I apologize ahead of time for any grammar mistakes and character OCCness if it were to occur.

AU. GEN Fic. No pairings.

Disclaimer: I do not own KHR.

Summary: Sky, Storm, Lightning, Rain, Sun, Mist, and Cloud, these were known as the seven Knights - or Elements - of the Sky in legends and myths that once appeared out of nowhere and rescued the world from disaster and guide it to an era of change. Or so it was dictated in children's books. Nowadays, there are people who have flames that goes by the same names as the weathers.

Tsuna could hear a mild thrumming in the back of his head while he was trying to sleep. Something was coming, it tried to warn, but Tsuna had a mind of ignoring that little warning because he just wanted to -

Zzzap...!

"Hiiiiieee!" Tsuna shrieked in broken syllables when the shocking current of electricity from a defibrillator blasted at him on full. He rolled out of bed with a resounding - thud - looking quite barbequed, but his attention was on the culprit of that the aforementioned defibrillator.

"About time you woke up."

... Tsuna could not have imagined that one day, Satan himself would grace his presence to give him a personal wake up call (Tsuna didn't know where he should feel honored or terrified at the 'consideration'). And he was pretty sure he hadn't done any affronting deeds that could receive hell's wrath. At least, he hoped he hadn't because that would be just awful and Tsuna did not want to go to hell after he died.

"Why, I'm insulted Dame-Tsuna," The brunet flinched at the mocking tone. "You should be honored to have me wake you up. Vongola-style."

Tsuna gaped at Reborn and sputtered indignantly. "I could've died!"

"But you didn't," Was the other's flippant - too flippant - answer.

Tsuna opened his mouth to give another argument, paused, reconsidered, and decided to avert the topic instead because something told him not to go against the seemingly harmless infant or it would be a torture worse than hell itself. (Tsuna was starting to change his mind. Hell sounded like paradise compared to Reborn.) "H-how -"

"What did I say before about stuttering?"

Tsuna swallowed and retried. "How did you get into my room?!"

"The window." Reborn made it sound like it should be obvious - which, it was, seeing how said window was wide open with a night breeze... wait. Night? Night?!

Tsuna whipped his head towards the digital clock on the nightstand and it read in bright neon letters: 4:36 am.

What.

... he had to spare a moment to wonder why any sane person would wake someone up at the godforsaken hour of four in the morning, but then he stared at Reborn and decided wisely that, no, he shouldn't continue thinking down that path unless he had a death wish.

"Good choice."

"... that's creepy." Tsuna blurted out involuntarily, which resulted in him meeting a green gun at point-blank. His eyes became crossed just staring at the tiny hole that could spit out the very object that could decide his future road right there and then.

"Sorry, what was that~?"

"N-not -" Tsuna swallowed again, remembering the warning a few minutes prior about stuttering because of that sadistic gleam in the other's eye. "Nothing!"

"Good, now get your a** up and dressed because we're going to start our... little study session."

"But... but the sun's not even up yet!" Tsuna wailed, not particularly fond of that momentary pause in Reborn's sentence... nor did he particularly want to know what Reborn was thinking that got him look so... so demon-like.

"Does it look like I care?"

(Not particularly, no.)

Tsuna cried silently on the inside because he couldn't show it on the outside for obvious reasons or he was going to lose a few years of his life - if that gun still threatening him haven't shaved a good amount off already. (Then Tsuna briefly wonder if he had just imagined that little sneeze that came from the gun.)

Byakuran blinked his bleary eyes, staring up out of the window of the student council room that belonged to the Mares. He was leaning over his chair, his head hung upside down because he was absolutely bored of the things that he was supposed to be doing. Paperwork and the like were never things that he cared for, seeing as they just piled up and up and up without end - and he didn't even care about what the students were up to and what their clubs wanted. It had nothing to do with him whatsoever -

"Byakuran," A navy haired girl took a seat next to the white-haired male. She placed a stack of paper down while smiling helplessly. "You're always like this when it comes to council duties."

"That's why you're my Vice President, Yuni-chan~" Byakuran chuckled, but then made a face at the papers that Yuni was looking over. "I can't believe that you can tolerate them."

"Someone has to," Yuni quips with a pleasant smile instead of complaining that she was pretty much the only one of the council that was actually doing what they were supposed to be doing. "The well-being of our students isn't just a small matter, y'know."

"Yuni-chan is always so kind and considerate," Byakuran grinned, patting the girl who was a head shorter than he was. "It really makes me wonder sometimes..." He trailed and didn't continue.

She knew what the other had been thinking, but didn't make a mention. Instead, she redirected the topic to something else. "Ietsuna-kun and his Elements are coming back from their mission. What do you plan to do?"

