Hitmen in Crisis 7

A/N: I just realised, but does Reborn and Tsuna's relationship seem too fast? Currently neither of them thinks of each other in that way, yet. I mean, Reborn was a baby and although I don't mind a romantic development when Reborn is in that form, in this story both of them kept to student/teacher/friend roles. But they're close due to the fact they've spent years together by now.

Warnings: Violence, cursing. I think that's all.

Pairings: R27, Arcobaleno27

Disclaimer: I don't own KHR.

This chapter has tons of silly Arcobaleno interaction. Also 7k+ words... I went a little crazy, I think.

'Tsuna mouthing stuff.'

'Tsuna writing stuff.'

Enjoy!


Tsuna quickly pressed the red button to stop the lift (it wouldn't do to be followed) before stumbling out, his bare toes curling as they met the cold floor, and stared. He was sure he'd end up at the first floor but he seemed to be in the basement; an underground lab to be exact. Among the looming machinery were long tables that held glass equipment and bubbling concoctions. The scent of burning chemicals clogged his nose as he sneezed.

"Sawada Tsunayoshi." A Darth Vader-like voice called from beside him.

Tsuna turned slowly and almost blasted whoever it was with his flames. A man in a lab-coat, a huge black breathing mask and spiky green hair stood beside him, the suspicious glowing test-tube in the heavily gloved hand threw an eerie glow over the masked face which plain creeped the brunet out.

It was lucky the mask was lifted before Tsuna had activated his flames. And the brunet found himself looking into slanted green eyes flamed by a pair of glasses. 'Verde?' the brunet mouthed as he cocked his head. His interactions with the scientist were limited in the past and Reborn never met with the scientist if he could help it.

"Is there something you want, Sawada Tsunayoshi?" Verde had turned to place the test-tube into a fume hood, he then removed his gloves and protective wear before turning back to the teen who'd piqued his interests. It wasn't everyday you met someone who had Reborn's attention, not to mention The Man with the Iron Hat's.

Tsuna was frowning at the use of his full name, some people seemed to love using it but he thought it was too formal. His thoughts were interrupted when he felt a rough snout against his leg and he bent down to pat the crocodile on the head. Falco and Lichi screeched at the reptile from atop Tsuna's head and the croc snapped its jaws at the mammals.

"Keiman, don't pick fight's with the others. Your flight incapability limits you when going against the Falco Rusticolus although you may stand a chance against Fon's pet if you take into account the sudden speeds you are capable of generating against the monkey's agility..."

Tsuna stared up wide-eyed as Verde continued to ramble on about the ways Keiman could fight against Lichi using words he that he couldn't follow. The crocodile seemed to have gotten bored of his master's speech and had gone to push a pair of slippers toward the brunet. Tsuna smiled in thanks as he slipped his feet in and gave Keiman another pat.

"Sawada Tsunayoshi." The brunet stood to attention as his name was called once again. "I don't like to repeat myself but I suppose I must; what are you doing here?"

Tsuna scratched the back of his head nervously before mouthing, 'I don't actually know where I am.' He pouted as Verde just gave him a blank stare, obviously the scientist couldn't read lips. The brunet's eyes then caught something on the scientist and his eyes lit up as he made his way forward.

Verde was startled to see the brunet approaching him and observed curiously when the teen reached out to his chest, feeling an odd reaction in the form of his heart speeding up as the brunet's fingers pressed against his lab coat. 'Perhaps my limitations to human contact have physiologically affected me in such a way that my heart palpitates when I am touched.' The green-haired man mused to himself.

Tsuna had taken what he needed and was quick to balance the thing against the cast on his left arm as he wrote with his right hand; his tongue poking out the side of his mouth as he did so.

The lightning Arcobaleno blinked as the teen shoved a notepad into his face, his notepad to be exact and reached out to pulled the brunet's wrist away to that he could read the words. 'Call me Tsuna! As for why I'm here... I actually don't know where I am, could you tell me?'

Verde cocked an eyebrow at the note and looked past the paper at the brunet's face. Bad mistake, the brunet was looking at him with large teary eyes and a small pout on his lips; a perfect imitation of the 'puppy-dog' face. The scientist found that he couldn't resist the imploring look and found himself explaining even though he usually hated to explain things to 'incompetent fools' as he liked to refer to them.

"You are in the Arcobaleno Casa or House, as it used to be called. It's an apartment that housed all of us before we changed into our cursed forms."

Tsuna's mouth formed a small 'Oh...' and he nodded. Now it made sense, it explained why the Arcobaleno all seemed to be here and why Reborn had a full wardrobe even though Tsuna had never seen this place before.

