Trigger: N/A

Warning: N/A

Important Info: N/A

Much thanks to those of you who helped motivate me and provided inspiration for this chapter. There were quite a few of you ;3; I cannot even begin to thank you enough.

Cling

Reborn was not clinging.

He did not cling; it was unbecoming of the World's Greatest Hitman.

If he decided to stay near Tsuna all day, that was simply because Tsuna was there. Bianchi, at Reborn's request, headed off to train Ienari. Fon left to talk to his nephew. Nana had taken the two kids out, leaving behind a quiet household. Ayame had taken Tsuna's lap and was completely knocked out, asleep.

Reborn claimed Tsuna's shoulder and the lazy Sunday morning started off quietly. He felt off balanced by what little he had learned within the last few hours. That Ayame was the owner of the white plate with blue moons aside, the entire incident with the twins and the bridge weighed heavy on Reborn's mind.

It was enough to shake Reborn up.

So maybe he wanted reassurance that Tsuna was there, was still alive, still breathing. For Tsuna to have come that close to dying, even if Reborn hadn't known who Tsuna was back then, settled uneasily in Reborn's gut.

"Are you alright, Reborn?" Tsuna asked, closing his book.

"Yes," Reborn answered. He paused, collecting his thoughts. "The white plate with blue moons was always Ayame's?"

Tsuna hummed in agreement. "Yeah. Moons are a big thing for Neesan."

"Your mother told me when I had first arrived that there were 9 occupants in this house. Four were Ienari, her, you and me. The last five were described as one that doesn't eat, three that can take care of themselves, and one who doesn't live with you always. Giotto is the one who doesn't eat. Which one is Ayame?" Reborn asked. This was a safe conversation, something to ease to. He wondered if Tsuna would give him a more direct answer instead of a half-answer that everyone else gave him.

Judging from the easy smile on Tsuna's face, he was going to receive a half-answer. One that answered the question, but didn't explain anything.

"Neesan would count as the one that doesn't always live with us," Tsuna said.

"And who are the three that can take care of themselves?"

"To describe them, I suppose, one is always watching, one is shiny, and the last one glows," Tsuna said, amused.

… What?! Reborn stared at Tsuna. "That doesn't tell me who they are," Reborn said.

"Technically, you've already met two of the three," Tsuna said with a grin.

When?!

As Reborn sat there reeling in the information, Tsuna's smile faltered slightly and turned grim.

"Papa mentioned he told you about the bridge last night," Tsuna said.

"Papa?" Reborn asked, blinking. He hadn't called Iemitsu at all. In fact, Reborn was now absolutely certain that Iemitsu had no idea what his family was like and for the last several years had been under a complete delusion of his ideal family.

"Giotto," Tsuna said. "I… Iemitsu has never really been Tousan as he's never been home. I mean on some level, he is still Tousan and I distantly care about him. But Giotto has always been there for me since we met. He is definitely more a father figure than Iemitsu will ever be. I started calling him Papa shortly after we came back from France. Not often, but yes, Giotto is Papa."

"Ah," Reborn acknowledged. The vindictive nature within him purred at that knowledge. If only that blond idiot could hear the words out of his 'cute-wibble-tuna-fish'.

"Yes," Reborn said. "Giotto told me about the Bridge Incident. Are you upset about that?" He had assumed Tsuna couldn't speak of the incident given his reaction when Reborn had asked after the Dying Will Bullet Incident. Technically speaking from a higher moral ground, Reborn really had no right in asking something he had no business knowing about.

"No," Tsuna said. "Hayato-kun asked the same thing."

Reborn noted the shift from family name to first name for Gokudera. It seemed the Smoking Bomb had made his choice and took the final step. Shame. Ienari lost a potential Storm Guardian without ever really meeting him.

"Tsuna…" Reborn started.

"I'm fine," Tsuna interrupted, sharper than he intended. "I am," he said in a quieter voice.

But Reborn saw the broken resolve in Tsuna's eyes. Now that he knew the reasoning behind it, it seemed frail.

