note: "japanese"; "italian"

. . .

"What's wrong with him?" Mochida asked, staring at the pale brunet lying on the bed.

"He extremely fainted!" Sasagawa answered back quietly (by his standards), much to Reborn's surprise. He didn't know that Sasagawa knew how to lower his volume, but apparently the boxer was very caring towards his club members (or just to Tsuna), despite his impulsive nature. When Tsuna didn't appear though it was club day, Ryohei cancelled the club to search for his wayward member.

(When Tsuna would start searching for his guardians, Reborn would definitely suggest Sasagawa. Not only was he strong, but his flames - Sun Flames - burned brightly. And most of all, he cared for Tsuna's well-being, which was what being a Vongola guardian was all about.)

"I know that!" Mochida hissed back, glaring at the other teen. "I was there! I was the one who caught him," he continued and wasn't that a surprise as well? He heard about how the kendo practitioner publicly insulted Tsuna and now here he was - worriedly staying by Tsuna's side.

(And he wondered just how powerful was Tsuna's pull?)

"I meant how the hell did he sprout flames from his hands?" Mochida asked angrily.

And that's another thing that surprised Reborn because this afternoon was shaping up to be full of surprises. Tsuna shouldn't have been able to access his flames yet. Accessing Dying Will Flames required training and conditioning, both of which his student lacked. But he had resolve and apparently that was enough to put him in the Hyper Dying Will Mode, completely bypassing the Dying Will Mode. And since it was a stamina-based condition and his stamina was severely lacking, it was natural that he would faint despite being entering that mode for a minute at the most.

But it wasn't the fainting that caused Reborn's distress (though he would never admit that even upon pain of death). He was worried because his student was cold - freezing, in fact - but he was sweating like crazy. That wasn't a normal reaction after entering the HDWM.

"Because Sawada is extreme!" Sasasgawa answered cheerfully.

"That doesn't answer anything! Dame-Tsuna-" Mochida said but was interrupted by Ryohei, who suddenly dropped his cheer.

"There is nothing dame about Sawada to the extreme!" he said seriously, his hands fisted as if ready to punch Mochida.

"Right, sorry," the brunet backtracked, which was the only reason why he was still alive.

(Reborn may not be able to protect his student from all who insulted him, but if the scum was in front of him, he had no reason not to rectify the situation.)

"He can't be dame if he can bring Hibari to his knees. But that's not the point-" Mochida continued only to be interrupted by Reborn this time.

"Shut. Up." Reborn snarled menacingly, his patience reaching its limit. Thankfully, both of them audibly shut their mouths before he brought out a real gun loaded with real bullets.

He would have used Leon but the chameleon was currently a phone. He was calling Shamal, who was the best in the business, and his student deserved the best.

The doctor-hitman's phone was finally ringing, which was why he told the loud teens in his house to shut up. But for every ring he heard, the whiter his knuckles turned as his other hand crushed his fedora. Why wasn't the bastard picking up his fucking phone?

"Sorry, I have other business to settle," the shitty doctor said as soon as he - finally - picked up his phone.

"This is Reborn. My student needs your help," Reborn said. He and Shamal had worked together in the past and surely the man understood what it meant for Reborn to suck up his pride and ask for help.

"Reborn," he repeated dumbly before adding, "Shit. Can't I..." He was obviously talking to someone else on the other side. "Sorry. I owe someone and I can't back out," he said finally, talking to Reborn.

"How much? I'll pay double your debt," he offered because money didn't matter to him when it was his student's life on the line.

"I owe him my life," Shamal answered back and Reborn held back a curse. Life debts mattered to those with honor and despite Shamal's perverted habits and whatnot, he had his own brand of honor. "Anyway, I've got to go now. Sorry," he said, sounding contrite, before ending the call.

Reborn muttered a litany of curses in multiple languages. Even though he was a certified doctor, he didn't know what to do. That's why he called Shamal.

