NOTE: Most of this sounds fillery and is adapted loosely from the manga but each segment serves a small purpose, whether to clear up someone's role or growing skill-set, ETC, so read if you'd like, BUT if you want to get to the more interesting bits you can skip to around the underlined It was your average summery day in Japan. I warn, however, that if you do you will miss some key parts that come into play in other chapters. And Spanner too.

Second Note: I AM writing this as much for my own enjoyment as I am for sharing this out there, so... I hope this chapter is okay? And apologies to mistakes not caught in proofreading! If you tell me and specify a general area of where they are I'll try and get to them. At some point. *shifty eyes*

"Babies don't need [fathers], but mothers do. Someone who is taking care of a baby needs to be taken care of." ~ Amy Heckerling.

Two weeks after the Mafia Land incident Hibari had only just stopped dragging Tsuna off to brutal spars outside the town. As he promised Tsuna ceased holding back, or as much as he could bring himself to as Hibari wasn't an enemy, the times where one pinned the other was more than evened out, the Decimo was pushing Hibari to his limits (not that the former was aware). Still, that he was pinning a demi-human like Hibari much more often had to mean something. Was he [Tsuna] too strong? Was he going to hurt someone accidentally one day?

After talking over his insecurities with Fon, unaware of Reborn listening in, Tsuna found himself practicing more meditation arts with both Arcobaleno. The difference? One of them had the boy performing tai-chi on top of towering bamboo with a pit of unidentified and stinky matter at the bottom.

o o o

SpannerText: I've secured a good Sakura Viewing spot for today, Sora-chan. Make sure you drop by soon.

TsunaText: It's four in the morning, what are you doing out so early?

S.T: Sakura Viewing is part of the Japanese experience. Make some Hanami Dango, would you?

T.T: It's FOUR in the morning. *FOUR* You're lucky I'm functioning well enough to text without sounding drunk. And that's thanks to autocorrect.

S.T: Please? Please? Please? Times infinity?

T.T: I'll buy some before we go.

S.T: It won't taste as good.

T.T: Are you trying to drive me insane?

S.T: Not at all. If I were trying to drive you crazy I'd do it in a more... enjoyable way for the both of us alone.

Tsuna blinked sleepily and stared at the text, trying to puzzle out what his friend meant. It wasn't clicking and probably wouldn't click for a long while until Reborn goes through his phone and tells him.

T.T: I don't understand. Fine, I'll make the darn dango, you fussy genius.

S.T: Bring a camera and wear something nice.

T.T: I'll wear whatever I want, now I'm going to sleep for another two hours.

. . .

Time: 1:38 PM

Tsuna, dressed in a short sleeved hoodie and jean shorts, stared at the strange sight before him and Hana was right there with him. Both had been caught off guard by Spanner sitting within perimeter of the cordoned off trees reserved by Hibari's Disciplinary Committee. Kusakabe had already escorted Ryohei to a scrawny looking sakura tree farther away, and the members of Tsuna's Pride capable of keeping their volume down were allowed to sit at the very, very edge of Hibari's excessively big claimed territory. To keep Ryohei from kicking up too much of a fuss Tsuna said he'd promise to give him a really good fight later, and Fon, along with Fuuta, thoughtfully took a box of Hanami Dango along on his way to sit with the boxer. I-Pin followed her master happily.

"Hana, have we maybe slipped into a weird mirror world?"

"If that's not the case than someone made the gorilla very happy and I think we know how that might be..."

"Someone... Spanner... turned his tonfa into weapons of mass destruction."

Both teens shuddered in unison.

The engineer in question waved to them from where he sat beside Takeshi, Kyoko, and Lambo. Bianchi had already set down her own sadly delicious looking poison cooking and Tsuna reached into his duffel bag to pull out the bottle of Vongola Iron Stomach pills to hand out to everyone but the Poison Cook herself since she likely had the stomach of a vulture. A single pill lasted an hour at least. Shoichi appeared a few minutes later with drinks and store bought Hanami Dango, and Tsuna quickly had him swallow a pill to survive any of Bianchi's cooking in case it was sneaked in.

At nearly two in the afternoon Hibari appeared. While not especially loud everyone in Tsuna's group quieted at his appearance and jaws dropped when the boy stopped thirteen feet from the gathered herbivores and threw a box at their Sky. Tsuna stuttered out a thanks and the prefect wordlessly went on his way to his much removed claimed tree far out of sight, leaving Gokudera quietly grumbling about rude bastards disrespecting the Juudaime.

