The tall black-suited Mafioso looked over at his rival with a scowl. Colonello looked the same has he did the last time they met. His blonde hair was in a disarray of spikes and fly away strands with a green army headband holding them away from his pale face. Baby blue eyes met dark brown ones as they looked each other over. The other Arcobaleno's voice was firm but he had a smirk played out on his face; amused, almost excited. Like he's been waiting for the oppurtunity to fight with the other man for a long time. His lean body stood tall, not as tall as Reborn but pretty close, and his hands were firmly shoved into his pants pockets. There was a black hawk perched on the school wall next to Colonello's right shoulder.

Ryohei took his leave after greeting Reborn, as Hibari had come outside looking for anyone who wasn't supposed to be on school grounds after the bell rung. The blonde slowly walked over to where Reborn stood; still looking straight at the other. Birds chirped happily in the morning sky, resulting in a hearty call from Colonello's partner. The last tinges of orangey glow were now leaving the early atmosphere, and the town had an air of a busy day beginning. Colonello moved a step or two closer and opened his mouth to speak, but Reborn interuppted him.

"Is it really any of your concern where it is I go these days, Colonello?" his scowl turned from irritated to more of that of an older brother telling his younger sibling to mind his own business. The day was so young but yet the rivalry still burned strong.

Colonello retorted sharply, hearing Reborn's tone, "Concern? You make it sound as if I was worried. What happened to you while we were training over here, hey?" His arms crossed over his slightly muscular chest; staring up at his adversary in mild agitation.

"Secret Vongola matters that don't have anything to do with you or this training. I apologize if I was required to let you know beforehand," Reborn smirked smugly and shifted his right foot so it crossed his left. Colonello just stared angrily while Reborn tried to make a mockery out of him. He wasn't going to take that without a fight, however.

"Hmph. If you think so lightly of this training then maybe you should train him, hey? Is that what you want, Reborn?" Colonello's gaze was fierce and enraged. How dare Reborn come back acting so smug after leaving without so much as a word? His sarcasm was really starting to get under the blonde's skin.

"Don't be ridiculous, Colonello. You know I entrusted the Sun Guardian with you for a reason. I'm not diminishing your ability or taking the matter of his training for granted," Reborn assured. He didn't have the right words to apologize or to thank the camo-wearing man for all he's done for the famiglia, but he was sure Colonello would understand. "As for the work I was doing in Sicily, it was nothing important. Another famiglia was rising too high in power and we had to put a stop to it. There was an underground black market even we didn't know about. Apparently, they used this to sell drugs and weapons to get popular on the streets. Too bad we hear everything on the streets..," Reborn said tonelessly. He wasn't sure why he was exposing so much information. It's not as if it was top secret but he at least told Colonello everything he wanted to know.

Colonello stood staring; the rage gone from his light eyes and placed with something that looked like curiosity and understanding but not in the matter Reborn was discussing. The taller Mafioso shook the scattered thought from his mind and began walking away. He didn't feel the necessity to do anymore visiting today. He could see everyone else later.

Colonello muttered a small thanks at the other man's back. In agknowledgement, Reborn turned his head to the side and tipped his hat as he walked in the opposite direction from which he walked there.

--

Recently, Reborn had started renting out an appartment building - yes, building, not room - for himself and the many subordinates in which he had ordered to stay in Japan with him. He himself had a room on the top floor; which he kept unoccupied besides his own residence. This was not only to provide some privacy but also because it evidently showed the character of this man; one to not be crowded by others who would only get in his way. They would be able to reach him quickly enough if necessary anyway.

The Mafioso loosened the red tie around his neck as he walked into the small loft. His eyes hid the truth from everyone else, but in all reality, he was very much exhausted of all his strength. His flight had lasted the entire night of which he didn't sleep through at all. Not to mention his day yesterday wasn't exactly a walk through the park either. His body leaned heavily on the back of the black leather couch he had in the middle of his living room area. Kicking off his shoes and placing his hat - and Leon - on the small wooden table in front of the sofa, Reborn swung his long legs onto the arm rest on the other side of his makeshift bed and placed his big hands behind his head.

His brown eyes studied the space around him: the wooden table made of oak, the plain white walls that extended onto an equally plain white ceiling, a plush light blue carpet that stopped in its path in front of the kitchen, the yellow tiles that extended after the carpet ended. The room wasn't very luxurious or exquisite in any way, but it was simple and it did fine for Reborn. He couldn't have attention dragged towards him and his subordinates if they rented out an entire five-star hotel or two. That wouldn't blow over well with Tsuna, he was sure. Besides, as long as Reborn had his own place to stay he was fine. He realized it was about time he moved somewhere else considering how crowded it was getting at the Vongola Decimo's small home.

