Tsuna blinked before slowly smiling, waving at Dino.

"Ahaha, is that so? Well, my name is Sawada Tsunayoshi! Dozo yoroshiku."

The students facepalmed themselves.

'Leave it to Tsuna-Sensei to try and defuse the tension.'

Dino faltered slightly at the disarming smile before hardening his gaze.

"I know your name already."

The blonde leveled his whip at Tsuna; the brunet kept his smile up, raising his hands in a placating gesture.

"Maa, let's not get all huffy. May I ask what you came here for?"

Dino said nothing and lowered his fighting stance.

Tsuna sighed.

'Do we really have to fight?'

"Omnivore."

The brunet sweatdropped and turned to look at his Cloud Guardian.

'Ah geez, don't tell me.......'

Kyoya was smirking.

Tsuna deadpanned the ravenet.

He looked up at the sky for a silent prayer for Dino and his men before sighing.

The Decimo nodded his head, giving his Cloud his permission.

Kyoya's tonfas were out in an instant.

Tsuna's Guardians dropped their guards immediately; the students sighed in relief.

With his sharp hearing, Dino heard one of the students say something.

"Welp. They're dead."

Tsuna and the other Guardians jumped out of the circle of mafia men, leaving Kyoya alone in the circle.

The ravenet closed his eyes briefly and his smirked faded; Dino's men frowned.

"Grr....are you mocking us!? Attack!"

The men surrounding Kyoya started to charge at the ravenet.

Kyoya's eyes opened; his irises glowed a light purple.

His Cloud flames burst forth and all the men were pushed back.

Some of the men didn't get a breather as Kyoya quickly charged and nailed them in the face with a tonfa.

The men on the other side of the broken circle leveled their guns and fired.

Kyoya didn't even bother blocking as he shifted his body slightly to dodge the bullets.

His purple eyes darted to the side when one of the men pulled out a flash grenade and threw it at the skylark.

Kyoya grunted and released one of his chains from his right tonfa.

He lashed out and let the chain wrap around the flash grenade and threw it at the other men.

Their eyes widened comically.

Bang!

They were blinded by the bright flash of light, and Kyoya took the chance to knock them out.

Kyoya then perked up when he saw something in his peripheral vision; he stepped back to avoid a whip.

Dino gritted his teeth.

"I can't stand seeing my men injured. I'm stepping in."

Dino's followers looked up at the blonde with awe.

"Dino-san/Boss!"

Kyoya inclined his head, studying the blonde; he blinked, and his purple gaze faded back to a cool, silver-blue.

"Hn....you're weak."

Dino jumped slightly, a bit startled.

Tsuna sighed on the side, but he agreed mentally.

'Dino-nii's aura is way weaker than the original world.......' The brunet narrowed his gaze. 'Is Iemitsu's influence that bad?'

The Decimo walked over to Kyoya, settling a hand onto the ravenet's shoulder.

"Alright. That's eno--"

"I still need to bite him to death for being weak."

Tsuna sweatdropped.

".....I know....but you can do that later....because..."

The brunet gave a sheepish smile to Dino.

"The spartan's here."

Dino froze up.

He felt a presence behind himself.

"Chaos, my hopeless student."

The blonde turned around with his whip at the ready but--

Click.

Reborn stood there, gun cocked and loaded at Dino's forehead.

Dino blinked dumbly, faintly remembering the familiar cold bite of the barrel of a gun.

The Bronco looked up at the familiar hitman with wide eyes.

"...Re...born...how in the.....huh?"

Despite seeing the pictures, Dino couldn't believe that the Number One Hitman was standing before him, looking very much alive.

Dino fainted.

The students sweatdropped.

"What happened?"

"I think he fainted."

"But he looked pretty scary and bada** before..."

"....Was it a fluke?"

Tsuna sighed and scowled at Reborn, crossing his arms.

"Lovely! Now we have an unconscious Dino on our hands. Leave it to the spawn of Satan--or Satan himself--to scare Dino-nii sh**less."

Reborn merely smirked and shrugged, allowing Leon to transform back into a lizard; the hitman nudged Dino with his foot.

"Hm......yep, he's out cold."

"Stay away from Dino-san/Boss!"

Reborn looked at the blonde's men and inclined his head, narrowing his gaze at the group, which froze them in place.