Inside the magnolia patterned purple wood box was a gold piece of jewelry that nearly spanned the entirety of Tsuna's palm. It appeared to be a round and slightly heavy brooch, being capable of attaching to his hoodie with sturdy pins. There was a deep violet and fairly large gemstone with a smooth cut giving it a pale star in the middle. Surrounding the stone were two beautifully detailed dolphins chasing their tails, one with white pearls for the eyes and the other with black stones. No one bothered him as he examined his gift and quickly enough he noticed small hinges on the side and endeavored to gently open the locket-brooch. When he did a rolled paper fell out and landed in his lap.

Reborn jumped to his shoulder. "Let's have a look."

Tsuna deadpanned. "Shouldn't this be private?"

"I know who and what Hibari's mother is, so do it. You'll be surprised by what she wrote, I'm sure."

With a sigh, and knowing when to not fight against tiny forces of nature, Tsuna unrolled the silky paper and twitched slightly in surprise at both the length of the letter and the contents:

"Hello, young Decimo of the next Vongola. I am Mitsuko, Kyoya's mother. The locket-brooch you hold in your hand is something I had made when I was young and it is quite useful when it comes to absorbing and multiplying Flames. You could call it a batter of sorts. How you use it is up to you. Moving on, I feel the need to send a thank you for accepting my son into your heart, as that is the only way for a Sky to bond with a potential Guardian. Clouds are notoriously difficult to draw in with a Sky's Magnetism, so I feel it within my rights to say good job in catching my Mozu-kun's attention. You must be powerful indeed to keep him interested in you for so many years.

Within a month or two, perhaps three, I will issue you an invitation to visit the Hibari compound on the outskirts of Namimori. Mozu-kun will pick you up from your home and you will spend the day with us so I can evaluate your power and where you may need more help. Your tutor may come. I have always wished to meet with Reborn so it would be much appreciated. Send my regards to your mother, would you? I wish to meet her too sometime afterwards, as her cooking has made our days much more pleasant.

If all goes well, your Vongola will have an allie in the Irukaza."

Tsuna bit his lip and gently rolled up the paper and put it back in the locket-brooch, which he then attached to his sweater and vowed to protect from any thieves even if it got him hospitalized or near death (at least he had complete faith in his ability to survive, survive, survive like a cockroach).

"Um... R-Reborn, is Hibari part of the Mafia?" Tsuna said under his breath.

"His mother retired from active duty due to mental health problems, but you could say he has high pedigreed."

"I can't say I'm surprised."

With the Skylark so far away there was only a distant rumbling as a tell that the Cloud was in a scuffle with someone strong. No one got up to check it out mainly because Tsuna had faith in his demi-human friend to beat anyone coming his way. How was he to know it was a fight with a certain pervert?

o o o

Tsuna left the house with I-Pin and Lambo because the both of them had cleaned their rooms. Their payment was candy, of course, and when both children started pointing at the telephone pole above him, with Lambo saying that some funny men had a bad needle Tsuna told Lambo to go get the paintball gun.

Of course, by the time he returned I-Pin had helped Tsuna take out the invisible men (really, invisible suit wearing people!?) by knocking them to the ground and pointing where he had to slam a harsh hit to. Their suits short circuited and they were left twitching under the strain of a paralyzing Lightning fist. When Lambo returned with the paintball gun Tsuna told him he could shoot both the bad men all he wanted. Meanwhile Reborn appeared and informed the Decimo that these two were there to kill him.

Tsuna Text: Someone just tried to kill me with a needle full of poison. I'm kind of... shocked but not surprised. You can have these guys, BTW, just not the tech-suits. Reborn is going to hand those over to Spanner and Shoichi. Also...Lambo is calling them ugly worms for trying to kill me. He's hardly around you, how did you teach him that?

Hibari Text: Your cubs have to learn how to be carnivores at some point, Anaguma. Better to learn from me.

"This is totally unnecessary you crazy Cloud! I teach them plenty..."

"Who are you moaning to, Baka-Tsuna? He's not here."

"Hibari is trying to teach Lambo and the other kids the ways of the carnivore, sheesh... Eeep!"

Reborn's smile was too disturbing to describe.

o o o

"Tsuna-kun, Tsuna-kun!" Haru burst into his room while he was reading a comic. "I know how I can help you!"

He sat up worriedly. Her definition of help was mostly weird, like the time she dressed up in a funky-looking monster costume and danced for him in his room because she wanted to make him smile. This, however, was back before Nobu reentered his life and contributed to his training.

"I'm Spanner-kun and Shoichi-kun's assistant from now on and I'm going to become a better hacker! They said they'd help Haru make her own robot too!"

Tsuna, bug-eyed, slipped off his bed and landed on his elbow. "A hacker!?"

Haru turned red and played with her fingers. "W-well, you see... I'm really impatient about waiting to buy manga so I hack into sites, st-steal files, and-and Haru never does anything but read manga with my skills, I swear!"

Tsuna raised his hand in a thumbs up as he smiled, just a touch tired by zaniness. Her enthusiasm was cute and he could see how determined she was to do something great under their guidance.

