AN: Last chapter before I go on vacation. Hope everyone enjoys!


Tsuna smiled as she shut the front door behind her. Her mother had gotten better since Dr. Shamal had started treating her with some kind of pills. He had tried to explain what they were, but all Tsuna was able to understand was that they were a kind of Flame purgative. It had taken them a few weeks for any real effects to show, but her mother was having far fewer events.

"Sawada!" a familiar voice called. She turned on her heel and blinked in confusion as several members of the Discipline Committee came running up to her. She pulled out her phone and frowned at the lack of messages.

"What's wrong?" she asked as she shifted to a more stable fighting stance.

The two lower ranked DC members stopped and bowed to her. They were breathing hard, their chests heaving. "Kusakabe was being kind, not contacting you with your family issues and all, but he's asked everyone to report in now. There's been someone attacking lower members of the Committee. Hibari is not happy and hunting for the perpetrator."

"Damn," Tsuna cursed, pulled her bag further up her shoulder, and took off at a run toward the school. If Hibari was in as bad of a mood as she thought, she'd need to be there with Kusakabe to help with creating safer patrol routes. She could hear the two lower ranked DC members running behind her. She skidded around a corner and had to dodge out of the way of a gathering group of people. Coming to a halt, she looked at the gates of Namimori High and the gathered Committee members outside. They greeted her with careful nods and nervous looks at the area around them.

"Where is Kusakabe? Or Hibari even?" Tsuna asked the nearest Committee member.

He gulped at the fierce look on her face before answering by pointing down the road. Tsuna nodded and turned to head off only to be stopped by a male's shout of pain and a feminine scream.

"Tsunami, be careful," Reborn said as he popped up next to her. He had a tense look on his face. "There may be more to this than just fighting children."

"Ah," she nodded but headed toward the sound of the disturbance. She blinked as she saw just who had created that noise. A girl ran past her with an embarrassed flush on her face. On the ground, Dr. Shamal groaned and nursed a lump on the back of his head. Hibari stood proud over him with his tonfas clasped in his hands. The prefect looked up at her and nodded in greeting.

"Omnivore."

"Hibari." She greeted him with a small wave before smirking down at the groaning doctor. "He was bothering girls?"

"Hn," the prefect grunted and walked to stand shoulder to shoulder with her. He glanced at the baby and gave him a nod with a gleam in his eye that spoke of his want to fight him. A moment later he let out a small hiss and slapped his hand against his neck. Tsuna frowned and leaned over his shoulder to see a small welt had formed there. It looked like a bug bite. At the feeling of her breath on his skin, the prefect started to blush.

Neither noticed Reborn's concerned look or the look he exchanged with the recovering doctor. They pulled just out of earshot to have a small conversation.

"You've heard?" Hibari asked as he strode toward the school gates. Tsuna hummed in agreement and walked beside him.

"Only the basics. How many have been attacked?"

"Seven over the last two days."

"Are they awake? Can they identify their attackers?"

"Hn. Kusakabe's been with them."

She nodded. "I'll speak with him then. Be careful. There's something about this that doesn't seem right. The other families should be staying out of my territory after what we did to the Fuuma-kai, and even then they wouldn't have attacked civilians."

"Tsuna-hime!" Hayato's voice caught her attention. Her head snapped over to him. Eyes widened as she saw the two children with him and Takeshi.

She turned to Hibari. "I need to take care of this."

"Tsuna, Mochida's in the hospital. Kusakabe spoke with him this morning and thinks it's the same people who attacked the Committee members," Takeshi whispered in her ear once she got close. She frowned and nodded. "Mochida called Rumiko and asked for someone to get his siblings. We've put together a schedule."

"Thanks," she whispered before kneeling down to be on the young boy's level and so as to not loom over the 12 year old. "So, someone hurt your brother. I promise we're going to track them down and make them pay."

"Thank you, Sawada," Saya said as she held her brother in close. "Thank you for helping Nii-san."

"You should be getting to school. You go to Nami Middle, right? Which elementary do you go to Kenichi?"

"Saisho."

"OK, Saya, can you take him there?"

"Yes."

"OK. See if the school office will write you a note if you look like you'll be late."

The girl nodded and herded her brother off to go to school. Tsuna smiled at them and rose gracefully to her feet before walking into the school yard.

