Trigger: Child Endangement/Kidnapping

Warnings: Anxiety/Panic Attacks

89 Reviews! –starry eyed- You guys are amazing. No, really. I'm blown away by how many of you like it this story. It's amazing, I'm really touched. You guys make my day with your kind words and encouragement and I'm just floored. You guys are awesome. Don't stop being awesome okay?

Also, what did the crow do to you guys?! It's innocent I tell you! Innocent!

Rooftop

-Ten Hours Earlier-

Ryohei landed on the rooftop of the small two story building. Kyoya was already standing at the edge, peering down at the street. The prefect's jacket flapping in the wind. His tonfas out, shining in the sunlight.

"Do you see them?" Ryohei asked softly, very uncharacteristic for the boxer.

"Hn," Kyoya said, gesturing to the building. A silver bracelet around his wrist glittered in the sunlight. "He entered that building."

Luckily for them, the group of three men were still lurking in the shadows by the time Kyoya and Ryohei had arrived to where Ryohei and Tsuna had seen them. Kyoya merely scowled at Ryohei's appearance, but otherwise didn't protest. It was more important to find out about Yousei. The lack of information was troubling. Ryohei knew the very idea of a group that went around kidnapping children in Namimori of all places made Kyoya's blood boil.

"Do we sneak in?" Ryohei asked.

"There's no need. Alaude is already inside. He was extremely impatience."

Ryohei turned around to see Knuckle standing behind him. The first generation Sun Guardian was transparent in the sunlight, unseen to all but Kyoya and Ryohei.

"Knuckle-san!" Ryohei greeted.

"Hello Ryohei," Knuckle said. "Giotto mentioned in last visit back home that there was a dangerous group of criminals running around and that you were having trouble tracking them down. That, of course, got Alaude interested."

Kyoya, of course, merely grumbled, but didn't say anything.

"To the extreme!" Ryohei said. "We appreciate the help!"

There was extremely nice to be able to rely on the help of ghosts. The bad guys won't know what hit them!

Sunny Day

Ryohei was ten when he met Tsuna.

It was a bright and sunny day, full of energy and extremeness. Ryohei had been in the forest, doing laps because it was very extreme to stay in shape! He needed to be strong in order protect Kyoko! That meant training!

He had been on his fifth lap before a boy with brown hair literally came out of nowhere, flying into him. "Watch out!" the boy had shouted.

All Ryohei saw was orange flames before the boy crashed into him, sending them both tumbling to the ground.

"Are you alright?!" the boy shouted. "Knuckle-san! Can you heal him?"

Ryohei blinked, wondering if the boy had hit his head. There was no one else in the forest after all. Perhaps a head injury? Those were serious! Kyoko often warned him about those. Ryohei winced, feeling the scraped elbows and cuts on his legs from the fall.

"Don't move," the boy said. "Knuckle-san will heal those up."

Strange boy. Ryohei still didn't see anyone else in the forest. He peered closer. The boy looked familiar. "Who are you?" Ryohei asked.

"Ah!" The boy bowed. "I'm Sawada Tsunayoshi. I'm really sorry for running into you. I didn't mean to."

Ryohei grinned. "It's okay! I'm Sasagawa Ryohei! Who are you talking to Sawada-san?"

Sawada flushed a bright red. "Ah… a ghost? Knuckle-san is a ghost, but he can heal your injuries up."

Before Ryohei could ask about how a ghost could heal wounds, he noticed the pain he had been feeling earlier was now gone. "The cuts are gone," Ryohei said in amazement, flexing his hands and examining his legs. "How did you do that?"

Sawada winced and covered his ears as if he was listening to something noisy. "I'm sorry, Sasagawa-sempai. Could you repeat that? They're making a racket and I can't hear you very well over the noise."

Ryohei laughed. Ghosts could be noisy? "THAT'S EXTREMELY RUDE OF THEM," Ryohei shouted back.

Sawada let loose a weak chuckle. "Not that loud, sempai."

That was how Ryohei met Tsuna.

Friendly Ghosts

To be honest, Tsuna had been expecting to never see Giotto again after their trip into the Spirit World, especially after Giotto had explained that he was a ghost and not alive. (A fact Tsuna surprisingly took better than he thought. Maybe because he knew Giotto was a safe person?) So he was surprised when a few months later Giotto managed to show up at his school.

Tsuna was ecstatic because Giotto was another friend, even if he wasn't alive and no one could see him but Tsuna. That made three friends Tsuna had now. (Giotto-nii's advice for being Hibari-sempai's friend worked. Hibari-sempai didn't growl at him when Tsuna sat to eat lunch on the rooftop with him anymore!)

