Introduction: Takes place sometime between the end of their First Year and the start of their 2nd Year.

Tsuna - 13

Mia - 14

Disclaimer: I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn. I just really love this series.

It was a hot day despite, what Mia grandly declared one day at school "Winter is coming!" That earned her a few strange looks but she ignored it, proud that she managed to deliver a line that she had so wanted to say. Tsuna wasn't complaining either; he liked it when she went weird and started referencing books that she read.

Tsuna never got around to reading for fun, it just wasn't for him. It was too boring but when she brought out a copy of Lord of the Rings in English to read one day during break, he couldn't help but ask. Without meaning to, he unleashed a dam and the next fifteen minutes were spent her telling him as much as she could about Middle Earth's history and how Sam was a kick-ass character that was really cute.

This side to his friend was surprising but at the same time endearing. When she dragged him to her apartment for a movie marathon, he didn't say no even though she said, "I will not have my best friend be some uneducated plebeian." Tsuna made a show of being offended (even though he didn't know what 'plebeian' meant except he knew it was insulting). She merely shrugged his feelings off and proceeded to have him watch with her. He forgave her for that because she called him her best friend, which left him giddy for the rest of the day, to her amusement.

Needless to say, it was two hours well spent. Then he learned that she had at least two bookcases full of all kinds of books and movies. As he was examining the titles that ranged from English to Italian, he wondered, asides from the chopping sounds coming from the kitchen, at how quiet her apartment was. "Hey, where are your parents? Don't you think they mind me being here?"

Mia stuck her head through the doorway that led into the kitchen, her hair tied into a pony tail. "Pa is in Tokyo University doing a lecture on Historical relations of Japan I think. He trusts me to take care of myself."

"Your mom?" There was silence in the kitchen.. "Mia?" Tsuna called out, worried and went into the kitchen.

He found her smiling sadly at the dough she was working on. "Mama died a few years ago," she said softly and resumed working.

Tsuna suddenly felt like dirt. No, worse than dirt. He felt like shit. "I'm really sorry Mia," he apologized. God, why did he have to be so thick? She never mentions her mother at all. There wasn't any pictures around their apartment either. Couldn't he have picked up on that? "Really, I didn't mean to bring it up."

Mia rolled her eyes and smiled, not sad anymore. "If you're really sorry, come and help me."

He was prepared to do anything just to make her feel better but in the end, it was he who was crying hot salty tears. Mia laughed at him as he tried to dice the onion. Just hearing her laugh was totally worth the pain in his eyes and oh god it burned. He stayed at her place for dinner that night, talking about how relatable Frodo was and how he liked Gimli's rough but nice character.

He was excited thinking about the next movie after the Fellowship when one of his classmates shouted at him.

"Dame-Tsuna! The ball!" Ball? He looked up as saw indeed. It was heading right towards him. The next few seconds were a blur as he struggled to kick it into their opponent's net. When he did, it went off course, heading straight to where the girls were on the other side of the field instead. His eyes slid down to where it would hit and to his horror, it was falling straight down on Kyoko-chan.

"Watch out!" he cried.

It was in slow motion as Kyoko turned around and saw the ball, how others were running towards her but were too far and the people around her too stunned to move when Mia shoved her out of the way. His relief only lasted a second when Mia got hit on the head instead. Her head lashed to the side rather painfully. Tsuna frantically came up to her side, a mantra of "I'm sorry!" never ceasing from his lips.

She just brushed him off with, "You got one hell of a kick Tsuna.," and winced when she touched her head. "Figurati, figurati." She assured him but Tsuna was having none of that and began shooing her to the nurse's office ("I'm fine/ I'm okay"). His teacher couldn't even get a word in until they were gone. He was being overbearing, he knew, but he couldn't help it especially since it was his fault that she was hurt. It left a bad taste in his mouth and he swore to pay more attention to his surroundings from now on.

He gave her an ice pack when they saw that the nurse wasn't around. She snatched it from his hand, aggravated that he was treating her like an invalid.

"Seriously Tsuna, I'm fine." She stressed.

