Consumato

A Ten-Year-Later Fanfic

It was a huge kerfuffle. The young Vongola Decimo wanted to palm his face into his stack of paperwork.

Cloud was standing at his favorite part of room, with his tonfas out, glaring menacingly at Storm. Thunder was cowering beside Sky, clawing at his pants, much to Sky's detest. Rain was in between Cloud and Storm now, trying to stem the fight, with both hands out, waving both of the guardians down. Sun was standing at one side, with the girl Mist, one cheering the fight on with "EXTREME"s while the latter, clutched onto her trident tightly, trying to stop the fight through clenched teeth and muttered words.

It seemed like a rather normal day; A commotion must happen if not they wouldn't be called the Vongola Familigia. And so it seemed.

But something was a bit odd.

Sawada Tsunayoshi was, in fact, the one out of character. Usually, when a commotion breaks out in the Vongola mansion, and not to mention, in the dining room or his office, he would find a way to make his guardians back off - the easy way. The usual: he would get into his Hyper Dying Will mode and achieve the Zero Point Breakthrough, making everyone in the room shiver, then he would give that cynical smile of his while cracking his knuckles. (Well, with a sadistic tutor like Reborn, it would not be weird if the tutee was sadistic as well) If not the Zero Point Breakthrough, which if he did not use meant he was lethargic or in a better mood, he would simply walk towards the idiots that are fighting and break it up. (The guardians will sulk and Tsuna will calm them down like Rain would)

But today was different. The young Vongola did not calm Lambo when he grabbed onto his suit and cried. He did not get into his Hyper Dying Will mode and use Zero Point Breakthrough; Neither did he try to break up the fight peacefully.

Instead, he had allowed the crying Lambo to stain his expensive suit wet. He had allowed the fight to go on for a good five minutes long. And everyone was thinking, subconsciously, that the young boss of theirs was not in a good mood. Which was true.

Subconsciously, they thought that Tsuna would freeze Hibari and Gokudera into ice blocks, with just their head unfrozen, just right to continue with the meeting. (There was this incident where Tsuna had used his extraordinary skills and froze everyone, with the exception of the ever-innocent Chrome and the 15 year-old Lambo. That was not all. He left them in ice blocks for an entire day, without food and drinks, to melt in the dining hall.)

A loud crack resounded in the room and Storm and Cloud stopped. Actually, everyone stopped and turned to face Boss.

Their boss had a hand on his mahogany desk while he was standing up. It had seemed that he had slammed his hand on the desk with a lot of force as his hand was turning slightly reddish. He was in fact, red in the face as well. Anger seemed to have taken over him well. His eyes, usually soft caramel colored, had turned hard and the kind boss released a deadly aura: something that would let most enemy familigia cower with their tails between their legs. Vongola Decimo was shaking, either from fury or well, fury. He was so serious that if Reborn was here he would not even give his usual fleering look.

"Tenth..." Gokudera muttered softly, taken aback by his boss that just lost his temper; he had never seen his boss like that before.

"..." The cloud guardian kept his tonfas and leaned back on the wall. He seemed to have wanted to say his catchphrase but it was stuck in his throat.

Yamamoto and Ryohei was shocked and stood rooted, unable to move any muscle. Tsuna was never like that before.

Chrome and Lambo would have disappeared into the wallpaper if given a chance; the duo looked so afraid, so blanched that they would have easily passed off as vampires.

Tsuna glanced at Hibari and said, words laced with ice, "Kyoya, you better not walk out of the room."

"Hn."

Tsuna gave a sigh and ran a hand through his hair. His soft fluffy hair bounced with radiance as his hand ran through it. He sat down heavily on his chair and rubbed Lambo's back. The little kid was still sobbing, just without the sound and only the tears.

The only sound that was in the room was the sound of Tsuna rubbing circles on Lambo's back and his breathing. Not one guardian had dared to exhale loudly.

Just then, someone slammed into the door, walking into breezily, totally unaware of the entire situation.

"Vongola, you do know that I -"

Panic-stricken faces greeted the male Mist. Even something called horror greeted him on Hibari's face.

