Eh. I didn't have as much fun with this one, but it contains details that will be relevant later, so. I must have rewritten it a half dozen times, and I have some deleted scenes that will likely end up in 'Mythos'. So. There is that.

Khe-ti

A cobra-like serpent of Ancient Egypt, a creature of a power that was referred to with a name that, ironically for this fandom, translates most closely to 'flame'. The y'rt—called the Uraeus, a Romanized derivation—on the varying king-crowns was named not after the serpent itself or the protective goddess Wadjet who preferred a cobra-form, but rather after the action of rearing up to spit. This serpent was used as a recognizing symbol of the rightful king. (The term 'pharaoh' did not come into use until the Romans got involved, as the words it was derived from 'pr a'h' translate roughly to 'house of the lord' or 'house of the king' and was originally used to refer only to the royal home, that is: the palace itself.) While it is likely that the serpent in question was the Egyptian spitting cobra, and they simply attributed the way it spat its venom as invisible fire for the burning it caused, they were still believed to be a line of defense for the king, spitting their invisible fire against threats on the spiritual plane, even when cast from metal or carved from stone. A live one, though… well. That would be quite an endorsement, when the image at least was almost a requirement of being recognized as ruler.

xxxx

Tsuna woke to an unfamiliar weight settling on his chest, and he spent a few seconds blinking at the unexpected lidless reptilian eyes right in front of his face. It was the earlier side of sunrise, the still-greyish light filtering in though the window and letting Tsuna get a look at the very large snake in the middle of hampering his breathing.

He could tell a few things: one, it was big—he couldn't tell how long, with how it coiled on his chest, but it had to weigh at least twelve kilos. Two, it was darker on top of its head than beneath, the pattern of the hood flaring out from just below the back of the jaw down its raised neck nearly a circle of paler color that he couldn't quite distinguish in the low light.

And three, it was dangerous. Because hood meant cobra, and cobra meant deadly.

These things all registered in the space of less than a full second, and it turned out yelping in shock was a bad idea. Either startled or angered by the sudden sound and motion of his chest, it reared back further before lunging forward, its jaw clamping shut over the junction of his shoulder, and Tsuna had an instant to register the sharp ridge of its teeth* cutting into his throat before his world dissolved in fire.

xxxx

Squalo was pretty sure he'd never been more terrified in his life than when he'd gotten into the Decimo's room (if Xanxus wasn't calling the kid 'trash', no way in hell was Squalo going to even think anything insulting in his direction) only to see his crazy Wrath Boss-Sky staunching a bleeding wound on Decimo's fucking throat with the Sun Arcobaleno cursing and failing to heal it. Then Xanxus had snapped at him to go for the medics, and he'd gone. Fucking sprinted.

Because Decimo might have been a tiny little twig with a too-big heart and a too-sweet smile, but he was Squalo's Sky's Sky, and if he died…

If he died, Xanxus would fucking break. And if Xanxus broke, the rest of them would follow, and the whole damn world would burn.

(Squalo hadn't waited for ten years for the chance to save his Sky just to lose him all over again, and in a way he wouldn't ever get him back from.)

Thankfully, things were less tense when he made it back with their med crew, the Arcobaleno having managed to seal the wound and the venom mysteriously gone while the very much alive snake that he'd been pretty sure had been dead before coiled beneath the bed.

Which. Didn't make a lot of sense, but he was getting the distinct impression that was going to be a theme with the crazy little Transcendent. The living bronze lions had been a weird introduction, but the follow-up of a flaming multicolored bird with a back like a turtle-shell and a peck like a jackhammer had let him guess that it was going to be a trend. (At least he recognized the fucking unicorn. Also, it had eyed him before rather pointedly putting its horn to the concrete wall across from his holding cell in something that was very obviously a threat. Which… okay, unicorn was apparently not a pansy myth. Horn sliding slowly into concrete was a good way of proving it could poke a massive bleeding hole through his chest just fine if it wanted to.)

So, yeah. Not questioning the not-dead snake hanging out like it was best buds with everyone in the fucking room even though it had just about killed the little Sky.

Also not questioning how none of the kid's group—and that very obviously included Xanxus—let him out of their sight as the medics checked him over (with the Sun Arcobaleno pointedly not moving from where he sat on the kid's chest). On determining the two experienced Suns that had already been in the room were correct in that the only thing still wrong with the kid was shock-inducing levels of hypovolemia, Xanxus scooped him up (Arcobaleno and all) and directed Lussuria at the very much ruined bed like the maid he might as well be even as he strode out the door.

