Disclaimer: Mentions of sex

Chapter 16:

(On Earth – same time when Tsuna had woken up)

Hayato had all but growled at Takeshi when he suggested a rest. He had no time for rest. In between handling Tenth's work and his own work, he was researching about other dimensions. If he woke up early, he would make sure to make a trip down to the innovation centre to check up on the innovators and engineer.

Not only that, he also had to suffer through the tirades and insinuation that Mukuro and Hibari had for him in the failed attempts to contact Tsuna.

Reborn… Reborn was inconsolable. Hayato made sure to send him out on missions – missions that Tenth had marked in red that Reborn should not go because Reborn would definitely cause a ruckus. Hayato would rather have Tenth breathing down his neck for having sent Reborn on these seemingly suicide missions than have Reborn torturing the staffs at every other nook and cranny of the mansion. No, Hayato did not send Reborn to these missions alone, to which he was apologetic to the Guardians that were tasked to make sure he does not kill himself.

Hayato let out a deep sigh. His doors threw open to an exasperated Takeshi who should only be due to return the next day. He was pale, Hayato noted, and wondered if he was injured during the mission.

"What is it?" Hayato barked, almost wincing at his hoarse but steely voice.

"It's Reborn…" Takeshi shook his head, "he is terrorising another servant down the corner."

Hayato narrowed his eyes, "terrorising?" Hayato was thinking if Reborn was holding a knife to the servant to have him/ her brew his coffee like Tsuna would or… the other kind of terrorising.

Reborn could be pretty charismatic when he wanted to be.

Takeshi almost blushed when the words tumbled out of his lips, "heistryingtofucktheservant."

.

.

.

Right. The other kind of terrorising then.

Hayato rolled his eyes. He pushed his chair away from the table and smacked Takeshi on the head for being such a blundering idiot who had certainly ran away when Reborn had pushed the servant to the wall and…

Before Hayato arrived at the corner, Takeshi had already made an excuse to leave. Though they were both 15, going 16, and should not be exposed to any of these… Hayato had been exposed and more intertwined with cigarettes and sex due to his heritage. That said he did not want to see Reborn fucking a servant. He rubbed his face wearily.

There was no one in the corner except for their clothes strewn haphazardly. Hayato sighed deeply. At the rate he was going, he would lose a few years of this lifetime.

How does Tenth ever handle them?

Hayato picked up Reborn's clothes, determined to give the man a scolding (as much as he could do so without being threatened at gunpoint) and gingerly folded the servant's clothes to the side (because as much as he want to fire her for having agreed to this strange one-night stand, he couldn't. He knew just how goddamn pushy Reborncould be.)

Following the clothes that were thrown on the floor, Hayato's eyes landed on a slightly ajar door. He narrowed his eyes and when he heard moans coming out from the room, he almost gagged.

He really did not want to see Reborn on another lady. Not that he wanted to be with Reborn, but the image of this was just…

Not to mention, Reborn only look like a 14-year-old right now (having grown 2 more years physically in the last few days) and that should be illegal.

Rubbing his face again, he rasped his knuckles on the door and winced when he heard whoever the lady was shouted as she climaxed; Reborn's voice teasing her in a low rumble.

"A-hem."

Hayato stood at the door warily, afraid that Reborn would press the nozzle to his head. When he realised that the lady was still moaning in pleasure, followed with pants from Reborn urging her to. . .

Hayato closed his ears, "Reborn, please find me when you are ready."

Turning his heels immediately, it took all of Hayato's willpower to not run away from the accursed place that smelt dangerously salty. He hoped that Reborn had heard him because he was not going to hunt after Reborn after this.

Maybe… he will send Mukuro.

Reborn knocked on the door slightly before pushing it open, without waiting for a reply. He knew that Hayato would be inside. The room was lit, and after what Hayato had heard from outside of that room just now… Reborn smirked… he would be awake.

Good god, Reborn tousled his own hair before placing the fedora back on his messy hair. He had taken a shower with her after the sex. Then they had one more round in the showers.