A fox-like grin stretched across his face as he spread open his arms. "Welcome them back of course~!" He swung his legs over the table and pushed so that his chair tips backward but not topple. He used that to do a flip and landed on the window that was large enough for the Mare president to stand and lean against its frame.

He looked back into the sky, and with the light filtering in and dabbing over Byakuran's uniform, it seemed to create a mysterious air around him. "Ne, have you heard that Ietsuna-kun has a brother, Yuni-chan?"

The Vice President of the Mare council blinked, confused. Of course she knew, and she was pretty sure Byakuran knew it too. It shouldn't be a secret to people like them, or rather, secrets can't particularly hide from them. "Why do you ask?"

"Nothing," Byakuran mumbled, tapping a finger against his chin, seemingly in thought with a rare, unreadable expression that wasn't a smile. If she didn't spend as long of a time as she did with Byakuran, she wouldn't have known what could be running through that eccentric mind of the Mare's right now. But she did, and she couldn't decide what to think of it.

"I'm just wondering what he's like, is all!" Byakuran broke into a grin, looking back at Yuni. "Anyways, we should plan for Vongola council's return!"

"Just don't make it too hard on Auntie Luce, okay?" Yuni sighed exasperatedly. "She knows that the matters of the students are in our care but she still worries for their sake whenever you and Vongola dukes it out too often to count."

"Hehe, Little Luce worries too much~"

"... she's older than you."

Byakuran laughed, but there was something more to it that only Yuni could pick up. "Not by appearance."

Tsuna would like to say he was on the third floor of some obscure building somewhere on campus - but no, instead he was scared witless because he was trapped in a net three-stories high, hanging outside of said obscure building, after failing to answer a math question while being chased by a dozen or so hungry hounds that Reborn sicced on him the moment he left the safety that was his dormitory.

(He should have really listen more carefully to that little warning bell in his head when he had tried to reason with himself that it wouldn't be so bad to get tutored by a headmaster.

But noooo, he had been a tad too optimistic about the one person that gave him the urge to live the hermit's life on the most remote mountain on the planet and even then, Tsuna would still feel uneasy.)

Tsuna gulped as he looked down, his vision spinning at the sight of the ground so far away and seemed to get even farther.

"R-Reborn..." His voice taut and squeaky as he thread his fingers through the weaved ropes that just felt so thin and ready snap at a moment's notice. "I-is this... is this really necessary?"

"Of course," The infant hitman replied squeakily, casually tossing a glance from a nearby window while chomping down on a banana. "How else would you learn that it wouldn't be a good idea to fail?" He paused, scanning Tsuna over. "But at this rate, I can tell that you'll have to be conditioned indefinitely~"

Tsuna gave his - unfortunately - tutor a look of incredulity mixed in with despair. He couldn't believe that the headmaster sounded so cheerful. God, what did Tsuna do in his past life to encounter this epitome of sadism?!

"Now, if you answer this correctly, you'll be free." Reborn continued, pulling out a sheet of paper. "If you don't..." Reborn grinned as Leon - as Tsuna learned was the name of the chameleon - transformed into a pair of unreasonably gigantic scissors.

"Hiiieee -" Tsuna stopped mid-scream when he caught the glint in Reborn's eyes and swallowed, sweating bullets as thoughts of 'I don't want to die I'mtooyoungtodiesomeonesaveme!' flitted through his head a mile per second. His mind was in so much disarray that -

"What is the -"

"1842!"

- that he interrupted (death flag right there, Tsuna) Reborn mid-question with a random answer that popped up in his head despite not even knowing what type of question it was supposed to be.

"..." Reborn's gaze went from the paper to Tsuna. The silence was unnerving and Tsuna felt very dreadful of -

"That's the correct answer."

"It is?!" He couldn't believe that he had guessed right. He had never guessed right. What kind of question needed 1842 as an answer?! Some freakish math problem or was it some historical date? Either way, Tsuna finally got something right for two whole hours that he had been tested! (Tsuna didn't realize that he had been digging a deeper hole for himself and was close to jumping in any second now.)

"... but you interrupted me." Reborn burst Tsuna's happy bubble and that evil glint returned in his beady black eyes. "You actually dare to interrupt me, Dame-Tsuna."

"Um..." Tsuna was now panicking once more, but because he was hanging in midair, he couldn't move much less find a way to escape this soon-to-be-nightmare.

"That's enough to penalize you."

Yup, nightmare.

Tsuna watched, horrified, as Reborn took Leon-scissors and - snip! - cut the only strand of rope that held Tsuna safe from becoming a bloodied mess on the ground and akin to a bug being splat harshly against a hard surface. (That implied death, and Tsuna was far from ready for it.)