"It is also located in the north-east part of Milan."

Tsuna's mouth fell open as his eyes widened. 'Milan?!' He thought he was still in Japan! When did he get to Italy?

He twitched as a large hand encircled his jaw and a small torch was switched on and pointed down his throat. When he tried to ask the man what he was doing (despite the fact he couldn't speak) he was ordered to keep his mouth open.

Verde grunted as he found nothing wrong with the teen's pharynx and moved his hand to the boy's throat instead. The scientist allowed his flames to manifest as he tried to read the small electrical impulses in the throat.

Tsuna had closed his jaw and was now watching the scientist's expression. He could feel a slight tingling on his throat but felt that no harm would come to him from this man; at least he hoped his intuition was right…

"Nothing seems to be wrong, although it would require a proper scan before such a conclusion can be made... I'm assuming this it the price The Man with the Iron Hat took?"

Tsuna nodded before scribbling down 'He calls himself 'Checkerface'. The brunet watched Verde nod thoughtfully at his words before flipping the page and scribbling more down. 'Can you do the scan? I want to find out what's stopping me from talking.'

Verde quirked a brow when he finished reading the question, he then turned a sharp green gaze on the teen. "You would allow me to perform an experimental examination of your body after Reborn went to all that trouble to keep me from you yesterday?"

Tsuna shrugged his shoulders helplessly; sometimes he didn't understand his teacher at all. He had a feeling that despite the scientist's reputation, Verde was reluctant to actually cause harm when there was no reason to… although the scientist's reasons could be questionable. 'It's not going to hurt, right?' He beamed at Verde, eyes crinkling up, when the older man nodded slowly. 'It should be fine then.'

To say that Verde was surprised would be an understatement. No, the scientist was shocked. Shocked that anyone would willingly allow him to make any sort of examination of their bodies. Sure, he had a degree in medicine too but he didn't deal well with patients; they made too much noise, they cried, they wailed, and everything that drove the man up a wall. It was the reason he stuck to the basis of research; discovering the little nuances of how things work and inventing new things was something that met his own need for science and limited his contact with his own race.

Which happened to be something that humanity seemed to agree on because he, apparently, lacked human morals. In truth, he liked to ignore such righteous opinions because he did have morals, just of a different ilk to the more common ones. He was a scientist who dealt with the mafia and the underground on a regular basis. Weaponry, poisons and home-made defences were his home and normal morals had no place in it.

So now he was staring into the beaming face of the teen in front of him -someone who most likely still had those morals- and he wasn't sure at all on how to react. So he did what he knew; he ordered Keiman to bring him another notebook so he could write down and study this strange emotion welling inside him. Then he ordered the brunet to strip and get inside the machine.

It seemed Reborn was right, Sawada Tsunayoshi would be an interesting study.


Reborn grumbled as he stalked down the stairs to the fifth floor where he could feel the presence of Fon, Colonnello and Lal. He'd passed Skull who had gone into the kitchen on the sixth floor for breakfast. The hitman was now hunting for his student, annoyed yet proud that the teen had managed to escape from their bed without waking him. He'd donned another crisp suit and Leon was perched in his usual position on the hitman's fedora.

When he got down he was surprised to see the usually calm martial artist looking quietly irate and staring pointedly at the elevator doors that lead to Verde's lab. Colonnello looked disturbed and was telling the martial artist to calm down while Lal looked ready to shoot them both.

"What are you doing?"

The hitman's voice caught their attention and they turned to him.

"The brat ran into the elevator." Lal stated as she jerked her thumb at the metal doors. "For some reason, Fon was chasing after him"

Reborn stalked to the elevator doors and gave them a good hard kick, using his flames to enhance the blow, the other three stared as the doors were blown back and metal debris fell into the dark hole.

The hitman would deal with the fact that Tsuna was with Verde first before interrogating the martial artist.


Both Verde and Tsunayoshi were startled when an explosion rang through the lab. They were sitting on the edge of the platform that was part of a large machine. The scientist was helping the teen untangle himself from the various wire receptors that he'd stuck on before the scan, not trusting the teen to be able to handle the delicate equipment properly. Tsuna was still wearing Reborn's track-pants but his chest was bare and he couldn't help the giggle that escape his lips as Verde tugged off another wire from his side.

