Mafia Summer School

Disclaimer: I do not own any artistic rights or license to Katekyo Hitman Reborn. I'm just borrowing the characters for my own non-profit amusement.

Prologue:

Invitation

Nothing is going to ruin my day. With that kind of attitude, one could conquer the world. However, Tsuna wasn't going to shoot for world domination today. Instead, he was looking forward to the highly coveted summer vacation. He even woke up early for the occasion, just a quarter past late. After buttoning up his short-sleeve shirt, Tsuna picked up his bag if only to show up to the closing ceremony and clean up then he'd be able to ditch it for thirty days.

No mafia-related stuff had reared it's head, so his plans were video games, food and general laziness. Sock-covered feet padded down the stairs quickly since he had about sixty seconds to grab an apple to eat, get his shoes on and then be out the door. Not a problem, until Tsuna turned the corner and saw Reborn sitting at the table drinking coffee. Grinding to a halt, brown eyes flicked to the infant on the stack of books boosting him to see above the table.

"Tsuna"

A quick swallow of nerves. Tsuna had the miniature hitman living under his roof long enough to tell from little inflections and looks what was about to go down. Right now, his little innocent smile coupled with sharp eyes told Tsuna that something was going to happen. Something involving pain. Explosions and future hospital visits were in his future.

"Reborn..." Tsuna stopped himself from asking what the baby wanted. Yes, he was a coward for wanting to put off the inevitable for as long as possible but Tsuna felt that given his situation putting it off until he returned home was the best option.

Next thing he knew there was a swish of air above him as a green flyswatter landed between his eyes. A shriek of pain followed by a chorus of ouch-ouch as the boy dropped his school bag to soothe his offended nose.

"Cut out the pathetic expressions. You will never be a fit founder to a new mafia family if you keep looking like a kicked puppy." The baby ended his scolding by taking a loud slurp of coffee.

This again? Tsuna resisted the urge to roll his eyes since any show of exasperation might get him hit again. Leon might have transformed back into it's normal lizard form, but that didn't mean the chameleon would stay that way for good.

"Also, if you've got something to say to me: say it." Reborn added after setting down his now empty cup.

"Um..." Tsuna made a brave attempt at looking Reborn in the eye. The piercing stare he got in return quickly nixed that idea and he looked to his bag left on the kitchen floor. "I...I'vegottogettoclassnotimetotal k, bye Reborn!" Picking up his bag, Tsuna nearly stumbled over himself just to get out of the kitchen fast enough. Shoving his feet into shoes then he was out the door in a flash.

Only after he was a couple blocks away from home did the teenager slow his pace and exhale. So much getting through today without a care in the world...

"I'm going."

Music kept on playing through headphones. If anything, Fran could have sworn Master had cranked up the volume to drone out the soft-spoken girl-voice. Caught between warring forces and pretending to eat his soggy sugar-flakes cereal, green eyes blinked as the boy tuned into his favorite soap opera. In living color and nothing could be more high definition than real life.

The scene pans to the girl with purple hair, a serious looking frown on her face but she wasn't well versed in angry expression since it made her look constipated. Stirring the milk in the bowl, Fran next looked to the nonchalant rouge, slouched on a smelly sofa, his feet propped up on a end table that had seen better days.

"Just like their relationship..." Fran narrated to himself just as Mukuro stirred to alertness.

"Oh? Well good luck with that" he hummed before settling in with a magazine. He was just as bad of an actor as Chrome. For all his relaxed seat and talk of disinterest, he was still talking to her and watching with his mismatched eyes.

The mood was so cold Fran had to look over his shoulder to see if ice crystal were forming on the windows of the hideout. No such luck. Pity. He would have loved to see Japan have a white summer. Big snow piles, he could craft a giant snowmail-man. Maybe the dog boy would want to pee on it though...

Wrinkles formed between the boy's brows as he contemplated a winter wonderland in July. He missed Chrome stepping over to him until a hand was placed on his head. A small flinch at the light weight on top of his skull before the boy raised his head.

"I'm taking Fran with me."

Now that got Master's attention. Removing his headphones, music blaring until he turned it down several notches. After all, no one needed to know that his MP3 player had a mix of German death metal and bubblegum K-Pop.

"So...I'm going to stay with Chrome-chan?" he asked, neither hopeful nor disgruntled by the change of events. According to Master, Fran – or rather his future self- had changed hands so many times between groups that the boy might as well be a cursed family heirloom.

