~.~.~

Title: Inheritors of Flame

Last time: To earn money for an operation to save Chrome's life, Tsuna agreed to participate in the Cervello's research. With the feedback set to equal real life and no barriers, Tsuna's body ended up experienceing physical effects from his marathon battles.

Notes: Hey, it's Hibari again. He's so weird. (Also, has weird ways of showing affection… ish feelings.) In any case, keep in mind this is kind of a side project to the Cervello. One case study among numerous ones to try to gather more data.

~.~.~

Chapter 8: Physical

As he finally returned to consciousness, Tsuna shuddered and groaned. His head was pounding nauseatingly, his entire body ached, and every sense seemed turned up far too high. The light, the noise, even the feeling of the sheets against skin drove another spike into his brain.

"Boss? Are you awake?" Gokudera asked, thankfully quieter than his usual over-enthusiasm — tense and worried.

"Wha… What time is it?" Tsuna managed to ask, squinting at the ceiling. It was all a pale, cream-colored blur. There was something else he needed to ask, but…

"It's the middle of the night. 3 am," Gokudera answered. His hands rested on Tsuna's shoulders, keeping him from trying to sit up. "Do you need anything?"

"No… I'm fine…" Tsuna muttered, uncertain.

"Then you should rest," Gokudera said. He hoped that was the right course of action. When the VR system had shut off on its own, he had taken it off, but Tsuna had remained deep in unconsciousness. Gokudera had dithered, caught between letting Tsuna rest and waiting until he woke up, and taking him to get help.

In the end, Gokudera's inherent distrust of hospitals, authority figures, and most adults had made him hesitate and decide to wait. It had already been several hours, but unlike Lambo — curled up on the other bed in exhaustion — Gokudera had remained awake.

"Hospital…" Tsuna remembered finally. "I need to go…"

"I'll call an ambulance," Gokudera said quickly, misunderstanding.

Tsuna caught the edge of his sleeve before he could start dialing. "No, it's not… for me. Chrome…"

Gokudera pursed his lips, but he didn't protest or say, 'Worry about yourself!' like he wanted to. "We can go in the morning. They wouldn't let us in now," he reasoned instead. "For now, you should rest, Boss."

Squinting at him uncertainly, Tsuna finally gave in. He didn't have much choice — he could already feel himself slipping back into unconsciousness.

~.~.~

The next time Tsuna woke up, faint sunlight was filtering in through the closed curtains. He felt a little better, but not much — his head was still pounding, painfully enough to make Tsuna want to throw up, his entire body felt simultaneous sore and somehow raw, and even the faint light was almost blinding.

He groaned and tried to roll over, only to regret it as his entire body spasmed.

"Boss, take it easy," Gokudera's voice came from beside him, thankfully barely above a whisper. His hands were gentle too, as he held down Tsuna's shoulder, checked his temperature and his pulse.

Gokudera hissed something foul under his breath as Tsuna squinted up at him. "What is it? Is Tsuna-nii okay?" Lambo asked, having made his way over from here he had been curled up in the hotel room's only chair. He clung to the back of Gokudera's shirt and peered around him at Tsuna.

"His eyes are completely bloodshot. It's like something ruptured…" Gokudera muttered. "Damn it, maybe we should have gone to the hospital after all…"

Hospital. "I need to… check on Chrome," Tsuna said, frowning and trying to push Gokudera away.

"She's fine. What do you think could've happened to her overnight?" Gokudera scowled.

"Not that," Tsuna insisted muzzily. "Need to make sure they're… keeping their promise."

Who? What promise? What had he done? Gokudera shook his head irritably. There was no point in asking now. He doubted Tsuna would be able to give much of an answer. "You can't even sit up," he pointed out instead. "You won't be able to make it there."

He was right. Tsuna's attempts to lever himself into a sitting position hadn't gone well. The dizziness worsened and his arm trembled, threatening to give out under his weight.

