I.

Sawada Iemitsu stared down at the slumbering form of his son, a pensive expression marring the blonds' features.

"Is…" Iemitsu's voice trailed off as he snapped his mouth shut with an audible clink! After a moment he continued in a whisper, "Is this really the right thing to do, Ninth?"

Timoteo, the Ninth Boss of the Vongola Family, gave one solemn nod. "It is, Iemitsu, deep down, you know that this is the best course of action for us to take."

Iemitsu hunched forward, angling his body as if to shield his young son from the dangers of the world. "But… sealing Flames – especially Sky's is… I… this is… there are rumors and stories about the life-long damage it can do to a person's mind and… this is my son, Timoteo."

"I understand your concern, Iemitsu, but, your son's Flames are far too strong for him to handle at his age and you know far better than anyone else how dangerous a young, powerful, and untrained Sky can be… they can – and will – often cause irrevocable damage, damage that far exceeds the dangers of Sealing."

A stuttering inhale.

"I-"

Timoteo placed a gentle hand on the blonds' shoulder. "This is for the best, Iemitsu. By sealing young Tsunayoshi's Flames, we can – hopefully – prevent something like that from happening again."

"I…" Iemitsu closed his eyes and bowed his head. "…They're not… She's still not any better… eight goddamn years later and everyone's still as broken and fractured as that day… and… and it's all my fault…"

"You couldn't have known that your Flames would – could – do something like that, Iemitsu," the Vongola Ninth said softly, gently. "Even though Dying Will Flames have been around for centuries, we are still no closer to understanding it than when it first came into existence."

"This… there's no another option is there…?"

"It's either leave Tsunayoshi's Flames as is and have him destroy the lives of the people around him… or seal his Flames and save his life."

Another stuttering breath.

"… Then… Save my son, Timoteo."

Iemitsu's eyes remained closed, so he never saw the gleeful expression on his Boss' and most trusted confidants' face.

"It would be an honor, Iemitsu."

II.

'… ro? … Ze…. –u ther… ? …-ey, Zero, are you there?!'

"G-Guh?! Huh?! Th-The answer is fifty-two! George Washington did in fact cut down the cherry tree! Carrots can turn your skin orange!"

Sawada Tsunayoshi covered his mouth in an attempt to stifle the laughter bubbling out of him. 'S-Sorry, Zero…! Did I wake you?'

"Th-The awesomeness that is I d-does not need the so-called 'sleep' that your physical body requires!"

'Of course,' Tsuna acquiesced in his mind, 'the reason why the amazing you did not immediately respond to me for the past ten minutes is obviously because you were not sleeping.'

"I-I was fucking lost in thought or some shit like that, alright?!"

'Of course you were… did you have a good dream at least?' When Zero did not respond right away, Tsuna tilted his head in confusion and worry. '… Zero? Is everything okay?'

"… I'm not sure, Kid…" The seriousness of Zero's voice had Tsuna's brows shooting up in alarm. "I don't remember what I was dreaming about, but, I think I just forgot something incredibly vital to how I came to be in your head…"

Both the brunet and his mental occupant fell silent for a few minutes at Zero's admission.

'… But, I thought you just said that you weren't sleeping, Zero?'

"O-Of course I wasn't…! I-I meant that I was reminiscing or some shit like that about the good old days before I got stuck in your head of all people!"

Tsuna chuckled softly. 'Well, regardless of whether you were asleep or not, I'm sure you'll remember everything eventually. Until that day comes, I'm glad to have… something like you keeping me company.'

"Kid… thanks… if I had to be completely honest, being stuck in your head isn't all that bad… though, if you actually like the disembodied voice in your head perhaps you have gone fucking crazy after all!"

'Haha! Maybe you're right, Zero!'

"… By the way… aren't you supposed to meet up with Loud Kid and Miss Sparkles before school starts? Something about graduating or shit?"

After taking a quick glance at the clock, Tsuna stands and bids good-bye to his mother. 'Ah, right. Today is Sasagawa-sempai's first day of middle school and Kyoko-chan and I wanted to see him off.'

"Ugh… I pray to God that Loud Kid won't get all emotional and shit…"

III.

"… God must fucking hate me…"

Tears and snot streamed down Sasagawa Ryohei's face like rivers as he stood facing his younger sister and Tsuna.

"O-Oi, Sawada!" Ryohei roars through his sniffles and cries. "A-As soon as you graduate and make it middle school, join the Namimori Boxing Club as soon as you EXTREMELY can!"

"Sure, Sasagawa-sempai…," Tsuna agrees with a nod, "I promise."

"E-EXTREME!"

"… Don't cry, Ryohei-nii!" Sasagawa Kyoko cuts in, taking out a handkerchief from her bag and handing it to her older brother. "It's not like you won't see Tsuna-kun ever again you know? I'm sure you two will still go off and train together some days and we'll still visit each other on the weekends and holidays!"

"Y-You're right, K-Kyoko…," Ryohei blubbers, taking the handkerchief and futilely wiping his face with it. "… It's just that… just… J-JUST THAT I WON'T HAVE MY BEST SPARRING PARTNER WITH ME AT NAMIMORI MIDDLE AND I'M GOING TO BE E-EXTREMELY LONELY!"

"Oh God who resides up in Heaven… please kill me now…"

'Hush, Zero, the three of us are trying to have an emotional moment here.'

"Fucking 'emotional moment' my ass! Loud Kid's just making a scene with all his crying and screaming and it's like Miss Sparkles said, it's not like he's going overseas to fight in a goddamn war or anything! He's just going to a different fucking school! You guys won't be able to see each other for what, a good… six hours or so? That's why there's fucking cell-phones!"

