Renato Sinclair had a habit.

It couldn't be said that it was an unhealthy habit, but it wasn't a very good habit, either. Mammon would disagree, saying that Reborn's said habit was good for his business, but I digress.

Collecting information for people who wouldn't pay up in the end was an utter waste of his time, after all, and Reborn had never failed to deliver. You could say that Reborn was his favorite, if not only customer nowadays, as normal people would never have the drive to go so far as Reborn, who usually resorted to unthinkable methods and occasionally chased after his goal with a single-minded ferocity that was coupled with an arsenal of unmatched charm and wit at his disposal.

Not like any of his peers had the qualifications to even resemble his eccentric personality in the first place, but again, I digress.

So being a well-connected, passionate young man that liked to be informed of all the happenings around him, it wasn't long before he heard a few things along the grapevine that concerned a certain 'useless' student.

Coincidentally, it was the student who had recently managed to capture the infamous Reborn's attention even before the interesting rumors began to spread. How on Earth could that have happened, right?

Well…

If he was in the mood to answer any questions regarding that topic, Reborn would say it was one of the more bizzare situations that he'd ever encountered, involving the aforementioned boy, a shoe, the local demonic prefect, a bunch of back-alley bullies, a red-head and of course, a cat.

Tsuna was walking home from Minami-sensei's tuition center, enjoying the rare bit of peace that life had granted him when he caught sight of a group of malicious looking, sneering high school students that seemed to be crowding at the bottom of the river bank, surrounding what seemed to be a… body?

Tsuna stopped in his tracks and blinked. A shift from one of the boys blocking Tsuna's view, and he managed a glimpse of a shock of bright, red hair and an unknown, bruised face.

Yup. Definitely a body.

"Holy shit," Tsuna whispered. "I'm witnessing a murder."

Later on, he would think that maybe that was an exaggeration, but honestly, could anyone blame him? The banged-up body on the ground seemed lifeless and it didn't even twitch when one of the boys had aimed a harsh kick to his side.

"Get up, you pissant!" One of the burly boys shouted as he aimed another kick at the other's gut. This time, Tsuna was able to hear a watery choke. "It ain't appreciated with your nosy ass, taking away our fun like that, so you're going to make up for that by being our punching bag!"

Standing there, Tsuna was broken out of his horrified, gaping stare when he heard the declaration and the following cheers. 'Oh dear God,' he'd thought, all too familiar as to where this was headed. 'They're really going to kill him at this rate.'

Now Sawada Tsunayoshi was never the one to play the hero and act on impulse. Rather, he had seemed like he was the kind to just run away and hide indefinitely when faced with a difficult situation, but upon witnessing another boy getting bullied right in front of his eyes…

It had hit a little too close to home, and something in him snapped.

"Get away from him!"

Suddenly, a familiar shoe was in his hand and before he knew it, he was at the bottom of the river bank and his shoe had connected with someone's head, immediately knocking them out.

"Fuck-!" Tsuna heard someone scream, and when he looked up, it was to the shocked and confused eyes of the red-head's bullies. Speaking of, he quickly noted that the other was looking up at him with equally indescribable, puffy red eyes.

"Get away from him," he repeated, sounding calmer and fiercer than he had felt. "Now, or I will make you."

And just like that, before the bullies could even retaliate, Hibari Kyoya came swooping down like some bird of prey seeking for vengeance and blood, unknowingly saving Tsuna from getting the beat-down of his life.

(Tsuna was incredibly grateful, although he felt that the beating and peculiar demands for future battles he had afterwards from his indifferent savior was incredibly unnecessary.)

"Herbivores," he'd growled, a bloodthirsty smirk on his face. "For disturbing the peace of Namimori by crowding, dirtying the river with your filthy presence while assaulting a Namimori student and a cat-" Tsuna blinked, and promptly started to silently freak the fuck out when he saw the white tuft of fur jutting out of the red-haired boy's jacket. "-you will all be bitten to death."

And then he pounced, tonfas out.

