Chapter 1: Windy

The bright blue sky is utterly clear, with the sun shining brightly. All is calm. A light breeze picks up, then all of a sudden builds into a stronger gale...

A senior in Namimori Middle School was running, running, running like he was being chased by a grizzly bear. Straight silver hair bounced up and down, sometimes shadowing, sometimes completely revealing the abnormally enlarged dull green eyes. The middle schooler's mouth opened to shout a single word. "Jyuudaime!"

I sighed. No doubt Gokudera's yell was directed to me; was anyone else around who was a candidate for the position of Vongola Decimo? "Gokudera-kun, it's okay, it's just me. It's lunch break, this happens every day, calm down!"

"But, Jyuudaime, it was approximately 50.37 minutes between my last seeing you! In that time period which was over 50 minutes some psycho-killer could have bombed the school and killed you!" Gokudera panted, his relief clearly etched on his face. Yamamoto laughed.

"Maa, maa, Tsuna isn't in any danger, Gokudera-kun." Gokudera scowled at him, spitting out a "Che!", but only succeeded in making Yamamoto smile more widely.

I sighed inwardly. This, or a situation extremely similar to this, happened nearly every school day. And oftentimes it would end with the same thing, a certain prefect's –

"What are you doing, herbivores, crowding around like that?" All three of us turned – me frowning, Gokudera scowling, and Yamamoto smiling(as always). There he was: Hibari Kyoya. The prefect was clothed in his classic white shirt with the ever-mysterious black jacket trailing like a vampiric cape behind. His raven-colored hair ruffled with the wind, and the two steel tonfas Hibari was brandishing shone brightly in the sunlight.

A certain unnamed emotion pulsed through me, but then it was gone so quickly that after a minute I wondered if it had even happened. I didn't even know what it was supposed to be. In my mind, I dismissed it. No one had seen anything from outside, and Hibari was talking.

"...never disturb the peace here again," he was saying. Yamamoto was struggling to retain Gokudera, who was struggling to fight Hibari. I went over to help Yamamoto; a fight would probably land Gokudera in the hospital for some time. "You bastard... Damn it, baseball nut, get off me!" he cried out.

Despite the fact that the little tiff occurred at least once every day, it made a tiny part of me cry inside. My Storm Guardian and Rain Guardian had each other...

No. I stopped the emotion before it could betray me, before it could reach and twist my facial expression. The small-but-growing tear at the edge of my eye dried. I was getting pretty good at that now: The few months of training Reborn had given me had truly toughened me up. ("Like I said during your first – and failed – Arcobaleno trial from me several months ago, 'I cannot pass a person not fit to be Boss.' So now is the training for you," Reborn had said, jabbing a small but strong finger into my chest, "to become the one and only Vongola Decimo. Now. Here. Now.")

"...here, or else, I'll bite you to death. Herbivores," finished Hibari. I was really losing track of the conversation today, caught up in my own reminiscing and, erm, controlling of emotions. Hibari looked straight into my eyes as he said "death". The Dame-Tsuna that was still inside me, buried somewhere way down below the crushing weight of responsibility and being the Vongola Decimo, tried to claw its way out of my calm composure. The reflex reaction to everyday life, the yearn to cower and scream and beg, the scared thing that was very close to instinct, almost overcame me, but I wasn't just some loser kid anymore. I met his gray irises with a determined gaze. My heart fluttered again, and again I dispelled the emotion rushing to get out and show itself.

If the truth should be told, Hibari wasn't the most intimidating person in the school to a few people. Gokudera could fly into any number of horrible explosion-filled rages, Yamamoto could be as serious as if baseball was to be demolished, Ryohei could be as insanely EXTREME as he wanted, but Hibari Kyoya would always be higher up on the Namimori Middle School danger list. Except for one person.

Me.

If I was to be compared to water at the end of last year - slinking away from danger and things I was scared of - then now, as a senior who had fought Byakuran and won, endured Reborn's brutal training and survived, I was ice - firm, unbudging, cool, calm, reserved. I would no longer run away, or scream a "HIEEE!", or cower in a corner, or give in to the twin devils Hopelessness and Despair.

