Hi! So, still alive. Again, have no internet where I currently live and am still pretty busy, but I managed a town-trip with extra time today, so I brought you guys a present. Well, one and a half - there's a very short Mythos chapter also ready to go up. On that note, this is another Myth multi-part, despite the nomenclature. Consider it part one of 'Kitsune'

Yako
Fox spirits, specifically those not sworn to a service. They are field foxes, sometimes nogitsune, and because they lack a directed purpose, they tend to be more dangerous than other kitsune. It is not that yako are inherently evil; they simply don't have a greater force imposing rules, and they are very, very inhuman. What they find amusing or even think helpful can often cause trouble for human neighbors, and misunderstandings between any youkai and a human can easily end in violent death. However, fox spirits in general—oft under the blanket-name 'kitsune'—are probably the best known youkai simply because they've managed to end up in some very popular anime and manga, and thus cross quite a few borders; country, language, and culture included. It's a general belief that all foxes have some basic supernatural abilities, at least either shape-changing or illusionary disguise, which is in some ways closer to animal lore than actual mythology.

xxxx

"Ah, it's good to be back!" Takeshi decided, grinning as he stretched his arms above his head, then waved confusedly back at a girl he didn't know who waved at him first about half a block away before she skipped off on her way. He half-shrugged to himself, dismissing the strangeness as just another Namimori quirk and returned his attention to the enthusiastic Sun. "I've missed Namimori!"

"I extremely have, too!" Ryohei agreed, raising his fists in challenge to nothing in particular—or possibly in salute to the girl who wasn't looking in their direction anymore as she skipped off down a side-street while giving their group no further attention. "And now I know that Kyoko's extremely all right!"

Takeshi laughed, "The Sora would never let anything happen to your little sister, Turf-top!" he pointed out, to which Ryohei gave a conceding nod as the sister in question laughed, too.

"He's right! A lot of the wives took turns checking up on me every day, and Nana and Haru and the kids, too! We were all fine, Nii-san."

"I extremely know that!" Ryohei bellowed at his usual volume, "It's why I didn't ask Tsuna if we could extremely take you with us!"

"I don't think I would have liked it much," Kyoko admitted, pausing at the hallway where Takeshi and her would break off for their classroom while Turf-top went towards his. "Oh, hey, look! Tsuna-kun's here with Gokudera-kun!"

Takeshi had already noticed that, actually, the wash of comfortable warmth he associated with Tsuna's presence having swelled with proximity, backed by the prickly sort of edge that came with the bomber, but there was no way he was going to miss out on a 'good morning'! He turned to grin at both of them and Ryohei beat him to said greeting with a cheery shout of, "Lil'bro! Octopus Head! Extremely good morning!"

"Argh, stop calling me that, Turf-top!" Gokudera made his usual growly sound, but it had at some point lost the edge of defensive anger it had once held, and Takeshi laughed aloud.

"Morning Tsuna! Gokudera!"

Tsuna beamed right back, and Takeshi quickly blinked his eyes shut in defense against the scattered sparkles, managing to avoid losing his balance. He heard Ryohei wobble beside him and Kyoko made a startled sound and bumped into his shoulder. Had she never been subjected to one of those smiles before?

Still, Tsuna was happy and the bright warmth of Sky was wrapping him up with the same affection and gentle protectiveness as his mother's hugs once had, and Takeshi was sharply reminded why this tiny little fluffy teen was someone he would follow into death and beyond.

... The baseball team would be expecting him back, but he didn't have the time to devote to baseball and still get his sword-skills up so that the terrible moment of Tsuna's Flames going dim never repeated itself. It was bad enough how they'd gone nearly out, barely sparks of embers against the summer-warm expanse they usually were, but if that bright warmth ever vanished entirely...

He might still give the team a hand in practice sometimes, but he'd have to tell them he wasn't coming back. They—and the sport itself—weren't worth nearly as much as Tsuna, and baseball skills wouldn't help Tsuna at all, but Squalo had proved that a sword was as good as a gun in the hands of a Rain in the Mafia. Better, even, because he could use the edge of the blade to launch out waves that could take out great numbers at once, and he was no Cloud or Reborn to pull that off with bullets.

Tsuna glanced at him, eyes flickering orange, and then he gave a smile that wasn't one of his happy beams of disorienting cheer. It was small, acknowledging—gratitude touched by a flicker of sadness, and Takeshi knew that Tsuna knew what he'd been thinking.

He grinned back, glad that his Sky had accepted his decision without even a word needing to be said, and answered the sadness that couldn't be allowed to stay. "You're worth way more than any sport, Tsuna! I don't need baseball if I've got you!"

