(The numerous Japanese lines on this chapter have been edited out that several readers have been complaining about. I didn't change anything else other than that, so it's pretty much the same only the Japanese words have been deleted except those selective words that I know won't be much bother from any of you. I hope this would elevate your convenience in reading. ^^)

A/N: Yay! I've finally finished the second chapter… Banzai! And as promised, this chapter is longer than the last chapter. Please R&R.


Thug!

Tsuna woke up as he felt the aftermath of falling face-flat to the ground.

"I-Itai!" he rubbed his nose, hoping to ease the pain. (1) He grimaced as he thought of the only person that will hit him with a ten-ton hammer as a wake-up call-

"Reborn!"

"Ciaossu!" his tutor greeted as Leon morphed back to being a chameleon.

Tsuna stood up carefully, examining himself if he had any broken or bruise in his body. As his judgment had told him that he's fine, he stood straight up and glanced at the clock.

I'm awake as early as 6 on a Sunday… great, he said sarcastically in his mind.

"Stop complaining, dame-Tsuna. A boss must always wake up early even at weekends," Reborn said with an evil smirk.

"You always say that," Tsuna walked off to the bathroom with a yawn.

"Hurry up… You've got a guest waiting for you,"

"Really? Who?"

When he looked back, but his tutor was already gone, leaving a slightly opened door. It's going to be another crazy day. I just hope I'd survive the day with only a few bruises, he sighed and went on with his morning routines.

He jogged down the stairs and into their dining room. As he reached the room, a familiar Italian blonde greeted him with a messy plate.

"Good morning, Dino-san," he said with a tired expression.

"Hey there, Tsuna!" the blonde grinned.

"What're you doing here this early, Dino-san?" he asked and looked around. He noticed that it was only he, Dino and his mother were there, "Where's everyone? Even Reborn's not around. I thought he was here."

"Ah, Tsu-kun. Lambo-chan and I-pin-chan went to Haru-chan's house remember. They went for the sleepover with Kyoko-chan, Hana-chan and Chrome-chan yesterday," Nana answered while putting his meal on the table.

"Oh, right," he went to the table as he reminisced on what happened the day before.

"I-pin-chan… do you want to come with us for a sleepover?" Kyoko said as she crouched down to reach the Chinese girl's eye level.

"Tch. Kyoko… Why should we also invite children?" Hana spatted.

"Hana, don't be rude. The more, the merrier, ne?" Kyoko smiled then turned her attention back to I-pin, "Chrome-chan will be there too."

The said person shyly went inside with her trident in hand.

"Lambo-san wants to come, too!" Lambo went running to Kyoko.

"No, Lambo! You're not a girl so you can't come," Tsuna said.

"But Lambo-san will be good!" Lambo pouted.

"It's okay, Tsuna-kun. Lambo-chan could come too," Kyoko picked up the two kids in her hands.

"Yay!" Lambo and I-pin said in unison.

"Great the stupid annoying cow is going with us as well," Hana said with a scowl, "Maybe I shouldn't come along."

"Don't worry, Hana. We'll take care of Lambo-chan and I-pin-chan so you don't have to worry about them," Kyoko smiled. Hana only answered a 'tch' as they left.

"See yah, Tsuna-kun!" Kyoko waved and Chrome gave him a small nod.

He sighed, Well at least it's not noisy last night and probably even today.

Tsuna shrugged then took the sausage to his mouth. He was about to take the other sausage when it was suddenly taken by someone else.

"Mou! Reborn… That was mine!" he exclaimed as the said person chewed his sausage, "Oh, what am I saying? I should be used to this already."

"Dino-san… You still haven't told me why you're here so early in the morning," Tsuna turned to his guest.

In an instant, Dino got serious and narrowed his eyes, "I need to talk to you about something."

"W-What is it?"

"Let's go outside,"

"Alright," he nodded and went with Dino to their foyer, "Okaa-san. Me and Dino-san will just be going outside for awhile." (2)

"Take care!" Nana waved from the kitchen door.

Reborn jumped up to Tsuna's shoulder as they went outside. He let Dino walk around with him behind, waiting for the reply.

They stopped in the park. Dino sat on a bench where there are less people. Tsuna only stood up with his hands on his jacket's pockets while Reborn jumped down to sit on the bench beside Dino.

"I went here on Japan for some business and I've heard a few rumors that are really disturbing," Dino said in an unreadable face.

"So, you already heard," Reborn said under the brim of his fedora.

