Hey, guys! It's time for our Wednesday update! We're posting early tonight for once. Hope you enjoy this chapter as much as we did! Shoichi and Spanner make another appearance!

Target 24: The Testing Phase

Spanner walked down the streets of Namimori carrying a large luggage bag with him. He had all his supplies in it, except for his laptop which Mini Mosca was carrying inside him as he followed after him.

It had been an easy matter to figure out where Shoichi lived and honestly, Spanner thanked it. He needed a place to work where Xanxus wasn't throwing things and yelling, putting his precious invention in danger. So it wasn't long before Spanner had gathered his things and headed to the only other place he could think of. He knocked on Shoichi's door, practically looking as if he was moving in.

Since his mother and sister had gone shopping for the day, Shoichi was alone when the he heard someone knock on the front door. The redhead sighed with slight annoyance as he slipped out of his room and towards the entrance. Who could be visiting this early in the morning?

To his surprise, when he opened the door, the Italian foreigner he met the day before yesterday was there waiting for him.

"S-Spanner-san!" Shoichi gaped at the mechanic, slightly shocked to see him standing there. "W-what are you doing here?" he asked, blinking rapidly.

Shoichi hadn't expected the other to truly take up his offer to come visit, although he was glad the blonde had actually come. The redhead couldn't help but to smile slightly.

Spanner found himself smiling softly when the redhead answered the door. "Yo." He gave the other a small wave. "My boss was giving me a hard time and throwing things, so I needed a quiet place to work. You don't mind, do you?" he asked, tilting his head slightly.

Shoichi was startled by the request for a moment, but after a second, he merely shook his head and ushered the other inside. "Oh, um, no, not at all!" he said. Shoice wondered what type of boss the blonde had… He sounded scary.

"Do you need anything? Um, I mean, would you like anything to drink or something?" he specified once the other was inside.

Spanner walked inside and slipped off his shoes once Shoichi said it was okay. "No, thank you. Mini Mosca has everything I need. You don't need to trouble yourself, Shoichi." He nodded slightly as the little robot followed him inside, giving a polite bow to Shoichi as he entered the house.

"So where can I work?" he asked, eager to continue. He was almost done and maybe Shoichi could take a look at it too.

"Oh, um." Shoichi took a look around his living room, noting the messy state his sister had left it in. He blushed slightly. "I'm sorry about the mess," he apologized immediately. Even if they hadn't planned to have guests, there was no reason for being this messy. But his sister was always like this... Shoichi inwardly sighed.

"You could work in my room if that's okay with you?" he suggested.

"I don't mind." Spanner shrugged, glancing around. He always kept his own space pretty messy as well so it didn't really matter to him. In fact, if it wasn't for Mini Mosca cleaning up after him, he'd probably be buried in stuff.

"Sure. That'd be great, Shoichi." Spanner nodded, extending a hand. "Lead the way."

Shoichi nodded. "Right."

However, once inside his room, Shoichi soon remembered what he had been doing before the other had arrived. With wide eyes and an almost embarrassed blush, Shoichi quickly reached for the magazine that lay on his bed.

Spanner blinked as he caught a glimpse of what was on the bed before Shoichi picked it up. "What's that?" he asked, moving over and peeking over the redhead's shoulder.

It was a music magazine. Spanner pulled back and shot the other a puzzled look. "Oh," he said. "Do you like music, Shoichi?" he asked curiously as he put down his bag and accepted a lollipop from Mini Mosca.

Shoichi's blush increased slightly. "A… a bit," he confessed almost reluctantly and looked off to the side as he twisted the music magazine behind his back. Shoichi had kept this particular obsession a bit of a secret within his household. He knew his mother was expecting a lot out of him and would be disappointed in him if she found out what he really wanted to do in the future. Although his mother had always enrolled him in the most expensive private schools and cram schools so that could have a good career in the future, the truth was that Shoichi had no real interest in school. He found it too easy and unchallenging, and he would much rather spend his time learning to play music on different types of instruments.

Spanner sat cross-legged on the floor and began opening up his bag. Inside were a bunch of tools, cables, and a small rectangular container which he took out first. He placed it down next to him as Mini Mosca set up his computer. "That's nice, I guess." Spanner shrugged, not really interested in anything besides mechanics. "What do you play?"

Shoichi shuffled on his feet slightly. He wasn't used to talking about these kinds of things with… anyone really. The few friends he did have at school weren't really interested in music. Everyone at Yumei was mostly focused on studying. It was a bit suffocating at times.

So it was with a bit of relief easing at his chest that he told the other, "Guitar mostly…although I have been trying to learn to play some other instruments as well lately." He smiled shyly, looking down at his feet.

Spanner looked at him. "That's cool. But if you don't mind me saying, Shoichi, I think you're too smart to be a musician," he said before turning to his computer and starting it up. He connected a cable from the laptop to the small container and waited for it to boot up.

Shoichi looked up at the blonde as he said this and felt pretty taken aback by the other's remark. He felt pretty embarrassed at the compliment, but at the same time felt the need to defend his interest. "Ah, I don't know about that." Shoichi shifted on his feet. "I don't really… I mean, music can be pretty challenging. It's more than just about knowing things. You have to create things. And there are endless possibilities about what you can do! I actually find it more stimulating than most of my schoolwork." Shoichi began to defend his interest passionately, but ended up finishing his statement with a bit of an embarrassed smile. He could feel his stomach begin to shift anxiously and he bit his lip as if the action would help him shut up. He didn't know why he was babbling all of the sudden. He had never really talked about these things before, but now that he was, it felt like he couldn't stop.

