There were students dressed in black everywhere stationed in front of the school gates. Tsuna recognized one of them as Tetsuya Kusakabe; Hibari's second in command of the Disciplinary Committee--or maybe lackey was more like it.

Kusakabe was always seen with Hibari and helped him keep the peace in school. Tsuna always wondered who would be willing to spend their time with such an antisocial bloodthirsty Skylark but now he could see that there were people in school who admire and follow him. That's good to know.

Curious, Tsuna walked up to him.

"Hi, er....Kusakabe-senpai? Why are there so many people from the community here?"

Kusakabe blinked at him with wide eyes, surprised that he could talk or even want to talk to him.

C'mon! I never said I was mute. I just didn't want to stand out..... Tsuna resisted the urge to roll his eyes and instead smiled sweetly as he waited for his answer.

After a few seconds, Kusakabe regained his composure and cleared his throat.

"There have been fights breaking out lately for the past few days. So far more than 15 of our students have been injured by this unknown assailant. The disciplinary committee has been ordered to patrol the whole area until we manage to find out the identity of the culprit. We can't have any more students getting attacked. It will ruin the reputation of the school." He explained.

"What about Hibari-senpai?"

"Kyo-san has been busy with his investigation. He prefers to work on it alone."

So that explains why he's not here. Oh well, I guess I don't have to run away from him today.

"Thank you Kusakabe-senpai. Good luck with your work." Tsuna bowed politely and proceeded towards the school building.

"Stay safe kid." He said as Tsuna left.

<~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~>

Tsuna arrived in class on time but frowned when he saw that more than half the class was absent in the classroom. He wasn't early nor was he late. So why were there so few students here?

Before he could ponder about it any further, the bell rang and the teacher came through the door. One look at the class and the teacher let out a depressed sigh but continued on his work since he was still getting paid either way, with or without students present. Tsuna did a sweep of the class and was surprised to see that there were only a few students left including himself and Yamamoto. The raven-haired boy was slouched in his seat, sleeping away with his face buried under the crook of his arm whereas Gokudera's seat was empty. He knew Gokudera was always absent without reason so he didn't worry too much about him but the number of students absent was a little alarming.

Does the number of absentees have something to do with the attacks?

He got more worried when he realized that Kyoko and Hana were absent from class too.

I do hope they're safe. He prayed silently to whoever's up there listening.

Bored with the teacher's monotone rumbling, he took out his phone to look at some news. As he absentmindedly scrolled through the list of news, one headline in particular made him pause: '13 Year Old Girl Severely Injured in Car accident.' The article states that the incident happened about a week ago and the girl was in a serious state of medical attention as some of her internal organs were damaged by the accident.

Poor girl. I hope she gets better soon.

He thought. He knew how painful it was to have your internal organs damaged and having the damage slowly kill you from inside. It was a slow and excruciating process that he never would wish would happen to anyone else. He truly hoped the girl made it through safely and without any long-lasting effects to her body.

The teacher was eyeing Tsuna so he quickly pocketed the device before he could give the teacher a reason to confiscate it. He'll think about this later.

<~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~>

Lunch break came and Tsuna and Yamamoto decided to head to the rooftop to eat.

"Did you hear about Sasagawa-senpai? I heard that he got beaten by the unknown attacker and he's in the hospital right now." Yamamoto informed him.

"That sounds bad. That explains why Kyoko-Chan is not in school today..."

"Yeah. She's at the hospital with Hana to visit senpai."

"Just who is this attacker anyway? And why is he targeting Namimori students?" Tsuna had to sigh in frustration. He didn't need more interruptions to his very short life, thank you very much!

"I have the answer to that." A voice sounded above him and he quickly jolted up to his feet in shock. Next thing he knew, his head was being used as a landing pad and Tsuna was soon kissing the ground.

"Damn it Reborn. I'm going to have a concussion one day....." He muttered angrily as he pushed himself up.

"Then you need more training." Reborn stated in a matter-of-fact tone.

How in the hell am I going to train my head to get harder?

He rolled his eyes but didn't say anything. He needed answers from him now.

"So? What do you mean when you say you have an answer?" He asked and found a gun-barrel to his face.

"Oho? Since when do you have the ability to demand an answer from me?" The devil smirked.

With how his life has been with the hitman, he's found himself getting used to the infant's threats and knew Reborn wasn't being serious right now (Though he's rarely serious...) and wouldn't pull the trigger on him. So he stared at the barrel with his usual poker-face and knew Reborn would get bored because he didn't get the reaction he wanted from Tsuna. He was a little curious to see Reborn using a regular gun instead of his green one and he didn't see the green chameleon on Reborn's fedora today.

