"What's the answer to number three?"

"Twenty-two," Tsuna responds, looking at the gun in Reborn's hand warily.

"Correct. Number six."

Tsuna hesitates. "Nine?"

"Wrong." Tsuna lunges to the right as a bullet shoots past his head.

"What kind of tutor shoots at their student?!" Tsuna scowls, picking himself off the ground and repositioning himself at the table.

"The greatest tutor in the world does," Reborn answers cheerfully.

"Gyahaha, Reborn!"

Tsuna stares forlornly as a cow-looking child barges through his window.

"It's me, the great Lambo-sama! I have found you, Reborn!" The self-appointed Lambo cackles and Tsuna isn't even surprised anymore by the strange people popping up in his life.

"Here's the solution to that problem," Reborn says without acknowledging the child.

"Um..." Tsuna stares blankly as Reborn starts to work out the problem.

"Die, Reborn!" Lambo points a gun straight at them.

"First, you divide this number here and add the two and four," Reborn continues.

"Reborn..." Tsuna watches as the boy's numbers flick from bright green to gray suddenly and rapidly.

"Yes? Are you having trouble understanding?" The numbers waver and go back to green. Apparently distracting Reborn from his tortu—tutoring causes the boy's lifespan to decrease.

How scary!

"Ah...no, please continue," Tsuna decides to ignore the cow-child in an attempt to save Lambo's life.

"Take this!" Lambo presses down on the trigger...and nothing comes out.

"Gyahh! I ran out of bullets when I was playing 'Ready, Go!' yesterday!"

Snap!

Tsuna winces as Lambo jumps back on to the tree next to his window and the branch breaks under the pressure.

"To-ler-ate," Tsuna hears him sniffle. There's the sound of him running and then there's silence.

Suddenly the doorbell is ringing over and over again.

"Reborn-kun! Let's play!"

"...and that's how you get the answer," Reborn finishes.

His bedroom door slams open. "Long time, no see, Reborn! It's me, Lambo!"

"He's kind of...annoying," Tsuna mumbles and he swears he sees Reborn's lips twitch upward.

"Remember this formula here." Reborn points in the book.

"Don't ignore me!" Lambo wails. "I'll kill you!"

Pow! Tsuna looks at the boy in concern for both his physical and mental state. Reborn had just slammed him into a wall without even glancing in Lambo's direction.

"I, Lambo-san, five years old, from Italy, a hitman from the Bovino Family, tripped! Favorite foods are grapes and candy and I, Lambo-san, who met Reborn in a bar, just tripped!"

"So with this formula, solve this," Reborn slides a problem to him.

Tears well up in the boy's eyes. "To-ler-ate!"

Tsuna watches as he is hit by a grenade and blown through the window.

"Reborn, do you know him?" Tsuna finally asks The Question.

"No. I don't associate with those of a lower rank than me," Reborn says smoothly. Tsuna sweatdrops.

"Tsu-kun! Could you come here for a second?" his mother calls. Tsuna excuses himself from the work and stops at the bottom of the stairs.

"This is Reborn-kun's friend, right?" His mother motions to the snot-covered Lambo. "Did they fight?"

Tsuna stares at his mother in horror, already able to tell where she was going with this.

"Tsu-kun, you're older so you have to help them make up, okay? I'm going to go make dinner, so I'll leave it to you!" His mother beams and is gone in an instant.

Lambo immediately latches onto his leg and Tsuna is grateful he's not wearing shorts so he doesn't have to deal with this child's death.

"...Do you want me to get Reborn?" Tsuna asks awkwardly, trying not to grimace from the tears and snot seeping into his pants.

Lambo started shaking in fear.

"...That's a no, I guess."

Tsuna sighs, wondering what he's supposed to do with this crying child clinging to his leg.

"You like candy, right?" Lambo peers up from where he had previously hid his face.

After that, it didn't take long for Lambo to start rambling on about his mission to kill Reborn. Tsuna pities him because he knows it's never going to happen.

"Take this, Reborn!" Lambo screams for what must be the twentieth time in the past hour. The sloppy child throws his fork and Reborn easily redirects it so that it hits Lambo right between the eyes.

"To-ler-ate," Lambo sobs while pointing a giant bazooka at himself. He fires, and suddenly there's a cloud of smoke surrounding him.

"Huh? It seems I was taken back ten years."

There was now a calm-looking teenager where the bratty child had been before. Dark eyes drifted to Tsuna's, widening.

"Tsuna-nii," he breathes, taking a step forward.

Reborn is now paying attention to the scene as the teen reaches toward Tsuna in a move to hug to move him. Tsuna flinches and he halts, hand freezing a few inches away from him. Tsuna notices the numbers around him glowing brightly, and the teen follows the movement of Tsuna's eyes. His hand drops, landing limply next to his side.