Spanner listened to Shoichi as he set up his things. He smiled a bit and turned to look at him. "Sounds a lot like robotics," he pointed out. "It's a lot more technical, but I think it's the same basic thing. I made Mini Mosca. Created him all on my own. And it's definitely more stimulating." He patted Mini Mosca's head, smiling, before turning his attention back to his stuff. He turned on his computer, and as soon as he was able, he opened up what he was working and began typing quickly. "Besides, I think robotics and mechanics are more useful than music. And you've already proven to me that you're more than capable of doing it." He pauses what he was doing and spared another look at the redhead. "I really don't think you'd be a good musician," he told the other bluntly.

Shoichi's eyebrows furrowed as he wondered what to say to that. Although he took insult to the other's assumption— Shoichi was a really good musician!—at the same time, the redhead found himself flushing at the compliment he was being paid. Here was a teen his age who was already well into his career as a technician, and that same teen thought that Shoichi was more than capable of following the same path? It felt a little surreal.

Shoichi knew, during one of his ventures into the subject, that robotics was a really difficult subject to study. He had found it interesting for a long while, but had completely abandoned it once he began to get more interested in music.

Now, for some reason, he found himself questioning if that had perhaps been the right choice. What Spanner was saying was true…

But wait, what was he thinking? That was crazy. Not only would Shoichi be abandoning his dream, but he also would be delving into something he wasn't exactly confident about.

"Um…" Shoichi ended up shrugging at the words. "I don't know…" He bit his lip slightly, looking unsure of what he was saying. It was clear that now that Spanner had brought this up Shoichi was going to be thinking about it. "I'm not sure I'm cut out to do that kind of stuff. I mean, I barely know anything about robotics."

Spanner shrugged. "Learn," he said as he turned back to his laptop. The invention was already done. All that was left was the programming part. He had already decided to set the limit at 300,000. Just to play it safe. He had no idea what the Vongola Tenth's limit was, so it was a good idea to just do a couple minutes extra programming than have his invention fall short. Within seconds, Spanner was dead to the world and lost into his computer.

Shoichi stared at the blonde, feeling a little stunned at his bluntness. Once again, he was left speechless. Once again, for some reason, he felt embarrassed rather than insulted by the other's attitude. As he noticed the other begin to lose focus on the outside world, a small smile began to slowly lift at the corner of his lips. He was glad he had met Spanner. The blonde was an interesting person. Shoichi would be sad to see the mechanic go once he was finished with his business in Japan.

It was with these thoughts that Shoichi moved to sit on his bed, which was behind from where Spanner was sitting. He peeked over the other's shoulder to see what he was working on. It looked complicated and Shoichi didn't understand much of it, only that it seemed to be for measuring something. As he watched the other work quietly, Shoichi found himself growing entranced at the other's work.

Spanner was silent except for the occasional out loud thought. Usually it was something like, "In case of an overload, I should put this..." and "Perhaps the voice command should be different..." and other such things.

About an hour later, Spanner's quiet muttering stopped and his eyes lit up. "It's done!" He grinned, looking proud at his work. He looked up from his laptop and began looking around for the redhead, only to blink in confusion when he didn't immediately see him. "Shoichi?" Spanner began looking around the room. He didn't notice the other had moved during his work until he turned all the way around. "There you are. When did you get back there?"

Shoichi, who was still contemplating on the mechanics of what he had seen, blinked in surprise as he was called to attention. "Oh, um, I just wanted to see what you were doing, and I guess I kind of got into it." He grinned a little sheepishly, moving an idle hand to fiddle with the bridge of his glasses. "I couldn't really figure it out though. Just that it's seems to be for measuring those flames you were talking to me about yesterday."

Spanner nodded. "Sort of. You want to come see it in action? I'm going off to test it right now," he said, disconnecting the cable from the container. Mini Mosca began to putting things away. Spanner left the bag he had brought in the room for now and got up to his feet as he waited for Shoichi's response. It seemed he wanted the redhead to come.

Shoichi's eyes widened at the offer. "I'd love to!" He grinned, looking equally as excited. "Where are we going to go?" Shoichi slid off the bed and moved to follow the blonde.

"To the young Vongola's house. Do you know him?" Spanner smiled and headed out of the house with Mini Mosca trailing after him. "Come on." When they started walking down the streets, it was Mini Mosca who was leading the way with his GPS.

Shoichi shook his head, although the name Vongola sounded oddly familiar for some reason. He followed Spanner and Mini Mosca as they began to head out the street, making sure to text both his mother and sister that he was going out after he finished locking up. He engaged the mechanic in conversation for a while as they walked to their destination. However, the longer they walked, the more Shoichi's stomach began to twist uncomfortably. It wasn't until it was too late that he realized where they had arrived.

Upon arriving in front of the Sawada household, Mini Mosca beeped. Spanner smiled down at the robot, looking at it with gratefulness. "Thank you, Mini Mosca," he said, before stepping forward to knock on the door.

It only took a minute before the door opened. Tsuna blinked in surprise upon seeing who was standing at his door. "Oh! Spanner! Nice to see you." The brunette smiled at the sight of the other.

As the door of the Sawada household opened, Shoichi's stomach began to ache in a horrible manner. "Y-you know these people?!" Shoichi found himself squeaking once he regained use of his voice. His eyes widened dramatically and his complexion turned paler.

