-Left Us Falling-

~ Little Mr. Gun-Lizard ~

"Listen."

"No."

"Listen."

"No."

"Listen."

"No."

"Listen."

"Why?"

"List— ..."

"..."

The wind was blowing very hard that day.

Reborn eyes the note suspiciously. "How can you be certain this is from Sagi?" He asked.

"We can't. But that's why we're sending you."

His day had been pretty normal. He'd woken up early, as usual, and went straight to the coffee shop for an espresso. Okay, no, that wasn't true. That was lie. A terrible, terrible white lie. He'd gotten dressed first. Then he'd gone to the coffee shop. Really, he shouldn't have to explain these things, you people should just roll with it. He's Reborn Chaos, greatest hitman in the world. He shouldn't have to explain anything.

Right. Back to the story. Anyway, he'd gotten his coffee and then the morning had become so much ore bearable. Then, he'd received at least one call, text, email and/or voicemail from each of the remaining arcobaleno—this was becoming routine, see—who all wanted to know if he could remember how he'd broken the curse. The first was always that blasted scientist, but the others always followed soon after. He'd lost count of how many time that he'd told them, but he didn't remember how it happened. One day, he woke up, and he was an adult. There, see? Very anticlimactic, easy to believe, nothing really happened, but no, they just wouldn't fucking leave him alone.

Sorry. That's right—normal morning, he should be over this by now...

But then, he gets called in by the Nono, right in the middle of a job. He had to just go up and shoot that damnable target with Leon, instead of doing what he'd planned all week to do—it would've gotten rid of a lot of stress, really. Plus, now he'd made a huge mess.

Now, he was sitting in a chair, in the Vongola's Boss's office, staring down at a note, from the greatest phantom thief the underworld had seen, ever, that he'd been called to check out, which may or may not have been a forgery. So please, excuse him if he was a little pissed off. On the inside, of course, because Reborn just rolls like that. But yeah, he was pissed. But only a bit... Truly.

"But what about—"

"We trust you can take care of yourself?"

He snorted in disbelief. What kind of question was that? "Of course, bu—"

"Then you should have no problem with this."

"Nono, I—"

"Good luck~"

The door closed before he could even say anything, and Reborn hissed out a curse. "Dammit."

(Don't look too hard~)

The child sat on the bench, feet dangling off the edge, far above the ground. His white trainers were untied, the shoelaces rubbing up against the gravel. His orange hood shadowed his face, which was staring at the ground. Altogether, he looked a bit put out.

"Hey, little buddy." A shadow fell over him, and the tiny boy looked up slightly to see a man in a suit crouching before him. The boy caught a fleeting sense of deja-vu, and wanted to giggle, but held back his smile, putting on a pout. "Daijoubu desu ka?"*

"Daijoubu desu!" The child brightened. "Do you need something, mister?"

"I just wanted to know why you were sitting out here all by yourself, buddy." The friendly black haired business man said. They were just outside of an expensive looking hotel, one that the child knew was used to dealing with the mafia, so the staff were told not to question any strange happenings. He also knew that the man he was talking to did not know this.

"Otou-san said he was busy with meeting lots a people." The child explained, bowing his head down again to stair at his shoes. He reached out a and to tap a black suitcase that was just barely more than half his size. "Otou-san said to go to hotel we staying at and wait, but..." Here, he bit his pale-pink lip. "U-um..." He shook his head, appearing to have trouble getting the next word out. Eventually, he just pointed to himself. "Too scared to talk to front desk lady..."

The stuttering helped, but another thing the man did not know was that the child had always had problems with talking out of the third person. The reasons were unknown, perhaps due to trauma. Not that anyone knew enough to guess that.

"Oh! Why don't you come in with me?" The man offered. "I can take you up to your room, I'm staying here, too."

The child raised his head, then let t down again and pointed at his white trainers. "Can't. Oka-san say not to walk when shoes not tied."