"Shut up" were the words that smashed into his face. Stunned, the male Mist stood staring blankly at Tsuna.

Tsuna's face was turned into a snarl when someone broke into the room. Tsuna was clearly annoyed, like really really frustrated at these people- his guardians.

Mukuro came in, strolling, as if he was the king of all, and this spiked the anger in Tsuna. He could not stand his character and perhaps, his breaking point would not have been reached if, just if, that purple idiot illusionist have kept his mouth shut. But no, that idiot, had to speak and say something that would frustrate the boss even more.

"Vongola, you do know that I-"

Tsuna knew exactly what he wanted to say, "Vongola, you do know that I want to possess that body of yours, so keep it safe."

He knew that Mukuro just came from the infirmary and no doubt, would have known that Tsuna had just been there that morning for some issues. But he was not in the mood to tell that to his guardians, not in this atmosphere.

"Shut up."

Tsuna laced that two words with poison, over and over again, like wrapping a gift, before delivering and was pretty sure that all his guardians would keep their mouth shut.

He was annoyed by the fact that all of them had came in and started a fight, again. His desk was covered by paperwork because of his guardians. He, if in his usual self, would have waved it off and settled for a calm resolve. However, his head had been hurting, aching and screaming at him since he woke up. He went to the infirmary to get aspirins but those stupid tablets did nothing but lessen the pain only slightly. Surely, the fight in his office did not decrease the pain in his head at all.

His table, was still covered with paperwork and even if he wanted to, he could not pass any to his guardians to finish. After all, all these that ended up on his table would require his signature and hell would be damned if he asked, even politely, asked Hayato to sign for him.

He had skipped breakfast and lunch to settle the day's work, not to mention that headache that was not leaving him. He was miffed.

And now this.

"Let's carry on with our meeting, if that's all right," Tsuna had said with his voice that was not quite his.

Everyone complied.

"Alright, I understand, tenth."

"Then, we will be taking our leave, Tsuna," Yamamoto said calmly.

Lambo whimpered softly and was about to leave Tsuna when Tsuna rubbed his hand into Lambo's afro.

"You alright there, Lambo?" Tsuna gave an apologetic smile, a sincere one too.

Lambo brightened up at Tsuna's concerned remark and replied, " yes! Tsuna-nii! (1) "

The other guardians seemed jealous and auras of "why did Tenth talk to you", "Sawada talked to Lambo first", "Tsuna talked to Lambo first", "I hate Lambo", "I'll bite Lambo to death" and "Lambo, I'm jealous" started circling around the room and Tsuna felt a shiver down his spine.

His mood became significantly better, for for the first time, his guardians, all 7, managed to stay in the same room without a spark of fight or any sort for 2 hours of a boring meeting. A boring meeting of the debrief of the previous mass mission as well as the damages report.

Tsuna felt guilty, of course, that he had burst out all his negative feelings at his guardians, vented all his anger on them, and not on his usual beanbag in Training Hall: Sky. He felt the necessity to lift up the mood, for he was their boss and well, he was the cause of the overall negative loom in the mansion.

He stood up, and jolted some of his guardians. Hibari was significantly surprised by the action and then eased a bit. Gokudera jumped. Yamamoto remained indifferent and while the others... Their reaction was rather small: their muscles tensed and nothing else.

They all feared that the Sky would lash his anger out on them again.

"I'm sorry for just now..."

That line made Hibari "tched" and Gokudera lit up. Yamamoto and Chrome smiled while Ryohei finally managed to move. Mukuro mumbled under his breath about "some mood swings" while Lambo hugged Tsuna tightly.

Tsuna smiled inwardly as he saw the tension in the room relieve itself. Lambo hugged him so tightly that the pain at his abdomen area was on par with that of his head.

"I was just ... You know, annoyed."

He glanced around everyone in the room and gave a sincere bow. Tsuna was truly sorry for his outburst but he could not take it just now.

He really hoped no one would blame it on him. His head was pounding even harder as his skeletal muscles contracted to achieve the movement of the bow. He felt blood rush into his brain and the aspirin- the stupid blood thinner- was practically useless.