The scientist was grumbling under his breath about 'barbarians. Storming my lab...' when he heard the giggle. He glanced up to see Tsuna holding his mouth and experimentally poked the side again, watching as the brunet twitched violently and snorted. He unconsciously felt his lips quirk up as he continued to repeat the motion, making sure not to poke any of the wounds, and was quick to record his findings in a notebook with his other hand. 'Applying gargalesis on Tsunayoshi causes him to laugh, the sound clearly audible even though he is now incapable of speech. This seems to induce a pleased reaction from myself and the motion is quick becoming an addiction.'

Verde felt the teen grab his hand and he turned to find the brunet flushed and panting, holding his ribs with a slight grimace and glaring at the green-haired man accusingly. The scientist could not help but smirk amusedly back.

"What are you two doing?"

Tsuna shuddered at the dark tone and he could feel Verde's hand tense in his own. The two turned to see Fon, Colonnello and Lal staring at them wide-eyed and Reborn standing at the front with Leon in gun form aimed at the scientist's head. The four of them were quite surprised to see Verde smile in a way that had nothing to do with scientific discoveries but pure enjoyment.

"I thought I told you not to touch Tsuna, Verde."

The brunet wanted to protest but couldn't when he was still partially attached to the machines. Verde had gone back to his default monotonous expression as he turned back to Tsuna and returned to removing the rest of the receptors. "I have not caused him any harm. And I don't take orders from anyone, certainly not you." Verde then pressed a remote in his coat pocket and a flying robot with in-built machine guns came swooping down on the other four Arcobaleno.

Tsuna wiggled as the scientist wrapped his arms around him to reach his back, not at all worried because he knew; deep down, that Verde wouldn't hurt the others... too badly. Plus, he believed in both his teachers' skills. He'd been surprised to find that Verde could be gentle too, although he supposed that you needed a steady hand in order to work with delicate chemicals all day. The brunet caught a whiff of the scientist's scent as Verde leaned down a little and wiggled his nose, leaning forward to bury his face into the man's shirt to breathe deeper.

"There, that's the last of it." Verde muttered as he dropped the last of the wires and backed away only to find that he couldn't. The teen had buried himself into his shirt. "...What are you doing?"

Tsuna grinned up at Verde for a moment before scribbling into the notebook. 'You smell like mint! Do you normally eat them?'

Verde blinked at the words uncomprehendingly for a second before turning away from the teen, feeling his face redden. He certainly wasn't expecting his only guilty pleasure to be found out so easily. Yes, he had a love for mints, especially Italian branded ones, but it wasn't like he ate them that often... did he?

"Wow, I've never seen you blush before, kora!" Verde glared at the blonde who'd run up to them, only slightly singed. 'I'll have to improve the agility in that model.'

Tsuna was looking at the scientist's blushing face when the thought 'Verde looks cute like that.' Entered, undeterred, into his mind. He was distracted from his thoughts when he felt a hand clamp down on his shoulder and turned to find Fon smiling down at him with Lichi back on his head. He only wished the smile was as serene as it normally was as he smiled shakily back.

"I think there's something you want to tell me, right Tsuna?"

Now the teen wished there was someone here to save him, he was sure Verde would not appreciate it if he were to blow up the lab in an attempt to escape.

"The idiot can't say anything. The price was his voice." Tsuna grimaced, of course Reborn would make everything worse, and he swore the baby- man lived to torture him.

Fon turned to Reborn, surprised. Both Colonnello and Lal had also stopped to stare at the hitman, who just jerked his head in the direction of the teen.

Tsuna whimpered and backed away from the roiling dark aura he could feel coming from both his teachers, grabbing Verde's lab coat and ducking into it, much to the green haired man's protests.

The brunet yelped when something curled around his ankle and dragged him out. Suddenly finding himself hanging upside-down from a Leon rope and face-to-face with an irate Reborn.

'Um... Hi?'

Tsuna winced as Reborn poked the wound in his left shoulder, swinging from the force. "Don't 'hi' me Dame-Tsuna. What did I tell you about trusting suspicious people?"

'But Verde's your comrade!' The teen pouted as Reborn glared at him. 'He was just checking what was wrong with my voice...'

The hitman looked past the teen at the large orb-shaped machine and raised a brow. He then turned to Verde. "Did you find anything wrong?"

The scientist huffed as he adjusted his glasses. "No physical abnormalities, but the flames that normally flow all around a person's body were altered in Tsunayoshi's throat. He's still capable of small noises, though. As you might have noticed... You're lucky I still had this machine, usual scans would not have detected flames."

"Can it be fixed?" Wondered Fon as he peered at the large metal thing.

