AN: To my original readers, if you're still following this fic: sorry for the late update! I can't say much except that back then my inspiration to write completely fled me. I'll try to post what chapters I have so far once a week which will hopefully give me time to finish later chapters in advanced. Also, previous chapters have some minor revision.

xXx

Tsuna stuffed his face in his pillow as he mulled over last night's events.

In the end, his brother never showed.

At ten, Reborn had fallen asleep unconcerned; at eleven, Tsuna's mom and the kids had joined him. It wasn't until well after midnight when G finally received a call from the airport saying there'd been a minor incident with Giotto's flight and that Tsuna's brother was okay but wouldn't be able to make it home that night - according to G at least. But Tsuna had a sense that either the man was lying or him and G had very different definitions of the word 'minor' judging by the way the man had paled after picking up the phone.

A little worrisome, but overall Tsuna wasn't too concerned because, unlike him, his brother was rather reliable. As long as G's definition of 'minor' didn't include 'grievous bodily harm, Giotto would be just fine.

Then he remembered who G's siblings were. With 'Smoking Bomb' Hayato and 'Poison Scorpion' Bianchi as family...

Tsuna took it as a small consolation that whatever had happened to his brother couldn't possibly have been worse than what could have happened to him if he were here with Reborn. G hadn't said Giotto had died after all. Plus this gave Tsuna more time to mentally prepare for his brother's arrival or, as Reborn put it, 'time to get his alibis straight' as if Tsuna didn't feel enough like a criminal already.

"But you are a criminal, Tsuna," chimed in Reborn from the desert-camo patterned hammock he'd set up in the corner of Tsuna's room, legs hanging off the edge. "Not exactly most respectable of criminals of course, but I'm sure with my hard work that'll change over time."

"HIIIEE?! You can read my mind?" exclaimed Tsuna sitting up. "And why does it even matter if I'm a 'respectable' criminal?"

"I don't need to read your no-good mind to read the no-good expression on your no-good face," replied Reborn. "As for respectability, you wouldn't want to disappoint the Ninth by being a despicable one instead, would you?"

Taking a page from Reborn's book, Tsuna read the hitman's expression and wisely decided not ask if saying 'no-good' three times in one sentence was necessary. As to the second point, for Tsuna there was no difference between a respectable or despicable criminals. They were both equally despicable for being criminals in the first place. And while disappointing Nono never sat well with Tsuna, he could bear the Ninth's disappointment if it meant he and his friends no longer had to deal with the mafia. Unfortunately, Tsuna didn't think he could survive Reborn's disappointment so he didn't voice this objection either.

Battle lost before it ever began, Tsuna resumed stuffing his face into his pillow and bemoaning his fate. "I'm doomed! My life's over! Giotto-nii will figure out it's me in no time!" By the end of the week, his brother and his vigilante friends would have Tsuna pushing daisies!

"It could be worse," said Reborn in an attempt to console him. Which was 'nice' for a change coming from the hitman, and Tsuna felt a warm, fuzzy feeling rise in his chest at one of the rare signs that Reborn cared. He could almost cry.

But still, he had to ask, "And how could this be worse?"

Reborn only gave Tsuna a long hard look. Tsuna matched the look with his own, waiting expectantly for the answer. Seconds passed. Then minutes. It wasn't until Tsuna was almost certain that Reborn had fallen asleep with eyes open that the hitman finally opened his mouth as if to say something. Or so Tsuna thought. For just as it looked that he was about to get his answer, Reborn abruptly dropped on the floor, turned on a heel, and walked towards the door. "Let's go downstairs already and see what Maman is cooking. Wouldn't want you to go to school on an empty stomach, would we?"

Warmth gave way to the icy pit forming in Tsuna's stomach. That only made him feel worse than before! "Reb- I mean you!" Tsuna called after the hitman.

It was with a heavy heart that Tsuna got off his bed, washed up, and made his way downstairs to the aroma of scrambled eggs and bacon. Not too soon either as he came just in time to prevent Reborn and the kids from helping themselves to his portion of the meal. "Oh, you're finally awake, Tsu-kun!" said his mom as she put away some dishes into the dishwasher. "Too bad you didn't wake up sooner. You just missed Gokudera-kun and his brother leaving."

Together? After spending all of last night with them, Tsuna had quickly come to the conclusion that the relationship of the brothers' was just a notch above Gokudera's relationship with his sister. The only bright side was the fact that the sight of G's face didn't send Gokudera into a heap of fevered chills and convulsions. "So early? What for?" he asked before taking his place on the table and immediately scooping up a spoonful of egg and stuffing his face. Still too hot, he realized belatedly, and he ended up spitting it back out and blowing at it.

"G said something about getting a head start on some investigation and Gokudera went after him saying he wanted to make sure G didn't 'stick his nose where it doesn't belong'." She giggled. "It's so sweet that Gokudera wants to keep his brother out of trouble. What with the pickpockets and the gangs showing up lately, it's always good to be cautious."

