Why had he forgotten that Hibari had given the small brunet until after the fight with Takeshi before resuming their fights? Knowing Hibari, he had probably been watching the fight between Tsuna and Takeshi, and then the prefect waited for his promised fight this morning.

But Tsuna had come earlier than usual, wanting to distract Byakuran from getting too close to Tamaki. Tsuna had completely forgotten about the prefect, and Hibari probably didn't like being forgotten. The door opened making Tsuna look up from the bento in his hands. A familiar face and body blocked the view of the inside of the office.

"What do you need, Sawada Tsunayoshi?" asked Kusakabe. Tsuna had to crane his neck to look around the tall prefect. Kusakabe shifted to keep Tsuna from seeing anything.

"I-is Hibari in?" asked Tsuna.

"Hibari-san is busy," said Kusakabe flatly.

"S-so he's there?" Tsuna said quietly, the tall teen's glare startling the small brunet a bit. Deciding that Kusakabe wasn't going to let Tsuna come in, Tsuna slipped in between the door and the tall teen and into the office. Hibari lay on the same couch as before, but the head prefect didn't look relaxed.

"Go back to class, herbivore," said Hibari without opening his eyes. Tsuna tensed. Where was the usual threat?

"I…I'm…Hibari, fight me," said Tsuna as firmly as he could. Hibari opened one of his eyes and glared at the small brunet.

"I don't fight forgetful herbivores," said Hibari, and Tsuna had a strange feeling that the head prefect, the terror of all Namimori, was upset. Not angry. Upset. And maybe a little hurt. And then Hibari's glare intensified. Tsuna took a step back.

He didn't like fighting with Hibari, no matter what Takeshi said. The daily fights were something that Tsuna had started as a way to keep Hibari from attacking Tamaki. The prefect scared Tsuna, like so many other bullies and people who had gone after Tamaki because of the younger twin's bratty personality. Tamaki was Tsuna's little brother, and Tsuna wasn't going to the younger twin get hurt if Tsuna could stop it.

But then Hana had said that Tsuna could make Hibari stop with one fight, prompting Takeshi to make that strange comment and a cold feeling to sink into Tsuna's stomach. Tsuna couldn't stop fighting Hibari. But not because he wanted to protect Tamaki. Rather because he knew the prefect liked their fights. The prefect had somewhere along the way acknowledged Tsuna as an equal, and Tsuna wanted to live up to that belief.

Plus the fights were good practice. Even though Hibari still scared him, Tsuna let Fon's training and the heat guide the small brunet through the mess of blows that the prefect showered Tsuna with. He had even begun to not only to dodge the steel weapons but to execute the maneuvers he was learning. Just the defensive maneuvers, because Tsuna knew that if he landed an actual blow on Hibari, things would change. The prefect would be scarier.

Then without warning Ryohei had nearly been attacked by the prefect's fiercest attack, and Tsuna had reacted. And now, things had changed.

Hibari had hit Tsuna outside a battle and then agreed to take Tsuna along while the prefect disciplined (or in Hibari's words bit) some people to death on the mere promise that Tsuna would fight the prefect for real. That Tsuna would attack the prefect. But then Tsuna had broken that promise. And things might change again.

"Please," said Tsuna gripping the bento in his hands tightly. "Hibari, fight me."

"Get back to class, herbivore," said Hibari, his grey eyes closing again.

"You should listen to him," said Kusakabe, though his tone was not as hard as before.

Tsuna shook his head and placed the bento on a large desk. The small brunet had always let his body go into automatic when he fought. He didn't like fighting. Tsuna only did it when he had to. But Hibari wouldn't be pleased with a thoughtless opponent. And Tsuna wouldn't lose a friend.

With a quick sidestep, Tsuna sent a hand strike towards the lying prefect. His hand met a tonfa that underlined sharp grey eyes.

"I will bite you to death," said the head prefect, and Tsuna's chest loosened.

"Okay," said Tsuna as he caught the second tonfa when it grazed Tsuna's stomach. "Fight me."

__________________________________________________

The small brunet was smiling as he said those two words, and an answering flash entered those familiar gray eyes. Kusakabe had seen many expressions on the supposedly expressionless Hibari Kyoya, but that flash was one that rarely appeared. Delight. Hibari responded to the words by kicking the small brunet backwards.

The small brunet flipped and landed on his feet and took out a pair of glasses. Sawada Tsunayoshi had proved to be surprising, but Kusakabe had no idea how giving himself a handicap would help the small brunet do more than gain Hibari's wrath. Strangely the head prefect stopped and allowed the small brunet to put on an orange pair of gloves. Kusakabe felt a flicker of reluctant awe, because Hibari waited for no one. Wait…was the small brunet's forehead head on fire? And the glasses…when had they been replaced by that orange-tinted aviator visor?

Hibari struck, and Kusakabe lost sense of where the two were. The two were going too fast. They had become blurs to Kusakabe's eyes, and the tall teen focused and tried to understand what was happening.

And then Hibari flew full force out the open window. The head prefect didn't waste time executing a perfect landing and in leaping at the small brunet who jumped out the window after Hibari. The small brunet dodged the tonfa to his head and the one to his stomach. A leap over the prefect, and the small brunet brushed against the black hair as Hibari ducked the fast brunette's hand strike.

Squinting, Kusakabe could make out that the small brunet had curled his fingers in a strange manner as Sawada Tsunayoshi thrust the hand at Hibari's neck. The head prefect leaned back and avoided the blow while bringing up a tonfa to connect with the small brunet's arm. The small brunet pulled his arm back in time, but the tonfa changed direction, and the small brunet spun away from the tonfa. He ended up flying back upwards as the second tonfa knocked into this side.

Wasting no time, Hibari sped to where the small brunet would land and swung another tonfa at the falling figure. Kusakabe blinked. The small brunet hovered inches from the tonfa frozen in mid-air. The gloves in his hands blazed with fire and, if Kusakabe were to guess, were what kept Sawada Tsunayoshi from succumbing to gravity.

A second tonfa took a higher arch, and the small brunet flew backwards by pumping more flames into his hands. Hibari gained a sharp grin, and Kusakabe knew that if he didn't get down there, he wouldn't catch anymore of the fight. The problem was that the tall teen couldn't jump from the second story and come out unscathed like those two, so he hurried towards the stairs.

Acknowledging that the small brunet had skills that Kusakabe didn't and could keep up with Hibari bothered the older teen. For years, the tall teen had stood beside Hibari, daring to approach the shorter prefect when no one else would. But Kusakabe had never gotten the reactions that the small brunet had from the supposedly emotionless prefect.

When Hibari had come in to the office almost sulking today, Kusakabe had immediately known the cause. And when the cause had appeared outside the Disciplinary Committee office, Kusakabe had tried to keep the small brunet away from the head prefect to minimize the damage. But a few words later, the two were fighting. And Hibari did not need to hold back.

The head prefect enjoyed fighting in a way some would find disturbing, but Kusakabe understood Hibari more than anyone outside Hibari’s family. Even though the head prefect loved to fight, took any excuse to be violent, Hibari never attacked innocents. The head prefect used his tendency for violence to protect, and Kusakabe would stand by Hibari's side to make sure the dangerous teen never became that which Hibari hated above all else. Kuskabe would never let Hibari become like the Hibari’s father.

The fight had moved from the school's front yard, and following the sounds, Kusakabe found the battle had continued at the edge of one of Namimori's baseball field. The small brunet had managed to push Hibari against a tree, but the head prefect ducked under another hand strike (the gloves were no longer on fire) and aimed a tonfa at the small brunet's chest which was quickly and firmly blocked, and then Hibari used his second tonfa to attack the small brunet's legs.

Sawada Tsunayoshi jumped over the blow, and Hibari used the instant to force the small brunet higher into the air and slip under the small brunet. The small brunet kicked at the raven-haried prefect, but Hibari blocked the blow with his first tonfa. And so the fight continued.

The two exchanged blows too fiercely and too quickly to be called a dance. Some moves, especially on Sawada Tsunayoshi's end, came out much too sloppy to be called graceful, and Hibari's movements became, at times, too improvised to be part of any routine. The two didn't slow, not when Hibari's tonfa dug into the small brunet's chest or when Sawada Tsunayoshi's fingers bit into the head prefect's neck. Not when Hibari started to favor his right arm, or the small brunet landed more and more on his left leg rather than his right.

Kusakabe watched the fight escalate. He watched as the steel grey eyes that usually went wide and slightly frantic with bloodlust as the violence progressed become narrower, more calculating, focusing on the next move and his opponent instead of how to make the fight more intense, more rewarding. And Kusakabe knew, though part of him didn't want to admit it, that he had gained an ally in his silent duty. So when Hibari finally broke through the small brunet’s defense for an instant and knocked Sawada Tsunayoshi’s head hard enough to render the small brunet unconscious, Kuskabe decided that Sawada Tsunayoshi would be the only non-Disciplinary Committee member given full access to the Disciplinary Committee's office and resources.

Groaning, Tsuna rolled over and wished that he would stop waking like this. His whole body was crying out in pain, and his skin stretched and complained at every moment with a hot pain. And his head swelled with sharp pounding. He hadn't felt this bad even after fighting Mukuro.

But then, Hibari was a totally different sort of opponent, and Tsuna promised himself never to let their spars get that heated again. Tsuna had fulfilled his promise to Hibari. No more intense fights with the volatile prefect. Especially after fighting a swordsman best friend. Too many fights too close together. Tsuna decided never to fight again.

"If you're up, get out," said a voice flatly. Tsuna cracked one eye opened and saw the scowling face of the doctor that had healed Tamaki. "I don't treat men."

The man had said that before too. Why didn't he like treating men?

"Because their bodies aren't interesting enough," said the man, and Tsuna realized he had spoken the question out loud.

"Please," said Tsuna wearily, not even bothering to lift his head. Too, too many fights. His stamina had gotten better, but still, it was too many fights. "Let me stay here. You don't have to treat me."

"Only cute honeys get to use the bed," said the picky doctor. "And you should get back to class before my annoying former student starts to worry."

Considering that the man only dealt with women, Tsuna didn't know who he was referring to. The "annoying student" had to be a girl, right? Hana wouldn't have anything to do with the "perverted doctor" and kept Kyoko from getting anywhere near the school infirmary. There was that girl, Haru, but Tsuna didn't know her well enough, and she went to another school. So who did the doctor mean?

"I told you to get up and get lost, kid," said the doctor. And Tsuna pushed up on his elbows and propped himself up into a sitting position. A hiss escaped his lips. The man grunted and turned back to a paper filled desk. "If that pompadoured brat from the Discipline Committee hadn't insisted on dropping you here, you wouldn't be hogging one of my beds."

"Kusakabe-san?" Tsuna asked, his voice a bit raspy. It was starting to hurt to talk. The doctor gave Tsuna an unamused glare, and Tsuna guessed that meant yes. The small brunet managed to swing his legs over to the side of his bed, when the doctor clicked his tongue in a very familiar way which Tsuna would have been able to place if the small brunet's head was spinning less.

"Looks like my annoying former student has returned," said the doctor, and the door to the infirmary slammed open. And Tsuna found out he couldn't even jump in surprise.

"That's it, perverted doctor. Use your mosquitos to help me find him, or I'll call Madre now!" yelled an all too familiar voice. Tsuna would have said something to calm the bomber down, but the room had started to spin opposite his head. Was it this hard to breathe a second ago?

"If you use a threat too much, it will lose its effectiveness, you know," said the doctor lazily. "Besides, your precious Tsuna-sama has been here for the last fifteen minutes."

"Why didn't you tell me!" yelled Gokudera quickly pulling back the curtain that had hidden the bomber from sight. Or maybe it was hidden Tsuna from sight. The exhaustion must be making Tsuna see things, because two pairs of green eyes looked at him with horrified worry. Maybe one was dark hazel, kind of like Yamamoto-san's. But Yamamoto-san's eyes were darker and not so analyzing. "Tsuna-sama?"

Gokudera's voice sounded like a choking cat. Tsuna moved his lips in an attempt to say he was fine, but his lips wouldn't work. And neither did his arms. He fell forward. But it was still fine because he didn't fall hard, though he flinched when his forehead met something solid. At least it was warm. Everything was getting so cold all of a sudden.

"Tsuna-sama!" came Gokudera's voice loudly in his ear. It was so weird to hear perfectly but not be able to respond. Maybe if Tsuna was telepathic, Gokudera would know that Tsuna was all right. That Tsuna was always okay. Even when he wasn't. "He's burning! Do something pervert doctor!"

"Calm down," said the doctor. Or was it the doctor? That lazy, playful tone was gone, so it wasn't the doctor, only someone who could use his voice.

"I would listen to him," said a deep voice that sounded like Reborn. But Reborn didn't do worried, and that's what Tsuna heard with his perfectly working hearing.

"He was fine earlier," said the doctor-like voice. It held frantic sounds. Gripping things touched Tsuna's shoulders, and Tsuna would have flinched again. But his brain couldn't communicate to his body just like Tsuna couldn't communicate with Gokudera. The gripping things had his body fall the other way and the uncommunicated whimper bounced in Tsuna's brain. His whole body screamed to his brain PAIN. "He was suffering from mild exhaustion, but that was to be expected after the abuse he put his body through fighting the prefect."

"Where is that man?" asked Gokudera in a hiss, and Tsuna made his brain listen to the bomber's words. It couldn't keep listening to his body's screams or it would stop. And everything was dark enough already.

"The pompadoured right hand man of his mentioned that he would escort the prefect to the local hospital, saying that he would prefer to be treated at Namimori hospital for his own wounds," said the doctor-like voice. "And before you go off gallivanting after opponents who outclass you, the symptoms do not indicate that this situation has anything to do with their fight."

"I'm not going anywhere," said Gokudera, and the screaming sounded weak against the firmness of his voice. "I just wanted to make sure that he wouldn't attack Tsuna-sama now."

"I doubt that the prefect would attack him now," said the doctor-like voice in an amused tone that sounded more like the doctor. "He doesn’t seem the sort to attack defeated opponents."

"And the brat's disease?" asked the Reborn-like voice.

"I ran the necessary tests," said the doctor-like voice. "Their genetic code is similar, but it isn't exact. They are fraternal, not identical, and the gene associated with FMF is not present in his DNA as it is in his brother."

"The moronic immitation's disease is genetic," said Gokudera, and Tsuna could almost see the paleness of the bomber's face. Tsuna hung to the sound of the horrified voice even as he wanted to soothe it. He was okay. He was fine. He didn't need the bomber to worry. He didn't need anyone to worry.

"You have ears and a brain between them for a reason," said the doctor-like voice. "I just finished saying that the gene for that disease is not in your Tsuna-sama's genetic code. This is different. He doesn't have a fever for one thing. And he appears to have burns all over his body."

"He had those yesterday," said the hitman-like voice with that strange concern. Tsuna was fine. He needed to say that, or they would keep sounding unnecessarily worried. "It appears to be a side effect of him using the Dying Will flames."

"You never shot him, did you?" said the doctor-like voice, and the screams were confusing him. He could almost see a dark frown on Reborn's face.

"Why would Reborn-san shoot Tsuna-sama?" asked Gokudera, an irritation coating his words and covering the screams. He didn't sound less worried, but he was less panicked. Tsuna should thank the doctor-like voice when he recovered the use of his lips.

"He never contracted the Skull disease," said the doctor-like voice. "So his body didn't undergo the changes necessary to wield the flames with his body. Didn't you realize that unprotected skin becomes burned with the Dying Will Flames unless there is a proper conduit."

"Leon made the gloves and glasses to take care of that," said the hitman-like voice. The pain nearly raged for attention, and Tsuna knew that it wouldn't stop. But he had to tell them he was okay. Before the screams became too much.

"They were made with flames incompatible to the Vongola's," said the doctor-like voice. "They would work fine if it had been his brother's, since his body has been prepared for it, but it looks like the overdose of flames coming from this one's body has burnt it and probably caused damage internally."

"Then fix it," said the hitman-like voice.

"And don't you dare say you don't treat men!" growled Gokudera, overcoming the increasing screams. Tsuna was fine. He would be fine.

"As if either of you would let me," said the doctor-like voice with fake reluctance. "Let me knock him out first. He seems to be in great pain."

"Pain?" said Gokudera, the horrified tone returning. Tsuna pushed back the quieted screams and focused on open his mouth. He had to tell Gokudera the truth. He had to tell the two other voices that he was fine. That he would be fine. He had to be fine. "Tsuna-sama!"

"Dame-Tsuna," came the hitman-like voice, or maybe it really was Reborn. It sounded just like him. "If you so much as say anything that would defile the Vongola name…"

The threat should have caused the screaming to roar, but it whimpered and quieted further.

"Knock him out," said Reborn, and the screaming stopped.

___________________________________________________

Gokudera stared at the sleeping figure. The perverted doctor had rendered the small brunet unconscious half an hour ago. Shamal had taken several vials of blood via those mosquitos of his, and the man muttered like he did when facing a difficult puzzle. Many years had passed since Gokudera had heard that muttering, and if it had been anyone but Tsuna-sama on that bed, Gokudera would have left. But it was Tsuna-sama on that bed.

"Don't you have someone to report to," said the perverted doctor, ceasing the stupid nostalgic muttering. "From what I saw, there were more people in that house who would worry about your precious 'Tsuna-sama' than just you."

"I'm not leaving Tsuna-sama alone with you," said Gokudera.

"He's been alone with me before," said Shamal with that stupid vulgar grin.

"If you touch him, I will kill you," growled Gokudera.

"How am I supposed to treat him then?" asked the perverted doctor.

"Enough. You can taunt the boy later," said Reborn. The sun arcobaleno had come back from wherever he had gone.

"Ah," sighed the perverted doctor. "Such hard taskmasters I have."

"Then just finish already!" yelled Gokudera.

"If it were that easy, I would have finished half an hour ago," said the perverted doctor. "Why would I want two men hanging over my shoulder? I would much prefer—"

A gun shot, and metal shattered.

"Please stop killing them," said Shamal, flipping his hair unnecessarily. "I don't have an unlimited number."

"Stop wasting time," said Reborn, a Beretta 92FS pistol in his hand. Gokudera's respect for the hitman rose. The perverted doctor clicked his tongue and went back to muttering. Unfortunately, the perverted doctor had a point. The stupid wench had to be wondering where they were, and she would no doubt drown them in needless words if she found out that Tsuna-sama was bedridden and no one told her.

"Reborn-san," said Gokudera quietly. The hitman's dark black eyes focused on the bomber. "Please watch over Tsuna-sama until I return."

"Of course," said the hitman with a smirk. "He's my student after all."

"I'm hurt you both don't trust me," said Shamal. He frowned at the two glares. "Right, right. Get back to work."

Ignoring the perverted doctor, Gokudera started for the classroom. The bell for lunch should go off in three minutes. And the stupid wench and the other girl would definitely come looking for them. He would cut them off and inform them of the situation.

"There you are," said a familiar irate voice. Apparently, the stupid wench was not in the classroom. "I expected you back by now. You've missed two classes. And where is Tsuna?"

"Quiet down, stupid wench," growled Gokudera, before turning back to the infirmary hands in pockets. "Tsuna-sama is this way."

"And why did you leave him alone?" snapped the stupid wench. Gokudera clenched his jaw and said nothing. The stupid wench wasn't wrong. He shouldn't have gotten distracted by that turf top and lost sight of Tsuna-sama. He stomped ahead of the stupid wench until they reached the infirmary where he yanked open the door.

"Tsuna-sama in here," said Gokudera, his irritation coloring his tone. The stupid wench's face darkened, and she crossed her arms and clenched her elbows.

"What did he do this time?" she asked less sharply. The stupid wench didn't do a good job covering her worry.

"He fought with that man," answered Gokudera, keeping his voice down so that he wouldn't wake Tsuna-sama. The stupid wench's white knuckled grip had nothing to do with it. She gave a sharp nod and strode over to where Tsuna-sama lay.

"We can't let you out of our sight," whispered the stupid wench.

"And who are you honey?" asked Shamal, getting up from his seat and moving in a terribly familiar way. Gokudera inserted himself in the perverted doctor's path.

"Back off," said the bomber, making sure his explosives peeked out from under his jacket and that his other hand could reach the gel box. "She's off limits."

"Oh," said Shamal, a glint in his dark hazel eyes that made Gokduera throw a few choice explosives at the man. Too bad such a move would probably be rendered ineffective by the man. "Do I need to schedule time to have that talk?"

"No!" yelled Gokduera, his face feeling as if it had exploded. "I'm not you, pervert! She's Tsuna-sama's woman."

"I am no one's woman," said the stupid wench sharply. "And if you continue on that topic, I will report your behavior to the principal."

Gokudera turned to snap at the wench that he hadn't done anything wrong, but he saw her hard glare fixed on the perverted doctor.

"You caught quite a feisty one there, Hayato-kun," said Shamal. "I'm so jealous."

"You will be jealous of his ability to breathe if you don't get back to what you were doing," said Reborn. Gokudera cursed inwardly. The bomber had not taken good stock of the area and had overlooked and forgotten the hitman positioned on a small armchair next to Tsuna-sama's head. The hitman still had the Beretta 92FS pointed at the doctor's head.

"Okay, okay," said the perverted doctor, running his fingers through his hair in a way women sometimes found charming. The stupid wench rolled her eyes and went to stand in front of Reborn. The perverted doctor frowned and huffed as he sat back at the desk.

"What happened?" the wench asked Reborn.

"Dame-Tsuna overstrained himself and caused some unknown damage to his body," said Reborn, the Beretta 92FS continuing to lazily point at the perverted doctor. The wench narrowed her eyes, and Gokudera wanted to growl that she had no right to disbelieve the hitman's word. But the sight of the figure laying on the bed kept his mouth shut. Sighing, the wench sat on the edge of Tsuna-sama's bed. Before Gokudera could call her out on her disrespect, she cut him off.

"I think we need to organize shifts," she said.

"What are you talking about, stupid wench?" asked Gokudera.

"Him," she answered, pointing with her thumb over her shoulder at the unconscious figure. "Until he learns to behave himself, he needs to be babysat. Otherwise, we'll keep finding ourselves in this situation."

