"Hello, my little Tsuna-fish! I'm home~"

Tsuna didn't know if he could outrun Iemitsu. His body was too tired and his arm was still sore from Takeshi's 'accident'. Not to mention the hellish training regime that Reborn had put on his shoulders was still putting a damper on his muscles. So, overall, he wasn't feeling all that great and probably would have collapsed if he tried to escape the man in front of boy wondered what he should do though. He hadn't seen Iemitsu for years and didn't really know how to interact with the man, much less want to. If the brunet hadn't seen the checks and occasional gifts coming in over the years, he would have assumed that the man was dead or in a coma.

An idea popped into Tsuna's mind. Oh it was an evil, terrible, brilliant idea. Nana wasn't here to reprimand him for his behavior either, so he could go about this as far as he wished. Taking a slight breath, the brunet adopted a clueless expression and asked, "Who are you?"

He watched as the man's demeanor dimmed slightly, but he continued onward with a grin, as if trying to pacify the teenager in front of him. "Neh, don't you remember me? I'm your father!"

Laughing internally, Tsuna wondered if he could make the man suffer more. "Father? You must be mistaken, my father is dead."

Surprisingly, the man didn't refute that, only laughed boisterously, "I told Nana to tell you I 'went to the stars'. I didn't mean for you to take it so literally!" Annoyed, Tsuna wondered if there was anything getting through that thick skull of his.

"That isn't what I meant."

"Oh, come on now, there's no need to be embarrassed! Any little kid told that-"

"Perhaps I should have been more clear." Silence reigned through the house as Tsuna's voice became icy and unforgiving. "My father is dead to me."A cold feeling was in the pit of his stomach as he realized the enormity of his feelings in terms of Iemitsu leaving. Simply put, he had to affection or effort left for the man who was married to his mother.

The silence was deafening. Iemitsu seemed frozen with that stupid smile still plastered on his face and one hand in the air that he had been using for emphasis. Tsuna didn't feel anymore amusement nor did he feel guilty. It was just an old, numb feeling; something that had been embraced and accepted a long time ago.

"Now, if you excuse me, I have some important matters to take care of." Now, despite not caring about Iemitsu anymore, he was still irritated with the man for that way he treated Nana (His treatment of Tsuna was to be expected at this point). Parroting the words that he had said over and over again to blow off their family time was sure to have stung but at the moment Tsuna couldn't care less. Instead, he brushed past the shocked man and out the door, forgoing breakfast entirely.

He didn't run when he was outside. Part of the reason being that his muscles were still sore and he didn't want to overdo them. Instead he walked toward the park. Not the one near his house, but the one closer to the city. He didn't want Iemitsu to come looking for him and the nearby crowds would make it easier to blend in with everyone else if he needed a quick escape.

Coming up to the park, he plopped down on a swing, noticing how empty is was around him, Tsuna decided he would stay here for the day. He didn't want to risk going home, not like this. He smiled as some children trickled in, playing with one another without a care in the world.

"No way! You can't play with us!" Looking over at the commotion, he saw an odd sight. A young boy, maybe about five, was wearing a cow-print onesie, an afro adorned on his head. The kid was crying as some older children were surrounding him, arms crossed and wrinkled noses. "You look weird, why are you even here?"

Frowning, Tsuna got up from his spot, wincing at the sudden movements his body was protesting, he made his way over to the children. "Oi!" He said, a bit harshly, as he wasn't in the mood for bullying of any sort. "If you don't want to play with him then leave him alone." The kids looked like they were about to say something, but the brunet matched their glances with his own pissed off one. They thought better and decided to leave to the swingset that Tsuna abandoned.

Sighing as the older kids left, Tsuna focused his attention on the crying child in front of him. Kneeling, the brunet wondered just how he would get the strange cow-child to stop crying. Reaching in his pocket, the thirteen-year old was able to produce a piece of candy. Waving it at the boy, Tsuna was able to immediately get his attention. Smiling, he offered the candy that was soon devoured by the sniffling five-year-old.

"There now, it's not so bad." The boy nodded his agreement as he savored the candy, trying to wipe away the crocodile tears that still strayed down his cheeks. Tsuna frown before reaching in his pocket again to take out a handkerchief and started to wipe the boy's face clean. "Now that that's all over, where are your parents?"

The boy hiccuped, stuttering as he tried to speak, "L-Lambo-sama doesn't need them! Lambo-s-sama is a hitman!"

If Tsuna hadn't been through what he had in the past few weeks, he probably would have notched it down as a child's imagination. As it was, something was telling him that Lambo was a normal child, not like Reborn, despite his afro. Still, to think the boy was a proper hitman . . . .

Eyes narrowing, Tsuna decided that he didn't like the thought, not at all. Huffing, the brunet decided to change things for Lambo. He quickly smiled at the child and asked, "Hey, Lambo, how would you like to play with me?"

Lambo, despite only being five, was very much aware at how the world worked. Or at least, the Mafia world. He also had a fine grasp on what was expected of him and how much he could toe the line. He also knew what death meant and what it meant to be a hitman.

He didn't, however, understand how normal children worked. He didn't understand how cruel they could be to anything slightly different than what their parents have presented to them. He didn't understand why no one liked his clothes (as they were very comfortable and cool-looking) or liked his hairstyle (as he was able to fit all of his toys in there!). So when they started saying mean things about them, he could only cry in confusion, despite his efforts of toleration.

So when the really cool Nii-chan came up and scared the bullies off (and even gave him candy), he was very happy. Nii-chan even played with Lambo-sama afterwards! After that Lambo had the best day ever! As Nii-chan got him a sandwich and grapes for lunch and some ice cream a few hours later ("You wouldn't want to stuff yourself all at once, Lambo.) he also played with him in-between. It wasn't until the sky had turned orange and the warmth of the day was declining that Lambo started yawning. Nii-chan had let him ride piggy-back, which felt good on his tired, little body. He was about to ask Nii-chan if they could do this again someday, maybe tomorrow, when the world got a bit hazy as his eyes felt heavy.

Yes, Lambo had a good day. The best.

Tsuna smiled at the sleeping child on his back before shifting his weight to a more comfortable position for his back. It looked like he couldn't sleep in the park tonight, not with Lambo, so he sighed and decided to make the trek for home.

As the kid wasn't able to tell him where his parents were, he vaguely considered taking him to a police officer before discarding the idea. Lambo was probably a part of the Mafia and as such wouldn't be taken back from the police in a normal manner. No, it was better that he just took him home for the night and let him sleep.

As he came up to the house, Tsuna decided to scout around it for any sign of Iemitsu. Looking in the window he was able to see the man passed out on his couch, snoring away. It looked like Nana had went to bed by the way the blanket was covering the man. Sighing in relief, Tsuna snuck in through the front door, tip-toeing up the stairs and avoiding the one creaky step, he was able to reach his room with no confrontation.

Opening his door he looked in, to see that Reborn wasn't there yet. He sighed in relief, putting Lambo on his bed and tucking him in the covers, Tsuna turned to the pile of homework he had forgotten in his anger. He sighed, going over to it to try and at least get a bit done before Reborn decided to maim him. Lambo mumbled in his sleep, causing Tsuna to look over and watch as the boy turned and made himself more comfortable in Tsuna's bed. Smiling, the brunet turned back to his homework, knowing that whatever beating he was going to get would be worth it.