Trainings and nightmares

Skull was no idiot. Well, maybe a little but he wasn't as clueless as other people thought he was. The rest of the Arcobaleno knew that but of course, to them, Skull would always be their (dear, wonderful) lackey, mainly to Reborn. The moment Tsuna had helped him without hesitation, he knew he had to fulfil the role of a big brother to the cute little brunet and protect him at all costs. For once, he felt that this was something worth standing up for and he would make sure Tsuna stayed with them! Yes, he was a softie.

After the meal, everyone went back to do their own things and Luce led Tsuna back to his room after Skull gave him a hug.

"I see you've made friends with Skull!" Luce said cheerfully, holding Tsuna's hand. He nodded, telling her about how he got lost and stumbled on to Skull's room where he helped clear it. Luce giggled, her glossy, black hair swaying lightly.

Tsuna looked up at Luce, a look of admiration in his eyes. Luce was truly a beautiful lady. Her long hair was tied in a low, thin ponytail and the way she walked was one of grace and elegance. Her eyes sparkled under the light and always had a cheerful disposition to her. Even the small flower tattoo looked good on her. If it weren't for Luce, Tsuna would probably still be living on the streets, hungry and afraid.

Of course, he wouldn't judge a book by its cover. Skull had told him a while ago that Luce could be extremely terrifying when angry. And when that happened, it was best to hide in a hole, a particularly deep one at that.

"We're here!" Luce chirped, swinging open the doors. Tsuna entered the large room and he gasped. It was huge and there was even a walk-in wardrobe filled with clothes of his size! He jumped onto the four poster king-sized bed and rolled around, feeling the softness of the comforter and the fluffed up pillows. Never in his life had he enjoyed such luxuries! Luce laughed and made her way out. "Good night little Tsuna! Sweet dreams!" she whispered, blowing a kiss before switching off the lights.

~~~~~~~.

Tsuna tossed and turned in bed, beads of perspiration forming on his face. "No... No!... Leave me alone!" he muttered, his grip on the sheets tightening.

Dozens of needles poked into him, bright lights glaring painfully into his eyes. Tsuna could hear vague mumblings from several men in white coats surrounding him. A sharp pain coursed through his body and he let out a scream before flailing wildly.

The scene changed and Tsuna found himself in an alley and as he crawled out, he was met with the sight of burning building, the blazing flames uncontrollable. A surge of fear suddenly rose up within him and he scanned his surroundings with dread and anticipation, almost expecting something to jump out at him. Suddenly, a blow from behind knocked the wind out of him and he fell face first onto the ground. Soon, he felt kicks and punches coming at him and even though he wanted to scream, no voice came out.

Stay... Positive... Okay?...

Don't... Worry!... See... You... Later...

Hi!... I'm... Ta-

Tsuna shot up in bed, his eyed wide open with trepidation. He groped blindly for the side lamp switch and sighed when he was no longer in darkness. Tears rolled down his cheeks as he pulled his knees to his chest and hugged it tightly. This was going to be a long night.

~~~~~~~.

"Good morning, Tsuna! Let's go for breakfast together!" Skull said as he burst into the brunet's room.

Tsuna looked up lethargically and gave a forced smile. "G-Good morning, Skull..."

"Are you okay?..." Skull noticed that Tsuna looked a little pale.

Tsuna nodded and got off the bed. "I just had a... Little nightmare."

Skull pulled Tsuna in for a hug while stroking his soft brown hair. "Don't worry, you're safe here! Even if the others don't care, Luce and I do and we'll protect you! In my eyes, you're my little brother!"