"Che," muttered Gokduera. He hated to agree with the wench, but she was right. Tsuna-sama could not end up in another bed with unknown injuries. "Fine. We'll need the baseball idiot and Lancia-san."

"And Fon-san, Yamamoto-san, and it would probably be wise to include the brats too," said the wench. "They can make Tsuna stay out of trouble by involving him in their stupid little kid problems."

"What about the other women?" said Gokudera. He didn't want to deal with them, but this operation would go smoother if all the resources were used.

"Kyoko and Haru?" said the wench, leaning her head into her hand. "They could come in handy. Haru could probably keep him occupied by trying to drag him on her and Kyoko's outings. She would love to try and set Tsuna up with Kyoko. The girl supports Kyoko's crush to an almost frightening degree."

Gokudera frowned. The bomber didn't like the idea of anyone setting up Tsuna-sama. Tsuna-sama could pick his own woman whenever he was ready. But if it kept the small brunet distracted and out of doctor (especially perverted ones) care, Gokudera would allow the stupid woman to drag Tsuna-sama to as many set ups as she wanted.

"You should try to find 'Uncle Kawahira' as well," said Reborn with a smirk. "And you should include Mamma."

"Tsuna's mother?" said the stupid wench, her brows crinkling in disbelief. Gokudera wasn't one to questions those who were his obvious superiors, but involving Tsuna-sama's mother…did not sound like a good idea. As much as Gokudera respected her for bearing Tsuna-sama (and putting up with the moronic imitation), the woman had no awareness what went on in her eldest son's life.

"She needs to be more involved in her son's life," said the hitman. "And she works well with the elder Yamamoto."

Gokudera exchanged glances with the stupid wench. The hitman wasn't wrong. Tsuna-sama would also benefit from having his mother actually pay attention to him instead of the moronic imitation. The two nodded in unison, and the wench stood.

"Let's continue this at Takesushi," said the wench. She glanced back at Reborn. "You will keep an eye on him."

"Dame-Tsuna's not going anywhere," said the hitman and waved the Beretta 92FS at Shamal. "And neither is he."

With one last nod, the wench exited the infirmary. Gokudera hesitated and looked back at the hitman. The bomber decided that it would be best to ask the question now, since he didn't think he would get a better chance.

"Reborn-san," said Gokudera quietly. "Are you…Is Tsuna-sama a candidate to be the Vongola Decimo?"

"I would not train him to be anything else," said the hitman. The bomber clenched his fists and fought his falling stomach. He should feel joy at the declaration. His childhood dream might still come true. But…he glanced at the unconscious figure on the bed. A snort drew his attention back to the hitman. "Dame-Tsuna is an idiot. He either acts before he thinks or thinks too much and doesn't act. His heart is the softest I have ever seen and completely unsuitable for the mafia world. But he will become one of the best bosses anyone has ever seen."

"And if he doesn't want to?" asked the bomber. The resulting glare made him take a step back, fear and respect for the hitman overcoming the bomber. But he wouldn't take the question back. He had to know the answer. He had to hear it, for Tsuna-sama.

"He doesn't have a choice," said the hitman, the fedora shading his eyes. "No one lies to the Vindice."

"If the Vindice have believed Tsuna-sama's deception for all this time," said Gokudera, "they probably will continue to. They have not returned for Lancia-san, so they have most likely found him innocent. So Tsuna-sama has a choice."

"He has no choice," said the hitman, the Beretta 92FS now pointed at Gokudera's head. The bomber didn't budge.

"Tsuna-sama doesn't need the mafia," said Gokudera. "The moronic imitation could do it."

"And what do you think that would solve?" said the hitman, his voice low and dark. "I thought you of all people you would not be so naïve. Dame-Tsuna will not escape the mafia, no matter what that stupid father of his hoped. The brat would not honor the deal the Ninth made. Or if he did, his idiocy would cause Dame-Tsuna to become involved anyway. Even if I had fifty years, I could not prepare the brat for the position of leader of the world's most powerful mafia famiglia. No one can teach an unteachable student. It is too late to keep the brat out of the mafia completely, and so he will become CEDEF."

"Why not make Tsuna-sama head of the CEDEF?" asked Gokudera, because one did not demand things of the world's greatest hitman. The CEDEF was mafia, but the organization lay in the outskirts of the mafia. The Vongola famiglia stood at the center of all mafia.

"You have seen what happens when the brat finds himself in a position above his brother," said Reborn. Gokudera's fist clenched, but the bomber could think of no answer to give the hitman. The Beretta 92FS pointed back to Shamal. "Not bad. A good subordinate puts his boss above all else."

Gokudera spun and did not run for the door. Those words should not make him so deliriously happy.

Random Comments (Real Random edition):

Hibari

-can understand Tsuna well because Hibari doesn’t need words to communicate; Tsuna understands him fairly well because of the same logic

-was upset that Tsuna’s pack didn’t come with him to stalk Hibari (Hibari thought they would which was a part of the reason why he was so reluctant to let Tsuna come with him—Tsuna came with baggage), but he was only upset after Tsuna got hurt, originally he was pleased that it was only Tsuna who followed him

-was upset when Tsuna forgot him after his fight with Takeshi

-is physically better and more experienced at fighting than Tsuna (who was already worn-out from fighting Takeshi) so he defeated Tsuna; however he can tell that Tsuna has more to give with more experience

-his father is a bloodthirsty hitman who fights for anyone who will give him a challenge, even if it involves innocents (untrained, unsuspecting herbivores); is currently in Vendicare

-his mother is a high-level CEO of a protection company; does care for Kyoya in her own way, but like him isn’t very social—also Kyoya reminds her of his father who used to work for her and she doesn’t like that; very traditionally Japanese which is where Kyoya gets it

Kusakabe

(some repeats)

-jealous of Tsuna (because he can’t get Hibari to take him seriously after years and in waltzes Tsuna and does it by sorta accident)

-does have grudging respect for Tsuna after Tsuna convinces Hibari to let him be back-up

-suggest to Hibari that Tsuna join the disciplinary committee

-is always on Hibari’s side of any argument

-accepts Tsuna only as much as he helps Hibari’s blood thirst

Lancia

-Doesn’t have a last name because he was an orphan adopted into his famiglia (like they tried to do to Rokudo)

-he is determined to protect his new boss and prepare Tsuna and his friends for the mafia and its politics as much as he can

-is very scared of Fon and Reborn because he knows better than the kids and civilians what they can do

Chapter Notes

-Kusakabe is a good point of view when one wants a fight to be epic and are slightly scared of writing an actual fight scene.

The short brunet leaned back in his chair, his face twisting in something similar to fear but much less pleasing.

"Aniki," the brunette sighed. His brown eyes narrowed. "You're doing something stupid. I'm going to have to teach you that lesson again then."

"'Aniki' again," said Kaido, making his presence known. The boss jumped as the short brunet always did at Kaido's sudden appearance. The flicker flashed in the brown eyes, but then the eyes narrowed into irritation. Kaido smirked, hoping to shatter through the mask of irritation, but it was too well-crafted. "One would think this 'aniki' is important to you."

"He's not," said the boss flatly, only flinching slightly as Kaido came nearer. "He's annoying and weak. He's always caused me problems."

"Would he be the 'Dame-Tsuna' that little Mochida talks about?" said the albino. He stepped into the boss's personal space.

"What have I told you about coming close to me? And why are you not out doing your mission," demanded the boss so fiercely that he would have distracted most from the renewed flicker in his eyes. But Kaido's desire grew.

"I heard you two are twins," said Kaido. He leaned so over his boss, and the short brunet pulled his brass knuckles out of his pocket and swung them at Kaido. The albino caught the swing easily. He had studied his boss for months and had long realized that the short brunet was only half as strong without the fake child was around. The irritated mask cracked but it didn't disappear. "I heard that he's pathetic and bullied by everyone, including you. And yet I've also heard that you've used him for a decoy for when others come after you. "

"And why would that matter?" said the boss, and Kaido grabbed his second arm as it headed for the albino's side. The mask cracked a little more as the short brunet's face strained and flinched.

"Because," whispered Kaido, making his voice little better than a hiss. He pulled the short brunet closer and leaned in so that Kaido's lips brushed the short brunet's ear. A dark thrill shot through the albino as he picked up that scent faintly coming from the short brunette. "Who would hide behind a weakling but a coward?"

"You don't know anything!" yelled the short brunet, kicking wildly at the albino. With little effort, the albino adjusted the momentum of the kick and knocked the short brunet of the chair. Kaido let go of the brunet's arms and watched as the short teen scooted backwards. "Get back!"

Kaido stretched his lips into something he knew was too wide for a grin, and the mask shook.

"It's alright, my dear boss," said the albino, reaching into his pocket and pulling out his beloved knife. "I like cowards."

-break-

Tsuna shot up and bumped his forehead with something.

"You shouldn't make any sudden movements," said a muffled high-pitched voice. Taking a breath to calm his frantic heartbeat, Tsuna could focus on what was in front of him. Dr. Shamal stood over the small brunet holding his nose. He continued to talk in that nasally high-pitch. "The regenerative biotics do not work that fast. You need to let them merge with your body. But after that the change should take care of the side effects."

The small brunet had no idea what the doctor was talking about, but Tsuna couldn't stop and ask the doctor to repeat it. Something was wrong. Very very wrong. This feeling was worse than the one with Hibari or coming out of the hospital. Tsuna's stomach dropped. Tamaki. Something was wrong with Tamaki.

Throwing off the covers, Tsuna made to stand. He was still in the infirmary. Where was Tamaki's base? No one had ever told the small brunet about the younger twin's base, but Tamaki had mentioned it in passing once or twice.

"Lay back down," said the doctor, grabbing Tsuna's shoulders. Tsuna jerked out of the grip and shot a dark look at the doctor, freezing him in place.

"No."

The word filled the whole room and allowed Tsuna to get to his feet. A bullet passed in front of him and stopped him from taking another step forward.

"Where do you think you are going?" asked Reborn. Tsuna shot the hitman a hard look.

"Why aren't you with Tamaki?"

"The brat can take care of himself," said the hitman, his voice deepening further. The fierce pride in the hitman's eyes would have made Tsuna back off, but this was about Tamaki.

"Reborn," Tsuna said quietly. "Please check on Tamaki."

"You're a million years too early to boss me around, Dame-Tsuna," said the hitman with a glare that nearly made Tsuna squeak in terror. But the dark cold cold feeling swiveled in Tsuna's stomach and wouldn't let the small brunet stop.

"Tamaki. He's in trouble. Please, Reborn," said Tsuna. The hitman grunted and hid the glare under the rim of his fedora. The door to the infirmary opened and interrupted whatever the hitman might have said next.

"I heard I had to pick something up here," said a very familiar voice.

"Yamamoto-san," said Tsuna surprised. The sushi chef grinned at a doorway, and the sight dulled the edge of the ice swishing under his skin.

"What took you so long?" asked Reborn. "Did those two take too long to explain the situation?"

"Not really," said Yamamoto-san. "But it took quite a long time to convince Takeshi to stay put. He only agreed because I promised I'd bring Tsuna back to Takesushi."

"W-what are you talking about, Yamamoto-san?" asked Tsuna, worried about what the hitman might have roped the older man into.

"You're coming with me," said Yamamoto-san with that classic Yamamoto grin.

"W-what?"

"Your friends have decided that since you can't seem to stay out of trouble that we're going to have to take steps to keep this from happening again."

"T-this?" said Tsuna, suddenly realizing that he was once again in an unfamiliar bed that smelled too clean. He vaguely remembered being in the infirmary, but the thoughts were unclear and clouded. He did remember why he had ended up here. "I…um…owed H-Hibari a f-fight and—"

A gunshot cut the small brunet off as he screeched and fell back to avoid it.

"How many times do I have to repeat myself," said Reborn. "Use speech becoming of a mafia boss or don't speak at all."

“I warned you,” said a voice from behind Tsuna on his left. Tsuna turned and saw Lancia standing by the head of his bed. “Something happened. And so now, all of us will do our part to keep anything from happening again.”

"He used his flames to the point of burning his body in his fight against the prefect," said Shamal, stopping Tsuna’s attempts to explain. "After the regenerative biotics settle, it shouldn't be a problem anymore."

"Oh, are you Gokudera-kun's doctor friend?" asked the sushi chef.

"So the brat talks about me then," said the doctor, sounding amused.

"Takeshi mentioned you from when you healed Tsuna's brother," said Yamamoto-san. "He said that Gokudera-kun recommended you highly and that you did a good job."

"That brat should keep his recommendations to himself," said the doctor scowling. "I don't like treating men."

"Really?" said the sushi chef with a curious expression that sharpened around the edges. "So why did you heal Tsuna's brother?"

"Someone gave me no other choice," said the doctor with a pointed look at Reborn who wore a too-innocent expression. "The same reason I healed this hard headed child. I do not like wasting my time on those who cannot see what is right in front of them."

"He is a hard headed child," said Yamamoto as the grin returned to the older man's face and softened the sharpness. "But we'll break through that hard head somehow."

Tsuna didn't know whether to feel mortified that he was being talked about like he wasn't even in the room or worried about what the men meant when they said "hard headed." And Yamamoto's comment didn't sit well with Tsuna at all. How did Yamamoto-san and the others plan to do to "break through"?

"Take your more troublesome child home before your other one decides to come check on him," said Reborn, leaping onto Tsuna's head and kicking the boy lightly. "This one's caused enough trouble here."

A heat invaded Tsuna's cheeks as he realized what the hitman had been implying. Tsuna opened his mouth to tell the hitman to stop implying ridiculous things and apologize to the sushi chef for his tu-his brother's tutor's rudeness. But a chuckle stopped the words before Tsuna could fully form them.

"You're probably right," said the sushi chef, the grin strangely softer after the man's chuckles. "Takeshi could barely sit still when I left him. He's never been one for waiting and doing nothing."

Tsuna stared at the man, whose warm dark hazel eyes met Tsuna's brown with an unexpected kind of fondness. Instantly, Tsuna looked down and hid behind his hair. The heat in his cheeks warmed further, and the small brunet gripped his sheets. A hand ruffled his hair as the growing familiar weight on his head disappeared.

"Let's go home before Takeshi and the others decide to come charging in here and see what new trouble your hard head has gotten you into," said Yamamoto-san, and Tsuna dared to peek upwards through his brown bangs. The man's grin had shrunken to a much softer and warmer smile, but the fondness still shone in the older man's eyes. Tsuna hadn't been imagining it.

Immediately, Tsuna's brain screamed to pull away from that affectionate hand, from that almost father-like…. No, Yamamoto-san didn't need to do this. Yamamoto-san shouldn't do this for Tsuna. Tsuna shouldn't want this type of affection. Especially from this man. Not from his Takeshi's "old man." But…it would be okay. This one time would be okay. The man was just following along with Reborn's stupid teasing. And Tsuna could pretend just this once.

"O-okay," said Tsuna as he swung his legs to the opposite side of where Takeshi's father stood. The cold cold feeling washed back through Tsuna's whole being, and Tsuna instantly turned to Reborn.

"Don't give me that face, Dame-Tsuna," the hitman warned. Tsuna blinked. The small brunet wasn't making any particular face that he was aware of. Buckling down the sudden urge to find a mirror, the small brunet gazed fixedly on the hitman. The hitman scoffed. "Get going. Your best friend might hurt himself coming to get you."

Tsuna's gaze flickered an instant to Yamamoto-san, whose grin had been replaced with a serious look. A quick glance at Lancia showed a similar firm expression of the younger man’s face. None of them seemed to look like they would listen, but…

"So the rumors about the sun arcobaleno taking his jobs seriously were exaggerated," said the sushi chef, and Tsuna forgot to breathe for a second. The hitman's expression had gone from irritated to something like shock before quickly turning to suspicion. Yamamoto-san merely grinned. "I guess I got confused. Fon must have been talking about the rain arcobaleno then."

"That idiot couldn't take anything seriously with those love-sick ideas of his," Reborn said coming close to something Tsuna might call a growl, but Tsuna doubted the hitman ever growled. "And Fon should learn to keep his mouth shut before he says something he will never have a chance to regret."

The hitman turned away from them and tapped on the wall making part of it open as if it were a hatch.

"Go to Takesushi," said the hitman. "I'll meet you there."

Staring at the now plain looking wall, Tsuna wondered exactly why the coldness had lessened. The hitman hadn't agreed to go to look for Tamaki, but Tsuna knew that the hitman had gone to do just that.

"Quite a tricky tutor you have, Tsuna," said Yamamoto-san. Tsuna sighed as he stared at the wall.

"He's my brother's tutor," Tsuna mumbled, his thoughts still stirred inside him. "Tamaki's going to be the Vongola Decimo. Not me."

Now if only the feeling would believe that too.

-break-

Reborn did not like being manipulated. He prided himself on only doing what he himself decided to do. That is why he had the reputation of taking his jobs seriously. He never took on a job he wasn't going to be serious about. Even the Ninth requested Reborn to take assignments, not ordered. The man could have ordered Reborn, of course. The hitman had sworn his life to Vongola. But the Ninth respected the hitman's wishes, like a good boss should. It was one of the many reasons that the brat would have made a terrible boss.

Under the right conditions (a good influence and a restraining force), the brat would make a good enough Mafioso. The brat had a solid mind behind his idiocies (the brat had effectively run his pathetic gang fairly well for months under Reborn's enforced tutelage), and the ability the brat had to destroy carelessly the lives around him could be taught to be used against enemies.

But that was the problem. The brat wouldn't be taught. He walked around as if he had his eyes closed. The brat imagined himself above everyone else, and that conceit had only gotten worse in the recent weeks. The last few days, despite Reborn slowly pulled strings to disband the brat's group, the brat had barely noticed, too involved in doing whatever he wanted. And even when he had noticed, he hadn't pursued his subordinates. He had assumed he would make new ones. The hitman had thought such an action would wake the brat up and perhaps make the brat realize that he needed to work harder.

And if the by-product of said action showed what a pathetic leader the brat was, then no one could question the hitman's motive for filing a serious objection to Tamaki's cadency. Reborn had the best intentions and "aided" his student in continually pointing out said brat's weaknesses. So if the persistence of said weakness worried Reborn, no one could blame the hitman for filing the proper paperwork. And if those weaknesses that worried the hitman lead to the brat not having any semblance of a famiglia of his own, then the question of his cadency would have to be given more consideration. And Dino, the new head of Chiavarone, could even verify the information.

Frowning slightly, Reborn silently despaired at the thought that his former student could be so easily manipulated, but the hitman knew that the lessons that the Chiavarone boss still had to learn were near endless. The hitman did not abandon his students so easily, however annoying they were.

He finally reached the warehouse the brat had chosen months ago as a base and went in one of the many secret tunnels built in to keep an eye on the brat. He didn't plan to stay long. That face, the pleading and terrified brown eyes, could only keep the hitman here long enough to check on the brat and then leave.

The warehouse was empty. The chair where the brat sat as if he was king was turned over and stains marked the floor around it. Reborn didn't have to get closer to examine the stains. He knew by the scent drifting in the air what had made them. Blood. Not much of it, but enough. The brat wouldn't bleed to death from wounds that left those. There was another scent, and that one made Reborn snort in disgust. The brat was a complete coward to the end.

Still, the Vongola hyper intuition was more effective than Reborn had first thought. Now to find the brat and hopefully hand the brat back to his brother in one piece, because it didn't take a genius to know what would happen should the brat be in a condition less than satisfactory. Those pleading, terrified eyes were all the proof one needed to know what would happen.

Given the extent and splatter of the stains, the brat had been kept here a while. And then moved to another location. And considering the short list of who was left in the brat's group, Reborn didn't have a problem knowing exactly who had taken the brat and why. The hitman went straight to where he knew the problem would be.

-break-

Tsuna was worried. Actually, worried was probably too tame a word for what Tsuna was. He kept losing badly, and while real world games almost always ended in loss for Tsuna, he was actually pretty good at virtual ones. Maybe it was because in virtual ones no one else was watching, except Takeshi of course.

"Tsuna, it's your team's turn to bat," said Takeshi.

"Hm? Oh. Sorry," said Tsuna as he pressed a button on the controller. The worst batter on Tsuna's team came up to bat.

"Tsuna," Takeshi said.

"Yes?"

"Did you mean to put Uegano up to bat?"

"Uegano?" Tsuna said and looked at the screen. The brown eyes remained unfocused and jittery. "Um…no?"

"Tsuna," said Takeshi, and the jittery eyes turned to the swordsman. "Your head's not in the game tonight."

"Sorry, Takeshi," said Tsuna, genuine regret coloring the brown eyes dark. "I wanted to play with you especially because it's baseball but…I don't think I can…"

"That's fine," said Takeshi with a grin. "I already gave up baseball."

Tsuna flinched, but at least the small brunet hadn't said anything. Hana was right. They still had a lot of work to do. The two sat in silence as Tsuna constantly glanced at the door. Hana and Gokudera had made Tsuna promise to stay at Takesushi until he had gotten better.

Tsuna hadn't wanted to stay. He said that Tamaki was in trouble. Lancia had reminded him that Reborn was taking care of his student, and that no one was going to let Tsuna go anywhere. Tsuna had agreed to stay, but he wasn't going to rest until Tamaki was safe for sure.

"So the kid went to check on Tamaki?" asked Takeshi.

"Reborn?" said Tsuna softly. He fiddled with the remote in his hand. "I…I think he did."

"He’s his student, right?" said Takeshi. "The kid has been doing a pretty good job watching Tamaki."

"He…he has," said Tsuna, and the brown eyes shifted back to the door. If Takeshi could, he would leave the younger Sawada in whatever mess he’d made for himself. But the young swordsman knew that Tsuna needed to know that Tamaki was all right. And if Tsuna needed it, Takeshi would try to get it.

"Want to ask Fon if the kid's found him yet?" asked Takeshi. The martial artist and the hitman had some secret form of communication, probably because they were both teaching Tsuna.

Tsuna shook his head and fiddled with the video game controller. Takeshi made no move to pick up his controller, and so Tsuna clenched the remote and nodded.

"Then let's go ask," said Takeshi grinning as he stood and headed for the door.

