Summary: Tsuna has never been what would be defined as 'normal', what with future versions of him coming back and taking place in his mind. But when the baby hitman shows up, everything goes awry and nothing happens like it should - according to the future hims, anyway. (T for Language and Violence, Gen).

Rating: T and most likely won't change.

Genres: Hurt/Comfort, Friendship, Adventure, Angst, maybe more, I don't know.

Warnings: Language, OOCness, SPOILERS, non-canon events, violence, mentions of a violent death, assassination attempt, hinted underage relationship (Bianchi and Reborn - yeah, she's 17 now, she was at most 16 when she and Reborn were a thing. Age of consent in Japan is 17-18 in many prefectures, not mention that I don't think he's a day under 30. If it was an actual 'lover' definition of a relationship, nice, Reborn, real nice), probable PTSD (does it count if it's another presence in a character?), warnings are individual per chapter. No yaoi, yuri, shounen or shoujo ai, no slash, incest or anything resembling pedophilia (that isn't already canon, anyway, *cough*Reborn*cough*). No smut or non-con.

Pairings: Gen, friendships, mentorships.

"Speech"

Flashbacks/Other's speaking/Dreams

'Thoughts'

(#): A/N to explain stuff at the end.

A Gathering of Skies Chapter 4: Define 'Lover'...

By: AngelicSilverWolf

'Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it.' - Charles R. Swindoll

Tsuna's third Other is an...experience. Tsuna is seven and a half and has acquainted himself quite well with the two people in his head - though that first joined reaction at seeing Yamamoto Takeshi had been Not Fun to say the least - but the newest addition to the group of consciences in his brain is unique in that it feels the most like him. When he arrives, the third Other gets the name of Tsuna the First because just like Tsuna himself, he's awkward, too old (twenty-eight with an added thirty years because of stress), too young and really just incredibly resigned to being the embodiment of Murphy's Law.

Tsuna the First isn't shy, but he also doesn't quite know how to articulate his opinions. This stems from having been born into a world where his father whisked him away to Italy to be trained as a reserve mafia boss in case the other three didn't make it. Tsuna the First spent his life being molded into the perfect boss by Iemitsu and none other than Reborn the Arcobaleno, but he never quite grew the backbone to live up to his full potential.

Much like his ally, the Bucking Horse, Reborn only had to tell him to jump to have him asking, "How high?". Tsuna's first two Others are noticeably less impressed with this behavior, and one exudes Disappointment, the other Disapproval. It makes things sort of uncomfortable for a few days (which really doesn't help because Tsuna needs to find out what makes this Other tick, and he can't do that if he's trying to keep him from shrinking away to some far area of his brain that he isn't aware exists until Tsuna the First disappears to a corner that has him stopping for a minute to question its existence) and Tsuna's just debating whether or not it's morally acceptable to kill for headache prevention, when his Others abruptly stop their strained silence. Just in time for the beginning of a new school week too.

Talk about timing.

So it's with a slightly overfull brain that Tsuna goes to his classes, and the first English class he has, he ends up not only writing out the English translation, but the Italian, French and Mandarin ones as well. He stares for three seconds in something very close to hysteria, eyes flicking between his hand - his left hand, which he has never used to write with in his life - and his paper. It is far too neat and tidy to belong to any seven year old, let alone him. He sends a very dazed inquiry to his newest resident, the only one who could have brought this about because neither Yoshi ojii-san nor QT would do the extra work without reason and thus can't be blamed for muscle memory like this, and Tsuna the First feels suspiciously embarrassed.

The latter replies with an apology and explains that between his training and promotion to mafia boss, he always made extra copies of every document in multiple languages at a time, thus the bonus material. Also, Reborn made him slightly ambidextrous because of how many bones he broke or sprained in his hands during training. Tsuna takes this all in with patience uncommon in most children, and then he very calmly rips his paper into a few dozen pieces, telling his teacher he wanted confetti when she asks him what he's doing to his assignment.

