Hitmen in Crisis 11

A/N: I'm so sorry about how late this is! Writers block is horrible. ;A; Please don't kill me.

To Guest: Eventually, people (specifically the 'tenth' and 'first' generation Vongola) will find him, it will just take some time. As for why Reborn is still hiding him, it is because he wants Tsuna to settle into the changes and partially so he can avoid the mess of explaining why Tsuna is now the Sky Arcobaleno and mute. Thanks for your review!

To those who mentioned it, yes Tsuna got a vision last chapter. XD

I thank all who have reviewed, favourited and followed this story and I'm happy to see some of you so eager to read to read this! It means a lot to a writer to know there are people out there who are willing to read his/her stories. :D

Pairings: R27 and Ver27 and some mild DaeElena...?

'Tsuna mouthing stuff.'

'Tsuna writing stuff'

Reborn stalked into the kitchen with the dry-cleaned suit draped over one shoulder. He wore a different dress shirt and black slacks. The hitman's eyes narrowed upon seeing everyone at the table, halfway through dinner. They were chatting or arguing with each other as usual.

Everyone but the brunet.

"Where's Tsuna?"

The others reactions were to glance at him and go back to eating. Reborn frowned at being ignored like that and would have asked more had Verde not stood up; chair scraping back and wiping his mouth. The scientist barely spared a glance toward the hitman as he brushed past.

"Tsuna didn't feel like eating."

Reborn glanced back to see Fon calmly eating another spoonful of risotto as if he hadn't spoken. He also caught Skull's concerned expression and narrowed his eyes, well aware that the stuntman had been there when his coffee had 'spilled' that afternoon. The hitman 'tsk'ed and turned on his heels, throwing his suit over a chair as he left. He would deal with the stuntman later.

Northern Italy

"God dammit. Why was I sent with you of all people?" Grumbled a red-head as he flicked his lighter. He cupped his hand around the flame and brought it to the cigarette at his mouth. He took a deep puff, breathing out a cloud of smoke to which his companion wrinkled his nose at.

"Nufufufu, perhaps Giotto wanted a break from your mother-henning." The melon-headed male waved a hand at the smoke, stalking forward so that he would not be downwind of the red-head.

G growled under his breath. "What 'mother-henning'?! Getting put together with the melon-head of all people to search for Giotto's little brother was definitely not helping his stress levels. Melon-sitting was not what he signed up for when he became a guardian.

The two were trekking down a road, trees and houses scattered here and there over the lush green hills turning gold in the setting sunlight. They were walking away from a small town empty handed and were reaching the more rural areas. Their car had the unfortunate circumstance of carrying a hot headed archer and melon headed illusionist and had met an epic end a few days back. At least now their arguments wouldn't result in another car crash. G's scowl grew deeper as he thought of all the paperwork they would come back to and the Giotto-chasing he would have to do. He took another deep drag in hopes of relieving his increasing migraine.

The only thing they knew was that Tsuna was in Italy so Giotto had decided to spread them out in search for him. G supposed it was unnecessary considering Reborn had found the brunet and was with him but he was quite worried too, especially when he heard what had happened on the school's rooftop. They still didn't know who had disguised themselves as the brunet, or what his motives were but for now G settled for seeing Tsuna again. The brunet had grown on him over the years and he still couldn't resist considering him as a little bother despite being the same age.

G almost swallowed his cigarette when he crashed into his companion. "What the fuck, Melon head?!" He pushed the other forward, tensing slightly in preparation for the usual attack that would come with the use of the 'nickname'. When nothing happened, G peered around the other's shoulder to see Daemon's face uncharacteristically frozen in a strange kind of shock; the usual sly glint in his eyes absent.

G followed the other's gaze, his crimson eyes landing on a young blond woman through the window of an Italian villa. She was humming to herself as she took a bite of rock melon in the homey kitchen. He blinked when a rather familiar child with an afro leapt onto the table. G's mouth fell open. "Lambo?!" It was Lampo's nephew, if he recalled correctly, one who just popped up and ended up freeloading at Giotto's house for the last two years or so.

Unbeknownst to Giotto and his group of friends, Lambo was taken into the Sawada household after Tsuna had found him during one of his missions. But that's a story for another day.

Meanwhile, Daemon was preoccupied with staring at the blond woman, mesmerised by the sparkles that seemed to form as she smiled at a child. The way she chewed on her slice of melon held him in a daze as he drifted forward -the fact that she was eating his own kind didn't cross his mind at all. In fact, they way her lips caressed the soft fruit appealed to him greatly.

The shattering of a plate snapped both guardians back to themselves and they were startled to find a female, with soft purple locks styled into a pineapple shape, staring at them. Her hand was over her mouth and her one eye was wide in shock.

"B-big brother?"

Her voice was soft but G caught it. He frowned, wondering who she was calling 'brother'. Judging by the hair, he would think Daemon but the melon headed bastard had never mentioned having siblings before.

"Nagi!"

G gaped –again- as Daemon ran past the fence and dived through the window. There were loud clattering sounds followed by a startled shriek and a 'Gyahahahaha, the giant melon just flew in!' At least the cow brat knew how to say things.

