Mafia x Vampire

by Nain Tarlow

He is no longer Vongola Decimo. He was a puppet, a bait no longer useful. Thrown to the wayside, his guardians, even his mentor left him. Wanting to get away, Tsuna left Namimori and was soon enrolled in Youkai Academy. With new friends, new enemies on the horizon, can the former mafia boss move on? Or will the Mafia once again try to take over his life?

18. Chapter 18

Nain Tarlow checking in as usual.

Finally, it has been a long while but I finished the freelancer attack arc. It went a lot longer than anticipated but I had a lot of fun writing it and hope you guys enjoyed it too. I hope you enjoyed the various twists in this chapter, the light-hearted fun and the revelations about Tsuna. Of course he didn't come completely clean but it's expected he is a mafioso at heart.

One thing I noticed are a few complaints about how I weakened Tsuna and dragged out the illness. There is a reason for that: obviously it wouldn't be a good poison used by Tsuna's enemies if he recovered easily and without problems. Do I use it to focus a bi on other characters and give a legitimate reason why Tsuna won't go hyper dying will against every enemy? Absolutely. But don't worry his time will come soon. So please bear with it.

Sorry I had to get it off my chest. Next chapter or chapters depending on the length will tie up a few loose ends, and a little slice of life before jumping into the main conflict that I planned for this part of the story.

Please feel free to share what you thought of this chapter in reviews, I always enjoy reading about your thoughts. I will try to update as soon as I can but because of my new work and other stories I also focus on, it might be a little late but I will do my best to provide you with a new chapter soon.

Enjoy the story.

Chapter 18 Revelations and friendship

Cover: Tsuna wearing a fine suit, the jacket draped over his shoulders is sitting in a large ormanted chair. Behind him on the wall was the Vongola's mark in its full glory. Tsuna had a gun in one hand and a lit cigar in the other, with his old sets of guardians standing at his side, all of them in suits. Gokudera, Lambo and Ryohei to his right and Yamamoto, Chrome and Hibari on his other side.

Tsukune and the others could only watch with wide eyes and Tsuna stared down coldly at Saru and pulled the trigger of his gun. Even after what they went through, none of them could imagine killing their enemies in cold blood.

Gin and Haiji looked on silently, not making a move to interruptt Tsuna, or even objecting verbally. Though Gin was watching the former mafioso's like a hawk, observing every one of his actions.

Lambo simply lowered his head, hiding his eyes from the others but refused to look away.

As the loud sound of a gun firing rang through the clearing, most of them closed their eyes in reflex, not wanting to see Tsuna killing someone in cold blood.

Then the sound of the gun firing filled the silent clearing and for a long moment, nobody even dared to breathe. Then time resumed and those who closed their eyes had to open them to face up with the consequences of Tsuna's decision.

Saru, the only one of their enemies to be conscious stared at the gun unblinkingly, ignoring the bullet that barely missed his face, ending in the ground.

"Why?" it wasn't the golem youkai who asked the question but Tsuna who stared at the hand on his wrist with an impassive face.

The hand that belonged to his vampire companion, who grabbed his hand and yanked it off target just as he fired.

She was looking at him, not quite glaring but there was some anger behind the impassive mask she had on as they looked at each other. Her hold on him was not as strong as it could have been but strong enough to veer his aim off and he couldn't break free with his limited human strength. At least not easily.

And somehow he got the feeling that Moka had figured him enough to know he was lucky to even be able to stand straight at the moment, the consequences of abusing dying will state for so long, especially with using Zero Point Breakthrough in tandem already hitting his ill body.

"Moka-san?" Tsukune asked softly, he and the others watching as the two shared a silent stare-off, not knowing if they should interrupt them or not.

"Is that who you really are?" she asked in a soft voice, ignoring the others, searching for something in Tsuna's eyes. "You shroud yourself in mysteries and half-truths but I think I get enough sense of your character. And from what I see you are not one to kill in cold blood like this if he could help it. So why would you do it now?" she asked, careful to keep her voice low and even.

As he listened to her, Tsuna felt anger swell inside him, mixing with his earlier frustration and self-loathing, creating a very dangerous and volatile mix of emotions. It took all of his willpower to keep himself from lashing out, knowing it would be all but ineffective against her and would just damage their relationship.

"What do you think you know?" he hissed out with eyes narrowing before his attention turned toward his defeated opponents, Saru not even making a sound as if it wasn't his life that was about to be decided."This is the law of the world they got involved in, the law they brought upon themselves. Do you think they will just stop if I let them go? Even if they don't come after me again, they will inform others, who are more bloodthirsty and ruthless than them and I can't be around to protect you from any attack aimed at me."

He pulled his arm out of her grip, surprised that she let him go that easily, and took aim once again, finger back on the trigger. Moka watched him with a frown, noticing his labored breathing and the way he was sweating but chose not to comment on it.

"What would my other self say if you saw you like this? Or are you so weak that you simply let the world around dictate your decisions?" she asked, crossing her arms, signaling that despite her thoughts she would stop him this time.

Even so, she was surprised by the hollow laugh that came from him.

"She probably wouldn't be able to look at me but I accepted it. The darkness of that world, I decided to shoulder a long time ago. Everyone who I trusted and loved already left me once, what's once more?" he bit out bitterly, his words low that the others barely caught a few words, standing a little ways away and could only look at his tense, pained expression. "I would rather her be alive and hate me than be dead because I didn't do what I must."

"Tsuna-nii," Yukari murmured next to Lambo, looking at his expression. She wanted to run to their side but she respected them enough to know that it was their talk alone. She also feared he would react badly if any of them suddenly ran up to them at this point.

"It's always the same," she heard Lambo murmur as he lowered his head. "It's always nii-san who has to burden everything and I couldn't help him. Not now and not then." he lamented, obviously angry at himself.

Tsuna took aim for the second time, his face set in a frown as he met the eyes of Saru, challenging to say anything. Wisely he chose to stay silent, looking as dignified as he could.

"Then why is your hand shaking?" Moka spoke up, her eyes zeroed on the one holding his gun."Even if I don't move your arm, I doubt you can hit him in your state."

Tsuna gritted his teeth as he looked at his hand. It was indeed shaking violently, to the point where he knew aiming was all but impossible but he stubbornly refused to relent. He more than anyone knew how the mafia worked, even with Dino and Lal helping and running interference if he let them leave, he and more importantly his friends would be in clear danger.

"Because you can say it otherwise as much as you want, you are still a wet behind his ears kid, aren't you kid?" a familiar voice interrupted him this time, causing Tsuna to whip his head to the side.

Standing under a shade of a nearby tree was the bus rider who ferried students between the school and their homes, smoking his cigar like nothing was wrong. Even under the shadow of his hat, his eyes gleamed with amusement as he sent a smirk towards Tsuna.

Much to the former mafioso's annoyance once again he failed to sense his presence until he allowed himself to be noticed. He was a troublesome fellow to deal with,

"What's the creepy bus driver doing here?" Tsukune cried out, completely surprised by the development.

Tsuna would have laughed at his gaping expression if he didn't see the two older students tense up and watch the man warily. He had his suspicions about the man and his influence and it was just another red flag about him being more than a humble bus driver.

He was someone he absolutely needed to avoid setting against himself at the moment.

Nonetheless, he lowered his arm, frowning at the man, trying to figure out the purpose of showing up at this point.

"That man...he is more powerful than he shows himself," Moka murmured at his side, stepping closer to him, almost protectively despite their earlier disagreement.

"No kidding. I feel like under the gaze of my former teacher whenever I encounter the guy," he murmured as he regarded the man who made no move other than happily puffing on his death stick. "So am I just supposed to let them go? Even if another round of hitmen will come just after me. That's a risk I can't afford to take," he said, challenging the bus driver, even if he knew he was hardly in any position to bargain.

The bus driver simply grinned as he stepped away from the tree and walked toward them. Despite his laidback steps, all of them could feel something ancient and powerful from the man, leagues different from the punks they faced just now.

"Well they won't be going anywhere but rather into the care of the estimated headmaster," he explained and with a wave of his head, a couple of large men appeared as if stepping out of thin air. They wore expensive suits, not even looking into the kids' direction as they simply grabbed Saru and his comrades, leaving the slug youkai untouched and got ready to leave as well. "It's a win-win. Your secret is safe and you don't even have to bloody your hands. Sounds good, don't you think?" he asked with a sly grin, taking a large drag before exhaling it toward Tsuna.

Instead of looking relieved or anything Tsuna's posture tensed further as he watched the man in front of him, studying his expression.

"So I would be leashed to the headmaster's whim? To do as he said unless I want my location revealed?" he asked with narrow eyes.

The bus driver didn't even try to deny the accusation as he returned the stare.

"Let's call us even for that one little trip that was arranged for you so you could get a cure for your friend," he said in the end, giving the nod to the dumb-founded Tsukune who looked at Tsuna in question.

The teen in question only fumed in place, suspicions running in his head. Why would the headmaster be so quick to let go of favor to hold over his head? What was so important about the three of them that they needed to remain alive?