"Tsk." Reborn clicked his tongue when his fun was spoiled and went on with his explanation.

"The Ninth informed me of a breakout that happened recently in Italy. 3 prisoners escaped from one of the high security prisons which contains the most dangerous criminals who committed crimes against the mafia. Their escape resulted in the death of several wardens and prisoners, even letting out a few dangerous criminals. All in all, it was chaos. And now, we have information that the escaped criminals are sighted in Namimori. There has been an eyewitness that told me that it was them who were attacking the students." Reborn explained.

What? Criminals?! Escaped convicts?!

This was just too much for Tsuna's mind right now and he felt himself panicking.

"Are you sure they're here in Namimori right NOW?!"

Tsuna could deal with criminals and killers, he had so in the past. But what he couldn't deal with was the fact that his friends were all in danger and he couldn't do anything to help them. These convicts were somewhere in Namimori and attacking students without any discrimination.

What if Kyoko got attacked? Or even Haru?

It was all too painful to think of and he wasn't dealing with that all too well. Surprisingly, it was Yamamoto who stopped Tsuna from his further panicking and laid a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"Calm down Tsuna. I'm sure the kid has a solution for this." He smiled.

"Yeah Dame-Tsuna. A boss should not freak out about every little small thing that comes his way."

This is definitely not a small problem....

He frowned but felt his panic die down a little thanks to Yamamoto.

Reborn went on to explain. "After investigating the attacked students, I found out that all their teeth have been knocked out in a specific order. The first victim had all 24 of his teeth knocked out, while the second had 23 of his teeth gone and so forth. When I went to check on Ryohei, he had 5 of his teeth gone. Do you know what it means?"

"Erm....." He thought for a moment before answering. "It seems like a countdown?"

"Correct. Hm, I guess you're not as dumb as you look dame-Tsuna." He smirked.

Um.....thank you?

"Take a look at this. It seems they are using this to target the students." Reborn handed Tsuna a piece of paper that seems to have rankings on it. The title on it was: 'Namimori Middle's Fighting Strength ranking'.

Though Tsuna didn't know many of the people on this list, he did recognize some of the names further up the rankings. Some of his classmates' names were on it, as well as Sasagawa-senpai's, Mochida's, Kusakabe and wait.....Gokudera!

"Wait! Gokudera's ranked 3rd in this and Yamamoto's 2nd!!" He exclaimed.

"Yup. And you're not in it." Reborn gave him a pitiful look.

I'm thankful that I'm not in it. I don't want to be targeted by crazy mafia people!

"We have to go find Gokudera and warn him about this! Does anyone know where he is?" Tsuna quickly jumped to his feet, the worry slowly rising in him by the second.

"I think he should be in the shopping district. He did mention that he always goes to the convenience store to buy lunch." Yamamoto suggested.

"Right! I'm going to go warn him."

"I'll go with you." Yamamoto offered but he shook his head.

"No. I don't want to get you mixed up in this....besides, I'm only going to warn him. Nothing dangerous so you can stay here." He tried to give an assuring smile.

I don't want to get him involved any further with anything mafia related. Till now, He still thinks it's all a game...it'll be dangerous...

Besides, he's ranked number 2 on the list, it'll be better for him to stay in school where he'd be protected.

With that, he left the two on the rooftop while he rushed off towards the district to find Gokudera.

<~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~>

The sound of explosions caught Tsuna's attention and he quickly hurried over to the source of the sound, fearing for his friend's safety. But he guessed he didn't have to worry so much because he found Gokudera sitting on the sidewalk, calmly sipping on a carton of juice. He was surrounded by smoke and debris from the destroyed buildings and damaged floor but otherwise he seemed fine.

He perked up when he saw Tsuna running over and quickly stood up.

"Tenth! What are you doing here?"

"Gokudera! What happened here?" Tsuna exclaimed, gesturing to the destroyed place.

"Some guy was trying to assassinate you. But don't worry! I took care of him!" Gokudera grinned widely at him as though waiting for Tsuna to compliment him and just for a moment, Tsuna thought he saw an imaginary tail wagging behind him.

"You took care?" It took a moment to process what he meant by that and when it finally clicked, it was a little too late.

"Tenth! Look out!" Gokudera jumped towards Tsuna and pulled him down to the ground. Tsuna felt something fly past his head, barely missing him.

"Tsk. That bastard's still alive!" Gokudera growled and quickly scrambled up. He stood protectively in front of his boss with his dynamite out, shielding the boy from the eyes of the assailant.

