This is one crazy idea but I do not know what exactly compelled me to write this chapter, it is AU and boys x boys love. They are their TYL selves. While the mafia world of KHR is still somewhat the same, some roles have been changed slightly, half of the KHR cast are either inmates (LOL), or Prison Staff. I have never written shounen-ai before, and I apologise for any OOC.

Summary: AU. With a lack of career choice due to his 'No-good' grades, Tsuna enlists among the ranks as a Prison Officer in the peculiar Melone Reformatory where its prisoners are mafia criminals sentenced for life. But what happens when one begins to show interest in him?

Diclaimer: Do not own KHR

Homecoming

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It was Tsuna's first day of work and he was feeling nauseous, courtesy of his breakfast that consisted of egg and beans on toast, and a glass of cold milk. It tasted nice, but now it was just haunting his stomach and the back of his throat with an unpleasant and sour, piquant taste.

He had never felt car-sick, but now his head was throbbing and he clutched on the railings of the bus tightly; he had poked his head out of the open window and gasped in and out as a vain attempt for fresh air even though the weather outside was pouring down heavy rain and crashing thunder. Remembering how he had been forced to wake up at the ungodly hour of four am, just to drag himself out of his comfortable, idyllic bed and wash himself, wash his face, wash behind his ears and clean his teeth and get dressed, before trudging downstairs to face his mother who was grieving incessantly into her handkerchief about Tsu-chan's First Job before whipping out a camera to take an endless list of pictures of him in his white shirt and black trousers – the only thing the poor boy could only muster out a weak groan.

Blatantly speaking, the Melone Reformatory had not been his first, nor his ideal, choice of career path.

Firstly, his father had been against it because it was a prison, designed to keep the most notorious and dangerous criminals within high walls and steel-enforced doors. Second, it was so far away from his hometown of Namimori so he would have to accommodate himself with the living quarters they provided for staff and hopefully adjust; he had also been on the coach for an hour and a half and there was still apparently no sign of the ominous building looming into view over the horizon of the road. Third, he would no longer be able to see his childhood crush, Sasagawa Kyoko, who was pursuing a career in law. And fourth, and final one, Tsuna simply did not want to become a Prison Officer in the first place. But then again, what choice did he have? He did not do so well in his exams throughout college, and now solely believed having a front-line job would actually do the tick of securing chances of future employment due to experience.

And what was with that tutor his father had hired for him? It was Reborn who suggested applying there because they had a position available…

"We're here."

The sudden voice of the solemn driver who had been quiet throughout the entire journey stunned Tsuna to some extent, and he did another futile goldfish-gasp of air before returning back to sit upright in his seat properly, sliding his window back shut. He had been the only passenger on the coach, which smelt like pickles and sweat. He picked up his bags and suitcase, which were askew on the empty seat beside him, and he thanked the driver, and stepped off the coach.

He was greeted with a plain sight.

Grey.

Lots and lots of grey. All he could see was grey, not just the sky, but the grey brick-walls that seemed as tall as lampposts, completely decorated in barbed wire and signs screaming 'NO TRESPASSING' stretched at least hundreds and hundreds of mile within Tsuna's field of vision, and he noted, that the ends seemed to round inwards, indicating that the walls must be built into a circular fashion, protecting the building inside, like the way a moat protected a castle. He could see the building towering within; it was also grey, and Tsuna ultimately realised the lack of windows and doors. In either words, he did not have a very good first impression of the establishment's exterior. Melone Reformatory was renown in Namimori to be a high-security prison with a burly reputation of homing a team of solid-strong, professional staff.

He stood limply under the bus shelter where the coach driver had dropped him off, completely unsure and unaware of what to do. Remembering the letter he had received from the post a few days ago, he hurriedly fished the crumpled letter from his pocket, having to shrug off his various bags that were draped around like him decorations of a Christmas tree, and thoroughly opened it, seeking for guidance for his next move.

