Tsuna was huddled into a small ball, face buried in his knees, and his hands full of blood. The bodies of almost all of the Varia members surrounding him.

Reborn almost gasped in shock. Xanxus, Leviathan, Lusseria, and Belphagor were all dead or dying around Tsuna. He zeroed in on Tsuna's shaking form, walking forward with slow deliberate steps.

"Tsuna…" Reborn called out lowly. "Tsuna, look at me."

Tsuna jerked when his name was called, whimpering, and backed up until his back hit the wall behind him. He never looked up from his knees and that aggravated Reborn.

"Tsuna, Tsuna it's fine." Reborn said as if he was talking to a small, hysterical child. "Nobody's going to blame you for what you did. You're a new born vampire so they should understand what happened quite easily. We need to leave before you do something else."

Tsuna nodded but didn't take his face out of his knees. He buried his face into Reborn's neck when he was picked up by Reborn, his cologne assaulting Tsuna's smell as he did. He didn't mind though, Tsuna liked his smell.

It took a lot for Reborn to get home from the mansion. The reason was because he was covering Tsuna and his' tracks with pine needles. He didn't want to be traced back to the house; he liked the house.

Tsuna had fallen asleep half way through the way home. He clung even tighter to Reborn, afraid everything would crumble if he didn't.

When Reborn walked into the house, he immediately went to their shared bedroom, and laid Tsuna on to the bed. Reborn looked longingly at the bed beside Tsuna, wanting nothing more than to just collapse next to him, but shook himself to get himself moving.

Reborn went around, cleaning things and packing what he needed into a suit case he kept in a closet. He took out the small amount of clothes Tsuna had accumulated over the year and stored them next to his clothes in the suit case. That had taken almost three hours and it was almost dark, about 8 if he was right, when he finished.

He collapsed onto his bed, not bothering to do much but take off his shoes and fedora. He curled up beside Tsuna's side, wrapping an arm around his waist and burying his face into the crook of Tsuna's neck again.

When Tsuna woke up the next time, he immediately moved so he was backed up against the wall underneath the window. He buried his face in his knees again, closing his eyes, and drowning every thing out by clamping his hands over his ears.

He heard footsteps in front of him and he angled his body away from them. He whimpered lowly in fear he would do something else to the person; he didn't want to hurt anybody. He didn't want to enjoy it again.

"Tsuna, stop acting so pathetic." Reborn said.

"Leave me alone." Tsuna muttered, it was muffled by his knees but Reborn still heard him. He sighed in exasperation.

"You really expect I do that when you're like this?" Reborn answered smugly.

"Bite me." Tsuna muttered dryly.

"Do you really want me to do that or are you just being stupid again." Reborn shot back. He moved so he was sitting in front of Tsuna, running a hand up and down Tsuna's upper-arm.

"I don't care."

Reborn rolled his eyes before he leaned forward and blew on the crook of Tsuna's neck. Tsuna shivered at how it felt, and looked up in surprise at Reborn.

"What the hell was-?" Tsuna started to say but was cut off by Reborn kissing him.

Tsuna froze, not really sure how to react. They had kissed once when Reborn wasn't giving him blood. That was mostly to distract Tsuna from the crippling pain.

But Tsuna hesitantly kissed back, holding onto Reborn's lapels to help his balance. He closed his eyes to let himself drift, he also didn't want to see the smug smile that Reborn would definitely have on since he made Tsuna blush.

Reborn pulled away so they could breath and Tsuna tensed up, ready for the teasing insults to start. But nothing like that happened. Instead, he was pulled against Reborn's chest, the base of his neck being held, and a hand holding his chest against Reborn's abdomen.

"Why are you being so hard on yourself?" Reborn murmured quietly.

Tsuna shrugged. "I don't know, I just killed four people for my own gain. That tends to make people upset."

"It shouldn't. You're going to have to kill if you want to live through this life." Reborn said carefully.

"Yet, I don't want this life. I never wanted any of this to happen!" Tsuna said viciously. He tightened his grip on Reborn's lapels, wrinkling them no doubt, and clenched his eyes shut to prevent any tears from escaping.

Reborn sighed. "I think I deserve a thank you at least."

"Why? For ruining my life?"

"No, for saving it."

"Bullshit, I almost died countless times, no thanks to you."

"No, I was doing it for a reason. You would have died if I didn't anyways."

"Mm-hm, I'm sure."

"I did and you'll never even know it unless I tell you." Reborn tightened his hold on Tsuna's back.

