Chapter 8

"Ragazzo," Reborn pursed his lips as he felt Isago's lip twitch underneath him, shuffling toward the borders of consciousness and unconsciousness. For the last couple of minutes, Reborn had been working on healing the boy's cuts and wounds at least on the surface. The boy was sleep-deprived and on the edge of salvation due to overworking his own body.

Most likely, if the boy had not activated his flames, then he would have fallen into a coma. Reborn could feel as if something in Isago had changed. His sky flames were definitely stronger, mixed in with something else.

Reborn's eyebrows furrowed a bit, feeling the unfamiliar flame take route in his mind. The boy's clothes were completely tattered, although not from activating the flame, more as a symbol to describe everything that he went through. His shoes were covered in mud, his kneecap was dislocated, elbows were scraped and some of his bones were poking out of his skin.

Ragazzo was more than dirty. His skin was dry and pale, almost being on the verge of death with Reborn having found him lying on the ground twenty minutes ago. The sun flame in Reborn's hands glowed as he stared at the boy underneath him.

Had he been too harsh on the boy? No, it was a necessary test to see if he was worthy of challenging the seat. But Reborn had to admit that this test was rushed because of his own curiosity and the boy's burning ambition that wanted to improve. The moment the boy saw Tsuna's dying will flames, something in his own eyes ignited, as if wanting to attain the same power. Reborn could tell.

4 days. The boy had taken exactly four days to reach the top of the mountain blindfolded.

Reborn ticked his tongue, watching his own student stir in his sleep as he smirked slightly, trying to deem a suitable weapon for his student as Leon pulsed on his shoulder, going into hibernation mode. Every time one of his students evolve, Leon would go into hibernation mode while the threads inside of him would start creating.

Especially when Leon saw second to second on how fast the boy was growing, his growth process would affect how strong the weapon became. Reborn smiled slightly, noting down that the growth of this boy had far exceeded his own expectations.

"Well done, Ragazzo. Well done."

ヾ(⌐■_■)ノ

Isago's eyes snapped open just in time to see Reborn's shoe lifted mid-air and slamming down into his chest.

"Da fu-" Isago burst out coughing, tasting the iron his mouth spew up before wheezing and sitting up. He glared at Reborn's 'oopsies' face before wiping the saliva that dribbled at the corner of his mouth.

"Reborn you-"

Initially, Isago wanted to knock Reborn's teeth out, but he stopped even at his words and remembered the past few days in hell that his tutor had put him through. Isago had reaped the best rewards from this lesson no matter how much he wanted to ignore it.

Without this test he wouldn't have awakened his flame, not to mention...

Isago closed his eyes, listening to the sound of wind which created a vivid sensation of his surroundings. He could see them and feel their movements. Opening his eyes again, he spat out a series of complaints without any dirty words in English then shot Reborn a dirty look.

"I am going to steal all of your skills for compensation!" Isago wrinkled his nose before checking his wounds and scratches. Reborn's curl on his lips grew wider and he chuckled, challenging Isago to come and try.

"Reborn, I demand you teach me how to fight," his voice came out more like a demand than a snarl and Reborn slowly nodded. He pushed himself off the ground, extending both his hands and stretching.

"Don't rush, Ragazzo, first we need to prioritize your body first."

"The spartan tutor telling me that I need to rest?" Isago mocked with a slight smile on his lips. "I'll do that after you teach me how to fight."

"If you're so intent on wanting to die..." Reborn trailed off with a devilish grin, jumping onto Isago's shoulder as he patted him to move. "Then I'll grant your wish."

ヾ(⌐■_■)ノ

"Wait-no, no, no-at least let me eat something-"

Reborn leaped forwards and slammed his fist into Isago's stomach, forcing the boy's whole body to cave in as saliva spat out of his mouth, sending him flying into the pile of rocks. They were still in the middle of the forest and were near a large waterfall that had a flat ground beside it.

Isago coughed, sitting up before another flying kick came bolting down from the sky, entering his peripherals. Movement sharpened in Isago's mind, piercing through his eyes as he dodged left, sending Reborn colliding into the rocks as he stood up. Reborn appeared in the dust and gave his student a once over.

"Not bad, Ragazzo. Your senses have improved."

"I have you to thank for that-"

Another boom was heard as Isago bulleted to the left, barely avoiding Reborn's punches as his tutor continued. Left, right, left, right, right-

Isago's eyes darted to every movement he made, knowing fully that Reborn was actually going easy on him for once. It felt like he could sense the moves from his opponent.