Then Giotto introduced him to his friends (even his scary friend who wasn't nearly as scary Giotto made him to be. Alaude-san was super nice!). Tsuna had even more friends! It was so amazing how different his life was now.

Tsuna once asked Ayame why Giotto could come and visit him, because Ayame was smart and she knew all of these things, and had gotten a long explanation involving spiritual energy, rings, flames and intersecting planes. Needless to say all Tsuna got from that conversation was that Giotto could visit whenever he wanted and for however long he wanted, but it was all dependent on the energy Giotto had. It took energy for Giotto to come visit and for Tsuna to be able to see him and when he ran out of energy, he had to go back to the spirit world to recharge. So Giotto could stay for a few days, then leave for a few more, then come back. Rinse, lather, repeat! Every time, Giotto came back, he brought one of his friends until Tsuna had met them all.

Well, no, Giotto said one was missing, had been for years, but whoever Mist was, Tsuna was sure he would meet him eventually.

Then there were flames. More specifically, orange flames. The memory of Giotto's flames, so similar to the same ones Tsuna had summoned before, had stayed with Tsuna, burning bright in his mind. One day, Tsuna had asked Giotto to teach him how to use them.

"Why do you want to learn, Tsuna?" Giotto asked, curious.

Tsuna shuffled his feet. "Hibari-sempai is strong. So is Neesan. But Kaasan can't fight. Neither can I. Want to protect them." Then, as Tsuna stared down at his feet, he quietly added, "Don't want Ienari to hurt them like he hurts me."

"Oh, Tsuna."

That was what led them to the practicing every day in the forest. It was a nice forest, far away from everyone else. That meant no one would stumble across Tsuna practicing his flames. Until a white haired boy came running by at the exact moment Tsuna had pushed a little too much flames out of his hands and went flying straight into said boy.

"Tsuna!"

Noisy Worry

For Giotto, no matter what G said, he hadn't meant to get attached to Tsuna. He was a ghost! Dead! It didn't matter how he was related to Tsuna, it wasn't like Giotto could just waltz into the physical world and interact with Tsuna.

Until he found out, that yes, he could.

After several lectures and long conversations with his guardians and a few more with Tsuna's Neesan (who later would introduce herself as Ayame), Giotto eventually mastered the technique that allowed him to visit Tsuna. It was actually fairly simple in theory and in practice, but the amount of preparation required was staggering, involving a miko and a priest, about three hundred paper wards, spells and prayers, and a couple offerings to several local gods so Giotto wouldn't be eaten alive for hanging out in the physical world so often. However! It was a one-time thing that maybe needed to be redone every two or three decades and applied to all of Giotto's guardians too.

So worth it.

Giotto would later find out that the only reason why so much preparation was required was because technically his soul (and his guardians' souls) were tied the Vongola Rings all the way in Italy and for them to want to materialize in a non-spiritually charged area like Namimori all the way in Japan, it was a headache in itself. If Giotto had been a normal ghost, no one would have batted an eyelash if Giotto had wanted to visit the physical world.

Either way, so worth it to see Tsuna's face light up like a Christmas tree when he saw Giotto.

Of course, there was a saying that ignorance was bliss and never had such a statement rang true for Giotto. Oh Ayame had tried to warn him, tried to tell him that Tsuna was not living a happy life right now and Giotto knew, he just didn't know how bad it was.

History was repeating again, only this time much worse and once more Giotto was helpless to stop it.

What he found in Namimori was… well Giotto didn't have words for it these days. And he often spent his time away from Tsuna, stopping Alaude (actually all of his guardians with the exception of the still missing Daemon) from going on a rampage. If Giotto wasn't allowed to hurt the people hurting Tsuna, none of his guardians were either!

(Nobody said anything about haunting them though, and if a few people found their furniture rearranged, paperwork gone missing, tripping over invisible things, or burst water pipes, that was between Giotto and his guardians. And they were very careful to make sure that none of it could be connected with Tsuna. No need to add more rumors.)

So right. Namimori, strange place. Giotto's feelings about Ienari were equally mixed. On one hand, Ienari was also his descendant, but look at how he treated Tsuna! That made Giotto's blood boil. Ienari couldn't see him either way and while Giotto could expend a bit more energy to allow Ienari to see him, Giotto much rather spend his time with Tsuna.

He was biased, damnit, but Tsuna clearly needed him more!

