Chapter 13: Summer

For the second time in a row, Tsuna awoke to a loud buzzing sound in her ear.

"Nnngh…"

She got up slowly, careful not to put any pressure on her injured palm as she did so. Fumbling about in the darkness for her phone, she felt her hand brush against a slender and long object, knocking it off.

The object so happened to be her phone, and as it fell to the floor, it snapped open, a bright, holographic screen flashing from the side. The word "Miura" was projected, big and bold. The buzzing was now more impatient than ever, but at three in the morning, no one could blame Tsuna for having a horrible reaction time. She picked up the phone and answered it.

"Haru…there's something very important in my life. It's sacred, it's holy, and it's what keeps me living. It's called sleep," she mumbled into the phone, swaying back and forth. Her body threatened to give way any time and force her back into slumber land.

"Tsuna-kun! You forgot our dinner! Oh, I prepared so many cute outfits and, and… I thought you were abducted!"

"Thank you for your concern…" Tsuna paused to yawn, "but I'm alright."

"Ha-hi! Anyway! You simply have to stop by the shop before you go to work! We need to find you an outfit!" Behind those words, Tsuna could already feel an unspeakable horror waiting for her.

"Good night!"

Before Tsuna could say anything else, Haru had put down the phone. She snapped her phone close again – the holographic screen flashed off, returning the room into a dark and silent state. What a convenient object, Tsuna thought. Reborn had gotten her a new phone for apparently no reason. It was not an extravagant phone; it was just a conventional Slimphone. Convenient, because it was in all technicality, two conjoined sticks that snapped open and close and could be carried everywhere. Its screen, like most other phones, was projected at the side – along with the key pad. Not extravagant, because it just had a few basic functions Tsuna required – to call and to send messages.

Tsuna was explicably tired. After injuring herself in the day, getting into all sorts of nonsense with Mukuro and Hibari, she only got home to find out that the ploy was up. No, the ploy was up a long time ago, she thought. Reborn would know – after raising her for such a long time and an unmatched sixth sense, he definitely would know she was lying to him before. He just did not confront her about it – why?

When she managed to force an explanation out of herself, Reborn was not angry at all. Or at least, she could not sense any form of anger from him. Instead of chiding her as she had expected, he only remained in quiet, deep thought. This was more tiring than being scolded; it was unexplainable behavior coming from one as malevolent as Reborn, and it took a lot of energy to try figure his reaction out, but to no avail.

It took but five minutes before he could speak again.

"Quit."

"Excuse me?"

"Quit your job."

Tsuna did not know how else to react to that. All that was left of that night was a stifling tension.

No, she did not want to quit her job. Sure, it had only been but a week – but the people who worked with her, the people she worked for…they had all warmed her up inside. And the trial, oh, the trial. She had not even gotten close to completing it yet! Only a quarter ways through and already she was forced to quit? No, Tsuna was sure – she was going to do something well for once in her life, whether it was making tea or making beds.

Tsuna fell back into bed, shutting her eyes tight. She had no direction in life, no goal. Why would Reborn prevent her from doing the one thing she had found? Did he find a job as a maid humiliating? Well, he was definitely not the one wearing an apron or a black dress anyway (and he would end up burning down the mansion anyway). So why bother?

Questions, so many questions swirled in her mind and finally it settled on one other word he had said.

"Dangerous."

Dangerous? Dangerous? Had he thought that she would kill herself on the job? Was washing plates so jeopardous? Surely not! It was just a befalling of misfortune that had caused her to sustain injuries. But, if not that, then what was it?

"Aaaagh! Don't want to think!" she flipped over, frustrated.

"Then don't."

"I can't!"

Tsuna froze for many seconds – then her instinct kicked in and she shot up from the bed.

"What the – …"

"Yo, Tsuna-chan! Or shall I call you Tsu-chan? Both sound cute enough though…"

What Tsuna saw was the card – charred from Reborn's attempt to burn it to complete crisp, but otherwise still in its original shape. She had taken the card from him, finally, and decided that she would dispose of it the following morning.

She saw something else though. An image of a figure sitting by her desk in white smiled at her with a foxy grin. He had a tattoo under an eye and a chin rested upon slender fingers. She only knew too well who this person was.

"I forgot to tell you, Tsu-chan. My card can't be that easily destroyed because I made it so. It acts as a temporary communication device – cool, isn't it?"

Cool! More like creepy! And you're infringing on my privacy!

"It's n-not cool! Not cool at all! I'd…like to get some sleep!"

