Chapter 11

Fon had fit right in with the chaos that was the Sawada Household, much to Tsuyuki's consternation. The martial artist had taken to helping Nana with the cooking and resuming his teachings with I-pin whenever he was free. Tsuyuki found that she was quickly beginning to hate the not-baby's presence.

Regularly, at random moments in time, Tsuyuki would be accosted by Fon's wandering Flames. It constantly rubbed against her as if it were sizing her up, always hovering over her but not as oppressive as Reborn's. For what she was being judged for, she didn't know, but Tsuyuki was getting tired of it. It didn't help that Reborn was reverting back to his suffocating ways whenever the Storm Arcobaleno was near.

Often times she would find the two babies competing in a stare down with each other, Reborn with his mocking smirks and Fon with his genial smiles that leaned towards sly. Said looks would belie the raging auras clashing into one another in a fight for dominance. The swirling reds and yellows were honestly giving her a headache.

So, in true Tsuyuki fashion, she began avoiding them like the plague. Unfortunately, that didn't last very long because Fon decided that he wanted to start teaching her whatever he wished, as per their agreement. To her surprise, Fon didn't teach her any skills in combat as she had expected. Instead, he turned their lessons into impromptu therapy sessions that Tsuyuki could really do without.

"So you would deliberately hurt anyone who harms your brother, even if it was your mother?" Fon asked gently, his voice void of any judgement. Tsuyuki sniffed, "She would not be our mother if she did so."

"How about others?" Fon questioned. Tsuyuki's eyes darkened, "I wouldn't kill them. I'd make them feel so much pain that they'd wish they were dead. Death would be too merciful for them."

"And what started this feeling of protectiveness towards your brother?"

"He called for me when he drew his first breath. I simply answered." Tsuyuki said simply.

Fon blinked slowly, "You were born just minutes before him."

"And?"

"... I see."

Before Tsuyuki had realized it, months had passed by and Fon had somehow wormed his way into Tsuyuki's extremely small circle. Though she would never admit it, she considered him to be her close confidant just as she saw Reborn as an overbearing guardian with a sadistic streak a mile wide.

Speaking of the not-babies, it seemed that the two had finally resolved whatever was going on between them. Their auras, which had often clashed together in a battle of wills, now melded seamlessly into each other as if they had finally managed to get on the same wavelength after years of discordant frequencies. They got on well enough, sometimes too well in Tsuyuki's opinion.

The two had tag-teamed her into engaging in human interactions outside of what was now considered the Sawada Family. While reluctant at first, Tsuyuki had learned to tolerate the incessant gossiping of her female classmates and the rowdiness of the males without intimidating them into silence. Just recently, she had managed to have an almost candid conversation with her squad members. Of course, it was about the disciplining methods used to beat students into submission, but it was progress.

Tsuna, on the other hand, grew exponentially during his time under Reborn's tutelage. While the hitman's methods were aggressively spartan to a fault, it got the job done. Gone were the days where Tsuna would stumble over his words in anxiety and trip on air in his random bouts of clumsiness. Tsuna's self-esteem had been one of the first things to be improved on and now the boy walked with a surety in his steps and a cloak of confidence on his shoulders.

With Tsuna's warm amber orbs filled with untapped potential and Tsuyuki's frigid blue eyes dancing with untold dangers, the twins were a sight to see whenever they walked together. The two balanced each other and worked off of one another in a never ending cycle of equilibrium. United, they were an immovable fortress and their Guardians were the sentinels.

Reborn was proud as hell.

When Nono sent in the missive regarding the escape of Rokudo Mukuro, Reborn didn't react as badly as he could have. Had the hitman not been so confident in his student's ability, he would've personally killed Nono for condemning such a pure Sky to an early grave. Fortunately for Vongola Nono, Tsuna was competent enough that Reborn would allow a little faith in him.

