.

Solace of the Sky

(About Fate and Destiny)

"No."

Reborn felt a frown try to break free from his mask. His about-to-be student's mocking smile was nothing like he had been expecting. He had just told the teen who he was and that he was going to be Vongola Decimo. Fear, excitement even anger, that was understandable. But those knowing eyes were not either of that.

But Reborn couldn't just dislike his student on sight and he was not about to fail Timoteo. So he was going to try.

"Well Dame-Tsuna, why not?" he asked, knowing full well that that nickname was sure to heat the other up somewhat. Enough for his student to show more of himself-

"Well, how to put it... I might be destined to many things but I'm not planning on being destined to become a mafia boss. Oh and you can't do anything about it."

This cheeky brat. Reborn cooled down enough to be amused by his naive words even if he was trying not to get pissed off at being brushed off so nonchalantly. He was the world's greatest hitman for crying out loud.

"Well for one, don't just assume you'll get rid of me that easily. And my first lesson as your home tutor will be that your choice of words is incorrect. A destiny is believed to be a predefined path somebody has to take and it is nothing you can just decide on a whim. If you believe in such nonsense anyway." Reborn stated before adding with a smirk, "That said, I'll make it your destiny to be Vongola Decimo.

"You are correct, Reborn-san. But also wrong." Tsuna replied with lazy amusement, not at all fazed by his lecture or words. Reborn tilted his fedora to cover his eyes. He had been ready for another lazy-ass bum like Dino. But this mischievous and mocking teen just seemed... Tired.

"Well, we'll see who's right at the end, shall we? For now, I'll be in your care." The Sun arcobaleno finally conceded, already thinking up ways to turn this teen into the perfect candidate, yet…

Tsuna smiled with a sad sort of condescending.

"I'll be... At the very end."

(X)

Reborn was slightly disappointed to realize his gun-toting approach would not work on Tsuna but he dutifully spent his time assessing his new student's abilities and daily routine.

He knew Tsuna had had bullying issues when he was younger but that problem seemed to have been solved already. The current issue he spotted was the brunet's total lack of friends.

Tsuna kept up a nice facade at school, that eternally pitying look nowhere to be seen. Tsuna knew how to move in society apparently. Well, the basics on not getting hated at least, his lack of friends or even the desire to acquire any would have labeled him a social pariah if not.

(X)

"You've been following me around for the last couple days so what do you think about me?"

Reborn mentally arched an eyebrow at the sincere curiosity that the teen was expressing at the moment. The brown-haired student had poked his head in Reborn's hiding spot at the ceiling with no trouble. Irritated but not fazed, the baby jumped down to join Tsuna on the floor.

"You do not appear to have much trouble with school work, though you still can get better. I'll still be tutoring you if you were worried." Reborn added with a smirk and Tsuna rolled his eyes. "But what I'm going to focus more on... Is on your social skills."

"I do have them."

"No you don't. Your attitude makes you pass by unperceived. Not a quality I encourage on a mafia boss."

"Then that means I'm doing a great job." The brunet smirked softly. Two dimples appearing on his white cheeks. A sight not often seen by the outside world.

"And I also chose good guardian candidates." Reborn continued on as if he hadn't notice the other talking.

Tsuna stared at him uncomprehending for the first time since Reborn had met him.

"Guardians for whom?" He asked and now the baby was the confused one. "For Vongola Decimo or me?"

"For both." Reborn replied smugly once his student had clarified.

Tsuna shook his head, "there's just no way to convince you right? Look, I don't mind that you choose candidates for Vongola —it's your job after all— but you're not forcing them on me."

"Ah, I'm not going to force anyone. At the end of the week you'll beg me to keep them with you."

Tsuna laughed with a sour taste in his mouth.

"Wanna make a bet?"

(X)

Reborn ended up dragging him to look at his potential guardians. Tsuna was not amused.

"You did not have to make them talk to me. They're candidates for Vongola now. I have nothing to do with them." Tsuna then frowned at the floor before he finally lashed out. "What the fuck are your standards? Sasagawa Ryohei has a sister. The only suitable one was Hibari Kyoya but he's going to protect Namimori from Namimori."

"And your opinions on Yamamoto Takeshi?" Reborn asked in a conversational tone, still trying to find out more about his student —that was why he had noticed his student purposely skipping the other's name.

Onyx eyes met burnt ochre ones.

"You are not dragging him into this mess."

The Sun arcobaleno experienced a jolt of energy that rooted him to the spot. Just as Reborn started wondering what could this be- the moment was gone and Tsuna was already bundling up for bed.

"Please leave me alone for a bit."

(X)

Tsuna had skipped two days of school already and Reborn felt like tearing his hair out. Somehow, the tired looking teen always managed to do as he pleased, regardless of consequences. He had stared down the barrel of his gun with a speculative look of all things, for god's sake!

But something strange happened the third day. Reborn was installing an earthquake simulator under his student's bed when said brunet woke up with a choked off scream, hand outstretched to grasp something.

"Fuck." Tuna cursed nonstop as he sat up cradling his head. He breathed in and out and then stuck his head outside his window, looking up at the sky. Seemingly satisfied, he hurriedly searched for and wore his uniform and headed outside as Reborn stared at the strange teen he had been charged to train. Why was he running? Was he running to escape his nightmares or something else?

He followed.

(X)

Tsuna did not head to his classroom; instead the teen went to the rooftop. Reborn frowned down at him.

