Disclaimer: I do not own the characters from Katekyo Hitman Reborn or any other recognizable copyrighted people, places, or ideas.

Chapter 1

Through his schooling career, Tsuna rarely had to visit the principle's office. The source of his childhood nickname ended up with him in the councilor's office in high school(he had to do some fancy footing to get the relentless lady off his back about schooling while avoiding his future career), but even as Tsuna starting attracting violence after Reborn showed up his connection to Hibari Kouya had administrators avoiding him.

Serafina was a different story. She may have Tsuna's tawny, messy hair and small build and her mother's vibrant blue eyes, but some how, she ended up with Squalo's temperament. Looking at her sitting outside the office, with her arms crossed and glare fixed on a clock across the reception room, Tsuna knew he shouldn't have ever let Varia babysit.

He entered the reception room and greeted the secretary. Serafina turned her head to completely avoid looking at her father.

"Signor Vongola, the principle is ready to see you."

"Thank you, Elisa." He smiled as the secretary blushed and walked briskly into the office. He learned after his third visit the secretary would babble out something embarrassing if he stayed. Like "I wish all of the parents picking up there children were as beautiful as you." Tsuna had wondered what his lack of embarrassment and blushing at that comment had meant. He blamed Spanner, who said similar things, and Byakuran, whose comments were far more perverse.

"Signor Vongola, I wish this meeting was for a more pleasant situation." The man stood up from behind his desk and sat back down again once Tsuna sat down.

Tsuna nodded. "I suppose it was too much to hope that the summons was for a congratulations of Serafina's behavior, Signor Abate."

Principle Abate flinched and Tsuna resisted the urge to sigh. Sending Gokudera in his steed last time was a bad idea, but both Yamamoto (who was his usually replacement) and Tsuna had been unavailable, and sending any other one of Serafina's 'uncles' would have been an even worse idea. Even Dino was not a smart choice (or maybe especially Dino, who had talked with his daughter's nursery administrator, brought his men AND Enzo on a rainy day ended up with Tsuna paying for the day care building.)

The desk looked new and a few items around the room had been burnt recently. Tsuna really needed to have a talk with Gokudera again.

Deciding to cut right through the principle's usually nervous dance around the topic, Tsuna asked, "What did Seraphina do this time?"

"Signorina Serafina had a disagreement with Insegnante Vico--"

Tsuna nearly groaned when he heard the name. Vico was a teacher who did not feel the need for children to be anything beyond obedient. His daughter was rather expressive.

"—about the need to do math homework."

On the nature versus nurture debate, Tsuna strongly placed his belief in 'nurture'. Serafina's ability to understand advance mathematics did not come from him or her mother. Sometimes he wondered if she inherited characteristics from the people Tsuna defeated. As long as she didn't inherit the "Six Paths of Reincarnation," Tsuna wouldn't mind so much, if the theory was true. His own better qualities and abilities had been latent; it would be nice if his daughter had something from the start.

"She argued that she could score well on the tests and she shouldn't have to do the work, but Insegnante Vico decided that she should follow his class policy."

Tsuna nodded and waited for the man to continue. Abata always saved the worse news for last.

"She became angry and threw her pencil case at Insegnante Vico—knocking him unconscious."

Tsuna sighed. The action sounded like Xanxus' behavior but he had to consider Serafina playing baseball with Yamamoto last weekend. Yamamoto had a habit for mixing in defense and assassination lessons while playing with the Vongola heiress…and her friends. Tsuna had so much fun explaining that. Luana's mother seemed oblivious as his own had but Raimondo's parents were a little more skeptical. Serafina needed to learn some restraint. One day, even Tsuna would have trouble protecting her. "How long is Serafina suspended for?"

Principle Abata hesitated, from concern almost as much as fear. Tsuna made a mental note to watch his tone. He didn't think he had sounded that defeated. "I understand Signorina Serafina has recently lost her mother. I think a month's suspension might actually do her some good."

"Maybe." Tsuna resisted the urge to sigh. He hated how much of his life was public knowledge. Hell, the media practically found out about his wife's death the same time he did.

Principle Abata gave him a pitying glance. "Has she seen a priest or therapist?"

"The subject of her mother makes Serafina…hostile."

