Summary: Everything changed when the best candidate for the Vongola position met the blind yet kind and protective man – who happens to be a hiding wizard – in a café. Slight AU.
Disclaimer: I don't own those two original stories obviously, but this plot here that isn't canon is mine along with OC's that might appear in the later chapters.
Note: Mentions (implied or direct) of Slash. Crossover. Unedited. No Beta. Slow update.
Edited: 07/06/2016
Beta'ed: Ondine de la Mer
Note: Harry – in Harry and Teddy's POV or everyone who really knew him as a wizard. Hari – in everyone who will be familiar with him as a civilian/ flame sky user.
Colors
01:
Tsuna has made it his mission to avoid any obvious pathways whenever he walks home to avoid the bullies who like to torment him.
He's not stupid. Contrary to what everyone thinks, he's not dame. He just doesn't think it's worth anything much if he applies himself in his schoolwork when pretty much everyone thinks that he's stupid. That he can't change and will forever be an incapable just because the very first time he finally attended school, he couldn't quite keep up. Because of his dyslexia.
No one from school helped him and as much as his mom always, always tries to help, she can't be with him in class when he really needs it. His mother understands anyway even if she's sad that he doesn't bother showing his potential. She just makes sure that he never neglects his studies and continues to gain knowledge in the ways he can.
Besides, no one knew of his condition because at first, they themselves didn't even know. They had only thought he was having a hard time reading. When they found out, Tsuna decided not to tell anyone else. It would just be used as further ammunition against him in school.
He was an outcast there anyway. He had no friends and was always being bullied. Even the teachers turned a blind eye and rarely helped when they saw it happening.
He's not naïve. He knows people, especially children can be cruel. That they just didn't know better even though they should, because he refused to think that their parents weren't helping them become better people.
He also wasn't that trusting, not after he realized that the only person who cared for him was his mother – who was quite absent-minded at times, varying from a few minutes to a few hours – and the workers at Marauder's.
School had already finished and he was walking towards the café where he knew his mom was waiting, just as she'd been for the past few years ever since he'd found the place when he'd turned eight.
It had become his second home in the four years since then, and he was now twelve years old.
He wasn't traversing the direct way though, simply because it was too open. His bullies might see him and then beat him up again. He so did not want to see his mother's sad face if she saw his bruises one more time. The detour he was using was longer than the normal way but it was better than arriving covered in bruises.
Again.
Sure, he could face them but it was too much work, not to mention the fact that it wouldn't really make a difference. They would just come back, angrier than before or they could create atrocious lies to redirect blame on him.
Too much work.
He was careful, walking along the secluded path. Not only because he was treading through a not-so-used alley, but also because it was quite a bit darker than common routes. It was in a narrow space between the houses and buildings after all.
When he arrived without incident, he gave a sigh of relief before walking inside.
A tinkling bell was heard when he opened the door and he instantly saw that the café was full, as always.
The Marauder's Café was a huge hit in Namimori, simply because of the unique taste of their coffee and that the pastries they had were more delicious than the one his mom brought from an apparently high class restaurant and gave to him.
He wasn't even being biased. It was that good.
He scanned the crowded café but really couldn't see his mom.
That's when someone touched his shoulder. He turned and saw that it was only Hari-san. Tsuna would have expected to be spooked by how the person he considered his uncle-slash-father always managed to sneak up on him when no one had ever been able to before. He was always warned by a peculiar feeling inside him whenever someone approached him, whether it be friend or foe. But he was strangely okay with it.
He wondered if it was because he wasn't paying much attention, or if he just trusted Hari-san that much.
"Tsuna! Looking for Nana?" Hari-san asked with a small, delighted smile. He was about to nod when he remembered his uncle's condition.
Hari-san was blind. Tsuna had instictively known that, and when Hari-san had taken to wrapping a black silk cloth over his slightly dull beautiful green eyes, his ailment became particularly obvious. But oftentimes, he forgot because of how graceful Hari-san was when navigating around.
"Yes Hari-san," he answered politely. His uncle shook his head even as he held his shoulder and began navigating – Tsuna occasionally helping – towards the upper deck of the café.
"I told you to drop the suffix Tsuna. No need to add -san! I consider you my son,"
Tsuna's lips twitched upwards.
"I suppose you wouldn't care, seeing as you always forget to add suffixes to names, right Hari-san?" he said, stubbornly using the suffix. He respected and trusted Hari. It was only proper to add the honorific.
"Smart ass," Hari quipped with a grin. Tsuna's lips stretched into a smile at that.
Hari was from England and had just come to Japan a few years ago. He was also just getting used to the different suffixes they added to people's names, even though he had been here a good few years already. He said it was weird for him and oftentimes didn't add it.
The Marauder's Café has three floors. The first and second were for customers while the third was the living space of him and the two helpers that lived with him.
He knew that his mom was on the third floor. No instinct needed because Hari was obviously leading him to the elevator. Hari only uses it to get to the third floor, because there aren't any stairs between the second and third floor. One of their security precautions, Hari had once said.
He still hasn't asked what he would do in a black out because obviously, the elevator won't run.
When the elevator opened, he saw his mom right there, standing and looking like she'd been waiting for him.
"Tsu-kun!" she beamed. Tsuna gave a smile as he bounced towards his mother and gave her a hug.
"Mama," he said, burying his face in his mom's stomach and enjoying the warmth he could feel from her.
"How was school?" she asked as she led him towards Hari-san's sofa.
"Same." he mumbled
A hand was on his head, petting his hair and he hummed in contentment.
