Tsuna's Hyper Intuition was almost never wrong. So when he requested that his Rain, Storm, and Sun all accompany him to a fairly simply mafia meeting, no one argued. And when he grabbed Gokudera's jacket and yelled for them to duck, they all hit the ground just as the room turned into a hailstorm of bullets.

Gokudera's voice rang out over the shouts of anger and pain. "Yakyuubaka, get Juudaime outta here. Let's go, Turftop!" The Storm grabbed the white-haired Sun and they ran into the fray. Between Ryohei's blinding punches and the silveret's pinpoint explosions, they cleared a path for the swordsman and their Boss to run through. As soon as the two were out, Ryohei shoved at Gokudera's arm. "C'mon, Squidhead, we need to…" He grunted softly, his forward momentum pushing the bomber through the door ahead of him.

"Turftop?" Gokudera started to pause, but Ryohei shoved him again.

"Just go! They'll regroup in a minute!" The two ran through the front door and dove for the limo that was waiting for them. As the car peeled out down the street, they could hear the bullets pinging off the armored plating.

Tsuna looked his friends over worriedly as they readjusted themselves on the seats. His intuition told him something was wrong, but he couldn't put his finger on it. "Is everyone all right?"

His words made Gokudera look back at Ryohei. "Oi, Turftop…" He stopped, staring at the boisterous man's pale face. When he pitched forward, the Storm's arms were already out to catch him, swearing as he felt rather than saw the blood soaking his suit jacket. "Fuck. Juudaime, call the healers. Here, take him, idiot…" He handed him off to Yamamoto, lighting his Sun ring and working on staunching the blood flow. "Stupid fucking idiot didn't even say he was hit… "

"It was an ambush, Reborn. Have the healers on standby, Onii-san's been hurt. Yeah, it's bad. Get the other Guardians home NOW, they might try going after them while we're separated." A pause on the phone while Tsuna's worried eyes scanned his Sun and listened to Reborn. "Dammit, I don't CARE! Get them home, Reborn! Now. We'll be home in less than 15." He slammed his phone shut. "How is he, Gokudera-kun?"

"It's bad, Juudaime… He took three in his back and it looks like one in his head. If it was anyone else, I'd say they should be dead, but his skull is so damned thick that he probably didn't even feel it." The Storm's sarcastic words were softened by the weariness in his tone. It was taking a lot of effort to keep the boxer from bleeding out before they could get him home. Yamamoto helped as best he could, using his Rain flames to slow the boxer down and keep as much of his blood inside him as possible.

It took them less than 10 minutes to get home. Gokudera was sweating with the strain of keeping his little-used Sun Flames active and Yamamoto's hands shook as he carried the Sun into the house. Reborn was waiting with a small team of healers who immediately took the injured boxer and disappeared with him towards the infirmary.

The Sky, Storm, and Rain waited outside with the ex-Arcobaleno while the doctors worked on Ryohei. Tsuna paced while Gokudera and Yamamoto sat, side by side and silent, watching the doors. Reborn leaned against the wall, his eyes shaded with his fedora. "What happened out there?"

"It was an ambush, Reborn. We hadn't even started the meeting… everyone sat down and suddenly the room was full of goons with semi-automatics."

Gokudera picked up the tale, his voice quiet. "Juudaime knew something was up just before they came in, he yelled at us to get down before they started shooting. Turftop and I cleared a path and we got Juudaime out…" His gaze turned thoughtful as he leaned against Yamamoto. "I don't know when…" The silveret's eyes widened. "Just as we were leaving… he stumbled forward, then pushed me outside." He bit his lip, realizing that Ryohei had taken the bullets meant for him. His gaze went to Tsuna. "Why… did you want him with us today, Juudaime? Normally you'd ask for the Cloud bastard if you needed a third…"

"There was death if it was anyone but Onii-san." Tsuna shrugged slightly, dropping his head into his hands. There might be death anyway…

"He's not dead yet, Dame-Tsuna. Pull it together." Reborn's voice made the young Boss straighten and he nodded.

"You're right, of course, Reborn. When will the others be back?"

"I didn't tell them why they were returning, just that they had to. The Mists will be back in the morning, Hibari should be back sometime in the next hour or so. We'll hopefully have something to tell him by then."