Apparently, his Induction Officer would be a man named 'Dino Cavallone', and that Tsuna was to report at the Staff Main Entrance at 0700 hours. He quickly checked his wristwatch; it was at least five minutes to seven. Tsuna swallowed, and stuffed his letter back safely inside before clutching his bag tightly to his chest, and meekly made his way up. The automatic doors revelled in his presence, and let him inside, which then closed behind him. Almost immediately, Tsuna felt imprisoned, even though he had just entered reception only. What on earth had he signed himself up for? Was it too late to make a run for it? Nevertheless, Tsuna swallowed and reprimanded himself that it was cowardly for a man to run away from his problems.

He took one step forward and -

BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP

Tsuna leapt in fright and tried to make a mad, frantic dash for the doors – but the security guard stopped him and Tsuna stood sheepishly on the spot, embarrassed with the entire ordeal. "Hold your arms out, please. I'll have to make a check for any metal objects. You look like a nice kid, but it's standard procedure." The man instructed, and Tsuna did as he was told, before a metal rod was pressed near his face, before being dragged down slowly all around the perimeters of his body. Shaking, Tsuna stood stiffly, and the rod sounded off near the pockets of his trousers. "What's in your pocket?" The guard asked, politely, and Tsuna reached into his pocket, lifting out a pile of keys all looped by a tuna fish-shaped keyring.

He flushed brilliantly regardless, and the guard gave him the all clear and handed him back the keys. His bags and suitcases were taken off him, however, and placed into the care of the guard who fed them through this x-ray scanner machine. Tsuna waited patiently in his seat, waiting for his belongings to be returned to him. To his left, a sign indicating the Visitor's Information Centre stood proudly. Beside it, a revolving stack of leaflets, ranging from 'How to tell your kid their daddy's in Jail' and 'How to cope with the fact that a loved one is in confinement'. Tsuna cringed at the straightforwardness and shook his head at them in disapproval.

The guard returned back, with Tsuna's luggage. "You're all clear," The guard said, and he returned back to his post. Tsuna swallowed down and thanked the guard before he left, clutching his bag tighter to himself.

"Tsunayoshi??"

At the sound of his full name being called out, Tsuna perked up, turning to a man who had appeared from nowhere and was now standing at a random, open doorway, just a few feet from the desk. The man was tall, good-looking, with wispy locks of blonde hair brushed tidily away from his dazzling blue eyes. He was in formal military-style uniform; a black blazer, with silver, rubbery-looking fastens, a small, shiny medal, and a red band circulated his left shoulder -- which Tsuna found strange… The man was wearing matching black dress pants, and boots, with each pant leg stuffed in, but stretched out evenly to ineptly minimize the poofy-leg look. All this man was missing was a musket swinging from his belt (1). Tsuna wondered in amazement how prison staff could look so.... formal, and sophisticated. This must be a top-notch prison, if not, a prison where smart appearances were mandatory. And here was Tsuna, who realised he had forgotten to comb his hair this morning. The blonde man smiled, brushed a white-gloved hand through his hair and beckoned Tsuna over with a hook motion of his index finger. Tsuna stiffened slightly with acute surprise.

"Over here, Tsuna." The man said, his tone was friendly and warm, as if he was a casual acquaintance of the boy, even though Tsuna had never seen him before at all, and Tsuna blinked at the informality and then trailed towards direction of the mysterious blonde man, as the receptionist he had not even had a chance to talk to who had been seated behind the desk, filing her nails, smiled politely from the blonde to Tsuna. The man said, "We'll have a chat in my office."

Tsuna squeaked out his meek response of 'Hai' that seemingly trailed off into a frail silence, and followed the blonde man who had not waited for his response at all, but had retreated back further into the doorway, which led to a long stretch of corridor, illuminated greatly by spotlights. The blonde man, who Tsuna now presumed was Mr Dino Cavallone, his Induction Officer in the flesh, stopped at a random door at the left side of the corridor and unlocked it before placing the keys back into his pocket, "In you go." He held the door for Tsuna.

