"So, Kyoko-chan, are you really going out with Sawada? There are a ton of monkeys in this school that would jump at the chance to go out with you. I always figured you could do better than...her."

"Hey! Tsuna-chan is a perfectly nice...person. And it was just one time. But I guess I wouldn't mind going on another date with her."

"I didn't know you swung that way. Not that it really bothers me."

"It's not really that I'm attracted to girls. It's just that every time a boy confesses to me, it just never feels right. I always remember that time that my big brother got hurt protecting me and I just get kind of scared. But I don't feel that way around Tsuna-chan. And I had a lot of fun with her last week."

"Frankly, I don't see the appeal whatsoever. She's clumsy enough to trip on her own feet while standing still. And she's never gotten a single question right during class."

"I was clumsy too when I was younger!"

"That was when you were 8 years old. Sawada is a completely different level of uncoordinated."

"I guess so. But I don't think that makes her a bad person."

"What about me? I think I'd probably make a better girlfriend than Sawada."

"You're my best friend, Hana. Of course I like hanging out with you. But when I'm with Tsuna, it's like nothing I've ever felt before. It's not just the excitement of trying new things but also, Tsuna is… accepting. I feel like I could tell her anything and she would listen and it wouldn't change what she thought of me one bit."

Except there was a pang of guilt inside Kyoko as she realized she was afraid of asking who Tsunayoshi Sawada really was.

"Fine, if you want to date another girl, I'm okay with that. I never thought you'd turn out to be a lesbian, Kyoko."

"Noooo, I told you, it's not like that! Tsuna is just a special case!"

"Well, if you ever want to come out of the closet, just know that I'm here for you and we'll always be friends."

Kyoko blushed and pouted in mock protest. Then she suddenly gave Hana a big hug and said, "Thanks for everything, Hana."

"You're still too good for her, Kyoko."

Kyoko bopped Hana on the head with a gentle karate chop. "Don't be too hard on Tsuna. If you give her a chance, you might find that she isn't as bad as you think. Besides, if I do end up dating her, no one is allowed to make fun of my girlfriend."

"You're such a sap."

"So are you, Hana."

Thursday evening, there was a dreadful rain in Namimori. Two gunshots rang out, followed by a mass cawing of crows and then four more peals of gunfire.

Haru Ikari, displaced shinobi of Konoha, tumbled backward over the railing of his Namimori safehouse. He fell for less than two seconds before crashing into the roof of a parked car. His favored black coat, an allusion to a video game he had played in a previous life, was punctured clean through in half a dozen places. The blood leaking from the wounds was turning the rainwater pink.

From the third floor balcony, Haru could see the silhouette of his assailant adjusting a wide-brimmed hat. He had already set his chakra to begin mending the wounds but he was not in a condition to fight back. The unknown assassin had shot Haru before the ninja even had the chance to create a crow clone to replace himself with. All the boy could do was twist his body to prevent any of his vital organs from being hit. He could operate with a single lung for the time being.

Haru dug the fingers of his left hand into the roof of the car and wrapped the sheared metal around himself like a cocoon. Knowing that wouldn't stop gunfire on it own, he strengthened it with his chakra to give himself enough time to run through a few hand seals. It was a good decision because another six bullets embedded themselves into the makeshift cover.

The explosive seals etched into the walls of the apartment all detonated at once. Haru hoped the shockwave would be enough to slow down the attacker. He knew better than to rely on illusions against high level opponents. Instead, he sent a trio of miniature fire-natured Rasengans to hunt down the enemy assassin while launching ninja wire into a nearby rooftop to make a speedy escape.

The ninja wire was reeled into the custom storage seals on his wrists at such high velocity as to send Haru flying into the air like Spiderman. He landed in a painful tumble due to his chest muscles not working properly but at least he had managed to put a couple building between him and his assailant.

"Who did I piss off this time?" the dark red-haired boy coughed out. He wiped some blood from his lips. It would be about ten minutes or so before his body was back in working order, minus some chakra. This was certainly not the work of any youma or youkai, who would have been the only parties upset with his part time demon hunting job.

Clutching his chest, he staggered away at a brisk pace to find a safe place to lay low for a while.

The World's Greatest Hitman was unhappy. An unknown faction was attempting to ingratiate themselves with his future ward. It was evident from the way the teenager moved that he was a trained killer. Not only that, as soon as his presence was detected, Reborn had felt a level of killing intent that only the most jaded of hitmen could accomplish.

