For Kes

Tsuna Shoichi and Spanner are the 'i can sleep anywhere at anytime' squad

Shoichi and Spanner, in true scientists' manner, could fall asleep anywhere at any given time. So caught up in their experiments, they would work until they collapsed out of necessity than actual desire. It was common to find them asleep at their keyboards or slumped over their notes. That left the uncommon places that more interesting.

One morning, Mukuro woke to find a sleeping Shoichi on the kitchen floor and about ten thousand cookies of different flavors and textures. Apparently, Shoichi had been testing the ratios of flours, butter and sugar, along with other variables for the perfect soft chewy cookie.

Ryohei had tripped over Spanner on the stairway one morning after his morning jog.

Hibari had bitten them both to death the afternoon he had found them in his Japanese styled sitting room, surrounded by bits and pieces. Apparently they were upgrading the sound system and light fixture in there, before getting sidetracked in making a hologram that would project Japanese scenery for Hibari. The problem arose in that they didn't have enough parts and had raided the kitchen, taking apart the microwave, toaster and oven for parts. They started 48 hours ago, had gotten halfway through the project and had fallen asleep.

Tsuna had been in the middle of organizing a search for them because no one had seen either of them in the last 36 hours when the ceiling collapsed. Shoichi blinked blearily and Spanner hadn't even woken up. It turned out they had been installing security in the ducts.

After that, Tsuna always had someone assigned to make sure Shoichi and Spanner got regular sleeping hours.

Tsuna could asleep anywhere at any time out of necessity. One did not survive their teenager years with Reborn as their tutor without learning to do.

It started off simply. If Tsuna wanted peace and quiet, he would have to slip away, undetected from everyone if he wanted it. He failed for the most part. Gokudera or Yamamoto easily found him within minutes. Reborn always knew.

But as he got older, he got better. By the time he was sixteen, he managed to slip away without alerting his Guardians (even Mukuro who had the uncanny ability to find him). Reborn still knew and would drag him back, but Tsuna could at least count on an hour of quiet. It was worth it, even if the first time he successfully hid from Gokudera, it had sent his Storm Guardian around the bend with worry.

By the time he was seventeen, there was pressure coming from all sides. Pressure to graduate, to inherit Vongola, college or not, move to Italy now, soon, later and the general chaos that was his life was simply beginning to be too much. Tsuna was so tired of it all, that the minute he slipped away, crawling up into a shady tree in Namimori's forest, he fell asleep.

Reborn woke him, hours later judging by the way night had fallen. With an odd look of concern on his face, Reborn simply ushered Tsuna home and into bed. If life was a little more bearable after, they didn't discuss it.

It did morph into something like a game after that. Whenever Tsuna reached the end of his patience, when things simply got too overwhelming, when things just got too chaotic, too noisy, when he couldn't just control anything or anyone, when he was just too tired to deal with everything, he would slip away for some much needed rest and quiet. Reborn would always come and wake him, no matter how odd of the place Tsuna had chosen to hide. Whether it was behind boxes, in a closet, in the bushes, behind the sofa or up in a tree, Reborn always found him and gave him the space Tsuna needed.

It drove everyone else mad with worry, but Tsuna considered it a fair trade off. He spent the rest of his time worrying about them after all. Reborn would let him sleep for a few hours, watching over him if Reborn found him early. The rest was very much welcomed and needed. If Tsuna hadn't fallen asleep, they would just sit quietly while Tsuna recollected himself.

There was one particular incident where the West Wing had been destroyed by his energetic Guardians, Iemitsu had been hounding him for some 'father-son' bonding time, Lambo had been complaining about something, paperwork was multiplying, Varia were supposed to come back any minute now and there were about ten other things that required his attention, and Tsuna's mind just went 'nope' and he slipped away for a break.

The problem was Reborn was away on a mission.

Once people had realized that Tsuna had vanished and that Reborn wasn't around to call them to tell them where Tsuna was, they panicked. Searches were organized and the entire property was combed through. When that search had turned up empty, they started looking at possibly kidnappers.

Reborn returned to Vongola to find it in chaos and not the good kind of chaos. At that point, Tsuna had vanished for a little over 17 hours and no one had any clue.

The hitman stormed into his room, searching for clean clothes and a quick wash before heading out to find his wayward student. That was when Reborn opened his walk-in closet, looked up and found Tsuna sleeping on the top shelf (that shouldn't support his weight but did) where Reborn stashed his extra hats.

He moved to wake Tsuna, before noting the dark circles under Tsuna's eyes and how, despite the fact that Tsuna was sleeping, there was a wrinkle of discomfort in his brow. Reborn had only been away for four days and Tsuna at least looked well rested before his departure. It was hard to say if Reborn was angrier at the idiots who have driven his former student to his breaking point (again) while he was away or Tsuna for worrying everyone this much because Reborn hadn't been around to watch his back. Most likely the former.

"Tsuna," Reborn called out.

Tsuna stirred awake.

"Watch your head," Reborn warned. There wasn't much space between the top shelf and the ceiling. Tsuna would hit his head if he sat up.

Tsuna rolled off the shelf, landing on the ground. "Reborn," he greeted tiredly. "Welcome home." Then he blinked, a little bit more awake. "Oh, I've been missing for some time."

"Yes," Reborn said. "Your famiglia is beside themselves with worry. Over 17 hours. It's currently 3 in the afternoon."

"Closer to 24 hours," Tsuna said, wearily. "I took my paperwork with me." He pointed to the corner of Reborn's closet, where the stacks of paperwork were neatly hidden behind the shoe boxes. "I didn't want to deal with anyone, so my cellphone is off and locked in your gun safe."

"You cracked the code to my safe?" Reborn asked, eyebrow raised. Reborn had that specially made. It wasn't a combination lock, but rather four that had been done in the correct order.

"It was a good distraction," Tsuna said. "I had brought paperwork with me, but I didn't want to actually do it. Once I figured it out though, I just worked on paperwork until I got tired and been asleep since."

Which, Reborn translated meant that Tsuna had probably pulled all-nighter working on the paperwork and hadn't eaten since yesterday. The problem with constantly pushing Tsuna when he was fourteen (because getting the boy to move was an uphill battle) was that it had morphed Tsuna's work ethic into working until he literally dropped.

He took a closer look at Tsuna and saw the way his former student's slumped with the burden of being Decimo. The exhaustion reflected in his brown eyes. Reborn felt a twinge of guilt, of regret that he had dragged Tsuna into this job, this life that the brunet had never wanted in the first place. At twenty one, Tsuna looked like he was going on forty.

"Bed," Reborn said, pointing to his bed. "If you don't fall back asleep, I'll bring you something back to eat."

Tsuna looked at him wearily. "Shouldn't you be kicking me out of your room and telling me to go reassure everyone that I'm alive?"

"I'll handle it," Reborn said. He would have to set those idiots straight. It was getting ridiculous how often Tsuna would reach this point of exhaustion since becoming Decimo two years ago. Not to mention, if it was closer to 24 hours since Tsuna slipped away, that meant for seven hours no one noticed. That was simply unacceptable.

"But," Tsuna started.

Reborn simply threw him onto his bed. "Rest, Dame-Tsuna," Reborn said.

Tsuna looked at him once more, before settling beneath the covers. He knew better than to fight Reborn on this. "I want onigiri please," Tsuna said, resting his head on the pillow.

Reborn noted the request and left the room, locking it to ensure Tsuna got the rest he need. His troublesome student. It was time to correct this issue once and for all.

He had some idiots to shoot.

-Tucks Tsuna into bed-

Oh wow, this is my 200th fic. Yay me!

Please leave a review on your way out. :3