"Go for it. If they say you have potential and it makes you happy, I hope you do very well."

"HURK!" That's the sound Tsuna made when the energetic girl tackled him in a hug and then bolted from his room, leaving him sprawled on the floor in a starfish position. "... ow."

o o o

Tsuna awoke on a Sunday morning to an English rock song.

He blinked away sleep from his eyes and spotted an eight inch dark teal monkey standing on his chest and looking down with big innocent looking eyes. Honestly, if it wasn't obviously made of metal (sporting a nice satin finish), colored blue, and if those clear topaz eyes had been brown, the bot would look like a real baby marmoset, as several patches of short silky faux-fur gave the illusion of almost being real. He and the monkey had a staring contest before it chirped, jumped down beside his head, and started grooming his hair like a real monkey might do. Tsuna couldn't help laughing.

"You like her, Sora-chan? Good."

"Ah!" Tsuna lurched up (startling the monkey-bot) and found Spanner sitting in his old spinning chair with that golden palm-top computer in hand. There was a slight smile on his face and a lollipop of some kind in his mouth. "You wanted something cool so there you go."

Tsuna sat up and tugged his tank top down below his navel. "It looks adorable. So that's why you asked me what my favorite monkey is."

Spanner climbed to his feet and made his way over to drop down on Tsuna's bed like he did it all the time. Having sat on his smaller friends legs he scooted back so he wasn't squishing him, and Tsuna was blushing and resisting the urge to push the engineer off his bed. He pulled his legs close, lightly nudged the blond in reprimand, and picked up the monkey only to be caught by surprise. It didn't feel as cool as Saruyuki and Sarumane, but that's probably already changed since Spanner made the small monkey as warm as any living being to the touch. His gift was also shockingly heavy for its small size.

"Sora-chan, want to know what she can do?" Spanner was staring at him expectantly, with a glitter in his blue eyes speaking of how eager he was to tell. "Hurry up and stop staring. You'll make me blush."

Tsuna's cheeks darkened and he looked to the marmoset-bot playing grooming the velvety fur of its tail (totally missing the brief little grin that crossed Spanner's face). "G-go ahead, what does this one do?"

"Do you know the anime Chobits?"

"Nope. Go on though." His blush was fading, thank Kami.

"Hm. This little one is like a highly advanced personal computer that can go anywhere with you. She recognizes your voice and the feel of your Sky Flames, and in fact she can absorb portions of it to store in her own ametrine core as a power source. Ask her to hack into, say, a bank and she'll get a million yen or euro for you."

"WHAT!?" Tsuna barely kept from flailing and stared bug-eyed at his friend. That's too much power!

Spanner ruffled Tsuna's hair and stretched. "She can but that doesn't mean you'll request it, right? She can also send emails that you verbally tell her like this... Hello Takeshi-dash-kun, comma, how are you today, question mark. And the email she composes will be as though you typed it. She also has a built in camera that will take photos on command, or when she feels like it, and she can record audio and videos too, also..." Spanner pulled out a small book held together with a single staple. "Well, everything is in here, so I'd keep it on you until you've memorized all that she can do. One more thing, she's just like Sarumane and Saruyuki in intelligence, so don't treat her like a baby. She doesn't like that, though she does like cuddles."

Tsuna held up a fist and Spanner smiled slightly as they did a 'bro fist'. "Now I've got to ask, what's with you and the monkeys? It's not bad, I think it's cute... I-I mean cool. So?"

Spanner moved and stretched out on the mattress, nearly pushing Tsuna off his own bed. The young Sky was acutely aware of Spanner's arm, bare due to the sleeves of a t-shirt cut off, touching his own. Tsuna swallowed hard and wriggled a bit until he was laying on his side and watching the engineer curiously. Spanner had his eyes closed in a relaxed way and he looked as content as he could be when not tinkering and immersed in his genius-work with Shuichi.

"You're staring, Sora-chan." He never even opened his eyes.

"Um... sorry." Tsuna's blush returned with a vengeance and the blue monkey-bot crawled up so 'she' could look into his eyes. "You look relaxed, that's all. It surprised me."

Spanner smiled and the tilt to his lips was more pronounced than usual. "Reborn explained to me what the whole deal is with the Sky and the other six Flames. It's one thing to be drawn to a Sky, that's very normal, but the individual must be open to a bond and be accepting of that person, be them Lightning or Storm." One rich green eye opened and took in the other's red face. "Some feel the bond differently, I'm told, but for me it's easy to relax around you and it feels pleasant just laying here beside you."

"Wh-why?"