Takeshi nudged Hayato and motioned toward the watching prefect. The bomber frowned before a light of understanding appeared. The prefect had been watching Tsuna closely while she was talking to the kids. His face was ever so slightly pink and he looked like he was fighting a war with himself. The demon of Namimori shook his head before heading off to stalk the streets.

"He's in denial?" Hayato muttered. Takeshi nodded and smiled brightly. Said smile had a sharp edge to it.

"He needs to get his head on straight before approaching Tsuna," the swordsman muttered back. "I'm not ready to accept him being with her if he gets as jealous as I think he will."

Hayato frowned. Jealousy reared up in his heart as he thought of a brute like Hibari being in a relationship with Tsuna-hime. His jaw clenched only to relax when Takeshi's fingers brushed the back of his hand. The two boys shared a look and nodded. The prefect would have to prove himself to them before they accepted him as a real suitor for Tsuna.

Completely oblivious to the silent conversation going on between her boyfriends, Tsuna was hurrying as fast as she dared toward the Committee room. The door was open and black clad teens moving in and out in a steady stream. Moving around the nervous boys, she entered and inhaled sharply at the pile of papers on the desk. She'd sort them later. Kusakabe, who was on a cell phone talking to someone, took priority. As he turned off the phone, he winced. Looking up, he jerked at the unexpected sight of Tsuna standing right in front of him.

"Sawada."

"You tried to keep me out of this, and I appreciate it, but you need me right now. My family issues are as taken care of as they can be until the Bastard comes back. Now, what do we know?"

"Several low ranking member of the Committee were attacked over the weekend. Several non-Committee members ended up attacked as well."

She nodded. "I know Mochida was attacked. How many others?"

"More than two dozen. Fifteen Committee members and about a dozen civilians"

"Any commonalities between the attacks or injuries?"

He let out a long breath through his nose. "Some. Whoever it is knows how to beat someone up. Several victims were missing teeth. Not everyone had facial injuries consistent with that kind of damage."

Tsuna felt her stomach turn to lead. Her latest lesson with Reborn had to do with the Mafia's version of symbology. Removing teeth from a beaten person was something mafia fighters would do to prove they had done as they asked. The teeth could then be sent to the victim's family as a sort of calling card, letting the famiglia know just who had attacked them.

"I'm surprised you're here."

Tsuna blinked and looked up at him. "Why?"

"Your friend's brother was one of the most recent victims. He was taken in this morning."

"Wait, Sasagawa Ryohei was attacked and beaten?"

"He's at the hospital right now. I was going to talk to him unless you'd prefer to do so."

"Yeah. I will. I'll also check in with Mochida, let him know his siblings are being taken care of."

Kusakabe waved at her as she hurried out the door. The regular students parted around her as she walked through them. The serious look on her face must have scared them. She could see several girls clinging to each other and crying. Fear hung heavy in the air. She paused at her classroom before walking in and motioning for her boys to follow her.

"Tsuna?" Takeshi asked as they came out into the hall.

"Be careful. I have a bad feeling about all this. Ryohei was attacked this morning. I'm going to talk to him and Mochida. Don't go anywhere alone. Stay together." She sighed and rubbed at her forehead. "This is going to get bad before it gets better."

Hayato frowned, looked around and leaned in to whisper. "Any sign of organized crime?"

"Possibly. The attacks seem to organized, like their trying to target someone."

The mafia hitman let out a hiss before leaning back. Targeted attacks were never good and it would likely lead to her getting involved if just to proove it wasn't something organzied crime related. He nodded solemnly and grabbed Takeshi's wrist.

"Be careful, Tsuna-hime."

"I'll be with her, Gokudera," Reborn's voice caused all three to jump. Hayato just managed to stop himself from pulling out a stick of dynamite.

Tsuna gave the baby hitman an unimpressed look. "You're that worried?"

"There's more going on than you know."

She frowned. They all frowned. "I see. Tell me on the way to the hospital. I have a feeling this may take a while."


Tsuna hated the hospital. The smell of the antiseptics and disinfectants burned her nose. Also, being in the hospital meant something had gone wrong, that there were injuries. After checking in with the nurses, she made her way to the patient rooms. She had two choices on who to visit first. Both Ryohei and Mochida could give her a description of their attackers.

She'd see her man first before visiting her friend.

