A/N: I'm sorry for taking so long :I I had like half of this written and sitting around for a month

specs are cool - I'm glad I managed to do that .w. I was seriously considering killing Tsuyoshi actually (but never Nana, omg), but you kinda made me feel bad about it lmao (and then it'd be difficult later on). And thanks. I love writing omakes, I might just add one in each time. Iemitsu is an idiot, he won't realise shit for a long time

Yenaya - Thank you .w.

SilverShadow123 - yahh I fucked up the summary ~ Thanks eh

The food Hibari had prepared was surprisingly nice, especially considering how well the last time Hibari cooked went. Tsuna grimaced. He didn't really want to think about it. He'd almost suffocated upon the smoke, and the fire department had been called, resulting in a highly embarrassing situation when the supposed fire turned out to be a completely charred pie. Although by the time they got to it, what the dish originally was had been almost indistinguishable. Tsuna was forced to hold Hibari back from biting them to the point they forgot the entire event. Noticing the brunet's expression, the prefect sent a questioning frown his way.

"The food's nice, Kyoya."

The Skylark grunted in agreement. A comfortable silence descended upon the pair. They had long past the stage where they needed to talk to fill up awkward silences. Or at least, Tsuna had. Hibari never entered the stage; instead he skipped to insisting upon quiet and silence, if whacking Tsuna over the head with a tonfa for each unnecessary sentence counted as such.

"It's been a while since I've stayed over."

"What of it?"

Tsuna released a chuckle. "I was only trying to remember why it's been so long."

"Don't waste your mental capacity thinking of such herbivorous things." Hibari's tone revealed that he was mentally rolling his eyes at the brunet.

"Maybe we should go on another mission together like we used to." Tsuna mused aloud. "I've missed you, after all."

"Hn." Hibari grunted, although it wasn't the usual 'hn'. Tsuna couldn't quite identity the emotion in Hibari's tone but he picked up on the oddness of it right away.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing." The skylark pointedly ignored Tsuna's questioning gaze and continued to eat.

"There is something wrong. You can't fool my intuition."

"There's nothing, Herbivore."

The brunet raised an eyebrow. Obviously something had bothered Hibari if he resorted to name calling. Scooting closer, Tsuna bent towards Hibari to stare the other in the eye.

"Kyoya. You know you can tell me anything, right?" And it was true. Hibari had been Tsuna's first friend, the first person to reach out to him and say that he wasn't useless. Tsuna in return became someone who could really understand the prefect, more so than even his parents ever could. They had both helped each other out in numerous life or death situations, and Hibari was the one who saw Tsuna grow into the almost-carnivore he was today. While the prefect scarcely expressed his feeling upon the matter, there was a strong bond between the two partners.

"The bomb herbivore."

Tsuna blinked. "Huh?"

"The reason you haven't been visiting." Hibari wasn't quite meeting his eyes, and suddenly Tsuna realised that the skylark actually had been bothered about it.

"I was- I- What?" The brunet tried, and failed to make his thoughts coherent. After taking a deep breath, he tried again. "Kyoya, I haven't been neglecting you to spend time with Hayato." Tsuna resolutely ignored the twitched Hibari had at the word 'neglected' and carried on. "I've just- I always thought you preferred me being independent, and I didn't wanted to feel like a burden to you, so it's just that I've been doing jobs by myself, is all."

"Hn." Hibari still wasn't looking at him, and Tsuna knew he wasn't very good at any sort of emotional connection but the brunet could tell this was important. He needed to get through to the older boy.

Sighing, Tsuna got up and went to kneel in front of the skylark. "Kyoya."

Hibari twitched, but still opted to ignore the other boy. Tsuna growled and grabbed the awkward prefect, twisting him round so that they were face to face.

"Kyoya, listen to me." The older assassin's face was ever-blank, but Tsuna could tell he was paying attention. "You are important to me. You were my very first friend, and even though I was clumsy and useless for so long you came along and forced that out of me. I don't feel for anyone else what I feel for you, so don't think that I would leave you behind, idiot."

Hibari blinked for a moment, uncharacteristically caught off guard by the small speech that had been thrown at him. Tsuna's face was so serious, he had to hold back from cracking a smile. Seemingly realising what sort of position he was in, the younger assassin jumped back, blushing madly.