He knew that if he retracted from his position quickly, he would be dizzy from the sudden blood rush and pretty well fall back into his chair with the panic rising once again.

He stayed there a second longer, biting deep into his chapped lips, then straightened up.

"We understand, Tenth," Hayato commented brightly; his smile was reaching his eyes.

Tsuna gave an audible sigh- relieved sigh and sat back into his seat. He took a glance at his desk clock and smiled.

"Well, it's time for dinner!"

"Why isn't Tenth here?" Gokudera frowned, remembering what Tenth had told him right before they went out.

"I'll be there soon; I'll need to clear some paperwork. I'll be there before you guys finish your meal!"

But Tenth was not here yet. The guardians had insisted on not starting the meal at all, wanting to wait for Tsuna to appear before they ate.

Gokudera was worried and wanted to fetch Tenth over but was stopped by Yamamoto.

"Now, now, if Tsuna says he'll come, he'll come!"

Baseball idiot. Gokudera could sense insecurity in those words he said but he knew that Yamamoto was trying to calm everyone down, after all, everyone was worried.

Chrome was clutching onto her trident and leaning onto Mukuro. Mukuro had one hand supporting his head while the other, was forming shapes of illusions that was amusing him, apparently. Lambo was chewing onto some tablecloth while Ryohei was trying to calm the kid down. Hibari, sitting at his usual seat, claiming to 'avoid crowding' but in fact was sitting next to Kusasabe which was beside the I-Pin and well, all the other guests for the day.

It was after the mass mission that lasted for a month. Tenth had invited everyone over for the week, claiming that he wanted a 'get together time'.

It was a rule that Tenth had set. After a mass mission(which included at least 5 out of 7 of the guardians, excluding the Tenth himself) that lasted for more than 3 weeks, they will have a get together session. Tenth was scared, as Gokudera concluded, that anyone would suffer psychological damage or some sort of damage during the mission. Tenth wanted everyone to always be together and know and look forward to being together so that the mission would go smoothly and safely.

"Hahi? Tsuna-kun is not here yet?" Haru asked.

Kyoko nodded worriedly and glanced at Gokudera. The bomber sighed inwardly and said, "I'll go get him."

Baseball idiot gave Gokudera the friendliest smile which indicated he wanted to accompany. Gokudera almost face palmed himself.

After all his guardians left, Tsuna lay onto his desk in defeat. His headache was not leaving him at all. He got worst and he started to feel the extra blood that was rushing to his head in his throat as well. His neck ached and vision was blurred.

Unexpectedly, Tsuna coughed. The deep breaths he took to compensate the coughs he had only made him wheeze. His chest hurt and he wondered if it was the mission's fault. He chided himself in his mind while reaching towards his stack of paperwork.

Staring at the first few lines, he almost gave up:

Name: Gokudera Hayato
Mission: XX

RE: Compensation of Property Damage

He closed the file and his eyes, for that matter, and lay on his desk again. He felt another incoming wave of pain coursing through his head and he reached for another bottle of pills of aspirin. Blood thinning had to work with 3 pills at once, he hoped.

Pouring the contents of the tiny bottle that the nurse had gave him just now, he swallowed them dry. He felt instant gratification. A little of his headache surged away from his brain as less pain went to his brain.

He opened the file again and read it through carefully. After signing it, he flipped to the following pages, and to another file, till the stack was gone.

He smiled at himself and saw the clock again. It was already 8.30PM! Surely his guardians must have almost finished dinner. Furthermore, Tsuna wanted to smack himself, he invited Kyoko, Haru, I-Pin and Fuuta over this week.

Tsuna stood and was about to dust off his pants when he felt the impact. He walked out of his desk, stumbling, and his head spun. His head hurt. Massively. He doubled over, his lungs threatened to be coughed out and with each cough, he sniffed.

So painful.

The skin above his eyes - eyelids - began to burn and his forehead as well. He was losing water, he knew it. His chapped lips split open after the ragged coughs.

He sank to his knees; his body demanded a rest.

Sawada Tsunayoshi wanted to sleep so badly.

So badly.

Stupid baseball idiot, Gokudera mouthed. He felt relieved as he managed to shake Yamamoto off.

