13

The mafia definitely has a problem with children. Tsuna concluded as he brought a tray of snacks and drinks into his room.

His usually near empty bedroom was now filled with a variety of things that don't necessarily belong to him. Besides Reborn's random stash of weapons and whatever Lambo littered around the house (he even found a pitch fork, don't ask), there were manga books, baseball equipment, textbooks, and school supplies all over the place.

Yamamoto and Gokudera come around a lot lately. They would bring sushi or snacks and the three of them would study or joke about things that happened in school. When they weren't around, Tsuna would play video games with Lambo and I-pin. He still helps his mom with the house chores and sometimes Bianchi would try to cook with them. Not poisonous cooking...it was normal cooking.

But the results were difficult to describe. Gokudera wasn't kidding when he said Bianchi turned every ingredient she touched into a monstrous evil that looked like they were blessed by special grade cursed spirits.

It took everything Tsuna had in him to stop her from trying to have Nana give it a test taste.

His life now was lively and loud but it wasn't bad. Tsuna actually kind of liked it. He still found time to sneak over to the Fushiguros. Tsuna would play with the kids and cook them some food that can be stored in the fridge. All they have to do is microwave it when they get hungry. Megumi's training with the shikigamis was going well. Even though he would fall asleep if he summoned them for too long, he was lasting longer and longer.

However, Tsuna hadn't seen Toji-san in a while. Aside from the occasional texts signaling the man was still alive out there, Tsuna hadn't received much word on his whereabouts. Before Tsuna left the Fushiguros, he gave Old Mrs. Tanaka some money in exchange for her to take care of the kids while he wasn't there.

"Tenth!" Gokudera stood up when Tsuna opened the door. "Let me get that for you."

Tsuna passed him the large tray. "Thanks, Gokudera-kun."

"Hey, Tsuna! Did you figure out question three yet?"

Yamamoto was sitting on the ground with their math homework laid out in front of him. He scratched his head while a sheepish smile was on his face. He hadn't been very invested in class so they were kind of going at the assignments blindly.

"I haven't." Math was never his strong suit. No matter how many dynamites or trigger bombs Reborn set up around him, his brain simply couldn't register the logic behind those symbols.

"Hey Baseball idiot! I told you a dozen times already that you have to use this equation for a question like this. Were you even listening?" Gokudera slammed his fist on the table when he saw the mess scribbled on Yamamoto's paper.

"But I thought this way would work too. And Gokudera's explanation was too hard to understand." Yamamoto had a rather innocent look on his face as he continued to write down the wrong formula.

"What did you say? You shi—"

"Gokudera-kun, there are children around!" Tsuna blocked the other's mouth with his hands. It was true, they weren't alone.

A boy. He was younger, only about nine years old if Tsuna were to guess. This new boy had light brown hair and dark brown eyes. He wore a striped scarf and carried a huge book with him as he sat on Tsuna's chair.

"Tsuna-Nii's and his friends are funny," he commented with a smile.

Tsuna had met him on his way from school and somehow with Reborn's meddling he had ended up taking the strange boy back home with him. There were some weird looking men in striped suits looking for the young boy and Tsuna didn't particularly like the air they gave off. They felt like the men he had encountered while he went out with Toji-san during the night.

There was greed and ill intention in their eyes.

Then they ran into Yamamoto and Gokudera, who beat the adults up easily. They were good, surprisingly good and Tsuna felt proud to be able to call them 'friends'.

"I'm sorry," he bent down to meet the boy at eye level. "But who are you?"

"I'm Fuuta de la Stella," the boy introduced himself.

Gokudera jumped out of his seat. "No way! You're the ranking kid?"

"Umm...you know him, Gokudera-kun?" This couldn't be leading to anything good considering where Gokudera came from.

"Fuuta is an informant, his rankings are 100% accurate." Reborn appeared by dropping down from the ceiling. Tsuna doesn't know when he installed all these ninja-like hidden doors and fake walls around his house. "Because of it, a lot of people in the underground society would like to get their hands on his book that contains all the rankings."

"So what are you doing here then?" Tsuna asked Fuuta.

"You are Vongola's tenth aren't you? Please help me!" The boy threw himself into Tsuna's embrace. He had watery eyes as he stared up at Tsuna's face. "Out of 872 mafia bosses, you place first in the inability to turn down requests by children."

"That sounds like a horrible reasoning to come running to a stranger for help." Tsuna looked away and tried to push the boy off gently. "What if I tried to take your book too?"

"But you also placed first in lack of ambition, so you wouldn't hurt me just to get the information."

Damn, this kid's rankings were good. While Tsuna wouldn't say that he had a heart of stone, he does have a very soft spot for children.

"It would be dangerous to throw a weak little animal out to the wild, wouldn't it?"

And here comes Reborn's devilish whispers.

"Him, alone, out there in the open. With no protection against all the carnivores and predators."

"Reborn—" Tsuna started as he rubbed the bridge of his nose but he felt the thin arms around his waist tighten.

