A/N:

@michiko-chan27: I know the feeling. I always have to hold my laughter and curses so my family members won't think that I'm going crazy or addicted and suddenly confiscate my phone while reading a book. It's good you loved the chapter. You lots were waiting for Wrath to trash Lust and Pride. And I know right. Reborn and Tsuna needed a break. I think you'll see more of the two in the next chapter. Haha! And it's okay to demand me for updates. I'd love to update every week, as long as my Mom doesn't take my phone. She calls it a punishment for always being at it.

@acertainpasserby: R27 and Arco27 (I think?) moments will be on the next chapter. Honestly, I had to edit the last chapter so Ira could at least have his sweet time. I was going for 'choke them then die' but I contemplated and edited it as of what you've read. It's nice you liked it. The Sins are being... Well, Sins. They want things others have. And besides, Tsuna is as interesting as he seems from Pride's, Lust's and Wrath's talks and fights (Why do you attract so many demons, Tsuna?). Oh. Belial is a supreme demon who leads the Sins. Like he's an underling of Satan or Lucifer. And don't. HAHAHA! Don't tempt Belial, you won't know what he'll do. Thank you for looking out for me. Hahaha. I'm just having trouble with my sleeping pattern cause my sis doesn't sleep early, so I get tagged along with her antics. No worries. And no. I will never abandon this fic. I finish what I started. That's a promise.

So here's another chapter. I got tempted to update, sue me. HAHAHA. I just love to put it up since it gets me working and distracted. Hope you won't mind the grammar mistakes and wrong spellings.

Thanks for the reviews too! You guys are awesome. I'll put on another chapter later. I don't want to drag that update later on cause next week will be more or less exciting or mundane, depends on your reactions on the chapter next week.

Anyway, go on. Onwards.

Chapter Forty-Six

Reborn sat on a single sitter with his legs crossed. He observed his fellow Arcobaleno as they argue whether to include Tsuna in their operations since the Sky had acquired all the elements that represents the modern group. That technically makes Tsuna as one of them.

Well, it's not like he objects. He'll even vote on 'yes' but the thing is, he doesn't want Tsuna to go on some missions with them. Reborn will prefer for the brunet to read his day away anywhere in the castle, just no involvement. Maybe he can do reconnaissance but no fighting. Hell. The hitman knew how capable the kid is in defending himself, but that won't be enough when the demon they're attacking is at full rage. He can't just risk it.

"What do you think, Reborn?" Fon inquired on him, garnering the others' attentions.

He raised his eyes, still shadowed by his fedora, and surveyed the room until he spotted the perfect person to ask the same thing. "Ask Skull. What do you think?"

"E-Eh?" The stuntman stuttered, caught on trying to eat the burger he bought for himself and Tsuna. "A-Ah..."

"Why ask him? He's not even listening." Viper huffed, seconded by Verde.

Reborn's brow twitched at the blatant dismissal before nodding on the Cloud. Those two never learn. "Go on."

Skull hesitated. "Er... I think Tsuna will appreciate being part of the Arcobaleno since he is our sky? However, he's not really the type to do fights, stealing or arrests like most of our missions require. He can go for recons since he likes to be sneaky cause he's pretty good at it." Then the stuntman inclined his head to see the ceiling as he continued his point. "And I can say that he'll be pretty happy if we tell him what we're going to do before we suddenly disappear. In that way, he won't get worried and he won't try to connect with us in the middle of a mission. He has the tendencies to check on everyone. Don't you think so too, Reborn?" And wise, all-knowing violet eyes darted to his direction.

"Yes." The hitman agrees, looking away from the knowing yet doubtful grin. "Tsuna won't want to be an inconvenience. And with his intuition, he can tell that you're in a mission whenever you're silent or your mind is a mess. But it's better to tell him instead of having a misunderstanding."

"Ah!" Most of them blurted, remembering the case the hitman tackled with Colonnello and Viper that he resorted to having a stupid intercourse with the demon he needs the information from.