Daemon held his precious little sister's face –one whom he hadn't seen for years- his eyes watering as his eyes roamed over hear features, especially over the eye patch. "W-what happened to you, dear Nagi? And your eye…" He was about to trace a thumb over the eye patch when a frying pan slammed into the side of his head. He was knocked out cold; the last thing he saw being the mesmerising blond woman's glare and words that echoed in his mind; "Don't you dare touch Chrome, you pervert!"

G's jaw had dropped to the floor by this point.

Arcobaleno Casa, underground training room

Left punch. Right hook. Block. Left kick and duck.

Tsuna settled into the moves like a trance, focusing on making each hit meaningful, strong and precise but not so much that he would waste energy. He was fighting opponents conjured up in his vision through the head piece he was wearing. His attention and concentration occupied so that other, more trivial, thoughts wouldn't be at the forefront of his mind. The brunet kicked the man to his left away, and bought his elbow back into the gut of another behind him. The first man was flung into three others. He pulled out his gun -one that shot holographic bullets- and fired at the two snipers he had spotted near the ceiling.

The backdrop was a posh ball room of a mansion. Nondescript mafioso running at him from all directions. Tsuna grit his teeth as he leapt into the air and activated his flames, flying up to the chandelier in a twisted path so as to avoid being hit by flying bullets. He grabbed the chain holding the large crystal lighting up, melted through the metal and then flew off into one of the alcoves at the top. He winced at hearing the crash and yells from behind as the chandelier plummeted; he didn't enjoy taking life and he would never do so meaninglessly but the sounds and effects were very realistic, despite him being well aware that everything was just a hologram.

When he reached the alcove he landed in a roll, firing at the awaiting man and watched as blood spurted from the head wound. He didn't have time to think about it for he had to quickly get to his feet and dash away from another batch of bullets.

Reborn watched all this from his position at the doorway. Although to him all he could see was Tsuna fighting nothing in a plain armoured plated room with rectangular alcoves built around the top. But he knew the simulation Tsuna was currently testing, having gone done it before. This was one of Verde's inventions; the scientist had been trying to create a program that the hitman himself could not defeat. Reborn scoffed, of course that hadn't work but he would admit that it made for a good workout.

The raven haired man's eyes watched as his student leapt from one of the alcoves and back onto the floor near the edge. If he remembered correctly, that was where a large pillar stood in the simulation. Reborn felt his lips pull up in amusement; it was rather ironic that that was the place where he had taken refuge the last time he had tested the simulation. He reached up to tug his fedora down and schooled his face to be blank; he was supposed to be angry at the brunet.

"Tsuna."

The brunet was in the middle of shooting at the men from behind the pillar when his name rang through the ruckus and caught in his ears. Tsuna's brows knitted as he tried to think if this was part of the simulation or if it was real. He peered around the pillar toward the men, honey-brown orbs roving over the multiple suits and weaponry, he almost missed the sharp pair of pitch black eyes looking at him from under the shadow of a very familiar fedora.

'R-Reborn?' Tsuna mouthed before ducking back behind the pillar to avoid another volley of bullets, his ears ringing. No, it wasn't because he avoiding his teacher or anything.

"Yes, Dame-Tsuna?"

The brunet yelped as he felt a hot breath tickle his ear. He grabbed the ear and turned to glare at the hitman, who had appeared right beside him. It was then he remembered what had transpired the last time he had seen his mentor, and fear made him shudder involuntarily; Reborn hated getting his suits ruined. The brunet ignored the other nagging questions in the back of his mind; this wasn't exactly the right time to ask and he wasn't sure if he wanted to know the answers at all. Tsuna bit his bottom lip in frustration.

Reborn almost chuckled at the teen's reaction but avoided doing so by pointing Leon in gun form at the teen and increasing his killer intent. Tsuna barely noticed it as the headset was still sitting on his head. Instead, he saw a mafioso running up, knife in hand and aim for his teacher. Forgetting that he was in a simulation, the brunet tackled his teacher down and shot the enemy.

Reborn grunted at the impact, he then grabbed the headset and pulled it off the brunet. He watched Tsuna blink in confusion at the sudden change; the lack of loud sounds of shouting men and breaking furniture, the walls being white rather than red and the scents of copper and gunpowder all but gone. The hitman then watched with some degrees of amusement as Tsuna looked down to find himself lying on the hitman and blink once again in confusion, head tilting cutely. Reborn grumbled; it was really hard to stay mad at the brunet.

Tsuna was just feeling relieved Reborn wasn't hurt and it showed on his face as he smiled down at his mentor, not noticing that he was still lying on top the man and forgetting entirely that he had been hoping to avoid the man. The hitman then knew intuitively what the brunet had most likely seen and sighed in exasperation, reaching up to tug on one of his sideburns. "Dame-Tsuna, that was a simulation." At least the brunet had the grace to blush in embarrassment.

Reborn's eyes locked onto the rising red tint that crossed those soft cheeks, his intense gaze making Tsuna self-conscious and squirm in his position before burying his head into the hitman's front. Reborn was suddenly overcome with the urge to hug the teen close, but his own pride stopped him just as his arms were circling the younger. Instead he reached for the blushing cheeks and pulled.