"Well, you look like you got the shit beat out of you," she said as she leaned against the door frame of his room. He groaned and blinked blearily up at her.

"Sawada?"

"Yeah. Heard you got attacked and wanted to check in on you. You're one of mine and I don't take kindly to this kind of thing."

He groaned and leaned his head further back on the pillow. "It was just one person."

"One person did this?" She frowned and stepped into the room. The door closed behind her, giving them some privacy from the many Nami-High students gathered in the halls to check on friends and family. "Tell me what you remember. I'm going to hunt this bastard down and make him regret doing this."

"He wasn't Japanese, not with that blond hair and it wasn't a dye-job either. His eyebrows were exactly the same color and his skin was way too pale to be Japanese."

Tsuna hummed as she took a seat in the chair next to his bed. "Anything else?"

"He drooled a lot and his hand to wipe it off. He was wearing a Kokuyo uniform, too."

"Kokuyo? How certain are you?"

The kendoist frowned and closed his eyes as he thought back to the fight. His tongue lashed out and wet his lips. A second later he blinked in surprise as he felt cold touching his lips. Tsuna smiled down at him and pressed an ice chip more firmly against his lips. He nodded in thanks and took it in. The cold spread over his tongue and trickled down his throat. The scratchy feeling he hadn't even realized he was feeling faded.

"Thank you."

"How did he beat you so bad? I mean," she ran her hand gently over the cast that covered his arm, "I wouldn't have thought they would be able to do this. You're pretty good at defense."

"He just hit too hard." He frowned and winced as a flash of pain ran through him. He relaxed as the IV pump beeped once, a sign more pain medication was being released.

"I'll let you get some rest. I want you to get better as soon as you can. Don't worry about your siblings either. We're taking care of them. I promise." She placed a hand on his head and stood. He blinked, his eyes becoming blurry as the pain medication took hold, and smiled. He knew he had made a good choice when he had gone to the Akatora. Tsuna would take care of his siblings just as well as she took care of her own. His head falling back, he drifted into slumber.

Tsuna walked through the halls. There were so many people wearing the yellow Namimori uniform. It made her skin crawl. Someone was intentionally attacking Nami-High students. Why? Did this have something to do with her or Hibari or just out of control punks wanting a fight?

"Tsunami," Reborn spoke up as he appeared next to her. She looked down at him and frowned. There was something in his tone that made her nervous. Her eyes drifted to Leon and froze as the chameleon's tail fell off to the ground.

"What?" she breathed softly as the hitman picked up the fallen tail. The chameleon glowed for a moment before changing forms. She had seen the same thing many times, but the chameleon had never taken the form of a colander before. Quite baffling.

"So it's that time again," Reborn muttered.

"Reborn?"

"I need to make some more calls. Go see your friend and I'll update you when you're done."

"What's going on, Reborn?"

Leon changed from a colander into an over sized whisk. Reborn adjusted his grip on his animal partner and turned away. "I need to confirm some information, but I have a good idea about what's going on. Do you remember the conversation you had with Nono? He wants to test you using this situation."

"About me taking care of Iemitsu? s he still doubting I'll be able to take care of it?" She snorted and smirked. "I still can't believe you haven't told him about me being yakuza."

"If his information network is that badly degraded, he has other worries," the hitman muttered. "I think he knew something like this was coming. I just need to confirm dates and names. Go see your friend, Tsunami."

"I see," Tsuna muttered and stared as Leon shifted once again into a rather comical green sword. "Is Leon OK?"

"Without his tail, he can't control his shape-shifting. The last time this happened, Dino received his whip and Enzo."

"So he'll be alright?"

Reborn turned to look at his student with a raised eyebrow. He idly shifted Leon in his hands as the chameleon turned into a box. "Why do I have the feeling you like Leon more than your tutor?"

"Because I do."

"He'll be fine, Tsunami. Just go see your friend. I'll meet you in an hour."

With those parting words, the hitman strolled out of the ward. Tsuna watched him leave and sighed. That baby annoyed her so. Couldn't he just come out and explain what he was thinking? Her eyebrow twitched but she shook the feeling off. She had a friend to go see.

Ryohei was bandaged, but not nearly as much as Mochida had been. Tsuna stood at his door and just looked the boxer over. He was talking to Kyoko, who was sitting next to him and crying. The peaceful girl shook with suppressed sobs and that only seemed to make the boxer more agitated.

