Congrats! You've made it to the half-way point of this story! I hope you enjoy the second half :)

-LLM

Chapter Fourteen

"Hnn…" Tsuna yawned and stretched his arms. He felt so rested, without having Reborn wake him up the traditional Vongola way.

Hm…why was it called the traditional Vongola way? No…it can't be…did the ninth also have to be woken up like that when he was my age? Or was this method just used on Vongolas throughout the ages?

He sat up and yawned again. His looked around sleepily in his dark room. Huh? Dark? He scratched his messy hair. Why was he wide awake before the sun rose? He pushed the covers off and pulled the heavy curtain aside to reveal the large window. He stood in the middle of it: nothing; no light whatsoever.

Tsuna had woken up an hour before dawn.

"Why!" He fell to his knees and placed a hand flat against the window. "Why did I wake up so early?"

His pitiful cry brought Gokudera running to his room.

"Juudaime?" He found Tsuna crouched by the window and dropped the book he was holding. "Juudaime!" He turned Tsuna and looked over him. "Where were you shot? Juudaime! Don't die on me!"

"E-Eh? G-Gokudera-kun! I'm not dying! I wasn't even shot!"

Gokudera didn't believe him and continued to turn Tsuna this way and that. His boss sighed and waited for Gokudera to finish his examination for red blotches.

"Juudaime…you're fine…"

"I told you…"

"I-I…I'M SORRY FOR DISTURBING YOU, JUUDAIME!" Gokudera hit his head against the floor.

"G-Gokudera-kun! Stop!"

His right hand man stopped, but it took a lot of convincing on Tsuna's part. "That's right—we need to wake everyone else up!" Tsuna suddenly remembered Reborn's command last night and told Gokudera about it.

"If Reborn-san ordered that, then we must do exactly as he wishes, Juudaime!" Gokudera said, fully understanding what Reborn can do to them if they didn't meet his expectations.

Tsuna nodded.

"Then I'll wake the baseball freak, lawn head, and Dokuro! Juudaime, would you wake the stupid cow and…no…that won't work."

"Eh?"

"It's too dangerous for you to wake the prefect or that Mukuro. They might try to harm you. I'll wake them up!"

"R-Right, then I'll wake up Lambo, Chrome, and Onii-san. Waking Mukuro and Hibari-san will be a hard task…" Tsuna shivered at the thought. Let's hope they are already awake!

"Oh! And bring the Sonar with you as well!"

Gokudera paused. "The vial?"

Tsuna nodded. "I think Reborn wants us to give Talbot the items now."

Gokudera left to do as asked. Tsuna quickly tossed on a shirt and pants. Taking his mittens from the table, he charged out and found his Lightning Guardian's room.

"Lambo!" He banged on the door with his fist twice and waited. He did it again, harder. "Lambo! Are you awake?" He pressed his ear to the door and heard a snore. He jiggled the doorknob and found it unlocked.

"Lambo, I'm coming in…" He stuck his head in and waited until his eyes adjusted to the light. Tsuna found himself sweat-dropping. This Lambo…Adult Lambo…was better organised than their Lambo. Adult Lambo kept his clothes in the drawer and the mess to a minimum; he can actually see the floor here, whereas if this were the younger Lambo, there would be candy wrappers everywhere, mud, rocks, grass—basically what you can find in the yard.

Tsuna stepped into the room. He pulled the curtains open, which didn't help because the sun wasn't up yet. He went to shake his friend awake.

"Lambo. Lambo! Wake up!"

Lambo grunted and rolled over. Tsuna stood up with his arms crossed, wondering what he should do. There was no way he was going to use Reborn's tactics to wake him up. That was too mean.

"Haa…Laaaaambo!" No reaction. Tsuna drooped. "I'll try again after waking up Chrome and onii-san…"

Knock! Knock!

"Onii-san! Are you in there?" Tsuna called loudly. Maybe he woke up and went running around somewhere.

"Extreme!"

"Hiiiee!" The door flew open and would have slammed Tsuna into the wall if it didn't open inwards. Ryohei was just heading out for his morning exercises.

"Oh, Sawada! Are you going to train with me?" Tsuna shook his head slowly. "Oh…Then you must be here to join the boxing club!"

"That's not it!"

"Why are you awake extremely early then?" Confusion was evident in his voice.

"Reborn wants all of us to go to Talbot's lab before dawn…"

"That sounds extreme! Let's go, Sawada! They probably want us to do some boxing down there!"

"W-Wait!" Tsuna was being pulled by Ryohei down the hall. "We need to wake Chrome and Lambo!"

"What? They're not awake yet?"

"No, not yet. I thought that I should wake you or Chrome first. Since you were closer…"

"Boss?" Chrome's door was half open and her head popped out. Her right eye was covered by a white, plain eye patch.