Tsuna nodded, watching Yamamoto wrap an arm around Gokudera. All they could do right now was wait.

It was almost an hour and a half later before the Vongola doctor walked out of the infirmary. Hibari had shown up 45 minutes earlier and after being given a brief report, had stalked to the far corner of the waiting room. Everyone was on their feet when the doctor walked out, covered in blood with a serious expression on his face.

"Mr. Sasagawa is still alive… but he's in a deep coma. We're not sure when, or if, he'll wake up." He started to say something else, but Hibari brushed past him into the infirmary. Tsuna held up a hand, stopping the doctor from going after him.

"What else can you tell us?"

"He had a bullet lodged in the base of his skull, and took three in the back. There was considerable swelling of his brain. That coupled with the large amount of blood he lost, and frankly, it'll be a miracle if he wakes up at all, much less with all his faculties." He sighed softly. "I'm sorry, Decimo… I wish I had better news for you."

Hibari stalked over to the boxer's bed, staring down at him. His face was almost as pale as his hair and it was disconcerting to see him so quiet… the only sound in the room was the faint beeping of the heart monitor and the shuffling of the medical staff as they cleaned up. He sighed softly, resting a hand on Ryohei's shoulder. It wasn't supposed to be him on the bed… The omnivore had been keeping him at home because he was much more useful as a healer compared to the other fighters in their Family. So why was he laying there? His thumb rubbed over the surprisingly soft skin of the Sun's shoulder before he walked out. He had work to do.

The next week was spent in a flurry of activity. The Vongola were abnormally ruthless in hunting down not only the Family responsible for the ambush, but the betrayers amongst their own ranks that allowed it to be possible.

It took about two weeks before the Mansion settled into a semblance of normalcy. The Guardians had their responsibilities and Tsuna had his duties, despite the continued lack of response from the Sun. The doctors assured them, repeatedly, that he wasn't in pain, and reminded them that he might not wake up, or if he did, he might only have partial use of his faculties. Ryohei, like Tsuna, wanted to keep his family in the dark as much as possible, so Tsuna decided not to inform Kyoko about his condition. All she could do was worry with the rest of them, and the brunet didn't want her in Hibari's way.

That last fact was on Gokudera's mind as he scrambled around his room. He was late, and that always pissed him off. As he rushed to get himself presentable for breakfast, he glared at his alarm clock. Why hadn't it gone… He stopped, staring at it for a minute. It had gone off. He remembered Takeshi getting out of bed and turning the alarm off. He vaguely remembered the swordsman telling him he was headed out for training and to get up.

He dropped to the bed, his jacket forgotten next to him as he dropped his head into his hands. That damned loud-mouthed IDIOT boxer… with more brawn than brains… always ran past his window. Every morning. Yelling stupid shit about extreme training. And it was always about 15 minutes after Takeshi got up. He hadn't realized how much he'd relied on the idiot's clockwork schedule.

He also knew damned well that he owed the boxer his life. He wouldn't have survived a bullet to the head. As much as he made wiseass comments about the thick-headed jocks, Gokudera knew quite well that they were both more resilient than he was. He took a deep breath, grabbed his jacket and stalked out of his room.

Instead of heading to breakfast, he made his way to the infirmary. They had given Ryohei a curtained off section of the large room, allowing the comatose Sun as much privacy as possible. Gokudera parted the curtain and walked in, looking down on the white-haired man who'd saved his life. He dropped into the nearby chair and brushed his own silver hair out of his face.

"You've got shit you're supposed to be doing, Turftop. Lazing around in bed isn't gonna get you out of your responsibilities, ya know." He put a hand on Ryohei's wrist, wrapping his long fingers around it. It took him a second, but he sighed in relief as he felt the slow, but steady pulse. "It's a lot of effort finding Guardians, big mouth. I don't feel like dealing with the paperwork… so you'd better wake up soon." He squeezed the Sun's wrist as he stood. "Thanks, Ryohei…" He turned and walked out, swiping a quick hand across his eyes.

