I did manage another chapter at last. Hope you enjoy it, but don't expect regular updates. I've got another story with priority and a hectic life at the moment.

Chapter 1: Learning anew

"Mama, here are the eggs."

"Thank you Tsu-kun! You're such a great help to mama in the kitchen."

Tsuna blushed; he was still unused to receiving compliments and positive reinforcement. A week had passed since he had woken up in the hospital with a stinging arm and a mother who was once again a mother. He had been allowed to leave that same day, though he and Nana had daily appointments with Dr Kurokawa, a psychologist, for the foreseeable future.

Dr Kurokawa had encouraged them to bond again over a shared interest and Tsuna had confessed he wanted to learn how to cook. Nana had been very enthusiastic, for cooking had become her passion after Iemitsu had forced her to give up her job as a nurse. It had been with complete trust that Nana had bought Tsuna his own professional set of knives, which fit perfectly in his hand.

Tsuna had promptly begun to cry at his mother's faith in him, though she had certainly assessed him correctly. Now he was whole again, he wanted to live and show the world that he was more than Dame-Tsuna. He didn't feel like hurting himself anymore, because that fire inside him had burned all the negative emotions away. It showed in his daily life as he didn't trip anymore, walked more graceful than a dancer and could think without getting migraines.

Reborn had settled in the Sawada household and had swiftly become a fixture there. He said would stay until the people responsible for the hypnosis were no longer a concern. Considering Reborn had introduced himself as the World's Strongest Hitman, Tsuna had a pretty good idea of what was going to happen and honestly didn't care. They had attacked him and mama, so they deserved what was coming.

Reborn's childlike appearance didn't detract from the killing intent he could emit and he made a pretty good self-defence instructor. So far Tsuna had only been taught the basics, but he was making fast progress thanks to his newfound internal balance.

He hadn't been back to school yet, his mama and Dr Kurokawa thought it better to keep him home for a while and away from a hostile environment. Dr Kurokawa even asked her niece to tutor him in the missed subjects so he wouldn't fall behind too much. As it stood Tsuna wanted to go back on Monday, he felt ready to face the world again.

Hana Kurokawa had been rather annoyed with her aunt when she had asked to tutor one of her patients. Apparently the boy had tried to commit suicide, because he couldn't handle the bullying anymore. Though she shared no classes with Sawada Tsunayoshi, she knew him by reputation. The only reason she had agreed to help the pathetic monkey was her dear friend Sasagawa Kyoko.

Sawada's mother had called Kyoko's mom when she had found her son bleeding to death in the bathroom. Hence Kyoko had been informed that very night and with her Hana as well. Kyoko felt for the poor boy, who had had to deal with so much shit in his life. When Hana had told her about the tutoring, Kyoko had urged her to accept.

Therefore she stood on the Sawada's doorstep Monday afternoon, three days after the incident. She didn't expect much from someone who consequently ranked dead last, but for Kyoko she would do her very best. Sawada Nana, who opened the door, was a very pretty woman. She emitted warmth and kindness. Hana was ushered in to kitchen/dining room where Sawada was putting the last touches to a plate with snacks, self-made by the looks of it.

Sawada looked different; whenever Hana had glimpsed him, he always had a cowering pose. Now he stood tall (as much as he could with only 4'8") and confident. As he moved through the kitchen, Hana felt like watching an experienced dancer, a striking difference with his stumbling gait from last week. When he noticed her presence and turned to greet her, Hana felt her mouth falling open. 'Eyes didn't change colour! And certainly not to such a vivid and eye-catching orange!' She didn't get much time to recover from her shock as Sawada welcomed her.

"Good afternoon, Kurokawa-san. I'm glad that you have agreed to tutoring me."

His smile lit up the whole room. It was breath taking in its radiance and sweetness and Hana felt all her apprehension melt away. When he smiled Sawada Tsunayoshi looked like an angel. He wasn't very masculine looking with a lithe body and big, glistening eyes. His lips were too full for a boy, his bone structure too delicate. And yet he wasn't extremely girly either. Put him in a dress and he might pass off for a girl, but he didn't feel like one. He didn't try to act like either gender, which suited him more than ever.