Are you really living if you are still dying inside?

Spar

"Surely you can do better than this, cousin," Hisen asked. Metal clashed against metal, ringing sharply. With practiced ease, she blocked the katana with her iron fan, slipping through Kensuke's defense.

With a swift thud, Kensuke found himself flipping to the ground; the sharp point of his cousin's iron fan pointed at his neck.

"Y-yield," Kensuke said.

Hisen let out a soft huff, tossing her ponytail over her shoulder. "Really Kensuke. You're expecting to win the inter-middle school Kendo Championships?"

Kensuke scrambled to his feet; legs feeling like jelly from the workout he just got. "Not all of us are battle genius, Hisen."

"Keep saying that Kensuke."

Gentle Tranquility

Across town in another dojo, Tsuyoshi watched with a careful eye as Takeshi sat in the center of the dojo, mediating. Across from Takeshi, Tsuyoshi could make out the hazy form of Ugetsu; it was becoming easier to see the first generation Rain Guardian with every passing day, a side effect, Tsuyoshi had been told, of his normal human body adjusting to the high density spirit particles that Ugetsu and the rest of the first generation outputted. Takeshi had been able to see Ugetsu without Ugetsu needing to shift down to a lower plane about a year and half ago; Tsuyoshi was finally adjusting to it.

Today, Ugetsu helped Takeshi spread the range of his Rain Flames. Judging from the way the entire dojo was coated in Rain Flames, Tsuyoshi could safely say it was a success. The sushi chef nodded in approval. Just as there were things that only Tsuyoshi could teach his son, there were things that only Ugetsu could teach Takeshi. Despite having Rain Flames as well, Tsuyoshi was well aware that Takeshi outstripped him in raw power over a year ago, easily matching up to the high levels that Ugetsu had.

If anything, Tsuyoshi was grateful that Ugetsu was around to help Takeshi learn control.

Tsuyoshi grinned as Ugetsu looked at him, gesturing with his head. That was permission for Tsuyoshi to start probing, trying to break Takeshi's concentration. It would do Takeshi no good if he couldn't maintain this range during a battle.

Flaring his own Rain Flames, Tsuyoshi went about disrupting Takeshi's flames.

Never opening his eyes, Takeshi smoothed out each disruptions.

Tsuyoshi hummed in approval of that. Then he flung the baseball he had specifically brought with him at Takeshi.

It hit Takeshi squarely on the forehead, shattering the dome of Rain Flames.

"Oyaji," Takeshi whined, rubbing his forehead.

"You're gonna have to learn to keep that up when the enemies are throwing their attacks at you," Tsuyoshi pointed out, mirthfully.

"He's correct," Ugetsu agreed. "But it was a good first attempt."

Tsuyoshi nodded in agreement. "Yes. Good job Takeshi. I'm proud of you."

The real smile Takeshi smiled made Tsuyoshi's heart swell even more in pride and love. His beautiful son was going to go so far in life.

Tsuyoshi was going to be grateful to Tsuna for the rest of his life.

Food

Kaori hummed to herself as she stood over the stove. Today she would make her fabulous chicken noodle soup and take it Ienari-sama! "He'll love it so much, he'll beg to go on a date with me," Kaori said with a gleeful cheer.

Politician

"Hideki."

"Otousama," Hideki greeted his father.

"Your presence is requested at tonight's party," his father said.

Hideki smiled, but inwardly he gagged. Another party. Just because his father was a high ranking government official, he was expected to show up at the countless parties that his father was invited to, to help promote his father's family friendly image. It was dreadfully boring as his father tried to set him up with brainless girls who couldn't string together a coherent sentence let alone engage him into an intellectually stimulating conversation.

"Of course, father. I look forward to it," Hideki said, lying through his teeth. He pushed his red rimmed glasses up his nose. At least he would have more pawns to play with after tonight.