"Up for another visitor?" Tsuna asked in an attempt to break the tense atmosphere. Both Sasagawa siblings looked up at her. Kyoko wiped the tears away from her face and smiled. Ryohei also had a large grin on his face.

"Sawada, it's extreme of you to visit," the boxer said in his usual loud tone. Tsuna shook her head and entered the room. Her eyes went to the medical clipboard on the end of the bed. She could plainly see the word lacerations written across it. Her lips pursed. So, a different attack than the one on Mochida?

"Ah, yeah. Mochida's just down the hall, you know. I had to come check up on him."

"Oh, is he one of your... you know?" the boxer asked with a heavy look.

She nodded. "I'm taking personal interest in this with one of my own attacked. I heard you were attacked this morning."

"Yeah. He was Extremely tricky too. I wanted to beat him up for the team!"

Kyoko frowned. Her tears flowed faster. "Onii-chan shouldn't be fighting. Fighting only gets you in trouble."

"You'll never convince him to not fight," Tsuna told the girl before Ryohei could say anything. Both Sasagawa siblings looked up at her. "He is a fighter. To try to stop him from fighting would be to deny a core piece of who he is. He'd be miserable."

"But I hate it when onii-chan gets hurt."

"It's still his choice to fight." Tsuna frowned and looked at the ground. "Sometimes all you can do is fight and hope you come out on the other side relatively unscathed."

"Speaking from experience, Sawada?"

"You can call my Tsunami or Tsuna, Ryohei. We have fought beside each other."

"I extremely will, Tsuna."

The yakuza boss leaned against the wall and just watched the two siblings interact. That was one thing she had always wanted, a younger sibling to watch over and protect. The kids took up that space now. That reminded her. She needed to have someone pick up Fuuta from his friend's house. It was hard to believe such a shy boy had made so many friends among his new schoolmates, but being the foreign kid had gotten him a lot of popularity. With everything going on at home with her mother's diagnosis, she was glad Fuuta had somewhere to go to get away from the mafia life, if only for a weekend.

"Ryohei, what did the person who attacked you look like?" she asked suddenly. She needed her focus back. Every minute was another chance for another attack.

"Ah, well, he was skinny and wearing the Kokuyo uniform. He had this beanie hat and those yo-yos of his hurt, cut my arms up."

"Yo-yos? Odd weapons, but I can see how you could maybe put an edge on the outside to cut with." She frowned. "Anything else? Did they say anything?"

"Only about me not being the one. Sounded like he was looking to challenge someone to the extreme."

A sinking feeling developed in her gut. Her eyes shut and her head thudded back against the wall. "Would you say this person was Japanese?"

"Maybe, or he might have been a halfa. He had an extreme accent."

"Tsuna, do you know something?"

Tsuna frowned and fought back the urge to snarl. She did not need to frighten her friend with her temper. "Maybe. I have some feelers out, but this is starting to paint a very bad picture."

"Involving your…" Kyoko made a sort of hand wave motion with her hands.

"Possibly." The yakuza boss bit her lower lips as her thoughts raced. "Kyoko, promise me you won't go anywhere alone."

"Ah, OK? I'll tell Hana to do the same."

Tsuna lifted her hand in a wave and headed out the door. She really needed to see Reborn. Her instincts were telling her this had to do with the mafia and her position as Decima. He'd likely have more information than she would. She really, really needed to develop some sources in Italy. Maybe she could get Dino's contact information from her tutor? He'd be better than nothing.


Tsuna frowned as she waited for Reborn to reappear from wherever he had gone. She had pulled a notebook out and started writing down what she knew about the attacks. Multiple attackers. Kokuyo uniforms. Going after Nami-High students. Something in that last fact made her pause. She looked up from where she was sitting in the hospital waiting room. Her eyes widened as she pulled out her phone only to stop at the sound of a familiar voice. Looking back up, she frowned as she caught sight of Kusakabe walking down the hall.

"Kusakabe," she called as she got up and hurried to him. He stopped and turned to look at her. She shoved her list into his hands. "There's something here I'm not seeing. Something's just not right. See what you can make of it."

The second in command of the Committee looked over her list and frowned. He motioned for another Committee member to come take a look. "I think I'm getting what you're saying. Why were these students attacked?"