So it hadn't been a real surprise when Tsuna asked him to train him on how to use his Sky Flames. In fact Giotto had been expecting it. Still, he wanted to know why Tsuna wanted to learn.

"Why do you want to learn, Tsuna?" Giotto asked, curious. He wanted to hear Tsuna's reasoning.

Tsuna shuffled his feet. "Hibari-sempai is strong. So is Neesan. But Kaasan can't fight. Neither can I. Want to protect them." Then, as Tsuna stared down at his feet, he quietly added, "Don't want Ienari to hurt them like he hurts me."

"Oh, Tsuna." If Giotto had any reservations (which he didn't really, if anything, it was mostly due to Tsuna's young age), they collapsed in an instant. So alright, G was right. Tsuna had Giotto wrapped around his tiny finger and Giotto showered as much love as he could on the small little boy.

But if Tsuna was going to learn how to control his Sky Flames, Giotto was going to take every precaution possible. This was why Knuckle often accompanied them on their training trips. It was a good thing too, because Tsuna just went flying, slamming into another boy.

"Tsuna!"

Doppelganger

If Knuckle hadn't seen how Giotto was as a father the first time around, he would have thought his friend was being just a tad overprotective. But that was simply Giotto's nature. So in good cheer, Knuckle didn't have any complaints when Giotto dragged him along for Tsuna's training. In fact, had Knuckle been more like Daemon, he would have been unbearably smug that he got to spend more time with Tsuna then the rest of the guardians, all who were pretty attached to the small brunet. (It was a good thing Knuckle wasn't like Daemon, at all.)

Apparently, Tsuna gave Giotto a boost of energy by being the same flame type as him, allowing Giotto to stay longer than the rest of the guardians. It was extremely unfair. Then Alaude discovered Tsuna's friend Hibari had Cloud Flames and Tsuna, of course, taught Hibari how to access them and then introduced Hibari to Alaude. It had been frightening to say, how similar the two were. In fact, Knuckle was convinced that Hibari was one of Alaude's descendants as well.

Seeing his potential, Alaude went to teach Hibari everything he knew about Cloud Flames, fighting, and justice. Giotto facepalmed, Tsuna worried that he just taught and introduce his friend to someone who make Hibari even more scary and dangerous (to everyone else) and once more Knuckle thought it was very very extremely unfair. When was he going to find his very own look-alike student to teach?

But at least Knuckle got to spend time with Tsuna. Days like these made Knuckle extremely glad he came along with Giotto.

"Tsuna!" Giotto rushed over to the collision of the two boys. He fretted over the two boys, invisible to one, visible to the other. "Are you alright?"

As clearly evident that Giotto was rubbing off on Tsuna, Tsuna ignored him and went straight to fretting over the boy Tsuna had crashed into. "Are you alright? Knuckle-san! Can you heal him?"

Knuckle was already on his way over, kneeling down to examine the white haired boy. "Of course Tsuna. Have him hold still for me."

"Don't move," Tsuna instructed the boy. "Knuckle-san will heal those up."

"Are you okay Tsuna?" Giotto asked.

Tsuna nodded before he turned his attention back to the boy who asked who he was.

"Ah!" Tsuna said with a bow. "I'm Sawada Tsunayoshi. I'm really sorry for running into you. I didn't mean to."

"It's okay! I'm Sasagawa Ryohei! Who are you talking to Sawada-san?" the boy introduced himself.

Knuckle let his flames die down, satisfied that he had healed everything.

"Knuckle don't forget to look over Tsuna," Giotto said. Worry was clearly reflected in his light orange eyes.

"Of course I will, Giotto," Knuckle said, amused. "You are being very extremely overprotective."

Giotto sputtered. "What! Nonsense! I'm not being overprotective at all!"

Knuckle smiled. "You did the same thing to Yoshimune and Hidetada when they were growing up. In fact, you continued to do so even after they had grown up. Don't worry. It is extremely enduring." Such fond memories.

"Knuckle! I did no such thing!"

Their conversation broke as the boy, Ryohei, shouted, "THAT'S EXTREMELY RUDE OF THEM."

Knuckle merely chuckled. It seemed like Tsuna had found another friend.

Status Update

-Nine Hours Earlier-

Ryohei fidgeted. Knuckle had entered the building to get a status update from Alaude who was still inside. Next to him Kyoya had taken a seat and appeared to be sleeping but Ryohei knew better. The prefect was keeping a sharp eye on the building below, ready to move on a moment's notice.

In a burst of yellow flames, Knuckle reappeared. "Alaude said it is all quiet in there. The men you followed here have met up with three more, but they don't appear to be doing anything. It doesn't look like this is their hideout."