Reborn lowered the fedora, feeling satiated but… not satisfied. She was tight and for the love of Vongola, the sex was amazing, no doubt – Reborn had climaxed twice even though he did not want to. For these one-night stands, he preferred to end off with him touching himself – as strange as it sounded. A soft voice in his head (which dangerously sounded like a certain brunette) warned him that his coping mechanisms were not the best.

He tuned that voice away.

"You looked for me, Storm?"

Hayato raised his head at the title, peering at him through his spectacles, "I did. Take a seat."

Reborn settled into the leather chair – made to be as uncomfortable as possible to not let whoever stay for too long (Tsuna had installed a sofa for more comfortable talks) – and Leon flicked a tongue at Hayato.

The silverette looked really tired, eyebags decorating the bottom of his eyes. He was eating though, Reborn noted, but not as much as Tsuna would have preferred.

Losing Tsuna to another dimension for 3 and a half weeks have taken a toll on them all.

A long drag on the cigarette later… Hayato spoke, "while you were out on the mission…"

Even before Hayato finished the sentence, Reborn already knew what he was going to talk about. Of course, Reborn had known that Tsuna's physical condition had taken a toll again. He was about to ambush the enemy ranks when his phone let out a soft but very audible vibration. Reborn had cursed and wondered why his phone vibrated because he was sure he had turned it off.

After a close gun fight with the enemy, having only had a few scratches on himself and none on the accompanying Guardian (Takeshi), he checked his phone to see that Tsuna almost died.

Reborn was silent the entire trip back and was so frustrated but kept an eye on Tsuna's physical condition, nonetheless. He was going to torture that Vongola Don when he was back.

His phone had pinged him that Tsuna's condition became better a few minutes before he reached the estate and he was so goddamn relieved he did not even know that he has had that much tension to relieve from his body. One thing led to another and when that servant (someone he had never seen before) walked past him, accidentally having brushed his hand on her, he lost it. He pushed her towards the wall… her widened eyes and a moment later, he let himself force his lips on her – she smelt like cinnamon – and…

"I have dropped a message to Irie and they will be preparing for communications in…" Hayato glanced at his watch, "15 minutes."

Reborn nodded, understanding the underlying message as he pushed away the hard chair. He rolled his shoulders and before he left the room, he thought to himself that he ought to tease Tsuna's right-hand man a little. He smirked.

"You know, I don't mind fucking a man." Reborn closed the doors quickly, avoiding something that was thrown at him – crashed against the doors and no doubt, Gokudera Hayato would be beet red thinking about him.

Takeshi entered the innovation centre the first time in months – weeks, he corrected in his head. He had wanted to check on the progress but Hayato had forbidden anyone to be in contact with them. Somehow it was supposed to be a punishment of sorts. Takeshi shrugged. It did not matter to him.

His katana was due for a repair – having worn it out during the mission with Reborn. Speaking of Reborn… Takeshi blushed. He could remember Reborn pushing the new servant, what was her name? Slyvie?, into the wall roughly as Reborn grabbed onto her hair and forced himself onto her…

Takeshi had ran away.

He reached for the door and pushed it open and froze. He was staring at a smirking Reborn. Takeshi tried to hide his blush and he bit onto his lips, looking anywhere but not at Reborn. The other man was lazily flicking his wrist, playing with Leon.

"Ah? Yamamoto?" Irie asked, looking a little concerned.

Takeshi blinked and thrusted his katana into his arms, "can you help to repair my katana a little. It's a little worn out."

Irie blinked, "sure. But would you have anything to protect yourself in the meantime?"

Takeshi scratched his head… he did not think of that…

"I can protect Takeshi," Reborn purred – Takeshi had goosebumps, "even when he is in my bed."

Takeshi paled and almost ran away – to hell with no weapons! He had Jiro and Kojiro…

"Please," a voice drawled out, "don't tease him, Reborn."

Reborn tutted but looked annoyed, "shut up, Verde. He is my tutee's Guardian. I can tease him all I want."

It was then that Takeshi noticed the small figure, no more than a physical 10-year-old, seated behind Irie, typing away on the keyboards.

