Tsuna was rather anticipating coming to school today. He perked up at the word 'transfer students', since he knew that Reborn had arranged for Melody to be in his class along with at least one other.

Melody was sick of the Mafia Academy, more specifically she was tired of the boys trying to get into her pants or impress her in order to 'earn' a chance to be one of her Guardians. According to Melody (and confirmed by Daniela), it wasn't that uncommon for female Skies to pair up with male Guardians.

And since she was close to the Vongola Donna and from a well to do mafia famiglia, that made her a prime target. It didn't help that she was a powerful Sky as well, which only made her more appealing to the piranhas that made up the mafia.

The teacher introduced Melody and her Storm Hayato (who had Takeshi perking up) and the two took their seats. Melody was right next to him, while Hayato took the seat behind him.

However it was what the teacher said next that had Melody openly sighing in exasperation.

Really? Her brother just had to be such an overprotective mother hen that he somehow managed to get into the school as the new English teacher?

Melody could get out of that particular class, as she had spent several years in England and somehow managed to retain the accent.

Unfortunately that particular chance was taken out of her hands the second Dino made her his "official assistant", aka his own personal gopher. Since she didn't need to learn how to read and speak English, she was stuck helping him in class.

She mostly found the problem students who had great difficulty with understanding the language. Tsuna chief among them.

After school hours...

Tsuna looked at the comic in Melody's hands with confusion.

"What's this?"

"The supplementary homework assignment you're getting for English," she said flatly.

"You're giving me a graphic novel...as homework."

"Not a manga... most of those are generally released in Japan first and the translation can be very wonky if you tried to rely on them. However there are plenty of American comics you can translate on your own time to help inspire you to learn English a bit faster. These are also short enough that it shouldn't take nearly as long to translate," said Melody with a straight face.

Considering the students with the most trouble in the class were all boys, she felt it was a suitable way into tricking them all into actually learning something. They certainly had no arguments, and Melody would know immediately if they had tried to cheat because she had convinced Shōichi to mess with the popular search engines for the next month so that the results would go to mistranslated copies. If they though they were going to get easy extra credit by looking up the Japanese translation, they were in for a nasty surprise.

Tsuna looked at the book with curiosity and open interest. It was a good start, considering how far behind he was in the class.

"What series is this?"

"Doctor Who. I figured if they're going to be translating a comic book and having to read it out loud in front of Dino-nii, then it might as well be something they will actually enjoy reading. And you liked watching the series with us, so I thought it would be an easy choice."

Reborn was rather skeptical of the trick, but when he caught Tsuna slowly reading out loud the words in the comic, he had to admit it was a sneakily effective ploy.

Giving them comics had Tsuna actually interested in learning properly, since Reborn would patiently correct him whenever he used the wrong word. By the end of the week he wasn't consulting the little dictionary he had nearly as much, and when called upon by Dino to read a short passage out loud he got the majority of it right.

Whereas several of the other boys tapped for the 'extra credit' assignment ended up having to do a much harder one because they didn't bother to do the translation themselves.

Melody was slowly coaxing Tsuna into using his Flames properly. Forcing them out with the special bullets was fine and all, but for someone as skittish as Tsuna it was only going to make him more reluctant to actually USE his Flames in the first place. It was bad enough Melody had to explain in detail what the property of Sky Flames were and how to tell if a proper bond had taken place.

Takeshi had to have a similar explanation, but once they figured out what was wrong the two of them had started making headway to a proper bond instead of the half-cocked one they had when Melody arrived.

Though the thing Melody found the most strange was the fact that Tsuna seemed openly relieved when Hibari started drifting more to her Sky rather than his. He found the Prefect to be quite terrifying and the thought of trying to control him gave the poor kid nightmares.

Melody didn't mind Hibari's violent nature. Far from it...there was more than a few people she would happily direct the violent Cloud to and enjoy the fireworks.

Reborn was rather disappointed, mostly because he had hoped to fill Tsuna's Sky early and not have to deal with it. So far the only ones Tsuna had were Takeshi, Lambo and possibly Ryohei or Shōichi. It was hard to tell which Sun was being drawn to him, as it was still too early.