A… Brother? Like a family?... Tsuna smiled and gently pushed him away. "Thank you… Now, let's go eat, I'm hungry..."

~~~~~~~.

"You'd better get your sorry ass down in the training room right now!"

"Well, this sorry ass here is on this seat as its owner is trying to eat breakfast, kora!"

"Colonello, you asshole!"

"Yes, dear Lal?"

"They're always like this, so don't mind them too much!" Skull explained to Tsuna with a nervous laugh when he saw the horrified look on the child's face.

Quarrelling is normal?

"Oi lackey, I want espresso." Reborn said without looking up from his paper.

"While you're at it, I want black coffee!" Lal demanded as she caught sight of the Cloud Arcobaleno.

"Tea, please."

Skull's shoulders slumped as he trudged to the kitchen. "I'm not your servant!"

"And yet you do it every single day." Reborn said with a smirk.

Skull rolled his eyes and prepared the drinks, placing them on the table and a milk tea in front of Tsuna. As he sat down, Tsuna leaned in to ask, "Where are the others?"

"Oh, Vip- Mammon's usually asleep till ten or eleven, Verde is probably doing some weird experiment in his lab as usual and Luce's in her room doing some work." came the reply from Skull.

Once again, after breakfast, Tsuna was left to his own devices and he decided to wander around the mansion. This time, he headed to the west side of the humongous building but soon came to slightly regret his decision. Going to the west side was like entering a completely different set of corridors. Instead of paintings like every other hallway, the walls at the west side were covered with weapons in which some had dried blood on it. There were swords, katanas, axes, spears, revolvers... You name it, they have it. He had seen a few of those gangs carrying those on the streets and knew they could do some serious damage. However, that wasn't the reason for why Tsuna regretted stepping foot in the west side. It was the sounds coming from the huge, scary looking steel door in front of him.

"Kora! You can't even aim properly!" Gunshots sounded.

"Oh really? You should watch your back!" An explosion.

"Huh- OI OI OI KORAAAAA! N-NOT THERE! Not that part!" Another explosion followed by a crack.

"Hmph! Weak as usual!" The sound of kicking. Thwack thwack.

Tsuna had been on the streets for a few years and he had come across much violence by gangs but none sounded as horrible as the supposed training that was going on inside. He was about to turn to leave when the doors flew open and Lal stepped out. She grabbed the child by the collar and threw him into the training room.

"We could feel your pathetic presence from here." Lal droned, crossing her arms.

Tsuna looked around the spacious room which had reinforced steel walls, some of which had been dented pretty badly. Wow, they have some serious weapons here... He then turned his attention to the lady in front of him, his eyes scanning the long blue hair to the burn mark on her face. Actually, Tsuna thought it suited her well. It sort of added to the intimidation factor. From what Skull had told him, Lal was an extremely strict, no-nonsense person and was just as good or maybe even better than Colonello in handling long-ranged weapons considering that she's Colonello's instructor. But under that cold exterior, there was also a soft side. Maybe not as soft as jelly but probably… softer than a metal heated to an extremely high temperature? Skull told him that there was one time where he accidentally went inside Lal's room and saw the most incredible sight. There were a few teddy bears sitting innocently on the bed in pristine condition. It seemed like Lal Mirch did have a soft side after all. Of course, Skull didn't get away scot-free as he shuddered at the mere mention of his punishment.

"What do you do in the Ar... Araco... Arcoba...le..."

"Arcobaleno. We obviously kill people."

"Too straightforward Lal! Way too straightforward, kora! He's just a kid! He doesn't need to know that!" Colonello huffed, eyeing Tsuna for any reaction. To his surprise, Tsuna's expression barely changed and instead, the brunet asked with a slight tilt of the head, "Can I fight like that too?"

Colonello held back his laughter at the innocent yet not so innocent boy. Lal on the other hand, flinched a little. Tsuna was not adorable. He was not cute when he looking at her with his large hazel-coloured eyes and messy brown hair which looked really soft to the touch. No, there were no flowers behind him with a sparkling background. No, Lal Mirch would not falter! Instead, the blue-haired woman coughed into her hand and tried her best to glare at the small child below. "If you can keep up with my basic training, I -might- give wimpy little you a second glance."

"R-Really?" Tsuna exclaimed excitedly, his eyes shimmering.

Lal stiffened and coughed once more as she punched Colonello in the shoulder. "You can handle him."

"What? He's just a kid, kora!"

"Just get him off my back!" she hissed.

The blond rolled his eyes and turned to Tsuna. "Well, let's get started, kora! Ten laps round the training room!"

"Okay!" Tsuna started to follow Colonello as he started jogging.

The task seemed simple enough but at the third lap, Tsuna was starting to pant and lag behind. The training room was huge, like really, really big (To Tsuna). It was larger than two football fields and the ceiling was just as high.

"Ready to give up, kora?" Colonello said with a grin when he turned to check on the kid.

"I-I'm... Fine!..."Tsuna spluttered out, a hand wiping his perspiration away.

"Why do you even want to fight? Someone like you should be in a nice family, going to school and having a great childhood! Do you understand that we weren't joking when we actually said that we take lives?"

Tsuna's smile dropped a little. "Yeah... I know... I never knew who my parents were so I had to survive on my own. I thought I should learn since I couldn't protect... A friend of mine..."

Colonello nodded, understanding the pain of losing someone close. However, there was something that nudged him in his mind. The boy was hiding something. "Your friend... He died?"

The brunet shook his head, continuing to look down. "I-I don't know... Maybe... Maybe not."

Colonello ruffled Tsuna's hair and laughed. "Well, at least you're safe here! No worries, kora! No one would ever dare attack us!"

"But... I have to leave when my wounds heal right?..." Tsuna mumbled as he subconsciously touched his bandaged arm. Colonello kept silent and nudged Tsuna to continue running. "Don't worry, I'm sure Luce will do her best to let you remain here, kora!" he whispered.

When the ten rounds were finally completed, Tsuna collapsed to the floor, panting like there was no tomorrow. Colonello on the other hand, looked perfectly fine and was still grinning.

"Hm, you passed the basic training."

Tsuna smiled tiredly and sat up, proud of his own achievement.

"Wipe that smile off your face! This is just the start!" Lal reprimanded, pulling Tsuna up with a surprisingly gentle grip.

"Th-Thank you!" Tsuna said, brushing the dirt off his clothes. "I think I'll go have a shower now, see you at dinner!"

As Tsuna left the room, Colonello turned to Lal. "I know you think he's cute, Lal~"

"Shut up!" Lal growled, a light tint of pink on her face.