But then again, I hadn't turned into a totally ruthless unfeeling person, either. I thought I saw Hibari tilt his head a tiny bit before he turned exactly 90 degrees to the right and walked away. I was a bit too shaken up to continue lunch. I muttered "bathroom" as my excuse to Gokudera and Yamamoto and ran for the bathrooms, ignoring their "Jyuudaime...!"s and "Hey, Tsuna!"s. I needed privacy, and the bathroom was the closest place for it. There I rushed into a stall and let the suppressed emotions overcome me.

I shakily sat on the covered toilet seat and clawed my own head.

What is going on with me? What is going wrong with me?

I was a whole basket of emotions. Let's see... confusion, surprise, anger, pain, love, disorder, shock, desperation, fury, grief, hopelessness...

But maybe I should back up and explain first...

In that moment, facing Hibari, one of my inexplicable mood swings had come up yet again. In the past few days I changed emotions semi-randomly. It wasn't like I was angry one minute, then sad the next, then elated the one after that – not quite so fast. It came on slowly, deliberately, if that was possible for mood swings. (Why am I talking about mood swings like they are living beings? I must be going nuts.) Well... it was more like some freaky sickness. Like that one when you're feeling more or less fine for a half hour, but then start coughing like crazy for ten minutes, and then you're feeling fine again.

What had happened was... arrogance. No, much more than simple arrogance. It was menacing, the emotion that had semi-overtaken me. My thoughts were... twisted, in an evil sort of way, and something sinister had arrived. Like my Hyper Dying Will confidence woven into a darker something...

Oh, get a grip! I told myself. It was over. Done. Behind me and forgotten.

It was true, though, that some – a very few in Namimori Middle – saw me as dangerous, possibly even demented. Just for a time, some rare instants, in which a small group of boys had seen me, erm, "practicing". A large yellow and orange flame had ignited on my forehead, my eyes had changed shape and color like a fire was lighted behind them, my fists had sprung to flames. For a second. But the rumors spread, fear erupted like fire in dry bush, and suddenly "Dame-Tsuna" wasn't so useless anymore...

Surprise, disorder, confusion, and shock were explained. I felt desperate to find a way out of this waking nightmare which was steadily getting worse. Angry and furious at whatever had caused all this in the first place. Hopeless, for I feared that it would happen again and that I could not prevent it. Ah... pain, love, and grief aren't so easily explained.

I kind of lost my attraction to Sasagawa Kyoko when I (finally) realized that she didn't have a hundredth of that kind of affection for me like I did for her. Haru is... a bit strange, to be honest, and not at all my type. (*cough* Way too crazy over me... Sorry Haru, it's the truth.) But there seems no one else that I like... except for...

No! No! I disgust myself. But it does seem that I'm... Sawada Tsunayoshi, there's no toying around with the word. Get a grip on who you are! I thought. I. Am. Gay.

And... well... who is the person who has captured my heart and soul? None other than the one, the only, the head of the Discipline Committee of Prefects, the Tenth Vongola Cloud Guardian, the notorious biter-to-death, Hibari Kyoya. From the very first lurch of my emotions (love, fittingly enough), I have had an attraction to the prefect - much more than anything I've ever felt for Kyoko, as a matter of fact. Maybe.

"A certain unnamed emotion pulsed through me... I didn't even know what it was supposed to be." A lie: I want him. I want him: Hibari Kyoya...

A faint bell jolted me from my disturbing thoughts. Had I really spent that much time in privacy? I ran to my next class, but couldn't really concentrate for the rest of the school day. I deflected Gokudera's constant inquiries and Yamamoto's occasional questions with "I'm feeling a little under the weather right now..." Which was true.

While I was walking home later that day (for once, alone), I wasn't really paying attention to anything, lost in my own thoughts, and nearly tripped over a giant brownish orange chestnut-like thing. Luckily I saw it just in time, or I would have been skewered by the spikes of his costume. "Reborn!" I yelled, not entirely sure if he was the person who I wanted to see at that moment.

