THANK YOU: JUST SET ME ON FIRE, Arashi - IV of VI, general zargon, Dragon God xxx, vampireharry the 2, xChaosRebornx, Zivyx, BOSS02109, Glaindy, Yana5, loveleydragonfly, Littlest1, LioPyro7890, Guest, 7, Kuroi Rin, Hime-chan Natsumi, Akayuki Novak, BlackxDragonxEmperor, history, Of Stories Told, Natsu Yuuki, Minaly22, sympatheticassassin, MissSexyRain, ilove0t6forever, and oOGolden-MoonOo. :D Thank you all very much, and thank you to anyone who put this on their favorites and watch list.

I have 307 motherfreaking reviews on this. 3-0-7. I can't... part of me is happy I've been incredibly lucky, and another part wonders where all the flames I've been expecting have gone. (Oh, here they come!) But seriouslythank every single one who commented and reviewed. :)

Three children won't make answering reviews easy, and from now until at least ten (maybe) I'll be entertaining children, so it won't be until much later that I get to answering the rest of the reviews. I'm sorry!

GUEST: I'm a sucker for stories that emphasize friendship and family and bonds. That preference will show through in my writing, I hope at least. :) As for the chocolate scene... well, I'm glad you enjoyed it. x3

"Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that." ~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

Over the next month, and through a haze of pain caused by extreme training cooked up by Reborn, Fon, AND Nobu (who took to calling tonfa and other weapons "doorknobs" for reasons all students carefully did not ask about to spare their brains), Tsuna would feel a strange flutter in the pit of his stomach now and again.

More specifically what he felt was a familiar touch of Mist, one that felt slightly like the strained bond he'd experienced during Nobu's extended stay away; only difference here was that he received an echo of distress and discomfort not his own. When Tsuna slept he occasionally saw a murky, blurred world from inside a glass tube full of fluid. He could feel a contraption, a mask, attached to his face and over one eye, and Tsuna felt how tightly bound the Vindice left Mukuro's body. Whenever he had that dream he reacted without entirely understanding what he was doing with his Flames as he sent soft pulses of Rain-Resonating Sky in hopes of soothing away the tinge of fear he felt over his odd connection. Telling Reborn about the dreams never occurred to him.

After the Kokuyo Incident Tsuna had been relieved and eager for things to go back to the way they were and shove Mukuro's nightmarish memories away. But the start of those nightly visions were a punch to Tsuna's face and he felt guilt eat at him. He was doing nothing when he said would do something, so he began to plot in a notebook with full intentions to make sure Gokudera, Hana and Reborn peruse it eventually and tear the ideas to shreds if necessary. They were, after all, the most strategic ones and he valued their opinions.

As the month wore on these dreams grew more frequent and Tsuna used less Rain-Resonating Flames and more of his own pure Sky while subconsciously trying to draw Mukuro away from the cold place. Tsuna's home was warm, his room dry, and with him at least Mukuro would not suffer more. It wasn't until the last day of the month that Tsuna could have sworn that he'd succeeded in pulling something of Mukuro to where Tsuna felt safest and he awoke with the oddest sensation of having clutched at someone in his sleep.

. . .

The Sawada household was saturated heavily with his mother's Mist Flame, while, similarly, Tsuna's unsealed-Sky had a constantly warm presence that usually heated the air nearest him just enough to be noticed. Not fun in the summer but at least he barely felt winter chills. Due to the saturation, as well as a lack of malicious intent, Tsuna did not notice any change in the atmosphere of his home. He only noticed anything because he began feeling warm-cold chills of Mukuro is somewhere nearby trailing down his back like mischievous fingers every little while each day, and only at home. A week after he first began getting that weird tickle of Intuition he noticed Piero acting odd for an hour or two everyday.

It wasn't a dangerous sort of odd, and his Intuition was a gentle heat whenever he was in the same room as his cat, but it was more than enough to catch his attention. The behavior started with her not letting Reborn and the two youngest children ride on her back. It continued with her hiding away from everyone in high places, like the tops of cabinets. She even avoided Tsuna and her first "cub" Fuuta when not following the former around the house at a distance. It didn't take more than three days for Tsuna to come up with a troubling thought:

Was Mukuro doing something to his cat?

First there anger, and a lot of it; it took him ten minutes of concentrating on on Resonating-Rain with his Sky before his mind cleared and he felt he could think properly. He headed into the backyard and perched himself in the large oak to decide on possible actions before he sent a text to Aota. Yes, the monkey-bot was more than intelligent enough to communicate with him with her own thoughts, though usually done through pictures due to her own preference. He politely asked her to spend time with his cat and send him texts on her behavior, and she sent a smile emote as an affirmative. For the next two hours each text consisted of a simple report, or photos of his cat sleeping in warm patches of sunlight while sitting on a windowsill. Napping on a corner of his bed, or poking at her food with a curious paw but never eating it when in an "off mood", but the times at her food bowl usually resulted in her giving a sneeze and shaking her head before resuming Piero behavior and playing with the children.

