Things finally seemed to go steady for a few weeks. Tsuna barely registered how much time had passed. He kept having panic attacks that would then give him an asthma attack which would lead him into the hospital again. It was a vicious cycle that kept repeating. And it all lead back to Mukuro.

He was the reason Tsuna kept getting so high strung. He had tried to just stay all night and day at the hospital, under the guise of being concerned for Reborn being alone, but it didn't work. Nurses refused to let him stay more than two days and a night in a row. They always made him get picked up so he would go and sleep at Mukuro's family's house. He didn't sleep very well there though so it never did much good. He was too hyper aware that Mukuro was even in the vicinity to relax.

Reborn couldn't help much though. He had to rebuild muscle in his legs so he could walk so he was either in physiotherapy or sleeping. It took a lot out of him to do more than eat and go to the bathroom at this point. Whenever Tsuna managed to see him, he was exhausted with deep bags under his eyes and on the verge of sleeping.

"I don't like how much I sleep", Reborn mumbled.

Tsuna looked up from the book he had to do for his school work. He furrowed his brow, putting the book on the bedside table. "Well, you were hurt...a lot. You're still recovering so you have to give yourself some-some", Tsuna broke off, staring at the ground.

"Forget what you wanted to say?" Reborn asked with a shaky laugh.

"It started happening a lot", Tsuna muttered in annoyance. "It's not fun. Mukuro makes fun of me for it and it provokes a lot of other people."

"Are Gokudera and Yamamoto...not there?"

"No, they're always gone when this happens. They might actually hurt Mukuro if they heard what was happening though."

"Why not tell them then?"

Tsuna blanched, throwing a scared look at Reborn. His breathing quickened and he couldn't stop shaking. "Mukuro would…"

"Hey", Reborn mumbled. He pushed himself up and gently took Tsuna's hand in his. "Let's drop this conversation. There's no need to freak you out over something hypothetical."

Tsuna nodded slowly, blinking fast. Reborn rubbed his thumb over Tsuna's knuckles slowly. It was something Tsuna found himself focusing on. He felt a smile tug at his lips as he looked up at Reborn. He was dazed, almost asleep, and Tsuna felt his heart melt at the sight of him. He rested his head onto his pillow, staring at Tsuna's hand with a slight smile.

The peaceful atmosphere they had created didn't last though. It was the next day when everything was getting cleaned and sanitized. Reborn usually never noticed it as they cleaned everything in his room while he was in therapy and he fell asleep right away when he was done. But he had slowly been getting better again and he finally felt less tired. He knew he had to catch up on a lot of work and he wanted to take some time to do it. But when Tsuna and him went into his room, the intense smell of bleach and rubbing alcohol was overpowering. Reborn gagged, falling to his knees. They used bleach on everything in the camp. It was used as a substitute disinfectant if there was no alcohol and he hated the smell. And soon he couldn't breathe and he was thinking about that dark room with the chains holding him down-

"-Reborn", Tsuna muttered gently. He tried to see if Reborn would see him and get his breathing under control but he just sat there. He was white and shaking and his jaw was clamped tight.

Tsuna looked around, wondering what to do. He pulled on Reborn's hands and got him through the door so he could close it, blocking off anybody looking in. Some nurses had looked in curiously and started to walk closer but Tsuna shook his head. Tsuna sat down in front of Reborn and put headphones into Reborn's ear. He remembered Reborn saying something in an offhand comment that if he had something to focus on when he was like this, it would help him calm down faster. Tsuna played the only thing he could think of. He recently had found classical music was helpful.

It took a bit but after three different pieces, Reborn's jaw unclenched slowly. That was always when you could tell he was started to come through. His breath evened out next and he regained a little more colour as the track progressed. He let out a small sigh as he blinked, wiping his forehead.

"Thanks", he muttered. Tsuna smiled sheepishly.

"I wasn't even sure this would work." Tsuna said with a laugh. "Can I ask what set you off?"

"It smells like bleach."