It wasn't simply to keep him under their thumb, he was sure of it. There were easier ways to keep him under control, ways the headmaster already had. So what was that mysterious man playing and what part involved him?

"Tsuna." Moka slowly spoke up and a look into her eyes told her just as he thought. If even the prideful vampire knew that it was time to retreat then he couldn't say anything to the contrary.

"You win." he said quietly to the bus driver, unable to hide the bitterness in his voice at being outplayed like this."But I have one question if you wouldn't mind."

The man shrugged carelessly. Taking it as permission Tsuna looked at Saru who kept his indifferent look even as he was helped up by the men in suits and started to herd him away. Just like Tsuna, he probably knew that he bit more than he could chew with the inclusion of the school's faculty and gave up struggling.

"Who was it that put the bounty on my head? Did it come from Sawada Iemitsu?" he asked but the golem refused to answer. Even then, a subtle twitch of his face was enough to confirm his suspicions as he laughed hollowly."I should have figured it out. Bastard never liked getting his hands dirty."

Saru didn't say anything as he was led away, with his unconscious comrades carried like a sack of potatoes. Seeing that there was nothing else to do here the bus driver took one last drag of his cigar before turning around and slowly walking away.

"Well take care, kids, and try to be careful. Youkai Academy is a scary place after all." he laughed before turning back slightly and fixing Tsuna with a slightly stern glare."And I told you to watch your temper, boy or that poison inside will kill you before you know it."

With that he left, leaving a dumbfounded and confused group behind.

"What did he mean about a poison Sawada?" Gin spoke up as soon as the bus driver disappeared from sight, looking at the teen in question.

However, he didn't get an answer as Tsuna simply fell forward, already unconscious. Moka only caught him before his face met the floor, the others running toward him, crying out his name in worry.

-0-

A long groan escaped his lips as he slowly and gradually climbed into consciousness, the last remains of his dream fading into oblivion. All he could remember was the fire that threatened to engulf him, turn him into nothing more than cinders, an afterthought of a once-mighty mafioso.

'Would it have been so bad?' a distant part of his mind, one fed up with the life he came to accept, with the darkness that seemed to follow him everywhere but as his mind cleared he knew he wouldn't follow through this thought. He may have been called many things, a coward, a secretive bastard, or a useless waste of space, all in different parts of his life, he at the very core of his heart wouldn't take the easy way out, leaving others to clean up his messes.

Sawada Tsunayoshi exhaled, expelling the last thoughts of his dream as the analytical part of him that Reborn caused almost bodily harm to cultivate took over to take stock of what happened and what situation he was in.

The air was dry and stale around him, a sign of the hot summer that was rapidly closing in on them. Opening his eyes, darkness welcomed him but after a minute or two his eyes got used to it and the ceiling of his room greeted him.

It was the middle of the night. His last memory was just after they dealt with the freelance hitmen after him. He guessed his body must have reached his limit and he passed out and the others brought him into his room. That seemed to be the most obvious explanation but he wasn't about to take things for granted.

His face was sweaty and he raised a hand to wipe it off when his hands found a wet cloth on his face. He sat up with a small grunt of pain, almost every part of his body protesting against the action, and the thin sheet that was placed over him fell off, revealing his shirtless torso.

Feeling suspicious he immediately checked on his lower half, finding himself only in his undergarments. A quick look around revealed a fresh uniform placed over next to him.

Seems like the others took care of him and even undressed him. Though who was the one who did it was the question. It could have been Gin or even Haiji for all he knew. Maybe Tsukune, though there was a chance that it was Lambo or Yukari. Or worse either Kurumu or Moka.

His face immediately developed a massive blush at the thought of one of the girls undressing him, then came the mortification since they had undoubtedly seen the small assortments of scars on his body, an evidence of the brutal training and various ordeals he went through the last few years.

"Not gonna think about it," he said to himself like a mantra, trying to bury the thoughts into the deepest corner of his mind. He handled a lot of things like this.

He frowned as he finally noticed something out of place in his room. It was unnaturally silent. Lambo was never a silent sleeper and even in the deepest of slumbers, he should have been snoring like no tomorrow. Yet there was only silence around him this time around, no evidence of his lightning guardian.

Add to that there was a prickling sensation in the back of his mind, his intuition telling him he should be on his way. To where he had no idea but he felt it was important enough that feeling, so despite his body still feeling like it was filled with lead, he grabbed the uniform and quickly put it on.

He opened his door, the cool night air greeting him, Tsuna greedily sucking a big breath to savor the feeling with a small smile. It was a quiet night, with only the stars shining from above to keep him company, or at least that's what he thought at first.

"Finally awake, Sleeping Beauty?" a snarky voice greeted him from his right, a frown instinctually appearing on the young teen's face.

Gin was standing next to him, leaning on a nearby railing. The club president looked tired and a little disheveled which was strange since the self-proclaimed playboy always looked his best in the hopes of catching the eyes of nearby girls.

"You look like shit." he still wasn't completely awake so his blunt insult could be forgiven.

In response the werewolf snorted, rolling his shoulders as he stretched out.

"Like you are one to talk Mister Almost On His Deathbed." he retorted quickly before frowning, amusement leaving his face. "We need to have a long-overdue talk." he told him simply indicating with his head the younger teen should follow him.

"I suppose it's time. Lead the way." Tsuna answered with a simple shrug and began to follow his dubious yet strangely reliable if the situation calls for it senpai. They walked silently for a few minutes toward the roof of the dormitory."How are the others?"

"Passed out in the clubroom." was Gin's simple answer, ignoring Tsuna's stare into the back of his head, demanding answers. He didn't say anything for a few minutes but then gave in and spoke up."Unlike you, they didn't have the luxury of passing out and had to come back to finish the draft for the newspaper. While we did get back the draft from that slimy slug there was still a lot of work to do and we worked ourselves to the bone, barely making it in time. The others were simply too tired to even move after that so I asked Nekonome-sensei to bring a few futons and blankets for them and let them sleep in." he explained in his usual lazy and detached manner.

"That's...that's good." was all he could say lamely in response.

There was a part of him that regretted not being there with the others all the way. While at times tiring and annoying, he had fun in the time spent in the newspaper club and if it wasn't for his past rearing up its head, he would have been sleeping with the others after a day of hard work. Instead, here he was in this dying body, following a werewolf to have a private chat about their respective pasts.

It was sadly not Tsuna's definition of a nice time.

"Moka told us about your condition, the poison in your body." Gin continued softly, not looking into his eyes but looking ahead stubbornly.

"What did she tell you?" he asked back with a small frown. It was expected, after all the bus driver's cryptic comment and his passing out, would warrant a few questions but he nonetheless disliked not having a say in what was revealed about himself.

"Just the bare basics, mostly to keep it away from her other self so she wouldn't worry." he answered, still not meeting his eyes."You're really dying?"

Now that they arrived at the crux of the matter, Tsuna let out a weary sigh as he ran a hand through his hair. Though neither would admit it freely, the two if not exactly liked but respected the other in their own way, that was probably one of the reasons why Gin decided to help him out when he learned about his predicament. Probably why he was worried about his almost certain death in the near future.

"I'm doing my very best at it, at the very least," he replied dryly, trying to make fun of his situations to make it seem less serious was almost a habit by this point. With a frown, he decided to be a little more truthful for once."At this point, I will be alright for a few more months at the very least but my chances are bleak and if I continue to strain myself...even that little time might be lost."

Gin suddenly stopped, looking at him from the corner of his eyes incredulously before snorting.

"You are not one to mince words, aren't you?" he asked before he started walking again. "Didn't see that side of you this much before. It's honestly more bearable than that cold, distant mask you wear almost constantly." he informed him off-handedly, Tsuna frowning at that.

"Yeah, I was slipping back into some old habits." he agreed, reaching up with one hand to scratch the back of his head."It's harder than I thought it would be."

Despite promising to himself and the outer version of his vampire friend that he would try to be more open, by now part of it was simply instinct. He could blame it on the mafia, or the fact that once again he had needed to deal with that part of his past that he would love nothing more than to leave behind but he knew that they were only excuses. It is simply what he came to be used to, lying to his Mom, Kyoko, Haru, anyone not directly affiliated with the Vongola.

But this latest incident reminded him that his old way of doing things, Reborn's way of doing things, wasn't working out so well for him now. Back then he had his guardians, most of the time he didn't even have to tell what he wanted them to do, they knew him and knew what he would ask them to do even before he realized what plan he wanted to enact.

Times like these, that he really missed that comforting, reliable bond that was between him and his guardians both in the philosophical sense and the way their dying will flames interacted. But as he scolded himself many times, that was in the past and all he could do is work with what he had now.

"Here we are." Gin's voice snapped him out of his wayward thoughts and judging by the smirk on the werewolf's face, his face showed his surprise.

They were on the roof of the dormitory, looking over the school grounds, the cool wind a welcome distraction. The moon was out, lighting up the otherwise ominous and dark grounds. The two teens settled down by the railing, Gin with his back to it while Tsuna was leaning on it with both arms, looking toward the nearby forest with a pensive look on his face.