He gets a zero and a scowl, but it's infinitely better than fear and a talk with the principal about being placed in a more advanced class because of his 'gift'. It's not even being deceitful because it really isn't him that knows how to use kanji characters differently. It just transferred over in the settlement of Tsuna's Other, somehow being one of the things to stick.

It's happened with the previous two Others as well; a habit or two of theirs that imprinted in his psyche along with a few memories. Not a lot, but enough that he has to be careful not to trigger anything that he shouldn't be able to do, like say, write in three other languages that he definitely shouldn't know given his lack of exposure to all of them. He's actually rather lucky that it hasn't happened before now.

This being said, he watches himself for the next week or so, making sure to stifle his uncharacteristic urges to bow or be way too polite to every girl or elder that he comes across. Also, his sudden fear of babies. Like, what even? Reborn could not have possibly inspired that much fear, even with his guns and grenade launchers and bugs and… Actually? Yeah, no, he sees it.

It takes about four months for things to calm down and for Tsuna to stop twitching at every beetle and the scent of espresso, which is honestly pretty good considering his other tenants (and he ends up making a list of things to avoid so that he doesn't trigger accidentally, which quickly grows into an entire journal coded in three different languages, that he carries around with him as a reminder that flashbacks are very unpleasant alone, so they'll be hellish in public). Still. It's a little difficult to come to grips with the fear-inspiring presence that is Reborn, his probable future tutor if everything goes the same as in Yoshi-ojii-san's and QT's universes. Tsuna the First just clams up when Tsuna prods at him for memories of the infant, and the other two don't want to spoil the fun, so Tsuna resigns himself to getting his ass kicked in training that gives his nightmares nightmares.

This is his life and he wants to ask why, but feels that it's really pointless by now, and that it would be easier to try and take it as it comes. It would be easier to do if he didn't get a new Other every time he lowers his guard and starts to relax.

…

Present:

Someone is screaming in his ears, and he doesn't think it's him this time. Someone else is talking quickly, there's a hand on his shoulder but that hurts, so he wrenches himself away. He's trying to figure out why he's seeing a bedroom when he should be seeing a battlefield, when he should be seeing an executioner stand.

-He was - is - burning, death by fire and isn't that so ironic? So ironic he could laugh if he could stop the screaming-

Tsuna forces the Other away hard, shoves him into a mental box with a wince and an apology. It actually isn't him screaming but it sounds like it is since it's coming from inside his head. The rest of his Others are trying to order themselves and not freak out so that they don't melt his brain from the strain, and he's trying to get away from the feeling of being burned alive at the stake, no less.

"Oh, shit," he mutters, clapping his hands over his ears so that he can think and organize his brain into its usual semi-neat boxes. The screaming only continues, and it's at that point that he realizes that it isn't only his newest Other screaming, but also the memory of someone else screaming for him, someone who sounds disturbingly like his mother.

"Shut up!" he yells desperately into the void of his mind, and though it doesn't stop entirely, the screaming backs off to a distant echo. Present and annoying, but better. He huffs and pants, relieved that he didn't make any loud noises.

That was new - normally it's just visions and memories and echoes of sounds, but the complete auditory overlap was and is disorienting, to say the least.

"T-Tsuna?"

He freezes, and remembers what he was doing before his newest Other arrived, who he is with. He looks up and sees a very pale Takeshi staring at him with wide eyes, scared and shocked. Any trace of good humor gone entirely. Damn.

He somehow musters a shaky smile.

"Sorry, I didn't want you to find out like this," he says, rasps really, because even though he didn't make a sound, his throat is tight enough that it's hard to breathe.

"Find out about what?" Takeshi looks extremely unnerved, but he isn't running away screaming (ha) so Tsuna will count it as a win.