Ryohei let out a disappointed sigh. "I guess that means we are extremely waiting for them to move then."

"Get comfortable," Kyoya said. "We can't afford to lose them this time."

Updated Information

-Eight Hours Earlier-

Tsuna sat across from Ayame. Once breakfast had finished, Reborn and Nana left for the hospital and errands while Ayame accompanied Tsuna and Gokudera (picking up Takeshi on the way) to school. Only once they made it past the school gates, she pushed Gokudera onto Takeshi and dragged Tsuna off to an empty classroom.

They had been staring at each other since.

Finally, Tsuna decided to break the silence. "Neesan, that was mean what you did to Reborn this morning. You wouldn't like being treated like a child if you were in his shoes," Tsuna scolded.

Ayame, of course, sulked. "I don't like him."

Tsuna threw up his arms. "What don't you like about him? You're the one who said he could be trusted. Hyper Intuition confirmed that!"

Ayame snorted. "Just because I said he could be trusted, doesn't mean I have to like him."

"Neesan!" Tsuna let out a long suffering sigh. "Is this because he's a hitman? Or because he is in the mafia? I really don't think you have any leg to stand on for that issue."

Ayame scowled. "What do you mean?"

"The Island of Sinapri."

Ayame drew in a sharp breath. "How do you know that?" she demanded. "I burned all that information! There isn't a record of that anywhere!"

Tsuna gave her a flat look. "Yeah, but there are still a couple people who remember that incident."

"But when did you meet them?!" Ayame slumped over the wooden desk, burying her head in her arms. "Oh, never mind. That's a stupid question. I think I taught you a little too well," she bemoaned. Then she looked up defensively. "That was not my fault! They were a bunch of idiots! And everyone who remembers that is overreacting!"

Tsuna's eyebrow quirked upward. His arms crossed over his chest, radiating in disbelief. "Really? Overreacting?"

"I was ten! I'm allowed to be a moody preteen!"

Tsuna just shook his head and let the issue rest. If she didn't want to tell him why she didn't like Reborn, Tsuna was never going to get it out of her. That was alright. Ayame would tell him, eventually. She usually did at least. Prying information from her before she was ready to share was usually an impossible task.

"So why did you drag me off to here, Neesan?" Tsuna asked. With any luck, Ayame and Reborn would stay far away from each other. Though, knowing both of their personalities, there were going to be many confrontations in the future.

Ayame unwound and relaxed. She handed Tsuna a thin manila folder. "I figured it would be a good time to update you on everything. There's been a lot going on."

Tsuna took the folder, flipping it open to skim through the information. As always, Ayame's information was well organized and detailed. He paused halfway through the folder and pulled out a picture of an older man with salt and pepper colored hair and a long beard. A firm frown on his face and narrow black eyes were hidden behind a pair of round glasses.

"Doctor Souma Kinkan. A license surgeon over in the Minato Ward of Tokyo," Tsuna read. "This is…"

"First suspect as the mastermind behind Yousei," Ayame finished. "Of course, there isn't absolute proof. Just when surveying the entire population of people within the neighboring cities and cross referencing all the information we found so far, he does seem to be a likely suspect. Flip the page."

Tsuna did so; it was a medical report. His brown eyes quickly scanned over it, absorbing the information. "A two year old granddaughter, Titania? That's an odd choice for a name."

"In Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, the queen of fairies is called Titania," Ayame said.

Tsuna's eyes narrowed at the additional fairy reference. "It says here that his granddaughter was born with a weak heart. And she received an organ transplant six months ago."

"She wasn't even first on the transplant list," Ayame said quietly. "In fact, due to her young age and the fact that majority of organ transplants are from adults, she probably wouldn't have received one for a long time. With her condition, though, she would have never made it to adulthood. Probably wouldn't have lasted the year."

Tsuna felt a wave of sympathy towards the little girl before he realized what exactly Ayame was implying. "How did she get her heart then?"

"Good question," Ayame said with a hum. " Reports claim Dr. Kinkan performed the operation and he claims the heart was an anonymous donation specifically for his granddaughter. But you know it's quite a coincidence considering it coincides with the very first report I have of a missing child who just so happens to be a perfect match to young Titania. A doctor ordering medical equipment isn't going to raise any flags, so that's probably why I haven't picked up on it before."

Tsuna squeezed his eyes shut at the dawning horror growing within him. "Yousei isn't a child slavery gang, they are an organ harvesting plant."