He seemed to be scrawling with a large pen on a large red notepad, muttering things like "minor mood swings" and "clumsier reflexes" and "losses of concentration"...

Realizing what he was talking about, I yelled at the Sun Arcobaleno, "I have not got 'losses of concentration', Reborn!" and ran, ran to I Don't Know Where But Just Away From Him. I was afraid. I was afraid of what Reborn had said – the truth – and the unusually grave tone in which he was saying them, and what it might mean. I was afraid of Hibari, but much more than that, I was afraid of my homosexuality(gasp), my attraction to Hibari, and what might happen if I revealed it. I was afraid of my terrible and constant mood swings, and –

My mood swings? Ah, hell! I thought. I was having a mood swing, right there and then. It seemed to be fear, this time – just fear.

It surprised – almost shocked – me when I found myself at my house, at my door. I was so caught up in my own thoughts again that I hadn't really registered that I was going, let alone where. A repeat from earlier today...

I burst through the front door and up the stairs, with barely a "Hey, Mom" called over my shoulder. I ran to my still-somewhat-cluttered-and-messy room, sitting on the bed and staring into space, seeing nothing. Thinking. Wondering. And, admittedly, to some extent... fantasizing. About a certain prefect, about the Cloud Guardian, about my skylark...

I covered my face with my palms, seeing only darkness. Hell! My skylark? What on earth am I thinking? What is this? Blasphemy... Madness...

"Vongolitis," said a voice from right in front of me. I looked up, lowering my hands into my lap, and of course there was Reborn in front of me(still in that weird chestnut costume).

"Von... gola... itis?" I queried, confused. "What is that, Reborn?"

"Vongolitis," said he while frowning, "is a rare but deadly genetic disease that is highly dangerous, but not at all contagious. Only those of the true Vongola bloodline can receive it. It seems to be a slight mutation of the DNA, with a few of the nucleic acid bases missing. You have studied science, right?" Reborn added. I stared, waiting for him to get to more important parts.

"Anyway, the Vongola Primo himself had Vongolitis once, but was cured soon after. Studies have shown that those who have Vongolitis have approximately 90 percent chance of dying."

"Wha.. what... 90 percent chance of dying? 90 PERCENT?"

"Yes, 90 percent, I just said that, Tsuna. It just so happens that the cure..." Reborn let it hang, and I opened my mouth to speak, but the Arcobaleno cleared his throat and continued.

"So. Vongolitis. The symptoms vary, but it always seems that three are present in the prime of the disease: Lurches of emotion, losses of concentration, and decreases of coordination. Of course, being clumsier does not really apply, as you're like that naturally. But all I need to do to check for Vongolitis is shoot you." Leon transformed into a green pistol while Reborn was talking. He aimed it at my heart.

"W-W-Wait... what? Reborn...! Why-"

A loud gunshot was heard.

Birds took to the air.

Everything went black.

I stared down at my student – toy – no, student. His half-panicky face was pale in the light and the chocolate eyes where wide with surprise. Sure enough, Tsuna had Vongolitis, all right.

Leon, pen, I thought, and the shapeshifting chameleon immediately turned into a large fountain pen. I grabbed Tsuna's best test score, a 71%(C-), and scribbled a longish note on the back for him. He would read it when he regained consciousness, in 5 minutes, and by that time I would be finished sending a message to the Vongola. When I was done, Leon turned back into a chameleon, and leaped back atop his place on my black fedora.

"This is serious, Tsuna," I muttered, before turning to jump out of the window.

Tsuna,

I had to shoot you. If you didn't have Vongolitis, the bullet would have been harmless. As it were, you slept for five minutes. Proving you have the disease. Obviously.

Studies have shown that the only cure to the deadly Vongolitis disease is love.

Dr. Shamal cannot help you. The greatest mafiosos in the world cannot help you. The best doctor in the world cannot help you. Nobody can help you, except two people: the one who may cure your disease, and yourself.