"You'll get plenty of sleep after you answer my question."

"Huh? Question?"

"What say you about leaving as a maid and joining my company?"

Tsuna sighed. Truthfully, she had not given his offer much thought. She had not known what she would be doing there anyway, and honestly, she was having an almost good time working at the mansion – other than the pets that scared her so much, and perhaps the eccentric personalities, she honestly enjoyed the company of Haru, I-Pin and even Yamamoto-san. Of course, they were really nice to her – it would be hard to leave them behind. Besides, earlier on, she had already decided to continue working there, despite Reborn's objection.

"No. I reject your offer. I'm s-sorry..but," she looked at Byakuran, "I'm happy where I am at the moment. So, please…l-leave."

A flash of brief outrage came across Byakuran's face before it returned to his regular expression.

"Even if I'll double, triple, or even quadruple your pay?" he said slowly.

"No, I'm afraid not…"

There was only further silence in the room. Nothing betrayed Byakuran's show of good humour.

"Well, then. Looks like the time I have on this line is almost expiring. Don't worry; the card will be a normal card after this. If you do change your mind though, feel free to give that number a call, okay? Well then, goodbye, Tsu-chan!"

Tsuna had spared a blink, and by then, Byakuran's image was gone.

Three hours later and Tsuna was once again awoken by the nudging of the house keeper – or house robot.

"Please wake up, mistress Tsuna."

"Five more…five more minutes…" she moaned softly.

"No, mistress. A lady named Haru is waiting for you in the living room."

This time, she jolted up, as though a bolt of lightning had hit her.

"Wait, what?"

After about ten minutes, Tsuna rushed out of the bathroom to find Haru, true to the robot's words, sitting by the table, having a cup of tea it had prepared for her.

"Ha-Haru-san! W-What in the world!"

"Oh! Good morning Tsuna! I thought that, it might be better if I came over instead, in case you got abducted along the way! And look!"

Haru pointed to the large luggage she had behind her.

"A full case of cute clothes I specially made for Tsuna to wear! Come, come! Tomorrow's going to be – " she cut off suddenly as she finally spotted the red patch on Tsuna's arm and the bandage around her palm.

"What happened! Haru will never forgive the person who caused such harm to you! Never! Who did it?" she exclaimed, jumping up to grab the victim's arm. She glared at it for many seconds before letting it go.

"No! It was my doing…I accidentally spilt some tea and broke the glass," Tsuna did not like to mention Mukuro's name either. She definitely did not want to hear Haru rambling on about him for the rest of the morning, and she would have misunderstood it to be his fault. It would lead to a lifetime grudge, considering how Haru was already getting rather annoyed by him.

"Oh! Well, I could never hold a grudge against you for hurting yourself. Be more careful, Tsuna-kun! We're honestly short on manpower over here!"

Tsuna nodded wearily, having had her sleep interrupted two times in the dead of the night.

"Anyway, let's have breakfast that Robot-kun here prepared!"

Sure enough, there was hot toast and cooked eggs waiting at the table, a spread big enough for two people.

"Uh…R-Robot-kun, isn't Reborn eating?"

"Master has already left. He said that he would be eating breakfast out."

"O-oh. Well, let's eat?" Haru nodded quickly, with a passing mention of her hunger. Once they were settled down, Tsuna was the one who started the breakfast conversation.

"By the way, Haru-san. I have to meet Yamamoto-san today. He said not to wear my maid uniform, so I would think he needs my help elsewhere."

Haru raised her eyebrows, and then gave her a suggestive waggle.

"Caught yourself one already, huh! And in a week too. No doubt, this is the super cute Tsuna-kun speaking here! Of course she'd have that sort of talent!" she squealed and got up. Tsuna could almost swear her eyes were all glittery. Her cheeks flushed a brilliant red when she realized what Haru was implying!

"N-No! It's not that! He's probably just asking for help, and the maid costume would get in the way. Anyway! I was just asking to be let off early so I can head down to the mansion early to do some work before I leave to run Yamamoto-san's errand!"

"Lies! All lies! Come, Haru will pick your clothes for tomorrow and today! Breakfast eating at full speed!"

She then proceeded to shovel the eggs and toast down her throat at a high speed.

"W-Wait! I don't plan to!" Too late, as it always was with Haru. Whatever she wanted to do, she made sure she did. Tsuna could only groan and continue eating. She had survived many things, she would survive this too.

