Tsuna had known of course, when not in deep denial, that he would not die of old age. He was Vongola for all that he was also Neo Primo. He hadn't been sure if something like Heaven was possible when Mukuro's own experiences with the afterlife depicted only Hell even as a child. It didn't seem fair that Tsuna got to experience it, with all the blood that he hadn't been able to stop from spilling in his hands.
Now though, as he stared at the number 27 in his hands he couldn't help but to chuckle a little. The other candidates glared at him and Tsuna winced. They were all worried about the practice exams and didn't appreciate him breaking their concentration. Shinigami school was no joke, as people from the Rukongai used it to move up in life. Tsuna was no exception.
He remembered how he'd woken up after being shot dead fifty-four times, in a clean but rough yukata, sweating bullets with a vague impression of a sword butt being tapped on his forehead. The village he'd appeared in was extremely poor and no one had seemed inclined to break in the new meat yet. It'd taken him days for him to realise he was dead, denial had always been his greatest weapon against all the bullshit happening in his life.
Even now he wondered where his Famiglia was without him, if they missed him or were even alive. He'd tried looking for them but after hearing about how many souls came in everyday he'd decided on a new plan. If he couldn't come to them, he would have to be big enough that they knew where to come to him. That's why he was taking the exams.
The written exam had started simple enough, asking some basic math and grammar questions Tsuna suspected were there to filter the illiterate. Then came the questions about spiritual powers he couldn't even begin to understand. He only had the Dying Will flames, but they didn't work now that he was already dead so clearly they were talking about something else. He left those blank, only answering a question about Hollows which one of his neighbors had explained to him. Whenever you hear an inhuman wailing you rush home and pray to the Soul King for it to choose someone else. Only Shinigami officers could defeat them, slicing their masks with a sword.
Tsuna only hoped his practice exam marks would better but didn't think they'd be. Swords had always been Takeshi and Squalo's territory after all.
"Number twenty seven, please go to room number four."
Tsuna gulped and searched for the room he was assigned to. It was small with a few machinery and tapes on the floor. There eas also a tall man with black hair and shinigami robes was waiting for him.
"Candidate number twenty seven?"
Tsuna flinched and then bowed. "Hai."
"Please step inside the circle"
Tsuna walked over to him and searched for the taped circle on the floor. He stepped inside and clutched at his clothes, anxious and not knowing what to do. The man seemed to realise this as he looked him over.
"Don't worry, these machines are just to analyze your spiritual pressure. Then we'll move on to some physical exercises and maybe give your soul a prod or two."
Tsuna chuckled nervously but by the man's straight face it hadn't been a joke. What had he gotten himself into? The examiner flipped a few switches and stepped back as the machine started whining and spinning. Tsuna's eyes widened. Was this normal? It stopped a few seconds later and the results were scribbled on the examiner's report.
"Now please step off the circle and go towards the squared area."
Tsuna's eyes wandered until he found the "square". It was obviously a small arena. Tsuna gulped. He could do this. He was good at hand to hand even though he didn't have his flames anymore. The ex criminals at his district could attest to that. He entered inside and relaxed into a fighting stance. He distantly noticed the examiner's muted surprise before he heard a small "Now please, dodge."
Everything else after that was a blur, Tsuna lost himself to the rhythm of striking and evading, muscle memory still present in his soul form. There were some times he tried to activate his flames only to come up empty, his momentary distraction giving the shinigami an opening. It was one of those times that had him on his back with a foot to the throat.
Tsuna was sweating and slightly out of breath, but the shinigami above him was impeccable with only his hair out of place to show his effort. The examiner let go of his throat to write down something in his papers. Tsuna kept himself on the ground catching his breath and letting his mind come back to him.
"Well candidate twenty seven, there's only one thing left before we let you go." He held out his left hand and inside there was a white pill. "I want you to take this and tell me what you see or hear. Can you do that?"
Tsuna got up and nodded. He looked around for some water and grimaced when he realised he was to swallow it dry. He accepted the pill, wondered on the fact that even seven years in the mafia didn't make him take drugs and one day in the shinigami academy he just said yes, and swallowed it.
Immediately he went blind. He dropped to the floor in shock and heard distantly a voice telling him it was procedure, don't worry, can you hear or see anything…
Tsuna stopped panicking and focused on the darkness around him. It was deep and cold and he noted vaguely that these are where his flames should be. And then they were there, bright orange and warm and he giggled drunk on it after so long.
Remembering he had to report what he was seeing, Tsuna said "I can see my flames" excitedly and told the man they were orange. When asked why orange he just shrugged "I am a Sky you know" and wouldn't elaborate after that, just basking on the warmth of them.
"Hmmm" said the man bent on interrupting his nice time. "Can you hear anything?"
You mean besides your voice? Tsuna hold off the snark. He was being examined after all… He cocked his head, trying to listen to something far away, but all he got was the sound of himself breathing.
"No, I don't hear anything…"
"Okay, candidate twenty seven. I'll let you rest the effects off here for a bit. Then you can go home." Here the man paused, considering. He stepped forward and lowered himself so he was speaking next to his ear. "I'm not allowed to say your score to you, but just between the two of us… I can't wait to see you at the Academy"
AN: and here's my first posted crossover. I have some more wips in my google docs that I'm too scared to post but since I'm in a spree right now maybe I'll post them later.
Please Review if only to tell me it sucks
