Disclaimer: I do not own KHR.

Chapter 17: The Curse of Doctor Shamal

Worry permeated the air. Once the group was led in they were anxious to see the presumably 'sick' Tsuna. They were still a trance-like state, unable to believe that Tsuna, of all people, would be less than healthy and lounging around the house.

There would be no more sighs or smirks. No more mischievous gleams or raised eyebrows. No longer any harsh remarks or kind questions.

Yamamoto acted like any polite houseguest: he sat on the couch, sipping his tea softly. No one could tell his ever so tightening grip or the grin that grew increasingly wide at each passing moment without Tsuna there.

Gokudera and Kyoko were more obvious in their show of distress. The boy stood, pacing around in the room with quick, sporadic steps. Back and forth he went, until the boy couldn't tell his left from right; he couldn't pay attention to such minor things anyway. His Juudaime was sick! In bed! And worse yet, he could do nothing to help her.

His frown deepened further, marring his handsome face. Gokudera's thoughts were focused only on his beloved boss. What would she say if she saw him like thi?. Would she be ashamed? Tell him he was acting foolish and that there was no reason to feel so bad? He didn't know—instead, he focused more on just creating friction on the carpet beneath him.

Kyoko was worried, and torn. Tsuna's mother, Nana, was cooking in the kitchen, preparing something to help Tsuna. The girl had to curb the instinct to follow along and move into the kitchen where her frantic wandering mind would be put to rest, and she could just let her hands take control.

Two things stopped her. One was that it'd feel like she was intruding on territory. The kitchen was a sacred place in any household; the chef's sanctuary and their land. She couldn't possibly enter if there was the slightest chance that Nana would feel uncomfortable with her there as small as that chance was. But the more important reason was that she simply didn't want to leave. Kyoko didn't want to do anything but march right the stairs into Tsuna's room and check up on her friend.

So it didn't come into much surprise when she politely informed Nana, "I'll be checking on Tsuna-chan now". Rather, it was more surprising to know that it was Kyoko, not Gokudera or Yamamoto, that was first to speak this aloud. One could say that she was the most selfish out of the group, and Kyoko knew that, but she had to this or else her heart would never stop nagging at her.

Without bothering to hear Nana's answer (which would most likely be a yes) Kyoko had already started up the stairs. Gokudera, Yamamoto and Ryohei, seeing her move, quickly decided to do the same, their legs inching off the ground in seconds. Gokudera and Yamamoto were anxious to see their friend, while Ryohei was just happy to be moving around; he had been fidgeting around on the coach, trying not to say anything in fear of breaking his promise with Kyoko.

So, Ryohei was in fact, rather happy to be climbing up the stairs, trailing behind the rest as they apprehensively opened the door to Tsuna's room. Imagine what he thought when he was glancing along the wall in front of the room, only to hear a muffled shriek as the boys pounced back, landing on him in a big heap, along with the sound of a bullet that zoomed past him and made a clean hole in the wall behind him.

It wasn't very comfortable lying beneath two teens and Ryohei gave an enthusiastic push, landing them upright once more and began, "WH—" only to stop and then rephrase, "What happened?" in a confused, hushed voice.

The two ignored his question and looked back up inside the room. Kyoko was in front of them, unmoving and ignorant to what had just occurred. Reborn's gun was already stashed away somewhere, the baby's head still facing the body beside him.

"Reborn, why'd you do that for?" Gokudera demanded in a hushed tone. Yamamoto nodded in agreement, his eyes particularly sharp. Kyoko just stared between the two, wondering what was going on, and what had just happened.

Of course, her confusion lasted only a few seconds as she quickly directed her attention to the sleeping figure on the bed. Tsuna laid still, her chest softly rising and falling as the girl's hair fell promptly alongside her. If Kyoko didn't know better, she would've assumed she was sleeping.