Squalo trailed after his Boss, ignoring how Luss grumbled over the state of the bloodied sheets and mattress behind him and how all the brats not half-dead from blood loss duckling-lined behind him as the Cloud Arcobaleno hitched a ride with the brat-Sun and the Storm settled in the brat-Cloud's hold.

Shit, he'd only been awake fifteen minutes and he was already exhausted. Panic was bad for his health.

(At least all Decimo needed was a transfusion. He'd lost a lot of blood, but the injury had been shallow and healed cleanly. Throat was tricky, but Luss was no slouch and Reborn was Arcobaleno. If they and the medics all said healed and no complications, then he'd be completely fine once his blood volume was normal. He wouldn't even need to delay his plans for busting in on Nono—although Xanxus might make him anyway.

Squalo wouldn't even blame him. Kid wasn't even Squalo's Sky and he was shaking in retroactive fear. Dio, that had been terrifying. If Decimo never got hurt again, it would still be too soon.)

xxxx

"Reborn, Xanxus, I'm fine," Tsuna huffed, exasperated. Of course the two most violent people he knew would also be the most protective—or overprotective, in this case. "Look, if it makes you feel better, I'll ask Moeru to bring Shī and Kuro. I'll even ask Mukuro to play escort from the shadows. I don't need to take today off."

Xanxus narrowed his eyes, "You'll still bring the rest of us?"

It was only half question. "You two, Squalo-san, Gokudera, Fon, Skull, and Mammon-san," he'd wanted to bring a somewhat different group, but only Gokudera and Mukuro amongst his younger Elements actually knew Italian, and Mukuro might be officially under Tsuna's care but he was still a known face and might trigger a 'shoot first' response. Which left him having most of his Guardians on standby and his Arcobaleno and Xanxus as the most practical escorts. Squalo and Mammon, too, because they were Xanxus' and more levelheaded than Bel, less fanatical than Levi, and lacking Lussuria's flamboyance.

Also, because that meant they'd have four of the Arcobaleno with them, and that was a pretty solid show of force even without any of the rest.

Reborn considered, "If you have the bird nearby for emergency transportation, I will accept that."

Tsuna nodded, "I'll also talk to the others about being on standby. Hopefully it won't be necessary, but if the Nono decides to be unreasonable I'd rather force a concession now than start the equivalent of a civil war."

Xanxus grinned and Reborn smirked slightly, "In that case, I'll call and break the contract I have with the Nono. It means giving up my right to requisition Vongola personnel and supplies, but would free me to act without contractually-enforced repercussions should things get out of hand. I do have the right to terminate the contract at any time, after all."

Tsuna nodded, understanding what wasn't being said. Reborn liked the idea of being able to fight for him, that much was all too obvious in the glint of his eye and the tone of his voice. The drawbacks probably wouldn't even be a problem. "Well, now that Shī's united the Triads and Sora's almost finished taking over Japan, I'm not sure we even need Vongola resources. They might occasionally be useful, but mostly when we're in Europe."

Xanxus made a sound that was a weird mix of disgruntlement and satisfaction. "Never thought I'd hear someone talk about Vongola as extraneous. Fuck, never thought I'd agree."

Tsuna considered for a moment, "Do you think you could get your lot to tone down on the language a bit? Especially Squalo?"

Xanxus paused, clearly thinking through his response and more than a little dubious. "I'll talk to 'em, but I'm not making promises. Not even for myself."

"I'm not asking for miracles," Tsuna smiled slightly, "Just… try to tone it down around my Guardians. I don't want them picking it up and bringing it home to the kids."

Xanxus snorted, "You really are a mom."

And he couldn't even refute that. He had very much taken the 'mom' role for his Elements, and even if it earned him a demeaning nickname, he would not regret it. It was quite obvious that they needed a mom—and as much as Tsuna loved his, she was a bit airheaded. If he didn't have Fuuta in the house and quite a few Yakuza wives ready and willing to help out, he wouldn't have felt entirely comfortable leaving Lambo and I-pin in Japan without him.

Tsuna huffed, folding his arms. "At least I do a good job of it," he decided aloud.

Reborn snorted at that one and Xanxus barked a laugh, "Come on, brat. Let's round up who we need while the Arcobaleno makes his call."