Spanner's smile remained even as he reached up to pull out his- wrench shaped?- candy. "The only parent I knew was my grandpa but he couldn't support me alone, so I lived with my aunt and uncle and they weren't exactly... welcoming with my proclivity toward disassembling home appliances and making things. After gramps died they decided it wasn't worth keeping me. Not that it was too bothersome, they smothered my creativity."

Tsuna stayed silent and resisted the urge to either touch that hair curl or hug him.

"If I had to guess then I would say that being here like this is the closest to feeling safe and at home as I've ever felt."

"Oh..." Tsuna smiled shyly and reached out to give of Spanner's free hand a slight squeeze. "That's good, I'm happy you feel that way."

BAM! "HIIIE!" Tsuna jumped up and in front of Spanner in a vague fighting stance before he stopped to notice it wasn't the usual threat. It was Reborn standing in the door with an amused glint in his soul-sucking ebony eyes.

"Baka-Tsuna, if you're done flirting with your mechanic it's time to train more."

Tsuna threw a pillow at the infant and yelled that he wasn't flirting, but the hitman merely left with a smirk on his baby face. He turned to look back at Spanner and swallowed at the peculiar spark in the other's eyes.

"You weren't flirting with me?"

"Wha!?" Tsuna grabbed his hair in slight horror. Was he really? Oh, Kami.

"Sora-chan, I'm joking. You wouldn't know when you're flirting, anyway. You really are like an innocent bunny."

The Decimo hung his head, hiding apple red cheeks. "Thank you for the gift, but could you please go pester someone else?"

"Only if you make me dango later."

"Okay, fine. Shoo!"

Much later on that day Tsuna learned about the monkey thing. Spanner considered primates to be interesting creatures because of the intelligence many possess. That and monkeys are far more flexible than, say, a crow a dolphin and they can climb. Much more useful. The mechanical genius was working on flying monkeys, so there's that bit of chaos to look forward to...

o o o

Tanabata. There was an odd feeling to the day and Tsuna dismissed it as nothing. Silly, silly boy.

He went to the shrine with Fuuta, Lambo, Fon and I-Pin (the latter two riding on the Decimo's shoulders) and together they all decided to write wishes on paper and not reveal it. Tsuna took the longest to make a wish for and he thought of making it a cheesy (heartfelt) one about his Famiglia never breaking up, and instead he wrote a more whimsical (though real) wish about either gaining the courage to kiss someone he likes, or being kissed. He himself wasn't quite honest with himself as to who he liked.

Right as he put it down in the box with the kids the whole thing was snatched by Reborn who jumped onto the counter. Tutor and student stared at one another before Tsuna made a desperate grab for the box. The hitman nimbly jumped out of the way and told Tsuna to bring the kids to the community center and prepare to do a show. Great. Again with the performing!

"Papa, let's go home and find something!" Fuuta pulled Tsuna along while Fon, suspiciously quiet, sat on the kids shoulders.

"Yeah, Lambo-san must put on a great shoe!"

"You mean show, Lambo," Tsuna corrected tiredly.

"Lambo-san means that too!"

Fon chuckled and Tsuna squinted at the Arcobaleno. "Did you know he was planning this?"

"Oh, yes. I even have a plan for the two of us, if you'll cooperate."

"Um... only if you make sure that my wish isn't read out loud... please? I just know Reborn's going to do something mean."

The Storm Arcobaleno jumped to his shoulder and patted his cheek. "Of course, my precious Xuéshēng[student], but it will be interesting to see whether it comes true. Who would you want to kiss if you win?"

Tsuna tripped and barely kept from face-planting. "Th-that's a really inappropriate question! Why do you even want to know!?"

Fon hid his smile behind his sleeve. His student was really too adorable at times.

"Well? Why did you ask?"

"Do not worry, I was just being curious. That isn't a crime, now is it?"

. . .

When Tsuna arrived with the kids and Fon it seemed everyone from his Famiglia was there, even Shuichi Irie who was working up the courage to make it official.

Haru declared that her wish had already come true so she was going to be the announcer, and Reborn was dressed like a creepy old woman. Who was everyone performing for? A big group of elderly people and the Decimo had no choice because of a Leon-Jig threat and that it paid being in the favor of the older generations. Awesome.

Tsuna was also correct when it came to assuming that all wishes were being read aloud. Spanner's was for him to win all the robotics competitions and he had his monkeys juggle and play an English song called "Catch a Falling Star".Next up was Takeshi who juggled star shaped "balls" to mimic the Milky Way, and instead earned 70 for giving out sushi. His wish was to always be close to Tsuna and their Famiglia which got the short Sky all flustered and hiding in his hood. Gokudera, who did not have his wish read aloud thanks to being quick with the snatching, chose to throw knives on a board into the shape of a five pointed star, then he flashed his lighter over the ends of the handles in a very quick move and they lit up in a flare of multicolored light that slowly went out. He recieved a 70 as well. Nobu went next and spent ten minutes talking about silly situations he's been in (such as nearly being adopted by a group of bottlenose dolphins) and shamelessly flirting with the women in the room with ridiculous pick-up lines ("If you were a burger at McDonald's you'd be the McGorgeous."). His wish was simple, and he wanted to be able to look after his "favorite little bunny" until he's driven everyone nuts and he's sent to the moon on a rocket. These literal words made Tsuna choke back a laugh.