Protective Storm

Tsuna wasn't really surprised when Hayato decided to show up and hugged him tightly. Naturally, he also didn't comment on the wetness he felt on his shoulder, choosing instead of calmly pat Hayato on the back. Tsuna had been expecting Hayato to show up eventually. No one ever came out of that particular conversation unscratched. There was little doubt in Tsuna's mind that Kyoko or Hana would be showing eventually as well.

The conversation regarding the Bridge Incident always upset everyone.

"I… you…" Hayato tried to form words.

Tsuna hummed in understanding. "I know."

Brewing Clouds

Fon sat in front of his nephew. Not a single word passed between them, just a heavy, but not uncomfortable silence. Heavy thoughts weighed on Fon's mind; the new knowledge he had received was illuminating.

"You know," Fon said quietly, breaking the silence.

Kyoya, of course, knew exactly what he was speaking of. "You should have told me," he snapped. "None of this testing your worth and matching ideals with the Triads." Anger ran rampant under his words, the tension in his shoulders and a snarl on his lips.

"How," Fon asked, curious to know.

"Okaasama said, implied, with not so many words," Kyoya's bristle response.

Of course. Kyoya was nothing but a genius. That sharp mind, inherited from both his parents was as dangerous as the fighting skills they had taught him.

"Yun was always a free spirit," Fon said quietly. "She never liked to be tied down, always seeking adventures when we were children. To learn that she was going to be trapped in the Triad Slave Camp was… crushing. She tried to run away several times once we had discovered that, eventually our mother agreed to take her place.

Whether it was out of shame or quiet relief or even both, Yun moved to Japan where she met your father. I didn't see or hear from her until the day she got married. That would later prove to be a mistake.

Two months after your parents got married, our mother died; one of the random killings because someone tried to break into the Slave Camp again. The Triad came after Yun. By then, I was already cursed, the weight of being the Storm Arcobaleno in combination with the Hibari name, allowed her to retain some of her freedom. They merely choose to chain her down instead of trapping her in a gilded cage."

"The tracker," Kyoya said in understanding.

Fon nodded tiredly. The tracker was a thick metal bracelet. It not only let reported back the location of the hostage, but also contained the bomb within it. Tampering with the bracelet would set off the bomb and of course, the random trigger whenever someone attempted to rescue the hostage.

That tracker made Yun fearful of holding her own child. She never knew when it could potentially go off and that kept her distance so that Kyoya wouldn't get hurt in case the bomb did trigger. Thankfully, it seemed Kyoya seemed to take after his father; Hibaris were natural loners and while they appreciate occasional affection, most of them were more comfortable with a distant type of love and care than a more direct physical connection.

Still, Fon knew how much it hurt Yun that she couldn't freely hold her son. He suspected the illness that she finally succumbed to was made worse by the fear ebbing away at her mind.

Staring at the silver bracelet around Kyoya's wrist, Fon felt his heart clenched painfully. "I am sorry," Fon apologized. "After Yun's death, they moved on to you."

"I-pin takes your place should anything happen to you?" Kyoya asked.

"Yes, though I had hoped by the time I would have figured out how to safely disable the tracker," Fon said. "I've been trying to get a non-activated one that I could take to Verde to analyze. I've seen first hand when people attempt to disarm live ones. There's a dead man switch somewhere that even attempting to open up the tracker will trigger the bomb. Not to mention they appear to be getting smaller." Fon gestured to the silver bracelet around Kyoya's wrist.

Kyoya lifted his wrist; the silver bracelet gleaming in the light. Then he scoffed, "You misunderstand." He unlatched the bracelet, letting it dangle in his hand. "This was a gift from the Omnivore and Baby Omnivore. While I'm fairly certain there is a GPS tracker in here because the Omnivore's paranoia levels are off the charts, this is not the Triad's tracker. In fact, the Triad has not chained me in any way."

Fon gaped. "What?" he asked, stunned. "Impossible, I've seen the tracker reports." Fon had seen the active GPS tracker dot in Namimori, a casual reminder that Triad often sent him that they were still watching. Kyoya may walk free, but they held his life in their hands.