But the look Tsuna shot Gokudera was both stubborn and pitiful. Gokudera crumbled in an instance, realizing that he was either going to have to help his boss, no matter how much he disapproved, or watch him try to crawl there himself.

"You can't even walk," Gokudera still grumbled, even as he helped Tsuna get ready and settled him on his back.

"Sorry," Tsuna murmured into Gokudera's shoulder. "But I have to make sure, that she'll be okay…"

Lambo glanced at them worriedly, holding open the door. Catching his gaze, Gokudera nodded toward the room next to theirs, where Yamamoto and Ryohei were probably still sleeping. Or maybe not, given the ridiculous schedules of the two dedicated sportsmen.

Hitching Tsuna up more securely on his back, Gokudera sighed. "Yeah," he said, in reply, "I know." It was annoying, and frightening, but he supposed that was just how it was. That was what had made him give his loyalty to his boss on the first place.

~.~.~

The nurse from the day before was there again. Her expression became complicated as she caught sight of them, before turning to worry at the fact that Gokudera was carrying Tsuna.

"How's Nagi doing?" Gokudera asked before she could say anything. Better to get it out of the way, or Tsuna would probably try to refuse treatment.

"Oh, it's the strangest thing," the nurse said, wringing her hands. She looked both bemused and hopeful. "Some people arrived late last night and said they would pay for her operation. They're doing the prep right now, so I'm afraid you can't see her…"

Tsuna breathed a warm sigh of relief against Gokudera's shoulder. "That's good. Then, they're really keeping their end," he mumbled. Tension seeped out of him, and he sagged bonelessly against Gokudera. Another shudder went through his body, an involuntary spasm like several more during their trip to the hospital.

The nurse was looking at them with worry again, and Gokudera couldn't blame her. Something was clearly not right. "Is your friend…" she began to say.

She trailed off, distracted, as a strange group approached them — two dark skinned, seemingly identical women, and a man in a lab coat, with an air that screamed "back alley doctor" to Gokudera.

"We will conduct a follow up examination," one of the Cervello — because she couldn't be anything else — said to Gokudera, or maybe to Tsuna.

"Please come this way," the other directed.

Gokudera's eyes narrowed and he had to bite back a growl of suspicion. He wasn't stupid; he could do the math — the reason Tsuna had ended up in that shape, the reason the VR system had done something outside its parameters, the reason Chrome's operation was suddenly paid for…

"It's okay, Gokudera-kun," Tsuna said quietly. "They kept their side. So it's okay."

It was not okay, at all.

~.~.~

The doctor the Cervello had examine Tsuna spouted off a series of long, technical observations, which went completely over Tsuna's admittedly addled head and made Gokudera's frown grow even deeper. But in the end, the shady man had declared that there was no permanent damage and Tsuna would recover with time and rest.

After all, Tsuna hadn't actually been in several life or death battles, and he hadn't been injured, no matter what his mind seemed to believe. The only thing actually wrong with him was Flame depletion. The rest was fundamentally all just in his head. Supposedly.

Gokudera had looked less than pleased with that diagnosis, but he had also clearly wanted to get Tsuna away from the Cervello, so he accepted it in the end. The rest of the day was a blur to Tsuna, who drifted off several times — in between, he had a faint memory of Gokudera telling Yamamoto and Ryohei that he had come down with food poisoning.

Chrome would be in surgery for hours and in recovery for days afterwards, so they wouldn't be able to check if it went successfully, since all of them needed to return home. Tsuna supposed it was unlikely that the Cervello would back out after holding up their end of the deal thus far. Still, he managed to convince the same nurse who had helped them before to pass on his contact info to Chrome, to get in touch with him once she was well enough.

Fortunately, Nana also easily accepted Gokudera's food poisoning story, upon their return to Namimori, and let Tsuna stay home, even as classes resumed.

Unfortunately, being confined to his room to rest turned out to be terribly boring, since Gokudera also gave his VR gear to Lambo for safekeeping.

It didn't help that Tsuna still hasn't recovered entirely. He had tried to entertain himself by reading some of his manga collection, only to give up within a few pages once the kanji began to swim across the page illegibly and his head started pounding with renewed vigor.