Next was Ryohei, who was... a koala eating eucalytus leaves. Total fail, earned a two. Lambo shoved pieces of straws up his nose and stuck the bottom in his mouth and danced like a loon. It amused the elderly so Reborn grudgingly gave him a ten. Kyoko and Hana stepped forward and Haru announced that the female Sun's wish was to never 'disappoint the Sky in her life' which naturally had Tsuna's face exploding in red and made Fon chuckle. Hana's wish was to be the one saving Tsuna someday. This did not help with the blushing, and Tsuna tried not revealing how happy he felt over both their wishes. They recieved 85's for singing such a lovely rendition of Rakuen from Inuyasha. Fuuta balanced a ball on his nose for three minutes straight and got 50 points for managing and being adorable, according to the old women in the room.

"Next up is Tsuna-kun and Fon-chan, who wish for-" The Storm Arcobaleno darted over and snatched Tsuna's orange wish-slip out of her hand. "Hahi! Um, Fon-chan wishes for a certain student to succeed Nobu by a mile and more in skill. They will perform a staged fight for your viewing pleasure!"

Fon and Tsuna settled on the foam mat Gokudera helpfully rolled out for them. Tsuna was dressed in a black silk Tai-Chi outfit lined in amber and with a golden lion stitched over his heart while Fon wore his usual clothing. With a low bow their fight began with movements slow enough to be seen by the elderly. Each strike was weak as breath of wind compared to what they can do on average. The exchange of strikes and the way Tsuna would twist out of the way of a kick or a punch gave the whole fight an almost dance like appearance, but that was probably the classical-rock mix music Spanner played right as they began. More than once the two fighters sent each other punches that required the other to backflip out of the way which brought cheering from the elderly. Twice Fon threw Tsuna across the room only for the boy to twist mid-air so he could jump off the wall and straight at the little martial artist. At the five minute mark Reborn called it off and tallied the results of who won. The Sky was almost ecstatic for winning, but that meant trouble.

"Now for the awards ceremony," said Reborn. He was still dressed as a woman. "Nobu and Fon will work their student to the bone so he fulfills that wish, and as for Tsuna's..."

Don't say it, don't say it, DON'T SAY IT!

"His wish involves either receiving a certain something from someone he likes or giving one, and it's a-"

"I'M OUT OF HERE!" Tsuna yelled over the last word, then took off like a bullet. Everyone stared at the lingering faint dust cloud in his shape.

Reborn grinned. "Baka-Tsuna's wish is a kiss. Now who should it be, I wonder?"

As the elderly tittered and gradually left the building Reborn turned to his student's Famiglia. "Tsuna's a girl at heart, he'll want the kisses to mean something special, not an accident. Have at it since I doubt he'll be brave enough to initiate one himself.*"

Fon shook his head from a worried looking Fuuta's shoulder. The Decimo had been right about the 'being mean' thing.

. . .

Kyoko and Hana were walking each other home after the contest. Both were thoughtful and quiet, but Kyoko was the only one smiling.

"What if I said I... found the lion-monkey attractive?" said Hana with a forced nonchalance as looked through the photos on her phone.

"Same here, don't worry! Takeshi and Gokudera like him too. So does Spanner, he calls Tsuna-kun his little Nadeshiko-boy when he's not around."

Hana paused and nearly doubled over in laughter. "How have I never heard that? That is so true."

Kyoko looped her arm with Hana's. "The way Hibari looks at Tsuna-kun sometimes means he feels something for him too."

The Rain-girl almost stumbled. "Tsuna's really in for it, isn't he?"

A giggle was all the answer she recieved. "I believe so, but as his two best friends we have to protect his virtue, right?"

Hana snorted. "True. The one we really need to worry about is the gorilla though."

. . .

"Tsuna has a really big heart."

Gokudera slid a nasty glare the swordsman's way. "And what about it? Watch what you say or I'll blow you up."

Takeshi grinned and ran a hand through his hair. "I don't think he could choose between any one person from the Famiglia, if you get what I mean."

The bomber's jaw dropped and his cheeks flushed. "Sh-shut up, you pervert!"

"What! That means the both of us have a chance at being closer to him. Relax, you and I won't hurt him, in fact we'll have to watch out for him, haha!" Takeshi bumped his shoulder with the irate silverette. "He's kinda naive, you know?"

"Coming from you, Mister Everything-Is-A-Game?"