Tsuna yelped, sitting up on the hitman's stomach to glare at the man and rubbing his cheeks; that had hurt. He froze when he saw the glare directed back at him and gulped, 'I forgot that I was avoiding him!' The brunet was sure Reborn was going to punish him for getting the Armani suit soiled, although the picture Skull had captured was worth it; it was so rare to see a startled expression on Reborn's face.

"Sawada Tsunayoshi."

Tsuna could hear the murderous undertones and sat up straight, he felt like a child being scolded. The brunet kept his hands on the hitman's chest where they could be seen clearly. Although he did wonder how fast he could take his gloves out, or his real gun.

"Are you even aware of your position in the underground world?"

Tsuna blinked; that had not been what he had been expecting. He had been gearing up for another scolding for ruining Reborn's suit -last time had involved the polluted canals in Venice and Reborn had not been a happy camper, to say the least.

"Answer me, Dame-Tsuna." Reborn sat up, making the brunet slide down into his lap and for the edge of his fedora to be squished against a brown mass of hair. He was too annoyed to think about the precarious position the two were in and so the hitman grabbed the brunet's chin and stared directly into the honey-brown orbs.

'I'm Sawada Tsunayoshi, twin bother to the Vongola Decimo and son of the Outside Advisor who is supposedly innocent. Cælum, freelance assassin and student to the Greatest Hitman in the world.' Here Tsuna's lips unconsciously quirked up. 'There are a few other aliases here and there but...is there something I've mised?'

Reborn resisted the urge to face-palm. Well, it wasn't like he or any of the others had stated the role outright to the brunet. The hitman poked the teen's chest right above the heart where a small bulge rested.

Tsuna peered down in confusion at the finger on his chest where he knew the pacifier rested under his shirt. Wait, pacifier. The brunet's eyes widened before turning his head up to face Reborn. He was too shocked to be peeved about the fact that he was able to see Reborn eye to eye even though he was siting in the older man's lap.

'T-the Sky Arcobaleno?' Tsuna hadn't really thought about what it meant to have the pacifier in his hold and glowing for him. It seemed like an eternity since Yuni had passed away and yet felt like a second at the same time. He had unconsciously taken the pacifier with him wherever he went and hadn't given much thought to it. The notion that the pacifier belonged to him was just- there. He didn't even have to think about it; it was like it was always his to begin with.

"Not just that." Reborn grumbled, he could see the confusion racing through the clear brown orbs and understood how the brunet felt. When he had first received the pacifier, no matter how much he had abhorred the thing, he had kept it on his person without thinking. When he had tried to purposefully part with it, he had found himself reluctantly taking it back, just as all the other Arcobaleno had. Seeing he had the teen's attention again he continued, "The Sky has always been the Boss, Tsuna."

It took some time for that information to sink into Tsuna's head and when it did, he froze. It wasn't possible, right? How could he, a student of two of the Arcobaleno, whose experience compared to the others was like comparing a puddle to a lake become a- a- Boss for the strongest bab- adults in the mafia?!

Reborn sighed, he didn't have any issues with having the brunet as his Boss, and he doubted the other Arcobaleno minded with how they had warmed up to the teen. The Arcobaleno Boss was different to the Mare and Vongola Bosses; for one thing the Arcobaleno Boss wasn't always the Boss of a famiglia. And for another, the Arcobaleno Boss's job description was different.

"You have become the sky that holds all, to care and nurture the others and make sure they don't break."

Tsuna blinked out of his shock as the words came to mind like a forgotten dream, one of vast blue skies and a white figure with a bulbous hat.

"If you understand that, Dame-Tsuna..."

The brunet looked toward Reborn again and noted the anger had returned into those pitch black eyes. An anger he still didn't get, Reborn's question having served to just make him more confused as to why the hitman was angry.

"What do you think you were doing, going out without protection?"

Tsuna's mouth flopped open in shock. 'That's what Reborn's angry about?!' Well, he was relieved it wasn't about the suit or about the fact he had stal- followed Reborn. 'I was with someone. And I don't need protection; you're the one who taught me after all!' Tsuna hoped Reborn hadn't seen Skull, he knew that his mentor had spotted him -and his hairstyle wasn't exactly the most common one around- but he hoped that Skull was safe.

"Skull isn't enough."

So much for the brunet's hopes. 'He promised to protect me!' From Colonnello for some reason but Tsuna wasn't going to mention that. 'And I believe he can, you should stop bullying him so much.' The brunet pouted and folded his arms, turning his head away to glare at the wall.

Reborn snorted and glowered at the teen. "And saying you can protect yourself isn't very reassuring, I think you would be more likely to walk blindly into trouble." Seeing Tsuna turn and open his mouth to retort, Reborn stopped him. "We can't have the Boss of the Arcobaleno walking about without protection; there are a lot of people out there who will come after you as soon as they know. You'll have more than your current enemies to deal with." Reborn shifted his legs; they were starting to go numb with Tsuna sitting on them.

