Hi i'm back with new chapter. Please enjoy and don't hesitate to ask if you have any question.


CHAPTER 1: Distance

VONGOLA MANSION

The tenth boss of Vongola Famiglia sat alone in the dark, the pale blue lights from his PC made his face look pale, sickly and exhausted, which is exactly everything he felt at that moment. His small furry companion sprawling across his lap looked at him with concern and worry.

"Gao"

"I'm fine, Natsu." the brunette gave his partner a reassuring smile while gently petting Natsu's warm orange-glowing mane "You are really warm, though. Already making me feel much better."

"Nyah"

"I know, I know! Just a little bit more... then I'm going to bed."

The lion cub mewled softly in worry before retreating back to his ring. The brunet couldn't help a small smile at his companion's worry, the warmth emitted from the animal ring seemed able to sooth the sharpest edge of his migraine. However, the warmth feeling quickly dissipated as he took one look at a photo frame on his desk. The frozen smiling faces of his "Family" stared back at him, only served to chill his bones, making him all queasy and nauseous. Tsuna quickly turned the frame face-down on the desk. He just couldn't stand to look at it anymore.

Hours of paperwork had completely depleted the young boss of energy. Not feeling like moving to his actual bed chamber, Tsuna instead buried his face onto his folded arm, falling asleep to the sound of clock ticking down second by second, as though counting down the final moments of his pitiful life.

He slept fitfully and dreamed of the past, of one ordinary day five years ago. The young boss was just working his ass off signing mountains of paperwork in his office, Gokudera the ever helpful right-hand-man also buried deep in an equally high pile of paper of his own by his side. At times like this, Tsuna felt deeply grateful that he did not have to deal with the freaking hell-hole called paperworks alone.

The brunet, who only turned 21 a few months ago, half-tempted to throw his very expensive pen at the opposite wall. He did not dare to, however, since the beautiful pen engraved with his initials was a gift from his tutor-turn-advisor Reborn. If the other man happened to know about his intention to destroy the cursed object that Tsuna highly suspected to be bugged by Reborn in order to check if the young boss did his job dutifully, there would be hell to pay. Tsuna would rather spare himself from his Spartan Tutor's torture over a moment of impulsiveness.

"Hey, Gokudera-"

"Seriously, Tenth, you really need to stop calling me by my last name. After everything we've been through together, I probably earned the right to be addressed with my first name by now." Grumbled his right-hand-man without even taking his eyes off the paper.

"Ehehe… sorry, force of habits. I still haven't adjusted to this new way of addressing everyone with their first names yet. " Chuckled the other man sheepishly.

"You know what, Tenth? As amazing as you are, I was surprised by how long it takes for you to eventually warm up to someone. I can literally count with my fingers how many people you actually address by name, honorific and all. Even the baseball idiot has called you by your name since day one."

"Is that so? I'm truly sorry that I have given you that impression. It's just… I have been called Dame-tsuna for the longest time and been practically friendless for most of my existence. Sometimes It's difficult to wrap my head around the notion that I have people actually confided in me now." Mused the other man.

"Tenth…" trailed off Gokudera, his expression twisted with pain and anger over his boss's troubled childhood. If only they could meet a little sooner…

"Anyway, let's stop talking about such depressing topics, Hayato! I actually have something to ask you for once."

Finally dropping his own pen on the desk, Gokudera turned his full attention to his boss, who in turn looked really expectant.

"I'm all ears, Tenth!"

"What would you do if you weren't in the mafia?"

"Why out of the blue… Well, I haven't thought about that, ever. I was born into the Mafia after all. But if I had that luxury, though, I would dedicate my life to uncovering the mystery of UFO and UMA!" The silverret made such a ridiculously dreamy expression that Tsuna had to stiff his laugh behind his fist.

"I did not see that coming, Go-Hayato! I figured you would have preferred something more sophisticated , like getting a couple of PhDs or trying out for NASA or something. You are super smart, after all. Or maybe, being a professional pianist? The songs you played always sound so beautiful and passionate. Your performance even brought me to tears sometimes!"