"Why go all the trouble to come to school if you're skipping anyway? Go back to class this instant. " Reborn commanded, not at all pleased. Tsuna ignored him as he looked at the sky again.

"What's gotten into you?"

"I remembered something. I need to be here, so please leave me alone."

Reborn was already answering when the door to the roof creaked open, revealing a black haired baseball fan— at the same time as his student lunged to hide from searching eyes. The newcomer looked around and not finding anyone he let his mask crumble. Reborn recognized that face. It was someone tired from life. And side-eyeing his student he also recognized the guilt.

Reborn had not read anything on previous interaction between those two. They were supposed to be mere classmates. Had they managed to befriend each other under the radar?

Tsuna was about to exit his hiding spot when the door opened again and in walked Sasagawa Kyoko.

"Takeshi, wait! I-I heard you… is it true?" The girl demanded, tears already pooling in her eyes. Tsuna and Reborn both witnessed as the school idol tried to talk her friend out of killing himself with little success. Mostly because she seemed to be drowning in her own tears and fear.

Yamamoto did not care why. Not right now. Right now there was nobody who could convince him otherwise. Besides, why would he want to back out?

Takeshi readjusted the sling on his broken —broken, damaged, useless —arm and started nearing the dropping point with slow, steady steps. When his hand touched the safety railing, Tsuna couldn't help it; he sprang from his hiding spot.

"Don't do it Yamamoto." A whisper. A plea. Takeshi stiffened at the emotions in that voice, looking around him to find the owner of it.

"If you're killing yourself then let me jump down with you, please." Amber eyes widened in shock both at the words and at the owner of said voice: Dame-Tsuna.

"What the-? You don't even know me." He replied, trying to think it was ridiculous. Yet it somehow scared him… being the reason someone else dying…

"Not very well, no. But I do know you and I wouldn't want any of my classmates to die…" Even right now, saying classmates as if that was all Takeshi was and would be to him made Tsuna disgusted in himself.

"Tch, acting like a saint now of all times, Dame-Tsuna? Such a stupid reason! Don't you expect me to believe it!"

"But still, your father's death is my fault." Tsuna continued, clenching his fists and staring at the ground.

Was this the survivor's guilt? Reborn mussed, but he had been told that Tsuyoshi had died in a car crash, the very same day Tsuna had been cooped in his room. He would not have even been able to even see him that day.

"What are you talking about? You messing with my dad now?" Yamamoto spat out at him, disgusted but remained quiet at Tsuna's eyes.

"Why kill yourself over him? Isn't that disrespectful?" Tsuna said, feeling his heart in his throat, desperately wishing for things to end up different.

Enraged, the baseball fan walked away from the railing to tower over the brunet, his good hand roughly grabbing him by the shoulder as tears fell from his eyes, unashamedly.

"What the fuck do you know? What is wrong with you? I lost my mom, I lost my dad, I broke my arm and I can possibly lose my career over this! What have you ever lost, Dame-Tsuna!"

Wide brown eyes stared at him in surprise; raw pain showing for a millisecond, before his features softened. Tsuna raised a hand to grasp the one on his shoulder, giving an encouraging squeeze to it.

"Grief cannot be compared, Yamamoto. Don't assume that just because you haven't heard about it, others don't lose things too. For example, if you t-threw yourself off the roof, do you not think Sasagawa Kyoko would lose a great friend?"

Startled, Yamamoto glanced back at the teary-eyed girl that seemed so hopelessly lost she couldn't even manage to nod, even though it was true. Guilt flashed in his face and the baseball teen looked away.

Tsuna's heart stuttered at the feeling behind those amber eyes. 'Don't make me feel this. Just let it all end already.'

Tsuna forged on with slow care.

He raised his other hand and softly placed it atop Yamamoto's injured arm, careful not to put pressure on it and tired eyes locked in on his.

"Injuries heal, Yamamoto. They just need time. You think you have nothing if you can't play baseball but you're wrong. Use that time the broken arm gave you to figure out what do you have. Good player you might be, but that doesn't make up all of you." Tsuna closed his mouth as his world started spinning due to sheer nervousness.

"A-and what else am I good at?" Like a chick asking for food, Yamamoto was vulnerable and Tsuna was hopelessly lost.

"You're a good friend." Kyoko finally input and her tentative smile was enough for Tsuna's mind to resurface and control himself. The injured male centered his attention on her. "In whatever you do, you give it your all. Remember when you almost failed biology and that threatened to kick you off club activities? I saw you studying every day until one day, you became the top of the class!"

"Only for one day…"

"Because as soon as you were told you could return to baseball, your focus became your sport again. But your grade in biology has never dropped as low as that time."

And as Tsuna coaxed Kyoko closer, the conversation fell on the other two and Tsuna just stayed long enough to see them heading home before he heaved a sigh of relief and asked Reborn for some time alone in the roof.

And as the presence of the arcobaleno faded, Tsuna succumbed to his tremors as his mind assaulted him with the image of,

Yamamoto's face scrunched up in pain and shouted something unintelligible at Tsuna. Tsuna said something back that a scarily serene Yamamoto didn't bother replying to. Tired eyes breaking eye contact with Tsuna to stare with growing appeal at the ten stories' drop. He quirked a smile. And jumped off the roof-

Yamamoto protested to something Tsuna was saying, shaking his head in denial as he leaned on the railing. The railing gave way and Tsuna was just too far to-

Yamamoto jumped with a despondent look. A relieved one. An angry one. A guilty one. A fearful one.