Reborn didn't say anything else. Tsuna was about to ask before he stopped himself. He moved and went to the windows. He opened the curtains and pushed the windows out. Reborn started to pick himself up and Tsuna started to walk over to help support him.

"I'm fine, Tsuna", he said in mild amusement. Tsuna had really became a mother hen towards him, always trying to take care of him in some way. It was almost endearing.

Tsuna gave a stricken look of concern but he nodded. Reborn sat down gently onto the bed. He slid back towards the pillows. He caught Tsuna's worried look that he was trying to hide.

"You have this too, don't look so concerned. It just happens." Reborn muttered. "I'll be fine, promise."

"I know you haven't been taking your medication, Reborn. I'm worried that it's making this worse than it should be for you." Tsuna said firmly.

"Most likely. Nothing you can do now. I still need pain medication so I'm still being told to avoid taking it."

"Is it even safe to be off your medication this long?"

"No. I'm in a hypomanic phase at this point though. It doesn't look like it because I'm so drugged up but I can't sit still when I'm almost out and they haven't replaced it yet. I'm just waiting to crash at this point."

Tsuna's lip tightened angrily and he sent a glare out towards the door. They were endangering Reborn on the hopes that he would be fine without the medication. Reborn let out a small snort, leaning his head against his hand. Tsuna looked over in surprise, not sure what was so funny.

"They think I'm exaggerating my pain and that, because of my mental illnesses, I'm here for just pain pills as I'm an addict at this point. I heard nurses talking about it when I was half asleep. My door was open because it smelled in here. It's why they're trying to wean me off the pain medication."

"Does Luce or your dad know about this?" Tsuna asked urgently.

Reborn shook his head, looking tired. "Haven't been in for a few days. Been busy with all the legal stuff and getting things straightened out for when I get out of the hospital. They don't know whether to put me back with my biological parents or stay with everybody in our old house in Italy."

"Why would they even think of putting you back with your parents. Your mom is horrible to you-"

"-I know", Reborn sighed. He shifted so he could lay down and motioned Tsuna closer. "I don't know why they never considered asking what I wanted but I'll most likely be put into some kind of protection until everything is resolved. The leader, Chris, escaped so it's still dangerous for me."

Tsuna sat on the bed, his back facing Reborn. He felt Reborn wrap his arms around Tsuna's waist, burying his face into Tsuna's hip. He ran his hand through Reborn's hair, rubbing along the small indent on his temple. Reborn had once told him that his mom used to do that when he had a nightmare to calm him down. Tsuna tended to do it more recently as Reborn was too high strung to sleep unless Tsuna was there to comfort him. The pain medication was the reason he slept so heavily but now that he was getting less and less of it he was getting less sleep.

Reborn moved his head, kissing Tsuna's wrist. His eyes were half shut when he pulled away from Tsuna's hand. He pulled Tsuna down onto the bed, sleepily curling up around him. Tsuna snorted, resuming in rubbing Reborn's temple.

Just as it had seemed everything had started to calm, Tsuna heard somebody talking. It was Japanese with a heavy Italian accent. Tsuna didn't recognize the voice but Reborn bolted upright. He stared at the door, his shoulders shaking.

"He was in the camp", Reborn signed sloppily. His hands were shaking too much to sign anything properly.

Tsuna pulled out his phone and started emailing everybody, trying to get somebody to answer. The talking kept going and Reborn just stared at the wall numbly.

"We have to take him back to Italy before he heals completely. It'll be easier that way." The voice said. It was deep and gravelly. Tsuna felt it crawl up his spine every time it started.

"I know that but the kid is always there. He has this weird thing with his hands so it's almost sad to take him at this point." Another voice said.

Reborn turned his back to the window and door, pulling the blanket up to his face. Tsuna sat so he was out of view as well and the men kept walking past. They seemed to be looking for a doctor as the conversation shifted. Tsuna got through to Luce after the two had passed thankfully and there was no hesitation that Reborn would be going back home soon.