With nothing left to do but stare up at his ceiling and think, Tsuna found himself worrying pointlessly. He hoped Gokudera wouldn't cause a fuss at school — no doubt their classmates would have plenty of uncharitable things to say about Tsuna skipping again, and Gokudera had a bit of a temper problem. He hoped Yamamoto and Ryohei had made it home safely and weren't too freaked out about everything. He hoped Chrome would recover — operations were always dangerous…

Sighing, Tsuna tried to clear his mind. Maybe some more sleep would help him recover faster—

His bedroom window suddenly opened, making Tsuna screech in surprise and tumble off the bed.

When he looked up, wincing, Tsuna could only pale in terror. There, crouched on his windowsill was Hibari Kyoya himself, looking as imperious and menacing as always. This time, he was apparently not willing to wait until Tsuna felt like showing his face at school again.

"You are truant again, herbivore," Hibari stated, his eyes narrowing. Surprisingly, he didn't immediately attack. His expression grew more displeased as he noted the cautious way Tsuna was moving and how he winced, holding his head. "Were you in a fight?" he demanded abruptly. "That is against the rules."

"N-no! It's just… game stuff again," Tsuna assured him quickly.

But if anything, Hibari just looked more dubious and dissatisfied. "That game put you in this condition?" he said, frowning.

Crouching down, he peered at Tsuna — no doubt noting his still somewhat bloodshot eyes and the way he held himself rather gingerly. To make it worse, Tsuna's hand spasmed again at this point, adding to Hibari's suspicions. The prefect's expression didn't give away much, but he seemed to come to a decision.

"New rule," Hibari declared, straightening and looking around Tsuna's room, "that 'game' is prohibited."

"What?! You can't do that!" Tsuna blurted out, after a moment of stunned incomprehension.

Hibari shot him a look that said clearly, 'Watch me.' If Hibari declared a new law, then there was a new law, apparently. Hibari was a law onto himself.

"But why?" Tsuna wondered helplessly. "Are, are a lot of people missing school because of the VR system?" He certainly hoped not. Even the Cervello had limits to what they could cover up, right?

Judging by Hibari's frown, that wasn't the case anyway.

"If it's just me, then there's no need to ban it altogether, right?" Tsuna reasoned desperately. "I'm sorry I missed school. I'll make sure it doesn't happen again, so—"

"Then I will prohibit only you from playing that game," Hibari decided. That was not the victory Tsuna had been hoping for. At that point, Tsuna finally realized that Hibari was giving his computer the stink eye because he was trying to figure out if it was part of the VR system — which he planned to confiscate, if not destroy.

"It's not here," Tsuba said quickly, before Hibari decided to stick a tonfa through his computer just to be sure. "Gokudera took it." And gave it to Lambo, but Tsuna wasn't about to tell him that.

Hibari studied Tsuna for a moment, trying to gauge his truthfulness. Fortunately, whether or not he could smell lies like the rumors said, Hibari couldn't smell half-truths. "I won't allow any disobedience in Namimori," he finally declared. So Tsuna had better not try to weasel his way out, went unspoken.

Tsuna smiled nervously and kept the expression fixedly on his face until Hibari disappeared out the window, the way he had come. Then, he slumped over bonelessly and tried to smother himself with his pillow.

~.~.~

Gokudera dropped by after school let out, at which point Tsuna relayed the entire encounter, along with some opinions he hadn't dared voice to Hibari's face.

"Can you believe it? Telling me not to play IoF anymore? Just because I missed a bit of school!" Tsuna complained. "Why's he so obsessed with Nami-Middle anyway? I can't believe he hunts down every student who misses a few days. Doesn't he have classes to go to? That hypocrite!"

But unlike usual, Gokudera didn't join in with his own indignation or back Tsuna up. He had been uncharacteristically quiet since arriving — ever since their second day visiting Chrome, actually, though Tsuna hadn't noticed it before.