"Thank you…" Tsuna bowed a little and respectively waddled into the office. "I-I brought my reference letter."

Dino shut the door behind him upon entry and accepted Tsuna's letter, and then gestured for his new brown-haired guest to sit at one of the leather chairs opposite his desk which was situated at the end of the room. Tsuna looked around the unfamiliar surroundings, staring at the books and then gawping at the double bed in the corner. Dino sat down, opened the letter, scanned the list of contents very briefly, and smiled at Tsuna politely. "Ah, yes."

Dino looked at the letter of reference that was apparently written by Reborn.

Dear Dino,

Tsuna is a clumsy, reckless, idiotic young man with a lack of perspective and intuition. However, I am hoping this experience in Melone Reformatory may help him understand some crucial values towards life in any ways possible. Therefore, I will entrust him into your care and I will come to check on his progress soon.

Kind regards,

Reborn

Dino smiled dryly at Tsuna once he looked away from the letter and folded it back up, deciding to keep it on him for the time being. Tsuna smiled back awkwardly in return; obviously he had no idea what Reborn had written about him, but he knew it probably wasn't very good, either. "Welcome to the Melone Reformatory, Tsuna. My name is Dino Cavallone, and I will be your Induction Officer; I'm pleased to tell you that your application has been successful and that we have decided to enlist you among our ranks," He said, then - "…Are you alright? You look a bit.... green."

Tsuna cringed when Dino's expression altered to one of slight worry, "I'm fine." He nodded convincingly, smiling uncomfortably at himself.

"Very well," Dino's smile widened slightly in response, "As you may know by now, Tsunayoshi-kun, our prison is very unique, in many different ways. We have a high reputation to uphold and maintain as the most secure, modern and hi-tech security for mafia criminals in Japan. Did you know that it costs over thirty-five thousand dollars of a taxpayer's money to keep a person in prison for a year?"

Tsuna shook his head. So this is where the government had invested into, using his father and mother's hard-earned cash.

Dino chuckled, "You see, prison is a closed world. People barely know what goes on behind these walls. In essence, the term 'imprisonment' is deprivation of one of the most cherished features of human life – individual liberty'. In the Melone Reformatory, however, we believe in deterring prisoners from committing their crimes again - they are taught new skills, will be given personal support and encouraged to change their behaviour."

Tsuna nodded affirmatively.

"Right, let's move on. Er… Oh, uniform…You won't need to wear a white shirt and a pair of black trousers here. Shoe size?" Dino asked; Tsuna respectively replied to his question, and Dino ducked down beside his desk and Tsuna peered over, until the blonde man promptly whipped back up and Tsuna backed into his seat immediately. Dino handed Tsuna a bundle of clothes all wrapped up in plastic wrapper, along with a pair of black, army boots from out of nowhere (maybe from a hatch under the floor or something). Tsuna cringed somewhat at the sight of the boots. "These are Size Small – you can get changed in the Locker room afterwards."

"Um, thank you, Officer Cavallone…"

"Just call me Dino."

"Right, Dino, may I ask…?" Tsuna had gestured to his left arm, leaving his question trailing off. He felt rather awkward addressing Dino by his first name.

Dino blinked blankly at Tsuna, then looked down at his own left arm, at the red, cotton band. "Oh, right, this. This is just what the Warden makes us wear. Apparently it reminds him of his days as Head of the Disciplinary Committee." He grinned bashfully at the younger boy.

"Oh."

"Okay, let's carry on with the Induction, shall we?" Dino glanced sideways to his cactus plant propped up on the surface of his desk, "…We hold prisoners here who have been given the Life sentence, so we watch over them twenty four seven. Some of them are compliant and do not cause trouble, that doesn't mean we lessen our surveillance procedures. All of our prisoners are also completely related to any sort of underground activity, ranging from the mafia, the yakuza, and the triads." Dino explained, "The mafia world is very diverse, Tsuna, our prisoners come from very unique backgrounds -- some of them contain powers even man has yet to completely understand. We hide these men away from them, protecting them, from themselves, and to the general public."

