Notes: Thanks for the reviews! I wasn't sure anyone would be interested in this, haha. This is just as hastily written and edited as chapter one. I'll proofread them both again tomorrow with fresh eyes, but for now, please enjoy this.


I.

Dutifully, Tsuna heads toward the batting center Reborn told him about, inwardly worrying about the adviser's motives. Tsuna's never been coordinated enough to be more than decent at any sport, so he's suspicious about the sudden need to practice his swings at some fancy rec center. He's even more wary about this because Reborn hasn't left his side once since he arrived - at least, not when they're going on self-imposed missions, which Tsuna suspects this most definitely is - and Reborn mysteriously had other things to do. He droops as he considers the very real possibility that Reborn has tossed him to the wolves and fully expects him to handle things by himself now.

As if answering his concerns, dark energy hits him as soon as he's within sight of the pristine building, and Tsuna braces himself against it to keep from getting sick. He remembers Reborn said something about the evil, dark energy rebelling against his pure, light energy, which is what's making him nauseous, and he curses the world in general and his adviser in particular for the umpteenth time that day. Once the urge to vomit subsides, he sneaks around the side of the building and peeks into one of the large windows.

The now familiar sight of pale, dead-eyed people greets him, and Tsuna feels his need to help them harden into resolve.

He goes back around to the entrance and walks inside. He spots a woman at the front desk, and he moves over to her. "Excuse me," he says, and she regards him with a painted on smile. "Um, I'd like to sign up for the..."

"Batting cages?" She finishes for him when he trails off uncertainly. He nods, and she pulls out a clipboard. "Sign your name here." He does so, and she prints out a card for him and hands it over. "The first day is free. Keep this card on you since you're not a member yet and return it to me when you leave," she explains patiently.

Tsuna accepts the card with a weak smile, inwardly grimacing at the energy he can already feel being sucked away by it. As soon as he rounds the corner out of her sight, he tosses it in the trash and does his best to shake off the dizziness it caused. He shudders to think what the people who have been under that drain for hours must feel, and the thought urges him on.

He goes down the hall and enters the room with batting cages, which is a giant gym with high ceilings and what he's sure is state-of-the-art equipment. There are about twenty people in this room, twelve in the cages and the rest pitching against the padded walls. They all look so worn out he's surprised they're still on their feet, but it's not like Tsuna really understands what that energy drain does or how it works.

"Hi there, are you here to work in your batting or your pitching?" A well-groomed man in glasses appears before him with a friendly smile.

Tsuna returns it weakly. "Batting," he says - because Reborn probably had a reason for telling him to do that exercise specifically. He usually does, even if they're sometimes nonsensical.

"Excellent," the guy says, and he guides Tsuna to an open cage at the end of the row. "The bat is there, and you press this switch to start and stop the machine at anytime. Have fun."

Tsuna nods, and the guy leaves him alone. Even without his Hyper Intuition, he can tell the man is bad news. Just standing near him makes Tsuna on edge, which seems to be the case for the stronger youma he's faced. He slumps, already exhausted just thinking about the upcoming battle. Ugh.

Nonetheless, he steps inside the cage and picks up the bat, and he glances around idly before beginning. He stops short when he spots Yamamoto Takeshi in the cage next to him.

"Yamamoto-kun?" slips out in his shock, and the boy looks over at him before returning his attention the frankly insanely fast pitches being thrown at him.

He hits them one by one, his pace far outshining the rest of the zombie-like customers around them. He doesn't seem that tired, and he's only a little pale. "Hey, Dame-Tsuna," Yamamoto offers him genially enough.

"Hi," he replies uncertainly. "How long have you been here, Yamamoto-kun?"

"Oh, uh, since this morning, I think?" Yamamoto says in the midst of his next swing. He laughs as he admits, "I'm not too sure."

'How can you not know?!' Tsuna can't help but think hysterically, but another part of him points out that the drain probably affects one's sense of time, too. Otherwise, these people would definitely leave sooner.