"That's what you always say," he retorted.

"Because it's true!" she insisted.

"But you got hit!"

"Which was my choice!" she snapped. "Or would you rather have Sasagawa-san hit?"

"But still," he grumbled, eyes straying down to the ground and looking like a kicked puppy.

"I know you have a thing for her by the way," she commented carelessly. He blushed wildly at that.

"H-H-How do you know?" he stuttered.

"Ma, che sei grullo?" she said, shaking her head and winced when it hurt her neck ("Are you kidding me?/Are you stupid?"). "It's pretty obvious Tsuna, you idiot."

He didn't know how to feel about that but she still looked pretty mad at him. She practically insulted him even though he didn't understand her – he really should learn Italian. It may be the best for him. Shoving aside his feelings for Kyoko aside, he reached out a tentative hand towards her temple. She glared at him and his hand stilled in midair. She pointed the ice pack threateningly at him.

"No, you cannot mother hen me. There's only so much I can handle before I kick your ass Sawada."

"But," he stared at her with wide-brown eyes. He knew she was a sucker for puppy dog eyes. "I want to," he said in the most heart-breaking voice he could muster. She threw the ice pack at him in response and laughed. He caught it gracelessly and grinned; happy he got her to laugh. Knowing she wasn't angry at him anymore, he reached out again to examine her head for bumps and bruises.

Mia wasn't really joking around when she told him she was clumsy. She was as bad as he was. It's just that she was more of a danger to herself – like last week she almost fell out of the second-story window after she accidentally dropped his phone and leaped after it. He nearly had a heart attack when she just threw herself out. She just laughed at him and thanked him for grabbing on to her on time. He scolded her for that.

There was no lasting injury, to his immense relief. Her hair had a few shades of darker blonde – almost brown – he noticed and it felt soft to the touch. It also smelled nice, like apples and books. He wanted to ask her how she smelled like apples when the door slid open and he snatched his hand back, heart thudding loudly, suddenly very aware of how it might have looked to other people if they caught them.

Mia didn't seem bothered with it – she had the same expression on her face as she always did when he coddled her – that pinched 'why me?' expression.

"Matteis-san!" Kyoko suddenly rushed into the room in concern, Kurokawa falling right into step beside her. She eyed Tsuna disdainfully and huffed. He shamefully bowed his head, something that Mia did not tolerate in her presence. She kicked him lightly while greeting Kyoko and Hana.

"Hi!"

Tsuna yelped and rubbed his hip where she kicked him. He shot her a look and turned to Kyoko.

"Kyoko-chan, I'm really sorry for earlier." He bowed his head but Kyoko waved him off. She smiled at him, all innocent and bright.

"It's okay Tsuna-kun," she said then clasped her hands together and sighed dreamily. "I actually thought you were very caring when Matteis-san got hit, it was really admirable." Heat crept into his cheeks.

"R-R-Really?" he said. She nodded. Tsuna could suddenly hear the angels singing behind him in glorious harmony. He was smiling in elation and Mia snorted. That forced him to look at her. Her eyebrows were raised high and she was looking so damn smug he forced a clamp down on his fantasies to glower at her. Kyoko didn't notice the exchange as she turned to face Mia, who was suddenly surprised.

"I came to say thank you Matteis-san!" Kyoko said and began bowing profusely. Embarrassed, Mia tried to stop her from bowing.

"Really Sasagawa-san…"

"Please call me Kyoko!" Kyoko clasped her hands so suddenly it startled Mia.

"Kyoko-san then…" Mia meekly said. She looked so lost for words than Hana stepped in, placing her hand on Kyoko's shoulder. Kyoko turned to her best friend.

"Let's go now Kyoko, Matteis-san needs to rest." Kyoko nodded and Hana led her out of the room, only stopping briefly to say something to Tsuna.

"Sawada, you better get back to class. Sensei says Matteis can be excused but not you." Tsuna nodded and Hana and Kyoko left without another word. When they were alone again, Tsuna gave Mia one last look over, except she didn't want to be coddled again and got up.

