WHOOSH! CRACK! SHOOM! There was a point in time that Yamamoto Takeshi lived for these noises. His entire world was made up of gut feelings, and a burning desire to win. Of course, his goals have changed slightly… instead of just wanting to win at baseball, he's decided that winning this mafia game is the most important thing ever.

That doesn't mean, of course, that the blood and the violence don't get to him. The Kid said he was a natural-born hitman, but… he had to be wrong. Tsuna didn't approve of violence for the sake of it, and only sanctioned kills when it was life or death, and Yamamoto agreed.

Heh, Chrome was watching him again. She'd been coming out every morning, sitting off to the side in the soft grass with a book on her lap and her trident lying next to her. More often than not, there were at least one or two flowers lying around her that she would absently pull apart while she read, or watched him.

He was grateful for her gentle presence. It reminded him why he worked so hard, and grounded him on days like today, when he just wanted to run. The first time she had come out to watch him had been after a particularly violent mission; their first as the vigilante mafia law Primo envisioned. Intelligence had come after Chrome's week-long mission about a drug ring nearby that was targeting the local schools. Timoteo was just going to ignore it, but Tsuna had been adamant. If they were sending I-Pin, Lambo, and Fuuta to school, he was NOT going to have that sort of influence around them.

So the Storm, the Rain, and the small female Mist had been assigned to deal with them. What they hadn't been expecting was the large amount of weaponry this 'small' group had at their disposal. The Guardians were good, hell, after everything they'd been through, the two-bit family hadn't stood much of a chance. But Chrome had taken a bullet in the leg, and would have taken another one in the head if Yamamoto hadn't dived forward, his katana fully impaling the shooter. The slippery 'schlikt' of the metal into his torso, the brief 'thunk' as it hit bone… a sharp 'crack' as it slammed through, and the soft 'glrgluckt' from the throat as the gun fell from boneless fingers… everything seemed to slow down, every noise seemed to be punctuated. Chrome's gasps of pain and Gokudera's swearing as he bound her wound were like a warped soundtrack to his first kill.

He stared down at him for a few beats before Hayato's voice, louder than before, broke him out of his morbid reverie. "Oy, idiot, we gotta get out of here. I called the Cleaners, they'll be here soon. Carry Chrome."

"Yosh!" He put on his game face and scooped the small Mist up. Somehow, the Storm got them out of there and home, and Ryohei had been able to patch the girl's leg up with little effort. She was up and about, much to Tsuna and Mukuro's displeasure, by dinnertime.

The swordsman didn't really remember much about the rest of that night. He gave his report to Tsuna, ate dinner with the Guardians, went to his room. Threw up dinner. Went to bed. Didn't sleep. Got up almost at dawn the next morning.

After wandering about aimlessly for a bit, he headed to the small park nearby. They had a lovely baseball field there, and Tsuna had donated new gear and a pitching machine to the local team, with the stipulation that his Rain be able to use it whenever they weren't practicing. He had enjoyed this little perk quite a bit… but that morning wasn't about enjoying.

He swung the bat, again and again and again, controlling his runaway thoughts with heavy concentration. So deep was he in his practice that he didn't notice the girl until she was standing next to the machine, turning it off. "Rain-man…"

He blinked, tilting his head at her in confusion. He tried a smile… found it; put it on with some effort. "Takeshi, Chrome. You bleed all over a guy; you should really call him by his first name."

She shook her head, walked over to him and took the bat away. He winced slightly in pain, staring down at his hands and arms in confusion. The muscles in his forearms stood out, tight and hard with the effort he'd been putting into swinging. His hands, that he was normally so careful of, were destroyed at the moment; covered in bloody cuts and angry blisters. He hadn't even noticed…

Chrome just watched him as he stared, blinking at the blood that dripped slowly into the dirt beneath him. The smile wavered, cracked, and fell completely as the swordsman dropped to his knees, tears mixing in with the blood and dirt. She knelt down next to him, wincing at the pull in her still-sore leg, and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. With an almost inaudible sob, he leaned into her shoulder, shaking them both with his silent grief.

After a while, his sobs slowed and he rested his head on her shoulder, sighing softly. She had been completely silent the whole time, just holding him tight. It felt like she was trying to keep him from flying apart, and he was deeply grateful.

"Th-thank you, Chrome… I'm sorry for this." He gave an embarrassed, shaky laugh, but didn't lift his head.

She shook her head sharply before resting it on his. "No, R-Takeshi. I should… I should be thanking you." Her voice was quiet, but as firm as he'd ever heard it. He was rather proud of her at that point, and glad he'd had a hand in helping her open up. "You s-saved me. If you hadn't been there… well…" She lifted her free shoulder in a shrug.

He didn't really want to think about that. All he'd been seeing was his sword in the gunman… but now the image that sparked his ordeal was in his head, and he winced. Chrome, bleeding as she bent over her leg, staring up at the gun that was less than three feet from her, pointed directly at her forehead. There was no time to think… no time to turn the blade, no time to plan.

He gingerly wrapped his arms around her waist, turning his head slightly to bury it against her neck. "I never wanted to believe the Kid, ya know? Natural-born hitman? Me? Nah, I just wanted to play baseball… be Tsuna's friend. And then, I wanted to keep everyone safe. With everything going on, I just dismissed what he said. But yesterday…" He shuddered, his voice muffled. "I guess he was right."

He was crying again, and Chrome kissed his forehead, rubbing his back. "You protected me. You protected Hayato. That's what you do, all the time. S-sometimes, it's protecting us from our sadness, or anger. Sometimes, it's protecting us from someone else." She smiled down at him, picking his head up and forcing him to look at her. "The Rain isn't always soothing. Sometimes it's a deluge that drowns the evil of the world and leaves it clean again. It's ok to be a deluge once in a while. Just remember that more often than not, the Rain is gentle and soothing."

After he had calmed down, she bandaged his hands and took him home. He had caught Hayato watching him at dinner that night, eyeing his hands in confusion. Tsuna had suggested they all go to their common room, and he was pretty positive it was an attempt to keep an eye on the Rain Guardian. They all knew about his attempt in high school. Old worries die hard, but a look at Chrome and he knew… it would take a bit, but everything would be fine.