This gave Tsuna an idea concerning his cat, one that he decided to check out while on a run with Piero when not in one of her "moods". He stopped in his favorite park, Nagakusa, and sat beneath an oak with her in his arms. She wriggled a bit, trying to get comfortable, and when she did she curled up and settled in for a kitty nap. Tsuna started meditating and dove deep into his Sky Flame, pulling on it more than any time outside of battle and willing himself to just know whatever was up with her. It an hour and several texts to his friends explaining only half of what he was doing, but he did it:

He felt Flames inside Piero as his own connected with whatever animal system of energy she had. Sky and Sun, Lightning, and Mist. The energies circulated in time with her heart and were all held in harmony with the Sky. He pondered over his cat and decided she had absorbed different Flames of the Sky and made them her own automatically, and it likely started when he first healed her.

As an experiment while he was still connected with her like this he summoned soft Sky Flames to one fist and started to gently pet her back. He almost jumped when he felt the slightest draw on his Flames, barely noticeable and only because he wasn't giving energy to heal her. He drew back and layered his hand in as gentle a Sky-Lightning Flame as he could manage and he placed his hand on her fur. It poofed up a bit, spiking and hardening, and there was the same draw since he was in contact with her, and Tsuna let that go one for a few minutes. Curiosity got the better of him and he pulled a Vongola stone from his pocket, a purple fluorite, and used it to make Cloud-type Flames to save himself a few minutes. When he put his Cloud coated hand on Piero's back she stirred and turned, leveling a deadpan a look on him as though saying "Really now?", then she seemingly returned to napping even as her body absorbed the purple Flames.

"Where the heck did madre even get you?*"

His cat twitched an ear before twisting so her belly was exposed and she looked up with eyes that said, "Why are you asking me, genius?" Tsuna chuckled and obligingly scratched her belly and he was rewarded with a loud purring.

. . .

Now and again Tsuna got the chance to pet Piero when she was in a "mood", but the contact wasn't enough to tell Tsuna for sure. If he was to sense Mukuro in his cat he needed to pick her up and hold her close. So he waited until he walked into a room with Piero and recieved a brief warm-cold shiver again before he decided to use the Shadow Step Technique to catch her unaware. She had been sprawled on the couch during a rare day when nearly everyone, including Reborn, was out doing something else.

Piero let out an unholy yowl as he snatched her up and quickly dropped down onto the couch where he ignored her needle sharp claws biting into his face and shoulder. He held her close and did not let go. She was hissing and growling in a terridied way and Tsuna could feel his heart break a bit despite knowing that, indeed, Mukuro was inside his cat. There was bitter fear trickling over the Harmony and Tsuna restrained Piero with one hand and started stroking her back and muttering softly in Italian and promising he would buy her a dozen pieces of salmon if she would only stop acting weird. Tsuna's knee-jerk reaction to that feeling of fear - of anything negative coming over the connection - that normally came in the dead of night, left Tsuna releasing a soft surge of pure Sky warming the room several degrees.

His cat, rather Mukuro, froze with claws dug deep into his shoulder. Tsuna did not stop, he continued to drag his fingers through Piero's thick fur and resisted the urge to rub his cheek against her face like he normally would when cuddling her in private. When the needle claws withdrew, Mukuro rested Piero's chin on Tsuna's shoulder and slowly let the tension melt from his cat body. Tsuna sighed and after a moment's deliberation, very softly rubbed his cheek on his cats head; this startled Mukuro and the tension returned for several worrying moments, but then something familiar happened. Inaudible as it was, Tsuna could feel the gentle vibration of a purr.

"There we go, Piero," he said, voice soft and a bit cracked from too many emotions. "You were my first friend," You can be my friend, Mukuro, "I could never hurt you on purpose."

A soft, low meow tickled his ear and Tsuna pulled away to smile at both his cat and the boy he decided was worth giving a chance to.

o o o

Mukuro began to tolerate more of the daily Sawada household visitors, and eventually Tsuna began thinking of Possessed-Piero as Romu* just to make things easier on himself.

Unless Tsuna or Nana were in the room, Romu did not let the children anywhere near him. First, he didn't seem to mind Fuuta's gentle presence (and Tsuna decided to extend unspoken trust in that he had no reason to hurt the kids and therefore wouldn't). I-Pin, being more mature than her cow-print wearing friend, could brush Romu's fur everyday. Hibari seemed to instinctively know when it Romu and not Piero and became visibly displeased when Tsuna held or petted the possessed cat, once going so far as to pick up and put the cat out of the room before throwing a small bottle of hand sanitizer at Tsuna. Hibari shrugged when questioned. Lambo was the only one rambunctious enough to get rough with Piero and was used to rough-housing with the playful cat, but he tugged on Romu's ear and earned a scratch on the cheek.

Tsuna had locked Romu in his room for ten minutes for drawing a bit of Lambo's blood and returned to find a number of things knocked down and "Piero" sprawled over spilled paper and books like she frequently did in her first two years. The young Sky rolled his eyes and picked up the cat to drop him on the bed while muttering in Italian about sneaky little furballs being too cute for their own good.