"The Committee members make sense if whoever is doing this has something against us, but why attack regular students?"

"I'll have someone look over the list of victims to see if there's a commonality," he said with a nod. "Kyo-san seems to have figured out what is going on. No one's seen him for a while."

"That's worrying," she stated and took back her paper. "He shouldn't be going off on his own. I know he's good, but there is always someone who's better."

The pompadoured teen nodded and frowned. "No one has heard from him in several hours."

"I'll see to it my people keep an eye out for him. He's done good by us. We can return the favor."

Kusakabe nodded and headed out of the hospital. He had patrols to organize and data to go over. With any luck, Hibari would take care of the issue before too long. Tsuna watched him go and looked back down at her list. There was something none of them were seeing.

"Tsunami," Reborn's voice coming from above made her jump. She spun around and stared. What? How? She blinked. Nope. The scene didn't change. Reborn was suspended from the ceiling via Leon, who had turned into something she could only compare to a giant slime mold.

"Reborn. You talk to your sources?"

He nodded and hopped to the ground. His hand reached out and grabbed Leon as he shifted into a small ball and fell to the floor. "Yes, and it isn't good."

"Wonderful," Tsuna groaned and leaned against the wall. Something was telling her this was going to be long. "So, what can you tell me?"

"Two months ago, there was a breakout at a prison used to house the worst of the mafia, those who break our laws. They were lead by a teen named Mukuro Rokudo, or Rokudo Mukuro as you would put it. He and two of his followers escaped all attempts at capture and weren't able to be tracked, at least until they showed up at Kokuyo High School."

"He's after me, isn't he?"

"Out of the way!"

Tsuna's head turned. A stretcher bearing another person came flying down the hall. Tsuna gasped, her eyes going wide as she recognized the person on it.

"Kusakabe," she whispered. How could he have been attacked so soon? He had just left the hospital.

Reborn's fedora lowered over his brow. He sprang down the hall far faster than a baby should have been able to. He hopped up on the stretcher and grabbed something off of Kusakabe before jumping down to the ground. He watched as the stretcher was taken back to the treatment rooms and Tsuna came up behind him.

"Reborn?"

"It's what I thought." He turned to face her. Holding out his hand, he revealed the object he had taken, a gold pocket watch. Hitting the catch to open it, it opened to show the hands pointing at 5:00. He reached into his pocket with his spare hand and pulled out an identical watch. It popped open. The hands pointed at 6:00.

"Reborn?"

"I took this one from Sasagawa's room. It was found on him when he was brought in. I searched earlier, and your man also had one. It was pointing at 7."

Tsuna inhaled sharply. "A countdown?"

"It looks like, especially when you consider this." Reborn put the watch away and pulled out a paper from under his hat. Tsuna took it and frowned. It was heavy paper, like something she'd use if she was sending a message to another yakuza family. There was an elegant scroll work across the top. It wasn't something she was familiar with, it being more European in origin. Definitely mafia related. It was the words below that made her breath catch. Ranking of Fighters in Namimori High School. It was dated two months ago. Hibari was ranked number one. She was number two and her boys took up three and four. The rest of the names on the list were familiar. Her stomach clenched. With the addition of Kusakabe, they were all in the hospital after being beaten by the Kokuyo gang of thugs.

"Fuuta made this," she whispered and looked at her tutor. "Why did he do this? Did you ask him to? I promised he wouldn't be asked to do anything like this, Reborn."

"No one asked him to. Fuuta does this all on his own," the hitman explained. He had to force himself not to lift his arms in a surrender gesture. Really, his student could be quite frightening when her children were threatened. It reminded him of a protective mother bear. Her Flame would rise and push on the air, creating a feeling of despair and despondency in whoever she was facing. It was a useful Sky trick for mentally breaking down enemies that only the best bosses were able to use. Now if only he could get her to do that while training. It took her people being threatened to bring that side of her out. He grit his teeth. While such protectiveness was something Nono wanted in his heir, the fact it took a threat to bring it out was annoying to the hitman.

"On his own?" The feeling of her Flame faded as she leaned back and crossed her arms over her chest. She didn't completely believe him, but she was willing to listen.

Reborn nodded. "He's been ranking things whenever he feels like it now that he feels comfortable in your house. No one's asked him to do anything. He mostly ranks the best places to get fresh vegetables or the best blends to Nana's tea. He only did that ranking after he saw Hibari beating up a few kids. He gave it to me in case I ever needed it."