The hitman sighed before walking away, standing beside Tsuna; the ravenet rolled his shoulders as he side-eyed Dino's group.

"Oh Gracious Leader, what do we do now?"

Tsuna brushed off the sarcasm and looked at the group with a frown.

Bang!

Someone shot at the Decimo.

Reborn flicked his hand to the side--Leon in gun form--and shot the bullet with his own.

Tsuna blinked in mild surprise at the shooter.

'Ah, Romario-san......'

The man had his brow furrowed as he quickly jogged over to his unconscious boss; he pushed his glasses up as he gently shook the blonde.

"Boss....Boss!"

Tsuna sighed before looking over at Reborn.

"Can I borrow Leon for a bit?"

Reborn shrugged and handed his gun to the brunet.

Tsuna walked up to the two Cavallones.

"Here, I got this."

Romario lifted his gaze to look at Tsuna with suspicion.

The brunet laughed good-naturedly.

"Maa, don't worry."

Leon turned into a hammer, and Tsuna tapped him on his shoulder; a glint entered the brunet's gaze, causing everyone else but Reborn to sweatdrop.

Tsuna grinned.

"I'm just giving Dino-ni--san a good 'ol Vongola Style Wake Up Call!"

Romario inclined his head ever so slightly.

"...Eh? Wh--?"

Tsuna brought the hammer down on Dino's head.

Let's just say that Class E never heard a manly scream become that high-pitched before.

And Reborn was quite proud.

~~
<<(Tsuna & Co.'s House)>>

"Ow..."

Dino held an ice pack to his head; Tsuna gave a sheepish laugh as he served Dino a cup of tea.

The two sat on opposite sides on the carpet around an oval-shaped table.

"Sorry about that, but I thought it would be the quickest way to wake you up--and I was holding back. So you were actually quite lucky to not have Reborn waking you up instead--I bet he would've just thrown you off the cliff edge and say, 'let's see if he'll make it'."

Dino couldn't help but sweatdrop.

'That certainly sounds like something he would do.....'

Tsuna took a sip of his tea before glancing up at Dino.

"So.....the fighting before...?"

Dino gave a sheepish laugh, placing his ice pack onto the table.

"Oh, well that? Ehehe, I just...wanted to test your strength.....but it seems I can't even handle your Cloud Guardian, hahahaha!"

Tsuna silently sipped his tea once more, trying to hide his pitying expression.

'More like you couldn't even handle seeing Reborn and fainted.'

Dino looked outside of the window and saw Tsuna's Guardians were conversing with his own men; the Cavallone men cracked a few laughs and jokes with the Guardians.

Although the words were inaudible, Dino could tell his men were having fun.

Dino turned to look at Tsuna.

".....Your Guardians seem nice."

The brunet smiled.

"Ah. The best siblings I could ever get."

The Decimo blushed bashfully at his own words; Dino blinked in surprise.

"They're your brothers and sister?"

Tsuna rubbed a thumb on the cup of tea he was holding, smiling softly as he gazed at the golden-brown color of the tea.

"Hm...not by blood.....but that doesn't really matter--I love them all the same as my crazy family. And the story of how I met them will be for another day."

Dino deflated slightly at the last comment.

But other than that, Dino could see and hear the genuine and honest feelings of the brunet.

The blonde just then realized the aura of the Decimo.

It felt like a nice, warm blanket; Dino felt as if nothing could harm him at the moment.

Tsuna sighed softly.

".....Dino-n--san, you came here for something else, right?"

Dino jumped slightly before nodding, scratching his head.

"Well....other than testing you and finding out if Reborn was truly alive..."

The blonde bit his lip as he looked at Tsuna.

"We need your help," He blurted. "Vongola is not what it once was. Nono had once told me that he selected you as the Vongola Decimo instead of Iemitsu, but Iemitsu--!"

"--Has taken over Vongola," Tsuna finished; his gaze darkened. "Yes....I know."

The temperature of the room dropped.

The cup in Tsuna's hand cracked slightly, causing the brunet to quickly set it down onto the table.

The lights flickered slightly overhead, causing Tsuna's eyes to stand out further in the dimming room.

"Apologies, Dino-san. I'm reigning my flames in as much as possible, but this is the best I can do."