Tsuna smiled, pleased with how the amusement eased some of the lingering tension from their shoulders and hopped off the infirmary bed to trot off beside Xanxus, needing to take two steps for every one of his. (Why were all the Italians so tall?)

xxxx

Timoteo glanced up when his Mist/'secretary of the day' frowned at the phone in his hand before passing it to him with a single name in explanation—a name that made Timoteo's heart drop, because Reborn didn't call.

"Reborn?" he asked warily as he took the phone from Croquant, not sure what to expect. If Tsuna had been hurt—Xanxus had taken off with a number of the Varia, but he'd been reported as returned almost as quickly, so Timoteo had dared hope that he'd mistaken his adoptive son's intent towards the boy.

"Nono," Reborn's reply was perfectly even. "I am terminating the tutoring contract."

Timoteo reeled. "Why? What happened?" he was within his rights to do so, no matter the reason. Reborn had refused to sign a tutoring contract without a clear door out of it, and if for some reason he and Tsunayoshi had been a truly bad fit, that would have been much safer for everyone. But he hadn't called it off in the several months he'd been in Namimori, so something must have happened.

"Tsuna's my Sky."

That was not the expected response. Timoteo had feared a wide range of responses, but that… no one had even come close to Harmonizing with Reborn, and a fair number had tried. As far as Timoteo knew, not even Luce—the Arcobaleno Sky who had died of illness and first been grouped with Reborn and the others thirty-odd years before—had. She'd not Harmonized with any of them, actually, but Lal Mirch had admitted that she'd had that sort of half-there Harmony that was all most Skies could manage with secondary Elements if they already had a bond of that Flame-type. All but Reborn and Colonnello had shown signs of it, according to the CEDEF second-in-command, and Colonnello hadn't actually been a part of the original group.

Reborn had been there, but had been too strong. Timoteo's mother had tried to draw the Sun Arcobaleno in, and Timoteo had as well, in his prime. So had most of his sons. The Vongola Skies were heralded as the strongest for good reason, but none of them had even come near taming the blaze of Reborn's Sun.

And now a fourteen-year-old child had.

"I see," Timoteo managed around his lingering shock. "I will terminate the contract, then. I suppose I'll also need to seek another tutor…" it was generally a bad idea to have a Guardian tutor their own Sky, especially in regards to combat.

"File me as one of his Suns," Reborn instructed, "Currently, he has eleven confirmed Elements and two more that are partially bonded."

Eleven. Almost thirteen. Timoteo had a full set and Luce had been strong enough for that and partial bonds to an additional five, but she had been the chosen Arcobaleno Sky, and even then it was six confirmed and five partials. Never had he heard of more than seven full bonds, and this…

Well.

"… That is quite impressive," Timoteo admitted, trying to wrap his mind around the information.

"Tsuna is impossible," Reborn informed, sounding both exasperated and fond, and then there was what sounded like semi-distant shouting on the other end of the line and Reborn huffed in annoyance. "Those idiots," he growled, "After this morning-! Excuse me, Nono, I need to go shoot some people."

Timoteo blinked as the line clicked, not sure if he should feel sorry for whoever had earned the hitman's ire. He sighed and handed the phone back to his visibly curious Mist, digging through his desk for his copy of Reborn's contract and hand-scrawling 'Terminated' across it in red pen with a note of 'Harmonization' as the reason.

Croquant leaned over to see what he was writing and choked.

Timoteo grimaced, capping his pen, "My thoughts exactly," he agreed. How was he going to find someone else to tutor the boy? They'd have to be able to stand up to Reborn!

xxxx

Reborn stood over the majority of the Varia Elite, Hibari, Ryohei, and—unexpectedly—Takeshi and Fon. Xanxus had Tsuna shuffled half behind him by a firm hand on his scruff and Gokudera had his head in his hands next to the Wrath, clearly so exhaustedly exasperated that Reborn was starting to think he was going into—what was it, UMA overload? He'd been so excited about the unicorn and additions to the mythological menagerie (Tsuna had asked him why he was calling them 'unidentified' when they clearly weren't, and the explanation had made Reborn's head spin with the ridiculous, not-thought-out enthusiasm), but it was looking like he was starting to hit chaos saturation point.

Skull had small arms wrapped firmly around Tsuna's shin (Tsuna looked longsuffering) and Mammon was sitting disgustedly on Xanxus' shoulder, the grumbles about wasted effort for no return the only evidence of the disgust.

