepubescent teenagers in the twenty-first century, looking down at Artemis as he patted her on the shoulder. "Jeez, you look like you just saw a ghost," he followed through with the generic statement, refusing the impulse of his eyelid twitching. "She said that she and the kid are going to lead us to whatever hotel that we happen to be staying at."

Michael stopped as Prospero now spoke directly to him, questioning his whereabouts and whatnot. Fabricating such information was simple enough that had he been put on the spot with no experience in subterfuge, he would still be able to do it. Lying was just an innate and normal human interaction.

"Golden State of Cali, man, that's where it's at. I just got done graduation about two weeks ago and I've been accepted to Stanford. I'm here on vacation by myself before I have to start the semester in August. Now that I'm eighteen," Michael explained, his age actually a year younger than spoken. It was no matter, though; he had acted as men much older than his age in the past, and they still fell for it. "I figured going here on my own to break away from all of the drama I have back at home. I've worked hard these last four years and I need a break, so why not come to Italy?"

If only things had really been like that. The only thing that Michael thought about his father was to just drop dead and die already, and he had no mother to think about. Despite the fact that he was still sent off to high school, he had dropped out two years ago, and was self-employed full time as a hitman. He loved stealing the money and lives of his victims, and sitting in a classroom for seven hours or so a day for five days of a week was just agonizing.

Unlike ninety-nine percent of the world's population, Michael would have never believed in the whole college business anyway. Idiots thought that going to college would guarantee a good life and job, but they were just like he labeled everyone; idiots. Wasting so much money to take courses that are irrelevant to your occupation of decision when you could be using that money to travel the world and do so much more while learning... Michael preferred the life he lived, anyway; getting paid to kill people. Even if he didn't get paid, he would still enjoy it.

"I'm actually staying at the Historia Asgarnia," Michael answered Jak, who had asked him about which hotel that he had been staying at. It was the most luxurious one in the area, and even though it was expensive, money was no issue in the mafia; especially for his family, which would surpass the Vongola very soon. "It's really nice there, but really costly for just a single night!"

[TwilightDragon]

Well, Daisuke didn’t know where the crowd might be. That was a surprise. He didn’t even bother to glance his way after he had made that oh-so-intelligent deduction. Cyril’s dark gaze fell on the street as he began to wonder where the hell an illusionist would put a bunch of people. Abby walked up to them, stating that the audience would most likely be on the beach or something. That was possible… he scratched his head, glancing over at Abby. ”Let’s go and check if they’re on the beach, then.” he told the two, turning away from them and walking toward the beach. That was the second time in two days that he went to the beach… each time for ridiculous reasons.

”If they’re not there, we can check the mall nearby. I think that’s big enough to hold Prospero’s audience.” he told them. He wondered what they thought of Naoto—he was their so called boss, anyway. Not that he’d ever call him a boss. To him, Naoto wasn’t worthy at all. Not now, not ever. He was too energetic, and it didn’t seem like he had much rattling around in his skull. Then again, Daisuke wasn’t promising, either. Abby didn’t seem to have much going on, too. Though, they had potential. If Prospero, someone who was involved, saw something in Naoto… then it had to be true. I just have to be patient. he told himself. I can’t make Sonya rush them.

Cyril continued to lead the way to the beach, remaining quiet for most of their little trek through the small town of Trespiano. He supposed that he had fallen in love with the town after a year or so of living there. It wasn’t like Lipari, but oh well. At least it was similar. Finding nothing to do other than walk, he glanced back at the two that were following him—or so he thought. ”So… what do you guys think of Naoto?” he asked them. ”Do you think he’s okay or what?”

[RainDash]

Jak nodded and heard where Michael was staying, The Historia Asgarnia. It was an expensive place, and she had to suppress showing her surprise that he was rich enough to afford to stay there. "All righty, let's get moving then," Jak figured she'd wasted enough time just standing around talking anyway, "hey, Prospero. You been to Trespiano before? Or is this your first time visiting our little town?" Jak would ask him why he decided to come here later, for now, she had to take the two tourists back to their respective hotels and hopefully avoid the punishment game Sonya had thought up.