Gokudera and Kyoko both blinked at the statement they clearly had no idea of the reason for, but Turf-top took it with his usual attitude. "You extremely are worth more than any sport, Lil'bro!" he agreed, before looking at his taped fists, "... but I can't protect you unless I can extremely fight, so I'll keep boxing anyway."

Takeshi laughed, because the soft sadness faded out of the warmth, replaced by fond amusement, and sometimes Turf-top's constant state of rash thoughtlessness was just the thing to cheer everyone up. Takeshi had discovered that every time he called the Mafia a 'game', it made genuine distress flicker into Tsuna's Flames, which had been the exact opposite of his intent, so he'd stopped (this had the fringe benefit of getting Gokudera to call him an idiot less often), but he was pretty easygoing by nature for the most part.

Still, Reborn called him a 'natural hitman', and Takeshi knew himself well enough to know that... wasn't actually wrong. Tsuna was precious, and to be protected in any way he could. Tsuna loved his people, so he'd be sad if they—including Takeshi himself—were hurt. This was unacceptable, and Takeshi would gladly fight to protect Tsuna's smile. If necessary, he would kill to protect Tsuna and Tsuna's heart, and he wouldn't hesitate or regret it. Tsuna was precious, and the others closest to Tsuna's heart—the ones that Reborn called 'in the same Sky'—were important, too. But Tsuna was most important, and Takeshi would sooner drown the world in blood than let anyone hurt him. If that meant he was a hitman, then he'd be a hitman for Tsuna. And Tsuna's eyes flickered sunset-orange, and the slightly sad gratitude flickered in his Flames, and Takeshi knew that Tsuna knew, and accepted him anyway.

"Herbivores, you are crowding," Came the familiar growl, and the sadness flitted to resigned amusement and subtle delight, and Tsuna turned his stun-beam smile on Hibari with a brightly cheerful greeting.

Hibari's stride faltered just a bit, and Takeshi could only laugh. "Sorry, sorry! We'll head to class as soon as Tsuna's ready!"

Hibari made a grumpy-sounding huff but the tonfa stayed wherever it was that they hid when he wasn't using them, and Tsuna's Sky swamped the Cloud in a clear health-check that was his habit if the violent prefect had been out of sight for more than an hour.

(Hibari glowered but didn't protest, and that was proof that Hibari would protect Tsuna and Tsuna's heart, too.)

Gokudera bristled at Hibari in something that looked more like habit than ire, and Takeshi grinned as Tsuna waved his hands placatingly and herded them and a somewhat mystified Kyoko towards their classroom while prompting Ryohei to head towards his, and the wash of Sky flared to cover the whole building in a quick sweep before pulling in close to hum gently under Tsuna's skin, and all was right with Takeshi's world.

(Until that bastard Nezu insulted Tsuna as they walked in, anyway, but that was a different story.)

xxxx

Tsuna wasn't surprised when Nezu was a problem, or that Gokudera, Takeshi, and Chrome were all upset by it. He was surprised when Mukuro spoke up from the doorway (he'd sensed him but dismissed it, so used to Mukuro's skulking that the presence hadn't registered as odd, which it should have, because school). "Kufufufu," came the familiar creepy chuckle that had Chrome brightening, Takeshi giving something between a gleeful smile and a wince, and Gokudera tensing in preemptive irritation.

"Is this the the level of professionalism I should expect from Japan's teachers?" Mukuro asked, his cuttingly mocking tongue turned on a target that had Gokudera blinking twice before smirking and sitting back. "That they mock and belittle students?"

The entire class kind of paused, frowns passing between classmates as they seemed to register, for the first time, that Nezu's attitude towards Tsuna was not something a teacher should be doing.

Even after taking over an increasing number of responsibilities, Tsuna had declined to make an issue of it, actually taking Gokudera aside shortly after Venna had shown and telling him not to make trouble over it because Nezu simply wasn't worth the difficulties with the school it would cause.

Gokudera had obeyed the gentle order, but was still visibly unhappy every time Nezu belittled Tsuna. Takeshi usually diverted the teacher's attention to himself, which Tsuna was upset about and grateful for in roughly equal measure, but it made it easier for Gokudera to keep from pulling out the dynamite or getting himself into trouble with the school, so he never did anything but wince. Takeshi took his role as a peacemaker both naturally and seriously, diffusing situations and diverting attention where he could, and Tsuna was grateful for it.

(The Storm's role was to attack, according to Vongola, but sometimes attacking just wasn't what was needed, and Gokudera was only mostly a Storm. Tsuna could feel other flavors to his Flames depending on his mood, and was wondering if Gokudera-kun could learn to use them, too.)