Dino felt a bead of sweat roll down the side of his face.

'Really? 'As much as possible'?'

Tsuna sighed, rubbing a hand over his face.

"....Can we....talk about something else besides....Iemitsu?"

Dino slowly nodded; Tsuna gave a grateful smile and the lights went back to normal.

The brunet sighed, looking at his hands.

"Yes....I know what's going on, but right now.....I'm a bit stuck with something else..."

Tsuna glanced out of the window along with Dino.

The Class E students apparently started to join the conversation, telling their assassination attempts on a certain yellow octopus; Dino's men were apparently shocked.

Dino raised an eyebrow.

"...Those students? What do you need to do?"

Tsuna smiled, lacing his fingers in front of his face and resting his elbows onto the table.

"...I need to save a colleague of mine from dying--the students are finding a way to save him."

Dino snapped to attention.

"Do you mean Reborn? You're gonna lift his curse? I--"

Tsuna shook his head and the Bronco deflated.

"I'm not lifting Reborn's curse.....because it's already lifted."

Dino's jaw dropped.

"Wa-wa-wa-what?! Are you serious!?"

"He's serious."

Dino jumped and whipped his head to look at a certain hitman that entered the room; Tsuna sighed softly.

"Reborn, I thought this was going to be a private conversation."

The ravenet smirked as he pulled a nearby chair and sat down.

"It still is--I won't tell anyone."

Dino scooted away slightly from Reborn; the ravenet huffed.

"Looks like you've seen a ghost...?"

The Bronco threw his hands up into the air, fuming.

"Of course! The last I heard of you, you were....you were....."

Dino lost his anger in an instant as he furrowed his eyebrows, glaring at the ground.

Reborn sighed.

"Welp. You don't need to think like that anymore. I'm here now, alive and shooting."

Tsuna made an irked face.

"Don't you mean,'alive and kicking'?"

Reborn gave a look that said: 'dear me, I need to explain this carefully to make sure it makes sense to this poor four year-old'.

Tsuna felt a few tick marks appear on his head at that simple look.

"Never mind. I know what you're going to say."

Reborn smirked.

Dino looked between the too before leaving his gaze on his tutor.

"So, Reborn, you have another student?"

The hitman rolled his shoulders.

"That much is obvious, Baka-Dino."

Dino cried dramatically on the side.

"Hwaah, the insulting names. How I missed them."

Tsuna sweatdropped and whacked Reborn on the shoulder.

*Be nice to him.*

Reborn smirked and shrugged his shoulders; Tsuna shook his head before looking at Dino.

The brunet took on a serious expression.

He inhaled and exhaled, shutting his eyes.

"....About our...problem....I shall take care of it--along with my family. It is apparent that the students want to save their teacher with their own strength. Therefore, if I am not needed here...."

A beautiful, orange flame flickered to life on the brunet's forehead.

His eyes skid open, revealing blazing, amber orbs.

".......I shall head to Italy, and get rid of our p r o b l e m ."

Dino shivered at the gaze; Reborn merely smirked.

Tsuna then let go of his flames and gave a sheepish smile to Dino.

"Well...it really depends on what will happen for now. If I'm needed here, then I can't really leave."

Dino slowly nodded in understanding.

"I see...."

Tsuna then blinked as a thought came to him.

"Dino-san.....how is Xanxus?"

The blonde straightened his back in surprise.

"How do you--?"

The Bronco cut himself off, knowing that he would most likely not be answered.

"Xanxus....Xanxus is...."

Tsuna widened his eyes with shock at what Dino said next.

~~

When everyone settled down, Class E went back to planning.

Ritsu then revealed that she hacked into a few places and found the info they needed.

There was a space station, the I.S.S., that was doing research on Koro-Sensei's probability of exploding.

Ritsu smiled brightly.

"The research will be sent back down to Earth in a few days by a space capsule."

Koro-Sensei hummed quietly.

His face turned into a planet; a large ring circled his face and a star was present on his forehead.

"Nurufufu..."

He turned to look at Karasuma.

"Karasuma-Sensei.....could you please leave the room for a while?" 'You mustn't become responsible for what happens next.'

Karasuma looked confused, but he relented and left the room.

Once the Government Agent was gone, Koro-Sensei looked at the students before him.

