Disclaimer: I still don't own.

Thanks to Uni Giglio Nero for pointing out mistakes.

Beta'ed by ShamelessDilettante

Reborn was tired: it had been a long day, and the wrench thrown abruptly into his way was not helping his mood. As a hitman, he knew that in the mafia, literally anything and everything could go wrong. So to make sure that nothing would, he had been meticulous while planning his trip to Japan. He had only boarded the plane from Italy after he was certain that no one onboard was connected with the mafia. He had arrived early, just to scope and to explore the place that he would be calling his home for the next couple of years. Namimori was a small, quiet town, the perfect place to hide the next heir of the most powerful family in the world.

Only after he had thoroughly researched and memorized all the routes in the town did Reborn approach the heir himself. He hadn't been expecting much, just an ordinary kid in an ordinary town. All of the records in the Vongola stated that Natsume was just a normal teenager, one with the overly mundane problem of struggling with bullying and his studies. But they were simple issues, nothing large, and millions experienced the same troubles in life and pulled through. All in all, Natsume and his family was just an ordinary family with ordinary issues: nothing about the mafia.

According to the records, both Nana and Natsume knew nothing of it.

But the truth was the opposite of this. According to what he had overheard from the two brothers' talk in the bedroom, Nana did know of the mafia. Someone—Reborn had a sneaking suspicion that a certain brunet was responsible for this—had informed her, and thus placed her in danger. Yet despite being exposed to such dangerous information, nothing had changed with Sawada's daily life. No assassins had come to claim her life, and no typical motherly panic had ensued and caused the entire family to change their name and move. For ten years she had managed to keep that fact a secret, even when her darling Iemitsu had returned home to check up on things. What worried Reborn the most was that Iemitsu was no idiot, either—of course he wasn't, idiots would have died soon after joining the mafia. He, of all people, should have noticed that there was something bothering her, being her husband, but he hadn't, he never had.

Being able to keep secrets was one thing, and although it was worrying it was still tolerable. Everybody had a right to their secrets, Nana included, though Reborn was not one to talk. He himself had his own affairs, namely the Arcobaleno, and his secrets and problems weren't necessary for anybody else to learn. So for now he'd respect her privacy, though he was curious to learn just how deep her knowledge ran.

But hiding a strange brunet, who was undeniably associated with the mafia, was not alright. Reborn knew that Tsuna could easily become a threat, he had sensed a remarkable amount of control and power coiled deep within the confines of the small body. If Tsuna had another agenda, then things could fall apart instantly. Reborn didn't like this idea, but honestly, there wasn't much that he could do about it. Getting rid of Tsuna would equate to upsetting Nana and his student, and now that they had met, Reborn needed their approval to continue with the training. It wouldn't do to have Natsume rejecting the Vongola every step of the way.

Of course he had wondered if forcing answers from Tsuna would be the best choice, but after a period of musing, he concluded that it wasn't. If the flames that he sensed within the brunet were of any indication, then Tsuna was strong, much stronger than the men that he typically dealt with over at Vongola HQ. That, and the fact that he knew absolutely nothing about how the brunet would react, was enough to convince Reborn not to make a move.

But even if he wouldn't fight, that didn't mean that he couldn't speculate. Aside from his prowess on the battlefield, Reborn knew that he possessed a remarkably analytical mind. Still, he was stumped at how Tsuna had managed to live in the Sawada residence for ten years and not be noticed by the Vongola. True, it wouldn't take much skill for him to simply vacate the home whenever Iemitsu decided to pay a visit. It was the more subtle things that baffled him—how Tsuna managed to stay out of sight. How Natsume never once mentioned having an older brother. How Nana had acted so naturally, despite being burdened with so many secrets.

Then there was the fact that Tsuna looked exactly the same age as Natsume, which meant that ten years ago, he would have been three years old. That was something Reborn couldn't bring himself to believe—a three year old boy, managing to fool the Vongola and to get Nana to let him live in her home. A three year old boy, offering the distraught woman a proposal, one that stated that he would ensure that another boy his age wouldn't be exposed to the mafia. The mere thought was laughable—but there was no other explanation that he could think of at the moment.

Tsuna had made it blatantly obvious that he had known about the mafia for at least ten years. If Reborn was right and Tsuna had been the one to inform Nana about the Vongola in the first place, then that meant that the boy had been in the mafia for a number of years before his arrival at the Sawada residence. There was no other way that he could know about the mafia, about the Vongola, much less about the fact that Sawada Iemitsu was the leader of the CEDEF, and that the last remaining heir was his son. Hell, the identity of the last heir of the position of Vongola Decimo was the most guarded secret that the Vongola had. But, come to think of it, Federico and the other candidates hadn't died until recently, which was what spurred on the decision to make Natsume the heir in the first place. If he followed that train of thought, then it almost seemed as if Tsuna knew what was going to happen, as if he knew that Federico and Enrico were going to die and that he would be close to Natsume's family before then.