None of them, except maybe Hibari himself, were aware of an extra pair of amused, dark eyes watching from the bridge, too immersed in panicking and trying to get away from the demonic prefect at the same time.

A slam of the classroom doors and the students of class 3-A had managed to jump away just in time for a blond teen to come barreling in, heading straight for Reborn's desk without any sign of stopping.

With practiced ease, the said student only rose from his desk and as the boy drew nearer, stepped to the side before raising his arm and bracing himself …

…as he charged forward as well.

There were cheers are polite claps all around when Reborn's arm met with Colonello's neck, successfully clotheslining him and sending him tumbling to the floor, the blond's back hitting the ground with an unforgiving slap and forcing a pained grunt out of him.

"You fucking-"

"Careful, Colonello," Reborn drawled boredly, but the smug glint in his eye was unmistakable. "There are children around."

Colonello snorted, not as much in amusement as being disbelieving. "Children, kora? You must be fucking blind." Forcing his body to get up and get off the ground, he prayed that there would be no bruises at the end of the day. Though that would be highly unlikely, that bastard Reborn. "And would it hurt for you to let me greet you, you fucking asshole?"

Too used to this kind of behavior, Reborn only dusted his uniform before returning to his seat, rolling his eyes as he did so. "Considering your form of greeting is to charge at me with the force of a bull only your hard-headed skull could withstand-"

"Hey!"

"-I don't think that I would be letting you do that anytime soon. Now, if your greeting were to be more like Fon's, however, that would be a different case."

"Yeah, well, that's never going to happen, kora!" Colonello declared, glaring at the shrugging boy. Turning his head to the side, he smirked. "And speak of the fucking devil, kora."

"Just because I like the color red does not mean I am the devil, Colonello. That was very rude of you, and I'm disappointed."

Reborn snorted, and watched amusedly as Colonello was caught off-guard, gaping and floundering as he tried to explain himself to the frowning boy. "I-I-Surely you've-I didn't mean it like that-Reborn, explain this-!"

Fon smiled, and almost playfully, patted the other on the back. "I know, I was just joking." Oblivious to the bewildered look on his friend's face, he turned to Reborn and shot him a polite smile.

"Good morning, old friend."

"See, you idiot? He's polite, and he calls me 'old friend', like some kind of monk at a shrine that hasn't seen Buddha in a while. Learn something from this."

"Oh, fuck the both of you, kora," mumbled Colonello, ignoring the teasing "Language," from both his friends. "I didn't come here to get fucking played, anyways. I came here to talk to Asshole over here,"

Reborn huffed elegantly as a way to show his disinterest, because a gentleman would never snort. "If this is about Lal being a bitch again, save me the complaints."

"Reborn," Chided Fon gently, though a small, amused smile could be seen creeping its way to his own lips at Colonello's shouts of denial. "It is unbefitting of you to call a woman such as Lal a derogatory term like that, and it wouldn't hurt to at least hear what Colonello has to say."

Reborn looked positively insulted.

"Are you suggesting that I listen to him spout more shit than usual in my presence? With consent? Since when were you on Daisy's side?"

"Insinuating that I would play favorites?" Fon gasped, a little dramatically. "Never."

"Blasphemous, kora. Can't believe Jackass actually said that."

"Oh? And I can't believe you actually know how to use big words, Colonello, other than your usual caveman speak."

"Well you are fucking asking for it-"

"I see that the usual farce is still going," came a bored voice from the window. "Tell me, did you guys make a schedule that's timed perfectly to interrupt the only free time I have this morning for me to carry out my experiments?"

"Good morning, Verde," said Fon politely.

"Shut the fuck up, Verde," said both Colonello and Reborn, a little less politely.

"If I may ask, what are you doing out there so early in the morning?"

The green-haired boy only waved his hand, as if to brush away Fon's question. "Just trying to capture a Suzumebachi. The venom in their stings are going to be quite useful, don't you think?"

"But don't those come out only in September and October?"