"And now someone's taken it. This Rokudo Mukuro person most likely." She frowned before her eyes widened. She scrambled for her phone. Hitting one button, she brought it to her ear and bit her lip. Reborn sighed and took the paper from her loose grip. At least she saw who would likely be next.

"Damn it," she muttered as the call went to voicemail. She hit another button and waited. "Takeshi, where's Hayato?"

There was a pause as she listened to the answer.

"Stay with him. Either one of you are going to be the next target. I want you to get somewhere safe."

She ended the call and ran out the hospital door. Reborn watched as she ran. He still had some questions he needed answered and notifying Shamal he may have patients took precedence. She'd be able to take care of herself for now. He had trained her well.


Tsuna ran. Her heart pounded in her chest. She could feel her lungs burn as she tried to take in more air. Every instinct she had was screaming at her to get to her boys. Takeshi had said they were in a small shopping area close to Hayato's apartment building. It was an area her girls knew well. She stopped in her running, chest heaving as she tried to orient herself.

"Namimori High has certainly gone downhill," Tsuna could hear a girl dressed in Midori High's uniform sneered as she walked by with a friend.

"Can you believe two of them were fighting with a Kokuyo student in the middle of the street?"

"I hope they don't wreck Mira's bakery."

Tsuna's eyes widened. Well, that was useful. She took off at a run once more. Now she had a good idea where her boys were. Unfortunately they seemed to be in the middle of a fight. Running up the street, she slowed to take in the damage. Hayato seemed to be the main fighter, but he was hesitating on using his dynamite, keeping his arsenal to firecrackers only. A few soot marks littered the ground. Takeshi was watching from the side. He wasn't injured or harmed, so why wasn't he helping? She sidled up to her swordsman and gave him a dead stare. He chuckled nervously and rubbed at the back of his neck.

"Explain," she hissed lowly so as to not be heard by the fighting duo.

"The yo-yo kid challenged him to a fight. Called him number 4 and was pleased when he heard his moniker. Got even more pleased when Haya asked if he was after the Jyuudaime."

"We need to end this now."

Hayato, aware that his boss was behind him with the sword idiot, became more aggressive in his fighting. Out went the firecrackers and in came the knives. Though he disliked using them, he had been training in how to use them. It didn't hurt to have a non-explosive option in his arsenal and Rumiko, for all that the woman terrified him, was a very good teacher.

The yo-yo wielding teen ducked under a thrown knife, his weapon snapping out in an attempt to bind only to be cut away. Though he had been emotionless so far, the green clad teen's face twitched in annoyance. His fingers curled and two new yo-yos came out of his sleeves. The boy's entire demeanor changed and he went on the offense. The yo-yos clicked as they reached the height of their arc and a bad feeling grew in Tsuna's stomach.

"Hayato, move!"

Not one to disobey, the bomber jumped to the side and narrowly avoided being sprayed with needles. His eyes widened and nostrils flared as he caught a faint smell he associated with his sister. Poison. His teeth grit together. As he put his knife away and pulled out his favored dynamite. Tsuna's eyes grew wide from where she was standing.

"So, you're the one…" the yo-yo fighter whispered as he caught sight of Tsuna. His lips turned upward into a smirk. He moved to attack her, causing Takeshi to place his hand on his blade. It had just started being removed from the sheath when Hayato intervened.

"Double bomb."

There was a loud explosion. Dirt and dust flew up, obscuring the view for everyone. Tsuna and Takeshi, both forewarned simply due to familiarity with the bomber, had gotten out of the blast radius fast. The yo-yo fighter hadn't been as lucky, though he had managed to either dodge the main blast or redirect it with his weapons. Hayato snorted as the dust faded and he saw the minor wounds he had managed to land.

"Dynamite, how loud," the boy said.

"Why you…" Hayato growled and dodged out of the way of another spray of needles. He pulled out more of his favored weapon and grinned. The fuses lit in an impressive display of the control he had over his Storm Flame. He smirked. "Double bomb."

The bombs arced overhead. The yo-yo fighter frowned and sliced through the dynamite. His eyes widened as a trio of smaller dynamite dropped down in between the strings of his yo-yos. It was an optical illusion. He didn't have a chance to dodge or curse as the compact explosives detonated.