That evening, as everyone else was settling into bed, Takeshi was standing at the parted curtain, staring down at his best friend. They'd literally been through everything together – He was the first person Takeshi went to when he was trying to figure out how to get with Dera, and the first person he'd ever gotten hammered with… coincidentally, on the same night. To see the bold boxer pale and silent… the swordsman bit his lip as he walked in, perching on the edge of the bed.

"Heya, sempai… sorry I haven't been down yet. It's been kinda crazy around here, ya know?" He scratched the back of his head, worrying at his lip again. "Ha ha, things must be kinda crazy in there too, huh? Laying in bed really isn't all that extreme…" He took the boxer's hand, noting the lack of bindings. That bothered him more than anything else, and he suddenly found himself fighting back tears. After a few minutes, he managed to speak again, though his voice was husky. "I'm not willing to trade my best friend for my lover… you were both supposed to come back all right. Please don't do this to me, Ryohei." He set his hand back down gently, letting his fingers linger for a second. "We need you back, sempai."

Tsuna walked into the infirmary carrying a cup of coffee in one hand and a folder of papers in the other. He moved the curtain to the side and smiled gently, sitting in the chair next to the bed. He pulled the table over and sighed. "Heya, onii-san. How're you feeling?" He opened the folder and pulled his pen from his jacket pocket, working on the papers. "Gotta fill out more damage reports. It's getting harder to control Hibari-san without you around. And Mukuro isn't really helping. Or… he is, in his own special way." The young Boss laughed, signing a couple more papers. "I think he's trying to distract him or something." A few more papers got dealt with and Tsuna took a sip of his coffee. "It's not as good as you usually make, onii-san. We're all waiting for you to come back. I miss seeing you in my office every day."

Tsuna made this trip down every day for the last three weeks. The medical staff had learned not to bother him as he sat for an hour and worked on his paperwork, chatting with the unresponsive Sun. He didn't care what the doctors said; he knew that Ryohei would wake up. It was just a matter of patience and positive thinking… which was something the boxer had in spades. He had started making it a point to come up to Tsuna's office every afternoon with a fresh cup of coffee and a bright smile. Over time, the Decimo had come to realize that the Sasagawa's shared some very distinctive traits. Their smiles, their endless optimism, and the way they lit up a room just by walking in… Tsuna had come to rely on Ryohei when the two were stuck at home, worrying about their friends on various missions. Or just when he was frazzled from paperwork and training and Mukuro being overly mischievous.

"It's almost dinner time, so I'll have to see you tomorrow." The brunet sighed as he put his papers away and rested a hand on the boxer's shoulder. "I miss your smile, onii-san. But I know that you need as much positive thinking as you can get… So even though I know you can't see it, it's my turn to smile for you. We're all waiting for you, onii-san… come back soon, ok?" Tsuna leaned over and kissed Ryohei's forehead, squeezing his shoulder gently before he walked out.

He walked past Chrome in the hall and smiled at her. "Chrome-chan. Going to visit Ryohei?"

The purplenette nodded, lifting a book. "We're working on Winnie the Pooh," she said quietly, blushing.

Tsuna just nodded and smiled. "I won't keep you, then. Dinner's in 45 minutes… try not to be late." He kissed her forehead and continued down the hall.

The small Mist walked into the infirmary and settled into the seat Tsuna vacated a few minutes beforehand. "Hello, Ryo-san…" She lifted the book, even though she knew he couldn't see it. She opened it to the bookmarked page, then leaned back with it on her lap and started reading quietly. It was a tradition they'd started a couple of years ago when he found out that no one had ever bothered to read stories to her. The next evening, he'd stolen her away after dinner and read the first story of a thin Japanese fables book to her. She'd blushed through the whole thing, but agreed when he'd asked if he'd join her after dinner the next night for the second story. She knew he was missing Kyoko, and if she could help in a small way to alleviate his homesickness, she was happy to do it. She hadn't expected their time to become so important to her as well… who could have known that children's stories in that deep, comforting voice would become an essential part of her day. Whenever she was on a mission, she'd make sure to call from the hotel before bed and listen as he read her another story, or another chapter.