-break-

The boss's advisor had been in the warehouse. Kaido knew of the fake child's visit because the security feed for the warehouse was directly tied to his phone due to Rai's helpful assistance. Despite the older teen's tough exterior, the bald idiot had a head for computers. The boss had no idea, of course, so the advisor should be in the dark about the bald idiot's technical talents.

Apparently, the fake child had started looking for the boss. That would make things difficult, but only for a while. Kaido hated doing things the hard way, but if that allowed him to take the easy way in the end, it didn't matter.

A yelp seemed to punctuate the point, and Kaido grinned as the three idiots enjoyed the reward for their work. The bleach-haired one stuck a foot right into the quivering brunet's diaphragm, blasting air out of the smaller teen's lungs. Kaido had warned them not to injure the boss too much. After all, Kaido didn't plan on stopping at any hospitals as he hitched a ride with the kendo captain's family when they moved to Hong Kong. But the three idiots were apparently getting carried away.

Kaido silently slipped over to where the dreadlocked teen and put a hand on the one the idiot had pulled back to punch the whimpering brunet's face. The dreadlocked teen's face went from stretched thin with ugly satisfaction to a lovely white pinched expression, one of Kaido's favorite fearful expressions.

"I told you," said Kaido in a lovely new hiss he had perfected an hour ago when he had used it to whisper into the short brunet's ear as he acquainted the boss with the albino's favorite knife. "You have to leave my toy in at least fair condition." He reached down and pulled the squirming brunet to a standing position. Kaido enjoyed the feeling of the smaller teen chaffing against his bonds to try to get away from the albino. The duct tape over the boss's mouth looked especially uncomfortable for the short brunet as the boss tried to scream, to command Kaido to drop “his boss.” As if Kaido would obey such a command from the shaking brunet. He patted the fluffy and slightly bloodied brown hair. The brunet cringed, sending a thrill through Kaido's heart. "Don't worry. I don't let anyone truly harm my dolls but me."

The short brunet silently screamed.

-break-

As Tsuna followed the young swordsman downstairs, the small brunet felt the sickly cold (or was it the shocking heat) increase to a churning ice under Tsuna's skin. The small brunet tripped and nearly fell down the stairs, but Takeshi grabbed the small brunet's elbow and kept Tsuna from falling head down the stairs. "You okay, Tsuna?"

"Yeah," said Tsuna tiredly, balancing himself with the railing. Takeshi frowned, letting Tsuna know that the swordsman didn't believe the small brunet, but let go of the elbow and let Tsuna straighten himself out. The two entered the kitchen and continued to the dining area.

"…don't have to do that," said Yamamoto-san's voice. "The restaurant wasn't that busy today."

"Tsuna-sama would want me to help as much as possible," said Gokudera's voice. "So I will collect and clean these dishes with all my might."

"I don't think that the help will go amiss, old friend," said Fon's voice. "You look more tired than normal today."

"That's what I get for having such rambunctious boys," said Yamamoto-san. The sushi chef sounded strangely proud of that fact. "I'll let you finish here then while I go make sure everything else is set for tomorrow."

"Leave it to me, Yamamoto-san," said Gokudera in that eager tone that he usually reserved for Tsuna and Reborn.

“I will make sure he doesn’t take his help too far,” said Lancia’s voice, words laced with amusement. “I have some experience clearing large eating areas.”

The door to the dining area opened, and dark hazel eyes narrowed when the Yamamoto-san saw the two.

"You need to be resting upstairs," said the sushi chef, and Takeshi grinned.

"Tsuna need to ask Fon something," said Takeshi, and the narrow almost glare eased into a recognizably affectionate expression. Tsuna refused to feel jealous, because the sushi chef had been more than kind to Tsuna.

"You're too much like your mother," said Yamamoto-san, smiling at his son. "She couldn't stay put when she was injured either. I bet Nana's the same, eh, Tsuna?"

"Oh, um…Mom doesn't like getting sick," said Tsuna. The memory of all-too-pale Nana lying on a bed and picking up Tamaki and cuddling him in her arms made its way to the forefront of Tsuna's mind. "She…she doesn't like to stay in bed and away from us…"

"Any parent with sense in their heads doesn't like to be away from their children," said the sushi chef. His eyes narrowed again at Tsuna's flinch, but the sushi chef wasn't looking at Tsuna. The dark hazel eyes closed and then opened again with a softness that reflected the affectionate expression from earlier. "I called Nana, and she's on her way here with Fuuta. She was worried about you."

Tsuna's eyes widened as the small brunet stared at the old man. Tsuna didn't know why his chest felt so warm and so heavy at the same time. But the searing cold soon overcame the strange sensation.

"What about Tamaki?" asked Tsuna quietly.

"Your mother hasn't seen him from this morning," said the sushi chef. "But it's not time for him to be home yet."

"Reborn hasn't contacted me yet," said Fon, standing at the older man's side as if the martial art master had been there since the beginning, which he had. At least, Tsuna thought his master had been there. The searing cold wasn't letting him concentrate. "But Reborn will not let anything happen to your brother. Reborn is a man of honor, and he is bound by his word to keep your brother safe."

"I know," said Tsuna, his voice quieter than before. "But—"

"Hey, Yamamoto-san, where do I put these?" asked Gokudera opening the kitchen door. His green eyes instantly locked on Tsuna. "Tsuna-sama! You should be upstairs resting! Sword freak! Why aren't you doing your job?"

"Tsuna wanted to ask Fon something," said Takeshi, scratching the back of his head. Gokudera glared at Takeshi but broke the glare before Tsuna could protest. The bomber clicked his tongue and placed the plates on a nearby counter.

"I'll help you get back upstairs, Tsuna-sama," said Gokudera.

“Did I hear correctly?” said Lancia entering the kitchen with a broom in hand. “Is Tsuna down here?”

“Yes, but I am going to help him go back upstairs,” Gokudera repeated in a near growl.

"I-I—I can do it myself, Gokudera," said Tsuna, backing up slightly, before suddenly falling forward.

"I did it! Lambo-sama won the candy!" yelled Lambo from on top of the fallen brunet. Tsuna groaned inwardly. Sometimes he wondered where the curly haired boy got his energy from.

"Lambo, off 哥哥!" cried I-pin. "Lambo no get candy if 哥哥 not up!"

"Lambo, I think you're hurting Tsuna," said Takeshi. Lambo yelped as Gokudera grabbed the little boy's collar and yanked curly haired boy off Tsuna.

"What do you think you're doing!" yelled Gokudera.

"I was catching 哥哥, Stupidera," said Lambo, struggling to get out of Gokudera's grip which only tightened at the nickname. Great. Tsuna would have to talk to the bomber about how to handle Lambo again. "Monkey lady said she'd give me candy if I caught 哥哥 out and not resting in his room."

"Monkey lady?" asked Tsuna as he lifted himself off the ground. "You mean Hana?"

"哥哥 save me!" cried Lambo, struggling against the bomber's hold. "Stupidera is being mean to me!"

"Lambo mean to 哥哥!" yelled I-pin as she tried to help Tsuna up. The little girl glared at Lambo from Tsuna's side. Tsuna was kind of scared that I-pin was starting to sound Hana. "哥哥 punish Lambo."

"It's okay, I-pin. Lambo was trying to help," said the small brunet. Tsuna smiled at the little girl in thanks and stood the rest of the way on his own. "Gokudera, could you please let Lambo go?"

"Whatever you say, Tsuna-sama," said Gokudera as he let Lambo go. The little boy hit the floor and yelped again.

"To-ler-ate," the little boy mumbled as tears started at the edge of his eyes. Tsuna sighed as he knelt down and ruffled Lambo's short curls.

"Are you okay, Lambo?" asked Tsuna. At the words, the little boy's tears escaped his quivering green eyes, and the boy sobbed loudly and threw himself into Tsuna's arms. Tsuna didn't understand all of Lambo's blubbering, but he thought he caught the gist of it. "It's okay, Lambo. You meant well…I think…"

"I-pin want hug too!"

With a soft smile, Tsuna stretched out one hand and let the little girl jump into his arms too. The small brunet realized that all the eyes in the kitchen were on him, and he flushed a little but didn't let the children go.

"That's so cute!" came a cry from the door. "Tsuyoshi-san, do you have a camera?"

Random Notes (Hopefully-not-ones-I’ve-done-before edition):

Kaido (some purposefully reused):

-creepy as all get out

-has a thing with fear

-albino to the creepy extreme

-somewhat psychopathic or sociopathic—not sure, whichever emphasizes a lack of the ability to empathize with others

-drove his family literally crazy

-has fixated on Tamaki and making Tsuna’s twin terrified

-can lead Tamaki’s group through pure fear alone

The 3 Idiot Minions:

-the one that  has muscles and dreadlocks is Taro Mako

-the other that has bleached hair and is the “leader” was Konai Mitsukhiko

-the last that is bald with a beard and strongest is called Rai Kito (he’s a good hacker)

-they show up a bit more than I originally intended

Momokyokai Yakuza:

-Tamaki technically wiped out this yakuza

-should mention at some point that Tamaki did this to avenge Dino (who he has grown to care for)

-has a man named Tenma in it who is a kinda leader (he has a good recovery time)

-cling to Tamaki so he will keep them safe from Tsuna and his friends

Sawada Tsunayoshi:

~Tsuna is good with languages because his hyper intuition helps him understand what people mean when they speak regardless of language. However he doesn’t understand individual words (hence he doesn’t know that 哥哥 means big brother) and the less he knows the individual, the less he understands the language (however he can learn the language if he studies it faster than most people).

-Non-sentient objects (tables, robots, etc.) do not set off his intuition by themselves (unless there is “life” involved—like flames)

-his teachers can to a certain degree confuse or hide things from his hyper intuition, because they are arcobaleno and are aware of it (others of higher-level flame-control can learn to, but not many bother to—a certain millennias-old illusionist most definitely has)

-really does like to fight Hibari (just not necessarily at full force)

"HIIE!" screeched Tsuna as fell back in surprise. A man with white hair and brown eyes smiled at the fallen brunet. Fon would be disappointed further that Tsuna hadn't noticed the man earlier.

The man put a finger to his lips and pointed with his other hand to where the crack should be. Tsuna gazed at the man, a strange familiarity niggling in the back of his mind. He knew this man. The urgency in the second voice brought Tsuna's attention back to the conversation.

"…so he's got to be on the school grounds then?" asked Dino in a strained voice, as if he wanted to bolt at the first opportunity.

"Don't make me repeat myself, stupid student," said Reborn. A muffled shriek followed and slowly faded as the source of the shriek got farther away.

"Well, that was certainly an interesting conversation," said the man. "Would you like to come in for a cup of tea?"

"U-um, who a-are you?" asked Tsuna.

"I'm Kawahira," said the man, opening a door that had not been there before. Or had it been there? "Come in."

Kawahira held up a hand, beckoning Tsuna to follow the man. Tsuna went through the door, and his eyes filled with the sight of a huge but cluttered room. Antique furniture from both Japan and the west formed a maze that was lit by various types of lamps. Kawahira maneuvered through the labyrinth with practiced ease, and Tsuna stuck close to the man in order to keep from getting lost. A hand ruffled his hair. "You won't get lost here. I won't let you."

Taking his hand off Tsuna's head, Kawahira led Tsuna past the different furniture and to a steel door. The man opened it and pushed Tsuna into a much less cluttered room. In the center of the room, a glass enclosed table stood with several gemstone figurines reflected on its surface from their perches on the two clear stands. In between the two stands, a coiled orange dragon roared, and Tsuna moved automatically closer to it.

"He's injured," said Kawahira.

"Why?" asked Tsuna. The anguish on the dragon's face echoed itself in the brunet's own heart, as if the pain was so great that Tsuna could feel it from the other side of the glass.

"His former owner betrayed him and left him encased in that sunstone, and his promised owner cannot take him," said the man, putting a hand on Tsuna's shoulder and steering the boy away from the display. "The kitchen's this way."

Tsuna pulled away from the man and took a step back, far enough away to avoid the man's grasp.

"Who are you?" asked Tsuna.

"I already told you, I'm Kawahira," said the white haired man. Tsuna didn't know a Kawahira, but this man felt familiar. The man reached out and patted Tsuna's head again. "You shouldn't ask a man who's known you six years to keep repeating his name."

"S-six y-years?" said Tsuna, his face heating as the thought clicked in his head. "Then you—"

"I have been watching you visit my side yard for the last six years. I would have come up and said hello, but you seemed so shy that I didn't want to frighten you away. I rarely entertain company as good as yours."

The small brunet his behind his hair, but the man bent down to lock gazes with the boy.

"I should have introduced myself earlier. I apologize. Do you forgive me?"

Still blushing, Tsuna nodded. He didn't want to think about all this man had heard from Tsuna's once daily visits, but…this man had probably been the reason Tsuna had kept returning to that small space. Even now, Tsuna could sense this man's aura, his presence, protecting Tsuna somehow. Still, that sensation didn't block out the fact that this man had no doubt seen Tsuna's childish display.

"Now onto the kitchen," said the man, grabbing Tsuna's shoulders and heading back in the direction of the kitchen.

"Um, Kawahira-san? I need to go. If Reborn finds me here, he won't like it," said Tsuna, struggling against the man's much firmer grip.

"I took care of it," said Kawahira. "It's too dangerous for you to go back with Namimori Middle's infamous head prefect and the world famous hitman hunting for you."

"But they—"

"I told you I took care of it," said the man as he pushed Tsuna into a small kitchen and towards a low table. "Sit down, sit down."

Tsuna obeyed, plopping down onto a cushion as the man busied himself in getting a teapot, a tea kettle, and clay tea cups.

"It's been so long since Sukai-chan came to visit," said the man as he set the cups on the table. "I was starting to worry that you would never come back."

"S-sukai-chan?" Tsuna squeaked.

"You never introduced yourself, so I had to call you something."

"My name's Sawada Tsunayoshi."

"Tsunayoshi, hm? A very regal name, but I think I prefer Sukai-chan."

"You can call me Tsuna," said the small brunette hurriedly. Between his mother's Tsu-kun and his classmates' Dame-Tsuna, he had enough bad nicknames already.

"Tsuna," said the man as if trying the name out. "Tsuna. It fits. Tsuna it is then."

Tsuna sighed in relief. The tea kettle whistled. Kawahira poured the hot water into the tea pot and then the steaming tea into the cups.

"You should be careful," the man said. "It's too hot right now."

"O-okay," said Tsuna, putting the cup carefully on the table.

"I'm not talking about the tea," said Kawahira, his brown eyes narrowing behind his glasses. "I'm talking about your situation."

"Hibari and Reborn won't kill me," said Tsuna as he rubbed the back of his head. "I think Hibari doesn't want to lose an interesting herbivore like that, and Reborn's got some agreement with Fon...maybe…"

"It's not them you need to worry about," said the man. "It's yourself."

"Me?" asked Tsuna, clutching the cup of cooling tea. It had a soothing smell.

"You," said the man. He sat on the other side of the table. "I did miss my frequent visitor, but I didn't mind so much when I saw that my special visitor had others surrounding him. It was better that you didn't come to my side yard so often anyway, since I had no intention to introduce myself. I was much too content to see you whenever you appeared, and it was hardly a good idea for our acquaintance to go further. But after the stunt you pulled with Rokudo Mukuro and now your refusal to see what is right in front of you, I couldn't just watch anymore. I don't want my favorite visitor to end up dead."

Tsuna fiddled with the cup as he ducked under his hair. The man took a sip, and the room fell to silence. This quiet presence had his tongue forming words. How often had this man stood by that door and listened to Tsuna chatter and babble about anything and everything? The though disconcerted him, but…if the man had listened for so long, maybe one time more wouldn't hurt.

"Would it really matter?" asked Tsuna quietly. "I…I'm not that important. If I disappeared…"

"It would matter to me," said Kawahira equally quiet, though his tone held a softness where Tsuna's had held hollowness. "And it's not only me. It never was. Your mother would suffer from your absence. Who would help her up when her husband isn't there for her? And your brother. Who else would have the patience to put up with such a brat?"

"Mom would have Tamaki," said Tsuna tiredly. He had never spoken the words out loud before. "And Tamaki would have Mom. And maybe he would come back for a while…"

"Your mother would collapse because your brother could never take your place. And he would be too impacted from losing you to try. And it's not only them anymore. Your friends would be crushed."

"M-my friends?" asked Tsuna. He hadn't given much thought to their reactions. He made them bentos, so they might miss the lunches. He sparred with Hibari, and the prefect might have a hard time finding someone else to fight. Hana tutored Tsuna and made Tsuna's lunch so the small brunet would have one less to do, but that only meant she would have more time to herself. Gokudera basically did whatever the silver haired teen could to make Tsuna happy when he should be making himself happy. And Takeshi…Takeshi… "They would be better off without me."

"Hm," the man hummed through his tea. He set the cup down, and cold dark brown eyes looked over the thick lenses and assessed Tsuna. "How?"

"Hibari would find an opponent who wouldn't hold back on him," Tsuna said. Goosebumps prickled his skin, but he ignored them. He refused to look away from those cold, cold eyes. "Hana wouldn't waste so much time trying to get me to understand stuff that even Takeshi gets. Gokudera would think about himself more. And Takeshi…Takeshi would play baseball and wouldn't be thinking about giving up his dream."

Quicker than Tsuna could register the movement, the man had knocked Tsuna over the head with a fan. Tsuna rubbed his head, wondering why it seemed to be such a popular target. Both Hibari and Reborn liked to hit him there. And that fan hurt! It didn't feel real, but it hurt. What was wrong with this man?

"You have a brain in there," said the man, the fan disappearing in a cloud of indigo flames. Tsuna blinked, and his mouth dropped open in an "oh." The man was an illusionist like Rokudo Mukuro. "It could use more exercise, I suppose, but it's there. It could use a jump start right now though."

A hand waved in the air as it cleared the remnants of the indigo smoke. The smoke swirled and settled onto the hand and hardened into a strip of long fur that slithered down the man's arm and settled across the man's shoulders. He tapped patted one of the fur ends and focused his gaze back on Tsuna.

"The girl, Hana, likes tutoring you. She would be bored in class otherwise since she has the second highest grades next to your friend Gokudera. And while that boy does have an unhealthy fascination with you, it's better you than your brother. And with a little more work, you can help snap him out of it. As for Takeshi, it's his decision to leave baseball. If it weren't for you, no one would have stopped him from jumping off the school roof and either dying or ending any baseball career he could have had."

Tsuna's mouth closed in a line. The man wasn't right. He couldn't be. Tsuna opened his mouth to contradict Kawahira's confused conclusions.

"Sh," said Kawahira putting his finger to his lips again to emphasize the sound. "I'm not done. You'll get your turn when that brain of yours has finished jump starting. I don't see sparks yet."

What was the man talking about? Tsuna sighed and brought the cup of tea to his lips.

"Maybe I do see sparks," said the man with an easy grin. "I'm sure that you can guess what would happen to your Yamamoto-san if his son jumped off the roof. He hasn't ever completely recovered from his dear Mako's death, and his son's would have pushed him too far. And for that family to disappear would be a great loss for this world.

“Your adoptive siblings, I-pin and Lambo, would have nowhere to go. I-pin would lose her childhood too soon, and Lambo would never have one to begin with. His entire famiglia except his boss and father have been trying to get rid of him for years. They don't want to deal with a spoiled brat.

“And then there is your sensei. He would probably perfectly content if he hadn't met you. He's the kind who is hard to provoke or anger. He would smile, though it would be less and less as his precious student would become stained in black and red and he could do nothing to stop it.

“And believe it or not, that new tutor of yours benefits from your presence. He would have ended up going too far and nearly kill your brother, losing the trust of all the people he respects in this world and driving him down a road of self-destruction. And I think I see enough sparks that I do not need to explain what would have happened to your newest protector, Lancia."

The tea cup had returned to the table. Tsuna clutched it tightly in his grip. Kawahira had to be lying, but he wasn't. Tsuna could tell that the man was telling the truth. Or at least the man thought he was telling the truth.

"What…why do…how?" asked Tsuna, the words slipping and sliding on his tongue. Kawahira smiled.

"The information came from a very reliable source," said the man. "He has very good insights on what would happen if certain things were different. Thankfully, that is only one scenario in millions. A world without Sawada Tsunayoshi is a terrible one indeed."

Tsuna hid behind his hair, obscuring his view of Kawahira. The man was telling the truth. The bottom of the teacup had a splash of tea left. The tea had tasted wonderful, a blend of tastes and smells that Tsuna hadn't had before. He wondered if Kawahira would teach the small brunet how the man made it.

"Tsuna," came a whisper. Tsuna's head shot up at the closeness of the words. Kawahira smiled from where he sat right next to Tsuna. Tsuna hadn't noticed the man move. Dark brown eyes, warm and soft, held Tsuna still. "It is more than worrying, it is insulting to those who care about you that you think of your life as worth nothing. There is much good done when someone like you puts others' lives first, but you cannot discount your own. You have to put the same effort you use to protect other's lives to protect yourself. And it is not as if you don't have help. Your friends want to protect you as much as you want to protect them."

Tsuna blinked in an effort to break the spell of those eyes, but he couldn't ignore the truth in those words. Images flashed across his mind, of Hana lecturing the small brunet on his brother or standing between the prefect and Tsuna, of Gokudera threatening Tamaki and speaking in those musical words that sounded like lifelong oath, of Lancia refusing to leave Tsuna's side even under Tsuna's continual pleas, of Lambo and I-pin clinging and begging their 哥哥 not to leave, of Tsuyoshi picking Tsuna up and putting him on the bed, of Fon and Reborn teaming up to get Tsuna to rest, of Takeshi letting Tsuna cling to the taller brunet when no one else had…

Of Takeshi's back with the red tint on the taller brunet's sword, the swordsman refusing to turn around as he declared that he wouldn't see Tsuna until the small brunet would fight seriously. Why did that back suddenly look so taut and strained? As if Takeshi wanted to turn around and wrap an arm around Tsuna's shoulders like always and say he was kidding.

"Ah," said Kawahira, clearing away the image away with the sound. Tsuna watched dazedly as the man stood. "Now that your brain's working properly, I guess it's time to take care of those injuries. That gash on your arm isn't too deep. A sword cut was it? Whoever is playing with swords around you has pretty good restraint. A sword sharp enough to make that cut could have taken off your entire arm easily. Better go get the bandages. Stay here until I get back."

