Reborn walked on the edge of the walls separating the houses from each other, balancing with a practiced ease. Leon was perched on the rim of his fedora, alert and ready as usual.

Reborn's new mission consisted of nearly the same details as his previous one—to train the heir of a strong mafia family. This time it was for Vongola, not Cavallone, but it seemed that the kid he was going to train was just like his previous student—clumsy and useless. According to Iemitsu, Sawada Tsunayoshi is a shy (cowardly), pacifistic (weak), academically-challenged (dumb) child that needs a gentle guiding hand (Reborn snorted, though unnoticeably). All of that would be beaten out of him soon enough.

He hopped down from the wall when he reached the address Iemitsu gave him, but the house he saw did not appear to have any residents. Plants were overtaking the yard, the windows were grimy with dirt, and the wooden frames of the door and windows were chipped away from the elements. Reborn took Leon's cell phone form and called the Young Lion.

"Reborn! How are my wife and cute son doing?" the excited voice burst out of the speakers. Reborn's eyebrow twitched.

"Iemitsu, you are an idiot, aren't you? You should at least give me the correct information so that I don't waste my time. The house you sent me to is empty."

Iemitsu confusedly looked at his phone. "What are you talking about? I did give you the right address. I checked it twice before I sent the info. There's no way that I would forget my own house."

Reborn opened the rusted gate, walked out, and took a closer look at the house. The nameplate, though old and obviously not taken care of, had the name 'Sawada' etched into it. So this was their house, but no one lived here anymore. Another sweep and he noted that, although the house looked uncared for, there were no signs of a break-in or a struggle. So they left voluntarily. "Iemitsu, when have you last visited your family?"

"Hm? What does that have to do with anything? They're safe, aren't they?" he replied uncaringly, fiddling with his pen that he was supposed to be using to fill out the paperwork nearly overflowing on his desk.

"I wouldn't know that, would I? They're not where they're supposed to be, according to what you say. The house looks like it's been abandoned for years."

"What are you talking about? They wouldn't have left; they have no reason to. Besides, they would have told me first," Iemitsu denied, flipping the pen around his fingers. He forgot that he had never left any contact info for his dear wife in case an enemy ever traced her to him.

Reborn tilted his fedora over his eyes in annoyance. Iemitsu was not giving the appropriate amount of concern on this topic. He growled into the Leon-phone, "Well I can't do anything about this. From what I see, your wife left of her own will."

"And I told you, she wouldn't have done that. She's probably visiting a friend. If that's all, I have work to do." Iemitsu hung up and continued "working", i.e. playing with the pen.

Oregano pushed open the door to the office with another stack of papers in her arms. When she saw that her boss was disregarding his work, she slammed the papers in front of him, snatched the pen out of his hands, and said with a cool aura, "If you don't start working, I'll give you a reason why you are unable to."

Iemitsu hesitantly picked the pen back up and started signing.

Meanwhile, Reborn was cultivating a dark aura about him as Leon skittered back to his spot on the fedora. Well, there was nothing for him to do here. It was evident that Iemitsu was unaware of his familial situation and he had just wasted his time. Reborn would just have to return to Italy and report to Nono that the Vongola heir was missing. He would let Nono deal with Iemitsu; that would be satisfying, at least.

If Reborn had bothered to enter the house and look around, he would have found a note yellowed with age addressed to Iemitsu on the nightstand in the master bedroom. As it was, it would not be found until much later.

Hello, Dear,

If you are reading this, then you noticed that we are not in this house anymore. I'm sorry that I couldn't tell you directly, but you didn't give me a phone number to call you.

Tsu-kun and I need to leave. My grandfather needs us to inherit his job. It's quite an interesting one, too! Tsu-kun's going to be a king! I'm going to be his regent while he grows up. Doesn't that sound fun? I wish Tsu-kun could have had a normal childhood, but this is very important. If my older brother hadn't died, he would have taken the throne, but since he did and he left no heir, Tsu-kun is the only choice left.

When you aren't busy with your construction work, come and see us sometime! We're going to be at Merith, the place that I told you I wanted to go to during our anniversary three years ago.

Hope to see you soon,

Your darling, Nana

The country of Merith was at 140 degrees north and 0 degrees latitude, in the equator and south of Japan. The island country, though not abundant in industry, made use of its fertile land to raise fruits to make the sweetest wines in the world. Unlike many modern countries, Merith still used the monarch system, but the royal family of Alsveith was dwindling in numbers. Currently, the family consisted of the king—who was getting on in years—his daughter, and her son—his grandson.

The king had previously thought that with his death, the country would fall apart since only people with Alsveith blood could keep control of the island. He wasn't referring to the people, oh no—the people were kind and could probably civilly live among each other even without a leading head for at least several generations before a power-seeking individual comes along and makes a grasp for control. He was talking about the land itself.