No nonono! Tsuna's denial rose and flames ignited upon his will. He let his bare hands produce enough flames to cancel off gravity's pull and -

Bang!

- His previous trajectory went off course at the sudden gunfire. His Sky flames coming off uncontrollable due to surprise, therefore propelling him left and right unsteadily as Reborn promptly used Tsuna as target practice for his sniping.

"New game." Reborn stated blandly, then smirked. "If you get the answers wrong, I'll shoot. If you, by some god-sent miracle, do get it right, I'll be nice and warn you just before I shoot."

"..." Tsuna didn't dare to look exasperated at his tutor but that kind of condition was absolutely unfair! He was going to get sniped either way!

Fortunately, whenever Tsuna used his flames, he always get this sense of calmness that washed away unnecessary thoughts and allow him to focus. So Reborn had his fun ruined when Tsuna managed to get the next set of math questions right after a few seconds of thinking.

The hitman knew that the brunet wasn't an actual idiot. He already made a conclusion, after reading several reports, that because of the environment that Tsuna's had been raised in, his mind had always been jumping from one thought to another, never really focusing on one thing and was often cluttered together, resulting in useless junk. Tsuna was able to absorb what he learns by listening, but he could never put theories into practice because his thoughts were all over the place. The fact that his flames had been restrained for many long years added to that as well, or Tsuna might have actually fare off better than he was now.

Figures. Reborn huffed indignantly, a complicated look flashed through his eyes and disappeared as quick as it came. He watched Tsuna dodge another bullet, this time with more grace as he gotten used to air mobility and finally looked more like - Reborn pushed the thought away, deciding that it was useless to continue down the lane.

Gauging that Tsuna was about to hit his limit, Reborn silently told Leon to change into a boomerang, then with precise calculations, he was able to strike Tsuna on the head the second time (because the brunet had obviously sensed the first attack coming) when the boomerang rounded back. With Tsuna's concentration successfully broken, he paused the stopwatch that he had started the moment Tsuna entered into what was known as Hyper Dying Will mode (as Tsuna would later learned the name of) and used that as a base for future comparisons. (Putting Tsuna on the edge constantly was also a good method to strengthen Tsuna's mentality, not that Reborn would ever voice his real intentions of course.)

"Ow..." Tsuna groaned from the ground. At least he hadn't fallen from that high up, maybe a story and a half but it was still better than three. He felt a burning sensation on his hands, then his eyes bugged out when he saw the state of said hands. He would have screamed that girly scream of his if not for the little warning in his head that told him that Reborn was still near by.

"Are my hands supposed to burn?!" Tsuna wailed as Reborn appeared in front of him.

"Think of it this way," Reborn said all too blithely. "It's only a first degree burn compared to the second degree - borderline third - that you received during your first attempt."

Tsuna opened his mouth the protest, but found Reborn's words to be within reason. He was getting better at controlling his flames... right?

"Not by my standards," Reborn was happy to pour cold water over Tsuna's head. "You're just too slow."

"... and that's supposed to be my fault?" Tsuna asked incredulously. "I'm satisfied that I can actually ignite them after a month and a half of trying!"

"Tch, you set your standards too pathetically low." Reborn scorned, the verbal weight dropping down heavily on Tsuna's head with a resounding - thud! - just like he expected. "I want you to be able to ignite your flames like you're breathing and understand and apply its characteristics by the end of the week. Understand?"

... No. Tsuna gaped. He did not understand. How was it possible for him, Dame-Tsuna, to fulfill all those by the end of - wait. A week?! How the f*** was he going to accomplish that within seven days when he only recently discovered his flames?!

"Please, I have already given you a generous amount of time," Reborn rebutted satirically. "Or do you actually want to half the due date? Oh you do? What a diligent student you are, Dame-Tsuna. Fine, as the understanding tutor that I am, I'll cut the allocated time by -"

"... No." Tsuna stopped Reborn from completing his sentence - he regretted the moment he did, but it was too late to take back his impulsive action so he could only move on and hope for the best. "I'm sorry. I won't complain anymore. I'll take the seven days."

"Did you just interrupt me again, Dame-Tsuna?"

"... yes."

Reborn stared.

Tsuna was resigned to blunt and honest answers because beating around the bush, he knew, would only make matters worse.

"Tch," The Sun flame user clicked his tongue in disappointment. "For someone who's supposed to be Dame, you catch on too quickly."

Tsuna somehow knew that Reborn was hinting him to stay as an idiot... and he wasn't sure if he should laugh or cry at that. It wasn't his fault that his comprehension speed seemed to be faster than normal (meaning now on average with everyone else) nowadays! (That was supposed to be good news for Tsuna, but now... Tsuna was having second thoughts whether or not it was a good thing because, you know, he didn't exactly like the fact that he was now enlightened about his relation with the mafia and everything that was, again, a big 'no no' about it.)