"What is it?" Tsuna asked getting tensed.

"So, is it true, Reborn?" Dino asked with pleading eyes.

"Ah," Reborn nodded without looking at anyone, "Ninth have already warned me about it."

"About what?" he asked once more, inquiring for details.

Dino sighed and settled himself before looking at Tsuna in the eyes, "There have been rumors going around that there's a group of people killing Mafioso all over the world. There's already hundreds that have been killed by that group and they've also wiped out two families in Europe in two nights with the addition of three families in Asia two days after."

"What?" Tsuna's eyes widened in surprise. Then, he heard a phone ring. Leon morphed into a phone and Reborn answered. There was a deafening silence that grew between them as if there were no other people there but them.

"Make that four… the Tomoaki Yakuza in the Kanto region has just been found annihilated," Reborn added with a serious tone.

"Kanto? Here in Japan?" he exclaimed.

"Ah," Reborn nodded, "The Ninth wants you to be careful. They might target you or one of your famiglia."

"B-But I told you before… I'm not going to be a Mafia Boss and my friends aren't going to be involved either," Tsuna clenched his fist into a ball and closed his eyes in irritation.

"Tsuna," Dino spoke with dismay in his tone, "You do realize that after the Ring Conflict that happened between you and Xanxus, you and your friends have already been involved. You can't turn your back now. Just like the fight that happened then… you won't be able to reason out to the enemy and expect them to listen to you. You can't deny it anymore, Tsuna."

"But…" he mumbled.

"Tsuna…" Reborn cut him off, "Don't tell me that you didn't have a choice back then, because there was a choice. You could have said no and left them, leading your life to running and hiding… But you didn't."

"But they could have killed my friends if I did ran away," he objected, trying to reason out desperately.

"Hmph. You could always find new friends," Reborn jumped down the bench, turning away from him, "You always fought with your life in the line. Life is irreplaceable. So why did you fight? Your friends… Yamamoto, Gokudera, Ryohei… even Chrome, Hibari and Lambo… they decided to fight themselves. No one dictated them to do so. They also have a choice to leave and run away. But they didn't. They have become part of the Famiglia… your Famiglia. They're now Vongola guardians and you've become the rightful heir when you won against Xanxus."

Reborn then left with an unreadable expression. Tsuna sat down on the bench with a hand covering his eyes.

"You know… I used to say that I won't inherit my father's position back when I was younger," Dino started with a sad smile, "But unlike you, I grew up in the Mafia so I knew what is to come to me if I do accept to be my father's legacy.

"When Reborn arrived at the mansion, I refused it just like you. However, when I saw my friend being harassed by a group of thugs… I-I felt like I wanted to do something about it. I was weak and I thought if I can't protect one person how could I protect the whole Famiglia? But I can't just stand there and watch a friend or my family to get beaten up. I want to protect them. I want to be strong.

"But I can't just step up and protect them without any authority… and that authority is being given to me by my father," Dino looked at his hands and curled them to a ball. Then, he sighed and uncurled his fingers, "So right then at that moment I decided that I would be their boss. I will do my best to protect them no matter what. A boss should be the source of the Famiglia's strength and at the same time, his strength must be taken from the Famiglia as well. If I see them suffer within the leadership of others, I will regret it. So, I took matters into my own hands and I shall do my very best to become a befitting boss."

"Dino-san," he called in a soft voice as the sky got dark and cloudy.

"You're the same, aren't you?" Dino looked at him with a sincere look, "I know you are. You want to protect them too. If you'd let anyone else take Vongola, will you be assured that that person would be able to protect and care for the family like you do? Won't you regret if they die and you can't do anything about it?"

"I…"

Dino waited for his answer but his voice seemed to have left him, his mind went blank and his body wouldn't move. All he did was stare.

Dino stood up and his expression softened, "Think about it… And… be careful… I'll see you around, little brother."

Tsuna was left there with eyes wide open. His surroundings began to get silent as people had already disappeared.

He doesn't want to agree with what Reborn and Dino have said but it is the truth. He felt the same determination of protecting everyone when he fought Xanxus and Byakuran.

But I'll only lead them to their deaths, he thought as tiny droplets of cold liquid fell from the sky. The surroundings became gray and silent. Only the sound of the rain could be heard. He could feel the cold tear-like liquid on his skin. His hair had water dripping down to his face and neck. His clothes were cold and wet. Liquid rolled down his cheeks and dropped down to the ground like crystals breaking into pieces.

