Hibari finds Tsuna for their afternoon spar and tells him he's found a suitable home base. Tsuna wasn't aware they needed one, but it makes sense that the other boy's instincts told him to find a place that he could both defend and be safe in.

Carnivores, really.

Hibari's new minion seems to be settling in well enough, at least, so that's one less thing on his mind.

"Hmm, I think this used to be a school," Tsuna says, inspecting the broken glass that makes up the front door of their new base.

"School?" Tetsuya asks, but in a way that makes it seem like he's trying to remember details and not that he doesn't know what it is.

"Probably an old high school," Tsuna agrees, brushing off his knees. He sends a thin line of shadow around the old building, searching for any other living—or dead—presences.

"Do you have a plan, at least?" Tsuna asks Hibari, who's hanging back and watching them. The young monster nods.

"Hunting grounds," Hibari says, and then doesn't elaborate. Tsuna snorts.

"This is because I told you last week that I wouldn't be going to junior high with you, isn't it? What happened to making the school your hunting grounds?" he asks.

Hibari glares at him, dark eyes narrow and intense.

"The herbivores are too weak. They aren't a true hunt, I need—" a clenched fist, "—more."

Tsuna nods, plans already forming. No doubt the vampire (or zombie, or demon, or whatever the right nomenclature really is) will end up forming a hunt at school anyways, because he spends the most time there and he has a tendency towards possessiveness, but this way they should be able to siphon some off his more dangerous instincts better. And if that means beating up yakuza and thugs in the evenings, well, Tsuna won't mind. He's always in the mood for a snack.

"Well then, Tetsuya-kun, I leave the details in your hands," Tsuna says with a smile, turning to the other boy, who blinks at him in confusion but bows anyways.

"We'll need to get this place in tip-top shape for it to be a proper secret hideaway, after all," he continues, straightening from his crouch.

"Of course, Sawada-san," Tetsuya says, "I have experience in the managing and supplying of a household already."

"Please, call me Tsuna. We'll be seeing a lot of each other from here on out after all," Tsuna says with a grin.

Next, to find Hibari some more minions to deal with the more annoying aspects of managing a territory. Tsuna himself has never had the inclination towards territory or a hunting grounds—his species isn't geared towards it—but he does feel a need now that Hibari is able to control at least some of his instincts to find a minion of his own.

Hibari is a good friend, or at least he likes to think so, and Tetsuya seems like a dependable spirit, but now that there's three of them Tsuna can't help feel unbalanced. There's a feeling in the back of his mouth that keeps trying to tell him something.

Tsuna licks his fangs and hums in thought.

It feels like magic.

—

It is only as he's on his way back home, alone, that he remembers another project that got side-tracked with the arrival of Hibari and his appetite.

Those men were obviously after him for some reason, and it wasn't because of his shadow. More importantly, they were after him because of his father. A father who still hasn't called back or sent word after they told him about the men after him.

And more than that, a father that Tsuna distinctly remembers having a fire similar to his own. The few times he's seen the man his human body was too young to really notice it, but the larger self inside him is constantly aware even when his body isn't. So he remembers the scruffy man with blond hair, a steady flame of orange near his heart. The exact same colour as Tsuna's own, which is strange. Strange because it was one of those colours he doesn't see often in the other humans auras, and he thought it was because of his own supernatural nature. His father is human though. Now that he has time to think about that, it feels a little suspicious.

Of course, he still hasn't been able to coax his own fire into working with him, although it feels warmer after the ordeal with Hibari. It seems to be a lot more sociable than he is, becoming restless if he isn't with the other boy.

He enters the house, feels the muted presence of his mother and tracks it into the living room. A brand new black leather couch meets him.

"Oh, welcome home Tsu-kun," his mother says with a tired smile that he returns. He knows she's had a tough time living with him, but he also knows she can handle it. It's her price for calling him anyway.

"I'm home," he says, about to walk into the kitchen to get towards working on his homework due Monday, when a thought has him stopping.

The fires are no doubt a human magic, more than likely the same magic that lets them make contracts with the shadows in the first place. As such Tsuna would have a disadvantage in using them, because he's both not human and because he has magic of his own. But Nana is human, and has already tapped into her own power inadvertently to call him up.

"Mama?"

"Hmm, yes Tsu-kun?" Nana hums distractedly as she nudges the couch a little more into position.

"How were you able to call me up, the day this body died?" he asks, turning around. His mother startles, blinking wide eyes at him.

"I don't—I mean, shouldn't you know?" she asks shakily. Tsuna shakes his head.