There was an ongoing fight between Luce and Reborn's police handler over whether he could go back and continue recovering or be moved away to be put in protection, cut off from everybody for his safety. Luce was adamant that if Reborn was left alone and adjusting to his medication again after so long of being off of it, he would be in too much danger. The handler wasn't listening though. He insisted that if he stayed in a place he was already known to be, that it would end up getting him killed and as an easy target.

No matter what Luce tried to argue the handler brushed it off. It was only when Reborn's dad, Rin, walked in did anything get done. He had said the exact same things as Luce had and the handler seemed less ready to push them away. But he did give in. Luce was livid, her eyes blown and her breathing starting to grow heavier. She had next to no sleep as she was in Italy with her newborn baby and had to constantly be travelling back and forth to iron things like this out.

Rin was just as annoyed as he had been just repeating what Luce told him she had been saying. He didn't like the thought that a man wouldn't listen to a woman just because she was a woman. It was ridiculous and sexist. But the main thing was they finally got the OK to bring Reborn home to Italy so it was a small victory.

Reborn seemed alright with it. He didn't need anymore physiotherapy and Tsuna had sat in a majority of the later sessions so he could help Reborn if it was absolutely needed. So everybody finally packed their bags and hopped onto Mukuro's family plane again. Mukuro followed everybody with his own bags. Tsuna stole glances at him from where he was walking a little behind him. Reborn seemed determined to ignore Mukuro though as he made his way into the plane.

The minute they took off, Tsuna and Reborn fell asleep. It was the only way they would end up getting sleep for the next day as there was a lot of unpacking to do. They still needed to find things for the students to do for their school work as it was becoming harder and harder to explain away why Reborn was gone and why everybody else were with him. Luce was able to fend it off with they were all helping raise the baby to help lessen the load but it was a bad excuse.

Reborn felt Tsuna stirring against his shoulder which woke him up. He had stopped sleeping as deeply as he had in the hospital. He was jittery and on edge and he wasn't sure if it was because he was still hypomanic or he was nervous. Tsuna mumbled something under his breath as he sat up, staring dazedly around him.

"We're on a plane", Reborn stated. Tsuna stuck his tongue out at him.

"I know that. But how far are we from-from Italy." Tsuna yawned, rubbing his eyes intensely as he tried to wake up.

"20 minutes", Colonnello called from across the aisle.

Reborn's mouth twitched and Tsuna couldn't help but laugh. "What're you laughing at?"

"N-Nothing! Promise!" Tsuna tried to say but Reborn pinched his ear, making him squirm and whine. He wasn't pinching hard at all, it was playful and Tsuna went along because it had been so long since Reborn could even do this much.

"Can you two go get a room?" Skull muttered.

"Watch it. I might still be recovering but I can still rip your piercings out in your sleep."

"Play nice, boys", Luce said sternly. Reborn slid down in his seat, looking like a pouty child.

They landed smoothly and everybody scrambled to get their things. Tsuna waited until the rush was gone until he tried to get up. Reborn didn't mind as he waited for Tsuna by the door. Tsuna was too short to reach the overhead compartment for his bag though and he was straining to reach it. He felt somebody come behind him suddenly, making him jerk and fall forward. He felt an arm loop around his waist to catch him while he heard the door to the compartment being opened. He struggled to stand up, already knowing who was behind him him.

"There you are, Tsunayoshi", Mukuro said smoothly. Tsuna gently took his bag. He clutched it to his chest, not trusting himself to be able to hold it without dropping it. Mukuro cocked his head, asking, "Is there something wrong?"

"N-Nothing", Tsuna said with a squeak. He turned to scurry away but Mukuro seemed...actually worried? Before he could say anything else though, there was a sharp yell of, "Hurry up, pipsqueak!" by Skull and a resounding smack by Reborn.

Mukuro momentarily turned towards Skull, most likely to say something snarky, and Tsuna used this to scramble to the door. Skull was halfway down the steps and Reborn was sliding along the railing. He jumped off smoothly like he did this everyday and Tsuna couldn't help but roll his eyes. He hurried down the stairs, not wanting to be caught near Mukuro again, and joined Reborn at the bottom.