"Chrome!"

"I…heard an explosion in Mukuro-sama's room and voices outside," she replied softly to Tsuna's unanswered question.

"A-Ah…that must be Gokudera-kun." He explained to her where they needed to go and she nodded. Chrome went back into her dark room and changed into her uniform as Tsuna led the way to Lambo's room, which was still wide open.

"LAMBO! YOU NEED TO WAKE UP TO THE EXTREME! WE HAVE SOME TRAINING TO DO!"

"Aah!" Lambo sat up in bed and his legs came up, his wild eyes darting around his room and saw Ryohei with Tsuna looking sheepish behind him.

"Young Vongola and Ryohei?"

"LET'S GO!" Ryohei was definitely fired up this morning.

"Hiie! Onii-san, you'll wake up everyone else! We don't know how to wake up Hibari-san yet!" I hope Gokudera-kun didn't do anything rash yet!

"Hibari? I'll do it!" He offered and spun around to leave the room.

"HIBARIII!"

Lambo also looked ready to run away when Hibari went on his rampage. Both occupants in the room froze when they heard the whack of a tonfa on…something. Lambo hid under his blankets and shivered.

"Lambo, we have to go," Tsuna pulled at the blanket but Lambo refused to let go.

"You stupid cow! Are you causing trouble for Juudaime again?" Gokudera ran in with a dynamite stick in his hand. His hair shadowed his grim face. "Don't worry, Juudaime. I'll get him out of there." The stick lit up by itself and the familiar sound of it fizzing came to their ears. Gokudera walked slowly to the bed. Lambo peeked out and his eyes popped out of his head.

"Gokudera don't do that!" As Gokudera smirked and tossed it, Lambo caught the weapon as if it were a hot potato and threw it back to Gokudera who whacked it to the bed again in surprise.

"AAAH!" Lambo and Tsuna screamed. Lambo jumped and landed in Tsuna's arms.

"Young Vongola—save me!"

"Lambo get off me!" He fell over.

BOOM!

…The smoke made them cough for a few seconds before it dispersed.

"A…smoke bomb?" Tsuna said after a cough. He was on the ground with Lambo beside him, twitching from the near death experience.

"Tch! I was only going to give the stupid cow a scare. There's no way I'd actually kill him," Gokudera scoffed and pushed his bangs away from his forehead.

"Gotta…stay…calm…" Lambo whimpered and cried a waterfall.

"Hiie! Lambo! Everything's alright!" Tsuna couldn't believe he was comforting someone that was practically the same age as him. "We have to keep our voices down; otherwise we'll wake up Primo and his Guardians!" Lambo's sobs turned to sniffles after a few minutes and Tsuna sighed with relief. Gokudera removed his hands from his ears and sighed as well.

"Now that we're all calmed, we can move on to Talbot's," Gokudera said. He spoke too soon.

"Herbivores. What is this ruckus about?" The door was kicked down. Ryohei stood behind Hibari with a bump swelling on his forehead.

"Onii-san!"

"I will bite you all to death for disrupting my peace."

"Hiie! We're sorry!"

"Damn you! Don't scare Juudaime!" Gokudera pounced and prepared himself to protect Tsuna.

Hibari…smirked.

Reborn tapped his shoe against the floor impatiently.

Talbot was fiddling with something as he waited patiently. Giotto was also there but he was dozing off. He was wearing his trademark suit with the cloak draped on the back of the chair. The sudden slam of the hidden entrance closing jolted him out of his sleep.

"I told you, it's underground!" The two could hear Gokudera's loud voice approach.

"Maa Gokudera! It was still a fun experience!"

"Yare, yare, how was I supposed to know that it was hidden away?"

"Then you should have kept your mouth shut!"

A trickle of sweat rolled down Giotto's face. How can they be so cheerful this early in the morning?

"How did they get in?" Talbot mused.

"Gokudera must have solved the puzzle concerning the periodic table. It's quite simple, if one knows it very well," Reborn answered.

"Gokudera-kun, Lambo! We shouldn't argue with each other…"

"Hai, Juudaime! Although it was the stupid cow who started it."

"This tunnel is EXTREME!"

Giotto felt the echo from his seat and felt sorry for the ones in the corridor since the echo must have been greater.

Finally, they reached the door.

"Ara? It won't open," Tsuna said. Reborn smirked. The reason why Giotto was the only one here other than Reborn and Talbot was because the only way the door can open was with Giotto's (or any of his descendants') Sky flames.

"Kufufufu. Just destroy it."

"Hiiiie! I can't do that! Primo will get mad at me!"

"Yare yare, Reborn's the one who told us to be here by dawn…" they heard Lambo yawn. "If he's not going to open the door for us, why should we wait patiently to open it?"

