Author's Note: Revised 5/16/15

Hope you like the new version xp I know I do~

Already one month had passed and Tsunayoshi was bonded with three of the six. Luce wanted to scream. The progress was not fast enough…

But she supposed that was for the best. Skull had been easy to charm, so desperate for a loving hand to guide him. It did not take long for him to worship the ground Tsunayoshi walked on. He and Colonnello got along great when he wasn't whining. Their sense of humor was identical, although Colonnello was far older and therefore a bit more sadistic (okay, a lot more sadistic) and he liked to beat the boy up when he whined but Tsunayoshi didn't mind it. It would teach Skull to stand up for himself, even if he didn't ever learn to stand up to Colonnello and besides—Tsunayoshi knew when to step in. He wouldn't let it go too far.

He had created a psuedo-bond with Lal because she was marked by another Sky—the best he could under the circumstances—but Luce did not count her, as cruel as it seemed. After Skull had come Verde, although she knew little of how or why the scientist bonded with the young Sky, had been next. She had caught Tsunayoshi's scent on him when he was doing the dishes one evening.

Tsunayoshi wouldn't tell her anything when she asked. She did not walk away empty-handed.

"Let's just say Verde has been helping me with a condition that has affected my physical appearance."

His tattoos, she realized belatedly. They forced him into Hyper Dying Will mode on a permanent basis. Verde must have been helping him fix that.

One night, she overheard the two of them talking. It took her a while to connect the dots. When she did, she kicked herself for being so slow to catch on. "—sure it won't cause any adverse psychological effects?"

"It probably will but I need to be able to sleep eventually. This insomnia is getting out of hand. It didn't start until I was surrounded by unmarked Elements."

"...would marking one of them help?"

She could imagine Tsunayoshi staring at him, gauging if he was serious or not before rolling his eyes. "Yes but I do doubt it is as simple as that."

"Have you asked any of them?" Verde asked dryly. She imagined the way his glasses flashed when he was teasing someone in his backhanded way of doing things.

"I'm not that bold."

"Practice makes perfect—ask me."

She was startled to hear Tsunayoshi laugh. "You're funny, Doctor Verde." She felt his mood go from amused to wicked. "I doubt an old man can keep up with a teenager with raging hormones."

"Hn. I stand by my earlier words."

He laughed again. "Alright, Doctor Verde. May I mark you as my Lightning?"

She heard solid objects hitting the ground and heard Tsunayoshi hiss. "You may," The words were muffled, as though he was speaking against something. Luce left before she could hear anything else, fighting a flush. On second thought, it may have just been denial…

Luce shook herself. Verde had given in easily after Tsunayoshi had gone to him for help curing his insomnia.

She found it ironic that Tsunayoshi's insomnia was the reason Reborn was the one taking the bait instead of the other way around—Reborn wanted to mark Tsunayoshi as his. It was a problem, however, because Tsunayoshi was the alpha and Reborn was not used to being dominated. He was used to being top dog so being put in the vulnerable position it would require for Tsunayoshi to mark him would not be easy for him. It would take a wile to tame that one. She did not expect him to bond with Tsunayoshi until closer to the end of the four-month period.

Verde had come as a suprise, if she was completely honest about it. She had expected him to play hard to get but then, one night, when she heard Tsunayoshi yelp and drop a dish, she found out the reason why.

He wanted to experiment with the bond and the powers that the bond offered. Tsunayoshi, for one moment, had looked flustered with a flush painted right across his nose. His hair was ruffled and his lips were parted as something akin to waves of pleasure assaulted him telling him that Verde was not only pleased but turned on and wanting to reaffirm the bond. She had only caught a glimpse of it before the boy was gone. Colonnello's laughter had echoed into the parlor.

Even Skull was amused.

"What's so funny?" Reborn asked.

"If you were bonded to Tsunayoshi you'd know." Skull said teasing, sticking his tongue out at the assassin before dodging a Sun Flame infused kick that slammed into the wall. "Missed me." He taunted.

"Take it outside!" Tsunayoshi had called from somewhere upstairs.