"It's a - uh, kind of a long story, if you'll listen?" He means it to be a statement but it comes out as a question anyway. This newest Other is raging against the box he put it in and it's making it very hard to concentrate (something tells him that he's going to have a migraine tomorrow - he kind of gets those a lot, it's just a thing). Somehow he still sees Takeshi's minute nod. The flood of relief passing over him - because it isn't much but it's a chance and he'll take what he can get at this point - drowns out the noise of his newest Other momentarily. He puts that aside for later study and takes a deep breath.

It spills out in a hasty and unattractive conglomerate of words. The entire back story to his bizarre life, from that first Other when he was five to the one a few weeks ago. He doesn't give a lot of details, because there are some things that no one needs to know about because they're so horrible and he won't subject anyone to that, let alone a friend. He does say that he has some triggers though. Like the scent of a certain type of polish that was very common in the Vongola mansion of one of his Others, or the taste of some exotic desert that another Other fancied so much.

Takeshi blinks and visibly tries to take it all in. Tsuna admits to himself that it all sounds very ludicrous, and if it wasn't him it's happening to, he would believe the claimer to be insane. Before his newest friend can come to this conclusion as well, he talks some more so that Takeshi will have the majority of the picture before he comes to a decision. He talks about his dozen plus one other presences, about when they came and they're personalities - but not how they died of course - naming each one with a reverence that he doesn't notice but that makes Takeshi's eyes sharpen in slight understanding.

When he's finished with his latest Other, Big T, he sits and waits (hoping but trying not to hope because he sort of gave that up years ago), and his Others are more or less organized now though he knows he'll have some nightmares and visions tonight (are they flashbacks if they aren't really his memories?). He's also trying really hard not to hyperventilate, because, who knew, talking about it all does not actually make it easier to accept, and he thinks that discussing it might actually be a trigger and shit if that's true because then he'll have to go through this God awful process every time he wants to tell someone the truth.

"Who else knows?" And Tsuna looks up from where he's drilling a hole into his clasped hands, because why would Takeshi care if he isn't planning on sticking around? His Rain offers a slightly unsure but completely sincere smile, and Tsuna relaxes.

"No one," he says. Takeshi looks taken aback, which is probably reasonable.

"No one?" he repeats. "Not Hayato? Not your mother?"

"No one," Tsuna says. Even Reborn only has a facsimile of the truth. "You're the first."

"Why…" Takeshi trails off. Tsuna understands. Why him before all the others, why no one else?

"Mom has enough to deal with already. She knows I get what she calls fits, and she knows that I have panic attacks sometimes. Hayato doesn't know much of either since he hasn't been around for long. My tutor, Reborn, I told that I get strange dreams and visions about things I don't know about, which is mostly the truth, but isn't all of it," Tsuna says. "I probably would have held off on telling you too, if a new Other hadn't just arrived."

And Tsuna can very acutely feel that particular Other trying to pull himself together, but he figures that not everyone has experience with dying multiple times like he does. It's a slow process, one he'll be happy to start when there's no one around that he can freak out.

"What's he like?" Takeshi asks almost timidly. Tsuna blinks. He hadn't expected that question.

"I don't know," he confesses. "I mean, I haven't talked to him and I only got a little bit of his life when he came. I'll probably get more through dreams or something later." Speaking of his Others' lives, he needs to update his trigger list soon. It is incredibly unpleasant to be caught unawares, and the last thing he needs is to be set off by the scent of, like, strawberries.

"Oh." Takeshi doesn't say anything more and Tsuna tries to marshal his thoughts into reasonable coherency. His newest Other isn't making as much noise anymore, and the screaming has stopped, but he doesn't want to take any chances with Takeshi right here. "Well, I mean, I know it wasn't your choice, but thanks for telling me," Takeshi says eventually. Tsuna tries to muster up a smile for him. It probably doesn't work. "Is - is there anything I can do to help? If you trigger or something?"

Tsuna can't help it. He gapes.

"What? Um, no - I-I don't know. Um. I've never had someone ask me that question so…" he trails off awkwardly. Takeshi stares some more. It's probably going to be a trend with the people in his life from now on.