"I mean, yes. I know how it works for shadows, the contract in blood. But you were calling us even before this body's death. Somehow you were able to, I don't know how to explain it." He huffs.

His mother looks shaken, and she sits down on the new couch slightly trembling. They don't talk about his true nature very often, don't talk about the fact that whoever Tsunayoshi would have been is dead. That Tsuna might have his skin but he's only outwardly her son.

He hums in thought.

"I've noticed, since being in this body, that humans have this power under their skin. It isn't from the shadows, seems to be connected to their bodies in a way that makes me think it's unique to their species. I think it's what make them able to call us up," he says slowly, before taking a seat besides her.

"And you think that—that I used this?" she asks, rubbing her arms.

Tsuna smiles wryly and and takes one of her hands, cradling it in his much smaller fingers.

"I suspect so. And that you can use it again, for something besides calling up the shadows."

Nana shakes her head, but doesn't actually dispute him. Tsuna doesn't lie, isn't really human enough to think to, and she can't help but believe him. She's not sure how she feels about the idea of being magic, of having magic, but really, in the larger scale of things it's not the weirdest thing she's heard.

Her son is a monster, his friends too. She's had to deal with bloodstains and haunted furniture, moving shadows and threatening whispers in her sleep.

She's done all this thinking she was the normal one; the eye of the storm.

She still doesn't understand what lies under her son's skin.

"What does that mean?" she finally asks, after the silence stretches and her son still doesn't let go of her hand.

Tsuna smiles.

"I once knew men who could see into the dark places of the universe and talk to the long-dead. I walked with shamans and prophets when the birth of religion was still a long, drawn-out fever dream. This is my first time actually being—" here he looks down at their clasped hands, "—part of humanity. It's a coming of age, sort of. As shadows, we cannot change ourselves on our own. We must experience the world through another's skin."

He looks up at her, eyes blazing.

"I should know all there is to humanity, despite only just experiencing it. I watched the cosmos being born. I have swum in stardust. That there is magic that I do not know? That means—everything."

Nana swallows, the intensity of his speech making something thrum inside her. She knew he was old, knew that the beings that stalk the shadows and watch her with lazy eyes in the nighttime were greater than she could ever understand. And yet, she hasn't connected that with her son before.

Somehow he is still just that, her son.

"What do you need me to do?" she finally asks, as the fire in his eyes banks back down to it's usual amber.

Tsuna finally leans back, letting go of her hand. His grin slips into something a little more natural, a little less monstrous. She almost forgets for a second what he is, in the fading afternoon light. His shadow is still and soft behind him.

"We need to figure out how it works, what it does. I don't think I'll be able to do it on my own, considering my own nature. But you, you already have part of it unlocked and it shouldn't take all that much more to open it up more. And then, well, you'll be magic," he says.

Nana sighs. She's not sure if she wants to be magic. Then again, she's not sure she can afford not to be, considering the things Tsuna gets into.

"Ok."

—

Basil touches down in Namimori with the clothes on his back and an address written in cramped handwriting in his pocket. He's nervous, too young to be doing missions on his own and yet standing there, backup an ocean away.

He feels awkward, unsure. He's worried about meeting his boss's wife, the one he talks about all the time, the one he loves so much. He's worried that he'll do something, that she won't like him, and then his boss will be angry at him.

Or worse, disappointed.

He eventually forces himself out into the warm air of the city and flags down a taxi. He's lucky he has a Vongola-sanctioned account, and that he doesn't have to worry about paying. He didn't really get enough time to prepare anything else.

Iemitsu, perhaps out of forgetfulness or out of some desire to teach him something, gave him only enough time to get to the airport and on his flight. He's not even sure if this is a Vongola mission, considering the amount of secrecy involved, not involving any other members or crews.

Iemitsu is pretty protective of his family of course. There's even rumours that the Ninth visited once to make sure security was in place.

Basil is so nervous he doesn't even make small talk with the driver, instead spending the drive on hyper alert to his surroundings, looking for threats. He's not sure if he would even be able to find one, considering he hasn't completed his training yet, but he tries anyways.

He arrives at the Sawada household twenty minutes later and has to smooth down his suit anxiously at the sight of the cozy house.

Here goes nothing.

—

Nana and Tsuna are interrupted by the front door buzzing, and both of them turn to it inquisitively. They can just hear a car drive away.

"I'll get it," Nana says, standing.

She walks to the entryway and peers into the peep hole. A young blond boy stands on her front steps in a wrinkled suit. He looks like he's been fidgeting, a nervous expression on his face. Nana frowns and opens the door.