"Tired?" he heard Hari-san ask. It was only then he realized that he had his eyes closed. He nodded. "Go on then, sleep,"
"Theo-nii?" he mumbled, one eye opening as he stared at his uncle blearily. He saw his lips stretched into a smile.
"Coming. Sleep Tsuna, Teddy will be here when you wake up," he didn't need anymore prompting after that.
He was so tired…
. . . . .
"Nana, I think you should pull him out of that school," Harry said the minute he was certain Tsuna was asleep. He continued petting his son's hair gently – because he considered Tsuna his son, along with his godson Teddy – even as his forehead creased in concern.
He heard his friend sigh heavily.
"I just might. I don't think school has been helping him come out of his shell," she was silent for a while before she continued. "I just don't want Tsuna to grow up afraid of other people Hari,"
"Being in that school will only worsen his distrust of others. I know you know this. He doesn't even bother applying himself in his studies, and he never extends a helping hand to others anymore. I know it's justified since he's never received any from others before but… they're turning such a sweet boy into an apathetic one. I don't want to see them succeed."
Harry was concerned. You see, he could see so much of himself in Tsuna. So willing to help, but being scorned so badly by others. Tsuna has a mother who adored him, and an absent father who only calls a few times a year, almost never. He barely sent them postcards, giving out apologies and false promises, declaring that he was there in spirit. When he does, he just knew that they were filled with lies, even if he couldn't see them. Just holding them is enough for him to feel that. He wasn't just saying that because of his gut feeling, but also because the feelings he got from holding it almost feels mechanical with no emotions attached at all. Also, the pictures clipped to the postcards were computer edited according to Teddy after further inspection.
It was absurd how the man thought he would get away with it, and appalling when his friend bought it before he made her see sense. Even going so far as to ask for a professional opinion. Apparently none of them were even addressed!
"I don't want that to happen either. I like Tsuna the way he is," she said before she sighed. "I'll pull him out tomorrow."
"Thank goodness," he murmured. Nana smiled slightly. She knew he had been contemplating broaching the subject with her, but also knew herself well enough to admit that before all of this, she would have hesitated, would have taken a long time to decide.
"By the way, I saw a flier in our mailbox earlier this morning," she said, voice confused as she still didn't know how to take that flier. It looked like a scam to her but something told her it wasn't, not really.
"What do you mean, a flier?"
"For a tutor apparently," she pulled out said flier from her pocket and read it out loud so Hari could hear.
"We'll raise your kid to be the leader of the next generation. Grade and subject doesn't matter. Reborn,"
"Reborn?"
"Yup. That's what it says,"
Hari looked in her direction and even though she knew that he's medically blind, she felt like he could still really see her, as if he was looking right at her soul.
It always made her feel something between discomfort and yearning. As if something was reacting inside her and she didn't even know what.
"Did you call this so-called tutor?"
She shook her head only to stop and speak out loud when she remembered that her friend was blind. "No. Tsuna doesn't need one, he's an intelligent boy even if his grades in school don't really reflect his intellect. Besides, this sounds like a scam. I've never heard of an endorsement like this before,"
"That's good. I have a mixed feeling about it."
"What do you mean?" Nana held her son firmly as she stared at her friend apprehensively. Hari, even with his blindness, has a sharp instinct. If he said that something was concerning, it always meant that there really was something to be concerned about.
"Like a mix of dread and hope. There's a healthy dose of apprehension as well, along with…" Hari looked to be hesitating in telling her and she frowned. She didn't like that. It felt like she wouldn't like what his next word was.
Still…
"With what Hari?"
"Danger. Life-threatening danger."
. . . . .
"Dad!" Harry instinctively turned to look at where he heard the voice but only saw a human-shaped flaming, glittering red and an impression that told him the identity of the person. Not to mention that he recognized who that voice belonged to.
"In the kitchen!" he called out.
"Should we go now Hari?" he heard Nana ask. He shook his head and gestured for her to sit. He saw the human-shaped indigo flame sit back down and sighed.
"I told you to stay for the night. You sounded tired earlier and with Tsuna now asleep, you might as well stay. Your room has already been prepared."
"Alright."
"Dad! I'm being followed by a baby! Oh! Hi Nana-san," he heard Teddy's irritated voice changing to politeness behind him so he turned around.
"Hello Teddy-kun," Nana giggled. He sighed before speaking to his godson.
"What did I tell you before Teddy?"
"Be polite," he nodded and waited for the next words. He knew Teddy enough to know he always had a reason for every action he took. "But he's not a normal baby! He can talk! He can also walk perfectly! Even run!" he said incredulously.
Harry frowned at that. That was unusual. Usually, babies have a hard time speaking. He was about to speak up again, ask about it when he caught sight of a flaming yellow shaped toddler behind his godson. The aura's presence was ridiculously strong and the impression he got from the other was unyielding.
It made his hackles rise up.
"Who are you and what are you doing in my home?" he asked, voice going icy even as he pulled Teddy behind him and instructed his godson to go with Nana.
He didn't have a good feeling about this.
"Ciaossu. I am Reborn, the home tutor," he said almost nonchalantly. If it weren't for the tense flame-aura of the toddler, he would not have realized the other was tense at all.
"I'm sorry, but no one called a home tutor. You may by go," He didn't let his guard down, especially since his own aura seemed to be reacting to the other, even though the toddler's wasn't being consciously controlled. It looked like it was reacting on its own too.
He wasn't about to just let this unusual baby waltz in on his place.
"That's strange, because you see, I was commissioned to tutor the son of Iemitsu Sawada by the man himself."
The temperature inside the kitchen dropped.
"What?!"
TBC.
A/N:
I found my beta! Ondine will help me with the chapters and some ideas...