"What would that be then? You were going to kill me if I turned out more than you could handle?"

"No, you had leukaemia."

Tsuna froze. He didn't have Leukaemia, his blood test hadn't come back before he was taken, but he didn't have leukaemia, right? "You're lying.'

"I'm not. I can still smell it in your blood too. It was almost unbearable how potent it was when I took you that night. I was in luck when your car ran out of oil. It was almost too easy how you trusted me enough to sleep in my bed. But I took so much the first time so the cancer would slow down. Your blood tasted awful for the longest time though."

Tsuna started shaking his head, his denial think in his mind. "No, no, no you're lying. Why would you change me if you didn't even know who I was or am? Why did you care?"

"Because you look like somebody I knew." Reborn sounded almost gentle.

Tsuna's jaw locked and unlocked before he nodded in understanding. How he looked like somebody a vampire knew, it was beyond him. "How do I look like the person?"

"Your hair, your eyes, voice, everything reminds me of him. But you're still different than him. That's what makes it better."

"You've turned into quite a sap. What did I miss?" Tsuna said dryly, effectively breaking the sappy mood.

"Just the only time you'll see me stumbling around."

"I could make it happen again, you know."

"No, you couldn't. I would do it to you."

Tsuna snorted in derision. He brought his arms around Reborn's waist, hugging back twice as had before he started falling asleep again.

"Xanxus was killed too, yes…The culprit? Sawada Tsunayoshi, sir…No, he's alive and a vampire…I can't find where they're hiding. Tsuna's scent is masked too heavily with pine needles…Yes, pine needles are potent enough to throw any vampire and werewolf off anybody's track…I understand. Squalo will be back soon so we'll hunt him down once Squalo's back."

Mammon ended the call, snapping the phone shut, and sliding it into his cloak pocket. He looked around the room once more, checking to see if he forgot anything, before he adjusted the strap to his messenger bag so it wasn't digging into his neck, and walked off. He closed the door to the mansion behind him and sat on the step as he waited.

3 hours had passed and Squalo still wasn't back. He had left 15 minutes before Leviathan had dumped Tsuna in front of Xanxus. Mammon had to wonder what Squalo did to make him take so long.

15 minutes passed before Mammon saw Squalo trudging back through the mud. He had a scowl on his face; the wind that blew Squalo's long silver hair into his face probably didn't help, as he almost slipped multiple times in the mud. When Squalo caught sight of Mammon, he walked faster and stood in front of him, waiting for a reason why there was no screaming coming from the mansion.

"Sawada Tsunayoshi is a vampire that killed almost all of Varia's core members. I tried to track him but pine needles covered their tracks." Mammon said in his usual monotone voice.

"What about Xanxus?" Squalo asked carefully, already knowing the answer.

"Dead, a new born vampire is a power that is a powerful force when made angry. It was boss' fault that he provoked him, really." Mammon sounded slightly amused that his boss was dead. "I expect payment for telling you all of this."

Squalo snorted and held out some bills of euros. Mammon took them and smirked in satisfaction. "Is there anything else I might need to know?"

"Reborn is the one who changed him. Sawada Tsunayoshi had leukaemia so Reborn changed him when the cancer would take over. Reborn has a soft spot for cancer patients." Mammon counted the bills before stuffing them into another pocket of his cloak. He adjusted the hood so only the bottom half of his face was peeking out along with some tuffs of purple hair, and walked past a stunned Squalo.

"Wait! What do you mean he has a soft spot for cancer patients?" Squalo called after Mammon.

"You'll have to pay me again for that information.'

Squalo groaned in frustration before turning away. Mammon left through a thicket of trees so he wouldn't be able to be followed. He walked in the direction of the nearest town because it was time Iemitsu got a little tip as to where his son might be.

Italy was warm, not hot, when Tsuna stepped off of the plane. Reborn adjusted the strap on the bag filled with both of their clothes so it wasn't digging into his neck. Tsuna looked around happily at how there wasn't as much smog and the air was actually easier to breathe in.

Reborn smirked lightly at Tsuna's expression before prodding him forward with his fingers. "Get moving, I'm still here."

Tsuna tinted pink before he started walking. Reborn walked beside him, closer than somebody you would call a friend. Reborn took advantage of the closeness to sling an arm around Tsuna's shoulders. His smirk deepened when he felt Tsuna tense and saw his blush darken.

"What are you doing?" Tsuna hissed in embarrassment.

"I'm walking, what do you think I'm doing, Stupid-Tsuna?" Reborn asked, amused at the bashful reaction he got.

