Disclaimer-I own nothing
It just sat there. Innocent as a child and obvious as it could be. A simple, white envelope with nothing written across its surface.
Tsuna wanted nothing more than to destroy it, burn the damn thing before he had to look at it, show it to someone who may be able to help him. But he couldn't. Oh of course he couldn't. No one could help him.
He shook his head silently, and walked away from the letter, no way no how was he going to read it before Reborn learned about its existence, he'd be getting home any time… It wasn't a weekend yet so Reborn couldn't travel too far from his work as a home tutor.
Flopping down onto his bed Tsuna pulled his phone from his pocket
"You have three, missed messages. Wednesday, March fourth six fifty-nine PM- Hey Tsuna! It's Yamamoto! Gokudera, Ryohei and me are headed to the arcade, if you want to come give me a call back"
The answering machine on Tsuna's phone played gently as he lay motionlessly.
"Next message. Wednesday, March fourth Eight twenty-seven PM- Tsu-kun! It's Mama, I just wanted to tell you that my flight has landed safely in Italy. Is Reborn-chan there yet? Give me a call back"
The teenager sighed and rolled onto his back
"Next message Thursday March fifth 7 o'clock AM- Tsu-chan~~!" The brunette flinched as a sickeningly sweet voice rung out of his phone, "Happy Thursday~ I hope you have lots of fun with those friends of yours! Make sure you Enjoy your time with them~ I'll be sending you a letter soon, just like old times~"
Gradually Tsuna's grip on his phone got tighter and tighter until a pitiful cracking sound made him quickly drop it in surprise. Against his normal luck, it wasn't broken
"God danm it…" he breathed slinging an arm over his eyes. He'd finally started thinking all of this crap was over when the letters stopped coming. He was so sure that his stupid employer had found another, better brat who would do what he said without question. Regrettably it seemed that he'd only just stopped finding powerful objects for a little while.
In the back of his head he contemplated why his employer even called upon him over and over again anyway. He wasn't loyal; if he could he would turn his employer in a heart beat
Tsuna wasn't even the best in the business. Hell he couldn't be called a decent thief! He was clumsy and usually when he was on the job there were too many loose ends to count. Not to mention he was notoriously "No good" and even with the best Spartan-teacher in the entire freaking universe he would screw up, trip over himself, scream like a girl or all three.
The only reason he was of any use at all was because of course he was easily manipulated. Never in a million years would he let anyone get hurt. No one ever died when he was on the job. And of course not all of him was "No good" or he wouldn't have made it this far. Period.
The sound of the front door slamming shut tore the brunette from his stupor.
"Dame-Tsuna!" Reborn called, waiting for the crashing and thudding of his student trying to hide from him. A small frown came across his lips when he was met with silence.
Tsuna hadn't stood or even attempted to move. He didn't have the will.
"Dame-Tsuna?" Reborn called again, when once more no sound answered him he made his way up the stairs. The door to the teenagers' room was thrown open. Tsuna spoke before Reborn had a chance
"I got another letter." The brunette didn't even have to look to tell that Reborn's poker face expression hadn't changed. The silence said enough as to how the older man felt
"Have you read it yet?"
"No"
"Why not?"
"I wanted you to help me figure out what to do" Reborn sighed and went over to Tsuna's desk to retrieve the letter. Paper rustling filled the silence; Tsuna didn't dare take his arm from where it lay over his eyes. He didn't want to see anything. For a moment, nothing dared move.
"Exactly twenty-seven lines, usual message, and a hint. Get your ass over here and read this Dame-Tsuna" For the split second the boy contemplated going against orders and staying where he laid he could almost swear he heard Reborn cock his gun.
With much effort Tsuna hauled himself up and let out a quiet sigh as he almost fearfully took the piece of paper from his tutor. He whispered each word of the letter aloud-
Let's get straight to the point shall we Tsu-chan?
I have a job for you
See… I have found a powerful little collection of rings called Shimon
Tsu-chan I want you to get them for me
Even if you have to kill someone
Not to worry though I doubt you'll have too
Oh! And please
Remember like usual
Your time span is
One month
Until then I shall not bother you
Reborn is not to have anything to do with this
Friday is when you leave
Remember this as well! I want the Earth under control or dead!
I almost forgot
Enjoy it, you have a
New home
Don't fret it's not far
Shimon is your new location
When you've got the rings you know how to contact me
I'll pick them up exactly an hour
Let's say I think you should switch schools as well
Listen I've also got a hint for you: the Shimon Rings hide in your reflection
Destroy this letter
I hope you'll have fun Tsu-chan!
Enjoy your month!
100
"Shimon? The rings hide in my reflection…?" Tsuna repeated quietly, "We have to leave tomorrow?"
"Not we. You. Byakuran will make sure I'm not involved with your mission" Reborn growled under his breath. He was just about as unhappy about the whole ordeal as his pupil was
"What should I do then? These jobs never relocate me for very long! He suggested I switch schools for the time being!" this earned the freshly panicking brunette a slap in the face.
"Shut up, you'll have to deal. If you'd like to be left alone and not have to take orders from this guy kill him. It's plain and simple" Reborn heartlessly replied giving Tsuna a serious look
"I can't do that Reborn! I can't kill someone!" Tsuna stood his ground no matter what his tutor said he never let his opinion waver on the matter
Reborn sighed, "Then you'll have to deal with him forever or until your no longer of use. I can't help you"
The boys' shoulders sagged
"Lucky for you Mama isn't here; I'll call Nami-middle and Shimon middle school and get you transferred out for a month. As for living expenses…" The black-haired man smirked
Tsuna sighed, "You're going to make me get a part-time job to pay for them huh?"