The criminal Mist grew braver as a month passed and finally left the house to begin following Tsuna around town, always watching with his cats guileless green and amber eyes. Tsuna came up with a theory on this and finally talked to Reborn, saying that Mukuro was possessing his cat in a text and that he thinks the strange Mist user was studying him, or at least taking advantage of Piero's love filled life.

R.T: It's about time you said something. I thought you were suddenly too stupid to notice your cat acting out of character.

T.T: I noticed right away, but I didn't get any sense of doom. I waited and caught my cat to make sure I was right... I won't make any assumption over his intentions, but as he is, needing to possess Piero, he's not strong enough to hurt me.

R.T: You have more to say, spill it.

T.T: Your psychic thing will never stop being creepy. Anyway, I don't think he really means to hurt me, at least not yet (if at all at this point). Otherwise Piero wouldn't let him in.

R.T: How do you know she has the choice?

T.T: I don't know where mom bought Piero, but she has Sky, Sun (and Resonated-Sun), Lightning, Mist, Sky-Lightning, and Resonated-Cloud Flames in her system. She can absorb them and make them her own, and I think her body naturally makes Flames too, but I can't know for sure. It has to be why she's weirdly big for a cat, and why she's so strong and smart too. Besides, Aota's reports show that she can shake off Mukuro's possession at will when she wants to eat or play. He needs her consent.

R.T: Hm. He was lurking in the corners of the several rooms for a week. Spying. Probably watching you change. Still don't mind him in your cat?

T.T: Stop messing with me. I knew when he was in a room and he never watched me undress. Besides, he's probably trying to find or understand something about us.

R.T: Why would you bother me with this if you are so certain he's neutral?

T.T: I didn't want you shooting my cat.

R.T: Don't make me inflict the Leon-Jig on you. I like that cat more than you.

Tsuna rolled his eyes before looking at Piero. She, or Romu, was lounging on the ground and seemingly enjoying being able to relax on the soft warm grass of middle June. It was Sunday and there was nothing planned by the teachers, so Tsuna took this as a "personal training" afternoon. The sun was shining and he was wearing another Irukaza Training Suit, this time weighing 45 lbs for both top and pants, leaving Tsuna to wonder how human he really was. He couldn't be turning demi-human through his training, right? It was a very scary thought and he was glad that he had a good level of self-control.

T.T: Funny, I like her more than you too. More importantly, has Shamal mailed the cure to Hibari's Sakura Sickness yet?

R.T: Yes, it should be in your mail box tomorrow. He's been surprisingly hard to track down and he was in Russia when my man found him. He's not keen on having a student of mine on his ass for harming a comrade. He's under the impression I'm raising a demon.

Tsuna laughed and ignored Romu's curious eyes. The Decimo put his phone into his black and silver lion themed Spacial Lumbar Pack (a new one designed by Spanner, Shoichi, Haru, with input from Gokudera at the bomber's insistence), powered by his Sky and "affected" by his mother's Mist and enhanced by an unspecified someone's Sun. It was packed like his old duffel and acted as an everyday-carry that held first aid supplies, emergency food, extra money and identification, and a lot more than just Gokudera's explosives and chemical bombs. Even knowing it was a powerful illusion, Tsuna still secretly thought of the Hold's-Everything-That-Can-Fit bag as magic.

With a soft groan Tsuna stretched and jogged on the spot to warm himself up, then took off at a fast sprint with Romu following a few yards behind. Another half hour of running ended with the young Decimo getting hit in the chest with a dustbin sized fist of icy warning and he tripped face first into the grass of a park. He groaned and felt his possessed cat jump onto his back with a soft meow and Tsuna could swear there was amusement coming over the connection. He stood, dislodging Romu, and jogged over to a copse of trees that would sufficiently block him from view of other people. Of course the cat followed and watched him curiously.

Tsuna stripped off his sweaty t-shirt and shorts, forcing himself to mostly ignore that Mukuro was right there in his cat's body. Before this he had always put his cat out of the room whenever Mukuro was in her so he could change without wigging himself out. A part of him still hated a certain set of scars, and those he planned to deal with using his own power when he felt his Sun-Resonated Sky was mastered well enough. Now, knowing what Mukuro and two other living Estraneo children went through, it put things into perspective. He felt he was being neurotic and stuck in his past when, ever since mastering one martial art, he has never been in danger from another attack like that, especially with his Flames. Tsuna was working to push through the complex he had developed.

Romu meowed and he turned to look at the cat while he removed the form fitting long-sleeved skin-tone top of the body suit. A curious tilt of the cat's head was all the reaction he gave to seeing old bullet wounds and multiple other scars on top of the forever suspicious ones stretching over his chest. Tsuna slung the shirt over his shoulder and removed the long weighted pants and balled both garments together before tossing them in the air straight up and stepping out of the way.

It wasn't quite as dramatic as Rock Lee's reveal, but his two garments made a nice hole in the ground and Romu's eyes bugged out.

Dressed in nothing but polka dot boxers, Tsuna managed a chuckle despite the persistent, consuming chill drawing him to act on impulse*. He pulled out a tank top, a sleeveless hoodie from his bag, and basketball shorts before quickly dressing and digging his wallet out from a side pocket of his lumbar pack. There was, as always, plenty of dirty Iemitsu money.

