A/N

In the least stalkerish way possible, can I hunt you all down and hug you? I'm only half kidding because I really do love you guys! Anyways, here we are! Unless I take too much longer and start dragging this out, I think I should be done with this arc by my midterms. So fingers crossed! And someone pointed out that Reborn hasn't shown up in a while. I don't have much for him to do in the beginning, especially since Tsuna hasn't even figured out his Flame thing yet, but I hope to put more of him in sooner or later... I think that's everything, so enjoy the chapter!

DISCLAIMER: Iemitsu never properly apologized to Tsuna, so I don't own it.

7.

Walking out of the arch and into the main hall, Tsuna heard a sniffling. Looking around, Tsuna didn't see anyone. After a few seconds without any kind of sound, Tsuna shrugged it off and continued walking. He had just passed the black and white halls when the sound was heard again, this time louder. It was accompanied by a whisper of, "Tolerate."

Looking around again, Tsuna still didn't see whoever made the sound. It was obviously a child crying, but there didn't appear to be any children around. He waited for a second before tracing it to the green hall. Making his way over cautiously, he saw a child, about 10 or so, crouched just inside the hallway, hidden by shadows. Being the person he was, Tsuna walked up to the boy.

"You okay?" Tsuna asked. The child had a mop of black hair, messily groomed so that some parts of it stuck up while others lay in his eyes. Two horns – fake, Tsuna assumed – branched out from the sides of his head, much like a cow.

"L-lambo i-is just fi-fine," the child said between hiccups and sniffles. "Lambo c-can t-t-tolerate."

Tsuna couldn't help but want to sigh. The child obviously wasn't fine if he was sitting in the dark, crying his eyes out for what looked to have been a while. Tsuna walked through the arch, a small tingle going through him, to sit next to the suited child. It looked like even the smallest of the students wore a suit. He didn't say anything as he sat down, just letting the child cry in the company of someone else.

The child continued to cry and soon crawled into Tsuna's lap to cry against his chest. Tsuna brought his hand up to rub his back, remembering how he always saw Kyoko do it when she comforted a child. The child seemed to cry harder at that and curled up tighter to Tsuna, desiring all the human contact he could.

After a while, the child calmed down. "T-that wasn't necessary," the child said with false bravado. "Lambo was just fine after all."

Tsuna arched an eyebrow at that. "I know," he said, "but I felt tired and wanted to sit down anyways. You just kept me company, right?" He winked at the child whom he assumed to be Lambo by the way the child was speaking.

Lambo looked up at Tsuna with a look of something close to awe. Tsuna was noting Lambo's eyes were green when a flash of a darker green suddenly lit up his eyes before quickly disappearing, leaving Tsuna to wonder if he had imagined it. Lambo quickly recovered and proclaimed, "Bwahahaha, of course! I, the kind and generous Lambo, was merely keeping you company! Be grateful!"

Tsuna was slightly irked by the child's attitude, but let it go knowing that the child was trying to cheer himself up. "Thank you then, Lambo. My name's Sawada Tsunayoshi, but my friends just call me Tsuna."

Lambo, without an ounce of hesitation at the informality, spoke again, "Well, Tsuna, you are officially my servant."

Tsuna nearly fell over in shock. What was with this child! Gathering up as much patience as he could, Tsuna refused, "Lambo, you cannot ask someone to be your servant. That isn't how it works. However, I wouldn't mind having Lambo as a friend, if he would agree."

Lambo pouted at the refusal, a little confused since that was how it always went back at home. He'd demand someone be his servant and then they wouldn't be able to ignore him and they'd have to play with him when he wanted. But he supposed that if this brunet was the one asking, Lambo could stand the change. "Fine, Lambo accepts. But only because the great Lambo is so kind."

"Good," said Tsuna. "Now, why were you sitting here, alone in the dark?"

"Why should Lambo tell you?" Lambo asked defensively, though he was grateful Tsuna hadn't said anything about him crying.

"Because that's what friends do. They do everything they can for each other and make sure everyone's happy. I want to know what made you sad in the first place so I can fix it because I want to make you happy." His eyes were burning again as he met the still-shiny eyes of the ten year-old, trying to drive his sincerity home.

Lambo looked at the boy in awe again. His eyes are such a pretty orange… Lambo thought in wonder as he gazed into those comforting orbs, barely restraining the urge to touch them. The ribbons of light orange were laced in among the brown, a harmony of warm colors that almost glowed in the shadows of the hall. Tsuna once more rubbed his eyes in irritation, banishing the orange and turning Lambo's attention back to his words. It was such a naïve idea in the outside world, but this boy seemed so perfectly serious and concerned that Lambo found himself telling Tsuna the truth, "I am useless."

Tsuna felt a slight chill run over his body at the word "useless". It was quite honestly his least favorite word in the world. It was something that should never refer to a person because, quite honestly, no one is truly useless. Tsuna still had trouble believing that due to constant psychological bullying from his classmates, but he knew there was no way the word could apply to the child before him. "Don't," Tsuna said, his voice gentle but firm. "You're not useless."

"B-but I am!" Lambo said, beginning to get upset again. "Everyone in the room said so."

"They're wrong," Tsuna said firmly. Searching his mind for some way to reassure the child, Tsuna remembered back to the pillar lighting. His eyes all but popped as he realized the bullied child next to him had managed to light it up brighter than almost anyone else. "Lambo, do you realize what happened when we had to light the pillar?"

Lambo looked at him questioningly, "Yeah, I just lit up my color."

"Lambo, do you realize yours was one of the brightest? There were only a few people who could even come close to it! You're amazing! I wasn't even able to light one!"