"Please~" Fuuta begged as he pressed his face into Tsuna's chest. The teen's body was rigid as he fought and resisted against patting the child on the back like he does whenever the Fushiguro kids would run to him. Usually away from their father.

He struggled for a few more minutes before finally caving. He couldn't just let this kid go while knowing full well of the dangers waiting for him outside.

Tsuna coughed as his shoulders sagged. "Fine, he stays."

The young boy cheered and smiled brightly at Tsuna, who couldn't help but mirror the grin.

"It's not everyday you get the chance to find Fuuta in person," Reborn suddenly jumped up onto Tsuna's shoulder. "Why don't you get some rankings too?"

"That's fine with me," Fuuta answered as he got his book ready.

"Let's do it, Tenth!" Gokudera moved in closer. "I've got a question that I want to ask the ranking kid for a while now."

Yamamoto laughed as he went over to take a look at Fuuta's book. "Sounds interesting. Is this another game?"

"What?" someone asked from outside his room. "It sounds like you guys are doing something fun here! Is it a new type of fortune telling?"

Haru poked her head through Tsuna's door. Their initial meeting had been based on a misunderstanding and somehow now they were on pretty alright speaking terms. The girl was sort of strange but she had good intentions and she was a cheerful person.

She kind of reminded Tsuna of Yuu in a weird way.

"Haru-kun? What are you doing here?" he questioned.

"I was passing by and thought I would help Mama bring in the clothing before it starts to rain."

Nana didn't mind her son's friends calling her "Mama". In fact, Tsuna thinks she loves it when he brings people home, even if they were a quirky and strange group of teenagers.

"Oh...you didn't have to do that."

Haru let herself inside. She sat down from across Fuuta and pointed to herself. "Tell me my fortune then? What is the number one thing Haru likes about Tsuna-kun?"

Fuuta nodded and he looked up. Tsuna didn't know what he was searching for but the boy's eyes seemed to reflect the whole galaxy. Then the things in his room started to float into the air as if gravity had suddenly gone on strike.

Tables, books, pens...everything went flying.

"Whoa!"

"This is amazing!" Yamamoto and Haru were both laughing.

"Haru-san likes Tsun-Nii's gentleness the most," Fuuta said but his voice didn't sound entirely like his own. The boy's feet were slightly off the ground too and Tsuna worried if he should start moving the things in the air out to his room just in case they come crashing down.

"Lambo-sama wants his fortunes too!"

Tsuna looked up. Lambo and I-pin were swimming through the air. "L-Lambo!" he stuttered as he tried to pull the kids down but wasn't tall enough to reach them.

Fuuta complied. "Lambo's ranked the most annoying out of all the mafia members."

The kid in a cow's onesie looks hurt by those words. Tsuna and the others let out a few chuckles.

"I'm next!" Gokudera pushed the floating kid out of his face. "Fuuta, for the ranking of people suitable to be the Tenth's right hand, where do I place?"

"Hayato-Nii's ranking is...out of range. But you do place number 1 as the most suitable to be a kindergarten teacher."

"What?"

Now that was a shocker to all of them. Tsuna tried to imagine Gokudera with kids and...let's just say most of it was explosives going off, both literally and metaphorically.

"You guys are wasting this opportunity." Bianchi's voice came from above them. She looked like a ghost bride out of a horror movie with her hair flaring in every direction. "Let's do a ranking on who loves who. Love is the most important thing after all."

"I don't think that is—"

But his objection was ignored by everyone else.

"For Tsuna-Nii's love ranking, the number one candidate is..." Fuuta started and Tsuna's heart was at his throat. "...Gyokuken."

"Jade dogs…?" Gokudera looked stunned. Confusion took over his excited features as he pondered. "Who's that?"

"Are you talking about Hiro sensei's keychain set? He's got two jade dogs on that," Yamamoto offered.

Hiro sensei was their math teacher. An old man with a mild temper and no hair. He does adore those jade dogs on his keychain a lot. Supposedly they were a gift his son bought with his first paycheck.

"Haru lost to something like that?" the black haired girl opened the curtains and sighed. "I feel like it's raining inside my heart too."

"Rain?"

Everything dropped to the ground. They came crashing down as Tsuna caught the two kids and everyone dodging the fallen objects.

Fuuta shrunk into the corner. He looked like he had his spine pulled out of him and his limbs went limp. The boy laid sideways on the ground with a frown on his face. "My ranking gets messed up when it rains."

"Oh, so all the rankings after it started to rain was wrong then?" Gokudera looked excited. "That means I still have a chance to be the Tenth's number 1 right hand man, don't I?"

"Gokudera-kun..." Tsuna didn't know if he should be happy about the other teen's devotion. He didn't need a right hand man. He would be happy if they could stay friends.

"Tsu-kun!" Nana yelled from downstairs. "Dinner's ready!"

"Coming!"