They'd gone through all the Japanese children's books they could find, and were now working on Italian books. They had just started Winnie the Pooh a week before Ryohei got hurt. She was almost through it now, and though she hadn't told anybody for fear of being wrong… she was sure she'd seen him smile once or twice. As the chapter came to an end, she sighed softly. "It's not the same as when you read it, Sun-man. Please wake up soon… I don't know how much longer Cloud-man and the others can wait for you." She kissed his cheek, resisting the urge to poke around in his head. She wasn't nearly as good as Mukuro with that and didn't want to mess anything up. "See you tomorrow, Ryo-san."

Two weeks later found Mukuro pacing the halls in the middle of the night, a victim to his own insomnia once again. The eerie silence was bothering him, but he couldn't put his finger on why until he walked past the Sun Guardian's room. He paced back down to the skylark's room, tilted his head, and sighed softly. The snores that usually emanated from one of the two rooms were missing. He smirked lightly as he turned on his heel and headed downstairs. It was an interesting discovery the night he'd heard the snores coming, not from the Sun's room, but from the carnivorous bird's. He allowed himself a soft chuckle as he walked into the infirmary.

Even in here, it was eerily quiet, aside from the soft beeps and whirs of the machines. He hated it in here, but he had to check. It only took him a few minutes to gather the information he needed, and even less time after for him to sweep from the room, almost fleeing the sterilized coldness.

The next morning, he was leaning on the wall next to the skylark's room as Kyoya walked out. The Foundation leader was about to walk past him without a word, but Mukuro grabbed his arm.

"Release me, herbivore."

"His mind is there. Be patient a little longer." With his message delivered, the tall Mist walked down the hall towards breakfast. He pretended he didn't the crinkle of Kyoya's suit as he leaned against the wall, or the sharp intake of breath as the raven haired man tried to control himself. He knew the Skylark would never forgive him if he witnessed his moment of weakness. His heterochromatic eyes closed as he heard the door slam behind him. He'd have to tell Tsunayoshi that the Cloud wouldn't be joining them for breakfast.

He was staring at the door again. It was almost 10 at night. He should be sleeping… but there he was, staring at the door. He'd stare at the door until exhaustion claimed him, waiting for that loud, irritating herbivore to walk through like he always did. That damned pineapple herbivore… he didn't know if he was pissed at him for knowing how to push the most painful of his buttons, or grateful that he'd renewed his flagging hope. It seemed ridiculous, really. He was happy the idiot's mind was there… as if that should matter, he practically didn't have one.

The creak of the door snapped Kyoya's eyes back up, like a deer caught in headlights. When Tetsuya walked through, with a deferential "Kyo-san," the ex-prefect felt the last of his control snap. He stood in a fluid motion, cracking his second in the head with a tonfa as he stormed past him and down to the infirmary. It was time for that damned herbivore to get the hell out of bed.

As the Cloud stormed into the room, the nurses who were tending to Ryohei looked up. "Mr. Hibari…"

"Get out."

They both knew better than to argue with violent Guardian and scurried past him. Kyoya stared down at Ryohei for a few minutes, watching him breathe. He hadn't been down since the incident… The boxer came to him, not the other way around. "Get up."

The lack of response made Kyoya's eye twitch. No one was allowed to disobey him… especially not loud-mouthed idiots who didn't have a sense of their own mortality. "Get up, herbivore, or I'll bite you to death!" He brought his tonfa up, prepared to follow through with his threat. He could feel himself losing it. His temper, his hard-won control, the little patience he had… they were all slipping from him as he watched his lover… no, that herbivorous TRASH, lay there and ignore him.

The only sound in the silent room was the very soft breaths of Ryohei and the overly loud beeping of his heart monitor. A sound that should have been comforting – he's alive, he's alive, he's alive – was just pissing the Cloud off. It meant that Ryohei was weak. Weak enough to need a machine to tell everyone he was still alive. It reminded Kyoya of what he almost lost, and what he still didn't have back. Six weeks. Six weeks of fear, anger, pain, numbness… with a soft cry of rage, he whipped his tonfa into the offending machine, ripping the nodes from Ryohei's chest and sending it flying into the wall. The ear-piercing shriek of the monitor malfunctioning only fueled Kyoya's rage, and he turned to the prone boxer, fully intent on taking out all of the last six weeks on his body.