On and on, Yamamoto fell from the roof in Tsuna's mind and all the brunet could do was hug himself and remind himself time and time again, that Yamamoto was alive.

(X)

(X)

Reborn was relieved to see his partner, Leon, finish his reconnaissance of the town and finally join him in this new mission.

Even better was the fact that it seemed to unnerve his student. The brunet kept fidgeting and eyeing him with mistrust (only to narrowly miss a mallet to the head upon getting another incorrect answer).

Well it was all good until the moment those two locked eyes and his pet turned orange and Tsuna shouted a stop.

Tsuna face-palmed and promptly proceeded to walk around town, ignoring Reborn.

The baby tailed his student without hiding, just thinking about what had just happened, unsure as he sometimes was, of what was the extent of Leon's abilities.

Or whatever shining orange meant.

Reborn was trying to recall anything and everything he'd ever heard about arcobaleno partners—nothing of importance coming to mind— when he and Tsuna both stopped in their tracks

A lion cub approached him. A lion cub that had a mane of pure sky flames. Tsuna stared at it as the animal approached him and sighed in relief when the lion came in contact with him.

"So you're my partner, huh? Sorry for keeping you away." Tsuna whispered with a smile as he hugged the animal closer. "Thank you."

"Tsuna? What is that?"

"A lion cub." The teen blinked innocent eyes at him, a smile tugging at his lips. "I was told there was a baby lion nearby, I guess this is him? Can I keep him?"

"You used to collapse at the sight of a Chihuahua." Was Reborn's only response that made the teen blush softly.

Reborn did not notice, but the lion's nose made contact with Tsuna's pacifier and infused it with flames. To last a bit longer.

But, as he eyed the mane in flames, he decided that truce or no truce, potential danger and deeply annoying or not… he needed to call Verde.

(X)

Unaware that there was now a camera attached to every single article of clothing of his, Tsuna went to school one day with the remnants of a hammering headache, dragging his feet towards school, already knowing what would happen there and dreading it.

Actually… Tsuna stopped just short of the curve that would put Nami middle high in front of him and followed the same street for a while longer. He was late, Gokudera would call him out anyways, he was not going in from the entrance gate. Maybe he had —or would have had— a deeper connection with Hibari Kyoya but he was still afraid of him.

It ended up being much easier. The brunet saw from a distance a silverhead also facing his school's back. With silent steps, the boy decided to approach.

"Yosh now I'll just have call out that weakling of a candidate and defeat him and I'll be Decimo." The bomb specialist was muttering to himself, unaware of anyone else around.

"Uh, no need" Tsuna replied in a tired tone bordering on exasperated. "I'm here and I'm not planning on being Decimo. You can have that title."

He managed to chuckle at Gokudera's surprise. But still gaping at him, green eyes analyzed the teen in front of him with confusion. For some reason this teen looked inordinately worried about him despite his mocking tone.

"You do not want to be Decimo." Tsuna proclaimed, not giving him any time to answer, " And I'm sorry but you won't be either. What do you really want?

"You need a friend, right? I'm so sorry I can't help you with that. Although—" And for a millisecond, too fast for the silver head to notice, there was a flicker of pain on his features —" I do know someone you'd like. On the condition you drop off all this mafia business."

"What?!" The words finally managed to escape Gokudera's lips, as his confusion got replaced by rage. "How dare you make fun of me?!"

"Oh. I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that." Tsuna gasped, realizing how his words must have sounded to the other. He noticed the pain he had caused in green eyes and he almost broke down. This was who would become one of his best friends. He needed to prevent that from happening but…

"I'm sorry. Please, don't take it the wrong way. I usually just run my mouth off without paying attention to what I say."

"Kuh!" The bomber threw him backwards before digging his pockets for dynamite. "I-I'll defeat you and become Decimo myself! Crush you for your insolence and unworthiness!"

Tsuna did not move from his spot as the lit projectiles soared his way. Too focused was he on the single dynamite that had fallen to Gokudera's feet as he knew it would. Shouting in warning, Tsuna threw himself forward to swipe that little stick away from them both as he pushed Gokudera away. Leaving his back wide open to the ensuing explosion.

Tsuna cursed himself as the foreseen scene happened before his very eyes, even if he had tried to avoid it.

"Wha-?! What happened?" Gokudera exclaimed in alarm, his voice getting cut by the intensity of the blast….at his feet? Had he dropped a dynamite? A brief flash of memory confirmed it, but then… how was he still alive?

"…You alright?" Gokudera blinked at finally registering the heavy weight on top of him and recognizing hazy dark amber eyes. Tsuna blinked very slowly and tried not to cough as he knew it'd hurt more. "Hey…?"

"You saved me?" Gokudera spoke without heeding the other's words. Instead, he noticed through the thick smoke that the teen sprayed on top of him was more than a little injured. His whole back was burnt; whatever possible protection his clothing had given him clearly not enough. But it did not made any sense. "Why? Why would you ever…?"

And sad brown eyes stared at the Storm without his notice.

(X)

Without the help of a Dying Will bullet, his student's body had suffered some real damage and Reborn was not happy at this development. He had dialed Shamal —who was already in Namimori per his request— and was waiting for him alongside a downtrodden Gokudera.

And Verde appeared to tell him he wouldn't charge him for the damaged equipment if he agreed on participating in a small experiment involving Natsu. Grudgingly, the hitman dug out his wallet.

.

