Disclaimer: Katekyo Hitman Reborn! is owned by Akira Amano. The Gamer belongs to Sangyoung Seong and Sang-a.

In hindsight, Tsuna should've seen this coming.

"We're gonna get spider-pets too, hahi!" said Haru.

"I agree!" said Kyoko.

"Yes! It would be Extreme!" Ryohei.

Hibari just stood there resolutely.

Tsuna turned to Hana. "If it's possible, I'd like to see how it works. Besides, if the pets are as protective as yours is, it might actually be helpful. Sort of an attack or guard pet," she said.

Tsuna just sighed and didn't bother to argue. He could tell he wasn't going to win, just like he could tell that something was going to go wrong.

He and Hana did, however, manage to argue for doing the spider dungeon last, on the grounds that the spider pets would still be weak so it would be best to get them after the fighting was done. Kuro had gotten a bit bigger since Tsuna got him, but even so he didn't like how Kuro didn't seem to realize he could get hurt, so Kuro had been left at home. Tsuna didn't want to imagine having five Kuros getting in the way of battle. Hibari would kill them.

The rest had agreed with varying levels of reluctance, so off they strode. Even so, it seemed like the others were more vicious than normal, trying to get the dungeons done faster.

The spider dungeon itself was done in a flash. Then the others split up, seeking out any movement. Tsuna stayed in the middle of the room. Maybe if he wasn't anywhere near, he wouldn't get blamed for whatever train wreck was about to happen.

"Hahi, Haru found one!" Haru said joyously.

"Great! Hello little spidy~," Kyoko said.

"You know, if you crowd so close, you might scare it," said Hana. Tsuna nodded, even though there was no way for them to see him.

"Since you found it, I think it's yours," said Kyoko as she backed up.

"Thanks!" Haru held out a little bit of food and backed off. Her spider, which was a bit bigger than Kuro and brown, didn't seem as timid as Kuro had been. After a second it plodded forward and was soon happily munching on the food.

Haru barely had to feed it a second time before it was hers. "Oooo, it's a Baby Weaving Spider!" she said.

"Cool," said Kyoko appreciatively, while Ryohei yelled "Extreme!" next to her.

"So, there are multiple types of spider pets possible. Interesting," said Hana.

"I'm going to name it Borento, after to super famous cosplayer!" declared Haru.

Tsuna and Hibari just watched on with silence. Then the group went back to searching for spiders.

It seemed like Baby Weaving Spiders and Baby Jumping Spiders were equally common, but Jumping Spiders were much more active. Kyoko and Ryohei both got Jumping Spiders. Kyoko named hers "Hime" while Ryohei decided to name his "Manly Man". Hana facepalmed at that. She got one of each, named "Marie Curie" and "Sally Ride".

Hibari could not seem to turn down his intimidating aura enough to capture a spider, and after watching him get increasingly frusterated over half an hour, Hana and Tsuna evacuated the others home. When another hour proved fruitless, Hana found a nearby den of delinquents and basically sacrificed them to Hibari. Then they called it a day.

..

It was a pretty decent summer after that. Tsuna got into a regular routine with the others. Every three days was a dungeon run, Wednesdays were group training days, Saturdays were dedicated to learning about first aid with Grandma, and Tsuna and the girls got together to learn how to cook with Tsuna's Mama at least once every week, after which they'd go shopping together. He also began to spend time with Ryohei on his morning runs, or rather, Ryohei told Tsuna that they were running together in the mornings and then didn't take no for an answer. Tsuna… probably could've gotten him to stop, but he just looked so happy Tsuna just didn't have the heart for it. It helped him with sprinting and endurance anyways.

He and Hana kept getting together, but as they slowly figured out the mysteries of the gamer thing of Tsuna's, it slowly turned into mutual venting sessions about all the crazy things around them. "Hibari just walked past me, dragging the guy behind him like he was a wagon or something. The guy had to be at least sixteen!" Tsuna exclaimed. "I know," Hana said. "Just the other day I'm pretty sure Ryohei told me he had accidentally punched through a wall. How do you accidentally punch through a wall of all things?"

They looked at each other and then agreed to never talk about that again.

Kuro and the other spiders grew a little, although they were still labelled [Baby] spiders. Hana thought it might be because since these were dungeon spiders, they might take a while to grow up. Hibari was still not successful in finding a spider that would accept him, and eventually just declared that spiders were not carnivorous for him.