"Everything okay?" Reborn muttered. Tsuna looked up in confusion. Reborn sounded almost confused. Tsuna narrowed his eyes but didn't say anything. He didn't wanna talk about this in front of people. He could easily be wrong but two things happened when Tsuna was about to leave the plane.

One was that Reborn was either dissociating or, two, all his thoughts were coming too fast and he couldn't focus. Tsuna remembered the last time this happened, Reborn had looked just as confused and dazed.

Tsuna gently put his hand into Reborn's and took the lead. Reborn squeezed Tsuna's hand gently and followed into the airport.

Finally, they were back in the house they started. Reborn, without hesitation, nudged Tsuna down a hall and right into the first door. Everybody else meandered around, getting their stuff together and finding a place to sleep. Reborn opened the door to his old room, ducking around a chicken strung in the middle of the door way. Tsuna walked right into it, letting out a small screech.

"What-!" Tsuna started.

"-It's a chicken. I put it up so it would shift along this sliding lock and I would know if somebody was in my room." Reborn pointed out the lock, whispering it into Tsuna's ear so nobody else would hear. Skull was going past with Mammon as their rooms were next to Reborn's.

"Why did you put that up?"

"Veronica had a habit of taking my things that were deemed 'too boyish' for me to own. I made this with something smaller but now its also a little prank in its own."

Tsuna snorted, closing the door so he could change his shirt.

"Is there something on that?" Reborn asked.

Tsuna paused before throwing his shirt towards the bed. "No", he muttered. "It just smells like Mukuro."

Reborn didn't say anything else as he walked towards the bed. He stripped the bedding, replacing it with fresh ones from his closet. Tsuna sat on the ground, unsure what to do. He watched Reborn and noticed that his eyes looked a little too wide.

Tsuna fell onto the bed when Reborn was half done. He made a sound of surprise at Tsuna's sudden appearance but didn't stop and he put the blankets over Tsuna. Reborn flopped down with Tsuna, burrowing as far as he could.

"I'm glad you're here", Tsuna mumbled. He buried his face into Reborn's neck so he wouldn't have to look at Reborn but he felt Reborn laugh.

They didn't say much for a bit. Tsuna didn't know what else to say and Reborn was too immersed in his thoughts to even focus on a conversation. Tsuna started tracing the line of Reborn's collarbone with his finger, going over it again and again. He was wearing one of the really baggy sweaters. He couldn't wear his binder so whenever that happened he wore loose things to hide his chest. Tsuna could tell he was annoyed at the sports bra though as he keep pulling at the straps, trying to make it tighter instinctively.

"Are you alright?" Tsuna mumbled. Reborn didn't answer right away until he shifted, pulling back so he could look down at Tsuna.

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"Well...you seemed distracted. Like you can't focus. I was wondering if it was that thing where your thoughts a-are going so fast that you can't think and I just wanted to make sure you were alright and if there was anything I could-"

"-I'm fine, Tsuna", Reborn cut in smoothly. He pressed his lips against Tsuna's forehead gently. "It's been starting to happen but it should be less severe as I'm going to crash back into a depressive episode soon."

"That's not-Reborn, don't sound so cheery about that."

"I've had this since I was maybe nine, Tsuna. It's something I'm very used to by now."

Tsuna made a soft sound of protest but stopped trying to argue. He started fidgeting with the strings of Reborn's sweater, twisting them around his fingers and tying small knots before pulling them out and starting over again.

"Is there something else you'd like to tell me?" Reborn asked. Tsuna fumbled and dropped the strings.

"I-well, if you ever need to tell me anything about what happened or to talk about it, I want you to know I'll help you the best I can. I just don't want you to try and go through this alone and end up feeling even worse and…" Tsuna trailed off, not sure what else he wanted to say.

"...Thank you", Reborn said softly. He shifted, burrowing into Tsuna's chest this time. "'M tired."

