Welcome back! Here is the long-awaited (haha, not) (im so sorry this is so late) 2nd chapter!

See warnings in first chapter. Takeshi and Reborn are trolls. And Tonpa fails. (It's just bad luck Hibari is the first rookie he sees. Poor Tonpa.)

Um, this chapter is a bit more fluff-oriented. Not that much, but it's there.

Disclaimer: Ha. Ha. Ha. I wish.

-.-.-.-

A Sky's Soothing Solace

(Or, Second Chance in a Marvelous New World)

Chapter 2

Cloud x Storm x Arrive

-.-.-.-

*, ^, #, %, 1, and signs like these signify a footnote.

-,-,-,-

He let Takeshi handle his 27 badge. His Rain got an 80 and his Sun got a 33, for some inexplicable reason. They started off to a corner, until-

-they were halted by a tonfa lodging into a (solid rock) wall where they'd been walking a millisecond before.

Tsuna's Flames stirred again.

"Omnivore," Kyoya stated in a deadpan voice that almost hid the trembling and longing in it, completely ignoring the other Guardians in close quarters. "You're late."

(the steel of tonfa completely hidden by crimson liquid, covering and clinging to the rest of his body as tightly as a second skin, burns and bullet holes dotting his body [dont go i need you runrunrun far away and never come back im so sorry i ripped you from your beloved namimori you'll never get to protect it again now], but black, determined eyes unbending and unshakeable burning with Will to protect and bite-to-death, even as he can barely stand through the pain of internal bleeding he leaves trails of downed enemies in his wake [thank you for everything im sorry you were my watcher i never told you how happy you made me please dont pay for my sins stay alive im sorry i hurt you], fighting from the fringes, pinpointing enemies that would have snuck up and killed other Family members much more quickly, dispatching them easily except for sheer number, then finally, he falls to the absolute hoard that mob him [no why did i drag you into this im sorry just be alive stay with me dont leave me alone])

"I know," Tsuna mumbled from his perch, face finally popping up to stare at the skylark. "I'm so happy to see you, Kyoya." His voice's shakes weren't hidden, and the rapture wasn't dampened either, despite the memories of Kyoya's corpse that converged on him. And he smiled, as brightly as Ryohei's Flames, his face streaming with new trails that followed and wettened the dried ones, and scrambled down off of his Sun to barrel into his newest found Guardian.

Kyoya's expression went completely blank in an effort to hide how much he enjoyed this position. At the same time, though, his inner 'if-you-touch-me-I-will-bite-you-to-death' radar shrieked at him to put a stop to the contact. His Cloud Flames, in complete disagreement, purred and desired to coil around his lost Sky and keep him from ever disappearing again.

He stood strong and merely stated, "One time only, small-animal-omnivore."

Tsuna just clutched his chest, head buried again, and sobbed, euphoric smile never leaving.

Before this could get any more embarrassing (enough people were staring already),Kyoya cleared a path with a Death GlareTM to a corner where he nestled down, shifting the overcome teen in his arms to accommodate for a sitting position. Tsuna curled up in Kyoya's lap, but looked up when he felt the threads of blue and yellow tied to his Flames tighten a little as the Rain and Sun headed away towards a different direction.

"Don't leave," he cried, hands shooting out to reach for them, "I just found you and it's the most wonderful thing, there's something in my chest again and I'm warm, finally, don't take the warmth with you-"

Kyoya's glare dared them to disagree, not that it was needed.

Immediately they dashed back to their Sky, crouching next to him and taking his hands in theirs.

"No, no," Takeshi rushed to reassure him, "we won't ever leave you, if that's what you want. We just thought you'd like some time alone with Hibari."

"We were extremely wrong," his Sun states solemnly. "We won't do that again."

Takeshi continued quietly, "Thank you for not giving up on us," (the me was heard loud and clear) "You've never left us on purpose. You don't know how much that means. You really are the kindest, most considerate, best Sky anyone could wish for." With that, they settled a short distance away to let Kyoya have his own emotional reunion without feeling too intruded upon.

The skylark let a small portion of his Flame slip into his hands. Instinctively, Tsuna also unleashed part of his, and they mingled, snapping a Guardian bond in place and Synchronizing# almost immediately. The thread untwists at the meeting point in their bond and spreads out, blazing among Tsuna's own Flames, separate but together, like oil drops in a bowl of water.

Last lifetime, it had taken years, over a decade, to reach this stage with all of his Guardians, Xanxus, the girls, and Reborn. It meant that they understood each other's thoughts, actions, and accepted them wholly, as much as is possible for another human being. The Flames had to physically meet. Another requirement was that the Flames had to accept each other instinctively so well that the Flame signature was memorized and welcomed on contact. Welcomed enough that it was treated as the Flame user's own Flame, and allowed to burn right along with it in the chest.

The user was not able to wield it like his own, but that didn't detract from the experience, so much more intimate, intense and loving than a normal Guardian bond, warm and knowing. It was wonderful and everything that Tsuna had ever wanted, to know that he was so valued by his Family.

Kyoya smirked like a true carnivore. He had not been the first to bond, but let it not be said that he couldn't find another way to mark his claim. He had Synchronized with his small-animal-ominvore Sky first.

Tsuna started humming absentmindedly, as his Flames were drunk on the two sudden but utterly familiar and so right and soothing and comfortable bonds and Synchronization. Soon it developed into a lullaby sung softly in the voice of an angel, for only his precious people.