Overall, disregarding that Tsuna and his friends had picked up a hobby of violently killing monsters, the summer was actually pretty peaceful. There was only one real big event that happened towards the end of the summer, when Tsuna collected the necessary 120,000 yen for the Namimori pet shop quest.

..

"So this is the place?" Kyoko asked, looking at the little pet store. Tsuna felt that, since they had helped him raise the amount, he should tell Kyoko and the others what the money was for.

"Hahi! It's adorable!" said Haru.

"It's Extremely small! But Extremely nice too!" yelled Ryohei.

Hibari just stood under a tree a little ways away, watching the group.

Hana had her notebook and a pen out, and gave Tsuna a look that said 'well? What are you waiting for?'

Tsuna sighed and led the way in. He hoped there wouldn't be any destruction today.

Miss Kobayashi looked up from her place behind the counter. "Oh! Hello again Sawada, Kurokawa. Who are your friends?"

Tsuna introduced them all, even Hibari, who hadn't come inside.

"So," said Kobayashi, after the introductions had ended, "What can I do for you today?"

"A-ah, well, do you remember what I said I would do? When me and Hana first came here?" Tsuna asked.

"Hm? Yes, well I said you didn't have to… no. No, you didn't," Miss Kobayashi gasped as she made the connection.

Tsuna peeked up at her, a wide smile splitting his cheeks as he held out the money to her. Miss Kobayashi squealed, then reached out and hugged Tsuna.

"Thankyouthankyouthankyou-" she squealed.

"A-ah, you're welcome," said Tsuna "But my friends helped too."

She released Tsuna, then turned to his friends and repeated her thanks.

"Hahi, you're welcome!" said Haru "Can we help with the advertising?"

"Of course!"

Haru, being a designer, and Kyoko, being Haru's friend, got way too into it. So did Ryohei, even if he didn't understand it.

Hana, Hibari and Tsuna did not. Hana was actually disappointed that nothing major happened, aside from a new quest "For the Pets!" which the requirements were a) build a sign, b) hand out 500 flyers and c) "?".

Haru, and Kyoko were put in charge of building the sign. All of them except for Hibari would be helping hand out flyers. Tsuna wasn't certain why Hibari was even hanging out with them while they were doing this. He hoped he wouldn't have to deal with preventing the deaths of innocents.

At least Hibari and Miss Kobayashi seemed to get along okay. Hibari approved of her protection of animals, and therefore was somewhat tolerant of her. Miss Kobayashi told Tsuna she just thought of Hibari as an independent cat and treated him accordingly.

The day of the campaign was only a week before the start of school. It was a bright sunny day. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, Haru was in a fish costume…

Tsuna did a double take. Haru had apparently made a giant goldfish costume, one that hung off her shoulders. It was bright orange, and Tsuna found himself wondering where she has managed to find googly eyes that were that big.

Haru noticed him looking. "Oh, Tsuna-kun you're here! Do you like Haru's costume?" she asked.

"I-it will certainly stand out," Tsuna said. He hadn't really processed it enough to say whether he liked it or not. Tsuna thought he probably should have realized Haru would do something like this when she told him that she wanted to be a costume designer when she grew up. When he got over his shock though, he guessed it was cute, if a bit odd.

Haru smiled and handed Tsuna a stack of flyers. Then she grabbed his hand and pulled him towards the shop. "You should see the sign me and Kyoko made. It's so cute!" She turned and spotted Kyoko. "Kyoko! Tsuna's here!"

"Oh, how nice. Take a look at the sign we made!" She gestured at it. The name of the shop was in felt stick on letters and underneath were several well-done drawings. Tsuna could tell that Hana had prevented the two from going overboard, as it wasn't covered in ribbons.

"It looks amazing!" Tsuna said. "Thanks!" said the two girls.

They chatted for a few minutes until Hana and Ryohei arrived. Then they began to pass out the flyers. Well, Tsuna, Kyoko, and Haru handed out flyers. Ryohei tried to help, but he was overenthusiastic, so Hana rode herd on him.

Even so, Tsuna though that the people responded better to Kyoko and Haru than him. Not that he was surprised, they were both cute girls after all.