"Tsuna-nii," he repeats softly. He hesitates, and Tsuna blinks in confusion. "This time, please hold on. We'll definitely save you."

Before Tsuna can ask what he means, there's a puff of smoke and Lambo is sitting on the floor, still sniffling.

He doesn't notice as Reborn narrows his eyes thoughtfully.

/

"There's a girl following us," Tsuna observes as he walks back from school.

"Yes," Reborn agrees. "It seems my training has started to kick in."

"Rather than 'training' being the cause of my observation, I'd like to think it's called 'having eyes,'" Tsuna rolls his eyes, indicating the rather loud girl walking on the wall behind them. Not only that, but her numbers were a blaring light green that buzzed around irritatingly.

"E-excuse me," the girl calls, rushing to catch up with them. She's looking at Reborn when she says, "I'm Haru Miura."

"I know," Reborn chirps. "You live in that house over there."

She blushes and Tsuna is more than a little disturbed that Reborn has memorized who lives in his neighborhood.

"Would you be my friend?" she asks excitedly.

"Sure," Reborn says agreeably. Haru's eyes light up.

"Then...could you hug me?" She opens her arms.

"Don't touch me so easily, 'cause I'm a hitman," Reborn announces. Tsuna refrains from slapping a hand to his forehead.

It turns out that Tsuna doesn't have to hit himself because Haru does it for him.

There's a flash of pain as a disease finally kills her after three years of battling it when she is in her sixties, and Tsuna is left cradling his red cheek.

"You're a bastard! What are you teaching him?!"

Tsuna blinks, still holding his cheek. "Huh?"

"Babies are angels with pure hearts!" she declares. "You're destroying his pureness with your rottenness!"

"...I didn't teach him any of that?" he says, making it come out like a question.

"Liar! You're his older brother, aren't you?!"

"Perish the thought," Tsuna says, making a face.

"That's even worse! You're tainting someone else's child!"

"That's not possible, he was already tainted when I met him."

Haru looks extremely offended. "That's it! From now on, you're not allowed to see Reborn-chan!"

"That wouldn't work," Reborn pipes up. Tsuna is ready to go ahead and start digging his grave.

"It's my job to raise Tsuna as the tenth boss of the mafia. We can't be separated until then."

Tsuna ducks as a fist flies toward his face.

"I'll come rescue Reborn-chan soon," Haru vows. She turn to the baby hitman. "Bye, Reborn-chan!"

Tsuna is speechless as Haru sends one last glare to Tsuna before leaving.

"...You know, none of these things happened to me before you came along," Tsuna speaks monotonously to Reborn.

Reborn's smile grows a little wider.

/

Tsuna tucks a strand of hair back, ignoring the yelling behind him.

"I'm the Tenth's right hand! You're the shoulder blade!"

"Huh? But I want to be Tsuna's right hand. You can be the ear lobe."

"Stupid, then by that logic you're his nose hair!"

"Congratulations, Dame-Tsuna, you've gained another Family member," Reborn says casually, as if he hadn't just thrown a flurry of weapons at Yamamoto a few minutes ago.

"That's impossible," Tsuna replies. "I'm not involved in such criminal activities, after all." Tsuna was stubborn in his insistence on being as normal as he could be, and being a mafia boss was as far from normal as one could get.

"You can deny it all you want, but you will be the Vongola Tenth," Reborn says, watching as Tsuna moves the vegetables around in the pan so they wouldn't get burned.

Tsuna's response is interrupted as the doorbell rings.

"Pizza delivery!"

Tsuna frowns. "Pizza? I didn't order any pizza."

He automatically turned to look at the smiling Reborn suspiciously.

"Bianchi is in town," he offers.

"Bianchi?" Even the name sounded deadly.

"She's an assassin known as the 'Poison Scorpion.'"

Tsuna sighs. He might as well get this over with.

He moves the cooked vegetables on to a plate and wipes his hands on a towel. Opening the door, he's a little surprised to see a beautiful young woman at the door holding a pizza box.

"Enjoy!" Tsuna hurries to cover his face as she opens the box, noting the gas mask firmly in place on Bianchi's face. Fumes are rising from the off-colored pizza. The pizza is clearly inedible.

The box flies out of Bianchi's hand a moment later when Reborn shoots it.

"Ciaossu, Bianchi," Reborn greets.

"Huh?" Tsuna mutters. "Why are you so polite with the people trying to kill me?"

They both ignore him.

"Reborn!" Bianchi's face is filled with adoration as she slips off the mask. "I'm here to take you back. Let's do another job together."

"So this means it's your fault for her being here?"

"I told you, Bianchi. I have a job to raise Tsuna, so I can't," Reborn says, flat-out ignoring Tsuna again.

"Poor Reborn," Bianchi wipes her eyes dramatically. "You won't be free until the Tenth dies!" Her eyes gleam and Tsuna's gut is telling him to run.

"How dedicated," Tsuna says instead.

