Author's Notes: Well, I really don't know how this happened, but before I knew it, it's been over a year since I've last updated this. For making you wait this long, my dear, loyal readers, I can't apologize enough. I won't try to make up some lame excuse, but in truth, this past semester of school slashed me open, curb-stomped me, and scattered my remains to the wind.

Anyways, what I'm trying to get at is that I was on a looong hiatus, but I'm back now. Thank you again for waiting ever so patiently for me to update. Have this extra long chapter as an apology.

PS. For those of you who were calling for Vittorio's blood after the way he destroyed Xanxus and Squalo's contract last chapter, don't be too disappointed by what actually happens in this chapter. That is all I can say for now.

Disclaimer: All the lovely characters in Katekyo Hitman Reborn! belong to the amazing Akira Amano. I do not own or claim to own anything.

Chapter 27: Maximum Synchronization

"I don't believe this." Giotto said, still looking visibly unsettled by what had just occurred. "It's impossible to destroy contract cards! It must be an illusion of some sort." But even Giotto didn't seem as though he believed his own words.

Despite Giotto's attempt at reassuring everyone, Tsuna had already innately acknowledged, on some subconscious level, that Vittorio's weapon was capable of doing what was originally thought to be the impossible.

A stray ray of sunlight reflected off the aforementioned scythe's edge, mirroring the deadly smile of its owner. Unconsciously, Tsuna took a few steps back, putting more distance between himself and Vittorio, and clutched at his contract cards as if they were his lifeline.

"That small display was enough to scare you off?" Vittorio tutted, his smile dimming a fraction. "Quite frankly, I'm disappointed, Tsunayoshi-kun. I had expected more from you."

Tsuna gave a minute flinch at the words, but could not find any words to rebut. He could not, no, he absolutely refused to risk losing his bonds to his Guardians this way.

All the while, Xanxus stood seething not so silently on the sidelines. Rage had contorted his features into something unrecognizable. "You fuckingscum." He spat out, drawing Vittorio's attention back to him. "I won't forgive you!" He drew his guns and charged toward.

"No! Xanxus!" Tsuna tried to call out a warning, but Xanxus had all been blinded with fury; he was beyond reasoning with.

Vittorio looked like the cat that ate the canary. "Back so soon for a second round, Xanxus? Well then, who am I to deny such a request?"

Tsuna wanted to stop Xanxus. He wanted to stop Vittorio from hurting his Family members ever again. But his wants clashed with his instinct, causing his body to automatically freeze up with fear at the sight of Vittorio raising that ominous scythe.

'Stay back where it's safe,' his subconscious whispered poisonous, honeyed words to him. 'You don't have to risk your own contract cards like Xanxus.' Guilt wracked through Tsuna as soon as that traitorous thought crossed his mind, however fleeting it was. He was the Boss of the Family. He swore to protect all the members of his Family, no matter the risks.

But before Tsuna could make a single move, a black blur shot past him. It took Tsuna's shocked eyes a moment before he could recognize Reborn's figure as the other rushed over to where Xanxus was. The hitman raised his gun and used it to block the downward slash of Vittorio's scythe and immediately twisted around to deliver a harsh kick to Xanxus' gut, sending the other flying back.

In the span of a heartbeat and the next, Reborn leapt back and straightened out fluidly, all the while keeping his unreadable black eyes trained on Vittorio. He held his gun laxly by his side and his expression was as calm as ever, but trained eyes could tell that Reborn had shifted into a stance that would allow him to react at a moment's notice. The languid smile never left Vittorio's face, but a touch of caution now entered his eyes.

"You can stay there and cool your head off, Xanxus." Reborn's baritone cut through the clearing. "Use your head for a moment. Did you really think rushing in blindly was the best option at this point in time or were you just asking to sacrifice another one of your contract cards?"

Xanxus grit his teeth and dug his blunt fingernails into the ground, but he lowered his head, shamefaced, when he realized how foolishly he had been acting. Despite his recently improving hold on his anger, rage had once more broken free from his control. It had been a long while since Xanxus had felt such soul-searing anger and for one heart-stopping moment, he had let it consume him.

"Even if Vittorio can destroy contract cards, no effect from magic is completely irreversible," Reborn continued. "So calm down." He slid a gaze over to Tsuna. "That goes for all of you."