"To be honest," Gokudera said, taking a deep breath, "I agree with him."

It took Tsuna a moment to understand what he had heard. "W-what? Why?" he demanded.

"Why do you think? Because you ended up like this!" Gokudera burst out. "And before that, with Rokudo Mukuro! It's not safe! It's dangerous! That's why it's better if you just stop playing completely!"

"Those are two different things!" Tsuna protested.

"No, they're not," Gokudera said sharply. "I always ignored it, but this whole thing is suspicious! Cervello Inc. shouldn't even exist. It appeared out of nowhere. And where did the VR technology come from? Even if it's some sudden breakthrough, there's nothing else even close to it. No one can tell how it was made, or how it works. Nothing about it makes sense. Everything about this is weird!"

He was right, there was something suspicious about the whole setup. Even Tsuna could tell that much. But still…

"What about the guild?" Tsuna asked instead. "I can't just leave everyone hanging or, or just disband it!"

"Maybe it's better if you did," Gokudera muttered. He didn't wait for a response, stalking out of the room while Tsuna stared in shock.

~.~.~

"What do you mean, he took it with him?" Tsuna hissed.

Lambo rolled his eyes. "I mean he took it with him!" he repeated impatiently. "Octopus head took your VR gear with him when he left. And before you ask, mine too, so you can't borrow it."

"And you let him?!"

"Yeah, I did," Lambo said. The look he shot Tsuna made any further protests fall silent. It was a hurt, worried expression that didn't look right on a boisterous, confident kid like Lambo. "You don't get it, Tsuna-nii. We were so scared. You… you were getting hurt! And we didn't even know why! It's dangerous. I'd rather we stop playing, too."

"You, you would? But what about the guild?" Tsuna asked, feeling a stab of guilt at Lambo's words. He hadn't really considered how it must have been to them, waiting helplessly in the real world.

"I was just being selfish. I didn't want to end up alone again," Lambo said, pouting a little. "But we've all met in real life now. You even have Ryo and Shigure's numbers, right? We don't need IoF to be friends anymore. Besides, Mama's going to enroll me in school here. I'm not going to have time to play around."

'You mean lay around,' Tsuna thought, smiling a little.

It was just an excuse — they all had school, a lot more of it than Lambo — but Tsuna was glad to hear that Lambo wasn't going to spend all his time in IoF or at the house anymore. It wasn't good for a kid, even Tsuna realized that.

'I guess everyone has real lives to think about,' Tsuna thought, a little glumly. Yamamoto and Ryohei had their clubs, Nagi would need to settle back into normal life too, and Hibari would have Tsuna's head if he kept missing school. Maybe… maybe it was for the best.

It was a sad thought, but it didn't leave him cold the way it used to. Because he had Gokudera and Lambo now, he supposed.

Tsuna sighed. "Right," he muttered. "I better apologize to Gokudera. I really scared him, huh?"

"Bring me back some takoyaki," Lambo said.

~.~.~

The suspicious, sullen look Gokudera shot him through the narrow opening of his apartment door was rather reminiscent of their first meeting.

"I come in peace?" Tsuna offered. The joke was not appreciated. Fine then, he decided. Rather monotonously, he announced to the empty air, "Ah, I really don't feel well. Walking all the way here was so tiring. I think I might pass out. Right here, on the cold, hard…"

The door opened.

Even after hastily settling Tsuna on the cheap mattress that served as his bed — there were no chairs — Gokudera didn't look any more inviting.

Crossing his arms, he declared, "I'm not giving it back."

"Okay," Tsuna said.

Gokudera gaped, but Tsuna had thought about it carefully. No matter how you looked at it, it was better if he didn't use VR in the near future. Not only would Hibari very likely hunt him down if he did, but there was also the danger of side effects of some sort. Better to wait a while, until both Hibari and Gokudera cooled off and forgot about their disapproval. And maybe the Cervello forgot about their interest in Tsuna too.