"Mere myths. You can find them if you try really hard." Fon could only nod along. "So would anyone care to explain why these two idiota are being so noisy?"

"Spero che si muore in una fuga di gas, stronzo."*

"Cute, Reborn, but I'm still looking for answers."

Fon sighed then, a little exasperated by his classmates' antics. "Well, Colonello came in earlier and had tried to tackle Reborn-

"-and failing horribly,"

"-before declaring that he had something to tell him. We're still not sure what it is that he wanted to discuss though, seeing as they've been bickering since then."

Colonello ceased in his glaring and gasped. "Oh, right! See, I was walking back from Lal's classroom just now-"

"Harassing her again? I was wondering why I heard screaming just now." Reborn received multiple unimpressed looks. He could only shrug. It was a conditioned response for him to insult the blond at every chance he could, and it wasn't like he had enough fucks in him to correct that habit anyways.

"-when I overheard some girls whispering something about you going for Minami-sensei's tuition classes, kora." Verde and Fon both had an eyebrow raised here while Reborn just continued on looking mightily unimpressed. "So, jackass, mind telling us if this is just one of those crazy rumors again or is it actually true this time? Because knowing you, you just love fucking with people and you might be the one who started this rumor in the first place."

"First of all," Reborn leaned back in his seat, still looking uninterested. "Watch what you say, bumble-bee, because I have never deigned rumors to ever leave my mouth. Second of all, what's wrong with taking extra classes even if I don't need them? It's not like I have anything else better to do during the evenings, though you should probably attend these classes too because God knows you need them, Buttercup."

Ignoring the jibe, Colonello crossed his arms and allowed a smug smile to cross his handsome features. "So it is true. You are going for tuition classes."

"Though I agree with you that this should not be made into such a big deal," Verde coughed and Colonello looked insulted as Fon hurried to say his piece. "I have to admit that I am just as curious as to why you would attend extra classes out of the blue, Reborn. Has something happened?"

"Nothing happened," quipped the student in question. "I've already said that I am attending extra classes so stop prying into my reasons."

Colonello whistled mockingly. "Somebody's getting defensive, kora. If it's not for the subject, then you must be going there for something else."

Reborn chose not to say anything, settling for a glare in Colonello's direction as a response.

"It must be a person then," mused Verde. "Someone that had (unluckily) caught The Great Reborn's interest, maybe?" They did not miss the sudden tensing in Reborn's shoulders.

'Bullseye,' they thought.

"Don't you people have something else better to do?" Reborn hissed, quite fed up with the prying already. "Oh no," Colonello crowed, glowing as if his day had just been made. "We're not going anywhere until you tell us who this person is."

"Fuck off," he growled. "And Verde, I saw a Suzumebachi there on the window sill just now. Serves you right for neglecting your research," Reborn felt his mood lift a little at the glower the green-haired student gave him.

"Now, now," Fon said, trying to ease the tension between the three boys in front of him before a real fight broke out. "I'm sure Reborn has his own reasons as to why he's not willing to tell us who it is and as his friends, we should respect that decision."

There was silence between them as the three continued glaring at each other, leaving Fon to just mentally sigh at their stubbornness. Then, Colonello grinned, a mischievous glow in his cornflower blue eyes. "Alright," he said. Reborn did not trust that smile one bit, and he had a feeling that he would absolutely despise what would come next.

"Alright," the blond repeated, still grinning. "I'll respect his decision—as long as I get to attend that class, too."

Motherfucker.

Before Reborn could snap at him, Colonello quickly continued, acting innocent as he did so. "I mean, Reborn did say that I needed the extra help in my studies, so why not, kora? It shouldn't be a problem, should it, Reborn-kun?"

Reborn reminded himself that killing a student would result in immediate expulsion and he would also no longer be able to listen to Tsuna's singing. Reborn also reminded himself that Colonello, no matter how much of an insufferable idiot he is, was one of the only trustworthy friends he had.

But really, was his patience worth it?

Was it worth it?