"Ah. Tsuna once said something about mind in a mess, letting him know that some of us where in a mission." Colonnello nodded, recalling that time he and Lal fought and he stayed with the brunet only to make the human numb because he slept for a long time.

"We can also ask him for advice if we're in a pinch." Skull pitched in with a smile. "He will be reluctant at first but, he'll probably give in if we ambush him. I mean, he's a ghost member of the Saint Academy Disciplinary Committee. That means he knows how to work with a group and give good decisions."

"We can work on that." Lal nodded, seconded by the others.

Reborn withdrew to his corner again as they discussed other things. He can feel the occasional glance of Skull whenever Colonnello and Fon ask the latter, but he does not acknowledge it, letting the oldest among them think for awhile. Viper and Verde appeared reluctant about the Cloud's involvement. Possibly still in denial of Skull being attentive and opinionated about their problems. The stuntman was known to be very childish and not participative in those kind of discussion.

Wait.

Now that Reborn think about it, they're the ones who don't include the Cloud in these kind of meetings. They thought Skull doesn't know anything since he did stunts for a living. They thought he was a lackey because he kept on following Reborn anywhere, and he follows every order they say. Skull never said anything too. Not even a complain about not being part of any discussion, except for those times he feels so lazy and being bored.

The sun arcobaleno huffed and smirked inwardly. Tsuna as their sky does do wonders. He's changing things with a steady pace. He won't even be surprised if all of them turn on Skull for any advice or some sorts. The Cloud is the oldest and the wisest in terms of things among them. No wonder he felt so different after four millennia of no constant contact with him.

Speaking of sky, should he tell them about Aria's plan? That Giglio Nero will endanger the bond between his Sky and the others when they only got together recently. Hmmm... Probably not. If he tells them, it will spoil the fun and he won't know who get swayed the quickest. If he doesn't, he can point that out and he'll know what will Tsuna do in that kind of occasion. Will he give them up? Or defend what's his?

"Reborn." He looked up to Lal who is frowning at him. "Anymore to say?"

He shrugged.

"Okay. Meeting adjourned."

The hitman stood up and was about to go to the front door when he heard Skull calling him. "What?"

"The memories." The Cloud beamed like a child, almost threatening. "Don't tell them to anyone."

"In either ways, they'll know." The hitman replied in a low volume that only the two of them can hear. "Both players of the contract will see the memories of each other until they aligned and stop at the present memory. There is no stopping about it. But, they won't see yours. Only of that time you rode and at the sushi shop."

Brows almost knitting, the stuntman went worried. "What should I do?"

"Ask Tsuna." The Sun opened the door. "He'll know what to say."

"Oh! Right! Thanks."

The hitman went out of the house. He chuckled at the notion he made. It felt like every answer in some hard questions will be Tsuna these days.

The school is on a level five alert.

Caution is necessary for every student who does not want to be beaten black and blue.

Warning: Do not intercept between the demons' fights, nor disturb the sleeping slayer when she's searching.

Rumours and gossips about what happened in Namimori have reached the Saint Academy. Ever since Tsuna arrived, they had been whispering and looking at him like he committed a crime or something anyone should talk about when it's nothing. The talking escalated a lot more when the students see the brunet with one or two of those demons that had stayed with him during that demon attack that almost killed him.

What made them a lot more speculative was when four people entered the academy on different days just to search for one Tsunayoshi Sawada. Some recognized the first two of the four as the skies recruited by the World Society, Dino Cavallone and Xanxus de Vongola. The other two were greeted by the Disciplinary Committee as Frecka and Gerald.

When the two skies found Tsuna by the courtyard who was sunbathing, Dino hugged the brunet and kept on saying something consisted of 'Are you okay?', 'I'm sorry I wasn't there.' and 'I'm here.' Xanxus though was quiet, and only hugged the brunet after knocking the blond off from the young man.

Frecka and Gerald were all goofiness. Tsuna was the one who found them and said something that made the redhead jawdrop with fake hurt. They went for the canteen and started to talk there while eating. When they parted, Frecka was crying and Gerald was solemn.