Still, Mukuro was standing in the classroom doorway with Ken and Chikusa behind him, all three in Nami-chuu uniforms and blatantly questioning a teacher's professionalism.

Also, Hibari wasn't coming down like the wrath of a god, so that trip to Italy had some serious impacts. Tsuna wasn't sure whether to smile or groan, but Mukuro was very good at picking out pride and immediately using his knowledge as a verbal weapon.

Nezu flushed to his hair in something between fury and embarrassment, and then apparently decided to pretend nothing had happened as one of the central office aides stepped into the doorway beside Mukuro. "I'm sorry for the lack of forewarning, Nezu-sensei," she said, although her tone was just a little clipped. "The paperwork was mishandled and thus when these three transfers came in, we hadn't been aware that it was supposed to be their first day. Rokudo Mukuro-san, Ken Joshima-san, and Kakimoto Chikusa-san are recently from Italy."

Mukuro strode into the classroom with easy confidence, meeting Chrome's bright, "Mukuro-sama!" with a "Dear Chrome," before turning his smile on Tsuna, "Ah, darling Tsunayoshi. You are allowing this... teacher," he managed to inject the word with a vast wealth of skeptical contempt, "liberties such as your uncle would likely kill him for."

Tsuna spent a half-second wondering what on earth he was talking about, registered that Nono had asked him to call him 'Nonno', and taking Timoteo as a grandfather would make Xanxus an uncle, and winced. "Please don't tell Xanxus," he managed, "Nezu-san may be disrespectful but he is still a civilian, and I don't want my overprotective uncle actually shooting him. It was hard enough to keep Gokudera-kun from finding somewhere to hide a body."

"Che," Ken scoffed, slinking in with somewhat less wariness than he once might have shown, and Tsuna took a moment to aim a reassuring wave of Sky to the doorway, which made Ken and Chikusa both scowl and otherwise refuse to acknowledge it. "Why would he need to find a place? The Sora would take care of it gladly."

Which. Well. Yeah, they would. "He is a civilian," Tsuna repeated firmly.

Chikusa huffed but was the first to give acquiescence, "That is true. Civilians are not to be harmed unless they are physically attacking," he conceded, which Tsuna had been forced to include in The Rules due to a combination of factors that basically boiled down to the fact that most of his people were easily incited to violence.

Mukuro scowled slightly, because Tsuna had been very thorough on his definition of 'harm' and he wouldn't be able to get away with traumatizing illusions.

Then Tsuna realized that they were in the classroom and the only people who expected him to show an kind of competence were other students, and—actually, with the three in the doorway, a fairly large percentage of the class. Still, the rest of the class and Nezu himself were ranging between disbelieving and incensed. Fortunately the office aide was enough of a deterring presence to keep Nezu acting with some level of professionalism, and they managed to get class started without any actual breakdowns in reality.

(Tsuna loved his people. His people loved him back. The only problem with that was the fact that his people were mostly violent and overprotective, and Tsuna went to school with a bunch of casually cruel civilians. Keeping everyone unbroken was going to be a chore.)

xxxx

Reborn finished up his full report on Korea and what he, the Triads, and the Sora had done to keep the rather unstable setup from either imploding or exploding while Tsuna was busy with sorting Vongola and complied it all in a handheld computer of a style that likely wouldn't be available to the general populace for years. That finished, he checked the time and nodded to himself before gathering up Fuuta, I-pin, and Lambo to bring to Nami-chuu for lunch with Tsuna.

Tsuna had definitely been glad to have those three back in his sight, and Reborn was going to take full advantage of how much they improved his Sky's mood when he handed over what was going to be a headache and a half. An expected headache and a half, but a headache and a half all the same.

(There was also the fact that he knew how Tsuna's schoolmates and even some of his teachers treated him, and now that he was no longer contract-bound not to directly interfere and no longer denying that Tsuna was his Sky, he would be a lot more tempted to do—something—about it. And then Tsuna would be mad at him. And people in general and civilians in particular had this tendency to be more polite when small children were anywhere near the equation.)

Halfway there, he noticed a strange girl peering at them from about a block away, her eyes bouncing from Reborn to Fuuta to Lambo and then finally to I-pin before she apparently decided it wasn't either her business or a problem (she was a little too far to read the smaller nuances of her expression without visual augmentation of some kind) and turned to skip away rather like the Haru girl did.

Reborn noted her appearance just in case—he didn't recognize her, but they had been gone over a month and he didn't know every schoolgirl in Namimori; he only bothered with the civilian children that lived within three blocks of pertinent homes. She could be visiting or have recently moved, though none of the houses he specifically kept an eye on had changed owners. The Haru-style bounce and the way she'd dismissed them made him less inclined to think she was an enemy, but better safe than sorry, so he wouldn't forget her face.