"Wait." Gokudera's voice silenced everyone else's. Giotto was curious as to what they were doing on the other side.

With Tsuna and Friends…

"Gokudera-kun, what are you doing?" Tsuna asked in the hushed silence. Even Mukuro and Hibari were quiet. Gokudera was kneeling beside the door, sniffing something that looked like a keyhole.

"Juudaime, this keyhole has been exposed to Sky Dying Will flames a lot of times before."

"Sky Dying Will flames?" What is that supposed to mean? Am I supposed to…?

Tsuna stepped up to the door and Gokudera moved back. He was simply following his intuition. He lit his Sky Ring and stuck it into the keyhole hesitantly. The moment he did so, the door swung open.

Tsuna peered in cautiously, Gokudera beside him. Yamamoto and Ryohei bent over them both to look in as well. Lambo came up to Tsuna's left and did the same. Mukuro watched them in amusement. Hibari rolled his eyes and Chrome looked on curiously.

"What are you all doing? Kufufu."

Suddenly, a green imitation of Lancia's Steel Serpent Ball flew to them and hit Tsuna squarely in the middle.

"Doh!" Tsuna fell and bounced back up as if it weighed nothing. "Reborn, why did you hit me?"

"Don't just stand there," Reborn said to them all, purposely ignoring his student. "What—did you think there was a trap waiting for you at the doorway?"

Those who were peering in grinned sheepishly and stood straight. Yamamoto laughed and scratched his head. Once everyone was in, Hibari stood off to the side, as always.

"And a very good morning to you," Talbot greeted.

"Good morning, Talbot!" Yamamoto and Ryohei said. Lambo yawned as Gokudera said, "Yo." Mukuro snickered and Hibari ignored them. Chrome bowed.

"Good morning," Giotto said and stifled a yawn as he stood up.

"P-Primo! Good morning!"

Giotto waved a hand. "Never mind me. I'm not the main reason you're here."

"Huh?" They all went.

Giotto titled his head to Reborn.

"That's right. Primo kindly used his flame to allow me to enter this room."

You could have just waited for me to let you in as well! Tsuna cried. Then I won't have to face Hibari's beating! True to his thoughts, he, Gokudera, Lambo, and Ryohei were covered with bruises where the pair of tonfa met flesh. Some were even bleeding, but Ryohei healed those.

"Now—Tsuna, did you tell them to bring their things?"

"Y-Yeah…" Tsuna held out the box with gold flelks. Gokudera took out the glass vial filled with blue liquid carefully and Chrome brought out the tongs.

"Ah, that's good, very good! You got them all! Was it hard?" Talbot asked when each of them set their things on the work table. All of them sweat-dropped when they thought of it.

"You stinkin' old man! They were nothing! That stupid girl made us chase her all over the place!"

"He made us dig through everything before giving it to us!"

"That herbivore didn't know what he was doing."

All this was said at once.

"Oh? Then do you want me to give you something to really complain about?" Reborn asked with a spark in his eye.

"N-No thanks!" Tsuna backed away while shaking his head.

"With these, I can get started. The thing I needed the most were the tongs. My last one crumbled right after; seems like it couldn't take the pressure of the heat after a thousand uses on acidic solutions. Sit down, everyone, sit down." They all seated on a stool, chair, something.

The moment he sat, Tsuna began to shift and tap his finger against his knee. He frowned subconsciously and shifted again.

"Juudaime, is something the matter?" Tsuna smiled.

"I'm fine, Gokudera-kun." He rubbed his head and twiddled his fingers. Gokudera shrugged and believed in him.

"Tell me about it," Talbot requested. "I would like to know what you had to go through before showing you the next locations."

Each of them retold their own encounters. For Hibari and Chrome's, Chrome did the talking, though she was more hesitant to speak to an entire group.

They left out the part where all of them looked like the six funeral wreaths.

"Mm…" Talbot hummed. "The missions seem more unreasonable than ever. Usually, you had to find certain things that are of utmost importance and handle them with care. With the risk higher, it's much more complicated to complete them without fail; the usual percentage of success is one."

"Y-You're kidding, right?" Gokudera was unsure of whether he heard right. "It was so easy!"

"The new generation of Gatherers are either going easy on you or there is nothing they really want at the moment. I'm not so sure about the ones you're going to next. They may be harder, or they may be simpler."

"Che!"

"Listen carefully," Talbot pulled out a map. "You're going to have to go over land this time. It's a long way off, so you'll take the trains.

"It goes through the large cities. You'll be getting off in the town, Salemi. Then you're going to Bivona which is in Agrigento. Your final stop is San Cataldo, in the province Caltanissetta."

Gokudera almost fell off his chair. "W-What! That's double the length from here to Termini!"