Spanner and Tsuna both blinked at the other's panic. "Don't worry, Shoichi," Spanner said, slightly confused. "There's nothing wrong with Vongola. In fact, he's a lot better than my current boss."

Tsuna sighed. He didn't really know what to say in response; anyone was better than Xanxus. He looked back to the panicked redhead and tried his best to be friendly. "My name's Sawada Tsunayoshi. Are you a friend of Spanner's?" he asked, giving a smile.

Shoichi stammered wide-eyed and took a step backwards in response, seemingly unable to get over his terror. His arms were cradling his stomach protectively and he looked rather nauseous.

Oh god, why did we have to come here? I told myself I was never going to come back! The redhead inwardly anguished as images of that dreaded day began to suddenly come forth in his mind, making the redhead shudder. He shook his head then, firmly, and shut his eyes. "I-I…!" The redhead struggled to speak, but he was finally able to stutter out a sentence, though it mostly came out as a whimper. "I think I forgot to do something! Sorry, Spanner! Gotta go!" Shoichi turned around quickly and he was about to run as far, far away as he could, but it was at that moment that Lambo jumped out the second-floor window and landed on the redhead's head, the impact sending the other's glasses clattering down on the ground.

"PWAHAHA! The great Lambo-san is here!" Lambo's hands were on his hips and he was grinning widely as he spotted Tsuna. "Tsunaaa! Play with me!" the young cow demanded as he turned around to face his fifteen-year-old "brother." It appeared that Lambo had already recovered from the incident that had happened this morning.

"Lambo!" Tsuna hurried forward and picked the young Bovino off of the redhead. "You can't just jump on to people's heads like that!" he scolded, shooting the redhead an apologetic frown.

Spanner frowned slightly and looked at the other boy. "Shoichi? Are you alright?" The redhead looked sick to his stomach and Spanner wondered what was wrong.

Shoichi just groaned in response and hesitantly moved to pick up his glasses.

Lambo, on the other hand, finally seemed to notice their guests. "Ah!" the young Bovino exclaimed and hurriedly squirmed out of Tsuna's arms. "It's you!" He grinned wildly and began to jump up the redhead. "Hey, hey! Play with me!" he demanded.

"Lambo!" Tsuna reached for Lambo again. "Why don't you go play with I-Pin or something?!" he asked with a frustrated huff.

Spanner was holding the container protectively, not liking how destructive Lambo looked. But he looked at Shoichi with a bit of worry and reached out, squeezing his shoulder.

Shoichi flinched a little at the touch, and his eyes darted about as if wary that strange babies and even stranger bikini-wearing women would start to come out if Shoichi so much as blinked. "S-Spanner…do you mind if I wait out here?" he stammered, and tried his best to avoid looking at either Lambo or Tsuna. Although the redhead didn't actually mind the five-year-old that much, he definitely didn't want to get involved with the people of this household any more than was necessary.

"Nooooo!" Lambo cried out upon hearing the redhead's remark, and began to squirm more furiously. "This guy is Lambo-san's minion! You hafta play with me!" The cow pouted, flailing his arms desperately.

"It's okay. We're going to leave now, anyway," Spanner said with a nod.

"We are?" Tsuna blinked, holding Lambo at arm's length as the young boy flailed about. Spanner nodded and lifted the container a bit. Tsuna blinked for a second time before he looked at the little cow. "Lambo! If you behave here at home, I'll buy you a huge lollipop on my way back."

Lambo stopped flailing for a second… but soon, he began to get antsy again. "But I want one now!" he demanded. "Gimme, gimme!"

"Augh!" Tsuna told his guests to hold on for a second before heading inside with Lambo in his arms. He got some candy that they had left and gave it to Lambo before telling him to behave as he headed back out. "…Let's hurry before he comes back," he muttered with a sigh.

Spanner nodded.

"Come on, Shoichi," he said, patting the redhead's shoulder as they headed back to the sidewalk. Once again, Mini Mosca was leading the way.

Shoichi shot the brunette a wary glance but reluctantly began to follow, albeit from afar. This trip was much quieter on his part as he still felt petrified at the presence of the young brunette. Although Shoichi didn't remember much of what happened on that day, the little that he did still sent shivers down his back. Because of this, every now and then the redhead would keep shooting the fifteen-year-old short wary glances before biting his lip and looking down to the ground.

Just how is Spanner involved with these crazy people? Shoichi wondered as they walked, noticing with relief that his stomachache was beginning to subside.

Tsuna noticed the glances and felt a bit awkward. Did he look scary? He glanced once or twice to the redhead and cleared his throat. "So, um. Shoichi-san, was it?" He gave the other his best friendly smile. "How do you know Spanner?"

Shoichi startled slightly, growing wide-eyed upon being addressed by the brunette. "I, uh…" The redhead swallowed slightly and focused on the floor. "I only just met him a couple of days ago actually," he told the other quietly. "He helped me get home after I got stranded at the mountains." The redhead laughed nervously, and rubbed at his arm as he glanced up at the other once more. The smile helped him relax somewhat and he returned it with a small hesitant one of his own.

Tsuna blinked. "Stranded at the mountains?" he muttered before looking at Spanner. "Oh, it must have been after you helped me two days ago..." he said as Spanner nodded in confirmation. Tsuna looked back at Shoichi, glad he was calming down. "I don't know Spanner for longer than a few days myself but he's already been a good friend."

