Disclaimer: I do not own any characters from KHR…

TO: girlpresses:I'll definitely relate the answer key problem with Mochida. This should make things more interesting.

TO: Seriyuu:I will start introducing more of the guardians in the next chapters. I just had to get the relationship between Tsuna, Lambo, and I-Pin resolved first.

To everyone else, thanks so much for reviewing; I really appreciate it!

On with the next chapter!

Chapter 7

"Tsuna-nii! Ohayou-gozaimasu!"

Tsuna looked up, blinking in surprise at seeing I-Pin and Lambo standing in the doorway, up and dressed at, he glanced at his watch, 7:45 in the morning!

"What are you two doing up so early?" Tsuna quickly racked his brain for any memories of the two children telling him about having to go to school early today. He came up with nothing.

Lambo moved into the room, trying to look alert. He hated waking up this early, but I-Pin had all but kicked him out of bed this morning with nothing but a "hurry up or we'll make Tsuna-nii late again" warning. Of course, after that, he had to get up, if only to show Tsuna-nii that he wasn't going to cause anymore trouble. Sensing Tsuna's puzzlement, he spoke up, trying to stifle a yawn, "We couldn't sleep."

Lambo blinked blearily when stifled laughter came as an answer, joined in a moment later by familiar, but muffled, giggles. He suddenly snapped completely awake when he felt something drip onto his pants. Glancing down, he saw that the milk he had taken out had spilled from his cup, onto the counter, and was currently dripping off the edge of it.

Flushing with embarrassment, Lambo quickly placed the carton of milk on the counter. But before he could attempt to clean up the mess, Tsuna was already at his side.

"Don't mind, Lambo." Tsuna assured him. "I'll clean it up. You go to the bathroom and get cleaned up." Glancing over at the I-Pin, Tsuna called out, "I-Pin, could you get Lambo something else to wear? Breakfast will be ready by the time you two come back down so don't worry about it. Go on." With that, Lambo quickly slipped off the stool he had been sitting on and, flashing Tsuna an apologetic look, scampered upstairs with I-Pin, the girl scolding him al the way.

Half an hour later, al three were standing in front of the Primary Section. Tsuna quickly knelt down to their level.

"Now listen, you two," Tsuna waited until they both turned to face him. "No matter what the headmaster says, you two didn't do anything wrong. If he threatens to suspend or expel you, or punish you in any way, tell him to talk to me. But please don't mention anything about me being Vongola Decimo."

Both kids nodded solemnly. Even they knew the need for secrecy as the threat of Millefiore drew closer.

Tsuna nodded back, satisfied. "Just one more thing then," he said briskly. "The teacher who told the headmaster about this; what was his name?"

Lambo and I-Pin exchanged glances. "it was Kouno-sensei. He's the principal's cousin." I-Pin replied.

Tsuna frowned. "What about the student who 'caught' you?"

Lambo snorted. "A school bully. We hate him because he's always picking on someone. And no one can do anything about it either because he apparently comes from a strong Family. His name is Mochida Genzo."

Bingo.

Smiling again, Tsuna straightened up. "Thanks. That's all I need to know. I have to get to school now but I'll come pick you up after school as usual."

Tsuna waved as the two children headed up the stairs, affection flooding into him when they waved back.

Turning, Tsuna headed to his section of Namimori, pulling out his cell phone along the way.

"I'm busy, so make it quick. Who is this?"

Tsuna chuckled at the impatient voice on the other end. "Ohayo, Viper-nii."

There was a long pause before a sigh that suspiciously bordered on relief was heard. "Brat, where have you been? Our Mr. Sunshine of a leader has gone from bad to worse. He's taken up threatening to bash Squalo's head in recently since none of us could tell him where you went."

Tsuna sweatdropped. The Varia was always so crazy. "I'm in Japan."

"Japan?"

"Yeah, Namimori to be exact."

"Namimori?!"

There was a loud crash as something expensive-sounding dropped to the ground. A second later, curses that Tsuna was sure he wasn't supposed to hear at his age spewed over the phone. "Viper-nii?"

The cursing stopped abruptly. "Be careful, brat." Viper eventually said. "There's been rumors flying around in Italy, rumors only of course, but our people have been saying that Byakuran's going to make a move soon. And his first order to his troops will be sending them to Namimori, where some of the strongest assassins and Family members are going to school."

Tsuna digested this calmly. At the back of his mind, he wondered if the Ninth had already known this before sending him here. "I see. So how much do I owe you for this information?"

"Nothing," came the tense reply. "I said they were rumors only. But if Boss finds out where you are, he's going to go ballistic on the old man."

Tsuna smiled a bit. "Just don't tell him then." His suggestion was met with a snort but he forged on. "Xanxus-nii won't miss anything if he doesn't know. Besides, I called you specifically for a favor."

Interest sparked in the Arcobaleno's voice. "What is it?"

"I need you to do a little digging around. Can you get me information on Gokudera Hayato, Rokudo Mukuro, Dokuro Chrome, and, if you can, Yamamoto Takeshi?"

No reply.

"Viper-nii?" Tsuna sounded disappointed. "You can't?"

"Oh, I can," The Mist Arcobaleno's voice sounded unusually grave. "But why do you need it?"

Tsuna smiled. He could hear the underlying question: How do you even know these dangerous people?

"They go to Namimori as well. How much do I owe you for this?"

"Nothing, just promise me you'll be careful." Viper's voice was sharp.

Tsuna's voice was warm when he spoke. "I promise Viper-nii. Thank you."

"Hmph. Who do you think will get the blame if you get killed?" The Arcobaleno sounded grumpy, but Tsuna knew better.

"I'll see what I can find" were Viper's parting words.

As Tsuna stepped onto the school grounds of Namimori High, again, he felt sharp, cold eyes watching him. But instead of ignoring it this time, Tsuna shifted and looked up at the roof, eyes narrowed against the sunlight to meet a pair of cool, blue-grey eyes observing him. As Tsuna continued to gaze searchingly at the boy, he instinctively knew that this raven-haired student was someone to be feared, especially in battle. But even as he watched, the boy turned and walked away, facial features never changing from its stoic mask.

Tsuna's jaw tightened momentarily. Who was that?

As he headed into the school, Tsuna knew that the mysterious student had just issued a challenge for Tsuna to find out for himself.

Tsuna would resolve this problem at lunch. Now that he didn't have to worry about Lambo and I-Pin, he could concentrate on his search for his six guardians. Having a person who exuded such a dangerous aura could be beneficial to the Vongola, not to mention he felt the same interest in this boy as he had felt in Yamamoto.

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