"It's only fair isn't it? I can't have you taking Mama's money
"I shouldn't have expected anything else"
Reborn turned to leave before Tsuna found an opening to whine but stopped before he made it to the door, "Alert Yamamoto, Gokudera, and Ryohei. Your family should know where you're going for the month"
"If I tell them the truth Gokudera will want to come"
"If you tell Gokudera anything he'll want to come"
"But he can't come! None of them can come!"
Smirk. "I'm sure you'll think of something"
"Reborn!" The man left before any real argument could be made. All the energy was drained from Tsuna. He couldn't even make it back to his bed; he just collapsed right on the floor
~As the Sky Falls Down~
Thursday, March fourth, 9:00 PM
"Ring…Ring…Ring…Ring…Ring…Hey! It's Yamamoto! Sorry if I can't answer my phone right now! Leave me a message! I'll call ya back!"
Tsuna almost sighed in relief when Yamamoto didn't answer. The conversation would be far less awkward if it was only one-sided "Hey….uh… It's Tsuna… I called to let you know that I won't be at school tomorrow or…any day for the next month, I'm going on a little trip to Shimon… Reborn isn't coming. I can't really tell you any details but I'll be back in a month… I'll be fine… Try not to call too much ok? Oh and stop Gokudera if he tries to follow me please? Ok… See you later…"
He hung up quickly trying not to think too much about how terribly nervous he sounded. Now Yamamoto was going to worry and follow him and get caught up in the cross fire of everything and it would be all Tsuna's fault and-
Whoa. He needed to slow down.
He shouldn't worry. He needed to trust his friends. Slowly he gained the courage to call Gokudera. Regrettably unlike his luck with Yamamoto his silver-haired friend answered almost immediately, "Tenth!"
"Hi, Gokudera-kun…" Tsuna willed himself with all he had to sound calm. Maybe his hot-headed friend wouldn't notice the small quiver in his voice, yeah; he just needed to stay positive. He didn't sound like he was scared or anything! Everything would be fine!
"Are you ok Tenth?"
…Danm it all
"Y-yeah! I'm completely fine! I just wanted to tell you…that I won't be at school for about a month."
"What? Tenth are those douche bags in homeroom threatening you or something cause I'll ki-"
"No! That's not it at all Gokudera-kun! I'm just…going on a little exchange program thing to Shimon, Reborn will still be here" Tsuna half-lied, his hope that maybe Gokudera would listen and stay home was dying fast
"Are you sure that's all Tenth?" His headstrong friend sounded terribly skeptical
"Yeah! But… I must ask you to do one thing for me…"
"What is it Tenth, I'll do anything!" Suddenly Gokudera sounded very very cheerful that he was going to get an order (request) from his so called "boss"
"Stay here."
"Bu-"
"Thank you Gokudera-kun! I'll see you in a month!" Before the other got a chance to say anything else Tsuna hung up.
So Gokudera knew something was wrong, and there wasn't much doubt in his mind that Yamamoto would too. Danm his emotions, getting the best of his act-like-nothings-wrong plan.
Luckily Ryohei probably wouldn't notice something amiss with the brunette, especially since he wouldn't have to tell him in person. With barely renewed hope he dialed his Onii-sans number
"Ring…ring…ri-HELLO SAWADA!" As if the event of being immediately screamed at over the phone was common he pulled the small device away from his ear
"Hi Onii-san!"
"HAVE YOU CALLED TO TELL ME THAT YOU EXTREMELY WANT TO JOIN THE BOXING CLUB?" Ryohei asked-if possible- sounding more pumped up than he had when he answered the phone
"No Onii-san… I called because I wanted to tell you that I won't be at school this month… I'm going on a little exchange trip to Shim-"
"IS SOMETHING EXTREMELY WRONG?"
…Was he really that obvious?
If anything was to be learned from this experience it was that Sawada Tsunayoshi was not cut out for acting
"Nothing's wrong! I'm fine! I just wanted to let you know I'll be in Shimon for a month, I'll be back after that…"
"ALRIGHT SAWADA, I'LL EXTREMELY CALL YOU LATER!" Tsuna thanked every higher power he could think of that Ryohei didn't ask any questions.
"Bye Onii-san…"
Silently he clicked the red button on his phone and collapsed back into bed. Dreading the thought of the sun rising when the night ended.
Ok so here goes a new fic. I'd like to warn every one of a few things before I say anything else 1. I can't write Gokudera well, at all and 2. This fic is currently unbeta'd (If someone would like to beta it, it would be most appreciated).
A quick challenge, there is actually a hidden message in the letter Tsuna got from Byakuran("100") the first one who finds it can have any kind of request in this story(Like other pairings or Tsuna's suspicious guardians showing up at Shimon middle in later chapters)
Also I'm writing this for two main reasons, 1. I adore 0027 with all my heart and 2. Since the Inheritance ceremony arc started I've wanted to see Tsuna in a Shimon uniform.
Oh and one more thing. This is AU. Tsuna is not a mafia boss nor do dying will flames have anything to do with his hitman abilities
I'm terribly sorry this will probably be the longest authors note of mine you'll have to suffer through ^^'