Upon being complimented by his beloved boss, the bomber blushed to the roots of his silver hair. He scratched his reddened ears in embarrassment, eyes looking at anything rather than the warm smile of the brunet. "You flattered me too much, Tenth. I'm not as great as you made me out to be. I mean, look at you, you are amazing. I'm sure even if you were not the Decimo, the Tenth would still be someone amazing."

"Not sure about that, though. Without Reborn and you guys, I would probably still be a loser trying to make ends meet somewhere in Japan, being trampled and looked down upon by everyone else." Tsuna continued with a sad self-deprecating smile.

"Tenth, you know that was not true. You are not a loser. It was only because of that Seal…"

Gokudera never got to finish his sentence as their conversation got interrupted by the sounds of knocking on the double-door. Tsuna immediately put on a bright smile and called out "Come in."

The door opened with a creak and his Rain Guardian's cheerful face emerged from behind the wood. "S'up guys! What are you talking about? I'm not interrupting something, right?" Laughed the man cheerfully.

"None of your fucking business, you baseball freak!" Scowled Gokudera good-naturally.

"Now now Hayato! Don't make such a sour face. I only want to join in all the fun you two had behind my back!"

Chuckled Tsuna at his two friends' antics, he relayed the conversation both of them had before Yamamoto's arrival with a smile. As expected, the dark-haired man put in his two cents excitedly "Well, I would surely try to go pro, then. So would Ryohei-sempai, most definitely. Lambo would probably open his own candy store in order to eat as much grape candies as he wanted, ha ha ha! Chrome-san… Well I have no idea what she was like before she joined us but she seemed to be into arts? She was gonna be an artist, maybe? Mukuro that weird guy, could have pulled a Willy Wonka and built a chocolate factory, just so he could have free chocolate today every day!"

"Che, he was more likely to die trying to destroy the Mafia using some random guy's body."

"And Hibari, don't forget about Hibari. I doubt he even planned to ever graduate from Nami Junior High, you know? Our Junior High School has become his territory as much as Namimori is Hibari Clan's."

Tsuna's eyes darkened in contemplation at the mention of his Cloud Guardian yet none of his other Guardians noticed. They are both engrossed deeply in their speculation about what their comrades could be without Vongola.

"Haha, Tsuna could be a babysitter or kindergarten's teacher, for all we know. I mean, look at how much of a saint's patience he has around the kids!"

"No way, the Tenth would have become something way cooler than that! A top-rated chef was more likely. No way would he have settled for something as lame as a kindergarten's teacher."

"Stop being so close-minded, Hayato. Being a kindergarten's teacher is just as difficult as getting a PhD or being a professional baseball player. Even the girls agreed with me that Tsuna knows his way around children. The other day, Sasagawa-chan said- "

"You bastard, shut up!" Gokudera hissed at his fellow Guardian.

Yamamoto realized with startle that he slipped his mouth, mentioning the one topic to never spoken of in front of his friend-turn-boss. He laughed sheepishly, gauging at the brunet's reaction while cursing loudly in his mind: he never meant to remind Tsuna of the disastrous relationship he had with Sasagawa Kyoko during his high school years.

He and Kyoko had dated for three High School years, broken off on good terms just before the young boss moved to Italy. Problems only arose as Tsuna tried to completely cut ties with her, even having gone so far as to have Chrome alter her memories of them ever dating, hopefully to spare her of heartaches and the danger she might encounter being involved with the Vongola Decimo. However, his good intention backfired because the young boss had underestimated how strong the feelings the beautiful woman had for him as she overrode Chrome's Illusions completely on her own. Feeling betrayed by the man she loved most after regaining all her memories, she forced herself back into Tsuna's life by becoming one of Vongola's most exclusive informants under the guise of a famous model/actress, the Brand Ambassador for Vongola Corp. This did not end here, however, as she started to date one of his subordinates out of spite. Tsuna was rendered speechless the day his ex-girlfriend, the one he still held a lot of affection for, stormed into his office in Sicily, declared that from that moment onward, she would be Vongola's informant and that she had found someone else, who would never lie to her and trusted her to take care of herself. From that day on, every mention of Sasagawa Kyoko left the Decimo in a very sour and miserable mood several days after and people under him eventually knew to avoid this particularly touchy subject if they did not want to get on their usually kind and forgiving boss's bad side.

