A/N

AH! I've finally cracked the 10K word mark (not much, but little victories)! Other news, I wrote a Christmas piece for KHR (shameless advertising... SORRY!), so if you don't mind taking a look, I'd be grateful. Thank you for the support and enjoy the chapter!

GUEST: I'm sorry... I just now realized how some parts of this story could be interpreted (I mean, wow, I surprised myself) but unfortunately, it's just Reborn looking out for Tsuna... No romance to be found here... Like I said last time, I hope you'll read this anyways!

DISCLAIMER: I don't think we ever got to hug Bermuda, so no, I don't own it.

5.

Tsuna walked back up to the doors, the smile stuck on his face. Ryohei would probably do well as a motivational figure; his energy was almost contagious. No, life was not better than it had been an hour ago, but at least someone had managed to convince him that it wasn't yet time to give up so easily.

He once more looked at the huge doors that protected the world from the insanity and danger that lay within. He gave a small smile as he realized he was about to willingly throw away a normal life to live in such a world. Perhaps he was crazy, but he actually felt a bit of happiness at the thought. The empty feeling that had begun to appear as he walked out of the school earlier was beginning to fill back up. That was all the proof that Tsuna needed. It was the same as what had allowed him to pass the entrance exam; there was no way that it was a coincidence that this feeling kept driving him back to the school.

Tsuna pushed the doors open, noting that it wasn't nearly as hard as it had been to leave. Wondering if, by even a one percent chance, the school had been attempting to keep him from leaving, Tsuna walked into the main hall. Everyone was still in the cafeteria eating dinner, but Tsuna still didn't feel very hungry. Nor was he masochistic enough to go into a room full of people who would probably beat him again. He began to cross the room to get to the stairs when he saw something move out of the corner of his eye. Immediately whipping around to see what it was, he saw it was just one of the girls going up to their room.

Tsuna silently berated himself for being so jumpy and began walking to the stairs again. But something was wrong. It was a nagging he couldn't shake, leaving him feeling almost sick. Tsuna glanced around, figuring that it was probably something in the room that made him feel uneasy. Catching sight of someone moving in his peripherals, Tsuna watched a girl climb the staircase towards her room – which appeared to be on the ninth floor – with unease. She looked a little wobbly.

As he continued to watch, she crumpled forwards, hunching over as if in pain. When she didn't get up within a few seconds, Tsuna felt a strange panic fill him and he was running up the stairs to the girl before he could think twice. He took the stairs two at a time. For some reason, he didn't felt winded at all during the run despite his lack of athleticism, but he would think about that later. When Tsuna finally reached her, his breath seemed to catch in his throat. She wasn't moving from where she was curled, arms around her abdomen, except for a very light rise and fall of her chest. Her face was contorted in pain even in her unconsciousness, a small trickle of blood leaking out of the corner of her mouth.

Carefully picking her up, Tsuna started back down the stairs, slower so he wouldn't trip. The moment his feet touched the marble of the main hall, Tsuna began sprinting for the nurse's office. The girl wasn't responding at all except to groan every once in a while from being jostled during the dash.

Tsuna skidded into the black hallway, barely slowing down. At the crossroad, he didn't even glance at the sign, immediately dashing to the left. He was breathing hard by now, but he didn't slow down, even when he saw a huge neon cross above a sliding door in front of him. He ran in, noticing that there weren't any doctors that seemed to be on call. The adrenaline that was pumping through him made its way into his voice as he yelled, "Someone! Anyone! She needs help!"

There was a long pause before someone came out from behind a white curtain, grumbling, "It's always an emergency, isn't it? Why can't you guys just stop getting hurt all the time? I mean, the way you guys swing at each other, it's no surprise someone goes down and doesn't get back up. Why can't it just be a girl for once? They're so much more pleasant to look at." The doctor was tall and wore a long white coat with a suit and tie underneath. He didn't look as though he had shaved for several days, a stubble forming on his chin. Tsuna felt a small shock at how relaxed he was, but it was soon replaced by frustration and just a hint of anger at his lack of seriousness.