After a while, Hana suggested that they split up and walk to different parts of the shopping area, try to cover more ground. Everyone agreed, so off they set. Tsuna ended up near the food court, where he passed out more flyers for half an hour. It was getting closer to lunchtime, so Tsuna was thinking about going back to get more flyers before the rush hit. He turned around to head towards the shop when he bumped into someone.

"Oh, pardon me-hiee!" he said, looking up and up and Up. The man he had bumped into was huge! He was tall, with dark hair in a buzzcut and his nose looked funny. Above his head was written "Yakuza Grunt, LV 18"

"Ah, I'm really sorry!" Tsuna said, bowing.

The man looked down at him. "Hey," the man asked in a rough voice "You seen a group of kids handing out flyers?"

Tsuna looked at the flyers in his hands. "Er, yes?"

"Well," and here the man gave Tsuna a smile with several broken teeth. "You let those kids know that their concern is unnecessary. Sometimes small business owners just can't keep up. And sometimes," he gave Tsuna a leer "accidents happen. Those kids probably have a bright future. It would be terrible if something damaged that." The man turned on his heel and left.

For a moment, Tsuna couldn't breathe. He'd heard about the Yakuza, and these kinds of threats before. He'd never thought he'd actually see it in real life.

Tsuna choked back a hysterical laugh. What had his life become? Then a sensation like a cold finger traced his spine. What would his friends do? Hana would be sensible, but the rest of them would absolutely try to fight the Yakuza. Tsuna had to get them in one location first. He and Hana would do their best to prevent the worst from occurring, but if not, safety in numbers.

Tsuna pulled out his phone.

..

"What's up Tsuna?" asked Kyoko. Haru and Ryohei nodded next to her.

"A-ah, h-have you seen any big scary guys around?" Tsuna asked.

"Yess?" Hana answered cautiously.

"W-well, they… might? Be Yakuza. That, ah, aren't too happy with the pet shop thing. One, er, might have threatened me."

Ryohei and Hana looked furious. Kyoko and Haru gasped. Tsuna cringed preemptively.

"WHAT?! THAT'S SO UNEXTREME!" yelled Ryohei at twice his normal volume.

"That's horrible," said Haru. Next to her, Kyoko asked "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," said Tsuna. "But, what are we going to do? I don't want any of you getting hurt, but…" Tsuna pushed his fingers together. "…I don't want Miss Kobayashi to get hurt either."

"WE BEAT THEM UP LIKE EXTREME MEN!" yelled Ryohei.

"Shush!" hushed Hana. "Don't say that so loud, we'll get in trouble. Furthermore, Yakuza are not like video game enemies. We might actually get seriously hurt."

"But we can't just leave her," said Kyoko.

"Yeah, not when we are like superheroes! Superheroes fight for Justice!" said Haru.

"Calm down. We'll have to find another way," said Hana.

There was a moment of silence.

"Er, Hana, you watch a lot of crime dramas, don't you?" Tsuna asked. She'd shown him some of her favorites. "How do they deal with Yakuza in crime dramas?"

Hana looked thoughtful. "Well, normally there's a crime first, like a murder, and the police have to find evidence, often through surveillance methods…" she trailed off, a thoughtful look on her face.

"Oh? We can go to the police!" said Haru.

"No," said Hana immediately. "That probably won't work." She was still gazing off into the distance.

"Ah, in the shows," said Tsuna. "The bad guys often pay off of the police. Not to mention, there's no reason for the police to actually listen to us. We are only kids." He frowned, remembering all the times that the teacher hadn't believed him when he had said another kid pushed him, insisting that he was just clumsy.

"Plus, if they're interested in a pet shop of all things, they probably have ties to the bigger shops. They might claim that they're legitimate businessmen and not Yakuza." Hana added. Then she crossed her arms. "How many of us have cell phones that can record things?"

All of them except Ryohei did. He said he broke his too often.

"Okay," said Hana. "We'll have someone be bait. They'll have their phone recording, and we'll be around the corner watching. We'll try to catch one of them saying something incriminating, then have Ryohei be loud, and make a scene letting the bait escape. Then we go to the police."

Tsuna nodded. "I'll text Hibari and tell him we'll be taking evidence to the police. I know they take him seriously," he added.

"Good," said Hana. "Who wants to be bait?"

Haru and Kyoko both raised their hands. Tsuna hesitated, and then put his hand up.

Hana frowned, looking at them. Ryohei gaped. "Kyoko! It's too dangerous!" he said.