"One that specializes in children's organs," Ayame agreed. "That's what it looks like. They take kids who won't be missed, hence why they're targeting homeless kids or teens like Gokudera-san who appears to be living by themselves. The organs themselves are hard to come by. Add in the extra size consideration needed for kids..."

Nausea rocked in Tsuna's stomach. This was hitting a little too close to home for comfort. "Oh god," Tsuna said, feeling sick.

Ayame gave him a sympathetic look. "He might not be the mastermind behind it, but he could connected, willing or blackmail. A licensed surgeon, a granddaughter desperate for a new heart, medical equipment. It's a good setup. I was going to give this file to Kyoya after I informed you. The problem is that I'm not 100% sure if he is connected. I don't want to focus on this guy to find out he has no connection to Yousei. I mean I'm basing this off a fairy theme connection and a mysterious organ donation. That really isn't much to go on. Just grasping at straws here. The lack of information is very troubling. Either they're writing in code, relying on verbal communication only, or hiding everything in plain sight like a doctor ordering medical equipment, but I can't find it. And that frustrates me."

For Ayame to be unable to find any information, that was indeed troubling. Be paper or electronic files, Tsuna had never seen anything Ayame was unable to find. Yousei was either very smart or a walking disaster of organization skills. Neither bold well. The former meant they were extremely dangerous because they were careful. The latter meant they were reckless.

"The only thing I can say for sure, if that with the exception of the first child that went missing, the one that's a perfect match to Titania, none of the missing children I have tracked have turned up dead," Ayame said with a heavy sigh.

There was some comfort in that.

Tsuna frowned. Why was life so cruel? "Hey Neesan," he asked slowly. "When is…?"

"We got a couple more years to go," Ayame admitted.

"It would solve so many problems," Tsuna said so softly.

"Yes, it would," Ayame agreed. Her golden eyes closed; a tired expression appeared on her face. "But it's something that can't be rushed."

"Start with Dr. Kinkan," Tsuna ordered. "We don't have enough leads as is, we should chase down anything we find suspicious."

Tsuna looked down at the picture of toddler Titania and sighed. What a mess this group was turning out to be. At this point, all Tsuna could do was hope for the best.

Blank Profile

-Seven Hours Ago-

When Reborn put out the request for all information pertaining to Ayame, he was impressed when his informants returned with a profile nearly an hour later. Until he opened the file and realized the reason why they were so fast was because there was no information.

Name: Ayame Kumori (Last name unconfirmed, multiple different ones have been given out. Kumori is the most frequent)

Age: 20

Address: 135-543, Hisakata, Namimori-Shi

Occupation: Unknown. Several claims to be a businesswoman of some sort. Owns the apartment building that housed popular cake/cafe shop Lucky Cat Cafe.

Education: Unknown.

Family: Unknown.

Hobbies: Unknown.

The rest of the profile was just a list of unconfirmed or unknown information. So all Reborn had learned was her age and address, since they couldn't even confirm her last name. Kumori, shadow or cloudy weather. A fitting alias, given how she seemed to exist in the shadows only and appear to be shielding and protecting Tsuna like the rest of his friends. She must get along fabulously with Hibari.

He looked down at the last note on the profile.

Note: Unable to find a birth certificate, medical records, education records, bank records or anything. The earliest mention anyone can remember of Ayame Kumori was five years ago when she bought the apartment building that houses Lucky Cat Cafe which, at the time was slated for foreclosure.

Five years ago. Tsuna would have been eight at that time. Ayame herself would have been fifteen (could he even trust that she was actually twenty? She looked around that correct age, but if everything else couldn't be confirmed about her, Reborn doubted he could trust it). Primo had met Tsuna when Tsuna was nine, and Reborn had been able to confirm that Tsuna met Sasagawa siblings and Kurokawa sometime before or after Tsuna's tenth birthday, and Yamamoto a few months after that.

No clue when Tsuna met Hibari, but it was highly probable that it was early, which left Hibari or Ayame as one of the first friends Tsuna made. Reborn made a note of that. It could help him in his search in figuring out what had happened between Tsuna and Ienari. If Reborn couldn't convince Tsuna to tell him tonight, Reborn would have to ask one of those two. (His pride could suffer the blow of asking. It was better than not knowing. He would make them tell him.)

Still, the lack of information on Ayame was annoying. No information before five years ago. Impossible. What was she? A ghost?

Charm

-Six Hours Earlier-

"Gokudera-san! Please take this!"

Gokudera stared at the flat blue charm being held out to him by Tsuna. Written on the soft material pouch were the kanji for good luck and protection. "Why?" he asked warily.