"Class is going to start soon." Reborn glanced at the moping brunet but of course, instead of comforting Tsuna, Reborn gave him a disdainful click of his tongue (though there was no ill-intentions in it) at the boy for being such a wimp. "Stop dawdling around, or do you want me to -"

"Can't be late to class!" And Tsuna straightened up and dashed away with a comical dust trail behind his wake before Reborn could finish his threat.

.

.

.

Tsuna was being stared at. He quivered, wanting to just blend in with the walls - or maybe start learning one of those ninja techniques or - or goddammit, Tsuna should've just skipped class entirely because - because his entire class was gawking at him so blatantly. Or to be specific, at the now-orange tie that he worn to school.

"Is that what I think it is?"

"Please tell me I'm colorblind."

"If you're colorblind then you wouldn't be seeing colors in the first place."

"Oh my god."

"It's orange!"

"Sh**, why is he a f***ing Sky?!"

"Oi," Gokudera whipped his head towards the one who made the last comment, dynamite already out and prepared to be lit. "If you have a f***ing problem with Tsuna-sama, then you have a f***ing problem with me, capiche?!"

"G-Gokudera-kun..." Tsuna tugged at the bomber's sleeve weakly, but had somehow looked as though he was trying to hide behind the silveret instead (it wasn't far from the truth because those stares were agonizing.) "Let's put away the explosives now..."

"Haha," Yamamoto grinned with his hands behind his head. "It's sure lively in the morning, ne, Tsuna?"

Said brunet gulped, sweat sliding down from his temple at the (in his opinion) precarious situation. (Because whether or not the General Ed. building was Flame-proof or not, those were explosives. Someone - mainly Tsuna - was going to get hurt.) "Too lively, don't you think?"

Before his two companions could speak any further, Tsuna pushed a snarky bomber and a carefree swordsman to their seats all the while ignoring the still-glares that he received because, despite now being labeled as a Sky, of how he was interacting with Gokudera and Yamamoto. (Tsuna knew it, his two friends were being worshiped like gods. And he was finding himself blinded by such holy light... maybe it wasn't a good idea after all and he should take a step back and -)

"Ne, Tsuna," Yamamoto waved a hand in front of said teen's face when the other had been in a daze. "Are you okay?"

No. Tsuna wanted to answer. Because the training in the morning had been worth a week's exhaustion and he was still trying to come into terms with the fact that he was indefinitely involved with the underworld. "Um... yeah."

Tsuna internally grimaced. He felt bad lying to his friends but... were they friends? He was starting to doubt again, because they had hid something so crucial - no, don't think about it. He tried to tell himself that it doesn't matter. As long as they stand by his side - as they have been since they met - then it's fine even if they hid something from him. (Tsuna was sensitive, he knew, but it wasn't like he had friends - real ones - before.)

(His opinions were split. One of distrust while the other, the much more dominating opinion deign tell Tsuna to give his companions his absolute trust. And honestly, Tsuna didn't understand why he trusted the latter wholeheartedly as if it was a given.)

Noting the underlying uneasiness, Yamamoto and Gokudera exchanged a glance. Although they wanted to believe Tsuna's words, his wavering Sky flames were saying otherwise. (They could sense it because they had Harmonized with said flames recently and it had been so easy unlike the times when the few other Skies tried to Harmonized with them through force. They were unsuccessful in trying to draw such strong elements into their domains of course, because their Sky flames were relatively weaker. Elements would never submit to a weaker Sky - especially when said weaker Sky had been so audacious as to try to force them into submission.)

"Tsuna -"

Screeee -

The aircraft had only just landed into the mini-private airport that Ultima Thule had built on its campus since, after all, the school was situated on a remote island off Italy so the only transportation to and fro the school was either by air or by ship. (Tsuna himself had came by boat with his father, then drove to the school entrance by car - as provided by the school.)

The hatch opened and stairs decided just as someone walked out, stretching. The shiny crest of Vongola on his shirt was a clear indicator that he was part of the Vongola Council. "Ngh... that was tiring."

The male stood at the exit, stretching his arms before another hand shoved at him. "Can it Ietsuna, what part of 'tiring' did you suffer from?" Another male came out from the plane, his raven hair slick back with only a few strands falling over his forehead. "Last we saw, you were stuffing yourself with food."

The aforementioned blonde didn't seem to mind the push and had, instead, landed agilely on the ground after twisting in midair. He gave his Storm an indignant glare. "Carter, I hadn't eaten in days."

Carter snorted but didn't refute.

"Ietsuna-sama." Sirene had been waiting in a safe distance while the plane landed and was only now within hearing range. "Welcome back."