"I mean, uh– you know... yeah." Tsuna was avoiding direct eye contact, jumping when he felt a hand reach out to ruffle his hair.

Hibari quirked a smile at the brunet. "Okay."

Nodding back in response, Tsuna allowed himself a small smile, happy that the older boy seemed to have accepted his impromptu declaration. Finally feeling the tension leave, the two boys continued eating their supper in peace.

XXXXX

It was sometime during of the middle of the night that Tsuna jolted awake. At first he didn't know what triggered him, before a small sound caught his attention. Quietly, as not to wake up anyone else in the house, the brunet stepped out of his room, making his way down the various corridors until he came across the room that the muffled sounds were coming from. Tsuna had a dreadful feeling he knew who was behind the door. After a moment of hesitation, he slid the door open, allowing for a few seconds for his eyes to adjust and peered inside the room. A figure was sitting up upon a futon, the blanket twisted around them.

"Mama?" Tsuna made sure to keep his voice soft, but Nana still looked up with a small jump.

"T-Tsunayoshi?"

The brunet felt like grimacing. His mother only ever used his full name if it was serious. Making his way over to her, Tsuna sunk down to his knees to grab her and hold her close. Hibari hadn't told him it was this bad.

"I'm here, Mama."

The elder woman clutched to her son like a lifeline, sobs breaking free from her chest. She cried more than he had ever seen her cry before, holding onto his shirt tightly while the wet patch slowly became larger. Tsuna held on until the shaking subsided, her breathing slowly evening out. Eventually even her sobs subsided. It was honestly terrifying seeing the woman, who under all circumstances, never failed to take things easily with a smile. It was that smile he protected by keeping her away from the Mafia, away from her husband's lies.

Tsuna realised with a grimace that he was acting disturbingly like the man who caused this mess in the first place.

The brunet never thought it was his place to tell her about the mafia, and he still didn't. However, whether it was his duty or another's, he wouldn't be able to bear seeing his mother break down again. He wouldn't be able to handle the soul-crippling fear he felt in those moments when he realised Nana would be attacked, and she would be ignorant and defenceless and vulnerable. Yet in the aftermath, she was the exemplification of vulnerability because she didn't know.

"Mama?" Tsuna gently shook the woman who was resting upon his shoulder. "I have something to tell you."

He heard a sniffle, before she drew back and gave a shaky nod. Taking a deep breath, Tsuna looked his mother in the eyes, and mustered up all the determination he could find. He didn't want to be the one to do this; he wasn't supposed to be the one to do this, but Nana wasn't stupid. He couldn't expect her go live life in ignorant bliss, and brush off everything – including attempts upon their lives.

"Do you know what dad does for a living?" He asked slowly, willing himself to keep eye contact.

"He mines for o-oil, Tsu-kun." Nana wiped her eyes as she spoke. The usage of her normal nickname for him calmed the brunet. His mother was pulling herself together. At her respond however, he gave a sad shake of his head.

"No, he doesn't."

Bloodshot brown eyes widened in surprise. "What are you saying...? Tsu-kun?"

Nana wanted desperately to deny the implication there. That her husband had been lying to her for years, decades even. More so, she didn't want to think that her baby boy, her Tsu-kun knew about it too. As much as she wished otherwise, Nana wasn't entirely oblivious to the world around her. She knew her husband's description of his job was sketchy (because even ignoring the postcard from the Antarctic, oil isn't even mined by hand or with a pickaxe) but she had always hoped that maybe he was simply dumbing it down for her sake. She's been terrified however, when Tsuna decided to move out, imagining a repeat of when her husband left. It was lonely, but Tsuna always visited, and so she decided not to pry.

And then she had almost gotten killed.

"What does he do?" She asked the question she feared most to hear the answer to. But she could no longer ignore everything – like she did the long absences of her husband, or the hastily hidden bruises of her son. She needed to know because it was suddenly dangerous, and she feared so much what sort of things her two boys had gotten themselves into.

"He works for the Mafia."

Tsuna bit his lip in nervousness as he watched his mother go still. When he first found out, he had been angry – furious – at Iemitsu for keeping secrets. Even if it was hypocritical, he hoped his mother wouldn't be equally angry at himself.