This grabbed the attention of the idiots who had underestimated the small animal already and dismissed him, but were confused and kept sneaking glances at their corner every so often to try and understand why their instincts tugged at them to be closer.

Kyoya sympathized, not that he would say so, since they were weak herbivores who didn't know a death sentence if it was dumped over their head like killing intent from a true carnivore (or for those who don't speak Hibari:a bucket of ice cold water). He had been similarly confused until he had seen the small-animal-omnivore stand up to the Varia Boss at the Sky battle, and not fully convinced until the Future Incident.

Until they came to their own conclusions specifically tailored to their own reality filters, Kyoya wouldn't help. He could not care less. He had better things to do, like listen to the angel summoning his small-animal-omnivore was performing.

Inevitably, the other semi-herbivores crept closer to hear his Sky better. Kyoya glared at them in irritation, not expecting it to actually impact them, and it didn't. The sword semi-herbivore was too good at manipulating his clueless aura that seemed to work on everybody but Tsuna, Kyoya, and Reborn, and the boxing semi-herbivore was actually clueless. He wouldn't recognize the killing intent of a true carnivore until he was dead. Or until it barely brushed Tsuna, at which point the threat would be in shreds with five or six, give a few maybe, weapons buried in its pathetic herbivore chest.

Seriously. Why couldn't they see that his omnivore was obviously overprotective to the point of being like a mother polar bear, or that Kyoya would never let any threat, much less a mere herbivore, get within five miles of standing a chance of grazing his small-animal-omnivore? It was irritating him now. So insulting.

He glared, pride inflamed, at the hopelessly unsubtle herbivores watching his omnivore until they fell under his superior status as a carnivore. They were as obvious as newly born deer trampling through underbrush. Kyoya would abandon his small-animal-omnivore in the middle of an ambush before baring his throat to herbivores such as these. He thought that an Exam rumoured to be so difficult would have more prime stock than this, but it appeared that almost everyone was weaker than he had thought they would be.*

The mountainside tribe that he had been born into in this world was even stronger than his old Hibari yakuza family and his old mother's very dangerous assassin family. If that did not express how strong, carnivorous, and content he was with them, he could not communicate it any clearer.

His attention was drawn back to his small-animal-omnivore by the singing settling back into satisfied humming and the fact that he shifted position until he was sitting up, off of Kyoya's lap, but still leaning on his shoulder.

Five minutes later, not bearing not being able to touch the source of all three bonds again but still being too high on Flames to control motor functions to much extent, he rolled off of Kyoya's shoulder and in front of his other Guardians. He didn't have to poke them many times before the message to open their limbs so that he could have physical contact got through, what with being so attuned to their Sky. Still, it was kind of hard to read him in his drunken euphoria.$ Not that they were much better themselves, but Takeshi was at the very least glad he didn't have to deal with this three times over.

Tsuna rolled (flopped, really) onto the offered limbs, tugging Kyoya with him so that he could have contact with all three of them at once.

Kyoya wanted to disapprove of this action, and his 'if-you-touch-me-I-will-bite-you-to-death' radar did, but only objectively and not enough to cause any actual objections. (HIbari for: ignore your inner skeptic until such a time a you can unlock it and be mentally sound.) His small-animal-omnivore's eyes were half-mast, and he really should be disappointed by the herbivorous action and crowding that he was forced to participate in, but he was acting too much like a small, fluffy animal to be irritated at presently.

He could not resist reaching down to pat the small animal's hair.

-.-.-.-

This exam wasn't shaping up to be particularly horrible in regards to Tonpa's favorite sport, rookie crushing. At least not to all physical appearances.

He had participated enough times in the Hunter Exams over the years that he'd managed to get to the site early, under twenty, like always.

The first foretelling sign was that it wasn't under ten, the way it had been for the past five years. It wasn't a really big deal, nothing that anyone would notice, but it still stung his pride a tiny bit.

He was an expert at navigating the initial three phases of the exam. He knew that he had two days to wait out, so he'd brought a little of his own rations in his pants pockets, like all veterans did. (The food that the Exam Committee brought down during the waiting period was delicious, but only the quickest and strongest actually got to it before it was snatched up.) Then, he chose a strategic, overhanging ledge where he would be able to cordially greet new rookies from when Beans was done handing out badges.

(In the back of his mind, he realized that the number 2 badge had been skipped over. Why?)

But he had a really bad feeling about this year's rookies. Like they were totally out of his league, not the way Hisoka was but worse. Like… they had a longer fuse but when it blew it was worse?

(How was that even possible?)

The first rookie to come in was number 18, only two after him. He looked to be of Azian origin, with black hair and steel-gray eyes. His stance was one of utter confidence and experience. He looked… well, dangerous. And a little bored. On these types that was never a good thing.

So… give him something to be excited about? But in a clever way that he could trap 18 and take him out of the running. He didn't think the juice he had prepared would work on this one.

(Not that he was expecting it to… if someone got this far, they knew the basic principle of not taking strangers' food. But their impressions of him would be that he was dumb and they could handle anything he threw at them.)

He looked like one of those prideful guys. Insulting their pride a bit but not too much was the way to get them to lower their guard enough to stay alive and find out the best way to crush them later.