Giotto also looked worried. "Talbot, is it necessary for them to go so far off south? Our connections in Cataldo are still weak. They won't be able to get help if they need it."

"Aye, but that is where the pair of Virtual Photon Mirrors is. It's the closest, unless they are willing to go mainland. I need those. After the disruption of transferring over eight people through the worm hole, I discovered that they broke. I need to replace them with new ones."

Tsuna felt so lost with these terms. It didn't help that his mind was bouncing around his head. He turned to Gokudera who was nodding thoughtfully. His other Guardians looked just as clueless as him, so it was safe to guess that it wasn't his no-good-ness that was preventing him from understanding.

"I don't understand it," Lambo said.

"It's complicated to explain. All you need to know is that you must bring back the pair of mirrors in perfect condition, otherwise this will never work."

"Okay, then what's the first thing we need to get?" Gokudera asked.

Talbot described what they needed and where to get them. As he was telling them this, Tsuna suddenly jumped and his chair toppled over.

"Tsuna, what's up?" Yamamoto asked. He saw that his friend seemed edgy this morning. Everyone else was waiting for an answer.

Tsuna laughed nervously. "Honestly, I don't know. I can't sit still. And Hibari-san's gone," he added.

"When did he leave the room?" Gokudera sprung up from his own seat.

"A while ago," Reborn said.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Tsuna cried. "He's probably looking for someone to fight!"

"I thought you knew," was Reborn's explanation.

"He's not going to find anyone to fight," Giotto said. "They're all asleep."

"Oh—Juudaime…maybe Hibari just went to take a nap somewhere?" Gokudera hit a fist into his open palm. "That guy hates being woken up…"

Tsuna's mouth made an O shape at the possibility.

"That's the safer assumption. You'll have to find him to make sure."

"Reborn! No one's crazy enough to look for Hibari-san!"

"Kufufu." Maybe I can give him nightmares, Mukuro thought.

"Well, that is all I needed from all of you," Talbot concluded. "Have a safe journey. Giotto."

"Yes?" Talbot gave him an envelope.

"Here are their tickets. Please distribute them to Decimo's family once you return to the mansion." Giotto accepted them with a nod.

"I better get paired with Juudaime this time!" Gokudera growled. "And why can't I just buy tickets at a station that didn't run out?"

"Yes, that is another option, usually."

"Usually?"

Giotto said, "They are on a shortage of trains at the moment. Three of them crashed due to…some famiglias… I had to pull some strings to allow these tickets to be sold to us. You won't find these tickets anywhere else."

"I-It's alright, Gokudera-kun!"

"…If Juudaime says so…"

"We'll look at the tickets once we get out of Talbot's hair," Giotto muttered and led the way out with a final goodbye to Talbot. "Make sure you eat something!"

"Yar, yar!" was Talbot's absentminded reply. "Close the door behind you…"

Tsuna did as Talbot asked and went back to the mansion.

"Reborn, that meeting didn't last two minutes! Why did we have to get up so early? Now I can't go back to sleep!"

Reborn smirked. "It's because the train is leaving at six."

"That's hours away…I could have slept through lunch…"

"Six," Reborn repeated, "in the morning."

"E-Eh?" Tsuna was ready to jump up and down and complain about why they had to leave so early—hm? Jump…up and down? Why on earth would I do that! Oh never mind…we only have an hour or so to prepare!

"And then after we—Young Vongola, why is your face like that?" Lambo was talking to Yamamoto about details of his mission when he happened to look at Tsuna and saw that his face was twisted in an odd expression.

Tsuna shook his head as if to clear it and smiled. "Nothing…it's just that…we have to leave by six!"

Their initial shock was the same as Tsuna's, but it changed after a few minutes.

"We should have enough time, Juudiame!" Gokudera said confidently.

"That doesn't leave me much time to nap. Yare, yare…"

"Extreme! It's a race, Sawada!"

"Kufufufu."

Yamamoto laughed. "Fine by me! But didn't Primo's master want to fight against us?"

"Y-You're right!" Tsuna grew nervous and picked up the pace. Giotto watched him curiously but did nothing else other than that. By the time they reached the exit, they were running.

"Eto…why are we running?" Tsuna murmured, out of breath. He dimly remembered that he started it, but why would he ever support running? Hadn't he had enough of running for his life yet?

"I'll have breakfast ready for you all as you go change and pack your bags," Giotto offered.

"W-We don't want to be a bother…"

"It's fine, it's fine. The cook's awake anyways."

"S-So early?"

"Well…I began my day early today to catch up on the documents I have to look over since I took two days off in a row. I went to the kitchens to grab a snack and the cook was already in there. I'll just ask him to whip something up for you."