"Honestly Uncle Reborn, I don't know why you just assumed that he would find suitable Guardians so easily when he still had that seal on him. And anyone with eyes could tell that Kyouya-kun is a horrible fit as his Cloud. He wouldn't respect Tsuna at all," said Melody.

"I know, but I just wanted this job over and done with. I'm old, little princess, and I know my time is almost over. I guess the fact that I'm almost ready to go made me sloppy," admitted Reborn. And if it wasn't Melody, he wouldn't admit to that much.

He had always been closer to the girl than he had Dino. It was strange.

Reborn actually quite enjoyed it when Melody carried him around like a doll, not that he would say it out loud. There was something in her Sky that made it very easy to simply lean back and relax... while watching the chaos happen, of course.

Which was why he said nothing when she picked him up to cuddle with him, and once again simply basked in the feel of her Flames.

Except something happened even he didn't expect... for once his Flames didn't passively hover. Instead he could actively feel them mingling with her Sky, until they merged...and a guardian bond formed.

"Welcome home, Uncle Reborn," said Melody, hugging him.

Reborn was silent, still in open shock that he had found his Sky after so long.

"...Dibs on telling your brother and Daniela. I want to record their expressions," said Reborn after he snapped out of it.

Melody giggled wickedly, making him grin.

Dino, predictably when he heard the news, fainted. Daniela stared before she started to cackle quite evilly.

Reborn was just happy to have a Sky he knew he could trust...and who was quickly developing into a troll almost on the same level as him.

On an unrelated note, he now had even more reason to nudge Melody towards Tsuna.

Dino, Reborn and Daniela had noticed Tsuna's "crush" on Kyoko swiftly being replaced with a much stronger one towards Melody, though there was the small fact that Byakuran had made no bones of the way he felt about his only friend. The albino Sky was more than a little territorial.

Dino had zero issues with Melody dating Tsuna. The kid was shy, but had a good heart that generally got lost by this age in the mafia. There was also the unspoken fact that Kyoko was far too much like Nana, even if she was the younger sister of Ryohei.

Tsuna had enough issues...he didn't need a borderline Oedipus Complex on top of them.

There was an unofficial betting pool over who would end up with Melody as their girlfriend.

The one in the lead was Byakuran, followed closely by Mukuro, Tsuna and surprisingly enough, Hibari after Melody laid him flat on his ass using a few moves Fon had taught her.

Daniela, when the subject had first come up, had cackled rather delightedly. An unspoken fact about strong female Skies was that they had a habit of attracting multiple lovers. The fact Melody was able to draw in two Skies of equal strength as well as a powerful Cloud and Mist was a very good sign about how strong her Flames were, never mind the purity.

Dino was torn, but at least had the small measure of comfort knowing that any boy who broke his sister's heart would have to contend with a lot of angry parties all too happy to hide their broken bodies somewhere in a ditch where no one would ever find them, including a large number of pissed off Assassins, at least three Arcobaleno and a very vindictive female Sky.

He was still in shock his sister was strong enough to harmonize with Reborn of all people.

Said Sun could now be often seen sitting calmly in Melody's arms regularly after school hours. He was rather content to be carried around, or was could otherwise be found sitting on her shoulder like some sort of odd parrot.

Melody certainly had no complaints about the fact Reborn loved to cuddle against her.

Though the expression on Fon's face was rather amusing when he realized what Reborn was doing.

"So how exactly do you know if you have a Guardian bond with someone?" asked Tsuna, after Melody explained why Reborn was acting a bit odd for the past week and a half.

"Remember how I showed you the correct way to manifest your Flames without the bullets?"

Tsuna nodded.

"I want you to bring out your Flames for a moment," said Melody gently.

Reborn and Fon were in the room, quietly conversing in Mandarin about who would take in I-Pin, Fon's apprentice and adopted daughter.

Reborn was able to shrug off the feeling of Tsuna's Flames... Melody's own wrapped around his Sun like a warm hug that just welcomed him home with open arms. That, and Tsuna's Sky had fallen into an easy Resonance with Melody.