Tsuna grumbled, he didn't want to be watched over like some accident prone damsel -he'd had enough of that from Giotto. What were a few more enemies compared to how many he had before? 'You're being overprotective, Reborn.' Which was weird considering the hitman was always the one who was first to throw people into a ravine and call it 'training'.

Reborn, 'overprotective'? The hitman took offence to that; he was being cautious, as you would need to be in their world. He was just about to hit his idiot student over the head for assuming such a thing, but Tsuna stopped him as his lips formed another sentence.

'If you wanted to protect me so much, you wouldn't go out without me...' Tsuna looked intently at his lap, these words -had they been spoken aloud- would have been a mumble but to someone who read lips, it was clear as day.

Reborn froze for a moment, blinking in surprise. "Are you saying you missed me, Dame-Tsuna?" He should not be feeling remotely happy about this, but he was.

'No!' Tsuna ignored the little voice in the back of his head calling him a liar. 'I was worried about you! I thought you were taking missions or something... Not go-going out on dates.' Tsuna bit his lip, he didn't want to tackle this issue now and he desperately wanted Reborn to deny it; to say that he was on missions. The brunet wasn't sure why though, he wanted Reborn to finally be free from his curse and enjoy life as an adult but at the same time he had the absurd urge to grab his teacher and never let go. 'I'm so confused!'

Reborn flicked the brunet's forehead. "I can take perfect care of myself, Dame-Tsuna. And what I do is none of your business." It wasn't like he had been planning on letting the brunet see him with one of his 'dates'. In fact he would rather the teen didn't know anything about that, along with the flashes of lust he seemed to get whenever he got around the brunet. Speaking of being around the brunet... The hitman blinked as he became aware of exactly what position the two were in and his student's complete obliviousness to it.

Tsuna rubbed his forehead, hiding his expression behind his bangs so Reborn wouldn't catch the flash of hurt in his eyes. He knew that it wasn't his business and that he was sticking his nose in unnecessarily, but Reborn didn't have to put it like that, did he? The brunet stood up abruptly, 'If you want to stay out, fine. You don't need to come back at all.' Had he just been a burden? Always waiting for his teacher to come home at night?

"What?" Reborn had been resisting the urge to reach out and hold the teen again when Tsuna had stood up, the hitman had almost missed the mouthed words. When had his student become bipolar? "Tsuna, what are you talking about?" he asked as he stood up again, stretching his legs.

'Y-you don't need to come back at night! I-I won't wait for you and go to sleep so you don't need to worry. You can just do what all adults do when they stay out!' It hurt; his heart was beating in a stinging rhythm that left him breathless. Tsuna clenched a fist around the pacifier over his heart, hoping to slow it. Seeing his teacher's shocked look, he couldn't face it anymore and dashed out of the room.

"I would appreciate it, if you didn't destroy my walls Tsunayoshi." Verde pushed up his glasses as he observed the teenager from his seat in front of his computer screens.

Tsuna took a deep breath, unclenching fists and closing his eyes as he recalled Fon-sensei's breathing exercises. There was a rather large crater in the cement wall next to him, debris was scattered around his feet.

Verde continued to watch the teen; he had seen everything through his screens. But having only heard half the conversation, he couldn't draw a firm conclusion as to what had transpired between Reborn and Tsunayoshi. He could get that the teen was angry, and most likely at his fellow Arcobaleno. "'Reborn-" Verde caught Tsuna's flinch at that name -not that he really enjoyed it saying either, "'-is a jerk.' Is what I'm going to assume you are trying to say."

Tsuna sighed but shook his head, if his tutor enjoyed staying out so much for- for- pleasure, then he should be entitled to. Tsuna wasn't stupid nor sheltered, he was well aware what adults and even people his age did -not that he had ever appreciated the things he saw when roaming the red light districts. If he remembered correctly, Reborn had hinted at indulging in such things before as well as having various lovers, but seeing such a thing at face value was a shock to the teen. And he was angry at himself for losing his cool like that in front of his mentor of all people.

"No?" Verde blinked. "Well, I don't really know what you would expect from him." The scientist was somewhat confused as to why the teen was angry, or was he upset? Verde huffed, humans were far too confusing. He much preferred being holed up in his lab without contact with such bothersome beings -although he was currently in his lab anyway. "If you wish, I would gladly dissect him for you. I am quite curious about how his mind works." Verde slipped a scalpel from the tray beside him and examined the edge; wondering if he would need to cleanse it again.

Tsuna blinked at the scientist, not sure if he was serious or not and couldn't stop a giggle from emerging from his lips. He slammed a hand over his mouth in hopes of stalling anymore. It seemed so ridiculously Verde to say such a thing and he could feel that, deep down, the scientist was trying to offer for his benefit.

Verde looked away from his scalpel -having been lost in thought about all he could garner from the hitman if he ever dissected him- and toward the brunet whom had collapsed on the floor, shoulders shaking uncontrollably. 'Is he that upset?' Verde felt disconcerted, for some reason the thought of the usually hyper teenager being so upset didn't sit well with him. Well, maybe something science related could cheer up the other, it always worked for Verde.

