This is the result of a random plot bunny that bit me and wouldn't let me go. Vongola really dodges a bullet having Tsuna has its boss. In reality, giving a bullied, oppressed child the power that comes with being the head of an illegal, criminal organization is NOT a good idea. Seriously. If Xanxus had been in Tsuna's position, I don't think there would be a Mafia left. So I just wanted to explore the consequences of a darker Tsuna, one who's already been pushed beyond his limit by the time Reborn arrives.
Characters may be OOC, so beware!
While seeking revenge, dig two graves - one for yourself. ~ Douglas Horton
If you prick us do we not bleed? If you tickle us do we not laugh? If you poison us do we not die? And if you wrong us shall we not have revenge? ~ William Shakespeare
Sawada Tsunayoshi may be considered a whimpy, useless, no-good child, but there were certain things that no one has ever been able to beat out of him.
First, Tsuna will always protect his mother. From his father's absences to the darker horrors of Mafia life, Nana will be shielded from knowing that her husband and son were inextricably tied to the criminal world.
Nana is a sweet, innocent woman whose naïve outlook hides a core of steel that would only show when her son is being threatened. She knows there was little she can do: Tsuna needs to want to help himself, and no amount of cajoling or persuading could budge him. All she can do is watch while her son secretly patches up the wounds caused by his bullies, or brushes away tears of loneliness. But where she could, she would.
Tsuna never finds out that the day Reborn arrived at the Sawada household, Nana had discretely taken the tutor aside and threatened him with indescribable pain should her son be hurt in his care. Reborn, for all his worldliness, had never before been threatened by a sweet housewife whose smile suddenly turned into a razor-sharp smirk.
Similarly, Nana never discovers that after Tsuna took over Vongola, he had blackmailed Iemitsu into making up for all his absences. Then he beat him up so viciously and efficiently that Iemitsu spent six months in the hospital.
Tsuna holds no love for his father; what stays his hand is his mother's affection for the idiot man.
Second, Tsuna had the memory of an elephant when it came to his bullies. Before Reborn, Tsuna never had a strong enough will to get his revenge, but he remembered each bully who tripped him, punched him, berated him, or watched while others made their move.
Post-Reborn, Tsuna's will is unmovable. No one will ever push him around again. And the Mafia never forgives and forgets; it waits, waits until the day the enemy lets their guard down, and then strikes, viciously and fatally.
Tsuna's worst bullies never hold a job for more than six months. Their adult lives become frustrating, their significant others break up with them, their credit ratings never qualify them for a loan, etc… As much as his bullies had terrorized his childhood, Tsuna will pay back every insult tenfold.
Third, Tsuna hates Reborn. The day the baby came into his life, Tsuna discovers that his usual bullies were mere ants compared to the World's Greatest Hitmman. Tsuna is also practical enough to realize that he is no match for Reborn's will, at least not at the moment.
Survival – something Tsuna excels at – dictates that he bow down temporarily to his tutor.
Tsuna hates bullies, and Reborn is the worst he's ever encountered. Reborn's presence means that Tsuna is electrocuted, shot, beat up, humiliated, starved, terrified, and exhausted.
Tsuna trains until his muscles turned to jelly. Tsuna studies until his brain turned to mush. It's never enough for Reborn, who pushes and pushes and pushes Tsuna past his limits.
Push too far, and something breaks. Reborn never learned this lesson.
Tsuna will admit that Reborn's chaotic entrance into his life changed him for the better. Before, he was alive, but now he has something to live for. Reborn shaped Tsuna into a man who would never bend, but Reborn doesn't realize Tsuna had long since broken.
Revenge becomes one of the few things Tsuna lives for. Before Reborn, Tsuna would have been content in his life, bullies and all. After Reborn, Tsuna has been unwillingly shaped into someone who could not, would not let anyone trample over him.
Reborn never realizes that his most precious student is also the one person in the world who can and will kill the World's Greatest Hitman.
Reborn created a monster, and one day, Tsuna will extract his payment in blood.
Fourth, Tsuna despises most of his Guardians and Family members.
Gokudera Hayato is an annoying pest. Tsuna will never trust anyone who goes from professing to kill him to spouting off claims of loyalty. It disgusts Tsuna that one word from him will have Gokudera scrambling to carry out his boss's will.
Tsuna is thankful that he'll never be cruel enough to take advantage of Gokudera's loyalty.