"You want me to lay with you or leave you alone?"

"Lay with me", Reborn kissed Tsuna's jaw, running his fingers through the base of Tsuna's hair. "Love you."

Tsuna and Reborn ended up sleeping all night. Nobody was surprised when Colonnello, who had wanted to race Reborn, had walked into Reborn slouched across Tsuna's chest with Tsuna spread out as much as possible. The sheets were pushed almost to the end of the bed, only covering up to their knees at that point. He managed to get a picture of the two before Reborn woke up and sprinted out the door.

Reborn grumpily stared at the open door. He didn't care about the picture but at least close the door so no noise would wake Tsuna up. He wasn't awake long though as he went back to sleep though, pulling the blankets back up to his shoulders and hunkering down.

Finally, when they got up the next day, it was to somebody bursting into their room, loudly exclaiming, "Get up, losers! We're making pancakes."

"Lal, it is not the time to be screaming." Reborn said tiredly. He rolled over to face the door. Lal stood with her hands on her hips and an unamused scowl on her face.

"It's almost eight! You two've been sleeping since seven yesterday! You've had more than enough time."

Tsuna tried to roll over but ended up falling out of the bed. He hit his arm against the bedside table in his flailing to stay on the bed. Reborn just sighed. Lal didn't seem interested in sticking around though as she stomped off a second later.

"You always fall out-" Reborn started. He stopped when he noticed Tsuna was holding his arm against his chest. He quickly moved and sat in front of Tsuna, gently prying his arm out of his grip. "What's wrong?"

"When I fell, my arm hit the-the table and-it's bleeding again, Reborn." Tsuna looked up, tears in his eyes and terrified. His breath hitched and he looked so scared. "It took too long when it was first...I-I don't-"

"-You'll be fine." Reborn said calmly. He reached into the table Tsuna had hit, digging around for his first aid kit.

"Why do you have that?" Tsuna asked.

"I used to be really reckless with myself. I would push myself too hard and get cuts and bruising everywhere. Didn't care much for my well being as that's what I was forced to think in the camp. I kept this in here to hide everything."

Tsuna nodded. Reborn pulled out rubbing alcohol and a roll of bandages. He pushed Tsuna's sweater sleeve up and frowned. There was more recent ones...

"Tsuna, does Mukuro still-"

"-yes", Tsuna interrupted. "He never leaves me alone and it's always-always when nobody's there. He tries to talk to me like-like we're friends. Like nothing ever happened."

"He's lucky I'm off my meds."

"What", Tsuna said scathingly, "does that have anything to do with this."

"I can tell that my depression isn't normally like it is. I'm very self-aware of what happens with delusions but I can't stop them and my current one is that if I move too much, all the scabs and cuts will open again and I'll bleed out. So it is extremely hard for me to do anything more than walking as my medication helps alleviate this. But it's better this way because I'd more likely go to jail for murder if he even tried this with me up and moving again."

Tsuna rubbed at his forehead. "I'm such an idiot. God, my nickname really does suit me."

"No, it doesn't." Reborn pecked Tsuna's nose before he continued to clean Tsuna's arm. "You would have no way of knowing this happens. This is a more extreme end of a depression cycle and, as you know two people with two opposite disorders, you would have no way to gauge when this would've happened. Especially since I was medicated a majority of the time we lived together in Japan."

Reborn wrapped the bandage around Tsuna's arm. Tsuna gingerly pulled his sweater down, staring at the ground.

"I'm sorry", Tsuna muttered.

"What for?"

"I shouldn't have...started hurting myself again. I'm letting you down and you're suffering worse-"

"This isn't the olympics, Tsuna. You cannot measure my pain to yours and vice versa. We have different experiences in life but that does not mean what I've been through means you can't say anything. You need help as much as I do and there's nothing wrong with messing up. You don't have any other means to cope with intense emotions and this is the only relief you know. Just do your best to avoid it and work towards a healthier alternative replacing this."

Tsuna leaned his forehead against Reborn's shoulder. "I'm sorry." He muttered again.