Lambo's face split into a giant grin as Tsuna kept talking until he was nearly bouncing in joy. "They were wrong!" Lambo crowed as he clapped his hands. "Lambo is actually superior to all those stupid people! Lambo is amazing after all!"

Tsuna had an uneasy feeling that he had just released a monster on the green hallway, but for the moment he let the dejected child regain his confidence. After a few moment of basking in the glow of his own ego, Lambo jumped up, "Good job, Tsuna. You've served Lambo well! You're now my favorite." He turned to run down the hall, but paused and turned back around. "C-can I..." the child stuttered and stopped before trying again. "Can I call you Tsuna-nii?" Tsuna was stunned at the suggestion, but it warmed his heart nonetheless and he nodded. Lambo's face lit up with a mix of astonishment and gratefulness and he took the few steps necessary to close the distance between the two. "Thank you, Tsu—Tsuna-nii," he mumbled shyly. He quickly wrapped his arms around Tsuna before letting go and running down the hall. Tsuna smiled at the sign of affection and got up, dusting off his pants. There was nothing he could do about his tear- and snot-stained jacket, so with a goofy smile on his face, Tsuna left the green hallway.

Tsuna returned to his room and changed into a new suit. He paused as he finished getting dressed, briefly wondering what happened to his laundry. He'd just been throwing it in one corner of his room, yet every day it was gone and the number of suits in his closet always seemed to be the same. He kind of wish he knew so he could thank whoever was responsible.

Having nothing better to do, Tsuna lay back on his bed and thought about the Princes. The Princes and Princess, he corrected himself as he remembered what Aria had said. They really were something if they did watch over everything like that. He wondered where they were now and if they still even lived. If they weren't alive or had passed on the title, then where were the current generations? Tsuna couldn't imagine how someone took over a position as guardian of the universe, but he imagined it would be quite the affair.

And Luce had talked about there being one in each hall. That meant seven guardians per section of the universe… Twenty-eight people to watching over a world of seven billion. Tsuna couldn't imagine the weight of such a responsibility resting on another's shoulders. The prospect alone had Tsuna shying away from any unintended involvement. That job would give a whole new meaning to the phrase "Do it right the first time".

His thoughts quickly turned to the guardian of space, the obvious odd one out. The guardians of time didn't seem overly involved with him to the point where he was excluded from the unity the other guardians shared. But there was one thing that gave Tsuna a good feeling. The back the guardian of space was shared with a guardian of time; it seemed to be a sign of absolute trust. After all, you don't ask just anyone to have your back, especially when you're so important.

Tsuna glanced at the clock and noticed he'd completely lost track of time. It was already 1:00; time for lunch. Quickly getting up, he left for the cafeteria, hoping he wasn't too late.

Grabbing his food, he noticed that Lambo was sitting alone. Frowning, Tsuna walked over to him. "Hey, where's everyone else?" Tsuna asked, looking for other people that might be from the same class.

Lambo just shook his head and continued eating. After a few moments, he put down his fork and tears began filling his eyes again, "N-no one liked Lambo. T-they called Lambo a spoiled brat a-and refused to talk to him at all."

Tsuna just listened to the boy blubber about his depressing experience with being ostracized. When Lambo was done, Tsuna put his arm around the child and pulled him closer, "Well, I'll talk to you, Lambo. Forget about the others; I'll be nice to you. I'll be here with you, so don't feel lonely."

Lambo gave a small nod, continuing to eat as his tears slowly dried on his face. Tsuna ate with him in companionable silence. About half way through, Yamamoto sat down with them, taking Lambo's presence in stride and talked to the boy while Tsuna continued to eat. Ryohei appeared at some point, smelling of sweat and beaming with energy. He began to send jokes back and forth between Lambo and himself, making the child laugh. Mukuro, Chrome, and the others eventually joined them, but Mukuro only succeeded in terrifying Lambo. Chrome was immediately made the child's seat, Lambo calling her, "The most comfortable lap." This didn't go over well with Mukuro and Lambo soon found himself fleeing on the other side of Ryohei to escape the wrath of his lap's older brother. Ken, Chikusa, and M.M. simply ignored him from their adjoining table after Mukuro's failure to form a good relationship. After all, what did it matter to them if it didn't matter to Mukuro?

Through it all, Tsuna watched the child carefully. The child's face, despite a few terrifying moments, was now lit up with happiness from being surrounded by people who actually acknowledged he was there, happily or not. Tsuna felt a smile on his own face as he realized that he had essentially saved someone from following the same path he had. Lambo wouldn't be declared "useless" and left alone as long as Tsuna was there.

What Tsuna never realized was that the rest of his table was watching him smile at his private resolution from the corner of their eye, enjoying the innocence and purity of the expression. They had all known exactly what they were getting into, but Tsuna – who obviously hadn't known about it beforehand from the way he reacted to things – had managed to adapt without losing what made him, him. There was something about Tsuna – something that went beyond the normal scope of charisma or attraction – that made him so strong and special, yet at the same time so fragile. An irrational fear came over the five people at his table, a black crushing despair that someday he may just slip away and leave them behind. Meeting each other's eyes and understanding what lay behind them, every one of them silently vowed to never, ever let the boy sitting across from them disappear.

A/N

Word Count: 2,139

So now we have five of seven guardians... Two more left! I have a good idea of what's going to happen next, so expect the next chapter relatively soon. I might not be able to update this until after Christmas break (I'm going away) but I'll try to do one before I leave.

For those of you who've read it, part two of "Home for the Holidays" should also be up tonight. For the record, I am pouting because warm weather and rain took away all my snow... WOE IS I! NO SNOW FOR ME!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! See you next time!