Reborn was glowering at a weird lion pup. His former student was sitting by the injured's bed, eyes glazed over and confused and lost. Said injured's, well, injuries were bad enough to kill the kid if left untreated. And the Decimo brat was just Hayato's age. Shamal set to work without complaints. He was charging extra though.

He ended up not doing it however, when a weak hand grasped his wrist and Shamal blinked at seeing his patient awake. The trembling limb that had stopped the doctor's motions, then lowered to dig something out of the burnt pants Shamal had been trying to loosen —the burns stretched an uncomfortable amount— and hid it under his belly. Then he lifted his finger to his lips, asking for his silence and let himself drift into unconsciousness again.

All Shamal managed to think at that time was that he hadn't been quieter in his life.

That night, Reborn was woken up to the whimpers of his student, who apparently had a nightmare. Shamal was not present and Tsuna's back was baby pink. The Sun arcobaleno also noticed Gokudera was not there, and given the upheaved state of things, he assumed Shamal had dragged him off.

(X)

Tsuna stared at the back of the bomber who had shyly tried to approach him again. Too uncertain of things, Tsuna sent him to get some snacks and his tutor took the chance to intervene.

"Why won't you accept Gokudera already?"

"I'm still pondering on what will hurt less. Being with me now and losing me later. Or losing me now and…" Tsuna scrunched his eyebrows, sad and confused. Not taking pity on the boy, the Sun flame user demanded him to explain, and not in the mood to deal with Reborn, the brunet told a surprised baby and a disappointed teen that he was leaving.

"I'm sorry." He managed to mutter at Gokudera before storming off.

"But please leave me alone."

(X)

Tsuna was walking to Sasagawa Kyoko's house to do a school project with her, his tutor tagging along of course.

"Ara? Are you lost, little kid? What's your name?" Tsuna had to muffle his laughter as the scene was too absurd to even be worrisome. (While puffing his cheeks cutely at the girl, the not-baby sent glaring daggers at his student.)

"I'm Dame-Tsuna's tutor!"

This managed to draw an honestly irritated glance from the teen, not at all happy for him to be considered the student of a 'baby'.

"Oh! Is that so?" The auburn girl shot an amused look to her classmate, a twinkle in her eyes that wanted him to play along.

"…Oh, uh, yeah." Tsuna laughed awkwardly as he chanted in his mind, 'please think it's a joke, please think it's a joke, please…'. In vengeance, he crouched down and stared down at his actual tutor. "But, tutor-kun, shouldn't you having your nap, right now?"

"Ah, how about he comes with us and he can take his nap on my house!" The girl quipped in happily and Tsuna almost slipped when getting up.

(X)

"See, that's how you charm a girl." Reborn mocked him when Kyoko went to get treats for everyone. Tsuna sighed and Reborn turned to leave for Kyoko's room —to which he had been invited.

"And here I thought arcobaleno were supposed to be more mature." The brunet said with another sigh, more amused than anything.

Reborn froze in his tracks.

Tsuna started to hum, starting the work and glancing once at his tutor that hadn't left yet he paused and smiled.

'How much do you think I know?' His smile seemed to say. But just then, Kyoko re-entered the living room and the baby hitman left the scene.

Kyoko and Tsuna were waiting for the paint to dry, trying to start —and kill— a conversation, respectively when the Sun arrived.

With unapologetic aplomb, Ryohei forced himself into Tsuna's life, first by demanding what he was doing all alone with his sister. Still enraged, he had demanded a match that Tsuna immediately declined with a huff, already packing up his stuff. Reborn butted in, dressed in a weird boxing-outfit and somehow got Tsuna into a make-shift arena with Ryohei on the other corner.

The Sun arcobaleno was about to try his DW bullets on his student for the first time, thinking that this particular scenario would put Tsuna in a high enough peril —to his wellbeing and possible social life— for the bullets to be effective. But his student quickly stomped out that idea with a swift,

"It's not going to work. I know what that is. You shoot and I die."

The match did not last long after that, the brunet getting quickly tired of barely dodging and wincing when the blows hit his chest or stomach and just let himself get punched on the face and thrown off the ring.

Kyoko fretted over him with a pack of ice in her hands. Reborn smirked his way, unrepentant. Ryohei tried to get him to join the boxing club. He focused on that last one, but there was no way Tsuna was accepting. If only he could get it into this thickhead's mind.

"I won't do it. Sasagawa-san. Please stop pestering me." He muttered with a bland tone before digging his hands on his pocket and brushing against something. "Well, it can't be helped, come closer…"

The sad brunet pressed his lips close to the other's ear, being careful that his lips were covered from sight and he muttered, "I'm sick. So I can't join."

(X)

Tsuna felt a bit guilty of having enjoyed so much the look of absolute horror on the boxer's face since it was the definite answer that Ryohei would stop pestering him. He only could hope that he wouldn't feel obliged to take care of Tsuna or something just as ridiculous.

"What did you tell him?" Reborn demanded once again as both headed back home.

"Nothing much."

"Tell me."

"Don't wanna."

"Who told you about the bullets?" Tsuna halted mid-step, not expecting this apparent non-sequitur and knowing full well this had been Reborn's intention.

"H-heard it somewhere."

"Oh, really."

"A-am I not supposed to know?" Tsuna stammered nervously, trying not to set hell's hounds on himself.

"No. Did your little informant forget to tell you this?" Reborn half-joked, half-snapped at his student, because dammit! Tsuna had already assured him there was no secret informant and he had been honest when he said it, but how else could this teen know such things?