But the thing that made them really skittish was the fact that Tsuna wasn't talking to Kyouya Hibari. At first, they thought it wasn't much. Like the brunet was just not in the mood. But when the prefect suddenly attacked the young man, hell broke loose. The latter didn't even fight, he always goes for an escape instead of battling head on.

Addition on the issue, Hana Kurokawa was on the verge of tearing the school down as she searches for the young man who cannot be seen anywhere. They noticed how Tsuna will suddenly appear in the room before the class starts and disappear when dismissed. This frustrated Hana for she couldn't talk to him.

A lot said they were just playing. Some thought it was serious. Few pointed out that maybe it's because of Namimori. None noticed that it was caused by guilt.

"You can't keep this up." Viper sighed while sitting on the steps of the stairs, looking at his summoner who was by the wide sill of the window, overlooking the garden of the school. "You'll have to face them one way or another."

Tsuna only glanced at him. "I'll wait for the another."

The Mist let himself float and went near the human. "What's wrong, kid?"

"Just feeling a little guilty for all the damages." The brunet answered in a small voice.

"Is that why you don't want to talk with that brat and Hana?" A nod. "It's been two weeks. You won't want the bullies to think that Hana isn't on your protective wing, will you?"

A glint of orange eyes looked at the garden. The esper already knew what that means. "They can try."

"What about Hibari? You said he takes his stress out of you. If you keep this up, you won't be helping him in his emotional distress."

At first, Tsuna looked passive about what he said. He could only smirk when the kid suddenly gripped his hair with both hands and ruffled them with all his might with a frustrated look. "Fine. Fine! I'll talk to them. I'll wait when they approach."

"Good. Talk with Fon first to calm your nerves. He has been worried for days since you hadn't been talking to Hana."

"Now that you said that," Tsuna looked up to him. "Don't you think Fon and Kyouya look quite a lot?"

The Mist hummed as he rationalized. "I think so. Except for the facial expression and clothing and hair, right?"

"Yup! And there's..." The brunet made a thinking face. "Pride. There's something about Pride that felt familiar."

Viper can't help himself from bursting into laughter. He always knew someone will see the resemblance. It wasn't a hidden fact. It was a blatant truth that even the great sorcerer had noticed. Who knew Tsuna can see it too? Too bad his intuition teased him a little to take a guess.

His friend will have a great day once their sky points it out.

Tsuna ignored the sudden outburst of laughter, but he still admired the fact that he was able to make Viper laugh. Bermuda had told him that the Mist loves to roast the Arcobaleno and sometimes slap them with information they kept in secrets as blackmails to get money. In a way, it was his own sort of happiness. The brunet wanted to scold his contractor but who is he to take away such enjoyable hobby of the demon?

These days, he has been seeing Viper's memories. He's only at the peak of the childhood, when his Mammon hadn't covered his face to the world. His beauty was incomparable and exotic. He just couldn't understand why the Mist had to cover his features.

After some more time waiting by the window, Tsuna decided to go to class. Now, instead of using mist aura to keep him concealed, he let himself known by walking in the hallways while talking with Fon in their mental link. He walked among students who leaped away of his perimeter so they won't get pulled on Kyouya's attacks. When he got class, Hana was already sitting on her usual seat so he took his. The class is one of the two subjects he has with the lady, and frankly speaking, he's skeptical on it.

Hunter classes are pretty different from summoner subjects. The latter is more on summoning circles and the likes, but the former is more on physical things. It's like he's in a training to be a soldier in a military academy. He was introduced to a lot of weapons and had been listing their uses and advances. He has to go every obstacle course in the hunters' gym to strengthen his reaction time and agility. Yet, almost failing at some point since he's not that athletic. Some laughed at him. But he didn't deter. Good thing he wanted to be in the academy to become a hunter. It was a good distraction from the lingering feelings of his grandfather's death.

It was in the middle of the class when the door opened forcefully. Tsuna immediately tensed as Kyouya went inside, stormy greyish purple eyes surveyed the room. The brunet instinctively wanted to shrink and hide under the table, but he knew Viper was right. He can't do this forever.