Dinner was getting crowded and messy. Yamamoto's hearty laughs mixed with Gokudera's shouting. Lambo and I-pin fought about who gets the extra piece of shrimp while Bianchi longingly tended to Reborn's request for one more bowl of rice. Fuuta complimented Nana on her cooking and the housewife was giggling. She promised to make something he likes for dinner tomorrow.

"Hey Baseball idiot, stop taking the things I want to eat!"

"Haha, Gokudera is too slow."

"Lambo! You're spilling the water!"

Tsuna sat in the middle of their lively conversations with a faint smile. He liked this actually. His mom was definitely enjoying it too.

Still, there was a part of Tsuna that couldn't let him join in completely.

As he ate, he couldn't help but think of Megumi and Tsumiki. Mrs. Takana was old and she visited the hospital frequently. If she went on for her doctor's visit, the Fushiguro kids would have to eat at home by themselves.

Alone.

With microwaved food or some store bought cold bento. Suddenly the food in his mouth doesn't taste as good any more.

"What's wrong, Tsuna-Nii?" Fuuta slipped a chopstick full of meat into Tsuna's bowl. "If you don't hurry up, the meat will be gone."

"It's nothing." Tsuna shook his head as he smiled. "Thank you, Fuuta."

Tsuna finished his dinner in silence. He decided that he was going to need to go find Toji-san if the man still didn't come home this weekend.

#

While everyone else in the Sawada House was preparing to go to bed, Reborn went out into one of the phone booths on the street. It was dark out and the street lamps around these parts don't really work. He dialed in a number and the other side immediately picked up.

"Ciaossu," he greeted. "How is the search going, Dino?"

"I found him."

"And?" That was faster than Reborn had expected.

Dino mentioned for Romario to keep driving. "The Heavenly Tyrant indeed does live up to his nickname. He's strong and fast, smart too. We got into a fight but he got away."

The blond mafia boss thought back to his encounter with the man. His eyebrows knitted into a knot as he felt his head throbbed from just remembering the feeling of having an elbow smashed into his face. "He's got dark hair and a scar on the right side of his mouth but he thought we were after him because of Enrico. He denies having anything to do with Enrico's death and didn't react when I mentioned Namimori either."

Reborn's expression darken at that. True, it wasn't a secret that Enrico's dead. Anyone with a foot in the underground businesses would know about it unless they've been living under a rock. But that also meant this person was indeed from a dark and troublesome background. "So he doesn't have any connection to Tsuna?"

That would be the best scenario. For them and for the Ninth, at least.

"I doubt it. It doesn't look like he's someone that has the patience to deal with children. I went to do some more digging just in case. I can't find anything on him before he became the Heavenly Tyrant but there's something special about his clique of people. I think you should know."

Somehow, Reborn doesn't really believe Dino. Fuuta's ranking today made him wary. The rain might have messed with his ability but his rankings weren't usually completely random. He checked when the rain had actually started and realized it started right before Fuuta uttered his answer. That didn't sit well with Reborn. If Fuuta's ranking had already narrowed down before the answer got jumbled then "Gyokuken" was probably someone or something Tsuna knew in real life.

Call him suspicious, but his killer's instinct was screaming at him as loud as it could.

Still, he asked, "What is it?"

"Shamans," Dino answered but he didn't really understand it himself. "He has very deep ties with the shamans. I'm not sure if these people are con artists or cult leaders but they are collectively known as shamans around Japan. The Heavenly Tyrant somehow pulled his weapons out of thin air when we fought too."

"Shamans?" Reborn knew there were people with unique abilities all over the world. Not all of the strongest were flame users, it just happened that Vongola managed to stay on top with the way they run things.

It wasn't like those people had a lot of ambition anyways. They were more like loose grains of sand. Everyone desired something different and they couldn't agree on one leadership since everyone had unnatural powers.

He suddenly remembered the information dealer from the bar. "Like a curse," he had warned. Was that what the man had meant then?

"Thank you Dino," he finally told his former student. "I think that will be enough for now, you and your men can go back to Italy. It won't do you too well if you stay here for too long."

"No problem," Dino laughed. "Anything for my mafia little brother. It's beneficial for both the Cavallone and Vongola too. But I will say this before I go..." his voice got quieter and Reborn had to focus hard to distinguish his next words from the sound of traffic in the background. "That Heavenly Tyrant is bad news all around. That's not someone the Vongola should keep close or as an enemy."

Reborn stayed silent. He didn't like what the young mafia boss was implying.

"I don't trust him. He is not a man of loyalty. At least, I can't imagine him being a good addition to any famiglia."

Meaning, even if Reborn or Vongola's Tenth run into him in the future, it was better for them to never try to recruit the man. Unstable. A ticking bomb ready to go off. Reborn couldn't let that happen.

He won't let it happen.

Author's notes:

Gyokuken = Jade/Divine dogs. They are Megumi's dogs that he summoned out of his shadow.

I don't really know how Fuuta's rankings worked so I'm going off on what I think is logical here (haha).