"You need to rest!" Tsuna insisted, pushing down on her shoulders so that she would stay on the bed.

"Basta!" she hissed ("Enough!"). "Seriously Tsuna I'm fine." She stubbornly glared at him. He glared right back. They stood there, glaring at each other without breaking eye contact until her eyes slid to the side and Mia jumped in surprise, exclaiming "Hibari-san!"

"Hiiieeeee!" Tsuna turned around and Mia made a break for it. "Hey!" he shouted as he chased after her, her laughter mocking him all the way. He slid to a stop though when he caught sight of – to his uttermost horror – Hibari holding Mia by arms length, emitting a very sinister aura. He let her go.

Hibari opened his mouth – probably to deliver his usual threat – when Mia interrupted him in a very long and winded apology. "I'm so sorry for running in the halls I promise I won't do it again and pleasejustdon'tkillme!" The last part was rushed out in a jumbled of words.

Tsuna waited in bated breath, torn between wanting to save her and avoiding conflict altogether. It looked like he didn't need to step in because Hibari sidestepped her and walked away, saying, "Don't run in the hall or I'll bite you to death herbivore." Once Hibari was out of sight, Mia shakily walked outside. Tsuna quickly came up to her side. Her face was pale and her eyes were wide.

"You alright?" he asked.

"That was the scariest moment ever in my life!" she blurts out. "I thought he was going to beat me there for a second – he looked like he would, one of his hands was on his tonfas!"

Not if he had something to do about it. He blinked at the sudden surge of over protectiveness. A bit surprised at himself.

"I think maybe I should have just stayed in the infirmary." She continued on, not noticing his expression. He smiled a bit at that.

"I told you so," he chimed at her.

"Shut up," was her instant reply.

Mia was amazed at the progress that Tsuna was making – she wasn't talking about his studies although he is getting better at that – no, it was his progress at learning Italian. He picked it up as easily as he could pick up her pesto paninis and gobble them up. A few weeks into their break of tutoring and he could already understand half the things she said, which was astounding since he has never been near any Italian influence until she came into the picture. Some people took years to learn another language, including her and she still is.

Today, she lent him a copy of her own Lord of the Rings in Italian. Her original set. They have been doing vocal exercises but she hoped by keeping him engaged with a book would help his understanding of the language.

She knew she didn't need to exert this much effort for what may be a fleeting interest but Tsuna seemed genuinely into it. If she had to be honest, deep down inside she missed the familiarity of talking to another person in Italian. Her father was not around all that often and when he was he usually conversed with her in English.

Speaking of English, Tsuna wasn't as good with that and although he can't understand it just as easily as Italian, he could speak the words without butchering them too much with his accent. But baby steps, she suppose. She had to get him interested for him to learn – no sensible person would want to learn something if it was boring – so she thought perhaps her English Lightning Thief book after he was done with the Lord of the Rings would help.

She dotted down her reminders in a small notebook that she carried around then tucked it away in her bag that was lying down on the floor of Tsuna's bedroom. She let herself drift away on his bed, listening to the Enya songs her phone was playing While Tsuna read her book religiously by her feet. They spent their Italian sessions like this: Mia would sometimes take a nap while Tsuna would read quietly. He occasionally asked her questions when he found a word he couldn't understand or pronounce.

To Tsuna, the music playing was very calming and very appropriate for his reading. He often wondered if Mia spent most of her days like this when she was a kid. She didn't mention her childhood much that was outside of her family. In a way, she was very secretive about it. After mentioning her mother, Tsuna tried to steer clear of any sensitive topics.

In all honesty though, as he stared at the book in his hands, learning Italian was just a whim. He mentioned it to her a few weeks ago during Home Economics in passing and she was ecstatic to teach him. Just seeing Mia light up was enough for him to continue studying it, he never thought he had an aptitude for it or that he would enjoy it so much. A small content smile grew on his face; he would love for things to stay as they are.