"You have the Omnivore to thank for that," Kyoya said. He flipped one of the tatami mats over, revealing a trapdoor in the ground. Pulling it open, Kyoya pointed down into the black metal safe in the underground room. "The Triad tracker is in that safe along with a computer that randomly generates a route through Namimori. Majority of the bomb has been disarmed, leaving only enough that if it ever trips, it'll explode to destroy the tracker and send back a confirmation but won't hurt anyone. Placing it in this room was extra precaution."

"How?" Fon asked.

"There is a reason why Otousama was comfortable enough to leave me alone after Okaasama's death," Kyoya said plainly. "The Omnivore and Otousama know each other, though they refuse to comment on how." Kyoya's eyes narrowed at that, disliking that information was being kept from him. "And apparently, ever since she arrived, the Omnivore has been doing control crowd, which meant stopping all the Triad's attempts to chain me down. I caught her two years ago, demanding answers to the suspicions I had, but no one in my family would confirm for me." The last sentence was accusatory.

Fon owned Ayame more than he imagined. "She did all of that?"

Kyoya scoffed once more. "The Omnivore has more fingers in pies than you can imagine. You and the baby are five years too late to be taking apart her plans."

"What exactly are her plans?" Fon asked.

A sadistic smirk stretched across Kyoya's face. "I think I will enjoy watching you try and figure that out."

He stood, signaling the closing the conversation. Just as Kyoya left, he threw over his shoulder, "Whether you stay here or at the Sawada Household, does not matter to me."

Fon stared, watching his nephew leave. A tiny hope unfurled in his chest at Kyoya's words. There was still a chance to mend his relationship with Kyoya. Kyoya wouldn't have offered that two years ago.

That alone gave Fon so much hope.

Best of Friends

Hachirou let out a low whistle as the pink haired bombshell of a lady walked out of Ienari's hospital room, tossing her long hair over her shoulder.

"What did you do to get the attention of a babe like that?" Hachirou asked his best friend.

Ienari groaned, looking oddly singled and interesting shade of purple.

"Also why are you purple?" Hachirou asked.

"That crazy girl is one of the many tutors Reborn got me," Ienari snapped. "I'm purple because she's keeps trying to kill me while trying to teach me the finer points of table manners and while using the wrong fork can get you killed."

"Why is she trying to kill you?" Hachirou asked.

"Because she loves Reborn."

"But isn't Reborn a baby? You know you told me why you have a baby as a tutor or why you even needed a tutor to begin with."

Ienari groaned once more and buried his face into his pillow. "I cannot wait until I'm discharged. At least I'll be able to run away from her instead of being chained to this bed."

Being the good friend he was, Hachirou couldn't help but point out, "That's assuming all your fractures are healed by then."

"Damnit, Hachirou. Next time I will use you as a shield against her and you can see how you like it."

Renovation

Nana hummed as she exited the Kinga Construction Office. The plans were set and soon her house would be expanded to accommodate the new guests that have been staying in the Sawada Household. It was best to do it now, before Ienari was discharged and the tensions were exploded at all time high.

Still with all the people in the household, perhaps now Nana could relax a little. It was hard keeping her boys apart with nice little plausible reasons. Her sons may not get along with each other, but she wanted to make sure she paid equal attention to them both and not isolate one or the other. Reborn's arrival made it immensely easier. New people meant more things that needed to be done or for people to keep one of her boys busy (whether it be Reborn training Ienari or Tsuna watching the kids who adore him).

Bending down to their eye level, Nana looked at I-pin and Lambo. "Why don't we go to the store and see if we can find matching dishes for everyone?"

"Okay!" Both children chimed up at her.

Nana smiled brightly. Things were looking bright.

Miura Haru

Kyoko examined the cakes in the showcase carefully. Which one should she pick today? There were so many different flavors to choose from and they were all quite expensive. But that was to be expected considering she had ventured into the fancy German Bakery instead of heading over to Lucky Cat Cafe. Not that Cass' cakes weren't as good, but considering the stressful conversation she had with Hayato, Kyoko needed some extra indulgence today.