So when their gazes locked and tonfas were brought out, Tsuna stood up and dodged as the prefect lounged at him with viciousness. He took the decorative sword on the wall and faced Kyouya with determined smirk.

"Come on." He challenged, coyly lifting his chin to act defiant. "Fight me."

And the demon of Saint Academy didn't disappoint.

Exhausted was an understatement. The moment the two of them clashed, they couldn't stop. They even had to take it outside to keep the property damage to minimum. He won't deny that he almost lost his control and fought out of self-anger and frustrations. The need to become stronger for the sake of the unforeseeable future. But when he saw how Kyouya was stressed, he backed down slowly, trying to trick the other that he became tired immediately.

At some point of the fight, his sword got chipped and a tonfa was thrown away. Throwing away their weapons, they went for mano y mano. Knuckles scraping as they hit flesh, arms bruising for defense and legs beaten with too much kicking. He won't deny that he can feel aches in his body that the skylark managed to hit. He can almost see a lot of plasters on his body later to relieve the pain.

Like any other spars (or fights) they do, they settled themselves in the disciplinary office. Tsuna placed himself on the floor after wrestling with Kyouya through it. The prefect, although rude and frank, is a softhearted child. He will give up the couch just for the brunet if needed. Too bad the youngest between the two of them is the stubborn one.

"How did you even know I was in my room?" Tsuna groaned while he flexed his sore muscles. "Your officers won't dare rattle me off to avoid troubles."

"That will be my fault, Tsunayoshi." A honeyed voice admitted as Mukuro appeared behind the rest of the couch, smirking and happy. "I offered my help to Birdy since he's no fun when you're not around."

Kyouya growled as he rolled off the couch. Tsuna didn't have time to dodge the incoming fall and took Hibari's weight with his body. He winced at the pain only to laugh when the prefect snorted.

"That hurts, Kyouya!" He complained as he hugged the taller male from behind. "You missed me, didn't you?"

Kyouya growled again, indignant.

"Of course. Of course." Tsuna dismissed flippantly as he removed his arms and shifted, letting the skylark fall on the floor (he celebrated at the little revenge when the latter groaned in pain) before snuggling on the noiret's back. "Did you enjoy my room though?"

Mukuro cackled at his question. "He did! Kufufufu! He even stayed there in his free time, reading your books."

"Shut up, Piney." Kyouya snapped, obviously shy about the topic.

Tsuna put his arms on his chest and sighed, ready to sleep. "You should call Hana. She'll be ready with her first aid kit to treat us and scold us for being reckless."

"Piney."

"On it."

Kyouya looked back from his shoulder to check on his best friend. Assuring that he's asleep, he faced front again, folding his arm around his head as a pillow for the hard floor. Good thing Kusakabe placed a soft carpet, not that it won't get destroyed once he attacks the omnivore.

He looked back again when he felt a clutch on his polo shirt and the brunet muttered something under his breath. Honestly, he missed the other's presence in the school. The academy is too gloomy for his liking when no Tsunayoshi Sawada in it. He won't hear his disciplinary committee complimenting and insulting his junior or just shivering in fear when he goes for a hunt. No one even misbehaved while the other is gone. Well, three months worth of bullying also calls for three weeks of hunting and a week of resting. Too much wasted time.

On the first week of his disappearance, he didn't feel the urge to check. It was as if the brunet went for the annual sky meeting. But when the second week came rolling in, he couldn't help himself from patrolling frequently by the boys' dorm, scowling every so often at the words written on the walls and doors of his little junior. By the time the week was finished, he ordered some of the members to paint the walls and doors before sleeping his days away in the room.

He just misses his big brother that much. Family was deprived from him but Tsunayoshi gave it to him without any demanded payment.

The only thing he doesn't understand was the fact that the omnivore didn't see him after returning from home. He was dodgy and often avoids his eyes as if he did something a herbivore would do. Kyouya knew he can be very judgemental and snarky with herbivores, but he can be considerate when it's about his little caretaker. The omnivore will never do anything without any reason. Tsunayoshi will always be a simpleton.