That was before she heard the soft, wheezy coughs that she had to double-check were there. They were so soft and sporadic it was hard to tell beyond the quiet yet still very loud squabbles of the boy talking to Reborn. But they were there, and it made Kyoko's whole perspective change. Now, Tsuna's hardly moving, sleeping body, looked so fragile and weak.

This was what she imagined an old woman at her death bed to do: cough softly, breathing lightly, until the woman fell asleep into the world beyond.

Kyoko frowned. This was not like her. When had she becomes so pessimistic? Perhaps Tsuna had affected her more than she realized?

"Ah, I'm sure Reborn has his reasons right? Why don't we check on Tsuna now?" Yamamoto started, interrupting her downwards train of thought.

Gokudera quickly retorted, "Don't call Juudaime so informally! But Juudaime..." He trailed off muttering; he made it seem so difficult to agree with someone.

"Dame-Tsuna's fine. But if you're going to be loud then leave" Reborn squeaky voice sounded out, and Kyoko took a moment to gush at the cuteness of the baby before nodding.

"I'm sorry, we'll be quiet."

"But Reborn! What happened to Juudaime? Why's she sick? She can't be sick, after all, she's Juudaime!"

Kyoko thought it strange, that he was so adamant on 'Juudaime' (she wanted to know why he called her that) being not sick. Sure, she understood that no one wanted Tsuna to be ill, but the way he said it was as if Tsuna was incapable of contracting a virus or common cold.

Kyoko left it as Gokudera being Gokudera. Foreigners came from different places after all. What if in America, they didn't get sick a lot since their medicine and supplements and diets were so healthy?

Yep. Kyoko nodded to herself. That had to be it.

With that conflict resolved she turned back to Tsuna. Her friend needed her support. She placed her hands on the girl's slightly clammy forehead, then brought them to clasp the other's rough hands, and smiled. "I hope you get better Tsuna-chan" she wished. And despite the worry for her friend, Kyoko also felt the deep joy that came with the familiarity and closeness that came with it.

She was watching over Tsuna in a weak state: something she was sure Tsuna would never want anyone to see. Gokudera and Yamamoto were playfully bickering with each other on the other side of the bed with Onii-san popping up once and a while, but that took nothing away from the situation.

It was a peaceful moment.

It was, at least, until a loud bang sounded from under. Instantly, everything in the room became silent as their heads snapped to the door.

"What was that?" Gokudera barked, his hands trailing closely to his sides. Yamamoto's eyes were sharper than before. Reborn saw these things, and felt pride strike him before he threw it into the far crevices of his mind. Kyoko saw nothing, still concentrated on the door.

"You two, go down" he ordered.

Without hesitation they quickly strode out the door downstairs.

…

"So, who do you think it is?" Yamamoto asked, his hand rubbing the backside of his head. His other hand held a nice wooden bat he found in Tsuna's room.

"Che. How the hell should I know?" Gokudera muttered, his feet hitting each step on the stairwell briskly. "Be quiet" he shushed the boy behind him with a harsh jab in the stomach and continued down.

He wasn't prepared for the sight that greeted him.

There he was, on his back his legs in a ridiculous pose. Before Gokudera even reached the end of the stairs, the nauseating scent of venom, insects, frogs, and something burnt wafted into nose, sending him on the verge of vomiting. It was bearable but it was hard to keep the feeling of acrid liquid (luckily he hadn't eaten much that afternoon) from rising above his throat.

"T-Teme Shamal...!" he whispered before turning away, unable to stand the 'food' that was stuffed into the man's mouth, it's acidic sauces dripping out with a loud drop sizzle.

He was even less prepared for the face that was thrust upon him the next moment.

"It's been a while since I killed someone for the good of the world."

There is was; the rumbling in his stomach that presaged the agony that would attack him, leaving him in a pitiful heap on the ground. No matter what he did, however he tried to evade or bear the pain; it would rise like a cockroach and invade.

"O-Onee—" Gokudera dropped to the floor in a heap on the ground. He was foaming. "Ju-Juudaime!" he cried out with his last breath before succumbing to the pain.