Tauna had finally managed to gain control of his giggles, proud of himself for not releasing a sound. He was wiping the last of the tears away when he felt a tap on his shoulder and he looked up and up -why was Verde so tall?- to see the scientist holding a large flask with a small amount of orange coloured liquid and a small beaker with another coloured liquid.

Verde bent down and placed the large flask before the teen and handed the small beaker to Tsuna. He reached out to absently wipe a stray tear from Tsuna's cheek -he still didn't know that the brunet had been laughing- then placed a pair of safety goggles over the brunet's eyes and said in his default tone, "Pour the contents of the beaker into the large flask."

Tsuna blinked through the goggles and tilted his head; wondering what this was about, but did as he was asked. There was a pause as foam built up at the bottom of the flask and then he yelped as foam exploded from the top and came raining down on them. The orange foam felt warm against his skin and he gaped in shock for several moments, frozen in his position on the floor.

Verde calmly took off his own pair of goggles and wiped his glasses. "A simple reaction involving the release an oxygen particles from hydrogen peroxide. What do you think of it, Tsunayoshi?"

Tsuna blinked, unable to see anything but orange foam on his goggles. He slipped them off and laughed at the sight of the scientist covered in foam. He then squeaked when a lump of foam wiggled beside him, wondering if it was alive and where was Hayato when you needed him and his UMA knowledge. Only to breathe a sigh of relief when it turned out to be Keiman. Picking the caiman up, Tsuna gently wiped as much foam off the crocodile as possible.

"Are you still upset?" Tsuna turned to the scientist, who had come closer to crouch in front of the teen. Tsuna blushed, realising that Verde had been trying to cheer him up and shook his head whilst cuddling Keiman closer. He did feel better, the tension in his shoulders from before having been eased. He shut his eyes as Verde ruffled his hair, brushing more foam off; they all needed a bath. At that thought, Tsuna perked up, he recalled seeing a bath room off to the side of the lab, probably for safety purposes but it would serve to clean them.

The brunet stood up, still holding onto the crocodile and grabbed Verde's arm to drag the older man into the shower. Verde -being the observer he is- let the brunet lead the way, wondering what the teen was going to do; he found watching the younger male quite amusing.

Tsuna turned the knob harshly, letting a spray a water torrent out and over them all, causing both males' spiky hair to flatten. Verde grunted indignantly, but he supposed the foam needed to be washed off even though it was harmless. He slipped his glasses off; they were useless in the shower and put them into his lab coat pocket. Was taking a shower fully clothed even common?

Apparently not, because the next thing he knew, Tsuna had already stripped to his boxers and looked ready to take those off too. "T-Tsunayoshi, you don't need to take off everything." He did not just stutter as he grabbed the brunet's wrists. A pink tint ran across his cheeks as Tsuna blinked back at him. "There is such a thing as discretion. Surely you should know that."

Tsuna pouted and tugged his hands away, not bothering to mouth words because Verde wouldn't understand him. He waved vaguely at his own body and at Verde's, patting the older man's drenched shirt. The scientist somehow managed to interpret the brunet's movements, "It doesn't matter if both of us are male, and people don't commonly shower together." Despite his lack of contact with humanity in general, the scientist had read many books on the human psyche.

Tsuna just glared back stubbornly and started tugging the scientist's clothes off, much to Verde's protests. The clothes had to be heavy with all that water. The brunet grinned down to Keiman when the crocodile started tugging Verde's shoes off.

"I demand you two to stop this!"

"Shit!" Reborn slammed a fist into the wall beside his door, the plaque on his door rattling at the force. He hadn't been expecting those words from his student, and seeing as the brunet's head had been down, he hadn't been able to catch the expression on Tsuna's face nor the tone -mouthing words could only get you so far. He also hadn't been expecting to feel so annoyed at the brunet's words.

'You can just do what all adults do when they stay out!'

'Isn't that like saying that he doesn't really care about me going out with anyone?' For some reason this really annoyed him to no end. He would have preferred it if- a memory from years ago rushed at him.

"R-Reborn! Where are you going?" Tsuna panted from his position in the middle of the minefield. His form was scratched and beaten from the gruelling training so far and he was expected to get out of this place in one piece. The fact that it was currently the witching hour did not help at all.

"I'm going home to sleep. You better be there when I wake up, Dame-Tsuna." The infant hitman smirked as he turned Leon into a motorbike and hopped on.

"B-but Reborn!"

The hitman turned and quirked a brow at the brunet's face that clearly read, 'don't leave me!' from the slightly open mouth to the pleading eyes. He would admit it was rather cute, but there was no way someone of his calibre would fall for such a face.

"The mines all have a time limit; you better get out-" he glanced at his watch "-by the next hour."

"WHAT?!"

Reborn nodded thoughtfully; he would have preferred that pleading expression on the brunet's face. It had been some time since he had seen it, as the brunet started growing into himself and depended less and less on him. Reborn wanted the brunet to be independent but a small part of him didn't want that.

"R-Reborn-sempai? Aren't you going to go in?"

The hitman turned to see Skull sticking his head out of his own door, purple hair scattered every which way. The stuntman had been asleep but had woken and had decided to get up for a glass of water.