The man smiled, then leaned over and began tying the laces together. After a while, he leaned back. "There. Better?"

The child cheered a little. "Yay! Arigato, mister!" The child hopped off of the bench and the man helped him carry the black suitcase inside the hotel's entrance. After talking with the woman at the front desk for a minute or so, then man looked down at the child, who was holding onto his hand tightly, and asked, "Do you know your Oto-san's room number, buddy?"

"Number?" The child titled his head, then nodded enthusiastically. "Hai! It number..." He hummed. "Number 237."

The man turned back to the woman, then knelt down and handed the child a white plastic key card. "There you go. Buddy. Do you need help getting there?"

The child giggled again, shaking his head. "Iie, iie, Oji-san." The man blushed slightly at the nickname. "Oka-san say not to ask too much." He struggled for a seconds, but then pointed at himself quickly to make up for the seemingly lost sentence. "Can do it on own, ne?"

The man smiled. "well, that's on the fifth floor. Why don't you use that elevator over there?" He pointed.

"Hai, hai." The child rolled the suitcase through the opening doors of the elevator that was across the room, then turned and waved at the man, the white key card clenched in his tiny fist. "Ja ne, Oji-san!"

The man vaguely heard the young woman behind the counter sigh. "Desu, desu~" He smiled and waved back, happy to help such an adorable little kid.

As the elevator doors slid open, silently welcoming the child to the desolate fifth floor western corridor, the tiny boy smiled. "Sagi is so smart~" He cooed in an almost silent whisper, reaching into his pocket and pulling out the business man's ID. "Sagi is traveling with Oji-san, now, so Sagi can go anywhere he wants very easier than before." He felt extremely relieved now that he didn't have to try to use the word "I" to refer to himself. It was so hard! How did everyone else do it? He pouted slightly. "Sagi can't say like that."

He turned, then saw the door to his left. On it, scrawled in elegant gold metal script, was the number "237."

"Sagi's room." He whispered.

Standing on his toes, he slid the white key card that Oji-san had gotten him, and pushed the door open smoothly. Oji-san is so good to Sagi. He thought happily.

He pushed the black suitcase in front of him until he reached the bed. Leaving the case behind on the floor, he jumped onto the soft comforter, much more agile than a child his age should be able to. Grinning like the Cheshire Cat, he cast his eyes over the the shadow in the corner. "Konichiwa, Mr. Reborn. Sagi's so happy to meet you now."

(Or, your eyes will begin to deceive you.)

Reborn stared. You have got to be kidding...

Sagi, master phantom thief was a child. And not just in the way the rumors said. An actual, not even three-foot-tall, living, breathing, tiny little child.

Only one thought crossed his mind, as he stepped out of the corner and into the light, still staring with slightly widened eyes at the small, yet lithe, figure on the bed.

"...I owe Fon twenty dollars."

Another surprise. The child—Sagi, apparently—nodded in agreement. "Hai. Sagi claim ten percent of the winnings because the bet was about Sagi~"

Reborn was silent, then he sighed, shrugging. He walked forward and sat on the dark red-sheeted queen-sized bed, pulling out his wallet. Might has well indulge. He thought as he handed over two dollars to the tiny outstretched hand. He was still mulling over how very small the "Inosento Azamuku" was. It was pretty far fetched that this child was actually the Sagi, but really, how hard was it to believe? After, all, there was the Gokudera boy, playing that piano like he was some sort of prodigious pro back at the Vongola. And the kid's sister was a specialist in poison. Not to mention the arcobaleno, but they didn't really count. ...But honestly, a master phantom thief; one of the best...?

Sagi grabbed the two green slips of paper and stuck them in the pocket of his seriously bright orange jacket. The tiny hands went in, and then came out again, this time holding a card...

Reborn recognized the picture of the man who'd he'd seen walking into the hotel with this kid. "Did..." No, he hadn't, right?