Yamamoto watched with curiosity. "You sure you a lot of people" he noted. And he never knew Gokudera even had a sister!

"Eh, nice to meet you." It was customary to greet people nicely.

The woman looked him up and down before snorting. "I didn't know Hayato had so many friends." There was a small tear in her eye, something Yamamoto picked up quickly.

His lips widened into his bright smile. "I didn't know Gokudera had a sister!"

The woman smiled. "I guess you're teaching him in my place."

The boy didn't know what she was saying, but went with it. "Mah, he's always funny to watch. So what's your name?"

Suddenly, the air felt warmer than usual. Yamamoto felt the sweat that slid tickly down his forehead. "Oh? I didn't know middle-schooler's could hit on a older girl like that! Even youngsters understand romance!" She began sputtering nonsensical things that Yamamoto couldn't help but laugh at. "Hahaha, she's definitely his onee-san."

But despite the humor of the moment, his eyes directed themselves to the man on the floor. His eyes widened when he saw the supposedly dead hands move and peel some kind of paper from his face. The food that was there sat on the paper; the man's face was undamaged.

"She's such a tomboy" he smirked and fully peeled the sheet off before throwing it away. "Girl's shouldn't act like that..." he scratched his goatee, "but that's why I like you even more now!"

Yamamoto couldn't help but watch amazed as the man leaped and in one step, reached the woman with a strangely flushed face. His lips touched the woman's cheek with a loud smack. Yamamoto's cheeks turned a slight pink, never having seen such intimate things between two people, before he laughed it off as the woman retaliated by sending the man on the opposite side of the room with a roundhouse kick.

"DIE!"

The boy laughed even more as the man rose again without even a flinch and replied, "No need to be embarrassed Bianchi, how about a kiss?"

It seemed this happened so many times; they were probably together. But the man had so much vitality, just like his dad!

A presence beside him told him it was Reborn. And it was enough to remind him of Tsuna, who was lying sick in bed. Something daunting fell in his stomach, like a heavy weight that continued to bring him down on his knees; at least, that's what it felt like.

It felt something like guilt. But worse. Here he was, laughing at the couple's antics while she was suffering.

"She's fine" Reborn announced amidst the rampage going on in the room. The boy's eyes widened and he looked up at the baby. It felt like the baby had read his mind... But that wasn't possible right? It was probably a coincidence. After all, Reborn had just come up from upstairs: it would make sense to report on Tsuna's status.

"And they're not a couple. As you can see, he likes woman and is a kissing freak."

"Ehh?" Yamamoto was stunned. They weren't lovers? From what he saw, the two seemed like perfectly contented people, with their healthy lover's spats and the teasing.

Then a particularly horrid stench flew to his nose and he twisted his head to see the man—Dr. Shamal's—face covered with a sickly looking purple goop.

Okay, now that he thought about it, they didn't seem like the most loving couple; there was so much physical violence, though maybe he could attribute that to them being in the 'mafia' thing with Tsuna. They were, after all, related to Gokudera, who was related to Tsuna.

In fact, it always confused him to see Gokudera always so close with Tsuna. And the admiration! There was this strange sparkling look in Gokudera's eye whenever the boy stared at Tsuna's face, and especially when she was smiling—not that he's saying her smile was strange since it was cute, but with anyone else, Gokudera would be this loud, frowning boy. It was... weird. Yamamoto left it at that.

"Dr. Shamal's a doctor from Italy."

At first, he didn't register the little hitman's squeaky voice; it was a ring that chimed in at random intervals he usually picked up and glanced at before storing it in the back of his mind. Usually at least.

His head snapped towards the baby and he muttered, "A doctor? He came for Tsuna?"

It should have abated his worries, the fact that a doctor, all the way from Italy, came to make sure she was alright, but Yamamoto's grin fell into a thin line. It didn't feel safe to give a defenseless girl to the doctor.