However… there was the air around this one that said getting him irritated was bad news. Maybe flattery was the way to go.

Eh, he wasn't one for much thinking after analyzing a rookie's personality initially. Might as well go all in!

(Until he sensed enough danger that it'd really be dangerous.)

He stalked1 up to the newcomer and said "Hey, rookie," in a friendly tone of voice, to communicate his 'intentions.'

18 didn't even appear to hear him. He took off towards a corner.

He jogged to keep up, then stuck his hand into 18's field of vision and raised his voice a bit. "Hi! I'm Tonpa, who are you?"

A metal stick (?) hit him in the face. 18's hand must have slipped, but dang did that hurt.

"Ahaha, you're forgiven, I'm sure you didn't mean for that to happen, I mean we all have bad days," Tonpa found himself rambling, as if unconsciously he wanted to be noticed by this powerful predator. "Anyway, as I said, I'm Tonpa and I know most of the people around here, if you need any information-"

This time, the stick sunk into his gut. He keeled over, gasping for breath. By the time he'd regained it, 18 was long gone. He spotted the other practically teleported on the opposite side of the almost-empty waiting room.

He ran there. He opened his mouth to say something, anything, that would get him noticed by this person, one reaction that he could base a profile on, but all that came out was-

"Notice me, senpai,"

-in a squeak.2

As soon as those words registered in his mind, Tonpa froze and wondered how the heck that had happened.

"Go away, herbivore," 18 said in a voice that promised pain and doom and was even laced with a little killing intent (how?!). "I'm only waiting for one small-animal-omnivore, and I don't have the patience to look after a herd right now."

Okay, what? He'd seen a lot of weird speech patterns from candidates, but this was perhaps the oddest. How did he know if someone only ate vegetables? That wasn't even possible!

As he was standing there dazed, 18's fingers messed up again. The stick slammed his throat in an unforgiving way, and Tonpa got the message and left.

Very prickly, does not like to be disturbed, thinks other people inferior, has weird metaphors and impressive killing intent. Uses metal sticks. Rather clumsy with them, though they seem to automatically respond to his subconscious wishes.

Depressingly short list.

-.-.-.-

The elevator opened and three examinees stepped out.

There was only one other rookie before this, and he'd turned down the drinks after an argument that would have escalated into screaming had 18 not interfered. He got a good profile on that one, thankfully. Even without Tonpa's help, it was likely that without an ace up his sleeves, the newbie'd be gone before the third phase.

One of them had white hair and was wearing a baggy shirt and pants and white bandages. One examinee was literally piggybacking him. He/she was a tiny little thing with fluffy, gravity-defying brown hair. His/her face wasn't visible, but he/she didn't look like he/she'd stand much of a chance at all if he/she was this dependent on someone else. How had they even gotten here?

The last was a bit more imposing, but not by much. His messy black hair was spiky and he appeared to have solid muscle. A wrapped, probable weapon was strapped to his back.

His face, a goofy, jovial one, ruined everything though.

This group was made up of complete jokers! It would be so easy to crush them. Offer a little help for their infirm member, act sympathetic, and then set them up and watch it unfold!

He lurked nearby until the badges were on and then started towards them, smile already in place, until 18 suddenly stalked past him and he froze.

Was he going to beat the rookies up? He looked absolutely menacing enough to at the moment.

He watched in trepidation, awe, fear, and a bit of glee as a metal stick lodged itself in a wall right next to the rookie with the fluffy brown hair.

"Omnivore," he growled in a tone that made Tonpa and the other examinees that were eavesdropping shiver, "You're late."

What?! This is the person he was waiting for?! There's no way, that guy is so weak!

Then a tearstreaked face popped up out of the bandaged one's neck. Tonpa had assumed him/her to be sleeping, but apparently not. The androgynousness got worse, too.

"I know," he/she said, after a pause where something like nostalgia and another emotion Tonpa couldn't name flashed across his/her face. He/she knows this antisocial… freak of nature?+ "I'm so happy to see you, Kyoya."

Tonpa's brain short-circuits. Happy to see him? Even I can tell he doesn't like company very much.

Then the other freak of nature climbs down from the bandaged one, 33, and rams into 18's chest. Tonpa holds back a wince. Whatever 18 will do in response is not going to be pretty.

But at 18's statement of, "One time only, small-animal-omnivore," Tonpa froze. If he didn't know better, he'd say that 18 exuded… contentedness? No. It must be his imagination.

He inched backwards and resolved to check in on them at a later time.

-.-.-.-

He managed to stop hyperventilating until 27 (he'd finally caught sight of the badge number) began to sing ethereally.

It was like pure, clear bells.

Okay, that was it. He was going to destroy 18 and 27 both and return the universe to its proper order, where tiny thin wraiths did not sing extraordinarily well for antisocial freaks of nature and antisocial freaks of nature who hit anyone that tried to physically touch them (subconsciously or not) did not accept being clung to by tiny thin wraiths. At this point, it was not only a matter of the heady giddiness Tonpa got when he demolished another person's hope, but also of his continued mental health.

Surely this new person would protect an innocent like Tonpa, right? 27 seemed to hold some sway over 18.

He started forward with renewed determination. He was sure that as soon as he got past 18, he'd make short work of the rookies and have desperate faces to cackle over for the rest of the exam.

27's beautiful face would look so delicious filled with fear and hopelessness.%

He walked up right as 18 patted 27's hair and introduced himself right away.