The local priest had tried to help, but ended up calling to the Catholic Church for an exorcist—the priest managed to bring up Serafina's first Dying Will Flames. Tsuna thanked Buddha, the kami, and the Catholic God that Iemitsu managed to convince the Church there wasn't a problem, just a priest who needed a vacation.

The therapist ended up in the hospital. Serafina would not talk while Tsuna was there, so the therapist suggested he leave. He did, somewhat under protest. Tsuna had a bad feeling about leaving. Fifteen minutes later, he went back and saved the therapist's life from Byakuran. Later, he had learned his daughter had called the Millefiore Famiglia boss claiming to have been kidnapped and not wanted to upset her distraught father.

The principle looked as if he were going to say more but Tsuna stood up, bowing slightly. "Thank you for your time…and not kicking my daughter out of your school."

"Your welcome." Abata said with a little stammer.

Tsuna left the office and walked over to his daughter. "Hey," He started, unsure of what to say. "Ready to go home?"

Serafina didn't look at him. She just stood up.

His heart clenched. "Serafina…"

"I'm sorry tou-chan." Serafina sounded like she was in pain—not physical, his Hyper Intuition would have alerted him to that.

He put his hand on her shoulder. "It's okay, Sera-chan. Everything will be alright."

Tsuna almost believed himself when she leaned into his touch.

Serafina fell asleep on the ride home. His driver, a member of Hibari's Disciplinary team offered to carry her, but Tsuna declined. Serafina was still small and light enough to carry. Tsuna already felt sorry for her; not many took him seriously when he first took over the Vongola, claiming Tsuna was practically a child even at the age of twenty.

Not that he would be helpful. Tsuna wanted Serafina to be his little girl for as long as possible…within reason. He would never deny her right to protect herself. Serafina Kazue Vongola-Covri was his heir after all.

The walk into the villa was a mere few steps—the driver was unwilling to risk Tsuna walking long (relatively to paranoid Mafioso) open distances after the last sniper incident. Tsuna found the new habit to be unfair. Reborn was the target, not him. He knew better than to argue with anyone on Kyouya's payroll.

Serafina's bedroom, however, was on the second floor. And the house was freaking huge. Tsuna had not chosen the house. He had left that to Gokudera-kun, who could judge architecture far better than Tsuna. He had left very basic requirements: somewhat large to house occasional stays of the Guardians, solid structure, no white furniture or walls, and seemingly normal, as he did not want Serafina growing up locked in a fortress.

Gokudera, being the over-the-top Storm Guardian that both endeared Tsuna and drove him nuts, bought a three story villa and renovated it to be Mafia worthy. The once innocent, rentable villa now had bullet proof windows, the newest electrical systems (done by Gokudera himself), and an armory in the wine cellar.

Tsuna loved the house, as big and imposing as it was. At least it wasn't a near fortress like many of the Vongola properties. (And his villa was smaller than eighty percent of the properties.)

The house seemed rather empty. Tsuna knew Basil and members of the Disciplinary Committee were around somewhere but the soft hum from the kitchen sounded more like Chrome. Which meant Ken, Chikusa, and maybe even Mukuro had come also.

Tsuna smiled. The Kokuyo Gang did not stop by often and to his knowledge, none of them should have anything apocalyptical to report. Unless Mukuro pissed someone off again but his cell phone would be ringing off the hook and Reborn with the Vendicare would show up to say "I told you so."

Not that Tsuna would ever let the Vendicare take Mukuro again. He would kill the illusionist first…and likely go down with him. To the world, Hibari seemed the most powerful but neither Mukuro nor Tsuna had fought seriously with him in years.

Tsuna reached the second floor before first seeing another person. In front of the unlit fireplace, Chikusa read silently. Ken laid on the couch across from him, snoring.

"Buon pomeriggio."

Chikusa looked up to stare at him and returned to his book after returning the greeting with much less of a foreign accent.

Tsuna continued through Serafina's private sitting room and into her bedroom. Tsuna always sighed in relief when he walked into her room. Serafina no longer had similar tastes to Haru-chan. Her room now looked like a gothic princess lived there. All the wood trimmings were dark and black curtains covered the two windows. Her twin bed had a canopy topped with a crown and sheer red cloth flowed down. Black blankets and red pillows were messily scattered on the bed. Tsuna set her down and picked up the weapons magazine off her pillow.

He flipped through the magazine. Xanxus would be happy. The weapon type with the most circles was the gun. She still needed to learn a close combat weapon.