Takeshi went quiet and his face closed off a bit as he became serious. Gokudera told himself it wasn't a trickle of unease he felt. Definitely not.

"Want to know something? The day Fuuta came into Tsuna's life was the day I figured out that things can never be a game when it comes to him. He was shot four times and still fighting when Hibari, Ryohei and I came into the park."

Gokudera nearly shivered when Takeshi turned a moderate glare on him. "This whole Vongola thing isn't a game, I know that. Tsuna feels better if he thinks I'm not being affected by it, you know? I'm going to keep smiling and laughing and finding ways to make him smile when he's down."

There was a long silence as they continued walking. The Rain's expression calmed as he watched clouds obscure the darkening blue above.

"If... the Juudaime accepts... then m-maybe..."

Takeshi's looked at the bomber with a little smile on his face. "That's the spirit. Even if he doesn't accept everyone who cares a lot about him we can always still make sure he's happy."

Gokudera chewed his cheek for a moment. "Why are you so devoted to the Juudaime?"

"I'm pretty sure he saved me. When my mom died it was like... even with my dad at my side, as bad as it sounds, it felt like there wasn't anything worth sticking around for." Takeshi slid a pinched smile the Storm's way. "She was everthing to me. Taught me how to catch and throw and all the rules. Said I was going to go so far and see the world, and promised that she'd be there for me every step. Tsuna found me when I was trying to melt away into the rain. Brought me to his home, warmed me up, and then gave me a hug when he learned my mom was gone forever. Next to Nana he still gives the best hugs."

A hard look of determination tensed Gokudera's face as he turned to the swordsman and held out a hand. "Fine then. No matter what happens, we're there for Tsuna-sama, through whatever the fuck this filthy world throws his way."

Takeshi grinned and happily shook shorter teen's hand. "Good. Oh, hey, we finally agreed on something!"

"Shut up! God, I need a shower now..."

"Hahaha!"

. . .

"Hey, little red guy," said Ryohei to Fon perched on his shoulder. "Is it extremely okay to wanna hug Tsuna close like a teddy? Or should I go run a thousand laps around Namimori in punishment?*"

"That depends. Would you want to cuddle him in the same bed?"

"Uh... yeah, totally. He's a great hugger and he smells like chocolate and the forest."

"He's not your blood brother, I believe it's okay. But let him come to you."

"EXTREME!" Ryohei jumped in the air, nearly dislodging I-Pin from his other shoulder.*

. . .

"Irie-kun, should I assume I have a rival in love or are you completely straight?"

Shuichi choked on the milk he just bought from the store. "Ah, what!? Ts-Tsuna's cute... but I'm pretty sure I like Haru-chan better."

"Pretty sure? Care to elaborate?"

"Shut up, you weirdo..."

"..."

"Stop staring at me like that! I don't care if you get with him or not."

"Actually I don't mind sharing. It's fun making you squirm, Irie-kun."

. . .

When Fon returned he found an amused Reborn sitting on the living room sofa with an expresso in hand. Fuuta was playing with an amethyst and practicing filling it up with his Cloud Flames, and vice versa with an emerald and his Lightning. The Storm Arcobaleno left I-Pin with the Ranking child and headed to Tsuna's room.

Ah, that's why Reborn looked so amused. Tsuna was a quivering lump under a duvet he must have pulled from the closet. The tiny blue monkeybot, "cleverly" named Aota was curled up on the pillow beside him.

"How much did they laugh?"

"None laughed, little Lìshǔ. They all seemed thoughtful, even your friend Ryohei."

Tsuna poked his head out. "First off, what does Lìshǔ mean? Also, Ryo-Aniki looked... thoughtful?"

"Oh, yes. He wondered whether it was extremely okay or wrong to want to hug you close like a teddy. He also thinks you smell nice."

Tsuna made a funny choking sound and once more buried himself under his blanket and pillow.

"If it helps at all I believe none of them will really force anything that you don't want." Even Fon felt a tickle of amusement but it was better to assuage fears than let them fester. "You have a very good relationship with them all as their Sky and the main part of it is wanting to make you happy."

"Oh... and Lìshǔ?"

"I called you a chinchilla."

Tsuna let out a smothered giggle and the present Arcobaleno decided he did a good job.

o o o

The week following Tanabata was full of forced calm and ignorance on Tsuna's part. He kept waiting for the other shoe to drop, which he supposed would be someone asking for kisses and a relationship he wasn't sure he was ready for, but that didn't come. Kyoko and Hana teased him over little things in their playful, harmless, and sometimes physically affectionate way. Takeshi still gave him side-hugs and ruffled his hair, acting no different. Gokudera was a bit more defensive with people coming up and so much as bumping the Sky but that was it for him, and as for the rest they didn't really act out of their norm.