"How did he survive that?" Tsuna asked as she gaped at the scene. The yo-yo guy was standing, but only barely. He was bleeding from multiple places. He definitely had a head wound. His glasses had shattered.

"Nicely done, Hayato!" Takeshi called and waved.

Tsuna's head shot up. Stretching her neck, she looked off into the distance and frowned. "We need to get out of here. Cops."

"Not yet," the yo-yo fighter gasped out and tried spray where Tsuna was with his quills. Tsuna, already anticipating the action, moved out of the way and rushed forward to retaliate. The boy's eyes widened as a fist slammed into his stomach and she knew she felt a rib shift under her strike. She gave him a bloodthirsty grin and backed off.

"We need to move. Head for home," she ordered her boys. She turned back to the gasping green clad teen. "Whoever you're working for, tell him he's pissed me off. Leave and don't come back."

He stared at her and stumbled off. She looked at her boys and motioned for them to hurry. She could see the cops running toward the source of the explosions. They all took off toward the Sawada house. It was close and she really needed to talk to her boys. She had the feeling this wasn't over. If this Rokudo Mukuro was as dangerous as she thought, she'd have deal with him personally.


Tsuna sighed as she fell back onto her bed. Takeshi and Hayato smiled from where they were sitting on the floor. She pulled herself upright and smiled at them. A wry smirk made its way onto her face as she got up and knelt in front of Hayato.

"You did well out there," she stated and kissed him. He tensed up. She could feel the heat coming up from his face. "I'm proud."

"Tsuna-hime," the Italian whispered. He gulped and lifted a hand to his lips in mild shock. She hadn't kissed him before. His lips tingled where she had touched. He knew his face was a flaming red color. He could feel it.

"He looks so cute when he blushes like that," Takeshi said before using one hand to turn the bomber's face toward him. He leaned forward and pecked him on the lips. Hayato let out a sort of squeaky noise before almost shriveling into a puddle of embarrassment and warmth before his two…lovers? He shook his head. That didn't work simply because they hadn't done anything sexual. Yet, a little voice in the back of his head whispered. That he ignored. Maybe boyfriend and girlfriend?

"Hayato?" Tsuna said as she waved a hand in front of his face before turning to Takeshi. "I think we broke him."

"Ah, Tsuna-hime. Sorry. I'm listening," he squeaked as he straightened back up.

Tsuna leaned back and sat down. Her legs stretched out in front of her, bracketing the bomber between them. "Tell me, Hayato, have you ever heard of Rokudo Mukuro?"

Trying to ignore the fact he was in between his boss's legs, he tried to remember the name. A moment later he shook his head. "It isn't familiar."

She sighed and leaned back. Her arms stretched out behind her to balance her as her head tilted back, revealing the long line of her neck. "I hadn't thought so, but I thought I'd check."

"Tsuna?"

"As of two months ago, Rokudo Mukuro escaped from a mafia prison," here she stopped as Hayato let out a sharp gasp. She sat upright and frowned at the pallor that had overcome Hayato's face. "Hayato?"

"There's only one mafia prison, Tsuna-hime. The Vendicare. It's supposed to be impossible to escape from."

"I see." She hummed low in her throat as Takeshi shuffled himself behind their boyfriend and wrapped him in a hug. The Italian looked like he could use some comfort. "That's worrying."

"Tsuna-nee!" Lambo shouted as he came flying up the stairs and doing a flying tackle into Tsuna's lap. He smiled up at her and clung to her stomach like a limpet. I-Pin came into the room at a more sedate pace. She looked at Lambo and sighed. Shaking her head, she tucked herself next to the yakuza boss.

"I-Pin, what's wrong?"

"Can't find Fuuta."

Tsuna's blood ran cold. Her intuition flared as the bits of information she had started to slot together. How had this Rokudo gotten Fuuta's ranking? Where was Fuuta? Where was her son?

"Tsuna," Takeshi muttered. Tsuna looked at him and frowned. He was sweating. She blinked and realized everyone was shivering and sweating and staring at her in fear. Her Flame was raging. Frost had begun to form under her and spread out. She drew in a deep breath and drew her Flames back inside. The tense, heavy, overpowering atmosphere evaporated.