"Hmm the Black Forest Cake sounds good," Kyoko mumbled to herself.

"Hahi! The Black Forest Cake is the best this bakery has to offer!"

Kyoko turned to see a brown haired girl in a pink dress standing behind her. "You would recommend the Black Forest Cake?" she asked.

"As long as you like cherries and chocolate," the girl chirped. "It's delicious, all that rich chocolate!"

Chocolate was good. Chocolate would be great right now. "Alright, I'll get that then. I'm Sasagawa Kyoko," Kyoko said with a bow, introducing herself. "Thank you for the suggestion."

"I'm Miura Haru. Nice to meet you Sasagawa-chan," Haru beamed.

The infectious upbeat energy Haru protruded caused Kyoko to smile. "Nice to meet you Miura-chan. Please, called me Kyoko."

"Hahi! Kyoko-chan then!" Haru said. "Call me Haru!"

It was the start of a beautiful friendship.

Books

Hana sat at her kitchen table, a large pile of books sat in front of her. Her eyes narrowed as she absorbed the contents within. It was dense reading and far beyond her level at the moment, but it never hurt to get a head start on understanding. It would come in handy later. Instead, she took careful notes, absorbing what she could and would decode the rest later for her own understanding.

"Dear? Why on earth are you reading law books?" her mother asked.

"I want to become a lawyer," Hana said, simply. Vongola's appearance in Namimori, Ienari's position as Decimo, they had her mind spinning toward the future. Tsuna knew what he was going to do, and Ayame was already living her future.

She wanted to do what she could to help. Kyoya had a future in security management or even law enforcer or whatever Hibaris normally did. Takeshi was probably headed to the pro leagues for baseball. The aftermath of Yousei had left Ryohei considering a future in the medical field. The Sun Flames he emitted would help with that. That left her and Kyoko.

Hana paused; her heart ached a bit at the thought about what would happen when they graduated from high school. Would they head off to different universities, parting ways, never to see each other again, aside from a few stray emails, phone calls and school reunions?

Could she accept that?

(Did she really want to go?)

'Oh, don't be silly, like Tsuna is going to let any of us go and none of us will willingly leave his side,' Hana thought with a huff.

"But… isn't it a bit early to be starting on this? Do you even understand what the books are saying?"

"It's never too early," Hana said. "I don't understand everything but it never hurts to get familiarized with them."

Who else was going to keep her stupid monkey friends out of trouble?

Healer

Shamal muttered over himself as he reviewed the information Reborn had so kindly gave him. The hitman had not been kidding when he said Namimori was a little weird. In fact, Shamal figured, Reborn had been understating exactly how weird Namimori actually was. Shamal had been a bystander since his first arrival, only seeing the changes peripherally. Outside of that first day, he had barely interacted with the Sawada Twins (a few times with Tsunayoshi; nothing with Ienari) and Hayato, while helpful in contributing information, had been done nothing but muddled the waters even more.

It led to a mostly unbiased view of things. Subtle tiny things. The amount of bullying Tsunayoshi was subjected to was, frankly, horrifying. Hayato had dragged the brunet into the nurse's office Shamal had taken over more than once. Tsuna would simply smile at the injuries he had, patiently waiting as Shamal, who would normally protest against treating men, bandaged them.

What kind of hell had Tsuna been through that he simply accepted that?

Shamal actually feared what things would look like once Sawada Ienari returned back to school. Adding gasoline to the fire? Hayato had implied as much.

Tossing the files Reborn sent onto his desk, he leaned back in his chair groaning. Why did he let Reborn talk him into coming to Namimori?

Right, because he owned Reborn a long list of favors that the hitman was finally cashing in on. He pulled out one more file; this one needed to be sent to Reborn when he had to chance. It had practically nothing of real importance in it, but it would add at least to the pile. Shortly upon her appearance to Namimori, Kumori Ayame was seen working in Namimori Hospital. The nurses and doctors remember her, and while they couldn't tell him much, it was enough for him to piece together that she had been working there for several months.