Ah. That was why Hayato did not want anyone in here.

In the silence that ensued, the only things that did not remain stagnant were the screens. Small screens popped up in the hologram screen and some others disappeared, after being clicked on, and transferred to the table screen.

Reborn was glaring at Verde while the other was determined to not look over. Takeshi was about to leave the room to avoid the tension, no matter what they were doing here when he heard the door open. Familiar footsteps caught his ear and even before the other man announced his arrival he called out.

"Hayato."

The Storm guardian stopped momentarily before continuing forward, placing a hand on his shoulder, "I didn't expect you to be here but… it should be fine."

. . .

So now Takeshi was nestled in between Hayato and Reborn, who did not try to suggest anything after the first time. On the other hand, the inventors and engineers looked frustratingly panicked (with the exception of Verde who would never panic).

Irie palmed his face with obvious frustration when another error popped up on the screen and Takeshi was really curious. Other than knowing that they were working on how to get Tsuna back, there were no other clues Hayato nor Reborn had revealed to him. He did not ask either – what with Hayato being under extreme stress and Reborn being… unbecoming.

What made Takeshi pop the question was the groan that Spanner let out when the machine in front of him made an alarming sound.

"What is happening?"

That led to Verde shooting him a glare – "what? You're sitting there without knowing what we are doing?" There was an amused but condescending laugh, "are all of Vongola's guardians so dull-witted and subservient?"

Something was thrown in the direction of Verde and Takeshi belatedly realised it was a paper weight. Looking to his right, he realised that Hayato was scowling and he was sitting up.

"Shut your trap and work your fingers, Verde." This time, Reborn spoke.

Noticing the tension, Spanner cut in, looking right at Takeshi, "we are trying to establish the connection with Vongola." Takeshi must have had a confused look because Spanner continued, "the man Cloud had brought back seemed to be a broker for an organisation in that dimension. He revealed that with some certain…" Spanner stopped, waving his hands and trying to think of the perfect word –

To which Irie had supplied and continued, "unknown workings of the physical and spiritual dimension, which had managed to clamp down the emergency and the safety mechanism of the supposed altered bazooka's system and trapped Tsuna there."

Takeshi's eyes narrowed, "and you are trying to…?"

"To establish a connection with the Vongola, right now."

Takeshi hummed, glad for the explanation. There were many questions popping up in his head but he closed his mouth with one look from Hayato. Hopefully, Hayato would keep him the loop this time.

There was a click that caught Takeshi's attention followed by Giannini's cries of hope, "I think it's connected!"

Without another pause, Reborn had his phone out from his pocket; Leon had climbed back onto the fedora, peering down. Reborn dialled a number they were familiar with and placed the call on speaker mode.

Takeshi's loud thumping of his heart was unheard over the sound drone of call being connected and when there was click, Takeshi released a breath he did not know he was holding.

"Hello?"

That. Was Tsuna's voice.

"Dame-Tsuna."

Takeshi felt his eyes filled with tears. Tears of joy. These three weeks had been agonising – waiting for news and being sent on missions just to take Tsuna's safety and well-being off his mind. He had seen Hayato work himself to the bone because he was worried and right now, the right-hand man had crumpled in his seat, biting down on his lips with relief.

"Thank god," Tsuna breathed in Italian. It was quiet on the other side before Tsuna called into the phone again, "please wait for a moment. I need to get to somewhere private. Do you…" there was a pause and Takeshi knew that Tsuna was afraid that the connection would be cut.

"Go on now, Vongola. The connection is secure."

Takeshi would imagine Tsuna nodding even though he would have been slightly disturbed that Verde was in the same room; Tsuna would have to be careful around his words later on.

There was a muffled apology – Takeshi reckoned that Tsuna had covered the phone's receiver – and some cheers while Tsuna told someone about needing a room. Tsuna had muttered apology to someone else and Takeshi heard a soft 'Gao'.

Na-tsu was there. At least Tsuna was not really alone.

Some footsteps were heard and following shortly after was a soft thud of the door – a wooden door – and a click. The background sounds had also drifted away and they were left with a soft lull of silence.

