uploaded on October 24, 2015

As always thank you so much for the wonderful reviews and for reading this story. Yes, that was Giotto! He was there for some reason. With G, no less! And they ride trains maybe for fun (?)!

I am very glad you're enjoying Tsuna's continued demise. Maybe he will get out of it eventually . . . but where's the fun in that? I just hope he survives through it.

Please enjoy this strange chapter.

Phantom

Tsuna could feel something next to him on his bed.

His intuition woke him up and was welcomed with even puffs of breath behind his ear and the feeling of an arm draped over his waist. He tried not to move too much as he laid on his side; he didn't want to wake the person up or whatever it was lying down behind him. He didn't even dare open his eyes because he was too concerned with what he would see.

Instead, he laid still and tried to figure out how to get out of this. Judging by the sound of the breaths and the weight of the arm, the stranger was definitely asleep. Or it could be a good actor at feigning sleep. Tsuna seriously hoped he was wrong on his second guess. The stranger was bigger than him, too, so it was probably an adult. He couldn't tell if it was a man or a woman.

Was he getting assaulted? This situation sure seemed like it but he didn't feel threatened at all. He was more confused than anything and a little irritated he woke up too early. This was one of those times he thanked his calm demeanor when on a normal day he would be panicking already.

Maybe he should just try going back to sleep. If the stranger wanted to do something bad to him, it would've happened already.

When Tsuna woke up at his normal time, the stranger was gone from his bed. The spot where the person laid down was not even warm anymore so that meant it had already been a while since the stranger disappeared.

Tsuna knew it wasn't his mom but it wouldn't hurt to ask.

"Mom, did you sleep in my room last night?" Tsuna piped up as soon as he showed up in the kitchen.

Nana turned around with a big smile on her face. "Oh! Am I allowed to sleep next to you, Tsu-kun?"

"N-no! Mom, that's not what I asked."

His mom pouted before turning back to the stove. "I didn't sleep in your room because you won't allow me."

Tsuna sighed as he rubbed his temples. His mom was being cheeky on purpose but he supposed he already expected that.

Nana placed a bowl of miso soup on the table with the rest of their food. "Now eat your breakfast or you'll be late for school!"

He didn't tell anyone about the stranger. He didn't want to worry his friends and Tsuna thought it wasn't a big deal anyway, and even if it was, he could deal with it himself. He would be more careful and hopefully his gut feeling would always warn him of the potential molester. He should also probably lock his door and windows at night.

"There's Mochida again," Takeshi muttered with a low voice as they walked to the rooftop for lunch. Sure enough, in a matter of seconds Tsuna saw Mochida-san following them, hiding in a corner and staring a little too intensely. He wasn't even being discreet about it.

Tsuna smiled at Takeshi. "As long as he doesn't bother anyone, I think it's fine."

Takeshi smiled back, but Tsuna could clearly see his eyes held a bit of ire. "After his declaration of 'owning' you, it's pretty hard to relax when he's around."

Oh. Tsuna remembered that day when Mochida-san proudly announced "choosing" Tsuna, whatever the heck that meant, and his feeling of overwhelming embarassment when he heard the proclamation. So much so that he felt it again now just by thinking about it. "I think he's confused," Tsuna mumbled, lowering his head to hide his blush. "He's in love with Kyoko-chan, isn't he?"

Takeshi brought a hand to his head and gave him a pat. "He's sincere about his declaration, Tsuna, and that's what bothers me."

"B-but Kyoko-chan —

"What about me?"

Tsuna turned his head to find Kyoko, Hana and Haru walking behind them, with Kyoko and Haru smiling and Hana frowning, just like always.

"Mochida-san is in love with you — ow!" Tsuna exclaimed while Hana gave him a good slap upside his head.

"But Mochida already announced his affection for you, Tsuna-kun!" Haru grinned.

"Yeah, Tsuna-kun," Kyoko nodded. "We were all there."

Tsuna blushed again and tried to hide his face in his hands. "He's confused!"

"The only one confused here is you, dame-Tsuna," Hana scoffed. "And don't say Mochida is in love with Kyoko-chan. It gives me chills!"

"B-but you're fine with Mochida-san — with me?!" Tsuna refused to say the l-word as he asked in disbelief.

Haru gave him a thumbs up. "Haru thinks it's funny!"

Kyoko smiled wider. "I think it's very sweet."

Hana rolled her eyes. "He's a monkey. I don't care either way. But I gotta admit it is funny."

Takeshi only placed an arm on his shoulders and pulled him closer.