"Yes, I can see you're walking. But why are you walking with your arm around me?" Tsuna clarified, his already pink blush getting darker.

"My, I thought you liked when I touched you. Do you want me to stop?" Reborn asked, feigning innocence.

"N-No, it's fine I guess." Tsuna muttered, looking at the ground so his red face wasn't so obvious.

"Good, because I would've still done it regardless of your answer."

Tsuna huffed, expecting something like that to happen. They walked in silence the rest of the way, Reborn's arm still slung over Tsuna's shoulder. People stared and Tsuna found himself burying his face into Reborn's shoulder to avoid them. He peeked out and eye so he could see where he was going but avoided any eye contact with strangers.

"When are you going to let go of me long enough so I can move to get a cab?" Reborn asked dryly.

"I don't know, maybe in a few decades." Tsuna mumbled into Reborn's side sarcastically.

Reborn scoffed, rolling his eyes before unwinding himself from Tsuna. He raised a hand and waved one of the many taxis down. Tsuna got inside when Reborn told him to in Japanese.

"Where to, guys?" The taxi driver asked in Italian.

"Florence", Reborn answered shortly.

The taxi driver didn't even seem ruffled as he just nodded and pulled out into the traffic clogged highway. "Florence it is."

"Where are we going exactly?" Tsuna asked Reborn.

"We're going to the outskirts of Florence. It's half an hour away from here so we won't have to wait too long to store our stuff in my house." Reborn answered in Japanese.

"Are you Japanese, kid?" The taxi driver asked.

"Yes, he is, but he doesn't know that much Italian yet." Reborn cut in smoothly before Tsuna could answer himself.

"I can answer for myself, thank you very much." Tsuna shot back in Italian. "My dad might not be the best teacher but he got me a bunch of books to read."

The taxi driver laughed. "Interesting, what part of Japan are you from?"

"It's a small…town named Namimori. It's on the west side of Japan."

"How nice. So what brings you to Italy?"

"I'm living with this one for a while." Tsuna jabbed a thumb toward Reborn.

"This one has a name you know." Reborn said, not looking away from the window.

"I never did catch your guys' names. Do you mind filling me in?"

"I'm Renati, this is Ambrogio." Reborn answered stiffly, ignoring the soft noise of protest from Tsuna.

"You can call me Kurt, though my real name is Kurtis Macdonnell." The taxi driver looked through the rear view mirror and met Tsuna's eyes. "Nice to meet you Ambrogio."

"Moving is such hard work." Tsuna said as he flopped down onto Reborn's bed.

They had just cleaned Reborn's apartment from top to bottom since Reborn hadn't been there in almost two years.

Reborn snorted before sitting beside Tsuna on the bed. "You're just lazy. I'm surprised you can look so thin."

"It's called having a high metabolism. I got to eat a lot of food without gaining a lot of weight. It's a glorious thing, having that." Tsuna explained happily.

Reborn rolled his eyes. "You don't get to eat anything anymore since all you really need is blood, most of the time. If you're sick you can eat meat to get the blood you need. Or you could drink coconut water since it will work in the same way as blood does to your system."

Tsuna scrunched up his nose in disgust. "That sounds nasty. You mean to tell me I'll have to eat raw meat if I'm sick yet suck on people when I'm healthy?"

"Yes, but since I changed you I could easily substitute for your blood supply. In reverse order for me too."

Really?" Tsuna asked in disbelief.

"Yes, whenever you're hungry you can just come and tell me." Reborn took off his fedora, and ran a hand through his hair. "Don't try to stick it out either because you'll suck me dry if I don't give you any soon enough."

Tsuna nodded, rolling onto his side, and curling up into the blankets. "I make no promises. But be ready to buy a lot of coconut water if what you're saying is true about it working the same as blood."

Reborn huffed but let the subject drop. "I'll be back, I need to do something."

Tsuna nodded again and rolled over so he was facing the wall. "Don't wake me up, please."

"I make no promises."

Tsuna stuck his tongue out at Reborn before burying his face into the pillow again. Reborn rolled his eyes before walking out of the room.

He closed the door behind him before walking to his small office. He shut the door behind him and pulled the disposable cell phone from within the desk drawer. He was glad that he didn't have to wait for it to charge either since it was a special phone.

He flipped it open and scrolled to a number he knew all too well.

The dial tone went for three rings before somebody picked up. "What do you want?" a gruff voice said.

"I need some help. Do you mind if I explain what happened to the Ninth?" Reborn answered calmly. He heard shuffling and whispered Italian on the other end so he knew he was getting somewhere.

