Reborn contemplated several things as he watched the brunette work. Like how he could make an espresso taste heavenly despite the obvious lack of sleep and the early hour. How Leon was settled comfortably around Tsuna's shoulders despite being as distrustful as the hitman himself. And how funny it was when Tsuna fell asleep leaning against the counter with two mugs in his hands.

"Tsuna"

He poked the brunette's nose and earned a twitch. Leon gave an unamused stare as he went to poke the brunette again, chuckling when all he received a frown and a sleepy two-fingered salute. The chameleon hissed when Reborn gave the other's shoulder a shake.

"Tsuna. While I admit this is hilarious-"

"Sadist. I'm tired and you find this funny. Meanie." Tsuna mumbled another few words against the counter as he slowly lifted his head, eyes half open as he glared. The hitman snorted as he ruffled the others hair and took a mug. He returned to his original seat and simply smirked at the ruffled and sleepy look of one Tsunayoshi Sawada.

"Hmm. While I won't disagree with that statement, I haven't done anything yet-" he stated. Leon cut in, giving off a growl in warning as the brunette dropped his head with a groan. Reborn smirked as the grumbling continued; muffled words that no one could listen to and attach to coherent sentences.

Leon gave off an unimpressed flick of his tale as the Italian simply smirked into his mug of coffee. Why the hitman insisted on teasing the poor cafe owner eluded the reptile's thoughts, he could understand that Reborn respected Tsuna some what. And was interested in the phenomenon that was the strange man.

Which was something that Leon would encourage. He truly adored Tsuna, who was gentle and kind despite his own troubles. (His family was terrifying in its similarity to the chaos that was known as the mafia.)

It helped that Tsuna made food to die for and come back for more.

-o-

"Tuna-fish! Daddy misses you!"

The phone was slammed down as the brunette hung up. His face was blank as he stared at nothing, waiting in the silence of the room until the phone rang again. Taking a breath, he lifted the phone and answered with a disturbingly calm: "Hello?"

"Tuna-fish! How could you hang up on your papa?! So cruel!"

Leon felt queasy at the sight of the emotionless eyes that accompanied the brunette's easy tone. Tsuna looked completely cold and cut off from any humanity that he had possessed. The chameleon felt pity and rage for the one at the other end of the line.

"Ah! My phone sometimes cuts off. I've been meaning to get a new service. How are you, Tou-san?"

A father? Leon glanced towards the male's pale and blank face and shivered. Not father. Blood related, but definitely not his father.

"Oh! Papa is fine. He just misses his darling anita and his cute little tuna-fish!"

"Tou-san! I'm not cute!"

Those words were accompanied by a laugh that chilled the air despite it's warm sound. Leon had heard Tsuna laugh before. The brunette usually tried to hide them and it turned to snuffled giggles and snorts. Fake.

"But Tou-san, how did you get my number?"

"Nana gave it to me of course!"

Leon gave a whine when the scowl twisted Tsuna's face, the brunette immediately freezing and sending a sheepish smile to the lizard sitting on the counter.

"She said you were in Italy too! Why didn't you let papa know? I could have helped you find a job!"

"Kaa-san didn't have your number. Anyway, I already have a job. I work at a cafe."

"My little tuna-fish is all grown up!"

Tsuna fed the chameleon a bit of the chicken he had been working with. Lunch lay mostly finished in the pot on the stove, a pitcher of lemonade set up as he waited for his family to collect in the living room. He pulled away the phone with a sigh as the man started rambling on about his 'cute anita and adorable tuna-fish'. As if Iemitsu knew anything. As if the blonde had any claim or right.

"Papa, could I visit you and nonno? Since you miss me so much"

"A-ah..."

The idiot obviously did not expect him to cut in and ask the question. Feeding the chameleon another piece of the chicken, he waited for an answer and for some reason startled the lizard when he smirked at the answer.

"Of course! Nono would love to see you again tuna-fish! I'll come to pick you up myself! Saturday!"