"For good luck," Tsuna said firmly. "I'm worried those guys will come back and target you. It's just a little charm, but please carry with you in the mean time?"

Gokudera warmed at the concern. It was just a little charm. No harm in carrying it.

"Okay."

Lullaby

Rock a bye baby on the treetop

When the wind blows the cradle will rock

When the bough breaks the cradle will fall

And down will come baby, cradle and all

Koujin Fuun

-Five Hours Later-

"Che. This is why you canceled our weekly spar?"

Ienari let out a snort. "What do you want brat? And did you seriously climb in through the window? I'm on the fourth floor!"

Sitting on the windowsill, twirling a kunai around his finger sat a boy with dark purple hair and striking crimson eyes. Fuun had met Ienari at one of his karate competitions. Despite not being a practitioner, Fuun had entered the competition as a test of his skill. Needless to say, within the confines of the rules of the tournament, Ienari had won against Fuun who was used to a more free-flowing style.

Fuun flung his kunai, piercing the flower petals in the vase next to Ienari's bed and burying them in the white wall. "Climbing windows is easy when you're me. I didn't think you were this weak. Seriously, injured this badly by a training accident."

Ienari glared at him. "When you have a hellspawn for a tutor that regularly fires bullets at you, it's surprising I'm not hurt more."

Fuun smirked. "Sounds interesting."

"That's Reborn for you," Ienari said with a wave of his hand.

Fuun's eyes lit up. "You know Reborn?"

Poison Cooking

-Four Hours Later-

Nana hummed as she stepped back into the hospital with Ienari's dinner. The hospital food was very bland here and she disapproved of it. How were people supposed to recover if the food tasted horrible?

A pink haired nurse approached her. "Sawada-san? The doctor is checking on your son right now. You won't be able to see him, but I can give him the dinner you made for him."

Nana blinked before smiling brightly. "Ara? Then please do!" She handed over the red bento box she had packed with Ienari's dinner.

The nurse returned her smile and accepted it. "Have a good night, Sawada-san!" She quickly left, leaving Nana standing in the lobby area of the hospital.

"Mamma."

Nana looked down to see Reborn standing next to her. "Ah, Reborn-san! Did you follow me here?"

Reborn nodded. "You do know who that woman is right?" he asked.

Nana hummed. She actually did. Ayame's information was, as always, spot on. "That was Poison Scorpion Bianchi."

Reborn stared up at her. Nana thought maybe she saw surprise in the black eyes of the small hitman. "And you're alright with letting her take food to Ienari, knowing she's mostly likely going to try and poison him?" Reborn asked.

"It will be a good lesson for Ienari. After all, if he's going to become Decimo, assassins are going to come after him all the time, yes?" Nana said. There came a time when every child had to leave the nest. Nana had been preparing for the inevitable; that one day she was going to permanently lose one of her sons, and she did not through death. That was the dark world of the mafia. If Tsuna had been chosen to be Decimo, he would never leave her behind because he could never abandon her the same way Iemitsu had. However the fallout between him and Ienari would cause Ienari to leave god knows where. In Ienari's case, he was growing to be more like his father each day and when he became Decimo, he would leave her to "protect" her like Iemitsu had. Her silly boys.

She wouldn't be able to protect either of her sons forever. So the best she could do was prepare them and teach them the lessons they needed to survive.

Looking back down at Reborn, Nana smiled. "Plus, you're going to stop her before she does anything too serious to Nari-kun." It was not a question, but a simple fact. The faith and trust Tsuna had in Reborn spoke very loudly of Reborn's character. Regardless of the rift between her boys, Nana could trust that Reborn would do what he deemed best for Ienari and Tsuna.

Reborn tugged at his fedora. "Of course Mamma."

Kyaaa

-Three Hours Earlier-

Ayame picked a package of Kinga's Chocolate Chip Cookies off of the shelf, skimming the prices of the other products on the shelf. What else was on sale?

She wandered over to another aisle, spotting some inarizushi on display on a brown table. A large red sale sign immediately caught her attention. With a happy smile, she skipped over to pick up some inarizushi up. It was her favorite food and finding it on sale was always a bonus. Or! If she found some aburaage instead, maybe she could beg Nana to make inarizushi for her instead because Nana's food was to die for.

Maybe she would just buy both. Or she could go buy from Takesushi. Tsuyoshi was just as excellent cook as Nana was after all. That would require even less energy! Energy was important. Hmm, but Takesushi wasn't nearby so perhaps she should just buy some now to eat and tomorrow ask Nana and Tsuyoshi for inarizushi.