The young boss winced a little at his Rain Guardian's slip but chose not to comment on it. He instead forced a small smile on his face and asked the guilty-looking man "I forgot to ask though, what brought you here during this time of the day, Takeshi? I remember for a fact that you usually train your Squad every Thursday afternoon."

"Oh! Oh I completely forgot! I meant to drop by to give you a head up! Earlier I saw Lambo get into a fight with one of my trainees, I intercepted them before it got too bad but Lambo ran away bawling his eyes out just as I confronted him, sooooo be prepared for a very whiny and sulky cow to come knocking at any time. Don't worry about the other trainee, I have punished him accordingly and sent him to the infirmary."

As if on cue, a wailing could be heard louder and louder by seconds. Yamamoto grinned and pointed his thumb at the door behind his back. "See? I know Lambo would definitely come to you, Tsuna. You are his favorite big brother after all."

"TSUNA! STINKY YAMA IS PICKING UP ON ME!" Lambo barged in his office with a loud Bang as the young boss massaged the bridge of his nose tiredly. God he was exhausted. "His trainee made fun of me in front of everyone and Stinky-Yama would not lift a finger to help. He picked that idiot's side over me!"

"Lambo, what did I tell you about slamming the door?" Sighed the young man as he looked at his surrogate little brother. Straightening up the young boy who stood just under Tsuna's shoulder at the age of eleven. The boy's face streakened with snots and tears, his cow-printed shirt wrinkled and unkempt, his curly hair was even more of a mess than it usually was.

"I don't pick sides, Lambo! Only trying to be just. I know he insulted you and hurt your feelings. I have punished him already! But you were the one who threw the first punch." Yamamoto said sternly, a rare sight to anyone who was too used to the swordsman's easy-going side. "Don't you think you need to be held responsible too?"

"BYUAWAH A AA! Why do you pick on me when I am the victim here? I HATE YOU, STINKY-YAMA!" The boy kept wailing and started to pull the dreadful ten-year-bazooka out of his hair. "CAN'T TOLERATE-" Just as he was about to shoot himself with the wretched object, a stern but gentle voice called out.

"Lambo."

Stopped in the middle of his act, the boy's cries died out as he looked at his older brother with wide shiny eyes.

"Come here, Lambo."

The man beckoned his youngest Guardian over and the boy complied readily, his bawling quieted down to wet sniffing, ignoring Gokudera's snicker and wearily gave Yamamoto a wide berth. Yamamoto only laughed, scratching the back of his head sheepishly at the other boy's scorn against him.

Tsuna pulled a small handkerchief from one of his pockets- having gotten too used to his youngest brother's antics- to wipe the boy's face gently. He then gave the boy some grape candies he always brought on his person for occasions like this. The boy tossed his family heirloom down the floor in order to eagerly reach for the sweet treats on Tsuna's hand. "You are already a big boy now, Lambo. You should know better not to pull your weapon out at the slightest chance you got. And Takeshi already said he had punished the other guy in your stead. Don't you think you owe him a thank-you and an apology for calling him names now?"

Lambo mumbled to Yamamoto with a mouthful of candies, eyes looking at anywhere but the aforementioned man. "Thank you for defending me, Takeshi-nii, I'm sorry I called you Stinky-Yama."

"It's alright. All's forgiven." Yamamoto ruffled the boy's head playfully. "Haha, see! Everything is okay now. You are really amazing, Tsuna! You always manage to divert the situation, as usual!"

"I was just trying to be a decent human being, Takeshi. There is nothing amazing or unusual about it." Tsuna sat back on his desk, watching the youngest with such gentleness and affection as the boy enthusiastically devoured his favorite dessert, attempting to make himself comfortable on the floor of his office. However, the place he chose to flop down was right on the trigger of his Ten-year-bazooka.

"WAIT, LAMB-"

BOOM!