"Sirene," Ietsuna smiled pleasantly in greeting as the rest of his guardians clambered down the plane, exhausted from the looks of how one of them stumbled and tripped, therefore causing a domino effect and everyone just fell flat on their faces with resounding thuds.

"UGH!" The one that had been used as a cushion for all others, a Sun from the color of his tie, flung all the weights off of his person. "What the hell's your problem Lycus?! If you can't walk straight, then don't walk at all!"

"Uriel, shut up." Another, a Rain, groaned as he sat up. "You may be full of energy but we're all tired."

Sirene remained unaffected by the commotion that she considered as background noise. "How did the negotiation went?"

"Mm..." Ietsuna ignored the commotion as well while Carter had simply stood off to the side snickering at his companions like the schadenfreude that he was. "A few diplomatic discussions, a lot of paperwork, and a few... conflicts." He made a motion with his hand before changing topics. "How are things here? I know we missed a month of school -"

"And you were quite happy about it too." Carter blithely inputted.

"Shut up," Ietsuna glared before coughing into his fist. "Anyways, status?"

"The usual," Sirene reported dutifully. "Although there was a -"

Screeee - The speaker made an unbearable screech that caused its listeners to cringe. "Hm~ Testing testing~ Can everyone here me okay?"

Ietsuna blinked, then frowned slightly. "What's Byakuran up to now?"

"Alrighty! How's everyone on this fine day - oh? You want me to cut to the chase? Hehe, then I shall!" There was a momentary pause and an inhale before the volume seemed to be blasted on max and Byakuran's voice was suddenly filled with extra enthusiasm. "Y'know, it's been so peaceful in the past month and I'm just so booorrreeeddd!"

Ietsuna's eye twitched at the Mare's comment. "Don't tell me..."

"So I though 'what best to relief this boredom than to have everyone play a game'?" Byakuran chirped into the speaker, then cleared his throat before continuing. "Listen up, because this is going to be a school-wide event - approved by the Head Council hehe~ We're going to be playing Capture the Flame!"

Right at the same time that Byakuran declared the name of the so-called game, something orange shot up into the air, but none of them were alarmed because they knew that the avian-like object that was now flying away was an invention by a well-known inventor on campus.

"Whoever side captures the designated target will have first dips over the Central facilities for the entire year!" You could hear the maniacal grin in Byakuran's voice. "Game starts in half an hour so get yourselves geared up and ready to go!"

.

.

.

When Ietsuna and his crew entered the Vongola Mansion, they were greeted with many pairs of eyes and ecstatic greetings and welcome backs from their fellow peers. Ietsuna was rather helpless at the students enthusiasm, but he still felt happy in being the looked up too. After all, who doesn't like the feeling of adoration from those around them?

"Oi, Ietsuna," Carter gave the latter a good-natured but disdainful look as though he didn't want to be anywhere near the blonde in fear of being associated with him. "Your nose is growing."

"Shut up." The Ietsuna glared back, sometimes wondering how he was even friends with this guy with the sarcastic tongue.

"Now, Casey, don't be so -"

"Strike one, moron." The raven head glared at the only other female in their group, who in addition to the school uniform and an indigo tie with a Mist motif, wore a french beret over her chestnut brown hair.

"Uh..." Said girl deemed as 'moron' blinked innocently as if she wasn't doing it on purpose. Unfortunately... she wasn't. "Is it... Chase?"

"..." Strike two.

"Ah... wait, I got this." She said again, massaging her forehead with on head while the other stretched out as a stop sign. Her silver-blue eyes then lit up as if she finally found the answer to a really hard math problem. "It's Crab! Am I right or am I right?!"

"..." And... strike three!

"I'm totally right!"

Carter was so done with this.

"Pffft- HAHAHA!" The Sun couldn't hold in his laughter anymore and leaned against the nearest person to him, who happened to a snickering Ietsuna. "Oh my god, Crab! That's the best one yet Dianne!"

"Why thank you, Neil."

"... Ahem," The Sun ceased his laugh immediately and faked a cough. (Not really funny any more when it was his turn.) "I-It's Uriel..."

Carter, meanwhile, twitched his eye as a vein bulged on his head. "Dianne Bonnet, for god's sake, can you remember anyone's name properly?"

"Of course I do," Dianne blinked at Carter as if she was looking at an idiot, then puffed her chest out proudly as she pointed at Ietsuna. "I remember Boss's name, it's Boss!"

"..."

Carter took a long deep breath to prevent himself from exploding from having to deal with the forgetful girl, who, for some reason, seem to remember everything but people's names. "You... are you sure you're not doing this on purpose?"

"Eh?" Dianne tilted her head cluelessly before turning to the Cloud with a look of doubt. "Sis, what got Clam tied up in a knot today?"