Gokudera knocked on the huge wooden doors. His knuckles once again hit the oak doors but no sound was heard from behind.

Perhaps Tenth had already went out but Gokudera highly doubted his own thoughts. Uttering a soft apology, he opened the doors. The doors swung open, revealing an empty room.

Gokudera laughed; he should have trusted himself. Then he saw that the fans were still switched on. The roller chair was facing the right and not placed properly, pushed in.

Something was -

He saw it.

There was a black mass on the floor.

Tenth...

Tenth!

Gokudera rushed forward, bringing the Tenth up. Tenth's head lolled back while Gokudera supported his neck and waist. Tenth's face was awful: he was deadly pale as perspiration beads dripped down his face. Muscles from his eyes and mouth twitched inconspicuously.

Gokudera shook Tenth in his arms and Tenth opened his eyes. Those eyes were bleary and blank, like life was sucked out of them.

"Haya..to.." And his eyes closed.

"TENTH!"

"How is he?" A worried Yamamoto Takeshi asked.

"He is having a really high fever. I don't get how you guardians take care of your boss!"

"Just a fever? But he looked so.. " Gokudera trailed off.

"Dead.." Chrome continued, "But Bossu will be alright... Right, Nurse?"

The nurse shrugged, "I don't know. He should be but I would not rule out a few days of coma."

"A coma?! But..!" Ryohei shouted.

"Shush!" Nurse slapped the Sun across the mouth, "You are disturbing him. The Vongola had worn himself out a lot these few days. The days that you guys went for the mass mission, the Vongola had not slept for more than a few hours for he feared all your safety.

"Then you guys came back, delivering him another stack of paperwork. His body is totally worn out."

"But... It wouldn't EXTREMELY give him such a high fever and..."

"It could," the nurse elucidated, "before your mass mission, he went for another mission, didn't he? He had gotten a concussion that time," when she was greeted by confusion, she hastily but calmly added, "he forbid me to tell you all. He had hit his head, as he had told me, when he pushed Lambo to one side."

Lambo, after hearing his name, cried even harder, tears ran down his face like tap water. Yamamoto went over, not even he had the mood to crack any joke at the moment, and rubbed circles on Lambo's back.

Kusakabe walked into the infirmary and was greeted by the shell shocked faces of the guardians. His gaze shifted to the bed that was behind them and his heart had a jump as well.

Vongola Decimo looked like a ghost. He was perspiring profusely, while his eyebrows was scrunched up in pain. He had a cooling pad on his forehead while he was rigged up with machines. A needle was inserted into his vein on the left hand and the drip looked stated: 5% pain reducer (highest)

He glanced back at all the guardians and gave a slight bow and went out to report to Kyo-san about what he had just seen.

3 days later

Lambo have not left Tsuna-nii's side during the 3 days. He helped to change the cooling pad, change the drip, wetted Tsuna-nii's lips and change his clothes. He helped to turn Tsuna-nii one a regularly 2 hour to prevent pressure sores, as the nurse had kindly asked him to have it done.

All the guardians came in at least a few times a day, except for Mukuro and Hibari. However, Lambo was sure he had felt their presence. He felt Hibari and Mukuro lingering around the door.

He held onto Tsuna-nii's hand when on the second day, had Tsuna-nii's condition became critical: his heartbeat went above 140bpm and his fever was 42degree celcius!(107.6F) Lambo had cried then, as bakadera pulled him away from Tsuna-nii's grip. He kicked that stupid smoker but he was still dragged away.

The nurse claimed that Tsuna-nii's condition was alright on the 3rd day, even though his fever was still there but there was no need for the machines or drip. It had seemed, as the nurse had explained, that Tsuna-nii was having bad dreams and she had stopped them. Tsuna-nii became less in pain as well; His face was, although still pale, but no longer twitching.

The nurse allowed Tsuna-nii to be back in his own room and Lambo had been there for him the three entire days.

There was a sound of the door creaking open but Lambo did not care.

"Hey, eat something, Lambo," Chrome said, worriedly. Lambo glanced at her and took the food. He ate it and thanked her but his right hand never left Tsuna-nii's hand.