Kyouya looked at the door when it opened and Hana Kurokawa entered the room with a kit and a frown marred on her face. She closed the door behind her and stared at the two of them with disapproval. Much to her chagrin though, fighting is the only way for him and the omnivore to talk again. And it took time for the brunet to concede to a battle after two excruciating weeks of searching for him.

"Did you even eat something after fighting?" His fellow noirette asked as she took refuge to the other couch.

"Hn."

"I'll take that as a no." The lady concluded before standing up again and going for his desk. "Seriously. Asking me all the way from class just to tend your wounds, am I your mother now?"

Kyouya watched her rummage on his desk until she put a lot of snack bars on top of the table followed by two water bottles. Just how the heck did that woman knew where his supplies are?

"Tsuna once told me where they go." Kurokawa informed before giving him a mocking smirk. "He trusts me that much."

He gave a 'hmp'.

"Wake him up already." An order he could defy but for the sake of talking sense on his fellow protector, he will abide.

Waking up Tsunayoshi isn't really hard. All you have to do was shake him a little and he'll open his eyes. Kyouya watched the other while eating his fine share of energy bars. The brunet was sleepy, utterly exhausted but he greeted the lady with a small 'hello' before opening a bottle of water and took a swig.

The room was quiet when Hana started to tend his fellow demon's injuries. He can't help himself from smirking as he relished the feeling of being able to beat the omnivore at such state.

"About Namimori." His head snapped to see the brunet who had his bangs covering his eyes. "I'm sorry."

"What are you apologizing for?" Hana queried, heated at the sudden askance of forgiveness.

Tsuna took a deep breathe. "The demon that attacked the town was after me. His leader ordered him to make me vanish or some sort for acquiring my full set of elements. He terrorized the town, resulting to a lot of casualties and some broken homes. I was the one who destroyed your house, Hana. Sorry."

Hana flinched at the lack of '-chan' on her name. "You're such an idiot. Is that the reason why you won't talk to us for the past two weeks?"

Kyouya took the silence as a yes. "Omnivore, you were able to give punishment, didn't you? My pack had told me how you protected my Namimori and its citizens. You do not have to apologize for something you did for the sake of safety. No one is blaming you."

"That's the thing." Soft, hurt voice said against the quiet wind. "No one is blaming me but I couldn't forgive myself."

"Tsuna." Hana called, stern and serious. Eyes almost glaring at the sulking brunet. "Look at me." Teary brown eyes looked straight at hers. "You're a human. Not some supernatural being or any kind of hero that people will put their expection on to save the world from all the possible threat the nature can throw in it. No one expected you to save all the people of Namimori. Of course, Kyouya and I grieved at the loss of lives. But you did your best to minimize the casualties. You saved most of the town folks to the best of your abilities. You did something none of us could do at such short notice. If it wasn't for you, all the families in there are dead and long forgotten."

"Knock that idealized thought out of your head, Tsunayoshi." The skylark chastised, brows almost together while staring at the forlorn young man in front of him. "You can't save everyone. You can't save the whole world and dump them in one place to keep them out of harm's way. Death is always and forever be inevitable. All you could do is prolong life. If they die, it's their time. No one can stop that."

"It's just that..." Tears streamed down.

"Your demons have told you this repeatedly, right?" The lady asked, earning a nod. "Then right now, forgive yourself."

Kyouya watched as the noirette hugged the omnivore tightly, her own tears descending from their hidings. He lowered his eyes also. Unable to comprehend how such a strong resilient person can't forgive himself.

"You've been too quiet, beating yourself for something you can't let go. Forgive yourself and move on, Tsuna." Hana whispered as sobs and hiccups filled the air. "In that way, Kyouya and I will be able to forgive ourselves."

The three of them spent their afternoon in that office. If Tetsuya Kusakabe even tried to enter, he probably backed off after seeing the sight.