Spanner blinked at that and scratched his head. "It's not that, Vongola. I just see something unfinished and I have to fix it. It's how I am."

"Regardless," Tsuna smiled, "you're really helping me out, and I'm grateful," he said.

Spanner smiled at that. He was never used to receiving such gratitude. Tsuna was quickly climbing his respect levels.

Shoichi watched this exchange with a small frown on his face, beginning to feel slightly confused. Sawada seemed to actually be a normal guy after all…. A nice one to boot. Had Shoichi actually been anxious for no reason? Actually, had he perhaps only imagined that day? The fact that Shoichi didn't remember much of it made it all seem like it had been a dream… Although he was sure he had visited, perhaps his imagination had turned a perfectly normal day into a nightmare?

It wasn't much longer until they got to the top of the mountain that still had craters and burn marks across the top. Spanner panted slightly once they finally stopped. He was never going to get used to this. Mini Mosca produced three glasses of water and handed them out. Spanner and Shoichi drank theirs gratefully while Tsuna only took a few sips, not really tired.

"So, Spanner, what is it you have for me?" the brunette asked, looking at the mechanic.

Spanner glanced at Shoichi and smiled, waving his hand in a motion that gestured he wanted the redhead to sit down. Spanner wanted Shoichi to watch how his invention worked.

The blonde reached into his pocket as he turned back to look at Tsuna, and he opened the container he had showed the other earlier.

Tsuna blinked. "Contacts?" He leaned in, looking at the two small items. "But I don't have vision problems."

"They're Battle Contacts, Vongola. I invented them myself," Spanner said proudly. "Please put them in."

Shoichi quietly observed as Spanner handed over what he had been working on. His eyebrows furrowed at the name of the invention. What did battling contacts have to do with measuring flames? Shoichi didn't really get it, but he felt a little bit uneasy.

Tsuna looked at Spanner and wet his fingers with the water so they wouldn't be all dirty. It actually took several minutes of wincing and blinking before Tsuna was able to apply both contacts. He also put on the headset that Spanner handed over. Tsuna blinked a couple times before he put on his gloves and took out the Dying Will pills, swallowing them. As his forehead and hands burst into flames, the contacts started up. Several graphs and numbers flickered into his vision.

"Whoa," Tsuna said.

"W-what!?" Shoichi gaped in utter shock as he saw the brunette begin to spout flames through his body. He suddenly understood the reason behind the invention's name. His unease increased exponentially.

Unaware of the reaction he was causing, Tsuna took a moment to marvel at the graphs and numbers that appeared in his vision. "Spanner, what do these graphs mean?" he asked, looking at the blonde.

"They'll measure the flames in each hand," Spanner explained. "To start the X-Burner, you need to have the equal number of Fiamma Volts on each hand. When you have balance, you'll fire a perfect X-Burner." Spanner smiled at the thought of it. "I put in a voice command to start the program. All you have to do is say 'Operation: X' and the contacts will do the rest." The blonde then moved to sit down, taking the computer from Mini Mosca and setting up the instrument to measure Fiamma Voltage. He wanted this to be perfect. He wanted this to work.

"Alright..." Tsuna looked forward again, looking at all the numbers he didn't really understand. He decided to just ignore them for now and did as the blonde advised him to. "Operation: X," he murmured.

"Roger, Boss," a female mechanical voice spoke through his headset and suddenly all the numbers and graphs disappeared, replaced by a single circle with two lines, both on zero. It didn't take long for Tsuna to realize that one part of the circle was for his left hand and the other was for his right. He quickly took the position and began charging up his soft flames. The dial of his right hand went up and the soft flames pulsed behind him. Tsuna started building up the hard flames then.

"100,000 Fiamma Volts," the female voice said after a few moments, but the dial kept going up. Tsuna felt like he could do more. But the farther it went, the more nervous Tsuna got. When the voice informed him that he was at 150,000 Fiamma Volts, Tsuna decided to let it go. He needed to see if the contacts even worked before he tried something too big. He made sure the lines on the graph were even before he let it loose.

"X-Burner!" Tsuna whispered, and then the hard flames shot forward in a wide blast, taking out a huge part of the edge of the mountain along with a big chunk of the forest. The damage was incredible, but what really astounded Tsuna was the fact that shooting the X-Burner barely took any effort. The contacts had worked.

Shoichi watched this scene in disbelief. His eyes continued to widen further and further as he saw the other's flames—flames!—increase in magnitude. And then, his jaw dropped open and he felt his heart skip a beat as suddenly, the flames incinerated a good part of their surroundings.

"W-wha…What?!" Shoichi stammered in shock, unable to process what he had just seen. "T-the mountain! And the forest too!" he whispered to himself incredulously. One minute they were there, and the next…!

W-who the hell is this guy?! Shoichi swallowed loudly, once again beginning to question his sanity.

This isn't actually possible, it can't be, right? Shoichi tried to reassure himself. I'm either dreaming or insane…

Spanner's eyes were wide. It was beautiful. He was so busy watching the actual X-Burner that he didn't bother to look at the readings on his laptop screen. He already knew that the attack was perfect. "Amazing!" He stood up, his eyes almost shining with pride. He had done that. He was the one responsible for that wonderful perfection.

Tsuna smiled brightly as he stopped the attack and looked at his hands. He allowed the flames to dissipate and grinned broadly at the mechanic. "Spanner, it's perfect! Thank you so much!"