"You know, this is incredibly cliché. A meeting in the dead of the night with no witnesses and no one to possibly interrupt whatever is happening." the club president turned to his underclassman with a roguish grin."You don't plan to kill me and make it look like an accident, right?" he laughed at his own joke appearing completely careless but was a little caught off-guard when Tsuna nodded with a pensive expression.

"I thought about it but I mostly prefer throwing my targets into the river after encasing their feet in cement. "at the alarmed look that appeared on the werewolf, Tsuna's mask cracked as he gave a mischievous smile."Just kidding."

"Don't joke about this with that poker face you have, I couldn't help but fear for my safety for a second" despite his words Gin gave a short laugh, a small nod in respect of fooling him. A moment later though all levity disappeared from his face, leaving only a serious one in its place."So it's true then? You are one of them?"

"If you mean the mafia that's right, I'm one of them, well I was, to be honest." Tsuna declared, dramatically opening his arms seeing no point in beating around the bush."I am a human, a former member of the mafia who is enrolled in this school. By all means, I should be immediately put to death as I am a clear danger to you all."

It was definitely a gamble to open up to the werewolf to this extent. He could have played dumb, trying to continue to play the part of the youkai, one who had contact with the human world similar to his attackers but it would amount to nothing. It was clear that Gin knew more than the others from the get-go and as someone with precious few allies who he could trust in a place that would kill him simply for what he is, he needed all he could get.

He felt he had a good grasp of the werewolf character and while he initially underestimated him, he was sure he was in his own way trustworthy. After all, he came to his aid, even when he had no real stake in this whole incident and probably had a few suspicions of his identity already.

Gin met Tsuna's eyes for a long moment, not saying a thing. The former mafioso was almost worried about his reaction when the werewolf suddenly burst out laughing. Despite himself, Tsuna felt himself relax slightly.

"It's my turn to ask a question then. How do you know about the mafia? While it is not exactly secret on this side, from what I know its existence and contact with the youkai are not something that is really advertised." he asked when Gin finally stopped laughing.

"What can I say, I am a newspaper reporter at heart." he answered with a grin on his face, though Tsuna looked hardly convinced."Heard a few tidbits, followed up on them and it was a pretty interesting topic so I did my homework on them properly."

"Is that so?" the mafioso gave a small smile, not taking his eyes off the werewolf."That sounds like a logical, plausible reason. So, it begs the question, what was the real reason."

Gin smiled wryly, looking away from Tsuna and watching the moon above with a faraway look.

"You are right. I owe you at least a proper answer, don't I? After all you are giving out an awful lot for a guy who keeps his cards as close to the chest as possible," he commented. Tsuna looked away with a conflicted look.

He already agreed to share part of his past with his friends but he knew that he would not part with the more important and dangerous tidbits about him so easily, like him being a human or being a former heir to the strongest mafia family. They were better off not knowing, their lives would complicate even further if they entangled themselves with mafia affairs even further.

"This fight, the whole situation made me remember that I shouldn't act alone so much. I was always hopeless whenever I was left alone, and it seems like along the way I forgot. Moka, Tsukune, and the others, I want to spare them from the darkness of the mafia, yet if it wasn't for you and Haiji, my plan might have failed and that would have not only cost my own life but the others' too. People, humans and youkai alike, crave companionship. Because where the strength of an individual is not enough, that's when they will need a helping hand to rise above the challenge." Tsuna explained with a frown on his face as he looked up at the sky, a longing he buried deep down to his mind slowly resurfacing.

"You are awfully philosophical. You sure alright?" Gin joked with a small grin but he watched Tsuna with interest.

"You can say I'm getting there. I'm trying to accept my past, the past that I tried to run from to no avail. If I can't escape it, I might as well come to terms with it and get ready for the day I have to confront it head-on. Of course it's not gonna happen from one day to another. Baby steps." he snorted as he remembered a certain hitman that looked like a baby and he would definitely be offended by his phrasing."Your turn." he said to the werewolf in the end.

If he was asked his opinion, Tsuna would say that there is no way Gin would work for a family, well most of them at any rate. He came across as too much of a free spirit, who would have problems with blindly following others. Most families tended to not like their people being anything but obedient, especially those who have the potential to be dangerous.

And considering that Youkai were naturally stronger and faster than most humans, save for dying will users and very experienced hitmen. It wasn't that hard to believe that most mafioso with even a little brain would be wary of any youkai under their employ and would keep them on a short leash, which he simply couldn't imagine Gin or most youkai he knew for that matter tolerate very well.

Gin looked Tsuna in the eye, giving a crooked smile as if knowing what he just thought about before launching his explanation.

"At the start of my freshmen year, let's just say I was quite a hothead and a lot more confrontational than now. I fought anyone who looked strong, looked at me weirdly, or when I was just simply bored. I soon earned the nickname Mad Dog Morioka. There were very few people who were able to beat me and I was aware of that and used it to satisfy the bloodlust inside me."

Tsuna raised an eyebrow hearing that. While Gin was many things, he wouldn't really call him a mad dog. Though he was clear evidence of how much a person can change because of the events they go through. After all, he was called Dame Tsuna at one point, destined to become nothing but a failure.

While in many aspects he remained the same, he was all too aware how much difference was between the him now and his past self.

"If you look at me now, you wouldn't even imagine it, no?" the newspaper club president let out a short laugh, nodding to himself. "Long story short, some people took notice of me and I was approached by them to join this or that Family. Of course, I wasn't interested in their offers at the time so I sent them packing. But we both know they are not really the type to be deterred by the word no."

That was an understatement if he ever heard one, Tsuna thought as he couldn't hold back the snort wanting to escape him. The people in the mafia were synonymous with the word eccentric and stubborn beyond measure.

"But before they could try more direct modes of persuasion, they were firmly told to back away and leave me alone." Gin continued his story, surprising Tsuna. Not many could force a determined back off after all.

"That's not an easy feat. Just how were you able to force them to back off?" Tsuna asked in curiosity. Gin, instead of boasting or anything, gave a sheepish chuckle as he continued to relive old memories.

"It wasn't exactly my doing. At the time they wanted to try recruiting me, I just joined the newspaper club, after being tamed so to speak by the club president of that time." at Tsuma's incredulous look he quickly tried to explain himself."She was crazy strong, one of the only people who could defeat me. And easily too After she handed me my butt, I started following her, challenging her and eventually joining the club. She taught me to put my passion into other things than fighting." there was a fond look in his eyes and the former mafioso found himself reluctant to turn back to the original topic.

"She must have been something else. Especially if she could easily make mafioso back off." Tsuna noted, taking note of the fond way the werewolf talked about his mysterious senpai."What happened to her?"

"Nothing. She graduated and she left for the human world. Last I heard she was working at a sea resort." he told him with a shrug.

"I see." Tsuna trailed off, seeing it was the end of the discussion. Which left them in the uncomfortable position to finally make their chances on each other known."So what happens now?"

"That depends? Any more idiots gonna be after you like those three?" Gin asked back, his tone once again dead serious as he eyed the mafioso as if he was a potential threat. In a sense of the word, he certainly was.

"Probably. Unless the bus driver keeps his word and no other word of my presence gets out there, even then I don't think this relative peace will last long. If they are as persistent as I believe, sooner or later another hitman will come." Tsuna explained, meeting the club president's eyes. It wasn't the time for deception or half-truths, no matter how much he would have preferred never again thinking about the Vongola."I was the heir of one of the most influential families, the Vongola. Or at least I thought I was. In truth I was bait, a smokescreen to keep the real heir hidden. After that, I was no use to them and was discarded and let out into the wind. But apparently, not everyone was alright with this decision since I am still a viable heir and some would prefer me leading the Vongola." he let out a sigh, his tiredness shining through his carefully crafted mask."It looks like the new boss decided that I was a risk that he wasn't willing to let live."

A small silence descended them and Tsuna watched Gin's reactions with a careful eye. There were a lot of ways this could go. The werewolf could decide to kick Tsuna out of the club and keep his friends away, declaring him a danger to all of them which wasn't incorrect. He might be incensed at his identity, both as a human and mafioso, and might attack him but he doubted it would turn out like this, not after helping him before.

Still, he was prepared for every possibility.

Apparently not because suddenly Gin burst out laughing, even going as far as to hold his sides and he could only watch in stunned disbelief.

"Hope you don't expect me to kneel down, kiss your ring and call you godfather anytime soon." the newspaper club's president said as he calmed down slightly, but still couldn't keep a final snort in as he carelessly put his hands into his pockets."Also, it's prohibited to use others to do your work in the club so you can't use mafioso as a way to skip your part of the assignments."

Tsuna blinked stupidly at the completely unexpected reaction before he suddenly found himself angry at Gin for not taking him seriously.

"This is no laughing matter!" he hissed, narrowing his eyes at the older student, who once again surprised him with his response.