Skull had pulled his eye down and stuck out his tongue before vaulting off of the balcony. Reborn followed, out for blood and hot on his heals. Luce could only sigh and shake her head.

"Reborn always gets so violent when Skull suggests it. I think he's still in the denial stage." Verde commented.

"Aren't you glad you skipped all that hassle, kora?" Colonnello asked.

"Hmm," Verde licked his lips. "I don't enjoy being pursued. At least this way, I can do the chasing."

"See? I knew you'd get it, kora." Colonnello nodded. "He's gonna have one hell of a time when he gets older though." Their needs would change and Tsunayoshi would serve all of them. "Hey, has anyone else tried calling him Tsuna, kora?"

"No because I have more respect for him than that." Verde rolled his eyes.

"You can call me Tsuna if you want to." Tsunayoshi said, walking down the stairs. "Colonnello is right—my name is long. It's easier to pronounce too."

Viper looked up from her tarot cards. "How do you spell it?"

"Haha," Tsunayoshi, Tsuna, mocked. "Yoshi sounds like a little green dinosaur."

"Even though Yoshi could pass off as lucky?" Reborn asked.

"Hmm… I think rope rather fits, though, don't you think? Rope is just the raw resource for ties, after all."

Skull flushed, Verde pushed his glasses up so that they hid his eyes and Colonnello grinned. Tsunayoshi had complimented them. It made their bonds sing with pleasure. His words had put them on Cloud 9.

Those that were unbonded looked on, somewhat disgusted.

"What are you doing to them?" Viper asked.

"Complimenting them?" Tsuna asked, raising an eyebrow.

"No… you're… releasing something."

"Ah..." Tsuna sat down in front of her. "It's sort of like a pheromone but only I can sense it that way. It's the Harmony factor in my Sky Flame… I might be… using it a bit excessively."

"Why?" She asked, her words coming out in a defensive snarl. She hated herself for being so open.

"To court you, remember?" Tsuna smirked and cocked his head. "When I let it die down, they won't get so high off of it."

"So what? You're… preening?" Viper asked.

Tsunayoshi laughed, startling everyone. "That's one way of putting it."

Viper sat silent and cursed her lack of sight. How she wish she could see how he looked. "Hey, Viper..." He said. He leaned forward, pressing his lips against her hood and whispering, "You don't need your eyes to see, you know."

He had let her touch his face, mapping out his features so her mind could draw him out for her. She asked him what color his eyes were. Luce had been surprised by his answer.

"Chocolate brown."

"No they aren't." Various voices said from around them. Viper jumped.

"They really are. The only reason you see the color you do is because I am trapped in Hyper Dying Will mode."

What had followed was a traumatic revelation of what had happened between Tyr of the Varia and Tsunayoshi years prior.

"You met Tyr through Nocturna… but then how did you meet Nocturna?" Lal asked.

"She tried to roofie me at an underground party. I can taste poisons before I swallow them so I spat out my drink and acted like I was drugged. Apparently she has an attraction towards teenage boys going through puberty." He gave them a wry grin. "I went along with it. I needed the experience."

Viper leaned forward and licked her purple lips. "You'll have to show me some of that experience then, yes?"

Luce knew that he had caught Viper… but the bond was not at all frail and would not be broken easily but it was not a permanent bond. He would satisfy her hunger for acceptance for now but one day, she would want this bond to be transferred. She would want someone else and he accepted that.

It was a rare practice and it kind of startled Luce that Viper knew of it.

But still—temporary or not—she counted it as a win.

Not as far along as she would have liked, as she said, but far enough. She would not interfere because she did not have to. Luce hummed with a content smile and closed her eyes.

Fire.

Heat.

Burning.

"Having his body forced into a state of Hyper Dying Will mode every day for two years straight has taken a toll on his body. If you leave him as he is, he will die."

"If you don't leave him as he is, he will die anyways."

"You can administer the cure."

"Only for a price."

"You name it."

"Ah, but it is not a price you can pay, Tyr. You already know that. So what shall it be? Will you die or will you give yourself to me?"

Angry orange eyes glared at sinister, emotionless eyes before everything was consumed by fire and she was left to burn.

Luce woke up screaming.

His body was so hot.