If their sparring session was any indication, Sonya didn't hold back on anyone. She threw Daisuke, tired and crazed, into a wall and didn't hesitate when Vector -or Hajime, whatever- threw him through a wall. With family like that, who needs enemies? Jak started walking quickly, trying to get her group to the hotels first and then go and look for Naoto and the crowd. With Prospero, it was more likely that they'd be able to find the audience faster. He was the one who vanished them in the first place after all. It would make sense that he'd be able to find them as well.

Artemis took note of the hotel name that she guessed Michael was staying at. The Historia Asgarnia. It sounds like historical Asgard. The place is probably a dive too, but at least I won't have to worry about him saying that he stayed someplace really ritzy. I wish I'd had time to scope out the hotels more though, this town looks like it probably houses tourists often, with the festival and hotels. At least they were moving now, and quickly at that. Artemis hoped that they wouldn't leave her behind in the dust as she struggled to catch her breath.

[Dblade26]

"Not dating?" Prospero was confused as to what that had to do with her position as one of Naoto's Guardian and which one she happened to be, but before he even had a chance to puzzle out why Jakki had become so flustered all of a sudden Artemis started explaining herself and asked how old he was .

"I'm thirteen. I've been a professional magician for a while now though. I worked and toured the U.S. for a while, but more recently I've been touring internationally in Asia and Europe. Italy's just the latest and last stop for me, yup." There was of course no reason to mention that part of the reason for his tour and Italy being the last stop was to find out all he could about the criminal underworld and the Mafia in particular, especially not to this girl who already seemed terrified without bringing the Mafia into things.

Prospero tried to focus mainly on walking as fast as he could without out-pacing his guide and the people he was supposed to be translating for, mainly to try and get as far away as possible from the red-haired witch and her threats of punishment games. Jak's next question made him smile slightly though "I haven't had the chance to come to Trespiano before now, no. I've been to bigger cities near here, but it's hard to arrange a show in a place like this unless a big event like the festivals are going on and before now my schedule never synced up like this. But um...I'm...pretty excited to be here. It feels really different from some of the places I've had to play at lately and getting to know the town is gonna be important, y'know?"

He didn't yet mention anything involving the Mafia, his plans or the fact that his tour was now over and he already had plans to stay in Trespiano, but he could talk about that after the two civilians left.

[AgniSpirit]

"Naoto? Well..." Abby thought about Cyril's question long and hard as they continued down the streets of Trespiano, "I haven't had a chance to really talk to him but he seems like a good guy. Kind of dorky and not really boss material, but he's nice. I think... I've learned I'm not the best with guessing how people really are." The blond stated this last part with a disheartened voice. She didn't like thinking about why she was in this little town in the first place. Yeah, it had been a lot more fun than she had expected but it still wasn't home. Even if home was where she faced the hard truth of backstabbing friends.

Abby swallowed that thought down. No, her friends had a good reason for not speaking up. Friends were supposed to stick together, through the bad and good times. Yet, in the back of her mind, a tiny little question kept prodding her; why weren't they shipped off somewhere like she was? Shaking her head, she turned back to face Cyril and Daisuke.

"Why are you asking? It's obvious you don't like him. Trying to find out if others feel the same way?" Abby asked, a hint of spite in her voice. She didn't like how much Cyril was always on Naoto's case. She wasn't sure where he was coming from whenever he yelled at the pink-haired boy, but that still didn't give him a right to act like such an ass. Another nice thing about Trespiano was that she didn't have to care about keeping up appearances to stay popular. If she thought about it, she'd never hang out with such a strange array of people back home. Was that a good thing or a bad thing? Maybe bad since she had gotten herself in the mafia. Yet, why wasn't she that upset about it?

Too much thinking, not enough judging. She waited for Cyril's answer with the most heated glare she could muster (which really wasn't much).

