A.N: Hey y'all! Thank you so much for stopping by. It's been pretty long and when I mean long I mean almost a year since I last posted. I promised to be a little consistent and I realize that the only talent I have is being inconsistent what with my fried laptop and my brain leaking through my nose and all (P.S: CSF Leak is a real thing, y'all!).

However, it heartens me to see you guys still glued to my story! Thank you my lovely readers and my lovely reviewers of my last chappy D C JoKeR H S and seryuTammi. You guys are awesome!

Disclaimer: I do not own the familiar characters, unfortunately.


He wanted to watch the fireworks with his friends again. He wanted to confess to Kyoko she had been a constant motivating force in his life; that she had been his courage, his hope and his only love. He wanted to tell Gokudera-kun that he was the epitome of dedication and he deserved someone way better than Tsuna to serve under. He wanted to tell Yamamoto his optimism sometimes shone brighter than the sun and he should just man up and confess to Squalo already. He wanted to tell his mom she deserved the whole world and she was his greatest blessing. He wanted to tell his dad he really didn't hate him as much as he made out to be.

"Tuna fish?"

He didn't wanna die so young...

"Tsunayoshi…are you alright?"

He didn't wanna open his eyes and see the life beyond...

"Tsu-kun, please open your eyes!"

No! He was not ready to face reality or what was left of it. Period.

"WAKE THE FUCK UP, SCUM!"

"HIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE….!" Tsuna tumbled out of the sofa, landing face first on the floor in a mess of tangled sheets and limbs. He looked up to see five relieved face and one murderous one glaring daggers at him. Eh? What's going on? Tsuna blinked, getting on to his feet only to fall back from the force of his family's hug. He looked past them to see Nono smile at them fondly and Xanxus looking away.

Xanxus…Tsuna discretely ran his eyes over his body for injuries. He's okay…

"What happened?" Tsuna croaked out, a little lightheaded. Last thing he remembered were a pair of glowing eyes and a warm arm holding him tight.

Iemitsu smiled, ruffling his hair affectionately. "Well, I had gone to the airport to pick up the Ninth and on our leisurely way back home we saw the both of you doing an impressive dive towards the concrete."

A dive towards the concrete? Trust his Dad to make a joke out of his only child's near brush with the grim reaper. Tsuna thought wryly.

"Iemitsu realized it wasn't an intentional fall considering that the both of you had your eyes closed" Nono explained taking a seat by the coffee table, letting Gokudera kindly help with his coat.

"And then, faster that a blink of an eye, he swooped in and caught you both!" Yamamoto smiled, a look of awe etched on his face.

Tsuna blinked, a sense of euphoria taking over him. By some sheer luck, he had survived the fall. Looking at Xanxus approach him from the corner of his eyes, Tsuna sent a silent thanks to the heavens above for saving him yet again in his reckless pantomime.

"Oie!" He heard Xanxus bark at him in his usual distaste for him. Tsuna sighed; Xanxus may not thank him but the relief that engulfed his—

"Don't do something so reckless ever again, Tsunayoshi" he heard the gruff voice of Xanxus reach him, shocking him out of his daze. Before he could formulate a response, he felt himself be pulled into a hesitant and awkward one-arm embrace. His eyes widened as Xanxus' lips briefly ghosted near his ears and whispered 'I'll kill you myself next time, you reckless idiot' before letting him go.

Tsuna smiled sympathetically as Xanxus looked pointedly at the floor. So uncharacteristic of Xanxus yet so warming and kind of him. He almost grinned at the way Xanxus desperately tried to inch towards the door while avoiding Nono's proud gaze. But before Xanxus could sneak off, he was pulled into a hug along with Tsuna by a very worried Nana Sawada

"I am so relieved, Tsu-kun. You wouldn't wake up and Dan-kun was hysterical. I couldn't stand to see the both of you like that" she sniffed and Tsuna felt his heartbreak just as he felt Xanxus hesitantly encircle his arms around them both. They met each other's eyes over her shoulders and Tsuna gave a watery laugh at Xanxus' flustered face. He looked adorable with his wide eyes and scarlet cheeks, Tsuna decided.