"It's alright, Love. Let's go get pancakes before we get dressed. I have something I think you might like."

Tsuna narrowed his eyes up at Reborn. "What is it?"

Reborn winked before he pulled Tsuna up to his feet. They walked into the kitchen to a chorus of cheers and laughter.

"The love bugs finally got up!" Colonnello said.

Reborn rolled his eyes before pulling a chair out for Tsuna. That helped nothing as Skull piped up with a line about Reborn being a 'true gentleman'. Reborn, with no hesitation, flung a frozen berry at Skull, hitting him right in the middle of his nose, leaving a bright purple smear over his foundation.

"It took me almost an hour to do this!" Skull moaned, gesturing to the spot of purple.

"Oops", Reborn deadpanned. He pulled a glass towards him and poured himself coffee. He nudged a glass of milk to Tsuna as he would have to reach too much, risking his sweater sleeve to show his arm. With his skin graft scars, Tsuna wasn't the biggest fan of showing his wrists.

Breakfast was noisy and bustling. Fon was helping Verde and Bianchi cook everything while Yamamoto did his best to entertain the baby so Luce could sleep for a few hours. Yamamoto brought the baby over to Tsuna then, crouching so they were almost the same height.

"This is Tsuna!" Yamamoto introduced. "Her name is Aria. Say hi!"

Yamamoto took Aria's arm and gently made it move so it looked like she was waving. Tsuna laughed, waving back. He let Aria grab his finger and wiggled it back and forth. She smiled, letting out a gurgle and spit falling onto her onsie.

Yamamoto continued to bring her around the table to say hi to everyone. She seemed to like Skull the best as his face was more fun to look at and shiny from his piercings. Skull didn't mind and took over with playing with Aria.

Reborn muttered into his coffee cup, "Chick magnet", which prompted everybody to snort, Tsuna choking on his milk.

"If I die from an asthma attack tonight you owe me one", Tsuna said as he coughed.

"I'll do your math for the rest of the year if you have a bad one."

"Wait, really?"

"No", Reborn refilled his cup.

"You shouldn't tease your boyfriend so much. He might end up leaving you." Lal said sarcastically.

"Who would you leave me for?" Reborn asked, turning to Tsuna.

"Skull", Tsuna said with finality.

"Now that's just going to end up with you crawling back to me in no time, Tsuna. Skull doesn't date so you'd be starved for romantic attention."

"Fine, Gokudera."

Gokudera choked on his juice. When he recovered, her turned to Tsuna and exclaimed, "What!"

"I can see it", Lal muttered. Reborn nodded as Bianchi popped her head in.

"Are we talking about my brother's love life?" She asked.

"Tsuna said he'd leave me for Gokudera. It's almost enough to drive me back to you."

Bianchi bristled at the comment but Reborn held up three fingers. She relaxed at that, scoffing and going back into the kitchen to gather all the food that was ready. Tsuna looked confused but Reborn shook his head.

"I['ll] tell you later", Reborn signed. Tsuna shrugged.

Talk soon feel away to the sounds of food. Everybody was focused on eating. Tsuna and Yamamoto awkwardly held the forks, not being used to using them.

"Why can't I use chopsticks. It's the only thing I'm good at." Tsuna grumbled.

"You could try but I doubt you'd manage it with no struggle." Reborn said. He took one of Tsuna's eggs as he said this.

Tsuna rolled his eyes before continuing to eat precariously with the fork.

When everybody was done, Reborn, Tsuna, and Gokudera all did the dishes. It wasn't hard but Tsuna wasn't very good at it. Reborn ended up switching to washing so Tsuna would dry. Gokudera was scrubbing down the counters and table, making sure there were no more dishes. Gokudera moved onto cleaning the floors, pouring a mixture of bleach and water into a bucket so he could mop. Reborn gagged without realizing it, dropping everything.

"I'll get somebody else to help me." Tsuna muttered. He didn't hesitate to push Reborn out of the kitchen and down the hall towards his room. Fon was walking by and seemed concerned.