Spanner beamed with even more pride before looking at Shoichi. Through his excitement, he didn't notice the other's fear and nervousness. "Did you see that, Shoichi?!" He practically bounced on his heels.

Shoichi flinched diminutively upon being addressed and with wide eyes began to nod slowly, as if suddenly realizing the position he was in.

Oh god, are they going to kill me? Is this why they brought me out here? Is it because of the incident last time?! Shoichi began to panic.

Spanner blinked twice as he finally noticed Shoichi's shock and panic. "Shoichi? Are you okay?" he asked, crouching down next to him and tilting his head slightly.

"Ah... Maybe you should take him home, Spanner..." Tsuna said softly, recognizing panic and fear when he saw it.

Shoichi inched back a bit as the blonde closed in on him and upon hearing Sawada's careless remark,he couldn't help but to gulp nervously. Oh god, they know where I live… he realized with a traumatized whimper. And it was at this moment that he finally broke.

"Pleasepleasedon'tkillme!" he squeaked, feeling his stomach begin to cramp. His heartbeat raced rapidly in fear.

Spanner looked taken aback. "Shoichi, what are you talking about? No one's going to kill you," he said, tilting his head in confusion. "Vongola, here, wouldn't hurt a fly."

Tsuna put his gloves away and lifted his hands as a sign of peace. "I'm sorry about scaring you! I really didn't mean it!" he said quickly. He wondered what exactly he should do in this sort of situation...

Shoichi shut his eyes and shook his head wildly. "I didn't see anything! I swear! And I promise to give you back the box! So please don't kill me!" he insisted rather urgently.

"Wh-what box?!" Tsuna's eyes widened. "Listen, I'm not going to hurt you!"

Spanner held his lollipop stick and sighed slightly. "Shoichi. Let's go home," he said, packing up his laptop. If this went on, Vongola would start panicking too. Mini Mosca moved over to Shoichi and patted his shoulder, trying to be reassuring.

Shoichi didn't seem to hear the blonde and instead hunched his shoulders in a defensive manner. "The box! Lambo-san's box!" the redhead exclaimed, sounding half-exasperated and half-crazed. "I'm sorry for not giving it back before, but…" His voice wobbled here. "I just didn't want to go back to that house." He whimpered.

Tsuna blinked several times. "Lambo's... box? I... I don't know what you're talking about." He shook his head. "Shoichi-san, I think this is a misunderstanding! I've never heard of any box!"

Spanner watched the exchange between the two, growing curious.

"Y-you... you haven't?" Shoichi's head snapped up to look at the brunette. His eyes were wide and anxious and his breath slightly uneven. He had been sure the other had known about it. The reason he had avoided going back to the other's house was mostly because he thought they had been trying to kill him after seeing the contents of the box. But if that wasn't so…

Is that house just completely insane for no reason…? Shoichi shuddered.

"No!" Tsuna shook his head quickly. "Lambo hasn't mentioned a box to me, and I haven't heard anything like that." He sighed slightly. "To think this was all just a misunderstanding..." In a way, he was relieved. In another, he was curious. What sort of box could Shoichi be talking about? Well, it didn't matter anyway. It had nothing to do with him.

Shoichi twitched slightly at the other's words. While the redhead did feel slightly relieved that no one was out to kill him, there was no denying that there was something odd going on in the Sawada household. He shuddered just thinking about that place, and pointedly avoided looking at the destruction the innocent-looking brunette had caused.

Spanner was relieved that things settled down. He came up to his feet and Mini Mosca followed after him after picking up his computer. "Come on, Shoichi. Let's go home," he said, reaching out a hand to help Shoichi up.

"Ah, Spanner. The contacts-" Tsuna started.

"Keep them, Vongola. They're made for you, after all."

Tsuna smiled in reply.

Shoichi took a second to accept the offered hand, but was quick to retract it back to his side once he was up. He still felt a little nervous about the situation he was in. Now that he knew these two were associated, Shoichi wanted to question the mechanic a little bit more, especially since he seemed mostly normal compared to his acquaintance… Perhaps he would even be able to get rid of the box by asking Spanner to deliver it.

The idea filled him with relief, though at the same time, it made him realize that Spanner himself might not be normal as he appeared. The redhead bit his lip slightly at this thought and fiddled with his glasses as he quietly watched the two exchange goodbyes.

Spanner gave Tsuna the container for the contacts before turning to Shoichi and nodding. "Okay, let's go." He looked forward and sighed when he realized they'd have to scale the mountain again. "Down the mountain..." he muttered as Mini Mosca led the way back to Namimori.

Shoichi nodded jerkily, swallowing nervously as he gave Sawada a small hurried bow and followed after Spanner. Once they were well down the mountain, Shoichi couldn't help but to finally ask, "Um, Spanner…san?" he added the suffix a bit hesitantly, still feeling intimidated by the day's events.

"Just call me Spanner," the mechanic said as they walked, glancing back towards the redhead. "And what is it?" He held the lollipop stick and twirled the candy in his mouth as he waited for Shoichi to speak.

Shoichi nodded slightly at the correction before continuing his question. "Um, may I ask… just who exactly you work for?" Shoichi figured that was a good way to start.

Spanner scratched his head at that. "Well, right now I work for a group called the Varia. But I think..." He thought about it for a moment before smiling as if he reached a decision. "I'm going to quit and stay here in Japan. I'd much rather work for the young Vongola."