"I agree," he said, with a small, sincere smile on his face. "But if you were anything like the mafioso I encountered before I wouldn't have gone out of my way to help you or might have even attacked you here and now. So chill out a little." he offered with a lazy shrug, which didn't help Tsuna with understanding what he was getting at.

"You are not making sense," he spoke his thoughts out loud, carefully regarding the werewolf who not for the first time completely acted against his expectations.

As much as he hated to admit it, Tsuna got used to reading people like a book and this situation unnerved him a lot.

"I'm saying that you are a good guy. A bit annoying, cold, no-fun at all, and most of all hogging all of Moka's time to yourself but a good guy nonetheless." he explained and the dying will user felt a massive sweatdrop form on his head."Even when people were after you, you still looked after your friends, making sure they would be as alright as they could be in those circumstances. But you are forgetting something, you are not alone." Gin stepped in front of the still stunned Tsuna and flickered his forehead, eliciting an annoyed grunt from him as he reached up to the small sore spot.

"You might be some super-powered human, master strategist, and whatever else but first of all, here, you are my kouhai. So next time anyone, be it human, youkai, or Kami forbid something even worse is after you, don't try to battle them alone and tell me," he told him, so sincerely that Tsuna found no words to argue against them. Of course, Gin, being Gin, the effects were promptly ruined by his next words."After all, half the reason I have you guys around so I can look like a dashing cool senpai in front of the ladies." he joked, stepping back. Without waiting for Tsuna to say anything he turned around and started walking toward the stairs.

"Stupid idiot. Decide on your character already." the werewolf heard a soft murmur from behind, his keen eyes easily catching the small sound.

The mafioso in question had his head lowered, his hair hiding his eyes. He couldn't deny that he had been touched by the words, especially from Gin with whom he had a rocky relationship in the first place. His intuition told him the werewolf was completely serious and sincere, though he hardly needed to confirm it.

Gin made sure there was no misunderstanding. Guess he was a bit wrong when he evaluated his character, something he wasn't used to.

Yet he couldn't hide the small, barely visible smile on his face, no matter how much he preferred to look cool and collected.

"One more thing." the club president called out just before going down, his usual wolfish grin present this time. "Try not to make Moka-chan cry so much. Girls don't like insensitive pricks like that." he told him as a farewell, leaving with a last, half-hearted wave.

Tsuna couldn't help the snort that escaped him as he was left alone on the roof, his thought a whirling mess. Here he thought he had Gin figured out, feeling utterly prepared for the conversation that would go between them.

Yet it was him who was left a little unbalanced by the end of it and Gin got his wish, looking cool as a senpai. Honestly, that man was complicated and utterly simple at the same time, to the point even him with all his experience reading people was easily caught off-guard.

He pondered for a moment if he should speak up and share his suspicions after all that he observed but decided against it. The topic of dying will flames was a vast topic to cover in the first place and even if he thought that Moka, Omote was unconsciously gathering Guardians around herself, there was nothing concrete so far.

Even if she did and Gin was responding to her, there was nothing inherently wrong. Not like there was a ring battle hanging above the vampire's head, there was no need to tamper with a completely natural process. Still, it wouldn't hurt to keep an eye out just in case.

"I still have some growing up to do, don't I, Reborn?" he mused out loud as he looked at the moon

-0-

After some time, he ended back in his room and went to sleep once again. But it felt that as soon as he closed his eyes, he was interrupted by a rather loud knocking on his door, forcing him out from beneath the covers.

Tsuna wearily blinked at the sight before him as he opened the door. He was still exhausted because of last day's events, so he could be excused from feeling dead inside when he found the Succubus of their club in front of his door at the crack of dawn when he usually had a small window to laze a little before having to harass Tsukune.

He cautiously peeked out from behind his door, looking around the hallway as if he expected to see the others of their group or maybe a camera crew ready to announce he was being pranked or something. When he found neither but an empty hallway he turned back to the way too chirpy-looking Kurumu with a raised eyebrow.

"You do realize that Tsukune's room is on the floor above and not here, right?" he asked, his confusion further increased when looking at her properly he found Kurumu wearing a pale blue jersey instead of her school uniform.

That situation alone was perplexing for two reasons. One, probably because she was a Succubus and a beautiful young lady, even in a plain jersey, she still made a very attractive picture. Tsuna and every hot-blooded male could proudly attest to that. Second, while he didn't intend to insult her, he never pictured Kurumu as one for any kind of training or physical activity that didn't include what her species was most famous for.

Somewhat predictably, a vein began to twitch above her left eye as the smile she welcomed him with became noticeably strained. She crossed her arms below her chest and glared at him, though Tsuna who was used to stare back into the face of Xanxus level threats found it more adorable than anything.

"I know perfectly where Tsukune-kun's room is. I came here for you, dummy," she stated with a huff, rolling her eyes at him.

Misunderstanding cleared, Tsuna had a good idea what she wanted from him but he woke up in a rather sour mood so he decided to have a little fun and mess with her a tiny bit. Take it as revenge for all the worry he felt because of her for the last few days.

"I feel flattered Kurumu-chan and I think that you are a gorgeous girl and a very good friend to me but I simply don't feel about you in that manner. I hope we can remain friends." he apologized with a very convincing, honest smile on his face, acting as if he thought she was gonna confess to him.

It took a moment but soon her face reddened as she understood what he implied.

In an instant she was on him, half-heartedly punching his chest and shoulder area, growling in embarrassment. He took them without flinching, thankful that she did not have superhuman strength like a certain vampire they knew and she also didn't intend to seriously harm him. Otherwise, he would have to rethink who and when to tease next time.

"Idiot! As if I would ever confess to you! The only one who can have my heart is Tsukune-kun's, no one else so don't you even dare to dream of me in that way." she shouted, full of embarrassment and indignation at the notion of her having feelings for anyone else than her Destined 0ne.

To further enrage her, Tsuna made an exaggerated motion of wiping his brow in relief.

"Thank God, I was worried for a second. I mean you are not bad looking or anything at all but I just can't think of you like that..." he trailed off as he felt fury practically radiating from her, suddenly feeling in real danger despite just making fun of her.

"What are you talking about? You should be honored to even know me, let alone be someone who could spend time around me." she shouted in a haughty tone, eerily reminding of her personality when he first met her, throwing back some of her hair elegantly as she glared at him."It should be on the other way around, after all, I am the most beautiful girl in the academy while you could only be called average looking at best, you really should thank me for wasting my time with you."

Unfortunately, her embarrassed shouts carried all over the floor, prompting almost every other door to open and half-awake, half-dressed boys to pop their heads out curiously, searching for the source of the noise, only to blink in shock at finding Tsuna and Kurumu in front of the former's room, their eyes jumping between them as they made their own conclusions about the scene without any relevant information.

"Good to hear that but you do know that everyone can hear you, right?" he asked, pointing to the side, where the curious boys were watching the spectacle they made.

She followed his finger, her face gradually turning an even brighter shade of red as she noticed their audience who looked at the early morning entertainment with slowly growing amusement.

"I HATE YOU!" Kurumu's shrill voice carried over the whole campus, awakening the rest of the student body, followed by a particularly loud snap.

-0-

"That's gonna leave a mark" Tsuna muttered as he walked next to Kurumu, a large, red handprint on the left side of his face. Many males who were near them winced in sympathy when Kurumu, overcome with embarrassment, slapped him with all her strength.

"It's your fault, you shouldn't tease a lady like that." the Succubus huffed, looked away from him, still a bit red in the face. She had her arms crossed and refused to look in his direction even as they neared the clearing that he and Tsukune usually trained in.

Tsuna shrugged his shoulders, not feeling repentant at all. The reason for messing around was two-fold. One was that the events of the last few weeks, along with the trouble the mafia caused made him far too tense. And while sparring with Haiji and tormenting Tsukune and Lambo was fun, it never hurt to have more outlets. The other reason was much more serious. This last incident especially drew too much attention to his secrets and he needed the others distracted from them as much as possible. He might have promised to tell them about them but he was far from naive enough to tell them everything.

It's not like he didn't trust either Kurumu and Yukari after what happened. Heck, he even helped the Succubus awake her mist flames so sooner or later they had to learn at least part of the truth. But there was a lot of danger associated with the world that he came from that he wouldn't want to expose them unless absolutely necessary. Not to mention, he wasn't sure how the knowledge that he, and by extension Tsukune, were humans would go down so it was best to only tell what was needed.

It was better this way, he told himself, and he tried not to draw parallels with his father and how he deceived his mother or him for that matter. He wouldn't be able to look into a mirror otherwise.

"So what did you want to ask from me?" he asked curiously, returning to the original reason she waited for him in a training jersey.

Kurumu's face scrunched up as she tried to remember the reason she visited him before she brightened and she turned to face him.

She put her hands together in a pleading position, which had the unintended effect of pushing up and drawing attention to her sizable bust, not he was specifically looking at it.

