There is no excuse for it... I'm a terrible person! Gah! I'm sorry everyone for such a long wait! I'm so super sorry! My record of weekly updates are over! I thought I could handle it after my return from hiatus. But no! I'm so ashamed... Please enjoy this update while I sulk in my dark corner...

Chapter 10: Animal Companion

Yamamoto woke up after accidentally falling asleep. He was intending to watch over his partner until he wakes up. But that didn't go quite as plan. He sat upwards on his seat tiredly, yawning to himself. His outstretched arms returned to his side and closed eyes open to look around. He looked over his shoulders to see that outside is still up and bright. He then turned his attention to the front. Yamamoto could clearly see that Tsuna is still sound asleep.

"Must be enjoying yourself. Though, I hope you wake up soon. I want to go home." He muttered.

"You always can. I will watch over him for you." A voice answered.

Yamamoto turned to look at his left. There stood the nurse, Miss. Tsubame. She is the current nurse of the school and witch that Death-sama accepted for the job. She is popular amongst the students in the school because of her mother-like nature. She was average in height for a twenty year old woman with a skinny body. Her dark blue hair was combed back into a tight bun. And she looked at him with her usual gentle brown eyes. The students always loved it when she looked at them like that.

"It's okay, Miss. Tsubame. I want to make sure that he's okay." Yamamoto said.

"But I must insist. You already fell asleep here. I bet you want to go home."

"Is it really alright if I did? Tsuna, he isn't—"

"A child. Rest assured, he is in good hands. I will make sure of that." She smiled.

Yamamoto looked back at Tsuna for a brief second. He had this odd feeling that he shouldn't leave. But he has to. Visiting hours, he supposed, are over. And he already feel the need of returning home for a quick meal. He hesitantly reminded himself that no harm is coming after Tsuna. Even if there were, there's an adult that would handle it better than he would. He stood up from his seat and walked to the door.

"Well, I'll be leaving. But can you tell him to come home when he's able to?"

"Of course, dear." She agreed.

With that, Yamamoto was out the door. The clicking sound from the door closing confirmed that he was already out. Miss. Tsubame stepped forth to her current patient. She tugged at her tight bun, which released her hair down to her shoulders. She smiled darkly as she stared at the slumbering brunet. She made haste towards her desk on the other side. She quickly opened the first drawer on the right. She pulled out a needle filled with black substance. Her smile grew as she stared at it.

"This will only hurt a little." She whispered.

Tsuna groaned tiredly as he sat up on the bed for the second time. His pleasant dream became a nightmare that he could no longer handle. That only left him an irritating headache. He looked around to see his partner missing. Slight panic entered his system as he looked around. His worried eyes eventually landed on a familiar figure across the room. Miss. Tsubame was sitting at her desk, doing paperwork. She twirled her chair around to see Tsuna wide awake. She smiled brightly.

"Oh, you're awake, sleepy head! I thought you were going to sleep forever." She joked.

"Yeah, sorry about that. Um, there was a person with me earlier. He's my partner. Did he go somewhere?" Tsuna asked.

"Oh, yes, him. I sent him home. And he said that you should go home. Only if you're able to."

"And am I?"

"Yes, for now. But restrain yourself from fainting Tsuna. You know it's not good for you. I might as well keep you here if it becomes an everyday thing." She warned.

He nodded and assured her that it won't happen again. He slipped off the bed and went out the room. Miss. Tsubame twirled her chair around to her desk. Tsuna's file was opened and she was reviewing it. She hummed lightly to herself as she wrote something under his name.

Tsunayoshi Sawada

Marked

"Don't disappointment me like the last one Tsuna." She smiled.

"Welcome home Tsuna. I already made you ramen."

Tsuna and Yamamoto are in their living room, preparing to eat. The brunet was thankful that he didn't come home to see another disaster. He wasn't sure if he was able to handle it if he did. And he definitely doesn't want to become a permanent patient for Miss. Tsubame. Yamamoto handed over his cup ramen to the brunet. Tsuna took it and said thanks. After that, the room became silent. The only sound that could be heard was from Tsuna's slurping his noodles.

"Tsuna, can I ask you something? It's been bugging me lately." Yamamoto asked.

"Yeah, what is it?"

"That guy... The one that joined our group. Do you know him or something?"

Tsuna stopped what he was doing and looked up at his partner. Now, he definitely remembers why he fainted like that. Hibari joined their group. The brunet mentally cursed, thinking Reborn was doing that to spite him. He settled his cup ramen down to the table in front of him before speaking.

"You're still new to the school. So, there are some things that you don't know about. One of them is Hibari-san..." Tsuna started.

"What about him? Is he dangerous?"

"When you're not asking for a death wish. Hibari-san is technically the unofficial 'ruler' of the school. Death-sama sometimes has to keep him at bay..." He informed.

"Death-sama had to step in? What did he do?"

Tsuna went back to what he could remember. Tsuna, during the time, was starting his first year at DWMA. That was the time he was still partner-less. Trying hard to keep up with his education and looking for a potential partner, he began to hear recent rumors of a student misbehaving. He didn't pay any heed to it since he thought it wouldn't interfere with his school life. But he wasn't exactly sure about that.

Kyoya Hibari is his name. The same name he would see on Death-sama's mirror occasionally. Apparently, he kept it there to know what the student was doing without him leaving his room. Among the many wild rumors that students gossiped about was Hibari's fondness to fighting or attacking students that he thought could be stronger than him. Though, at the end of every battle, he was wrong and thought said students were just warm-ups or a waste of his time.