Before Tsuna could even register what was going on, his intuition flared a second later and Gokudera fell right before his eyes.

"Gokudera!!" He yelled and ran to where his friend collapsed. He carefully shook his shoulder but the lack of response was worrying. Something warm and wet touched his hands and he dread to look at it. He knew what blood smelled like all too well and didn't like to see it staining his friend's body. Blood should always stay inside the body and never was a good sign to see it outside. So when he saw the familiar crimson red on his hands, he couldn't move. He wasn't in shock or was he terrified, he was just stunned.

This shouldn't have happened! Nothing should have happened until my 15th birthday!

Death never came to mess with him or his friends before the deadline. He liked to torture him by letting him have all he wanted before ripping it away from him at the last moment. It was sadistic and Death enjoyed it way too much. That's why Tsuna tries not to have any connections to anyone in order not to give Death the satisfaction of seeing his despair when He comes for him.

Not in this life though. But still, it didn't explain why Death would allow something like this to happen.

His thoughts were broken when footsteps alerted him of someone's presence and that person said something to him. The words weren't registering in his mind for some reason and all he could do was stare at the bloodied figure before him, all the while, the guilt was steadily rising inside of him.

All of a sudden, he was once again tackled onto the ground by someone and he felt a sharp wind fly past his ear. Whoever had pushed him probably saved his life and he berated himself for being so stupid for spacing out in the first place.

"Safe!" Yamamoto's voice was like a breath of fresh air for him even though he should be concerned as to why he's here in the first place.

"Hey Tsuna~ I know you asked me to stay but I wanted to help." Yamamoto gave him a sheepish smile, knowing what Tsuna was going to ask before he could open his mouth. Yamamoto then turned back to the stranger who attacked his friends and all traces of his carefree demeanor was wiped off.

"Good thing I did too or I'd have missed out on this. This guy here is not playing around." Yamamoto's eyes narrowed in anger which was a little unnerving to witness for Tsuna, seeing that he was used to the cheerful and light-hearted Yamamoto he hangs out with. But now the glare he was giving to the attacker was one full of hostility.

"Yamamoto, Gokudera....he...." Tsuna's throat caught, the words not coming out of his mouth. Yamamoto noticed his distress and patted his shoulder reassuringly.

"Don't worry. He's strong so I'm sure he'll pull through. Believe in him." It only took these few words for his distress to alleviate and Tsuna took a deep breath to recompose myself.

Why am I acting so helpless?! He scolded himself. Even if Death's here or not, I can't believe I stood by and let a friend get hurt while I sat here like an idiot! Stupid!'

Ready to redeem himself, he pushed himself up and glared at the attacker; taking a good look at him for the first time.

The stranger looked just a little older than them. He wore a green uniform with a beanie on his head. His lazy eyes were hidden behind his glasses with a bar-code tattoo below his left eye and strangely, he was holding a yo-yo in hand. So that must have been what's attacking me. Tsuna analyzed.

"You're in my way." He said, his voice quiet and monotone. He flung his yo-yo at Yamamoto but it never reached him when Yamamoto quickly whipped out his bat--which immediately turned into a sword--cutting the string to the yo-yo.

Wow. I'm really impressed but weird out. Is he always carrying that sword around?

Tsuna would've wanted to have a word with Reborn about that if it wasn't so conveniently useful right now.

"I see....Namimori Middle class 2-A. Seat Number 15. So you're Yamamoto Takeshi." The guy muttered, more to himself than to them.

"So what if I am?" Yamamoto took up a stance with his sword.

"You're Ken's prey. It'll be troublesome if I intervene..." He mumbled and turned around. "Ah....I need a shower....." And with that, he hobbled away from the two as if he didn't just attack and heavily injure one of them.

"Hey!" Tsuna wanted to go after him but he could hear the sirens in the distance signalling that the police were near. Plus, Gokudera was in serious need of medical attention with him bleeding and hurt.

Yamamoto's sword turned back into a bat and he kept it in his bag. It'll be hard to explain to the police if they saw a teenager carrying a sword around.

<~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~>

Gokudera was sent to the school infirmary instead of the hospital. Reason being, Reborn doesn't want the authorities asking any unnecessary questions about what happened. And besides, Reborn claims that there was a 'capable' doctor working at the school infirmary now. Tsuna has heard of the new doctor, but he wasn't so sure of the capable part. Only a few days in and there were rumors all over the school talking about the new doctor and none of them were pleasant ones. So Tsuna's expectations of the doctor were low and he was right.