"Right," Tsuna said, "how are you guys?"

Typical, Takeshi smiled. It was so like Tsuna to care about them before himself.

"Dame-Tsuna," Reborn started, with a menacing glint in his eye (Takeshi had no doubt that Tsuna would be able to feel that), "I see that you have been busy?"

"Indeed, I have." Tsuna's voice was serious, "but you only managed to secure this connection after three years?" There was some disappointment in the voice, and a little accusatory, "perhaps the first thing I should do when I got back is to fire all my inventors and engineers for being incompetent."

Reborn smirked and Takeshi knew that although Tsuna was not entirely kidding, he would not be going to fire the three of them.

"You have gotten fiery, Tsuna," Reborn replied, smirking.

"Of course," Tsuna replied smoothly – there was a rustle and Takeshi believed that Tsuna had taken a seat somewhere to get himself more comfortable, "I'm three years wiser. Updates, Hayato."

"Time passes differently between the two dimensions – something that we only realized last week. Three years there would be three weeks equivalent over here…" Tsuna had made a small noise "…and the reason you were stuck there was because of an organization named Tartarus."

"…right," Takeshi could hear Tsuna rolling his eyes, "go on, Hayato."

"Apparently, due to… what you call Magic, there was a development where they managed to hack into the bazooka's safety mechanism and disabled it."

"This entire world is filled with Magic, Hayato. It should not just be Tartarus?"

"Tsuna, let me cut in here," Takeshi did not miss the appreciative glance that Hayato had shot Irie with, "we have found out from our informant that Tartarus uses cursed magic."

Irie paused as if waiting for Tsuna's choked exclamation and when he was met with none, he shrugged, "our bazooka's safety mechanism should be able to counter the magic that was in the air. On the other hand, cursed magic was something that we did not take into consideration. Do you remember what happened when you first landed? Were there any clues as to the cursed magic being used… or?"

Tsuna's hummed reply was unnerving – Tsuna was thinking and this made Takeshi nervous. Tsuna, after taking up the mantle, albeit not really official, he had always been one to make his thinking alone. The only other kind of thinking that Takeshi knew of was Tsuna thinking of what to eat.

"I landed near a town called Magnolia," Tsuna supplied, "over here, there is a guild called Fairy Tail. Out of obligation and perhaps, the fact that I had no communication back home –" Takeshi heard the spite "- I joined them. Since then, I've been sent on different…" Tsuna paused and his tongue rolled over the next word with little familiarity, "…missions to deal with Black Guild who often dealt with cursed magic."

"…that would not have been the reason that stopped the safety mechanism from activating, Vongola."

"Yes, Verde. I'm just thinking out loud and giving Hayato my status report," Tsuna snapped.

"Yo, Tsuna," Takeshi called out to diffuse the tension a little.

"Takeshi?"

Takeshi felt himself grinning, "the one and only. Lambo and Ipin have been going to school and they miss you."

"…of course," Takeshi could not quite place the emotion that was hidden behind those words, "I miss all of you too."

A cough cut through the sentimental conversation and Reborn accused sharply, as if wanting to say this for the longest time, "you almost died. What could you be doing that you almost died twice! Being the Vongola Decimo meant that you have responsibility on your shoulders, Tsuna. Dying in another dimension would be disastrous. Unless you had wanted to be killed?"

Takeshi wanted to punch Reborn for bringing the conversation back onto those tracks but he could not help but flinch to what Reborn had just said – Tsuna almost died… twice?

A sharp laugh cut through from the phone and Tsuna sounded spiteful, "you don't suppose to accuse me of anything treacherous, do you, Reborn?"

"Of course not," Reborn replied smoothly.

"Yes," Tsuna bit out, "I almost died. But that's not the issue here nor am I trying to get myself killed just to escape my duties as the Decimo."

"…It is every issue," Reborn's voice was monotonous, casually skipping over the exculpation that Tsuna had clarified.

"No!" Tsuna snarled, "I am alive and well. What I want is to get home, do you get me, Reborn?"