'What time is it?' He rolled his head to look at the clock. It was almost noon. He groaned and took the warm but wet rag off of his head as he sat up. "Don't strain yourself." Luce said, catching him around the waist and guiding him back down. "It would seem that whatever the Zeno has done to you is finally taking its toll…"

'So that's why…' His body was shutting down.

He laughed bitterly.

"How foolish of me." He traced the marks on his arm. "I was foolish to think that I would obtain all six of them before… this." His arm fell over his eyes. Luce felt her heart wrench.

"You knew that this would happen?"

"I am far more in touch with my Hyper Intuition this way, Luce. To the point that I can look into the future if I so choose…" He bit his lip. "I fear what will happen when I take the cure because of the trauma that will follow."

Luce felt cold. He was telling her a secret, an important one. She swallowed. "What are you telling me, Tsunayoshi?"

He shivered. "I'm scared. I thought that, while in this form, I could not feel. I was wrong. I can feel but… it feels like it's happening to someone else. I can…pretend that it did… it makes it easier, while like this… but it's only running from my problems and I can't run anymore."

He told her to call the others together. He was guided into the living room by Luce who was careful not to go too fast. "You can trust them, Tsunayoshi. They will never betray you. I have looked and it is cast in stone—when all seven are yours and yours alone, they will serve you until the day you die."

Tsunayoshi shivered with the truth of her words and for the first time, she saw white crystal tears stream down his face. "Help me…" He whispered in Japanese. "I can't face this alone…"

"You will never be alone, kora." Colonnello said, nudging his arm. "You have Elements now, remember?"

Tsunayoshi looked up at them, wide eyes glittering with something she dared to identify as hope before he wiped the tears away. "Arigatou," He whispered. "Thank you." He used that moment to compose himself. "Before I was forced to bare these," He ran a finger over the black marks on his arm. "I assisted the Varia in taking down the Zeno. Before that, Tyr had taken one of my jobs—a mark issued by the Vongola. He was a computer programmer but at the time, the Varia's lackeys weren't at the normal Varia Standards, so while Tyr had killed one of Vongola's marks, he hadn't killed the right one to infiltrate the Famiglia. I fixed that problem for him. In return, I asked for the one-hundred, fifty-seven grand that would put food on the table and pay my bills for the next month I would have gotten from the original job. Instead of giving me the money, Tyr set it up so that I would catch the fall."

Tsuna felt bile in his throat and he swallowed against it. He felt Colonnello's Flame wash over him but he refused to look at his Rain. "Don Zeno was a cruel bastard and apparently, like Nocturna, had an attraction to teenagers." He spat.

Luce gasped, her hands flying to her mouth as the implications settled in on her. "He didn't…" She whispered horrified.

Tsuna's mouth twisted. "He did and then some. He injected me with a serum that I think was supposed to kill me… it certainly hurt enough to kill a lesser being but instead of killing me, it granted me a finer control over my Flame—over everything relating to it…

"I burned the facility down." Tsuna continued, ignoring their horrified faces in fear that his stomach would rebel if he acknowledged them. "Razed everything on the island. Afterwards, I set Tyr up so he'd get a taste of his own medicine." He had put Tyr through the same physical pain he had to endure.

"Tch… if Tyr set you up to go through something like that, he got what hedeserved…" Lal snarled and Tsunayoshi shivered when he felt her snap the bond between them the same way a rubberband would if it was stretched too far and shifted the broken and uneven tie to fit with Colonnello's. It was a tight fit but because Lal and Colonnello were deeply in love, it allowed him to treat it as one bond.

Now if only they would admit it…

Lal would not require sex to satisfy her bond. She was not attracted to him in that way—not yet, at least, but they would have to spend the night in close proximity.

Hmm. Tsunayoshi smirked.

"What's so funny?" Lal asked, flustered.

"Perhaps we should not have been so hasty… Tyr is the one that has the cure…" Lal flushed. Suddenly, Tsunayoshi sneered. "He'll bring Dolohov."

And suddenly, Luce found herself plunged into ice. Whoever this Dolohov was, Tsunayoshi had a very strong dislike for him.