"No, unfortunately. Not unless I do more tests. I have never seen such a condition before and it doesn't seem to be a physical ailment." Verde eyed Tsuna critically and the brunet shivered at the somewhat crazy stare.

"No more random tests." Lal stated with finality as she folded her arms.

Tsuna felt Leon loosen around his ankle and was ready to flip and land on his feet when he was caught with an 'oof' in someone's arms. He looked up into Fon's face and smiled apologetically when he saw the Chinese man's worried look. 'Sorry for running, I didn't want to worry you.'

"You made me even more worried by running." Fon placed the brunet down and watched as Tsuna adjusted his arm cast. "I suppose Reborn has already told you that you are a fool."

The teen scratched his head sheepishly and pouted. 'Shouldn't you all be happy that you're all adults now?'

"Not when it involves you sacrificing yourself, kora." Colonnello had come up close and was staring intently into the brunet's face, rubbing his chin. "Dunno what Reborn sees in you, you still look like a pipsqueak to me. Not to mention you falling down the stairs, kora."

'Hey!' Tsuna mock punched the blond in the arm with his free hand.

"You still fall down the stairs, Dame-Tsuna?"

Tsuna gulped as he heard the safety of a gun being clicked off. He turned and held his right arm out in a placating gesture. 'It was an accident! Now put the Leon down Reborn...'

Just as the brunet was getting ready to fly, a loud rumble broke through the tension.

Tsuna's face bloomed red as he held his stomach.

Lal sighed and went up to the brunet, placing his (Reborn's) shirt over the teen's head. "Let's eat breakfast. I'm famished and who knows when this brat last ate."


Tsuna hadn't realised he had been starving until he saw the delicious stack of pancakes in the dining room. He wasn't sure when he had last eaten either and was quick to devour the food; at least it seemed Reborn wasn't going to steal off his plate this time.

The others had watched with some amusement as the ridiculously large stacks were being steadily reduced and Skull just stared on horrified before turning to Reborn.

"Is this why Senpai asked me to cook ten times the usual amount?!"

Reborn looked up from his breakfast and smirked. "Good work lackey, you actually managed to do something useful."

"That's because cooking is one of the few things he's actually good at, kora!" Colonnello crowed before being hit upside the head by Lal for talking with his mouth full.

"Hey, the Great Skull is the best at everything!"

"I doubt your thought processes are advanced enough to compute the necessary data for being the best at everything." Stated Verde dryly as he took a bite of pancake and looked through the notes on this morning's findings.

"Now, now. You should thank Skull for making so much, the rest of you aren't necessarily the best cooks."

"Hey! I can cook a mean steak when I want to! Kora!"

"You mean you can burn everything else while you're distracted by the meat, you incompetent fool!"

"Ouch Lal. At least I'm not as bad as Verde or Viper!"

"Tch. Avoiding everyone's bad cooking was one of good reasons for leaving this place."

"Hey, do you think Ranking Prince Fuuta would rank Tsunayoshi as the fastest eater?"

Everyone else turned to the direction Skull had been looking at to find Tsuna surrounded by clean plates and wiping his mouth with his free hand. The brunet put down the napkin to pick up the notepad that Verde had relinquished to him and showed it to Skull.

'Thank you for the meal, it was delicious!'He flipped the page. 'And call me Tsuna.'

Skull didn't know whether to be afraid or happy with the smile directed his way as he nodded shakily. But he was pleased to get a genuine compliment for his cooking.

The brunet beamed in happiness before turning to scribble more. 'I was wondering about this but why is there a huge hole in the ceiling?'

The others glanced up where they could see the hole which was much smaller than before. Red glowing orbs stared back at them.

"V-Verde, couldn't you choose a different colour for their eyes?"

Reborn ignored the Lackey in favour of answering Tsuna's question. "You made that. Well, you and Natsu." He nodded toward the cub who was sharing pancakes with Fon's monkey.

The brunet blinked back at him for a moment. Brow furrowing as he tried to recall what happened; he did remember firing off an X-burner near the end of the fight... But he had fired upward, wouldn't that destroy the ceiling?

"I think you were standing on this table and firing up. That was some flame, kora! The roof was also destroyed but it was fixed first. You're lucky Viper isn't here, kora."

Tsuna turned to the blond before facing the notepad and writing another question. He knew that just mouthing words or even sign language would be easier but not everyone knew the former and the latter only Colonnello, Lal and Reborn knew. Besides, it was rude to 'talk' when not everyone could understand it.

'Where's Viper?'

"She's on some mission with the Varia."