"Thank you so much, Primo!" Tsuna bowed and Gokudera followed his example. Yamamoto grinned.

"Haha! That helps. Thanks!"

They went their separate ways after that. Giotto watched Tsuna's running figure bound up the stairs with his Guardians. He turned to Reborn.

"Reborn, did you give Decimo...something?"

"Oh? Did you notice?"

Primo nodded his head slowly.

After cursing Reborn in his head a dozen times, Tsuna threw things he might need into a pack. A spare change of clothes…some money…and some food later, if he managed to find the time to go into the kitchen. He looked at the grandfather clock that was in the room: it was half an hour until six o'clock.

We might actually make it! Damn Reborn for not telling us we had to leave so early! He ran out his room and into the dining hall. Onido was seated at the table and so were a few of the quicker Guardians. He skidded to a halt when he remembered Yamamoto's reminder of the fight Kovato "challenged" them to. Then Tsuna shook it off.

We don't have time for a fight! Even if we did, I won't want to be in it! He ran to his seat and began to gobble down whatever was placed before him. The last to arrive was Hibari, who claimed that Hibird needed something to eat. Once Hibird had his fill, the two of them left. Tsuna didn't even get a chance to ask him to stay.

"Master Kovato!" Ryohei roared halfway through his breakfast, "what are we going to extremely do with the challenge!"

"What challenge?"

Ryohei frowned at the answer and tried to remind the man about what he proclaimed the time they met. "That was a challenge? Hmph. I'm not foolish enough to fight against a bunch of children."

"What!" Gokudera exploded.

"Gokudera-kun!" Tsuna warned. He downed his glass of milk and made sure everyone was ready. Giotto cleared his throat.

"About your tickets." This got everyone's attention. He held eight tickets in one hand, the blank side facing himself as he showed them. "I am in possession of three which go to Salemi, your first stop; two for Bovina, and three for San Cataldo, your last stop before returning. These tickets can bring you back, so don't lose them."

"I'm staying with Juudaime!" Gokudera declared before anyone else could say anything.

"How are we going to chose where to go?" Lambo asked.

"You won't be choosing," Reborn said ominously. "I will do it for you." Tsuna tapped his feet to the floor impatiently. All the while he was looking at the clock. Twenty minutes left. How far was the train station?

"How is this going to work?" he asked quickly. Reborn smirked. One reason was because he probably had a strange plan in mind. The other…

"Mukuro, Gokudera, and Yamamoto will be going to Salemi."

"Wha—Reborn-san! Juudaime needs his right-hand man beside him for this!" Gokudera protested.

"Shut up," Reborn ordered. He continued. "Ryohei and Hibari will be going to Bovina."

"You're kidding, right? How can you put the most anti-social one of us with the loudest one of us, Reborn?" Tsuna squeaked. He pulled at his hair and stood from his seat. Oh, this doesn't sound good. I hope onii-san won't make too much of a fuss as they go! He'll be bitten to death by Hibari!

"You all have to learn to work with each other. The more uncooperative you are, the more I will mash you up.

"Tsuna will be with Lambo and Chrome."

Chrome bowed in her chair and Lambo took the news calmly. He didn't mind the outcome. It was better than staying with the hot headed Gokudera day and night.

Gokudera sulked in a corner, since it was obvious Reborn wasn't going to change his mind. Giotto shrugged and handed out the tickets. He sympathised with Gokudera, but there was nothing he could do since this was the tenth generation family, not his own. And he saw a bit of sense in this organisation.

Another five minutes passed and Hibari was still a no show. Ryohei held their tickets, but they weren't going anywhere until Hibari arrived.

"Tsuna, go find him."

"Hiie! Why me!"

"You're the boss." Tsuna groaned and ran off to find his Cloud Guardian. It's always me. I should have guessed!

Alaude was sleeping in his room on the fourth floor. The things in his room were mostly black or a dark velvet red. His large four-poster bed was to the side, where he could see any attackers before they could see him.

His breathing continued to be slow and steady when one of his doors opened a crack. He knew that it wasn't one of his colleagues since they knew better than to just walk in his room or to wake him up. It must be that blood thirsty child that reminded him of his younger self.

The footsteps were muffled because of the carpet placed on the floor, but Alaude heard it as clear as if he were stomping around as hard as he could. He still has a lot to learn, Alaude thought to himself.

The footsteps stopped at the foot of his bed.

To a normal person, they wouldn't have heard it, but Alaude noticed the rustle of clothing and that was all the warning he needed to avoid the tonfa which was meant for his head. They stood on opposite sides of the bed, waiting for the other to make the first move. When Hibari didn't, Alaude said, "You have to go."

"Not before I bite you to death."

"A child like you won't be able to fight against me. I refuse to even let you try. Leave."