And just like that, his mom let him go and unleashed her full attention on Xanxus, pampering and coddling him while he visibly struggled not to squirm and fidget under her shower of affection.

Beyond it all, he could see Xanxus' eyes glow at him, his Flame radiating a sense of contentment and gratitude as he let his mom run her hand through his hair. Tsuna's face felt unbearably hot under the powerful eyes but nevertheless he let a goofy smile spread across his face. He could feel his dad's and the Ninth's Flame beam with pride, Gokudera's all ruffled up and Yamamoto's contagiously happy. Well, Tsuna sighed in contentment, everything seemed perfectly back to normal in the Sawada household.


Tsuna groaned. He'd take back all the things he said about wanting to live. He so wished that he had died yesterday so that he didn't have to face Parent's day. He let his face hit the desk hard, ignoring Xanxus' snort and his mom waving at him in the background. This was so embarrassing especially when he knew he was gonna let her down again. Not to mention humiliate himself further in front of his dad and the Ninth who had come all the way to attend in Xanxus' stead though he clearly didn't have to. Xanxus had been in a good mood all morning.

"Correct as always, Daniel-kun" he heard the pride in Susumu-sensei's voice as the class broke into applause and the parents offer their cheers as well. Nono looked like he was barely holding himself from doing a victory lap around the room while his mom squealed beside him.

Tsuna turned just in time to hear Gokudera's 'all the best, Juudaime' before his name was called. No, no, Noooo…he did not want to be here now.

"Tsunayoshi-kun, I want you to observe the two dimensional graph in front of you and plot the point in this quadrant and I also want you to tell me this exact point" Susumu-sensei pointed out on the board before giving him a resigned look.

"Umm…" Tsuna trembled, observing the blurring graph and his sweaty hands and turned over to see his expectant parents. Swallowing hard, Tsuna closed his eyes and tried to recall Gokudera's words. Positive, negative…Tsuna began to hyperventilate.

However, the signs on the board looked new. He felt his hands become clampy and his eyes start to water. He could feel eyes on him and the class starting to murmur and giggle. Way to top the humiliation off with his Dad vocally cheering him at the background. He couldn't do it, he just couldn't…. He was gonna tell Susumu-sensei he didn't know and then hide inside his locker for the rest of the day.

"Gomen, Susu—"

"Susumu-sensei!" Xanxus called out, raising his hands. "I don't think Tsunayoshi-kun can answer that." Tsuna felt himself shrink smaller than before, his breathing the only sound he heard in the silence of the room.

"In fact, I don't think anyone can answer that question, sensei" Xanxus added.

Eeh?! Tsuna stared at Xanxus who in turn smirked back at him.

"And why is that, Daniel-kun. I don't think the whole class is as, how should I put it, late blooming as Tsunayoshi-kun is" Susumu-sensei frowned, his eyebrows raised. Tsuna moaned. This was worse than last year!

"Weell…" Xanxus drawled lazily, "It's not Tsunayoshi-kun's fault that you got the graph quadrants wrong."

And that's when the whole class noticed that the quadrant signs were indeed wrong. Susumu-sensei blinked, cleared his throat before mumbling a soft apology. Tsuna visibly sagged in relief, hoping against hope that Susumu-sensei would have a change of heart and let him spare the embarrassment for once in his life.

"Now that we have it sorted out, won't you try again?" Susumu-sensei looked pointedly at Tsuna who flinched before focusing on the graph again. Fat chance!

Tsuna gulped, recalling the misadventures of the previous night and he was instantly reminded of Xanxus' unconventional teaching method and how he had told Tsuna to relate signs with emotions. That's it! Tsuna scrutinized the graph carefully, mentally voicing out Xanxus' lecture in his delightful baritone.

"Fourth, fourth…." Tsuna thought out loud.

FLASH!

"Alright, now what comes before y?"

"In the same way, the point of x-axis always comes before y, got it?"

FLASH!