"What's-?" Fon started but Reborn breezed past him. He walked closer to Tsuna who explained that Reborn couldn't smell bleach without being affected as it reminded him of being back at the camp.

"Is there anything that calms him?" Fon asked, serious.

"Water boiled was what he drank as a kid but I don't know if it's safe-"

"Go be with him. Colonnello and Lal will finish the dishes. There are only a few left so it won't be too much of a favour to ask."

"But-" Tsuna started to protest.

"-Go", Fon said sternly. He gave Tsuna a slight push towards Reborn's door before he swept off, going to find Colonnello and Lal.

Tsuna sucked in a breath. He heard Fon explaining to Gokudera that Reborn had forgotten to do something. Gokudera seemed to accept it. Tsuna tried to ready himself. He might have to hear a lot of bad things. But he was prepared for that.

Reborn was sitting by the window. He set his room up so his bed was away from the window, giving him a clear spot to sit if he needed to. His desk was on the other wall and there was a small lap lit that casted a warmer glow to the room. Tsuna knocked on the door frame before he stepped inside. Reborn jumped and Tsuna realized his shoulders were shaking.

"Do you want to be alone?" Tsuna asked softly.

"No, I don't trust myself to be alone." Reborn leaned his head into his hands. Tsuna stepped in farther and closed the door. He stopped before he could go any closer to Reborn though.

"Do you want to be touched?"

Reborn nodded. Tsuna sat down next to Reborn by the windowsill and offered his hand. Reborn went for a hug though as he buried himself into Tsuna's body. Tsuna hugged him back tightly and tried his best to help calm Reborn down. He started rubbing the indent in Reborn's temple in a slow circle. Reborn became less tense but his grip on Tsuna's sweater still turned his knuckles white.

"They used to mock you by calling me things like honey and sweetie when they were hurting me." Reborn muttered.

"They just have to ruin everything. I'll stick to Reborn then."

Reborn heaved a laugh but it was more of a sob.

"They tried to get me to hate you, too. They would poke a red hot needle into my stomach and play messages you left on my phone. They never really grasped that negative reinforcements like that don't work on me when I'm dissociating. I only vaguely remember it because the other kids with me said it happened to them."

Tsuna buried his face into Reborn's neck. He wasn't sure he could ever hate somebody as much as he hated Angelo. Reborn had stopped shaking though. He was shivering and had a death grip on Tsuna's sweater but he was starting to calm down a little bit.

Tsuna continued to rub the small indent on Reborn's head. He leaned against the wall behind him and Reborn wiggled around until he found a comfortable spot. He wasn't talking anymore and he was just staring at the wall. It took almost an hour for him to move again.

"Are you-?" Tsuna started. But Reborn just shrugged. He wasn't sure how he felt really. Things had died down where he didn't feel as bad but there was still the gnawing pit in his chest.

"I have something to show you", Reborn said. He ignored Tsuna's inquiring look and opened his closet. He dug around until he finally found a bin pushed to the very back. He dragged it out and pushed it towards Tsuna.

"I saw you looking at the dresses in the shop window when we were driving out of Sicily." Reborn explained. Tsuna felt his face flame and he ducked his head. "I have a lot of dresses I have no use for. Dig through them and see if you find any. You're about my size when I was eight so you'll probably fit in them."

Tsuna looked at the bin, licking his lips. "You mean, I can just...take any of these?"

"Take them all. I won't use them any time soon." Reborn pulled out one that was pleated from the waist down with a flowered top. "This would suit you."

"You're sure it's fine to take these? I mean you might want-"

"Tsuna", Reborn said firmly. "I will not fit into any of these as I have 43B bra size and have too much muscle to squeeze myself into these dresses. I won't mind in the least if you take these as I have no use for them."

Tsuna flushed and looked embarrassed before started digging through the bin. There were a lot of dresses in here and they...did look like they would fit him. Reborn must've been the tall kid in the class if Tsuna was his size now.

"Why do you have all of these?"