Kyoko pouted. "I'm a part of this team too! I wanna help!"

"Why don't we have Kyoko and Haru stay together?" Hana cut off the budding argument. "Two people is better than one. Tsuna has already been approached, so he would also be good."

Ryohei didn't look happy about that, but Tsuna thought he could tell that Kyoko wasn't going to give in that easily.

The group gathered their flyers and set off. Hana had to show Tsuna how to rig his cellphone to record things, which Tsuna thought would be very useful, but otherwise it was going off without a hitch. Kyoko and Haru took one end of the food court and Tsuna took the other, with Hana and Ryohei taking a table in the middle. They arrived in the middle of the rush, so Tsuna was run off his feet talking to businessmen and women stuck waiting in lines. He was so busy, he completely forgot about what he was meant to accomplish. It wasn't until a heavy hand landed on his shoulder that he remembered.

"Hey kid," a familiar voice growled. "I thought we talked about this."

The Yakuza grunt looked up at the people Tsuna had been talking to, a couple thinking about getting a dog.

"Scram," he said. The couple left quickly. Tsuna gulped. He looked to where Hana and Ryohei were sitting, but Hana wasn't there and Ryohei was watching Kyoko and Haru.

"Now, then, what did I tell you about getting involved in unimportant things," the grunt sneered at Tsuna.

"A-ah, I-I have n-no i-d-d-dea what y-y-you are t-t-talking about," Tsuna said.

The look on the grunt's face showed he wasn't buying it.

"Well, let me make it clear then. Stay. Out. Of. This. Kobayashi Yui is a fool and a dreamer and she is going to fail. If you're with her, you're going to fail too." The Yakuza grunt sneered at Tsuna again. "In fact, let me make it even clearer." He raised his hand.

Tsuna stared at the hand as it seemed to rise in slow motion. The grunt's other hand was still clapped on Tsuna's shoulder, rooting him to the spot. What could he do whatcouldhedo-

Tsuna shut his eyes.

He heard a crack, and suddenly the hand on his shoulder was gone.

Tsuna peeked open an eye. The grunt lay spread-eagle on the ground in front of him. And standing to the side was-

"Hibari!" Tsuna shouted in surprise and gratitude.

Hibari glanced over at him before returning to the unfortunate Yakuza.

"Threatening small animals to make a profit is illegal in Namimori. For that, I'll bite you to death."

Tsuna had never thought he would be so relieved to hear that catchphrase. For a moment he was worried for Hibari, but then he realized that Hibari's level was 16, while the grunt's was 18. Then he was worried for the grunt.

He was right to be worried. The beating was savage. Tsuna had no idea that Hibari cared so much about pets.

"Tsuna!" Tsuna turned to see Hana, Ryohei, Kyoko and Haru running up to him.

"Hey, um, I got a recording?" said Tsuna.

"Nevermind that, are you okay!?" Hana asked frantically.

"A-ah, yes. I'm fine. Hibari got here just in time."

Hana took a good look to make sure Tsuna was telling the truth, then twisted to look at Ryohei.

"Why weren't you watching him!?" she snarled.

Ryohei looked horrified. "I-I'm sorry," he said in the quietest voice Tsuna had ever heard him use. "I-I was so worried about Kyoko I didn't notice."

"Didn't notice? Didn't notice?! TSUNA NEARLY GOT HURT BECAUSE YOU DIDN'T NOTICE!"

Ryohei looked like he would cry. "Hana…" Kyoko said, but didn't continue. It looked as though she didn't know what to say.

Tsuna took a breath. "Hana, I'm sure that Onii-san didn't mean to put me in danger."

When it looked like she would protest, he put a hand on her arm. "Yes, this shouldn't have happened," Tsuna said soothingly. "But nothing happened this time, and now we can make sure it doesn't happen again, okay?"

For a moment Hana looked like she would continue arguing, but then she signed and waved a hand at Tsuna irritably. He smiled at her. Then he looked at Ryohei.

Ryohei looked devastated. "Onii-san?" Tsuna asked hesitantly. Ryohei looked at Tsuna, then at his feet, then threw himself at Tsuna and wrapped his arms around him. "Onii-san?!" Tsuna squeaked. Then he felt Ryohei's shoulders shaking and a wet patch on his shoulder.

"I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry," he whispered to Tsuna.

