Tsuna shrank a little under the flat look Reborn turned on him as they stood at the back door together, watching their brand new cow graze on the lawn in the back yard.

"I… don't have an explanation. But it's totally not my fault!" Tsuna said defensively. "He was just. There." He gestured vaguely. "Well not, there-there, there as in out the front of the house."

He glanced at Reborn and slumped in defeat at the dog's continued unimpressed stare. "I know", he sighed. "But it's not like I could just leave him standing there. What if he wandered off into traffic or something? He's just a baby…"

Reborn huffed and leaned into his side.

Tsuna smiled faintly and cupped the side of the dog's head to scratch his cheek. For a few moments they continued to watch the calf in silence like that until Tsuna spoke again, quietly. "Mum wants to move."

He felt Reborn's ear swivel, letting him know he was listening.

Tsuna sighed again. "I mean, I guess we have to. There's no way to keep this guy if we don't." He nodded at the calf. "And I can still go to the same school and everything, but I dunno, I just… I don't have any memories of living anywhere else, so I guess… I guess it'll be kinda sad, to leave…" he trailed off.

Reborn gave his own equivalent of a sigh and leaned into Tsuna harder in silent support.

Tsuna rubbed his ear in thanks.

"I really don't do it on purpose you know", Tsuna said later out loud, lying on his bed with Shouichi cradled on his chest. He hadn't been aware that guinea pigs could give pitying looks until he glanced down. "You're no help", he grumbled.

Shouichi whistled in apology.

Tsuna sighed and lightly scritched Shouichi's scruffy fur. "It's fine", he said. "…At least Chrome wasn't my fault. No offense."

Chrome perked up from her place on the floor when he turned his head to address her. She was as reticent as ever but the slow twitching of her nose and the way she titled her head looked like acceptance to him.

Tsuna smiled fondly. She'd grown a lot and was now a little over half of Mukuro's size, and more than double Shouichi's. They were cage-mates for now, though Tsuna was thinking of getting them a larger one when they moved, so Chrome could have her own hutch and everything. Or maybe he'd get her a whole new cage altogether. She was a sweetheart and absolutely deserved it. Bringing her into the family might not have been his idea but he was glad Mukuro found her.

And speak of the devil. The bobtail slipped through the crack in Tsuna's door and padded into the room on silent feet. Tsuna had been expecting him, since he and Chrome were pretty much attached at the hip and it was rare for one to be in a room alone for more than 10 minutes before their other half came to find them.

Mukuro and Chrome lightly touched noses as they sniffed each other in greeting. Then the cat seemed to debate between staying with his charge or hopping onto the bed to bother Tsuna, looking between them while his ears swivelled in thought.

Tsuna felt Shouichi burrowing into his shirt for cover as Mukuro's gaze swept over him. Tsuna cupped his hand over the guinea pig's back in silent reassurance and to help him hide better.

Eventually Mukuro seemed to decide on Tsuna because he leapt lightly up onto the bed. Tsuna grunted as the cat walked over his thighs to get to his other side. Mukuro made his way up to the pillow and settled besides Tsuna's head. His position meant Tsuna could very clearly hear and feel the whispery rumble of the cat starting to purr a moment later.

Mukuro was a quiet purrer, same as Kyoya, and it was difficult to catch unless you put your face right next to them like Tsuna was now.

They also both seemed to be content just being next to Tsuna, if they way they immediately started purring as soon as they made contact with him was any indication. It was a little funny, considering how aloof they both were otherwise. Typical cat behaviour, he supposed.

Tsuna tilted his head, nudging into Mukuro's soft side.

The cat's purring notched up a degree.

Tsuna hummed, quietly amused. "Softy", he said.

Mukuro bapped him on the cheek with a fuzzy paw in reprimand. It was more of a love-tap than anything, considering Tsuna knew well what he could do with those hidden claws.

"I stand by my statement."

Mukuro hissed quietly in displeasure but it sounded kind of funny due of his continued purring.

Tsuna sniggered, making Shouichi on his chest squeak as he was jostled. "Sorry Shou", Tsuna chortled, petting the top of his head in apology.

"Where'd you find this one?" Shamal asked incredulously, looking the cow over. He was making a rare house call, since they didn't have the equipment to get the cow to the clinic by car. And despite what Nana thinks, Tsuna was pretty sure they'd have gotten in trouble if they'd tried to walk the cow there on a leash or taken public transport.

"Our front door", said Tsuna.

"Seriously?"

Tsuna sighed. "Yeah."

Shamal laughed, completely unhelpful. "You know, I was the head vet at a zoo for a number of years. So even if you brought a lion in I wouldn't turn you away."