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

A couple of months ago, Federico- the oldest and favorite son of Vongola Nono, the most favored used-to-be-a-candidate for the Mantle of Vongola Decimo, mysteriously came back from the dead after being MIA for 10 years. Needless to say, he had the Underworld's full attention. Not everyday you literally got to meet a man coming back to life, as he was one of overridden deaths after Yuni of the future sacrificed her life to change the past. The story of why he had not returned to Vongola immediately after being revived was not as dramatic as the events of the Future battle with Byakuran, though, as he was held captive by one of Vongola's opposing Family and only managed to escape a couple of years ago. However, by the time he finally regained his freedom, Tsuna and his co had risen to power as the full-fledged Tenth Generation of the Vongola, the second coming of the First Generation and such. He deemed his presence to be unwelcomed at his old Family by then and tried to stay as low profile as possible fearing for his own life. He was afraid he would be seen as competition for the position of Vongola Decimo and got taken out, even though he was a completely legitimate candidate, even growing up in the Mafia and all. He only decided to turn up again on the radar recently since he heard Nono was growing much weaker in his old age and his favorite son's return would surely make the old man's final days happier.

Of course the current Vongola Decimo, being who he was, welcomed Federico back with open arms and a disarming smile since he was such a natural-caring guy. How could he say no to such a devoted son, who risked his own life to be close to his father in his final days? However, the man seemed to take the young Decimo's generosity and saint-like patience for granted, since Federico all but declared that Tsuna held the responsibility to make him comfortable and at home. He had taken Federico's position of the tenth Vongola boss away from him after all. Even though the brunet had never wanted to be a mafia boss in the first place and the other was busy being, well, dead at the time.

Tsuna tried hard, he really did. Nonetheless, everything about Federico seemed to rub him off the wrong way. The way he talked so casually about how he had been here first, acted so at home when it took months to actually have a good sleep on this master king-sized bed at the Mansion, behaved as though he was the genuine owner of the Mansion and Tsuna a mere freeloader, when in fact all of Vongola's riches and her resources belong to the rightful successor of the Mantle and his/her Guardians- which the brunet wanted to remind Federico again and again and again, was Tsuna himself. He was the one who went through the Ring Battle, saved the world once or twice in the future, solved the long-standing trifle between Shimon and Vongola, kicked Daemon's traitorous ass and broke the Arcobaleno curse. The infamous Vindice, the World's Strongest Seven and the man who maintained the balance of the universe owed to him. And where was Federico at the time? Conveniently dead in a ditch somewhere waiting to be revived.

However, as irritating as Federico was, he was only a minor inconvenience Tsuna can deal with easily, being the student of the strongest hitman himself. All he needed to do was throw Federico into the clutch of some boot-licking small fries, letting them stroke his ego a little and voila, Federico no longer bothered him as much with his coy smile and pompous face.

But sadly Federico was the smallest problem he had.

The growing whispers among the Underworld about what happened on the night of Christmas half a year ago worried him to the extent that he suspected that there was a mole amidst their ranks. He had faith in Vongola's official damage control squad- a special squad that worked on tying up loose ends and dealt with information leakage, to do their job well. He paid them loads to make sure none could connect him- The mighty Vongola Decimo, who blatantly disliked unnecessary violence, to the new rising group consisting of more than a thousand members who disappeared into thin air overnight. The only people in the know of that incident consisted of him, his Guardians, Irie Shoichi and the aforementioned squad. Also, he knew for a fact that neither Irie nor his Guardians would never sell him out to outsiders.

However, no matter how tight-lipped they are, Tsuna could not stop the speculations being thrown around on the fact that a powerful Famiglia was annihilated in one single night. There were whispers that Vongola was too afraid of this Famiglia's rising influence that they decided to end the potential threat as swiftly as possible before they could actually harm Vongola's position as the greatest in the Mafia.

The truth was, none of this actually affected him much.

Hushed conversations and the fleeting terrified glances? Night terrors and sleepless nights tossing and turning on his bed? Survivor guilt? He can deal. Story of his life ever since Reborn came into the picture.

The distance building up between him and his Guardian, however, was another story.