No, not at all.

"Ano..." He faltered at the first word and trailed off into a prolonged silence. How was he supposed to declare his selfish wishes to keep the doctor away from Tsuna when she needed his services? Yamamoto was at a lost.

"He's not for her."

Yamamoto was still strangling a word when he caught the infant words and held it together in his mind. "What? He's not here for Tsuna?"

Reborn didn't deem the question worthy for a response and turned towards Dr. Shamal, who was once again at the ground against the wall, head bashed slightly into the wall board.

"Oi, what are you doing here?" Reborn demanded nonchalantly, his face warped into a disgusted smirk.

"I'm actually here for the patient you asked for before. Remember? Cavallone? The one you said had the nice body, wide hips, luscious blonde hair, blue eyes with the sexy smile?" Shamal furthered his point by letting his hands grope the empty air perversely, as if there really were large mounts for him to caress.

Reborn blinked. "I assigned the request a year ago."

Shamal laughed it off and shrugged his shoulders uncaringly. "Eh, I was a bit busy in Italy. But here I am now! I mean, as soon as I arrived, I found sight of that beautiful tomboy over there" he pointed to Bianchi, who was busy making another concoction in the kitchen "and followed her here!"

"Matte, you mean you're not here for Tsuna?" Yamamoto interrupted, a relieved grin on his face. The smile lasted for a mere second until Shamal grinned along with him.

"Oh? There's another patient? Well then, I'll get right to it!" Bianchi forgotten, the man began heading towards the stairwell, his legs moving in long purposeful strides. Yamamoto tried to intercept the man only to be evaded as Shamal gracefully twisted around his arms.

"Here I come~" he cried out, running along the steps.

The boy wasn't sure how the man even knew where Tsuna was, but he dismissed the question quickly, instead following up and running right behind the man in hopes of stopping him. Yamamoto hadn't even begun to wonder why Reborn wasn't there and helping him.

When Yamamoto reached the top of the stairway, he was surprised to see Kyoko outside the door, and Shamal's arms wrapped around her in a vicious hug.

"You're cute~" his puckered lips went dangerously close to her face "Lemme give you a kiss."

And before the boy could do anything, Kyoko had shrieked, a startled look on her face. "KYAA!"

Immediately, Ryohei burst out the room and greeted the scene with an angry shout.

"ORA! What'd you do to my sister?" he screamed, glaring at each face in the area until he stopped on the unfamiliar man with his arms wrapped around his sister. He reacted accordingly.

The fist was thrown with amazing accuracy that ensnared the doctor between the boy and the stairwell; there seemed to be no escape. But the man was still standing with a cool look, and Yamamoto could catch a minute movement of the hand before the boy was felled, on the floor snoring, his hand still clutched in a fist.

To Yamamoto's ire, the man entered in the room without a problem. He quickly followed, remembering to pat Kyoko on the head in comfort (even if he never knew how it felt to be molested, he was sure it was an uncomfortable experience, and would probably be uncomfortable to Tsuna, even if his friend was asleep.)

As he entered the room, a dark feeling spread in his heart, and his eyes grew a tiny bit sharper, his knuckles a tiny bit whiter.

There was Shamal, right beside the fallen Tsuna, a serious look on his face. "Excuse me" was all he said before he cruelly placed his dirty hands on Tsuna's chest. And a horrid blush went on his face as he felt the round moulds.

It was too much. Yamamoto instantly found a nice metal crowbar that had been lying around and swung it. Hard.

Though he made sure to swing at the shoulder, instead of straight on at the head. And just as the weapon hit the man's shoulder, a long black leg swung so fast it was a blur, and kicked the doctor straight in the stomach.

The darkness that smothered his eyes disappeared, replaced with a frantic fear as he forced his stressed muscles to stop. Sweat rolled off his pores. He stood frozen, the crowbar just centimeters away from Tsuna's face.