Of course, no one knew who she really was or where she had come from, but some reason or another, they let her do as she pleased and refused to say a word about it.

Odd.

A knock on the door of his tiny apartment drew his attention. Who would be visiting him now? Reborn always just let himself in, sneaking in and giving Shamal a heart attack at his constant mysterious appearances.

Shamal opened his door to find a white haired boy, Sasagawa Ryohei at his doorstep.

The boxer proceeded to bow a full 90 degrees and shouted, "Please teach me how to heal, Shamal-sensei!"

"Go to medical school," Shamal bluntly replied.

"I plan to," Ryohei said seriously.

Shamal had been posing at the school nurse long enough to know this was unusual behavior from the young teen. "So then why come to me?" he asked, curious.

Ryohei stood firm. He raised his fist; yellow Sun Flames flickering to life around his fist. "Because you're the only one in this town who knows methods to heal with Dying Will Flames." He bowed once more. "Please. I have received the basic instruction on healing with Sun Flames, but the human body is much more complicated."

Shamal stared. 'Well, I'll be damned,' Shamal thought. 'Reborn didn't mention an active Sun Flame User in Namimori.'

"All right," Shamal said. "Come on in. I'm warning you though I'm not an easy teacher."

Ryohei brightened at his words. "I EXTREMELY look forward to working with you!"

Shamal made a note to buy some earplugs as soon as possible.

Hit

Ienari barely reacted as Koujin slipped into his hospital room. The younger boy had been visiting constantly lately and Ienari was bored enough to accept any company. Hachirou had left and thankfully so had the pink haired demon lady.

"Ugh," Koujin said, flopping into the white plastic chair. "When do you get out of here? I'm so bored."

"Do you miss me beating you up that much?" Ienari asked wryly.

"We're evenly matched and you know it," Koujin said. "No one else is willing to fight me. The rest of my family is out working; your little friends at school are boring though Iron Fan Girl is a feisty one. But she's like never around, always off to some a tea ceremony or flower arranging class. Boring. There's the bloody Skylark, but my parents told me to stay away from the Hibaris."

"You can always test your mettle against Dame-Tsuna," Ienari calmly remarked offhandedly. That would kill two birds with one stone: hurting his brother and getting rid of a whiny Koujin.

Koujin's eyebrow rose. "Do you want him dead or something?"

Ienari didn't say anything, neither confirming or denying Koujin's words.

Koujin's eyebrow rose even higher. "Why do you want him dead?"

"Dame-Tsuna is nothing but trouble," Ienari said. If Koujin could get rid of him, then Ienari wasn't going to complain.

"You make it sound like he's a threat," Koujin said. "Well, whatever, if it'll kill some time, I'll do it. Free of charge too. Just know I wasn't kidding about being a ninja assassin. The next time you see your brother, he'll be in a coffin." He jumped onto the windowsill, ready to climb down.

"Koujin," Ienari warned. "You only get one chance. If you fail, you'll never get close enough to try again." Ienari should know that well. He still had the burnt scars on his hand.

The young assassin looked over his shoulder back at Ienari. "What do you mean?"

"I'm saying I haven't physically been able to touch Dame-Tsuna since we were ten."

Start a Chain Reaction

Tsuna opened the cupboard. "Hmm… we're out of panko," Tsuna said to himself. He glanced around the kitchen wondering if his mother had placed it in a different place than usual.

He paused his sweep of the kitchen to glance over to a sleeping Hayato and Ayame. Ayame hadn't even stirred as Tsuna had slipped away from being her pillow and Hayato had worn himself out emotionally shortly after arriving. Both were asleep on the couch, not even realizing it.

Tsuna had decided to start on dinner as Nana had yet to return. No doubt she was still out running errands with Lambo and I-pin. Tonkatsu Curry would be an easy enough of a meal, but they were out of panko to bread the pork.