"Oi, it's Carter dammit, Carter!" Said Storm finally burst, static red sparks flying around his body as he glowered at the other. "If you want seafood, how about I toss you into the ocean?! I'm sure the crustaceans would love to give up their lives to an idiot like you!"

Sirene have a rare look of sympathy on her face as she looked towards the Storm. She knew that her sister wasn't someone who anyone could approach what with her ... unique trait and all, even she couldn't handle the girl sometimes - and Dianne was supposed to be the older one too. How they two of them had such different personalities was anyone's guess, including her. (Sirene had checked (on multiple occasions) that they were, indeed, blood-related, so that possibility was ruled out.)

"Alright, enough," Ietsuna coughed into his fist. "We're wasting time instead of getting to business. The game will started soon."

"Soon yes, but who is the Sky from ours side?" The Sun, Uriel, pointed out, a hand running through his sky blue hair. He paused, looking around the room in doubt. "I mean, we're all here right? But I don't see the one with the target thingy."

Sirene wanted to say something but she didn't get the chance when her silver-green eyes turned sharp at the two approaching people.

"Ah, Dan, Hansen," Ietsuna greeted with a smile, though it didn't reach his eyes. "Do you need something?"

Hansen waved lazily back. "Council President doesn't seem to be worry whether or not we win the Central facilities or not."

"Of course I do," Ietsuna raised a brow. Why wouldn't he? The Central facilities , as the name stated, were built in the middle of campus. It had all the latest equipment and training rooms for students of the academy. And because it's in the center, it was decided that it was neutral grounds between Mare and Vongola. Of course, not everyone could use the facilities at once, so if they ever needed something from there - especially if it's a dispute between Mare and Vongola. So to them, gaining control of the Central facilities was as good as having bragging rights over the Mares. "Isn't that why we're all here?"

"Funny you should say that," Dan replied back, leaning his weight on one leg. "Shouldn't you be worried about the person who's the target on our side?"

Ietsuna stared at the other for several long seconds before speaking. "He isn't here?"

"Unfortunately, no," Dan smirked.

"Lycus, Cione," Ietsuna called, his gaze stay fixed on Dan for any changes in his expression. "Go look for any Vongola students that are still roaming on campus and bring them back before the game starts."

The Lightning and Rain respectively responded a positive before they headed out.

"Who's the target from our side anyways?" The blonde's eyes then narrowed as he swept his gaze across the room and frowned when he didn't find any of the Skies in the room. "Don't tell me it's Xanxus, he wouldn't care about these things." He knew that compared to Mare, they had fewer Skies (they only have a pitiable number of three) however, Vongola made up the quantity with quality. They Skies were much more skilled in using their flames than those of Mares'. Xanxus and Dino have been placed top in the rankings since before they had even reached Expert.

"You wouldn't be able to guess." Dan's smirk grew wider as if he found something interesting. "It's a newbie."

"Eh?" Ietsuna blinked, looking at the other warily. He should be happy that Vongola got another Sky flame user, but... why was he getting a bad feeling about this? "We have a new Sky?"

"Hehe," Hansen chuckled, continuing off of Dan. "An interesting little guy really." His eyes gleamed as he fixated his gaze at Ietsuna. "Interesting surname too."

"..." Ietsuna turned to Sirene for an answer. He didn't like associating with Dan and Hansen. Not only because Ietsuna always found himself putting his guards up against the two, but their famiglias were also at odds with each other at times in certain matters. They have ambitions, Ietsuna knew, but he couldn't find any openings in them to bring them down a notch for being so arrogant.

"It's..." Sirene knitted her brows, somewhat hesitant because she wasn't sure if the two of them were related. After all, Sawada should be a common surname in Japan, right? Also, she'd only found out about the boy's attribute a few days before and that was after said person had been trying to awaken his flames for an entire month. That was one of the reasons she wasn't sure of their relation. Ietsuna was a rather talented Sky, and for someone that was related to him, he should be too far off from Ietsuna. Besides, Ietsuna rarely spoke about his family so she and her companions weren't sure of Ietsuna's family situation. They wouldn't dare to pry either, he was their Sky after all, they respected his privacy. "It's a new student scouted personally by Headmaster Reborn."

"What?" Ietsuna and Carter voiced in unison, both with interest, though the former seem more suspicious. They knew that Reborn - or the rest of the headmasters for that matter - wouldn't act without reason. The only other times that they knew the headmasters made personal trips were to accept those seven special Pure Element students - wait... wouldn't only only mean -

"Sawada must be common in Japan, no?" Dan chuckled, taking advantage of Sirene's hesitance to toy with Ietsuna. "Though...Tsunayoshi is an odd name."