"But we have to decide what to do about the guild," Tsuna continued. "I promised I would always keep Minamoto safe, so—"

Gokudera had started frowning again. "Why can't you just leave it to the rest of us?" he demanded. "Why does it have to be you? Why are you always trying to do everything by yourself? Why don't you trust me — trust us — enough to rely on us?!"

"I do trust you!" Tsuna protested.

"Then why didn't you let us help?!" Gokudera shot back. "We could've found a way to help her together! That stupid cow and I could've figured out another way to get the money! I could've even asked that pervert doctor to help, if it came to that! But you didn't even ask if we knew another way! You just went off on your own, trying to do it all yourself!"

He was right. Tsuna winced, realizing he really hadn't even stopped to ask if they knew another way to help Chrome. "It's my job as the guild master…" he offered weakly.

"It's our job as your guildmates," Gokudera countered. "That's what a guild is, right? Players working together. We're all in this together… aren't we?"

Tsuna sighed, then smiled ruefully. "Yeah," he admitted. "I'm sorry. I was being pretty stupid, wasn't I?"

"W-well… No! Of course not!" Gokudera said quickly. "Boss, you're anything but that!"

Apparently, that was all it took for Tsuna to be forgiven. He was glad, of course. He had never had friends close enough to worry about fighting with them, and Tsuna had worried more than he'd shown about how and if he and Gokudera would be able to make up.

But this way, it felt too easy. Tsuna had made Gokudera and the others worry that much, and he felt he had to at least prove a little that he understood now that he could rely on them

As Gokudera seemed about to reel off a list of Tsuna's imagined virtues, again, his boss just shook his head and pulled out his cell phone. Scrolling through the menus of the IoF app, Tsuna quickly tapped out a command. He hesitated for a moment, taking a deep breath, then pressed the "Confirm" icon.

A moment later, Gokudera's cell phone beeped, making him scramble to pull it out. Opening the message, he stared, speechless.

"Gokudera-kun, no, C-san," Tsuna said, smiling, "I'm leaving the guild in your hands. Will you accept?"

It was a request to transfer ownership of their guild, making Gokudera the new guild master. In a way, it was only natural. He was one of the founding members, and had been there from the start. He was already Tsuna's second in command.

Still, it was a show of trust. Tsuna trusted him, with their guild, with their city, with their self-imposed mission.

"Yes! I'll accept! I'll gladly accept!" Gokudera burst out, starry-eyed. "I won't let you down, Boss!"

"…You have to click the Yes button," Tsuna reminded him after a moment.

~.~.~

'I swear, I won't let you down, Boss. I'll make sure our town stays the most peaceful, friendly, safe place in the game!' Gokudera thought fiercely.

The others, flakes that they were, had refused to join him in patrolling Minamoto City. They had pointed out — correctly, actually, though Gokudera ignored them — that trouble requiring their intervention was very rare and the city mostly ran itself. Clearly, they didn't understand the importance of the mission they had been entrusted with.

As Gokudera swept his piercing gaze across the busy main shopping street of Minamoto, the unfortunate newbie players cowered from what looked distinctly like an evil glare. Gokudera growled under his breath, wondering which of them was secretly a budding thief or bully. The poor newbies trembled and scurried past.

The owner of the shop he was standing next to finally lost her patience and stormed outside. "Enough already!" she yelled, poking him sharply in the chest. "You're ruining my business! Go somewhere else, will you! Or I'm telling Ieyasu-san!"

"What are you babbling about, you dumb girl! I'm keeping the peace!" Gokudera protested.

"Haru is not a dumb girl!" the shopkeeper hissed. "And you're the biggest threat to the peace here!"

Haru-Haru, or just Haru for short, had been in Minamoto almost as long as Tsuna and Gokudera. In fact, she had been the first person their guild helped. In gratitude, she had crafted Tsuna's first cape, according to his specifications — secretly based on what the real Ieyasu had worn. It had been very low-level, of course, and eventually destroyed, but she had also created every cape afterwards, including the one Tsuna currently used, which was a unique Inheritance level item.