Vittorio frowned inwardly. In just a few words, Reborn had soothed their fears and renewed their fighting spirits, despite the disadvantageous situation they still found themselves in. "You're a dangerous one, Arcobaleno Reborn." He remarked with a seemingly casual air. The both of them knew that Vittorio wasn't just talking about Reborn's impressive battle prowess.

"Of course I am. Fortunately for you, I'm not your opponent. Tsuna is."

Behind his carefree demeanor, Vittorio scored the surrounding with calculative eyes as his mind considered his current options. He didn't plan on Reborn actually interfering since the hitman had always acted as a bystander, preferring to guide and advise from the sidelines instead of directly jumping in. Vittorio's gaze lingered, then stopped altogether when it reached Tsuna. The other Boss seemed calm now, but Vittorio's sharp eyes could pick out the minute tremble that refused to leave the other's hands.

Vittorio contemplated what he saw and pieced it together with his previous observations. He had seen the look of deep-seated fear that the Vongola Boss had shot at him when he had revealed his trump card earlier. Whether he was aware of it or not, an unconscious part of Tsuna still feared Vittorio and his scythe.

It was normal for people to react with disbelief, fear, or even anger at his scythe's ability, but Tsuna's fear seemed more deeply ingrained, almost as if it was personal. Vittorio's smirk widened. He could capitalize on that.

"Tsunayoshi-kun is my opponent, you say?" Vittorio said. "Well, in that case...Lansa."

The Disdetta right-hand man immediately snapped to attention. "Vittorio-sama?" Vittorio tilted his head in a barely discernible gesture toward Tsuna. Lansa inclined his head in the barest of nods. "Understood."

"Oi, what are you bastards..." Gokudera's words cut off when Lansa suddenly rushed past to attack Tsuna.

Tsuna's eyes narrowed and he calmly shifted into a defensive stance to fend off the incoming blow from Lansa's spear. What he wasn't expecting however, was for Lansa to leap away a second later and for Vittorio to suddenly bear down on him with a cruel smile.

Tsuna prepared to defend against the strike, but at the sight of the raised scythe, Tsuna's body instinctively locked up, causing him to be rendered immobile for a vital second.

The sharp tsh of metal swished through the air, only to be brought to a jarring stop when another weapon joined the fray.

"What do you think you're doing, Sawada Tsunayoshi?" Hibari hissed, one hand gripping tightly onto the tonfa that was holding the scythe at bay. "Now is not the time to slip back into your herbivore-ish ways."

"Don't worry, we got your back, Tsuna!" Yamamoto said as he also rushed forward with an upward slash of his sword, forcing the Disdetta Boss to jump back in order to dodge the blow.

"You don't have to face them alone, Juudaime!" Gokudera declared, also stepping forward to stand protectively in front of Tsuna.

"That's what we Guardians are EXTREMELY for!" Ryohei exclaimed as he took his place next to his fellow Guardians.

"Yes, please leave this to us, Tsuna-san," Chrome said as she grasped her trident tightly, her single purple eye burning with determination.

"Chrome-chan is right," Mukuro drawled. "After all, I cannot have others harming the body that I will be possessing in the future."

If Vittorio was thrown off by the Guardians' protective stance, he didn't let it show. Instead he chose to taunt, "So, how does it feel to have to follow a Boss who is essentially useless in battle?"

"Shut up!" Gokudera roared. "Don't you dare belittle, Juudaime! He is a thousand times the Boss you could ever hope to be! You know nothing!"

Tsuna watched on with wide eyes as all his Guardians stood protectively in front of him, creating a wall that effectively shielded him from the threat. "Do these look like the type of Guardians who would leave you once their contract cards were destroyed, Tsuna?" Reborn said quietly. "Don't presume that the bond you share with them is as superficial as a mere scrap of paper. You mock that bond when you think that way."

"Reborn-san's right. Did you really think that I could leave after everything we've been through?" Gokudera said. "I already vowed that Juudaime is the only Boss that I would follow for the rest of my life. For me, there is no other."

"Tsuna, I would rather give up playing baseball forever than to even think about leaving you." Yamamoto said earnestly.

"I made an EXTREME promise to protect you! A man like me doesn't go back on their promises!" Ryohei declared.