An hour later, the pair, or rather, just Haru, had finally picked two outfits – a formal, and amazingly gorgeous kimono for the ceremony, and a casual outfit for the day – a pair of jeans, boots and a long blouse, as well as a coat to keep her warm.

The blouse was a simple white, but laced at the ends and at its collar. Attached to the collar was a silky black ribbon. It was nice outfit, but a waste as she would be working, the coat would cover it, and there was practically no point in wearing something so pretty anyway. Meanwhile, the jeans were just black, along with the boots.

"All set, Tsuna!"

"I understand dressing up for the concert, Haru-san, but I'm still working…"

"Nonsense! It's a date in disguise. Now, go, go! Shoo!"

Was there no way to clear Haru's deluded mind?

Haru had already gone back to her shop, so Tsuna headed for the mansion on her own. It was eight o'clock when she arrived, plenty of time to do some extra dish washing or floor cleaning. Perhaps I-Pin was already there – she was an industrious girl, so going for work early was probably a norm for her.

Tsuna was only disappointed to see an empty maid's lounge when she arrived. There were few maids already going about their work – those were the live-in maids that tended to the mansion all day. She realized she never talked to them most of the time, and some of them even sent her impatient glares. Oh well, Tsuna thought. She had experienced worse.

Tsuna went about her work for thirty minutes before Yamamoto came along.

"Yo, Sawada!"

"Ah, good morning, Yamamoto-san," Tsuna said as she bowed in greeting, placing her broom aside.

"No need to be so formal! Anyway, today's agenda is rather…" he thought for awhile.

"Well, we'll just be walking around! Nothing much, ahaha!"

"Eh? Then what errand did you need me to run?"

Yamamoto lowered his sunglasses and grinned widely.

"Just a surprise! One hint though, it's not just an errand. Take it as a long term job! C'mon, let's go!"

Tsuna nodded and excused herself to put away the broom. Then, the both of them found themselves walking down the quiet stone path again.

"H-Hey, Yamamoto-san? Where are we going?"

"Mmm? I don't know. Anywhere fun I guess."

Tsuna's eyeballs almost popped out at his words, along with the words that Haru had said that morning. They kept echoing in her mind, like a relentless spirit who would not stop haunting her.

"A-Ah, I see," she said as she stepped into the car seat next to Yamamoto. He started the engine, and then they were on the road.

"So, how do you find working here so far? You don't seem as traumatized at the rest of the previous maids, I can see. Adjusting well?"

Tsuna turned from the window to look at Yamamoto.

"I suppose. The idea of looking after…the pets kind of scare me still. I'm q-quite afraid of animals too."

Quite an understatement as well…

"Well! Don't worry, Jirou and Kojirou are really friendly, that's for sure!"

"Y-Yeah…I guess they are easier for me to approach," Tsuna offered a quivery smile.

"Ahaha! Don't sweat it. You'll get used to looking after them!"

The rest of the journey was filled with conversation, and for most part of it, Tsuna found herself enjoying talking to someone as laid back and as carefree as Yamamoto was. She was glad that she did not have to go out alone with someone like Hibari or Gokudera, granted that they had tempers that were easy to start and hard to quell.

Finally, Yamamoto pulled into a parking lot.

"We're here!"

"Here?"

Tsuna had been so engrossed with the conversation, she had not realized where they were headed to. She opened the door and looked out.

"The park?"

Yamamoto locked the car behind her and started to head up to the footpath.

"Yup! The cherry blossom park. It's winter though, so…" he stopped in his tracks, sliding his hands into his pockets.

"There isn't really much to see."

True enough, there was not. The park mainly had a straight path and trees grown on either side of the footpath. Benches were placed at the sides, but they were all unoccupied. The trees were barren, nothing bloomed on them. Of course, it was winter.

Then, Tsuna had an idea. This got her excited, so she ran up next to Yamamoto.

"I know a place where we can go! It's a beautiful place…not many people bother to go there too!"

"Oh? A secret place? Sounds fun! Let's go!"

With that, the duo walked down the footpath again, continuing their previous conversation. Finally, they had walked to the place where the path began to slope upwards towards a hill. Tsuna stopped there.

"Why are you stopping?"

"It's here! There's a secret path that leads to another small hill. Follow me," she said. She then walked off the footpath and onto the dirty snow that had mixed with the soil. She waved her arm, and Yamamoto followed suit.

After a bit of weaving about and a few stops to rest, Tsuna walked out into the clear field, coated in white frost. There, a lone cherry tree stood – bigger than the rest, far bigger.