Hibari's eyes turned to slits and he released the annoyance he withheld for a very long time. The air around him fired up. It held a shade of purple and the two tonfa were covered with Cloud Flames.

"I'll bite you to death!" He leaped over the bed and took a swing at Alaude's head again but the man took a step back graciously, wasting no movement. He used a foot to trip Hibari but he was quick on his feet as well. He jumped into the air. As Hibari landed he used his left tonfa to swipe at Alaude before standing to charge. Hibari was irritated beyond belief when the man didn't fight back. He continued to stare at Hibari with that cool, bored gaze.

He will make him fight.

Tsuna wandered around their rooms, wondering how he was going to find Hibari and not be bitten to death. When he reached Hibari's door, he put his ear to it, trying to listen for Hibari. Then he sighed.

"I'm not going to hear Hibari-san, even if he's in there," Tsuna told himself. He knocked and prepared himself to run. He knocked his head and knocked a second time, as loud as he dared. He frowned and jumped from foot to foot. When Hibari didn't open the door to bite him to death a second later, he twisted the knob and looked inside. Hibari wasn't in there.

"Herbivore! Herbivore!" Hibird announced. By now Tsuna was used to a mere bird calling him a herbivore.

'Hibird!" Tsuna walked into the room to the window sill, where Hibird was perched. "Do you know where Hibari-san is? Why aren't you with him?" He felt foolish talking to a bird, but why the heck not? This was the bird which was taught their school song by Hibari, and helped them before in the past.

Hibird chirped. "Alaude! Alaude!"

Tsuna scratched his head. "Alaude? Why are you saying Alaude's name? It's not like I'm him, or he's in the room." He turned around to be sure, just in case.

Hibird flew into the air and out the window.

"Hibari! Alaude! Fight!"

"EEEH! At a time like this! We have to leave in like—EEP! We have to leave right now!" He bolted out the room and made his way to the next story up. Instantly, he heard thumps coming from Alaude's room just to his right. When something crashed, he opened the door.

"Hibari-san! We have to leave!" He said anxiously and wide eyed. Oh, I'm such an idiot!

He scanned the room. There was much less mess than he thought there would be with two dangerous Guardians in the same room. The only things which seemed unorganised were the bed and the smashed vase in the room.

Hibari stopped his attack and glared at Tsuna. He moves back slightly. But the knowing that Reborn will shoot him if Hibari wasn't on the train overrode his fear. He stepped forwards. Hibari cocked an eyebrow.

"Reborn says we have to go."

"The carnivore?"

Tsuna nodded and his finger twitched towards his pocket. Hibari saw this and smirked.

"Hibari! Hibari!" Hibird landed on his head and Hibari rolled his eyes upwards. He began to sing the school's song, reminding Hibari why they needed to get on the train. They couldn't leave the herbivores to be responsible for the things that will return them to Namimori. He extinguished the flames on his tonfa and put them away. He looked at Tsuna who tensed. He sniffed and looked at Alaude.

"I'll let you off this time…but I will bite you to death."

Alaude snorted. Tsuna gulped nervously and shifted his weight to his other leg. Can we get going?

Hibari turned and jumped out the window. It was as if Tsuna's heart jumped into his mouth.

"Hibari-san!" He dashed to the window and looked down. "That's four floors!" Hibari was gone.

"Hey."

"EEP!" He turned to face the first generation Cloud Guardian. "H-Hai…?"

"Get out."

Tsuna was more than glad to oblige. He ran all the way down to the main entrance, where his family was waiting.

"Everyone!"

"Juudaime! Did you find that skylark?" Gokudera seemed to have recovered from his depression.

"A-Ah, he went ahead. Let's go!" He picked up his bag and tossed it over a shoulder and ran to where the carriage was waiting for them. They wasted no time for farewells. Reborn made it clear that if they didn't leave that instant, they were going to miss their ride.

But the inevitable happened.

"Hiiie! You're joking right! That's impossible! How can the wheel axles just some off!" Tsuna panicked as Reborn narrowed his eyes and cocked his gun. The driver got so frightened they couldn't make heads or tails of what he was saying.

"You bastard! Do you know that we're on a tight schedule!" Gokudera pulled the front of the man's shirt.

"I-I'm sorry! It was from when we arrived at the Vongola Mansion so quickly! It couldn't take it! I-I'll have a new one ready in just a moment!" He ran off.

"Maa, maa! There's no reason to get mad at him, ne?"

"We'll just run to the extreme!"

'Shut it, Turf-Top! You can't just run there!"

"What was that, Octopus-Head!"

"Mou," Tsuna sighed and face palmed. Then he turned to Reborn. "Reborn, how the hell did you choose our groups? They seem so random! Onii-san and Hibari-san are clashing! It will never work out!"