"Tsunami," Reborn's voice came from the doorway. Everyone looked over at the baby hitman. He came inside, closed the door behind him, and hopped onto the desk before facing his student. "I take it you've found out about Fuuta?"

"Yes. How long have you known?" She stared him down.

"I've suspected since I saw this. I confirmed it an hour ago."

She reached out and held Lambo closer. She needed her kids. "Please tell me you have information."

"I've tracked them down. Rokudo and his people are hiding out in Kokuyo Land."

"Then, we are going to go get Fuuta back and teach this guy a lesson on proper manners."

The door to her bedroom opened with a bang. Bianchi, wearing her goggles so her brother wouldn't have an attack, stood in the doorway with her arms crossed and staring down at the gathered group. Tsuna looked at her and raised a single eyebrow. The poison mistress was being dramatic. This would be good.

"I am coming with you."

"What?" Hayato shouted and jumped to his feet. He glared at his sister while baring his teeth. Bianchi gave him a blank look before looking at Tsuna.

"Why?"

The poison mistress smiled wryly. "Because this is interesting and I want to strangle anyone who would hurt the kid. As often as I've helped your mother watch all three of them, I've become fond of the Ranking Prince."

"His name is Fuuta."

"I know, but you can't forget who he is. It's why he was taken," Bianchi stated as she walked in and closed the door behind her. Hayato backed away, nearly tripping over the combination of Tsuna's leg and Takeshi sitting so close. The swordsman laughed and pulled the bomber into his lap. Tsuna smiled at the sight and curled her legs under her. It was more comfortable.

Bianchi hid a smirk as she watched the interaction between her brother and his loves. That was the other reason she wanted to come. Reborn may have promised to tell her about the interactions of these three, but she wanted to see it for herself. A love story was always so much better when seen in person. Plus she had never seen her brother blush as much as he did around them. It was cute.

"They didn't take Fuuta de la Stella. They took the Ranking Prince."

Reborn nodded solemnly. "It is a good idea. Rokudo came after you in your position as Vongola Decima. I doubt you want to involve your people in this."

Tsuna frowned but nodded. She had tried so hard to keep her mafia and yakuza responsibilities separated. Her tutor was right. She wouldn't be able to call in Rumiko or Yuusuke or any of her people that weren't Flame Bonded, as the hitman had called her connection to her boys. She needed to rely on them for this. Bianchi, whose only connection to her was through her brother and thus an obvious mafia connection, wouldn't alert anyone to the fact she was yakuza.

"I'll agree to this under one condition."

"Yes?" Bianchi smirked triumphantly.

"You don't touch anything edible. I'd rather get through this without getting my stomach pumped."

Hayato, unable to hold it in, laughed at the dumbfounded look on his sister's face. He tucked his head into Takeshi's shoulder and laughed. The swordsman smiled and laughed along with him, his grip on the Italian's hips becoming strong to keep them from falling over. Tsuna smiled at the two of them, but kept her eye on Reborn, who had hopped down from his spot and motioned for I-Pin to come to him. He whispered in the girl's ear and she nodded. Her face tensed into her serious face, grabbed Lambo from where he was laying on Tsuna's lap, and ran out of the room. Tsuna gave her tutor a confused look before shrugging at the smirk he gave her. Her intuition wasn't saying it was dangerous, so she wouldn't worry about it at the moment.

"Tsunami, I won't be able to help much with Leon in the state he's in." The hitman held up a lump of green that had the chameleon's eyes. His other hand opened and revealed a single Dying Will Bullet. "I also only have one of these."

"Best to save it for an emergency then. I'm getting closer to entering Hyper Dying Will mode on my own and can enter a low level Dying Will Mode without assistance."

"So you say," the hitman said as he put both objects under his fedora. "Well, are you going to wait here?"

A smirk came over Tsuna's lips. "Well, nothing says we can't stop by the office to pick up a few things. I want everyone wearing body armor, and Hayato, we're going to need some of your more interesting experiments."

The look on the bomber's face spelled pain for whoever threaten one of his girlfriend's claimed children. Bianchi looked on in pride at her brother. Though the teen despised her, she had gotten the chance to start making amends and now she was going to get the chance to see him use what she had taught him. She'd have felt sorry for Rokudo Mukuro if he hadn't kidnapped one of the children or sent his men to attack her brother. This fight would be interesting. She could feel it in her bones.