"Do you see the panko anywhere, Reborn?" Tsuna asked.

Reborn shook his head. "None that I see," the hitman said.

Tsuna frowned. They couldn't have Tonkatsu without panko. "I'll make a quick run to the store then," Tsuna said, grabbed his wallet. "Keep an eye on the stove okay, Reborn?"

"Very well."

Twenty minutes later, Tsuna was walking down the street with a bag of panko in his hands. The next minute, he leapt backwards, narrowly dodging three metal kunais that buried themselves into the spot where he had just been.

"Not bad if you managed to dodge that."

Tsuna looked around, trying to pinpoint the source of the voice. His Hyper Intuition flared once more and Tsuna rolled to the side, evading the dark shadow dropped down.

Dark purple hair pulled back in a high short ponytail, sharp crimson eyes and black clothing to easily hide among the long shadows of sunset. A long black scarf wrapped around his neck, obscuring the bottom half of the person's face. Pouches tied to the arms and legs; the dying sunlight reflected off the sharp metal kunais in his hand.

Koujin Fuun.

Tsuna gaped; wondering why the youngest son and heir to the Koujin School of Ninjutsu would be after him.

'Actually… I think he's one of Ienari's friends,' Tsuna thought to himself with a start. Did Ienari send Koujin? That wasn't like Ienari at all. Manipulating bullies to come after Tsuna was more of Ienari's style, but to set Koujin, who from Ienari's point of view would be stronger than Tsuna, after Tsuna? A bitter feeling settled in Tsuna's stomach.

Where had Tsuna gone wrong?

There was no more time to ponder on that as Koujin leapt forward, charging straight at Tsuna. Tsuna jumped over him. The ring against his chest pulsed, but Tsuna pressed down the surge of energy building. He didn't want to hurt Koujin. Eventually the younger boy would get tired of this and would stop.

"Why are you doing this?" Tsuna asked, ducking under another volley of kunai.

"Boredom," Koujin said. "And someone wants you dead."

The warning from Hyper Intuition came too late as Tsuna felt a stinging pain across his stomach. He looked down to see a dark red stain starting to spread across his stomach. His blood felt warm and sticky.

A dark smirk spread across Koujin's face; blood dripping from the tanto he had just unsheathed. He arced the sword, letting Tsuna's blood spatter to the ground.

'That's right! The Koujin Family is also an assassin family,' Tsuna remembered.

"Do keep me entertained," Koujin said. "It's no fun if you just keep dodging." He blurred into the shadows, disappearing from Tsuna's sight.

'To the left!' Tsuna raised his arm to block, gritting his teeth as a kunai buried itself into his flesh. He wrenched it out of his arm, tossing it to the side. The pain was nothing new; no different than the many punches bullies often threw his way.

Tsuna spotted Koujin out of the corner of his eye, escaping another swing of the tanto sword. He sidestepped another kunai and ducked under a high kick.

"I told you. It's no fun if you just keep dodging," Koujin complained.

Tsuna stared at him warily. What was the point of fighting back? It was honestly less painful and things finished quickly if Tsuna had just let them hurt him the way they wanted to. They would get bored eventually. The only difference this time was Koujin actually wanted him dead.

There was a soft voice whispering in the back of his head, a voice that sounded so much like Ienari, a voice that Tsuna tried hard to ignore.

'Aren't you tired of living? It would be so much easier to let things go...'

Koujin charged; tanto raise high.

And Tsuna didn't move.

Conviction (Inspire Me To Live)

Twenty minutes after Tsuna had left, Reborn had a bad feeling, a really bad feeling. His gut twisted and despair sank its claws into him. Warning bells rang in his head as his Flames cried in distress. Stopping only long enough to turn off the stove, Reborn flew out of the house.

Tsuna was in trouble.

Reborn arrived to a horrifying scene. Tsuna was red; covered in blood and injuries. The Koujin boy was charging straight at Reborn's Sky, a bloodied tanto raised, ready to cut down anyone in its path.