Tsuna nodded absently, as the image came back. He could see it clearly now, and the small brunet clenched his fists hard enough for the scrapes on his palms to scream. He had failed them. He should have listened to what his friends had been saying.

-break-

The small brunet stumbled into his room near midnight and nearly gave Fon a heart attack. When had Tsuna gotten good enough to come within only a few feet of Fon before the martial artist noticed the boy? Tsuna didn't seem to notice Fon a first, and Fon was glad that the martial artist had never hidden himself from the boy before to this extent (not quite expert but higher intermediate at least). Tsuna's ability to sense things was incredible, and if the boy had been unable to sense Fon before at this level, Tsuna would adjust and sense the arcobaleno .

Doubtless the boy would become harder to hide from at this level once Fon revealed himself, but Fon wanted to observe his student first. The boy had one of his sleeves clipped closed, the same sleeve that had made little resistance against Takeshi's sword. As the boy tugged the top to take it off, the sleeve fell back in for an instant, and bandages peeked out. So wherever the boy had been, he had taken care of his injuries. Fon decided to step in and interrupt the boy's action before it became awkward for his student.

"Where have you been?" asked Fon, startling both the boy and himself. Fon had meant to lead up to that question calmly. He had wanted his student to understand the seriousness the offense of disappearing on his teacher was. But the question had escaped the martial artist's mouth before Fon could stop it.

"Fon-sensei," said the boy quickly, reddening as he pulled the shirt back into its proper position. "I…I-I was…"

"Reborn couldn't find you," said Fon, finding himself in front of the boy. When had he become so covert with his words? Reborn hadn't been the only one searching and not finding anything.

"That was Uncle Kawahira's fault," said Tsuna, with an attempt at a smile. The small, lopsided quirk of his lips couldn't match the smile that the boy wore whenever Tsuna finished a set perfectly and Fon complimented the boy on the achievement. Or when I-pin begged for another spar simply to play with the older boy in the only way she knew how. Or when the new Bovino boy hung to Tsuna and whined for another batch of the older boy's sushi. No, that twist marring the boy's lips could not be called a smile.

"Uncle Kawahira?" asked Fon, ignoring a strange twinge in his stomach when he registered the form of address. It shouldn't matter what his student called an acquaintance. And Fon had already proven himself unworthy of that title.

"Y-yes," said the boy. Fon wanted to smile at his student's perception, but the arcobaleno couldn't muster the energy necessary to try. He would have felt his age if he weren't in this cursed body. Suddenly, the boy's body tensed, and Tsuna dropped into a deep bow. "I-I'm so sorry."

"What for?" asked Fon, sharper than he intended.

"For everything," said the boy softly. "I…I disrespected your teachings. I didn't…you taught me to defend myself and those around me, and I…I didn't defend myself. And I…I'm sorry that I have been holding back when I shouldn't. I should…I should show my opponents what the Kaze Ryu can really do."

Fon felt the smile he couldn't dredge up earlier pulling at his lips. His student was beginning to understand. Whoever this "Uncle Kawahira" was, he had Fon's thanks. But Tsuna didn't understand fully yet. The martial artist stretched out a hand and patted the brown hair that almost reached his height. The small brunette looked up in surprise, and the smile stretched Fon's lips fully.

"Give me your hand," said Fon. Tsuna cocked his head slightly but stretched out one of his hands. Fon motioned for the boy to sit, and Tsuna did, shifting automatically into seiza position as the boy did for Fon's explanations.

Fon took the hand, pulling it slightly closer so that his free hand could encircle the boy's wrist. A thrum met Fon's fingers, and something inside Fon's chest eased. His lips gave in and quirked upwards.

"This is how I know that the Kaze Ryu has done what it has to."

The confusion on the boy's face was both endearing and frustrating. Fon squeezed the wrist slightly, and the large brown eyes flickered to it. Comprehension finally filled the large brown eyes.

"Sensei?"

"Master," said Fon. The word flowed out his mouth, but Fon didn't want to take it back. He would worry about the Triad later. I-pin was much too attached to the boy to separate them now, and no one had taken to the Kaze Ryu as this boy had. Fon had always striven to be honest with himself, but he wondered why even in his thoughts he was skirting around the truth. Perhaps he had been around a certain hitman too long.

"M-master?" asked Tsuna, almost choking on the word.

"Yes, master," said the martial artist, staring straight into those perceptive brown gaze. "I want to make sure that the Kaze Ryu continues to do what it has to."

One last time, the martial artist let the tiny thrumming beat help him breath, and then Fon let go. He bypassed Tsuna with a greater ease than normal, thanks to the fact that the boy had frozen. The boy stirred quickly and would have said something in protest, but Fon didn't like pointless arguments.

"I will come back when you are changed for bed," said Fon as he opened the door. "I suggest you do it quickly, as your tutor has a tendency to be violent when worried."

Fon exited and closed the door behind him, but not before catching the quiet squeak of terror that came from the boy. Opening the window, Fon held out a hand and waited for a brown beetle to land on one of Fon's outstretched fingers.

"Good evening, little one," said Fon. The insect opened its wings in response. Fon took a moment to marvel at the versatility of the sun attribute before lifting the beetle up to eye level. "Tell your master that our little sky is back home."

The beetle might have lifted one of its foreleg in a strange sort of salute before flying off into the night sky. Fon followed the insects trajectory and determined that his student had about eight minutes before chaos descended into Tsuna's room.

-break-

The hitman hadn't spent more than a second comprehending the beetle’s message before running full speed to the Sawada residence. He had a student to discipline, and no one, not even Fon, was going to get in his way. Kicking the rightmost window open, Reborn landed in front of the small brunet (too close, the hitman hadn't been able to tell where the boy was from outside the room). Breaking through the boy's guard like it was paper, the hitman knocked the boy to the floor.

"You have five seconds to start explaining," growled the hitman, standing on the boy's chest and pointing Leon in gun form at the brat's forehead. The chameleon had taken the form without much prompting from the hitman.

"E-explain wh-wha—ow!" Dame-Tsuna dared to stutter. The boy would have rubbed the new bruise under his chin, but the hitman didn't give him the chance.

"Four."

"W-wai—wait!"

"Three."

"Explain what!"

"Two."

"I was at Uncle Kawahira's store!" blurted the former weakling in desperation. The hitman considered shooting the boy anyway, but since the hitman didn't want to ruin his delicately laid plans by having to explain why he shot the elder twin with the Dying Will Bullet, Reborn refrained.

"And who is that?" asked the hitman almost calmly as he subtly checked the boy's condition. Other than the boy's bandaged arm and bruised chin, Dame Tsuna had no new injuries, nor did the boy act like he had suffered mentally in the short absence.

"A-a friend," said Dame-Tsuna, and the hitman could almost see the smile that would have glowed on the boy's face in any other situation. Good. The boy had a healthy fear of the hitman. As such, Reborn would let that small stutter slide.

"And where does this friend live?" asked Reborn. The hitman had made Dino all but turn Namimori upside down looking for the former weakling.

"I-I—I'm sorry, Reborn, b-b—but he told me n-n—not to tell you," said the boy, fighting to keep the stutter under control. The hitman humphed, obviously displeased with the boy's answer.

"You came earlier than I expected," said Fon, making his presence known. The hitman ignored the other arcobaleno and glared at the boy. Reborn's body shook with the tremors coming the former weakling's body, and the brown eyes were wide with fright. But Dame-Tsuna kept his mouth closed. Reborn clicked his tongue, startling the boy further, and then hopped off the boy's chest. Only his chosen student could quail under the hitman's glare and still say nothing.

"How much later did you expect me?" asked the hitman. Changing topics was a good way to verbally unbalance your opponent.

"I expected you in eight minutes, but it hasn't been five," said the martial artist with that infuriatingly knowing smile. "You must have come full speed to get here in that amount of time."

"Leon was worried," said the hitman, allowing the chameleon to shift back and climb onto the hitman's fedora. The chameleon curled up against the fedora's orange band, probably intending to rest now that Dame-Tsuna's location had been discovered and leave the rest to his master.

"Lichi was as well," said the martial artist. The hitman refused to react to the concession in the tone.

"Why don't you go check on him then?" said the hitman.

"I will," said Fon. "As soon as Tsuna is safe and in bed. As his master, I have to make sure that he's well rested."

Reborn stilled for an instant as he registered the change of address. Given the redness in the former weakling's face, the boy also understood what that title meant. But then the martial artist was one of those people who were transparent to the point of being opaque.

"So then the storm got caught up in the sky," Reborn said with a smirk. The martial artist smiled complacently, and the hitman's smirk twisted into a scowl. The former weakling glanced between the two arcobaleno, and Reborn whipped out his favorite non-Leon pistol and pointed it at the boy's head. Dame-Tsuna's head jerked to a stop, and the brown eyes quivered as they stared down the barrel of the gun.

"What did this Uncle Kawahira do?" demanded the hitman. The former weakling shifted uncomfortably as he sat in seiza like he would for Fon's lectures.

"H-h—he fed me tea and bandaged my arm," Dame-Tsuna whispered. The hitman continued to stare, adjusting the grip on the gun. The shifting turned into squirming. "…he showed me his shop…?"

Reborn clicked the safety on the gun.

"H-h—he fed me more tea? A-a—and he showed me how to make it. And he gave me a gift and—"

"What gift?" interrupted Reborn. Shakily, Dame-Tsuna reached under the collar of his blue pajama top. A pendant dangled from the chain that had been his father's, the one his mother had given Dame-Tsuna on his birthday. The pendant was dark glass encircled by a platinum frame that stuck out in two points at the side. The glass itself seemed to catch the darkness instead of the light, shadows flickering through its many facets.

"Where did he get that?" asked Fon, stepping forward. The hitman gazed warningly to the martial artist, whose smile twitched in amusement. Reborn's scowl darkened.

"H-h—he has a-a—an antique shop," said the former weakling, shivering under the tense atmosphere. Fon's smile disappeared and was replaced by a concerned frowned. The martial artist gave Reborn a version of the hitman's earlier look. Reborn snorted and allowed the former weakling take a much needed deep breath.

"So he had it among his antiques," prompted Fon. Reborn tilted his fedora forward to block the view of his eyes rolling upward at the martial artist's coaxing. Their student did not need to be babied.

"Yes," said the boy, trying to focus on Fon in between frequent glances at Reborn's pistol. The hitman's shadowed smirk probably wasn't helping Dame-Tsuna's concentration. "Uncle Kawahira said he'd been waiting for the right person to give it to."

"And he thought that was you?" asked Fon gently. Outside of martial art training, the storm arcobaleno was too soft on the boy. Enemy famiglie would not let the boy get comfortable before answering questions.

"He said it fit the chain perfectly," said Dame-Tsuna, still warily eyeing the hitman's gun. Reborn's smirk sharpened. The boy should never ignore a potential threat.

"May I see it?" said the martial artist, stretching out a hand to take the pendant. The former weakling didn't hesitate to loop the chain over his neck and hand the necklace to the martial artist, forgetting the hitman's presence.

"HIIE!" shrieked Dame Tsuna as the boy leaned backwards enough to keep the bullet from grazing his cheek. Reborn smirked. All those "tutoring" sessions with the former weakling had helped Dame-Tsuna's reaction time in regards to bullets headed towards him. So the brat's irritating nature had come in handy. The martial artist glared at the hitman, who continued to smirk. The boy was not only the storm arcobaleno's student any longer. The warmth filling the room caused both arcobalenos to temporarily forget their silent argument. That warmth, it belonged to only one person. Tsuna held the chain and pendant in his hand. "Is something wrong?"

"Dame-Tsuna, where did that man get that?" demanded Reborn. The former weakling stared slightly sideways at the hitman.

"Uncle Kawahira brought it out from his back room," said Dame Tsuna, and the warmth settled fully and faintly into the room. The hitman could sense the boy perfectly now.

"Tsuna, where is your birthday present from Tsuyoshi-san?" asked Fon. Dame-Tsuna gave the martial artist a similar stare to the one the hitman had gotten, but he scurried over to the bed and pulled something out from underneath it. A familiar 3-inch box sat in the former weakling's hand. The hitman had wondered if the boy had kept it or not. He should do a thorough search of the room next time he had the opportunity and see what other secrets his student kept hidden in here. A burst of orange came from the box as the lid flipped open and the contents leapt in an orange ray onto the boy's empty hand.

A shining platinum pendant connected to an orange band glittered in the boy's palm along with a stick of dynamite, a faded storybook, and a crayon scribbled paper. Reborn held back a snort, deciding that the boy's room wouldn't be worth the search. If these were the boy's treasures, the former weakling probably had nothing worth knowing in this room.

The hitman put the safety back on the pistol as he felt his fingers tighten around the trigger. The stupid martial artist smiled gently at the boy again, but the hitman could see the subtle sharpness tainting Fon's movements. Fon took hold of the orange band and held the first pendant up next to the one Dame Tsuna had placed on the bed, and the platinum frame of the one on the chain caught the light in such a way that it flashed slight indigo. That color…The one in Fon's hand seemed to flash orange in response. The two arcobaleno's exchanged glances.

"What is it?" asked Dame-Tsuna, the brown eyes flittering between the two arcobaleno. Fon gave the hitman a look that could have been curious if not for the hardness of the gaze. The hitman barely held back another snort. Reborn did not need the martial artist's consent to teach the boy the things the former weakling needed to know.

"There is a legend among the Vongola," said Reborn as the martial artist place the orange glinting emblem next to the indigo glinting on Tsuna's bed. "About the Primo's involvement with the most famous craftsman of the time. The man's name was whispered among all in either reverence or fear.

“The story says that the Primo did something to impress the craftsman, and so the craftsman gave one set of his most powerful objects to the Primo. Those objects became known as the Vongola rings which are passed down from generation to generation of Vongola, both because of the power they represent and the fact that no one outside the Primo's blood family can wield them. But as amazing as the rings were, there were also two other sets of objects to balance them out, and the three sets together supposedly keep the world's power in balance. The craftsman had merely entrusted one set to Primo and his descendants."

The hitman paused. Reborn could see confusion and doubt decorating the boy's gaze, but it remained attentively on the hitman, taking in what the hitman was saying. The fedora tilted downward to shadow the hitman's face and obscure the quirk of the lips that the boy might confuse for a smile.

"They say that the craftsman stayed nearby the Vongola headquarters to make sure that the rings were in good hands and to look for people to entrust the other sets to," continued the hitman, a hand finding its way to his pacifier. "But the craftsman's skills were legendary, and so people from all over the world sought him out to beg and plead for his skills. He was said to be eccentric and did things his own way."

A third snort threatened to burst from the hitman, but Reborn settled for gripping his pacifier harder and continued.

"So he helped some, but others he ignored completely. Many left unsatisfied, and so the craftsman gained many enemies. One of them stole the craftsman's most treasured possession. The craftsman nearly went mad trying to retrieve it, and the Primo ended up stepping in and retrieving it for the craftsman.

“In return, the craftsman bound himself and his work, save the other two sets of objects, to Vongola for all time. As proof of his oath, the craftsman forged seven emblems, one for the Primo and each of his guardians. The Augurio supposedly held great power, gathered from the Primo and his guardians themselves, but their purpose was never fully explained. The craftsman had only said that they would come in handy one day.

“He insisted that the Augurio would aid Vongola one day, when the famiglia needed them most and that the Primo and his guardians should keep a close eye on them. But the emblems were lost over time, after the Primo took them with him when he and his guardians came to Japan. Many have tried to find the Augurio, but most believe that they never existed."

"These belong to Vongola?" asked Dame-Tsuna, staring at the two emblems and picking them up.

"Yes," said the hitman, a cheeky grin overcoming his face. "And that means that fate acknowledges you as the proper Vongola Decimo."

"W-what! No! Tamaki's the Vongola Decimo!" exclaimed the boy, frantically waving his hands in front of him. The emblems stayed firmly in the boy's grip along with the boy's pathetic treasures. "Not me! I'm not—"

"You shouldn't fight fate, Dame-Tsuna," said Reborn.

"Fate shouldn't fight Tsuna," said Fon, the sharpness in his movements becoming less subtle. A small smile bloomed on the boy's face at the martial artist's words, and Reborn snapped the safety off his pistol and pointed it towards the former weakling.

"Keep that on at all times," said the hitman using the pistol to point to the chain and emphasize the importance of the command. The boy's smile faded as he nodded quickly and leaned back to gain the optimal position to dodge bullets from said pistol. However his head was now in full view of the window. "Get to bed. You have school in the morning."

Nodding again, the boy immediately got up to obey the command and quickly moved his head away from the window's line of vision. After the boy was wrapped in the covers on the bed, the martial artist leapt onto it and patted the boy's unruly hair.

"I-pin and Lambo expect you to stop by tomorrow," said the martial artist.

"Fon-sen- um…Shishō," the former weakling whispered softly, hardly breathing the word. "C-could you tell Takeshi that…that tomorrow after school?"

The martial artist's eyes reflected the hitman's own surprise.

"He will be surprised to hear back from you so soon," said Fon.

"Uncle Kawahira…he made me see what I couldn't," said the boy, turning away from the martial artist, but the moonlight didn't hide the redness emanating from the boy's skin. A deep breath rocked the boy's form, and he turned back, that orange glaze coloring the normally brown eyes. "I won't let you down this time."

"He's safe and in bed," interrupted the hitman. "You should get back before Lichi worries."

Fon's expression regained that amused air. "Of course. I will pass on your message."

Leaping off the bed, the martial artist leapt from the bed and passed the hitman.

"Tsuyoshi has two other emblems," said the martial artist before exiting. The hitman refused to look back and give the storm arcobaleno the satisfaction of seeing the hitman's surprise. It seemed fate really was more on Dame-Tsuna's side.

-break-

Random Notes (Kawahira Edition + Chapter):

Kawahira:

-he’s the owner of Tsuna’s “secret place”; he hid Tsuna from bullies originally because he was not completely heartless (if more than a bit done with human affairs)

-impressed that Tsuna to a certain extent instinctively sense his presence (not that Tsuna knew for sure it was a person—just that someone was listening)

-he had let Tsuna in because of pity and the purity of his sky flames

-also let Tsuna overhear the Rokudo situation from Dino and Romario because he wanted to see what Tsuna would do

-His fondness for Tsuna is why he stepped in during Reborn and Fon’s fight in the hospital

-also can to a certain degree mess with Tsuna’s hyper intuition (he is an Earthling and ancient); that’s why Tsuna didn’t recognize that Checkerface “felt” the same way his secret place did (he felt nothing from Checkerface because Kawahira erased his presence from Tsuna’s hyper intuition)

-gives Tsuna a hint when it comes to his secondary flames

-finally full steps in to help Tsuna because Kawahira saw the same flaws that caused his Sky to fall growing in Tsuna; Kawahira does not want another sky he cared about to break under the strain of holding itself up alone

-He has a fun back-and-forth who is creepier relationship with Byakuran; he often wins

-once he becomes active in Tsuna’s life, he is fully involved though mainly from the shadows unless he feels it necessary (or fun) to step out of them

-had the mist Augurio because he took it away from Daimon’s family once he went insane for the safety of the Tri-ni-sette (the Augurios are powerful)

Chapter:

"What would they do to Tsuna if they found out that he lied to them?" asked Yamamoto.

"Best case, they would put him in the lower levels of the Vendicare prison," said Reborn, staving off the wave of information that he had gathered about those lower levels from flooding his thoughts. Dame-Tsuna had indeed risked too much.

"B-best c-case?" said Dame-Tsuna. Reborn had allowed the former weakling to stutter since Lancia and the ranking prince had already heard the small brunet's speech impediment, and the hitman wanted to observe his new student a while longer. But the stutter was beginning to become unforgivable.

"Anyone of high standing in the Mafia can make deals with the Vindice," said Gokudera as the bomber continued to attempt to light the cigarette hanging from his lips. The teen's color had persisted at one shade darker than corpse white.

"So someone could free Tsuna?" asked Yamamoto. The quizzical expression would distract most from the tightening fists at the baseball player's side.

"Yes," the tall man, a hollowness echoing through the man's tone. "For any reason."

The weight of the unspoken horror made its home on the young swordsman's shoulders. The whole group silenced under the could-still-occur possibilities.

"B-but th-they didn't—th-they d-don't know," said Dame-Tsuna.

"But they could know. Someone could tell them," said the Kurokawa girl. She had remained so silent and blank faced that Reborn had not known for certain if she had understood what they were discussing. By the spark in her eyes, she understood too well what almost had been and could be lost, though she likely didn't understand the whole situation. "What if the moronic monkey king decides you offended him or wants to punish you for something idiotic like you stopping him from going after Kyoko again? What would stop him from telling them simply to make you suffer?"

A flicker of a shadow crossed Lancia's face at the girl's warning, and Reborn could read more than anger in the fleeting expression.

"T-Tamaki-san wouldn't d-do th-that," said Dame-Tsuna.

"Of course," said Reborn, picturing the shocked face of the former weakling as the small brunet stilled beneath the hitman. Reborn smirked. "The brat won't know."

"He won't," said the Kurokawa girl flatly. Her disbelief would have been insulting if she had had any clue as to who Reborn was. But he could forgive her ignorance.

"He won't," repeated the hitman, enjoying the girl's sudden discomfort under his gaze. She crossed her arms and took a step back. Interesting. He would have said it was her allergy to children acting up if he didn’t know better. "I'll take care of the brat."

-break-

Three soccer players had broken their legs, two basketball players had come in with stomachaches from drinking the same rotten milk, and three teens from that one 1-A class had gotten several scratches, some quite deep, due to their poor decision to badmouth the missing male school idol and the absent bad boy delinquent in front of the two's fangirls. All in all, a very dull day. Not one honey had come to visit.

Dr. Shamal scowled as he heard footsteps once again heading towards the school's doctor office. He entertained himself by trying to figure out what this one would be coming for. The footsteps were solid, if a bit hurried, so no leg injuries. One side was not favored over another, so no broken arms or internal intestinal problems. The person would lean to the damaged arm's side or forward if that were the case. The footsteps were definitely too heavy to be female, and Dr. Shamal's interest dwindled.