Tsuna nodded and glanced at Reborn, who gave him an imperceptible nod. He knew what mission it was; someone had been attacking the allies of the Vongola Famiglia and the Varia had been dispatched to offer assistance and track down the enemy.

'Speaking of the Vongola...' The brunet quickly tore out the page and scribbled a new note 'I was gone for a week, right? Is Giotto and everyone else okay?'

Reborn snorted as Lal answered the question. "Iemitsu rushed over to Japan as soon as he could, which is about a day ago, Colonnello and I were with him before we detoured back to here because of this sudden change." She gestured to her adult body. "We don't actually know when you went missing. You are presumed dead at the moment." The bluenette looked sternly at Tsuna as he paled.

'Dead?! How?! I thought I was just missing?!' He wailed out silently in his head while gripping his hair. 'Oh my god! Giotto must be a mess!'

The brunet stopped his silent panicking monologue when he was picked up by Reborn. The hitman sat in the brunet's seat and placed the brunet on the table in front of him after ordering Skull to clear the plates. Taking hold of Leon, the hitman changed the chameleon into a video camera and shoved the screen at the teen.

Tsuna stared in confusion at Reborn, whose expression was unreadable, before peering down at Leon-cam and pressing play.

Reborn could see the brunet's expression clearly from his seat and folded his arms to watch as the other Arcobaleno looked on. The others knew what Reborn was revealing to the brunet as he had shown them the day before when the teen was unconscious.

Tsuna watched as his doppelganger appeared on the tiny screen with a sense of dread filling his stomach. His expression became a sickly green as he continued to watch the events from a week ago and he was starting to regret eating now. Sure, it wasn't as bad as some of his experiences not to mention the darn illusions he had to live through. But what was really bad about the video was not the gory scene of his own severed head but of his brother and Kyoya's reactions.

The brunet noticed how shaky the video appeared near the end and peered up from the screen into blank obsidian eyes. He gazed into the eyes for a long moment, trying to read them, before mouthing, 'I'm sorry.'

The raven huffed and shook his head, lowering his fedora as he did so. "Tch. Why are you apologising, Dame-Tsuna?"

The brunet bit his lip before nodding and patted Leon when the chameleon turned back. The lizard flicked its tongue at his cheek before crawling up his arm and into his hair.

Fon reached across the table to gently pat the teen's shoulder reassuringly. "Reborn's right, it's not your fault. The point is that you're safe now."

"As for Giotto, I already texted him. I have a feeling that he'll try getting in contact with me again though." said Reborn.

Tsuna nodded, relieved, then blinked as he remembered something and scribbled down a note. 'I think the head is S.K.Y-27's and illusions were used to make it seem more realistic.'

The hitman stared at the note for a long moment as the others also took a peek, wondering who or what S.K.Y-27 is. Reborn then growled, "And when did S.K.Y-27's head go missing?"

The brunet tilted his head. 'When Takeshi and 'I' was attacked. You didn't know?'

Reborn lowered his fedora, he would be sure to punish Shoichi and Spanner for keeping this information from him.

"As much as I'd love to know what you two are talking about, there's something else that needs to be done. Brat!" Lal barked. Tsuna snapped his head toward the bluenette who was watching him intently. "I want you to write a detailed report on what happened to you since talking is out of the option."

"Reborn's already told us that he's been teaching you, kora."

The brunet's eyes widened as he turned back to Reborn.

"They would find out eventually anyway, I thought it best to tell them upfront where I could watch their surprised reactions." Reborn grinned as he re-crossed his legs. Tsuna glared at the raven before turning back to Lal and nodding hesitantly.

The brunet placed his finger against his lip and nibbled on it gently as he contemplated how to write the report, he wasn't sure if he could include everything as he was disoriented and stuck in an illusion half the time. Report writing was something he had to get used to, clients usually expected some form of paper work handed in after an assignment and Reborn always demanded a detailed one whenever he went on solo missions for the raven.

Tsuna was startled out of his thoughts when his hand was pulled forcibly from his mouth; blinking up at the raven, he tilted his head in question.

"I thought I told you to stop doing that."

Tsuna shrugged helplessly as Fon chuckled from beside them. "You still have that habit... do you still love sweets?"

The brunet grinned and nodded enthusiastically. Reborn turned on the martial artist with a dark look, "Don't feed him, he'll go hyper and look at him already. He's barely rested half a day and he's got the energy to run about the apartment like it's nothing."

Tsuna pouted as Colonnello retaliated. "C'mon Reborn! He's a kid and kids love sweets, kora!"

"He's seventeen."

"Whoa, really?! He's really short- Hey!"