No…

This aura, this dark, suffocating feeling that made her want to claw her way out of her skin, was very familiar to her.

Tsunayoshi hated Dolohov.

"…before I came here, Tyr told me that he hoped that I never got to see you and Dolohov interact. What did he mean by that?"

Tsunayoshi wanted to scream but resisted. "Dolohov is very sick. There is something wrong with him and Tyr refuses to seek out the proper medical treatment. Instead, he lets him torture human beings for fun—let's him murder mindlessly and teaches him no mercy. Before he embalms his living victims, he rapes, tortures and mutilates them. He leaves them just barely alive and then he embalms them so that they are preserved like that forever. He keeps the bodies as trophies and uses them to play out his sick fantasies in a psycho-drama withcorpses. Those that he finds physically appealing, he rapes over and over again, leaving them alive to feel him degrade them but paralyzed under so many different types of drugs."

"How do you know that kind of stuff?" Lal asked feeling nauseated. Only the Varia knew about his sick and twisted doll collection.

"…there was a point in time where Tyr let his guard down around Dolohov and that sick bastard got his hands on me."

Lal felt sick. To be raped by one sick fuck was bad enough…

"Dolohov wishes he could touch me like that." Tsunayoshi sneered. "I've made it so, if he ever tries, everything surrounding me in a two-mile radius will go up in flames. I've rigged my body so that no one can ever touch me against my will again."

"Wh-what'll happen to you?" Fon asked, barely managing to conceal his stutter.

"I'll die but at least I'll die knowing I took the sick fuck with me." Tsunayoshi said, his eyes becoming half-mass. "At least this way, I won't die powerless."

Luce felt the hair on the back of her neck rise. Was this what her dream was trying to tell her? She would have to look into it again…

"If Dolohov tries anything, I'll rip him to pieces, kora." Colonnello said, his eyes glowing with resolve.

"If Dolohov tries anything, we'll all rip him to pieces." Reborn's baritone started Tsuna. He was not expecting the assassin to talk. He shot Tsunayoshi a smirk that send chills of anticipation down his spine. "After all, why would I let him claim something that I haven't yet?"

"Tch… you're too damn cocky, assassin. I think I need to knock you down a few pegs."

"Older and wiser men than you have tried."

"Yes well I bet I'm the first of my kind to try and tame you."

"You two really need to get over that UST." Verde said. "Really. I've had worse sex with virgin women than I did with Tsunayoshi."

"Are you comparing me to a female?" Tsunayoshi asked. When Lal, Luce and Viper glared at him, he hastily added, "Not that that would be a bad thing if you were."

"No but sex with virgins is overrated."

"True enough." Tsunayoshi shrugged. Luce frowned at him. "Sorry, Luce. Not everyone can save themselves."

"I did."

"Yes but you're a Don and the Giglio Nero have been known to be lead by women that had virtues that made you look like saints in comparison to a majority of the mafia's population."

"You have proven that pure does not always mean virtuous, Tsunayoshi."

He rolled his eyes. He was used to her turning it around like that. Such a backhanded compliment…

He collapsed on the couch and groaned. "Call in the cavalry. I'm going to war." He said sarcastically.

Luce wanted to reprimand him but knew better. He was only irritated. "You will not be alone with Dolohov."

"This time." Tsuna tacked on. Luce shot him a look. He matched it evenly. "Dolohov is a persistent fool. He will not stop until he gets what he wants and he wants me."

Luce sighed but said nothing. He would not bed on this and neither would she… there had to be a way to protect him from Dolohov.

And yet, the images of fire and phantom burns that haunted her at night told her that no, there would not be.

In the end, he would get what he obtain his prize… but his prize would not relent so easily. His defense mechanism would kick in and the two of them would die.

Had she been asked before this all began, she would have said that that was what she wanted. Now, however, she wanted nothing more than to take the boy before her and shelter him from all of the dangers that the world had to offer… but she knew she couldn't. She was powerless, bound by the rules of fate. It was either him or her and she did not want it to be her…

Not anymore.

"I will go call Tyr." Luce said, excusing herself.

Tsunayoshi sighed and prepared himself for the inevitable.