He squeezed Tsuna-nii's hand and there was a squeeze, back.

Chrome went into Bossu's room, bringing Lambo's food and wanting to have a look at Bossu. He had been so pale, so pale and they did not notice it! The others was still quarreling and everything and did not even notice that Bossu was unwell.

She recalled, that Bossu had looked pale during the meeting and kept rubbing his temple. She chided herself for not noticing. She was going to cry but she bit her lips.

No, she cannot. She had hit Gokudera-kun hard when he refused to eat or sleep on the first day of Bossu's coma. Gokudera-kun had knelt beside his bed, muttering apologies and refused to sleep. Chrome had screamed at him, telling him he had to get his act together and take over Bossu's job.

She was afraid he would bomb her but fortunately, he snapped to his senses.

She hoped Bossu would wake up soon.

Lambo was beside Bossu's bedside and she offered him dinner. Lambo accepted, at least he knew the importance of food. His eyes were red and swollen; he had been crying. Chrome felt a tinge of guilt. She could not do anything for Lambo or Bossu.

Then she saw it: Bossu's hand squeezed back Lambo's squeeze. Bossu was waking up!

Bossu twisted to the side; his face scrunched up in pain; perspiration beads rolled down his pale and thin face. He let out a scream and his eyes blinked open.

He doubled over to the side and coughed very violently. He fell back into his bed and he continued to twitch, involuntarily.

Lambo had released his hand and started sobbing.

Then it stopped.

Bossu's eyes open, wearily, and his gaze shifted from the ceiling to Lambo then to Chrome.

"Lambo... Chrome..."

Gokudera took out his cigarette and pressed the butt against the cigarette bowl. He sighed as he looked through the next paperwork. How did Tenth managed to do this everyday without fail?

Of course, he chuckled, Reborn had needed to press a gun to his head when he first took over almost everyday. When Reborn was out, he had locked Tenth in his office for hours till he came back. After a year, Tenth stopped shrinking his work and actually went to his office everyday without fail. The only time he did not have to face paperwork was when he was out on a personal mission.

Someone was running towards his office. He could feel the thumping of the feet. The shuffling.

Perhaps it was Ryohei again, telling him the Tenth had not yet awoke. Or perhaps, Butler Lovartocare (2) would pass him another stack. Or the most unlikely and dreaded thought was that Reborn was back from his mission and was here to kick his butt for signing the paperwork for Tenth.

What came was totally unexpected.

Yamamoto burst through the door with a grin, panting heavily and perspiration rolled onto the carpeted floor of Gokudera's office.

Gokudera shouted wearily at the Baseball Idiot, "if you want to perspire, go to your training hall, not my office."

Yamamoto shouted through pants, "Tsuna..." Gokudera's chest tightened, his mind went into a turmoil. He processed again, Yamamoto's Office was just a block away, even running would at full speed would not bring such exhaustion. The only few places that could bring the athletic pant like a dog would be running from Hibari's place, Training Hall: Mist, entrance 'S' and Tenth's Sky block.

"Tsuna is awake!"

The dropping of pen. The pulling of shirts. The grins that broke the weary faces. Beads of perspiration that stained the Storm's office. The shuffling of feet hitting against the marbled floor.

"Tsuna!"

A certain young man with brown fluffy hair was propped up, lying against the wall, hand attached to a 15 year-old whose hair stuck out horns. A grin greeted the duo that just flew into the room.

Yamamoto was glad. He heard of the news immediately as Chrome used her newly found ability: using mist to bring messages. (Tsuna made her learn it when he had the idea of using wind to bring across messages)

He had ran, full speed to Gokudera's office, and told him the news. Ryohei had went to inform the others. Expectedly, Mukuro, Hibari, Chrome and Lambo was already in the room.

Tsuna's smile greeted them, all his guardians and when Tsuna opened his mouth, the words that he first said made Yamamoto's eyes sting with tears.

"Are you guys alright? I'm sorry I've made you guys worried.."

"Stupid! Haha! If you're alright, then we are!"

"Really..." frowned Tsuna, "I'm not really alright, you know?"