One difference between most of his Famiglia was started when Spanner unwittingly set an example after he began foisting "spare" wrench-lollies on him at random, most notably in watermelon, peach and cola flavor. His favorites. Kyoko gave Tsuna a Sun-Lion bloom, which happened to be the name of the dandelion species she created with her Sun Flames, every other day. Hana gave him Peach Kit-Kat twice that week. Takeshi gave him salmon onigiri each morning knowing Tsuna usually rushed out now that Reborn was his alarm clock and liked watching the boy rush around in a panic each morning. Gokudera, treating things like a competition, saved up and bought Tsuna expensive chocolate and this was at the end of that week when Tsuna put his foot down in as calm and reasonable a way as he could.

He began with asking them to stop getting him stuff he did nothing to deserve, and this was the start and end of his 'putting that foot down' serious talk. When all that got him was some irritated looks from Hana and pouts from Kyoko and Takeshi, and a look of poorly masked fear on Gokudera's face, Tsuna floundered and relented. Nothing expensive, please. Wait for his next birthday, or Christmas, or other holidays encouraging gift giving. He was feeling like a spoiled brat with how they kept giving him sweets and other nice things.

Fortunately his Famiglia relented there. Slightly. They didn't want his teeth falling out, right?

o o o

It was your average summery day in Japan and it seemed like the very store windows were about to melt. Gokudera was out in the damn heat with the intention of buying ingredients for making more Sky-Bombs for his Juudaime (even though the ones given haven't been used yet) as well as more ammo for himself. He was being followed, however, and it was starting to bug the shit out of him. He knew Tsuna wouldn't hit first and ask questions later in this situation, but wow did he want to shove a dynamite down this bastards throat.

First chance the Storm got he grabbed the stalker and slammed him up against the wall with a forearm against his throat and a knife against the man's stomach.

"Tell me why you're following me. If I don't like your answer I can make it so no one finds you."

A whip grabbed his lower wrist and removed the threat of his knife. The whip could only mean one person and Gokudera turned with an exasperated face to see the smiling blond.

"What do you want? I'm busy." He stepped away from the shaking subordinate who obviously belonged to the Bucking Bronco since that whip worked right in his hand.

Dino grinned and five minutes later he and Gokudera were seated in a cool cafe.

"I just got back from Italy and I have a proposition for you. Let's discuss it in... that cafe across the street."

As soon as their drinks and snacks were set down Dino pulled out an official looking paper with a symbol resembling two artistically designed suns within a shield crest.

"Let me spell it out for you. The di Sole Family knows about your skill with chemicals, explosives, and your natural intelligence. They want you in their ranks. You would be high up, have your own lab, and your own subordinates to command. You would have all the money you could want in order to make whatever you can think up."

Gokudera picked up the paper and looked it over. Dino could see a tension in the boys shoulders and as the seconds ticked by there was a growing acridness to the air that set the hairs on the back of his neck standing up. Before Dino could say it was just a test Gokudera had crumpled the paper in one fist and in that same one a harsh burst of red flame appeared, turning the paper to ashes. This shocked Gokudera and the boy's jaw dropped. In a blink the Flames were gone.

Dino coughed and made the bomber jump. "Just so you know, this was a test and you passed. With a bonus, so congrats!"

Juudaime wouldn't want me blowing up his "brother", time to get the hell out of here. Gokudera glowered at the Chiavarone Boss, flipped him two middle fingers, and then stalked out to go buy candy for his Tenth and the kids. Making them happy always brought a smile to the Sky's face, and seeing Tsuna-sama's smile would make his anger go away.

. . .

Reborn, sitting on a roof with a coffee-flavored lollipop, smirked as he watched the scene through one of Dino's shirt buttons. His plan to awaken Gokudera's Flames went perfectly.

o o o

There were three attacks in the paper. Male students from Namimori were beaten badly and had teeth stolen. Nana was paranoid about 'her boys and girls' being alone at night so she made sure to remind them, as they trickled through her household to greet her or snag a meal or two, to stay in pairs and keep alert. Who knows what the attacker could look like!

Nana was alone with Fuuta today. Bianchi was likely with Reborn as the Poison Cook teen wasn't needed as often with the Sawada matriarch capable of inspiring much more than simple primal, mind-bending terror with the force of her protective maternal rage. Fon was with I-Pin and Lambo, taking both kids on a hike in the forest to play training games, and Spanner's pretty monkey-bot Saruyuki was the only other protector there for Fuuta. Tsu-kun and the rest of his friends were all doing various things on a Sunday, but the woman suspected they were all working to become stronger for one another. Kyoko and Hana doing the same made Nana feel all kinds of happy for them, and when she recalled that Kyoko once told her she did it for Tsuna the Sawada matriarch had to resist crying.