Thankfully, 17-year-old Lambo had just returned home, actually trying to sneak in to avoid any of the Guardians noticing how late he was. He heard the flatline screech and ran to the infirmary, not even thinking to shout for help. When he saw what was going on, he acted on pure instinct, putting himself between the Cloud and the comatose Sun, blocking the first tonfa strike with his arm. The resounding crack of the Lightning's arm breaking was drowned out by the monitor. He hissed in pain, his eyes narrowing. He would not allow Hibari to hurt Ryohei… his good hand cocked back and he drove his fist into the enraged Cloud's face, knocking him backwards as his nose exploded in blood.

"Back off, Hibari-san!" Lambo stood in front of the bed defensively despite his broken arm hanging limply at his side.

The Foundation leader held a hand to his nose, staring in shock at the youngest of the Vongola Guardians. "Where the hell did that come from?"

The muffled question made Lambo relax; he couldn't feel the killing intent rolling from the older man anymore. He grabbed his injured arm with a soft whine and sighed. "You'd never forgive yourself if you hurt him, Hibari-san." He looked sadly at the boxer, then back to the Cloud. "You could try telling him how you feel, instead of beating up Tsuna-nii's equipment. A lot of people say coma patients can still hear what's going on around them." The Bovino turned and headed towards the door, trusting that Kyoya had regained his control. He hoped that Bakadera wouldn't be too pissed at him when he woke him up.

Kyoya waited until Lambo left before walking over and unplugging the monitor. The blissful silence wrapped around him as he walked back to the bed. He took a deep breath, staring down at Ryohei. He hoped the cow-brat was wrong. He really didn't want the Sun to have heard all that. He wiped his nose again, and sat down on the edge of the bed, resting his clean hand on the muscular chest. The even breaths were reassuring, and depressing. He just wanted him to wake up… as many times as he'd told the boxer to shut up, all he wanted right now was for him to open his eyes and say something. After a minute, he let out a soft huff and curled up in the bed next to him. Resting his head on the Sun's chest, he closed his eyes. The tears slipping from under his lids were due to the broken nose… not disappointment or fear… he told himself that as he buried his face in the white sheets. Only sheer force of will kept the bitter sobs from being audible. He didn't know how long he laid there before sleep finally overcame him.

He opened his eyes blearily, wondering how long he'd slept. No one had been down to disturb him, so he figured it was still night. He stretched, careful not to disturb Ryohei. He never thought he'd be co-dependent on anyone, but he could admit to himself that he slept better with the boxer beside him than he did alone now. He rested his hand on his lover's chest with a soft sigh.

His eyes widened.

Cold. So cold…

No. No no no no no… Kyoya sat up quickly, staring down at Ryohei. At Ryohei's pale cheeks. His blue lips. His unmoving chest.

No.

No no no…

No…

"NOOOOOOOO!"

He sat up quickly, eyes snapping open as he looking around frantically. They raked over Ryohei's form, noticing the rise and fall of his chest. He panted softly, trying to piece together what had happened. A dream… a nightmare. He hadn't had a nightmare since he was a child. He started to close his eyes, then noticed something.

Ryohei was watching him. His eyes were open and he was looking directly at him.

"R-ryohei?" It was definitely another dream.

"Kyoya…" The boxer's voice was scratchy from lack of use and a parched throat. "Y-you have two extremely black eyes… what did you do?"

"Nothing, idiot…" The ex-prefect tried to get himself under control, forced himself to stay where he was. "Are you done lazing about in bed now?"

"Nah. S'comfy." Ryohei's eyes started to close again, and Kyoya panicked.

"Dammit, herbivore, stay awake." He knew he had to call someone… he grabbed his phone and hit the first number he could think of. "He's awake."

Before anyone else could make their way down, Kyoya bent over and sealed his lips to Ryohei's, holding his hand tightly. "Don't ever do that again, idiot herbivore. I will bite you to death next time."

"I can't make a promise like that… but I extremely promise to try." His eyes fluttered closed again, making Kyoya's chest tighten until he heard the soft snores. He knew they'd get louder later… but right now, that sound was the best thing he'd heard in weeks.