Slowly, after he felt in control of his body, he brought his hand down and quickly placed the weapon onto the floorboard, away from the girl lying helplessly on the bed.

It was just centimeters from doing something he would have regretted forever. It was depressing when he thought about it.

"Che. She couldn't keep him out" Reborn sighed, sitting on the bed.

Yamamoto gave a shaky grin. So that had been his leg. That reassured him somewhat; Reborn always knew what to do, and always made sure everything ended up okay in the end.

But that reassurance slipped away with the infant's next words. "Well Shamal, get to work. She has a cold."

The doctor sighed, already up and ready. "What, just a cold?"

There was silence. "Get to work."

Yamamoto was stunned. He didn't understand why Reborn , even after Shamal had more than proved that he was unsuitable to be a doctor, would let the doctor work on Tsuna.

It seemed that the astonishment that splattered his face was obvious since Reborn spoke, "Trident Shamal carries 666 diseases that can be used to cancel out the opposite disease. The diseases are transferred through mosquitoes. He won't be touching her."

The boy let out a sigh of relief, and the fist that he gripped tightly began to loosen. He then watched as the man flicked opens a white box with pills lined up in dozen of rows. His curiosity grew even greater as Shamal took a capsule and threw it in the air.

With a soft poof, the pill broke open, leaving a mosquito that after close inspection looked to have a trident like stinger. He'd never seen anything like it before...

The mosquito flew quickly to the girl resting on the bed and floated onto an arm.

Suuuuc—

An arm lashed out on the bug within nanoseconds of the disease being administered. Then as the arm let go, a small figure could be seen slowly making its way back to Shamal, which if seen closer was the squashed body of the mosquito, before dropping mere millimeters away from its master.

"Ugh... nnn... Mm." There were a few soft grunts that bubbled its way out of the girl's mouth as Tsuna leaned forward on the bed.

She didn't know what was happening or what had happened for that matter, but the noise was rather annoying, and she seemed to have a distinct memory of someone touching her, along with a torrent of fleeting memories of 'Cavallone' and 'Trident'. She didn't like being touched when she had no way of responding, neither did she like people sputtering utter nonsense in her room.

Nor did she like someone waking her up from her power nap.

"Tsuna!" an aggravatingly cheerful exclaimed in front of her, and she turned to the voice her mind registered as 'Yamamoto'.

"The hell? What are you doing here?" she barked, clutching her head as she began to hear a loud ringing erupt from her brain.

"Well, I saved you." A loud obnoxious voice called out from the side. The slimy voice instinctively grated on her nerves. She turned her head to find some sleazy looking mafia with an even creepier smile. While she had observed the pervert, a name popped from her brain and she voiced out, "Dr. Shamal."

The man smirked and rubbed his goatee. "You know me eh? I am popular with the ladies, but if you really want to impress, how 'bout a kiss?" he touched his lips disgustingly.

Tsuna almost wretched. However, she held in the urge to barf, settling with a discontented look, aimed straight at the man. She supposed the name would have struck a fierce chord in her, coming from his instantaneous seduction of a middle school student, almost half his age, most likely less.

"... Leave" she ordered.

Shamal raised an eyebrow and scratched his chin, deep in thought. "What a demanding little girl. Who knew she'd be such a princess?" He began giggling to himself, rudely ignoring her demands.

"Dame-Tsuna's the future boss of the Vongola. She's a dame-hime" informed Reborn, who was now sitting on her legs, keeping her, rooted onto the bed and unable to injure the pervert without throwing Reborn off, which would inevitably lead to a painful punishment.

The sole purpose of Reborn's restriction was to calm Tsuna down, but even then she could feel her hands clench into tight fists then opening, repeatedly. If only she had her guns.

There was no perversion in the Varia, or Vongola for that matter. Any instances of flirtation or sexual innuendos, harassment of any kind were dealt with. Harshly.

Yet this man had the gall to even think of insulting her with such trash talk.