Her specialty, however, was costumes, like the magical girl outfit she was currently wearing.

The only thing Haru and Gokudera agreed on was their adoration of Tsuna. Everything else inevitably dissolved into a ridiculous argument.

Gokudera was about to shoot something back, only to find himself distracted — catching sight of a solitary figure in black out of the corner of his eye. The man was making his way down the street casually, but he still stood out somehow. He was certainly too high level for the beginner area, but more than that, the way he carried himself made Gokudera tense instinctively.

When the man glanced in Gokudera's direction, he didn't need to check his ID tag to know who he was. Leon, the one who had defeated Tsuna a few months back.

Even though Tsuna said that they became friends and insisted that "Leon" always helped him, Gokudera couldn't stop his hackles from rising at the sight of the man. He would have stalked over to him, if the other hadn't already started toward where Gokudera and Haru were standing.

"So you're Leon," Haru spoke up first. She was smiling, open and friendly. "You're just like Ieyasu-san described. Did you like the costume he commissioned for you? Haru was the one who made it!"

Reborn smiled as well, but far less happily. "Oh, yes," he said, even though the answer was clearly the opposite. "It was a very… thoughtful gift."

There was definitely some kind of inside joke at work here, but Gokudera had no patience to try to figure it out. "What are you doing here?" he demanded, ignoring Haru's annoyed pout.

"Looking for you," Reborn replied just as curtly. "I saw that the guild listing changed, but the message I got from Ieyasu was basically useless. I want to know what's going on." 'And you're going to tell me,' went unsaid.

Haru glanced between them in confusion, before focusing on Gokudera's player info. "Hahi! You're the guild master now?" she blurted out, finally noticing the change in his profile. "But what happened to Ieyasu-san?"

"He's fine. He just can't play for a while, so he left it to me," Gokudera said. To Reborn, he jerked his head toward the street, indicating they would talk elsewhere.

"Hmm," Haru let out, unconvinced. "Well, wish him good luck for me. When he gets back, I'll make him a special new outfit!"

"I think I have a suggestion for that," Reborn spoke up. "I'm sure he'll love it, and you're just the right person to bring it to life." And Tsuna wouldn't be able to refuse wearing it at least once, if it was a present from a girl.

Haru gave him a thumbs up. Revenge would be sweet, Reborn thought, for that terrible, terrible joke of a costume. Clown, ballerina, mostly naked cupid, Reborn could handle. But the pre-schooler outfit Tsuna had sent him had struck an unfortunate cord, and even though Tsuna had no way of knowing it, he was going to to have to pay for it dearly.

~.~.~

Gokudera led the way to the abandoned shrine area that bordered Minamoto City. He had stalked through the town in tense silence, but once they reached the top of the stairs to the shrine complex, the most deserted area in Minamoto, he spun around to glare at Reborn.

"What do you want from Tsuna-sama?" Gokudera demanded.

It was probably supposed to be intimidating, but to Reborn his glare was just kind of cute. If Gokudera had known "Leon's" true identity, he wouldn't have dared to act to brazenly.

"What's it to you? It's our private business," Reborn said, crossing his arms and shifting his weight into a casual slouch.

"You expect me to believe that you, what, just want to be buddies with an ordinary teenager, when you're some mafia big shot?" Gokudera snorted scornfully. "I won't let you drag Tsuna-sama into that world!"

"I have no interest in doing so," Reborn said, quite honestly. "Believe it or not, it's just hard to find strong players to party with. Who else am I going to take to conquer a Hell Hole?"

That brought Gokudera up short. "You… you conquered a Hell Hole? With Tsuna-sama?"

"The White Tower. It was before summer. Before you moved to his town," Reborn said. "He's useful. That's all."