"Lambo has never known what a real family was like before meeting Tsuna-nii," the young Lightning Guardian suddenly spoke up. "And Tsuna-nii is the one who is always protecting me. But Lambo also wants to be able to stay by Tsuna-nii's side to protect him as well!"

"I wouldn't degrade myself to follow someone who I didn't think was worthy," Hibari said. "So cease your herbivore-ish thoughts and start acting like the carnivore that I know you are."

"Tsuna-san, you showed Mukuro nii-sama and I kindness when we knew nothing but contempt," Chrome said. "You are as dear to me as Mukuro nii-sama. I could never think of leaving you."

"I could say that I'm only staying by you in order to be in a better position to possess your body in the future," Mukuro started. "But I'd be lying then. You have done both Chrome-chan and I a great favor, Sawada Tsunayoshi, and I always know to repay my debts where they are due."

"Tsuna," Reborn called out, snapping his student out of the shell-shocked stupor he had fallen into when he heard his Guardians' heartfelt words. "You once told me that you wanted to be a Summoner who wouldn't use his own Guardians as shields. You wanted to be someone who would fight alongside them. Are you going to go back on your words now?"

Tsuna lowered his head, shame-faced. 'But...I just didn't want to lose anyone anymore. Especially if I can't do anything to stop it from happening.' He tried to force down the feeling of helplessness that suddenly threatened to overwhelm him when he thought back to the dream of chasing behind his Guardian's receding backs.

As always, Reborn was the one who could read his student best. "It's natural to feel fear, Tsuna, whether it is fear of losing control over a situation or of not being able to protect your loved ones." His voice sharpened. "But you can't let that fear rule you. You have to learn to overcome it, to control it, not let it control you. Use it to drive you forward, not to hold you back."

Reborn smirked. "Besides, do you think that I would ever leave you? You can't get rid of me that easily. Even if the entire world was against you, you know that I will always be by your side, Tsuna."

And with those words, the last dredges of Tsuna's fears faded away like a bad nightmare. "You're right, Reborn. I was being foolish." As the last traces of hesitation finally disappeared, Tsuna's eyes burned with a clear, burnished orange, reflecting the strength of his inner resolve. "Thank you for your support, everyone. I vowed to protect everyone, but this time, I had to rely on all of you to protect me instead."

Reborn was smirking now. "Even the strongest need someone to fall back on sometimes. And as strong as you try to make yourself out to be, you are no exception to this."

"Vittorio," Tsuna called out to the other Boss. "No matter how many times you try, no matter how many contract cards you destroy, you'll never be able to destroy our bonds. Alone, we are weak and easily led astray. But together, we can overcome any obstacle that you throw at us." Tsuna clenched his fists. "The source of my power has always come from the support of my friends and family."

Tsuna's flames seemed to flare brighter in response to his emotions. "And with this power, I will protect the precious bonds I have my family.This is my resolve!"

A flare of orange light suddenly engulfed the surrounding area. Tsuna gasped as a heady rush of warm flames suddenly flooded through his body. It felt as if liquid fire was channeling through his veins, rushing through every pore of his body until they converged into a single focused point in his hands. Tsuna watched with wide eyes as his gloves were enveloped by a bright white light.

The gasps that sounded around him drew Tsuna's attention away from his hands for a brief moment. A quick glance around indicated that his Guardians were also experiencing the same rush of flames through their bodies though the focused points of white light were centralized on different parts of their bodies.

When the light finally faded away, Tsuna looked down at his hands to see large red gloves in place of his usual black ones. A large orange cross blazed across the back, meeting a crystal blue stone that held the Vongola crest in the middle. A quick look down his body also showed that he had gained a new leg bangle on his right leg, which was connected by a thin silver chain to a belt with an 'X' buckle.

When Tsuna glanced to his Guardians, he saw Gokudera examining his newly decorated belt buckle with a look of amazement, Yamamoto fingering the new necklace around his neck, Ryohei looking in awe at his new bangle, Hibari inspecting a thin silver bracelet, Chrome and Mukuro staring with great interest at the single earring that each other donned, and Lambo gingerly holding a new helm with a mixture of reverence and awe.

"Vongola Gear Version X," Tsuna whispered in wonder, somehow knowing the name of their new weapons without being prompted, as he flexed the fingers of his new gloves. "But how? And why now?"