"Leave"

This time, she directed her order to the rest of the occupants of the room, including Yamamoto and Shamal. And to make her words taken seriously, she flung an extra pillow at the pervert. Predictably, the man dodged the object with a flamboyant step to the side. Of course he wouldn't have seen the incoming crowbar she had noticed before and with great accuracy, lobbed at the man.

It was a direct hit to the head and with a loud thunk, Shamal crumbled into the floor. It gave ample time for Yamamoto to take hold of the man's suit and drag the body along the hard floorboards.

"See you Tsuna!" he waved with a smile. Tsuna returned the gesture, though not as readily, and waited until she heard the soft click of the door, then sighed. She was about to succumb to sweet sleep when another click sounded out, signaling the opening of the door.

A soft girlish voice questioned, "Ano, are you okay?"

Tsuna gave another silent sigh. Kyoko. Her forced her eyelids open once again and glanced up at the nervous looking girl at the door, who neither in nor out; stuck between the room and the hall.

"Come in."

Kyoko brightened considerably at the response and stepped in the room, closing the door behind her. She walked up to the bed and handed her a group of flowers woven together into a crown. They were wildflowers, in a variety of bright, light colors that still had a few bits of soil on them.

"What am I supposed to do with this?" Tsuna deadpanned, staring at the clump of flowers in her hands.

"You're supposed to wear it on your head! It's a crown" the cheerful girl replied before taking the crown from Tsuna's hands and placing it gently on the girl's head. A poorly intertwined dandelion fell off at the contact and floated down onto Tsuna's nose. Kyoko started giggling at the sight and the flittering sound wove its way around Tsuna, calming her down. Just like always.

"Mom says it's supposed to bring good luck and health!" Kyoko noted, plucking the dandelion and throwing it into the air with a twirl. The stem dragged the flower down, until it lay resting on the floor.

Kyoko stood there, her hands twitting with the hem of her school dress. "If you're still not feeling well, would you like me to st—"

"Times up, now go to school. Dame-Tsuna will be staying." A clear, squeaky voice cut into the warm conversation abruptly.

"Eh?" Kyoko stared at the infant, surprised at being cut off so rudely. And then she repeated the words in her head, and blinked.

"Go before the pervert wakes up. It'd be unpleasant if that actually happened" Tsuna translated.

Oh. Now she understood. "Then, thank you for your hospitality, Tsuna-chan, Reborn-kun" she smiled, '"And I hope you'll feel better for tomorrow Tsuna-chan!" before leaving.

As soon as the door was slid closed, Tsuna plopped herself snuggly back into her blankets, curling into a tight ball around her core. Gravity weighed down on her eyelids. Slowly, her consciousness began to drift into the beyond; she stood no chance against the warmth that was lulling her mind into numbness, nor the uncomfortable itching of her throat; the sooner she fell asleep, the sooner the unknown sensation would disappear.

"Savor the peace Tsuna, you won't be getting it again" the infant beside her announced, too softly for the already sleeping girl to hear. Still, her body registered the soft feeling on the tips of her toes and kicked at it, prying away from the unfamiliar touch.

Reborn let out a slight chuckle and pulled his hand away flighty leg. He stared at the balled up body, then at his own five-year old form, and chuckled once more, but harsher.

He tipped his fedora down, casting a shadow upon his innocent baby eyes and headed outside the door, leaving not even a single click or creak as the door shut closed.

...

"Dr. Shamal."

The doctor, trained from years ago, instantly knew the voice to be Reborn's. And there was no way he couldn't tell the difference between an amused Reborn, and a serious one.

"Ah! Reborn, what do you want?"

"I'll be leaving for a short while and you'll be staying here in case Dame-Tsuna's case gets worse, which it shouldn't."

Dr. Shamal's stern face grew wide and loose at those words and he smirked and sung, "Well then, I'm sure Tsuna-chan'll be perfect under my care, trust me."