Tsuna had thrown a knife at the blond.

"I wouldn't insult his height, Colonnello. Be glad he doesn't have his gun."

"What the hell have you been teaching this kid, kora?!"

"Oh? Are you questioning me, Colonnello?"

"You wanna go, Reborn?!"

As the two started exchanging blows Tsuna huffed and blinked at a purple mop of hair near the edge of the table. He crawled and leaned over carefully, gripping the table with his one hand, to see a shivering Skull huddled under the table. The brunet balanced himself before reaching out and poking the man. When Skull lifted his head the brunet showed him a note, 'are you okay?'

Skull stared into the upside-down reassuring smile the teen adorned and back to the note, looking back and forth for a long moment as the sounds of fighting echoed in the background accompanied by Lal's annoyed yelling, Verde's grumbling and Fon trying to placate the other two. He nodded slowly and gulped as he got a soft smile in response.

'Cool! Then why don't you come out? I'll make sure they don't hurt you.'

Skull was surprised; he wasn't sure what to think of the brunet. He knew that the teen was the Vongola Decimo's brother, who was rather nice -at least Giotto never ridiculed him- but the brunet was also Reborn's apprentice. And that thought didn't bode well to the stuntman at all. But the brunet was the first person to offer to protect him and his smile was warm and reminded him of another person who'd smiled the same way, so he agreed to the invite and tried a shaky smile back.

Tsuna beamed as Skull seemed to calm a bit, he wasn't sure what he'd done to have the stuntman so jittery around him but he sure hoped it wasn't because of Reborn.

Skull grabbed the offered hand and remembered too late that the brunet was injured and didn't have enough limbs to hold onto the table. Tsuna yelped as he was pulled over the edge, quickly twisting and flipping his body over so he would land safely only to stumble as his feet met something soft. The brunet looked down from his crouched position to find himself standing on Skull's back.

Apparently the stuntman had dived forward in an attempt to save him.

Tsuna was quick to get off and help the purple haired man stand, bowing profusely in apology. Skull stared in shock for a short moment; people didn't usually bother apologising to him and certainly, his fellow Arcobaleno never bothered to. Then the stuntman felt himself blush in embarrassment as the brunet continued to bow and went about stopping the teen.

"Hey! Hey! It's fine!" Skull grabbed the teen's shoulders in an attempt to stop him and grinned confidently when the brunet looked at him. "I'm not known as the Great Immortal Skull for nothing!"

Tsuna blinked and smiled, mouthing; 'Thanks! You really are great!'

And although the stuntman had no idea what the brunet just said he had a feeling that he'd just been complimented and thanked, and not for his skills as a stuntman or for entertainment either. The thought filled him with an odd warmth he hadn't felt in a long time and this time his smile was genuine.

The moment was lost as Skull screeched at the incoming G41* assault rifle, expecting to be hit only for a clatter to sound as Tsuna caught the weapon by its strap. The brunet grinned reassuringly at Skull for a moment before turning to find that Reborn and Colonnello had resorted to hand-to-hand combat. And that is understandable as Leon still sat upon Tsuna's head and Reborn's CZ75 had also been knocked away by a kick from the blond.

The brunet watched that gun sail above Fon's head and into the hole above them, there was a clang as one of the robots got knocked out followed by a protest from Verde. The brunet's expression darkened. The automatic response developed after too many run-ins with violent people (not to mention any names cough*skylark*cough*pineapple*cough*) showed itself as Tsuna readied the gun in his hands and fired off two shots at the fighting men.

Reborn and Colonnello jumped away and turned to the brunet with a glare. Although the hitman's expression became amused when he saw the anger rolling off the teen and that Colonnello was risking his head by arguing back.

"Hey, we're fighting here!"

Tsuna lifted his head to show off a calm smile that did not match the black aura in the background nor the tightening grip around the trigger.

'If you have to fight, please do so in a non-crowded, inexpensive environment. I don't want to be roped with the repair bills.'

Skull shuddered and backed away from the brunet as that dark aura expanded then turned and ran out, yelling something about checking Oodako.

"Why would you be charged with the bill, kora?"

Tsuna's response was to fire again and the blond quickly ran out of the room with an irate brunet chasing and shooting at him. Leon leapt back to Reborn just as the brunet left the room.

"Whoa, stop! Kora!"

Lal turned to Reborn. "Why would he think that?"

The hitman shrugged. "It may have to do with the fact that Hibari and Mukuro always blamed him whenever they happened to meet and destroy something in their fights. And I may or may not have roped him with the repair bills for weapons and broken furniture." The last sentence was said quietly to himself but the ex-militant and martial artist heard him loud and clear and stared at him.