"Yes?" she asks, after the boy's eyes snap towards her.

"Sawada-san? Your husband sent me to look into the reports of suspicious activity in the neighbourhood. Please, call me Basil," he says, bowing low enough she's afraid he's going to hit her knees.

Nana blinks at the boy, who can't be older than twelve, and opens the door some more.

"You better come in," she says, turning back around, beckoning him to follow her. Part of her feels like she might be signing his death warrant as she does. He's so young. Too young to be caught in between a house of monsters and whatever her husband is up to.

Another part of her feels bitter that Iemitsu would send a child, not even a teenager, and not come himself. Does he truly believe that sort of thing is normal? Then again, her view on normality has changed so much since Tsuna was born. Things that she would have brushed off are only highlighted now that she sees the true strangeness of the world.

"Tsu-kun, one of Papa's colleagues is here about the strange men," she says as she waits for the boy to slip off his shoes. Tsuna's fluffy head pops around the corner and he stares intently at the boy.

"Oh no, I'm not a colleague!" Basil hurries to wave off, "I am a simple intern in the company, no where near Iemitsu-dono's level."

Both Sawadas stare at him some more. Nana isn't sure if it's a miscommunication on the foreigner's part or something her husband legitimately makes the boy call him. She wouldn't be surprised if it's the latter.

"Well, it was nice of him to send someone anyways, even though I'm sure it's nothing," she finally replies, knowing that to say otherwise would be out of character. Although who knows if the boy knows enough to realise that.

"I'll get the tea ready," Tsuna pipes up, disappearing back into the kitchen. Nana beacons the boy—Basil, along as she joins him.

As she does she keeps an eye on the shadows in the house. Sometimes you can tell Tsuna's emotional state just by how off they look, how they will move in the corner of your eye if you pay attention.

Today they seem calm, but it's not a perfect system and she feels anxious anyways. It's just as likely that Tsuna will adopt the boy as he will eat him, after all. Oh, Tsuna and Hibari think they're being subtle with their nighttime activities, but she's able to put together the clues when they're plastered on the clothing she washes and the inside of the fridge holds more meat than she buys.

At least it seems to have ebbed ever since Tetsuya joined the picture, but there are still moments when the enormity of what she harbours under her roof chokes her up. When bile rises unwanted.

They take a seat at the table and she watches her son pretend to be engrossed in tea making. She can't help remember the half-hearted wish she had that the next adopted child be a girl. Just for that she silently prays that Tsuna doesn't end up fond of this Basil. Already tied to her husband and his business, she justifies the desire with the knowledge that it would be a bad idea.

"So these men you've seen, Sawada-san?" Basil says, once all of them are sitting and staring at each other.

"Well," she murmurs, eyes falling to her cup. She's been drinking so much tea ever since her son got old enough to fall in love with the ritual of making it. There's something comforting about it, if she ignores where he gets some of the leaves.

"It seems so silly now, but there's been a few of them asking around. Not for me, I don't think, but for Tsuna. I thought at first that they were from his work, you know? They seemed like the type."

Basil's eyes are sharp, despite his age.

"Have they done anything?" he asks, fiddling with his sleeve.

Tsuna shakes his head. Nana lets him take the rest of the conversation, grateful to no longer have to lie. The men her son killed were not good men, but she still would rather not think on them at all. This whole affair is making her uncomfortable.

"One of them tried grabbing my arm after school but my friend stopped him," Tsuna says, acting bashful. Nana hides an ironic smile in her tea. Hibari certainly did more than stop him, although she still doesn't know the full details. Besides the first few from the alley, she knows of two more incidents where men in suits tried to corner the boys. It never goes well for the men in question.

"That certainly doesn't sound like any of our men," Basil says emphatically. He looks insulted by the idea of it.

"I'll take a look around and make sure everything is ok. I'm sure Iemitsu-dono would want you to be as safe as possible."

"I'm sure," Nana mutters, lifting her cup to her lips. Safe from what? She's the safest she's ever been, with a monster as a son and miles of blood running down her drain.

Iemitsu knows nothing. Not about safety, and not about family.

—

Tetsuya has adapted to this new age as much as he can, following his master around. It helps that the empty house is similar enough to ones he's taken care of in the past and that Hibari's lack of social grace disguises his own.

The management of the school is more difficult.

Not only keeping out the rabble, which Hibari does with pleasure, but fixing up the building and installing defences. His master's fortune is large, and the boy seems content with simply buying whatever he feels the most suitable, but Tetsuya is used to careful budgeting. He spends quite a few nights pouring over sheets and sheets of finances and invoices and inventory lists.