Thirteen months and a week had passed since that night. A whole month he spent on his bed sleeping off the remaining drug in his system, completely alone aside from the occasional visits of his doctor Shamal, Shoichi, his butler Vincenzo and surprisingly, Hibari. He tried not to dwelled on the fact too much, kept telling himself to give his other Guardians all the time and space they needed. Tsuna had always been the one in the wrong in the first place.

Hibari kept to himself during his visits, just sitting quietly in the corner to read and watching over Tsuna as he slept or conversed with him on some concerned Vongola matters. They never spoke about what happened that night. They also never spoke about the other Guardians either, mostly settling on spending their time together in comforting silence. As unreal as it sounded, if he wanted to have some peace and quiet, Hibari was always the first one that came to mind. Hibari always had that effect on him when he was not his usual bloodthirsty, fighting-maniac self.

As his body finally healed, he left his sacred sleeping quarter, only to find the increasing mountain of paperwork.

And that for the first time in forever since Reborn came into his life, he was utterly and completely alone.

He barely saw his Guardians since then, only caught a glimpse of them here and there in the Mansion. They kept going on continuous missions with little break in between, somehow weaving around his existence with such expertise. Gone was the Family dinner, gone was many joyous nights together.

He knew all of this was the fruit of his own choice: He chose to go on with his plan despite knowing the consequences. Still, Tsuna stood by his choice as he was taught by the very best to never second-guess his own decision. The show must go on, even if the leading performer was breaking apart on the inside.

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

The brunette woke up only to find himself on the bed instead of his desk as usual. The remnants of his dream still lingering on his mind as he found himself a little bit disoriented and dizzy.

He tried to reposition himself on the bed and lean against the grand headboard despite his head and all his joints protesting. Gods, he had not felt this bad since ages. His head felt like he had been whacked by Reborn's one-ton-mallet, his body ached all over and everything kept spinning before his eyes. The wet piece of cloth fell onto his lap was the clear explanation for him feeling like shit, though. He tried to keep himself still and hopefully, vertical then eventually gave in and fell back into his bed.

'I don't remember getting into my bed…' He mused.

"Oh Decimo sir, I see you're awake." The door to his private chamber opened with a small click, revealing a middle-age man in a butler suit. "I apologize for not knocking before coming in, sir. I had thought you were still sleeping. You gave us quite a fright last night, sir."

"Mr. Greco? What happened last night? Last thing I remembered was me doing paperwork in my office." Stated the young man massaging this pounding head. The older man immediately noticed his discomfort and quietly handed him some ibuprofen and a glass of warm water. "Thanks, Mr. Greco! You are a lifesaver."

"Well, the Cavallone boss and the Shimon boss dropped by yesterday." Continued the man.

"You mean Dino-san and Enma? They visited at the same time? That's… unusual."

"Yes, unusual indeed, sir. They arrived at the Mansion around 7. They came into your office and found you passed out on the floor. You were running a pretty high fever too. Oh, I see your fever has already broken. Good." The butler put a calloused hand on the younger man's forehead to check on his fever. The gesture was so grandfatherly that it gave Tsuna a startle. "After they notified your Guardians, the Cavallone Boss carried you to your bed, sir. They took care of you all night, only left for their lunch just now."

"I see." Mused the brunet with a small smile, warmth filled his heart at his surrogate brother and best friend's actions.

At that moment, the double doors creaked open again, startling the sickly brunet. The creaky sound only served to reawaken his already diminishing migraine.

A familiar messy blond head appeared, behind him was a timid-looking redhead. Both of them had equally dark bruises under their tired eyes. Dino noticed him sitting up first, his tiredness immediately replaced by relief. "Little brother, you are finally awake!"

"Are you feeling fine, Tsuna-kun? Your fever yesterday was really a bad one! I was almost tempted to bring you into the hospital if it would not break by morning." Asked the redhead in concern as both of them rounded the bed. Tsuna nodded quietly, gave them an assuring smile. The butler then quietly retreated to give them some privacy and went fetching Decimo's lunch.

"Thank you for taking care of me last night, Dino-san, Enma-kun. How is it that Dino-san and Enma-kun came to visit me at the same time? What is the occasion?" Tsuna started with a smile that had some edge to it.