"I was in an infant's body; surely you wouldn't expect a child to pay." Reborn pulled his most innocent look.

"Tsuna is still underage." Fon muttered.

"That expression worked so much better before, now it just looks creepy." Lal looked away from the hitman. "It's going to take some time to get used to having our bodies back it seems."

"This face is the envy of the world." Growled Reborn, he stopped for a bit and huffed. "It seems some of our personalities have changed."

"Especially yours." Fon chuckled. "You used to walk around with this dark mysterious aura permanently surrounding you. It's still there but more subtle now. I think you enjoyed acting childish," said the martial artist as he brought a sleeve over his mouth.

The hitman shot a glare at Fon but didn't deny his words. It was true in a sense that all the Arcobaleno learnt ways to deal with the change after getting over the fact that they had changed. They usually had to act their appeared age when interacting with the ignorant public, or use misunderstandings to their advantage rather than being insulted by it.

For Reborn it had been a blow to his pride to have to act so childish, the first few weeks had been spent in a blinding rage that left destruction in his path. It was only after almost killing someone for being cooed at like he really was a child that Luce had forced him to see the silver lining, so to speak. He had to accept that he was stuck in the infant form and would not be getting out of it anytime soon. The hitman learnt to use the kindness that people reserved for children to his advantage and even enjoyed it in some ways. Surprising those who were ignorant of his status by turning up in absurd disguises and watching their horrified expressions became a favourite pastime and he could admit that the small size was advantageous on missions.

The same applied to the other Arcobaleno too. All of them had to suffer or avoid the cuddling, cooing, cheek-pulling menace called the child-loving race. At least most of them knew how to fight and avoid such situations but there were moments when circumstance caught up and attacking was a no-no due to the fact that the public had to stay ignorant. Reborn, Fon and Lal shuddered.

"I suppose we owe the brat."

Fon nodded in agreement. "And the price could have been worse... Although Tsuna will have to learn to stand writing for long periods of time when he needs to speak, but he's holding up well."

"Reborn! Stop him, kora!" The shout echoed from outside and the three Arcobaleno went to the window to find Colonnello running and dodging in the back garden with Tsuna trailing after him.

"He's sure got a lot of stamina."

"Of course, it's Tsuna after all."/"I'd expect no less from my student." Fon and Reborn replied at the same time.

The bluenette stared at them blankly for a moment. "You know, I can see Fon getting proud of his students and expressing it, but it's weird seeing Reborn do it especially now that you're back to this form."

"Don't ignore me, you guys!" Colonnello growled before spinning and launching a kick at the teen.

Tsuna leapt back and pointed the rifle, firing off several successive shots which the blond man just managed to dodge.

"He's pretty good one handed." Lal commented with surprise. "Has he used that model before?"

"No, but he's used similar ones though." Reborn was watching the brunet's movement critically, if the teen made so much as a stupid mistake the hitman would be on him before the teen could scream (silently). Although the fact that Lal was impressed with the brunet's skill meant that the teen was doing better than good.

"What did he have to do that involved sniper rifles?" asked Fon.

The hitman grunted and gave a noncommittal shrug. Assassination and mission details were not something you just told people, even if they were close. You wouldn't be trusted in the underground world if you shared such information, even a little rumour of info leaking could ruin someone's career.

The martial artist sighed and nodded. He understood, after all, he also took on such missions.

Lal looked surprised at the implication and turned to Reborn. "That brat's killed before? He doesn't look like he could hurt a fly!"

The hitman glanced at Lal for a moment then stared pointedly out the window where loud gun shots could be heard.

"Whoa, haha. You missed!"

The three looked down at the two in the garden again.

Tsuna was standing back, holding the smoking rifle and grinning at the blond mischievously.

There was a crack as the branch above Colonnello broke and the blond jumped away, just before getting impaled by the large trunk.

"Nice one, kora! Let's see how you dodge these!" And the blond grinned, launching his throwing knives at the brunet, who feinted and blocked some with the rifle in his hand.

"I think they've completely forgotten why they were fighting in the first place." Fon sweat-dropped.

Lal opened the window to yell at the blond. "That's pathetic Colonnello! You can't even hit one injured kid!"

"Hey Lal! This is great! I haven't had a decent workout in age- Ack! Hey!"

"Ahahaha!" Tsuna was clutching his stomach and ignoring the pain shooting up from his ribs in favour of laughing at the large splotch of brown mud that was dripping down the back of the blond man's head. It was lucky he spotted the large pond in the plant overgrowth that looked to have been left unattended for years, and was now just a large pool of mud and weeds.