Tsuna placed the magazine on her cluttered desk. Serafina was too young to have an actual gun—Vongola heir or not, Tsuna was not giving an eight year old one—but a pellet or paint gun might be a good Christmas present.

Tsuna waked out of her room, leaving the bedroom door open as Serafina preferred. He did close the sitting room door. Visits from the Kokuyo Gang rarely stayed quiet.

Chikusa and Ken were no longer sitting in the living room. He hated the silence and went back down the stairs. A crash sent him running into the kitchen with Dying Will Flames in his bare hands.

He had little to worry about this time. Chrome pouted at Ken and a metal bowl of what appeared to be cookie dough sat on the floor. He extinguished the flames and leaned against the doorway before greeting the female half of his Mist Guardian. "Buon pomeriggi."

Chrome immediately perked up and ran over to give him her usually greeting of a peck on the cheek. "Boss." She said with childish glee.

Tsuna fought the urge to blush. Chrome had often left Tsuna embarrassed and it had only gotten worse as they grew older. Chrome grew up to be a beautiful—and complete except for an missing eye thanks due to a bit of blackmail and a lot of money—woman. Large curves made her easily discernable from Mukuro but her face still kept a level of androgyny. The Kokuyo uniform was still her favorite outfit (though a size larger was required for both a change of height and bust) and the presence of it today convinced Tsuna this was not a business visit. The plain black eye patch meant she likely was playing civilian somewhere and had yet to break into her suitcase to find her favorite skull one.

Tsuna looked up to her. (She had only three centimeters on him but her heels gave her an extra four.) "How have you been? Where have you been? I haven't spoken to you in the last week."

The more important question was "Why are you here?" but that was both rude and likely to result in a teary eyed Chrome asking if "Boss doesn't want Chrome to be here?" Fake or not, Tsuna could never tell and he just wish she wouldn't cry in general. Something about her tears stung his heart.

Her hands went up as if to grasp her trident—a habit Tsuna had yet to decide if it stemmed from anxiety or if like many of the Vongola, felt better with a weapon. "We were in Japan for a while but I wanted to see Italy and Boss again!"

Tsuna smiled even as his mind raced. Hibari and likely Mukuro were in Japan. Did Chrome fight with one of theme? An actual altercation with Hibari would have been reported but Chrome's fights with Mukuro were silent. Chrome never liked the relationship between the Cloud Guardian and her other half. "So how was Japan?"

"Kyoto is so hot in the summer! But Kamakura was fun. I had apple-mango ice cream and we went to the beach. Mukuro-sama chased some silly boys away." Chrome giggled and grabbed his arm. She pulled the limb to her chest like she sometimes held her staff. "We wished you were there, Boss. You haven't had a vaction in a while."

Tsuna nearly lost his balance. Did she just flutter her eyelashes? Over her shoulder he could see Chikusa and Ken (with the cookie dough bowl) leave. Tsuna focused on Chrome. Was this really Chrome or was Mukuro playing with him? "Chrome?"

Her face went serious. "I think they broke up."

"Who?" Tsuna asked. Then he realized there was only one relationship Chrome would care about. "Shit. How long ago?"

"Last Tuesday. They were fighting," Chrome spoke like Levi of the Varia giving a report. "And Mukuro came to Italy with me but he left me in Rome."

Inwardly, Tsuna question why the so called "Dream Couple" (or perhaps more accurately said by Gokudera, "A Freaking Nightmare") broke up. Hell, his own mother encouraged Tsuna to find a partner who would complete him like Mukuro and Hibari did after Gaetana was killed. He himself felt the relationship was odd, but Tsuna never claimed to be in love—not even to Gaetana (and Gaetana only claimed to love him when others were around. Why sham themselves when they chose to marry for mutual need.) He thought Hibari and Mukuro's relationship was one based on love (thin line between love and hate) and believed it was one of those things he would never understand like how Reborn's disguises actually worked.

The attraction to each other Tsuna understood. He had sleeped with Hibari once, albeit he was drunk off his ass after his twentieth birthday. And Mukuro…was Mukuro. Tsuna wasn't sure when other feelings than fear started to form. Likely during Marman and Mukuro's battle when his mind slipped into the illusionist's. Reborn's warning had not stopped the feeling at all. Tsuna had never forgotten what Mukuro had done years ago, but Chrome had added dimensions to Mukuro.

