Tsuna doesn't make it five minutes off the train before he's assaulted.

Oh he's known he would be. In a city full of tourism like Neo Venice, there really wasn't much to be done for your wallet other than to stuff it down your underwear, and even then. Tsuna wasn't really for that kind of thing. Even if his mother had sewn a pocket onto his boxers to keep his valuables in.

A few pickpockets, Tsuna imagines he'd be kind of okay against. He's gotten pretty good at protecting his food against the same kind of thief since one month ago some kid named Lambo showed up at his house, declaring he'd be Tsuna's escort to Italy or another. These days he can even get an egg piece or two down his throat before the rest are devoured.

So hand-slapping Tsuna has down. Probably plenty enough to deter smaller pickpockets.

Some kind of giant, furry, monstrosity stares Tsuna down, holding Tsuna between its hulking, sparking body and the station wall. Smoke belches from its slightly open mouth, and into Tsuna's hyperventilating face. It tastes like cheap cigarettes.

This is maybe three hundred levels above "small pickpocket." Hand slapping techniques just don't cover this kind of thing.

Tsuna faintly hopes Lambo takes much longer in the toilet. The kid was maybe fifteen? Sixteen? Too young to watch Tsuna get eaten alive by some cigarette monster thing.

Tsuna's too young to die too, but what can you do?

"I-I don't taste good! I swear!" Tsuna stutters out, trying to slide out underneath the monster's arm. (This kind of hold is the one Tsuna's seen in his mother's day dramas, and really? Really not the way he wants to go.) "S-so – "

The monster roars.

Hot air plasters Tsuna's hair back, and his face feels uncomfortably burnt. Ow.

Tsuna takes one breath of clear air.

And screams.

He's not sure what he meant to accomplish with that, but at the very least, he feels slightly better. Stress relief. He just kind of wishes he hadn't sounded so lady like with that screech.

The monster doesn't seem to appreciate his high-pitched shriek either. It screams back at Tsuna, leaning back, jaws clenched as more smoke pours out of the sides of its mouth.

The sparks stop – then explode out as full-blown fire.

Tsuna covers his face with his arms. He's going to be burnt to death. A step up from being eaten alive, maybe.

However, instead of Tsuna's inevitable firey death, a cool wind blows against Tsuna's front. He hears the monster roar again, but from his left, and the sound of some kind of struggle.

Tsuna dares to crack an eye open.

The monster is on the ground, moaning in what Tsuna assumes is pain. Red fire gushes out of a horizontal slash across its left side, and it groans, a giant paw-like hand coming up to cradle its wound.

"Haha, it seems like I finally got a good hit on you! Lucky!"

Tsuna gapes as he stares at some kind of winged man in a police uniform standing a few meters away, holding a glowing blue Japanese style sword. The man's sleek, black, feathered wings stretch and nestle themselves more snugly on his back, and he crouches, sword held ready.

"Get ready, Monster. My next attack will be the last." The man promises, tone entirely different from the lighthearted one he'd used before.

The monster groans again, feebly finding its feet and crouching. The flames keep gushing from the wound in its side and – and Tsuna moves before he knows what he's doing.

"Wait! Hey, wait!" He cries, terrified of the words coming out of his mouth. "Stop!"

Tsuna plants himself in between the monster and the winged man, arms outstretched. His limbs quake. What is he doing? "S-stop! Don't kill it!"

The man pauses, hands going slack against the hilt of his sword. "Hey, you, move it! What do you think you're doing?"

"I don't know!" Tsuna shouts back, 'cause he really. Doesn't. The monster behind him just tried to crispy fry him a few moments ago. He should be cheering the other man on. But. "But you can't kill him! Please!"

"You don't know what you're doing. Move." The man orders Tsuna, but Tsuna doesn't. He's not sure why, but he can't let this man kill that monster. It wouldn't be right.

"I'm sorry!" Tsuna says.

He doesn't feel the heat from the monster at his back any more.

When Tsuna turns around to look, the monster is gone, there's only a sooty black mark on the ground where it used to be.

His knees give out.

He'd just protected some monster from his savior. What was he doing?

Tsuna closes his arms around his face. He'd just gotten off a plane and a train and he doesn't even know the local language that well. And he'd been attacked by some monster out of a terrible shounen manga or something. It's too much.