"Mafia." Nana echoed, disbelief in her tone. The younger of the two didn't know if she was in disbelief over the fact Iemitsu was in the mafia, or that he actually never told them.

"Yes." Tsuna swallowed. "H-he's part of the strongest mafia group in the world. He's second to the boss actually."

The young assassin could see the beginning on anger start to burn within his mother's eyes.

"Is that why we were... targeted?" Nana asked in a small voice.

"Yes... and no." Tsuna held back a sigh, wishing he didn't have to explain both the situation and his own role in it, but knowing he couldn't avoid it. If Nana found out later he kept even more secrets from her, she'd be heartbroken.

"We were targeted for being related to him, as far as I can tell, but also because the entire... group he works for is being targeted by an unknown group. Mafia and civilians... they're trying to wipe everyone out."

Nana was shaking again, and the younger brunet had to fight to keep the frown off his face. Wordlessly, he nudged closer towards her, holding her tightly around the waist and letting her head rest upon his shoulder. He had to remind himself that telling her now, even if it was late, would save her further heartbreak in the future – no matter how painful it seemed to currently be.

"Why couldn't he have told me?" Nana clutched onto her son. "Why was I the only one left in the dark?"

"I..." Tsuna swallowed, his guilt rising. The only thing he could do was answer honestly. After everything, Nana deserved at least that. "I wanted him to be the one to tell you. I thought– I thought it was his responsibility." Bowing his head, Tsuna muttered. "I'm sorry."

Nana shook her head. "It's not your fault Tsu-kun." She frowned, and Tsuna hated the look on her face. She wasn't supposed to have been exposed to this pain. "Iemitsu should have told me too."

"Dad didn't tell me." Tsuna looked away, unwilling to look Nana in the eyes and see the betrayal in them. "I found out by myself... after I became involved in the mafia."

Tsuna could feel how Nana stiffened in his arms. He almost clutched onto her tighter, before he force himself to let go. A moment passed, and then another. After what seemed like hours, Nana finally spoke.

"How?"

Out of all the responses, an explanation was the one he expected least. The younger brunet quite honestly didn't want to admit to his mother what he'd done, but there was no turning back.

"I... I killed someone who was going to attack me." Tsuna internally winced at his own words. Sure it was best to get the worst out of the way, but the bluntness surprised even him. "And somehow I found myself being attacked again and again. Sometimes an assassin went after me, but after I was saved by a classmate they took me under their wing and taught me to fight." Tsuna gave a half-hearted shrug, trying to feign nonchlance. "Eventually we just started going on missions and made a name for ourselves."

"So..." Nana had this wide-eyed look that made the brunet want to crawl into a hole.

"We're assassins." He finished lamely, internally braced for the reaction.

Nanas fingers dug in almost painfully at the revelation, and the brunet was half preparing himself for shouting and rejection, wondering how he'd convince her to accept protection from them regardless of what she thought.

"Okay."

Maybe they could add protection without her knowing? Although it would be easier with her co-operation... wait.

"What?" Tsuna blinked, seemingly so confused that Nana had to giggle at his expression.

"Okay. Thank you for telling me Tsu-kun."

"You're not... mad?"

Nana let out a long, drawn out sigh, managing to sound exhausted in that one breath. "I am mad, but not at you. Being a... hired killer isn't what I'd imagine my baby doing when he was older, but as long as you stay safe." She huffed for a moment, before frowning. "Iemitsu however..."

Wincing at her tone, Tsuna gave a weak smile. "Don't worry, I only kill the bad guys."

Nana giggled, and Tsuna finally allowed some of the tension to leave his body. "That's good, Tsu-kun."

There was an oddly hysterical part of his brain that was worrying over how his mother's reply sounded like the kind of thing she'd say if he told her he got sixty on a test (in fact he was sure that was exactly what she said at one point). Seeing her son worry his lip so furiously, Nana smiled and hugged him closer – relishing in the closeness and the knowledge that her baby was right there and safe.

"Don't worry Tsu-kun. Now, lets go to sleep, ne?" Her tone allowed for no room for arguement, and the younger brunet founding himself nodding along.