Flipping open a green cellular phone, Reborn gave a curt, "Target escaped," before snapping it closed and stuffing it into his tiny baby-sized suit. "Tsch."

He would track down this mysterious threat and eliminate it. But in the meantime, Reborn needed to figure out why Tsunayoshi Sawada was going to school dressed as a girl.

Ding, dong! The doorbell of the Sawada residence rang in the middle of the evening after dinner. A fully male Tsuna answered the door and was surprised to see his older friend Haru standing outside his door, soaked to the bone with frigid rain.

"Yo, Tsuna, can I crash here for a little while? I need to get some repairs done on my apartment and you're the only one I know who lives anywhere nearby." The older boy was dressed in a plain black t-shirt and jeans. Haru's traditional ponytail was undone and being too annoyed and tired to do anything but grimace, he looked vaguely like a drowned cat.

"Tsu-kun? Who's at the door?" Nana asked from the living room.

"Um, it's just a friend of mine," Tsuna said.

"Oh! A friend?" Nana spoke as she walked toward the door, "Aren't you going to let them in?"

"I guess you can come inside…" Tsuna reluctantly decided.

"Thanks. Who's this, Tsuna? Your mom?" Haru asked, kicking off a pair of damp sneakers.

"It's nice to meet you. I'm Sawada Nana, Tsunayoshi's mother," Nana said with a bow.

Haru returned the gesture, "Ikari Haru. Thank you for inviting me into your home."

"Tsu-kun, your friend is very well behaved," Nana said with a smile.

The older teenager spoke while gently wringing water from his hair, "So yeah, basically my apartment burned down and I need a place to stay for a while. Fortunately, no one was seriously hurt."

"You poor dear! Of course you can stay here as long as you need to!" Nana exclaimed. "Now go take a bath while I fix you something to eat."

"Thank you, Sawada-san and Tsuna. I really appreciate this," Haru said. "Now which way is the bathroom?"

"It's the last door on the right. And Tsuna-kun, can I get your help in the kitchen please?"

When the older teenager was happily bathing upstairs, Nana asked her son, "Does he know about Tsuna-chan?"

"Oh, yeah, mom. He's kinda been helping me with that," Tsuna said fidgeting slightly.

"That's good! I'm glad you have a friend you can trust," Nana said as she pulled some wrapped leftovers out of the fridge. "Oh, by the way, I almost forgot to tell you. When I told you father about your first test results of the year, he said we should get a tutor for you! Luckily, there was a flyer in our mailbox."

She presented her son with a flyer that said "Will raise your child to be the leader of the next generation! Any subject, any grade!"

"Mom, I don't need a tutor!" Tsuna vehemently objected, staring at the ridiculous advertisement.

"I was hoping you would get more serious about your studies after getting into middle school. But if your tests are already this bad before getting a girlfriend, well, they're only going to get worse now that you have less time for studying."

Tsuna just put his hands on his temples and squeezed as hard as he could while shaking his head in a futile attempt to stave off an oncoming headache.

Nana suddenly had an epiphany. "This Ikari-kun isn't also your boyfriend, is he?"

"NO."

Later that evening, a terrified feminine scream pierced the walls of the Sawada household. It had originated from the upstairs bath.

Tsuna was sitting in the furo, up to her neck in satisfyingly hot water, yet was still inexplicably female. Ordinarily, hot water would change Tsuna back into a guy (along with his clothes if he happened to be wearing any at the time) but this temporary fix had suddenly stopped working as of tonight.

There was a knock on the bathroom door.

"Oi, Tsuna, did you happen to use my soap that I left in the bathroom?" Haru asked from outside the bathroom. "Cause, see, I use this special soap and I forgot to mention that if you happened to use it while you were in your cursed form then you wouldn't be able to change back for a while."

The door slammed open and Tsuna, wrapped only in a large towel, looked up at the taller boy with fiery female rage in her eyes. "Define 'a while.'"

"It should only be a few days or so…" Haru said with his hands up in the air, trying to be as non-threatening as possible. He had been on the receiving end of his fair share of mallets back in the day.

The almost naked, almost 14 year old girl glared angrily at the older teen. Tsuna was shapely enough that if Haru didn't have specific reservations about not dating anyone under 18, then Haru would have been tempted to get a better look at what the towel wasn't covering.

That didn't stop Tsuna's mother from commenting though, "It certainly looks like you two are dating," as she stood at the end of the hallway. "I hope you're not cheating on Kyoko-chan!"

The female Tsuna slammed the bathroom door shut and considered drowning herself in the furo.