Hana's eyes widened for a fraction of a second before smirking. "I vote for Yamamoto anyway."

Tsuna scrunched his eyebrows. "Vote for what? Are you running for something, Takeshi?"

Hana snickered. "He's certainly aiming for something."

"Hana-chan, stop," Kyoko admonished the other girl but she was giggling with Haru. Sometimes Tsuna couldn't understand these girls. They always had a joke about Takeshi that they refused to tell him, although it seemed Takeshi himself knew what it was because he never asked about it and it didn't bother him. Tsuna tried asking him in the past but Takeshi only laughed.

As if on cue, something which Tsuna also expected when they start giggling about Takeshi, Haru stepped forward and put a hand over her heart. "Haru will be Tsuna-kun's wife anyway!"

Hana giggled harder. "Maybe in an alternate universe."

"You can't keep Tsuna-kun all to yourself," Kyoko added.

"We can share Tsuna-kun, Kyoko-chan," Haru grinned cheekily.

Kyoko's cheeks tinged a bit of pink but she laughed back. "We will have to share with everyone."

"I'm not food," Tsuna frowned, finding it best to interject now before their conversation escalated to more disturbing topics.

Hana slapped him on the arm. "Stop acting like one then!"

"How can someone act like food?!"

In the end nobody paid attention to his rhetorical question while Takeshi only chuckled at the girls' antics. Tsuna seriously couldn't understand.

Then they finally reached the rooftop. And found Onii-chan and Hibari Kyouya having a very civil discussion.

"Perfect timing, Sawada!" Onii-chan greeted them, a huge grin on his face. "Hibari and I are discussing your extreme training —

"You interrupted my sleep," Hibari growled, his tonfas already out.

"— and we think it's a good idea to have him spar with you at least once a week — " Onii-chan dodged an attack from Hibari before continuing, "Every Sunday morning after your warm-ups —

"I-I don't think it's a good idea to fight on the rooftop!" Tsuna was panicking now as he watched the Disciplinary Committee leader attack Onii-chan. He glanced back at the girls but they were all watching in awe, while Takeshi's hold on him tightened a little bit.

"Very funny Sawada!" Onii-chan shouted over his skillful dodging of Hibari's attacks. "We won't spar on the rooftop I promise! It's always gonna be the park!"

"I'm talking about your fight right now!"

"Don't be silly, we're not fighting!"

"Yeah, technically he's right," Hana snickered. "There's no fight if there's only one attacker." Before Tsuna could respond, Hana suddenly called out to the two older students. "What are you two even doing here?" she yelled, putting her hands on her hips. "This is the middle school building! You should be at the building over there!"

"I can sleep wherever I want," Hibari grumbled as he placed another attack on Onii-chan's torso, which he avoided too.

Takeshi took that as his cue, removing his arm from Tsuna's shoulders. "Don't worry Tsuna, I'll stop them," he smiled before heading over to the two high school students.

"By the way, Hana-chan," Kyoko suddenly spoke up, getting the other two girls' attention and Tsuna's, "I know Yamamoto-kun is our dear friend, but I support my onii-chan!"

Tsuna was confused. "Support? Is he running for something too?"

"Hahi! Haru votes for Hibari-san!"

Hana looked disgusted. "Hibari?"

"Haru thinks it's good to have something dangerous. It makes life more exciting and thrilling!"

"What are you three talking about?" Tsuna tried to remember if they needed to vote for the new student council but that already happened a month ago. And besides, Onii-chan and Hibari were high school students so they couldn't run for the same position as Takeshi! Was Takeshi even running for something?

"We're talking about who we support, dame-Tsuna," Hana rolled her eyes at him, as if she expected him to know everything they were talking about. "And obviously it's going to be Yamamoto's victory!"

"No way, Hana-chan! Onii-chan will succeed!"

"Hibari-san will win because he's supposed to win!"

Tsuna shook his head and gave up.

The next time it happened was two weeks later.

Tsuna had a rather fulfilling sleep; he slept on time and woke up on time feeling energized for the day ahead. Eyes still closed, he stretched out his arms to bump against something hairy. Then there was a low grumble and a shuffling on his bed before everything went still again.

Tsuna froze in an instant. He figured the thing he bumped against was the person's head, and said person said something and turned around. How he didn't sense the figure to be there in the first place eluded him, but that didn't matter so much now. He was now very, very sure there was someone sleeping on his bed and wasn't leaving anytime soon — even though it was already seven in the morning.