"Vongola…?" Shoichi's brows furrowed at the other's response, knowing he was referring to Sawada but still not quite understanding what the blonde was explaining. He bit his lip, wondering if it would be alright to inquire a bit more. It really wasn't anything of his business, but…

After thinking on it a bit more, the redhead just sighed. Perhaps it was better not to ask after all. Shoichi had a feeling that once he found out, nothing would be quite the same anymore.

Spanner nodded. "Let's go back to your house, Shoichi. I'm hungry," he said, stretching his arms above his head and effectively inviting himself over once more.

Shoichi nodded absentmindedly, still thinking about everything that had happened today. He followed the mechanic and his robot almost automatically back to his home.

It wouldn't be until much later that he would realize that Spanner had no intention of leaving his house any time soon…

"150,000 Fiamma Volts."

/ Keep going. /

Tsuna clenched his teeth slightly as his flames continued to increase in intensity. The robot voice soon informed him that he was at 200,000. It was a lot. A lot of power. And he felt Zero continuing to nudge for more. But there was something in the back of his mind that made him not want to continue. Tsuna shot off the X-Burner that was significantly more powerful than the one he had shot off before.

Once again, it barely took an effort to do.

/ Why did you stop? The contacts can handle more. /

"Yeah, well, I don't think I can." Tsuna frowned and sat down on the floor with a small sigh. Zero was silent for a long while before Tsuna heard him again.

/ You've been doing a good job. I was wrong about you when I said you were useless. /

Tsuna's eyes widened at the voices admission and he stayed silent, just continuing to listen.

/ You've been training hard and improving… But you still have more to fix. /

Tsuna sighed at that. "I know. I know I'm not perfect. I know there's a lot of ways I can improve myself."

/ Yes. You're right. But I wasn't only talking about fixing yourself. /

Tsuna frowned. "Then… what?" But Zero fell silent and refused to answer. Regardless, Tsuna felt something. A certain comfortable feeling washed through him and he knew that a tension inside of him he wasn't aware of until now had loosened and relaxed. Tsuna found himself smiling.

Now that he was finished testing the contacts out, Tsuna removed them and placed them back into the container Spanner had given him before heading down the mountain and back home.

But once Tsuna arrived home, he knew he wouldn't be getting a rest any time soon. He saw Reborn sitting in the kitchen, sipping at an espresso. The Sun Arcobaleno was staring at a wall with an intent look of concentration covering his face. Tsuna bit his lip and opened his mouth to speak, but he felt something heavy step on his foot. He looked down and saw a crocodile.

"HIIIIII!" Tsuna shrieked and scrambled back as the crocodile looked up at him. Much to his surprise, it didn't bite his head off.

"Vongola. Good to see you." Tsuna jumped again and turned a bit. Verde was standing on the back of the crocodile as it walked inside the house. He was also carrying the Ten Year Bazooka.

"V-Verde! It's you!" Tsuna was astonished, but he didn't have time to think much on this as he suddenly felt a weight on his shoulder.

"Took you long enough." It was Reborn. The baby had his usual smug smirk crossing his lips, though there was a certain hardness to his voice.

It was at this moment that Nana walked into the kitchen as well. Upon noticing the occupants of the room, she blinked in surprise. "Oh? Another one of Reborn-chan's friends?" she asked with a small grin. "I've been seeing so many of them lately!" she exclaimed with a happy laugh, and upon seeing the crocodile in her kitchen, she laughed a bit more. "Oh, what a cute toy!" She giggled before finally turning to face her son. "Well, I'm going to head out for a bit, okay, Tsu-kun? So take care of the kids for me!" she said, before waving them all a goodbye and leaving the house.

She thinks it's a toy! Tsuna thought with horror as his mother walked straight past the dangerous animal with nothing more than a smile. "Y-yeah! Bye, Mom...!" he called out after her in a nervous voice, before looking at Verde again.

"Go find Lambo, Tsuna," Reborn said as soon as Nana was gone, and he hopped off of the brunette's shoulder. "We should test the bazooka."

"Ah... Yeah. Okay," Tsuna muttered uneasily and looked back to see the two Arcobaleno talking quietly to each other as he left.

At this moment, Lambo was upstairs, humming mischievously as he pilfered through Tsuna's room in hopes of finding something interesting to do. He was making quite a mess, although I-Pin and Fuuta were trying their best to calm him down and clean up before Tsuna returned.

"Lambo! You're going to get us all in trouble!" Fuuta complained loudly as he tried to grab the pajama wearing boy, who was currently under Tsuna's bed, peeking through his things.

Tsuna went upstairs to look for the little cow when he heard a commotion coming from his room. He hurried over and his eyes widened. "Lambo!" He looked around at the utter mess of his room that he had struggled to keep clean these past few months. "What are you doing?!"

Tsuna's voice made Lambo freeze momentarily, giving Fuuta a chance to drag him out from under the bed. Lambo began squirming immediately while avoiding looking at Tsuna's eyes. Fuuta, on the other hand, turned to look at Tsuna with a sulky expression on his face. "Tsuna-nii…!" he cried out in an apologetic tone. "I'm sorry, we tried to stop him, but…" Fuuta turned on his puppy eyes on his big brother so he wouldn't get scolded.

"I-Pin sorry…" the Chinese girl apologized as well, looking down at the floor sadly.

Tsuna looked at Fuuta and gave a small sigh, knowing that what he said had to be true. So he turned on Lambo instead. "Lambo! You can't mess up people's rooms like that! I worked really hard to keep it clean and you messed it up!" he scolded. "No more sweets for you today!"