"I don't" Reborn retorted, "which is why I'm sending in a substitute. The blonde Cavallone."

"Ho? Even better!" Shamal cheered. To find the chances of living in the same home with a woman! The trip here wasn't a waste after all.

Too full of his imaginations, Shamal couldn't see Reborn smirk and pat his fedora down mischievously.

"We'll see" was all he said before leaving.

A/N: Around three months of no posting... I'm sorry guys. Several stagnant months of tests, sports, and overall chaos (Finals now), but most likely, sometime in the summer, I'll have days of writing done and earlier updates.

Even if I'm updating slowly, I'll say that I won't be stopping this fanfic. And that the Varia are coming soon... Still a few more chapters to go through, but they'll be coming, and both you all and I will finally be able to see their reunion, whether it be painful or heartwarming (I'm not telling yet).

EDIT: Oh man. There were some reviews: NOTE, When I said three women (Before I took it out), I meant Nana, Tsuna, and the Cavallone. My bad.

Next: Comments

xxxWhite-Wing13xxx: The clash huh... Ryohei and Yamamoto, Gokudera. Hmm. It's fairly obvious that Ryohei doesn't take too well with Gokudera (after all, two hot-heads always clash badly), but I'm more looking forward to Haru, Bianchi, the people who you don't see together often in manga, because they don't have any specific similarities.

Sachiel Angelo: Yeah, I also realized how cheesy the whole thing was. This chapter is also, probably really cheesy. However, like you said, sometimes the cheesy moments that make you gag shouldn't be discarded. Luckily, this is the last Kyoko pov. I think.

long live marshmallows: Hmm. I'm not sure, but I'll check after around two weeks (clear my memory), and check again. But thanks for the tip; I might edit.

ShizukaRen-Hime: True. Tsuna, because she's either thinking deeply into something or just not thinking at all (sleeping, resting), tends to go all depressed. Possibly influenced by the Varia? Or her father? Or maybe just her. In any case, Tsuna isn't really trying to do the right thing, but rather she is still a child (at least what I think). She's not evil enough to notice these (bad) things, and still force herself to not care. But rather, she's selfish because she can't stop herself from doing these things (The strong stinging in her heart forces her to do something, even if she's thinking that it doesn't matter). I consider her more of a laid-back, serious, and often-times, a kid. A smart kid, but still a kid. Guilty feelings arise at times, happy moments, sad moments, she can't control them or her emotions (except to a small extent, anger/irritation). Course, there is some morals in her- She'd rather not kill a person, would she?

Polar Pig: Thanks for your tips! I admit, things look rushed: I suppose its mainly most of her interactions with the other characters left little room for her relationship with Reborn. And that there is a large age gap between them. And oftentimes, I think things that I forget to write down, or didn't realize I hadn't. Well, I'll continue to write, and hopefully you'll be in for a surprise. Or you might just go, "What the hell is this? Too abrupt man" since I don't trust my writing enough. Still. And about Ryohei, I really don't know much about the character from the manga. But I thought that Ryohei from the past might be a bit different from the Ryohei now, perhaps a bit childish, possessive, I'm not sure. However, I thought of him as valuing his sister above all- and therefore his strength. The will to move forward and protect his sister. Perhaps Ryohei felt insulted at this girl, this random girl that stares at the ground with bored eyes, ignoring all attempts at his sister's 'conversation'. Perhaps I was making it too much. Still, thanks for the info.

BrokenBlackCat: For the first question, no, Ryohei is not going to like Tsuna. Besides the fact that he placed low in the polls, I really believe that right now, Ryohei is a numskull without any idea of puberty and love in his brain, besides his protective stance for Kyoko. When I want a romance between someone and Tsuna, I believe that either the man will be chasing Tsuna, or that Tsuna will really find someone that compliments her so much that she will passively live with the person, love progressing naturally, until marriage. The latter's not going to happen in this manga. At least, I don't think. And the second question is answered (I think) in the A/N.