Doctor Shamal was part of the mafia too.

Who would have thought? (Note the sarcasm....)

Tsuna's first impression of him was a weird, old dude with shaggy hair that seemed to dislike males--a lot. He claims that he only treats females and males could die for all he cares. That motive was clear as day when he said that. Perverted doctor.

Despite his complaints (and threats), he did his job and treated Gokudera's wounds. Gokudera's condition has stabilized however he did suffer deep wounds and needed weeks to recover.

Seeing him in bed with an oxygen mask strapped onto his face, Tsuna couldn't help but feel responsible for his injuries.

If only I wasn't there, he wouldn't have gotten hurt protecting me. I thought I was going to help him, but I ended up hurting him. Should've just stayed in school and did nothing. The guilt in him was growing and it didn't help that Reborn noticed.

A kick to the back of his head knocked Tsuna out of his self-wallowing thoughts.

"OWW! Reborn!"

"Stop being negative Dame-Tsuna. Gokudera willingly did this for you so you shouldn't feel responsible over his actions."

"The kid's right. I'm sure Gokudera will get better real fast. Don't worry about it!" Yamamoto added, giving him a big thumbs up and a reassuring smile.

Tsuna returned the smile with a strained one but felt a little better nonetheless. "Thanks Yamamoto. Thank you Reborn."

Tsuna was seriously glad to have these two by his side right now. Yamamoto was really reassuring to have and the other was...well....encouraging? (I guess?)

Anyway, it was really thanks to them that he's not in a mess right now. Despite experiences with fights, battles and bloodshed, he was never one who can handle sudden stress or unexpected problems that come his way. His mental state was never that strong and a hundred reincarnated lives would not change that.

Knowing that Gokudera was now taken care of, Yamamoto headed home for the day, his father calling him home to help out with the shop. Tsuna headed home as well with Reborn on his head as he walked. Though Reborn was being strangely quiet and Tsuna could sense that he was brooding. The moment they reached home, Reborn hopped off his head and onto the table before looking him right in the eye with a serious expression.

"We need to discuss the situation."

"Alright." Tsuna sighed in resignation. He was pretty sure he knew what Reborn wanted from him. As much as he wanted to lie low and have nothing to do with this, he knew he can't afford to. Not this time. Not after his close ones have been hurt, not after everyone who was attacked suffered and definitely not after what Gokudera went through to save him today.

Reborn smirked, liking that things were going his way. "I just got new information from Dino in Italy. He informed me that the escaped convicts are attending Kokuyo Middle school as foreign transfer students. They have already established a gang and have the whole school under his regime. Reports say that they are residing in an old abandoned amusement park there so that's where we are heading."

Tsuna turned the information over in his head.

Kokuyo Middle? That's in the neighboring town next to Namimori. And an old amusement park? I seem to recall going to one before when Kaa-san brought me there, but I can't quite remember...

"Oi Dame-Tsuna, Pay attention." Reborn threw a hammer towards his head that he swiftly ducked.

"What the hell Reborn?!" He exclaimed and turned to look at the hammer. Huh. It's not green. It's a real hammer....He's really trying to kill me....

It wasn't that much of a surprise though; Reborn trying to murder him but he was intrigued by something else.

"Reborn, where's Leon? I haven't seen you using him today."

"He's here." Reborn took out a green ball of blob from under his fedora and Tsuna gave a quizzing look at it. Two eyes pop up on the green ball that he immediately recognizes as Leon's and his eyes widen with surprise.

"What happened to him? Is he alright?"

"His tail dropped off, this resulted in his shape-shifting to go out of control. Until he stabilizes, I can't use him at all. I'll be a helpless baby." He pouted childishly.

I seriously doubt that....Even without Leon, you're still deadly....

"I'll not be participating in this fight, so it'll be just you."

"What! You're not going to help?" Tsuna exclaimed worriedly.

It's because I thought you're helping that made me willing to go but now...

"Stop being a wuss Dame-Tsuna. We're going and that's that. Now go and sleep, we are heading out tomorrow morning." He ordered and added a threatening glare in Tsuna's direction for better effect.

Guess I have no choice in this matter.... He thought with a weary sigh as he trudged his tired feet upstairs and to his bed.

Once in it, he stared wide-eyed at the ceiling.

Tomorrow huh? What am I going to do?

He tossed and turned around on the bed, thinking but coming up with no answers.

Guess I'll have to go with it. I'm sure Reborn knows what he's doing......probably.

Heaving another sigh, he soon found himself drifting off to sleep.

If I die, I'm blaming Reborn....