Written May 24 2016
Edited January 25 2020

The hitman just stayed in the clearing, observing the sleeping brunette, trusting that the teen would be okay but at the same time not wanting to leave his side.

The sun had now long since fallen from the sky and the silver glow caste from the moon was somewhat soothing.

Onyx blinked at how the boy seemed to almost glow in the moonlight due to his pale skin.

'Shamal better hurry in coming here... Tsuna's sickness isn't getting any better... But if multiple stabbings couldn't kill him, wouldn't sickness be ineffective as well?...'

A sudden wave of sky harmony almost made the hitman recoil at it's intensity before he allowed himself to relax.

"Tsuna?"

Reborn questioned softly, not knowing the teen's state of mind, thus he decided to be cautious.

A soft whine escaped from the brunette as orange eyes fluttered open, Reborn was impressed at the tiny orange flame flickering on his forehead; it was about the size of a coin.

'He subconsciously drew upon his dying will, though that still couldn't have saved him...'

"R-Reborn?"

The brunette winced at the crack in his voice as he slowly brought himself up so that he was sitting down against a tree. The hitman hopped onto his knee to take a look into his glowing eyes.

"Tsuna, how do you feel?"

'At least he's still speaking, from the way Nana had freaked out, I had figured that he'd have stopped speaking as a result'

Orange eyes narrowed slightly in thought as the brunette subconsciously rubbed his throat.

"I feel like death, I have no energy"

The teen replied softly, Reborn nodded in satisfaction.

"Do you remember what happened?"

The moment the hitman finished speaking, Tsuna flinched as his gaze nervously turned upwards towards the moon.

"Mmmm... Yeah... Ieyoshi-sama punished me..."

The hitman raised a brow at the new name.

'Ieyoshi-Sama? What happened to Ie-San?'

"So you call your idiotic brother Ieyoshi-sama now?"

The hitman inquired, the brunette nodded silently.

"Yeah, he wanted me to call him that so I might as well..."

Tsuna breathed before looking down towards his blood coated hands.

"You're much more calm than someone who should be dead normally is, your mother was freaking out about you breaking"

'I was all worried for nothing... Though I was mostly worried about how I was going to explain how he died to Iemitsu...'

The hitman stated, a bitter smile made its way upon the teen's face.

"Last time I did break... I could barely do anything..."

Tsuna replied as he flexed his blood coated fingers.

"What's different now?"

Honey turned towards the hitman as Tsuna smiled warmly towards him, causing the hitman's inner flame to hum in contentment.

"I trust that you'll protect me from Ieyoshi-sama"

The brunette replied softly, sending the hitman into a few moments of dumbstruck silence before he lowered his fedora to hide his own expression.

'I had thought that his previous smiles were his best ones... I guess that I was wrong... I've never seen such a warm smile except for then...'

"I already failed you though"

The hitman stated, silently growling at the thought of having failed to protect such a pure sky.

Tsuna shook his head and picked up the hitman to hug him like a child would a stuffed animal; more gently of course.

"No, you came, so it's fine. It was my fault, so you didn't fail"

The brunette replied softly.

'That doesn't make any sense at all...'

"I have a question"

Honey eyes blinked in surprise as he placed the hitman back into his knees.

"What is it?"

The hitman's eyes trailed the newly formed scars on the teen's torso as he placed the palm of his hand against one in the middle of the teen's chest.

"How are you still alive, more importantly, what happened to your injuries?"

Reborn whispered softly, his inner flame flailing slightly despite the calming embrace of the sky aura surrounding him.

'I'm glad that he's alive... But I'm still concerned about his abnormalities...'

Onyx eyes narrowed, noting how the teen's eyes seemed to darken at the question.

"I've already told you about my quick healing, or at least you've already noticed it before right?"

The hitman nodded silently at the question as he remembered the previous incidents.

"Yes, but it wasn't as advanced before"

Tsuna nodded in acceptance of the answer.

"Ieyoshi-sama can't kill me unless he truly wants to, I'm alive because he wanted me to suffer..."

The hitman raised a brow at the response.

"I don't understand"

Melancholy briefly flashed across Tsuna's face.

"That's reasonable... It's one of the results of what happened when me and him were captured by a certain familia focused on human experimentation... I won't say any more yet, but I'll eventually tell you in more detail..."

Tsuna trailed off to allow the hitman time for the information to sink in.

"That's... Really messed up, I've been in the mafia for years but still..."

The brunette raised a sarcastic brow.

"Oh? So you're admitting that you're not normal either are you?"

Tsuna stated with slight amusement as he motioned towards the hitman.

'He's right... He's not the only one with important secrets'

"Nobody in this messed up world is normal"

Reborn huffed, Tsuna coughed slightly as he let out a soft laugh.

"True, life would be so much easier if people were 'normal' however then life wouldn't be any fun at all"

'It seems as if my fears for his mentality were completely unfounded, I wonder how Baka-Ie will react when he sees that his plan failed?... Though I think that I should keep a good eye on Tsuna for the time being just in case...'

The hitman raised a brow when he noticed that the brunette was licking the blood off of his hands.

"What are you doing?..."

A small blush tinted the brunette's cheeks as he smiled sheepishly.

"licking my 'wounds' like what animals do because I'm in a forest"

"..."