Tsuna knelt beside his possessed cat and scratched under Romu's chin. "I'm going to have to run very fast, so you could go home or go do kitty stuff."

Romu narrowed his eyes in thought before stretching and eyeing him expectantly. A hint of impatience crossed the bond and Tsuna grinned a bit.

"Try to keep up."

Namimori was a big, green and beautiful place, as was mentioned many chapters ago. That said, the population was lower than one might expect from the city's* size. "Safe" and clean, a good number of people retire here and bring their families too. Tsuna's goal was an hour's run away by the average person's stamina and speed, but this was Tsuna, who not only trained under Nobu, but the likes of Reborn and Fon. He left the park, knelt, and flooded his body with hybrid Flames until he felt jittery and fit to burst from the energy alone, then he took off, running with more speed than when Spanner first called him Sonic. Nine minutes later Tsuna paused to look around and almost jumped at seeing Romu beside him, looking just a bit ruffled by the wind resistance during such a fast run. Maybe the hybrid Flame he let her absorb a few days ago gave her heightened speed?

Warmth zipped up Tsuna's spine like hot, playful fingers and he turned to the left. It was the busy intersection he stopped by and there were some people hurrying across the street, late to the light. There was a girl coming up behind the stragglers and at first glance she was very cute and rather dainty. She was pale, had dark purple hair, and wore a cream colored blouse and a long pleated black skirt. What struck Tsuna was how she walked with a hunch while clutching her book bag with such a lonely, quietly miserable expression - like she was scared to open up, perhaps because she felt no one would care. She was part way across the road and coming toward him, and he felt himself pale at the sight of a car speeding her way.

He didn't stop to think, his only thought was to save her, so he summoned up Sky-Lightning and rushed through the heavy crowd of people, unaware of Romu weaving through the masses several feet behind him, and he reached the girl only moments before the car hit. Tsuna's push sent her rolling back with a shriek of surprise and pain, and the Decimo's barely hybrid Flame hardened body was slammed with what felt like a Reborn kick times a hundred. He flew and landed, rolling more than a few times while the sound of crunching and breaking bones bounced around his dazed head. When he came to a stop he felt almost numb beneath the heavy weight of familiar, though much worse, pain.

People were gathering and one of them was the girl. She had pushed her way through and was leaning over him with tears dripping down her face. Romu was on his other side, hissing and swiping at people, only it wasn't him. Tsuna could tell Piero was herself from the subtle orange he could suddenly see in both her eyes. Mukuro's presence washed over Tsuna and though his vision was beginning to darken he could see the Mist user's spirit leaning close to Purple Hair girl.

Piero's warm body crawled over him and rested on his stomach. He could distantly feel and hear her purring furiously and she mewled plaintively when he did not, could not, respond. Tsuna wanted to put his arm around his cat, make her feel better, but he was bleeding, he was barely breathing, and he he was going to die before telling anyone in his Famiglia that he was some perverted weirdo who liked too many of them. A hand reached over him and pulled his arm up and over his cat. Tsuna's hazy eyes flickered to the girl and her expression wasn't teary or horrified, this was Mukuro. This expression was solemn and fierce, brows pinched as "she" frowned down at him even while the feeling of sweetly warm Mist Flames, like early spring, began to wrap around the Decimo. Mukuro placed one of his hands over Tsuna's heart and the other on his forehead and the lukewarm feeling increased tenfold and still felt pleasant.

Using Italian the criminal growled in her voice, "You are not allowed to die like this."

And Mist flooded Tsuna, washing over splintered and cracked bones, mingling with his Sky-Lightning and forcing Tsuna's Flame to cooperate through their odd Guardian bond to physically right, with illusions, everything that was damaged. Tsuna's breathing improved, his pain was fading, and suddenly all his senses were sharper, like a thick blanket was removed after too many years. He was dying before, he shouldn't be surprised.

Mukuro-girl tugged at his hair harder than necessary. "Well, little Vongola, you're going to live. You saved the girl and now she's coming with us back to your house."

Tsuna tightened his arm around Piero and sat up with nothing but a twinge of slight pain. He looked around and noticed that everyone gathered was walking away with confused faces and an ambulance drove right on by. Evidently Mukuro was using the girl as a medium.

"Is she... is this consensual?"

A wry smirk crossed Mukuro-girl's lips and she flicked his forehead. "She has no love at home. She is hated and neglected, and mistreated. No one would miss her here, she guarantees it. Little miss Nagi wishes to repay you somehow and would like it very much if she could run away with you."

Choosing to ignore that last bit for the moment, Tsuna slowly stood upright and clenched the hand he was sure he'd broken. He looked himself over and smiled in appreciation when he saw no blood anywhere. "Mukuro, how long does this last?"

Nagi-Mukuro stepped close and pressed her forehead to his with an amused smirk. "Your funny Flames will keep it going strong for at least four months even without my assistance, but I would suggest having your three Suns heal you up."

Tsuna swallowed and stepped back with a slightly flushed face. "Okay, I will. C-come on then, Nagi-san, Pervert-san."