"Hello! I'm Tonpa, and I just wanted to welcome you to the Hunter Exam! I'm a veteran, I've taken the exam 35 times, and I'm here if you need any information or anything!"

80 and 33 were the only ones who actually paid any attention. 33 only glanced up before looking back down at 27 again. 80 just sort of stared at him incredulously for a brief moment, as if he couldn't believe Tonpa would think he'd be so dumb, and another unreadable, dangerously sharp look slashed across his face before it was completely gone. It passed in a blink, replaced by a sheepish expression.

"Haha, thanks! It's nice to know that there's at least one nice guy with proper manners here!" 80 admitted, a hint of hardened undercurrent to it. But surely Tonpa was just imagining it. It was almost a shame what he was about to do, but each Exam had its oblivious group that accepted his concoction, and he was sure he'd just found this one's.

(He relaxed unconsciously somehow, his worries easing.)

"Yeah, there can be lots of tension," Tonpa agreed. "It'll only get worse. Hey, do you want some juice?" He started to rummage through his side bag, until, very suddenly, he felt cool metal on the side of his head and saw 80's gaze snap up to see whoever it was. Was that a gun?!

"Either those are poisoned, or you're lying about being a veteran," a dark voice purred. "Want to know which one I think it is?"

The clear threat in the voice makes Tonpa shake. "It-they're-they're not poisoned!" he denied frantically.

The voice chuckled darkly and continued with false perfunctory lightness, "Laxatives, then? That doesn't make it better." Searing eyes bored into him, absolutely relishing his panic and spluttering.

"Shut up and get out," the voice finally snapped. "And don't come back again."

Tonpa turned tail, not even bothering to look back at the owner of that frightening voice.

Okay, time to leave that group alone.

Well, if he couldn't corner 80.

-.-.-.-

Yamamato Takeshi listened to Tsuna's song with what must be a dopey addict's grin, but he couldn't care less.

Tsuna was back and so was his Guardian bond and a lot of what he'd been missing in this lifetime was back, the rest of it soon to follow.

He closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the wall, relishing the long-forgotten feeling of Tsuna's legs tangled with his and how it made his bond thrum with warmth and comfort.

This life… it had its high and low points. He liked his ninja life and the training he'd been able to master with expert swordsmen. He loved the occasional spars and stealth he'd acquired with time. But he also missed his family, the loud, rowdy bunch they'd been. They had the best reactions to his teasing (especially Hayato). He'd longed for his Sky, who had accepted him unconditionally and known him inside and out, as no one in this life did, as no one else was able to. He'd been reminded, once again, that only certain people bothered to look past his mask, and none of them were with him.

When he heard loud footsteps growing closer and closer, he gave no sign of hearing them. It was only when the person spoke that he glanced up.

The person's number was 16 and his nose was shaped like a box. He carried a messenger bag and was a bit potbellied.

He also wasn't a threat. Or, well, he had fishy intentions but wasn't strong, smart, or quick enough to follow through with them, and was probably a huge coward.

Fifteen different ways to eviscerate/castrate this Tonpa flashed through his mind, and his hands shifted to an ideal position to draw the katana strapped to his back in less than a quarter of a second. Takeshi would happily carry out these scenarios if Tonpa tried to lay a finger on his Sky.

These thoughts lasted only a second, though, and he recovered in time to answer Tonpa in a nonsuspicious manner. "Haha, thanks! It's nice to know that there's at least one nice guy with proper manners here!" He released a bit of Rain Flames to relax Tonpa's uncertainty and hopefully nudge him to be a bit more confident and obvious with his scheme.

It worked, as Takeshi could see the other's face gain a hidden shadow of gleeful eagerness and his muscles relax as plain as day. He answered, "Yeah, there can be lots of tension. It'll only get worse. Hey, do you want some juice?"

So that was the fishy scheme. Takeshi couldn't help but be amused; his initial assessment of unthreatening and cowardly was right. Three types of people used poison that might be traced back to them: assassins that were good enough they'd never get caught but wanted someone to chase them anyway, suicidal people, and Stupid cowards. Tonpa definitely fit into the last category.

Well, it would be easy enough to deal with him. The swordsman's Flames coiled in anticipation of all the things he could do to make sure that Tonpa never glanced in the direction of his Sky again. A third of them involve the coward's death.

Then a figure Takeshi hadn't noticed stepped out of the shadows, and Takeshi visibly jolted. Not many people were able to sneak up on him now, not with the ninja training he'd undergone.

All the mysteries and alarm bells within his mind dissolved when he heard its voice, though.

"Either those are poisoned, or you're lying about being a veteran. Want to know which one I think it is?"

That voice, silky, velvety smooth and rich like dark chocolate, could only belong to one person. Reborn. And Reborn would never harm his Sky, not once in a million years. Well, in every area but physically, at least, and that was what mattered at the moment. Takeshi could feel how unstable and grasping his Sky's Flame was, and that was never a good sign. Besides the Flame instincts that came with specific types, Flames were reflections of the soul. (Well, besides extremely Classic Clouds like Hibari. They were exceptions to, like, every rule ever. You couldn't tell a full range of emotions through a bond with them like you could with other people.) Flames could never lie. They communicated only the purest of emotions.