At these words, Lambo immediately whined. "NO FAIR!" he exclaimed as he jumped down from Fuuta's arms. "Lambo-san didn't do anything bad! And… and you promised! Gimme! Gimme!" the cow demanded, beginning to throw a tantrum as he attacked Tsuna's legs with his tiny fists.

"I promised to buy you candy only if you behaved!" Tsuna picked Lambo up and held him at arm's length. "This is not behaving!"

"Lambo and I-Pin will help clean up the mess!" the small Chinese girl piped up, hoping to defuse the situation.

Tsuna sighed slightly. "Yeah. But right now, Lambo, you have a visitor, so we're going downstairs. If you behave nice, I'll buy you the candy."

Lambo sulked slightly at the prospect of cleaning up and made a face, but he didn't say anything in protest.

"I'll help too." Fuuta offered as well, smiling up at his big bro.

Tsuna finally gave a smile at the three kids. "Okay, we'll clean this up after Lambo and I are done downstairs. Thanks, you two," he said before he took Lambo down to the kitchen.

Lambo let himself be carried down to the kitchen, sticking out his tongue at I-Pin as they left the room. But the moment they entered the kitchen and saw Reborn, Lambo's relaxed attitude disappeared within a second and he stared at his fellow hitman with wide, fearful eyes. Clearly, the incident from earlier today had been remembered.

Verde smirked a bit at the sight of Lambo and held up the Ten Year Bazooka. "Ah, yes. Finally. Now, to explain my improvements," he said, putting down his cup of tea to hold the bazooka in both hands. "I've extended the time to 15 minutes. But the Bazooka has to be charged with Lightning Flames first. The ones from the Vongola Ring should suffice."

"Eh? But Lambo doesn't know how to light the ring." Tsuna frowned, still holding the toddler in his arms.

"Easy." Reborn stood up and stared straight at Lambo. He jumped forward and grabbed Lambo's ring, slipping it on the five-year-old's wrist like one would a watch, before swiftly kicking him in the face and across the room.

"Reborn!" Tsuna's eyes widened.

The already fearful Lambo was already trying to run away when Reborn reached him, whining loudly and mostly incomprehensibly. This was immediately put to a stop once Reborn vaulted him into the wall.

There was a moment of silence then, before…

"W-WHAAAAAAA!" Lambo's loud voice echoed throughout the house. His distress immediately activated the green flames of his ring.

"Reborn! You can't do that!" Tsuna looked at the Sun Arcobaleno, seeing how scared Lambo had been. Reborn shot him a dark glare before turning back to Lambo.

"Here we go." Verde looked unfazed by the commotion and tossed the Ten Year Bazooka at the toddler. The large weapon fell over Lambo, which was covered in the Lightning Flames that were being emitted by the Vongola Ring. The explosion that resulted had a bit more force than usual. Pink smoke enveloped the entire kitchen.

"Yare, yare, not this again…" the voice of Adult Lambo murmured lowly from under all that smoke. His voice sounded more whiny than usual today, almost childishly so.

As the smoke dispersed, the now-fifteen-year old was finally revealed. Adult Lambo sat on the floor, one arm resting over a bent knee while the other was inclined behind him, supporting his weight on the floor. The now-fifteen-year old looked surprisingly… ravished. His cheeks looked flushed and his shirt was in its usual state of disarray, although this time a couple of more buttons were opened. He also had a lipstick stain that was peeking out from under his collar.

Overall, he looked rather annoyed at the moment, and shot Reborn a knowing, resentful glare.

Reborn took one look at him and several moments passed before he smiled, relishing in the other's annoyance and resentment. But a small part of him was eating away at the back of his mind. Lambo, the useless cow, was getting some? Reborn decided to push this thought away for a little while. "Well, if this lasts for fifteen minutes, we'll know you succeeded, Verde," Reborn said with a smirk.

Tsuna was staring at Adult Lambo with slightly wide eyes. What exactly had the fifteen-year-old been getting up to...?!

Lambo twitched, and a vein of anger pulsed on his forehead at Reborn's words. "You mean I'm going to be stuck here for fifteen minutes?!" he protested irritably, before narrowing his eyes and shooting a dark glare at Reborn.

He then blinked twice blankly, the anger vanishing as he realized what he just said. "Hey, wait…" He turned to face Verde now. "You actually really messed with that thing? What the hell were you thinking? That's dangerous!" he protested once more, beginning to look worried.

At the protests, the crocodile at Verde's feet snapped at Lambo. "Don't worry, little Bovino." The Arcobaleno smiled. "There is nothing I can't do when it comes to technology."

"And if it works here, you'll have a new bazooka in the future too," Reborn said, still smirking a bit at Lambo's anger. "So be grateful."

Lambo flinched back from the crocodile, which he had only just noticed. However, his utter irritation at Reborn appeared to have managed to override his fear. "What exactly am I supposed to be grateful for?!" He scowled at him, glaring. "Why do you always have to be so—ugh! You have no right to mess with things that don't belong to you, Reborn!" Lambo protested. He looked like he wanted to say more, but for once, the now-adult Bovino remained steaming in silence as he crossed his arms over his chest.

That stupid, cocky, know-it-all bastard! Adult Lambo mentally ranted, digging his nails into his arms. This stupid thing isn't useful at all! It's just a pain in the ass! And it's not like I'm even allowed to use the Ten Year Bazooka in the future anymore…

Lambo would love to shove that particular fact at the stupid Arcobaleno's face, but the one thing he had learned ever since he had become a more active member of the Vongola Family was that he needed to hold his tongue, especially when he was transported back to the past.