The phone beeped. Brown eyes flashed amber and lithe fingers crushed the phone, a guttural growl jerking through the air as the brunette silently raged. Leon sat still as the brunette's ragged breathing tried to calm. Tsuna was not easily angered; and the way he was calming himself showed he had control of that anger despite its rarity.

Though he was still having shivers run down his spine from that smirk. Reborn wore that smirk when people fell into trap's he had planned out. It was the kind of smirk that promised retribution and the wrath of angels and demons.

Tsuna took one more deep breath before he finally calmed enough to call out that lunch was ready before starting to dish up plates. The first to arrive was Gokudera of course, ready to help as he collected utensils and cups and started pouring the drinks. Second was Hibari who simply took his plate and hopped out via the window as a fluffy yellow puff of a bird followed after him. The rest soon followed, entering in their own random ways as he slowly served them all. The brunette fed bits and pieces to Leon every once in awhile. The lizard simply watched it all with yellow eyes, blinking when the brunette wrote down 'Saturday' and stuck it to the fridge.

-o-

"Is Leon still mad Uncle Reborn?" Yuni clambered over the back of the couch and tumbled into the cushions, a gleeful giggle following the action as the small girl was followed by I-Pin. Why any of the other's would allow children anywhere near him the hitman had no clue, but it was somewhat enjoyable to see them having gun.

"Yes he is. But this just gives me an excuse to go out and get coffee."

"Tuna-nii's coffee is the best, right?"

"It's passable."

I-Pin giggled as the hitman flipped through a newspaper. Everyone who had come by the apartment had learned about Reborn's recently leveled up taste in espresso. The hitman always looked despondent after a cup of it from one of his usual places, quickly covering it up with his usual blank mask.

Yuni laughed when I-pin handed the hitman a thermos and the look of surprise on his face was captured by the flashing of a camera. Though the hitman took off with the thermos still in hand as he chased a laughing Colonello around the apartment.

The small girl sighed. Reborn had seemed lonely lately without Leon. And with that realization had come an even bigger comprehension. Reborn was alone.

No one stood beside him, he was the world's greatest, the very best of the mafia. Everyone wanted him; dead or in their famiglia. No one wanted the Italian man behind the title. The man who would have the temper of a Storm without caffeine or the man who called his lizard cute when others thought it the devil's spawn. Even she could understand that what they had wasn't completely 'Reborn'. What they had was the ex-Arcobaleno who could be considered an ally. A distant uncle who would occasionally sing her to sleep when she was sick. And none of them could do anything for Reborn.

"Yuni.." The azure eyed girl blinked, startled, as the Chinese girl waved a hand in front of her face before smiling. While I-pin was definitely a Storm, she had her teacher's calming air around her.

"Don't worry. Xiexie will fix it"

She blinked. "Huh? How will Tsu-nii fix-"

"Tsuna is Tsuna. He's weird in that way, but really special as well."

While it was vague, it was enough. Though the small girl couldn't very well leave all the work to her brother figure. Which the other girl seemed to agree with as she flashed a smirk.

Yuni grinned as the child assassin ran off with the claim of finding her mentor, braids whipping behind her as she vanished through the door. Gamma stood off to the side and readily met her gaze with a groan.

"Aria had that look in her eyes once. And the stories about your grandmother- What are planning?"

She stared wide-eyed and innocently as she questioned, "What would I be planning?"

A snort followed as a tired look flashed over the blonde Lightning's face. Soon followed by a resigned sigh.

"Ah. The problems this is going to cause."

-o-

CEDEF was in chaos as the system began to crash down. All of their systems. Security, their communication- even the electricity was flickering as Iemitsu raged through the base.

"What's going on?!"

"We don't know sir! It's like we're being attacked by ourselves!"

The blonde's face creased as he scowled, watching computers and screens flickering and waiting for someone to get the back-up generators working. He already had Lal Mirch rushing in to help once they located who was attacking them, and most of their scientist were working on blocking the hackers out and setting up their systems again.

"Damn it! NO!"