With a frustrated sigh, Reborn tugged at his sideburns with the beginnings of a scowl crossing his face. He was thinking in circles; he wasn't getting anywhere at all. But perhaps Tsuna had helped to orchestrate Federico, Enrico, and Matsumo's deaths…But the feud Enrico was killed in was partly the Vongola's fault, and Matsumo had drowned after being pushed into a body of water by his friends (the guy couldn't swim for his life). Federico had been found reduced to bone, and the culprits had been decimated, their families wiped permanently from existence. However, Reborn couldn't rule out the notion that Tsuna was involved quite yet.

For now, though, it was all speculation and guesswork, and it would hardly be fitting for the number one assassin in the world to wrongly accuse someone. So he would watch over Tsuna, making sure that the brunet did nothing out of line, and if he did, then Reborn would have the perfect reason to shoot him. Watching did not mean waiting, far from it. Gently urging Leon to morph, Reborn wrapped his hands around the black-green cell phone and pressed it to his ear.

Thankfully Leon's line was secure, blocked from access from all except the best of hackers, and he doubted that any one of them had the mind to hack into Reborn's phone if they knew what was good for them. He dialed a familiar number, waiting as it buzzed once, twice, three times in his ear.

The other man picked up on the fourth ring. "Hello?"

"Iemitsu," Reborn acknowledged, "it's Reborn."

He could practically feel the uneasy confusion radiating from the other side of the line. "You're with Natsume, aren't you? Is there something wrong?"

"…We need to talk."

Tsuna sighed as Natsume continued to stare intently at the pacifier; he could practically feel the awe and admiration radiating from the blond as he stared at it. Quite frankly, it wasn't all that interesting, but then again he couldn't say anything. He had been rather enthralled by it when he had first received it—but, Tsuna thought wistfully, for different reasons.

Orange had always been Tsuna's favorite color, especially in brilliant vibrant hues, but the pacifier seemed to have its own ideas. It was a light, pale orange—like the smallest smudge of orange blended into a large mess of white. The pacifier seemed so small compared to Reborn's, but perhaps that was just because Tsuna himself was much larger. Small chains wrapped around the spherical portion, the black contrasting the fading hue.

"I've been meaning to ask," Natsume said suddenly, "but why do you have those chains around it? Before Reborn came, they were never there."

Tsuna mulled over an answer, settling with the truth. "As a general rule, these pacifiers shine whenever they get within a specific range of another pacifier. I'd rather not have Reborn knowing that I have one. These chains prevent my pacifier from shining, and they also prevent other pacifiers from glowing when they get near it."

"Oh."

Tsuna closed his fingers around the pacifier gently, slipping it back into its orange bag before stowing it away into his pocket. "Remember, Natsu-kun: not a word." Ignoring Natsume's disappointed look, he exited the bedroom.

Reborn was nowhere in sight when he poked his head out of the doorway, but he could hear the squeaky voice speaking to someone from somewhere down the corridor, muffled by a closed door—was it the restroom? After giving Natsume a quick warning not to intrude on the hitman's privacy, Tsuna made his way back down the stairs and into the kitchen. Though he was curious, it wasn't his business to poke his nose into Reborn's problems.

Nana was still there, washing the dishes cheerfully as she hummed a quick tune beneath her breath. When she saw him walk through the door, she quickly set down the plates and straightened.

Skipping all preamble, Tsuna said, "Reborn is now aware that you know about the mafia."

Her eyes flickered with both astonishment and odd relief. "Did you tell him?"

Tsuna nodded briefly, leaning on the nearest wall. "Natsume and I had a little talk. Reborn kindly eavesdropped on us, and is now in the bedroom calling your husband. Are you okay with that?"

She stared at him determinedly. "Yes." Then her expression wavered. "But—"

"Before you ask if you need to keep up the act, let me talk first." Tsuna caught her gaze, smiling reassuringly. "Remember how I said that hitmen will seek this place out? With Reborn's arrival, they will begin to come. None of them will do any harm. If they intend to, I will personally dispatch them before they can so much as touch a hair on your head. When these new hitmen arrive in Japan, they will need somewhere to stay. I am thinking of you allowing them to stay here in this house, to build a sense of family for Natsu-kun. In order to get this family atmosphere, I want to ask you to continue your 'cheerful mother' act, even though Reborn knows now."

Nana blanched, twisting her apron between her fingers. "How could you even suggest that?" she whispered. "Even if they won't hurt me, they'll be coming here for Na-kun! And they are hitmen and Mafiosi—killers! I wouldn't let someone so tainted into my house!"

"I'm tainted, then," Tsuna said blithely. "Your husband is tainted too, and yet you let the two of us into your home. There is no difference, except that most of the ones coming are small children."