Touching as that sentiment was, Tsuna's eyes widened in alarm. "Don't tempt fate!" he hissed while his gaze darted around as though he expected a real lion to pop out at any moment.

Shamal just grinned. "Really though, you're like 90% of my income at this point. So I'll be counting on your continued patronage, even once you move. Otherwise I'd have to follow you", he joked.

Nana laughed with him and even Tsuna grinned wryly. He knew Shamal was probably exaggerating but it wouldn't be hard to be convinced that was true.

The vet's clinic was tiny and felt slightly run down in that way that really old, cheaply built buildings tended to; no matter how many layers of paint you put on the walls. Not to mention the not so great location. They themselves had found Shamal by complete coincidence when Nana was walking past the area one day.

Tsuna wasn't sure if their timing just happened to be bad or what, but he'd seen one, maybe two other people in the clinic in all the times they'd been there.

One of those people had been a friendly, soft-spoken man with round little glasses who had looked far too young for the full head of white hair he'd sported.

The man had given off a somewhat eccentric vibe as they'd made polite small talk in the waiting room, and Tsuna was fairly certain that the blanket covered box he'd had with him at the time had had a snake in it. Judging by the size of the lump under the blanket and the intermittent hissing that came from within, it had been a rather large and grumpy snake at that.

Tsuna hadn't seen the man since then but he had a weird feeling that they'd meet again someday. He tried to ignore it.

"You're moving?" Kyoko asked, eyes round.

Hana also paused what she was doing to stare at him with a slight frown. Haru glanced between them all worriedly.

"I'll still go to Namimori though!" Tsuna was quick to reassure and was glad he did.

The mood lightened noticeably at those words. Kyoko sighed softly in relief and Ryohei barked once, loudly, startling everyone but her. Hana gave the dog a filthy look but then rolled her eyes fondly as Ryohei shoved his fuzzy head under one of Kyoko's arms - his way of giving comfort.

"Say that part quicker", Hana grumbled.

"Sorry." Tsuna ducked his head sheepishly.

"Why are you moving?" Haru asked curiously as she came to join them around the little table where they were having one of their regular study session/get togethers, this time at Kyoko's house.

"We need more room."

The girls made simultaneous noises of understanding.

"Your place has been getting kinda cramped", Hana mused.

"Mn", Kyoko agreed, tilting her head. "Why now though? It still seems kind of sudden."

"Uh…" Tsuna started hesitantly, "We kind of, found a cow? Or, a cow found us?"

"What?" Hana asked flatly.

"A cow turned up outside our front door, and we couldn't figure out where it came from", Tsuna explained, taking a sip of his tea.

"So you're keeping it?" Kyoko asked.

Tsuna nodded. "Yeah."

"That's so kind of you!" said Haru with her usual enthusiasm.

Kyoko nodded.

Hana however sighed in despair of him.

Tsuna smiled wryly in her direction. "I don't disagree."

Kyoko giggled.

"So we'll still get to see you?" Haru asked after a moment of hesitation. Since she went to a different school to the three of them, Tsuna could understand why she'd be more worried about staying in touch in this case.

Tsuna's smile softened. "Yeah you will. I'd've still come to meet you guys even if I had changed schools", he said with some confidence.

"You'd better", Hana said, turning back to her textbook to hide the pleased smile on her face.

Kyoko leaned into Hana teasingly. "But we're glad you're not", she said, grinning at Tsuna across the table. "Right Hana?"

Hana huffed non-committedly.

Tsuna laughed under his breath. "Yeah, me too." He smiled back.

Getting all of the animals down to the new house in one go turned out to be the most logistically difficult part of the move. Finding room for 5 medium to extra-large dogs, 2 cats, a guinea pig, a rabbit, and a cow was not easy. Eventually they had to settle for renting both a livestock trailer and an eight-seater van to attach it to.

The newly named Lambo seemed pretty reluctant about going into the trailer on his own but was eventually persuaded with the promise of treats.

The rest of the animals were piled into the van along with Nana and Tsuna, and then they were good to go. The movers they'd hired seemed equal parts amused and bewildered by their collection of pets but were professional enough not to comment.

The place they'd chosen as their new home was located on the very outermost edge of Namimori, right in the transition between suburbs and farmland. The large double story farmhouse was settled on a decent sized plot of land and it was a fairly new build, but the architecture had a charming traditional vibe to it.

Nana wasn't kidding when she'd said she'd been considering the move for a while. She'd pulled out an entire folder of potential properties she'd been cataloguing all the way since last year. She and Tsuna had browsed through it several times together on quiet evenings, debating pros and cons until they'd unanimously agreed that this was the one.

Tsuna's trepidation at the move had gradually turned to excitement as the idea of starting a new chapter of their lives grew on him.