~~~~~~~.

"Tsuna! There you are! I was wondering where you ran off to!"

The brunet turned around and saw Skull running towards him. "Ah, Skull! I was training with Colonello and Lal!" Skull visibly paled and ran even faster towards the child, squatting down to Tsuna's height and examining him.

"Are you hurt? Your entire face is red! Did they bully you? Tell me and I'll take care of them in a flash!"

Tsuna chuckled over Skull fussing about and reassured the daredevil (he wasn't too sure if he could really be called a daredevil if he was afraid of something like Lal's training.) with a pat on the shoulder. "Don't worry, I'm really fine! We just did some running, that's all!"

Skull sighed in relief and stood up. "You really stink! Let's go get you into a bath!"

The day flew by in a flash and it soon became his second night in the Arcobaleno mansion. However, once again, his nightmares came back with more intensity than the previous night. Tsuna shot up in bed, drenched in perspiration and his blanket messed up. His pillows somehow ended on the floor but he didn't bother to go pick them up. Tsuna quickly switched on the bedside lamp and took a quick glance at the clock which read '5.27 a.m'. This nightmare was longer and more vivid than last night... Feeling that he wasn't going back to sleep anytime soon, he crept out of bed and opened the door as quietly as he could. As he left his room, he nearly shrieked in fright after turning to see someone in front of him.

"Hello Tsunayoshi. You're up already?" Fon said with a calm voice. Tsuna nodded hesitantly and looked up at the Chinese man.

Fon examined the child in front of him, noticing that he was trembling slightly. "How would you like to meditate with me?" Before even Tsuna could answer, Fon had already picked up the boy and carried him while rubbing his back soothingly. "Had a bad dream?"

"Y-Yeah..." Tsuna replied as he wrapped his arms round Fon's neck.

They soon reached a large room and Fon gently put the boy down and went over to a mat to sit down cross-legged. Tsuna followed suit and crossed his legs. Looking up, he saw that Fon had closed his eyes and was breathing deeply with his hands placed on his laps. Tsuna tried to do it as well but found himself looking up more often than not to see if there were any changes.

"Close your eyes and breathe. Listen to your surroundings and stay calm." Fon said, barely moving from his position. The brunet proceeded to do just that and true enough, he could actually listen to even the minutest sounds in the room. He could hear the water flowing from a small fountain in a corner of the room and the chirping from the birds outside the window. Not only did his hearing become sharper, his sense of touch became sharper as well. Warm rays of sunlight peeked from the clouds, shining onto Tsuna, making his legs feel warm.

With deeper concentration, he heard a soft scratching sound on the mat and small squeaks. Tsuna couldn't make out what it was and tried it ignore it. It gradually got louder and louder till suddenly, something hit Tsuna from the back, causing little Tsuna to fall face first onto the mat.

"HIEEEE! Wh-What is that?" Tsuna squeaked, his brown orbs staring at what seems to be a small monkey sitting on his head, peering down at the boy curiously.

"That would be Lichi, my partner. Don't worry, he's relatively harmless to friends." Fon said casually with a smile.

"Do all of you have pets?... I've seen Skull's octopus before..."

"Yes, we all do. Most of ours are harmless. Do remember to watch out for Lal's and Verde's, theirs may not be as docile as some of ours."

Tsuna froze at this. He had never been good with certain types of animals, like dogs. What if theirs were man-eating monsters? Or... Giant scorpions? The octopus was fine since it was in a large tank and the monkey seemed rather nice... But still... Suddenly he didn't feel so good at the thought of all the creatures living under the same roof with him. He might die! From being eaten!