"Wow, that's an amazing tree! Is that a cherry blossom tree too?"

Tsuna was now right beside the tree, tracing its aged bark with the tips of her finger. She nodded, not saying any other words.

She then hopped back and clasped her hands together, as though in prayer.

"I've always thought…thought that this tree carried the wishes of the people living in this city. That's why it's so big. It's like a miracle, isn't it?"

"A miracle indeed…I would love to see this tree in full bloom!"

Tsuna turned back to smile at him.

"I'll show you then! When it's full of life! We can have a picnic here! Maybe…I would bring Haru and I-Pin, and you could bring Gokudera."

Yamamoto shook his head.

"We'll probably be very busy then. Right now seems to be a resting period. I don't know what our superiors are doing," he narrowed his eyes a little. Tsuna did not catch him in doing so, for she seemed entranced by the tree.

"You know, this tree carries my prayers too," she said softly.

"Prayers?"

"Yes. I - …" Tsuna tried to find the right words to put her feelings out to Yamamoto. She looked at the tree, seeking courage in it somehow.

"I don't remember when I was young."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"I lost my memories," she said.

In a sudden movement, she slapped her palm against her mouth.

"Oops! I said too much, didn't I? I'm sorry for bothering you! I'm just a maid after all, I shouldn't bother you with my own troubles," she chuckled sheepishly. It was then she felt a large, warm palm patting her head.

"Nope! It's alright. There's a time where everyone has to let their heart out. It doesn't matter if you're a maid. See, you don't even look like one!" Yamamoto said. Those words consoled Tsuna a lot.

"So, what sort of prayers did you put in it?"

"Hmm," Tsuna said, stepping up to the tree again. This time, she leaned at it and looked at Yamamoto as she spoke.

"To regain my memories, definitely…"

"That's great," he smiled. A small gust of wind blew, shaking the empty branches.

"But I'm scared," she continued in a smaller voice. "Sometimes, I really wish the tree wouldn't fulfill my wish."

"Why is that?"

Tsuna closed her eyes for a little while.

"Then I wouldn't remember who I loved before. I wouldn't have to go through the grief," she said, tilting her head up to the sky.

"I apparently lost my parents in an accident, and I almost lost my life as well. The trauma affected me so much, when I woke up, I couldn't remember anything. None of the names of my relatives, not even my parents. All that I knew was that Reborn stepped up and offered to take me under his wing. So…it was like starting a fresh, new life."

"My own parents would remain strangers to me forever," Tsuna did not know what overcame her. It was strong emotion – but was it sadness? Was it apprehension? Yet, she was supposed to have a heightened intuition of other people's feelings. An irony, she thought.

"I'm running away, aren't I?"

No sooner than that had been said, a low grumbling sound came from Yamamoto's stomach.

"O-oops, looks like I'm already hungry. Sorry!"

Tsuna chuckled.

"Right, then let's go have an early lunch?"

Yamamoto nodded in agreement.

"Wait…but, is there anything else you feel you need to say before we leave?"

"I'm fine, really. It just feels nice to tell someone, sometimes. Shall we go now?"

"Okay, I know a good place!"

"Not too expensive though, I can't afford it," Tsuna said, scratching her chin.

"Don't worry, it's on me!"

"I can't do that!"

Laughing and talking as the duo walked down the hill again, it was as though Tsuna had never spilled her heart a moment before.

All was forgotten.

Much to Tsuna's dismay, Yamamoto had brought her to a rather expensive restaurant and paid the bill completely. After their bellies were filled, Yamamoto declared that it was time to reveal her new task.

So Tsuna was rather confused when he had driven her to the zoo, of all places. There was absolutely no link at all! Or at least, none that she could think of. A dark sense of foreboding came across her.

"So, do you want to look around first? This place is pretty cool anyway! We can take a walk through the simulated forests…or maybe even the safari!"

"Uh-uhm…"

"Hm?"

"I think it's fine, Yamamoto-san. Where do you want to go?"

"I'd like…to see the penguins!" he said enthusiastically, pointing at the map of the zoo.

"Well then, let's go."

Thus, they went around the zoo, looking at various animals. Tsuna, as usual, dared not to approach any one of them herself. So it was mostly tagging along behind Yamamoto as he looked, fascinated by the various species of animals around. He was disappointed by a lack of some animals though. After all, it was a rather small zoo.

By the time they were done touring the place, twilight was fast approaching.

"Alright, that was fun. Shall we go pick up your mission?"