'I have a feeling that Reborn's going to up his power-'

"Clench your teeth, Ragazzo. You'll need your flame for this."

"Oh, fuck-"

A kick smashed into the side of his skull sending him flying into the air and Isago sensed a huge boulder that he was flying towards.

"Oh what the-"

Isago felt the familiar flame inside him ignite as he tried spreading it through his body but the flame diminished, bursting into bubbles as his head snapped into the boulder and the rocks smashed in half. There was a spray of blood on the ground as he panted, his nose dripping with crimson as he exhaled, feeling a wave of calm wash over his entire being.

His head was pounding, and hammering down hard as the rings in his ears spun like fire, burning his vision.

"Get up, Ragazzo."

Despite his current condition, Isago trembled up and smiled at the nickname that Reborn still called him fondly by, shoulders quivering as he limped forwards to catch his weight. His muddy shoes cobbled on the ground as he tripped, falling onto the ground with a lump of dust flying into his face as he tried pushing himself up again.

Reborn was right. It was probably best for him to proterize his broken body first. But it was already too late to regret it, the decision had been made by him. Sweat rolled down his neck and the same wet his palms.

He staggered, picking up his pace as he lunged towards his tutor, moving sideways as he did so, his opponent slammed his forearm across Isago's stomach again. This time though, Isago had predicted this, hand already positioned to catch Reborn's fist as he whacked back with his free arm, successfully blocking his tutor's attack. The only problem was the difference in power, because even though Isago blocked his attack, his shoes shifted back on the ground as he coughed, the air from his lungs choking down the wrong throat.

Reborn shifted in mid-air, whirling his leg at Isago's neck and giving his student a delivery on both sides, hand coming up right after the kick.

'Burn!'

The familiar sensation inside his chest flared up, this time successfully pushing it into his palms as his golden eyes blazed red, catching both of Reborn's attacks. Reborn halted, studying the colour of Isago's flames before pushing his student back. Reborn landed quietly on the ground as Isago inhaled, closing his right eye to prevent the sweat from leaking and destroying his blurry vision.

"Interesting, isn't it?" Isago panted and heaved out a chuckle. He extended both of his hands and kept up the flame, inducing the colour to become more apparent in his palms. A clash of blue with orange mixed together and Isago's eyes flickered to meet Reborn's expressionless ones.

"I call it the Flame of Eternity," Isago's knees trembled before collapsing onto his butt, still wheezing as he kept up the flame and smiled. Isago memorized his own sensation of his flame, trying to merge them together as the two colors swirled, then the sky engulfed the rain, merging into a reddish flame with blue flickers. The center was the strongest, and the flames started to turn paler towards the edges.

His smile grew dazed as he watched the two colours dance, holding his life force within his own hands like he was entranced.

"The Sky and Rain," Reborn muttered quietly before walking towards Isago and repeating the name that his student chose for the flame.

"You are weird, Ragazzo."

"Thank you, I welcome it with open hands."

His red eyes dimmed back to golden before dropping down, limp in front of Reborn.

ヾ(⌐■_■)ノ

"Reeeborn!" Tsuna yelled, extending his hands into the air as he paced around the school roof.

He was frustrated, even so, he was infuriated by the fact that Reborn came, lugging Isago back like he was a bag of potatoes and ordered Tsuna to bathe his brother. Gokudera was being held back by Yamamoto, trying to break free from his grasp as the dynamite sparked in his hands.

"How dare you harm Tenth's younger brother!" Gokudera growled while throwing dynamites at the baby who dodged effortlessly and kicked it back into their direction.

Yamamoto only laughed, dragging the kicking Gokudera in his arms as they avoided the bombs that were rolling off the school roof and bombing in mid-air, causing a large black mist to appear above the school grounds.

"Hieeee! Hibari-san will kill me!" Tsuna screamed, crouched down and messed up his hair. His expression was tight, conflicted on if he should run for his life or confront Reborn where exactly he had taken his brother and why he looked like he had just been run over by a truck.

Reborn only shrugged, curving a smile on his face before the roof door slammed open, a dark and black aura reigning over Hibari's devilish grin as Tsuna shrieked, running behind his family members.

"A leader doesn't hide behind his family!" Reborn called out, pulling his gun and reloading with the dying will bullets. Tsuna screamed, trying to avoid the bullet but failed in the end.