Tsuna hesitated, then patted Ryohei on his back. "It's okay," he told Ryohei. Then he put his arms around him and waited for Ryohei to stop crying.

When the snuffling subsided, Tsuna asked "Are you okay now?"

Ryohei trembled. Then he whisper in a raw voice, "I'm so unextreme."

"What?" Tsuna squeaked.

"I'm so unextreme," Ryohei whispered. "I said you could call me Onii-san, but I failed to act like one. I'm so sorry," he whispered again and he sounded so broken that Tsuna's heart ached for him.

"N-no, you didn't," Tsuna started. "You made a mistake. Everyone makes mistakes sometimes, and you aren't going to make the same mistake ever again. But you do act like a big brother. You always try to make sure I'm capable of fighting, and that I'm okay. And you train really really hard so that you can protect me and Kyoko. You're a great big brother. You just made a mistake."

Ryohei sniffed and pulled away, rubbing his eyes with his sleeve furiously to dry them. Then he smiled at Tsuna.

It wasn't as blindingly bright as his normal smiles, but it was a real one, and that told Tsuna that Ryohei would be okay.

Then Ryohei screamed at the sky, "I'LL TRAIN UNTIL I'M THE MOST EXTREME BIG BROTHER EVER!"

Tsuna chuckled, even as his ears hurt. That was his Onii-san.

Then an ominous feeling enveloped him.

"Herbivores," a cold voice said behind Tsuna. "For disrupting the peace of Namimori, I'll bite you to death."

..

"Sorry Hibari," Tsuna said as the group limped back to the pet shop, with Haru and Kyoko helping Ryohei and Hana and Tsuna supporting each other. "But thank you for helping us. I'm sure Miss Kobayashi will appreciate it."

"It is not about the mothering herbivore. It is about equality. Weak herbivores crowd to strangle other herbivores preventing the rise of carnivores. They then claim they are the carnivores, ignoring the true carnivores. All things should know their place."

Tsuna… didn't understand that. Actually, he thought that might have been the most he had ever heard Hibari say at once. But it was clearly important so he just nodded and decided to try to figure it out later.

Soon they were at the pet shop. Out front, Miss Kobayashi was talking to a nice-looking woman who was labeled "Namimori Humane Society Social Worker". She gasped when she saw them and ran over.

"Oh, my goodness, are you okay?" she asked.

"Y-yes, we… might have run into some Yakuza. But it's okay!" Tsuna said quickly as Miss Kobayashi looked horrified. "Hibari beat them up and now they are at the police station."

"Really? Which one?" asked the women next to her.

"Oh, um, the one by the food court," Tsuna said.

The women turned towards the food court, blinked, and then turned back towards Tsuna. "Oh, sorry for my rudeness, I'm with the Namimori Humane Society. We've had tips come in about an illegal dog fighting ring. This could be a breakthrough! Here, take this."

She thrust a handful of business cards into Tsuna's hands and left quickly. "Thank you…?" he said to the empty air.

"I'm sorry," Miss Kobayashi said. "I shouldn't have asked you to do this. I thought it would be safe…" She trailed off looking guilty.

"A-ah, it's fine! It should have been safe!" Tsuna said. "Besides, we have Hibari. And now that the Yakuza has been arrested, it will be safe, right?"

Miss Kobayashi gave Tsuna a small smile and nod. Then she sighed. "I wish I could pay you guys for helping me, but I really don't have the spare cash. However, I will give you a discount on all items you buy here, and I'll tell my storeowner friends how you've helped me. Also, if I need some help deciding how to develop my store, I'll ask you. Does that sound good?"

Tsuna and his friends nodded.

"Quest Complete!" said a small pop-up box. "You are now Allies with: Kobayashi Yui's Pet Shop. You are now Friendly with: Namimori Humane Society. You are now known to: Momokyokai Yakuza, Small Business Owners of Namimori."

Tsuna decided to freak out about the Yakuza later.

..

School started up again for Tsuna and his friends. Like always, Tsuna still had trouble following the teacher. Hana thought it was because his cracked seal meant he didn't learn the material as fast so the teacher was going too quickly for him.