They had a familiar cadence though. Maybe he was overthinking it, and the person was headed past the nurse’s office and headed to see the janitor's closet or something. That was the only thing left down this hallway, and whoever he was would be more welcome there. Shamal's scowl deepened as the door to the office flung open.

"Hey, Shamal," said a familiar scowling face. "I have a job for you."

"Hayato-kun, you came to visit me. Did you bring that beautiful sister of yours with you?" asked Shamal looking around for the red head, but he didn't expect to see the woman. The silver haired teen would have collapsed if the lovely Bianchi was anywhere near, since the poor boy had developed Acute Specific Phobia.

"No. I told you I have a job for you."

"Is there a beautiful woman involved?" asked the doctor, feigning interest. With the young Uragano, the possibility was unlikely. The last time he had seen the silver haired boy, the teen had been scouting the downtown area for danger (something about protecting a fish-sama) and had surprised the doctor by appearing healthier than the boy had since Hayato had run away from the Uragano Famiglia.

The sickly paleness had faded to the natural peach complexion that looked so stunning on the teen's sister. And the doctor had been unable to see the bone structure under the well-fed flesh. The teen's change from poor to good health had caused the doctor to lower his guard enough that a sudden burst of murderous intent had Shamal reacting and sending out one of his more benign (but still deadly under the right circumstances) trident mosquitos. Thankfully cherry blossoms did not bloom until spring, so Shamal had a couple of months to track down the recipient of the disease and give whoever it was the antidote. Just because he didn't treat men didn't mean that he didn't undo his mistakes.

"Why don't you come and find out?" asked the teen. Apparently Hayato had grown up while he was away.

"I don't think I will. I would hate to steal anyone away from little Hayato-kun."

"I promised Tsuna-sama that you would come, and you're coming whether you want to or not," growled "little Hayato-kun." So good to see that the boy hadn't completely outgrown his temper. So the one he had been protecting was called Tsuna-sama. There was a Sawada Tsunayoshi in the student records, and that Tsunayoshi might have a connection to the Sawada brat that Reborn had been training. But the records had "mysteriously" lost all the photos, so the doctor had not been able to solidify the connection.

Sawada Tsunayoshi had been hard to pin down in the male population, and Shamal was not that interested. Dealing with Sawada Tamaki had been enough. Reborn could threaten as much as the hitman liked, Shamal was not going within three miles of the Vongola heir. As a well-established freelance assassin, Shamal had that privilege.

"And what are you going to do if I don't tell you?" asked the doctor, enjoying the teen's growingly fierce glare.

"I'll tell Madre where you are."

The room appeared to cool to an unholy cold temperature as the blood in his face faded.

"So where is this new patient of mine?" asked the doctor as he rerouted the blood flow back to his head. A sudden change in blood flow like that could affect the delicate balance of diseases in his body. That woman could kill him with the mere threat of her presence. The teen grimaced, obviously both pleased and disgusted that the doctor had given in so easily. But Hayato should know better than anyone the damage that woman could do.

The door slammed open a second time.

"There you are, Octopus Head!" cried a loud annoying voice. Unfortunately, due to several boxing accidents, Shamal had become well acquainted with the voice's owner.

"Don't call me that, Lawn Head!" yelled Hayato. "And get out!"

"Do you EXTREMELY know where Sawada-kun is?"

"The moronic imitation is sick at home. Now get lost," grumbled the bomber. The other teen continued with unending enthusiasm.

"And where is the other Sawada?" asked the loud boxer. Shamal considered using his Narcoleptic Disease. The boxer would only stop when asleep, but continued use of that particular disease could cause permanent effects. And the doctor did not want to have to fix that error. The Insomniac Disease that he would probably have to use to wake the boxer would have adverse and highly unwanted consequences, since its side effects included hyperactivity.

"What do you want with Tsuna-sama?" demanded Hayato. The teen's fingers twitched, and Shamal vaguely wondered which hiding place Hayato would pull his dynamite out of. The faint and healing burns that marred the otherwise healthy peach skin reminded Shamal of his greatest mistake. The doctor should have risked letting the boy's inquisitive mind near the endless medical abnormalities. Whatever the boy would have tried in terms of copying the doctor's own condition would have resulted in less damage than those explosives had caused.

"Kyoko is EXTREMELY worried about him," said Ryohei. Hayato snorted.

"Fine. Tell the dumb girl that he's out of the hospital."

Interesting. Hayato's Tsuna-sama had been at the hospital. So Shamal would get to see who Sawada Tsunayoshi was first hand, and perhaps the mystery of his relation to Reborn's brat would be revealed. He didn't treat men, but he would go out of curiosity and under the threat of her. He could always pretend that he couldn't treat the boy and that would be that.

"Don't call my sister that EXTREMELY wrong name!"

"I'll call her whatever I want," growled Hayato. He pushed past the boxer. "Come on."

Shamal opened his mouth to remind the silver haired teen that Hayato couldn't order the doctor around, threat or no, but the boxer yelled and cut Shamal off.

"Where are we going?"

"To Tsuna-sama's house," answered Hayato as he exited. "You can see the moronic imitation, but you better not bother Tsuna-sama, got it?"

"That's an EXTREMELY good idea! I will not bother the other Sawada to the EXTREME!" yelled the boxer running after Hayato. Shamal smiled. Who knew that awkward, angry little genius could actually make friends?

-break-

Tsuna hadn't moved since Gokudera had left to find the special doctor who knew everything there was to know about diseases. Takeshi wasn't sure he believed Gokudera's doctor could cure Tamaki, but for Tsuna's sake the swordsman hoped that Gokudera was right. Hana had said she would go back to school and take notes to make sure that neither of them fell behind when Tsuna's brother got better, but she also looked like she wanted to go practice for something. Or maybe she wanted to go figure out her opponent. Hana was more of a planner, like a coach, so Takeshi guessed she wanted to go plan out what to do with those strange opponents from the mafia game. Takeshi's hands tighten into fists.

Tsuna picked up the towel on his twin's forehead and put his hand on the wet forehead. The sleeping brunet moved closer to the hand, and Tsuna held it there. Hopefully Tsuna would remember the towel soon, so Takeshi wouldn't to take the hand off again and put a fresh towel on.

"Tsu-kun, Takeshi-kun, Lancia-san, I brought some drinks," said Sawada-san. She set the tray of drinks on the table beside Tsuna. Lancia reached for one of the cups and returned to leaning against the wall opposite Tsuna. The man had a good view of the window and door from there. When Tsuna didn't move, Sawada-san gently took the hand on the warm forehead and pressed a cup into it. "Does Tama need his towel changed again?"

She unclenched the fingers around the used towel and ran her free hand in Tsuna's hair. Maybe the strange kid who had come with Lancia-san was right about Tsuna's hair being super soft. The woman hummed as she dipped the towel in a bucket by the corner and replaced it on the too warm forehead.

"Tsu-kun, drink up," said Sawada-san. "You too, Takeshi-kun."

Scratching the back of his head, Takeshi picked up the second cup from the tray and put it to his lips. Sawada-san turned back to Tsuna, who lifted his own drink and sipped. She watched him until he drank it all. He set the cup down, and smiling she picked the tray back up.

"I'll come back when Gokudera-kun's doctor friend comes," she said still smiling. She locked eyes with Takeshi, and Takeshi couldn't help but nod at the plea. He would watch both Tsuna and Tsuna's brother. Her smile gentled, and for an instant Takeshi saw the shadow of a once beautifully rare smile.

"What do you mean you won't come up!" yelled Gokudera. He was really loud when he was upset.

"Look like he's back already," said Sawada-san. She started to head for the door, but she stopped. "Tsu-kun."

Tsuna lifted his head from where he had gone back to staring at his brother.

"Could you come down? Gokudera-kun is upset, and he listens to you," said the woman, that same smile on her face. Tsuna jerked, before nodding and standing to go to her. Lancia following closely behind, Takeshi went after them, as the two stepped down the stairs. Tsuna had a good mother.

"Get back here, perverted old man!" yelled Gokudera out the door. A man lazily put up a hand as he walked away.

"That's EXTREMELY unextreme! A doctor should find out what's wrong," yelled Ryohei-senpai. Takeshi slightly quickened his pace to match Tsuna's. The small brunet hadn't seen the boxer since going off with Hibari and was probably worried about the boxer's health if Gokudera was down there with their sempai.

"R-Ryohei-senpai? W-what are y-you d-doing here?" asked Tsuna as he glanced at his mother and then at the kitchen and finally at the little boy who had been sitting in the living room while Lancia had stayed with Tsuna upstairs. So Tsuna had a bad feeling then. Tsuna's mother smiled and went to the kitchen taking along the little boy as Tsuna blocked her view of the door.

"I came to EXTREMELY visit my annoying little brother!" cried the boxer in his usually deafening tone. Gokudera should not have let Ryohei-senpai follow the bomber to Tsuna's house. Takeshi had more trouble than usual grinning. The swordsman didn't understand Tamaki's mafia game very well, but what happened with Tsuna and that Vindice group had to be serious.

"And where are you going?" asked the kid, appearing from nowhere like the kid did when he was really into that mafia game. The strange man that Gokudera had been yelling at had almost gone down the street but stopped at the kid's command.

"Oh, you know, off to admire the beautiful sights this town has to offer, especially since I don't owe any favors to anyone here and can enjoy myself," said the man, putting his hand in his pockets as he looked over his shoulder.

"W-wait, are y-you D-Dr. Shamal?" asked Tsuna. The doctor's brown eyes landed on Tsuna and grew hard. Takeshi stepped forward, and those cold eyes landed on the swordsman, who dropped his grin and casually picked up Shigure Kintoki which had been leaning against the wall. Out of the corner of his eye, Takeshi saw Lancia-san step next to Tsuna and Gokudera glare coldly back at the man. The man smirked and turned back to the small brunet.

"Ah, the boy who was scared that his teeth would eat him when they fell out. Or is it the boy who wanted to be girl so he could marry his Aniki? Or perhaps the boy who thought he could become a man by putting on his underwear backwards?"

"Eh? Who are you talking about?" asked Takeshi as he tapped his sword against his shoulder.

"Why the cute brunet in the middle of course," said the man causally turning around. "If my instincts weren't so good, I would think he was a girl."

"Don't you dare talk about Tsuna-sama that way!" yelled Gokudera, his fireworks appearing in his hands. Takeshi had to ask Gokudera how the silver haired teen did that magic trick and if it would work with Shigure Kintoki.

"Tsuna-sama? This boy is your Tsuna-sama," said the man. He looked like someone had told him his favorite team had traded all their players for second stringers.

"And I thought doctors were supposed to be smart," said the kid with his own smirk. The man glanced at the kid before looking back to Tsuna.

"…A-are you D-Dr. Shamal?" Tsuna asked again. The man said nothing, and Tsuna started forward. Takeshi moved to match Tsuna, but the small brunet shook his head slightly. Tsuna also sent one of his firm coach looks at Lancia and Gokudera. Lancia nodded and didn't move, and Gokudera made his fireworks disappear. Tsuna stopped right in front of the man and stood as if he was facing the hardest pitcher in the league. Takeshi knew even though he couldn't see them that Tsuna's eyes were tinted that vibrant orange. "Please, Dr. Shamal. Help my brother."

The man's eyes widened, and his mouth opened in a fast "o." The man slouched and grinned.

"Would your twin brother be Sawada Tamaki?"

"Yes," answered Tsuna.

"Sorry, but I don't treat men, especially spoiled brats," said the doctor and turned to leave, but Tsuna used that tone.

"You will treat him."

"And what will you do if I don't?" asked the doctor casually, as if Tsuna's tone hadn't affected him. But the man didn't move to leave.

"I don't know," said Tsuna, and Takeshi could hear the tone fading under Tsuna's worry. "B-but you…I-I c-can't let my b-brother die."

"…I don't treat men," said the doctor.

"H-he's not a man," said Tsuna, and Takeshi almost stepped forward, but the kid stopped him. With the toy gun, the kid looked threatening, but if Tsuna needed help, Takeshi would get around the kid somehow. "H-he's my little brother. A-and he…he's dying. He's dying and…I don't know why!"

Takeshi tried to go to Tsuna, but suddenly he couldn't move. The kid had his toy gun against Takeshi's leg, and another black one pointed at Gokudera and Lancia. And the black eyes held the three in place.

"How can you know he's dying?" asked the doctor, ignoring Tsuna's trembling shoulders. "He could just have a cold."

"He knows," said the kid, and the black eyes moved to the doctor. But Takeshi still couldn't move. "His intuition is ten times better than the brat's."

"And so you sic him on me," said the doctor, "in an attempt to get me to heal your student a second time. I told you that I owed you no more favors."

"It's not my pathetic student who I am asking the favor for," said the kid. "It's for my dame one."

The doctor's eyebrows shot up, and the man's slouch disappeared.

"Sounds like you're planning," said the doctor, "and that's known to be dangerous."

"It is," said the kid. The doctor frowned.

"Dr. Shamal," said Tsuna too quiet.

"Look, kid, I don't trea—"

"You have to treat him," said Tsuna, and Takeshi could hear the tone return with an added sharpness. But the heaviness that filled the air was new. "Tamaki will not die."

A gun shot, and everyone but Tsuna and Reborn jerked under the sound. The doctor clicked his tongue and tried to hide his irregular movement by raising his hand to his head.

"You have some interesting students," said the doctor, running his fingers through his hair. He stooped and picked up broken, twisted pieces of metal. "You didn't need to destroy it. It was an almost harmless strain of Kuru."

"The only one who harms my students is me," said the kid.

"Possessive as always," said the doctor. "I guess this means you won't leave me alone."

"I never planned to."

"Fine," said the doctor as he headed back into the house. "I couldn't say no to such an old friend."

Tsuna didn't move as the doctor finally went in and up the stairs. In a quick movement (Tsuna had gotten much faster, too fast), the small brunet went out into the street.

"Hey, Tsuna, wait," said Takeshi, the kid finally letting him through.

"Takeshi, could—I need you to stay here," said Tsuna. "Please. I told Fon-sensei I would go to see I-pin and Lambo."

"Gokudera can stay here and watch the doctor and your mom," said Takeshi. "Right, Gokudera?"

"I don't take orders from you," growled the silver haired teen. Tsuna locked gazes with Gokudera, and the silver haired teen's face softened. "But I can make sure the perverted doctor does his job and stays away from Tsuna-sama's mother."

"Thank you, Gokudera," said Tsuna. He turned to Takeshi, who grinned. He wasn't leaving Tsuna alone, not when Tsuna was scared enough to run away. With a sigh, Tsuna looked to Takeshi's right at Lancia. "Are you still in my custody too? I'm not the future Vongola Decimo."

"You are," said the kid, returning to his perch on Tsuna's hair. "Or you will be. My students do not become nobodies."

"What about Tamaki?" asked Tsuna.

"I have information that an offshoot organization of Vongola will soon have an opening."

-break-

Tsuna wasn't ready to deal him at the moment, but the small brunet knew he couldn't ignore the lurking prefect any longer. The small brunet took a detour and stopped at a small park that he had played in with Tamaki when they were tiny and Tamaki hadn't gotten si—

"Tsuna," said Takeshi softly. Tsuna nodded, confirming that the prefect was the one following them. Lancia's fists were clenched, and Tsuna had to catch the man's green eyes.

"It's okay, Lancia-san," said Tsuna. "He's a friend."

Lancia nearly frowned, but Tsuna sent the man a pleading look. The man nodded sharply and went back to scanning the area. Tsuna didn't know why the man was still following Tsuna around since Tsuna wasn't the Vongola Decimo, but Tsuna had started to appreciate the tall man's presence. He had a similar silent understanding like both Yamamotos.

Tsuna sat on a bench where his mother had often sat and chatted with other mothers as Tamaki and Tsuna played in the sandbox or the swings while the other kids more or less ignored the two. Tamaki didn't like playing with the other kids, and Tsuna had enjoyed playing under the big blue sky with his little brother.

Without a word to Tsuna, Takeshi had started a conversation with Lancia at the entrance of the park. Tsuna leaned back on the bench and stared at the sky. He had no idea why the prefect had been following them since Tsuna had left the house, but considering the prefect had not attacked Tsuna the prefect had not been looking for the promised fight. Maybe. Hopefully. If not, Tsuna was going to end up bitten to death. Perhaps it would be over before Takeshi and Lancia tried to interfere and got bitten to death too.

"Midori tanabiku namimori no~"

Blinking Tsuna watched as a yellow ball of fluff floated through the air and chirped out a song. Was that the Namimori Middle's anthem?

"Dai naku shou naku nami ga ii~"

Oh. The yellow ball was a bird, one of the ones that had been with that strange man who hid behind the two ugly twins. Tsuna didn't like to think about the bald, pale identical men. They were barely human and yet they moved together as if they were one being instead of two. Tsuna and Tamaki could never move with that sort of understanding.

"Itsumo kawaranu~"

The bird circled Tsuna's head, distracting Tsuna's thoughts.

"Sukoyaka kenage~"

Was the bird singing the Namimori Middle anthem? It had something to do with Hibari then. It had to. No one else liked that anthem.

"Aah, tomo ni uta—aah!"

Tsuna barely reacted in time to catch the bird as it fell out of the air.

"Reborn!" Tsuna said as the little bird lay frozen in his palm. "Why'd you do that?"

"Leon didn't like him," said the hitman from his seat on Tsuna's head. Tsuna wasn't sure he wanted to understand what the hitman meant by that explanation. The chameleon was still sleeping.

Tsuna traced the tiny feathers with his fingers and recalled the green rough skin and cute yellow eyes that had been closed since Tsuna woke up the second time at the hospital. The bird chirped, responding to the slim fingers barely touching the skin underneath the yellow plumage. The tiny bird fluffed itself under Tsuna's hand and chirped again, pushing the hand away. Tsuna respected the small bird's wish and removed the hand, and the tiny yellow ball of fluff preened itself quickly before its tiny black eyes stared straight into Tsuna's face.

"Aah, tomo ni utaou~ Namimori chuu~"

Tsuna smiled a little as the bird flew off Tsuna's hand and landed on a head of black hair. The yellow ball of fluff should look strange on Namimori Middle's head prefect's head, but instead the bird seemed perfect nestled in Hibari's hair.

"Hibari," said Tsuna, not knowing what else to say under those steel grey eyes. Hibari didn't look happy (or rather indifferent which was as close to happy as Tsuna had ever seen him), but the prefect didn't look angry either. Maybe Tsuna would get away without being bitten to death.

"Herbivore," said Hibari, that unreadable expression scaring Tsuna. Usually Tsuna could tell after examining a person's face what the person was feeling, but this time it felt like even Hibari didn't know what he was feeling. "Baby."

"Hibari Kyoya," said the hitman. "Did you need something?"

"Why are you following the herbivore?" asked the prefect.

"The same reason you are," Reborn answered, and Tsuna wished the hitman would get off the small brunet's head. Maybe then Tsuna could begin to understand what the two were talking about since the prefect was currently going from unreadable to annoyed. Tsuna had no idea why the hitman's answer had brought the prefect one step closer to biting Tsuna to death.

"The herbivore doesn't interest me," said the prefect.

"Herbivore, herbivore," chirped the bird.

"W-what's his name?" asked Tsuna, trying to keep the conversation from becoming more threatening to his health. The prefect gave Tsuna a flat look, and Tsuna pointed to the fluffy bird.  It hopped off Hibari's head and glided onto Tsuna's finger.

"Herbivore, herbivore," the bird continued bouncing on Tsuna's finger. Tsuna smiled again at the strange ball of yellow feathers.

"It doesn't need a name," said the prefect. Tsuna glanced at Hibari subtly, trying not to further aggravate the raven haired teen. The prefect had that indifferent expression that Tsuna was familiar with, and the small brunet let out a quiet breath in relief.

"W-what happened to the other birds?"

"They went to make nests," said Hibari, as if the information should be obvious. It probably was. Tsuna was no good at figuring out animal behavior and was still barely passing Biology with Hana's help.

"O-oh," Tsuna said. The bird had stopped bouncing and sat staring at Tsuna. Tsuna had curled his finger to make it easier for the bird to perch on. Hibari grunted and started to leave. The bird chirped and flew off Tsuna's finger and landed on Hibari's shoulder.

"It's Hibird," said the prefect before heading out of the park without giving either Lancia or Takeshi a glance. Both returned the favor and pretended not to see the prefect with a bird perched on his shoulder.

"Is it time to go yet?" asked Takeshi. Tsuna nodded carefully to keep Reborn from falling off his head. The small brunet feared the consequences of such an action.

"So he is part of your famiglia then," said Lancia.

"I don't have a famiglia, Lancia-san," said Tsuna. The tall man smiled that smile from earlier, the one that had convinced Tsuna that the small brunet had done the right thing making that deal with the Vindice.

"Yes, you do."

-break-

Random Notes (Shamal edition + Chapter):

Shamal

-comes for Tamaki’s birthday (due to the Skull disease)

-stays as the Namimori Middle’s school nurse under the pretense on hitting on women who don’t know his reputation (actually wants to see how Gokudera is faring—though he does do the other thing)

-scared to death of Gokudera’s stepmother

-sees Gokudera as a student (and somewhat errant son [though he’d say “little brother” so he doesn’t feel old])

-blames himself for how self-destructive Gokudera is

-appreciates how Tsuna and his family take care of Gokudera (and so doesn’t mind giving his loyalty to this kid who saved his son-I mean student)

-respects Reborn but that doesn’t mean he likes him (since he doesn’t like men even platonically)

“The Vindice do not know that,” said Lancia, attempting to keep his tone hard and not sharp. “If I am found with someone else, your whole famiglia will be in danger.”

“I don’t have a fam—”

“Your family then,” Lancia conceded, allowing that discussion to remain between the sun arcobaleno and the child. “Your mother, brothers. Your little sister and your best friends. Even those you only know in passing at school. The Vindice would not hesitate to eradicate them to send a message.”

Shadows and brown hair soon obscured the man’s view of the boy’s face, and Lancia bit back a grunt. He did not want to be hard on the boy. This child had enough people around him that were harsh enough to get him back on his feet. But Lancia was responsible for bringing the Vindice’s attention on this boy, and he would not bring ruin to another famiglia.