Despite his standoffish attitude, Tsuna was a straight, hormonal, teenage boy and Kurumu was for all intents and purposes a very beautiful girl. Even if he only saw her as a friend, her body was built for sin, to seduce men, and a lot of women as well, according to the rumors he heard about succubi in general. In a near loss of self-control, a small blush appeared on his face which was thankfully ignored by Kurumu.

"Please, train me," she said with great enthusiasm, giving a deep bow.

"What?" he blinked, completely caught off-guard by what she was asking.

"Train me to use my illusion powers to their full potential," she said seriously, meeting his disbelieving eyes determinedly. "When I used it against those creeps I felt its absurd amount of potential, the potential I couldn't draw out by myself. I want to do that but I realize I need help. Your help."

Tsuna fought the urge to rub his forehead in agitation. He should have known that his interference would come back to him but he didn't believe it would happen so soon.

"You do know that I'm not a Succubus, right? My powers are different from yours. How could I train you?" he asked, asking for clarification. A part of him hoped that she would decide to give up on him training her but curiously there was a part of him that wanted to see her standing her ground. Maybe he was turning out to be more sentimental than he thought.

He was greatly surprised when instead of giving up the girl gave him a stern look as she crossed her arms, once again unintentionally drawing attention to her chest.

"I know you know more than you let on. The words you said before were some kind of trigger for me to be able to use my illusions for the first time. Not to mention that strange burning feeling that accompanied it. If I have to say, it felt similar to the fire you and Tsukune use for some reason. But I don't want to just train that ability, I want to get stronger too." she met his eyes resolutely, showing her determination."I don't want or be a burden, to wait for Tsukune, Moka or you to save me. I want to stand together with my friends, to be able to protect them." she finished passionately.

Tsuna felt a gigantic sweat drop form on his forehead as she told her reasons for wanting to train. It was way too similar to Tsukune's. 'I swear sometimes it looks like these two were made for each other.' he thought to himself.

He briefly wondered why everyone looked to him for answers when even he barely knew what he was doing on top of all the issues he had in his life.

"Alright, alright, I will train you." he agreed in the end, already feeling tired just from the attention he had to pay to her training starting today."Mind you, I can't help much aside from physical training. I had an illusionist friend, from whom I learned a few things, so I can give you tips and a little guidance but no more than, is that all right?" at her enthusiastic nod he started walking, waving for her to follow."Then let's go, the sooner we start the sooner I can see if your resolve truly holds up when it gets tough or you are just all talk."

They soon reached the clearing he used for torturing or rather training Tsukune, where another surprise was waiting for him.

"What are you lot doing here?" he asked with a twitching eyebrow as he looked at the large group gathered in front of him.

Tsukune and Lambo, he expected, after all, they trained here almost every day, one to ready his body for the full use of dying will and the other to keep his abilities sharp in case they run into more trouble which happens weekly in this school. Even the presence of Kurumu was understandable since she asked for his help and followed him here but the rest of the group had no such excuse. What they were doing here, he was honestly stumped.

"Good Morning Tsuna-kun." Moka greeted with a bright smile, wearing a pink jersey, similar in design to Kurumu's.

Next to her stood Yukari in a matching yellow jersey, for once without her infamous hat, yawning in a half-asleep state. What was even more surprising is that Gin and Haiji were also in attendance, the former in a white shirt and black pants, while the latter wore his karate gi that he always seemed to wear, since Tsuna never saw him in a simple school uniform. He knew from Gin that he even tended to wear it in class, though he at least had a good sense to always wear a fresh one, instead of the one he trained in.

"Don't 'Good Morning Tsuna-kun' to me. Why have you guys gathered here." he asked with an annoyed tone, feeling an incoming headache. Here he was hoping some peace and quiet, with a little torturing of his protegee on the side yet he got the whole group package

Weren't the others so exhausted after finishing the newspaper that they slept in the classroom? That was way too early for them to be up and be functioning.

"Well," she laughed sheepishly, under his gaze, even going so far as to stick out her tongue at him in a cute manner. "It started when Yukari-chan and I heard that Kurumu wanted to ask for your help to train, we thought that if most of the club would be here already, we should join and make it a sort of club activity. Oh, and Ura-chan wanted to see your training to assess your abilities." a moment later she blushed in embarrassment as her rosary flashed intently, probably her other self admonishing her for revealing her intentions.

"Gin-senpai heard us talking about it so he decided to come, wanting to impress Moka-nee." the young witch took over the explanation when it became apparent that the vampire was too distracted."Haiji-senpai was also interested, so he tagged along."

The karate club captain sent a challenging smirk in the former mafioso's direction, causing him to quietly bemoan his fate at having befriended another battle junkie. If there was one wish of his that could be granted, he would never want Haiji to ever meet Ryohei or worse Hibari. The area around them wouldn't survive the experience.

"Yo, Sawada. Thought I should see what kind of training you do." he laughed to himself before stepping forward pointing at him."Let's start already, I'm itching for a spar."

"You are always itching for a fight, say something new for once." Gin grumbled where he was crouching next to him. He had large circles under his eyes, looking like he didn't sleep for a week, which probably wasn't far from the truth. Despite his attitude, the newspaper club president did his fair share of work.

Meanwhile, Tsuna lowered his head, his hair shadowing his eyes, a dark aura surrounding him. The others looked at him in confusion, only Tsukune and Lambo knowing what it was heralding. The two boys paled and clutched into each other as they waited for the volcano to erupt.

Moka's rosary glowed subtly, as Ura watched through it to see what was going on, a smirk on her face. Unlike her outer self, she was able to read Tsuma's expression, looking forward to what he would do. If nothing else, it will be great entertainment for her.

"You guys, you sure have a lot of guts, don't you?" the brown-haired teen asked with a low, foreboding tone that sent a shiver down their spines. He gave a dark laugh as he looked up, his eyes swimming with madness "It's time for the break out of Reborn's old training methods." both Kurumu and Tsukune would swear later that they saw the silhouette of a man wearing a fedora appear behind him.

Some of them screamed for mercy, some simply cried while some accepted their fate. Either way, none of them forgot this session for a long time.

-0-

"Everything hurts." moaned Tsukune in pain as he laid on the ground. His whole body was full of various burns, around him the ground was littered with craters of various sizes.

Seeing the large bouts of improvements the teen was making, Tsuna decided to test his current skill level and threw him into Reborn's patented minefield, the very same one he used to slow down Mei and Saru. As expected he was annihilated within minutes but still held out a lot longer than he thought.

More than that, he also felt that Tsukune was pretty close to awakening his own latent flames, and sooner or later he would need to be brought to the next step, either using a ring of the correct type or simply letting him use the hyper dying will. He was still debating which would suit Tsukune best but one thing was more pressing, he needed a proper weapon sooner than later.

Not exactly an easy thing to get his hands on a proper flame-conductor weapon. Might have to reach out to Dino once again, though Lal would be the better choice in determining what would suit his protegee better.

"Just what did I rope myself into? What kind of training is this?" Kurumu, though free of visible injuries, was lying on her face, unable to even a muscle.

"Nii-san is horrible. A true spartan trainer from hell. Limbs shouldn't bend that way." Yukari said in a hollow voice, curled into a ball next to the Succubus, a dead look in her eyes.

Seeing as the two girls had relatively little physical training, Tsuna decided to start them with a simple warm-up, though it was still tougher than what Tsukune started with after all there is a difference between the physical abilities of youkai and humans, even with less physical combat-focused species like succubi or witches.

"Reborn did it. Nii-san finally snapped." Lambo mumbled from his position hanging upside down from a tree, with barbed wire surrounding his body and a pit filled with mines beneath him. The young hitman was forced to surround himself with lightning flames constantly while trying to escape from his predicament.

It was a new idea that Tsuna decided to try out since as the battle before showed, Lambo was far more reliant on his box animal and barely had any overall mastery over his flames. Of course, if they wanted to get real results, he should get his hands a lightning ring or two, which once again meant reaching out to his mafia contacts.

"What are you guys talking about? This is fun!" Haiji declared with a large belly laugh before it was abruptly cut off as a large rock hit him straight at his temple. Instead of being knocked out, he remained unfazed as the rock broke, losing the battle of durability but at least it managed to land a shallow wound on the karate practitioner's head.

His gi was full of holes and his body had scrapes and smaller wounds all over it despite that the man stood steady on his feet as he laughed into the face of danger.

In front of him was a modified tennis ball launcher that Tsuna got his hands on through questionable means. Instead of tennis balls, it launched large rocks that Tsuna had Tsukune spend a whole week scurrying through the forest to gather. He thought it really suited Haiji so he assigned the karate club captain to it.

The exercise was meant to force the trainee to perfect their ability to dodge. The stones launched their way could easily reach 100 km/h and it would leave a nasty wound behind, maybe even a couple of broken bones if they were unlucky enough. And in the end, it was way more human than his own training, where he had to avoid various explosives instead of simple rocks, as well bullets from Reborn where he got bored.

Of course, Haiji instead of trying to not get hurt decided it was a personal challenge and no rock would be allowed to get past him. As the launcher began to spew out rocks rapidly, he started punching and kicking them into fine dust, using his body and head whenever he couldn't reach them otherwise, laughing all the way.