"So....to sum up all of your thoughts....you want to sneak a peak of the research the space station has..."

They nodded.

Koro-Sensei went up to Ritsu, scanning the information.

"But it's apparent...that the capsule--when it's sent back down--it'll land in the Pacific Ocean in order to prevent me, the target, from getting a possible peak of the information gathered."

The students deflated slightly, but Koro-Sensei waved a tentacle in front of their faces, attracting their attention.

"But look at this!"

He lifted a tablet up to them.

"It's a test flight scheduled to launch soon in Japan!"

The students looked at the spaceship on the tablet with surprise and interest; Koro-Sensei wiggled his tentacles around, grin widening.

"Their plan is to send two dummies into space with monitors attached to test the life-support system. The rocket will dock with the I.S.S. in orbit, transfer supplies, and then return to earth with some baggage in tow. In short, the Japanese spaceship will reach the I.S.S....three days before the American experiment daa leaves it."

Koro-Sensei's grin widened even further.

"But~what if the rocket wasn't filled with two dummies....but it had two people in there~?"

The class widened their eyes with shock.

"You're kidding....."

Karma sweated slightly; his usual smile was still on his lips.

"Heh, I knew it. Our teacher's a wacko."

Koro-Sensei merely pointed a tentacle in the air, excitement practically exploding from him.

"Yes! Assassination Classroom, here is the theme of our off-season research project!"

The octopus took a deep breath.

"HIJACKING A SPACE STATION AND STEALING EXPERIMENT DATA!"

The students stared at their teacher in a stunned silence.

Sugino was the first to break it.

"....Are you for real?"

~~

Despite how crazy it sounded, Class E quickly went into training and research for their new plan.

Ritsu was also working on ways to improve their chances on making it to the rocket.

After a few days...the time had come.

//(January 18th)//
<<(At the Launching Point)>>

Class E set up a few trampolines outside of the fenced off area.

The students then easily scaled the fences with the little boost in their jump.

Once doing so, a part of the group headed for the control building.

With Hinano and Touka as distractions, Masayoshi quickly placed a thumb drive into one of the computers in the Control Room.

Ritsu smiled as she made a confirmation from one of her fellow students' phone.

"Success. I now have access to the rocket control system. I am also lowering the security level around the launch site."

Yuuma grinned and quickly made a hand motion to the others.

*Let's go!*

The students quickly dashed across the field and to the launch site.

They hid behind a few crates when they caught site of the guards standing there.

Megu tugged the hood of her 'P.E.' outfit down slightly, shadowing her eyes, murmuring to herself.

"Hm...of course the security would be high over here."

She glanced behind herself at her fellow classmates.

"Mina-san, lower your presence and follow my lead."

With that being said, the students stuck to the shadows and passed all of the guards with ease.

They quickly climbed the tower to get to the door of the rocket, where Koro-Sensei was waiting for them, wearing a ninja outfit.

Once everyone got up there, Koro-Sensei grinned proudly.

"Now that everyone's here...who wants to go?"

All of the boys'--except Karma--hands shot up; the girls sighed amusedly on the side.

"Boys."

Koro-Sensei then added a last minute thought.

"Remember now, it's a test model without a single success, but who still wants to go?"

The boys sweated and dropped their hands, except Itona.

The teen spoke up.

"I still would like to go despite the chances because I'm a mecha-lover, but just this once, I'll hold back."

He looked over at two other teens.

"I think...Karma and Nagisa should go."

Nagisa blinked in surprise while Karma just blanched.

The redhead jabbed a thumb over at Ryoma.

"Why don't we just have Terasaka go with the dummy? That way, there will be no losses."

Ryoma felt multiple tick marks appear on his head.

"Excuse me!?"

It took a while, but Nagisa finally persuaded Karma into going.

With that, the two selected teens put on the space suits while removing the dummies.

~~

"100...99...98...97..."

The rest of Class E watched in the distance as the rocket was about to launch; they sweated slightly.

"Will they be fine?"

"I'm sure they'll be fine."

The students jumped in surprise and turned to look behind them.

Tsuna was standing there, wearing an orange undershirt and black slacks while draping his suit top over his right shoulder; his left hand was stuffed in his pocket.

The brunet smiled softly to the group as they quickly ran up to him.