Unlike always, Tsuna now had friends. Hana had apparently taken it upon herself to raise his grades. She complained it was because she couldn't hang out with stupid people, but really Tsuna could tell it was her way of taking care of him. That's what Kyoko said anyways, and she would know best

Ryohei had taken his declaration of becoming a better big brother to heart and was now nearly as protective of Tsuna as he was of Kyoko. Tsuna had only been cornered once in a month and had barely gotten hit. Hibari seemed to be doing something similar, but Tsuna saw him only regularly.

Unfortunately, Haru went to another school, so he didn't get see her as often, but they still met together regularly after school and spent the weekends together.

It was nice. Sometimes Tsuna wondered if this was what school was like for most kids. Then Hibari would corner him and demand that they do a dungeon, or Ryohei would accidently rip a door off of its hinges, or Kyoko and Haru would start making up attack names, and Tsuna would have to resist huddling in a corner and crying.

Even so, Tsuna enjoyed school, a lot more than he had. And he kept finding new things to enjoy.

One of these happened on October 14, his birthday.

"C'mon Tsuna!" Kyoko said laughing. "Let's go to the park today!"

"Okay!" said Tsuna. His mom had said that this weekend he was going to have a party, and he was really excited. Plus, people had actually wished him a happy birthday today! That had never happened before.

Kyoko led him to a clearing in a different part of the park then he normally went to. That was odd. Then, when he entered-

"Surprise!"

Tsuna looked around. There was Kyoko, Haru, Hana, and Ryohei, as normal, but there was also Grandma and Mama. He even saw Hibari up in a tree. And behind them is a table, a table with a cake and presents on it.

"Happy Birthday," Mama said as she put a hat on his head.

"I thought I was having a birthday party this weekend," he whispered.

She smiled at him. "What's the point of a surprise birthday party if you know about it beforehand?" she asked.

Tsuna blinked up at her, then looked at his friends (his friends) that had come together to celebrate his birthday.

His eyes prickled. He sniffed.

"Tsuna-kun?" Haru asked. "Are you alright?"

"Y-yeah," he said. "It's just- I've never had friends over for a birthday party before." He beamed at his friends. "It's nice. It's really really nice."

There was a moment of silence as he rubbed his eyes.

Then Ryohei roared. "Sawada Tsunayoshi! I swear as your Onii-san, that this will be the most EXTREME BIRTHDAY PARTY EVER!"

"E-eh?" Tsuna squeaked, but everyone around him was nodded determinedly. Even Hana.

And with that, his birthday party began.

It was absolute chaos.

..

There were party games.

"EXTREME SWING!" Ryohei yelled as he swung the bat at the piñata. He hit it so hard it ripped it from the tree it was hung on and into the trunk of another tree. Candy went everywhere. Tsuna felt bad for the piñata.

There was cake.

"Tsuna-kun!" Haru said. "Kyoko and Haru and Mama made this cake for you!"

Tsuna could tell. The top was covered in sprinkles of all shapes and colors and sizes. It was a sugary chaotic mess and it was delicious.

There were presents.

Tsuna really should have seen this coming. Both Hibari and Ryohei loved fighting. Both Hibari and Ryohei noticed that when he wasn't flinging Molotov's, he was using his fists. So of course both Hibari and Ryohei got him similar gifts. Hibari had gotten him a pair of brass knuckles (Tsuna had no idea where he had got a pair small enough for a ten year old but he didn't want to ask) and Ryohei had gotten him boxing gloves. And now they were this close to breaking out into a fight over which one he'd use. Luckily his Mama and Grandma were over in a corner talking and hadn't noticed the odd gifts.

Tsuna looked at the two pairs of weapons. The boxing gloves caused lower damage than the knuckles, but unlike the knuckles they had a stat for protecting his hands.

Tsuna bit his lip and thought.

"Hey Onii-san, Hibari," he started. "Would you be okay if I used the boxing gloves during practice and the brass knuckles during dungeon fights?"

They blinked at him, then looked at each other, agreed and went back to what they were doing.

Tsuna sighed in relief and went back to enjoying the party.

Overall, it was absolute chaos. Tsuna wondered what was wrong with him when he realized that he thought it was very nice and that he'd enjoyed it a lot.

..

The year continued on, and soon it was getting cold outside. Tsuna and his friends had noticed at the start of fall that the ghost dungeons had disappeared. Hana had thought that maybe they were seasonal dungeons. Tsuna couldn't tell if there were any new dungeons available in the fall, but he'd marked out all the ones at Hana's request, so they were looking to see if new ones showed up in the winter.