The others were surprised to hear the peal of pure laughter from the brunet. It was the loudest sound he had made since waking.

"Ahahaha!" Tsuna gasped for breath and continued to laugh. "A-ahaha! Mmmph-!" The brunet went down as a large mud ball collided with his face.

"Ha! Take that, kid!"

Colonnello dodged the next blob of mud that came flying at him only for the one after that to hit his chest dead centre. He grunted, his eyes shining in determination as he prepared the next attack.

"Why are Colonnello and Tsunayoshi throwing mud at each other?"

The three Arcobaleno at the window looked away from the fighting duo to stare at the ceiling where Verde, wearing a metal helmet with inbuilt scope goggles, was sticking his head out of.

"So that's where you went. What are you doing up there?" Asked the martial artist.

The scientist pushed his glasses up (or down in this case) and glowered at Reborn. "Due to someone's weapon, I am needed up here to repair one of my A.R. Bots."

The hitman was about to give a scathing retort when a brown blob flew by and hit the scientist square in the face. Making Reborn opt for grinning at the scientist instead while Fon hid a smile behind a sleeve and Lal laughed outright.

"Whoops! Sorry if I hit anyone!" Came a call from out the window.

"Keiman." The crocodile looked up to where his master called from. "Activate Operation: Destroy Rain." The croc complied; turning to crawl toward the control his master had left on the table and stepping on the blue button.

Colonnello and Tsuna were interrupted from their warfare, complete with mud soldiers and mud tanks, as a panel on the side of the house slid open and a large metal cannon came out and swivelled to lock on the mud covered duo.

The mud covered blond gulped when he saw the contraption. It was something that Verde had made when they still lived in the house. It was used to stop the blond (and sometimes Lal) from tracking mud all over the place whenever he came back from a particularly gruelling training session. It had also been made at the request of Luce, who had gotten sick of cleaning up the mess.

Tsuna just stared at the thing warily, wondering what was going on. He got his answer when Colonnello dived to his side of the field and grabbed him just as a huge torrent of water spouted out of the cannon. The blond took the brunt of the blast with his back as the two were pushed from the force of the water jet.

As the scientist got down from the hole and headed toward the restroom grumbling under his breath, the other three Arcobaleno on the sixth floor were watching the duo in the backyard with varying degrees of amusement. When the jet of water stopped, all that was left in the garden were two soaked people no longer covered in mud.

"Goddamit Verde! What if Tsuna's injuries got worse, kora! That water isn't exactly soft you know!"

The blond was shaking a fist at the machine from his slumped position over the brunet. Tsuna groaned and bushed his wet bangs away from his eyes before peering up at the irate, soaked blond on top of him. The brunet couldn't help the laugh that burst from his lips when he saw the way the ex-militant was yelling and gesturing rudely at the cannon.

Colonnello stopped when he heard the kid laugh and looked down to see Tsuna covering his mouth with his free hand, cheeks puffed out as the brunet attempted to choke back his guffaws.

"Hey! This isn't funny!"

That did it. Tsuna couldn't hold back anymore as he started laughing; rolling around and clutching his stomach as he did so. The absurdity of the situation; both of them soaked through, the fact that Verde had invented a cannon, of all things, for the purpose of cleaning and the fact that the Rain Arcobaleno wasn't just a gun toting baby but a fun-loving adult seemed so very hilarious to the brunet.

Colonnello found himself reluctantly grinning as he stared at the teen and eventually couldn't help laughing along. The kid's laugh was infectious.

The blond was surprised. The few times he had met the brunet before had given him the impression that the kid was shy and ordinary; even if the kid had greater than average skills when it came to hand-to-hand combat. When he heard that the brunet was Reborn's student he had expected the brunet to be the serious type, sort of like how Reborn was in the past, the ex-military man certainly wasn't expecting this hyperactive teen who threw mud-balls at people and could use a gun with enough skill to harm but not kill.


A/N: Yay, new impressions all round! And yes, it's still the morning of the same day...

*No, I have no idea what rifle Colonnello carries so I just chose a model that seemed similar (plus, his guns seem to change...). The Heckler und Koch G41 is of German origin. I think adult!Colonnello uses something like an AI AS50 sniper rifle. Either way, I know nothing about guns.

And 'Hey' and 'Kora' basically mean the same thing so I interchanged them when it fit.

A.R. Bots - Agile Repair Bots

Would love to hear what you think!

R&R!