For the first time in years, the young assassin allowed himself to relax completely and lie next to his mother. She needed the emotional support of his presence (in a small part of his mind, he knew he needed the reassurance too), and while it wasn't yet okay – it wouldn't be okay before they get their hands on Iemitsu and find out what was going on – it was going to be, and that was enough.

XXXXX

Looking down at his hands, Takeshi wondered just how his life managed to screw up so grandly the past few days. After his dad was attacked, his memories went all funny – honestly the baseball player could only really remember focusing on all the blood that was leaking out of his dad's body, vaguely aware of how badly he was panicking over it. At some point he realised the strange blue-haired boy had killed the last of the attackers – making it look ridiculously easy, like ripping apart paper dolls – but he couldn't find it in himself to care.

Takeshi knew how dangerous a cut on the wrist was. He'd done the research years ago when he was young and suicidal, just one cut, one artery severed, and you'd bleed out until nothing was left.

Maybe he was being ungrateful. Somehow, thank some god, his dad survived. The baseball player wouldn't try to understand where the doctor had come from – this 'Shamal', who was apparently following the boy that saved them (who was in turn following the people that went after his dad) – and he was eternally grateful that his only remaining parent wasn't forced to bleed out in the back of their home. And yet... Takeshi brought his hands into a fist.

His old man would never get full movement of his hand back.

The hazel eyed teen looked up at the arrival of his new companion (Mukuro, as he introduced himself). Takeshi didn't know what to make of the other boy, but he had little choice in his options. The Shamal character couldn't safely take his dad and hide him if he had Takeshi to look after too – it was lucky that the man had apparently owed his dad a favour in the first place (and Takeshi had no idea how that had happened. He thought he knew everything about his dad).

"Ready to go?"

The baseball player nodded, grabbing his sword and swinging it onto his back. After he saw his dad execute the different moves in their family style, he'd taken up the sword to practise them himself (the dark haired teen shoved the memories of his dad's attempts to show him them again after he woke up to the back of his mind, not wanting to fully realise the implications of only one usable hand). But he said goodbye to did dad – who was still recovering from the poison that had been on the blade, and unable to stop his son from going off for both their sakes – and he'd vowed to take up the sword that his old man could no longer wield. Somehow, that didn't feel like enough, but the teen forcefully shoved the thoughts away again. It was his old man who was hurt (had the right to be depressed), even if it was his fault.

Gritting his teeth, Takeshi followed after Mukuro, resolved not to think any more on it. He had to focus on getting better at the sword, and follow the other teen as they snuck around Japan, looking for a someone that the other boy refused to elaborate upon. It was honestly tiring, travelling around in the dead hours of the night, keeping interaction with others to a minimum, finding a place to sleep each night. Yet somehow it seemed so wildly appropriate after he realised this was the Mafia he was dealing with (Mafia. He still hadn't wrapped his head around that one either, but it was fine. As long as he survived, and won this game, it'd be fine).

"Do you know where this guy is?" After a while, Takeshi wondered if they actually knew where they were going. He should have asked earlier, but his mind was still understandably caught up in other things.

"Hmm." Mukuro hummed cheerily. "I know that he's in Japan."

"... Do you have a picture?"

"Nope," the Illusionist drawled happily. "I do have a name, however."

Curiosity peaked; Takeshi looked over towards the other boy. "What is it?"

"Sawada Tsunayoshi."

XXXXX

A whoosh of air rushed past the leader of the Varia, who cursed loudly.

"Fuck! Goddamn trash, why aren't you taking out these things?"

"Voii!" Squalo ducked under an attack, bringing his sword up to slice the chimera in two. A deep gash formed on the malformed body of his opponent instead, and the human-animal hybrid roared, becoming more enraged, but seemingly unconcerned with the blood dripping from his body. The swordsman swore, before shouting his reply. "Why don't you take them out yourself, shitty boss?"

In response, Xanxus fired a blast of his flames of rage at one of the beasts' head, again and again, until all that was left was a bloody lump of flesh. The chimera fell to the floor in front of the Varia leader, landing with a dull thump. Xanxus allowed a feral grin to take over his face, more teeth than smile. Around him, the other Varia members were taking out their own targets – Belphagor bleeding them dry, Levi frying them until they burnt, and Mammon ripping them apart. The Estraneo experiments were tough – tougher than their normal human targets that were cut apart like butter, but the Varia weren't the Varia for nothing.