And then he realizes. If Yamamoto's been here that long, why hasn't he collapsed yet? And why does he still seem so fresh compared to the guy who arrived after Tsuna did and - he cranes his neck to check - is barely standing up straight?!

Tsuna asks, awkwardly, "Sorry to bother you again, but did you get a card at the front desk?"

"Hmm, nope," Yamamoto replies carelessly, hitting what would definitely be a home run out on the field. "I'm a regular here, so I didn't need one."

So that's it. Just standing in this building is a drain on him, but it's the card that's pulling in the most energy. Yamamoto only looks a little worn out because of the residual effects of everyone else's cards.

Tsuna hits a few pitches and then quickly excuses himself to the bathroom. Once there, he locks the door and transforms into his Moon Prince uniform. "Reborn!" He whispers, hoping the adviser is listening in. "I'm going to- attack now," he says lamely.

"You're too slow, Dame-Tsuna," Reborn scolds, and Tsuna is instantly reassured by that squeaky voice. "Just do what you've been doing. I'm watching from the next building."

"How is that helpful?!" he whispers fretfully, and he hears a huff of a laugh. "Reborn!"

"You can do it. Quit complaining," is the only answer he gets.

He curses the adviser once again and then does exactly what he told him to do. He makes his usual dramatic entrance, and everyone seems to freeze and stare at him.

"I'm the Moon Prince, and I'm here to punish you in the name of the Moon!" He announces, stupid poses and all. It doesn't feel quite so foolish after the tenth time, and now he even manages to inject the words with his righteous fury.

"Moon Prince, I've heard of you," the creepy guy says, adjusting his glasses. "You've foiled Byakuran-sama's plans one too many times, and I'll be the one to stop you."

II.

"Crap," He mutters, glaring at the youma helplessly. Every time he dodges an attack, it curves around and heads for one of the still practicing zombie civilians, so he has to boost over to it and disperse it with his flames. It's tiring him out fast, and he's not sure he can protect everyone and beat the guy at this rate.

"Hey, glasses," a voice shouts tauntingly, and Tsuna whips around to stare at Yamamoto in shock. What's he doing?! Frowning, Yamamoto holds up a bat and challenges, "Why don't you fight someone who can actually fight back instead of firing at innocent bystanders?"

Tsuna almost yells, "This guy clearly doesn't care about hurting innocents!" But he holds it in, his Intuition telling him to let this play out.

"Oho?" The youma says, condescendingly. "And is that someone you, per chance?"

"Yeah, it is," Yamamoto replies evenly. He levels the bat at the youma. "Whaddya say? Wanna try me?"

"Why not?" The youma smirks, and there's dark amusement in it. He spreads his arms wide, invitingly. "I'll give you a free a shot, human. Go on. Try it."

Yamamoto's frown grows severe, and he charges the youma and swings the bat as hard as he can at the demon's head. A hand flies up to catch it, faster than Tsuna could see. Yamamoto blinks in surprise. The youma slings him aside like a ragdoll, and Tsuna leaps forward to catch him before he hits the wall.

"Are you all right?" Tsuna asks him worriedly, his eyes still trained on the smug demon on the opposite side of the room.

"Yeah," Yamamoto breathes, and Tsuna can feel how hard his heart is beating right now.

He must be so scared, but he tried to help Tsuna anyway. He smiles a little sadly and turns to the other boy. "Thank you for your help, Yamamoto-kun, but I've got it from here."

Yamamoto stills at his words and then looks up to meet his gaze. His eyes widen, and then his face grows unreadable. Tsuna stands up and glares at the youma, leaving Yamamoto to stare up at his back. The battle resumes.

III.

"He's so cool, and I'm useless," a high-pitched voice breaks Takeshi out of his thoughts. He looks toward said voice and finds a baby in a suit. "That's what you're thinking right now."

"Maa, how did you-"

The baby's expression darkens, and Takeshi cuts himself off. "You got me," he admits, forlornly.

"Do you really want to help him?" The baby asks, head tilted toward the boy who calls himself the Moon Prince and who is at this moment protecting all of them. It'd be ridiculous if it weren't his reality right now.