"You know I met a lot of weird people over the years but Haiji-senpai really does his best to take the cake," he commented with wonder from his perch among a larger branch, a notebook in his lap.

"He had always been like that." Gin commented from where he was leaning on the very tree Tsuna was sitting on. He had his arms crossed, looking like the cool, brooding stereotype of a high-schooler."I've always wondered if he was dropped on his head as a child or he simply got too many punches to the head that made him this way."

Unlike the others, the second-year student managed to weasel his way out of participating in the training, claiming to look after them, especially Haiji who was a special case altogether, in Tsuna's place. The former mafioso agreed but couldn't help but feel a little disappointed.

After all, he had a couple of exercises perfect for seeing the true limits of the werewolf's speed and he would have loved to see him brought down a peg or two, despite or maybe because of the strange friendship the two struck out.

"Yep, definitely not letting him and Ryouhei meet," he mumbled softly, shaking his head at the antics of the older teen.

"Tsuna-kun, I finished my exercises," Moka called out to him, setting down the weight she had been working on. Unlike the others she wasn't injured or traumatized at all, only a slight sweat covering her face.

"Good work," Tsuna mumbled, jumping down from his spot and walking next to her, sending a quick look at the weight she was working with.

Some would call what he was doing favoritism, assigning such an easy task to her but there was a reason for it. Unlike Tsukune or even Kurumu, he barely knew how much Moka could endure with her currently sealed powers. While she seemed to show off bouts of supernatural strength at times, especially when she was emotional, most of the time she was barely any different from humans.

That meant, rather than throwing her down into the deep as he did with the others, it would be better to slowly work their way up to see her limits. Although he subtly checked the weight she put down, the fact she was easily working with a hundred-kilo weight maybe they shouldn't be so cautious.

"How did I do Tsuna-kun?" she asked eagerly, looking at him with bright eyes. Suddenly feeling put on the spot, he shifted uncomfortably before answering her.

"It was a good start, Moka-chan. Though I was surprised, why did you want to join the training?" he asked. It was something he was curious about since he knew Kurumu's reasoning, even Yukari's to an extent but he felt there was more to the vampire's decision than what she said.

Moka in response gave him a sad smile, a hand trailing up to clutch her rosary.

"Yesterday, I couldn't do anything by myself. I always have to rely on Ura-chan and you to help me out and I had enough. I want to get stronger myself, so I won't be a burden to my friends." she told him resolutely and Tsuna couldn't help but smile softly at her. Really, all of these guys were such naive, idealistic idiots.

Idiots that he called friends and would defend them until his dying breath but idiots nonetheless.

"I see. Honestly, with the seal on, I have no idea of how much any physical training could help you in the long run," he admitted and as her face visibly fell he ran a hand through his hair. "It would make more sense that instead of relying on power, I should train you a little in martial arts so what power you already have, you could use it to the fullest." she immediately perked up at his words, instantly brightening up the area around her.

With a honed technique, the power gap could be easily covered. That was one of the main points of training and that was also their only chance during the ring conflict when he was preparing to face off against Xanxus. The Varia's leader was more experienced and had much more raw power thanks to his flame of rage. That was why Reborn forced him to master the dying will flame as soon as he could and learn the Zero Point Breakthrough.

"Though even then I could only teach you the bare basics," he told her, not wanting to get her hopes up. "My fighting style relies on my flames and is unsuitable for you or almost everybody else. Even Tsukune." he noted when she opened her mouth to ask that very same question.

"Don't worry Moka-chan." Haiji spoke up, taking his attention away from his exercise to send the girl a large smile as well as a thumbs up."Karate is your answer. It is a martial art honed through centuries, it's the perfect way to learn to defend yourself as well as to obliterate your enemies. If you join the Karate club I would be happy to-" whatever he was trying to say was abruptly cut off as a rock the size of a small boulder struck his head with the speed of a moving car.

The rock and man had a brief struggle against each other before the former broke into small pieces but Haiji suffered his own injuries. A large amount of blood began to come out of his forehead, the idiot laughing as if not noticing anything, before abruptly falling forward and ending on the ground in a heap.

"I'm alright," Haiji grumbled facedown but made no move to try and get up and Tsuna felt an enormous sweatdrop develop on his head. Just why was he cursed with all these weirdos?

"Welcome to my world." Gin consoled him with a pat on the shoulder, apparently knowing just what he thought before he grabbed the karate club captain by the arm and began to drag him away from the line of fire.

Tsuna and Moka looked at each other, the vampire giggling slightly while he was simply shaking his head in exasperation.

"Alright guys, time for a break," he called out and he was answered by multiple groans while he went to get Lambo down from where he was still trapped.

Before long everyone gathered together and a large blanket was brought out along with a picnic basket full of warm tea and a lot of sandwiches that reminded him that it had been a while since he had eaten anything and his hunger returned with full force.

"You guys are certainly prepared," he stated drily as he sat down next to Moka and accepted one delicious-looking sandwich.

"Of course! Moka and I woke up extra early today to make sure we had everything for a large and healthy breakfast." Kurumu boasted with a large smile on her face as she tried to feed Tsukune who could hardly stop her, seeing his body was still barely responsive."It's a basic way of working out, to replace the calories we burn."

"Healthy you say." Gin piped up, holding up his sandwich that was dipped in mayonnaise. A lot of mayonnaise."

"If you don't want to eat it, you don't have to force yourself." the succubus haughtily answered back, reaching out with a hand to take the food away only for Gin to pull back, arms shielding the sandwich in question with jealousy.

"I never said anything like this and I would prefer it if you didn't put words into my mouth." the werewolf hastily retreated and soon the two began to bicker with each other as usual.

Even Tsuna had a small smile on his face as the others laughed at the perfectly normal occurrence and he bit into his sandwich, savoring the rich spicy taste. In his opinion, nothing could beat his mother's cooking, after all, she had years perfecting her craft with little else to distract her but for some reason, that simple sandwich felt it was on its way to stand equal to that.

He was in the middle of enjoying the treat when he noticed everyone else go quiet and stop moving. Opening his eyes he was met with everyone looking at him with a laser focus that actually managed to unnerve him a little. Not to mention Moka acted way too sheepish next to him and Yukari who suddenly clamped into his waist was holding way tighter than necessary.

It was as if she didn't want to give him the chance to escape.

"What?" he asked with a confused tone despite having a good inkling of what they wanted to know. That doesn't mean he would make it easy for them.

"No more running! You promised us to tell about your past and what those guys wanted from you." Kurumu declared as she pointed a finger at him. Privately, Tsuna decided to make her training even harder for at least a week.

Yukari nodded enthusiastically into his side and even Tsukune and Moka who had known about it to some extent were decidedly curious.

"You did say you will tell us after a little time," Moka admitted with a shy smile that only made him roll his eyes in faux-annoyance.

"Didn't mean that I wanted to be ambushed with that the very next day." he grumbled before raising his head and looking around, giving a stern stare to each one of them."I'll only tell it to you once, I will not tell everything because I have a right to my privacy, and lots of it isn't my story alone to tell. So be happy with that or not, I don't care."

And so he told them about the mafia with broad terms, their contact and work with various youkai, though that part of his knowledge was sketchy and relied on what Gin and Dino told him. He of course didn't tell them that he was a human or that he was almost the leader of the largest mafia family in existence. Instead, he simply told them that his ancestor created his family, and had close ties with the mafia ever since until another line took over the head position. Technically it wasn't a lie.

In a short and detached manner, he explained the story of him suddenly being named the heir, that he had to survive various training, trials, and assassinations before learning that the true heir was alive and he was a simple bait to be used and discarded. He finished his tale by explaining that he came here for a new start and by the end of it, he felt emotionally drained. Even with omitting several parts, unknowingly he let a lot of things out of his chest that he had been harboring for a while.

"So that's the story in short." he told them, by this point everyone stopped eating, no one finding any appetite." Apparently, my status as a possible heir is still dangerous enough that a bounty was placed on my head and those three were more than ready to blackmail me a little before killing me and cashing in the bounty."

As he finished he closed his eyes for the moment, to rein in the emotions that suddenly started to run rampant as well as waiting for their reactions to the news. He honestly didn't know how they would react. Would they fear him, hate him for using them as shields in a sense? Would they distance themselves so they wouldn't be targeted or would they simply act like nothing changed with that single-minded naivety of theirs?

In the end, what he got was definitely something else.

"That's so sad, yet so inspiring." Haiji cried out, the giant of a man bawling like a little kid with his hand over his eyes."Abandoned and betrayed by everyone you knew, you still had the strength to go forward, no, it was even more than that. You used those experiences and grew through them, destroying what held you back and returning even stronger than before, like a phoenix." the man who looked like a typical brute explained rather poetically while still crying uncontrollably. Lambo next to him nodded sagely.

Tsuna felt a sweatdrop appear on his forehead, he was pretty sure phoenixes didn't work like that.