(X)

Reborn thought that his student was really weird. In the presence of his killing aura or in the midst of lit explosives he'd keep his cool amazingly. But pit the great Tsuna against a five-year-old in a cow print and soon you'd have him hiding in his closet-

"Shut up! I get it already!" Tsuna whined from said closet, acting the normal type of scared just as his tutor acted as if that was all it was to it. But they both knew there was more to it.

Tsuna had stared down at the playful light-green eyes and he had frozen on the spot, not even dodging the mallet Reborn had gotten used to swing his way —because it intrigued the baby how he could always dodge that thing— and receiving a nasty bruise due to it. But none of that mattered because the obnoxiously laughing kid had finally noticed his presence and pointed two green eyes at him, Tsuna had blanched.

"You look like good servant for Lambo-san!" The cow print kid had managed before wide-eyes managed to look away from his innocent ones and the teen sprinted away.

.

"I just don't do well with kids!" Tsuna exclaimed as he finally got his tremors under control. "Ask Kurokawa if you don't believe me!"

"Why don't you do well with them?" Reborn tossed back as he side-eyed the approaching lion cub with interest.

"Same reason cats don't do well with dogs. What does it even matter?"

"He's your-"

"He's not! I'm not going to be Vongola Decimo!" The muffled voice carried his irritation well over the obstacle between them.

"And will you have no children? Could you even hold your firstborn if you can't handle Lambo?" Reborn shot back, a hint of amusement in his voice.

"…Natsu." Was all Tsuna replied, and the fedora-wearing baby was momentarily confused, but one glance at the sad-looking lion cleared the confusion. Said animal walked over to the closet, where Tsuna opened the door to let him in before closing it again.

"Leave me alone." And once again, this was Yamamoto and Gokudera all over again. And there was a plea in his voice that compelled Reborn to do as told, to let the boy cry alone.

(X)

Tsuna did not exit the closet for hours. And he only did because Lambo had been taken shopping by a merry Nana. Reborn had crossed his chubby little arms over his chest and stared down at the curled-up form of his student. He was back to looking tired.

"Hey, don't look at me. I have no idea."

"You do know he's going to be living here, right?" The baby hitman arched his eyebrows at him. Natsu, the lion cub, mewled in distress.

"I do, actually. That's why I'm going to be fine. But just keep him away from me." Tsuna mumbled, a frown of irritation creasing his forehead. Reborn idly wondered if Tsuna was actually bad with kids just as burnt ochre eyes bored into his. "No weapons are allowed in this house and that's my last word. Make him see sense or I swear I'll kick both of you off my property."

The gun was loaded and pointing at the brunet before Reborn could refrain himself. He was surprised though, when he noticed Leon had descended to cover the muzzle with his belly, defiant eyes staring at him. What was this about? Since when an arcobaleno partner did against the arcobaleno's wishes?

"Stop it, Leon. He wouldn't actually shoot me." Tsuna told the green chameleon with humor and the reptile dutifully removed himself from gunpoint and back to Reborn's fedora.

He was going crazy.

(X)

Lambo stayed with them a total of three days until Reborn finally gave up and bazooka-ed the child unto another home (namely, the Irie household).

Tsuna looked at him questioningly, blinking away from the chaos of the other house.

"He was being too annoying." Reborn said as all answer even as he stared at the pale, thin and sick thing his student had become in matter of days. Tsuna allowed him the evasion as he smiled at him, ignoring the disaster they had both caused.

He pulled out his homework and started on it as Reborn jumped to the table, checking if his student made any mistakes. Or seemed ready to collapse. Both seemed likely.

Natsu jumped down from the bed he had been sleeping on and tried to nuzzle against Tsuna but a firm hand on his head stopped him.

"Not now, Natsu." He told the creature giving his smaller-than-normal mane a critical look. The lion complained but Tsuna won their argument and the dispirited animal went down the stairs to sulk on his own.

Tsuna needed to replenish energy on his own or Reborn would get suspicious. Even if his life energy had to be eaten, it was no difference if he lasted a single second less.

"…And yet you don't mind my presence." Reborn mused out loud, probably just the tail-end of a thought. Speculative eyes boring into his. To be honest, Tsuna didn't know what he was waiting for. It had been some time since he dropped the arcobaleno word and this man hadn't said a word.

"I guess, I'm allergic to childish attitudes." Tsuna answered with a shrug not giving anything else up —which to his surprise almost seemed to disappoint the hitman.

Nowadays, Tsuna often wondered to himself if he wanted Reborn to find out or not.

"You, know, to help you in your aversion for kids. I've called help for a friend of mine."

He did not need any sort of special power to sense trouble to come in that phrase.

(X)

Rubbing the migraine off, Tsuna woke up to see a little girl staring at him.

"Ni hao."

"Hello, I-pin." Tsuna muttered back, eyes more focused on a ramen-delivery girl, deciding how he'd handle things with her.

"I do not think you've ever seen my apprentice before, how did you know her name?"

Tsuna snapped to attention, wide eyes staring down at a thoughtful Fon.

"Um…Reborn mentioned her?" He tried lamely and now the Storm arcobaleno was the surprised one at such a bad attempt at diverting attention.

As if summoned, the Sun arcobaleno popped up from the floor to deny his words, also looking thoughtful. There was a moment in which both babies exchanged a glance and Tsuna's face crumpled to nostalgia in that second.

"Tsuna-san?"

Tsuna dropped to his knees to be on eye-level with the Chinese girl and patted her head gently.