As a rather large family stumbled past the trio – the sole woman in the entourage crying loudly and waving good-bye to a rather embarrassed-looking student – Ryohei continued to wipe the manly tears running down his face and yelled, "I-I WILL EXTREMELY MISS THE BOTH OF YOU AND WE WILL HAVE A GIANT PARTY TO CELEBRATE YOUR GRADUATION ON YOUR FIRST DAY HERE!"

Tsuna smiled fondly at the white-haired teen. "I'm looking forward to it, Sasagawa-sempai."

"When you come home for dinner, I'll make your favorite beef curry, Ryohei-nii!" Kyoko chirped with a bright smile.

"E-Extreme! When the last bell rings, I will run home extremely fast for dinner, Kyoko!" More manly tears began streaming down Ryohei's face at his declaration.

Kyoko giggled softly at her brother's words. "If you do that then you're going to have to wait even longer for dinner, Ryohei-nii. I have a club meeting afterschool and won't be home until a little later."

"Th-Then I will EXTREMELY go shopping for the ingredients then!"

"Thank you!"

"EXTREME!"

"… That's it, Kid, turn your ass around and walk away from all this sickeningly-sweet madness. I've reached my quota for how much mushy, lovey-dovey shit for the next month."

With lips threatening to break into a smile, the brunet took a step back and said, "Sorry, Sasagawa-sempai, but, Kyoko-chan and I have to get going or we'll be late for class."

Ryohei nodded. "R-Right! You two have an EXTREMELY fun day at school! And if anything happens, call me and I will run right over to you!"

"We will, Ryohei-nii… you have a good first day of school, too!"

"G-Good-bye! I will miss the both of you E-EXTREMELY!"

"Walk away, Kid… please just walk away from his madness!"

III.

The next school year passes by uneventfully, much to the ire of one incorporeal passenger hanging out in Tsuna's head.

"Oh. My. Fucking. God. I'm am fucking booored…! Let's do something, Kid, before I die from utter boredom!"

"We are doing something, Zero," Tsuna quips from the safety of his bedroom. "You're helping me with my homework."

"I meant something fucking exciting and awesome and amazing like myself!"

"Finishing my homework as soon as possible would be 'exciting' and 'awesome' and 'amazing' to me."

"But not to fucking me! I could help you finish your work fucking like… ten minutes before class starts tomorrow!"

"That's true… however, that's not what a good student does."

"Ugh…! Kiiiiiiid…. You're fucking killing me here…."

"That's fine, I have a feeling that you won't die from something as menial as homework. It's wouldn't be an awesome death, you know."

"Ugh… Kiiiiiiiiiiiiid….!"

IV.

Far too soon for Tsuna's liking – but, not soon enough for Zero – the brunet is entering his first year at Namimori Middle School.

"Fucking finally! I swear I went into hibernation or something for the past two fucking months!"

'I thought you said you didn't need sleep, Zero?'

"H-Hibernating and fucking sleeping are two completely different things, Kid!"

'Oh? What's the difference between them?'

"The first one is by choice and the second is not by choice!"

Tsuna's brown furrowed. 'Wait a moment… does that mean that the very first time you fell asleep all those years ago and that one time last year was because you were… forced to go to sleep?'

"I-! I… I… don't… know…?"

'What can force someone like you to… 'sleep' like that?'

"Again, I don't fucking know, Kid… this is the first time something like this has happened to either of us so there's a shit-ton of stuff that we don't fucking know about…"

'Do you think it had something to do with that dream of yours last year?'

"Not to sound like a broken record or anything, but, I honestly don't know. It could be related to that, it could not be."

Tsuna fell silent for a moment. 'Then… I guess there's only one thing we can do right now.'

"Fucking cross that bridge when we fucking get to it!"

'Exactly, like you taught me, there's no point in worrying over something that I don't have any control over.'

"True that!"

'In the meantime, I'll continue to do well at school and maybe I can't find something that will help me help you, Zero.'

"While you do that, I'll continue to make you into the most fucking bad-ass student the world has ever seen and when that's accomplished it'll be time to take fucking revenge on all the idiots that used to bully you!"

Tsuna let out a loud sigh. 'How many times must we go over this, Zero? I do not want to get revenge on my ex-bullies.'

"… One of these days your soft heart is going to bite you in the ass."

'Then I'll deal with that when the time comes, but, until then, I'll continue to treat everyone around me with dignity and respect, no matter their past crimes.'

"… GOD FUCKING DAMNNIT! You're too fucking nice you know that?!"

'Thank you.'

"Yeah, yeah… fucking hurry up to class, Kid, I want you to make a fucking spectacular first impression on everyone!"

'Of course.'

V.

It was a bright, sunny afternoon when Tsuna's life is forever changed once more.

"… Why the fuck is there a gun-toting, suit-clad, baby Hitman standing in front of us?!"

"Ciaossu, Dame-Tsuna. My name is Reborn and I will be your new Home Tutor from now on."

Only one phrase could properly summarize the feelings of utter confusion and indignation that both Tsuna and Zero were currently experiencing:

"WHAT THE FUCK?!"


Sorry I haven't updated this in… three months or so but I wasn't sure how to continue from the previous chapter until recently.

Well, we're finally moving into cannon territory – but will it stay cannon with Zero's involvement? Who knows.

As always, please let me know if you've loved it or hate it via PM or review and thanks to everyone who pointed out that the timeline with Hibari wasn't right in the previous chapter!