With an internal headshake to get her thoughts back in order, Hana sat down at the table and opened the first syllabus, Maths. Both prepared themselves for a long and tedious afternoon.

Reborn had never sworn alliance to any family, so why exactly he had agreed to be the emergency contact for the (ignorant) family of the Head of CEDEF was still a mystery to him. Perhaps he had done it, because he didn't expect to get a phone call from them, ever. And he hadn't for fourteen years.

By chance he had just finished a mission in Japan when he had received a phone call on his emergency phone. A frightened woman's voice had replied to his usual greeting, the wife of Iemitsu. She had been startlingly level-headed despite the danger she knew she was in and had given a short but useful description of the circumstances.

He had been on the move before the call was finished thanks to the inbuilt tracker in the phone. Why he was so willing to help this civilian woman, he didn't know. Neither she nor her son was anything out of the ordinary and he had never been susceptible to a woman's plea before.

Still they had both grown on him in very little time. The investigation into the hypnosis was still slow going, but already he was cursing the stupidity of both Nono and Iemitsu. To seal the Flames of a child was detrimental to their development and often had complications like depression or self-harm.

Besides, what was the point of hiding your family in this small Japanese village, when you were bragging about them to everyone you met? Iemitsu even carried pictures of them and didn't make any effort to conceal the trail whenever he sent a new, idiotic postcard! He was starting to think Iemitsu might be stupid enough to call in a Mist to ensure Nana would stay faithful to him.

The first point on Reborn's list being underway, he went on to the next one: the bullies. While Reborn might be a tiny bit sadistic when it came to teaching his students, he hated bullies with a passion. He was hard on his pupils so that they might survive the harsh reality of the mafia, but bullies just did it to feel better about themselves.

The names of the responsible students were easy to find and a quick word with them guaranteed that from that moment they knew better than bullying anyone ever again. The teachers were spoken to about their neglect or abuse. Should they fail to treat Sawada Tsunayoshi as a normal student, they would face charges and possibly (probably) lose their teaching license.

Next Reborn went to the office of the Disciplinary Committee, where he found Hibari Kyoya, also known as the Demon of Namimori. He wondered why a person who despised disturbances had allowed such blatant harassment to continue. Why had Tsunayoshi been so victimized on top of the sealing?

He put these thoughts on a sidetrack for a while as he entered Hibari's office through the open window. The skylark didn't react very well to this intrusion of his private space and started to try and bite Reborn to death, but was stopped dead in his tracks at Reborn's question.

"Why didn't you interfere with the bullying of Sawada Tsunayoshi, bullying so cruel it led to his near suicide?"

Hibari frowned, racking his brains in an effort to remember the student this baby was speaking off. He got a faint mental image of a weak-looking herbivore, but it faded in and out of focus. A soft nudge of 'not important' made it disappear even more, but this WAS important. With pure will power he managed to destroy the foreign implant. (No mean feat, but Hibari prided himself on absolute control of body and mind.)

"It seems a herbivore was reckless enough to try and control me. Rest assured that it won't happen again. As payback Sawada Tsunayoshi will have my complete protection."

Reborn offered a nod and for a fraction of a second the two dangerous men stared each other down. Then the moment was over and they went their separate ways.

Back at the Sawada household Reborn considered his next moves. It was imperative that the suicide attempt was concealed from the Vongola. He had already taken steps to falsify the paperwork at the hospital and the story that had gone through the mafia grapevine was that Tsunayoshi had had a nasty fall, resulting in an open artery.

He needed time to find the mist responsible for the hypnosis; the list was a rather short one, as few were capable of stunts like these, but all suspects were as unlikely as the next. He would need to see every single one in person and go from there.

Then he would need to consider Tsunayoshi's part in the succession of the Ninth boss of the Vongola. Nono was getting old and since his own sons had died only two people were eligible: Tsunayoshi as descendant of the first boss and Xanxus, Nono's adopted son. Reborn doubted however that Xanxus would be accepted as boss; he was a bastard child at best and an asshole most of the time.