And then she was out of sight, and Fuuta was asking if they were really going to see Tsuna-nii, and Reborn herded the lot of them a little faster so they'd get there right as the lunch bell rang.

Not surprisingly, Hibari appeared at the gate as they came through, ignoring the scattering of students pausing in the doorway of the building on their way to favored eating-spots. He eyed them each in turn, nodded, and said "The Omnivore is on the roof with the Herd."

Reborn nodded back politely—Hibari's respect had taken a while to earn, and there was no need to purposefully aggravate him. "Thank you, Hibari. Will you be joining us today?"

Hibari cast a scathing glance back towards skittish students, "I need to re-establish proper discipline on school grounds."

Of course he did. That was what happened when you left minions unattended with sub-par supervision for too long. It was only a good thing that both Shī and Kuro had command over minions that were just as devoted to making Tsuna happy as they were, because it really detracted on upsets in the pecking order.

"That's a good idea," Reborn affirmed the Cloud's decision. "It would be best if you started with the faculty. The students are less of a problem."

Hibari eyed him for a few moments, clearly contemplating, then nodded. "I will accept your recommendation, small carnivore."

Aw, how cute. Hibari's vocabulary was expanding. "Well, I have a report to make, tall carnivore," Reborn quipped. "Remember not to do anything that will make Tsuna too disappointed. I won't defend you if you upset him."

Hibari actually grimaced, but didn't verbally back down, "I'll bite those who have disturbed the peace, small carnivore. I don't need you to defend me from the Omnivore."

"If you say so," Reborn decided, though he very much doubted that was true. The very fact that Hibari was actually reasonably polite to people Tsuna liked kind of implied that he was just as dependent on Tsuna's approval as the rest of them, no matter how stubbornly he denied it. "I'll see you at training later, then."

Hibari nodded and spun away, stalking off to seek prey.

"Roof it is, then," Reborn led the other three towards the main entrance, and those students who'd seen the encounter (but not heard, since none of them had been brave enough to get close enough for that) edged out of the way nervously, clearly not sure what to make of the group of children that Hibari had allowed to pass unmolested after what had obviously been an amiable conversation, at least for Hibari.

(As expected, Tsuna met them on the stairs well before they actually got to the third floor, much less the roof, scooping Reborn and I-pin onto his shoulders and tucking Lambo against his side with his left arm as he pulled Fuuta in for a hug with his right, delighted to see the lot of them. The younger children weathered the sparkly cheer best, but Fuuta only looked a little dazzled and Reborn was too awesome to be blindsided, though he did hand over the massive digital file-folder just to make it easier to focus.

Tsuna huffed, pocketed the handheld computer, and got them all up to the roof for lunch.

Reborn, Fuuta, Lambo, and I-pin followed him and the others back into his classroom when lunch ended. The teacher was baffled, but a momentary drop-by and slight nod of approval from Hibari kept any protests from forming. Reborn didn't even have to put on a costume and blast all their brains with Sun-dazzle to confuse them.

... that bit was actually mildly disappointing.)

xxxx

Tsuna flipped through English work that seemed to be far easier than he remembered even if it did take essentially flipping a mental switch, double-checked a few details, and went back to going through the multitudes of information—from economical to military to health and water quality—that Reborn had compiled.

At least in the effective mini-file-room (made with Sora-and-Triad elite-only operating systems and very deliberately without wireless capabilities of any kind, to heavily discourage hacking) of a computer, it was easy to find things.

Reborn had even been kind enough to arrange according to known problems, cross-filing by location, severity, problem type, and list all attempted fixes. Or possibly been thorough enough, because he was kind of a perfectionist.

A frowning teacher came to look at what he was doing, and Tsuna tapped the language options in the corner and switched to English, then opened the listing of areas with health care issues, because that was something he didn't much mind people knowing about. Military and governmental structures, on the other hand, were something best gone over in a more secure location.

Seeing that he had two children sleeping on his lap and a third quietly perched on his shoulder with a slightly older child sitting at the desk next to his and quietly working on his schoolwork—in French at the moment—she didn't immediately say anything, instead glancing at the screen to see what he was doing.

He vaguely noticed her blinking, and then she moved to a more polite distance, "Good initiative, Sawada-kun," she offered, soft but still audible to the whole room, since everyone was being surprisingly quiet. "Your English has definitely been improving, but I hadn't realized you were already at the point of reading advanced material. If you've already finished tomorrow's homework, you can turn it in now and get it out of the way."