"Just help her!" Tsuna yelled at the man. The doctor seemed to perk up at his comment.

A slightly perverted smile crossed his face as he said, "Her? Yes! Finally, a girl! Not a guy!" The doctor removed the girl from Tsuna's arms before his face immediately became serious and much more professional, "What happened?" Tsuna, shocked by the sudden change in personality, stuttered out a half-comprehensible answer about seeing her collapse on the stairs. His whole manner changed as he straightened her onto a bed and began to rush around the room grabbing various bottles and syringes. Tsuna just anxiously stood back and watched as the doctor did his job.

The girl was soon injected with various liquids before being hooked up to an IV. She still looked far too pale and was still barely breathing. A gasp escaped her lips as she woke up, immediately curling up to protect her midsection again. She continued to whimper as the doctor tried to straighten her out, injecting her with what Tsuna assumed were painkillers. A hacking cough racked her body as a small splotch of red appeared on the otherwise white bed. The doctor swore under his breath as he moved around faster.

Countless bottles full of medicines Tsuna couldn't identify flew around the room as the doctor tore through his cabinets looking for one specific bottle. It was a darkened bottle, not having any other label than one strip that said, "Mist". The doctor wasted no time pulling out yet another needle from underneath his coat and sticking it into the bottle. There was some sort of dark bluish liquid inside. It was fluorescent and kept changing from a liquid to a gas. The doctor looked critically at the syringe before growling a couple of words underneath his breath and shaking it, turning the gas back into a liquid. He injected it into the girl before it could change shape again.

With bated breath, the two males watched her.

After several tense seconds, the girl slowly straightened out, still gasping as the pain didn't completely fade. She looked at them rather blearily as the painkillers went to work properly, deadening her senses. The doctor looked at her with an expression of relief crossing his face. "Surprised me again, missy. Save that for when you and I go on a date one of these days," his tone was light and joking, putting a slight smile on the girl's face as she calmed down.

As the girl's eyelid began to close, she whispered, "Mukuro…" before giving in to sleep.

In the cafeteria, a boy with a very familiar hairstyle immediately jerked his head up. "Nagi," he whispered, concern replacing his usually smug smile. The others at the table were slightly surprised when the boy jumped up, but nodded in understanding at his face. There was only one person who could make the boy look like that: his sister.

The boy ran from the cafeteria, following all traces he could of his sister to figure out where she had gone. The invisible thread that connected the two led him across the main hall and into the black one. The boy frowned as he realized she was once more in the nurse's office before disappearing into a sudden mist.

Now that Tsuna had time to look at the girl properly, he noticed things he hadn't in his panic. Her uniform was not unlike the male version but there were noticeable differences. Girls wore a short skirt that held places for holsters and pockets. The top was a suit jacket placed over a blouse, probably having more room for weapons on the inside. For shoes, she simply wore a pair of buckled boots. Her dark blue hair was tied back in a spiky, pineapple style. One of her eyes was covered with a patch with a skull on it. Tsuna realized with a shock that she was one of the people who'd managed to light the indigo pillar up really brightly. He looked at the girl, looking so weak on the bed, and wondered how she could've managed such a bright Flame.

Tsuna jumped as mist suddenly materialized in the middle of the room and a boy walked out. Whoa! Is that even possible? Tsuna wondered as he looked at the new arrival. The boy looked very similar to the girl. Possibly a twin? Tsuna didn't know, but he recognized that the boy had also been able to light up the pillar like the girl had, meaning he was at least as strong, if not stronger. The boy ignored Tsuna and immediately went up to the doctor, "What happened, Shamal?"

The doctor looked at the boy who was barely keeping up his calm exterior. He sighed. "She just had trouble again, Mukuro. She's fine now. She's over there if you want to see her."

The boy, Mukuro, went to the bedside and gazed silently at the girl resting before him, her face still pale. He grabbed a chair and sat down, taking her hand in his. Tsuna saw a small indigo light ignite between the hands. The light continued for a little while longer before Mukuro dropped it with a sigh and leaned back in the chair, looking exhausted. As for the girl, she looked like she was comfortably sleeping.