When Fuuta de la Stella went missing, Reborn was only mildly concerned. The boy knew better than to spill any information on the Vongola Famiglia with Tsuyuki's very real threat hanging over his head. That and Reborn would've killed the boy himself if his mission was compromised. But that was a worse case scenario. Nana and Tsuna were more optimistic.

When the attacks started up, the hitman wasn't worried. Tsuna and his Guardians could handle themselves and if they couldn't, Tsuyuki and her violent group of followers were always there as backup. It also helped that Fon was around to help make sure his charges didn't die.

When a list popped up detailing exactly who was going to be attacked by order of strength, Reborn and Tsuyuki plotted murder to tie up loose ends. Only Fuuta would have that kind of information with that much accuracy. Who's to say the enemy got more than just a list of powerful combatants in the school from Fuuta's accursed book?

When Hibari Kyoya went missing, shit hit the proverbial fan. Tsuna's raging Sky instincts kicked in at the thought of his potential Bond being at another's mercy and called for blood. With Gokudera down after taking a shot meant for Tsuna just hours before, Tsuna was practically as bloodthirsty as his twin. When she realized that her brother's Guardians were being attacked and that it would eventually lead to him, Tsuyuki's tolerance snapped and she all but stormed towards an abandoned amusement park without any explanations, her three deadly lackeys dutifully following after her.

Namimori had locked down and no one could get in or out of the town without being restrained and thoroughly interrogated. Six of Hibari's seven elite squads were released into the town, patrolling the area with intentions of fighting any enemy they encountered to the death. With just a word from Tsuyuki, leader of Squad 1 and consequently second-in-command over the seven groups of the best fighters the Hibari Clan had to offer, they would all hunt down and kill whoever dared to disturb the peace.

Reborn was honestly impressed and now understood why Iemitsu was so comfortable with leaving his family in Namimori without the type of protection their positions usually warranted. The entire place looked like they were ready for war at any moment. Even the civilians were prepared and cooperated in any way they could.

With that kind of manpower, Rokudo Mukuro and his followers stood no chance. Unfortunately, his charges were still rash in making decisions and didn't really think things through before going after the escapee. What could've been a militia was reduced to Tsuna, his Guardians, Tsuyuki, and the members of Squad 1. Not counting him, of course.

All in all, the numbers were a bit dismal, but if things went south, Reborn knew that Tsuyuki would deal with the situation accordingly. No Sky of his, no matter how incomplete the Bond, would be beaten by some upstart from the Vindice Prison. He chose better than that.

With a put upon sigh, Reborn cradled the cocooned form of Leon in his arms and watched as Kurosawa Hana pointed a pistol at the chained locks and shot at it twice before backing away for Akayami Ichiro to ruthlessly kick the metal gates open. Fukusawa Akira stepped through the destroyed gates and cast a calculative gaze around the surroundings before moving to the side to admit Tsuyuki's entrance, "All clear Yuki-hime. Are we to follow you or patrol the perimeter?"

"The two of you will hunt down our wayward Taichou once we enter the building. Kurosawa, secure the perimeter. Nothing leaves this site." Tsuyuki turned her head to look at her brother, "Anything?"

"The main building gives me a bad feeling, but… out here is more dangerous to us at the moment." Tsuna's burning amber eyes danced around the area, "I feel Hayato will be needed with those two… Takeshi will come with us for now."

The twins turned in unison and stared at Reborn with mirroring expressions of accusation "Anything important we should know before we go?"

Reborn could feel the pride welling up within him as he smiled innocently at the twins, "Nope."

Tsuna scrunched his nose and glanced at his sister, "Should we…?"

Tsuyuki's hand twitched, "We can deal with him later if he's withholding information."

"Kaa-san?"

Not even Reborn could deal with the terror known as Sawada Nana and the twins knew it. Tsuyuki nodded resolutely.

"Okaa-san."

Nodding in agreement, they both turned around and entered Kokuyo Land without a second glance.

Reborn sniffed and wiped away an imaginary tear.

They grew up so fast.