Sleep pulled on the Mafioso's eyelids until he finally surrendered into unconsiousness. He vaguely remembered that he was going to tell someone something important that day, but Reborn's fatigue got the best of him before he could fully recall what it was.

--

The next morning was another peaceful one. It was still blue and not very light outside and dew was sprinkled all over the grass and trees; making them sparkle in the pale light. Everyone in Namimori would be dozing in their beds on any other normal morning, but for a few young teenagers, this wasn't any other morning. Today was the restart of their intense training, and though their abilities had improved dramatically in the three years they had begun working with the Mafia, training commenced as it had in the early morning hours of the several months previous. Reborn and Colonello were sitting together in the bleachers at the Namimori High baseball field. The taller Mafioso was supervising the training of Yamamoto once again, as he had in the past, and the blonde army man was watching over the training of his own student, Sasagawa. As a favor to Reborn, the Cavallone tenth generation boss, Dino, had agreed to take Hibari for extra training as well; though everyone doubted the prefect even needed the extra attention.

Tsuna, although against his will, was also present; as was his right hand man, Gokudera. The silver-haired Storm Guardian had just finished his training for the morning and was sitting in the dugout wiping his dirtied face on a towel. The sweat on his forehead and running down his cheeks glistened in the morning sunlight as he panted heavily and ragged. Sitting next to him was Tsuna and Yamamoto, who had just sat down to take a break. Even this early in the day and already they were battered and tired.

Reborn turned to Colonello, "How is Sasagawa Ryohei doing with his training, Colonello?" Reborn's eyes swept the field and found Ryohei off a few hundred feet practicing his boxing. Apparently, one of Colonello's men was sparring with him.

"He's fine, hey! He's improved greatly and has even perfected a move he had been having trouble with a month or two back. You were gone during that time, though," Colonello said in a slightly annoyed voice. Even if he knows the details of Reborn's absense, he didn't have to be happy about it, right?

Ignoring the last remark, Reborn continued, "Aa, it sounds like Ryohei is doing fine in your care, so thank you," Reborn stood from his seat next to Colonello on the bleachers and went to meet the others in the dugout. Colonello's blue eyes followed Reborn as he walked away. He continued staring after him until he realized it himself and turned his attention back to his student; who had just taken a nasty blow to the face.

In the dugout, Yamamoto tilted his head and was just about trying to swallow his whole water bottle in one gulp. Within seconds, he had downed the entire thing and wiped off the small drip of water that was trailing down his chin. He smiled when Reborn entered the small area and sat down next to him.

"Reborn! So, what do you think?" The baseball player was referring to the training he was doing which required the use of his baseball-bat-into-katana weapon.

Reborn smirked at Yamamoto's simplistic bliss and replied, "You're doing a great job, Yamamoto. Keep it up," Reborn tipped his hat up a fraction of an inch to look down the field again. Gokudera had left some extensive injuries on the school grounds with his explosives. Reborn had a feeling that Hibari wasn't going to be too happy when he came back from his own training session. Ryohei was still on the field way off; he was sparring constantly.

Tsuna piped in on Reborn's thoughts and added, "Eeiiikkk..! Oh no..! Gokudera's training made a bunch of holes in the field! What should we do? If Hibari-san sees this.." The brunette trailed off but had a horrified look in his face. It was like he was staring into a previous event in which led to the 'biting' of multiple people including himself.

Sheer terror took over Tsuna, but happily, Yamamoto slung his arm over the other's small shoulders, "Don't worry so much, Tsuna! We'll find a way to fix it before he comes back!" He smiled reassuringly, making Tsuna feel better, but he couldn't help wondering how Yamamoto thought they could possiby do that..

"Don't worry about it, you two. We'll have it repaired before school starts," Reborn crossed his arms over his chest and his left leg over his right in a 'I-can-do-that-because-I-have-connections' sort of way. This, in a way, made Tsuna even more afraid, but slightly more reassured, too. As long as it's fixed..

The young Vongola perked up a bit as he suddenly thought of something, "Oh, Reborn! I meant to ask you.. Why are we doing all this intense training? There isn't anything more for us to worry about, is there?" His golden brown eyes widened a fraction of a inch as he thought of their last great adventure - into the future.

Reborn's thoughts all halted at once and his breath cut short. That's right. He had been meaning to tell him, but.. now is not the time. He feigned carelessness and said, "You all need to ameliorate your skills. You never know when we'll need them. You must always be on guard," Reborn sighed and added, "But relax, Tsuna. Everything will be fine."

His warning left a bad taste in the air.