He nodded slightly, passing the computer to Reborn for a moment—he felt a flicker of smug approval from the Sun in question, which was pretty much why he'd done it—and pulled out his homework to hand over. Yamato Hanako was one of the better teachers, though she'd often been frustrated with his schoolwork.

Which was understandable, really, he'd been frustrated with his schoolwork; and she had never belittled him for it, but he'd never taken her up on the standing offer to help. The sudden and dramatically obvious upswing in his grades also clearly wasn't due to him applying himself more, because he had to put a lot less work in to get things right. Maybe they should come up with an explanation for that. 'I got a tutor' might work—and was true—but even Reborn's interference hadn't helped his grades much, through no fault of his and not for lack of trying.

(He was pretty sure he was cheating with languages in general, but there wasn't much he could do about that bit. If he could speak unicorn, of course he could manage English, even written.)

Murmurs of confusion and disbelief from most of the class, Gokudera-kun scowling at a few of the comments but not bursting out with protests after a quick glance at Tsuna's sleeping charges, Takeshi shaking his head and Mukuro and Chrome exchanging a glance that Tsuna despaired at, because Chrome was sweet and nice and kind, and also co-head of the Sora's Internal Security because she had a vicious streak about the size of the Pacific, for all that it was usually very well hidden. Mukuro wasn't vicious so much as sadistic, and they truly made for a terrifying pair when they had a problem with the same thing. It didn't help that Ken and Chikusa both looked interested in the two Mists' direction.

Reborn seemed quite pleased about that, and Tsuna accepted the computer back and went straight back to work, quieting Lambo with a Sky-laced pat to the head when he shifted unhappily, the distress reflected in young Lightning Flames easing out with the reassurance.

They were all here, and safe. There were no immediate threats. And Lambo was his, and Tsuna would burn the world to ash before letting the Bovino change that. He didn't know why they'd sent a five-year-old after Reborn, but he was pretty sure he knew why they were continuing to supply weapons and ammunition, and while he was distinctly considering doing something about them, Lambo was young enough that he still loved them, and didn't understand just what it meant that they'd sent him after the World's Greatest Hitman.

The Bovino could wait. Korea, however, had waited long enough.

Tsuna made a number of notes on revisions to the healthcare of the country his crazies had given him, and flicked to the overview of water quality by area. Most was able to be made safe by simple boiling, so could wait for proper addressing of the problem so long as he got people out there to make sure all the residents knew that, and he was definitely going to have to do something on the international front, which for the moment seemed to consist of a lot of large governmental eyes watching warily and not quite sure what to make of the silence and very obvious lack of rioting in the streets despite the fact that they'd managed to keep the king of the new monarchy as-yet uncrowned. And unknown.

He sighed. Being introduced as temporary ruler of Vongola for a month had been bad enough, but they were going to end up having to set up a proper coronation ceremony on an internationally recognized level.

"Sometimes," he told the not-toddler on his shoulder, quietly enough that he doubted anyone else would hear, "I wonder how this is my life."

Reborn patted his head, "I stopped wondering after the akhlut, Tsuna," he informed. "I don't even want to know anymore."

Tsuna snorted, raising his head to glance out the window as something caught his attention. A waver like heat-shimmer and... a black-furred fox. With at least three tails, and possibly as many as five, although they were bushy enough that he couldn't tell exact number from the distance.

"Huh," Takeshi said quietly. "It's that girl from earlier."

Reborn stiffened on Tsuna's shoulder, looking out the window as well, and the fox turned and bounded away, quick and seamlessly graceful. "I saw her earlier, too," he agreed, quiet and tense.

Tsuna blinked, not having seen anyone but the fox. "Wait... by the tree out by the sidewalk just now?"

Reborn nodded shortly.

"... I didn't see a girl," he informed.

Takeshi wasn't the only one to turn to blink at him, and Tsuna switched to Italian, because at least most the class wouldn't understand and his own would, even if Takeshi still had some trouble. "Black fox. At least three tails."

Reborn groaned, a small hand coming up to cover his eyes with a soft smack. "Tsuna. No more."

Tsuna shrugged his free shoulder, suddenly feeling lighter. So his life was crazy. But—little moments like these made everything worth it.

(Of course, that caught the teacher's attention for the fact that he was speaking a language that was neither Japanese nor English, and that sparked a random question on how many languages Tsuna spoke, and Tsuna actually had to stop and think about it. Then he decided he didn't know or care, and shrugged with a blase, "Enough."

There was disbelieving griping from a large portion of he class, but the English teacher was visibly intrigued, murmuring something about how hard it was supposed to be to learn multiple languages at the same time. This was going to be annoying later, he just knew it.)

xxxx