"To think these people would be so cruel to Onii-san. I'll never forgive them." Yukari declared, tears flowing from her eyes as she tried her best to burrow herself into his side.

"Tsuna, it seems I was mistaken about you," Kurumu spoke in a low voice, hair shadowing her eyes. "I thought you were a heartless, cold guy who didn't care about anyone, but it seems I was wrong." she raised her head, showing that like the others she was also crying pretty heavily. And despite how anime and manga decrypted it, it was nowhere near as pretty."After everything happened to you, you are still a good guy after all."

Tsuna felt his sweatdrop double in size. Okay, he expected emotional reactions alright but wasn't this just a little over the top? It's not like his family was killed or anything truly tragic like that. At least he had the more sane ones in Moka and Tsuku-

And it seemed he had to reconsider his earlier statement because the human in question was looking at him with a strange mix of admiration and empathy.

"To think you had to go through so many hardships, senpai. Only to be sent down to the ground again and again. Yet you still stood up." Tsuna actually had no idea where Tsukune was going with this mini-speech as his protegee of sorts looked at him with eyes that literally sparkled."I've decided senpai. I will learn all you have to teach me with my dying will, I will no longer allow myself to stop or rest even for that moment. I will show all those who doubted you, that your abilities as a teacher are top-notch and it's their loss to lose you." he declared passionately.

'Just when did my abilities as a teacher come into this?' the former mafioso wondered as he honestly didn't expect Tsukune to lose himself into the others' pace so easily. He was usually the more grounded one in the group, the same one so to speak but it looks like he spent too long around them and he was losing his sense of normalcy.

It shouldn't surprise him but he did mourn that it had to happen now of all times.

At last, he turned to Moka, knowing that if Tsukune was lost, then he could hardly count on the overly emotional vampire as support.

Still, he found himself surprised as a pair of arms circled his neck and Moka basically draped herself on his back, her head finding the crook of his neck and for once not with the intention of a sudden snack. As she held him he felt a couple of tears fall from her face and into his neck and whatever he was about to say died in his throat.

"A part of me wants to say sorry for what happened to you, for what you had to go through." she explained in a soft whisper and he doubted anyone but him could hear her."I want to say sorry that we weren't there for you but I know that you would never accept anything like this."

"Don't bother. You weren't there, you wouldn't have known. I didn't even know you guys back there." he told her in a clipped, passive voice, refusing to get emotional like the rest of these idiots.

"I know. That's why I can only promise you that we won't leave you." she promised solemnly and Tsuna was tempted to simply scoff at the childish promise but something stopped him."Even when things become tough, even when you are forced to face your past, I promise that you won't be alone. Even if we can't be there with you physically, in your heart we will always be with you. I will always be with you."

Her hot breath on his neck did funny things to him but it was rather easy to ignore while trying to gauge for himself just how sincere she was. He heard the determination behind every word and even with all his skepticism it was hard to say that she didn't mean every word. Though he also knew that keeping a promise like that was another thing altogether.

"Don't promise things you probably couldn't keep...idiot..." he told her in a faint voice, fighting against the strange tightening feeling in his chest. Really, that woman, did she enjoy provoking such strange reactions from him?

Still, he was slightly caught off-guard at the warm sensation that ran through him, unconsciously relaxing his tense shoulders. He didn't need to think much of what might have caused it. Moka's sky flames were much stronger than he thought at first if they could affect even him in his weakened state.

The two shared a quiet moment, the others still feeling various levels of outrage towards his past. The only one seemingly unaffected was Gin who was looking down in the ground in front of him with a slight frown.

"Who is Sawada Iemitsu?" he asked softly but everyone stopped whatever they were doing as the name registered. Tsuna looked sharply at the werewolf, eyes narrowed in suspicion. "You asked if it was Sawada Iemitsu who put the bounty on you and you weren't a little surprised at that fact. Who is he?" he asked, looking the former mafioso straight in the eyes.

Tsuna thought about lying or deflecting for a moment but decided it wasn't worth the hassle.

"My father," he told them in a dead tone. Despite not being around most of his life, despite using him multiple times, he was still his father and a part of him, a little kid who still wants to see the world as a nice place found himself immensely sad at the revelation.

After all, who would like it if one of their own parents wanted them dead?

"That's what I thought too." Gin answered solemnly, averting his eyes with a melancholic frown on his face.

The others reacted as one would expect if they heard something. They looked shocked and incredulous except for Lambo who only wore a hardened expression on his face as he tried to bore a hole through the ground.

Moka's arms around him tightened as a soft hiccup came from the vampire, a tear falling into his neck and slowly sliding down his back. Tsuna was momentarily caught off-guard, Moka was always very emphatic to others around her but he was still surprised at the sadness felt for him.

He was about to open his mouth and try to placate them somehow with some empty words when Gin beat him to it.

"Well not like it matters." the club president spoke up and this time it was his turn to receive a couple of incredulous stares. "You are a member of the newspaper club now, don't forget it. You are one of us, and even if your father sends assassins and whatever else after you, they won't get past us." he declared and the others quickly agreed with enthusiastic nods and promises of their own.

Tsuna only watched it with a frown on his face, as he tried to ignore or even deny the tight feeling in his chest, the feelings awakened by that show of unity that threatened to overwhelm him.

"You are trying a little too hard to look cool, senpai," he told Gin but the older teen only smirked as Tsuna lowered his head, hiding his face from the others. "You are idiots, all of you. Naive, hardheaded...ignorant...idiots." but he was betrayed by the single tear that rolled down his face before the dam broke and others followed.

He didn't cry, didn't even sob, but the tears continued falling, Tsuna not even trying to wipe it away. And slowly, almost unnoticed, a void that was in his heart for a long time slowly began to be filled.

The loneliness that haunted him for so long, even here as he continued to masquerade as a monster, slowly was swept away by those idiots.

Because in the end, they reminded him he was an idiot just like them not that long ago.

-0-

Story of Storm and Mist: Hurricane

"Damn it. Damn it, damn it, damn it." Gokudera cursed loudly as he ran through the streets, heedless of traffic, other people who cried after him angrily, or even the rain that started on again.

If he had the luxury of time he might have used the more colorful curses he learned while growing up since his idiotic ass deserved it after screwing up like he did but he simply had no time for it. He had to hurry before the situation turned even worse.

He had gotten careless.

At first, someone who barely knew him wouldn't be surprised by that statement. It was not a secret that he was pretty reckless, even with his own life, and had a very short fuse too. But while he could be really overeager and that could come off as careless he was anything but that. After all, when you work with explosives of various kinds, you learn what to look out for after a while.

He was always careful, especially when it came to surviving despite first impressions. When he was out on the streets, not even a freelance hitman yet just a kid with kid explosives, he soon learned how to be careful. To be careful on his way home, careful what dealers should he approach and the like. Later as he began to work as a hitman, the lesson was once again reinforced. To know which approach was best when it came to his target, just how much gunpowder he should use to have the desired effect, or simply just how to select which jobs he should take.

He could admit that his guard slightly went down when he joined the Boss, his sheer presence letting him relax to a degree that he never thought before. Still, he remained careful in his own way, especially toward any threats toward his boss.

And in the last few months, he was careful like never before since he not only had to remain off the radar of any rivals or potential hitmen, but the largest, most influential mafia family was probably looking for him, either to recruit him or simply make sure he couldn't stand in their way. He knew what was at stake so he did his best to destroy any trail those people could follow.

It was not easy by any means. It would have been different if he simply kept his head down but he was making moves of his own in the meantime in preparation for his boss' eventual counterattack. He never said anything but he knew how the mafia worked. Even if Tsuna wanted to stay out, they would eventually try to eliminate him, which meant a clash between the true Vongola X and the pretender was inevitable.

That's why he couldn't forgive himself for making such a rookie mistake.

He was careful about his actions up until today but Chrome's sudden appearance caught him off-guard. With her state, she needed immediate help and he was lucky that he even had a contract around that could help but in retrospect, he shouldn't have acted so rashly.

After leaving the girl with the doctor briefly Gokudera went back toward his current base, to gather supplies and also ready his possessions to leave since that base was essentially compromised. If Dokuro could find her way there, he wouldn't be able to keep the Vongola unaware of its existence for long. But even then he underestimated the speed Cedef can work on.

The first thing he noticed was the large number of people filling the streets not far from his apartment. Then he noticed a large amount of smoke coming in that very same direction. He forced his way through the crowd but he only got closer a little but it was enough. He caught sight of the roaring flames as the firefighters tried their best to put it off but it hardly worked.

Worse, the flames didn't look like regular flames. Instead of the blend of bright orange, yellow and red, it was a pure red color, more crimson than everything. It was no natural flame, not when he could feel its potent energy even from this far. These were dying will flames, more specifically storm flames.

The moment he understood he turned around and ran like the hounds of hell were after him.

It didn't take a genius to figure out that he was found out and if his current home was under surveillance then the girl might be the next target. So he ran, didn't even care as he ran through the busy traffic, cars honking after him, and people calling him a reckless idiot.