"Skull."

The stuntman shifted his gaze and flinched, hoping that the hitman knew nothing of his and Tsuna's involvement in what had happened that afternoon. If he did, Skull would take the blame, there was no need for Tsuna to see Reborn's wrath -he had completely forgotten that the brunet was the hitman's student and had probably seen Reborn mad many times.

"Why did you take Tsuna out alone today?"

Skull gulped and really really hoped that the reinforced wooden door would be enough to stall Reborn for a few moments while he escaped. He didn't bother hoping it would stop the hitman; there wasn't much that could stop Reborn on a rampage.

"He's now the Sky Arcobaleno and our boss."

Skull froze in the middle of closing his door. He then opened it fully to face the hitman. "I believed I could protect Tsuna" he said without hesitation "and that if we really got in trouble, you would have noticed right away." The stuntman bit his lip at facing Reborn's serious stare; he would much rather the hitman hit him or shoot at him than this silence.

This subject was sensitive; all of the Arcobaleno knew that. After what had happened to Luce due to their carelessness years ago, they had all vowed to never let it happen ever again.

A loud sigh broke the tension and Skull blinked at Reborn, who had reached up to take his fedora off and run a hand through his hair. "Tsuna is hard to keep and eye on. Tell the others to keep their eyes peeled." With that Reborn opened the door to his room and stalked into the cold darkness.

Skull was left wondering if Reborn had been complimenting the brunet or not -did he hear a proud yet exasperated tone just then?- before shrugging and turning to head down for his water in his teddy pyjamas.

Verde slumped into his seat, exhausted. He had endured the stripping -thankfully the brunet had handed him a towel- and the following bubble bath. What world's number one scientist took bubble baths? Luckily the bathtub was a large one, for when Verde obtained a large creature or monster to examine. It had been particularly helpful with marine box weapons; like that one time with a shark.

Tsunayoshi seemed to have had a lot of fun though, if the laughing mess of a teenager had been any indication. Especially when the brunet had started trying to mould shapes out of the bubbles. Tsuna's crudely shaped bubbles had irked the scientist enough to try it himself whilst lecturing the brunet about how to properly proportion 'bubble men'. Nothing in the world would make Verde admit he had participated in such a meaningless exercise.

A laugh to the side broke through Verde's thoughts and he turned his head to see Tsuna sitting on the table, wearing one of his shirts and drawstring pants. Unfortunately, Verde's boxers didn't fit the brunet and Tsuna refused to get another pair from his shared room. The brunet had a fluffy towel draped around his neck and another in his hands; which he was using to dry Keiman. The scientist wondered if he should mention that reptiles didn't really need to be dried due to their skin structure. He decided against it when the crocodile attempted to crawl up the brunet's chest, making Tsuna giggle; there was no need to burst the teen's bubble.

Instead, Verde turned to what he had been working on for the last few days. To common eyes, it looked like a large metal collar with a green jewel to the side. Verde picked it up thoughtfully, wondering if it would serve the purpose it was made for as he hadn't tested it yet. Theoretically, it should work, but his Subject in question was a special case.

Tsuna hummed to himself as he petted Keiman, who had settled down on his lap, and absently took a mint from the packet next to him. It was almost empty and he had bought it for Verde only a day ago. He unwrapped the sweet and popped it into his mouth, allowing the sharp mint taste to coat his tongue. The brunet rubbed his eyes, knowing he had to go to sleep soon but he didn't want to go to Reborn's room.

Tsuna perked up when he heard Verde move and turned to watch the scientist approach with something in hand. When Verde was standing before the brunet, he held the device up for him to see. The scientist decided to explain what it did rather than use his usual method of 'experiment before explaining'.

"This is something I made which should allow you to speak, although the voice will be automated. It reads the signals your brain usually sends through your synapses with this-" Verde pointed to the green crystal. "The signals your brain sends have slight electrical pulses, which are read and converted. That is all I'll say because I doubt you will understand if I were to go more in depth."

Tsuna nodded in relief, thankful that the scientist had stopped before his brain imploded. Verde took that as an agreement, and reached out to clasp the collar around the brunet's throat. Tsuna shuddered as the cold metal met his skin but allowed Verde to do as he liked. The brunet tilted his head up to help and wiggled his nose when Verde leaned down and gave him a face full of green hair.

Verde stood back and examined his work, his current experiment blinking up at him in a -dare he admit it- rather cute way, not that the word had ever been used in his vocabulary before. "Try talking, Tsunayoshi."

Tsuna pouted, kicking his legs against the table he was sitting on, "I told you to call me 'Tsuna' Verde! Oh!" The brunet's eyes grew wide as a robotic voice emerged from the collar he was wearing, the green crystal lighting up in time with each sound.

Verde smirked confidently and reached out to pet the brunet, but a sudden spark stopped him. His green eyes widened as little lightning ran along the device. Tsuna had frozen too, having felt the prickling along his skin. The scientist 'tsk'ed and grabbed the collar, letting the lightning run into his body and pointed away with his other hand, letting it all out in large burst into the ground.