"Hello?" Timeto, Vongola the Ninth, said in a voice weighed down by exhaustion and grief.

"Hello, Ninth. I would like to explain what happened to Xanxus, if you don't mind." Reborn said casually, hoping that he would get killed for his request.

"What do you mean explain?" Timeto asked softly and warily. "What could you possibly explain?"

"Sawada Tsunayoshi was taken in by Leviathan to Xanxus. Leviathan and the rest of the core Varia members watched Tsuna get beaten by Xanxus for information on a ring Tsuna carries around. Sawada Tsunayoshi is a newborn vampire so he has no control over his blood lust and his strength yet. When he was attacked by the members of the Varia, he snapped. Can you really blame him now? Tsuna wasn't entirely at fault here." Reborn's mouth was set in a thin line as he waited for Timeto to say what would happen.

Timeto sighed heavily. "I understand. How do you know this though?"

"I followed Tsuna to where Leviathan took him and heard what happened. I have Tsuna with me, asleep in another room. I could get him to tell you what happened too." Reborn wasn't exactly lying, he had heard what had happened but from Tsuna, but just picking his truths.

"No, no that's fine. What is peculiar to me is that Mammon of the Varia told Sawada Iemitsu what he witnessed. He also said that your blood was mixed into Tsuna's."

Reborn cursed internally. "That's most likely because I was the one to change Tsuna."

Timeto sucked in a breath. "Why would you do such a thing?"

"I did it because Tsuna had Leukaemia. It was all I could smell when I found him so I decided I might as well help him out."

"I wish you would have told me sooner, Reborn. I could have prevented this entire thing from happening."

"I only found Tsuna four days ago actually. His Leukaemia would have become noticeable and life threatening if it was left alone for another few weeks."

"How long did it to take him to change?"

"It took him three days."

"Three…Three days?"

"Yes, it was terrible when he kept coughing the blood up every hour. I got it to stay down when he relaxed enough, but I was still hung over from losing so much."

Timeto rubbed his eyes and blew out a breath. "I've never heard of a person taking that long to change. Is he sane enough to be let out into the human world?"

"I don't know. He's still really sarcastic like when I found him but he seems terrified of what he needs to do to feed."

"That seems normal. Anybody would be baffled when blood was all they needed to survive."

"What is it with you humans and being terrified of what you need for survival?" Reborn grumbled under his breath. "I had to calm him down but even then he looked fine enough to me. I think he's fine to put out in the human world."

"I hope you're right. I'm going to have to trust you on this and ask you to stay with Tsunayoshi for a few more months as he adjusts to his new life."

"Of course, Ninth. Call me if his idiot father wants to visit."

Timeto chuckled before bidding his goodbye, and hanging up. Reborn ended the call, and flipped the phone closed. He put it back in the desk drawer and walked back down the hall to the bedroom.

"Who's the Ninth?" Tsuna asked as soon as Reborn stepped into the room.

"He's a very powerful man. Why do you ask?" Reborn answered smoothly as he sat beside Tsuna on the bed. Tsuna moved so he was comfortable again as he was shifted from Reborn sitting down.

"Because I heard everything that you said through the walls. Why was he so surprised when I took three days to change?" Tsuna said, pinching his face in disdain.

"It doesn't happen, humans taking three days to change. The most recorded was a day, three means that you're going to be incredibly powerful. But that's just a legend, I've never seen anybody gain power and become strong from taking more time then others." Reborn shrugged, not really caring about this topic of conversation.

"How long did you take?" Tsuna asked, placing his head onto Reborn's thigh to get more comfortable.

"A day; I'm the special one that took forever." Reborn said dryly, placing a hand in Tsuna's hair, and rubbing the scalp.

Tsuna snorted in derision, moving his head a little, and nudging Reborn's hand to make it move. "Don't be pretentious. But is it really such a big deal that I changed after three days? It was just a bitch since I kept coughing it back up. What is he the Ninth of?"

Reborn didn't answer for a moment, playing with Tsuna's spiky brown hair instead as he thought of his answer. "He's the Ninth boss of Vongola."

"What's Vongola, and why is it named after a clam?" Tsuna said almost immediately.

Reborn hesitated again. "…Vongola is an organization that hunts supernatural beings that cross a line. If they kill too many people and attract attention to the supernatural side of the world, Vongola deals with it by sending out foot soldiers to dispose of the being if they refuse to stop, and erase everything in the media to what happened. But a few supernatural beings work for Vongola as well to help them when humans can't do anything against them. I'm one of the people that go out when I'm needed by the Ninth. And for why it's named after clams, it's a long story."