“I’m sorry,” the boy said in a whisper so quiet, Lancia wondered if he had heard it.

“Apologies have their time and place,” said Lancia softly. He bent down onto his knees to lock eyes with the guilt-ridden gaze hidden in shadows. “But there is a time for actions. Show me that you understand the dangers and allow me to stay by your side. Consider that there are those who have more right than me to be there as well, ones who would fight with and for you if you let them. People who want to remain under their sky and never see it fall.”

“Why?” the boy said quietly.

“You should ask them,” said Lancia with a shrug and a small smile. The boy unbent and looked straight at Lancia.

“Why do you?”

Lancia clicked his tongue and ruffled the wild mane of brown hair on the boy’s head.

“Do I need to answer that, Tsunayoshi?”

The boy paused and then shook his head. He blinked and tilted his head.

“Tsunayoshi?”

“You have not taken on the mantle of Vongola Decimo, so it would be unfair of me to call you that,” said Lancia. Wait. In Japan wasn’t it rude to call someone by their first name—oh, it was. The man’s cheek reddened, and he gave the boy a crooked grin. “I apologize. I forgot about your Japanese culture. Sawada then.”

“No,” the boy said with a firm shake of his head. “Call me Tsuna. Please?”

“Tsuna,” said Lancia, testing the name out as he stood. “Then you should call me Lancia. Should we hurry down and help your mother prepare breakfast?”

Tsuna nodded, and Lancia let the boy go down the stairs first as the man made sure no threats had entered the house since his last check. He was glad to note that most of the gloom from yesterday had disappeared, and he (along with many others) would do his best to keep it that way.

-break-

Kentaro Katsuya entered his classroom two minutes before the bell rung. He had no need to come early, seeing as he had no one to talk to and his seat was usually taken when he got here. No one sat in it today, but Kentaro inwardly shrugged. Apparently Dame-Tsuna’s group was running late today.

Plopping his bag beside his seat, Kentaro swung into his seat and slumped into his arms. Another day of trying to keep his grades high enough to enter high school and hope his life will get better when he gets there. Maybe find someone who will talk to him more than just occasionally or as part of a project.

He used to be able to tell himself that at least he wasn’t Dame-Tsuna, but…people talked to Dame-Tsuna. People who were too good to talk to him. Both school idols, the top female and male students of their class, and even Hibari who no one thought talked to anyone. And yet not one of them took notice of Kentaro except to ask to use his seat. Like only Dame-Tsuna mattered to them…

As expected, Dame-Tsuna ran through the door seconds before the second bell rang. The strange, Italian man that had also taken to following Dame-Tsuna stuck his head in the door. His gaze fell on Yamamoto and Gokudera. The rude transfer student nodded while Yamamoto looked away. Huh. The second was a strange reaction.

Dame-Tsuna plopped into his seat and made a quiet, yelping sound. Kentaro turned to see the small brunet cowering under Kurokawa’s sharp gaze. He must have set her off again. Kentaro decided to leave for lunch in the cafeteria faster than normal today. He had accidentally stayed once a bit too long when she had that look on her face and nearly been pushed from his seat.

The teacher entered, and math class started. A brief peek to the side revealed that Dame-Tsuna was working on those older worksheets again. He had fallen behind, Kentaro noted. The boy was pathetic, as he had always been. As he had been since Kentaro had known hi—

A paper landed on his desk. Kentaro blinked and then picked the paper up. He made to open it when a rolled-up bit of paper hit Kentaro’s hand. Looking up, wide brown eyes filled a face that shook back and forth. A tint of red filled the cheeks under the alarmed eyes before Dame-Tsuna calmed down enough to point backwards to where Yamamoto sat.

The former baseball star (the news that he had quit the baseball team had shocked the whole school) had already slumped behind his propped-up book in an effort to hide his napping. Huh. Strange thing #2. Since becoming part of Dame-Tsuna’s group, Kurokawa hadn’t let Yamamoto sleep in class. Not without boring a hole in his head with her glare.

With an annoyed grunt Kentaro passed the note back to Himiko and pointed to Yamamoto. She gave a face of disgust at Dame-Tsuna before handing the note back with the same non-verbal instruction. Kentaro subtly followed the note’s journey through three more desks before it landed next to Yamamoto’s head. The book obscured Kentaro’s view, but a hand snatched the note fairly quickly.

The book suddenly fell forward, and a sharp gaze overlooked Kentaro and fell on Dame-Tsuna.Dame-Tsuna matched the sharp gaze with a hard one of his own, one that glowed with that orange tint those narrowed brown eyes sometimes gained. And then Yamamoto grinned widely, one of those that only appeared around Dame-Tsuna.

Kentaro instantly turned his attention back to the formulas on the board. He had nothing to do with Dame-Tsuna and his posse. He was an average (at best) middle school student. One who would pass with passable grades and go to some mediocre high school. Hopefully one far away from no-good classmates who somehow garner a false popularity without even trying.

Scribbling down notes, he did not turn to the side again.

-break-

Takeshi swung his sword a couple of times slowly enough for the Shigure Kintoki to remain in its wooden form as he looked back at the entrance to the park. Tsuna hadn't come yet, but according to the note he would be here soon.

Hana had already claimed a swing, and Gokudera had leaned against the large dinosaur that kids used to crawl in and out of. But Tsuna still wasn't here. The sword came down harder than Takeshi meant, and it flashed into katana mode before Takeshi loosened his grip and returned it back to bamboo sword. Tsuna would get here. The small brunet didn't break his promises.

The tall brunet hadn't expected Tsuna to agree to a fight so soon. Not that Takeshi was complaining. The whole day at school had been boring without Tsuna. They were in the same classroom, but Takeshi had not looked at Tsuna once after the note, knowing that doing so might make Tsuna forget the importance of this fight.

Tsuna had eluded both Hana and Gokudera's attempts to get close to him after the note too, and that had Takeshi thinking that maybe he hadn't picked the right swing. But the tall brunet had to take a crack at it. Tsuna wouldn't get it if Takeshi used words. Hana had used words, and Tsuna still didn't get it. So Takeshi had to try to get to Tsuna without words, or else Tsuna would never get it. And they would all lose.

Lancia walked into the park, and Takeshi grinned at the tall man. Wherever Lancia was, Tsuna couldn't be too far away. The tall man didn't like letting Tsuna out of his sight.

"Are you ready?" asked a quiet voice. Takeshi's eyes widened, and his grin fell. When had Tsuna gotten so good at hiding even when he wasn't really hiding?

Takeshi nodded, and Shigure Kintoki changed into a katana. Fon gave the swordsman a knowing smile and a slight bow before taking his place directly between the two. The small brunet pulled out a pair of orange rimmed glasses and put them on before he took a deep breath and shifted into a stance that Takeshi had not seen before. Leaning back a bit, Tsuna lifted and bent his right leg in front of him as he balanced on his left. His left arm stood bent in front of him, and his right stretched prepared at his side. But it was the small brunet's hands that worried the young swordsman.

They usually sat palm upwards or out, fingers close together and pointed in the same direction. But the fingers were curled into the palm, almost as if into reluctant fists, and the pointer and middle fingers of each hand stood hooked above the rest. Takeshi could only hope that his dad's gift would throw the small brunet off enough to keep Takeshi from getting beat up too badly. Tsuna would never forgive himself if Takeshi ended up in the hospital, and that would be the out that ended the whole game.

The kid-sized martial artist lifted his hand, and Takeshi pulled back his sword. The hand fell, and Takeshi swung his sword forward, but he had to shift the swing to block the hand headed for his head. Immediately, he used the Shigure Soen Ryu's seventh form to block the blows he could barely see coming. He dug his feet into the ground to keep from being pushed back.

Takeshi opened his mouth and kept spinning his sword. Tsuna became visible for an instant (hadn't Tsuna put on regular glasses? Why was he wearing an orange sunglasses that looked like a visor?), and Takeshi quickly took the opportunity to match the small brunet's breathing. The strikes came at that hopelessly unseen speed, but Takeshi stepped around the hands that shot towards him, trying to bite into him with those hooked fingers.

A grin tugged Takeshi's lips briefly. Tsuna wasn't holding back.

A hand attacked his face, and Takeshi brought up his sword to deflect the blow, and a second closed in on his stomach. Takeshi slipped one of his hands off his sword and tugged on the emblem that hung from Shigure Kintoki's hilt. The emblem flashed bluish-purple. A second sword blocked the second blow, freezing all action as Tsuna stared at the second sword.

"Hey Tsuna," said Takeshi quietly. "Did you know that the emblems that Dad gave us grant wishes?"

The small brunet continued to stare from behind the orange tinted visor, and now that Takeshi was closer, the swordsman could see a flame the same light orange as the visor flickering on Tsuna's forehead. The pressure from both the attacking hands lessened as confusion painted Tsuna's expression.

"Wishes?" the small brunet whispered in that deep tone that Tsuna used when he would not be ignored.

"Yep," said the young swordsman. He narrowed his eyes and changed his grip on both swords. "And Dad's granted mine."

The swords flashed as Takeshi thrust them at a speed equal to Tsuna's in Takeshi's own ninth form, Ni Tsubame no Kuchibashi. The blades grazed the small brunet as they thrust at Tsuna like swallow beaks, and Takeshi changed to the eighth form, Shinotsuku Ame, and aimed around Tsuna instead of at the small brunet, hoping to confuse the young martial artist.

Tsuna's uniform gained a few more tears, but none of the slashes cut into the small brunet's skin. Both blades soon met nothing but air. Takeshi let the two slip out of his hands and grabbed the twin emblems hanging from the two swords. The two became four, Takeshi dropped the extra two, using one to execute the Shigure Soen Ryu's third form and kick it towards the small brunet.

Tsuna dodged the sword, but the second nicked the small brunet's shoulder. Takeshi used the resulting wince as an opportunity to move in and thrust his two remaining swords at Tsuna. But Tsuna caught one and blocked the other. The caught sword was yanked out of Takeshi's grip, but the taller brunet let it go and used Samidare, switching the remaining sword to the hand that was now empty and slashing at Tsuna's injured shoulder. Tsuna stopped the diagonal slash.

"Sorry," whispered Tsuna, and Takeshi's sword was knocked out of the young swordsman's hand. An instant later, Takeshi found himself on the ground with Tsuna's curled knuckles digging into his throat.

"The fight is over. The winner is Sawada Tsunayoshi," said Fon, in a voice that held a quiet pride. Takeshi grinned to hide his wince as Tsuna's fingers released the force biting into Takeshi's windpipe. The hand uncurled and stretched out towards Takeshi as brown eyes flickered worriedly over Takeshi's prone form. Takeshi's grin widened, as he took the hand and let it help him up.

"You're really strong, Tsuna," said Takeshi. The brown eyes hid behind brown hair and their new layer of uncolored glass, and Takeshi let the hand go to wrap an arm around Tsuna's shoulders, leaning onto them more than he meant as a spike of pain shot through him and causing the worried gaze to return. "But I'm not bad either."

"No," Tsuna said, his expression going from worried to relieved. A small smile lit the small brunet's lips. "Takeshi is strong too."

Takeshi's grin stretched his cheeks further. Home run!

"I have to say, when Takeshi claimed you were holding back, I thought he might have been exaggerating a bit," said Hana, coming towards the two. "But I see that you were acting more monkeyish than what I had thought."

"Shut up, stupid wench," growled Gokudera. "Tsuna-sama had every reason to hold back if he wanted."

"Maybe against you," Hana said. "But against Takeshi, holding back was ridiculous. I can almost sympathize with our violent head prefect now."

"Are you saying that I am weaker than the sword freak and that man?" demanded Gokudera, his hands twitching over his pockets.

"Well, you are, aren't you?" said Hana. Before the silver haired teen took out those strange fireworks, Takeshi threw his other arm around the angry teen's shoulders.

"Now, now, Gokudera, Hana just hasn't seen you fight lately," said the young swordsman.

"Let go of me, sword freak!" yelled Gokudera.

"I would, but then I might fall," said Takeshi, shifting his weight to lean more on Gokudera. The swordsman squeezed the small brunet's shoulders to keep that worry from creeping back onto Tsuna's face. "Making more than one sword is tiring."

"How did you do that?" asked Hana, scrutinizing the remaining Shigure Kintoki critically.

"I wished for it," said Takeshi, his grin refusing to leave his face. His dad's emblem had given Takeshi a great gift, and Takeshi would use it to protect Tsuna and those important to both of them.

"You wished for it?" the tall girl said skeptically.

"Yep. The Augurio grant wishes," said Takeshi. The tall girl stared unbelievingly at him, but Gokudera stiffened under the tall brunet's arm.

"The Augurio?" said Gokudera. Takeshi's grin shrunk faintly under the silver haired teen's tone. Gokudera had used a similar tone to explain the Vindice. And Lancia, who had been standing nearby silently, had also started at the name.

"They belonged to my ancestor and his…friends," Tsuna whispered. "They were meant to help them. But they didn't know what they did."

"I guess that means your ancestors and mine were friends too then," said Takeshi. He liked the idea. It was almost like Tsuna and him were related even if they weren't.

"So they multiply swords?" said Hana.

"No," said the kid from Tsuna's head. Maybe Tsuna had learned his new sneakiness from the kid. "That is just what the young Yamamoto's does."

"So they all do different things then?" asked Hana. "What does Tsuna's do then?"

"We don't know," said Fon as he glanced at Tsuna's shoulder. Takeshi would let the martial art master have the space on Tsuna's uninjured shoulder, but Takeshi hadn't been exaggerating when he said he would fall over if he let go of Tsuna and Gokudera's shoulders.

"Guess the mystery can wait," said Hana. "Takeshi needs to get back to his house before he wastes all his energy trying to stand."

Takeshi let his lips fall into an appreciative smile as hands came from both sides to support him as they began to go back to Takesushi. Takeshi couldn't wait to tell his dad all about the fight, and maybe Dad would explain why Gokudera and Lancia associated his dad's Augurio with Tamaki's mafia game.

-break-

The alarm beeped insistently, and for the first time in a long while, Tsuna glared at the device. His arms groaned in pain, and his legs protested every move, painfully. And Hibari would no doubt want to fight today. Or Ryohei-sempai would want to drag Tsuna into the boxing club. Then Gokudera would try to blow the boxer up, and Tsuna would have to stop the bomber. Hana would make a quip about monkeys, making Gokudera angrier and harder to calm down. And Takeshi wouldn't be there to try and help Tsuna calm everyone down and make it worse somehow, because Yamamoto-san had basically tied Takeshi to the bed until his body was rested enough. Apparently, Tsuna and Takeshi's fight had taken a lot more strength out of the former baseball player.

Tsuna didn't know whether to be impressed or distressed that Takeshi had decided to honor their deal by returning to the baseball club for a day and then quitting again. Tsuna snuggled under the covers and wondered if just this once he could take the day off.

He rolled out from under the covers, but he couldn't completely avoid the kick that sent him flying out of bed.

"Ciaossu, Dame-Tsuna," said a mean voice. Tsuna sighed, wishing the demon would go away. It wasn't even 6 yet. He could afford a few more minutes yet. A green gun sat inches in from Tsuna's face, and Tsuna smiled slightly.

"Good morning, Leon," Tsuna whispered. The gun glowed and changed into the chameleon, who proceeded to jump onto Tsuna's head. Reborn muttered something that sounded suspiciously like "traitor," before turning to leave.

"By the way," said the hitman with a smirk, "if you're not ready in ten minutes, I'll make sure to add something special to your bentos."

Tsuna immediately shot up and hurried to change and get downstairs. He had no idea what the hitman would be put in the bentos, but he didn't want to find out. In three minutes flat he had changed and was hurrying downstairs. He tripped and fell down. Or he would have if Lancia hadn’t caught him by his collar from behind (when had Lancia become so background to his life that he didn’t even blink at his sudden appearance). He did hit his shin against the railing though.

"Tsu-kun, are you alright?" asked his mother, and Tsuna blinked wearily down at her. Leon scuttled out of Tsuna's hands where the boy had instinctively put him. The green chameleon jumped onto Tsuna's shoulder and licked Tsuna's cheek. Tsuna smiled.

"You shouldn't ignore your mother,” Lancia gently reminded Tsuna as the man helped the teen regain his balance.

"Ah, sorry. I'm alright," said Tsuna, righting himself. The trip and catch had irritated the muscle pains, and Tsuna flinched. Hopefully the tumble wouldn't wake Fuuta. The boy was currently sleeping in the downstairs guestroom that he shared with Lancia whenever Tsuna could convince the man to sleep (he did sleep, didn’t he?).

Tamaki wasn't pleased with the arrangement, but Yamamoto-san didn't have any more space and Lancia refused to leave Tsuna's side whenever possible. The man had given the excuse that the Vindice could come at any time. And Fuuta couldn’t be separated from Lancia, so he came too.

"Are you sure, Tsu-kun?" asked his mother, looking him over as he reached the bottom step. He realized that she was holding a spatula, meaning she had left breakfast on the stove in order to run over and check on her clumsy son. How long had it been since Tsuna had seen such a face on his mother? Tsuna could not help but smile to dismiss her worry.

"Do you need help?" asked Tsuna, gesturing to the spatula.

"Tsu-kun," said his mother quietly. She squatted down a little to lower herself to Tsuna's eye level. "Mama was worried when you didn't come home the other day. I didn't want to interrupt you since you seemed so focused when you came back, and you looked so much like your father but…Mama can't keep pretending."

Tsuna froze as she wrapped her arms around his head and pulled him into herself in such a way that he could barely breathe. He couldn't move his arms to return the hug.

"Mama knows that Tsu-kun doesn't need her," she whispered so quietly that Tsuna couldn't help but think of the whistling wind. "But Mama needs Tsu-kun. So please." The whisper became more like a fluttering breeze, and Tsuna could hear his heartbeat over it. "Please be careful."

The trembling of his mother's arms shook Tsuna, and he wiggled in her grip. Her arms loosened, but Tsuna quickly threw his now free arms around her.

"I will," he whispered. A knock on the door made Tsuna jump, and Nana smiled at Tsuna's wide eyes.

"I wonder who that could be at this hour," said Nana, letting go and going to answer the door. Tsuna stretched his arm to stop her but pulled it back. He could tell there wasn't any trouble on the other side of the door despite the early hour, so she would be alright opening the door. But Tsuna had hoped to have his mother to himself for a little longer. "Good morning. And who are you?"

"Good morning," said a tall white-haired teen Tsuna hadn't seen before. "Is this the Sawada residence?"

-break-

"I told you it's too early! We'll come back later," said Shoichi protested. His red hair bobbed as its owner bowed at the woman at the door. Why did his companions have always go out of their way to embarrass him? Shoichi wasn't even sure this was the place. He had never been to Tsuna's house before. "Sorry, m'am. We didn't-"

"Irie-kun!" cried a familiar voice, and Shoichi looked up to see a familiar smile.

"T-Tsuna-senpai," said the redhead, jerking out of his bow. His glasses nearly fell off his face, but he caught them and clumsily straightened them. "Y-you're awake."

"I told you he would be," said the white haired teen. "Good morning, Tsunayoshi-kun."

Tsuna gazed at Shoichi's companion warily.

"G-good morning," Tsuna whispered, the stutter less noticeable than Shoichi remembered. And did the small brunet look taller somehow? "W-w—who are you?"

"So direct. That's unusual coming from you," said the white haired teen. "My name's Byakuran."

"Byakuran?" Tsuna repeated.

"Just Byakuran," said the white haired teen smiling in a way that creeped most people out. Shoichi held back another sigh at the white haired teen's behavior. The redhead had not wanted to bring Byakuran to meet Tsuna for this very reason. Now Tsuna would shrink back further and…Shoichi stared. Other than slightly wider brown eyes and uncomfortable shifting of his feet, Tsuna didn't move. "And he's Fran."

"Yo," said another shorter teen from behind Byakuran. Tsuna blinked but didn't jump into the air like most people did when Fran popped out of nowhere. The small brunet did stare at Fran's hat.

"Um…Fran has a…unique fashion sense," said Shoichi, rubbing the back of his head like he had picked up from Takeshi. The habit distracted him from his churning stomach. A stomach that churned painfully as Shoichi caught sight of the man standing behind Tsuna. Shoichi bit back a yelp, and Tsuna blinked and looked over his shoulder.

“O-oh, sorry, I forgot,” said Tsuna with a sheepish grin that looked like Takeshi’s. “Th-this is Lancia. He’s b-been staying with us.”

"Not very welcoming is he," said Byakuran, amusing himself with Tsuna's reactions, or rather lack of reactions to his creepiness. The interest in the white haired teen's violet eyes made Shoichi's stomach twist further.

“H-he takes a while t-to warm up to s-strangers,” Tsuna defended. “Lancia, this is Irie-kun and h-his friends.”

“I’ve heard of you from Gokudera and the others,” said the tall foreign man. He nodded slightly at Shoichi, easing the redhead’s stomach. “It is a pleasure to meet you.” His light green eyes narrowed into a glare and fell on Byakuran. “However you have questionable tastes in companions.”

“L-Lancia,” Tsuna cried.

“I wasn’t expecting this watch dog,” said Byakuran, his own eyes narrowing into slits. “Interesting.”

"Please stop," said Shoichi, pressing a hand against his swishing stomach. The last time those violet eyes had gone so sharp, the man they had been directed at had ended up in an asylum.

"Tsu-kun, you're being rude. Invite your friends in," said the woman. Her smile reflected the one Tsuna had worn upon seeing Shoichi. "You are staying for breakfast?"

"Of course. Who would miss a meal from such a beautiful woman?" said Byakuran smoothly, making Shoichi more worried and embarrassed. There was no reason for the white haired teen to turn on the charm. The woman blushed at Byakuran's manners and lead them inside, oblivious or ignorant to the dark disapproval on Lancia’s face. Tsuna had sent a pleading glance at the man that Shoichi had often seen directed at Gokudera and Takeshi, and the man shifted to move to remain close to Tsuna’s shoulder. "So this is the great Tsunayoshi-kun's house."