He was about to lower his pride even further (the things he did for his students) and call Verde. As much as he hated his fellow Arcobaleno, he might know how something about Tsuna's condition.

Before he actually dialed the Lightning Acrobaleno's number, a pop alerted him of Harry's return. His father left as soon as he saw Tsuna with a promise to bring back someone who could help.

He was about to inform him of Tsuna's worsening condition, only to see him with Trident Shamal and Smoking Bomb Hayato.

"Please cure him, Doctor Shamal," his father begged as he directed the doctor to Tsuna's bed, shooing the teens who were crowding by Tsuna's bedside.

"You're Shamal's other business?" he asked Harry, partially seething because will the surprises never end?

"Yes, he owes me," his father whispered back as he moved closer to Reborn; either reassuring himself or Reborn because even though Tsuna was Reborn's student, in these past weeks, he has become one of Harry's cubs. And as protective as Reborn was over his students, that was nothing compared to how protective Harry was when it came to those he called his cubs.

"His life?" Reborn asked as he glanced up at his father, who was watching Shamal and his mosquitoes like a hawk. His shades were not enough to hide the ominous glow of his eyes.

"A life debt," was his redundant answer and Reborn was about to ask for more details when Shamal gave his diagnosis.

"His body is rejecting his flames."

"What!"

"For some reason, his body doesn't recognize his flames and so his body is rejecting it," Shamal explained and what was up with people and their redundant answers?

"So what can we do?" Harry asked with barely concealed panic and Shamal gave him a dark look in return.

"Nothing."

"What do you mean 'Nothing'?" Reborn asked, his tone low and dangerous. He did not like the look Shamal gave his father as much as he hated the answer.

"Unless someone here is a Sky Flame user, then there's nothing you can do," he explained to Reborn, obviously not looking at Harry, who stood beside him stiffly.

"Why does he need a sky flame user?" Reborn asked, wanting real answers.

"Since he," he tilted his head towards Tsuna, "Has Sky Flames, then a Sky Flame user could lend his or her flames. The more flames, the more likely his body will adjust and accept the flames instead of rejecting them."

"Shit," Harry said because Sky Flame users were rare. And despite knowing several Sky Flame users since he has been in the business longer than Reborn, most of them are dead or unable (or unwilling) to help Harry.

On the other hand, Reborn knew one who wouldn't deny him anything.

"Let's go to the Cavallone Mansion. Dino can help," Reborn said and Harry nodded. "We'll be back soon. If anything happens, I'm holding you responsible, Shamal," Reborn said as warning before being picked up by Harry, who apparated them away.

Surprises - end.

okay. so for one, i'm sorry that this is so late. another is that i haven't replied to the reviews yet.

to Grayfia, thanks again and i'm glad you enjoyed the previous chapter. as for showing signs of hyper intuition, he's been showing them since chapter three. he noticed the little things like knowing the clock is right or knowing the difference between delusions and reality. and i believe it's his hyper intuition that told him about reborn not being harry's dad. (at least that's my stand.) anyway, tsuna has been using his intuition though he's not consciously aware so when it's his pov, he just knows things.

to Guest, thanks for your review. and um...kinda? hibari does have an odd way of seeing life so he was probably sort of helping tsuna, though not specifically. as for chasing tsuna, he has been doing that ever since he saw harry run with tsuna. tsuna has been hiding from hibari since. with the help of his intuition and knowledge of the school, he has been able to avoid hibari by hiding in spots like the one mentioned in the last chapter.

to KK, thanks again for your review. and they haven't done much to tsuna yet. they've been building up his physical stats, but the real reason why tsuna has been able to land a hit on hibari was because of his flames and intuition. and i plan to use the side characters a lot more than canon, so expect more mochida and hana and the likes. and it wasn't harry who saved tsuna, it was a combination of ryohei, mochida, and reborn. (more of the former two, to be honest.)

thank you for dropping by and i hope you enjoyed your read~