....Though it sounded like that would take a while. Iemitsu spun around when he heard Basil call out for him. The olive-skinned teen was gasping for air while still attempting to speak, the old speech style he used causing another throb to the leader's growing migraine. While it had simply been a little joke, that speech pattern was beginning to irk him.

"There hath.....been....request for thou......Iemitsu-dono.... Xanxus.."

At the name of the angry man, Iemitsu felt the need to bang his head against the nearest flat surface and drink away the last of his life. They were in a crisis and the entire CEDEF was in chaos. He didn't have time for an temperamental man who never grew out of his teenage rebellion.

"We hath also received a message from the Guardian."

Iemitsu would never admit to a three-minute breakdown in the middle of a hall in his own headquarters. Never.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

-o-

For we all get lost on the path of life. Just some more so than others

-o-

Tsuna glared at the list that seemed to grow longer the more he glared at it. It had never been this long before his friends had come. Even when he invited Yuni over or had one of the least problematic-chaos generating acquaintances at his apartment. Having eight people at once was a nightmare. Especially with his new and improved grocery list.

With a sigh the brunette glanced up and froze. He had been in the market. Surrounded by people and fresh produce recently brought in and that nice new cashier girl who would have stopped him-

Tsuna was instead now in a street of abandoned and crumbling buildings, Leon glancing sleepily from inside his sweater as the brunette internally screamed and only let out a whimper.

He had wandered off and gotten lost. Again. That stupid old habit of his-

"WHY!?"

-o-

For in the darkest hours of the night hides something all men fear. Or just fear more than that.

-o-

"Damn it!"

Fon blinked as he heard the familiar voice and stuck his head out of the window, hearing I-pin question him from the hallway as he just stared. Reborn, who generally stayed near his house as the loner he was, was outside his hotel.

On his phone. In blue flannel pajamas and a nightcap and bunny slippers.

The Storm felt faint for once, something he had not experienced in quite a while. His student had apparently given up on questioning his strange behaviour and had gone to bed. Now Fon had no one to confirm if this was an illusion or not. Maybe a hallucination.

"Reborn?" he asked, voice carefully blank. The hitman barely glanced up when he answered.

"Hunting."

"Ah. Alright, carry on."

Fon swore he had misheard what Reborn said before he closed the window. Blamed it on a lack of sleep since arriving in Italy.

"Damn Pikachu. Come back you son of a bitch so I can catch you. And the little Eevee too."

-o-

Some are misunderstood individuals. Most are just crazy bastards

-o-

Leon nearly screamed when he found the photo. He had simply looked around in curiosity and had not expected to find the strangely terrifying-yet-cute-how?-scary photo framed and placed on a shelf.

"Oh? That's Natsu. My little kitty. Sadly I can't have pets in the apartment so until I move or buy a house..." Tsuna shrugged. The reptile simply stared at him and finally realised something.

There was someone who was as crazy as Reborn. Reborn level crazy.

This realization was caused by the picture of one little Natsu who's little nose was covered in tomato sauce as the lion cub bothered Tsuna in some kitchen.

-o-

To those with low tolerance; we don't understand. We really don't.

-o-

The brunette slouched into the seat as another scream cut through the noise of the fight going on in the rest of the pub and groaned. The bartender was apparently used to such things as he served another glass of cognac and watched in wonder as the brunette simply downed it with a strange clarity in his eyes.

"Some drink to forget," Tsuna muttered. "Others drink to remember. I am neither."

The man behind the counter just continued to watch as the brunette sighed and ordered another.

"Having such a high tolerance for alcohol sucks."

-0

Okay. I think I forgot to mention the long time wait. Also, as you can see closer to to the end, I have a problem writing a chapter longer than a thousand words.

I will be starting school soon so chapters may take a month. One of them will be an interlude, as a sort of date between Tsuna and Reborn. And plenty of teasing towards their friends.

Thank you all who have reviewed! It is only your good comments that have pushed me to actually work after this long. Also my own boring end of summer.

Check out my tumblr (https://www.tumblr.com/blog/speirghrian ) and send in request since I would like to start those. You can also ask me questions.

Please review, and I can't wait to post the next chapter! Ciao~