Gokudera was only half listening. 'Why didn't Boss tell me?' he wondered. 'It must have been while we were all busy, that time… He didn't want us to feel bad? That's why he refused when that sword idiot offered…'

It didn't really bother him that much. Since he and Tsuna had been in different time zones and on different schedules for most of their friendship, there were naturally times when they ended up playing with others or accomplishing quests, even major ones, without the rest of the guild. But…

'Reaching Over Rank, conquering a Hell Hole… Even beating Rokudo Mukuro's trap. No wonder the Cervello are interested in Boss,' Gokudera thought. 'Just how far ahead of all of us is he? And how can I ever catch up?'

Letting Gokudera stew in his thoughts for a while, Reborn finally returned to his original goal. "So what happened to him?" he asked again. "I can't believe he'd just stop playing for an ordinary reason. He loves this world too much."

Gokudera's mouth twisted unhappily as he warred with himself. "…You're pretty high up, aren't you?" he asked rhetorically. "What do you know about the Cervello?"

'So it really is that,' Reborn thought. Well, it seemed it was time for a bit of give and take. "They're a secret society that has existed since before even the mafia first appeared," he said. "They are supporting the VR research behind IoF in order to learn more about Flames." Or perhaps some other agenda, but Reborn thought that going into the entire Trinisette issue would complicate things needlessly.

"Secret society…?" Gokudera repeated, his expression momentarily lighting up with excitement, before he got a hold of himself. "So things like that really exist? And research into Flames… Then Over Rank must be… That must be why…"

Bianchi hadn't been exaggerating when she said her brother was brilliant. He easily made several connections, even if he was missing a lot of information. Glancing at Reborn unhappily, Gokudera relented.

"There was… an issue with one of our guild members, and to help them, Tsuna-sama agreed to take part in some experiment for the admins," he said. "They set the feedback modifiers to zero, and… it ended up affecting his real body. He's recovering, but we thought it might better if he stayed away from here for a while."

That was about all the information Gokudera had. Tsuna hadn't told him much, though Gokudera had his own speculations, regarding what the Cervello had been after — most likely, they had aimed to put Tsuna, and his rare Over Rank Flames, in the closest replica of a life or death situation they could create and observe how his Flames responded. After all, it was in those kinds of settings that made Dying Will Flames manifest most strongly in real life.

'Affected his real body? That stupid brat, I told him not to listen to them,' Reborn thought, frowning. What kind of issue would make him agree to something so stupid and dangerous? And why hadn't he at least asked Reborn for advice?

It was too late to worry about that, so Reborn pushed the useless thoughts aside. It seemed Tsuna was alright, in any case, or his guildmate would be far more worked up.

"Well, you're probably right. Taking a break for IoF might be the best idea," Reborn said. And in the meantime, he could decide whether to make clear to Verde that some things weren't acceptable even in the name of his "research."

"Yeah, so I guess Tsuna-sama won't be of any use to you for a while," Gokudera said bitingly.

Reborn smirked, regaining enough good humor to find Gokudera's protectiveness amusing. "I'm going to be taking a bit of a break myself. Mafia bigshot business, you see," he said, shrugging. Or rather, he had received a summons from Nono, and the Vongola boss never called him for quick, easy jobs.

'Speaking of which… I'm already cutting it close,' he admitted to himself. He should have headed out hours ago, but the PM from Tsuna had distracted him just as he was about to leave. Not that Reborn couldn't still manage…

"Chaos," he told Gokudera as a farewell, lightly tipping the edge of his fedora. "Tell Ieyasu my invitation is still open when he gets back. That Hell Hole was pretty amusing, and I wouldn't mind taking down another one."

Gokudera made a rude gesture at his back. Just for that, he'd tell Bianchi all about what her brother had been up to, Reborn decided.

~.~.~

"It's about time," Gokudera said, scowling at three other members of his guild, who had finally assembled in the main room of the guildhall. "Took you long enough! Are you taking this seriously at all?"

"Now, now, you shouldn't get so worked up, Guild Master," Yamamoto said, laughing lightly. "We're not that kind of guild. Ieyasu always let us have our own time. We came, didn't we?"

"That's right, Octopus head," Ryohei agreed. "He would want everyone to enjoy themselves to the extreme."