"Titanic," Takeshi says suddenly. Tsuna's eyes go wide.

"What?" he asks.

Takeshi shrugs and says with a completely straight face, "Sorry. I thought it would be a good icebreaker. I was wrong."

It takes a minute, and Tsuna's gaping again, but when it clicks he starts to giggle uncontrollably. Takeshi spends exactly two seconds keeping a straight face, and then he cracks up as well. It's terrible, it isn't even a very good joke, but Nana finds them a few minutes later - with the promised snacks - wheezing on the floor. She just shakes her head fondly.

"Boys," she says. She leaves the tray and Tsuna tries fruitlessly to stop laughing. Some of it is hysterical, some of it is genuine, but all of it is completely relieved. His head hurts like hell and his mind is on the verge of giving in to another quiet meltdown, but it'll be fine because Takeshi is going to stick around.

He has someone who knows and they're going to stay. This? This is the best day in his life.

…

"What do you want, Reborn?"

Reborn smirks at the snappy answer. "Mammon. Is that any way to speak to an old friend?" he asks.

"Get to the point. Each minute is costing you money," Mammon says impatiently. Reborn's smirk fades as he becomes serious.

"Tell me, has Tsunayoshi Sawada knowingly been in contact with any mafia members besides myself and Smokin' Bomb Hayato?" he asks. The voice on the other end of the phone is silent for a moment.

"Muu, isn't this your deal? Why would I know what the Young Lion's brat is up to?" Mammon says, unimpressed. Reborn's own impatience rises.

"Just answer, Viper," he says somewhat bitingly. The Mist sighs.

"Well, Iemitsu picked one hell of a place for his civilian family. Namimori is overseen by the Hibari clan, and it has numerous small Yakuza groups scattered around it. Not to mention the kind of attention it's attracted since Smokin' Bomb and yourself arrived there. Mafia, however, have not been seen there since Nono and Iemitsu visited when Tsunayoshi was five," Mammon said slowly. Reborn looks over the sparse notes that Iemitsu deigned to give him to prepare him for the assignment and resists the urge to fly to Italy to shoot the idiot right between his Goddamn eyes.

"Iemitsu is so incompetent that he can't even write a file of his own family properly," he mutters.

"Noted," Mammon says dryly. "Anything else besides the conclusion of Iemitsu's appalling lack of competence? Or should I go ahead and send the bill now?"

Reborn sighs. "I'm done for now. Send the bill to Namimori."

Mammon agrees a little too eagerly and hangs up. Reborn stares thoughtfully at the image of his student. This is the third lead gone cold in as many weeks in regards to his student's dreams.

"So, Dame-Tsuna," he says, "Just where did you hear about the Arcobaleno?" A rather sadistic smirk creeps over his face. "I guess I'll just have to get the information at its source."

…

Somewhere in Namimori, Tsuna halts mid conversation to shiver as his intuition screams at him that danger is incoming.

…

Tsuna has had to deal with no less than two almost meltdowns from his newest Other (still unnamed because he won't come out and talk like a rational person, but Tsuna's considering Tuna Torch), three attacks on his person by bullies, four attacks to his sanity and body from Reborn, two (one-sided) fights between Hayato and Takeshi, and gossip about the nature of the relationship between him and his new friend. Some people suspect pity, others blackmail.

The point is, he is not at all ready to deal with a five year old who throws around grenades like candy, and who is apparently important enough to the future to make Tsuna's Others react. This is his life now. A parade of people who may or may not set off the presences in his mind. It didn't used to be like this. The reactions were less severe and they were fewer and far between. Yoshi-ojii-san tells Tsuna to get used to it because things will definitely get worse. Tsuna sourly notes how he doesn't add that they'll get better.

"Lambo-san is here!" the five year old, who is rapidly becoming the number one cause of Tsuna's problems in life, screams, waving around what looks like...a machine gun. Except, miniaturized to fit a child. Tsuna would like to take a moment to just ask why. He doesn't.