"X comes before Y" Tsuna squinted at the now clear graph. The point, he observed, was three points away from x-axis and two points away from y-axis. Then it must be three and two, he concluded with a self-satisfied sigh. And now the signs, what had Xanxus told him about signs? Positive on X and negative on Y, what did they stand for?

FLASH!

"Someone who is all positive and strong on the outside but it's actually cold and dead down on the inside"

"You look strong, unbreakable and almost immortal on the outside but deep inside, you are vulnerable, hurt and in pain"

FLASH!

Positive and negative…Tsuna closed his eyes and took a deep breath. This must be it. THIS HAD TO BE IT!

A smile blossomed across his face as he yelled out the answer. "IT'S (3,-2)!"

His voice strangely echoed in the quiet room before Susumu-sensei's book slipped out of his lax hand and hit the floor with a resonating thud.

He had to be right, he had to be right…Tsuna mentally chanted.

"You are right, Tsunayoshi-kun" he whispered in pleasant surprise before he cleared his throat and smiled. "You got it right, very good."

He didn't know from where it began but a huge applause swept across the room; his mother rejoicing above the din and his dad shedding tears of joy; Gokudera-kun patting him on the back and the Ninth offering praises. And Tsuna definitely didn't miss the relieved smile on Xanxus' face.


Xanxus sighed for what he counted as the umpteenth time since the meeting. While seeing Tsunayoshi answer had been strangely gratifying as he knew that he had a part to play in it, he didn't expect the brat to actually blurt out to the Sawada's and his old man that he had learned math with Xanxus' help.

The shower of praises that followed were sickening; not to mention the absolute sense of pride radiating from the Ninth and the grateful eyes of Tsuna that followed his every move. It was enough for him to excuse himself from the crowd and lock himself in the men's washroom. It had been fifteen minutes, yet he refused to absolutely move from his perch on the marble counter.

He couldn't wait to get back to Italy and to his old, carefree ways. As much as he loved Nana's cooking and troubling Tsunayoshi, his heart throbbed for something else; or perhaps a certain someone. Xanxus snorted and hopped of the counter before turning the pipe and splashing cool water on his face. Frankly, he missed him; he missed them, the Varia.

He looked at his reflection in the mirror and closed his eyes at the defeated man he saw in them. Somewhere along their schedule between taking on brutal assassinations and disrupting each other's rooms and routines just to be obnoxious, the Varia had grown into something he'd consider as family. They were messed up just as him, cruel and brutal. And yet, Xanxus would sometimes sit in the solitude of his room and wonder what injustice had been done to them to make them so twisted.

"Well, I know mine..." he mumbled to no one in particular before checking the time on his watch. Half an hour was all the freedom he could get for now before Iemitsu came around looking for his hide.

His attention perked up when the door opened and a tall, lean lad walked in. Funny...he was sure he had locked the door...

Xanxus' eyes narrowed as he observed the guy who stood beside him near the sink a whole foot taller than Xanxus and holding a striking resemblance to Rokudo Mukuro. Something about his posture and his long, ebony hair seemed familiar but Xanxus concluded it was none of his business as he turned to leave and reached for the door.

What he didn't expect was for his wrists to be suddenly grabbed in a vice grip and twisted against his back nor for a taut body to press against him a crush him against the door.

"Teme…" Xanxus growled low in his throat. He hated bullies as long as he could remember and if Iemitsu thought he could save them from him like he did back in the academy, then screw him!

"I'll give you three seconds to unhand me." He threatened, a sense of panic crawling into him when he felt the grip strong and unrelenting. "I promise to give you a quick, painful death."

The chill laughter that echoed through the room had his heart skip a beat. "Painful, you say?" Xanxus barely managed to hide a flinch when he felt those words breathed down his neck.

Whoever was manhandling him was too close for comfort. Xanxus reeled when his captor reached a hand around to cup his cheeks in a firm yet gentle grip. His touch almost seemed loving.

"You know nothing about pain, little one." He gasped despite himself when he felt a thumb caress his captive wrists almost coyly. "Nothing at all…" the voice whispered against the crook of his neck before he felt sharp fangs pierce him.


Well...that was fun to right...

Though I must confess that suspense writing precedes me.

Stay tuned!