Upon arrival, the animals and their amenities were the first things out, shortly followed by Tsuna and Nana's personal items and the box of essentials they'd carefully selected for the first few days.

Normally that wouldn't have been necessary since moving companies offered to do everything for you from start to finish, but Nana had wanted Tsuna and her to do the unpacking themselves.

She said it was an important ritual and that it was fine if the movers just helped them pack up and then get all the boxes and heavy furniture to the appropriate rooms and then they'd take it from there.

And that's exactly what they did.

As soon as the movers left they started.

Lambo was very obviously happy with his new pasture and almost immediately went racing off to explore every nook and cranny. They let him run wild but checked in every now and then in between opening the first of their boxes.

The cats, similar to Lambo, immediately disappeared to poke around their new territory, though they notably left in complete opposite directions.

The dogs hovered around to help them move stuff when they could. Anything that could be safely carried or dragged to its appropriate place by them was left in their care.

Tsuna huffed in amusement as he watched Colonello carefully walk past with his back piled high with linens.

It seemed as though both Shouichi and Chrome wanted to help as well, if the mournful way they watched the proceedings from the sidelines was any indication. But that just wasn't practical, and they knew it, so they were careful not to get underfoot.

Nana and Tsuna managed to get most of the kitchen, Lambo's corner of the barn and both of their bedrooms set up for the night before they called it a day.

Tsuna collapsed face down onto his bed with an exhausted sigh. "Tired", he groaned, muffled by the pillow he was suffocating himself in.

A light tugging on his pant leg reminded him that he still needed to get changed. He whined in denial. "Nooo."

There was a slight pause before the tugging continued.

Tsuna sighed. "Yeah… yeah, I know." He rolled over.

Hayato's head popped up next to the bed. He chuffed encouragingly as he planted his snout of the edge of the mattress and gazed up at Tsuna.

You couldn't say no to that face. Tsuna sighed again gustily and reluctantly sat up.

Hayato wagged his tail in excited at his progress.

Tsuna smiled weakly. "Don't suppose you saw my pyjamas?"

Hayato's tail froze mid wag and he looked around the room. His ears and tail dropped.

"Oh bud," Tsuna leaned forwards to cup Hayato's face with both hands, "it's fine. I'll find 'em. And even if I don't that's fine. It's okay if you don't know, I'm pretty sure that's normal for moves."

Tsuna rubbed Hayato's ears to encourage them out of their slump.

He'd just gotten them back to their regular position when a muffled wuff from the doorway drew their attention to Takeshi who was holding a familiar bundle of fabric in his mouth.

"Oh!" Tsuna perked up. "Nice find."

Takeshi's tail wagged proudly as he brought the clothes to him.

"Thank you." Tsuna took them from him and scratched behind his ears in reward, which Takeshi happily accepted.

Hayato sulked off to one side, clearly unhappy about being outperformed, so Tsuna patted him again after. "It's one thing. You've been plenty of help all afternoon", he soothed.

Hayato was placated enough by the words and the attention that he seemed content as they started to settle in for the night.

Tsuna ducked out to the bathroom to brush his teeth and get changed in one go. By the time he returned to his new room it had a couple more guests than usual. Tsuna stopped in surprise. He hoped this was just them wanting to stick close for the night because of the move and not their attempt at setting up a new sleeping arrangement. Being tight on space was the whole reason they moved in the first place.

Tsuna carefully skirted around Skull's long torso and stepped over Colonello's splayed back legs and tail. He assumed Mukuro was hiding wherever Chrome was but spotted Shouichi lying on a pillow that one of the others must've brought in for him. Reborn of course was in his usually position on the bed but surprisingly shared the space with Kyoya.

Tsuna eyed them in question as he slid under the sheets, wondering how this was going to go.

As he flicked the lamp off and lay on his side, Reborn moved into his usual position and Tsuna could feel Kyoya walking up the length of the bed, but could only vaguely see his outline in the sudden darkness. Tsuna hummed in understanding as Kyoya settled into the space at his front. He gingerly touched the cat's side and stroked his hand down to his flank, noting his position.

"Sorry if I shove you or anything", he murmured.

The cat started purring when Tsuna stroked him again. Tsuna just really hoped he wouldn't drool or roll on top of him.

A/N:

Reborn: ? groenendael

Gokudera: long-haired weimaraner

Yamamoto: kai ken

Hibari: black domestic shorthair cat

Mukuro: japanese bobtail

Ryohei: kishu

Shouichi: red abyssinian guinea pig

Chrome: broken black mini rex

Lambo: black highland bull (calf)

Colonello: husky x golden retriever x german shepherd

Skull: hungarian mudi x great dane (with vitiligo)

whoa managed to mention nearly the whole cast in one chapter that's a new record