"Fufufu. When did you realize it was me in the cat?"

"That first time I grabbed you up when you were in Piero."

Very briefly Nagi-Mukuro froze before continuing on walking beside him. "I was under the impression that you wouldn't take well to anyone being possessed."

"I'm sure you've noticed but she's a special cat. You needed her permission to use her, right?"

Mukuro huffed slightly. "It took a week to convince her I only wanted to observe you and that I had no intent to harm. The question is... why were you so... touchy with me?"

At this Tsuna's cheeks pinked a bit and he quickened his pace to a corner store he saw just up the street. Mukuro smirked and looped Nagi's arm with his and snuggled close, eliciting an amusing "Hiie!" from the darkly blushing boy when certain female assets pressed to his arm. But the Decimo was stubborn and kept his mouth shut during the two minute shopping trip to buy salmon rice balls and milk tea to share. Outside the store Tsuna shoved two wrapped onigiri into the possessed girl's hands and then handed over a drink before he started walking away with Piero easily balanced on his shoulder.

"You really won't say why you practically molested me while in the cat?"

Tsuna paused and sent a venomous glare toward the Mist user, and the only sign of surprise was the shrewd narrowing of his eyes.

"Fine, you jackass, I wanted to show you how nice it feels to be cared for. Now please, stop spouting crap."

Mukuro started eating one of his onigiri, humming in delight at the first taste of food in over two months. "I don't know what you wanted to accomplish by that endeavor, little Vongola, but I have discovered something."

"I'm not sure I want to know so I won't ask."

"Kufufu. You'll find out soon enough."

"When you next try and take my body?"

"My, my, how utterly blasé you are about that. There are different ways to... take a body, if you know what I mean."

Tsuna turned a blank face on the Mist user. "Huh?"

Nagi-Mukuro stared at him for a long moment before bursting into sharp laughter. "You really are too much. Even she understands somewhat."

Tsuna frowned. "If you ask me I'm not... innocent enough, but whatever."

"Kufufu. We'll see, little Sky, we'll see."

. . .

The moment Tsuna walked in the door he was tackled by Fuuta, I-Pin and Lambo with cries of "Papa!" and "Bàba!". Fortunately he was used to this and stayed upright with two kids on his shoulders and Fuuta clinging to his waist. Nagi-Mukuro watched this, as always, with hidden puzzlement as s/he followed him in and shut the door.

"Tsu-kun! I didn't think you were going to be home for dinner!" His madre poked her head into the main hall and smiled upon seeing Nagi. "Did you bring home a girlfriend, Tsu-kun?"

Mukuro kept his chuckle inside and left Nagi's body to return to Piero and watched as the girl blushed heavily and hunched in on herself while her gaze fell to the floor. Her stutters of denial were so soft spoken Tsuna barely heard them from right beside her and he looked at the girl in concern. Nagi hugged her book bag and looked up through her bangs with two beautiful violet eyes as she forced a louder, cracked sentence saying that she was not Tsuna's girlfriend. Nana looked closely at the girl before her face fell into a sad smile. Through motherly magic she steered the girl into the kitchen while dragging Tsuna and sat them both down. In very little time there was a plate of chocolate chip cookies on the table with mugs of warmed milk tea before them.

Tsuna smiled at his mother. "This is Nagi-san, madre. She... I saved her from a car accident and... well, the both of you should talk because I would like Nagi-san to stay with us... but and only if she wants to!"

A look of concern flashed across his mother's face before she turned to Nagi and showed her a beautiful warm-the-world smile. The purple haired girl blushed red and looked down at the cat she held in her lap.

"So, Nagi-chan, why did my Tsu-kun bring you here?"

Nagi opened her mouth to talk several times and shrunk in her seat. A minute ticked by before she pulled out a notebook and pencil.

"To my mother and step-father I'm a worthless burden. They ignore my existence when not insulting me or saying things to make me hate myself. I'm not pretty enough to be a model or a superstar like mother, and her husband treats me like a bug that should be stepped on. There's no love there and it's lonely and it hurts. I'm sorry for intruding and following your son home, Sawada-san. He saved my life, me, and he's the first person to really look at me in what feels like years."

Tsuna's stomach was curdling and he quietly seethed. His mother, though her smile was fixed as she poked holes through a cookie with a chopstick, felt the same way as she envisioned visiting Nagi's parents and letting them feel a mother's righteous rage. Imagining teaching the little girl's parents a lesson calmed Nana and she reached forward to touch Nagi's hand as the girl began shaking and working up the courage to ask something.

"Nagi-chan, you are welcome to stay. Homes are meant to be lively and full of people and smiles, and I would be happy to let you live with us."

"E... even... um..." Nagi swallowed hard and started poking her palm with the pencil, then she screwed up her face in a look of adorable determination and she looked Nana in the eyes. "I would like to be of help... l-like a live-in n-nanny... or wh-whatever you need, S-Sawada-san."