Ten minutes later, she walked out of Kinga Market, whistling a jaunty tune. The 'Kyaa' of a crow caught her attention. Ayame stopped mid-stride, peering up at the large oak tree. Sitting there among the green foliage was a crow.

Ayame let out a soft sigh. "I suppose it was going to happen sooner or later."

Thunderclouds

-Two Hours Earlier-

A small boy in cow print hopped out of the airport. Nothing was going to stop him from hunting down Reborn!

Look out Namimori. The great Lambo-sama had arrived!

Bridge

A few blocks away from the Sawada household was a bridge. It was a simple concrete bridge over a very steep ravine. The small river at the bottom flowed throughout the city, bubbling and trickling. Small birds often built their nests in the shadow of this strong bridge.

It was also the most direct route to Namimori Middle School.

Tsuna always avoided it.

Yousei

-One Hour Earlier-

Black shoes tapped against the white hallway floor. A door swung open, revealing rows of beds with unconscious children on them. EKG machines beeped steadily, IV bags containing sedatives hung from poles.

"Welcome back boss," a young blond haired woman greeted with a bow. On her gray uniform was the embroidered broken fairy wing. In her hand was a brown clipboard.

"Thank you, Mai-san. How many children are we up to now?"

"With the exception of the one Hiruma-san gravely injured the other day, we are now up to forty seven. We have done a thorough examination on thirty two. Of which, three cannot be used due to the illnesses they have picked up on the streets."

"Kill them. They're worthless to us."

"Understood boss. Within a few more days, the remainder children will have detailed medical reports. It looks like we have covered the majority of the blood types."

"Excellent. Let's pick up five more to round to a nice even fifty. Then we'll open up to the market and start rolling in the cash."

"As you wish, Kinkan-sensei."

Trigger

-Now-

Tsuna stared at Reborn, weighing his options. Did he trust Reborn with this information? The immediate answer was yes. So perhaps the better question was did he trust Reborn with this information now?

The immediate answer to that was no.

Things were far too sensitive right now. One little misstep and everything could potentially blow up. Tsuna was desperate to find a peaceful situation (and he found one when Ienari was chosen to be Decimo instead of him) and should Reborn and/or Vongola press too hard, Tsuna knew all of his friends and Neesan would react violently. Vongola will slaughter them all if it ever came to that.

It was clear that Reborn was looking for a reason why Ienari shouldn't be Decimo (the faith Reborn had in Tsuna was awe-inspiring and humbling) but Tsuna did not want to be Decimo, did not want anything to do with the mafia, did not want to inherit the sins and blood of Vongola's history. No, he would burn Vongola to the ground before that happened.

But Reborn deserved to know at least something.

Perhaps the ultimate question was could Tsuna even talk about it?

Tsuna closed his eyes and suppressed the dark memories and whispering, mocking voice in his head. His ring felt warm against his chest, pulsing with reassurance.

"I don't know when it started," Tsuna said quietly. He refused to look at Reborn, staring at the carpet floor of his room. Absentmindedly, he traced small circles with his finger on the ground, trying hard not to think about the words slipping out of his mouth. "I don't know when playful wrestling became actual fights, when a light bump became a hard shove, when a pat on the arm became a punch, when Ienari stopped being my otouto and became the bully I feared."

Tsuna shifted his gaze out his window and up at the night sky. The moon hung low, full and bright. Stars twinkled down at him. His throat felt tight, the words choking inside. Tsuna never liked talking about his (nonexistence) relationship with Ienari. He couldn't for the most part. This was the best Tsuna could do.

"Until, I was about eight, Ienari use to hurt me every way he physically could. Ienari hadn't learned karate yet, so the damage he could do wasn't that much. But a punch to the stomach was still a punch to the stomach. Kaasan wasn't well practiced in keeping us apart, and sometimes it was hard to tell what was just sibling squabbles or Ienari actually hurting me," Tsuna said. A self-deprecating smile spread across his face. "That soon stopped because Ienari learned words hurt more than anything he could have done physically to me."

Worthless. Freak. Useless.

"The thing you have to know about Ienari, Reborn, is that I'm the only one who sets him off like that. There are a couple theories as to why, and that's something you'll have to discuss with Ayame-neesan because most of it goes over my head. No one else seems to set him off like I do," Tsuna said. His smile was frail. There was a sharp pain in his heart at his failure to be a big brother to Ienari. But Ienari was always pushing and pushing. What could Tsuna do? Every attempt to reach out ended up in pain. It was frustrating, it was terrifying.