Chrome had been missing organs but Mukuro had lacked the part of his soul that was Nagi.

"What was the fight about?"

The teary eye look Tsuna hated made its appearance. "Mukuro traveling, using illusions…me," She leaned against his chest. Tsuna wrapped his other arm around her.

"Chrome, I'm sure you weren't at fault. Hibari was probably picking out the most painful thing to hit Mukuro with." He rubbed up and down her back. Chrome, for all of her shows of affection, wasn't one to seek comfort from anyone other than Mukuro. "The closest couples fight dirty and mean."

Tears were in her eye and pain in her voice. "Did you and Gaetana fight like that?"

Tsuna flinched. He never explained his relationship with his wife to his Guardians. Reborn knew of the loveless agreement and Squalo guessed, but other than them, most assumed some love had been in the Vongola-Covri marriage. Gaetana had been too low on the power ladder of the mafia for them to think Tsuna had married her for anything but love. "We were not that close at the time to fight like that."

He hadn't lied but he received a mental smack from a mental Reborn for hiding the truth from his Guardian.

"Do you think they will make up?"

Tsuna wished ice cream or even beating the shit out of something could erase her pain. "I don't know, Chrome, but I think so."

Tsuna couldn't see Hibari letting Mukuro go. Saying Hibari was possive was like saying Marman was greedy or Gokudera over reacted. Hibari still kept Namimori in his little dictatorship. The Cloud Guardian had eleven international bases but Namimori had preoccupied him for at least a decade and a half. Tsuna added another decade due to a hazy memory of Hibari terrorizing their poor kindergarten teacher.

"Am I bad to want them to stay apart?" Chrome asked in a quiet voice.

"Hiii?"

Chrome leaned down and nuzzled Tsuna's neck. "I don't want them to be together. Hibari does not like me."

Pretend she's a kitten, pretend she's a kitten, pretend she's a kitten, Tsuna silently repeated. For the love of an intact body, pretend she's a kitten. Mukuro had no concept of mercy when it came to Chrome. Which could explain why he was in Italy…but why did Mukuro leave Chrome? "Oh Chrome…I don't think Hibari likes me."

Her eye went wide. "Everyone loves you, Boss."

Tsuna couldn't hold back the blush this time. "And no one could hate you Chrome."

Well, maybe Glo Xinia but he did not exist anymore. Mukuro had taken him out before he could join the Millefore. The Guardians had fought (and still fought, though not as openly anymore) Tsuna about the lives of those they had fought in the future. Tsuna put his foot down on taking out the Millefore preemptively. Mukuro presented him with information about Glo Xinia to justify his desire to kill the man. (Tsuna believed Mukuro was the only one who came to him before he went against orders; certain once/to be Millefore had mysterious accidents—the Cervello just happened to have been drowned, torn apart by a wind machine, and burned by lasers. He still wasn't sure who was involved.)

Tsuna asked a rather bewildered Spanner to check the facts for him. After a few minutes and major headaches later the mechanic's alternate memories surfaced and he did as Tsuna asked quite enthusiastically. Spanner may have asked him on a date at some point but Tsuna had been far too concerned by the conformation of Glo Xinia's criminal history and the possibility people (Byakuran) could suddenly remember the alternate future.

"Boss," Her lips were right against his neck. "Can I stay with you for a while?"

"Chrome, you are always welcome in my house." He went instantly red when he felt her smile. "You kn-now tha-at."

Tsuna gulped when she pulled away. Tears still stained her checks and her eye was a bit red but she was smiling again. He thanked all the divinity he could name.

She stared at him for a long moment. Tsuna stared back, still blushing.

Chrome blinked and then leaned forward to give him a peck—on the lips.

His brain screeched to a halt and Chrome skipped out of the room. His hands went to his lips.

Finally, after several minutes of just standing against the door frame, his brain came to an important conclusion: if Chrome continued acting this way, Mukuro would kill him.

Forigien words

Signor-Mr

Signorina-Miss

Insegnante-Teacher

Buon pomeriggio-a form of "Good afternoon"

Kamakura did have apple-mango, apple, and other amazing flavors of ice cream during the summer of 2008. I hope they are still there when I return someday.

Thank you for reading! Constructive criticisms is deeply appreciated.