It was all so wonderful. Before her boy came home from school telling her he made two friends with a pair of girls Nana had been resigned to seeing her child only half as happy as he could be thanks to the damage Timoteo had done. Thanks to what her husband had allowed.

It took years for her to come to grips with it even though she had watched, curious about the light show, as her husband held their little boy out to Timoteo, and when she accepted that her once perfect husband had allowed, without a single word or action of protest, she remembered feeling the little "fire" she'd held for him flicker and weaken rather fast, and it had alarmed her and caused an early, and peculiar, stirring of the Mist Flames behind her breast. This having been months after Iemitsu's last visit, the day Tsuna came home with cuts, bruises and covered in filth. He hadn't lied to her that day, he had called the police and then called Hibari and that sweet-but-silly Ryohei to rescue them. Nana hadn't liked the implications her own mind came up with for why Iemitsu would come home and then leave an hour after Tsu-kun came home from rescuing friends from a large group of kidnappers. When Shamal had told her about Mists he mentioned how they appear to be far more in tune with the ethereal world and bouts of insightful instinct, which is understandably considered abnormal. It had been her Mist Flame obscuring the breaking Harmony between her and Iemitsu, but the man had skirted saying why and Nana hadn't pressed.

Reborn told her months ago that she was something of a Guardian to her boy, a particularly strong Mist drawn to a stronger Sky is understandable, and Tsuna being her son made the shift inevitable. Nana was happy to hear this. A part of her still loved Iemitsu, likely always would, but she was much more aware now. His faults were clearer without the "fire" connecting her with him and an concerned question to Reborn ("Is it possible for a Harmony bond to manipulate someone's emotions?") got her an answer that broke her heart. Skies below a certain purity can do that, but one like Tsuna is incapable of forcing his heart onto another to make them change to how they want. Iemitsu may not have known what he was doing when he met and Harmonized with her unawakened Mist, but it still happened and Nana wondered if the 'bond' was why she so willingly trusted Timoteo with her child despite his softer, almost timid, attitude around the old man...

With a heavy sigh the woman leaned on her kitchen counter and wished she could have saved her Tsu-kun from all those broken bones, bleeding cuts, and the self-hate he developed after that accident with the freshly boiled water. The scars weren't too noticeable, just a pink smoothness on the back of her hands and her lower legs. Tsuna had far less scarring, having stumbled a bit of the way out of the splatter range and clung to the table. He never forgave himself for any of the accidents and narrowly avoided lethal events of their lives. And Nana could never forgive Timoteo for how her boy grew up feeling so unhappy.

"Hmm, this is no good," she said to herself, with a sad little smile. "A mother's job is to keep her family smiling, happy, and healthy. I can think about this later in bed."

Nana went into the fridge discovered that her plan for yakiniku later was a no-go unless she went out shopping with her 'grandchild' right then. A part of her was worried about stepping out of the house, but showing any fear leaving home would do no good. She could not make that example for any of the kids.

"Fuuta-kuuun! Grab some of your allowance, we're going shopping!"

From upstairs came a thump, the sound of a glass falling, and two minutes later Fuuta came running down with a frog-shaped little money bag in hand. Nana was already standing by the door with her book-bag sized Vongola-Purse slung over her shoulder. Inside was money, a list of needed ingredients, and a 'Vongola Edition' black marble rolling pin, a gift from Reborn. How it fit inside her not-deep-enough bag wasn't very touched upon, but the little hitman had hinted that Nana's belief in her needing it, that her specially-created purse will carry it because it has to, and her sheer will-power caused the rolling pin to fit perfectly and not obstruct her wallet or list. Since it worked she wasn't about to question it.

"Zia, zia, can we please get some green tea mochi ice cream?" Fuuta clung to her arm, looking his absolute cutest. "I had a dream about it last night and I really, really, want some! Please?"

"Oh, I can't say no to that face! Call for Saruyuki-chan and come along~!"

* TANABATA: This was more to make Tsuna acknowledge, at least in some small part, that what he feels for his friends is (in his mind) somewhat reciprocated. More in-his-face obviousness in the next chapter.

* About Ryohei: That was to test the waters. If enough of you don't like it then that's fine, I won't be bothered. Part of it's for the humor aspect, part of it is serious, but please say something if you're really averse to 3327 or 2733.

THANKS TO: 1827shipper, general zargon, Kuroi Rin, MissSexyRain, Zivyx, EndlessChains, Hime-chan Natsumi, Littlest1, BlackxDragonxEmperor, beulah2013, vampireharry the 2, Yana5, wingedsilverfang222 (how on earth did you twin a review?), topazel, LioPyro1890, and Lioness32 for your reviews!

Thank you to those who put this on follows and in their favorites too!

EDIT: Thank you Littlest1 for pointing out the "pack" mistake I missed!