"Well, looks like you know my name as well. Still, nice to meet you, I-pin-chan. I'm Sawada Tsunayoshi. Let's get along."

He couldn't quite hide the sadness in his smile this time.

(X)

"If you're so against being a mafia boss… why do you still let Reborn be your tutor?" Fon had asked him over a cup of tea, once Tsuna and Reborn had acted out what looked like a two-man comedy about the Vongola.

The brunet paused and looked back at the baby with the gun. That was true. Why was he allowing things to descend into chaos as per Reborn's request?

Because he had grown fond of the chaos. Other people's contact. Because he forgot sometimes, about his fate. Because Reborn forced him to be a bit selfish.

"Because I can't shake him off." Tsuna deadpanned, looking back at Fon who smiled to himself at the affection the teen seemed to hold for Reborn.

And that meant that…

Tsuna's smile melted off his face as he turned to the questioning Sun arcobaleno. It looked like no matter what he did, he'd always end up hurting everyone, right?

"I'm sorry."

"Tsuna?" Reborn frowned at the teen, but he interrupted by remorseful eyes.

"I can't do it, I'm so sorry, Reborn." A tired smile. "Rather, I hope you can forgive me."

And Lambo crashed into the room, wrestling with Fon's apprentice over the table.

A purple bazooka was pulled out, and all three arcobaleno jumped away from its missile. I-pin wasn't so lucky.

Worried at the unexpected event, Tsuna glared at the green-eyed devil before disappearing from the room before a certain ramen-delivery girl popped into appearance.

"Good to see you, I-pin." Fon was the first to regain his composure, bowing to the grown-up girl. I-pin turned to her master with a smile before looking around her in confusion and then her mouth fell open.

"This is the Sawada residence, yes?" She shouted to no one in particular before she dashed in search of the missing boy.

Following her, both arcobaleno saw the curious scene of a teary girl spotting Tsuna and diving for him in a seemingly affectionate way just before her face turned murderous and she aimed a kick to his face.

"You're such an idiot! You barely became my brother and then you-!"

Poof.

Five-year I-pin looked around her in confusion and spotting her master, she clung to him like a koala.

Reborn approached the fallen form of his student who was looking at the ceiling speculatively, the bruise on his face swelling by the minute.

"I am so done with this."

Deciding on his student's behalf to call it a day, Reborn bade Fon goodbye as well as tossed Lambo outside. When he returned to usher the kid to his room, he found Tsuna deep asleep.

(X)

Violet eyes stared into his.

Tsuna shifted awkwardly in place, even as Irie-san did the same by his side. He had gone over to the Irie household at last, to apologize for whatever Lambo had done and one thing led to another and he had accompanied a nervous redhead to his first robotic convention ever, just to see how everything was set up, preparing for the one he would be debuting in.

As the shy teens kept a minimum of conversation rolling they had noticed someone staring. And that's how they got to their current situation.

"Is your name Tsunayoshi?"

The brunet jumped five meters off the ground as he let out a high-pitched squeak while Irie Shoichi abruptly sat on a chair face awfully pale at the surprise.

Curious, innocent yet mischievous eyes met his again, a tentative smile tugging at his lips. Many flashes crossed by Tsuna's mind, but he ignored them. This teen…

"You're Byakuran, right?"

And suddenly Tsuna threw himself at his surprised counterpart, something easing inside him at being in physical contact with the other Sky. Byakuran blinked in surprise, the sensation of just clicking in place new to him.

And then the situation caught up to the brunet. Blushing cherry, the boy let go of the other in favor of stuttering a greeting before he introduced Irie-san to him.

Somehow —Tsuna was not sure how — Byakuran clicked with them both almost instantly, teasing them both and also helping them with no mock in his voice. Tsuna was glad. Even if it saddened him a bit.

Another person that would be sad. At least with Irie he had managed to maintain the polite detachment he reserved for potential friends. With Byakuran, he was afraid it was not possible. Even more so if while walking to Tsuna's home, Byakuran slung an arm around both awkward teens and didn't let Tsuna go for as long as he could.

When asked why was he willing to be with him despite knowing what will happen to him, Byakuran took advantage that Irie had gone to the bathroom before whispering in his ear.

"Yuni's not here now. It's just both of us this time around."

Yuni? Who was she? Or who was she supposed to be?

"You're my precious Sky and I'm yours. It's us against the world!" He laughed with white teeth flashing. "Not letting you down for anything in the world!"

Tsuna couldn't help the tears. And for once in his life, since he'd been chosen, he wasn't alone as the water dribbled down his face.

(X)

Reborn was actually frustrated at this new development. It hadn't been hard to figure out that this boy was a member of the Gesso famiglia, third in line of succession. It was dangerous letting the heir of a very important famiglia be in presence of someone like Byakuran, but the arcobaleno did not even attempt to get in between them. It was a glad sight to see his student laughing from the heart with someone else.

But even as one heart rose in relief, another was crushed in defeat. Two pairs of very different eyes turned at the same time to stare at the back of a running figure. Tsuna sighed sadly.

"That's Haya-chan?" Byakuran asked curiously, leaning on the brunet as show of support. The boy nodded and the white-haired male sighed in compassion, "You make things so much harder on yourself…

"I know what, why don't we introduce him to Sho-chan?"

(X)

Tsuna was starting to think this was a bad idea. He opened the door to his bedroom and rushed to Irie's side, as the nervousness of the redhead was getting the best of him.