Reborn's eyes widened slightly as he stared down as his own pacifier. He swore that he had heard the telltale sound of a crack and the sound of invisible chains unraveling when Tsuna and his Guardians gained their new upgraded weapons. He hid his eyes with his fedora as a satisfied smirk quirked up his lips.

"Maximum Synchronization," Reborn explained to a confused Tsuna. "It is a state that can only be unlocked once in a Summoner's life. Some Summoners even go through their entire lives without achieving it. It can only happen when the Summoner and Guardians' feelings are completely aligned with one another, when the bond between the two becomes so strong that it accumulates as an upgraded boost to transform your items into a form that reflects your state of absolute trust."

"Your new weapons are the tangible proof of your resolve and the strength of the bond with your Guardians, Tsuna," Reborn explained, not even trying to hide the note of pride in his voice. "Well done."

Tsuna and his Guardians gripped their new weapons and turned to Vittorio with newly lit fires in their eyes, but the Disdetta Boss didn't even look fazed in the slightest. Instead he let out a series of soft, eerie chuckles that made everyone's metaphorical hackles rise. "And just when I thought that you couldn't get any more interesting," Vittorio said, eyes crinkling in amusement. "Well done, Tsunayoshi-kun. Well done."

When said by Vittorio, the compliment felt more like a mocking insult than anything else. "Don't patronize me, Vittorio." Tsuna said.

"Oh, believe me, I am doing anything but. Here," Vittorio threw something into the air and Tsuna instinctively reached up to catch it. He opened his clenched fist to find the last crystal key gleaming back at him. "Consider that a prize for providing me with such an entertaining show." Vittorio said. "In fact, it has been most enlightening watching your continued progress. It's a dreadful shame that we have to cut this fanfare short."

"Thinking of running away now that the game is over?" Tsuna asked after carefully pocketing away the last key.

"Never in my wildest dreams," Vittorio said. "Alas, some other things require my attention at this point in time." Here, he shot Tsuna a wan smile. "I greatly look forward to seeing how much you will have grown in our next meeting, Tsunayoshi-kun."

"There won't be a next time, Vittorio." Tsuna readied himself, preparing to propel himself forward with a blast of flames.

"You don't really think that you would be able to escape, do you?" Reborn narrowed his eyes as he raised his gun in warning.

"I don't think I can, Arcobaleno Reborn. I know I can." Vittorio raised his scythe into the air. "Val!"

The clearing burst into action.

Vittorio slashed his scythe downwards and a wall of flames erupted up from the ground to block the oncoming shots that fired at them in all direction. In the middle of this chaos, a female dressed completely in black swooped in out of nowhere and opened a teleportation portal in the ground.

"Who the hell is she?" Gokudera demanded.

"That must be his Mist Guardian!" Tsuna said. "Don't let them escape!"

"Tell your dear Xanxus-kun that if he ever wishes to be able to reverse the effects of my scythe, he would have to destroy my scythe first," Vittorio said conversationally, still holding up the wall of flames to buy his own Guardians the precious few seconds they needed to escape. "Until next time then.Ciao~"

"Vittorio!" When the wall of fire finally fell, Tsuna shot forward with his flames, only to miss by a hairsbreadth as the teleportation portal closed right behind Vittorio's chuckles.

"Damn it." Tsuna hissed. "They got away again."

"There's nothing we can do about that now," Reborn said. "Our main priority now is to focus on defusing the situation."

"Right," Tsuna fished all six keys out of his pocket and held them out to Giotto. "Giotto-san, if you could."

"Of course." Giotto took each one of the crystal keys and tried to fit them into the lock of the machine. The last key finally fit in and with a whirling click, the machine fell silent. The Sun Flames that made up the barrier around the school shimmered into existence before slowly fading away.

Everyone breathed more easily now that the barrier and machine that had been consistently draining their flames was finally deactivated. Tsuna raised one gloved hand and shot three blasts of Sky Flames into the air, giving the all-clear signal to take the school off from the defensive lockdown mode it was in.

"The Arcobaleno Affiliation are already doing damage control in the classrooms," Reborn announced. "They have the situation under control in there, which means that we're free to move around out here." He turned to address his student. "So what are you going to do now, Tsuna?"

Tsuna's eyes, now faded back to their usual brown, looked drained. "Well, first things first, I have to report this situation fully to Nono, though he probably already has some idea on what had just occurred. Then I have to..."