Well she wasn't exactly wrong per se. Gokudera preventing G from discovering who the Vongola was probably in the best interests of everyone

His mom let out a fond sigh. "They remind me of Yasu-kun and you when you two were little. Ieyasu never could stay in for long and you never wanted to be left behind."

The second attempt to eat was much more successful, and Tsuna dutifully nodded his head to whatever his mom was saying as he swallowed down his food. While the part about him and his brother were true, the motivation for Gokudera and G to do so couldn't be farther apart. For one, Tsuna never stalked his brother with the intention of sabotaging his investigation(which Giotto did occasionally - investigating that is - because even at Tsuna's age he was making himself out to be the self-appointed protector of the people). For another, Giotto's primary reason for going out was that he knew Tsuna would always follow him no matter where he went and had likely hoped that making him go out would help Tsuna get over his trauma against everything beyond their front yard. Which was successful obviously as otherwise Tsuna would have never had the courage to walk to school in the first place.

Speaking of his brother, what happened to him and the plane anyways? G had never really explained.

Thinking along the same lines, his mom asked aloud, "I wonder what happened to Ieyasu last night though. I hope it wasn't anything too serious."

"I'm sure he's fine, Maman," spoke up Reborn as he polished up the last of his own breakfast. "He's a tough one unlike Tsuna."

"Don't tack on my name at the end just so you can compare us!" yelled Tsuna.

"I know, but I can't help but worry."

"And don't agree with him so easily, Mom!" Although Tsuna knew it was the truth.

The conversation only devolved from there as the problem child made himself known. "Between Lambo-san and Yasu, who do you love more?" asked Lambo to Tsuna's mom. He'd been so oddly well-behaved since yesterday that Tsuna hadn't really taken notice of his existence until now. Maybe Lambo had already recognized the threat Giotto posed to his position of Nana's most beloved child. But to ask that question, the dreaded 'which child is your favorite' question...Not even Tsuna, her actual child, ever dared asked - but that was mostly because he already knew the answer.

As if she never heard the question, Tsuna's mom moved on to wiping down the kitchen stovetop as she hummed a jaunty tune to herself, her actions yelling out the answer even louder than words. It's Giotto! It's definitely Giotto! However, not everyone got the hint and Lambo pressed on, bouncing on his seat. "Well? Well? Who is it! Who does Mama love more?" He was practically asking for heartbreak at this point.

Before the situation could get out of hand, Tsuna intervened. "I'm sure mom loves you two equally," he said, giving Lambo the same answer he was spoon fed many times growing up alongside his brother. Outdone by his brother who excelled in almost every subject, Tsuna supposed the only reason he hadn't ended up with an extreme inferiority complex (and only a minor one) was because 'every subject' also happened to include 'being an amazingly attentive older brother'. "She just loves you two in different ways."

"I wanna hear Mama say it!" was of course the brats response.

"Of course, I love you. You never have to worry about that," replied Tsuna's mom at last. "Oh and you too, Tsuna!" she added in afterthought. Tsuna didn't have anything to say to that or to the fact his mother was still avoiding the question. Luckily, Lambo was at that age where having an attention span of even one minute was considered impressive and was only too happy to accept the non-answer.

"Haha! You hear that? Lambo-san is number one!" Actually, Tsuna never heard anything of the sort, but he was willing to let it slide. The last thing Tsuna wanted to do was upset Lambo, especially when the end result ranged from anything to a spectacular explosion to Tsuna waking up in his own casket and especially when the house was potentially under watch by his brother's vigilante spies.

Though how they never figured out something was up with Tsuna and a baby that open-carried a gun up until now was beyond him. Maybe his brother, or at least his brother's ability to pick out subordinates, wasn't nearly as impressive as Tsuna had imagined as a child. Or maybe it was because Giotto's ability to pick out subordinates simply couldn't match Reborn's ability to silence them. That last thought sent a chill down Tsuna's spine, and he only resisted the urge to inch away from the Reborn because he knew that neither a meter nor a mile would be enough distance to save him from the hitman.

It turned out the last thought was also much closer to reality than Tsuna expected (because while he knew Reborn had 'silenced' people before, he didn't think the hitman had done anything recently). And when Reborn abruptly declared he was "bored" and turned on the television to the news station, it was just in time to catch the anchors discussing a plane crash of a flight that'd been heading to Japan from Italy. Tsuna didn't believe Reborn turning on the news at that moment was a coincidence or for that matter Giotto's delayed flight.

"-ue to an unexpected failure of the engine, the plane took a nosedive halfway between its point of departure and its destination. Fortunately, thanks to the efforts of the flight crew and two very brave, young men, the plane only took minimal damage and the passengers were evacuated with relatively little injuries. On to other news-"

"Oh dear! Wasn't that Yasu-kun's flight?"