Tsuna glanced at the door of his bedroom, wary of Ienari breaking in. He knew fundamentally that Ienari was still in the hospital. Tsuna was safe. Ienari, be words or fists, could not touch him here. It didn't stop the fear from bubbling.

It was exhausting, being scared of his younger brother. It was terrifying knowing flesh and blood wanted him dead and was just across the hall. But Tsuna had never known anything different toward Ienari, hadn't for years. Fear, pity, a love out of duty was all Tsuna felt toward Ienari these days. Fear, however was all encompassing, crippling, overshadowing the few happy, bright memories Tsuna had of his brother.

"But something extreme must have happened. Your friends wouldn't react the way they do if that wasn't the case," Reborn asked. His black eyes were hard, waiting for the missing piece. "How far did Ienari push?"

Like sand slipping from a broken hourglass, memories burst forward. The pitch black darkness, the falling, the falling, the falling. The white rooms, the crying and sobbing and whining. The pain, the PAIN, THE PAIN! MAKE IT STOP!

Don't touch me!

"-na! Tsuna!"

Reborn's voice broke through the bundle of emotions that had swallowed Tsuna whole. Tsuna trembled as his world shook, trying to realign itself. He felt horribly off balanced and vulnerable. Tsuna squeezed his eyes shut and took several deep breaths.

"Tsuna?"

Tsuna forced himself to look at Reborn, saw the guilt and worry reflected in the black eyes. The words felt heavy in his mouth. His head spun, dizzy and nauseous.

Reborn laid his small hand on Tsuna's knee. It was warm to the touch, something Tsuna used to brace himself, to anchor himself in the whirlpool of emotions, of fear and panic that engulfed him. "If you don't want to or can't talk about it, Tsuna, that is alright," Reborn said gently.

"S-sorry," Tsuna managed to stammer out.

Reborn merely nodded. "It's okay."

"S-sorry."

Reborn didn't say anything this time, just jumped into Tsuna's lap. Tsuna immediately wrapped his arms around him. On some level Tsuna recognized that Reborn probably hated being treated like Tsuna's personal teddy bear, but Reborn was warm, like his mother, like Giotto, like his friends, like Neesan and Tsuna had always found comfort and safety in that warmth. That Reborn let Tsuna do this made his heart sing.

They sat there quietly until Tsuna fell asleep.

Over the Garden Wall

Reborn woke up to a blue sky and forest of purple trees. He frowned, eyes narrowing, roaming over the scenery.

Tsuna! Where was Tsuna? Reborn looked around, trying to pinpoint the brunet. Tsuna was nowhere to be found. Reborn was alone. All around him was nothing but purple trees.

Reborn reached up to tug his fedora down in frustration before stopping to stare at his hand. These hands… He flexed his fingers, staring at the much larger hand. In fact, he glanced up and down at himself, patting his legs, chest and arms in disbelief. He was in his full adult body again. Impossible. How?

"What the hell is going on?"

-builds up your expectations- -sends it crashing down-

Bwuhaha. How many of you are just as confused as Reborn?

I'm not gonna give the reason behind Ienari and Tsuna issues to you guys that easily. Though, depending where you look, Reborn and Tsuna's conversation was not the most important part of this chapter. But we've now covered how Ryohei and Tsuna met, introduced Bianchi to Ienari, introduced Lambo, told you Yousei's goal, and well lots of other things too.

On a side note, do you guys know which chapter/episode Yuni says the whole Tsuna is known to be the Vongola Boss who always fights with his brows furrowed and fists swung in the semblance of a prayer, thing? I kinda wanna read/watch that in context. I mean, it's on the wikia, fanfics keep referencing it and it's really cool (though I'm honestly not really seeing the fists swung in semblance of a prayer part. But maybe that's because of my lack of exposure to canon. Is it talking about Tsuna's X burner stance?)

Guest Reviewers Response

HeartsofStone

Haha, I like cliffhangers :P But thank you! My goal is to take everything you know about twin fics and turn it upside down. I hope I succeed in that.

Mave

Haha, I'm often wary of OCs fics myself. (And yet here I am writing a fic with OCs can I be more of a hypocrite?) Thanks for giving me a shot though. We will get through everyone's introduction and how they met Tsuna. Eventually. I hope. OTL

Kiba-chan

I do laugh very sadistically when I cut it off for a cliffhangers. 3 It makes things interesting!

Inkvader zim

I've already started introducing Ienari's guardians. owo b