You have no right! Reborn tensed as Dino's face flashed in his mind. He jumped forward and grabbed the collar of Lambo's shirt. "Shut up, you stupid cow," he said, his voice cold and sharp. "The battle is happening in a few days and you better be ready by then. Because whether you like it or not, you're fighting."

"R-Reborn..." Tsuna took a couple steps forward. "Please calm down, there's no reason to—"

"Shut up, No-Good-Tsuna." Reborn glared at the brunette with such ferocity that Tsuna actually flinched. He looked back at Lambo. "I'm sick of kids complaining about things they don't know anything about. You're a Vongola Guardian. This is your duty. If I hear one more complaint out of you, I'll kill you where you stand," he spoke lowly before dropping down and walking out to the yard.

Lambo stood petrified as Reborn grabbed him tightly by his collar, feeling the other almost choke him with his fierce grip. At his words, a chill ran down his spine and his eyes, both of them, widened in fear—because Lambo really had no doubt that the other really would kill him if he said another word.

So the now-adult cow wisely held his tongue and kept still where he was as he watched the other march off. But the moment Reborn was finally out of sight, Lambo's knees immediately gave out and he slid down to the floor with a painful thump.

Unbeknownst to him, a trail of terrified tears had begun falling down his pale, ashen cheeks.

"L-Lambo..." Tsuna moved over and knelt down next to him. "Lambo, are you okay?" Of course he wasn't okay. It was a stupid thing to say. Reborn had gone way too far. Tsuna bit his lip and placed a timid hand on the other's shoulder, trying to soothe him.

Lambo flinched slightly at the other's touch, but then relaxed into it. He felt a bit of his tension ease out of him, but he still remained hurt and confused, not to mention scared. "W-what wrong with him?" Lambo whispered, biting his quivering lip as his brows furrowed in confusion. He had never seen Reborn get that mad, at least not towards a member of the Family. That angry Reborn had only ever been directed to the enemy.

Tsuna sighed slightly and placed his hand more firmly on Lambo's shoulder. "Reborn got into a fight with Dino-san this morning... But I didn't think he was this angry." He glanced out the window towards the yard. "Regardless, it's not your fault, Lambo. Don't worry."

Verde gave an impressed whistle, having watched the scene with a smirk. "Interesting. Very interesting~"

Lambo sniffled slightly and nodded at Tsuna's words, wiping his tears. At the Lightning Arcobaleno's input, however, Lambo couldn't help but to shoot the baby an inappreciative glare. This is really all his fault… Lambo thought, feeling both irritated and anxious as his mind went back to his current problem. If he hadn't messed with the bazooka—Lambo stopped that trail of thought as he realized he had been in this time for more than five minutes already. This fact made Lambo groan inconsolably.

He then turned desperately keen eyes towards the young Vongola Tenth. "You'll take care of my younger self, right, Decimo?" the cow asked him anxiously.

Tsuna looked at Lambo and nodded. "Of course. Don't you worry," he said with a soft, reassuring smile. "Once the younger Lambo comes back, I'm going to take him out to buy some candy." He gently squeezed the other's shoulder. "So you can go back knowing everything will be fine." He'd have to make sure that Reborn and little Lambo were separated for a while.

At these words, Lambo gave the brunette a slight fond smile but then shook his head, wanting to specify what he had meant. "That's not quite what I—" However, before Adult Lambo could finish speaking, there was a bright pink burst of smoke announcing the return of his five-year-old counterpart.

Thankfully, the young Bovino was no longer crying. However, it looked like his previous sulky bad mood was back, for he looked ready to throw a new tantrum.

"Exactly fifteen minutes." Verde checked the clock. "My work here is done." He hopped back on top of his crocodile. "See you, Vongola." He smirked at Tsuna as the crocodile left the house.

Tsuna watched Verde go before looking back at Lambo, wondering for a moment what Adult Lambo had been about to say. But he brushed it off for now. "Hey, Lambo. Why don't we go out for candy?" he offered with a smile.

Lambo's eyes widened for a second. "R-really?" the young cow gaped at this sudden unexpected offer. Considering that they still had to clean up the mess he had not made, Lambo was ecstatic to hear these words. "Hehehe, yeah! Let's go! Let's go!" he called out excitedly, his eyes shining.

Tsuna smiled a bit and stood up. "Fuuta! I-Pin! We're going out for candy! Come on down and join us!" he called up the stairs before leaning down to put his shoes on.

I-Pin came bounding down the stairs and smiled happily. "I-Pin wants strawberry!" she announced happily.

"Can we get chocolate, Tsuna-nii?" Fuuta grinned as he too bounded down to the kitchen with a bounce on his step.

"Lambo-san is gonna eat them all!" the boy exclaimed, laughing boisterously in response to that.

"Alright, alright! We'll get something for each of you." Tsuna smiled. "Let's go, and don't run too far," he said as he led the group out of the house. As he headed to the sidewalk, he gave a single glance backwards and his eyes connected with Reborn's. The Sun Arcobaleno was standing on the wall, watching them. Reborn kept the eye contact before he looked away, his hat hiding his eyes. The baby jumped back into the yard then, out of sight.

Tsuna sighed slightly before he was quickly swept away by the excited children.

Perhaps Reborn would be better tomorrow.