The tall white-haired teen continued to wear that deceptively sweet smile as he looked around the small eating area. Shoichi was sure his face had reached a shade of red that matched his hair at the comment. He risked a glance at Tsuna who had on a strange expression that looked between uncomfortable and wary.

"I expected more," said Fran. Shoichi glared at the frog-hatted teen.

"Ah, but Irie-kun has never been here before, has he?" asked Byakuran, strangely startling violet eyes landing on the small brunet. Tsuna nodded in a jerky manner. "Still, it is rather hard to believe that this is the great Tsunayoshi-kun that we heard so much about."

"Heard about?" asked Tsuna. Shoichi's face heated to a shade that had to be redder than his hair.

"Inventor-chan talked about you all the time," said Fran flatly. "He would get all excited when he received an email from Genius-chan and would go all fan-mode and tell us everything that was written in it. He was worse those three times you sent one."

"You didn't have to put it like that!" cried Shoichi, clutching the sides of his head to cover his embarrassment. "And please, don't call Gokudera-san that."

"T-That's okay," said Tsuna, quietly. The soft tone convinced Shoichi to look up at the small brunet. A small smile rested on Tsuna's face, and the heat in Shoichi's cheeks cooled. "G-Gokudera was happy to receive your emails too."

"Did he…did he read them to you?" asked Shoichi. He realized he was acting like a child and peeking from behind his fingers, but he couldn't help it. Ever since the small brunet had lead (because Tsuna had lead, no matter how much he protested) the rescue of Shoichi in that alley, a brightness seemed to envelop the image of this small brunet in Shoichi's head.

The brightness had grown when Tsuna had risked himself to protect Shoichi and the Box despite not being a skilled fighter. And each email that Gokudera sent only made the brightness worse as the other genius recounted stories of how Tsuna was getting stronger and fought Hibari daily and was the one who made the bentos and even more recently fought off some very strong delinquents. Somehow, Shoichi had begun to consider this small brunet's opinion almost more important than those of the scientific community or even Gokudera. If Gokudera had been sharing those emails with Tsuna then…

"Y-yes," said the small brunet, a redness dusting his cheeks. Shoichi's stomach settled and warmed under the word. "I-I wanted to know how you were doing, and since Gokudera and you exchanged emails, so I-I asked him. A-and then he always wanted to read the emails…"

"Senpai, is it strange to call two male teens adorable?" asked Fran.

"Not when they are adorable," said Byakuran, making both Shoichi and Tsuna turn deeper red.

"Byakuran! Stop playing around!" cried Shoichi, hands in fists at his side. "And it is weird, Fran. Don't say that!"

"What a lively group of boys," said the woman who had to be Tsuna's mother as she bought in several dishes full of food. Tsuna took a few of them and helped her place them on the table, Lancia still hovering nearby. "It's so good to have Tsuna's friends over."

"We're not friends," said Byakuran, staring intensely at Tsuna before closing hard violet eyes. Tsuna moved to stand between the teen and his mother, and Shoichi couldn't blame the small brunet. The redhead knew a meeting between Tsuna and Byakuran wouldn't end well. The two were too different, and Tsuna was the sort that Byakuran would want to tease mercilessly. But given Lancia’s own shift to stand an inch in front of Tsuna’s shoulder, this meeting could not have gone worse. "We were merely accompanying Irie-kun."

"Oh," said Tsuna's mother, her shoulders slumping a little.

"W-what he means i-is we h-haven't met before," said Tsuna quickly. "B-but maybe we can get to become f-friends later. A-and Irie-kun is already my friend."

"Irie-kun?" said Tsuna's mother. "Isn't that Gokudera-kun's pen pal?"

Tsuna nodded, and his mother's smile brightened.

"Enjoy the food as my advanced thanks for taking care of my Tsu-kun," she said as she went back to the kitchen. Shoichi inwardly groaned. She probably meant well, but…

"So we can eat as much of this as we want?" asked Fran sounding as interested as he only did when it came to food. Tsuna nodded and placed a plate on the table in front of where Fran was standing. The monotone teen sat down in the chair facing the plate, and Tsuna handed Fran a serving spoon. Without hesitation, the monotone teen started piling food on his plate.

"My, my, our Fran is hungry," said Byakuran, taking a seat across from Fran. Tentatively Tsuna handed the white haired teen a plate which Byakuran took with that same unnerving smile. "You should sit too, Irie-kun."

"Is that alright?" asked Shoichi moving to sit beside Byakuran.

"Mom likes it when people eat her food," said Tsuna, putting a third plate down a seat over from the one Shoichi had headed towards and directing the redhead to sit away from the white-haired teen. Shoichi would have argued over the seating, but Byakuran interrupted the redhead before Shoichi could even begin.

"So I get to sit next to the great Tsunayoshi-kun?" said the white haired teen, and the small brunet's shoulders tensed as did the man near him. "What an honor."

"Byakuran! Don’t you think that’s enough?" Shoichi pleaded. He moved to grab the plate and placate Byakuran by sitting down next to the white haired teen, but Tsuna caught Shoichi's nervous gaze and gave the redhead a reassuring smile. The small brunet sat in the seat next to Byakuran, and Lancia stood behind Tsuna’s chair. Tsuna handed a plate back to Lancia, and the man filled his plate without taking his eyes off the creepy albino.

"H-how are long are you staying?" asked Tsuna, keeping his brown eyes on Shoichi.

"Mom says I can't go overseas for another year," said Shoichi, calming down and taking his seat. "The company who bought my Box design said I could continue work on the Boxes in Japan. Otherwise I would have lost a once in a lifetime deal."

"They only agreed on the condition that you let Senpai continue stalking you in Japan," said Fran, half the food on his plate gone. Tsuna wisely served himself and Shoichi before Fran finished his plate.

"I am keeping Irie-kun company. That is not called stalking," said Byakuran. Somehow his smile had become even creepier. Shoichi hadn't seen it get this bad before.

"It's stalking when Shoichi-san says to leave him alone," said Fran as he reached for more food. Byakuran grabbed the smaller teen's wrist.

"Irie-kun was just playing," said Byakuran. The white haired teen's tone made Shoichi shiver. "And I think you've had enough food."

"Shoichi-san, senpai's trying to starve me again," said Fran in a childish whine that didn't match his indifferent expression.

"Byakuran, please let Fran eat," said Shoichi with his hand back on his stomach. "You know how he gets without food."

Slowly Byakuran let Fran's wrist go, and the frog-hatted teen piled up his plate with twice as much food as before. Shoichi put a full spoon into his mouth in case Fran decided this was one of those times the constantly hungry teen would make the others' food "disappear." A groan came from Shoichi's side.

"Reborn," said Tsuna as if the name was the source of all his trouble. "Why'd you take my food?"

"A mafia boss that doesn't use his mouth properly shouldn't be allowed to eat," said a weird grinning baby as he ate Tsuna's food on the other side of the table. Tsuna groaned again and muttered something unintelligible under his breath. "You should have thought of that before you spoke in a way unbefitting of the Vongola heir."

"T-Tsuna-senpai," said Shoichi softly. "Is that your brother?"

"No!" Tsuna yelled. Shoichi jumped at the uncharacteristic outburst. "T-this is Reborn. He's my-he's my brother's tutor."

"Your brother's tutor?" said Shoichi as he stared with worried shock at Tsuna. What kind of brother did Tsuna have to need a baby as a tutor? Maybe it was a joke or a game Tsuna played with the child?

"Your brother must be a weirdo like senpai then," said Fran.

"Who's a weirdo, Fran-chan?" asked Byakuran, and Fran subtly straightened at the added suffix.

"No one, senpai," said Fran.

"Good boy," said Byakuran. "So tell us more about this brother of yours, Tsunayoshi-kun. I have never heard of him before."

"W-w—well, he's—"

"What's with all the freaks in here so early in the morning?" asked a harsh voice. A boy who looked exactly like Tsuna (except Tsuna wouldn't wear such an expression) stomped into the room. Shoichi noticed vaguely that Lancia didn’t even look at the loud look-alike. "And you! Stop waking me up with electric shocks!"

"I just want my student to be charged for the day," said the baby with a pout, making Shoichi more worried. This was a game, right?

"I'm not a battery!" growled the Tsuna look-alike.

"This is interesting," said Byakuran, and the violet eyes sharpened further. "I didn't expect twins."

-break-

Seeing Tsuna already in his seat when she entered the classroom didn't surprise Hana. The white haired foreigner sitting in Kentaro's seat did.

"Who are you?" asked the tall girl, automatically getting in between the foreigner and the small brunet. The way this monkey had been looking at Tsuna had Hana on edge.

"H-he's Byakuran," said Tsuna, pulling at her arm and trying to move her to the desk in front of his and away from the white haired teen. The white haired teen continued to wear a smile matched a cat's expression as it played with its food. "H-he's visiting b-b—because he's thinking of transferring to our school."

"It would be fun to be in the same class as the great Tsunayoshi-kun," said the white haired monkey. "And Fran wants to transfer here too."

"Only because you'll steal all my food if I don't," said a new voice flatly. Hana jumped as another boy appeared from nowhere, literally. The desk in front of the white haired monkey had been empty, and now a boy around Fuuta’s age with a weird hat sat in it.

"Fran-san, please don't scare Hana," said Tsuna. "And stop hiding Irie-kun too."

"Why?" asked the new teen.

"Because I'll make you a bento later," said Tsuna. Irie suddenly appeared in the desk behind Tsuna's.

"Thank you, Tsuna-senpai," said Irie. "I really wish I knew how he does that."

"Uncle Kawahira can do the same thing too," said Tsuna as calmly as if people were not appearing out of thin air. "I could ask him how they do it."

"Is this the same Uncle Kawahira you insist on meeting yesterday before your fight?" asked Hana, taking her cue from Tsuna and ignoring the fact that people were popping out of thin air. That sort of weirdness seemed to follow Tsuna like Gokudera and Lancia did.

Speaking of, this weirdness might be why the tall Italian had been glaring into the classroom so attentively. Too bad that he only had a pass to follow Tsuna around everywhere except inside the classroom. He might have been helpful with this new bunch.

"Ah, so Tsunayoshi-kun has an uncle nearby here too," said the white haired monkey, making Tsuna stiffen.

"He's not necessarily his uncle," said Irie, and Hana's shock had lessened enough for her to realize who exactly was in the desk two seats behind the one she had just sat in. She would have to remind the redhead how one is supposed to greet their friends instead of ignore them later. "He might be an older man who Tsuna respects and cares for like an uncle."

"Especially if he is the Kawahira," said the white haired monkey.

"And what's that supposed to mean?" asked Hana, glaring at the white haired monkey.

"Nothing," said the white haired monkey. She continued to glare at him until a gentle pressure settled on her arm. When he had her attention, Tsuna shook his head as he withdrew his hand. Frowning, Hana crossed her arms. She didn't need to be treated like the stupid monkey. This white haired menace was asking for trouble.

"Where will you be studying, Irie-kun?" asked Tsuna, not fully turning to look at Irie. Good. The small brunet was smart enough to know to keep an eye on the white haired monkey.

"He's a genius," said Fran, leaning back in his desk. "He doesn't need to study anywhere."

"Is that true?" asked Hana, enjoying the redness of Irie's face. She had missed the redhead's modest demeanor. One only had to try listening in on a conversation between him and the idiot monkey to know that under that mop of red hair lay a brilliant mind.

"Yes," Irie whispered, but then he straightened. "B-but Mom wants me to go to keep studying, and I want to go to school with Takeshi-san, Gokudera-san, Hana-san, and Tsuna-senpai."

"With your intelligence," said Hana. "I'm sure that the principal would let you transfer into our class easily."

"It would be fun to have Irie-kun in our class," said Tsuna.

"Would your class allow three transfer students in the middle of the year?" asked Fran, and Hana wondered how the weird boy kept his tone so flat as he asked the question.

"They allowed a stupid monkey in," said Hana. "I don't think they will keep you out, even if one of you is an albino monkey in disguise."

"And who would that be?" said the white haired monkey, violet eyes flashing darkly.

"Only one of us in this room has white hair," said the tall girl, glaring at the albino monkey.

"Enough," said Tsuna. His voice had that will-not-be-ignored tone. And that orange tint was back in his eyes. "What is it that you want?"

"You," said Byakuran leaning closer to the brunette who didn't budge. He smiled that too-loose smile and left a finger hovering millimeters from Tsuna's forehead. "I want what makes you you."

"And what is that?" asked the small brunet, not shirking backwards or showing the least bit of discomfort. His sideward glance held Hana in place, but she itched to knock that pale hand away from Tsuna. The smile on the albino monkey's face stretched into a grin that twisted his face.

"You make the perfect sky," said the creepy albino monkey. "And what appears here makes you that."

"My flame," said Tsuna calmly. The creepy albino monkey didn't move. "You can't have it. I need it to protect those important to me."

"Then maybe I will take your brother's," said the creepy albino monkey, pulling back his hand. Tsuna grabbed the withdrawing hand.

"Why?" asked Tsuna, and Hana could hear the tone cracking. Not again. He wasn't going to sacrifice himself for his brother again.

"Let go of him," said Hana. Violent violet eyes turned to her, but she ignored them. She was not talking to an albino monkey. "He's bluffing. If he was really after your brother's flames or whatever, he would be bothering the moronic monkey king, not here trying to convince you to give yours up."

"A good observation," said the creepy albino monkey, his eyes disappearing behind their lids. "But I was just giving Tsunayoshi-kun the option before heading to talk to his brother."

"W-what are you talking about?" asked Irie-kun, getting out of his chair. He sat back down under the combination of three glares.

"It's best to remain quiet, Inventor-chan," said Fran. So the weird teen wasn't a brainless monkey. "Especially when senpai is acting all creepy."

"You shouldn't interrupt your senpai's negotiations," said the white haired monkey.

"Yes, sir," said Fran, saluting sharply and disappearing with Irie-kun. Hana blinked, but the other two returned to staring at each other.

"You're not lying," said Tsuna calm again. "But Hana's right."

"Maybe I am lying," said the creepy albino monkey, but Tsuna's gaze remained unfazed. "Can people lie to you here?"

"No," said Tsuna, the word full of truth. Hana watched as other students came into the classroom, but didn't come close to their area. Of course, they usually stayed away, but not so far, and not before the idiot monkey had come in. Where was the idiot monkey?

"Then I must be the first," said the creepy albino monkey. "What a different life you lead here. The ending will be the same."

"The ending?" said Tsuna.

"The end to our game," said Byakuran. "You always lose."

Silence filled the room as even the new arrivals stayed silent. The atmosphere lightened as Tsuna's orange filled eyes blinked back to brown but still retained their scrutinizing gaze, only a softer version than Hana had yet seen.

"Game?" Tsuna whispered, and light confusion colored his expression and hesitation flittered through his features. "Aren't…Don't you play games…aren't games things you do with friends?"

The hard violet eyes widened slightly, and the grin shrunk to a smile.

"You are a powerful sky, Tsunayoshi-kun," said the albino monkey, standing from Kentaro's seat. "We're leaving."

"Yes, senpai," said Fran, making himself and Irie visible again and startling the whole class. Many rubbed their eyes and mumbled about the weirdness that Tsuna attracted. Every time Hana thought the blindness of the monkeys in their class could not get worse, their classmates proved her wrong. They had seen this side of Tsuna and could still call him Dame-Tsuna.

"Irie-kun," called Tsuna with a warm smile. "After school?"

"Of course, Tsuna-senpai," said Irie with a wide relieved smile.

"Fran-san, you can come too," said Tsuna, getting a head nod from the strange teen, "… and Byakuran-san—"

"I wouldn't think of refusing an invitation from the great Tsunayoshi-kun," said the creepy albino monkey, cutting the small brunet off. "Besides we have to see who can be the greatest sky."

An instant after the creepy albino monkey had exited the classroom with the strange teen and Irie (who Hana hoped she would be able to actually talk to later despite a certain idiotic brunet's friendliness to dangerous albino monkeys), the stupid monkey finally appeared, rushing towards Tsuna and making unnecessary apologies for getting lost. Like Tsuna cared as long as the stupid monkey showed up.

Then the first bell rang, and everyone ran to their seats in one rushed motion. Only Kentaro stopped to gaze annoyedly at his seat before plopping into it after Tsuna gave the slightly taller black haired boy a shy, reassuring smile. The idiot monkey went to his seat after Tsuna gave the monkey a hard, pleading look.

The teacher entered the room as the second bell rang and opened the attendance book. Before he could read the names from the open book (which was a waste time—Hana could tell the teacher only Takeshi was absent with one look), the door banged open. The teacher's face stretched in horror.

"Other Sawada!" yelled Ryohei as the teacher back away from the loud boxer and started mumbling something no one could hear. "I heard you extremely finished your fight with Yamamoto."

Given the way Kyoko had slumped in her seat, Hana knew exactly where the boxer gotten that information. Hana had hoped that the cute girl would have kept the details of that fight from the boxer. The cute girl didn't like fights, so Kyoko had declined to watch the boys' "spars" both times. But that dislike hadn't stopped Kyoko from bombarding Hana with questions later. Next time, Kyoko would have to find answers to her questions elsewhere. Why were Hana's two best friends acting like idiots today?

"Stop bothering Tsuna-sama!" yelled the stupid monkey, making the teacher mutter more. Was the teacher seriously trying to shut the two up at that volume? He either knew the futility of trying to stop Ryohei or Hana's ears had stopped working properly when the boxer had come in the room.

"I wasn't talking to you, Octopus Head! I came to have my EXTREME match with the other Sawada."

"Hibari!" cried Tsuna, jumping out of his seat and startling the whole class, including the stupid monkey and the boxer.

"Not you too, Sawada," the teacher groaned loudly.

"S-sorry, sensei," said Tsuna, "but I n-need to go to the D-disciplinary Committee."

Silence followed that statement, and Hana idly wondered how many people's mouths now sat on their desks. No one asked to go to the Disciplinary Committee. Teachers threatened to send their students there and avoided the Disciplinary Committee office themselves. Tsuna took the pause to take out a purple bento from his bag and send the teacher a hard, pleading look that almost matched the one he gave the stupid monkey. The teacher dumbly nodded, and Tsuna quickly made his way through the desk and out the door.

"Wait for me, Sawada!" yelled Ryohei, running after the small brunet.

"Come back here, Lawn Head! I told you to leave Tsuna-sama alone!" cried the stupid monkey getting up from his seat and racing after them, once again leaving Hana alone with only Kyoko for company. But given that the teacher hadn't gone back to the attendance book in favor of staring mindlessly at the door, Hana would be kept entertained.

-break-

Random Notes (Short edition):

Byakuran

-this Byakuran does not have evil take-over-the-world plans (or whatever other Byakurans do); he can’t for one very good reason: [REDACTED]

-he is not the Gesso heir since he cannot inherit the mare rings, so no last name since [REDACTED]

-bit of a loose cannon before his “best friend” Shoichi appeared

-still has an unhealthy interest in Tsuna since he is the one that fought against him in the other dimensions (and Tsuna is one of the purest of skies)

-jealous that Tsuna has Shoichi’s admiration (and that Tsuna is a sky in all known dimensions [REDACTED])

-keeps Fran in line by threatening secret exposure

-secretly likes the idea of being Tsuna’s friend in this dimension, if only to keep observing him and stay close to Shoichi (who is his only friend in a lot of dimensions)

Fran

-somewhat amused by the goings on, but fairly young (like around Fuuta’s age)

-is technically Byakuran’s apprentice

-knows M.M.; they’re from the same famigilia

-hates [REDACTED]

-knows how it is to go hungry and so eats a lot whenever possible

-used to pretend to live with grandmother after the fall of famiglia about a year before the story; was too young to know about a lot of the mafia besides that specific French branch

-hides [REDACTED]

Chapter:

-I really like how Takeshi ended up using the Cloud Augurio. A swordsman with near endless swords (with the Cloud’s ability of propagation). Honestly this style fits him (I think) given the four irregular swords from Asari’s time he uses later. Except instead of four he has as many as he wants. As for them changing length like lengths like the three short swords, we’ll see. Maybe I should leave the Augurios in…

And while the control the small brunet held over his strength was commendable, Tsuyoshi had seen such control destroy men. The man knew that Tsuna's hesitation would end up injuring the boy more than any enemy could, and given what Tsuyoshi had observed, the small brunet would have plenty of those. The sun arcobaleno's continued presence indicated as much.

The famous hitman had barely left the small brunet's side (or rather head) the last few days. Whether or not the younger Sawada was recovering from an illness, the heir to the mafia's most influential and strongest family should take the number one slot on the hitman's list, but instead the hitman had decided to spend his time observing Tsuna. Tsuyoshi allowed himself to smirk at the thought that had the hitman actually been the age he appeared, the sushi chef would have had no problem saying that the hitman had been clinging to Tsuna exactly like I-pin and Lambo.

However the hitman’s appearance did not match his age, and he was acting exactly like Tsuyoshi’s old friend. Fon had barely been five feet from Tsuna whenever the boy entered the shop. Perhaps the two were having issues deciding territorial rights. The man's smirk melted into a frown. Tsuna had no idea how many people would break if the small brunet got himself killed. So Tsuyoshi would have to make sure the small brunet wouldn't.

Tsuyoshi fingered the object in his pocket and pulling it out. The platinum emblem glittered in the moonshine, the slight purple shine catching the experienced swordsman by surprise as always. He stared at it and turned it over and over in his hand, as he had several times over the years. A large circle encircled two smaller ones, and inside the smallest circle was a detailed etching of a feather whose barb pierced through the circles and seemed to burst into flames at the end.

Tsuyoshi's great uncle had placed the emblem in Tsuyoshi's hands and made Tsuyoshi swear in blood (only a drop, but blood nonetheless) that Tsuyoshi would keep the secret of the emblems. The other two had been given under less intense circumstances: the one Takeshi currently had was a gift from Tsuyoshi's father on Tsuyoshi's twenty first birthday and Tsuna's had been found in a box of Tsuyoshi's grandfather's old mementos. But the emblems all shared the same secret as this one, the secret Tsuyoshi's great uncle had whispered on his death bed and that Tsuyoshi had planned one day to share with Takeshi and Tsuna. The day had come sooner than he had planned, but he had to do it now. Or he might never get to tell them.