Reborn shook his head. "No, G said Giotto wasn't able to get to his plane on time and had to wait for the next one after you fell asleep." Which was a bald-faced lie as Reborn had fallen asleep even sooner than Tsuna's mom, and Tsuna, who'd stayed up last because he was so worried about seeing his brother, hadn't heard G say anything to that effect.

"Phew. That's not like him at all but I suppose him being late this one time is a relief," said his mom, letting out the breath she'd been holding. "By the way, did G mention when Giotto should be coming then?"

"Tonight for sure," said Reborn.

"Perfect! Then I still have time to go the grocery store. It's a good thing Ieyasu didn't come. I didn't realize we had so little ingredients last night!" Tsuna's mom picked up her purse and headed towards the door with Lambo and I-Pin trailing after her. "Have at fun school, Tsu-kun, and don't forget to tie your shoes this time!" She waved.

"Alright, mom!"

Only when his mom closed the door behind her did Tsuna turn around to Reborn, point an accusing finger at him and yelled, "What the heck were you trying to do to Giotto-nii! Murder him?!"

"I see you're instinct is improving, Tsuna. You were able to determine the culprit in an instant," said Reborn approvingly. He calmly took another sip of orange juice as if he hadn't almost sent Tsuna's brother to a fiery, screaming death.

"It doesn't take a genius to figure out you have something to do with this!"

"Your selling yourself short, Tsuna," disagreed Reborn. "As for what I did, I only asked some agents from the Vongola delay your brother's return by any means necessary."

"Nearly crashing his plane is delaying him?! He could have died!"

"Then the plan would still be a success. After all, if he never comes, we've delayed him forever haven't we?" replied Reborn. Of course Reborn would see it that way. Tsuna supposed he could only thank the stars that the agents hadn't been too liberal with Reborn's 'any means' and had stopped at only sabotaging the plane's engine during mid-flight.

Tsuna sighed. "Does Giotto-nii at least not know the Vongola had something to do with it?" He rather not add to the long list of crimes attributed to the Decimo which he was totally not responsible for no matter what Reborn said.

"Your brother was considered one of the most brilliant detectives in the field while he was still working with the Italian police force. Some in the family would go so far to say he has an intuition that rivals the Vongola Primo's."

That would be a resounding 'Yes' then.

xXx

If there was one thing Tsuna did honestly appreciate about the mafia, it would have to be the all the friends he met because of it. Though he could have done without over half of them trying to kill at one point or another, but that was life (in the mafia at least). For example, the boy with an all too familiar mop of red hair and slumped shoulders Tsuna could see walking ahead of him in the distance already in front of the school gates.

"Enma!" The other boy didn't seem to notice him as he kept walking along so Tsuna tried again, running after him. "Enma, wait up!" He called. "En-uwaah!" Having only been looking at his friend's back, he missed spotting the rock on the pavement that sent him hurtling forward into Enma and sending them both to the ground. At least that was one way to get his attention.

"Ow..."

"Ouch. Sorry about that, Enma" Tsuna apologized as he lifted himself off the ground and ignored the giggling of his fellow classmates who were still lingering by the gates. He offered his friend a hand. Enma took it as he brushed off the dirt from his pants.

"It's fine, Tsuna" Enma said, waving off Tsuna's concern before he seemed to realize who he was talking to. His eyes widened. "Eh? Tsuna?!" Enma gripped Tsuna by the shoulders. "Why are you at school? You shouldn't be here!" He hurriedly twisted Tsuna around and started pushing him out the gates before Tsuna could even begin to form a response.

"Wh-what?" Tsuna tripped over himself a little as his friend kept shoving him out of the school.

"Didn't Reborn tell you anything? It's dangerous for you to go to school today! You have to get out of here now!" Enma determinedly continued to push him on.

"B-but Enma-" Tsuna attempted to warn the other boy, but it was already too late.

"It'd be irresponsible as the member of the Disciplinary Committee if I let students ditch school under my watch - even if it is only two little animals trying to slip by."

"HIII! Hibari!" Tsuna tried to swallow past the sudden dryness that overtook his throat as he back peddled into Enma and away from the prefect standing in between them and the school gates. "I-It's not what it looks like! I swear! E-Enma and me weren't ditching!"

Hibari tilted his head to the side in question. "No?"

Tsuna tried to fudge up a reasonable lie. "Umm yeah, we were. Umm." Didn't know which direction the school was at? No, who would fall for that (except Kyoko's brother and Kyoko)? Forgot his homework at home? Nah, by now everyone knew Tsuna almost never did his homework. Why would he? His grades were already rock bottom anyways.

"Sick!" Enma finally blurted out, sweating a little. "I-I th-thought Tsuna looked a little sick, and it would be better if he went home to get better instead of going to school."