Would he risk it? He could feel the person's back against him so he had an advantage; he could easily get away if he wanted to. But would it be worth the risk? Maybe mailing his mom would be better so there would be two against one, but Tsuna didn't want to put his mom in a dangerous position! Maybe handling this situation alone was worth it, after all —

So Tsuna turned around and was surprised to find a lump of blankets beside him.

Where did the person go . . . ?

Tsuna never believed in the supernatural.

He absolutely refused to believe it was a ghost.

"What's up, Tsuna?" Takeshi broke him off from his thoughts as they ate their lunch together at the rooftop.

"D-do you believe in ghosts, Takeshi?" Tsuna mumbled into his bento.

"Ah! They exist, don't they?" The guy grinned and Tsuna couldn't help but feel more apprehensive than he originally was. "Did you know there's both good and bad ghosts?"

"I — I don't really think they exist —

"You just haven't seen one yet. You will though, eventually."

Tsuna gulped. "A-are you trying to scare me, Takeshi?!"

Takeshi raised his eyebrows. "But ghosts aren't scary."

Tsuna knew he sometimes couldn't trust Takeshi to have normal people thoughts. But that didn't matter because ghosts were absolutely not real.

There were no such things as beings that traveled through metaphysical planes.

The third — and last — time it happened was a month later.

It was raining for a few hours then on a quiet Saturday evening. Tsuna had fallen asleep in the middle of reading manga and was sprawled carelessly on his bed when there was a dip next to him, his gut feeling waking him up to warn him.

Tsuna didn't move nor open his eyes. But what was peculiar about it was he felt drips of water plop on his arm one droplet at a time. Tsuna was very, very positive ghosts shouldn't get wet and that could only mean it was a real person next to him.

That made things far scarier for Tsuna. What kind of person had the ability to vanish in a blink of an eye?

Time to put his combat training to good use, Tsuna thought as he immediately scampered out of bed and raised up his arms in defense.

But he was too late. The last thing he saw was a long, black cape disappearing through the window — Tsuna was sure he locked that before he fell asleep — and as if to mock him, the person glanced back, a white mask perfectly covering the face before completely exiting the window. Tsuna snapped out of his daze and he ran after the strange person, and as he gripped the edges of his window, he found there was no one outside. The rain was still pouring through the night.

Tsuna could summarize his entire experience in three simple words: what the hell?

He never told anyone about it. It was a glitch, his mind justified it for him and he went about his life as normal. He refused to let it bother him and he even put in effort to forget about it. It was his utmost refusal to believe strange things occurred that helped him stay sane.

Besides, he had more important things to worry about. Like school, for example, and tending to his friends.

Speaking of his friends . . .

"W-what happened here?" Tsuna gulped as he looked over the beaten forms of Takeshi, Onii-chan and Hibari. Well, Takeshi and Onii-chan were sitting next to each other while Hibari was seated far, far away, but Tsuna could see he was nursing his right arm.

"Hahaha! We just had a little spar, Tsuna! Don't worry about it," Takeshi grinned as he stuffed his hands inside his pockets.

"Yeah! Count it as extreme training!" Onii-chan laughed.

"B-broken bones and blood everywhere isn't just a little spar!"

"EXTREME little spar!"

"That doesn't make any sense!"

Tsuna couldn't understand why they always had to injure themselves. He couldn't understand how it reached the point that they were barely conscious of their surroundings, with how Takeshi was struggling to hold his smile and how Onii-chan was having trouble sitting upright.

"Let's go to the doctor," Tsuna pleaded, frozen on his place as he stood over them. He wanted to kneel before them and pull them up but something was stopping him and —

"We'll be okay, Tsuna," Takeshi's voice sounded strained, just a tiny little bit. "You should take care of yourself first." He then gestured towards Tsuna's leg.

Tsuna looked down and stared at his leg. He had a cast on it.

Okay, so he experienced a little accident recently, but that didn't mean he was not qualified anymore to worry about his friends!

He then saw Hibari stand up and limp away, but not before giving him a good glare from afar. This was far too serious than Tsuna imagined. Hibari was limping?

"What the hell happened?" he asked again to the two persons in front of him, but Onii-chan was already drifting in and out of consciousness while Takeshi held onto him to keep him from falling over.

Then Onii-chan lost consciousness completely and Tsuna was about to grab onto him, leg be damned, but Takeshi looked at Tsuna with an expression that made his heart stop for a second. "We banished some ghosts."

. . . What?

Takeshi helped himself and Onii-chan up. With a final smile at Tsuna, he added, "You don't have to worry anymore, Tsuna."

Tsuna never tried asking about it again. It was a glitch.