"Tsunayoshi-sama!" Hayato's uncomfortable glare morphed in glad surprise as Tsuna made act of presence, his Sky lagging behind with a smirk. Tsuna went to Irie's side as if protecting him.

"S-so? How are things going?" He asked with mock-cheerfulness, the mood dropping immediately. Neither of them answered and a quick glance over them had the oldest male almost picking Tsuna up and off Irie.

"I think I know what the problem is." Said boy commented, hugging the teen he had caught, making Gokudera stiffen and glare at him. "Haya-chan is jealous."

Gokudera went red. Tsuna went white. Irie was confused.

"Jealous of what, uh, Byakuran-san?" Irie mumbled, his curiosity getting the best of him. The marshmallow lover grinned in approval.

"You see, Sho-chan, Tsuna-chan and Haya-chan got into some sort of fight."

"Byakuran!" Tsuna exclaimed out in reflex despite knowing that that was the best way to describe it without getting into too much detail.

"And Haya-chan really likes this boy, so seeing him being nice to you was too much."

…Though oversimplifying things sometimes doesn't help.

.

After much blushing, the bomber was finally cordial to the redhead and once the initial I-dislike-you-because-Tsuna was gone he discovered that Irie was actually pretty intelligent. And they liked a lot of similar stuff.

As they got into a lengthy discussion on time-travel, Tsuna excused himself for a moment and Byakuran hurried to go with him. The older teen reached out for his hand and started rubbing soft circles on his palm with his thumb.

"I'm okay… I'm okay…" Tsuna mumbled, but Byakuran knew better. Haya-chan wasn't the only that could feel jealous. The brunet did not cry this time, but he did get sad at the idea that things with Hayato would never be like Shoichi and Hayato were. Or how he and Hayato would have been, had things been slightly different.

"Say, don't you think I see way too many would-have-been's?" Tsuna voiced out with a wry chuckle. "Why can't I see just the definitive future?"

"Well, for one, the future is ever-changing." Byakuran started in a level tone, side-eyeing his friend before sighing, "And I think there's supposed to be three Skies in whichever world or dimension or time. The fact that this time there's only two of us makes me think things got a bit messed up."

Tsuna blinked at him, uncomprehending. Then, "That's what you meant by Yuni? Was she supposed to be the third one?"

"Ah. The Sky Mare ring holder can see into parallel worlds, remember?" Byakuran nodded with a smile before sobering up somewhat, "So my theory is that, because Yuni's not here, our powers have mingled the smallest bit.

"I mean, every future you see that doesn't happen, it changed because you or someone else did something different. And that's how parallel worlds are created. Most of them at least." Byakuran explained, chuckling at the confused face of his partner. "I guess that's why I can sometimes see a future of some dimension, instead of the usual 'present'."

"Now you're confusing me. In short, that the set is not complete means that the power is shared between both of us?" The brunet asked with a frown, and the older teen nodded his approval.

"That's exactly it!"

"But then, why-?"

"T-Tsunayoshi-san?" Irie's voice cut through his question, bringing far more pressing issues at hand. Noticing he had gained their attention, the eyeglasses-wearing teen nervously pointed to the door to Tsuna's room. "Lambo appeared and shot Gokudera-san and-!"

Tsuna dashed for the stairs. His bedroom door slammed open and a young adult stood in dumbfound silence at seeing him —just as Tsuna disappeared from view.

He gave pursuit.

Reborn was sure there still was something he was missing as the future version of Vongola's Tenth Storm guardian —the ring on his finger was a dead-giveaway— hunted his running student down with a very deep frown on his face. He had started to think that Tsuna's fear of Lambo had more to do with his ten-year-bazooka than anything about the kid himself —Tsuna was so bad at lying— but that fear had been there for the very first moment. And that didn't add up, because even if that someone that had informed him of the Dying Will bullets and —possibly— the effects of the bazooka, why did he run away from their future selves? Did he fear that much knowing if he became Decimo?

(X)

"Tsunayoshi-sama." The deeper voice of Gokudera betrayed no emotion as the silver head stared down the nervous brunet. The young adult was merely sweaty after their little marathon, unlike Tsuna that had trouble catching his breath.

"Y-yes?"

"…" Words failed the Storm as he met familiar brown eyes and he glanced at Reborn and back to Tsuna, his resolve firming, "I…" He sighed, licked his lips and started again, "We ended up becoming friends. In the end."

Tsuna sucked in a breath, sad and surprised and relieved. "I'm sorry…"

"No, this is- I guess I've always wanted this chance… Don't wait until then. If the end is still going to be the same…then, please, let me have more time with you as my friend. Don't ever forget-"

Poof.

And he was gone.

(X)

Reborn sat in front of a ten year older Lambo —who despite his youngness stared right back at him impassively in silence, the fan overhead creaking loudly.

"Hm, you already know I'm not supposed to say anything of the future." The teen hummed, his single open eye mildly looking out of the window. He didn't seem fazed at all as his adult-hitman-aura started seeping from him.

"I don't believe you have ever cared much about those kinds of things." Reborn commented almost offhandedly, getting more irritated by the moment.

"Heh, you think so?" Lambo asked, bored, before he drew back and tried to stand up, "Listen here, I only have five minutes here and I'm tired of being questioned-"

"You're not moving from here until I get my answers, stupid cow." Reborn threatened with Leon already transformed in his hand. The teen froze before grudgingly sitting back down. "Good. Now, is Tsuna Vongola Decimo?"