Along with the cold weather, there was also growth. At the beginning of the school year, Kuro and the other spiders were still small enough to fit in backpacks. Now however, they just couldn't without leaving a leg hanging out. Kuro had taken it badly, and Tsuna had gotten in trouble a few times after Kuro had followed him to school and teachers had freaked out.

Even so, the spider's growth and the cold weather had given Tsuna, Kyoko and Haru's knitting circle a chance to practice. Hana's research said that a lot of spiders didn't like the cold, so the three had teamed up to knit leg and abdomen warmers for their eight-legged pets.

These were given a test run one cold morning when the group met to have their regular practices.

Kyoko and Haru were sparring in a corner while Hana was practicing trick shots and Ryohei and Tsuna had teamed up. Hibari was somewhere in the trees doing who knows what, but nobody had gotten beat up so Tsuna was happy with that.

It was getting to the point where everyone usually took a break, when someone ran by yelling "Wait! Please stop!"

Tsuna peaked around to see Yamamoto Takeshi breathing heavily and looking around. "Where'd they go?" Yamamoto said to himself.

A/N:

Duh duh dumm, Takeshi! Yes, he'll be next.

Thanks to harmless bystander for Hibari's pet idea. The actual pet will be implemented next chapter.

The reason for the whole Yakuza/Pet store event was because I wanted to show that it wasn't just dungeons and mythological creatures, you could also deal with more everyday things. It just kinda grew from there. I think it also shows how increasing nonphysical stats effects someone mentally, without changing their core personality. That plan was way too put together for a group of untrained children, even in the Reborn!verse.

Also about LVs, at the time of the pet shop mission, Tsuna was LV 8, the girls were LV 10, and Ryohei was LV 12. At the end of the chapter, Tsuna is LV 10, Kyoko and Haru are LV 11, Hana is LV 12, Ryohei is LV 15 and Hibari is LV 20. This is because of several reasons: first, while school gives you experience, it doesn't give you as much experience as clearing dungeons and doing events and missions that Tsuna and co. have been doing during the summer. Second, while each LV is slightly harder to obtain, every ten levels the XP cost increases exponentially. The reason for Hibari's insane growth is that, considering how much strength he gains after each fight in canon without any obvious help, I've decided he has an effect that causes him to gain double XP from each fight. Ryohei is just in the habit of constantly getting in fights, and constantly practicing, so that's his growth explained. Oh, and Kuro is LV 3 and is the size of a chihuahua at the time of the pet shop incident, and is LV 5 and the size of a beagle at the end of the chapter.

For everyone concerned that this growth is too rapid, let me give you the list of the LVs of the canon enemies they'll face *spoiler alert* Mukuro is ~LV 100, with his minions ranging from LV 50-80. Each of the Varia range from LV 98 (Levi) to LV 252 (Mammon). For reference, the Arcobaleno range from LV 153 (Skull) to LV 324 (Reborn) (exact LVs are subject to change, these are rough numbers). In contrast, when Reborn joins Tsuna's group, Tsuna will be ~LV 40 and Hibari will be ~LV 60. Also, unlocking flames is a huge LV boost. *spoiler end*

Also, a human of a lower LV is more dangerous than a monster of a higher LV, because monsters have set attack patterns and LV just dictates numbers. Humans can change how they fight and learn new attacks. So humans give more XP then monsters.

If you have any interesting ideas for seasonal monsters, feel free to drop me a note. Just keep in mind, I'm trying to keep things reasonably Japanese.

Also, this is my first time dealing with time skips and working with such a large group. If someone could send me some advice, I'd be grateful.

Another thing to let me know, is that I'm thinking of creating a separate chapter for omakes, canon and not, of the universe. Basically the stuff I'm not going to put in here because it would take too much away from the story. Should I or shouldn't I?

In order to deal with Takeshi, I'm creating what I call the Fanfiction Law of Balance, for when you are attempting to avoid either total crack or Cerebus Syndrome: What you add to the story must cancel out some problems, add others, and the weight of the two must be roughly the same. Do it right and you should end up hwith something that is about the same tone as the source story. You can tweak it, of course, but it should be a good rule of thumb to keep your fic on track. I had to make it because it would just be so easy to go to the extremes of both with my plot idea, but that's not what I want to read, so it's not what I want to write.