"Sagi borrowed this shiny card fro Oji-san." Reborn heard the child say nonchalantly, as if walking around and taking important business mens' IDs was an everyday occurrence for him. But who knows, it probably was. Reborn, even with who he was—cuz he was Reborn, c'mon!—was still trying to wrap his mind around that idea.

"But... why do you need it?" He asked, for he was truly curious as to the reason for the identity theft.

The child pursed his pale pink lips. "Sagi needs way to travel. Sagi is running out of money from his last game, so Sagi needs Oji-san's help." He gave a cheeky smile and waved the ID in the air. "Sagi's traveling with Oji-san now, so no one will question Sagi."

Reborn blinked. That was... smart, actually... The hitman laid back on the bed, sprawled out next to Sagi, who was still kneeling on the covers with that large, innocent grin of his. "How old are you, Sagi?"

Sagi pulled out his feet from under him and brought his knees to his chest. "Sagi doesn't know, Mr. Reborn. Sagi doesn't remember when his birthday is, but Sagi thinks that he is five or six years old." He tilted his head. "How old is Mr. Reborn?"

Reborn tilted his fedora downwards. For some reason, he enjoyed talking to this kid. The child was pretty good company, even if he was a little messed up in the head. "I'm twenty-five."

"How old is your gun-lizard?"

Reborn blinked. Gun-lizard? "Who do you mean?"

Sagi stood up on the bed and reached over, tugging on Reborn fedora. Almost a second later, something scaly and green came tumbling down. "Leon!"

Sagi grinned again. "Gun lizard can turn into anything." He stated. Leon slithered up and peered at Sagi with squinted eyes. Sagi smiled down at him. "Konichiwa~ Little Mr. Gun-Lizard. Will you play with me?"

That sentence sent a small jolt of some emotion through Reborn, but he couldn't put a finger on it. How was he suppose to know what Sagi meant by that? Its not like he'd ever met Sagi before—even though everyone knew that Sagi always spoke of games.

"Will you play with me, Little Mr. Hitman?"

He shook his head, and the small, sweet voice left him alone again. What was up with that? He looked over to see Sagi lying back on the bed, his arms in the air, holding Leon and looking at him from every angel he could get. The chameleon didn't seem to mind; Leon's eyes were narrowed and he probably would have been purring if he'd been a cat, Reborn knew somehow. Another question popped up. "Hey, Sagi, where are your parents?"

Sagi stilled. The child was quiet for a moment, before sitting up and hugging Leon to his chest. "They not here." He said cheerfully.

Reborn decided to just leave it be. For now.

The world famous hitman shook his head and looked back down again, attempting to get back in character. "Alright. Lets go. The Nono needs to give you the job. Then we can both be on our way." Only for Sagi to work around that marvelously.

The child smirked as knowingly as a six-year-old could. "Iie, Mr. Reborn. The Nono sent you to give Sagi the rules of the game. Not to pick Sagi up and take him to Vongola."

Reborn sank down a bit with a sigh, the duvet pressing into his back. He could feel the cool temperature of the just-made bed through his suit. "Yes, that's correct."

"But..." Sagi laid down again and held Leon above his head. "Sagi will go with Mr. Reborn to the Vongola, because Sagi is very bored now. Nothing happens a lot." Reborn blinked. For some reason, he had a feeling that the word "nothing" had somewhat of a different meaning to Sagi.

"Really now? Well, then, let's—"

"So Sagi will sleep here tonight, with Mr. Gun-Lizard~"

"Wh-What?" That caught him off guard. Sagi wanted them to stay here? "Why not go now? Wouldn't it save time?" He shook his head. He was trying to reason with a six-year-old. A master phantom thief, but still a toddler...

Sagi eyed him with twinkling orange eyes. Reborn still hadn't seen under his hood. "There is no need to rush the game, Mr. Reborn. Otherwise Sagi won't have any fun~"

Reborn felt a slight shiver run down his spine, and he ignored it by stretched leisurely out on the bed. "Right, then. Have it your way."