Frozen in terror, Tsuna couldn't even will himself to fake a cough as Hibari looked at him from head to toe for a sign of his presumed 'sickness'. "He doesn't look sick to me," declared Hibari once he'd finished his examination, each prowling step forward,matched by the 'little animals' taking a step back. "But I suppose if you two want to go to the hospital so badly, I'd be more than willing to provide a reason." The prefect drew his tonfas and posed to strike.

"HIIEEE! Please don't!"

"Run, Tsuna! Get out of the school! I'll stay behind and buy you some time!"

Fortunately, Lady Luck was on their side today. "You three!" called out a man's voice from the distance, "Just what do you kids think you're doing?" Someone actually dared to reprimand the prefect? Tsuna turned around to look at who the dead man was. With a crew cut and tattoos on each muscled forearm, it must be the new school staff member Tsuna vaguely recalled he only started seeing around the campus last week. Though what actual position he held in the school, Tsuna didn't know, but he looked like he'd be right at home as a bouncer for some club. At the very least he wasn't a member of the mafia if Reborn's words were to be trusted which was all that really mattered to him - one less crazy mafioso to keep in check.

"Fulfilling my duties as a member of the Disciplinary Committee," replied Hibari evenly. "Are you going to get in my way?"

It was probably only because the man was new that he didn't immediately start simpering and begging for forgiveness like the other school staff at the underlying threat in the prefect's voice. "I'm not sure about that, but all the students should be lining up for their health examination now. No exceptions," explained the man. "The sooner we deal with this epidemic, the less chance it has to spread among the children."

A legitimate, reasonable excuse. Unfortunately, no one would ever accuse Hibari of being 'reasonable' so it was a very long moment in which Enma and Tsuna held their breaths before Hibari finally let go of his stance. "Hmph. Fine, there's bigger prey out here today to bite to death anyways" said Hibari miraculously accepting the excuse and leaving with that ominous note. Knowing the battle hungry Cloud Guardian, any 'prey' that caught his interest was more trouble than Tsuna ever wanted to deal with.

Able to breathe freely at last, Tsuna looked to the man who turned out to be their savior. "Whew. Thanks for that, mister!" He thought they were goners for sure!

The man gave a kind smile in response that didn't quite match with his grisly appearance. "It's Amedea," said the man offering his name. "And don't think about it. It'd be pretty bad if anything happened to the boss' little brother while I was on the job." Relief was swiftly supplanted by worry again as working for Tsuna's brother could only mean one thing in this situation. Suddenly, the man - Amedea - being just another crazy mafioso didn't sound too bad. At least then Tsuna wouldn't have to worry about tiptoeing around the man to hide his identity and could deal with the man the old fashion mafia way.

...Without the killing of course! Tsuna mentally berated himself after he realized what he'd just been thinking. Reborn's teaching was far more effective than he thought. This was only the first sign - corrupting him into thinking like a mafia boss and solving most of his problems with his fists! Or at least it was some number sign if he counted all the crimes committed under his name that were mostly Reborn's fault.

Oblivious to rising Vongola boss' inner turmoil, Enma looked to the man and asked, "So that means you work for Giotto too?"

"The very one Sawada Giotto." He paused in thought. "Huh, that doesn't have a very nice ring to it when you say it all together like that. No wonder he doesn't use his last name too much." He shook his head to clear it before returning to the topic. "But you said 'too' as in you do also or you know more of the guys and what we're doing?"

Enma nodded and gave a weak smile. "I knew a guy. My brother. He and Giotto used to work together." Tsuna perked up at the information, forgetting his minor break down. He never knew his friend had an older brother. Then again, Enma never really talked about his family for good reason considering what had happened to the family Tsuna did know Enma had. It wasn't hard to imagine that whatever had happened to Enma's brother could be just as bad if not worse.

"Ah! I thought I recognized you. Red hair and those freaky eyes, I can't believe I didn't see it sooner. You're one of the Shimon kids, Cozart's little brother! It's been so long since I've seen him since that-" Amedea's quickly shut his mouth probably realizing this wasn't really a topic that should be continued.

"Don't worry about it," said Enma. "I'm the one who brought it up in the first place." His voice didn't shake and his expression didn't seem to really change, but Tsuna felt he should offer at least some form of comfort and place a hand on his friend's shoulder to remind Enma that Tsuna was there for him. "Thanks, Tsuna."

"Well then ahh..." Amedea trailed off a little at loss of words having sensed the dramatic shift in the mood.

"You said something about a health inspection?" Tsuna prompted. "There won't be any shots will there? Because, umm, I think I'm allergic to needles. In fact, do we really have to go?"

All to happy to go along with the change back to their original topic, Amedea replied, "Nonsense! I've seen your entire medical history! The only thing you're allergic to is penicillin and apparently going in for your vaccination shots. You didn't even finish your HPV series of shots and it's been two years. Also when you were twelve you had to get stitches for your forehead because you didn't do your pants all the way and got them caught on the rai-"

"Why do you know all this?!" Weren't medical records supposed to be private? This was a massive breach in confidentiality!