Nana and Tsuna both stared in surprise, but his mother smiled brightly ("Please, Nagi-chan, call me Nana-chan until you're comfortable calling me mamma like Tsu-kun's other friends!") and Romu managed a strange little sound that was almost like a laugh. Tsuna sat back and watched the scene with a smile as his mother pulled out a notebook (where she usually wrote grocery lists) and started planning out the "basement suite" for Nagi. This alarmed the soft-spoken girl who tried to reject that and insist she only needed a small room. Nana, however, was not to be swayed. She saw a neglected and tormented child, reminding her painfully of Tsuna when he was so bullied and pushed around as a kid long before Piero, and her instincts were to pamper Nagi. There was little danger in spoiling her, she had a feeling she was like her Tsu-kun that way.

Back to the Decimo, his Intuition was warm and comforting, like honeyed milk tea in winter and he knew he made the right decision. He stretched up, feeling a pull and a faint twinge of something bordering pain, and he yelped when his large cat leaped from Nagi's lap and landed on him with a pointed squint.

"R-right... um, madre?"

"Mm?" Nana looked over and immediately spotted the look of someone readying themselves to say something extremely worrying. "Oh, Tsu-kun, what happened?"

Nagi shrunk in on herself and pulled her bag into her lap to hide behind it. Tsuna winced as Mukuro's claws dug into his skin through his pants and he could imagine the Mist user mentally ordering him to get on with it. Delaying the healing will do him no good.

"Wh-when I saved Nagi-san from the accident I was hit by the car. I must not have been quick enough with my Flames since... I was... um, dying." Nana's eyes flooded with tears and she was out of that chair and at his side in moments, hands fluttering fearfully as she pressed his head and felt along his arms and sides for any jutting pieces of bone, then she fell to her knees and hugged him tight. Tsuna gently nudged Romu out of his lap and returned the hug. "An acquaintance of mine was nearby though, and they have Mist Flames too. He worked with my Flames to make an illusion inside me to hold my body together and keep me alive! I just need Reborn, Kyoko and Ryohei to get fixed up."

Nana kissed her son on the forehead and stood before she grabbed his wrist and gently dragged him out into the living room. There she sat him down, wrapped him in a thin blanket, and called to Nagi with a polite request for her to bring the tea and cookies out for Tsuna. A softly called "R-right away" answered and Tsuna allowed his mother to sit with him and play with his hair as she called Kyoko first, followed by the boxer, and then she called Reborn.

Tsuna, meanwhile, was dreading what punishment the Arcobaleno would no doubt plan since he literally dropped self-training and got himself run over by a car. Reborn, at least, would not be pleased with how he was nearly killed in such a "mundane" way, as opposed to fighting against an enemy and going out with a bang.

Honestly, retiring to the countryside or an island sounded awesome instead of epic fights to the death.

. . .

Following the three Sun's his entire Famiglia arrived at the house because he sent a mass text explaining very simply that he had been hit by a car when saving someone, and he brought that person back. In the process of tackling her out of the way he was hurt very badly, but there was no need to worry though, since someone with powerful Mist Flames put an illusion over his injuries to keep him alive. He'll be perfectly fine after some healing.

Minutes before everyone arrived Tsuna promised Nagi that he would not let anyone hurt her, but that wasn't a necessary reassurance since no one would even want to. Hibari was the very last to arrive after everyone else rushed in with varying looks of panic and concern on their faces. The Cloud and took up a position against a far wall to observe his Anaguma with sharp eyes.

Tsuna stood from the couch and smiled nervously at his Famiglia. "G-guys, this is Nagi-san. She's the one I saved."

Reborn, who had been sitting on a tense Takeshi's shoulders, jumped off and snagged Tsuna's shirt as he sailed by the boy's head and he bodily threw the teen into Hibari's plush Observe-the-Herbivore's chair, drawing a squeak of alarm from Nagi. Tsuna groaned from his uncomfortable upside down position on the sturdy chair and let himself topple off and onto the floor with a loud thump. There he shifted until he was bowing from the floor. His face was calm if a little nervous.

"Now that we're here, Dame-Tsuna, you can explain to everyone what went down."

The Decimo winced. If his tutor was calling him that then he really, really fucked up. Probably the getting nearly killed by a car part of the rescue.

"My Intuition hit me like a sledgehammer. I had to leave pretty right then," Tsuna said, taking the time to glance guiltily into several of the faces of his group members, which included Spanner, Shoichi, Fon and Haru, who seemed to be keeping quiet through sheer force of will while Ryohei had a piece of duct tape slapped over his mouth. Lancia sat to the side with Fuuta and the other children, and the man watched him with faint disapproval on top of his worry, which stung more than he probably expected. "I wasn't... really thinking, I know. It was just this need to leave and save Nagi-san before I even met her. I tackled her out of the way of a big speeding car and I wasn't quick enough with reinforcing my body so I was... pretty much shattered upon impact... um... an acquaintance with Mist was there to help make an illusion that saved my life, which is why I'm even functioning right now."

"Juudaime, we wouldn't have stopped you. We would have tried to meet you part way," said Gokudera. There was hurt and understanding on his face, and the pain there made Tsuna feel like crap.

There was a nine minute window in which he could have texted them, but that was a fifty-fifty chance. Either he texted and still made it in time, or did texted and made it in time to see Nagi's broken body.