"... wait." Ietsuna blinked, his mind unable to register the first and last name separately at the moment. "Did you just..."

"Tsunayoshi Sawada," Dan was magnanimous for once and went straight to the point. "If our sources didn't make a mistake, it should be -"

"... Tsunayoshi?" Ietsuna blurted, furrowing his brows in thought because that name sounded so familiar that he should -

"- your little brother." Dan finished with a chuckle, not minding that he was cut-off. He watched in amusement as Ietsuna went from confusion, then to mulling, and finally to shock with paling complexion, which was then followed by -

Swoosh!

"Ietsuna?!"

"Boss where are you going?"

"Tsuna, wait!"

Dan looked at the empty spot that the Vongola Council President once occupied, smiling as if he had expected that to happen. He had been curious about Tsuna because of his last name so he sent people out to investigate Sawada Tsunayoshi's backgrounds for the past month. A bit of a surprise when he found out that the the brunet's information was much more difficult than the average civilian, but then again, it all made sense once he dug out the boy's origins. He had to admit, Vongola had really kept a tight lid, that the heir wasn't an only child. Of course, with his Family's connections and resources, he was still able to find it out even if it took more effort than normal.

He was pleasantly surprised that Ietsuna would care that much for a sibling that he hadn't come in contact with for several years. Dan inwardly tutted in amusement, Ietsuna had exposed a weakness of his so easily. And what was even more interesting was that they weren't even -

"Wait, little brother?" Uriel gaped, looking back and breaking Dan's train of thoughts. "When - how - since when did Tsuna have a brother?!"

"Close your mouth or a fly's going to get in," Carter shot a look at his companion, then shut said jaws for Uriel since the Sun didn't look like he was going to come back to earth anytime soon. He was a little surprise too, but had glared at Dan and Hansen. He knew that they did it on purpose, they wanted to know how Ietsuna would respond the so-called little brother that Ietsuna was supposed to have. And that idiota just had to fall for the bait too.

"Don't try anything funny. We're on neutral grounds so even if you target Ietsuna's sibling, it ain't going to happen on campus." Carter warned before turning to the Mist and Cloud siblings. "Sirene, Dianne, stay here and plan the battle strategy with the rest of the students." He paused before adding while glancing to the corner of his eyes. "We can't let someone mess with our fort when the Boss is away."

"Understood." Sirene answered as she and her sister watched their fellow companions going after their leader. Sirene then gave an icy glare back at Dan and Hansen,, but said nothing as she strode past them.

Through the speaker, Byakuran had explained that the game was similar to Capture the Flag. But instead of having flags, there were flames. One designated target randomly selected for each side, both of which possessed Sky flames (Lady Luck must really have a grudge against Tsuna for him of all Skies to be chosen). The side that captured the opponent's selected Sky - or destroy the target on their chests - wins. Also, to make things easier on both sides, every ten minutes, the sky would project (courtesy of illusions) the location of each target and as long as they capture the target, anything else goes.

Tsuna was absolutely horrified in lieu of actually listening to the rules, because he has that accursed target on his jacket and he couldn't take it off no matter what how hard he tried to pull. He had just been sitting there when that bird-like thing wreathed in flames flew in from the window. Tsuna had shrieked ("Hiiiieeee!") upon sight and fell off of his seat before scrambling away from said object because that thing was obviously possessed by a ghost that held a grudge against his past life or something and came back to haunt him.

He still couldn't get away though, seeing as how the now-target-like thing was currently latched onto his chest. (He was cursed, he just knew it. Even that little alien in his head told him so.) So he was left to mope in a corner while Yamamoto and Gokudera tried to comfort him.

"Haha, it'll be fun Tsuna!" Comforted Yamamoto.

"As expected that it would be Tsuna-sama!" Gokudera had proudly announced.

Tsuna didn't agree with his friends sentiments. Especially when he would later be chased by a mob of students from Mare, all of which carrying some sort of flaming weapons in their hands and shooting bullets like no tomorrow. (When the rule said anything goes, anything - minus killing - goes.)

"Tch, those b*****d Mares." One student growled as they all filled out of the classroom as if this was a normal occurrence. (It probably was.) For the duration of the game, class was put on hold (the teachers had been warned beforehand but it wasn't like they would complain about a break or three) to allow the students to have free reign. "They just had to pick on the wimpiest kid we have as a target!"

"Oi," Gokudera growled in hostility. "I dare you to say that again."

The same teen clammed up and hurried out of class, not wanting to go head to head with the infamous Hurricane Bomb.

Tsuna peeped out from behind Gokudera, pulling on the silverette's sleeve as a silent gesture for the latter to back down while also curious as to what his classmates were doing. "W-where are they g-going?"