"With your brother's permission, I got access to your records to plan out protecting you accordingly. Did you know nowadays poison is the number two preferred method of assassination? You never have to see your target face to face and sometimes you can even disguise it as a common allergic reaction!"

"Anyways, so about the health inspection," continued Amedea. "I suppose since you're the boss' little brother, you can be in the 'know', and I'm pretty sure Kozato is already aware of some of the details." He looked around the front of the school that had almost completely emptied except for a few stragglers as school was about to start and pulled the boys into a huddle. "So listen here, the reality is this ain't a standard health check. It's an inspection meant to weed out the mafioso from the civies."

Tsuna's eyes widened in horror. "What? How?!" What type of test was it? Did it count him as a mafioso if we was an unwilling member of the mafia? He turned to Enma who only gave him a meaningful look and nodded. So this was why Enma was so desperate to get him out of the school.

Misinterpreting Tsuna's terror as being scared at the mention of the mafia rather than his actual fear of being discovered as a member of the mafia, Amedea comforted him. "Not that you have worry with me and your brother around. I'm a ninth degree black belt, and I don't think I've ever seen Giotto ever lose a fight. Guy's got killer intuition." That was exactly what Tsuna was worrying about. "As for the test, I won't get into too much detail because that would require more information than I think your brother wants you to know, so I'll keep it simple. This particular mafia group specializes in a certain fighting style that involves a lot of fire and the fire leaves a residue that we can test the students for, got it?"

Tsuna nodded "Yeah, I think I kinda get it." So they had a method to test for residual Dying Will Flames. Then not only was he in trouble but his friends as well! He had to somehow warn them all somehow. At least Gokudera was out chasing his brother, and he was pretty sure Chrome was skipping school like she usually did most days of the week to follow Mukuro. Also Giotto probably already knew Enma and his friends were in the mafia based on Amedea knowing about the Shimon, but what could he do about the others?

"I don't get it," spoke up Enma. "What would a big famiglia like the Vongola do with a couple of high schoolers?"

Amedea shook his head. "No point in questioning the mafia's methods when it can be summed in two words: they're scum. The way I hear it, they even got babies being trained up to be hitmen." Little did Amedea know the babies weren't simply hitman-in-training but trained hitman. "And the Decimo may be some spoiled brat around your age. Did you hear he was practically just gifted the position? He didn't have to do anything except wait around for the other Decimo candidates to die. But I wouldn't put it past the next-in-line had a hand in shanking them." Also very close to the truth, but not quite on the mark. It was actually Xanxus who killed off the other three. Though how much Giotto and his group already knew about Tsuna and the Vongola was already concerning.

"Now that's enough talking from me. I think it's about time you two went off to the health clinic to get checked," said Amedea leading them back towards the school with a hand on each of their shoulders.

Tsuna shook him off. "Wait, wait! Do you think we could skip out? Since Giotto already knows about Enma, and I'm technically his little brother."

"Hah! It's because you're your brother's younger brother that you're a prime suspect!"

"HIIEE?!"

"Or you would be if it wasn't so obvious you were a complete weakling. Err-" Amedea nervously cut himself off and quickly scanned the area back and forth. "Woops, sorry kid. It just slipped out. Could you do me a favor and not mention it to G or Giotto. I think G's pretty much adopted you as his only kid brother in his head."

"No, no, I understand," said Tsuna waving him off. He was used to the comment. And it was somewhat refreshing that for once in his life having a reputation as a wimp was actually proving to be useful for once. Although he did wonder what it was that could have made him the prime suspect. "But I don't see why you're worried about Giotto-nii."

"Heh." The man scoffed. "Neither do most people, but I know better. He may not do anything directly but I don't think he's above mentioning it to G off hand." Amedea shuddered. "Anyway, I guess it shouldn't be too big of a deal if you skip. In fact, why don't I treat you two out for ice cream to make up for the slip ups earlier?" He asked slowing down their walk until they came to a halt right in front of the steps.

It was an easy escape but Tsuna still wasn't too sure how he could warn his friends in time. Plus something in the back of his mind was bugging him. Were his friends in danger already? Maybe he could convince Amedea to let them skip too. "Umm... How about I get-" He was interrupted by another man with glasses and a lab coat that stepped out of the building.

"Great, Amedea. You brought the boy. We've already gone through all the other suspicious candidates. Now we need this one," said the man with glasses grabbing Tsuna by his upper arm.

"Not even a hello, Doc?" replied Amedea but he only got an impatient eye roll and a beckoning gesture of the doctor's hand. Amedea gave his own eye roll in turn. "Come on, I'm sure it'll be just fine if we let the kid off the hook. I mean just look at him!" He gestured to Tsuna. "All skin and bones and barely fifteen. There's no way he's involved and even if he was I'm sure Giotto and his so-called 'hyper intuition' would know if anything was up with his own kid brother."

"Giotto also hasn't left Italy for over two years which would be around the same time frame the current boss candidate was chosen. In addition to that, the boy is of the bloodline and I received a tip."