[Vongola_Hasayo]

"Achoo!" Naoto made sure to face away from anyone else as he sneezed. "Somebody's talking about me..." He muttered, scratching his nose. There was a handful of people he could think of who would be who recently appeared in his life. Between Jakki, Daisuke, Cyril and Sonya it was probably a clean split of good and bad. With Abby he wasn't quite sure as he hasn't really talked to her. Though she seemed like the most normal out of the bunch which only worsened Naoto's guilt for getting her and the others involved. Even though Prospero wasn't really an enemy his abilities tell me that things are only going to get more and more dangerous. I don't want them to be a part of this but truthfully if it wasn't for them I would've lost back there. If there voices didn't get through to me... Naoto smiled slightly. They seemed to worried about me...except for Mr. Personality(Cyril) of course. I guess it's nice to know they're there for me. Fionn snapped Naoto out of his thoughts bringing up their group's strategy for finding the misplaced audience. "R-Right, I guess not..." He chuckled rubbing the back of his head. "Well...hmm? Where would magic boy send an audience?" Naoto looked up towards the sky as he thought. "Mira~ Hope you guys aren't afraid of heights cause we're heading to the rooftops to get a birds-eye view!" He said with grin.

[Solace]

"Boss is the best boss!" Daisuke exclaimed without hesitation, though for the first time, he was able to control how loud his voice was instead of shouting. It might have only been a day or two since he had met them, but already, the boy felt as if they were already his best friends. He had been overjoyed to leave the metropolis called New York; Italy was a beautiful country. It was a good thing that Miss Ottavio had given him Italian lessons back in America so that he could, well, speak the language.

Daisuke thought back to one of their sessions, remembering when she had thrown a pineapple at his head for messing up words. Such a fateful moment... Had his life been disgraced by the absence of how to say pineapple in Italian, he would not have been able to live with himself for the rest of eternity. "Fields of pineapple~" he began to daydream for a moment before snapping back to attention.

Daisuke found himself standing between Cyril and Abby, smiling childishly. "Come on, guys! Those Italian people won't find themselves!" he went back to scanning the remote area, until a realization clicked in his head, causing him to jump a little. "Wait, how are we even supposed to find a huge crowd if there's so many of them and we don't even know what they look like?!"

Continuing to think on it, Trespiano might have been a small town, but that did not mean that crowds were rare. Trespiano was in walking distance of Vendrello, which was a huge city compared to New York City, and crowds of tourists walking about were not uncommon. What were the chances that the crowd across the street wasn't the crowd that they were actually looking for? Sure, the crowd must have been substantially larger, but... "Argh! Too much thinking!"

---

Michael mentally groaned, his bored eyes adrift towards the clouds above as his mind muffled out the small talk between the Mist and Rain candidates. He cursed himself for agreeing with the man's plan. He cursed himself for even deciding to go through with it in the end. He cursed himself for forcing himself to sit through all of this useless chatter. He cursed himself for being such a convincing liar. He had to pinch his thigh in order to contain the urge to draw his weapon and let loose a bit of Flames... why the hell am I even cooperating with that Vongola man, anyway? The family had already removed itself from the alliance years ago, and yet, Vongola Decimo continued to try and support them. Probably 'cause he wants us back. What a sad old man.

That idiot. Does he not know that we're going to dominate them soon? Michael's own silence began to bother him, and so he turned to the computer freak that he could have and should have killed earlier. Maybe, if I had pulled the trigger, I wouldn't be craving blood this much. "Do you need help?" he feigned concern as he slowed down his pace to match hers, forcing himself to frown instead of cringe. He clicked his tongue upon seeing that she was already a bit out of breath. "Here," Looks like I'm gonna have to wash myself when I get back, he thought as he stopped in front of Artemis and crouched. "You seem tired. Get on my back."