In the background, Reborn was poking at Tonpa with words, and Takeshi enjoyed a few moments of pathetic stuttering before the urge to maim the man so that he can be left alone in peace with his Sky returned. Luckily for Tonpa, Reborn ordered the disruption to "shut up and get out. Don't come back," before he acted on the prompting.

Despite the coldness of his tone, Takeshi knew that Reborn was really amused, though the layer of disgust for such a coward wasn't faked. The only way Takeshi could read him that well was lots and lots of practice and his instincts.

Reborn was so dangerous that his developed instincts automatically zeroed in on every shift of his mood and body, and it doesn't help that Takeshi's new body has not had any experience with Reborn in this new life and that his presence was an absolute utter void even five feet away in clear view. Every guard he had was slammed up, even through his sluggish Flame. Still, Takeshi remained Takeshi, as his next comment illustrated.

"Aw, I wanted to hack off his right calf," he stated, laughing a little. "That guy was super annoying. I bet he'd be horrible at ball, haha."

He assessed the situation from the corner of his eye. Most of the eavesdroppers had been scared away by the previous scene with Tonpa. He felt a surge of vindictive satisfaction. Those 2D figures had no right to be ogling his Sky like he was a zoo animal.

"More than likely you'll get plenty of chances," Reborn remarked.

The ones who were still listening in recoiled a little at the conversation, probably feeling creeped out by the uncaring tone of voice they'd used. Those silly little paper cutouts. They should be worried about themselves and what would happen to them if Takeshi decided they were a threat to his Sky.

Reborn knelt down next to Tsuna and, in a rare moment of gentleness, fingered the light brown hair softly before poking his cheek.

(Takeshi realized in the back of his head that Reborn's badge number was 1.)

Tsuna's eyes opened; they were amber-gold now, breathtaking and vivid. He smiled the smile that unfailingly dropped every single person's guard Takeshi had ever seen it used on, and he could see why. His Sky didn't even know he did it, but Takeshi thought that was what made it so effective. Even though his Sky understood the pain and suffering of life and cared about other's pain more than Takeshi ever could, even though his hands were drenched in blood, he could still smile so brightly and innocently. It practically injected anyone within eyeshot with hope.

His Sky tugged on Reborn's shirt insistently, and when the tall male finally leaned down Tsuna pressed a kiss onto his forehead and hugged him tightly.

"Welcome home, Reborn," his Sky mumbled. "Sorry I don't have an espresso for you."

This was a ritual that Takeshi used to see every time Reborn came home from a mission. Tsuna would kiss him on the forehead, give him a hug, and sit him down at the booth in the kitchen while he made an espresso for Reborn and a drink for everyone else present in the room. They chatted about the mission and Vongola news and situations.

Each greeting was different for each family member. Takeshi would sit in the booth, polishing his katana, and be talked to while his Sky made him sushi and tea. They usually ate together when both of them finished with their respective tasks.

He'd watched Lambo's before; he got grape juice and a stick of grape candy. After the juice was finished, Tsuna would tug Lambo's head down into his lap and hummed a lullaby, carding through Lambo's hair. Tsuna firmly rebuffed his halfhearted protests every time this happened. Takeshi knew he treasured those moments, just as every family member treasured their own tailored greeting from the Vongola Sky.

The Rain knew that Hayato's involved music somehow, too.=

"I'll let it slide this time, but don't let it happen again, Dame-Tsuna," Reborn replied, smirking and flicking his former student's forehead. "A mafia boss should always be prepared for the needs of his advisors."

Tsuna blinked up at him, all innocent and surprised, and Takeshi melted a little on the inside. "But I'm not a mafia boss anymore, Reborn," Tsuna slowly stated, as if he was just realizing this himself and didn't quite believe it. "It's so weird. I didn't think I'd miss it this much…"

Reborn just smirked down at him. The amber-eyed young man yawned suddenly and curled more into his Guardians, closing his eyes.

Reborn nodded to Takeshi. "I'll be nearby," he said. Takeshi nodded and watched the black-haired void of presence slip away. His mind gradually calmed down and ceased being so hyperaware.

Tsuna mewled in protest at the tutor disappearing, but he was shut down by all three of the present Guardians.

"I wonder who'll be next," Takeshi mused. "I bet one hundred jenny it'll be Hayato."

"I extremely bet that Kyoko will arrive next!" Ryohei offered.

"Hibari? How about you?" Takeshi turned to the young man with a closed-eyed smile and sparkles in the background around him. When he opened them, he could see the glare that said 'betting-is-for-herbivores-who-don't-have-anything-better-to-do-go-away', not that he expected anything different. Successfully not chuckling at the reaction, he shrugged in defeat.

"You don't have to, you know. No need to glare at innocents like that," he informed the Cloud cheerfully, and this time had to dodge a tonfa.

Luckily, that was it, and nothing else happened.

-.-.-.-

Tsuna huddled closer to his Guardians, basking in the warmth and comfort they provided. He was so, so happy! The parts of his Flame that had claimed another to protect and shelter purred and leaped playfully. The other parts watched reproachfully, sulking at the fact that they had to wait a little longer before laying claim to a new Element or family member.

Suddenly, Intuition picked up, buzzing excitedly. explosionssmokegunpowder, it intoned.

Tsuna knew what that meant.