"That's not what I mean, Tsuna." Reborn interrupted. "I asked what you were going to do now." A meaningful look passed through student and tutor for a long moment. Both knew Reborn was talking about how Tsuna's reveal of his identity would affect him at school.

Tsuna gave a half-hearted shrug. "I guess we'll just have to wait to find out, huh, Reborn?" The hitman frowned. He despised this state of uncertainty, but there was nothing that could be done.

When they saw that there was nothing more to be done here, the CEDEF and the Varia both began to split off to their own destinations, knowing that there was a lot of work ahead of all of them.

"Oi. Where do you think you're going, you shitty shark?" Xanxus demanded when he saw Squalo slinking off in the opposite direction of the rest of the Varia.

Squalo looked pained as he gritted out, "In case you forgot, losing that contract card means that I'm not your Guardian anymore."

Xanxus snorted contemptuously. "And who the fuck said that you could just leave as my Guardian? You promised you would follow me, trash, and I'm not about to just let some bastard change that even if he destroyed a fucking useless card. I'm your Boss so that means that I'm the only one you fucking obey. Got it, trash?"

Squalo lowered his head, but anyone could see the relief seep out of him even as he snarked back. "Tch. And here I thought I could finally get away from serving such a shitty Boss."

"I dare you to say that again, trash!" Xanxus growled.

"Voi! No need to yell I can hear you just fine!"

"Ushishi, it appears that the peasant shark has a death wish."

"Come here~ Lussuria-nee will kiss all your boo-boo's away, Squalo-chan!"

"Hell no! Get the fuck away from me!"

Tsuna gave a slight smile when he saw the Varia fall back into their familiar banter. The Varia were strong—he knew they would be fine. A dark shadow flashed across Tsuna's face for a split moment. But that didn't mean that he wouldn't do anything that was possible for him to destroy Vittorio's scythe so that Xanxus and Squalo could reform their contract.

Not to mention there was now the aftermath of the battle to deal with. Tsuna glanced around, noting the still smoking craters from the battlefield, the burnt and destroyed pieces of property, the acrid scent of blood and ashes that still lingered in the air, and suddenly felt a lot older than his seventeen years.

And as he looked up to see the still shocked and awed faces of his classmates, Tsuna knew that it wasn't just collateral damage that he had to deal with. Well, no use hiding it now—the secret was out of the bag. He sighed to himself and hoped that his classmates' perception of him wouldn't change too much. But as he threw a wry glance back at the masses that were swarming the windows, the expressions of awe still not quite having left their faces, Tsuna knew it was but a futile hope.

Of all the reactions that Tsuna was expecting from his classmates when his identity as Vongola Decimo was revealed, star-struck reverence was not one of them. Shock he could understand. Admiration he could understand. But not this state of fervent worship that all the students seemed to be seized by. And quite frankly, it was getting highly uncomfortable having awe-filled eyes and admiring looks follow him down the hallways. Worse yet, it didn't stop at just looks.

"Did you see the way that he single-handedly beat down those Disdetta Guardians?"

"Their new weapons look so cool! I can't believe he managed to achieve Maximum Synchronization at such a young age!"

"You think he would take me as a Guardian if I ask?"

"Eight Guardians! He could Summon eight Guardians at one time! That's unheard of! The most any other Summoner can Summon at a time is five, and that's only with CEDEF's Giotto and Varia's Xanxus. But he can Summon eight."

"Plus, Arcobaleno Reborn is one of his Guardians as well! He must have an insane amount of flames to be able to Summon and sustain their Summoning for such a long period of time."

Tsuna's Guardians also received their fair share of admiring looks, but nowhere to the degree of Tsuna. 'Well, what did you expect?' Tsuna asked himself as he ducked out the hallway to escape into the classroom, only to have everyone in the immediate vicinity drop what they were doing to stare at him, not even bothering to hide their awestruck looks. 'When you go and Summon eight Guardians so easily like that, especially with an Arcobaleno to boot, people were bound to talk.'

As the other students continued to stare at him as if he were some sort of interesting specimen and as frenzied whispers continued to fly through the air, Tsuna experienced a rare fit of annoyance. 'Why can't people could just mind their own business?' But what's done was done. Now all Tsuna could do was gracefully, or at least as gracefully as he could, ignore the rumors and wait until they died down.