"... I can assure you that they won't eat you..."

Oh phew. Wait, that doesn't mean that they can't injure or inflict pain!

"You should stop worrying so much; it's quite safe here most of the time."

Most of the time. That was so comforting.

"So erm..." Before Tsuna could complete his sentence, a loud growl was heard from his stomach.

"Hungry?"

"Y-Yes..."

Fon just smiled and stood up, gesturing for Tsuna to follow. Lichi leaped onto Tsuna's shoulder with ease and nuzzled its soft head against the child's cheek, earning a soft giggle. "Let's go have breakfast, Lichi!"

~~~~~~~.

When they reached the dining hall, no one was there yet but there was already food on the table so the two helped themselves.

After about half an hour, Skull came bursting in and when he caught sight of the brunet, he made a mad dash towards him, tripping over a chair in the process. "Tsuna!" he cried out, "I thought you were kidnapped by that Verde as a test subject for his horrible experiments!"

"I was with Fon…" Tsuna replied, patting the crying Skull's head. "Ah yes, I have some training with Colonello and Lal later too."

Skull's jaw dropped, his grip on Tsuna tightening. "Wh-What? Are you sure? You're only six! You don't need to train!"

"Colonello said it wouldn't be strenuous so its okay I guess."

"And you believe him?"

"Leave it be, Skull. I'm sure they know better than to torture children..." Fon interjected, getting up to leave. "I'll see you later, you two."

"D-Don't die okay?" Skull whined when Tsuna got up as well.

~~~~~~~.

As he left the training room after an hour of light exercises and running, Tsuna exhaled sharply, stretching his sore arms.

So far I've met Luce, Skull, Lal, Colonello and Fon... They seem pretty nice and welcoming... Maybe not so much for Lal but she nice in her own way. Probably.

Turning a corner, he caught sight of Mammon walking, or rather, floating towards him when she stopped suddenly to stare out a window. "Hello, Mammon!" Tsuna greeted with a smile.

The illusionist turned to the child, her lips curved downwards. Tsuna couldn't tell if she was glaring since he couldn't completely see her face because of her hood. "You're that brat Luce took back."

"M-My name is Tsunayoshi-"

"Be quiet. If you're going to talk, you have to pay me."

"But I-"

"No money, no talk. Now move." Mammon said curtly, floating past him.

She really hates me... And somewhat… Money-minded… Tsuna thought. Looking out the window which faced the garden, he saw Fon practicing his martial arts against an invisible enemy. Sweat trickled down his bare torso and it was then Tsuna noticed the dragon tattoo on the left side. Fon looks really cool... So when Mammon was looking out of the window, she was actually looking at...

"Hello, Tsunayoshi. Do you want to join me?"

Tsuna snapped out of his thoughts and looked down to find Fon staring up at him. "Sure! I erm... I just have to find the stairs... I think I'm lost again."

"You could jump."

"... What? F-From the second floor? I'm not like you guys!"

Fon had an amused look on his face. "I'll catch you."

"A-Are you sure?..."

Fon nodded, walking till he was directly under the window with his arms outstretched.

Tsuna placed a foot on the windowsill. What if he doesn't catch me? Oh no, I'm going to die I'm going to die! If his hand slips, I'm going to die!... Another trembling foot stepped up. I'll probably break a few bones here and there... I'm sure no one will miss me if I miss my footing and drop to my death... His hands gripped the sides of the window as he looked down. Here goes nothing... As he jumped, he thought he heard someone shouting.

Thank you everyone who reviewed, alerted, faved, whatever! It totally made me write faster and since I have school orientation tomorrow, I'm posting this today! Wow, and a 3,300+ word chapter too O_O For your information, this story won't just be all fun and laughter! This is just the start... :)

You've got a little glimpse of his past now... More will be revealed soon... But definitely not in the next three or four chapters I think :)

Anonymous review replies now! By the way, I replied to all your reviews already XD

Anonymous: Yea, he was born in Japan but... I don't want to say too much or else it'll spoil the suspense lol. So yes, he did spend a short while in Japan. Yes again, he will definitely learn some skills. Can't have him remain dame, can we? :) Haha, yea I feel you, I've seen stories like that too XD Thank you!

MaiA: Haha yeah I know! That's why I thought this might be something new XD There's a Varia fic somewhat like this too! (I may have gotten a teensy bit of inspiration from there...) it's called Like A Boss! I really like it XD Anyway, thanks for reviewing!

Thanks for reading! The next chapter should be out in a week or so since school is starting! Reviews would be greatly appreciated (to alleviate school stress) :D Ciao!