If Tsunayoshi were to challenge Xanxus however, he would need a decent mafia education; otherwise he would fail before he even began. Guardians would need to be considered, especially to help him get used to his Sky Flames after years without them. It would be best to start looking into suitable candidates from Tsunayoshi's sphere, because they already had some connection to him.

The girl who had started tutoring him would make a lovely storm; they had had a rocky start, but had grown closer in the past week as Tsunayoshi showed he was willing and able, but missed all the basics. The girl, Hana Reborn's mind supplied, had begun correcting the gaps immediately.

Is there any student in the world who doesn't dread/hate Monday mornings? Monday mornings mean the end of your free time, more lessons, more tests and for some more bullying. It was this last part that Tsuna dreaded when he reluctantly dressed at 7:30 before going down and starting breakfast.

Reborn was still asleep in his little hammock in Tsuna's room, but Nana arrived not five minutes after Tsuna and they cooked in amiable silence. Tsuna was very happy to have grown closer to his mama and having a real bond between them. Nana's rejection had been the most difficult part of his whole ordeal by far, even surpassing the losing part of himself.

He was somewhat fortified in the thought that Kyoko and Hana would meet him on the way to school and that Kyoko would be in his class, but years of bullying and harassment were hard to shake off. It helped though that he suspected Reborn of having threatened the bullies.

While he was on the topic of Reborn, the Hitman had been acting a bit strange. He had casually strolled into the kitchen when Hana was tutoring him to drink coffee, multiple times. He had also been present when Kyoko had come over together with taste his new recipe, strawberry shortcake. Reborn hated strawberries with a passion, yet he had eaten his slice without complaining!

Afterwards he had congratulated Tsuna on make such interesting friends and then proceeded to wipe his ass in his lessons on self-defence. They had helped a lot though, despite the utter humiliation of losing to a baby. Tsuna had learned not only lots of different escape strategies, but also how to get a heavier person on the ground in two seconds flat.

At this point if Tsuna were to face of against his bullies, two outcomes were possible: the first being that he froze up and forgot everything he learned and the second that he managed to hold them off for just long enough to give Hibari a chance to arrive. The skylark had visited on Sunday and after formally apologising had taken Tsuna under his wing. It meant only slightly less biting to death and dodging as Hibari wanted him able to hold his own in a fight for at least some time. He and Reborn made a formidable and terrifying team.

Reborn still hadn't fessed up the reason for all the fighting lessons, but Tsuna expected him to do so soon. Reborn was someone who would always tell the truth as long as he could do it in his own time. No doubt his absent father had kept some big secret from him and mama that would forever change his course in life. Ah well, it's not like Tsuna could do anything about it now.

Xanxus stretched his back as he stepped out of his ice prison. The despised cage lay on the ground in pieces. He looked at his faithful Guardians, who had stood by him even when he wasn't physically there.

"What has happened in my absence, Trash?"

Smiles all around at the familiar nickname, but wasn't Squalo who spoke up first. Mammon had gotten some disturbing news last night and had convinced Squalo, who had been the substitute boss that he needed to tell boss as soon as possible.

"We've got a crisis, boss. Apparently Baka-Iemitsu has outclassed himself by sealing his son's Sky Flames as a child. The child tried to commit suicide and unlocked them. This is all part of a larger conspiracy. Reborn accidently uncovered it and is trying to find the guilty party. I was approached, as it would have required a very powerful mist. The kid is also in the running for Decimo, but has as of yet no Guardians or even the appropriate knowledge. Reborn requested a temporary alliance with the Varia and a putting off the Ring Battles until everything is resolved."

"Hn. It's very unlike Reborn to ally himself in such an obvious way with any family. A conspiracy against the only other heir, why it sounds like something we could pull off.

Kyoko and Hana will probably replace Gokudera and Mukuro/Chrome, though Gokudera and Mukuro/Chrome will probably still factor in the story. I hope I did justice to Tsuna's issues, as I have no in depth knowledge of severe bullying and its consequences myself.