"You can take her off the IV, Shamal," Mukuro said to the doctor. "She's stable now." Shamal nodded and removed the IV attached to the girl, putting the needle aside to sterilize later. Mukuro turned around, demeanor changing as he seemed to finally notice Tsuna's presence, "Kufufufu~ and who's this?"

Tsuna opened his mouth as Shamal began to speak, "The boy who brought her here. She was lucky this time; from what I gather she was on her way to her room, probably to rest, when she collapsed. The boy saw her fall and ran her back here." Tsuna gave a nod to affirm what Shamal was saying.

Mukuro said nothing for a while. When he finally looked at Tsuna, there was a something akin to a smile on his face. His eyes are pretty, Tsuna thought, looking at the indigo that briefly glowed in his dark orbs. "Thank you for taking care of Chrome," Mukuro said a little awkwardly, unaccustomed to thanking anyone for anything.

Tsuna smiled now that the girl was no longer in danger. "Of course!" For the second time that day, his eyes burned. Tsuna lowered his eyes from Mukuro's and rubbed his eyes again, putting it down to tiredness. I guess I should go to bed earlier tonight…

Something – Tsuna figured it was the smile – seemed to catch Mukuro off-guard. Recovering from his slight shock, Mukuro began introductions, "Kufufufu~ my name's Rokudo Mukuro. Just call me Mukuro. The girl you saved was my sister, Dokuro Chrome. People just call her Chrome though. And yours?"

"Sawada Tsunayoshi, but my friends just call me Tsuna," Tsuna said, smile still in place. It faltered as Tsuna paused. Seeming to come to a decision, Tsuna tentatively spoke, "I-if you guys are siblings, why do you have different last names?"

Mukuro seemed surprised at the question. For whatever reason, most people just took it in stride or didn't care enough to ask. But it was a good one. "It's because I don't exactly have the best reputation. By scrambling the letters, Nagi isn't immediately associated with me. So far, it's worked out fine.'

Tsuna nodded. It made sense, although he had a feeling he didn't want to know what Mukuro had done to get his reputation. A small crinkle reappeared in between his eyebrows as he realized something. "Why do you call her Nagi? Didn't you just say her name was Chrome?"

Mukuro looked a little uncomfortable. "Well, due to certain circumstances, the name Nagi holds bad memories for her. I can still call her that because I have always called her that. She associates more good memories than bad ones with me, so it cancels out. However, new people should just call her Chrome, which includes you."

Tsuna seemed satisfied with the answer and didn't pry any further. Mukuro, ending the conversation, turned back to hold his sister's hand as she slept. He watched the siblings for a little longer before turning to leave. Opening the door, he felt something smack into the back of his head. It didn't hurt per se, but it was enough to kick-start Tsuna's clumsiness as he stumbled and fell into a heap on the floor. Picking up the paper airplane thrown at him, Tsuna turned around to see who'd thrown it. The doctor was sitting at his desk, facing the door as he lounged in his chair. The doctor mimed opening up the paper. Tsuna got the message and opened the plane. He drew out a laminated card with the words "Free Pass" on it.

Looking in confusion at the man, the doctor sighed and said, "It's a pass for you. I only treat girls, but I guess if you happened to get banged up, I'll give you a band-aid to stop the bleeding."

Tsuna's smile grew larger as he called, "Thank you, -" Tsuna stopped when he realized he didn't know the man's name.

The doctor understood. "Just call me Shamal.'

Tsuna nodded and headed into the dark of the hallway. By the time he'd made it back to his room, he was exhausted. Changing your mind so many times in one day would do that to you and his body was finally ready to collect on the sleep he had been deprived of earlier. Quickly getting into his pajamas, Tsuna fell into a dreamless sleep.

A/N

Word Count: 2,401

So, I hit you with three new characters there! And yes, I believe Shamal can be serious when necessary... Give the poor pervert some credit! If you didn't notice, I'm going to make the Mist guardians siblings because it's just easier to explain why they are so close (I cut corners sometimes). Also, there won't be much action in the first arc (kind of like the manga) so try to bear with me and I'll put more in.

See you next time!