"…then we will deal with your… incompetency when you get back," Reborn replied coldly.

"Incompetency?" Tsuna scoffed over the phone, "the only incompetence I see is my innovation team unable to get me home."

The three of them flinched but did not answer, knowing full well that Tsuna was frustrated with being trapped there and not knowing how long more he had to wait.

"What happened, Tsuna?" Takeshi asked, hoping to stop the tension between the tutor and tutee.

"…there was a young child, not more than 5 years old, Takeshi," Tsuna sounded tired, "and I could not have shown them my… competence" Tsuna said acidly, "because of the position I was in. I received a fatal wound to my shoulder which thankfully was not as fatal due to the harmony flames in me."

Hayato cut through Takeshi's musings, "Tenth, how are you right now?"

Tsuna let out a tired sigh, "If you are asking me about my shoulder, it's almost healed. I have regained 90% mobility and my magic or Flames are currently replenished at 95%." There was pause, "but if you are asking me about my psychological well-being…" another sigh, "I'm really tired, Hayato."

And Tsuna sounded tired. Really tired.

"I'm glad I have no paperwork to deal with here," Tsuna's voice penetrated the haze that was clouding Takeshi's mind, "and that the people from Fairy Tail are really nice. They are like my family but… they aren't my Famiglia." Tsuna chuckled softly, "Although, I'll be lying to myself if I said I don't care about what happened to the Fairy Tail members because my heart aches when Lisanna died. I was in fury when I heard Jellal bullying Erza to tears… I wanted everything but to take away the pain Natsu felt when he ate the Etherion…"

Now Takeshi's heart tinged with worry and unseen pain. Looking around, he figured that everyone felt the same (perhaps not Verde but…) because Tsuna sounded so vulnerable and hurt. No one liked it when Tsuna was hurt – even Hibari would have moved mountains to get Tsuna whole again.

"…I hope you still want to come back after spending three years there, Tsuna," Reborn sighed.

"Of course, I do, Reborn," Tsuna replied softly, "you guys are my Famiglia. I love all of you and I would give up anything to be with you again." Takeshi knew that if Tsuna had not cried previously, he would be now.

"Then you must be ready to give them up, Tsuna."

"I know, Reborn," Tsuna snapped but this time with less bite, "I've been trying my best to stay away and I did so for one whole year. I made sure to go on covert jobs because that way no one would have teamed up with me and no one would get close to me." Bitterness seeped through Tsuna's voice.

"…but I couldn't. I was tired and lonely. I waited. I tried everything to communicate with you guys but… I just…"

Tsuna was sobbing now and Takeshi felt disgusted with himself. He was here on Earth, trying to go on missions to take his mind off of Tsuna and his disappearance, waiting for the Giannini, Spanner, and Irie to do their magic. He had chosen to run away when his friendbossleaderfamily was in another dimension, hurt and alone.

"…please don't blame yourselves…" Tsuna said gently with no blame as if reading their minds. What a kind man. How had he wanted to hug Tsuna right there and then.

"…What's the progress like…?" The unspoken words rung in Takeshi's head: to bring me home.

"Not looking good, Vongola," Verde said bluntly – let Verde be the one who brought the unfortunate news. "We have managed to establish a stable connection right now. We are looking if it's possible to even send over a return bazooka through this connection."

"I assume that it only allows for voice transmission?" Boss Tsuna was back. A small smile graced Takeshi's lips.

"Indeed, Tsuna," Irie typed a few words before bringing out a screen, "we have trialed with various robotic rabbits regarding a return bazooka but they returned within an hour, Earth time." Another few more clicks on the keyboard, "we are hoping that you could help us, Tsuna."

"Continue," Tsuna said curtly.

"We need you to remove the source of the cursed magic that had interfered with the original safety mechanism."

The room was silent as they waited for Tsuna reply, "…you have to give more to go back than the fact it's cursed magic."

"You're insufferable, Tsuna," Reborn retorted.

"…and in what way was that insufferable, my dearest tutor?" Tsuna replied acidly.