"Are you questioning my judgement?" Reborn asked darkly. Now, the gun was aiming at Tsuna.

"EEP! I—no! I'm not!"

"Hmph." The gun was put away, much to Tsuna's relief. "For your reason, I am balancing it."

"Eh?"

"I'm putting the weak one with the strong ones."

"O-Oh…" That's cruel to just call Lambo weak! "Wait…there's something else other than that…isn't there?" Tsuna asked cautiously. Reborn grinned victoriously.

"Your Hyper Intuition is getting better. My hard tutoring is finally paying off." More like torture! "As for the other reason, you will find out later."

After that talk, the driver had the other carriage the family used ready for them.

Mukuro decided that he didn't want to ride with them, so he left to go to the station through the mist. Chrome followed him.

"Why does the stupid cow get to be with Juudaime?" Gokudera muttered. Tsuna glanced at Lambo, who was sleeping peacefully. He smiled.

"It's fine, Gokudera-kun. He's not that much trouble when he's adult Lambo."

"That's true…but he's still weak!"

"Well…he's not weak, Gokudera-kun…and…"

"And…?" Yamamoto and Ryohei listened, interested.

"I uh…think it's better if Lambo is with me," he confessed. "It's not that I don't believe in his abilities to protect himself or anything, but…I'll still be worried. I have a bad feeling about this trip. I hope it won't be as bad as I think it will be."

"Juudaime…"

"Tsuna…"

"Hm…I don't understand what's going on, but we will pass this challenge TO THE EXTREME!" the shouting woke Lambo from his nap and he looked irritated at Ryohei.

"Yare, yare, can't I get some peace and quiet here?"

It took them ten minutes to reach the station, which was pretty good. Gokudera had to threaten to bomb the driver for that to happen though, and the driver wasn't about to joke around with a boy who held a lit dynamite to his face.

The train's whistle blew and the conductor called out, "All aboard!"

"Thank you!" Tsuna shouted to the driver as they ran on.

They found their seats in the private quarters.

"Wow…" Tsuna whispered. There were plush carpets and portraits hanging. They were far away from the other compartments, so all was quiet. There were doors leading to separate rooms. He saw that there were two beds per room, and there were four rooms, just enough for them. Lambo walked into the first one to their left.

"I'm going to be in here…don't bother me…" He shut the door.

Gokudera snorted.

They walked on and there was a larger area which was for lounging.

"Is this really a train?" Tsuna wondered out loud.

"Kufufufu. Of course it is," Mukuro said. Tsuna jumped in shock. Mukuro was sitting in one of the cushioned seats beside the window. Beside him was a plate of snacks and a fruit punch.

"When did you have the time to get those!"

"Kufufufufu."

"Answer Juudaime's question, you p—" Yamamoto covered Gokudera's mouth with sweat rolling down his face.

"Maa, Gokudera! There's no need to um, get rude!"

"Boss," Chrome said. "The train will be moving soon…"

"Huh?"

Tsuna fell to the floor due to the train, moving. "Gaaah!"

"Juudaime!" Gokudera's arms turned into windmills and he knocked over Yamamoto. He hit the wall with a grunt. Gokudera grabbed onto the chair bolted to the floor and steadied himself. If they weren't so surprised, this wouldn't have happened.

Tsuna wasn't as lucky. He fell and somersaulted twice before hitting the far wall and a stack of literature toppling onto his head. He groaned and sat up. Once the train picked up its speed and it stayed constant, he had no problem moving.

"Hiie! I knocked down the bookshelf!" He sprang up and began to quickly put them back.

"Juudaime…are you alright?" Gokudera asked worriedly. Tsuna picked up more books form the ground and looked at Gokudera.

"Oh, yes, I'm okay! Perfectly fine!"

Yamamoto blinked. Then he shrugged.

"Do you need help?" Gokudera asked.

"Mm, no I'm almost done…" Gokudera went to help anyways, as well as to see what they had in the collection. His eyes widened when he found a book on UMAs. He snatched it off the shelf and began to read right there. Tsuna watched with an amused smile on his face.

"Gokudera-kun, why don't you read on a couch or something?"

Gokudera barely registered the words and nodded. He slowly made his way to the couch and sprawled on it, taking up all three spots.

Yamamoto laughed at Gokudera's actions and took a seat by the table and rang a bell for an order. Tsuna continued to stand, not really wanting to sit. He looked out the window on the opposite side. He opened it and stuck his head out. Instantly, his hair and the skin on his face were pushed back. He pulled himself back in and felt his face.

"Wow…blah."

Yamamoto laughed cheerfully.

"Where's Hibari-san?" Tsuna looked into all the rooms but didn't see him.

"Kufufu. He went up the moment he knew we had to share rooms."

"Up?"