"Just for a little while" Chrome said, her one eye looking first to him but she didn't hold her gaze there for long. After all, Fran knew his place as a pawn in a game devised by the two teenagers. He really wish someone would clue him in on the rules and objective of this game though, since Fran would much rather play on the same field instead of being the prize on the sidelines.

He wouldn't be getting any answers from Chrome. Not when she was going into determination-mode. Fran liked to think one day she would transform into a magical girl if only by sheer will alone. It was one of the reasons why Chrome was both fascinating and scary to Fran.

"What could you possibly want with him?" Mukuro asked after shifting on the sink-hole of a sofa to sit upright.

"His name was on the letter too."

Oh. That thing. Fran's expression went from disinterested to grumpy. The simple sheet of paper came in the mail two days ago. Something about inviting Chrome to visit the Vongola family in Italy. Since then Chrome and Master were at odds with one another. They didn't argue, glare or say nasty things to one another, but there was a weird atmosphere over the hideout. Fran thought of a still pond up in the mountains he called his playground. The water was often clear as crystal and still. Sometimes little ripples appeared when he skipped stones. On the rare occasion he'd throw a larger rock into the pond so it created a big splash. This felt like the same chaos as a big splash.

Chrome had gone back to her apartment too, something she only did when playing house with him, Master and the two idiots -sometimes the baby was added to the mix- got to be too much. Mukuro would go about his business whenever she left, only making the odd mistake of asking for Chrome then remember she wasn't there. Eventually they'd come back together, but both teens were stubborn and a little bit stupid, so it would take a couple days to a week.

In short, Fran was starting to wonder where the remote was since this episode felt like a re-run and he was getting bored.

"If it's for a sumo wrestling invitational, why is my name on the letter too?"

Ryohei stopped short of wrapping his right hand with a fresh length of athletic tape. He balked at seeing Kyoko's face peeking through the door leading into the boxing club room. He had bolted out of the house when she first brought the paper to his attention, citing that he was late of his early morning warm-up.

"Um..." he tried to think fast. "I wouldn't know. Maybe the judges wanted you to come along for emotional support?"

His uncertain answer only served to make Kyoko frown. In response, Ryohei swallowed thickly. Scratching the back of his head, he wondered if Sawada was on campus yet. He had some questions about the letter too. Namely who's big idea it was to drag Kyoko into the middle of whatever the Vongola family was up to.

Even though she should be in class by now, Haru figured skipping one day out of the entire year wouldn't hurt. Besides, she had packing to do. A letter was pinned to the cork bulletin board among the ribbons for gymnastics, scholarship award papers and photos of her friends. A red letter day was circled on tomorrow. Little hearts drawn, fluttering about the letters 'Romantic Italian Getaway with Tsuna-kun'. There just weren't enough exclamation points she could add at the end of that statement so more hearts were in order.

"Are you taking your whole apartment with you, Gokudera?" In response to the teasing, Hayato bristled like a startled cat. "No! And what about you? You've just got a stupid duffle bag. This isn't a sleep over, we are going to be in for some serious training."

"Hm, if you say so" was the taller boy's hummed response. "...think everyone else knows? I mean, Italy is pretty far off so what will their parents say?"

Following a shrug of his shoulders, which was no easy feat since he was toting two suitcase straps in each hand and had a backpack on his shoulders. "Who cares how they get to the airport on time just so long as they arrive on time. I doubt the Vongola family would wait around for everyone to get their crap together."

"Probably not" the baseball player flashed the bomber a grin. "That's why I came to school prepared."

Green eyes narrowed at the easy-going guy. "We're going to be in another country for summer break and you're just taking one bag..." He sighed, giving up on explaining the other guy's brain. Man, his back was killing him.

Brooms went to work sweeping out every single speck of dust. Feverish swipes of cleaning cloths at the glass windows over looking the school grounds as male students went about their business straightening up the room. Supervising the clean up, Kyoya Hibari had given up his early morning nap on the Reception Room sofa in order to make sure his office was spotless. A yellow bird chirped before fluffing up at it's perch on a window sill. A minute ago, it had set a letter head on his desk, Tetsuya was reading over the contents now.

After the other boy folded up the letter, Hibari shot his second in command a look.

"It's invitation to join Swada-san and others to visit Italy..."

"Shred it." Just the thought of going anywhere with those people was making his skin prickle and start to itch under his shirt collar.

No hesitation from Tetsuya. He followed orders without a word or question. Now if only he could as easily be rid of Sawada and his band of merry herbivores.