However when Tsuna's Sky came into contact with Fon, the most surprising thing happened.

One moment Fon's Storm was about to brush it away, mostly out of old habits from other Skies trying to forcibly bond with him.

Except instead of Tsuna being quietly rebuffed, Fon's Storm latched onto his Flames. Fon sat up straight in shock, his eyes widening in disbelief. He turned to look at a very confused Tsuna, who was listening to Melody quietly instruct him in how to detect Guardian bonds.

Needless to say it didn't take much for everyone to realize what happened.

Reborn had an understanding expression on his face when he looked at Fon, once he realized which Sky the Storm had bonded to.

"Luce's attempts are nothing compared to the real thing, wouldn't you agree?" said Reborn.

Fon nodded in numb shock.

"...It's probably a good thing he bonded to Tsuna instead of me, considering Kyouya has shown a stronger interest in joining my Sky instead. Can you imagine the repair bills he would cause if he had to share the same Sky as Fon?" said Melody.

Tsuna whimpered at the mere thought of it.

"And don't get me started on Mukuro and Kyouya. Those two go at it like cats and dogs, and it doesn't help that Mukuro is so very good at pushing Kyouya's buttons to the point he gets even more violent."

"I'm surprised you allow them to fight," said Fon joking.

"So long as I'm not legally required to care about the damages and they hide the bodies of anyone stupid enough to interrupt their playing, it's not my problem," said Melody.

Fon smiled at that, before turning to Reborn.

"You've definitely found your perfect Sky, old friend."

"Whereas Tsuna has been showing an aptitude for hand to hand combat when Melody tried to find what his best weapon is. You might have a hidden prodigy on your hands if you're lucky," said Reborn.

Tsuna looked at Reborn owlishly. (He picked it up from Artemis, who regarded him as another owlet she had to mother.)

That was literally the NICEST thing his demon of a tutor had ever said about him, even if it was implied that he suspected it might be true. It was always 'Dame-Tsuna' this and 'Dame-Tsuna' that.

At least Melody's presence had caused Reborn to only use that awful nickname when Tsuna was being particularly stubborn. Something about how another word in her presence would cause Melody to cringe violently and have nightmares.

Tsuna liked her too much to ask what that word was, and why it affected her so badly. Mostly because he suspected that it would cause him to use Vongola resources to go after the ones responsible, if Dino-nii and Reborn hadn't dealt with them already.

Reborn was currently betting with Daniela, Dino and Xanxus over when Tsuna would figure out he liked Melody as more than just a friend, and when his hormones would finally get a kick in the pants long enough to make the rather amusing mess that was Melody's potential love life become even more interesting for the older generation.

Melody suddenly looked at Fon, then at Tsuna before a smirk appeared on her face.

For some reason all the Arcobaleno were cuddle sized and she could usually get away with hugging them.

And since Reborn had a habit of turning into an adorable bear for her to hug at night, she wondered if Fon was the same.

Reborn, sensing potential chaos, shared a look with Melody.

"What are you planning, little filly?" asked Reborn quietly, while Fon introduced himself properly to his new Sky.

At least the question of what to do with I-Pin was now moot. After all, if Fon had a Sky then it was only natural that she would have to stay with said Sky if she wanted to continue her apprenticeship. And having a Guardian bond was one of the few ways to get out of the Triads and keep his adopted daughter safe from their attempts to corrupt her.

"Just wondering how Fon would react if Tsuna decided to cuddle with him while half asleep like you do with me," said Melody innocently. "I know new Guardians are very clingy the first month or two, so it's only natural Fon would have to share the same room as Tsuna. Why not make it a joint sleepover and see if Tsuna's Flames pick any other new guardians?"

Reborn smirked at the implication of that. If Tsuna did turn Fon into an impromptu teddy bear to cuddle with, he was so getting blackmail for later.

(Coincidentally he about laughed himself sick when Fon was tricked into black cat ears through a combination of Melody's puppy dog eyes and his instinctive need to make his Sky happy. Tsuna certainly found Fon's new look very adorable, as he happily hugged the Storm the way Melody did with Reborn...with I-Pin right next to Fon.)