The rumbling elevator came to a stop and out strolled Hayato-

(he flings dynamite after dynamite, standing tall and unbending in the task of protecting what was most important to him [i love you forgive me please leave run live forget me and move on be happy let me go], jade green eyes like steel, chunks blown and carved out of his arms and legs, smoke rising around him, coughing but always pushing forward, eyes tearing up from the smoke, snarling and taunting enemies, defiant, still eternally faithful to his Jyuudiame, even in the end [youre so hurt i cant heal you like im meant to im sorry you never should have trusted me so much i cant even keep you safe], calculating and exacting, searching and searching for an escape, a desperate plan, anything, stabbing out with the short daggers he carried for situations just like this, then he falls, bone and mangled muscle visible on his chest from his own bomb thrown back at him, blood splattered all over his injuries and clothes, crimson as his Flame)

-his right-hand man, best friend, and Storm. His Flames tugged at him again, and he barely realized it when he wriggled out of his other found Elements' grasps and dashed to embrace Hayato, tears falling thickly again.

"Jyuu… Jyuudiame?" he questioned, voice hoarse and stunned and overwhelmed. "Tsuna?"

Tsuna nodded repeatedly and buried his head in Hayato's rose-smoke-gunpowder-piano-polish scent. He collapsed, as weak as a noodle, when the bond clicked into place and slammed into him. Hayato instinctively acted as a brace. He smiled brilliantly again.

"Welcome home, Hayato," Tsuna murmured to the Storm. "Sorry I don't have lasagna or the piano. I could still sing you the lullaby."

Despite the Guardian supporting his Sky physically, it was the opposite way emotionally. Tsuna's Flame smoothed over his rampaging feelings and anchored him with strength borrowed from his Guardians' previous comforts that same day. He knew Hayato would need him right now.

On autopilot, the silver-haired young man steered them to a blank stretch of wall, sliding down and staring disbelievingly. He brushed some stray hairs from his missing Jyuudiame's forehead.

He seemed to be in shock.

For all that Tsuna's body had melted into a puddle of goo, his mind must be in a much better state than Hayato's. He whispered, "Yes, it's me, Hayato. And I still love you just the same, I promise."

Tsuna's Sky Flame and Intuition handed him the words he had to say. No one could have Bonded or Synchronized without understanding each other's core values, what made them tick. And when you understand a person as well or almost as well as they understand themselves, you easily love them just as much as they love themselves.

It was doubly so for Tsuna, who was an extremely powerful Sky, had Hyper Intuition, and was just naturally empathetic and compassionate.

Tsuna could tell that some parts of his Storm had changed, but all his essential personality components had remained the same. That was all that was needed and more for a Guardian bond. He could feel out the changes in his family later. Now to comfort his Storm.

"The storm rages and thunder crackles,

The boat rocks and we stumble.

But don't be afraid, can't you hear my heartbeat?

Listen, find the rhythm in yours

"The clouds and lightning have a rhythm too

Look closely and hear the wind's pattern,

Even as it howls, and sync your heartbeat

To nature's own. Then you can find

"The eye in your own storm,

The purpose to your waking moments,

The passion to pour your hours into,

The one you love most of all.

"Then come back to me and let

Our hearts and passion beat as one.

We will steady one another and no longer

Waver in our purpose, but be the eye of the storm."

As the first verse began in Tsuna's heavenly tones, the silver-haired male broke down, coming out of his shock. His Flame swirled and clenched as it instinctively reacted to the unique lullaby Tsuna wrote just for him. He sat there, snotty and wet and teary and utterly euphoric, as he clutched his Sky and his Sky clutched back.

There was a reason that Tsuna was the only one that let the Storm cry on him. He didn't cry tragically, silently, or neatly. No, there were many tears, snorts, and globs of snot. (Tsuna liked to think of his Storm as crying explosively, a reflection of his personality and Flame.) But it all worked out well, as Tsuna was the only person Hayato would ever cry on.

Gradually, after more than an hour and a half, Hayato's Flame haze cleared enough for him to worry about his Sky. "I-I'm sorry I wasn't there," he breathed, voice gritty and layered. "You must have been so confused and alone in the beginning—I should have been there—"

Amber-gold eyes snapped to jade green. "No," Tsuna said firmly. "Don't blame yourself. I'm sure you felt just as horrible early on. All of us could have used someone. Just please—for now, stay here, quietly bask for a moment."

Hayato nodded. Tsuna's eyes closed and his head dropped to his Guardian's chest. The other threads connected to his Flame had tightened the slightest bit and he was being urged to travel back to his other Guardians, but he held out. Just a little longer until he stops crying, then we'll go.

-.-.-.-

Hayato was just winding down when his still-minutely-sniffling Sky motioned for them to go somewhere.

"It's the back left corner," he pointed.

Hayato carried him bridal style to the place he'd indicated. When they arrived, the bomber just about yelled aloud for shock. This was not what he'd envisioned! He'd thought it would be just him and his Sky, occasionally having to deal with the pineapple. Which… now that he looked back on it, was stupid. And, though he'd never admit it aloud, he had missed the rest of his family.

Towards the end of his last life, he'd started tolerating the others more on the premise of Jyuudiame needing them. He'd also realized that they weren't going to leave and accepted defeat. (The 'chat' Jyuudiame had held with him about teamwork and a smoothly running Vongola may or may not have had to do with it, either. And the stare Reborn had bored into him every meeting after that.)