"Tch. So is Giotto but we aren't hauling him in for interrogation," retorted Amedea. "And a tip? We're always getting 'tips' and all of them are as unbelievable as the other. You know how many times a day I got some scum swearing up and down that Reborn is some forty centimeter tall baby?" Amedea spat on the ground. "Whatever. Shouldn't take too long anyways." He turned to Tsuna. "Feel free to meet up with us when you're done."

Enma scratched the back of his head and moved towards the school alongside Tsuna. "Actually, I think I'll pass for today," he said. "I really think I don't feel too well after all. I should go with Tsuna to health clinic for a regular health inspection."

"Oh, another time then," said the tattooed man only a little put out. "I guess I'll just see you two kids around then. Invitations always open." With that Amedea left with a lazy wave of his hand.

"Bye, Amedea-san!" called out Tsuna as the man walked away and looked back to the man who'd gotten a painfully, tight grip around his arm. "Could you, um, not hold onto my arm so tightly? I think I'm losing the feeling in my hands."

The man only huffed and ignored him dragging him towards the school as Tsuna began trying to struggle lose. For a man that looked like an average scientist, his grip was unusually strong. He tried shaking him off harder and when that didn't work out, he tried to reason with him. "Amedea-san was right you know. I'm not sure who you think I am but there's no way I can be anyone dangerous. Have you looked at my grades? Or better yet, my P.E scores?" Still no reaction and with each step they took closer the more desperate Tsuna's pleas became.

"I still can't sleep in the dark!"

"I don't know the difference between ham and sausage!"

"I'm scared of moths, can't drink coffee, and don't know the multiplication table for any number over 7!"

The man was unshakeable though and neither Tsuna nor Enma could do anything about it without being overtly suspicious. "Then a little test should be harmless," replied the man simply as he kept walking. Sighing in defeat with nothing gained - except that now Enma knew more about Tsuna than Tsuna had ever wanted him to know -, Tsuna could only let himself be quietly dragged the rest of the way to health clinic. It wasn't long after that, that they all arrived at their destination.

"If you could leave the room, Kozato-kun. Health examinations are supposed to be private affairs after all. There should be another member of the staff ready for you shortly."

"It's fine!" cried out Tsuna, holding out a hand to prevent Enma from leaving. "It's definitely fine! In fact, I'd feel much better if Enma was in the room with us! Er, if that's not a problem with you, Enma?"

"I don't mind at all."

At least Tsuna had that going for him. Then he spotted a familiar nuisance seated on the white sheets of the medical bed. "What the heck is Longchamp doing here?!"

Longchamp raised a hand and gave him a toothy grin. "Long time no see, my most favorite bro in the world!" Tsuna had a very strong feeling where the man got his tip from and just as he predicted, Longchamp admitted, "I'm the one who sold you out! It's great, huh? Sticking true to the mafia spirit with good old-fashion, friendly backstabbing! It's the best way to test the bond between you and your allies!" There was nothing friendly about this! Although, Tsuna could almost see how it would seem that way to the more than somewhat addle-minded Longchamp.

Tsuna was speechless so it was a good thing he had Enma around to pick up the slack. "Are you sure it's okay to trust this guy?" Enma asked, pointing a finger a Longchamp. "I'm not sure if the group has this information already, but Longchamp is a part of the mafia. He might be lying to you to turn us against ourselves."

"What's this?" asked Longchamp. He slipped off the bed, wedged himself between Tsuna and Enma, and slung an arm over the Shimon boss' shoulders. Longchamp wasn't phased at all when Enma brushed his hand off. "Misdirection and deception? I like your style, Kozato-chan. Why don't you join me and Tsuna in our brotherhood? You're a kid mafia boss like us so together we can form the best Mafia Boss Bro Trio! Or better yet, let's test the Vongola's strength together! It'll be just our two families though because all the Longchamp's old allies haven't stopped trying to test our bond. We can call ourselves the 'No-Name Alliance' and the Vongola Alliance could be our ultimate rivals!"

No-name Alliance? Even Tsuna could see that was just sad.

"Somehow, I doubt he has the mental capacity for such a scheme," said the doctor with a tired shake of head. "Besides, we've already discovered one student who might be involved." He pulled out a plastic bag with a small square of blue paper roughly an inch in width and held it out under a desk light. "An abnormally high purity Rain Attribute if I'm not mistaken. We got this sample from a boy in the baseball team."

Tsuna's eyes widened as he realized the only person that could possibly be.

"Ah," said the doctor noticing the look. "You seem to recognize who the owner of this sample is, or you at least have an idea." The doctor's eyes narrowed at Tsuna. "Though I suppose that shouldn't be surprising if you are who I think you are."

"What do you mean you 'think', man? I totally told you everything!"

The doctor let out a long suffering sigh. "Yes, yes. I suppose you did, Mr. Longchamp."