Tsuna nodded in agreement. She wondered what sort of "mission" she would receive from a zoo.

"Fuuta!" Yamamoto waved to a rather tall and young brown-haired man. He was dressed in a zookeeper's uniform. Smiling, he waved back to Yamamoto.

"Yamamoto-nii!"

"So, how's the cub?"

"He's doing rather fine lately. Shall I take you there?"

"Sure!"

Then, Fuuta bent over sideways to see Tsuna standing behind Yamamoto.

"Have you brought your girlfriend to see him too?"

"I-It's not like that, Fuuta! She's just a friend. Her name's Sawada Tsuna. Sawada, this is Fuuta!" Yamamoto laughed awkwardly.

"Ah, pleased to m-meet you," Tsuna raised her uninjured hand for a handshake. She was blushing furiously now, and all the words that Haru had said came flying back into the front of her mind.

"Pleased to meet you too! Anyway, Yamamoto, this way!"

Fuuta lead the pair to a white-walled room that held various cages and medical equipment. There was a table in the middle of the room, and a basket placed on it. Tsuna replayed their words in her mind again – "cub"? Nothing good could come out of this.

Fuuta sighed as he walked up to the basket, gently stroking the animal that was placed within it.

"No matter how far technology has advanced, there still will be illnesses it can't cure. Poor cub, left behind because he was too weak."

Tsuna cautiously approached the basket, only to find a sleeping lion cub in it.

"Wh-wh-wh-wha-what?"

Yamamoto grinned at Tsuna's reaction

"This is the little cub I've been visiting every now and then! I'm planning to adopt it! I've even taken Jirou and Kojirou here to play with him, and they seem to get along really well."

"W-wait! You can't just adopt an animal like that from the zoo!"

Yamamoto cocked his head.

"Why not? We've done it before."

Fuuta nodded in agreement.

"That's how Gokudera-nii could adopt Uri. The fact that the Vongola Company is largely the one that keeps this zoo going also helps."

"Ahahaha, yep! We do have specialized caretakers back in the mansion to help us look after the animals when we aren't in. Actually, you'll be relieved of your pet shelter cleaning duties when it's warmer outside. Right now, the pets prefer to stay inside because it's rather chilly."

Tsuna felt as though she had been played for a fool. It was like that all along?

"Anyway, I'll go talk to the director, so wait here and watch over the cub, please?"

"Sure thing!"

With that, Fuuta left the two alone.

"Yamamoto-san…why do you want to adopt him though? Isn't he…weak? Would it be dangerous to take it back?"

"I told you, we do have caretakers who look after a small number of animals to give each of them more attention than they could ever get at a zoo. That's why I think it'll be good for Natsu here."

"And the next is…because you're here."

"Eh?"

"Before you came, Jirou was never so healthy and hyperactive, truthfully. He never really responded to me the way he does to you. I noticed that, even though you're afraid of animals, you still try to give them tender care and love."

"You do have the capability, Sawada," he continued, stroking the lion cub's back.

"But! I d-don't!"

"I didn't close my eyes that time when you even allowed Uri to sleep in your lap for an hour. Neither did I miss the fact that you've started to try to reach out to everyone. So I thought, perhaps the same love you're giving to them would make Natsu stronger."

And then, silence. Yamamoto knew in his heart, a last, unspoken reason. The final reason he would never have the courage to say.

"Love doesn't save everything, Yamamoto-san," Tsuna finally said, her hands shaking as she fiddled with them.

"I don't think…I have the capability to look after such a precious lion cub."

Yamamoto decided not to reply her. He only continued to look at the young, sleeping cub. For a brief moment, there was nothing at all; none of the laughter and smiles that they had shared before. All that seemed to be a thing of the past. At last, he spoke.

"Love…love has saved me from death once."

A/N: TROLOLOLOLOLO...

So I smacked Hibari with a banana. He repaid me by smashing my laptop. God#&%$*.

Anyway, no, it's not fixed, so I decided to use my other laptop to start typing this chapter. It's twice as long as the rest of the chapters, so try to think of it as...a double chapter?

Anyway, I'll give one other hint. This isn't the end of Tsuna's backstory. It's far from it, quite frankly.

If I'm not wrong, Queen Phantomhive was the first to guess her condition back in chapter 7, so a cookie for her. I guess it became more obvious as we went along.

PS: A large disclaimer - I will still be editing this chapter even though I've released it. Just grammatical errors and the stupid things I tend to do at 3am in the morning.