Tsuna perked up. …Protecting them…??

"These men, Tsuna, with the powers…They have abused their gifts and have been sent here. They are put into special cells but are allowed into the normal cell blocks to socialise with other prisoners. But I will introduce you to them in due time. Unfortunately, we offer training only by experience; you will learn how to discipline offenders and how to administer punishment, and how to imbue strict law in response to the violence that will occur here, all in good time."

At that point, Tsuna paled slightly.

"I'm going to test you now, see if you've been doing your homework…" Dino chuckled, as soon as Tsuna's face paled even further.

"Is this an... interview?"

"I beg your pardon?"

"Am I being interviewed?"

Dino raised a fine eyebrow, then he let out a roar of good-humoured laughter, a nice sound to Tsuna's ears, he realised. Inwardly, Tsuna mentally scolded himself that it was no time for thinking such thoughts. "We have already hired you, Tsuna. I'm just going to check how much you already know about our establishment to make sure you are well-informed."

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean – I mean... I thought, you know, I'm...I don't think I'm a...an extrovert." Tsuna finished lamely, cursing inwardly at his choice of words. He burnt red with embarrassment. Would I even last a day in here??? I've never been in a fight in my entire life!!

As if reading his mind, Dino chuckled again, "It'll be alright, Tsuna. We don't just look at physical appearances for this kind of work. Sure, you're still young, but in here, we also need the right kind of personality to approach certain types of prisoners, and to understand them. And as I said before, some prisoners are not malevolent and will frankly enjoy your company." Dino replied, and Tsuna felt slightly relieved, if not, a little more worried, or perturbed by his words. "Okay, ready for your first question? Here goes - who foresees the overall Prison?"

Tsuna took a brief moment to reply. "…The Governor."

"Who is…?"

"In par with the Home Office…?"

"You're absolutely correct. And, next question -- who is Second-in-Command here?"

Silence.

Tsuna looked like a fish out of water, having completely and utterly no idea of the answer to the question. He scratched his head. He scratched his chin. He scratched his neck. But still, he did not know the answer and stared limply on at Dino, who merely chuckled lightly, "Come on, you must know the answer. You've even met him."

"...I have?"

"Reborn-san."

"Huh?"

"Didn't you know that Reborn-san is the Nominated Head, or Deputy Head, of this very prison?"

Silence again. Then -

"WHAT?! But he-he's just a…" Tsuna had shrieked out, but then, he simmered down, slowly piecing two and two together and finally realising the ill truth. No wonder he knew about this job. What does he hope to accomplish, sending me here in the first place??

"Well, moving on -- next question – who is third in place?"

Tsuna knew this answer. "The Chaplain."

"…Fourth?"

"The Warden."

Dino looked rather impressed with Tsuna's knowledge. "Fifth?"

"The Commanding Officer, which is…You?"

"Strictly speaking, that is my formal title, yes; but as I have said before, I am also the Induction Officer, and there are many more Commanding Officers - you will also meet these men in due time. Very good, Tsuna, you have been studying," Dino grinned at him and Tsuna felt satisfied and almost proud of himself, "I'm sure you'll do fine. Ready to meet your co-workers?"

Tsuna nodded, and Dino had gotten up from his seat and had now walked to the door, opened it and held it for Tsuna. "After you."

Almost shyly, Tsuna squeezed through the open door in response to Dino's well-mannered gesture. Dino locked the door behind him and continued on with his Induction, now walking directly in front of Tsuna, "Typically speaking, Correctional Officers like yourself do not have much of a high public profile. Your role is to guard prisoners in a way as to prevent them from escaping; you will develop a finely tuned awareness of what is fair and what is not, while at the same time, emphasizing the importance of providing prisoners with opportunities for reform."