"Hey."

Tsuna looks up. The man from before stares at Tsuna, crouched down to be at eye level. His glowing sword is gone, a wooden bamboo one resting easily against his shoulder instead, and the wings have disappeared. Tsuna wonders if he hallucinated the whole thing.

"Hey," the man says again, "Are you alright?"

Tsuna blinks. Isn't he going to ask Tsuna why he defended the monster? Or something? Not that Tsuna would have been able to give him an answer, but still. "Uhm, no. I'm okay." Tsuna says, dazed.

The man grins. "Okay. Good." A warm hand settles on Tsuna's hair, ruffling it. "You shouldn't be out at this time. Monsters like that will come and eat you."

"Just, what was that…?" Tsuna blurts, unable to help himself. "Was that really a monster? Why was it on fire?"

The man laughs, the sound hollow. "That," he says, "Was a Grudge Monster. I'm supposing you're new here? You should get out of the streets as soon as possible. Do you have a place to stay?"

A Grudge Monster. Capital letters included. Tsuna flounders at the man's questions. "Uhm, I think? I don't know. Lambo was supposed to – "

Wait.

"L-Lambo!" Tsuna shouts, remembering his travel companion slash escort slash ex-household freeloader, "Oh, no, I need to check on – "

"Geez, I left you for like, five minutes, Tsuna-nii!" Tsuna sighs in relief as lanky Lambo walks towards them, a few pieces of toilet paper stuck to the bottom of one shoe. "He didn't get mugged or anything, did he, officer?" Lambo says, in Italian, and Tsuna realizes with a start that he and the officer had been speaking in Japanese the whole time.

They're not even in Japan.

"No, no, nothing like that at all!" The man replies, smiling. "I was just telling him that it's not safe out at this time of night. Do you two have a place to stay? I'll escort the two of you there."

Tsuna, who does barely passible Italian because he'd been forced to take a foreign language class in college, grimaces at the man's terrible accent. He can barely understand it.

Lambo grimace tells Tsuna he seems to agree. "Uh, no. I think we're good. Our hotel isn't too far from here anyways." He says, and leans down to pull at Tsuna's arm. "Come on, Tsuna-nii. Mama would kill me if you don't call her at the hotel."

Still in some matter of shock, Tsuna doesn't resist the teen's pull, letting the boy help him up and pat him down. Tsuna looks back once as Lambo gathers their luggage, and the officer is gone.

As if he'd been swallowed by the night itself.

Tsuna wants to go home.


Tsuna wonders if perhaps this is an elaborate, terrible joke.

Perhaps his new employer has the wrong idea about him. Like. In general.

Or perhaps he has the wrong idea about his new employer – he hopes.

"Since we're having a large gathering of Familiga tonight, I'm gonna need you to learn everyone's passcodes ASAP, Tsuna." Tsuna's new boss (maybe more Boss) Dino says to him, all smiles and cheer. "You're unassuming enough that most patrol won't bother listening in for repeat codes, but we can never be too careful. Besides, we'd already decided before our last man, Romeo, got caught, that everyone would use different codes." Dino sighs with feeling, "Overly cautious, the lot of them."

Tsuna thinks maybe Dino is the only one to think so. He also rather thinks he needs to back out of this job right now, because his employer just casually included the fact that the last person with Tsuna's job got jailed? Or something? Tsuna's heard lots about how most of Italy is actually Mafia in disguise and he doesn't want to find out how true the stereotype is.

(Also, at no point in any of the terms-of-employment documents did it mention that this job was illegal, though it did have suspiciously thorough healthcare and life insurance. Tsuna's never actually heard why and how most of Italy was actual Mafia and this may be perhaps why.)

"I thought cousin Romeo turned himself in to escape Bianchi?" Lambo pipes up, the most interest he's shown during the whole impromptu orientation, and Tsuna stares at the boy, aghast. Not Lambo too…? "Didn't she send him a threat note laced with cyanide? I heard it was something about cheating."

Dino hums, "Well yeah. There was that too, but that's really all Romeo's fault anyways. He's a mafia man. He should have had more honor than that."