"Oh, we both met at a meeting last afternoon. We talked for a bit and decided to come see you together as both of us grew a bit concerned. We haven't really seen you for quite a while now and the air around you and your Guardians got me really worried." Enma was the one explained. His eyes were furrowed at the mention of his friends' Guardians. He could never imagine the day Tsuna was deliberately left on his own by his Guardians. Especially on a day that Tsuna was as sick as a dog like yesterday. Normally, Gokudera would hover over his boss like a helicopter parent until the brunet actually got better.

The brunette winced at this.

"Little brother?" called the Cavallone boss worriedly. Enma flinched at his best friend's expression on his face.

"My Guardians…" Tsuna looked away, half-expected the answer. "Did they come?"

The Bronco frowned but still answered Tsuna's question. "Some visited you when you were sleeping then left after."

"Yamamoto and Gokudera?"

"Yes, and Lambo peeking out around the corner. He ran away before I could get to him."

"Did they say anything? When I was asleep?"

"Not exactly, asked us to take care of you for them, though."

The awkward silence followed was as thick as butter. The brunet's mood darkened considerably as he heard the answer.

Swallowing hard, the redhead asked his friend tentatively. "Hey Tsuna-kun. I don't mean to pry but… what exactly happened?"

Dino continued his fellow boss's words immediately. "This has been going on for a while and I'm worried. It's disheartening to see you like this, Tsuna. Look at you! Whatever that happened obviously took a toll on you! You were hardly ever sick in the past and now, I heard you got sick twice in a month from your butler. You look more like a ghost than a living breathing human now!"

"Dino-san,... Enma-kun."

"And, I heard rumors, Tsuna. Bad ones. Does all of this have anything to do with those rumors?"

"I-I can't…"

"What about Federico? When did he come back? I thought Nono's sons were all dead? Is he the real thing?"

"He is. The real thing, that is."

"But-" "Ahem!"

Dino and Enma startled at the sound of someone clearing their throat: The butler was back with a bowl of steaming porridge in his hands.

"I'm truly sorry to interrupt but…" the butler stood behind the two guests gesturing to tray of food. "I think it's time for the Decimo to have his lunch."

"Oh yeah, you need the food. And a lot of rest." Dino sheepishly scratched the back of his head "I guess we're going for a cup of coffee now. Take some rest, little brother. We're gonna talk later, OK?"

"Rest well, Tsuna-kun." Enma waved his hand at the brunette before walking out of the room with the Bronco.

"Thank you for coming, you two." The brunette waved back at the retreating figures then let out a sigh.

"It's time for lunch, sir." The dedicated butler informed him once more.

"I don't feel like eating now, maybe later." Covering his eyes with an arm, Tsuna winced as he felt his headache coming back with a vengeance.

"You need to, Decimo. You haven't eaten properly and rest enough. That's why you got sick so easily, sir." The butler scolded him good-naturedly. "Please eat then take the medicine Dr. Shamal has kindly prepared for you. Then you can rest as long as you please, sir."

The butler put the tray in front of him on his lap, readied to spoon feed if he dared to refuse. Swallowing back a petulant sigh, the brunet picked the spoon up to start eating. Then he stopped and looked at the other's eyes.

"What did I say about formality?" said the brunette. He simply couldn't get used to people treating him with respect after so many years being called Dame-Tsuna.

"Not to use it, si… I mean Tsunayoshi." answered the butler.

"Well you'd better remember this time or I will fire you for real."

"As you wish." The older man was reluctant at first but added. "And you could call me Vincenzo if you want, Tsunayoshi."

"Ok, Vincenzo then."

Tsuna gave the other occupant a genuine smile and went back to his bowl of porridge. When he finished, the butler carried the tray with the dirty bowl away, then gave him some more medicine and a glass of water. He then tucked the Decimo to his bed, readjusted the wet cloth on Tsuna's forehead then retreated to let Tsuna rest.

If the younger man noticed how the elder man watched him with troubled eyes just before he shut the door, he never mentioned it.

He turned on his side, shut his eyes to prepare for some more troubled sleep.

End of chapter~