He lifted his hand to his forehead and looked up to the dark sky. He opened his mouth to speak but nothing came out. He ran his fingers through his wet hair then shielded his eyes with his hand raised above.


"Ne… Where's Tsuna-kun?" Kyoko worriedly asked while looking at the downpour from the window.

"Tsu-kun went out with Dino-kun and Reborn-kun a little while before you and Haru-chan returned I-pin-chan and Lambo-kun here," Nana answered as she placed a cup of tea on the table. Kyoko mouthed a thank you and drank the tea.

"We should go look for Juudaime!" Gokudera scowled and stood up from his seat, "Reborn-san has already returned just before the rain started and that's almost two hours now! What did Bucking Horse did to Juudaime?" (3)

"Maa~ Maa~ Let's be calm," Yamamoto waved his hand.

Even with that said, they still felt worried for their friend.

Tsuna-kun… Where are you? She said in her mind.


Maybe I went too hard on him. After all, he still is a child, Reborn sat down silently on the coach while drinking his espresso.

R I I I I I I I I I I I N G ! ! !

Hmm…? Who could this be? Reborn took Leon his little hands as Leon morphed into a phone.

"Hello?" he said, waiting for the caller to speak.

"Reborn…" said the other line.

"Dino,"

"Don't you think that was a bit too harsh, Reborn? I mean, telling him that he should have left and ran away from his friends and let them die…? You know he can't do that,"

"…."

"He's not that kind of person,"

"Hmph. He needs that. And don't question my method of teaching him,"

"Ah…" he heard the other line laugh, "Sorry about that."

"Hmph," Reborn replied. He was going to drop the call when his student started to talk.

"Oh yeah… Is Tsuna there already?"

"No. Why?"

"That's weird. I left him over an hour ago."

"…"

"Reborn… Do you think?"

Before Dino could mutter another word, Reborn called him in, "No… He's fine. I've checked the whole town this morning and there are no suspicious people roaming around. Anyway, I should go." With that, he dropped the call and Leon shifted back to being a chameleon.


"Dino said he left Tsuna alone in the park over an hour ago," he said and cleared his throat, "He should probably be on his way back now."

"Hahi! Tsuna-kun must be soaked in the rain now," Haru said and alerted everyone.

"Ossu! Let's make an EXTREME search for SAWADA!" Ryohei added.

Everyone else agreed to this and got to their feet. However, when they were about to go, they heard a familiar voice coming from the door.

"Tadaima," (4)

Somehow, they noticed the odd tone on that voice. They all went to the door and found a very wet Tsuna. They all noticed the depressed aura around their friend and the unusual unreadable expression on his face.

"Hahi! Tsuna-kun's here now," Haru squeaked, breaking the silence around the room.

"Tsu-kun! Did you run on the rain?" Nana took a towel and placed it on her son's head, "Go get changed. I'll go get something for you to drink."

As Nana left to the kitchen, Tsuna made his way to the stairs as if not noticing anyone else at all.

"Tsuna-kun, is there something wrong?" Kyoko asked worriedly.

Tsuna stopped on the middle of the stairs before continuing his way.

"Juudaime-" Gokudera was going to follow him when Reborn stopped him.

"Leave him alone… at least for now," Reborn said with a stern face.

"Did something EXTREME happened?" Ryohei asked.

Reborn turned around and went to sit on the living room.

"He needs to think about something," was his only reply and fell silent again.

"Are you sure its alright to leave him alone like this, baby?" the baseball jock asked but the person in askance did not answer.

"What the heck did that Bucking Horse do to Juudaime?" Gokudera growled, "I swear I'm going to blow him up once I see him!"

Kyoko looked at the direction of Tsuna's room, hoping he's fine. She's worried about him and so did everyone else.

"It's fine…" Nana started with a smile on her face, "I know you're all worried about Tsu-kun and so am I. Though I don't know exactly what's going on, I'm sure he'll be fine. Just give him some time alone and if he's still the same in a few days, we'll always be there to make him feel alright. That's why… It's gonna be fine."

Everyone's mood slowly lifted and had determined looks on their faces.

Yes, it'll definitely fine, Kyoko repeated to herself.


A/N: Ne~ Please tell me if its too overly dramatic… XD

1 Itai- ouch

2 Okaa-san- Mother/ Mom

3 Juudaime- Tenth

4 Tadaima- I'm home