"Children in the mafia!"

"It's not uncommon," he said quietly. "Far from it. I myself was a child when I first became involved." When she didn't reply, he sighed and pushed himself away from the wall. "Give me an answer by tomorrow morning." Quietly he slipped out of the room, leaving the woman alone with her thoughts.

Reborn was still talking on the phone when he returned upstairs. Tsuna was surprised to see Natsume, standing awkwardly by the bedroom door, clearly wanting to go in but not knowing what to do. Tsuna moved toward the door, raising his eyebrows as he did so; whatever Reborn was discussing was taking a while. But then again, he had expected it to be that way: they were most likely discussing him, after all, because why else would Reborn call? Tapping the other teen on the shoulder, Tsuna fastened his fingers around Natsume's wrists loosely and tugged him down the stairs, out of earshot if they kept their voices pitched low.

Once they were down the stairs, Tsuna released his grip and turned around. "Reborn's in our room now?"

Natsume nodded with a perplexed look in his eyes. "He exited the restroom a minute ago and asked me to talk to someone on the phone. Then he went to our bedroom and slammed it shut."

"Talk with whom?"

"Ie—Dad, I think." Rubbing the back of his head, the blond waited until he was certain that Nana was still cooking before speaking again. Whenever Iemitsu had come up in discussions, Nana had always been quick to jump in, whether to proclaim her undying love or to praise his romanticism, and now that Natsume knew it was possibly just all an act, he seemed uncomfortable with speaking any louder than necessary. "He wanted to know if I was alright."

Tsuna snorted in derision, shoving his hands back into his pockets where he could ball them surreptitiously into fists. "How sweet of him." Turning around, he headed back the direction that he had come. To think that chatting with Nana would give Reborn so much room to move.

"Tsuna-nii, where are you going?"

"Up." Disregarding Natsume's flabbergasted look, Tsuna continued walking until he was right in front of the door. He knocked three times before opening it. The conversation within the room cut off shortly, and Tsuna peered into the room to see Reborn's sharp eyes regarding him, the phone pressed against his suit. Clearly it hadn't been turned off, not yet.

"Hello, Reborn-san," he said with a polite dip of his head, "having a nice chat?"

Reborn didn't answer immediately, but then his shoulders relaxed as he flicked his fedora upwards with a cordial smile. "What are you doing here, Tsunayoshi-san?"

"It's Tsuna," he corrected, pulling out an orange and white sweatshirt from the depths of the closet and furrowed his eyebrows slightly. He hadn't known that he had this shirt, not within the black hole that consisted of his drawers and closet, hidden by folds upon folds of fabric that made up both Tsuna's and Natsume's wardrobe. "I'm going to shower now, and my clothes are in this closet. This is my room, after all."

A loud crackle sounded through the room just as he was about to leave, and Tsuna doubled back curiously. He could barely hear the obscenities being screamed from the other end of the phone, and though he could place the voice, he couldn't understand what was being said. Though, he thought with an amused grin, judging from the tone, nothing good.

After giving him another searching look, Reborn hung up, ending the three-way conversation effectively. "Excuse him, Iemitsu's never been one for manners."

"So I've noticed," Tsuna agreed dryly. "But excuse me for saying that I don't have the best opinion of him. In the few seconds I've heard his voice, he was trying to cuss me out. Not the best first impression." He tilted his head to the side. "Though, who you call is not my business, and it wasn't necessary for you to end the call because I entered. It's not like I don't know what you were discussing."

Lifting Leon back up to its usual perch atop his fedora, Reborn pouted, "I didn't end the call because you were here. He was annoying me."

"Oh?"

"He was asking me stupid questions." Reborn folded his arms across his chest with an annoyed huff. "Never mind what I have to deal with on a daily basis, Iemitsu alone is enough. But moving on: Tsuna-san, do you go to school?"

Tsuna raised his eyebrows questioningly, "No."

"Then we'll have to take care of that. To put it bluntly, I don't trust you to not run off with your own agenda while Dame-Natsu's is in school."

"To watch me," Tsuna summarized with a sigh. Well, he had never received a formal education, and taking classes couldn't hurt. It would kill time and get rid of a modicum of his boredom. "Alright, do as you will. Anything else?"

"Not for now." With a pleased expression, Reborn turned and hopped off of the bed, momentarily displaying his unprotected back. Like another petty test, Tsuna mused, but he didn't have any intention of taking the opening, the shower was waiting for him. When the baby turned around again, he was sulking in disappointment. "Then I'll go take care of the official papers."