From toleration, the bonds gradually grew to friendliness in tiny increments that crept up on him over the years. As the Guardians and inner-circle Family fought time and time again to bring down adversaries before their Sky fell instead, he began to see them as equals who wanted to protect Jyuudiame as much as he did, which was a big wake-up call.

Then he was torn away from them and transported here. He only realized how they'd all meant the world to him after being without them for years, turning around and expecting to see the sword freak laughing obnoxiously or the cow blinking lazily and meeting nothing but empty air. He'd been nearly-suicidal until he'd met Shiochi and Spanner again, and even then it was his older sister Bianchi who'd kept him alive for that long. Then he'd thrown himself into training, because sparring was a good outlet, explosions, because they were an almost-even-better outlet, and researching this world's crazy animals that totally counted as UMAs, because passion.

When Mukuro showed up and told him Jyuudiame would be waiting for him at the Hunter Exam, he'd trained extra hard and color had bled back into his life again. He found himself enjoying the simple things. Everything that reminded him of Vongola (virtually everything) didn't make him want to blow it up, burn the pieces, and then stab himself anymore.

Now he had finally found his Sky. His Flame leaped in joy and burned, high and satisfied like a bonfire. All he needed was to find the rest of his Family, then he and Jyuudiame could be happy, if not safe and peaceful.

"What are you doing here?" he hissed reflexively. "I can take care of Jyuudiame on my own!"

"No, you can't. His Flames need all of us close," refuted Ryohei with an uncharacteristically searing, serious gaze. Hayato correctly identified it as the Sun "shut the heck up and do what I say, I'm the doctor and there will be consequences if you don't" ™ look, and deflated.

"You'll just have to deal with us," the sword freak chuckled mirthfully.

Hayato shot him a glare that only made the chuckling worse. He gave up.

"Fine, whatever," he complained under his breath, sitting down next to the sword freak closer than was strictly necessary to give a grasping Tsuna maximum room to grab towards the others.

Now that his patient was back with him, Ryohei was all extreme energy once again. "It's extremely good to see you again, Gokudera!" he whisper-yelled. Probably out of concern for Jyuudiame, which was good.

"Yeah, yeah," Hayato scowled, inwardly ecstatic. This was the first time he'd ever felt real happiness in this life, and it was wonderful.

He settled against the wall, one hand on his Sky's shoes, one absently flicking a lighter on and off repeatedly. He pointedly ignored the Sun and Rain near him as they chatted quietly.

-.-.-.-

"Hey, Ryohei?" Takeshi spoke up an indeterminate amount of time later. "You owe me a hundred jenny."

The Sun's face lit up with realization. "I guess I extremely do!"

Hayato glanced between them, unimpressed. "What did you bet on?"

"Who would show up next," Takeshi answered, mind on the money Ryohei was counting out into his hand. "Want to join in?"

"I still bet on Kyoko," Ryohei confirmed.

"Hmm… this time I'll go for Lambo," Takeshi decided, turning to Hayato. "So?"

The Storm scowled at the cheerful, unaffected Rain for a few minutes before conceding. "A hundred and fifty on Hana, Haru, and Kyoko together," he grit out.

Takeshi raised an eyebrow. "Sounds risky," he stated ominously.

Hayato growled, "Don't question me! If there's one thing I know about women, it's that they travel in packs!"

Completely ignoring the incensed young man, Takeshi continued as if he'd never spoken. "But exciting! Are you sure you won't participate, Hibari?"

The Cloud glowered at the Rain who looked completely innocent. "Silence, herbivore." His hn told them "I've already stated my opinion on the matter, and you herbivores won't get me to change it."

Three guesses as to what that was, Hayato thought.

The group was distracted when Tsuna's arm shot out and he sat up halfway to grip the bomber's arm. "I bet with Hayato," he stated.

The swordsman, bomber, and boxer groaned.

"You can't extremely bet, otouto," Ryohei reminded him.

Last lifetime, betting had become somewhat of a pastime; there had been bets on how many wineglasses a day Xanxus would throw, which the main Vongola house was technically not supposed to be in on. There had been some bets on all the Guardians' behavior, with the outcome between the next infamous Mukuro/Hibari spar the most popular, followed by how much property damage each respective Guardian would make the Vongola pay for this week. Only a few brave souls besides the Vongola inner circle dared bet on Reborn. There was that one bet on whether or not Reborn would officially join the Vongola that most of the household participated in, though. The odds were 67:10. Those ten (guess who) were extremely rich by the end.

Though Tsuna had tried to stay clean and out of it, he eventually got pulled in too. After his twenty-third consecutive win, however, everyone declared the Hyper Intuition a cheat and Tsuna got downgraded to referee.

"You can't change now, that's Betting Rule Nineteen," Hayato stated smugly.

Tsuna had indeed instated the Betting Rules, Nineteen indeed being "if the Decimo slips up and accidentally says out loud what he thinks the outcome will be, nobody who has already bet may change their guess."

Number Three was "nobody let Reborn know about bets he is the subject of. Nobody. If you do, Decimo will set the Cloud Guardian on you personally."

Hibari generally ignored the Betting Rules, as betting was herbivorish behavior and unfitting for a carnivore. But he wouldn't turn down the Decimo's personal request. Still, Tsuna got the feeling that Reborn knew about them and was humoring him.

"Hmm?" Tsuna suddenly remembered. "Oh, sorry."