Xanxus looked mostly amused. A little disgruntled (he must have acted on sheer instinct, moving Tsuna away from the chaos without stopping it), but mostly amused.

Leon turned back into a lizard and Reborn hopped off the back of Takeshi's head, making sure to give him and Ryohei both reproving kicks. He didn't know why or how Fon had gotten involved, but Hibari was a lost cause so kicking him would be wasted effort.

Fon pulled himself out of the pile, shooting a dark look at the Varia Storm as he quite deliberately used a crowned blond head as a springboard to get out of the mess of limbs. He landed next to Reborn, "I admit you are better with control of rowdy crowds," he informed, switching back to serene.

Ah. Fon was good, but most of his larger or potentially multi-target attacks were somewhat… not for use indoors. Or on allies, and the risk of catching Tsuna's Guardians would have prevented the use of his Flames, Fon being such a powerful Storm.

Chaos Shot, however, was targeting, multi-target, and of adjustable, non-disintegrating power—with only seven targets, it was easy to be very precise. Reborn could crank the heat up enough for it to flash-burn things to ash, but that took intent. He could forgive Fon getting caught up, seeing as how he had no doubt the Storm had been pleased for the chance to work off a little of the earlier tension.

And Tsuna had been safely out of the way. Even so, Reborn was displeased with the earlier close call and knew perfectly well that Tsuna still had a headache. "Right, you idiots. If you want to make noise, take it somewhere else. Tsuna is out of danger, but if he's going to be at his best later, he still needs some rest."

Fon abruptly turned his eyes to the floor, ashamed. Reborn didn't draw attention to it. Hibari gave a soft 'che' and looked away, Takeshi wincing and Ryohei drooping in obvious dejection as they untangled themselves.

Squalo also winced, but his eyes flicked towards where Xanxus had lost the amusement in favor of annoyance, and the rest of the Elite in the pile did more-or-less the same.

Reborn nodded, satisfied that they'd be quiet for a while. "Tsuna, have you called your minions?"

Tsuna shook his head, "My phone's still in the room."

"I'll call them for you, then," Reborn decided. "You just worry about the bird. And ask him if he can bring the unicorn by—have her take a look at you."

It turned out that Moeru could, in fact, bring Venna. (Tsuna later said the bird said there were limits with other myths. Specifically, they couldn't be of opposing alignments, either elementally or spiritually, which meant that the akhlut and likely the tóngshī were stuck in Japan. The unicorn was compatible enough with the hou-ou for transport.)

She landed in front of them in a flash of fire and skidding hooves, took one look at Tsuna, and planted the tip of her horn against the middle of his forehead.

Tsuna gave a relieved-sounding groan, closing his eyes. "Thanks, Venna. That's much better."

The unicorn whickered and took a half step back, tossing her head and turning a critical eye on her surroundings.

Reborn was just glad she hadn't stabbed Tsuna in the chest again. Rationally he knew it was unlikely that she would hurt him, but… the image was more than a little disturbing.

Squalo took a very careful step away from the pale form as she stamped lightly, hoof chiming sharply, the line of his shoulders easing a little as he muttered something under his breath.

Mammon tilted a hood-covered head, "I wonder how much people would pay for a picture of a unicorn with the Varia?"

Well. At least some things never changed.

xxxx

*Unlike vipers and adders (including rattlesnakes, copperheads, moccasins, lanceheads, and bushmasters alongside a wide range of other venomous snakes), cobras have a number of teeth that more resemble short knives than what most Americans think of as 'snake fangs', meaning they have to both tear skin and hold on long enough for their venom to make it into the resulting wounds in order to envenom what they bite. The average cobra-bite looks more like someone put blades to a mouse trap than puncture marks. That's not to say that they don't have fangs, only that the carriage of venom from their tiny venom-carrying fangs to flesh is fairly inefficient, and their non-fang teeth do much of the physical damage that allows the venom into a bite.

Also, biggest pet peeve in fiction regarding snakes: snakes do not have eyelids! There are a few - very few - legless lizards that look like snakes that have eyelids, but they are - because of the eyelids and a few other small physiological differences - classed as lizards. I love snakes. I've raised a variety of them. Venomous snakes are not legal to import to my state, as there are none native and de-venoming does not mean they are unable to breed, but my grandfather was involved in raising rattlesnakes to milk for venom in Arizona (for making antivenoms) and they're kind of a family obsession.