Pages turned and Tsuna kept on reading, immersed in the book. He could see why Mia was so excited to lend him this book – despite his hesitation to reading at first – because it was a joy to read, that and the fact that he couldn't get enough of her smiling and jumping up and down his bed like a child. But his eyelids were becoming heavy and he was starting to become sleepy. He fought a yawn and decided to bookmark the page he was reading on. He placed the book on his table, turned off the music and placed his head on his crossed arms atop the bed.

He watched as Mia snoozed on her nap, thinking that it wasn't such a bad thing to fall asleep like this every once in a while. He closed his eyes and fell deep into slumber.

It was dark when he woke up. Dazed, he looked around to see that Mia wasn't there anymore. He felt something slide off of his shoulders and saw it was his blanket. Tsuna squinted in the dark and found that her bag was still there. He looked at the clock, it read seven. It would be dinner ready soon; Mia probably went down to help his mom. She often did that now, asking for tips on Japanese cuisine and stuff.

As he descended down the stairs, he heard the voices of his mother and friend coming from the kitchen. He leaned against the wall, curious at what they were talking about.

"Was it hard for you Mia-chan?"

"I don't think I follow Ma'am."

"I meant growing up, moving from Italy, to America, then to Japan?"

"Culture shock aside, it was an interesting learning experience." Tsuna could note how carefully she worded that while at the same time successfully dodging his mother's question.

"Did you have a lot of friends?" Tsuna strained his ears, waiting for her answer.

"No," she replied. "Not important ones at least." What was that supposed to mean?

"Did you ever have a boyfriend?" His mother suddenly asked teasingly. There was a brief moment of silence before something dropped and Mia hastily replied with a no. Tsuna's own face was burning with embarrassment, groaning from the deepest recesses of his mind Mooooooooooooom.

Nana laughed.

"Kidding, kidding." His mother went on and switched to safer topics like how was their studies coming along and what games did they play in their spare time. Tsuna decided to come in right then and both greeted him warmly. He was going to pretend that never heard any of that, he thought as he watched his mother and best friend move through the kitchen like clockwork. Mia was a very private person and if she ever had to tell him something about herself, she would tell him at the right time and until then, he could wait.

"Ah! By the way Tsu-kun. A flyer showed up in the mail today about a tutor…"

"No thanks," Tsuna said as Mia placed a plate of food before him. He smiled gratefully at her. "I've already got one."

Reborn stood outside the Sawada household, a week after he sent that flyer. He had been waiting for the call but it never came and Reborn was forced to check out what the hell was going on. He was watched as the boy bid his mother goodbye before breaking into a run as soon as he was out the gate. Reborn followed him and saw to his surprise, that he met up with a blonde girl.

He offered a hand and the girl handed him her school bag to carry while she carried a slightly smaller cloth bag. Together, they walked to school laughing and exchanging comments on a very popular book. Reborn even caught a few Italian words being exchanged and wondered what the hell was going on?

According to his intel, Sawada Tsunayoshi didn't have friends, much less a foreign blonde girl. Wait, was that even his friend? What if it was his girlfriend? Reborn scoffed at the thought. No, the body interactions between the two suggested they were close but not romantically close.

The better question would be who was the dumbass that collected the information? Iemitsu was getting lazy. Lal should beat his ass to shape because his people weren't doing their job right. Maybe he needed to blast a few holes through the man because he was too dumb to realize that his own son hardly matched the information. Discarding the piece of shit that was Tsuna's file, and then setting it on fire, Reborn resolved himself to observe the brunette.

As the day passed, Reborn grew steadily angrier at Iemitsu.

How did that dumbass miss this? Reborn decided that when he would write a report, he would include his complaints at how CEDEF was slacking off. He would make sure he would wipe it all over Iemtisu's face but that would have to wait later. Reborn had some introductions to make.

Translation:

Figurati - I'm fine/I'm okay

Ma, che sei grullo - Are you kidding me? / Are you stupid? (Take your pick)

Basta! - in this case, Mia means "Enough!"

Author's Notes:

Fix-it moment. Tsuna learns Italian. I always thought that since he was going to be the boss of an Italian Mafia Family then at some point he had to learn it.