Reborn's mouth twisted into a sour grimace. "My mom made me wear these. I'm not much of a fan of dresses anymore because they're all i was allowed to wear when I was home. I was never caught wearing it to school as I would change."

"Oh…" Tsuna mumbled. His mouth also twisted down and he pulled out some more dresses.

Reborn leaned back and closed his eyes while Tsuna looked through. It was quiet except for the rustling and the distant noise of the house's other occupants. It sounded like Skull was playing with Aria and was getting her riled up. Childish screeches flitted through into the room and there was laughter from multiple occupants.

"Um-" Tsuna started. Reborn peaked an eye open but Tsuna seemed to lose his nerve and just shook his head. Reborn narrowed his eyes before he nodded.

"All of these don't have longer sleeves, I know. There's a sweater here somewhere. It's a thin one that you just put over your arms." Reborn pulled out a thin cardigan and handed it to Tsuna. "Start wearing stuff like this slow, though, Tsuna."

"Why?" Tsuna asked in confusion.

"If you try to dress feminine all at once you'll get overwhelmed. Take it in small steps. Paint your nails for a week and wear the sweater. Put a skirt on for half the day. It's up to you what pace you go through."

"Did you do that?"

"Yes, I did. I started with looser clothes that were less colourful and form fitting. I built up to my haircut. Why the sudden interest in wearing this stuff though? I've seen you eyeing feminine clothes for a week now."

Tsuna flushed and scratched at his head. "I...I never knew there was a word for not identifying with just one gender. That kid that came in a few weeks ago, you said they were genderfluid. I-I did some research on it and it...it sounds a lot like what I've been feeling like recently."

"Well isn't this an interesting development." Reborn said. "Would you change your pronouns or stick with what you have now."

"Pro-pronouns?" Tsuna looked at Reborn in slight fear. He didn't know what that was.

"It's what you go by. My pronouns are he and him. You use only that for me. With you, you can change it to she and her or they and them, whatever you want. But that can come later if you're not ready."

Reborn cupped Tsuna's cheek in his hand, running his thumb along Tsuna's cheek. Tsuna gave a warm smile. He seemed tired and was paler than usual. Tsuna scooted over so he was closer and leaned against Reborn.

"Thanks for...all of this." Tsuna mumbled.

"It's no problem. It's an excuse to finally get rid of these. I used the excuse they were my sister's but I don't have one, biologically."

Tsuna snorted. He stared at the dress Reborn had thrown at him. It was still clutched in his hand and he found himself running the fabric through his hands, feeling the polyester scratch over his hand. He could almost feel Reborn deflate as they sat there. It was almost like he put on a mask to fool others into thinking he was fine.

"Are you alright?" Tsuna asked softly. He heard a soft, derisive laugh.

"No, I haven't taken my medication in so long. Completely out of my system. I've officially crashed again into a depressive episode. Mom hasn't gone to get another prescription as mine was in my room in Japan. She's been too busy to do it and I can't leave to get it myself as it's too dangerous."

"I brought your medication though?" Tsuna said. He looked up at Reborn with a frown. "I thought Luce told you. I took them before I left because I knew you'd most likely need them when we got you back. They should be in my bag."

"You really thought that far ahead?"

"Guess I'm really outgrowing my nickname", Tsuna said with a weak laugh. He got up and rooted through his bag. It took some digging but he produced the bright orange bottle that held Reborn's meds. "It doesn't, like, expire, right?"

"No, Tsuna. You have a year with all your medications to use them up. Mine go faster if I have a smaller, one month refill as I take two a day."

"I always see you take one in the mornings though."

"I was told to lower the dosage and take it once a day instead for a bit. I had a relapse so it was put back up again."

Tsuna sat down but Reborn pulled him into his lap, burying his face into Tsuna's shoulder. He felt Tsuna laugh, patting Reborn's arms around his waist. Things were finally starting to be better.

can we like...stop the lowkey transphobic comments k thenks im transgender so like not fun to read the ones ive gotten love y'all