"We used to go out," Reborn answers Tsuna's unspoken question. "She's my fourth lover."

"I'm here for love!" Bianchi declares.

"She's here for work," Reborn says.

"Reborn needs me," she sighs, fluttering her eyelashes.

"I asked her to tutor you partly," Reborn continues.

"Could you have possibly broken up due to miscommunication?" Tsuna deadpans.

"Tenth! I heard a gunshot! Is everything okay?" Gokudera rushes into the room with Yamamoto following closely.

"Hayato!" Bianchi exclaims. The dark purple numbers around her swirl excitedly.

"Y-y-y-you!" Gokudera shrieks, turning green and swaying dangerously. He hits the ground with a thump.

"Ahaha! He passed out!" Yamamoto said cheerfully.

'That's not something to laugh about!'

Tsuna can feel a headache threatening to overcome him.

The pounding in his head is so distracting that he doesn't even notice when Bianchi leans over and grips his arm.

The overwhelming pain crippling his body combined with the migraine he already had causes him to clutch his head in pain, stumbling and hitting the wall. White dots blink in his eyesight and it's hard to breathe. From what he can tell, Poison Scorpion Bianchi has been caught at her own game. The death is slow and unbearable, filled with hot and cold flashes and his heart is slowly disintegrating in his own body. He feels drops of water hit him, the rain trailing tear-like traces down his cheeks. His last sight is the cloudy sky above him.

"Tsuna!" he hears a voice calling. Huh? That's not right, shouldn't he be alone?

"Look at me, Dame-Tsuna," a smooth voice says, worry undercoating the words.

He tries to focus his eyes, vision blurring and brain thumping against his skull. He manages to make out a small figure in front of him.

"R-Reborn?" he mumbles, squinting.

"Do you know where you are?" his tutor asks, uncharacteristically serious.

"I-," Tsuna stops. Where was he? On the side of the road, slowly dying alone and cold? No, that wasn't right. He makes out the familiar wallpaper and table. "H-home. I'm home." He almost sobs at the realization.

"That's right, Tsuna," Reborn continues. "Can you tell me what hurts?" Tsuna is vaguely aware of Yamamoto's wide, worried eyes and Bianchi's shocked face.

"Head," he whispers, clenching his eyes shut. "Pills," he adds, hoping Reborn will manage to understand him.

He does. "Yamamoto, go get Tsuna's pills from his room. They're in the top drawer in his nightstand." Yamamoto rushes to follow Reborn's orders.

"Do you know what happened?" Reborn asks carefully, as if he is a fragile piece of glass.

"Sorry," Tsuna says, tears welling up in his eyes and distorting his sight. He's looking at Bianchi, barely able to think through the ringing in his ears. "Sorry," he repeats.

Bianchi is too stunned to say anything as she stares with an open mouth.

Time blurs and suddenly Reborn is holding a glass of water up to his lips. He swallows the pills he's offered, slumping as the medication begins to kick in and a numbness slowly washes over him. His eyelids droop from exhaustion, and he hears Reborn telling to sleep if he's that tired.

Tsuna's body relaxes as sleep overtakes him.

/

"So? Why did you call me over on such short notice, Reborn?"

Shamal's interest peaks at Reborn's concerned look.

"I need you to treat the Tenth Vongola," Reborn says.

"No way," Shamal immediately declines. "You know my policy, Reborn. I only treat girls."

Shamal shivers when he hears Reborn's gun click. "Let me rephrase that. You will treat the Tenth Vongola."

"...What's wrong with him?" Shamal asks instead of answering. Usually Reborn isn't so insistent so the situation must be bad.

"I don't know," Reborn answers, brows furrowed. Shamal raises an eyebrow. "He has chronic migraines and he has medication for them, but he's already been taking it for over a year. By now his headaches should have at the very least decreased, but they seem to be worse. He passed out from the pain of one an hour ago. The nearest hospitals don't have the necessary equipment to diagnose him as well as you, so I called you."

Shamal frowns thoughtfully. "Fine, I'll take a look at him," he sighs. "But you owe me one, Reborn."

Reborn inclines his head in agreement. "Very well. His room is the first one on the right."

Shamal stands up, grabbing his supplies as he makes his way to the room. Shamal is mildly surprised to see Hayato Gokudera, but the teen just looks at him grimly when he passes. There's another teenager next to him, along with a kid that Shamal vaguely remembers from the Bovino Family. They're all sitting outside the room Reborn directed him to, and they clear out of the way when he opens the door.

Closing the door behind him, he eyes the future Vongola boss. The child – because that's what he is, a child, small and young – is pale and breathing evenly on the bed.

Shamal snaps on a pair of gloves, pulling up a chair and getting out his materials.

"Alright, Vongola, let's see what's going on in your head," he mutters.


ahhh almost 100 follows already?! that means so much guys, and double thanks to everyone who reviewed!
review! B)