Instead, he shoots a glare at the calm Reborn (and this is all his fault, he knows it, the bastard) and walks over to Lambo.

"Uh, Lambo? That's your name, right?" he says, interrupting the surprisingly murderous tirade on how he's going to kill Reborn. Tsuna understands the sentiment entirely, but thinks that Reborn would sooner eat his own hat than lose to this child. The cow-child turns his enormous eyes to Tsuna.

"Ha! Yes! I am the Great Lambo. You can be my first subordinate," he says self-importantly. Tsuna refrains from rolling his eyes.

"I don't think so, but in the meantime, why are you here?" he asks. Lambo disregards his refusal and instead launches into some nonsense about being given a mission to kill Reborn so that he can go back home. Tsuna takes a minute to process and then tiredly asks his Others about this newest development.

A few summon some memories of dealings with the Bovino family, most of them unpleasant due to how they treated their own heir. Who also happens to be Tsuna's Lightning Guardian (Enjoy, they say somewhat meanly).

"Is that even legal?" he asks them a little desperately. They just snicker at his misfortune and leave him to make his own conclusions. It's the mafia. Of course it's allowed, if on the more dubious side of things. Come to think of it, he should probably just get used to living his life in the grey from now on.

"Okay, Lambo. I understand the need to commit homicide even if you're only five, but we can't do that here," he says to the child. Lambo looks at him, paused mid grenade chuck. Tsuna hastily rectifies this, grabbing it and throwing it out the window before it can destroy his room.

"Why not?" Lambo asks in confusion. Clearly no one has taught this child anything about anything. Tsuna has not signed on to be a part-time parent/older brother/whatever the hell else children need these days. He replies anyway.

"Because my mom is here. No weapons or violence around my mother. Understood?" Tsuna smiles nicely like his mother taught him, and Lambo shivers and nods.

"Y-yeah! Lambo-san will follow the request of his subordinate for now," he blusters. Tsuna's smile stops resembling that of a deranged man on his last bit of patience and he turns back to an analytical Reborn and his homework.

"You got him to be silent. It's progress," he says at last. Tsuna rolls his eyes. Would it kill him to say, 'Good job'? Maybe.

Tsuna is suitably less impressed when Lambo turns up at dinner. Nana doesn't mind, but Tsuna knows that they aren't particularly well off and that the feeding and watering of the two of them plus Reborn puts something of a strain on their resources (1). And Lambo doesn't have the social graces that Reborn does, demanding high quality food and ingredients. Not to mention that Hayato comes over every morning for breakfast, which admittedly isn't his fault, but still.

Nana, of course, offers Lambo a place to stay because she's literally an angel. Lambo accepts without a second thought and Tsuna's left to try and think of a way to ease the financial burden. Nana waves him off when he tentatively brings it up, but he can see the slight crinkle in her brow when she does taxes or puts together the meal list for the week.

His Others suggest a job. Tsuna gives them a mental look that's equivalent to, You're telling me, Dame-Tsuna, to get a job? I'm only thirteen! It isn't legal!, and the idea is stashed away for later.

"Tsuna, it's fine," Nana says. He can tell that she's somewhat on edge because of the missing honorific, but he presses anyway.

"But Mom, couldn't we just ask Reborn to-" he tries. She interrupts with a frown.

"I won't ask a child to pay for food and board, Tsunayoshi," she says firmly. She softens at his chagrined but determined expression. "It's okay," she says reassuringly. "We just have to stretch the budget a little. I may need to get a job, since the money your father left us isn't enough to sustain this many people. You'll watch Lambo-kun and Reborn-kun won't you?"

Tsuna deflates and nods. Of course he will. Even if it's a pain in the ass, he'll still do whatever it takes to help her out. She smiles at him.

"Thank you, Tsu-kun. I'll start looking tomorrow," she says.