"I really don't know what you guys are talking about," replied Tsuna, shaking his head in denial.

"Is that so?" The man smiled, perking up again as he put Longchamp's existence out of mind before he put the Yamamoto's sample away before pulling out another sheet of paper from a separate bag. This time it was pure white. "Well this should help clear matters up." He handed Tsuna the paper. "Put this on your tongue for five minutes and don't swallow it. If you're a normal civilian as you'd like us to believe, the paper shouldn't change color much. Also don't think about trying to slip away. Your brother posted only the very best protectors to guard the school, and you'll barely be able to leave the room before they catch you."

Tsuna obediently took the slip and did what he was told for a lack of anything better to do, but almost couldn't help very nearly swallowing the paper regardless at what the man pulled out next while they waited for the results. It was a folder which Tsuna could only assumed was the medical record of another student. Except it couldn't be just any student, because stapled to one of the files was a bag containing a bright yellow slip of paper. "Sasagawa Ryohei..." The doctor hummed before tossing the folder to the side and muttering to himself. "Useless. Someone obviously didn't read the record that said we put him on observation before for his Flames. He's just a natural case."

At least that meant Kyoko's brother was in the clear. He tried his best not to let his relief at the news be too visible to the man but was spared the effort when salvation arrived - or at a lesser form of evil than the man across from Tsuna. ...Actually scratch that, in that regard, nothing surpassed the baby hitman.

Reborn walked in the room. "I heard you say something about being sick, Enma. Why don't you go the other clinic room to get yourself checked out," he said in a clear dismissal. How long had Reborn been following them anyways to have overheard that? Typical that he'd only show up now.

"But-!" began Enma but at Reborn's glare he wilted a little. He gave Tsuna an apologetic glance. "Sorry about this, Tsuna."

With the paper in his mouth he couldn't talk so Tsuna simply shook his head to indicate he'd be fine - for a certain definition of fine at least which Enma probably understood well enough based on the guilty smile and wave he gave before leaving.

"You too, Longchamp. Get out of here."

"Okie dokie!"

"And who might you be?" asked the doctor to Reborn once the door slammed shut behind Longchamp.

But Reborn simply ignored him in favor of reprimanding Tsuna. "Dame-Tsuna. It's because you lack conviction that no one believes you when you say things like 'I'm not the Vongola Decimo'."

"Should I take that as your confession as you being the Vongola Decimo?"

Unable to open his mouth as it was occupied with holding the sample paper, he could only shake his head vigorously from left to right to defend himself. He didn't confess anything! He wasn't even the one who talked and even if he did talk there wasn't anything to confess because technically he wasn't even the Vongola Decimo! The Inheritance Ceremony never went through! Although the fact the paper in his mouth was likely the very brilliant orange of the Sky Flame right about now probably wouldn't do him any favors of convincing people of that.

As if reading his mind, the doctor continued on. "No matter, the results may well be as good as a confession. Sawada-kun, if you could give me the paper back now."

Tsuna was frozen in indecision.

Reborn only sighed in disappointment. "I suppose now is as good a time as any to teach you a lesson in conviction." Reborn walked up to where Tsuna had seated himself for the examination and placed a shotgun on his lap.

"What type of conviction is that?!" yelled out Tsuna in shock, completely forgetting about the paper in his mouth.

"Aha. A solid orange as expected," observed the doctor, adjusting his glasses and leaning in for a better look. Tsuna yelped and slapped a hand over his mouth although it was already too late. How the doctor noticed that and not the gun was beyond Tsuna. Maybe it was because Reborn was a baby and the man thought the gun was just a toy.

"I'll demonstrate first," said Reborn drawing out Leon in pistol form and pointing it at the man. "The color you saw wasn't orange."

"Cute model," said the doctor pushing the gun by the barrel to the side. Just as Tsuna thought, the man figured it was a fake. "But do you think I'm color blind? Of course it was-" The shot wiffed his ear by a hair's width and pierced the wall behind the man.

"That was just a warning shot. Keep going like that and I'll make it so you can never walk again."

"-not orange. In fact, who said anything about orange? I didn't see anything! I promise! Don't kill me!" The doctor completely lost his earlier composure and hurriedly scrambled back in his chair.

"See, Tsuna?" said Reborn looking back to his student. "This is the power of conviction. It's a useful skill if you want to be a decent mafia boss worth his salt. Now it's your turn. Take up the shotgun I gave you and say after me, 'I am not the Vongola Decimo.'"

"That wasn't conviction! That was just plain threatening! Also I don't even wanted to be a mafia boss! In fact, I'm not even really the Vongola Decimo yet!" said Tsuna shoving the gun in his lap back to Reborn.

"Close but not quite what I wanted you to say. Also, you weren't pointing the gun in the right direction."

"Argh!" Tsuna cried out as he dropped the gun to the floor and threw his hands in the air in frustration.