"Reform…Got it." Tsuna muttered, though he sounded unsure himself. He wondered if he could really pull this job off – maybe he should ask Dino...or maybe not. Dino seemed to have confidence in his 'abilities'. They left the corridor, and rounded off into a passageway, and Tsuna felt wary almost immediately, due to the lack of lights, and the black stoned walls. No doors or windows, save for a 'Fire Exit' sign that was glowing ominously to the right. He looked around nervously. Whoa, where did all the bright and cheery go? Guess the reception is only for the public eyes. This must be the Real Deal.

Dino stopped at a random door, "There's the locker room. Here's your key; your locker combination is 22-07-09 (2)."

"R-Right…" Tsuna accepted the key off Dino and hurried inside.

A few moments later, he emerged back out, having stuffed his bag and suitcase into his locker, and now neatly dressed down in the correct attire sporting the black, military-style blazer and dark pants, and those hefty boots. He flushed slightly as soon as Dino whistled. Tsuna himself felt mildly uncomfortable with his bold appearance, "I didn't know brown hair matched the uniform so well." Dino pulled at one of his blonde tresses and laughed. "Alright, let's move on."

Dino was speaking again and Tsuna quickly snapped his attention back to the man, his eyes landing on the back of the blonde's head. "In the Melone Reformatory, we use a simple confinement cell system due to problems regarding overcrowding – the reformatory has a total of twenty three Cell Blocks, which consist of twelve cells which are shared by inmates. These are also named correspondingly to alphabet letters. Therefore, we have Cell Block A, which consists of the twelve cells, all labelled 'Cell 1-12' respectively. You will be assigned to watch over Cell Block D." Dino explained, as they continued down the corridor, their footsteps echoing off the flagstone, paved floor.

"Cell Block D?"

"Yes, there are two dangerous prisoners transferring from L Block to D Block due tomorrow – Rokudo Mukuro, and Byakuran of the Millefiore."

"...Millefiore?"

"Well, he's part of them. You've heard of the Millefiore, right? They're made up of the Gesso and the Giglio Nero, two respective mafia families. Well, we got the Gesso's leader, but they're still active from outside. We've had to scatter prisoners from the Gesso and Giglio Nero throughout the entire prison so they cannot communicate with each other as thoroughly as they can."

"What about Rokudo Mukuro?"

"Oh, he was held in the Special Criminals Unit for investigation. This is merely his 'visit' before he returns back to the lab."

"The...Lab...?!?" came Tsuna's astonished reply.

Dino did not reply to that statement. "That's not all, Tsuna, there's also a group called the 'Varia' to look out for, too."

Tsuna paled again. The V-Varia???

Dino then fished around in his pockets, then took a tiny trinket box, and a ring. "Have you seen this before, Tsuna?" He asked, and Tsuna shook his head. "This," Dino began, "...is a ringbox. Along with drugs and contraband weapons, this is what you should really keep an eye open for - the prisoners will attempt to smuggle these boxes and rings in. Whatever happens, a prisoner absolutely cannot be in contact with any of these, or soon, there will be a riot. Do you understand, Tsuna?"

"Yes, Dino."

"We also have very few interpersonal rules, but you will remember these well or face the consequences – Number one -- Relationships with prisoners are strictly forbidden, Number two, any involvement with underground activity will not be lightly foreseen; your punishment will be heavy. Number three – well, this is my rule, but… You do not enter the Warden's room unless he has given you permission." Dino said as he returned the box back into his pocket.

"…Huh?"

"You'll understand soon when you meet him, and, don't think about it too much when he says he'll 'bite you to death'. Oh, we're here." Dino had promptly turned a sharp ninety degree angle to the left, and stopped at a set of iron gates where a sign with the letter 'D' was embellished on, and Tsuna almost bumped into his back. "This is where you will work from now on, Tsuna."

He opened the gates, and Tsuna held his breath.