She ends up getting a full time job at a local business as a secretary, and her hours are from nine in the morning to five in the afternoon, every week day. It's an adjustment. Tsuna makes his own lunch, Lambo's lunch, and occasionally Reborn's and Gokudera's. He walks Lambo over to a nearby daycare since he can't stay home alone - after confiscating all of the weapons that he hides in his hair (how is that sanitary?). The Others don't like this change but they see the necessity for it. Apparently their versions of Nana never had to get another job.

Nana comes home tired but with a smile in time to make dinner, and their finances are better, so Tsuna keeps his reservations to himself. The days wear on him, and he isn't too pleased when Reborn decides to hold an entrance test for Takeshi.

"Entrance test?" Tsuna repeats tiredly, scrubbing his face. It was another late night last night, getting Lambo to sleep after his mother collapsed on her bed, and having another nightmare to boot. He's getting less sleep now than ever before, which is saying something. "Why? If I say he can join, doesn't that mean he's in already?"

Not that he wants Takeshi to be a part of the mafia of course, but if Takeshi is close than he can protect him better. Yes, it makes sense in his head, shut up Others.

"You're finally settling into your boss attitude," Reborn says approvingly, and geez, this guy doesn't quit. Always about the mafia with this one. Then Reborn smirks, which is the only warning Tsuna has for the kick to the head that he receives. "But don't go trying to order me around."

"I wasn't…" Tsuna gives up. "Fine. But I have to take it with him since he's part of my family and all."

The glint in Reborn's eyes tell him that this declaration is a mistake.

Twelve minutes later, Tsuna agrees with it and curses himself for his stupidity. Hayato's yelling apologies through the sound of dynamite exploding, Takeshi is laughing like a maniac (freaking adrenaline junky), and Reborn's just watching it all happen with a smirk. Then Lambo turns up, having apparently run away from daycare, and he pulls out a missile launcher. That's it. Tsuna is so done right now.

"ENOUGH!" he screams, halting all explosions, gun fire, laughter, knife throwing and smirking. He points an accusing finger at Lambo. "Why the hell aren't you at daycare? And I thought I took away all of your guns!"

Lambo just laughs arrogantly at him. "The Great Lambo-san always has tricks up his sleeve. Besides, he shouldn't have to stay at daycare like everyone el-"

"Lambo, get back to daycare or I'll tell my mom to never give you candy again," Tsuna says through gritted teeth. Lambo pales, stows his missile launcher, and hightails it back to the daycare center. Tsuna whirls around and jabs his finger at Reborn. Some part of him is screeching at his audacity, but the rest of him is too sleep deprived to care.

"Are we done yet? Because Hayato's almost out of dynamite, Takeshi still has a broken arm, and I have to go home and clean before Mama comes back and sees what a mess Lambo made this morning. And I still have to do homework!" he says. Well, yells, really, but for the sake of his own sanity he's going to pretend that he didn't just yell at Reborn.

And because he wants to dig his grave deeper, he doesn't wait for a response but gives a goodbye to his friends and walks away. He would feel liberated if he didn't feel terrified of what Reborn might do to him. He's so distracted that he doesn't notice the bicyclist until she says, "Here. Have this." She tosses a can at him and leaves before he can get a good look at her.

His intuition flares just as he goes to catch it, so he lets it hit the ground instead. What pours out certainly isn't any type of juice that he's seen before. And it's smoking.

A bird drops dead right in front of him and he decides that he's been through enough today.

If he runs home, well, he has good reasons. His Others are suspiciously quiet about this new development, which means that it's either really good or really bad. It's a tossup, because this particular silence occurred with both Takeshi and Gokudera - good things - but also with Reborn and Lambo - things he's still on the fence about.

"Reborn, I think someone tried to kill me today," Tsuna says tiredly, entering his house. Reborn turns around and there are beetles crawling all over his face. Tsuna sighs. He just can't muster up the energy to be surprised anymore.