"Waah~where have you been, Tsuna-Sensei?"

"Yeah, yeah! We haven't heard from you for a while."

Tsuna was silent, glancing over at Koro-Sensei.

"....Koro-Sensei....it looks....like you guys won't be needing my help for now."

The octopus nodded his head slightly; the Decimo hummed softly.

"Well....I have an important matter to attend to."

Koro-Sensei noted the change of aura around Tsuna.

"....I understand."

Tsuna gave a grateful smile; the students looked at him with worry.

"You aren't leaving us, are you?"

The brunet chuckled.

"I am, but I won't be gone forever."

Tsuna held up three fingers before the students, eyes glowing in the night.

"Give me three days, and I'll return home after dealing with my little problem."

The brunet winked at the group.

"Okay?"

The students nodded, bowing towards the brunet.

"Okay! And please be safe, Tsuna-Sensei!"

BOOOOOOOM!

Just then, the rocket blasted off.

The students whipped their heads around to see it go.

At that moment, Tsuna smiled fondly at the group before breaking down in a cloud of mist once their backs were turned; he murmured his farewell to the group.

"Good luck."

~~
<<(With Tsuna)>>

The brunet opened his eyes.

He had sent a Mist flame-clone to the Class E members, but he then dispelled it, causing him to wake up.

He saw his Guardians, Reborn and Dino--with his men--in his house.

Tsuna stood up, hearing the distant launch of the rocket.

The brunet then turned to the group, smiling brightly.

"Alright! Let's go!"

Dino stood up from his seat, pulling his phone out.

"Okay! I'm gonna set up a private jet for us to get to Ita--"

"That won't be necessary."

Dino blinked owlishly as he turned to look at Hayato.

"Eh?"

He heard Tsuna chuckle.

The brunet closed his eyes before opening them, revealing black irises, chilling Dino to the bone.

Tsuna flitted his gaze over at the blonde.

"Don't be alarmed......have you ever heard of Night flames?"

Dino blinked in confusion; Tsuna chuckled once more.

"I guess not."

The brunet snapped his fingers and a black portal materialized in the center of the room.

Hayato went first without a single bit of hesitation.

A few seconds ticked by and then Hayato's head popped back through the portal.

"The area is clear, Tsuna-sama."

The silveret's head disappeared through the portal, and he didn't come back.

Dino blinked with amazement.

"Wow! You can teleport?"

Tsuna smiled sheepishly.

"Somewhat. Now hurry and get it--we don't have that much time."

The group quickly went through the portal.

~~

It was night in Italy as the entire group stepped through the portal.

Once everyone was through, Tsuna snapped his fingers and the portal disappeared without leaving a single trace behind; the brunet's eyes switched back to a warm orange.

They stood before rundown-looking mansion.

Tsuna looked at it with nostalgia.

'The Varia Mansion....'

He bit his lip.

'I don't know....if I'll be able to handle this....'

"Xanxus....Xanxus is...."

Tsuna sighed softly; Dino looked over at the brunet with slight worry.

"You alright?"

The brunet smiled.

"Ah, I'm fine."

Dino looked over at the mansion and walked up to the large building.

He placed both hands on the door and pushed it op--

Bang!

Dino ducked his head in time as a bullet whistled over his head.

The blonde sighed exasperatedly.

"Squalo! Didn't I tell you to keep the guns away from Xanxus!?"

Tsuna walked up to the door and looked over the blonde's shoulder to see....a ravenet who looked no older than ten.

The small boy had blazing, crimson eyes; his mouth was set in a frown.

Light, pink scars covered the side of his face and visible parts of his arms and barefeet.

His black hair wasn't gelled, so his bangs framed his face.

The ravenet boy scowled at Dino as he held a gun in one hand.

"Who are all these trash, Horse-trash?"

Tsuna stared at the miniature version....of Xanxus...

The brunet snorted and covered his mouth, hugging his midsection as he kneeled onto the ground.

He started to laugh uncontrollably as tears pricked his eyes.

"BWAHAHAHAHA, a sh**. I knew I wouldn't--cough--be able to handle this! He-He's s-so...HAHAHA!" 'He's so tiny! And he's trying to look intimidating, oh d*** it! It's not working!'