And Tsuna didn't move.

Without any hesitation Reborn fired. The first pierced Koujin's right hand, forcing him to drop the tanto blade. The second buried itself in the ninja's thigh, causing him to fall to the ground, howling in pain.

Reborn leveled his gun straight in between Koujin's eyes. Anger roared within him, heart pounding, teeth clenched that someone would dare, would dare to touch Reborn's Sky. "Leave," Reborn hissed; his voice was dark and dangerous, razor sharp like a knife's edge.

Koujin limped away like a kicked animal, disappearing into the shadows.

Reborn took a deep breath, trying to gain a grasp of his rage. His grip was still tight around an equal red Leon. One more fortifying breath before Reborn turn to look at a silence Tsuna who stared at him with wide eyes.

Cataloguing Tsuna's injuries and determining the slash across Tsuna's stomach were the worse, Reborn started there, pushing his Sun Flames over the cut and trying to calm himself down. Leon transformed back, crawling over to Tsuna's shoulder to nuzzle his cheek.

When he felt he had a good enough grasp on his emotions, Reborn asked, "Why didn't you defend yourself, Tsuna?" That came out sharper than intended.

"I…"

Words failed Tsuna, but Reborn could read the reasons on the brunet's face plain as day. The frail resolve in Tsuna's eyes, shattered and tiny. Tsuna saw no value in his own life, saw no reason to fight back. This was the same boy who brought down an entire organ plant, the same boy who rushed off in defense of a friend, the same boy that accepted the abuse an entire town threw his way with a smile, defeated, broken and barely clinging onto dear life.

"You lack conviction," Reborn said firmly. The bridge, Tsuna's suicide attempt encumbered his mind. He had to make Tsuna see; Reborn would not accept anything less. "Your current resolve is weak. Abandon it and build a new one. There is value in your life, Tsuna. You have friends and family that love you, care for you, and protect you. To handle your life so carelessly, you disrespect their efforts to keep you safe."

By the slight widening of Tsuna's eyes, Reborn knew he was getting through to him. Reborn pressed on.

"Defend yourself! When you fight there should be no hesitation in your fists; commit every action with your Dying Will. Aim to win, for losing means accepting the potential lost of your life and the lives of your friends. If you want to protect them, you must also protect yourself."

Tsuna drew in a sharp breath.

Reborn softened his next words, but the weight still carried. "This is something you need to decide on Tsuna. I can you tell this all you want, repeat these words until the day I die, but unless you believe in them yourself, until you make that choice, until you decide what your resolve is, they are just empty words. What kind of person do you want to be?"

Briefly, Tsuna's eyes closed; his breath hitching in a short gasp. "I want to be strong enough to protect them," he whispered.

Reborn felt his heart squeezed. Tsuna's kindness. His gentleness. The strength that Reborn knew was there, buried so deep. The wide and ever accepting Sky. The way his friends leaned on him and the way he leaned back on them, supporting each other in every way needed. "I already think you are," he confessed. "The question is do you think so?"

Tsuna's eyes opened, reflecting that brilliant shade of orange within. A new resolve, forged in the simple faith and belief, burned brightly.

"Yes."

Yes! Haru has been introduced, finally managed to bring Shamal back into the story, another look into everyone's lives and Tsuna is growing up. -wipes tears away-

FYI, I'm going on a trip, this will be the last update before I leave.

General Notes

Kyoya's silver bracelet first appears in Chapter 5: Rooftop

For the record, Reborn doesn't know that rest of Tsuna's friends have Dying Will Flames.

Guest Reviewer Response

Marie

owo b You welcome. I hope you enjoyed this one.

HeartsOfStone

Wow! Your life sounds super busy. Don't forget to rest! I wish you the best of luck! (⁄ ⁄•⁄ω⁄•⁄ ⁄)⁄ You make me blush. I hope one day to publish, actually thinking about self-publishing Ayame's original story next year. :O