Tsuna blinked, sitting up so he could face Reborn head on. "There's really something like that still around?"

"Yes, it's been around since the 1800's when the supernatural side was trying to push for power over humans. The founder was a vampire himself that hated the supernatural side of the world was being so vicious towards humans when he was a human once himself. So he made the group to stop, it grew from there."

Tsuna blew out a breath, running a hand through his hair as he took in what Reborn just told him. He looked up at Reborn with wider eyes than usual. "What is CEDEF then? My dad was talking to someone over the phone in Italian once and he said something about the 'Cradle affair'. When he talks in Italian he's talking to someone from CEDEF."

Reborn narrowed his eyes, not liking where this was going. "Why do you want to know so much all of a sudden?"

"Because I hate not knowing what's happening around me. The Varia came after me for a reason; I want to know that reason before the other two remaining members come after us." Tsuna said, his eyes narrowing in determination.

Reborn sighed and flopped to the side so he was using Tsuna's lap as a pillow this time. Tsuna couldn't fight the blush from rising; Reborn smirked, closing his eyes momentarily as he thought over what he could say to explain what Tsuna wanted to know. He knew exactly why Tsuna had the ring; he was there when Tsuna got it from Iemitsu. But he was sworn to only tell Tsuna if his life depended on it. Was this a time that Tsuna's life was in danger or was it just a minor temper tantrum of Xanxus and his Varia members..?

"I don't know if I can tell you that…" Reborn said slowly, still not sure if he should be sharing this information. "But the reason you're being targeted by the Varia is because of the ring your father gave you."

There was a stunned silence, Tsuna sucking in a sharp breath in surprise. "W-What do you mean-?"

"I mean, you have that ring for a reason and that reason is because you are the secret keeper to its whereabouts." Reborn interrupted. He rolled over onto his side so he didn't have to look Tsuna in the eyes, burying his face instead into Tsuna's abdomen.

"Why-Why am I the secret keeper? What is so important about this ring that five very dangerous people came after me for it when I am only an 18 year old human incapable of walking straight for a long time?" Tsuna said nervously, placing a hand at the back of Reborn's head, and scratching at his scalp.

"You're the secret keeper because of your father. He's the boss of CEDEF, and when you turned 12, we were in need of somebody to keep the ring safe from Xanxus and his Varia inner-circle. When Iemitsu suggested that you keep it, nobody but a few people close to him knew about you and your mother living in Japan, everyone thought it best if you keep this ring."

Tsuna stayed quiet, processing what he had just heard. "Why is the ring so important?"

"Because it is the sign of the next Vongola boss. 8 years ago, Xanxus made an attempt at a coup d'etat to overthrow the Ninth. Nobody expected it because it was so sudden so a lot of people died in the battle. The Ninth was almost killed himself by Xanxus, which is his adoptive son by the way, so we needed to hide the ring so Xanxus couldn't hold the thrown officially." Reborn shrugged the shoulder that was free. "So don't go giving it away freely. If you do, Xanxus will make sure that supernatural beings are superior to the human race, and the human race will be all but extinct."

"That's so complicated!" Tsuna grumbled in a slightly louder voice than usual. He flopped back on the bed, his head landing just underneath the pillows, and spread his arms on either side of him underneath the pillows.

Reborn looked up at Tsuna from his position on Tsuna's thighs, blowing out through his nose to clear his head. He shifted around so he was more comfortable, grabbing Tsuna's hand in both of his as he did, and closed his eyes.

They fell asleep like that together, not even minding getting under the blankets this time.

Timeto rubbed his eyes with the tips of his fingers, a habit he developed that he could never get rid of. The door to his office opened with somebody knocking softly as they walked in. Timeto looked over, taking his hands away from his face, and grimaced in a show of emotion only Coyote knew.

"Ninth, we have successfully tracked down all the ingredients. How long until we should start making it?" Coyote asked; his face set in grim satisfaction at what he was able to do in such a short time.

Timeto sighed, standing from his desk, and walking over to Coyote. "As soon as possible. I will be going to Florence with Iemitsu to pay a long over due visit to an old friend. Please prepare my flight, and expect me back in three days at the max."

This took longer than I wanted it to. But yeah, next chapter's the the last one so I hope I can actually pull off what I want to do with it.

Thanks so much for everyone who's followed, favourited, and reviewed. It makes my day when I see what I made be well liked.

-Gate