Present time (eight years later)…

Lambo's pencil clatters to the floor as a sudden thought occurs to him: 'Yare, yare… I think Reborn knew this whole time.'

He had been thinking about how everyone in the Vongola family seemed to be pairing off. Then he thought about how ironic it was that most of them came together under Reborn's manipulation. And then it occurred to him how each couple seemed to balance their loved one out: darkness to their light and a light to their darkness, something to strive for.

That's when he drops his pencil and his earlier realization drops on him like a ton of bricks – Reborn's manipulation. Reborn must have met for this to happen!

"Ranbo wa, nani ka machigatte iru? ( - Lambo, is there a problem?)" His sensei's tone is snide and clipped.

Lambo looks up from his notebook to blink stupidly at his teacher. "Uuummm…" He shakes his head. "Masaka! Watashi dake... I no itami o motte! ( - No! I just… have a stomach ache!)" He stands up and bows. He apologizes as he grabs his school supplies and runs out of the classroom, leaving his fellow pupils giggling and whispering as he makes his retreat.

He runs all the way home and then all the way upstairs, ignoring anyone he comes across. Reborn is lounging across a couch, reading a newspaper and a large espresso on the coffee table next to him.

Lambo drops to his knees by the couch, gasping for breath. "Did you… plan for… that?" His voice keeps breaking on a pant.

Reborn ignores him in favor of turning the page.

Lambo huffs. "Yare, yare… Don't… ignore me." He puts one hand on his shoulder and the other on his wrist, leaning forward. "Yamamoto and octopus head! They wouldn't be together if not for you! Hibari and Tsuna would never have seen themselves in such a relationship if you hadn't have brought them together. Mukuro…! … Well, Mukuro would never have met if Tsuna hadn't kicked Mukuro's ass after getting those gloves from Leon!" Two years before, Tsuna had actually orchestrated the escape for Mukuro (they had needed his skill for another uprising; life never goes easy for Tsuna). "You get no credit for Ryohei and Kyoko –" (strictly a brother-sister relationship, but they never seem to want for a romantic relationship as long as they have family) ", but the point still stands! You're responsible for pairing off the Vongola famiglia while still staying in the famiglia!"

Reborn flips another page. "Can you prove it, you stupid cow?"

Lambo pauses. "… Yare, yare…" No, he couldn't.

"While we're on the subject; why would I do such a thing?" Reborn smirks, but it could just have something to do with whatever he's reading. He never looks towards Lambo.

Lambo thinks the question over a few times. "Because… they complete each other?"

"How so?"

"Well, Hibari is a sadistic, people-hating, uncaring bastard while Tsuna can't help but lend a helping hand and mercy, so they have that yin and yang balance. Yamamoto's always calm and accepting while Octopus head is always pissy, so they have that 'calm and enrage' factor where they just impassion each other. Chrome is innocent, helpful, and shy while Mukuro is… Mukuro, so they have their own father and mother thing because of Ken and Chikusa. Ryohei and Kyoko are family, so they've known each other all their lives."

Reborn says nothing. Lambo waits with almost impatience.

"… And?" Reborn talks as if Lambo obviously forgot to mention something.

"… And what?" Lambo cocks his head curiously, blinking his one eye.

Reborn sets his paper aside and sits up; he sets his legs down on either side of Lambo so that he's kneeling between Reborn's legs, his hands on either knee. "What about you? As useless as you are, you're still the thunder guardian. How is it that I have coupled everyone else but left you alone?"

Lambo looks down and away. 'Because Reborn is cruel.' He doesn't say it, though. Next comes the assumption that maybe Reborn had intended for him to hook up with I-Pin (which makes him want to choke; she's practically his sister!), but then dismisses it. He doubts Reborn plants to pair him up with Ryohei, so there's honestly no choice left. "Because I'm too awesome?" He deadpans.

Reborn grins maliciously down at him, his obsidian eyes alight with wickedness. "Because you chose to follow me to the ends of the earth, and as long as you do so, there's only one choice for you."

Lambo, confused by this, takes a moment to try and understand it. While he does this, Reborn stares coolly and mockingly down at him, waiting without end with obvious amusement.

Lambo's hands clench around Reborn's knees as his face flames with sudden realization. 'Oh… Goodness…' "R-Reborn!"

The hitman snickers. He grabs Lambo quick before the boy can whip out of the room and drags him into his lap. Appeased, Reborn slouches (elegantly, mind you) and throws an arm over the back of the couch, one hand still on Lambo's hip to hold him there as the guardian looks torn between running away and crying.

"Is it that terrible? It would be just like now; you already follow me everywhere and discourage my sex life. You jeopardize nearly all of my missions with your presence and you're obsessed with me. Is it so upsetting that you come into my bed as a lover?" He sounds more mocking than questioning.

Lambo's tempted to electrocute him, but he already knows how that's going to end and it's not worth risking. He rests a hand on Reborn's chest to keep him at a distance (not much of one, apparently) and the other he grabs the wrist of the hand still holding him. "He-hey! Don't go touching there!" The fingers had brushed aside his coat and vest to stroke his bare hip bone.

Reborn twists them around and pins Lambo beneath him on the couch, the guardian's hands captive above his head by one of the hitman's. His smirk is dangerous enough to make the teenager shake. "R-Reborn, don't do it."

"I'm not doing anything." Says the man whose free hand is pushing Lambo's shirt up, trailing nails over his flat belly.

"Liar!" He begins struggling, trying to kick the self-righteous ass.

Reborn tuts and undoes Lambo's tie, using it to secure his hands together before going about unbuttoning his white vest. "The Namimori school uniform looks horrible on you." He spreads each half to the side, exposing Lambo from hip to shoulder.

Lambo sobs. "Don't!" He tries to club the bastard with his tied up hands; they're caught long before they beat against the fedora covered head. "R- Re-… Ah!" He arches sharply off of the couch, mouth open in a shocked gasp and his eye wide.

Reborn suckles at one nipple, teasing it with his rough tongue and nipping it with his sharp, even teeth. Lambo is limp instantly, his thighs trembling and his lower belly drawing unusually tight; it felt so hot and so good. Why did it feel like this?

He groans, tears slipping down his cheeks as Reborn kisses a trail up to his throat and sucks hard at the pulse just beneath his jaw.

When he lifts his head, he removes himself completely from Lambo, even going as far as to untie him. He looks pleased and content, except even Lambo can make out the tent in his pants. It's a problem they now both have.

Regardless, he grabs his tie from Reborn's dangling fingers and runs from the room, faster now than when he had ran into it. He's horrified by what just happened, but he doesn't know which horrifies him more: What Reborn did, or how he reacted.

Author's Note: I'm not strong in those pairings; I actually prefer Hibari with either Dino or I-Pin (one of the few straight pairings I like, but you have to admit that something's going on there) and have no clue as of yet who to pair Tsuna up with (Anyone have any opinions on the matter? He's definitely the perfect uke, that's for sure). I have no clue who to pair Ryohei up with, but he definitely deserves some love! Mukuro and Chrome… Mmmeeeehhh… debatable. What I wanted to do was pair them all up within the family (So sad about Ryohei). Reborn and Lambo I stand strongly by and Yamamoto and Gokudera is definitely a more solid pairing for me (I'll accept Gokudera and Tsuna). I just wanted to point this all out; thanks if you read this.