The younger version of Xanxus looked at Tsuna with confusion; he looked over at Dino.

"Who's the insane trash over there?"

Dino sweatdropped.

'I knew this might happen...'

::(Flashback)::

"Xanxus....Xanxus is....currently at the Varia mansion; he's being babysitted by his Guardians."

Tsuna blanched, widening his eyes while waving his hands in front of Dino.

"Wait, wait, wait, wait. Did you say....'babysitted' and 'Xanxus' in one sentence?"

Dino blinked in confusion and nodded.

"Well...yes. Xanxus is after all nine years old now."

Tsuna stared at the Bronco with disbelief; Reborn merely found this amusing.

The brunet lowered his head, hiding his expression with his bangs.

"...........Pffft."

Tsuna clutched his stomach as he started to laugh.

"HAHAHAHAHAHA, OH MY--I can't even--what? He's nine? HAHAHAHA, OH MY SIDES!"

Dino was lost completely.

"Um...?"

Reborn looked over at the blonde; the hitman himself looked like he was holding back a few chuckles.

"Don't worry. It'll take a few hours to get him settled."

Dino sweatdropped.

'.....'A few hours'?'

::(Flashback End)::

"VOOOOOOOIIII, I TRIED TO KEEP THE GUNS AWAY FROM HIM, SH**Y BRONCO, BUT KEEPS ON FINDING THEM SOMEHO--AND WHAT THE HE** IS WITH THE LAUGHING!?"

A silveret teen with a white undershirt and blue jeans came stomping into the room.

His silver eyes looked at the scene with confusion.

"Voooiii....who are these new pieces of cr**?"

Tsuna calmed down slightly, took one look at Squalo, and started to laugh again.

"Th-They're all ch-chibis! Kukukuhahaha!"

Takeshi bounded inside the building once he heard the familiar shout; the ravenet grinned widely when he caught sight of the teen Squalo.

"Uwaaah! This is neat!"

Takeshi walked over to Squalo.

The silveret looked at the swordsman with an irked expression.

Takeshi practically had sparkles surrounding his him as he looked down at Squalo.

"Waaaah~you're so short."

Multiple tick marks appeared on Squalo's head; he pulled a sword that was strapped to his hip and started to wave it around.

"VOOOOOOOIIII, IS THAT THE FIRST SH**Y THING YOU SAY TO EVERYONE, YOU F***ING GIANT!?"

Takeshi merely laughed.

"No~I usually say, 'Yo, my name is Yamamoto Takeshi', or something like that. Hahaha!"

Squalo had steam coming up from his head; he was pissed.

"VOOOII, YOU SMARTA**! WATCH YOURSELF!"

"Ushishishi, what's all of this ruckus about?"

A blonde boy, Belphagor--or Bel--leaned against the railing of the stairs; he slid down and landed on his feet.

He wore a purple, striped tank top and blue jeans; his bangs covered his eyes.

The boy looked about six years old.

He had a Cheshire grin on his lips.

"Ushishi, newcomers, eh?"

Tsuna managed to control himself.

He coughed into his fist as he stood up; the rest of the team entered the large mansion.

Hayato made a disgruntled expression at the sight of the small Bel.

'...Sh**, he's a kid too, making him even more annoying.'

Bel noticed the look and widened his smile.

"Ushishishi, something wrong, peasant?"

Hayato sighed.

"No. Nothing, Your Lowliness."

Bel felt a tick mark on his head.

"Ushishishi......you'll regret that."

Tsuna looked at the scene with amusement.

'Despite the age difference....everything's the same as always.'

"Oh~my~! Who are the new cuties?"

A teen Lussuria came bounding down the steps, giggling like a little girl.

Ryohei's eyes glinted with excitement.

"UOOOOOH! This is very EXTREME!"

"Boss!"

A teen Leviathan--or Levi--came charging down the stairs, looking frantically around the place.

Lambo yawned, shutting one eye.

"Hm...now Umbrella-man's going to be the same age as me..."

Tsuna then noted that a certain Mist wasn't there; he frowned with worry.

'...Right....Viper-san still needs to have his curse removed.....I wonder how he's doing now?'

The brunet felt a weak Mist flame a few rooms above from where he was standing.

"...Mukuro, Chrome."