ヾ(⌐■_■)ノ

As the fight wore on, Reborn watched as Hibari continued to destroy the trio. Hibari Kyoya, the perfect cloud guardian for Tsuna's family.

Reborn kept his poker expression and stared off into the direction of Tsuna's house, wondering if he should tell the idiotic older brother of how fast the younger one was processing. He had only been in the Sawada residence for less than two weeks, yet one of his students was already at the flame evolving stage.

The younger brother was moving too fast. If Tsuna didn't improve any faster, he would really be left in dust by Ragazzo. Reborn frowned a bit, staring at Tsuna's potential family members before leaping off the bar of the roof, landing perfectly fine on the school grounds before walking away.

It was time to gather all the guardians together. And pronto.

ヾ(⌐■_■)ノ

His family was gone when Isago woke up and stumbled to the kitchen, trying to find anything edible. Yanking open the fridge, he started stuffing anything he could lay his hands on, swallowing them after opening the jug of milk and directly drinking from the bottle.

Hungry. He was so hungry.

His stomach felt like an empty void, begging for him to fill it to the brim as it drooled, wanting more. Food never tasted so good to him. Isago munched, mouth full with bread as he pulled out six eggs and started beating them in a bowl with chopsticks. Grabbing another piece of bread, he continued to stuff his mouth until he resembled a chipmunk trying to swallow the whole thing.

Grabbing the salt and pepper, Isago poured the eggs onto the pan and opened the fire after unlocking the freezer and hurling out a frozen chicken. The fire clicked as Isago washed the chicken in hot tap water, planning to prepare a baked chicken so that he could eat something else while it was cooking. He drank the jug of milk as he watched the ice melt on the meat, slowly becoming twistable. He then sprinkled salt and placed it in the oven tray, pressing the time and degree before opening the fridge again to search for more food.

His mom had indeed predicted this, preparing a full course meal that was labelled with his name on the plastic wrap that sealed everything.

"If I was in some food anime," Isago's half-lidded eyes blinked as he swallowed his mouthful of bread. "I'd have an excuse to compete for the world's biggest eater."

Opening the packages and tearing off the wrap, Isago shoved a spoonful of curry rice into his mouth, slamming his hands onto the table as tears started plopping down his eyes. He missed his mother's cooking so much. The past four days that he spent on the mountain were utter hell.

He almost never made it out alive.

His eggs were done and Isago took them out of the pan, biting into the fluffy omelet he made himself without even a utensil. It made him feel like a beast, but it was expected. Food never tasted so flavourful to him before, even though he was half sobbing and half swallowing at the same time. His tears made the food taste sort of bitter, but he continued, filling up his empty heart.

It was a miracle when he finished his mother's curry and his eggs, bringing all the plates that he used to the sink and washing them up before the oven rang, calling him over once again. There were a few things that he still needed to improve before he could match Tsuna's skill during the succession battles.

First was his way of fighting. He lacked the moves and the agility to move where he wanted. Since Reborn had basically forced him to realize how to sense movements, the question was how to improve and move his body as he wanted. He was still lacking reaction time.

The next was controlling the flame.

Isago's eyes flickered off the piping chicken before taking off his oven mitts. Extending his own hand, he tried to control the flame, trying to reach out for his resolution and spreading it. Isago could sense his power, the rain and sky that merged into a big ball of lava.

The moment he tried to bring it onto his hand though, the flame flickered and popped into the air, completely disappearing.

"I can't control it by will," Isago muttered, trying again. It failed 10 times out of 10.

"Dammit," Isago gritted his teeth before pointing out the next steps he was lacking. Honestly, there was so much he couldn't even name. Raw power, speed, agility, stamina, and even more.

Not to mention that was only the problem for himself.

"What do I do about my own family members?" Isago sighed, facepalming himself. He wasn't talking about Nana and Tsuna, no. He was talking about his own crew. If he wanted to partake in the battle of succession, he would need to gather his own guardians.

The sky flame for harmony.

Storm for chaos and destruction.

Rain for peace and tranquillity.

Sun for passion and activation.

Lighting for hardening.

Mist for construction and illusions.

Clouds for protection.

He needed six members in total.

Where the hell would he find them? It wasn't like he could ask Reborn to start building his own family.

"No, before that, I need to know how to sense the flames of people," Isago shook his head, adding that to the list too. He could sense his own flames burning in his body, but not the others.