"I'm sorry..." Tsuna swallowed hard and bowed his head. "I'm sorry to all of you. I wasn't thinking and there wasn't enough time, and I'm... I guess I'm still getting used to my Intuition."

Kyoko threw herself off the couch before anyone else could move and pulled him into a hug. There were tears in her pretty eyes. "Tsuna-kun, please try and take Onii-chan or me with you next time, and definitely take Reborn-kun!"

Tsuna swallowed and returned the embrace. "I'll keep that in mind, Kyoko-chan." Tsuna pressed his face to her shaking shoulders. "I will do that. You and the rest have worked hard to become strong, I won't ignore that."

After this Tsuna was subjected to scoldings from Hana, Fon, Spanner, a kick to the stomach by Reborn, a light punch to the shoulder by Hana (followed by a tight hug), a tonfa smack to the head by Hibari, and a hug from Takeshi as he scolded him too. Gokudera bowed and promised to watch Tsuna's back forever, and overall Tsuna felt overwhelmed by seeing how much everyone cared that he was so hurt. He knew he shouldn't be surprised, and mostly he wasn't, but it was a reminder that he was important to them. Just as he holds them in high regard.

When Reborn ushered everyone but the Sun-users out, which included Shuichi who volunteered to help. Nagi wanted to take this chance to flee to somewhere quieter, but Mukuro sharing headspace had advised against this earlier on. They would be needed to slowly lift away the illusion bit by bit to allow Tsuna's complete recovery.

Fortunately the healing went off without a problem, mainly because Reborn, right from the start, promised to hang Ryohei from his ears if he did not focus a hundred percent. The quiet threat in the hitman's baby voice actually reached Ryohei, though there was little chance of the boxer goofing off while doing something so important, but it was really more for the hitman's peace of mind. It took an hour for the first part of the healing, done by Reborn and Kyoko as they fixed what Mukuro's powerful illusion slowly lifted away from and their job was internal damage, as in ruptured veins, ripped muscle, and torn organs. Ryohei took over the healing of Tsuna's bones and bruises with Shuichi supplying extra Sun Flames to facilitate faster healing, and it was another hour of healing to fix up every big and little bone of cracks and bruises.

Once he was healed Nagi shyly asked if she could go sit and collect herself somewhere. Tsuna suggested she go poke through the photo albums in the attic, completely forgetting about Mukuro sharing her body.

Tsuna explained that she had helped the Mist user fix him up, but was still a beginner herself. She simply recalled what he did and undid it. In a private text to Reborn he told the infant that it was Mukuro who fixed him, and the Arcobaleno had a thoughtful expression.

. . .

It was evening when Tsuna decided it was time to drag Nagi downstairs and properly introduce her to the others. When he entered the attic he found the girl seated by the window and looking at a black novel sized album. Tsuna recognized it as one of his mother's weirder habits when he was younger. She had taken to collecting photographs of the results of his worst accidents post hospital trips and the album was pretty full.

"Nagi-san?"

"She wishes to be called Chrome Dokuro now." The smooth, slightly deeper and much stronger tone of her voice alone would have told Tsuna who was at the wheel, so to speak. Mukuro-Chrome flipped a page and hummed at the last photo, of him showing his numerous stitches from the dog attack. "She believes her birth name is trash. Who am I to disagree as the soul sharing her body?"

"Ah..." Tsuna fidgeted slightly. "New life, new name... anyway, I want to properly introduce her to the rest of my group, so if you could... let her take the, um, wheel, I would really appreciate it."

Mukuro-Chrome snapped the album shut and dropped it on the seat. There was a sort of glint in Chrome's purple eyes and Tsuna's Intuition twinged warm and cold as he let the illusionist approach close enough to nearly touch chest-to-chest. Tsuna swallowed hard and shuffled back a step as he looked the possessed Mist straight on, gaze unwavering. A flare of Mist later and it was Mukuro standing before him, and instead of purple eyes the Decimo was looking at a chest clothed in a camouflage patterned shirt. Mukuro himself quite easily over Tsuna's measly 5'2", and yet the Decimo's instincts and Intuition did not scream danger.

A slight smirk crossed Mukuro's handsome face. "You are such an enigma, Tsunayoshi-kun. That Intuition of yours is a shame. Even if I wanted to hurt you I wouldn't be able to... you would slip between my fingers like an eel. It's really not worth the hassle of trying to lay claim to you as I am right now. I will wait until I'm free..."

Tsuna's face deadpanned, reading his words as literal body-possession. "Sounds like a plan. Now, I'd like to introduce Nagi-san to the rest of my friends and Famiglia."

Mukuro smirked and leaned down until his warm breath tickled across Tsuna's lips. "You interest me, Tsunayoshi-kun... for now I'll keep you alive and relatively pure."

And like that the illusionist released his possession on Chrome and he came face to face with the blushing, wide-eyed girl who squeaked and stumbled back with a yelp of apology. Faced with her, Tsuna's face turned pink as he quickly assured her it was fine, he would never blame her for what Mukuro does.

Now... for a proper introduction to his Famiglia.