--

The sky was turning auburn in the spring night, and Reborn had just returned to his small apartment room. He let his suit jacket fall to the plush carpet with a soft swish as he sat down on the couch with his head in his hands. Stress was building up in his veins and clenching his heart as hard as it could. He felt like he was going to have cardiac arrest. He sighed audibly and then gasped as he looked up from his hands. There was someone standing at the door.

"Colonello..! I wasn't expecting you," Reborn returned his head to his hands in exasperation, "What do you want?"

Suddenly, Reborn felt hands on his shoulders, forceful hands, pushing him down hard onto the back of the leather couch. Colonello loomed over him with a face full of absolute rage, and he tightened his grip on Reborn's arms. The hair on the back of the Mafioso's neck stood on end as he looked up at the blonde's expression. He glared back in disbelief and feign anger. In truth, he was still very tired and weary from his exhausting trip to Italy.

"What do you think you're doing?" Reborn muttered sharply, "Get off of me."

"Why are you being so difficult?" Colonello spat forcefully, ignoring Reborn's remarks, "Why are you hiding everything? And why are you so nervous, hey?" The blonde's grip tightened more still as he asked questions that cut Reborn like blades.

The taller man's mouth opened to respond, but he just couldn't find the right words. He was right. And Reborn supposed he had every right to be angry with him, but.. why was Colonello so concerned? And why was he holding Reborn by the shoulders interrogating him? These questions came and went in the Mafioso's mind, and he stared up at the other man. It was time to spill.

Reborn sighed, "Get off of me. There's a reason why I've been so strict about their training lately," he looked away from Colonello and continued in a firm voice, "We've been assigned to a mission in Sicily. It shouldn't be anything too bad, but they're still only teenagers. They haven't seen the bloodshed or the underground Mafia world yet. I have to go with them.." Reborn's face formed a slight smirk, but he was more worried than cocky at the moment.

Colonello's grasp on the other man loosened and his eyes went wide, "That's why you've been acting so strange? What's so bad about that, hey? It's just a like common welcoming into the famiglia.." Just then, Colonello picked up on the last sentence and saw Reborn's smirk. And it dawned on him. Even Reborn knew when Colonello didn't. He knew Colonello was worried. And he knew that he had been concerned the entire time. The army man hadn't even realized that Reborn was aware of every thought the other Arcobaleno had. Colonello's hands dropped and he stood up straightening his back.

He felt humiliated. And inferior. His cheeks flushed furiously in frustration and severe embarassment, "I'm not concerned about you, hey! I'm worried for my student. If that was all that was going down, you could have just said so." Even to Colonello, his explanation sounded forced. Not only that but it didn't justify nearly jumping on Reborn wondering why he was so spacey. He didn't really care, though.. did he? The blonde shook the thoughts from his head.

Reborn let another agitated sigh escape from his pale lips, "Are you quite finished here, Colonello? We're training again in two days, so have Ryohei prepared."

With these parting words he expected their meeting to be finished. However, Colonello wasn't going that easily it seemed. The blonde Arcobaleno reattached himself to the other Mafioso, this time wrapping his arms around the other's neck. In silent desperation, he roughly pressed his lips to Reborn's and grabbed a fistful of his dark hair in one hand. He lifted his legs onto the couch and firmly placed his body in between Reborn's legs and held on as tightly as he could.

Reborn's vision hazed over and he closed his eyelids in miserable surrender. He wasn't thinking right; he was too tired. Whatever the reason, he used his last remaining strength in kissing the army idiot back. He raised his arms to explore the other's body. His long fingers ran down his spine, neck, waist, chest, and then through his platinum hair. Colonello moaned almost inaudibly against Reborn's mouth. The blonde straddled the other's waist and then moaned again; a nice, loud satisfied one.

Reborn was fighting back and he loved it. But was also confused by it. Colonello needed answers, and he searched Reborn's mouth for them. He wanted to extract the answers to everything he desperately needed to know from him. Reborn, without hesitation or thought, licked Colonello's lips and slid his mouth open. The Mafioso licked the top of the other's mouth; taking from him another erotic sound. He needed it. He reveled in it. And he was just as confused by it as Colonello was.

Reborn made his way to Colonello's slender neck and nibbled lightly at first. As more and more delicious sounds came from Colonello's throat, the black-suited man bit harder and sucked the small drops of blood that rose up from the punctured skin. He licked away the blood and sucked harder, making red marks all over Colonello's pale neck. He was just as confused about it as Colonello was.

And there they were; desperately hanging onto each other, bruising their lips, and searching for the truth.


Oh ho HO ! What is this? An epic kissing scene?? -shot-

That was my first EVER kissing scene-bit-thing EVER. Did it suck?! Or did it come out okei?! OAO;;

Anyways, thanks SO much for reading..!
-gives readers cookies-

I love you! XD

- Apple :D