Asking for Reborn to teach him how to sense flames was also not an option since that would be telling the tutor straight in his face that he was going to gather people of his own.

"I'll die before I can even gather my first guardian," Isago laughed dryly, staring at his own hands as he tried pushing his flame into his hands again. Failed as expected. But then again, why was he pushing the flame into his hands instead of his head?

Isago's mind whirled before he entered the first-floor bathroom, keeping an eye on his appearance as he focused on creating a flame in his hands again. The flame disappeared in mid-air, and the flicker was quick, except Isago had caught the fact that his eyes blazed red that one moment. The forehead flame didn't appear though.

"Were all Sky flames supposed to be on heads?" Isago tilted his head for a minute, trying to recall all the users of the Sky flame. Vongola Primo and Tsuna were the key users with forehead flames, but how about the others? Isago was sure that Timoteo had a flame on his staff instead of his forehead.

Then was it possible to move the flame to the forehead?

Isago's eyebrows creased as he concentrated, trying to smother his flame towards his forehead. His eyes blazed red for a millisecond, popping back to golden. But his forehead produced not even a single second of flame.

"So for the Sky flame, its rare and hard to channel..." Isago's eyes crinkled as he heard a thud near his house. Questions popped up in his head as he shrugged, heading back to the kitchen before the doorbell rang.

Instantly Isago's suspicions widened as he walked to the door, not seeing anyone in the peephole.

"Let-Let Lambo in!"

Isago heard a small wail as his eyes widened, opening the door instantly as Lambo, the black bushy head cow print baby plopped onto the ground, eyes wide as watering cans as the little guy stared up at Isago. Lambo Bovino, the five-year-old child assassin from the Bovino family.

"Hahahaha! Be awed! I am Lambo-san! The greatest hitman in the world!" Lambo jumped up, pointing his finger proudly at his puffed chest. In his hand, there was a small pink grenade. Isago mused for a while, realizing that Lambo was a couple of hours too early to meet Tsuna or Reborn.

Isago crouched down to eye level, smiling softly at Lambo's cute belly.

"Hello, world's greatest hitman, I'm Isago. What are you doing here?"

"Lambo-san has come to defeat Reborn!" Lambo peeked into the house, his green eyes blinking in confusion. "Where's Reborn?"

"Reborn isn't back yet, but would you like to come in to wait for him?" Isago gestured into the hall as Lambo slowly stepped in, unsure if coming into the enemy's lair was actually the correct thing to do as he stuffed his grenade into his bushy hair. Isago grinned, hiding his hidden motives to rub Lambo's belly as an idea formed into his head.

If...just if, Lambo successfully joins Tsuna's family and stays with them, that would mean that he could pull their ties closer, making Lambo trust him. If that was the case, then wouldn't he be able to potentially steal-no, borrow the 10-year-bazooka from the child? The ten-year bazooka was one of the Bovino family's family heirlooms that could take you ten years into the future.

Didn't Isago have problems coming up with how to ignite his Sky flame and searching for his future mafia family? Wouldn't his future self have an idea of what would happen?

"Lambo, I just baked a chicken, would you like some?" Isago offered kindly as he reached the kitchen, Lambo's eyes widening at the smell before shaking his head and gulping down, obviously tempted by the food.

If Isago remembered correctly...wasn't Lambo's favourite food candy?

"Then how about some candy? I'll buy it for you?"

"Lambo will-" Lambo's mouth drooled, his tail swishing back and forth behind him as he stared at Isago, then at the chicken, then murmured 'candy' in his mouth. "Lambo wants chicken! Lambo wants candy!"

Isago beamed at the child's response, balancing how weak his resolution was. It was also that moment when Isago thought if he were to ever choose a family member, he would never choose a kid. Not that it would endanger them, because being in the mafia already made anyone an expectation. But rather, because kids were just too easy to fall as prey.

Although Lambo was cute, he was definitely not the ideal family member to have. What was Reborn even thinking when he suggested for Lambo to join Tsuna's family? Were they out of candidates?

"Alright, we'll have some chicken first because it's hot, then we'll go and buy your favourite candy, alright?"

With Isago's words, Lambo gave a large grin, jumping onto the table and was about to chomp directly on the chicken before Isago pulled the baby away. Lambo glared at Isago, taking a grenade out of his hair.

"Now, now, Lambo. That's bad manners," Isago swiftly took the grenade from Lambo's hand and sat him on the chair.

"That's Lambo-san's! Give it back! Give it back!"