OMAKE,

Where do they live?**

Well over a month after the Kokuyo incident marked the days where Tsuna and Lancia relaxed. The man had been staying in the backyard with shelter from a tent despite Nana's best efforts at persuading him to stay inside. He felt the place was already too crowded and he was a big man, he didn't want to impose on her and he felt he did no matter what she said.

One day Reborn threw a folder at Lancia's face and the man caught it. Inside were pictures of a large home, equal to the Sawada's nd only three doors away, with four bedrooms above ground, and a basement with a medium sized bedroom on the side. Tsuna recognized it as the home of an old bully of his, one that his mother and her special poison smile had scared off years ago. They had moved several days prior and Tsuna noticed a lot of moving vans going to and leaving the neighborhood.

It was a completely different place now. Someone had painted it a dark stormy gray, had the roof reshingled to be more an off white, and the walled in front had a long pond with pretty koi and a mini bridge going over it. Inside the color scheme was black floors of thick, soft carpets, and walls painted to resembles a leaves or mossy ground. The living room was a forest floor mid fall, with leaves of reds, deep yellows, and oranges. The detail was beautiful and when Tsuna gave Reborn a curious look the infant shrugged and said he told the designers a few suggestions and told them to have fun - but not too much, or he'd shoot them.

Each room had walls resembling some part of a forest, with the master bedroom, Lancia's, resembling pine trees with a plush floor of deep brown with large patches of mossy green. There was a big bed, a book case full of novels and little things, and there was a mini fridge in a corner.

Lancia was grateful, and that put it mildly. He bowed to Reborn, who perched on Tsuna's shoulder as usual, and thanked him solemnly, saying that to repay them both he would do his utmost best to protect the tenth generation Vongola Family.

Seeing Lancia's home made Tsuna wonder. He still didn't know where Gokudera lived. He waited until there was another big family dinner, with everyone invited (and Hibari given large helpings to bring home and share with his mother instead of attending), Tsuna took Gokudera aside and asked where he lived. It turned out that the bomber used to stay at a run down hotel until he got a job at a grocery store and started living at a slightly better apartment. Naturally Tsuna decided to follow Gokudera to his building.

He did not like it. Namimori was a great looking place, and arguably a good place to live, and Gokudera had found the absolute worst area to stay in. Tsuna first face-palmed, because really, and then he told Gokudera that he needed to find somewhere better, and that until then he could stay over with him. The look on his Storm's face was priceless, a mix of awe, disbelief, and hope, and when Tsuna nodded, Gokudera bowed deeply and asked whether this was an order or not.

Tsuna decided this would be a harmless order. So it was. Which is how Gokudera Hayato came to sleep in the attic for two weeks. He found a small but nice apartment three days before Chrome's arrival.

** Piero's Mystery: Will be answered when Nana's family appears! Rather, her grandmother [redacted].

** ROMU: Makes it easier on me not to constantly refer to Mukuro-cat as that or Mukuro-Piero or "Piero" and etcetera.

** Tsuna Intuition: I suppose you could technically call it something sort of like Intuitive Precognition since, well yeah. He's had those moments. He gets a sense of things to come, but only in HDW mode does his usual Intuition become more like canon!Tsuna's Hyper Intuition. I should probably have cleared this up many chapters ago, but to be fair I'm sure readers smarter than me had an idea of it. :D

** Town or City: It's a city. I have an awful feeling that I've referred to Namimori as a flipping town.

** DIFFERENCES in Intuition Moments: His mother was hurt but not in danger of dying, neither was Piero, and that's why he could keep from tearing off after them right away. This time? Nagi/Chrome was in very danger of dying. Mukuro was with Tsuna's family after all, with a vessel of a sort to vicariously live through until he escapes (or, he plans to).

** RELEVENT NOTE: Since Hibari once complained about the amount of "worms" invading Namimori (and consistently attacking a "cub" and his Anaguma's territory, leading to his subordinates getting run a bit ragged) Mitsuko has had Namimori bugged. It doesn't catch everyone since nothing is ever perfect, but she has kept a fair amount of thugs outside of the city. She leaves drama to the professionals who deal with that (ie, accidents).

** Before anyone says anything... yes, I'm going to put up an omake about the time Gokudera spent living with the Sawada's. x3 Also, Lancia having his own home will be relevant. Later on.

If parts of the chapter after Tsuna's gotta-save-Chrome flash of insight seems... off, that's because originally I had her living in Kokuyo. But Tsuna being so-so thoughtless as to not attempt to inform anyone of his intentions in the two hour drive between Namimori and Kokuyo... (rough draft, what can I say?) Now, at least, Nana has a legitimate excuse if she ever meets Chrome's mother. She wasn't actively looking for her, so... why not take the chance if she bumps into her?

ANYWAY... I would love it if someone pointed out a mistake for me to fix. I'll be uploading this without a last-minute proofread since I'll have three children with me.

PS. How much did you all hate or like what I did with Mukuro. It was planned ever since I realized a lot of you actually liked Piero as much as I did and went with the less dramatic and future relationship killing route of Piero, you know, getting killed by one of the Murkrow's minions.