"Outside," Chrome said. "Hibari-san said he was going to be on the roof."

"Hiie! Won't he get blown off!"

"That will be good," Mukuro mused. He drank the rest of his drink and stood. "Maybe I should kick him off."

"Hiie!"

Mukuro walked to the end of their compartment and opened the door. They were instantly blasted with the loudness of the train moving over the tracks. Mukuro stepped onto the platform and closed it. Tsuna ran to it just in time to see Mukuro climb up the ladder to the top.

"Oh, this is bad!" Tsuna cried. "What should I do? Follow? Stay?" When he heard weapons clashing and thought of all the bloody things that could come of it, he pulled at his hair.

Ever since they first fought with each other, Hibari held an everlasting grudge against Mukuro. This wasn't going to be the last time this happened.

"Jeez!" Tsuna growled and put on his gloves. He opened the door.

"Oh, Tsuna! What are you doing?" He looked back at Yamamoto with orange eyes.

"I'm going to stop them from fighting." Tsuna closed the door firmly shut behind him and launched into the air not even using the ladder.

When he landed on all fours on the top, he found both his Guardians near the end of the train, fighting. He flew to them and tried to talk them out of it.

"Mukuro, Hibari-san, it's useless to fight at the moment!" They didn't hear him.

He repeated it louder.

"Kufufu. But this passes the boredom."

"I will bite him to death."

"Don't bother us, Tsunayoshi." Mukuro flung snakes at Tsuna from midair. Tsuna whacked on away with his arm and fried another. There were around twenty of them. He jumped away and one flew in the air with its mouth wide open, sharp teeth sticking out. Tsuna stopped it just in time and threw it overboard.

One tangled his legs and he lost his balance. He regained it by using his flames. He swiped at the snakes quickly, a stream of soft flames left in the air. The snakes burned.

Once they were all gone, he flew in between Hibari and Mukuro, who were charging at each other.

He extinguished his flame when they stopped.

"Hibari-san, Mukuro! You can't just fight here. And…" A family doesn't fight against each other so much!

"And why not?"

"We-Well, because you'll make the rest of us worry over the two of you," he said, looking at them both. There was a small pause.

"I don't need a herbivore to worry over me."

"T-Too bad! I don't want you to fight against each other! And Mukuro, there are people who worry for you as well, like me and Chrome."

Mukuro closed his mouth, startled. It turned into a wry smile. "Kufufu. Alright. I'll listen to you this time. You're turning out to be very fun…just more for me to look forward to when I take control over your body."

Tsuna sweat-dropped. Mukuro went back down. He let out a breath and faced Hibari—no, a tonfa.

"Ow!"

"Herbivore…are you replacing that pineapple head? Fine by me."

Tsuna ducked and ran to the ladder before the prefect could react. "Hiie! Sorry, Hibari-san! I'm sorry!" Tsuna slipped and fell down. "HIIE!"

Back in the safety of the train, he flopped down on a couch beside Gokudera.

"Juudaime?" He sat up. He was wearing his glasses. "What happened?"

"Ah…it was nothing."

"Now what am I to do for the rest of the ride?" Mukuro sighed. Chrome looked around to see if there was anything Mukuro could pass the time with.

"Eto…" Tsuna said. Mukuro spotted a chess set placed in the middle of the coffee table.

"Oya? A strategy game."

"Tch! I can beat you easily in chess," Gokudera snorted. Mukuro eyed him calculatingly.

"We'll see about that. Kufufu."

"C-Chess?" Tsuna said. "How do you play chess?"

"Juudaime!" Gokudera was suddenly excited. "I'll teach you as I beat that bastard!" He pointed to Mukuro. A vein popped in Mukuro's forehead. He sat down on the black side. Gokudera took the pale, brown coloured ones. Tsuna sat cautiously beside him as if his seat would blow up.

"You're on."

"Oh! What's this?" Yamamoto, Ryohei and Chrome stepped forward and surrounded the table.

"Extreme competition! Go Octopus-Head! Go Pineapple-Head!"

"What did you just call me?" Gokudera and Mukuro glared. Ryohei grinned.

"I wonder who's going to win!"

"Haha! I don't usually play chess. My Pops taught me and we play once in a while."

"Fine," Mukuro declared. "We'll have a competition. Whoever wins has to be the loser's slave for the rest of the train ride!"

"Deal!" Gokudea shouted.

"Who's going to win—Mukuro, or Gokudera-kun?" Tsuna said. "They both seem evenly matched!"

As the scenery around them flew by, they played. Yamamoto brought food for all of them. The spectators got comfortable.

Chess was usually boring, but with the competitive auras rising from both of Mukuro and Gokudera's inner selves, it was hard to say so.

-LLM

Edited 2015-03-23rd