The Vongolitis right now is nothing, nothing compared to how you will feel near the end. The disease lasts for exactly twenty days, by which time you will be cured completely, whether in life or death.

In two weeks, that is your fate. If you do not attempt to cure yourself.

If you do not attempt to cure yourself.

...

I am notifying the Vongola right now.

Perhaps an old poem will help your fear, your grief ...

Ke here, now.
You must embrace what will happen,
Or regret all with your Dying Will.
You must survive; otherwise,
A lion dies.

Sincerely and Honestly,

Reborn, also known as: Elder Rebo, the Greatest Arcobaleno, Best Hitman of Them All, Sun Arcobaleno, Most Dangerous Vongola, Mysterious Unidentified Being.

I stared at the paper in horror, my dark brown eyes bugging out. It took a while before I could read all of Reborn's titles properly. The words had almost blurred, and I realized my hands were shaking. I reread the note several times, ruffling my fluffy brown gravity-defying hair in confusion.

The only... the only cure... is... the cure is love? I thought, disbelieving. How could I cure a disease with love? I didn't love anybody! Except...

Ugh! I shook off the thought, moving on to the strange poem.

"Ke here, now"? Shouldn't it be "Be here, now"? I wondered. Maybe I couldn't read Reborn's surprisingly messy handwriting.

Mysterious Unidentified Being. Honestly? I sighed.

I saw a red mark sort of through the paper, and turned it over to find my best test ever, on which I had gotten a C-. I will never figure out Reborn in a million years.

All of a sudden, a horrendous bout of coughing descended on me, and I lay down on the bed, staring up at the ceiling and wondering what on earth I was going to do now.

Midori Tanabiku~

Namimori no~

The little bird fluttered down to nestle in my hair as I stared down at Namimori from the roof of my Middle School. Since no transgressors seemed to be disturbing the peace around my school, I let my mind drift over the events that had occurred earlier in the day.

Sawada Tsunayoshi, that herbivore... For once he truly stood up to me, neither ignoring nor screaming nor running nor making a pathetic excuse like having to go to the restroom. That herbivore... he will be interesting...

I thought of the flash of emotion that had happened to me as I had locked eyes with the brunet. I had dismissed it as mere anticipation then, anticipation for the fight that was surely to come one day or another. That herbivore was slightly above and beyond others, and surely a fight would bring amusement to one of these normally peaceful/boring days.

But now... that "anticipation"... was it... perhaps... something else?

"Hibari! Hibari!" called my Hibird. Of course, it is the infallible tricks of the human mind that is bothering me. Thank you, Hibird, for putting my senses back in their places...

Then again, Sawada Tsunayoshi's soft lips looked... wait... what?

I leaped nimbly off the roof of Namimori Middle, using my two steel tonfas to soften the fall, and swept inside to take care of any loiterers.

Author's Note~

Kaabii: Let me say, here and now: Ciaossu~ The very first of ten-plus chapters is here! Whoops, did I say that? You didn't hear anyythiiiiing...

Tsuna: Yes, yes we did.

Kaabii: No you didn't!

Tsuna: Isn't that right, readers?

Hibari: Why am I being included in this? Tell me now or I'll bite you to death. Herbivores.

Mukuro: Kufufu~

Kaabii: Uhm... Hi Mukuro... Okay, now tell me that wasn't random...

Tsuna: That wasn't random.

Kaabii: Define "rhetorical".

Tsuna: [ri-tawr-i-kuhl, -tor-]

–adjective
1. used for, belonging to, or concerned with mere style or effect.
2. marked by or tending to use bombast.
3. of, concerned with, or having the nature of rhetoric.

Kaabii: Oh, you have got to be kidding me.

Tsuna: What? What's wrong?

Kaabii: *proceeds to do a face palm*

Mukuro: Until next time, people!

Kaabii: See you, again-desu!~

Tsuna: *voice fades away with the distance* Seriously, I don't get what's wrong, Kaabii...

Kaabii: *voice is very faint* Oh forget it.