He didn't even try to appear normal, if the Vongola had someone on him already, they would simply attack him wherever he was, bystanders or not. They had more than enough influence in the region to silence anyone who would talk.

The fact he wasn't under attacks by hitmen yet told him that they had no eyes on him but it didn't calm him in the slightest. Unlike him who was currently moving through the city, Chrome was a stationary target and even if he would believe in the good doctor to try and defend his patient, the man would have no chance even against the most novice hitmen employed by the large famiglia.

He just turned into the alley that led to the doctor's 'clinic' when suddenly his danger senses flared up. Not even thinking about it, a stick of small dynamite appeared in his hands, fuse already lit it as he threw it in front of himself as he suddenly tensed and jumped back.

Almost immediately the small bomb exploded, the edge of the blast hitting him and sending him farther back than his legs would have carried him, receiving only minimal damage to his crossed arms as a small, thick smoke filled the alley.

His survival instincts seemed to pay off because suddenly a fist burst through the smoke, hitting a wall exactly where he would have landed without the added push of the explosion. The wall seemed to hold for a moment before it crumbled to nothing with the turbulent feeling radiating from the said fist, that was unmistakably storm flames.

"You are quite quick on your feet, aren't you brat?" a gravelly, harsh voice came from the disappearing smoke screen as his attack slowly revealed the attacker's identity, causing Gokudera to widen his eyes in mute shock."Well, no matter. Green behind the ears brat is a brat no matter how resourceful he is."

Standing in front of him was an old man who looked old enough to be his grandfather, maybe even great-grandfather but it was not that fact that shocked the bomber. He had shoulder-length, greying blonde hair that looked like a cyclone messed it up, with no apparent order as every individual hair stood in a different direction. The old man had a small mustache and wore a black suit and tie that was basically screaming mafia.

The only thing that looked slightly different was his left arm which seemed to be a prosthetic made of steel, though it looked a bit large and chunky, and the brass knuckles that he held in his fists, ignited by storm flames.

"What are you doing here, you of all people?" Gokudera found his voice, as he growled at the old man who looked completely calm and unbothered by the fact his surprise attack failed.

The storm guardian of Sawada Tsunayoshi knew exactly who stood before him. How could he not when he studied every available information about the man before the inheritance ceremony, believing him as a role model he could use to fulfill his duties as the right-hand man most efficiently.

Then after the ceremony, where his boss was betrayed, he instantly became an enemy which he knew he must face someday. Though he never in his life thought it would be this day.

The man standing in front of him was the storm guardian of Timoteo, the Ninth Boss of the Vongola Family. 'Iron Fist' Coyote Nougat.

"I'm not in a mood to teach undisplaced brats about manners and how the mafia works. I have my orders and one of them ends with you in a body bag." the man answered simply, no emotion on his face as he faced down the kid who might have been his successor in another life. "The last courtesy I will allow you to prepare to meet your end like a true mafioso."

They really brought out the big guns, didn't they? Instead of any regular hitmen, they sent out the big guns already with the experienced storm guardian of the previous generation. Ordinarily, he knew he would be already dead.

But the problem was, it didn't make any sense. Sure if the man in front of him was in his prime, the fight would have been more pointless than trying to stop his sister from going after Reborn. But the Ninth and most of his guardians were already one foot in the grave and probably didn't see any active combat in the last ten years. Just what was the point?

"Sorry old man but I'm not about to go easy on you just because you are too old for this," he told the older man with gritted teeth as he pulled out bombs from his hidden pockets and started surveying the battlefield.

It didn't favor him in the slightest. They were in the middle of a small alley, leaving him with precious little mobility which he needed to use his explosives to the fullest. Worse, his opponent was clearly a melee-ranged fighter so he would hardly leave him with any breathing room to disengage and set up a more favorable battlefield.

At least he was consoled by the fact that he didn't seem to attack Chrome yet. He was probably only attacked because he wanted to keep Gokudera from warning the girl and the doctor, or maybe he had been deemed the more dangerous target of the two.

Though it meant he couldn't even retreat without leaving her to her fate which was unacceptable. He would never be able to look his boss in the eye if he did something cowardly like that.

That meant it was time to think smartly instead of just trying to overpower his enemy. He had his secret weapon on him, he wasn't careless enough to not have it on his person all the time but if it was possible he would like to keep its existence as long as possible. The less attention he was drawing to himself at this point, the better.

"Insolent to the end. Let me show you the difference experience makes." the old storm guardian declared as he lowered himself into a stance, his fist raised and shielding his face.

Gokudera was slightly reminded of the stance lawn head tended to take but it had slight differences. It looked like Coyote's stance was a little more defensive though he couldn't discern much from it. Even with the influence of Sasagawa Ryohei, it didn't change the fact that Gokudera was a mainly mid-range combatant. While he had a little martial arts experience to defend himself, nothing much in the name of actual battle experience.

He was so busy trying to think up possible plans to deal with the older man that he almost missed it but a strange shine caught his sight, his eyes inadvertently following it, urged by a strange feeling of familiarity.

On the right hand of Coyote rested a ring with a bright red ruby in its center, lighted up by storm flames. It was no ordinary ring, not even among the rings the mafia used to channel dying will flames. It was a rarity, the only one of its existence, a ring above A-rank. It was the Storm ring of the Vongola set.

"What are you doing, wielding the Vongola ring?" the question slipped out of the dumbfounded bomber before he could stop it.

The Vongola Rings were always worn by the current boss and their guardians. But the point of the inheritance ceremony in the first place was that the old guard would give the reins to the new one. That meant that Massino must be wearing the sky ring, his boss' rightful inheritance. But then instead of the previous boss' guardian, the storm ring should have been worn by the new generation's storm.

Does that mean that Massino didn't even have a full set of guardians? But that didn't make sense, at the ceremony when it was revealed he had a full set of guardians with him as they took the rings from Tsuna and his guardians. Though now that he thought about it, the faces of those new guardians, they were strangely blank in his memory. He could remember their presence, but nothing else. Not how they looked, what did they say or even their gender.

Something was seriously wrong, Gokudera thought as his head began to hurt, to the point he had to strain himself not to look away from Coyote in case the guardian used the slight opening to end the battle before it truly began.

"It doesn't concern you." the old man replied dispassionately, as he took a step closer to the bomber. In response, the bomber ignited the bombs in his hands and he tensed as he prepared to move.

"Ushishishi." only to be caught off-guard by an annoyingly familiar laugh, just as his senses flared in danger and a knife thrown from behind him, nicking the side of his face, before being deflected by a frowning Coyote.

"What in the?" he asked in shock as he half-turned, trying to keep the old man still in his sight but also eying the newcomer warily. His frown only deepened when his suspicions about their identity were proven right.

A young man was standing at the entrance of the alley. He had short blonde hair with long bangs, styled in a bowl cut, and was wearing a black coat, the signature uniform of Varia officers, in addition to a purple striped shirt and a silver tiara that was tilted a little to the side. His hair blocked his eyes and he was grinning very wildly as he regarded the two storm guardians.

In both of his hands, he held small curved knives, similar to the one he just threw at Gokudera. His name was Belphegor, the storm officer of the Varia, Vongola's independent assassin squad. More than that, he was Xanxus' storm guardian during the ring conflict and the one he faced down and ultimately lost in order to survive a large explosion that took out their whole battlefield.

Try as he might, he was intimately familiar with the mannerism and fighting style of the so-called prince and knew he was screwed if he had to fight both him and Coyote in the current situation.

"Well if it isn't one of the bastard's little toys." Coyote sneered in the direction of Bel's, whose smirk only widened at the insult. It was not a pleasant sight. "Run back to your little master, this has nothing to do with you. Interfere and I'll deal with you like the spoiled brat you are."

In response, Bel only giggled and began to play with his knives.

"Sorry, can't do. The boss was very specific that I had to hunt down a certain traitor and if I don't, I have to take care of idiot Fran," he explained, and though the name did ring a bell, Gokudera had no idea who Fran was. "So let me just do my job, old-timer and everybody will be so much happier."

That was bad. He was cornered on both sides and it's not like any of his opponents were the type to make a mistake that he could exploit and retreat. Even if he could, Chrome was still in danger.

"Don't screw with me!" he roared suddenly, his temper seemingly getting the better of him and he threw a handful of bombs at both sides that detonated prematurely, creating a very thick cloud of smoke that temporarily blinded all three of them.

"If you think that little smoke trick will save you, you *cough*-'' Coyote was suddenly interrupted as he began coughing. On the other side, Bel let out a noise of annoyance and probably retreated slightly.

The smokescreen he created was a little different. The bombs contained a powder that was mixed with the smoke. It essentially worked as tear gas, though not as potent but enough to give him a little bit of edge.

He couldn't take any chances. His back was to a wall and experienced hitmen surrounding him. It was time to bring up his trump card, as loathe as he was to use it.

He reached down to his belt and pulled up a small red box that was strapped there. One of the many rings in his hands lightning up with red flame.