Dolohov was a squat man with slicked black hair. His eyes were lined in black and he had horrible bags under his eyes but on the left side, there was a stitch-like pattern that went down his cheek and split at the base of his throat where it vanished under the lining of his clothes. Tsunayoshi had seen the man without a shirt and knew that the stitch pattern split in ways that it looked like patches were sewn together, some patches even being dyed darker to add to the effect.

He also knew that each little 'stitch' represented a life the sadistic Russian had taken—a doll he had made. There were six hundred, eighty-three in total and each victim (because that's what Dolohov's kills were. They weren't targets if they wound up on that man's list—if he was even considered a man anymore) had various body parts ripped off and sewn back on in different places while they were still alive and died in whatever mangled, twisted form Dolohov deemed "beautiful" enough to pass as his work.

That was part of the reason Tsunayoshi found Dolohov distasteful. He never gave his victims any mercy, even when the crimes they had committed weren't as horrendous as their method of dying.

This was the Varia's Storm.

He silently wondered if it would become a tradition for all of the Varia's Storm Guardians to be mentally unstable and then shuddered at the thought. He certainly hoped not…

Tyr strode in behind him in all of his glory. Tyr was heavily scarred with slash-like scars. His right hand seemed to have been burned in a fire. He wore a bandana on his head which hid most of his messy, greasy, inky black hair. His eyes were deep pits with flecks of gold and silver and every color you'd expect to see in the night sky. Had he been younger, not as heavily scarred and more concerned for his appearance, one might dare to call him attractive.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, Tyr always said and then he'd laugh. He really didn't give a damn how he looked.

Tsunayoshi had seen the man dressed up and it was a sight to see but it was rare. That was just the kind of man he was.

"You look like shit." Tyr said, waving a lit cigar at him.

"Thanks." Tsunayoshi said, giving him a dry, sardonic smile in greeting. "It's good to see you too, asshole."

"You see this? I'm here to save his sorry ass and not only does he steal my Rain from me but he insults me to boot. I'm really offended."

No he wasn't. He was amused. Tsunayoshi could feel it reflecting in his Flame to an almost intoxicating degree. It made him lightheaded and giddy. Although, after thinking about it, Tsuna couldn't really find out what was so amusing about his situation.

"…how is this amusing to you?" Tsuna asked.

Tyr barked out a rough sounding laugh. "I knew she'd fall for you. I wasn't expecting to keep her. The bond we had is the same one you seem to have with your Mist… although it is hard to tell with all that Flame surrounding it."

"You're right. It's to keep it stable."

"Why so much?"

"It's not intentional." Tsuna gave him a cynical expression. "It's finally reached the point that my Flame has stopped doing my body good and has started eating away at my inner-workings…"

Tyr rolled his eyes. "You see, it's moments like these that remind me that you're only sixteen."

Tsunayoshi snickered. "At least you got my age right—Luce thought I was fourteen."

"He didn't. He had to ask me how old you were." Dolohov said, looming creepily behind Tsunayoshi. The young Sky bristled and swept out a leg. Dolohov leaped and aimed to snap Tsuna's kneecap but the teen slid under where the man was supposed to land and managed to get his hands around the man's neck. "Do it, Tsunayoshi. I bet you already have a back-up plan. You'd never let me touch you—even if it is to heal you. Even when you were the Varia's Conscierge, you went out of your way to get medical treatment elsewhere… tell me… who was the bastard you chose over me?"

Tsuna twisted with all of his strength and was rewarded by the sound of Dolohov's bones grinding and crunching. He leaped back and landed in a crouch. "Tch, disgusting. You've disfigured yourself so far…"

Dolohov's oddly twisted neck cracked and squelched as his bones moved back into place. "All for the sake of our little game, Tsunayoshi."

"You will die before you get what you want."

"Hnn, that's what you hope for, isn't it? To take me down in an explosion that shows just how bright your Will truly is? It won't work, you pathetic attention whore. I've said it once and I'll say it again. I will always be ten steps ahead of you. I know what you are going to do before even you do. And I've already come up with a counter measure."