[TwilightDragon]

Abigail answered first, stating that, even though Naoto was a bit dorky, that he was also nice. Cyril had to hold himself back from rolling his eyes. That was so sappy… then again, Abby seemed to be the sappy type. Then it was Daisuke who piped up, stating Naoto was the best boss. Now, what exactly did Cyril think of him? He had to admit, part of him agreed with Abby. Naoto seemed a bit… like a nice guy. Dorky, but nice. But Cyril didn’t think that he had the makings of a mafia boss. He just couldn’t see Naoto like Vongola Decimo. Maybe as a mere subordinate of the Vongola, but not as the actual boss. At Abby’s words, he had to smile. She was trying to sound tough, especially with that glare of hers.

”I think that he’s not that great.” Cyril told her, not bothering to look back at her again. ”He’s nice and all, but I don’t see him as the next Vongola boss. I bet that someone’ll assassinate him before he even assumes the throne. Or maybe he’ll fall down some stairs and snap his neck or something.” he shrugged. ”I’d sooner want you as boss. But Naoto? Sure, he’s nice and all, but I bet he hasn’t even killed a fly.”

Cyril knew that he was just spouting out junk, but he had to give a clear reason to why he didn’t like Naoto. His thought process was interrupted when Daisuke mentioned pineapples for what seemed the tenth time that day. What was with this guy and pineapples? They weren’t even that tasty. It was like he fantasized about them all day. No wonder why he doesn’t have a girlfriend. ”He’s brought up a good point, though.” he said to Abby. ”How are we going to find a huge crowd of people if they can be anywhere within Trespiano or Vendrello?”

[AgniSpirit]

Abby felt her cheeks suddenly heat up when Cyril gave her a smile and a compliment. Well, half a compliment, but it was more than Cyril would ever give a person. At least, that's what Abby assumed. Either way, it was incredibly weird. She turned her head away, for the first time grateful of Daisuke's obsession of pineapples acting as a great distraction. As she took a moment to calm her rapid heartbeat, she heard Cyril's comment about finding the crowd. Daisuke had made an surprisingly excellent point earlier about how difficult it would be to find the audience during tourist season in Trespiano or the much larger neighboring city of Vendrello.

"I'm sure they're around here somewhere." She announced confidently, giving the boys a cheerful smile, "How hard can it be?"

-The Next Day-

Apparently it was incredibly hard to find a giant group of people in either city. It didn't help that once most of the audience members regained consciousness, they dispersed almost immediately. Abby wasn't sure what their insane tutor was thinking giving them such an impossible task. But even with this evidence on her side, it didn't stop Sonya from unleashing her punishment game on all the Guardian candidates. So this was where the blond found herself now, hanging upside down 10 feet off the ground on a makeshift wooden jungle gym with the others. They were supposed to stay hanging all on their own for half an hour and if anyone fell, Sonya would restart the time. Needless to say, Abby's head was already pounding and her legs were killing her after 10 minutes.

"Um, how's everyone doing?" She strained to say. Maybe conversation would make time go faster.

[Dusset]

Benjamin was more than upset that they'd failed. He blamed himself a lot for their collective failure, at least as a group. He could have been more perceptive. But so could have Fionn. Naoto should have properly led instead of bouncing around. If he was charged with their leadership he should have done it better. "Joder, no deberíamos siquiera estar aquí." He said to himself, very rapidly. He muttered to himself for a few seconds. Sighing, he tried to concentrate on literally anything else. His head was throbbing but at least his legs were still locked. All attempts at averting his train of thought failed horribly but Abby spoke up. Conversation might actually help a lot. "I'm doing adequately." Ben called over. He was a few people down from Abby so he had to speak up a little. "I'm not entirely sure this isn't detrimental to our health." He knew they were going to reach a point where someone was going to pass-out. He was just curious if he could stay up hanging from the bar if he happen to do so. If he could, he could just try to induce it faster and then sleep this out. "How are you doing?" After a little bit he couldn't take the throbbing anymore and he pulled himself intoa curl and hugged his thighs, allowing the blood to flow back down through his body before he returned to his earlier position. This was antagonizing to say the least and they'd only just started. What exactly did this say about the Vongola?

(( [Hell, we shouldn't even be here.] ))