"And they show their true colors at last," Mukuro sneered at their gawking classmates when Tsuna collapsed into the desk next to him in a tired slump. "The worms come crawling out of the woodwork as soon as they see something to gain."

Tsuna sighed. He could not bring himself to chastise to other because as harsh as Mukuro's words was, they were also the truth.

"Please don't mind them, Tsuna-san," Chrome tried to reassure. "All rumors eventually die down after some time has passed."

"I sure hope so," Tsuna replied tiredly.

"Hey, Tsuna," Yamamoto started curiously. "Why are they making such a big deal about you being able to Summon all of us at once?"

"Idiot!" Gokudera chastised. "Don't you know how difficult it is to Summon a Guardian and to keep them Summoned? When a Guardian is Summoned, the Summoner is constantly supplying their Guardian with their flames the entire time the Summoning is in effect. Of course, I can't speak of it personally since I am a Guardian and not a Summoner, but I heard that it apparently takes a lot of flames just to keep even one Guardian Summoned."

"Wow, Tsuna," Yamamoto stared at their Boss with no little amount of awe.

Tsuna shifted uneasily. "Gokudera-san's just exaggerating. I guess it's just slightly more uncommon for someone to be able to Summon more than five Guardians at a time."

"Don't be so modest, Juudaime!" Gokudera cried. "It must have taken a lot out of you to keep us all Summoned for that long, especially in such a battle intensive environment."

"It was alright," Tsuna gave a half-hearted semblance of a shrug. "I guess I just have slightly more flames than the usual person." Mukuro very deliberately looked away and pretended as if he had no knowledge of what Tsuna was speaking of.

Gokudera and Yamamoto exchanged a glance. They were not oblivious to the brunet's uneasiness to this topic whenever it was brought up and decided to change the subject.

"Oh, that's cool," Yamamoto said. "Anyways, did you catch that baseball game last night? It was such a close match!"

"No one cares about that stupid baseball game, baseball idiot!" Gokudera made a believable show of snapping back.

They decided that it was the best thing they could do for now, given how imbalanced Tsuna's current mental state must be after dealing with his classmate's reactions to his identity as Vongola Decimo. They knew he would tell them if and when he wanted to.

After the long school day (which dragged on for much too long, in Tsuna's opinion) finally came to an end, Tsuna found a uncharacteristic lack of his Guardians when he arrived back to the classroom; he had stepped out for just a few moments in order to take care of some business with the administration. Even Gokudera, who was hard-pressed to let Tsuna out of his sight to go to the bathroom, was missing. Tsuna shrugged, but didn't dwell too much on it, figuring that Reborn must have had them go take care of some business. Besides, it wasn't like he couldn't protect himself without his Guardians around him.

Tsuna regretted those words as soon as he stepped out of the classroom and was immediately mobbed by the students who were waiting outside.

"Tsuna-sama! I always knew that there was something amazing about you and-"

"How did you manage to Summon eight Guardians at a time? Wasn't it hard to sustain so many flames at one time?"

"Stupid! He's Vongola Decimo! Eight Guardians is nothing for him, right, Tsuna-sama?"

"I...I..." Tsuna, who was completely overwhelmed by this overt display of attention, could do nothing but stammer as he stared at everyone with wide eyes.

"Tsuna."

A single, clear voice cut through the din like a well-honed knife. Everyone immediately quieted and watched with star-struck eyes as Reborn, in his infant form, appeared at the end of the hallway. "We have some important Family business to attend to," he announced clearly. "Come."

A grateful Tsuna followed behind his tutor, who parted the crowd like Moses did with the Red Sea. The other students continued to stare at the both of them from a distance as the two wandered off.

"Thank goodness, Reborn," Tsuna said as soon as they were alone. "I was about this close to doing something drastic just to try to get away, even if it meant blowing up the hallway or something."

Reborn hopped onto his student's shoulder, less formal now that they were away from prying eyes. "Popular life isn't what you thought it to be?"

"Not at all," Tsuna scowled in a rare show of frustration. He ran a frustrated hand through his hair. "I completely understand why Gokudera-san looks so ready to get rid of his fanclub now if this is what he has to deal with every day. At this point, I would rather go back to being invisible Dame-Tsuna. At least then, I knew who was truly loyal and who didn't have ulterior motives for trying to get to know me."