"Oh? How can you possibly counter something as strong as my hate for you, Dolohov?" Tsunayoshi asked, glaring at the man. His eyes were no longer that beautiful orange that Luce loved. Instead, his eyes were one solid shade of red and it was terrifying.

Dolohov broke down in maniacal laughter. "Why, Tsunayoshi, it is so, adorablehow much you doubt the lust of a grown man…"

Tsuna bared his teeth in disgust and swallowed his bile. Disgusting, he thought. "You should let me put him out of his misery, Tyr. He is too far gone now. It would be considered a mercy killing."

Tyr sighed but said nothing. He never said anything. He never stepped in. He let them rip each other apart.

"You're just as cowardly as you were that day," Tsuna spat before he could help himself. "You try to stay neutral but you're not. Pick a damn side or I'll choose for you."

"I'll side with the winner." Tyr said. "This fight is between the two of you. I will prevent you from killing each other while in doors because I don't want to clean up the mess you'll make but don't expect anything beyond that if we're outside."

Of course, Tsunayoshi sneered. He didn't know what was worse. The fact that he said it or the fact that it was the truth. Either way, it irritated him. He didn't know why. He expected this kind of behavior from Tyr so it was irrational to get irritated with the man.

"Your cure, as you've asked." He held out a tiny phial of blood. "Do you know how hard it is to come by this stuff? I didn't even know for certain until I tested it out myself. You got some powerful blood coursing through your veins, kid, I hope you know that."

"Hn," Tsuna couldn't help it if he stood a little straighter. "Vongola Primo hasoutstanding genetics. It is an honor to be his son."

"Oh?" Verde hummed. "A survivor from the Sky Compass project, then. You are the first I've seen at this age."

Tsuna twisted to peer at the scientist. "You have met my cousins? Which ones?"

"The woman employed my services because her usual doctor was unavailable. Her name is Esta. She was one of the women who donated eggs but could not carry the child to term. Her eggs had been planted in a surrogate mother. She asked that I deliver the child. He was Secondo's son and she named him Xanxus. That was three years ago."

Tsunayoshi frowned. "Tyr…"

"Don't worry. I'll offer protection. I've met Esta before but I didn't know she had a son. I'll see if I can help her out a little bit."

Tsuna nodded, relieved. "Do not let him grow up like I did. Do not let any of those that remain catch wind of him. He will be in danger if they even suspect the scent of one of their lost embryos."

Tsunayoshi's childhood memories were vague and always filled with an icy chill that never seemed to go away. He remembered steal walls and training courses… he remembered being monitored at all times and then… nothing.

The clearest memory he had was waking up with a photo in his hand. It was of a woman with long brown hair that was the same shade as his own. She was wearing a white sweater and she was smiling at the camera. He remembered that he had stolen the photo after he escaped from… somewhere bad… and that the woman in the photo was his mother. On the back of the photo, there was a name, an age and a company logo.

Nanako, 23

Namimori Photography and Design.

He had located Namimori on the map, located it to Japan, had even gotten an address for the woman in the photo.

But he had never gone there to meet her.

Something was stopping him—it wasn't fear… it was something solid. Something that made it impossible to stand when his intention to go became certain. The only thing that had the power to act out like that was…

The Vongola Intuition.

He tapped into it, asking it why. It had responded with something along the lines of you will have your time. Tsuna didn't understand and could not read anything beyond that. It was all white noise and unintelligible garble. He tried for pictures and could only make out what looked like a childish version of himself being held by a woman that looked like an older version of the woman in that picture.

He didn't understand.

He told it that and got a long, drawn out hiss in response. In due time, it had said.

Sometimes it was nice and then sometimes it did that.

Tsunayoshi liked it on some days and hated it on others. That day, he had hated it.

At the moment however, when a high pitched ringing started in his ears to alert him of Dolohov's attention, he kind of hated it.

He let Dolohov do cursory glance over the damage that was done to his body. When he was finished, the dollmaker let out a whistle. "How are you still alive?"

Tsunayoshi stared at him. "It doesn't hurt that bad."

"That's because your nerves are fried from being burned. The damage has gone beyond third degree. By all means, you should be dead."