"Do you expect us to know everything about your world there? We have three weeks to work on this while you have three years."

"I'm sorry that I have three years then, my dear tutor. If you have had asked so nicely, I would have told you that there are multitudes of magic that can be considered your so-called cursed magic."

"Stop this, Reborn and Tenth." Hayato scolded, "well? Anyone?" Hayato glared at the four people seated across him.

"What we managed to figure out from our informant was that this cursed magic came from Tartarus and is tied to Zeref." Irie paused, only continuing when Tsuna made a noise of confirmation, "what we –" Verde had squawked –"or Verde, in particular, had found out was that it might not necessarily be something. It could be someone."

"…Explain, please."

"Right," Irie nodded, even though Tsuna could not see, "the problem is that we are not sure if the cursed magic were targeted at you or that it was accidental. On the same note, we are unsure if the cursed magic was casted to prevent you from coming back or that the existence of a certain magic negates the safety mechanism on its own."

Tsuna hummed, "and you are saying that it could be someone's existence that is causing this?"

"Indeed," Irie nodded, "your reason being stuck there might not have been that someone chose for you to be stuck there but you are stuck there as a collateral damage."

Tsuna made a sound, "right. In any case…" There was a pause where a door opened, and a hushed voice said something to Tsuna.

From behind Tsuna, someone screamed, "Tsuna! Gildarts met a dragon!"

The sound was so loud that Takeshi had winced and he asked out loud, "who's that…"

"Sounded like Squalo," Hayato commented, noting down yet another point on his PDA.

"That's… Natsu," Tsuna sighed before his voice became muffled, "Natsu, please keep your volume down."

"AWW! But I want to visit Gildarts! I want to fight him! Challenge him to duel! AND I want you there!"

There was a chuckle, "to see you lose and run away with your tail between your legs?"

"NO!" This Natsu had shouted, now way louder and Takeshi presumed he had entered the room Tsuna was in.

"Well… who're you talking to?"

Tsuna's voice lowered down and possibly had said it with a small smile, "my family."

The other party had squawked and huffed, "but we are your family!"

Another few harrumphs and thumps later – Takeshi assumed someone had dragged Natsu out, if the sound of body against wood was anything to go by, Takeshi heard someone berating Natsu of his insensitivity.

"…that was Natsu," another deep sigh, "he reminds me of… never mind," Tsuna coughed slightly to cover his voice, "how can I call you guys back?"

Reborn glanced at Giannini who spoke up, "not too sure, Decimo. We are trying to secure a stable connection but we aren't sure if we can have another voice transmission."

"…are text messages okay, then?" Tsuna sounded hopeful.

Verde replied, "I don't see why not."

"Great." Tsuna sounded relieved.

After a long silence, Tsuna said, "I got to go. I must make sure Natsu does not kill himself and… I have a mission to go to."

"Please take care, Tenth."

"Tsuna, we are waiting for you to come back."

Tsuna probably smiled because he replied, "of course. Hayato, good job. Takeshi, please make sure Hayato sleeps and eats." To this, Hayato spluttered and blushed.

"I'm going to –"

"Dame-Tsuna." Tsuna stopped mid-sentence.

"You will need more training." Reborn had lowered his fedora and everyone had turned their heads away. Takeshi assumed that they knew that the tutor was blushing slightly.

There was a pause and an audible sigh.

"I missed you too, Reborn. I'll come back safe; I promise."

The audible click signaled to Takeshi that Tsuna had put down the phone. Reborn promptly stood up and left the room in a huff. Takeshi was unsure if he was going to terrorise someone else or if he was going to catch up with some of his other basic needs.

Although his train of thought was destroyed when Verde said, "Reborn's going to find another person to fuck with until his frustration is released."

Right… Takeshi looked over to Hayato who was barking out orders and he settled down into the seat, feeling more exhausted than he ever was in the past three weeks.

A/N: I am currently writing the last chapter of this and am kind of stuck of how I would want to end it. It felt wrong but right at the same time - you get me? There would probably not be a sequel because of life but I will make sure that the last chapter comes out!