"Vongola Mansion," Yamamoto explained. "When these kind of things happen, we all gather into Vongola Mansion to brainstorm battle plans."

"A-ah?" Tsuna paled. A part of him had been hoping this was all a big prank but from how everyone was reacting, Tsuna's hope was washing down the drain.

"Haha, don't worry, Tsuna!" Yamamoto assured after seeing his friend's scared look. "You have us and we definitely won't let anything bad happen to you!"

Tsuna smiled at them, a certain warmth bubbling in his chest at his friends' reassurance. "Thanks guys..."

"What are you three still doing here for?" The squeaky voice from Reborn caught the trio's attention, and they realized that they were now the only ones in class.

"R-Reborn?" Tsuna squeaked upon seeing the walking disaster, and tried to turn invisible. (If only he could.)

The smirk on the infant's face wasn't helping Tsuna much. In fact, he felt like he had lost a few years. (He wouldn't even be surprised if his death was right around the corner with all that was happening around him lately.) "Actually, please, stay where you are. I really want to see how you'll be able to fare against a complete set of artillery and some not even the government can get a hand on being fired your way the moment your location is announced in twenty-two minutes."

Hell. No. Tsuna was done. There was no way Tsuna would want to be embroiled into the chaos that was going to happen - his Intuition was blaring neon signs of of upcoming danger as if to prove his point. So, he tried to take off his jacket and throw it out of the window. Thing was, said jacket flew right back at him and floating mockingly in his face. He repeat, a jacket was mocking him. (The story of his life.)

Well, there was only thing Tsuna could possibly conclude now. His jacket was hosting a real live ghost and said ghost had a grudge against him for reasons only the ghost would know and - and Tsuna did the only thing that seemed appropriate at this moment.

"HIIIIEEEEE!" Tsuna bolted, but to his dismay, his jacket followed as well.

"Tsuna!"

"Tsuna-sama!"

And then started a wild goose chase that didn't make sense because there was a jacket chasing after a terrified Tsuna, and no matter where he tried to hide, said jacket would always find him and would display itself in front of Tsuna's face. Worse than that, his friends thought he was playing around as if a floating jacket was a normal occurrence.

"EXTREME TAG!" Ryohei had appeared out of nowhere - like usual - and also joined Yamamoto and Gokudera in the chase, who was then followed by Lambo and - and why was his group of idiosyncratic friends gathering together? Tsuna was pretty sure he hadn't called them -

"Thirty minutes' time is up! If you'll look to the sky, our illusionists are projecting the location of your targets right now!"

- oh no. Tsuna wasted half an hour panicking instead of finding a good hiding spot (not that it'll do anything but it'll at least make Tsuna feel safer) and now, he was in the wide open with only his (eccentric) friends to help. This was not good. This was not. Good.

Lambo stared curiously when Tsuna suddenly stopped running and pulled out a piece of paper and pencil out of nowhere. "Ne, Tsuna-nii, what are you doing?"

"Writing my Last Will."

"..."

Apparently, Tsuna has officially lost it (and officially joining the crazy club - if he hadn't already).

Yamamoto was actually sensible enough to take a look at their surroundings because the so-called 'tag' had took them outside. "Um... guys?" His hesitant voice attracted several pairs of eyes - minus Tsuna, who was occupied with preparing himself for the high possibility of being mauled to death at the moment (or that was what he was muttering about anyways as he wrote).

"I think..." The swordsman said slowly, amber-brown eyes narrowing in seriousness. "We're on the edge of Mare territory."

The rustling of leaves from the bushes and trees immediately caught their attention, and hurried footsteps of what Tsuna could imagine to be an army came in their direction, all of which spelled anything but good in Tsuna's dictionary.

It did not take very long for them to meet and be surrounded by the Mare students, who had the Mare crest stitched on their collars. It was much more simplistic than Vongola's, since it was two long dandelion-like puffs crossing each other.

However, what made Tsuna almost have a heart attack was the sight of guns, swords, daggers, grenades, whips, poles, weapons that were being taken out. Reborn hadn't been joking when he said a complete set of artillery (It ranged from A to Z no less!) and more.

Tsuna wondered if he could still finish that will.

Haha... sorry for the really late update, but thanks to OperaEagle IcelynLacelett for beta'ing it!

Tsuna's life. Period.

And presenting Byakuran, Yuni, Tsuna's older brother and his guardians! As you can see, one of Ietsuna's nicknames also happens to be 'Tsuna' (It ain't a typo!)

On another note, don't know when I'll write the next chapter so don't get your hopes too high. (Or it'll take a deeper fall)

Happy reading! ヾ(＾∇＾)

P.S. A show of hands, who was mislead by the chapter title?