Tsunayoshi startled and than looked down at his hands. "Thus us the effects of Hyper Dying Will mode." He murmured. "Pain is on a different plane—one that I experience but do not feel." He looked past Dolohov at at Tyr who looked disgusted with himself. "Do not blame yourself, Tyr. This has always been my ability. All the serum did was made my body a conduit for Flames. I can use them for much longer than most Mist users can." Mist users were known to have the longest burn-time. The Flame could be used raw for thirty minutes before causing any burns. Tsunayoshi could go for forty-five when in combat.

Not so much when he was sitting still.

"You need to get rid of some of that excess power." Tyr stared at him.

"Hmm," Tsunayoshi was already working on that. The thing about the pretty little marks on his arms and back was that they had their own ability. He could pour his Flame into the marks, turning them Sky Flame orange. He had used the ability once before—had enjoyed the rush that came with it.

They did other things but the internally based ones were the ones that Tsunayoshi relied on most because when he used the external abilities, they tended to drain him far too quickly for him to be of any use.

There were rare occasions when those flashy external combinations saved his life… but they were more trouble than they were worth.

So he waited until Dolohov went outside to wait in the car on Tyr's command and smirked. "You should be glad. I don't normally reveal this ability to anyone. Not even my Elements have the privelage of seeing it firsthand."

Tsunayoshi closed his eyes. He felt the heat from his Flame—empowered by the three bonds he had formed.

His Harmony exploded inside of him, repairing the damage done by his Flame. There was a brief second when he was consumed by pain before it vanished as quickly as it came.

When he was finished, he opened his eyes and almost fell over. There was no more orange in his vision. It was like going from seeing everything in sepia with touches of their original coloring to seeing in technicolor. He reached for Leon who was sitting on the side-table and silently ordered him to turn in to a mirror.

His eyes were flashing between orange and brown. He blinked and the orange tint settled over his vision again.

He'd pushed himself too far, he realized belatedly as a pounding headache settled at the back of his mind. He had never been pushed so far as to lose his grip on the Hyper Dying Will form he was stuck in, to be rendered powerless, as he had just now been.

"Checkerface needs to hurry up and send those missions." Tsunayoshi ran a hand through his long hair. "I am going a little stir-crazy."

"I don't think you'll be mentally stable enough to do any work." Tyr said. Tsuna gave him a sour look. "Don't give me that look. You know I'm not lying. You suffered severe trauma at Don Zeno's hands. That kind of emotional damage doesn't go away if left alone. You've only delayed having to face it." His expression softened and he put a hand on Tsuna's head, patting the locks down only or them to spring back up. "Consider this a blessing, although it may not seem like it. You've had time to mature before you come to terms with what happened."

Okay, maybe it as the Hyper Dying Will talking but he really couldn't understand what Tyr was so worried about.

He paused. Rape. Right. There was usually emotional fallout from things like that, wasn't there?

"I know you think yourself above emotions," The look Tsunayoshi gave Tyr could only be described as put-out and pissed off all rolled into one. Tyr shot him a look back. "You only allow yourself to experience neutral emotions."

That wasn't true but Tsunayoshi didn't correct him on the matter. It was none of his business anyways. Luce shot him a look that told him exactly what she thought about his choice to keep quiet before she disappeared into the kitchen.

"Look, kid, what I'm trying to say is…" He grumbled. "Come to the Varia estate."

"Hah?" Tsunayoshi looked at him incredulously.

"Maverick." He was their Cloud and he was a bit… eccentric.

"Haha, no." Tsunayoshi stood up, smirking at Luce when she came in and saw him standing. She threw her hands up in a motion that said I give up! before striding back into the kitchen. "I'd rather deal with it on my own terms."

"Okay. Kick your Elements out of your room tonight. You won't take too kindly to their touch."

He doubted that. Sex was a pleasure he would never deny them. They could make him twist and beg in ways no one could. That was consensual. What happened between he and Zeno was not. He stepped over a line that he should have never crossed and he paid the price for it.

In the end, what did it matter when the man was already dead? There was no taking revenge twice.

He just hoped he could remember that when he was on the road to recovery.

Tsuzukeru.

Thanks for reading~!