Tsuna stared wide-eyed at the large burn mark on the floor. 'That was weird.' He frowned when he realised that there was no voice. Verde sighed and reached out to undo the collar, the jewel on the side had become a dull green. "This is why I hate anything that has to do with that curse."

Tsuna huffed, his hopes dashed, but he was happy the scientist had tried to find a method around his lost voice. He peeked at the man who was still grumbling under his breath, able to see the dark circles under those green eyes; he had obviously spent a few sleepless nights on the device. Touched at the thought that the scientist had been trying to help, the brunet placed Keiman aside, hopped off the table, and tackled the man in a hug before beaming upward.

Verde felt himself stare wide-eyed as flowers started blooming in the background whilst the brunet smiled, and ignored the fact that it was quite hard to breathe. He took his glasses off to wipe them and put them back on, only to see even more flowers surrounding the brunet, "An impossible phenomenon." Unless, of course, it was an illusion.

Tsuna tilted his head curiously, wondering what Verde was going on about and watched as the scientist reached out to poke something in the air. Perhaps Verde had a few screws loose? The brunet had heard Reborn calling him 'mad scientist' before. Then again, most of the people Tsuna knew seemed to have a few issues.

North Italy. (Speaking Japanese)

The loud revving of engines echoed in the night, disrupting the natural silence of the sparse forest. They came to a screeching stop, blowing leaves away and leaving tire tracks through the dirt.

"We're lost TO THE LIMIT!" A black haired boxer yelled as he pushed up a muddied pair of goggles. He had enjoyed dirt biking over the mountain ranges of Italy, it had been one extreme experience that left him breathless, especially when he and his companion had leapt off that cliff a few kilometres back, it was EXTREME! As his little brother would have put it.

"Hn, don't state the obvious." A male with flaxen blond hair on the bike next to the boxer grumbled irritably as he stepped off his bike. There was no need to try riding when it was this dark, he didn't want to be held responsible by his 'boss' if the loud-mouth boxer crashed into a tree and died.

"That was EXTREME Alaude! Did you have fun?!" Knuckle grinned widely, teeth stark white in the dark. He also leapt off his bike and started pushing it forward. Ignoring the mud that got everywhere; getting dirty was part of being a MAN! Colonnello had taught him well.

"Hn." Alaude refused to answer such a question; he already knew the great pains it would take to get the mud off his coat. At least it would be easier than blood, but blood didn't show as easily as mud did. Instead, he threw a pair of handcuffs up into a tree nearby.

"Oi! What are you doing TO THE LIMIT-!" Knuckle had to quickly duck as a tonfa sailed past him and embedded deeply into the trunk of a tree. He turned fists at the ready for the next attack. He punched with his right fist when he saw a dark blur, meeting the metal side of another tonfa. "EXTREEEME!"

Knuckle's opponent grunted audibly and leapt back, wondering if this herbivore would be worth the fight. He reached out and dislodged his previous tonfa as a blood thirsty smirk spread across his lips.

"Kyoya."

The black haired male stopped short and turned. "Cousin."

Alaude huffed. "Didn't I tell you to call me 'brother'." Seeing Kyoya glare at him, Alaude narrowed his eyes back, ready to throw a handcuff to discipline his younger half-brother.

Knuckle lowered his fists as he noted who exactly he had been fighting with. "Hibari! What are you doing here, TO THE LIMIT!"

Both skylarks twitched. Neither of them could stand the loud herbivores. They were uncouth and obnoxious with a stubborn streak several miles long. Hibari slipped his tonfa back seeing as the loud herbivore wasn't worth the fight now. He examined his older brother and the loud herbivore's appearances, wrinkling his nose at the dirt and grime covering the both of them and the bikes.

He was about to question them when an alarm blared through the silence startling all three of them into fighting stances.

"Trespassers! Prepare to be purified!"

Arcobaleno Casa, Verde's room

Tsuna gaped at Verde's room. He had forcibly dragged the scientist upstairs to get some sleep. Verde had been getting too engrossed in trying to find a solution to the issue. In fact, the scientist was still scribbling in a notebook and tilting Tsuna's head here and there to get a good look. As Tsuna was now gaping, Verde too the opportunity to place a wooden stick into the teen's mouth and shine a torch down the brunet's throat.

Tsuna was still trying to get his head around Verde's room. Why? Well, when he saw Verde's lab and how spick and span it was kept, along with equipment and experiments placed around neatly with labels and everything. He had been expecting a meticulously kept room, neat with not a speck of dust. Instead, Verde's bedroom was... a mess -to put it simply.

Book upon books were stacked around what Tsuna could make out as the bed. Sheets of paper with various diagrams and words were scattered everywhere. Not a single piece of carpet or wall was spared, even the windows had equations scribbled over it with marker. He wasn't sure how the scientist made his way to the bed.

When the brunet got over his shock, he took out the stick in his mouth whilst ignoring the scientist's protests. He reached out to grab Verde's notebook and scribbled a message. 'I'm going to help you clean this mess in the morning.'

Verde pushed up his glasses and glared down at the teen. "I don't need you to clean my room, Tsunayoshi."