It gets to the point where he starts eyeing the more intelligent of the thugs they keep chasing out. Some of them seem to be angling for recruitment, hanging on the outskirts of Hibari's patience and showing off when they think they can get away with it.

He could use a few under-servants of his own, but he's still unsure enough of his Master to hesitate with suggesting it. Hibari is the type to disdain interaction with anyone outside of his very small social circle. Tetsuya doesn't even think he likes Tsunayoshi-san all that much, and the boy saved his life.

A few weeks after his awakening he is gifted with a pair of slim tanto, and they see their fair share of action, although he tries to stick to hand-to-hand when he can get away with it. The sight of blood still sends Hibari into a rage, and they really shouldn't be adding to the body count.

Which is also why when Tsunayoshi-san calls to say a messenger from his father is visiting, he makes sure to schedule a series of inspections for his Master so they don't meet. It would ruin the act they're putting on if they have to send the boy back in a body bag.

It's a good thing that he doesn't mind following his Master around while the boy sets about cleaning up his territory. It's not that much different than some of his past duties, especially concerning rival families and clans, even if the motivations are skewed.

Hibari wants a territory to defend because it soothes the supernatural instincts he's still struggling with. His past masters wanted territory for power and protection.

He watches his Master test the weight of his new tonfas on the skulls of a few gang members that were skulking too close to said territory and sighs. He really needs to find some subordinates to make his job easier.

He can't even enjoy the sight with the knowledge of just how much paperwork he has left back at the house.

—

Haru is a strange girl, everyone agrees. Cheerful to a fault but with a sharp temper, she'd almost seem normal if it weren't for her horrible luck. It seems any tragedy in a ten kilometer radius can be linked to her in some way, to the point where at school people start joking that she's cursed.

It's not so much of a joke when she's stuck in the police station, again, because someone died in front of her, again.

A lesser girl might be broken by the amount of broken bodies she's seen, but Haru is special. And very good at purposefully forgetting traumatising events. Most times she doesn't even realise how odd her life is, because she suppresses so much of it.

Robberies? Forgotten. Murders? Deleted. Suicide? Never happened. Collapsed buildings? Something you only see on TV.

When she can't get away with ignoring the events completely, when they are big or strange enough that they stick even in her mind, she goes about dressing them up so that they taste better to her thoughts. Things that would make her cry are turned into things that make her laugh instead. Muggers become party entertainers, dead bodies become actors, the strange and inexplicable monster living a block from her who wanders the night in bloody clothing is simply a bored boy who doesn't do his laundry enough.

Sometimes she thinks about chastising him, with the rate he seems to go through clothing. Why, every other day she'll see him with another wrecked shirt, red stains visible even from a distance.

Sometimes she can see him fighting with a dark haired boy in the park, when no one else is there. They seem like friends, of a sort, even if only one of them ever laughs.

Watching them is something she ends up doing late at night when she can't sleep. She's gotten good at shimmying down her window onto the branch of the tree outside and walking the few blocks to either the abandoned school yard or the park. Sometimes they aren't there, and so she'll spend a little while exploring.

The nights where her nightmares are especially bad, when her brain can't delete the bad memories or she can't dress them up, she'll even think about joining them.

They look like they're having fun, and it's been a long time since anyone willingly played with her.

Maybe someday she will. She has a feeling she's not ready yet.

—

The locals know something is going on, of course. Not only the sudden influx of foreign men and weapons but the sudden influx of bodies too. Some are talking about some sort of covert war being fought on their soil, Italian and Japanese dying alike.

Those who pay attention know differently. The yakuza die do so randomly, without context, but the mafia die systematically. They don't live more than a week before some horrible fate befalls them.

And then way they die too, more gruesome than even veteran criminals can handle.

Something is going on. Someone is responsible. Whispers of monsters and oni and curses filter from gambling hall to bar to love motel. It's hushed conversation outside warehouses and nervous chatter with corrupt cops because at the end of the day, even the lowest man fears what he does not understand.

It's gotten bad enough that clans from out of town have been making vague remarks, checking for weakness.

And all that's before Hibari the younger blazed into power. The older crowd remembers his parents, and pay close attention to his progress with the petty gangs.

They know the damage a Hibari can do. It would be easy, some murmur, to get rid of him now. Before he becomes a legend, or a rival clan can snatch him up. Before his family comes back.

The smarter ones are already making contingency plans. The really smart ones start packing: when the devil comes to town you don't bother trying to deal with him. Not if you want to make it out alive.