"What do you want, anyway?" Lambo wondered, opening one eye to look at him lazily. "I told you, there's no way I'm going patrolling. That's so stupid."

Gokudera's scowl grew more unhappy. "Pathetic!" he snapped. "You're all so carefree! It's because we're Boss's guild that we have to take it more seriously! While we were all messing around, Boss reached Over Rank! He even cleared a Hell Hole! At this rate, we're going to fall behind and end up a disgrace to Boss!"

Or rather, they would just get left behind. If the admins were only interested in exceptional players, then they would all need to become exceptional too, to stand beside Tsuna the next time the Cervello came looking for him. They needed to become strong enough to support him properly.

And Gokudera had an idea how to get there.

"Ieyasu cleared a Hell Hole?" Yamamoto repeated. His usual smile had slipped off his face, leaving behind a tense, worried expression. "Without us?"

"That's right," Gokudera said. "And that's why we have to catch up to him. So we're going to do the same! Our guild is going to conquer one of the ultimate dungeons!"

"Wait, are you suggesting we do a four-man raid on one if the Hell Holes?" Lambo said incredulously.

"I'm not suggesting. It's an order!" Gokudera declared.

"Sounds like an extreme challenge!" Ryohei decided. "I'm in!"

"Yeah, it'll be fun. It's been a while since we played together," Yamamoto agreed, his smile returning.

'That's because you don't remember the last time we tried,' Lambo thought. He still felt cold when he thought about that mist and what had happened inside. Exchanging a glance with Gokudera, Lambo knew he was thinking the same thing. 'Tsuna-nii saved us then… We were totally useless, weren't we? That's why we have to get stronger, huh?'

"Fine, I guess I'll come too," Lambo said, huffing.

Gokudera smirked. This guild master thing wasn't so tough after all.

~.~.~

"Kyoko! I can't go with you and Hana this weekend," Ryohei declared over dinner. "I'm going to be extremely busy!" He immediately continued to shovel curry rice into his mouth and chew at an amazing pace, having paused only long enough to speak.

"That's okay, Onii-chan," Kyoko assured him, fortunately unperturbed by the spectacle of Ryohei singlehandedly demolishing a meal for five. "Is the Boxing Club having training again?"

Swallowing down the food that had been stuffed into his bulging cheeks, Ryohei made a disparaging sound. "Those guys are not extreme at all!" he complained. "They almost never train, and the captain said they don't like to go to tournaments either! What kind of Boxing Club is that?"

And since he was just a first year at the high school, no one listened to him when he tried to insist on them changing their ways. Kyoko nodded sympathetically, though she wasn't exactly surprised. The middle school boxing club had all but chased Ryohei out for the same reason — no one could handle his extreme training regiment and dedication to the sport. No one had been particularly willing to try.

"No, I'm meeting with my guild, and we're going to a dungeon," Ryohei added. "It's going to be an extreme weekend!"

"The VR game again," Kyoko murmured. "You play that almost as much you train. Is it really that fun? N-not that there's anything wrong with that! I just didn't think you could like something else as much as boxing…"

"I box there too," Ryohei said. "I've had some extreme duels there!"

"But isn't that all just pretend? It's just a game, not like a tournament or anything like that," Kyoko said. "You're always so serous about it."

"I'm always serious! I do everything to the extreme!" Ryohei said, polishing off the rest of the curry rice. "But you're wrong, Kyoko. It's not just a game. I met some extreme guys there, and had extreme adventures with them. I'm sure… it's a place where you can become strong to the extreme."

He clenched his fist, remembering the feeling of his own yellow Flames, the way his body resonated with that power, and the exhilaration he had felt on their adventures together, pushed to their limits and beyond. It was real — more real than even a tournament. Without realizing, Ryohei grinned widely.

He was looking forward to their next adventure.

Silently, Kyoko began to clear away the dishes, all the while glancing at her brother and his focused, fired up expression. She was happy that he was happy, but… Just what kind of place was it, that made him so dedicated to it?

~.~.~