"What's with the beetles?" he gestures to his tutor's face.

"They collect information for me," Reborn says a little primly. Like what he's doing is perfectly normal. As if anything about Reborn could be normal. "Because of that, I was able to ascertain that Bianchi is in town."
"Bianchi?" Tsuna asks. Reborn nods.

"A fellow hitman," he informs him. Tsuna feels his shoulders slump. More of them? He likes Hayato well enough, but the rest are a bit...well, insane is a bit of an understatement. Before he can ask, the doorbell rings.

"Italian pizza delivery!" someone says cheerfully. Tsuna frowns. He didn't order pizza. He looks through the peephole and narrows his eyes. It's the same woman who threw the drink at him.

"Reborn," Tsuna says carefully, not looking away, "does Bianchi happen to have long pink hair and green eyes?"

"Why yes, she does." Reborn hops on his shoulder. "You know, it's impolite to leave a guest waiting on the front doorstep."
"I think I can be forgiven for leaving someone who tried to kill me outside of my house," Tsuna snaps. "Why the hell did she choose me, anyway?" Reborn shrugs.

"Ask her and find out," he says. Before Tsuna can refuse to do this, his tutor - who wants him dead he swears - opens the door and lets the woman in.

"Here you go, Italian specialty," Bianchi says, making to open the pizza box. Tsuna stops her by slamming it shut and whisking it away. Lots of practice quickly confiscating things from Lambo.

"If this is an Italian specialty, my life is a lie," he says flatly, holding it far away in case it starts to melt through the box or something. She looks surprised. "Why the hell are you here, and why are you trying to kill me?" he asks. Her look of surprise lasts for another second, and then she smirks at him and flips her hair. Seriously, what is with everyone smirking at him like that? It's severely annoying.

"Not bad, young Vongola," she purrs. That's annoying too. It's like people think that the only defining characteristic he has is that he's the Vongola Decimo primary candidate. "Yes, I am trying to kill you. I want Reborn back - you stole him from me."

Tsuna gapes unattractively, ire melting away in the face of sheer the fuck did you just say. He looks at Reborn, who is impassive. "That Reborn? Right there?" he asks. She nods seriously. "Wait, when you say you want him back…?"

"I mean that I love him and I want to be with him," she says. Obviously goes unsaid. Tsuna turns to Reborn for an explanation since she isn't about to start making sense any time soon.

"Bianchi is my lover," Reborn informs him.

'Ewww, that's gross,' is Tsuna's first thought. 'How does that even work?' is his second. 'What the hell does a baby know about sex anyway?' is his third (2). His brain sometimes. Not really wanting to continue down that line of thought, he says, "So...you want him to come be with you, so your first thought is to kill me?"

She nods. "Why the hell didn't you at least ask him first?" he asks in exasperation. "I don't know much about being a hitman, but wouldn't Reborn be pissed at you for making him fail his mission?"

"My mission is to train you, not protect you," Reborn interjects mildly. Tsuna ignores the sliver of hurt that jabs itself into his heart at that as his tutor turns to Bianchi and says, "My job is to train him. Until it is done, I will not be leaving."

"You can't train me if I'm dead," Tsuna mutters rebelliously. Both ignore him. Bianchi sniffs dramatically.

"Very well. I will just have to make sure that young Vongola has a 'tragic accident' so that you can come with me again," she promises. Tsuna feels a flash of cold at the thought of her trying something when his mother is here. His mother who has done nothing but be the best she can be, who waits patiently for his jackass father despite him doing nothing to deserve it, his mother who accepted both Lambo and Reborn into their home even with the messes they bring, his mother who is the best Goddamn person on this shitty planet and who doesn't deserve to die because her son got wrapped up in the mafia.

"Wait." His voice is completely unlike his usual one, commanding, and his Others might be joining his protective stance here because it sounds to him like there were multiple voice speaking at once when he did. Bianchi turns slowly and seems surprised by what she finds in his eyes. He meets her gaze evenly. "If you hurt my mother in any way," he says quietly, "I will destroy you. Got it?"