"Takeshi, come here," said Tsuyoshi. When his son's normally bright eyes turned to him with a determined fierceness, Tsuyoshi knew he would not be able to back out of his decision. Bringing the Shigure Kintoki down to his side in one elegant (and more importantly efficient) downward stroke, Takeshi walked over to the edge of the clearing where Tsuyoshi had been standing.

"Am I doing something wrong?" asked Takeshi. Tsuyoshi grinned at his son's eagerness to improve.

"No. I have something to show you," said Tsuyoshi, dangling the emblem from its purple band.

"Uncle Komadori's emblem?" said Takeshi rubbing the back of his head.

"Not exactly," said the man. He closed his eyes and focused just like Uncle Komadori had instructed. Tsuyoshi had to picture what he most wanted to do. Takeshi smiled in Tsuyoshi's mind, the same smile that Tsuyoshi had given up hope would return to his son's face until Takeshi had dragged a brown haired boy to Takesushi. The image changed to two boys laughing as they worked side by side to help Tsuyoshi fill several orders of sushi, and the emblem burned under his hand. Tsuyoshi opened his eyes and held up the purple flame wrapped emblem. "This."

"Wow Dad, I didn't know you could do magic," said Takeshi, his eyes glued to the purple flame.

"I can't," said Tsuyoshi, amused by his son's reaction. Mako would have reacted the same way. "This is the emblem's secret."

The boy's hazel eyes grew sharp as they scanned the object again. Takeshi had wondered about the secret ever since he first saw the emblems when he was three, but Tsuyoshi could see that Takeshi currently cared less for the secret and more for how it could help in his fight with Tsuna.

"It's not a pretty light show," said Tsuyoshi, not allowing Takeshi to lose interest. "The flame indicates power of some sort. It was made for your ancestor about 400 years ago. The one you have was made for your other ancestor, the one your grandfather often said looked like you. The two are part of a set of seven. Your ancestors and their closest friends did a favor for the greatest inventor of their time. And he gave them these Augurio."

"Augurio?" asked Takeshi, his tone demanding an explanation. Takeshi must be more worried about the match than Tsuyoshi had guessed.

"It's meant to give the user one 'wish,' but the user must make the right kind of wish," said Tsuyoshi.

"What kind of wish?"

"I don't know," said Tsuyoshi, grinning as he scratched the back of his head. Tsuyoshi had asked the same question to his great uncle and had received the same answer. All the man knew for certain was that the wish could not be to heal the fatally ill or poisoned nor to bring that person back to life. He tossed the emblem at Takeshi who caught it in his free hand with ease. "The creator never told them how the wishes work. He told them that they might be of some use to the man's descendants as well as his companions' if the wish meets the proper requirements. Guess now's a good a time as any to see if it'll work."

The younger swordsman nodded, understanding that he would need any help he could get to fight Tsuna.

"Your great great uncle did find out one thing," said Tsuyoshi, making sure his son's eyes were on him before continuing. "In order to use the Augurio, the person must picture what he most wants to do."

In an instant, the emblem blazed purple-tinged blue. Tsuyoshi blinked, but then grinned proudly. His son would figure out how to use the Augurio.

-break-

Taking gulping breaths, Tsuna flipped back and then immediately jumped forward. He kicked, twisted to the left, and then stopped in attack stance number four, legs apart, body resting on the left leg, right arm extended, and left arm low and pulled back. The weights on his arms nearly made his arms fall from their places, but he ignored the burning ache and suppressed the tremors. Fon leapt in front of the small brunet and passed a critical eye over the stance.

"Again," said the martial artist. Tsuna's whole body wanted to slump under the word, but Tsuna held himself ramrod straight as he executed an affirming bow. He leapt into the air and used the height to do a spin kick at an imaginary opponent, and then flip off the opponent (who had now taken the form of a wall) and then twist to avoid the possible countering blow.

He landed on his hands, and ignoring his breathing this time, quickly flipped back and then jumped forward to catch the approaching opponent off guard. He kicked the opponent again, and twisted to the left to avoid another blow, before the imaginary opponent surrendered. Tsuna froze in attack stance number four again which would have countered the imaginary opponent's next blow. Fon inspected the stance, and Tsuna made sure to stay firm but loose as Fon had often instructed. The wind must be able to fly off from whatever position.

"Again."

Tsuna executed the bow again, stiffer this time, and proceeded to do the attack pattern for the eleventh time. He kept in mind that he had to do this perfectly. Otherwise he wouldn't be able to give Takeshi back baseball.

"Again."

Tsuna complied the twelfth time, letting his body do more and more of the work while his mind tried to separate itself from his body's growing discomfort. Another scarcely heard "again," and Tsuna went into the set a thirteenth time. Each move had to engrave itself into his body. Tsuna had to stay longer in the air, less on the ground. He loved the air. He could move in any direction, do anything while he was in the air.

"Tsuna," said a firm voice as Tsuna realized he was once again in attack stance number four. Fon's face smiled. "This particular set is better if you stay low to the ground."

"Yes, sensei," said Tsuna, his cheeks burning. How could he have become distracted when Takeshi's dream was in danger? Tsuna took a deep breath and leapt towards the wall.

"You're not as soft on him as I thought," said Reborn, and Tsuna tried to keep his focus from wandering. But who knew what thoughts that demon might be infecting Tsuna's sensei with. Fon had never gone easy on Tsuna, but who knew what the demon tutor might convince the martial artist to do. Tsuna shook his head slightly to rid himself of the needless worry. Tsuna knew Fon well enough to know that the martial art master could not be manipulated so easily.

"He does not need me to be," answered Fon. "The problem has always been getting him to stop me from going too far."

"If only my student had the same problem," said Reborn. Even though Tsuna was in the middle of his flip and could not see the hitman, the small brunet knew that the hitman was wearing a scowl. Tamaki didn't like working hard, but he could if he applied himself. And now that the constant threat of the fever was gone, maybe Tamaki would do better.

Tsuna twisted into the fourth stance with a little more flourish than necessary before remembering what he was training for. He firmed his stance and shifted his weight more towards the ground. Fon stood inspecting the stance, but before the martial artist said a word, Fon quickly dashed to a corner and hid his presence so well that Tsuna could barely sense the martial artist.

"Still hiding from him, I see."

Tsuna would have asked Reborn who "him" was, but Lancia tensed from where he stood in the corner and took a defensive position by at the door. The answer to Tsuna’s question burst into the dojo a second later. Hibari glared at Tsuna. Lancia stared between Hibari and Tsuna but then took a step back instead of trying to stop the prefect. The small brunet wondered if he could find a way to ask his mother how to get bloodstains out of wood later without worrying her.

"Good afternoon, Hibari," said Tsuna. He kept his feet firmly on the ground and kept from stepping backwards. The steel eyed stare had every fight or flight instinct and the heat agreeing that Tsuna should run. But Tsuna couldn't. Not with his sensei standing in a corner watching. He didn't want Fon to think the time the martial art master had invested in the small brunet had produced a coward.

"Fight me," said Hibari. Tsuna gulped and fell into attack stance number two. He pushed his right foot too far forward and ended up on his back. So much for showing Fon that the martial artist's time wasn't wasted. Tsuna yelped as Hibari grabbed the small brunet by the collar and dragged Tsuna upright.

"P-please wait, Hibari," said Tsuna as Hibari let go of the back of Tsuna's shirt. "I-I can't fight you at full strength right now."

"But you'll fight the other herbivore," said Hibari. Tsuna would have been surprised that Hibari knew about Tsuna's upcoming fight with Takeshi, but considering the smirk on the demon's face, Tsuna figured that Reborn had made sure that information reached Hibari's ears. Apparently the demon wanted Tsuna dead so as to take care of the Vindice problem. The heat flared in disagreement, and Tsuna's own mind didn't seem pleased with the thought. But the demon was certainly up to something.

"Yes," said Tsuna. "But I haven't forgotten my promise. I will fight you, Hibari."

"You will, herbivore," said Hibari. Tsuna smiled a little despite the exhaustion that would no longer allow his muscles to move properly. The prefect scanned the dojo.

"Do you need something else, Hibari?" asked Tsuna. The small brunet didn't know exactly why Fon was hiding from Hibari, but he would respect his sensei's wishes. Tsuna had noticed that Hibari and Fon resembled each other, but Tsuna had been afraid to ask why.

Hibari would no doubt bite Tsuna to death for prying into the prefect's personal affairs (and Tsuna knew that their fights would be more intense if Hibari knew who Tsuna's sensei was). Fon might have told Tsuna, but...Tsuna had spoken about Hibari to the martial artist many times. And the martial artist had listened with a blankness in his black eyes that Tsuna had come to associate with regret and guilt.

Tsuna did not want to cause his sensei more pain by asking about Hibari. Instead, Tsuna had made sure to talk about his fights with Hibari often and tell Fon what foods Hibari did and didn't eat from Tsuna's bentos. Anything to trade the blankness for the amused glint that usually made its home in the martial artist's eye when Tsuna talked to Fon.

"When is it?" said Hibari. Tsuna's mouth dropped open slightly before Tsuna was able to close it tight. Hibari wanted to see the fight?

"Two days from now," said Tsuna. Hibari didn't nod, but Tsuna knew he'd be there. The prefect walked out, as if he hadn't barged in ready to kill Tsuna (or rather bite him to death). He paused at the door, and the yellow bird from earlier landed on the prefect's shoulder. "Tell your sensei to stop hiding. It doesn't become a carnivore."

In an instant, the prefect was gone. Fon appeared from his corner with a soft, calm smile as he gazed out the door. Reborn scoffed.

"Quite the nephew you have," said the hitman.

"Yes," said Fon. "Quite."

-break-

Gokudera leaned against the tree as the stupid wench made herself comfortable on a swing. Neither of the two fighters had come, but they were about fifteen minutes early and Tsuna-sama could come whenever he wanted. The sword freak better not keep Tsuna-sama waiting though.

"So you've found yourself a master or whatever too," said the stupid wench, giving him a long look. Gokudera glared at her, but she failed to get the message as usual. "It's a good thing, I suppose. Otherwise, I doubt you could keep up with those two."

"Watch your mouth, wench," growled Gokudera. He knew he would never reach Tsuna-sama's level, but he would not be outdone by the sword freak. That's why the bomber had stooped so low as to seek help from the perverted doctor. The pervert had refused to teach Gokudera anything though, even under the threat of Madre.

But that was fine. Gokudera had done fine by himself until this point, and he would become a man worthy of Tsuna-sama's trust. To make up for the Shamal's refusal, Gokudera had thrown himself twice as hard into his training and come up with a new attack strategy that should work once he figured out exactly what was need to act as conduit for the Flames (as Shoichi had decided to call the energy that the Boxes used).

"You guys are already here," said the sword freak as he walked into the shabby little park. He grinned and waved. "Thanks for coming."

"I assume there's a reason for the suddenness of this," said the stupid wench. "Last time we had a week's heads up."

"There is," said the sword freak, the grin dropping and hardness overcoming the usually ridiculously cheerful features. "Tsuna doesn't know why I quit baseball."

The stupid wench's eyes widened, but she regained control of herself and nodded.

"Tsuna needs more supervision than we have been giving him," said the stupid wench. "Baseball will keep until he's gotten past the point where we need to watch his every move."

"Tsuna's Tsuna," said the sword freak. He slung his sword onto his shoulder and grinned. A bright charm hung from a purple band that was wrapped around the sword's hilt. What kind of swordsman decorated his sword? "And I like the Shigure Soen Ryu."

The stupid wench scoffed and muttered something that sounded like "stupid monkeyish boys," but her lips twisted into a small smile.

"Sorry I'm late," said Tsuna-sama as he ran into the park. Lancia strode in right behind him. Gokudera straightened as the man’s quick scan of the area stopped briefly on him.

"It was my fault," said Fon as he leapt off the small brunet's shoulder. "I meant to have him here earlier, but his training this morning required more than I thought."

"Hmph. If Dame-Tsuna had used the glasses properly, we would have been here fifteen minutes early," said Reborn as he jumped from his perch on Tsuna-sama's head. Gokudera had been torn between being impressed by Tsuna-sama's ability to catch the hitman's attention and fear of what such attention meant. But the contrast between the hitman's behavior to Tsuna-sama and Reborn's treatment of the small brunet's brother had eased Gokudera's mind into proud approval. Of course Tsuna-sama had caught the attention of the greatest hitman in the world.

"You're a minute late," said the stupid wench. "That doesn't merit an apology."

"It's disrespectful to be even a minute late to a prearranged fight," said Tsuna-sama, giving his sensei a side glance. Fon smiled softly as he nodded.

"A mafia boss should never be late for anything," said Reborn. The small brunet's whole body groaned.

"I told you I'm not going to be the Vongola Decimo," said Tsuna-sama. "That's Tamaki's place."

"And I told you that no one lies to the Vindice," said the hitman. Gokudera stiffened and felt his face become unhealthily cool. He noted that Lancia’s face became similarily white, as did the sword freak’s father’s.

If Gokudera had been with Tsuna-sama, the bomber might have been able to stop the small brunet from making such a potentially deadly mistake. Gokudera ignored the twinge of excitement at the prospect of Tsuna-sama becoming the Vongola Tenth. The cost of such a dream coming true would be too high. With the Vindice, Tsuna-sama may not escape from becoming the Vongola Decimo, but Gokudera would do whatever possible to keep Tsuna-sama from that fate.

"Now, now," said the sword freak. "We can talk about the mafia game later."

"It's not a game, sword freak!" yelled Gokudera, his face heating with anger. How could the sword freak continue to hold that ridiculous belief? The sword freak would be useless to Tsuna-sama with those idiotic thoughts, and since Tsuna-sama relied on the other teen so much…

"Gokudera," said a soft voice, and Gokudera stood as straight as he could as he faced Tsuna-sama. "Please don't call Takeshi that."

Gokudera scowled. He knew that it was his own fault that idiot had most of Tsuna-sama's favor, but the bomber could not help the anger that built every time that favor became obvious.

"Well, he can't call him 'baseball idiot' now, can he?" said the stupid wench, and Tsuna-sama's eyes shone orange.

"After our fight," said the small brunette firmly. "He will."

The warmth on his cheeks cooled the rest of his cheeks down. He had misunderstood the small brunet's plea. The bomber should have realized that Tsuna-sama wouldn't want the sword freak to give up baseball. But Gokudera understood the former baseball idiot's decision. The sword freak and the bomber wanted the same thing.

"Ha ha, we'll see," said the sword freak. He swung his sword down hard enough for it to become a steel katana. Shoichi would want to examine the strange changeable sword when he returned.

The young inventor had yet to answer Gokudera's last email detailing what had gone on between Tsuna-sama and Mukuro and the moronic imitation's sickness. Despite the distance, Shoichi had wanted to be kept informed of how Tsuna-sama and the others were doing. Even when Gokudera had been blind to the small brunet's greatness, the bomber had sent the inventor reports on the small brunet's status along with a sentence or two about the wench and the sword freak.

Tsuna-sama also asked often after Shoichi, despite the fact that the small brunet thought the inventor too busy to want frequent emails from Tsuna-sama. The bomber had tried to inform the small brunet the opposite was true, but the small brunet had only smiled and shook his head in disbelief. Gokudera had to restrain the urge to blast the moronic imitation to kingdom come every time Tsuna-sama put on that expression, and instead had read each email from the inventor to the eagerly listening brunet.

"Where's your father?" asked Fon, moving to stand in between the sword freak and Tsuna-sama.

"He has to run the shop today," said the sword freak. "But he expects you to inform him of everything when you return."

"Fair enough," said the martial art master. He lifted a hand, and Tsuna-sama quickly fell into a basic attack stance.

"Wait," said the sword freak, standing in an almost casual manner. "I told you Tsuna. I don't want you to hold back."

"I won't," said Tsuna-sama.

"Then where are your glasses?" asked the sword freak. Glasses? Tsuna-sama didn't need glasses. And hadn't Reborn said something about them as well…?

"I am not used to them yet," said the small brunet. "At practice this morning, I nearly tore down the wall and injured myself in the process."

The sword freak frowned.

"Put them on," he said in as close to a growl as the cheerful idiot had ever gotten.

"No," said Tsuna-sama. "I am not ready to use them yet."

"Then I will make you use them," said the sword freak and rushed forward, not waiting for the signal. Tsuna blocked the incoming sword and pushed forward to strike the sword freak's shoulder. The sword freak leaned to the side and avoided the gloved hand before letting go of his sword.

Tsuna-sama's eyes widened, and the sword freak used the momentary shock to push the sword into the small brunet's shoulder. The sword slipped through the gloved hand's grip, but Tsuna-sama let go of the sword and ducked under it. The sword freak wasted no time in grabbing the sword and swinging it down. The small brunet flipped close to the ground and past the swordsman's side, narrowly avoiding the sword.

Tsuna-sama stood in time to flip backwards and dodge another sword thrust. He made to grab the swordsman's shoulders, but the swordsman slashed diagonally upward, quickly changing hands and therefore the angle, and forced Tsuna-sama to spin in order to avoid the blade.

Tsuna-sama landed and immediately had to duck another sword slash. The small brunet did a low kick, and the sword freak stepped back. Tsuna-sama stopped the kick abruptly and pressed the foot on the ground, using the momentum to come in from underneath and strike the swordsman's sword hand.

The sword freak switched the blade from hands and swung it down onto Tsuna who grabbed the swordsman's now free arm and twisted out of the swords way, taking the arm with him and unbalancing the swordsman. But the sword freak planted his feet firmly on the ground and changed the direction of the sword. Gokudera automatically reached for his pocket as blood stained a blue sleeve.

"Tsuna," said the swordsman, and Gokudera wanted to rip the sword freak apart. How dare the sword freak injure Tsuna-sama? "You're not fighting seriously."

"I am," said the small brunet. Neither moved, the sword still caught on the bleeding arm. Gokudera could tell, even from this distance, that the wound wasn't deep. It wasn't shallow, but it wasn't deep. But it could easily become so.

"You're not," said the sword freak, withdrawing his bloodied sword. The grip on the sword's handle was chalk white. "I will not fight someone who refuses to take me seriously."

"I…I am—"

"You're not," the sword freak growled. "You wouldn't protect an opponent you took seriously from himself. My sword would not have hurt me."

Tsuna-sama remained silent, his back to the sword freak's.

"I won't fight you until you take me seriously," said the sword freak, the white grip shaking. "And I don't want to see you until then."

The small brunet spun around and stared at the sword freak's back in horror. Tsuna-sama reached out a hand.

"Tsuna," the sword freak said, his tone low and harsh. The hand hesitated. Dark hazel eyes glared at Tsuna over the swordsman's shoulder. "Go."

"T-Takeshi," said the small brunette.

"No," the swordsman said, looking away. "Don't talk to me until you are ready to finish our fight."

The hand dropped, and identical expressions of pain painted the two faces, despite the fact that neither could see the other's. Gokudera's anger at the sword freak disappeared. Tsuna-sama opened his mouth, but he closed it again. Light caught in the brown eyes before they disappeared under a curtain of brown hair.

"Okay," the small brunet whispered. Tsuna-sama stepped back and hesitated. The eyes stayed hidden behind the hair, but the hand that had fallen twitched upward as if to make another attempt to grasp the swordsman's shoulder. In a blur of movement, the small brunet turned and ran out of the park.

"I apologize for my student," said Fon with a bow to the sword freak's back. The sword freak didn't make any movement to acknowledge the martial artist's words. Fon left, and Gokudera realized that Reborn had disappeared too. The stupid wench stared at the park's entrance. She sighed.

"I'd like to tell you that you didn't need to do that, that you're both acting like monkeys," said the stupid wench, still looking at the park entrance. "But only one of you is acting like a monkey, and it's not you."

"I hate to agree with the stupid wench, but she's right," said Gokudera in a grumble. The hazel eyes lifted from their empty stare to look at them. The bomber pushed back the stupid desire to have the idiot grin and remark that the apocalypse must be closer because the bomber had agreed with the stupid wench again. "The moronic imitation has had fourteen years to warp the greatness that is Tsuna-sama."

"The idiot monkey has a point despite his ridiculous wording," said the stupid wench. Gokudera bit tongue to keep from yelling at the wench. He never used "ridiculous wording." "'Unwarping' what's been 'warped' might hurt now, but in the long run, it will work better than leaving it as it is. Tsuna's not an idiot, even if he does occasionally act like it. He will understand."

"As if there was any doubt," said the bomber as the darkness faded from the heavy hazel eyes. A weak semblance of a grin crossed the former baseball player's face.

"Tsuna is pretty smart."

"Don't make me take back the 'only one of you' comment," said the stupid wench. The weak grin stretched into one that almost matched the idiot's annoyingly cheerful one.

"I guess I'll just have to wait then," the sword freak said. He stared at the red-stained sword, and the grin strained at the corners. "And I better get stronger, or Tsuna'll wipe the floor with me."

-break-

Random Notes (Random Character Edition [pt. 2] + Chapter):

Nicoe:

-Dino’s mist guardian

-stayed behind in Italy while Dino went to Japan (to mislead people on where Dino really was)

-has most people convinced that Dino still is in Italy

Kusakabe

-jealous of Tsuna (because he can’t get Hibari to take him seriously after years and in waltzes Tsuna and does it sorta by accident)

-does have grudging respect for Tsuna after Tsuna convinces Hibari to let him be back-up

-suggests to Hibari that Tsuna join the disciplinary committee

Gianini:

-sent the mechanic home in a throwaway sentence

-he would show up to try to impress Tsuna at some point

-Tsuna’s got two cool mechanics in Spanner and Shoichi already (especially Shoichi since REDACTED)

-probably won’t make enough an impression then…

Chapter Notes:

-I am sincerely considering taking out the Augurios from the story. I put them in to make this story a bit more different than the others out there, but now I am wondering if they are a needless complication. We’ll see if they survive the final edit.

-Tsuna is not anywhere near going all-out in his fight with Takeshi. He is neither using his Hyper Dying Will Mode nor is he using serious force. Takeshi is. And then Tsuna blocks Takeshi’s strike because it might have hit Takeshi’s arm.