Smiling, Tsuna followed him out of the room and stepped into the bathroom. "Oh, and Reborn-san," he said, allowing the beginnings of a teasing grin to stretch across his cheeks, "tell Iemitsu that Sawada Tsunayoshi sends him his regards." Smirking at Reborn's suddenly inscrutable look, Tsuna pushed open the bathroom door and locked it behind him, turning on the tap water just enough so that the pounding of the drops would drown out all other sounds.

Nana hadn't expected to see Reborn after the impromptu talk with Tsuna nearly half an hour before. He had left with the clear intention of giving her space to think, space to breathe in the chaotic world, and she hadn't anticipated that Reborn of all people would want to talk with her next. Keeping half of her mind on the stove, she turned to attend the hitman, who waited by the door patiently.

"Ciaossu."

"Reborn-chan!" she squealed, inwardly recoiling at the utter cheerfulness of her voice. "How is Na-kun doing?"

To her chagrin he didn't display an ounce of remorse for terrorizing her son in the hour that they had talked, and she had half a mind to stomp over to Reborn and start screaming at him herself. But Tsuna was right, she couldn't antagonize him, not when Reborn carried all of their lives within the palm of his hand. "He needs work," Reborn said flippantly instead, and Nana carefully held her hands behind her back where the assassin couldn't see them. Twisting her hands anxiously, she wished that he would just leave and never come back. For all she cared, he could burn alive and she still wouldn't give a shit, because the infant was a killer and she couldn't just forget that.

Her mouth was moving on autopilot, and so were her hands: it was as if she was watching detachedly from another person altogether. She could see her hands clapping, rocking on her feet, and she could hear her own light giggle. "Oh, but that's what you're here for, to teach him," she said airily, turning around to tuck another dish in its place on the drying rack.

From the corner of her eye she saw Reborn hop onto a chair in the dining room, making himself at home with an indifference that left her boiling in rage. Which was stupid, she thought distantly, because she had accepted Reborn's terms to live with them in the first place.

"Do you need a cushion?" The top of Reborn's hat barely cleared the table; come to think of it, he had eaten dinner sitting on top of the table earlier. With a nod, Reborn peered at her emotionlessly, as befitting of a top-notch assassin. Suddenly she couldn't bear to be in the same room as him anymore, and Nana swept away after pouring the leftover food onto a plate and setting it into the refrigerator to cool.

After adding enough pillows to Reborn's new place at the dining table, Nana opened her mouth to call the rest of the family down to assist with further chores when Reborn's voice cut across hers. "Don't call them down," Reborn warned, "I want to discuss a few matters with you first."

Her smile faltered. "Is something wrong?"

"You don't need to act around me," Reborn said, "I already know that you know who I am and what I am here for. Tsuna-san explained to you about the mafia ten years ago, didn't he?"

Nana drew herself up, letting the smile slide off her face and replaced it with a frown. Her arms and legs were trembling, but she wouldn't be cowed—never, ever in the face of enemies that tried to steal her sons away. "He did," she answered challengingly, "and so what?"

"So nothing, I was just curious." Reborn eyed her expressionlessly, and the lack of emotion unnerved her; babies weren't supposed to look so old, so wise, so fake. It simply wasn't natural.

Resisting the urge to stamp her foot to get her point across, she slowly inched her fingers toward the kitchen knife. "Tsu-kun merely did what he thought was the best for both Na-kun and I, it isn't your concern."

Despite the agonizingly slow speed her fingers were moving, Reborn's eyes flicked once to her hand, then to the knife and before locking squarely on her eyes. She froze. All of a sudden she couldn't move, caught in the spotlights that were Reborn's black eyes. But the next moment her hand was in motion, retracting as quickly as possible, her defensive mechanisms kicking in all at once.

"Do you really believe that?" he asked in a low voice.

She met his eyes defiantly, "I do."

"Explain."

Nana clenched her fists again. "He's not like you, not like your type. He cares for people. He helped to raise my son, acted as both an older brother and a role model. Na-kun adores him, I care for him, he's done so much for us."

"So I've heard," he said, sounding wholly unconvinced.

She took a step forward, dropping her voice. Though she could hear the shower running from upstairs, one of the two boys were currently up and about, and this conversation was just between Reborn and her. Neither of her sons needed to get involved. "Tsu-kun protected us from the assassins that the Vongola kindly brought with them the first time Nono and Iemitsu visited. He alone has kept us safe all this time," she stressed, "and it's not something I'd forget."

"You owe him," Reborn summed up tonelessly, and she nodded, relieved that the hitman understood. Despite all the time they had spent together as a family, she had never been able to convey her gratitude to Tsuna, and somehow explaining to the assassin lifted a weight from her chest. Humming to herself slightly, she prepared to return to setting up the dinner table when Reborn reappeared in front of her.

"Is there anything else that you need?"

"No, I'll take my leave now." Sweeping away with a flourish, Reborn slipped out of the room without looking back, leaving an utterly bemused Nana staring from behind.

Edited 2/17/2013