The two drifted past the brunet, already knowing what to do.

"Understood, Tsunayoshi/Boss."

Bang!

The twin Mists paused in their tracks and watched as a bullet darted in front of them; they looked to the side to see Xanxus there.

The chibi frowned--pouted--at the two.

"Where are you b*****ds going?"

Really, that foul mouth and that childish body didn't match.

Tsuna smiled slightly in understanding.

'Protective of his family...' "Xanxus-kun..."

The ravenet darted his gaze over at the brunet as he continued to speak.

"We're going to help your friend."

Xanxus widened his eyes.

Silence filled the room...

....

...And then a sniffle broke it.

Tsuna blanched--everyone from the original world blanched.

Xanxus was......crying!?

Large tears fell from slightly chubby cheeks; Tsuna sweated.

'Holy sh**. He's crying....'

Xanxus rubbed at his eyes.

"You...can help Viper-nii?"

Tsuna sweated further.

'This world is so much different from my original one. Honestly, I'm terrified. Xanxus is calling Viper his brother?'

The brunet quickly walked up to Xanxus and patted the other on the head nervously.

"Yeah, we'll help him."

"Thank you!"

Tsuna was completely terrified.

Xanxus said 'thank you'.

(O.D.D.- ......I'm like locking the doors and windows. I hope Xanxus-san will have mercy on me for writing this. (O_O; )

~~

Mukuro and Chrome entered a small room; they grimaced slightly at the strong scent of blood that hit their noses.

"W..ho..'s.......th...ere?"

The two illusionists looked to the side and found a bed in the corner of the room.

On the bed was a young man with purple hair.

He was terribly thin and his skin was a sickly pale color.

Two, upside-down triangles were tattooed under closed eyes.

Slowly, they cracked open.

Light, magenta-purple eyes glowed softly in the dimly lit room.

(O.D.D.- .....Would it be weird if I said I had a slight dream of what eye color Mammon-san had? (=_= ; ))

Mukuro and Chrome stayed at the doorway, trying not to spook the purplenet.

"Kufufufu, konbanwa."

The man, Viper or Mammon, coughed, narrowing his gaze at them; he didn't have his cloak on--only a simple, white, hospital gown--so his face was visible.

Multiple wires were connected to his body.

'Hmph. Who are you?'

Mukuro and Chrome blinked in mild surprise at the voice in their heads; they responded.

"Kufu, Rokudo Mukuro, at your service."

"Dokuro Chrome. Dozo yoroshiku."

The two bowed.

Viper shut his eyes as a wave of nausea hit him.

'Never heard of you two before. And since you haven't injured the brats down bellow, I can only guess that you're not an enemy.'

"Correct."

Mukuro and Chrome entered the room.

The two then emitted their Mist flame; an indigo light surrounded them.

Mammon opened his eyes slightly when he felt the slight increase on energy.

'.....What are you two doing?'

Mukuro glanced at the sick illusionist, smirk widening.

"Healing you, Arcobaleno."

Viper felt energy returning to him; he widened his eyes slightly.

Mukuro and Chrome continued to insert their flames into Mammon's body.

'........Who the f*** are you people?'

Chrome smiled gently at Viper.

"We are the Mist Guardians of the true Vongola Decimo."

Mammon blinked dumbly.

'....Huh...?'

~~

Tsuna watched with surprise as the child Xanxus in his hands lit up with joy--like a kid on Christmas day--at the sight of seeing Viper on his feet at the top of the stairs.

Mammon had a disgruntled expression on his face as he used Mukuro and Chrome as support; his eyes weren't as dead anymore.

Viper huffed at the rest of the Varia members' expressions.

"What's with those looks? I wasn't dead, ya' know."

Xanxus ran up the stairs and hugged Mammon, looking up at the purplenet with bright eyes.

"Stupid trash! It took you long enough."

Viper quirked a small, tired smile.

"Humph. Don't push your luck, kid. I can tax you for every insulting name you call me."

The rest of the Varia met up with the short adult as he settled himself at the top of the stairs; Mukuro and Chrome quickly joined Tsuna side.

Mukuro chuckled.

"Kufufufu....this is certainly a strange world we've come to."

Tsuna quirked a small smile.

"Strange.....but the same. Everyone's the same."

Home is where the heart is.