'I insist.' Tsuna tiptoed so that he could frown directly into green eyes, holding up his boldened message, his own honey-brown eyes taking on a determined sheen. After spending too much time with Reborn, he could appreciate a clean room. Especially after seeing Lambo's and the headache it had been, at least he was sure with Verde that he would not encounter sticky sweets stuck to the carpet and explosives. No wait, the explosives part might be possible with Verde.

Seeing the scientist release a relenting sigh -Verde had encountered the brunet's stubborn streak one too many times today- Tsuna's expression did a one-eighty and he grabbed Verde's hand and went through the clearest path to the bed. He then put the notebook over a stack of papers and made the scientist lie on the bed after taking off his lab coat. 'Sleep!'

Verde didn't need to be able to read lips to know that the teenager had just ordered him to sleep. He grumbled but relented; he hadn't slept at all the night before, perhaps that was why he let the brunet have his way so many times today- he glanced at the clock on the wall -yesterday. Slipping his glasses off, he placed it over a stack of books. The scientist glanced toward the slightly blurred, retreating form of the teen. "And where are you going to sleep tonight?"

Tsuna froze, he had forgotten about his outburst from earlier and there was no way he could face Reborn after that. He could always stay in the living room, the sofa was large and this was where his short stature would be a blessing. Or he could take Fon-sensei up on his offer... He squeaked when an arm circled around his waist and he was dragged back, landing on the edge of a soft mattress. 'V-Verde?!'

Verde didn't like it, he had no idea why such an emotion welled in him when he saw the way the brunet's shoulders had slumped as if depressed. But it felt like those times when he faced a (supposed) unsolvable problem. He wanted nothing more than to solve it, to own it and claim to be the only one genius enough for it. Although, the solving process was always delicate; it had to be approached carefully.

As he held the warm body -when was the last time he had ever done such a thing?- the scientist buried his face into the brown fluff, inhaling the brunet's scent. Now he understood Skull's boasting about getting to hug the teen at dinner. He wondered absently if the vanilla-strawberry-like scent was natural, because the shampoo in the laboratory bathroom was certainly not that flavour. Feeling Tsunayoshi wiggle, he shifted the both of them so that they were lying down and tugged the covers over them.

Tsuna's face burned as he heard Verde's breathing even, the grip around his waist staying tight. He was used to Reborn and even Fon but Verde had been a passing acquaintance to him. The brunet certainly wasn't expecting to ever end up in the same bed as the other. Sleep tugged at him and he decided that he was too tired to bother thinking anymore. Turning around to snuggle into Verde's shirt, Tsuna fell asleep.

In the room next door, a vibrating phone wakes the inhabitant in an instant. Instincts honed after years of training has a gun in her hands and pointed at the innocent device. Lal grumbled under her breath and checked the number on her mobile wondering who was calling her at such a time. She frowned a little when she saw who it was and hoped the idiot wasn't calling to ask about his son again, and that she wouldn't regret picking up.

"What do you want?"

"What a cold greeting to your boss, Lal."

That teasing tone was definitely not what she wanted to hear at this time. "If it's nothing important, don't wake me up!"

"Sorry, sorry! Ahaha, actually I need you to get over here. It's a good thing you're in Italy, and could you ask Colonnello to come too?"

"Is there a reason?"

"I kind of want to avoid adding anymore volatile people to this lot." Lal could practically hear the man scratching his head sheepishly, as well as some suspicious sounds in the background. "And Colonnello might help calm-"

"VOOOOOOOI! Who's 'volatile' you crappy Advisor!"

Lal was quick to pull her mobile phone off her ear and muffle in on her pillow, although the sounds of shouting still managing to seep through. A tic appeared on her brow as she rubbed her ringing ear with her other hand. If she became deaf she would be sure to skewer that bastard shark.

It took a few minutes for the sounds to settle, when there was no more the bluenette lifted the phone cautiously to her ear.

"Lal? Lal? You still there?"

She could hear footsteps on the other side and retreating muffled noises, Iemitsu had obviously decided on just getting out and walking away. "Yes."

"Good, sorry about that. I'll send over all the information to your email by morning, I expect you and Colonnello here by this time tomorrow."

"Sure." Thank god Iemistu was just getting to the point this time rather than make meaningless conversation.

"Also..."

"Yes?"

"How's my little Tuna~? I want to hear his cute voice! Can't you put him on?"

"Do you know what time it is, Iemistu?!" Lal yelled into the speaker and promptly shut the phone, annoyed. After calming down, she settled back into her bed and decided on sleeping. One last thought passed though her mind before her eyes shut; she wasn't going to be the one to tell Iemitsu that his son couldn't speak anymore.

A/N: No Tsuna acting as cupid for Daemon and Elena, sorry. Not that their relationship is starting off smoothly... XD The 'eating melon at first meeting' idea is accredited to WhiteAngel128 and Mockingjay Rose. As for why there are so many scene changes, it's because it gives you an idea of what's going on and sets the stage for more stuff to happen. Obviously, Tsuna isn't going to be centred on everything but he is for most.

Thanks for reading this looong chapter!

R&R