There's a charged silence, and even his Others are silent as stone. They recognize the importance of this. Finally she nods, and he thinks he sees a bit of respect in her eyes when she says, "Noted, Vongola. I will not harm your mother."

There's a moment of mutual understanding there. Then, she ruins it by saying, "What kind of hitman would I be if I couldn't even control collateral damage? When I come for you, it'll be only you."

Tsuna's surprisingly okay with this arrangement. "So long as we're clear," he says with a lopsided smile. She leaves. Reborn gives him an unreadable look - he's been getting a lot of those lately. He says nothing though, merely tips his fedora and leaves via jumping onto the window sill and out of it. Tsuna's left with a now steaming pizza box, a headache, and a whole lot of questions.

Nothing new here then.

(1): I always thought that Tsuna's mom would have to stretch money for food for all of the people staying with them. I know that some people have head canons that Nana is given a lotta money from Iemitsu, but I just can't see that happening for some reason. I think they're just a middle-class family and that Iemitsu's money isn't enough to sustain what ends up being three children + Reborn, Tsuna, Bianchi and Nana herself. Just...no. So, the job. Realism for the win!

(2): So, Tsuna obviously has some missing knowledge about the Arcobaleno curse since he sees Bianchi as the guilty party in her and Reborn's relationship (I was so disturbed when I read up on her age. What happened to '1/2 your age + 7'?). To clear since things up, here's what he does know thanks to his Others: Reborn has been cursed somehow, there are seven Arcobaleno - well actually eight because of that weird thing with Lal and Colonello - that match the seven Flames, and he knows about the Pacifiers and the power-storing thing. That's about it. So do with that what you will, but know that he'll learn the rest in time.

Guest Reviews (Bottom to Top):

Snowyh2o: Thanks for the review! I think I started out with writing the Others as darker and stuff, but realized that not all of them would be cruel and harsh all of the time - it's unrealistic, especially since they're all different versions of Tsuna, you know? Sorry about the cliffhanger, I couldn't resist, and I didn't have anywhere else to end the chapter. But here's a slightly longer chapter than usual to make up for the wait! Glad you liked it, and thanks again for reviewing!

Anna: Hi, so I'm just going to answer all three of your reviews in one, hope you don't mind. Firstly, you're awesome for taking the time to review all three chapters like you did. Second, I'm glad you enjoyed my story so much. Thanks a lot for the awesome reviews and sorry for the wait.

Ame: Happy that you like how I'm portraying Tsuna. I'm trying to keep his fundamental characteristics the same while also changing some other aspects because of his differing situation from canon Tsuna. Thank you so much for review, and I hope you enjoyed this chapter too.

Drummer: Hello again. Yes, Tsuna is just muddling along like everyone else. He thinks he's a little useless, but considering what people have been telling him his entire life, it's not really any wonder he thinks that. And I personally don't like stories where main characters have no flaws and are perfect - it's severely annoying, in fact, when writers try and make characters with perfectly reasonable flaws godlike and OOC. So. Thank you for the review, glad you like the story, and I am terribly sorry about the wait.

A/N: Not much action from the Others (new and old) - er, in regards to parenthesis anyways - this chapter, but they'll be coming next chapter. I think. I was surprised and happy with all of the positive reception for QT and Yoshi ojii-san - I had to try and think up back stories for the names the me from however many months ago randomly generated (Curse her, she didn't think about plot at all, only cool/funny nicknames!) but it looks like it's mostly working out. As for Reborn questioning Tsuna - it's coming; he's lulling him into a false sense of relaxation or something. Anyway, sorry this is so extremely late, but ya know. Stuff. Anyway, hope you enjoyed it! Thanks for waiting so patiently, please review on your way out if you have any questions, comments or concerns - and have a ni' da'!