Were he a gentler, more generous boy, he'd have acted on the knowledge that Hayato Gokudera was simply looking for approval and validation. Instead, Tsuna purposely lets Gokudera flounder a bit, all the while acting so much like a clueless, oblivious boy that even Reborn is fooled.
Yamamoto Takeshi is someone Tsuna is largely indifferent towards. The baseball star never bullied him, always had a kind word or a smile for him, but at the same time, never extended a helping hand.
Tsuna resents that. Deeply. Especially when he reached out to Yamamoto when no one else would, or could.
Tsuna saved Yamamoto from falling off the edge into despair, but there was no one to save Tsuna. Tsuna binds Yamamoto to him, to the life of the Mafia as his Rain Guardian's unknowing punishment for his indifference.
Sasawaga Ryohei is a dense idiot. The only thing he's good for is as a loud block of muscle. Tsuna spares little malicious thought for his Sun Guardian other than to invest in some heavy duty ear plugs.
Ryohei is also someone who helped beat back Tsuna's bullies quite a few times in the past, and for that, Tsuna feels obligated to him. Obligated enough to protect Ryohei's weakness, his sister Kyoko.
Tsuna supposes he has a soft spot for the idiot.
Hibari Kyoya is a hypocrite. Violent and terrifying with a disturbing thirst for blood, but a hypocrite all the same. For all that the prefect spouts off his goal to protect Namamori from "disturbers of the peace", Tsuna finds that Hibari is more often than not simply beating up criminals for his own joy.
Hibari has never once helped Tsuna out. More often than not, Hibari would walk past a typical scene of Tsuna being a punching bag for his classmates and continue on his path. Apparently Tsuna's bullies don't register as peace-disturbers.
Besides, it's usually Hibari that disturbs the peace anyway. He's a bully, plain and simple, but one that rarely targeted Tsuna.
For that, Tsuna doesn't immediately kill the prefect. Instead, he pretends to timidly seek out friendship, forcing Hibari into interactions with people he can't kill immediately.
It's not enough, though. Someone like Hibari deserves more. Tsuna's plan for the future may or may not involve seducing Hibari into a romantic relationship before staging a huge betrayal that will utterly destroy his Cloud guardian.
It'll be a long time before he can put his plan into action, but Tsuna's patience is legendary.
The two Mist Guardians are probably the closest thing Tsuna has to friends. Chrome reminds him of his mother, and so he tries his best to protect her, but the girl is surprisingly insistent on guarding her Boss instead.
Tsuna likes broken people because they remind him of life's truths. Roduko Mukuro has been broken so many times it's a miracle he's still standing.
Tsuna will never trust Mukuro, but he can secretly cheer for the day Mukuro decides to destroy the Mafia, can't he?
Bovino Lambo is a snotty crybaby, but Tsuna has always had a soft spot for children. Children tend to be innocent and don't know any better, so Tsuna finds it easy to forgive their mistakes.
What cements Lambo's position as his Lightening Guardian is Reborn's distaste. Not only can Tsuna protect Lambo from Reborn's bullying, he also gets to see Reborn twitch in annoyance when the tutor is forced to be pleasant to Lambo.
The day Lambo suddenly appeared at Tsuna's bedroom window, only to get kicked out by Reborn, is the day Tsuna realizes that Reborn is nothing more than an extraordinarily talented bully. It's the day Tsuna firms his resolve to one day become strong enough to be Reborn's torturer.
Fifth, Tsuna loves the Varia. He loves how broken they are and how they never hide their horrible, jagged, raw wounds and turn their weaknesses into strengths. Tsuna wishes he had the bravery to do the same.
Plus, his Guardians can't stand them. Tsuna watches in secret and well-hidden glee at the looks of dismay when they hear he's invited the Varia over, and the jaw-clenching forced politeness of some is a balm to his nonexistent heart.
When Tsunayoshi is 30 years old, he destroys Vongola. Utterly and completely. He decimates it from the inside out, taking every single member connected to the Family. He is the only survivor.
Giotto would approve, Tsuna thinks, of his descendant cleansing the world of the mockery that his vigilante group has morphed into.
Vongola destroyed? Check. Next step, the destruction of the rest of the Mafia.
After all, Tsuna hates bullies, and the Mafia is nothing more than a haven and playground for the worst of them.
Hunger, revenge, to sleep are petty foes, But only death the jealous eyes can close. ~ William Wycherley