Takeshi regards the question seriously. Baseball has been more of a chore than anything lately, and he's no good for anything else. Truthfully, when he saw that small kid fighting so hard, it stirred something within him, something protective and instinctive. He'd wanted to help, had felt it in his bones, and when the boy smiled at him so sadly, he'd been stricken with the need to wipe it off his face. There's big things going on here. Even he can tell.

So he looks the baby in his eyes and says, "I do." And his heart sings.

IV.

The youma grabs hold of his ankle when he gets too close, and he tosses Tsuna hard against the far wall. He coughs in the ensuing cloud of smoke and forces himself to his feet. It's then he notices his adviser and his classmate watching him a few feet away.

Suddenly, Reborn tosses Yamamoto a ring like his and commands, "If you really want to help, put that on and say, 'Mercury Power, Make-up.'"

Yamamoto looks confused for a moment, but his face grows determined as he nods once, decisively. He slips the ring on, thrusts it above his head, and shouts, "Mercury Power, Make-up!"

Water bubbles up from the floor and surrounds him like some sort of vortex, and a bright light shines as his body disappears underneath it. When the water disperses, Yamamoto's regular clothes have been replaced with a uniform almost identical to Tsuna's save for the color scheme. Yamamoto's collar, bow, and boots are all light blue as opposed to his orange.

"Take this," Reborn gives him another magical item - a sword? Where was he even keeping that?

Yamamoto accepts the katana with a thanks and falls into a battle stance like he was born to do it. Tsuna stares at him, gobsmacked. What the hell's going on?!

Not one to be forgotten, the youma screeches, "Now there's two of you, eh? Well, bring as many little boys as you like. It won't save you." He gears up for another attack, and Tsuna drops into his own stance, ready to intercept that beam if need be. There are still too many people in here that could get hurt by a stray shot.

"Moon Prince," Yamamoto says suddenly. Tsuna glances over at him, and once the other boy catches his eye, he grins. "I've got this."

Yamamoto rushes forward at the same instant the youma releases his beam. He brings up his sword and blocks the attack, and miraculously, it bounces back into the face of its creator. The youma tumbles backwards, and Yamamoto is on him before he gets back to his feet.

"Mercury Axle of Rain!" He calls out, thrusting his blade into the stomach of the downed demon. Blue fire leaps up the blade, and their enemy promptly disintegrates, signaling the end of the battle. Yamamoto stands up and sheathes his sword. The civilians drop like puppets with their strings cut, and all of the energy the demon had collected flows out of the building.

"That went well," Tsuna murmurs, exhausted. He finally allows himself to fall back on his hands.

"Better than I expected," Reborn says, popping up beside him.

Yamamoto moves over to the them, smiling a lot more genuinely now. "So you're the hero everybody's talking about," he addresses Tsuna genially. "I couldn't see it before, but now it's pretty obvious."

Reborn explains, "That's the power of the transformation. It not only gives you access to your powers, but it also conceals your identities. Only other Senshi can see through the deception."

Tsuna raises an eyebrow. "I honestly thought the uniform was just to embarrass me. You mean it actually has a purpose?"

"Of course it does, Dame-Prince," the sadistic baby retorts smugly.

Tsuna sighs.

Yamamoto asks, "So I'm one of those Senshi, too?" He laughs and props his hands behind his head. "What a neat game."

"It's not a game," Tsuna deadpans, but Yamamoto isn't paying attention to him anymore.

He bends down next to Reborn. "Thanks for the cool toy, little guy," he says gratefully.

"Welcome back, Guardian Mercury," Reborn says in return with no small amount of satisfaction.

Yamamoto laughs again, and Tsuna despairs at the both of them.


End Notes: Is it sad that I'm more excited about putting the whole cast in booty shorts than anything else? That's probably what's spurring me on to write this, honestly, haha. Anyway, sorry for any mistakes and especially that fight scene. Still open to new ideas. Let me know what you think~!