Thump! "Eep!"

Tsuna chuckled as he crouched down next to his newest student.

"Would you like to take a break?"

Kyoko rubbed her back, nodding sheepishly.

Tsuna chuckled once more as he looked over his shoulder.

"Haru-chan! You can stop for now."

Haru wiped her brow before getting out of her one-legged stance.

The brunette smiled brightly before walking over to the two.

Tsuna gave a water bottle to each of them.

::(Flashback)::

"What I am teaching you...will hurt someone."

Tsuna studied Kyoko and Haru closely.

They flinched, causing Tsuna to smile softly at them.

"But I am not teaching you to kill."

The girls relaxed noticeably.

Tsuna held a hand up.

"Firstly," He held his index finger up. "I am teaching you self-defense. Secondly," He raised his middle finger. "You must not be guilty of hurting another." Tsuna grinned. "You need to know that you're doing this to protect your friends and family."

Kyoko and Haru hesitantly nodded, gaining some confidence.

Tsuna smiled brightly.

"Let's start with balancing exercises, stretches, and some light jogging, neh?"

::(Flashback End)::

Tsuna went over to the corner of the room and tapped the wall; a compartment opened up, presenting a box of senbon and tessen.

(O.D.D.- To those of you who don't know what those are: they're needles and metal fans. (*^_^*))

The brunet took them out and walked back over to them.

Tsuna handed the needles to Kyoko, and the fans to Haru.

The brunet waved his hand to the objects.

"These will be your weapons." He chuckled as they looked at them with curiosity. "You may not know how to use them now, but you'll learn how to expertly wield them without a single problem."

Kyoko and Haru turned to look at him with a determined gaze; Tsuna smiled.

"Shall we begin?"

~~

Tsuna gazed silently at the stars in the night sky.

"You know that those aren't real, Omnivore."

The brunet chuckled and rubbed the towel in his hands over his hair; he recently took a shower.

"Maa, you spoiled the fun, Kyoya-kun."

The adult ravenet watched Tsuna walk across the holographic room; the machine producing the fake, night sky turned off.

Kyoya 'hn'ed and stepped out of Tsuna's way.

"The marshmallow-omnivore will hack into the base soon."

"And Chrome?"

"She has already provided herself with her own illusion-organs."

Tsuna nodded, placing his towel onto his shoulders; he was currently wearing a black t-shirt with navy-blue jeans.

The two walked down the hallways and made it to the meeting room, where everyone--sans Chrome--was there. Future-Ryohei met up with Kyoya when the skylark went to look for Chrome.

Once Tsuna entered the room along with Kyoya, the screen immediately became fuzzy.

"Ran, ran~! Ran, ran~!"

Tsuna sweatdropped at the chibi Byakuran that danced across the screen; Kyoya was barely keeping a restraint on his killing intent.

The small image disappeared before it was replaced with the real Byakuran.

To make it short, the conversation unraveled like the one they had experienced in the past--unknown to most people.

~~

Tsuna sat in the infirmary, Mukurowl landed on his shoulder; one of the bird's eyes glowed a bright red.

"Kufufufu~konbanwa, Tsunayoshi-kun."

The brunet smiled softly.

"Konbanwa, Mukuro-kun."

The owl ruffled his feathers.

"I have finished preparations in possessing one of Byakuran's men. Everything is continuing to unfold as planned."

Tsuna nodded.

"Arigatou."

The two then looked at the purplenette that was snoozing softly on the infirmary bed; Chrome snuggled deeper into her pillow.

Tsuna chuckled at the sight before standing up; Mukurowl flew up and settled down on one of the IV poles.

"I'll see you later, Mukuro-kun. Be careful, neh?"

"Kufufufu~of course, Tsunayoshi-kun."

~~

BOOOM!

"Hn. That one was a bit faster."

Tsuna laughed before clashing with Kyoya.

The two were currently 'perfecting' Tsuna's 'new' move to avoid suspicious looks from Lal.

Tsuna raised his hands and launched another X-Burner, which caused Kyoya to dodge quickly.

The brunet grunted as Kyoya went on the offensive, blocking the skylark's attack by crossing his arms in front of his face.

Kyoya broke away from Tsuna and lit his ring, bringing a purple box out of his pocket; the brunet pouted.

"Oi, no fair! I don't have Natsu with me!"

The skylark merely smirked before lighting the box up.

~~

Tsuna dodged a punch to the face before ducking down to avoid a kick from another.

Another punch came at his head; this time, he caught it.

"A little faster, Kyoko-chan."

Suddenly, the said ginger grinned mischievously before using her other hand to grip Tsuna's arm tightly; the brunet raised an eyebrow.

"Now, Haru-chan!"

Tsuna's eyes filled with realization as the brunette charged at the Decimo from behind.

"Hyaaah! Got you Tsuna-san!"

The brunet glanced back at her before shadowing his eyes with his bangs.

He chuckled softly.

"Indeed...you have improved immensely..."

Tsuna lifted his head as he smirked; Kyoko sweated slightly since she was the only one who could see the brunet's expression at the moment.

"...But you have a long ways to go~!"

Right when Haru sent a dropkick to Tsuna's head, the brunet spun around with Kyoko in front of him, who was still clutching tightly to his arms.

"Human shield~!"

The girls' eyes widened.

"Hahi/Eeeeeh!?"

The two crashed into each other, and Tsuna was released from Kyoko's hold; the brunet chuckled as he watched the two try to sit up from the ground.

Tsuna crouched down in front of the panting pair and ruffled their heads.

"Awesome job you two. Simply brilliant."

The two blushed and brightened up at the praise; Haru pouted childishly.

"We weren't even close to beating you!"

Tsuna chuckled, sitting on the floor with them, crossing his legs.

"Maybe~but you two have done exceptionally well."

The girls smiled brightly, standing up before bowing to him.

"Arigatou for today, Tsuna-kun/-san!"

Haru went ahead of Kyoko as the ginger waved back at Tsuna.

"We'll wash up and start on dinner! Ja ne!"

"Hai, hai..."

The training room door opened and shut closed.

Tsuna flopped onto the ground and sighed, shutting his eyes.

The silence was comforting, but he had to break it.

"If you're going to hit me with that, I won't make your espresso for an entire month."

There was a click of a tongue before a weight settled onto his stomach; Tsuna cracked an eye open and peered down at a certain baby hitman, holding a Leon-hammer that quickly morphed back into a lizard.

Reborn huffed before smirking.

"Hm~I'm quite proud of your teaching skills--the girls have become good fighters."

Tsuna grinned in return.

"Arigatou."

The brunet then rested his head back into his hands as he gazed up at the ceiling; Reborn hopped beside his head.

"You seem rather prepared."

Tsuna gave a lopsided smile.

"I can't be sure positive that things will unfold like last time...but everything is going smoothly for now..." Tsuna sighed. "I won't let my guard down if that's what you're asking."

Reborn smirked before tugging his fedora down.

"...Go take a shower, Dame-Tsuna--you stink."

"Hidoi!" (Mean!)