Another long corridor was revealed, though it was much spacious, and led forwards into the Block; all built with cells constructed into line all around in a circular fashion around an elevated podium standing up high watching over all the cells where two men clad in uniform could be seen leaning against the railing. It was empty; Tsuna gulped, as Dino strode in, beckoning Tsuna to follow again. He made his way towards the stairs, with Tsuna trailing behind. He took this time to look around; the twelve cells, were all lined beside each other, roughly about the size of two small closets jammed together, with nothing but bunkbeds inside. The cells were fitted with plexiglass walls instead of bars. Another cell, did not have a bunkbed, but rather, a payphone. At the base of the lighthouse-like podium, was a widescreen TV affixed to the wall of the podium by bolts, surrounded by chairs and headphones attached. Tables and chairs were bolted to the ground in one far-off area of the prison floor, indicating recreation and leisure purposes.

Dino arrived at the very top of the raised podium and slotted in his keycard into the lock to permit him entry. Tsuna followed suit, and looked around – the entire podium overlooked the entire prison floor, and Tsuna realised this must be the central control station, where each prison personnel in charge of each Block monitored every cell, and was only accessible by staff. "Morning, Takeshi, Ryohei."

"Ah, good morning, Dino-san." The two men replied curtly.

"This is Yamamoto Takeshi, and Sasagawa Ryohei, your fellow Correctional Officers." Dino had gestured to Tsuna, "This is Sawada Tsunayoshi, the newest recruit."

"Nice to meet chuuu, Sawada-san!!!!!! Let's work together and do our very best from now on to the EXTREME!!!" Ryohei, with snowy white hair and a particular tuft poking up from the top of his head like a cockerel's red crest atop its head, barked loudly and enthusiastically at the brown-haired boy, and Tsuna shrunk back slightly, whereas Yamamoto, the relaxed, carefree-looking, dark haired individual greeted him in a much more casual manner with a wave of his hand and a polite 'How do you do?'.

"Nice to meet you all." Tsuna bowed at them both. Wow, he had never seen someone (like Ryohei) so fired up before 8am in the morning.

"…And this is Giotto, your Commanding Officer, of Cell Block D."

Tsuna glanced at the back of the chair Dino had addressed to – or rather, the meticulous individual who was seated in that particular chair. "…Giotto…?" He breathed out curiously beside Dino, once the chair swivelled round to them, revealing a man with tawny-blonde hair and startling cobalt eyes that locked onto Tsuna's russet orbs, incarcerating them in a mesmerising stare. His leg was crossed over the other, his right hand rested under his chin, supported by the armrest, his left arm lay on the length of the other armrest latently. He dressed in the same black uniform as everyone else. Tsuna swallowed down and immediately looked away coyly after their staring match had prolonged for more than necessary; shortly before noticing that his acute response had elicited a small smile to grace the blonde man's features.

"So… Sawada Tsunayoshi," Giotto had spoken, in a calm, soothing voice that rather intrigued Tsuna to some extent that he had looked back up to blink enquiringly at the blonde man in the chair. However, his voice matched his demeanour very well and Tsuna was immediately captivated within his alluring tone, "…We finally meet."

Lol, you must be getting an idea of what's going to happen, ne? But nothing really happened in this chapter... It'll get better soon! I do suppose this story is completely AU to the canon of KHR; in this story, Tsuna will create a 'family' but in entirely different circumstances. Ratings may go up, too!

(1) Uniforms were inspired by a picture from Togainu no Chi, where Shiki and (I forgot his name, I think it was... Akira or something, correct me if I am wrong) are wearing military-style attire xD

(2) LOL Tsuna's locker combination is today's date (or the day I posted this first chapter up)! That's how 'imaginative' I am...

Sorry if it was slightly confusing at some parts. The story will also contain the pairings 8059, but I am still 'allocating' the KHR cast, so, whoever Tsuna is paired up with, is still undecided. It might be All27 but I do like-like G27. I have honestly no idea, because this prison plot bunny came from nowhere and I just had a rush of inspiration.

Tsuna can be paired with anyone, or it will probably be either of these options:

1. Tsuna x Giotto
2. Tsuna x Mukuro
3. Tsuna x Byakuran
4. Tsuna x Hibari

Please tell me what you think :D