Well, Yamamoto would have to agree. Tsuna's face was still pale, but colour was finally returning to his face. He was still red, most probably thanks to the fever. His right hand was really red and he casted Lambo a look. A sheepish smile that greeted him told him that Lambo was the one who made it red.

And Tsuna was coughing, every now and then.

And, Gokudera was being absolutely annoying (he hate to say that but yes he was). Gokudera was fanning Tsuna even though he was evidently cold, and even knelt down to apologise, causing Tsuna to get out of bed before tumbling to the ground.

"The ground..." Tsuna rubbed his red nose bridge as Lambo propped Tsuna back on the bed.

"Attacked me. Ow."

Yamamoto laughed heartily. It was melodious. No such sound was heard ever since Tsuna fell sick.

Gokudera apologized again and well, it's back to old life.

Stupid Herbivore.

Or Omnivore.

Hibari Kyoya reluctantly dragged his feet towards the Sky's office. He was considering a good beat up for the second-in-command but he held back. His second-in-command had asked him, rather fiercely, to go see the Omnivore.

"Dying! He's dying!" Said his second-in-command with hands flailing around like a bird.

Are there carnivorous birds? Oh wait, herbivores.

His thoughts were cut short when he saw the huge oak doors. Open it, a small nagging voice said.

Omnivore, tch.

He opened it with much style, and saw the sight of the Omnivore and a bunch of...

Monkeys.

Herbivorous monkeys.

A bunch of herbivorous monkeys in a crowded room.

And a cow. A stupid herbivorous cow.

Not literally, but... The Omnivore sat on his bed and waved to Hibari. Then, he saw the Omnivore doubling over, coughing heavily.

"You..."

"Me?" Omnivore pointed at himself, a little grin on his face.

"I'll bite you to death."

"Now?" Omnivore made a sound, "I'd rather not. I'm not keen to leave my bed yet, Kyoya."

"When you're well," Hibari said monotonously, "then."

"Mm."

Hibari turned around to get out of the crowded room when a voice stopped him.

"Kyoya?"

Hibari turned and faced him.

"Thank you."

Tch was the only reply to the sadistic smile unfurling on Tsuna's face.

Two weeks were the time that was required for Tsuna to fully recover. He had relapses: he had trashed in his bed as nightmares gripped him; he had screamed when his fever got hold of him, and his chest constricted; he had coughed, to the extent his voice was gone, and his saliva contained blood.

But what's made him relieved is that, everyone was there for him, as family.

The Reason For Tsuna's Smirk

"I'll bite him to death."

"But... You destroyed these properties. I think Vongola Decimo is justified to ..."

Hibird chirped as Hibari tore the papers apart.

"I'm not doing them."

"But... The Vongola Decimo..."

"Burn them."

"Huh!" Kusakabe let a shocked cry.

"Are you Japanese?(3) Burn those papers."

"But Kyo-san, he is sick so I think you should do them. After all, it-"

A tonfa was pulled out and at the next second, it connected with the skin on Kusakabe's neck.

"I said, burn them."

Hibird flew one circle around Hibari's head and landed on him shoulder again. Hibari walked out of the room but before exiting he commented, "don't tell me you don't understand Italian as well."

Kusasabe held onto the papers, clenching them tightly, "I don't..."

(1) I think this felt more close as to "Vongola". I thought that Lambo called 14Y-O Tsuna as Vongola because he wasn't his 'Tsuna' and well, calling 14Y-O Tsuna as 'Tsuna-nii' when he is older is totally awkward for Lambo.

(2) Lovarto meant hardworking or something. -care meant something else. I forgot

(3) well, Hibari said in Japanese first, so "Are you Japanese?" was a just a failed attempt of humor on my part and an excellent insult on Hibari's.

This was planned as a one-shot but I'm gonna do a two-shot instead. The next chapter is going to be about the two weeks of R&R (well if you don't know, rest and recuperation) Tsuna had. Family(with italics) love with Tsuna, I like that sort of fluff rather than slash, oh no.

Hope that this chapter did please you and your crazy temptations of reading good fan fictions.

Drop a few lines. Or favourite. Well, i need to know if you enjoyed it.