There was knock at the door. "Hey, doctor! Everything okay in there?" Tsuna's squeal of terror was swiftly cut off before it even began by the heel of Reborn's foot. It must have been one of the 'protectors' the doctor had talked about that had overheard the gunshot.

"Umm..." The doctor looked between Tsuna choking on the ground and Reborn expectantly tapping his pistol against the palm of his hand. "Y-yeah. E-Every's doing just f-fine," he said towards the door. "Nothing suspicious going on here at all!"

"I guess if you're sure. Just yell if anything comes up."

"Yes, of course!"

It was only after the protector's footsteps could no longer be heard that Reborn let Leon transform back to his normal state. "Now that that's dealt with, I think it's time to go home, Tsuna."

"Ehh? But school should still be in session right now, right? Also what about the doctor and Ya- I mean, you know-" Tsuna barely caught himself from saying Yamamoto's name out loud.

"Classes were canceled again to make time for the medical examinations. As for the doctor and your friend, you won't have to worry. I'll take care of the rest," cut in Reborn which did nothing to ease Tsuna's fears. Although he supposed he wouldn't have to worry about Yamamoto. Giotto's hired help on the other hand was another story altogether.

"If you say so..."

xXx

Meanwhile, in the other medical room, Enma just finished up his own actual examination as the nurse wouldn't let him leave until she performed a thorough checkup. He lifted his tongue for the nurse to jab a thermometer in for a few minutes and then pulled it out.

"No fever," said the nurse as she pulled out a stethoscope and placed it on his bare chest. "No irregularities here either." She sighed and shook her head. "As I far as I can tell, you're the picture of health. I suggest you sleep it off and if the discomfort gets worse, seek out your physician."

"Okay," said Enma who expected as much as there had been nothing wrong in the first place. He just needed an excuse to follow Tsuna although like many things Enma did, it didn't seem to be much help. In the end, Reborn had been the one to take care of everything. And while Enma was pretty sure he had heard a gunshot, he didn't think Reborn would do anything as permanent as murder with Tsuna around.

As if summoned by his thoughts, as the nurse walked out the baby hitman came in. "It's good to see your condition wasn't serious," said Reborn. "Although, I believe there wasn't an issue in the first place."

"That obvious?" asked Enma as he began buttoning up the uniform shirt he had to open for the examination.

"You're only a little better than Tsuna acting, but I guess what you lack in acting ability, you more than make up for with loyalty. If there's at least one thing about Tsuna that's boss material, it's his ability to inspire such faithfulness in his allies. He'll make for a great boss someday."

"I'm sure he will," agreed Enma easily. After all, if there was anyone he could trust to lead a powerful famiglia like the Vongola, it would have to be Tsuna. Tsuna had never (knowingly) let him down and if anyone could reform the Vongola, it could only be him. Enma finished buttoning his shirt and stood up from his chair to examine himself and wasn't very surprised when he discovered he'd done all the buttons one slot off from their correct positions.

"Oh, no objections? Not to Tsuna becoming the Vongola's leader or even on Tsuna's behalf since he doesn't want to become the boss?"

Enma shook his head negatively. "The Vongola would do good to have a boss like Tsuna and while I don't think he'll agree with it for a long time, he may eventually turn around. After all, Tsuna wants to protect his friends and with a lot of them having ties to the mafia, he'll have to dirty his hands sometimes. Becoming a boss would help that - or at least that's what I did," said Enma with a rueful smile. "Although if anyone could find another solution, it would be Tsuna. So even if he chooses not to become the Vongola Decimo, I'll stand by his decision."

He stared Reborn straight in the eye. "That's why you're here right - to make sure I stick to our agreement and not let Giotto know so Tsuna can make his own choice?" Enma didn't need to wait for the affirmation. "Don't worry, I will and not because you're blackmailing me. Giotto won't hear a thing from me. I know he only wants to keep Tsuna safe but he'd take the decision out of Tsuna's hands."

"The blackmail is just reassurance. Though it isn't very useful considering you want to tell Giotto yourself: the fact you already knew who the Vongola Decimo was and snuck behind his back to kill his younger brother. You very nearly succeeded too." A cruel reminder, but no less than Enma felt he deserved.

"It's only right that I own up for what I did," said Enma looking down at his hands. Even if Tsuna had forgiven him, Enma still hadn't forgotten the feel of slowly choking life out of his friend. And while he'd never really been too close to Giotto as he'd been more of Cozart's friend, Giotto had tried to be there for him as best he could after what happened to Enma's brother. The truth of what he had done and almost did do to the man's brother was the least he owed him.

"Either way, Kozato, I'm glad you can see this situation from my perspective. Tsuna should be able to make his own decisions even if they go against his brother's will."

xXx

As Tsuna walked home, he wondered again if it would really be so bad if he just came clean and told his brother everything. At least that way Giotto could stop a certain baby hitman from constantly forcing his will on Tsuna to become the next Vongola boss.