…

…

…

"Fine," he spat, venom lacing each undertone and Colonello had to think that for a moment that maybe, just maybe, he'd crossed a line there. "Do what you want, but leave me alone now. I am in no mood to tolerate any more of this nonsense."

Colonello nodded and said no more, already satisfied with the day's results of riling his favorite jackass of a friend up. Shooting a knowing look in Fon and Verde's direction, he only received a shrug and an exasperated nod in response.

'Good,' he thought, turning around before heading towards Lal's classroom to tell her the news. 'That means that they're in. Though, someone who managed to capture Reborn's attention enough for him to go that far? Could it be someone special?'

Colonello snorted at the thought.

'Forget it. A miracle would have to happen before that asshole could ever admit that he had a heart like the rest of us.'

And on he went, blissfully unaware of the interesting twist his life had just taken.

"Mammon!"

Twitching, the said student only deigned to glower at the intruder because how dare he let sunlight in that silly, obnoxious little twat he knows that he's sensitive to light what does he think he wears the hood for Jesus Christ how were they ever friends in the first place-

"Close the door," he hissed. Seeming to just only realize what was going on, Skull yelped and quickly moved to shut the door. "Whoops," he said sheepishly. "Sorry about that."

Mammon scoffed. "Right. Now what do you want, disturbing me so early in the morning?"

Skull brightened up at that, and practically launched himself at his cloaked friend, babbling all the way like an excited child.

'Which he probably is, this fool,' thought Mammon as he stepped to the side and allowed the purple-haired boy to face-plant directly onto his sofa. He was not amused.

"Mammon! Mammon, guess what?" Skull began, already bouncing back up to his feet and grinning like an over-excited puppy. Really, why were they friends again?

"Stop wasting my time and tell me what you have to tell me already,"

But Mammon's peeved tone did little to deter Skull's energetic rambling.

"Oh, oh, you've gotta guess! You probs already know about it, but c'mon! Guess! Guess! Guess!"

"Skull, either you tell me what it is or you're getting kicked out. You have three seconds." He held up three fingers, and he could've sworn Skull had pouted.

"Alright, alright! So listen, this morning I was going on my usual walk around the classrooms, right-"

Two fingers.

"-Colonello-senpai and Reborn-senpai were arguing and somehow Fon-senpai and Verde-senpai got into the mix, too but-"

One finger.

"-Reborn-senpai's attending tuition classes and he basically allowed the rest of them to follow! So that means we get to do the same, too because it's Reborn-senpai and I'm really, really curious about-"

No more fingers were held up.

"Stop," he said, and Skull did, looking quite out of breath. "As interesting as it is, Skull, I don't think I would be interested in going to tuition classes just for information I'm not interested in."

"But-!"

"Besides, I already knew all of that." Mammon thought that it was maybe a little too cruel to not have said that earlier, but the gaping face Skull had was priceless, and it was worth it. "You meanie," he huffed. The boy looked at him.

"Oh? Then perhaps I should charge you for wasting my time, then?" At that, Skull squeaked and promptly shut his mouth. Mammon sighed. "I'm joking," he said. "But waste my time again the next time and I will double your interest," he warned.

Skull nodded frantically. "Does that mean I can go?"

Mammon shook his head exasperatedly. "You do what you want, mu. I already have enough information as it is. But the moment you do see anything though-"

"I know, I know. I'll tell you, for free!"

As he shooed Skull off to class after the impromptu agreement, Mammon had a sudden feeling that this was perhaps, more interesting that he thought it would be.

Oh, he could just barely wait to see everything play out and document all of it, because won't that be worth his time?

Thinking of all the blackmail material he would get, Mammon thinks that it would be.

*: I hope you die in a gas leak, asshole.

A/N: I lied. This is going to be a multi-chapter fic because the bunnies won't stop reproducing in my head.

God damn.

Also, don't worry about FODAID. I'll update soon enough, so leave a review and if you want, go to my tumblr page mars-take-scibbles and leave a prompt. I'll do my best to write it.

Toodles.