"The ones who truly matter already knew your identity from the very beginning, so why should it matter now that the public has found out?" Reborn pointed out in that candid way of his. "Yes, there will always be sycophants who suck up to the Vongola Decimo in order to try to gain some of the prestige, power, or fame that is associated that name, but those kind of people are a dime in a dozen. What's important is that to the rest of your friends and family, you are still you, Tsuna."

Tsuna threw a warm smile back at his tutor. Reborn always knew what he needed to get him back on his feet, whether it be words of reprimand, a piece of advice, or sometimes, like now, rare pick-me-up words that were meant to comfort in times of distress. "Thanks, Reborn. And I know all that. But it doesn't mean that I don't wish that we could just go back to those peaceful times where we didn't have to worry about things like this."

"There's no use in lamenting about the past. You will have to face the future so that you can return to those past peaceful times," were Reborn's words of wisdom.

"You're right as always." Tsuna heaved out a sigh before steeling himself. "So where are we going, Reborn? This isn't the way to the training rooms."

"Training is postponed. There are more important matters to take care of right now."

"Training postponed?" Tsuna echoed incredulously. "Reborn, we barely know how to use our Vongola Gears to their fullest potential and the Disdetta may launch another attack any day. We need to be prepared for them!" He swallowed audibly. "And if we don't do any training today then I might..."

"I never said that training was cancelled, Dame-Tsuna," Reborn cut in sharply. He stared into Tsuna's eyes, seeing the rising panic in their depths and willed the other to calm down. His next words sounded like a light-hearted threat to anyone else, but Tsuna could hear the underlying thread of reassurance that ran through the words. "As if I would let you skimp out on training. You're a hundred years too early to be thinking about that. We're continuing training as soon as we finish up here. You still need your daily dose of ass-kicking from me after all."

"As if, Reborn." Tsuna retorted, but the hitman could already see his student's mouth crinkle up into the gentle smile he was accustomed to seeing.

"Don't get cheeky with me now. As for the issue of the Disdetta launching another attack, we do have preparations in place already. Our spy network has ensured us that the Disdetta will be lying low for a while after that blatant display," Reborn added as an afterthought.

"That's good to hear. So what are we doing then?" Tsuna asked, recognizing that they were headed in the direction of the Disciplinary Committee's office.

"We're holding a meeting, of course. I've sent word to everyone else earlier, including your Guardians. They should all be here by now."

"A meeting?" Tsuna repeated. As they turned into another hallway, Reborn gave a nod to two men who Tsuna recognized as Hibari's Disciplinary Committee officers. The two men, who were obviously standing guard at the mouth of the hallway, nodded back and waved them through. "But we've already had a debrief of the attack just yesterday."

"We're here to discuss something else." Here, Reborn had them stop in front of the large double oak doors that would lead them into the Disciplinary Committee office.

"So far the Disdetta have been the ones launching the offensive." Reborn smirked, looking predatory all of a sudden despite his child size. "I say that it's high time we take the initiative ourselves."

Author's Notes: For those of you who are complaining about how Tsuna acted so wimpy or may be wondering why he was so terrified of Vittorio's power, all I can say is that it has something to do with his past. I know I keep saying this, but it will be explained in time. You'll see then that his reaction is more than justified. There are also more hints of his past sprinkled throughout this chapter if you can identify them. Please also remember that in their world, contract cards are known to be indestructible (indestructible as in there would not be a scratch on the card even if Tsuna decided to X-Burner one), so it made sense for them to still be reeling in shock at seeing Vittorio destroy one so easily in front of them.

I apologize if the battle also seemed to end pretty abruptly, but I promise you that there is a reason behind Vittorio's sudden retreat. You're probably all tired of hearing this phrase from me, but it will be explained in time. When you find out what Vittorio has in store, everything will make sense, I promise.

So it looks like Tsuna has a whole new set of problems now that his identity as Vongola Decimo has been revealed. I bet his classmates now feel extremely foolish for looking down on 'Dame-Tsuna', huh?

And if it wasn't clear, Tsuna and his Guardians' new upgraded weapons are the Vongola Gear. I absolutely love the design of their new weapons, so of course they had to make an appearance in this story. So what did you think about the conclusion of the School Siege arc? Feelings about his classmates' reactions? Questions about Maximum Synchronization? Please leave a review and let me know.

-Bird of Dreams