He would agree with the rumors because he witnessed the aftermath of one of his fights. The second floor bathroom was a complete disaster zone when he went inside. Three meisters and their partners were lying near the broken sinks in a pile. Hibari was standing over them, wiping off any remaining blood on one of the beaten student's shirt. Tsuna stood there, unable to move from fear. Hibari gave him a brief glare and left the bathroom without a word. That day, Tsuna lost the urge to use the bathroom.

"He's a maniac. If Death-sama has to come in to handle him, how does anyone expect me, of all people, to keep him at bay?" Tsuna asked himself.

"Maybe he's harmless. Sure, the fighting habits are out of hand... But you can handle it. You got me to help." Yamamoto smiled.

"You're too optimistic..."

Tsuna gave his meister a doubtful look. Hibari, a fighting maniac, listening to him, a possible bait. Yeah, that'll happen when hell freezes. Tsuna took his ramen off the table and tried to swallow everything in one go. He choked a bit, but managed to eat the entire thing. The uneasy feeling in his stomach was gradually fading. Hopefully, his life is not shortening with someone like that in their group. If it is, he's haunting Reborn till his deathbed.

The next morning shouldn't bother Tsuna as much. He had already greeted the enthusiastic Gokudera and was sitting in his seat. Reborn arrived when the last student arrived. He slammed that door loudly with a grunt. That got everyone's attention. Reborn pulled at one of the drawers on the left side and took out a yellow box. He then looked at his class with a dark stern look.

"We're not here to play. So all of you better listen carefully. Today, we're learning about animals in box weapons. And, at the end of class, you will receive one of your own to train with Asari and Knuckles." He said, hastifully.

He pulled out a ring with a yellow gem on top of it. He did the usual lighting up the flame and inserting it into the box. A green comical chameleon appeared out of the box and made way to his master's shoulder. Reborn welcomed it with a light scratch under Leon's chin. Reborn turned his attention back to his class with the same stern look.

"Like I said before. Every animal are different according to the type of flame and the abilities themselves. You, as the wielders of said animal, have find out what it is and use it to your advantage. Now, get something to write. We're taking notes." He ordered.

Everyone scurried around to see if they could get hold of some paper and a writing utensil. Reborn had already turned his back to the class and wrote something on the chalkboard. Tsuna tried to keep up with the pace. Apparently, Reborn wasn't in his 'happier' mood from the way he broke two chalks from pressing on it too hard. He only returned it with a dark glare and nothing else.

By the time everyone was done with their notes, students were mentally complaining how their hands are aching and tired from writing all those notes. Tsuna was among the many students. Though, no one voiced out that complaint. Reborn obviously made it clear that he has no patience for any nonsense and is not in the mood for anything. He proved it when a student answered incorrectly to his question. The poor boy took a direct hit to the head from small piece of chalk that instantly turned to dust. The said student is still unconscious.

"I am going to call down groups of different flames. You are to come down in a line to receive a ring from me. When you do, insert the flame into this machine to determine what animal you're getting. First off, Sky users."

Tsuna silently gulped as he made his way down to Reborn. He caught some sight of students looking at him with pity. That wasn't reassuring. He cautiously moved to the middle of the classroom. Reborn handed over a small ring with an orange gem on top of it. Tsuna allowed his body to relax and thought of his revolve. The ring release a fair amount of the Sky Flame. Tsuna smiled, feeling proud of himself.

"Good. Now, insert that into the machine." Reborn ordered.

The said machine was not something Tsuna would consider being next to. It was a large square shaped mechanism that looked like it could be the size of his head. But that wasn't the reason why he was hesitant to approach it. Someone must have thought it would be amusing if said machine has a face. However, the students doesn't seem to agree with it. It has a face of a green monster with small round red eyes. The hole had a drawing of it bearing its' teeth. And Tsuna thought it would bite his hand if he did.

"Hurry up and insert your Flame." Reborn growled.

Tsuna scurried to the machine and hastefully insert the Flame in the opening. He could definitely tell that Reborn didn't want to waste his time. He was never a patient man when it came to this.

Tsuna should have seen it coming. The machine grumbled lowly as his Flame vanished. It's mouth stretched upwards and latched itself on his hand. Tsuna tried to yank it off his hand, but it didn't make a difference. Yamamoto and Gokudera were already coming down halfway to help. Their good intentions went to waste when the machine released the brunet's hand and made a clicking sound. A small piece of paper was ejected from the opening. Reborn took the paper and read it.

"T72 V-Edition... So, that's yours." Reborn grumbled.

Tsuna watched Reborn nervously. His racing heart was pounding against his chest after the machine latching itself on him. Reborn turned to the chalkboard and pushed at the bottom of it. The board flipped on the other side. Tsuna could hear the students going awe. On the other side, there were many rows of various colored boxes with different yet similar design on it. Even Tsuna couldn't stop staring at it. Reborn walked over to the orange colored ones and hummed when he read the paper again. He then pulled down an orange box in the third row.

"Here, this is yours."

Reborn lazily tossed the box to Tsuna. The brunet scurried towards it and caught it. Reborn told Tsuna to return to his seat and for the Storm users to come down. Gokudera, already halfway down, walked forward. As the two passed, Gokudera gave him a thumbs up and a congratulatory smile. Yamamoto went along side him to return to their seats. His meister gave him a wide smile.

"That's incredible Tsuna. You got your first Box Animal. I wonder what's inside."

"Me too. It's kind of exciting. Though, I feel nervous."

"Don't worry. We'll learn what it is later."

"Yeah, I guess so..."

Tsuna slightly flinched when he felt something shaking in his hands. He brought up his box to see it shaking before stopping abruptly. Was there something wrong with his box?

That's the end of that. I hope you're all still interested in reading this. And please bear with me for the late update or any more for upcoming chapters. Hopefully, I will eventually give you a weekly update.