"…Just give me a moment to take this in. I can't believe Reborn is acting so insecure of himself."

Reborn managed to hold in the urge to kill him, simply bashing his head against the coffee table. He then shot the real worrying question.

"Is Dame-Tsuna alive?"

There. A minute freezing of movements. Reborn frowned darkly.

"Don't just drop a question like that!" Lambo exclaimed, letting the hurt show on his face, "Tsuna just survived someone assaulting him the other day, I'm still on edge!"

Reborn opened his mouth to ask for clarification —maybe that minute flinch had indeed been because it had taken him by surprise— when Lambo's eyes softened.

"Sucks that I have to be the one to tell you this, but Tsuna-nii always told us not to worry about the future, because we should live in the present. So, don't worry unnecessarily, old man. Tsuna-nii is-"

He was really starting to hate that damned five-minute time machine.

The only answer had been the glistering ring sitting in Lambo's finger.

(X)

Byakuran and Tsuna were messing around as usual, with a pair of curious amber eyes glancing at them ever so often when a blond man pointed an accusing finger at the startled brunet.

"YOU!"

"Gamma-chan?"

"HIIEE!"

Reborn stepped outside from his hiding spot to stare in sheer disbelief the figure of Giglio Nero's right hand man chasing Vongola's candidate for heir with a murderous glint in his eyes. To add to the nonsense, the amber-eyed teen that had been standing in shocked silence beside him dashed inside his home, and returned waving a bat around.

"Hey! Leave Tsuna alone!" Yamamoto Takeshi yelled as he blocked the lunge of the blond foreigner, faltering at the rage in dark eyes.

"Yamamoto stop! Run away!" The faraway brunet managed to call over his shoulder —as his companion stuck out his tongue at the man— before both figures managed to disappear from sight.

"MOCCIOSO BASTARDO!"

Tsuna hadn't managed to get very far before he tripped on his own feet and —instead of falling flat on his face— he was lifted like a cat would its kittens by a pissed off Gamma.

"Hiee-! I'm so sorry I already told you I had nothing to do!"

"Oi, Gamma, what is this supposed to be about?" The Sun arcobaleno finally stepped in his student's stead much to the blond's surprise.

"Reborn-san, what-?"

"A-ah, Reborn it's nothing-!"

"Tsuna-chan." A passive Byakuran smiled at him, cutting off everyone's exclamations. "Tsuna-chan it's alright. Let your Sun take charge of things."

"B-Byakuran!" Tsuna stuttered mortified, and Reborn arched an eyebrow at the way he was referred like.

But things managed to calm down enough for them to move inside a restaurant.

(X)

"Sushi rolls and a Takesushi special!" Takeshi exclaimed with cheer as he placed said objects on the table before protectively taking a seat beside a fidgety brunet. The glowering blond did not even look up from his tense glower at Tsuna.

"Gamma, would you mind explaining yourself before you kill my student?" Reborn finally snapped, his adult aura escaping his control.

"S-student? This mongrel?" Gamma arched an eyebrow, not sure what was going on. But one steely glance from the best hitman in the world made him answer first. He looked down at his intertwined hands with sadness, putting Reborn even more on edge." You see…"

Aria had been feeling unwell and out of nowhere she had demanded her to go to Japan, namely Namimori. And the last night, she had wandered off in her own, as she toyed with her pacifier. It seemed a normal walk to clear out her mind but out of a sudden a small child of about five or seven years attacked her and snatched the pacifier away. Running away with it before Aria had time to react.

"And not even days later, Aria died in her sleep!" Gamma shouted enraged, slamming a fist down on the table. Tsuna shrunk in on himself as Reborn stared at him. "It was his fault!"

"You took her pacifier?" Reborn asked, dumbfounded. How could have he missed this?

"Welp, Tsuna, cat's out of the bag." Byakuran shrugged, trying to ease his friend.

"Huh, Tsuna you stole a pacifier?" A clueless Takeshi asked to further confuse Gamma.

"Show it to me." Reborn demanded, not paying attention to anything else. Tsuna fidgeted a bit more, but finally chuckled to himself.

"Of every way for it to be revealed, I couldn't have foreseen this one?" He mumbled as he pulled out an orange bag out of his pocket. He unwrapped the thing with care and carefully he showed his small audience a light orange pacifier wrapped in chains sitting in the palm of his hand.

Reborn stepped away in shock, his hat falling off. Gamma made as if to make a grab for it but a gun was immediately cocked his direction.

Tsuna shared a meaningful look with his Sky counterpart before breaking down in nervous chuckles, letting his death sentence be seen by everyone nearby.

"See, Reborn? I cannot be Vongola Decimo. My win."

TBC?

AN

HUGE MESS OF CHARACTERS. THAT WAS FUN AS HELL.

Not sure if you noticed but it was a slightly different style from how I usually write and tbh I liked it. That about slowly revealing Tsuna's identity without having it OUT-RIGHT SHOUTED IN YOUR EAR. XD. Though I like both ways.

There might be a part two since I couldn't chuck in all the characters I wanted to. Lol.

Let me know what you thought! (That might may become a will if you review just sayin' ;)

Did you enjoy the changes from cannon? What was your general impression of Tsuna? Byakuran? Too sad so many characters didn't appear? (I AM) Anything to say about the title?

I made Takeshi try to find something beside baseball to do, what do you suggest? (learn to play an instrument or another sport or baking, cooking, whatever you like :)

Review~