The lore specific to the land told of a shipwreck survivor that had drifted onto the island many centuries ago. Supposedly, the man had fallen in love with one of the spirits that controlled the island's weather and life, and he was loved back. The couple bonded and had a child. When more shipwreck survivors swept onto the shore, a human population was established, and the spirit couple became their rulers. A few centuries later, outside nations found the country and plotted it on their maps, but none attempted to overtake its territory. For some reason, storms would roll in quickly and the sea would become treacherous whenever a hostile presence approached. Merith became a neutral country, and no one tried to change that after the first fleets of ships and planes were sunken well beneath the deceptive waves usually so calm.

Very few believed in the myth, and only those working intimately in palace politics knew that parts of it were true. Spirits did exist on the island, and the country did in fact require those of the spirit bloodline to lead it, the reason being a contract between that first human and the spirits. The first contract specified that the human could live on the land as long as he did not ruin it like the spirits had seen humans do on the larger landmasses. In return, the human would make periodic offerings and keep control over any other humans that may appear. A breech in the contract would result in the complete eradication of any humans living on the land, no exceptions. When a Gale Fox became closely acquainted with the man, the relationship between the spirits and the human turned friendlier. After more human began arriving on the island, the contract was modified to give them permission to have a small amount of industry as long as it did not excessively pollute the land and there were more areas with natural marks (i.e. trees) than factories.

The humans developed a system that fitted both the spirits' and humans' needs. Sweet fruits were modified and cultivated so that wines could be produced to trade for items that they couldn't make on the island. In this way, fruit trees were abundant and factories only produced items for the bare necessity, keeping inevitable pollution at a minimum. Luxury items were traded for. Both were happy.

It is in this island country called Merith that Tsuna lived in for seven years since he was seven. From what he remembered, Japan was a nice country, but the kids were not as nice. Just because he was quieter than most, he was picked on. Tsuna did not miss that at all.

When his mother got a letter and said that they would be moving to her home country, Tsuna had been a bit hesitant in leaving the only place he had been happy in. However, when he met his grandfather (who was surrounded by guys in black like the people in those cool spy movies) and got a warm welcome, he was not regretful at all in leaving his first home.

What he did dislike were the boring lessons that he has to endure as the prince and heir to the throne. (Like his mother wrote in the letter, she was acting as his regent while he prepared to take over. His grandfather had retired and was acting as a guiding hand rather than actively taking part in running the country.) Repeatedly, he slipped out of his bedroom window and climbed down the sakura tree placed conveniently nearby (at least for him; the guards that had to chase him down grew a dislike for that tree when they found that was how he escaped) whenever he could. The first few escapades ended quickly because of his notable clothes. The gold-stitching lined white flowing shirt and pants along with the small crown did not help him at all. After learning his mistake, Tsuna changed out of his formal clothes and instead donned plain brown garments. It helped him blend into the townspeople better, but the guards learned to pick out his distinct fluffy hair. Tsuna then started to wear a hood. Now the guards had to search out a small boy in plain clothes that covered his hair. Tsuna was thankful that they had difficulties with that. He did not want to start cross-dressing to escape them.

Currently, he was crouching behind a fruit stall while eating a peach and keeping watch for black-clad men. Out of all of the fruits that Merith grew, peaches were his favorite. He was not old enough to drink the wine that Merith was famous for, but he did enjoy the peach tea that was popular among the younger ages. Usually, he made a short stop to the orchard beside the castle to pluck a ripe peach to eat while making a short venture through the town before the guards found him and dragged him back.

He adjusted the dull green hood to make sure it was covering his face before stepping back into the crowd and following the flow deeper into town. He hoped to see something interesting before being forced into his lessons again.

Reborn stepped out of the ship and onto the dock. After informing Nono about his missing heir, he was sent to renew the ten-year trade alliance for Vongola Trading Company with one of its best fruit providers. Usually, he did not appreciate being used as an errand boy, but Reborn recognized that Nono was giving him a chance to cool off his anger at the Young Lion and have a break. Regrettably, because of his new "mission", he was not there to witness the chewing out that Iemitsu got. As unfortunate as that was, he would at least be able to get a few bottles of his favorite wines at a lower price than they would be in Italy. Even though he was as rich as he was, he still did not like to spend money freely, and Merith's wine was expensive even without the import costs, but it was definitely worth it.

Reborn smirked and walked toward Alsveith Castle, anticipating the delicious fruits and drinks he would be served during the meeting with the current ruler, a woman named Nana la Alsveith.

Sorry for the boring country backstory.

I'm thinking of putting in a few minor crossovers (Bleach and Kuroshitsuji). Suggestions?

I'd also appreciate a name suggestion to replace Merith. That was just a name that came into my head. No idea where it's from. Maybe also a title suggestion… I see I suck with names.

About Tsuna and Nana's name change: I figured that they should have the royal name. Sawada would be a hidden middle name... or something. It's still there somewhere.

About the spirits: I see them as humanoid figures with animalistic characteristics (like the ears and tails).