Various bodies littered the floor, the combined gore almost seeming sickening to even the hardened assassins. Xanxus found himself grimacing. Regardless of what he'd done in the Mafia, what the lengths the Estraneo had gone to crossed even the lines he set. After the Vindice had publically condemned the scientist famaglia a few years ago when their practices of child experimentation came to light, the remaining factions of the family became even more desperate – performing even more horrific experiments in whatever few factions remained. The Varia leader was actually surprised they had missed a labratory this large.

Grim thoughts had invaded his thoughts when, after following a lead of his missing adopted brother, they had stumbled across this hidden gem. Xanxus frowned. That bastard Frederico had better be alright.

A roar echoed through the trashed laboratory, and a creature, more hideous and bigger than any of the ones they had encountered so far emerged, swathed in Sky flamed. Dread crawled Xanxus' spine, and the man cursed once more.

They were Frederico's flames.

XXXXX

A small bump was felt throughout the plane as it landed. Given that he had a large target painted upon his back, the head of the CEDEF decided to take public transport home, forcing him to wait with all his restless energy while passengers collected their hand luggage and lumbered out of the plane in a single line. The blond man had to force himself to stay patient through security and baggage collection before he was finally free. Eventually however, he made it through and Iemitsu had arrived in Japan.

A determined glint could be seen in the blonde man's eye.

"Don't worry Nana, Tsuna. I'm home."

Omake:

It was somewhat amusing, or Tsuna decided it would be in retrospect, just how they managed to end up in these sorts of situations. When he accompanied Hibari to kill people, he figured there may be more blood and fighting and possibly running (although Hibari never actually ran away) and possibly less... being stranded upon a dinghy.

It was a lovely boat, not to get him wrong – made of a beautiful natural wood – but he wasn't quite partial to being stuck upon it. With Hibari. In the middle of nowhere.

The entire situation had him sighing. The prefect on the other side of the boat twitched at the noise. Hibari had gone to all efforts to stay as far away from him on the craft as he possibly could, although Tsuna had understood why. Hibari was somewhat like a very disgruntled cat, a very wild and disgruntled cat. He disliked being in the presence of others for any certain amount of time, and even if they were (dare he say it) friendly with one another, he feared that Hibari's human interaction quota had long been filled. Seeing the other boy twitch every so often as the claustrophobia got to him, Tsuna decided Hibari was barely restraining himself from jumping overboard.

The brunet sighed again.

"Herbivore." The prefect growled, his irritation obvious.

"Yes, Hibari?"

"Cease making those sounds."

Perhaps he was feeling suicidal. Perhaps it was the endless sight of the sea getting to him. Maybe he had spent enough time with the prefect to come under the foolish notion they could be perfectly casual with each other. Either way, Tsuna pushed down on the urge to smirk, instead adopting an innocently confused expression and tilted his head to the side.

"What sound do you mean?" The brunet resisted the urge to add a snigger.

Hibari was practically hissing in contempt. "Herbivore."

"Yes?"

A very low growl of warning left the prefect, and the small brunet had to suppress a shiver of fear. When it appeared that he would be getting no verbal answer, Tsuna shook his head in exaggeration, letting out a loud and audible sigh, as if the other boy were a particularly difficult child.

He probably should have expected it when the older assassin tackled him.

They hit the water with a large splash, both boys struggling. While he was fighting for his life in trying to get the prefect away from him, Tsuna realised with a jolt that Hibari was actually trying to strangle him in his rage. Seeing the prefect loosing it so obviously had Tsuna unintentionally bark out a laugh, which only served to enrage the older boy even more.

"H-Hibari, stop!"

The prefect in question ignored the other boy, still choosing to furiously attack.

"Hibari, please." Tsuna spluttered, spitting out the salt water that had invaded his mouth. "I'm going to drown!"

Finally deciding that enough was enough, the older assassin shoved the brunet away from him, choosing to try and regain his calm while he regulated his breathing. The prefect barely had time to count to twenty before Tsuna spoke again.

"Hibari..."

"What?" Hibari snapped.

Wide and frantic brown eyes looked at him in panic. "Where's the boat?"