It was silent for a while, until Reborn frowned and sat up again. He vaguely heard the ticking of a clock somewhere, and there was absolutely no noise aside from the breathing of the room's three occupants. He looked over and saw Leon curled up, asleep, in Sagi's lap. Reborn knew he could trust Sagi somewhat, now, if his little green friend respected him like this. Sagi was sitting on the covers, still, semi-curled around the small chameleon, face tilted downward, like he was staring at the design embroidered on the cloth. But what made Reborn do a double take was the fact that Sagi's face held no expression.

Reborn had never seen Sagi not smiling. Sure, he'd only known the kid for about, oh, three hours, more or less, but Sagi always had a smile, or a grin, or a childish smirk of glee on his face. For some reason, not seeing that hurt. "Chaos, Sagi. Daijoubu desu ka?"

"Daijoubu desu." Sagi responded immediately, most likely not registering that he'd spoken at all. Reborn noticed. "Sagi-kun, daijoubu nan desu ka?"*

Sagi looked up, blinking. "Hai. Sagi is alright. Why does Mr. Reborn ask?"

Reborn stared at him. "Sagi-kun~ Why are you lying just now?"

Sagi looked down at the blankets again. "Sagi is not lying, because Sagi is always perfectly okay. But Sagi isn't able to sleep when Sagi is alone. That is why Sagi and Mr. Reborn and Mr. Gun-Lizard need to stay here tonight."

"...Then...every night? Who do you stay with, Sagi-kun?"

"Sagi stays with different people. People like Sagi a lot. Sagi is "cute," and "adorable," they say." Sagi continued to stare at the comforter. "Sometimes Sagi just doesn't sleep, though. Sagi's used to not sleeping."

Reborn thought to himself for a moment or two, then reached out and touched Sagi's shoulder. The tiny child jolted, and looked up at him. Reborn saw two, wide, innocent orange eyes staring him in the face. "Sagi, you can stay with me, ne?"

Sagi blinked. "...Sagi would like to stay with Mr. Reborn very much. Sagi's always admired Mr. Reborn a lot. Mr. Reborn is so strong. Mr. Reborn can do anything." He smiled then, and Reborn felt the strange feeling leave his chest—but his cheeks were tinged pink from the compliments.

"You seem to have a bit too much faith in me..."

Sagi shook his head. "Sagi knows."

Reborn took back his hand and laid down again, hands braced behind his head. He stared at the ceiling, thinking. After a minute or so, he heard Sagi shuffle around for a moment, before feeling the child climb under the blankets. Soon, Sagi was breathing deeply, asleep. He looked over and say the orange hood pulled over the child's eyes, and the tiny arms hugging the sleeping Leon to Sagi's chest. He looked back up at the ceiling, shaking is head as he kicked off his shoes. He definitely hadn't expected this to happen.

(Nothing is as it seems.)

This chapter is dedicated to Elliona1

*Daijoubu desu ka—means "Are you okay?"

*Daijoubu desu—means "I'm okay!"

*Daijoubu nan desu ka—means "Are you okay?" with more urgency.

*Oka-san—means "mom"

*Otou-san—means "dad"

*Oji-san—means "uncle"

—"Hai" is an affirmative—

—"Iie" means "no"—

—"Sagi" is a Japanese word, roughly translated as "deceit"—

(If anyone has any other questions—that don't have something to do with the future of the plot, cuz that'd be telling~—please ask them in your review, or PM me)

I'll most likely be writing about hoe Sagi is Tsuna in a chapter or two. Not sure. But I will, so just be patient, please ^ ^

Wow! I only posted this a day ago, and it's already gotten 14 reviews! Success~ And the favorites—man, you guys are so good to me XD

The followers... So many for the first chapter—does this mean I have minions now? Since you're all following me... *plots world domination scheme*

Anyway, I'll be updating as long as you guys keep reviewing! The next chapter will come when the review count numbers at.. Hm, 26~

Thanks so much, you guys! I have the best readers ever!

~Scylar X.