"It's okay," Takeshi comforted. "One hundred jenny is barely enough to buy a jelly bean. And I already won once anyways."

Something occurred to Hayato.

"Wait. You bet on me?" he said incredulously.

"Yep!" Takeshi beamed. "Is that so hard to believe? I believe in you, Hayato!"

He received a flat stare for his efforts.

-,-,-,-

Footnotes:

*So the first part was supposed to be backstory but it turned into a Hibari character study. I couldn't help myself, he's so fascinating and cuddly and easy to write but at the same time so frustrating. He's so adorable with how overprotective he is of Tsuna and blatantly unashamed about it, even though he doesn't recognize his own feelings.

I had so much fun coming up with the animal analogies, though.

$-I'm so sorry, Tsuna's drunk and high at the same time x4 and it just gets worse as new people arrive but he just got his family back and it feels so good and all three parts of him (body, mind, and Flames) are at peace for the first time in this life, so he's really content and add to that the strain of like 8 guardian bonds within two days. Flame and mental exhaustion, guys, I can't be the only one to think that messing with Flames so majorly to accommodate for another person/element takes major work and effort.

# The Synchronization thing just kind of popped out in its own. It's been done before in The Turning Point, which is in my favorites, and I liked it and it decided to go there. Mostly it was because I was stalling and trying to decide who I wanted to introduce next, but meh. You're not supposed to know that. I have a reason for absolutely everything I write, and anyone who tries to tell you otherwise is a dirty liar. Even myself.

1-Nice try, Tonpa, but you're still an herbivore (scavenger?).

2-I couldn't resist. I just couldn't.

+He doesn't have a name to call Kyoya yet, since he doesn't know the full extent of Kyoya's prowess or even much about him. At least he knows he's not a regular civilian. (And it's kind of accurate.)

%-Interpret however you want on all the other hints. On this one, I am going to firmly state that if you actually ship Tonpa/Tsuna, you have a very… interesting mind. Please don't tell me. I don't want to know. All I am implying here is that (a) Tsuna's pretty, (b) Tonpa's a jerk, and (c), Tonpa's a jerk with a superiority complex.

=-So I just see Takeshi as not really caring about people who aren't in his family, like he says, "paper cutouts." He just thinks they don't really try to look past the surface, which is true a lot of the time. One of the other quirks in my Takeshi is that he's obtrusively curious in a uncaring way. Which basically means that he stumbles across a lot of secrets accidentally without knowing they're secrets. Not that he does anything with all the accidental, useless information he manages to collect other than the occasional blackmailing. He just likes to know. His 'hitman instincts' are a lot more honed in this life as well, if you couldn't tell.

-,-,-,-

So little hidden (haha, not) nuggets of yaoi all over this one. A lot faster than I expected. Not what I was really going for in this story, but I'm not the type of person to delete 2000 words that I worked really hard on and spent 2 to 3 hours writing (I'm not kidding, it takes that long) just because I dislike one nitpick. I don't disagree with where it's going either.

There won't be an official pairing, but if there was one, it would probably be All27, take a lot because who wants to write out all the people he might have moe moments with? That's like, everyone the adorable small-animal-omnivore (oh my gosh I don't even know why I did that but now that I did I can never go back, and I don't want to) interacts with. It's not a real pairing, he won't kiss anyone or anything, but read into it what you like. I won't be offended.

Blame the Flames if those moments make you uncomfortable. They addle the mind, and for a while, their Flame instincts will be much more prevalent than they might usually be. Which basically means self-indulgent possessive!Tsuna and Guardians.

So they want as much contact and closeness as possible because the bond is happier, stronger and warmer, when that happens. And after not being around his Family, the void in his chest has filled (mostly) and he never wants it to happen again.

Tonpa's part was super, super hard to write. I don't think he's as dense as most people believe him to be, I mean he's survived 35 Hunter Exams, but he is an obtuse idiot. Despite that, he recognizes danger when he sees it and can profile people. Remember that one episode (ep 3 in 2011) where Tonpa is the information guy? He realized all of that about all of those people when they're not exactly giving away free facts about themselves, and he didn't have the advantage of watching them as the later phases forced them to draw on more of their skills. Anyway, whatever else we can say about Tonpa, he is persistent and has lots of self-preservation.

I broke down and wrote half of this on paper in present tense, so when I transitioned it into past, it might read kinda awkward… sorry.

The betting thing was just gonna be that little bit of fluff between Tonpa and Hayato to get a breather before we headed back into angst territory, but then it developed. We'll see where this goes.

I have backstories for a lot of people. Hayato has a degree in chem ;) More will be revealed as we go on, but I'm really excited for Fran and Reborn's backstory, just so we know~

Love love love (please review),

~OperaEagle IcelynLacelett

PS. Yes, this is probably what all of my footnotes/A/Ns will be like. Half-delirious, long and rambling. I didn't think it was that hard to read. And it answers a lot of questions. If I answered a question here that's asked in the reviews, I'm going to ignore you. Don't be obtuse idiots on purpose, people. I hate those kinds of people even more than regular obtuse idiots.

PPS. Does anyone else want to see Mukuro screw with Hisoka?

PPPS. Please give me feedback specifically about what you think of my characterizations. I'm really nervous about this, and only one person has made a comment about Mukuro. And the bets? Were they funny at all? Haha? Ha... ha...