Isago nodded, crossing his arms to appear more stern before warning the kid, "Don't take that out on the dinner table, alright? You'll destroy the chicken."

Seeing the small baby nod, Isago returned the weapon, getting the dishes and placing them in front of Lambo before cutting off both chicken legs and laying them on Lambo's plate. Lambo cheered, hands instantly grabbing the legs and had one on each hand before biting into them at the same time.

Isago grabbed a cup of water and placed it beside Lambo's grease-filled mouth before slicing the chicken breast, and placing them into small containers and putting them into the fridge. There were only the wings left, which Isago slowly bit into, tasting how well the chicken was cooked.

Not bad, the only negative thing he would comment on would be that the chicken was originally frozen and he had used the quickest way to unfreeze the whole thing. Other than that, the flavour was slightly lacking. The best chicken would be one that was preserved in the sauce overnight.

Not that Lambo seemed to mind though.

"Lambo-" Lambo gulped, his greasy hands picked up the water and slurped it with his tongue. His wide and irresistible green eyes twinkled playfully as he grinned at Isago.

"Lambo-san likes Isago!"

Isago chuckled, taking a napkin from the tissue box and wiping the grease on Lambo's mouth.

"The world's greatest hitman needs the energy to fight his arch-rival, right?"

Lambo nodded instantly, ravishing his food like he had never eaten chicken before. It was then when the front door opened and Tsuna trudged in with Reborn sitting on his shoulder. Reborn's eyes flickered curiously at Lambo who instantly jumped onto the table, pointing with his chicken bones at Reborn.

"Ciaossu."

"Reborn! Lambo-san has been waiting for you!" The small baby laughed, dropping both of his remaining chicken bones onto the ground as he ruffled into his hair, pulling out a grenade.

"Hieee!" Tsuna shrieked as the grenade slipped out of Lambo's hand and flew towards Reborn. The actual hitman blinked boredly, kicking back the grenade without any effort as it flew back and knocked Lambo's head which made the baby slip off the table. Lambo whimpered as swirls started appearing in his eyes.

"Reborn- the grenade!" Tsuna pointed to the pink thing laying on top of the small baby before sprinting to the grenade and throwing it out of the kitchen window that he opened. He sighed after waiting a few seconds, seeing that there was no explosion at all.

"Oh, so it was just a toy..."

"No, actually, Lambo didn't even pull the pin out," Isago corrected, earning Tsuna's small glare that he soon aimed at Reborn.

"Reborn! He was just a kid! You shouldn't have kicked it back to him!" Tsuna groaned, messing up his hair as Isago glanced at Tsuna's tattered uniform.

"It's all your fault that a kid is now assassinating after me! Real bombs and stuff!" Tsuna continued to rant out his heart about how he never wanted to be part of the mafia and how Reborn kept on recruiting his friends into his mafia family.

It was amusing because Tsuna was currently talking to Reborn in baby form. Even though it was true, Lambo was just a kid, Reborn was also just a kid in Tsuna's mind.

"Ragazzo, who was that?" Reborn's eyes piped with amusement while he talked as if Lambo was already gone in the past. Isago shrugged, scooping off Lambo into his arms and patting him slowly, feeling the bump on Lambo's forehead.

"He said that he was your rival so I thought he was someone you knew," Isago brought Lambo closer as Reborn peered at his face, shrugging.

"I don't associate with the lower-ranked mafiosos."

"Does the Bovino family ring a bell?"

Reborn froze a bit, humming and slightly nodding his head.

"Lower rank," Reborn concluded. "But I have heard of their name twice in my life."

Isago chuckled as he felt Tsuna tug at his clothes, worry filling his older brother's eyes. Isago assured Tsuna that he was just training with Reborn, not directly telling him what he had experienced before mom came into the house, asking who Isago was holding. Tsuna stuttered, trying to make up an excuse before Isago swiftly swept in, telling a perfect lie that Reborn and Lambo were friends.

Reborn only kept his amused expression before dragging Tsuna away for math practice. Isago took care of Lambo, sneakily rubbing Lambo's belly as mom giggled, joining in too. A few minutes later, Isago left for his own work and opened his untouched phone that had been laying on top of his desk for the past week.

As the class president, he basically went missing for a whole seven days. Well, he was also sure that Tsuna had told anyone who asked for him that he was gone for a sudden family vacation. But it was definitely inexcusable.

Isago sighed, ruffling his hair before working