There it is. That's just as good as an admission of guilt and Tsuna is not about the illegal side of life. He starts stuttering, "Uh, Dino-san, I'm really grateful you offered me this job and paid for everything, but I really don't think I'm the right kind of person for this job?" Tsuna's voice eeks higher with every word, and finally he squeaks, "So I swear I'll pay you back somehow, but if you'd arrange for me to get back home within the next few hours I'd be forever grateful thankyougoodbye - "

Dino clasps his hand down on Tsuna's shoulder like a heavy shackle. The kind they use in jail cells. "Don't be so modest, Tsuna! I know we've just met, but I knew your father - a great man, he was - and I already consider you like a brother! So don't worry about it." Dino's grin is blinding, and Tsuna grimaces away, leaning back. Far back. "You guys have a word for this, don't you? Onii-san? Just consider me your onii-san, Tsuna. I know this job is low grade, but I don't doubt you'll rise up the ranks sure enough! Why, you might even be Don material someday!"

Tsuna wonders if the man is looking at Tsuna at all. He's got arms like a stick bug and not a single mark in police records - he doesn't even have a police record at all! He's a completely law abiding citizen. Well, now working-visa immigrant, but same thing. Tsuna really doesn't think this is a good idea.

Lambo looks at Tsuna dubiously too, but not for the same reasons, "Tsuna-nii's a good person, Dino. I'd give him a year max. Someone's gonna eat him alive if we're not careful."

Dino's grip tightens on Tsuna's shoulder, "All the better he's my sworn brother ("Since when?!" Tsuna shrieks, ignored) then, isn't it?"

Lambo squints at Dino, then sighs. "Geez. I suppose so. Make sure you assign someone good to look after Tsuna-nii, though. We had a run in with some polizia the other night. It won't be good if someone recognizes him."

"Don't worry," Dino reassures, "Basilicum has been absolutely rearing to meet Tsuna. I'm sure he wouldn't mind bodyguard double duty." The man winks at Tsuna. "Basil worked with your father, back in the day. He's a big fan of yours."

Tsuna sighs.


As it works out, Tsuna fumbles exactly every one of the passcodes.

It's only thanks to Basil's presence that anything works out at all, and Tsuna wonders if the man hates him now. First day on the job and already he's offended his coworker (?) and the only person between him and probably the barrel end of some Mafioso's handgun. Though Tsuna does wonder how Basil is supposed to be his bodyguard at all. The man is his age and about as intimidating - that is to say, not at all - and far too cheerful besides.

(Basil, Tsuna finds out quickly, learned Japanese from his father, and delighted in the opportunity to use his outdated, period drama worthy dialect on Tsuna himself. Tsuna curses his father, not for the last time, and resolves to step a little on the headstone the next time he visits. It's an empty grave, but it's all the better since at least that way there's no body to rise up and curse Tsuna for his impudence.)

"Sorry about today," Tsuna sighs as the last group in their guest list makes it past the door. The sun is already setting. "I really wasn't expecting Dino-san to put so much on me the first day - I swear I'll try and make it up to you?"

Basil shakes his head, "There is no need to apologize, Sawada-dono! I was pleased to have been of assistance! Pray worry not. I am confident you will get better at this as you go, Sawada-dono. You show much promise."

Tsuna vaguely wonders if all mafia men have terribly skewed senses of judgment or if this has something to do with his dad. Probably the latter. "Er, right. Thanks, Basil-kun." Tsuna hedges.

"Of course, Sawada-dono," Basil starts, then pauses, tensing minutely. "Sawada-dono, since we are done here, why don't we go insi - "

"Oh, hey!" Tsuna swivels around at the vaguely familiar voice. And freezes.

It's the winged policeman from the other night. Except he's not winged this time, nor carrying that Japanese sword, though he has a suspiciously long bag slung behind his back. Tsuna can't remember if it was a katana or a bamboo shinai. "You're that newcomer from last night! How are you? Did you get back to your hotel alright?"

The man sounds genially concerned, and Tsuna can't help a slight smile, "Yeah, that's me. Lambo and I got to our hotel no problem. Thanks, uhm,"

"Yamamoto Takeshi," the man replies, holding out his name tag. Then a hand.

Tsuna shakes it awkwardly, grip weak, "Sawada Tsunayoshi," he replies in kind, forgetting he's sort of a criminal now by association. Basil makes a worried expression from beside him, and Tsuna grimaces.

"Sawada-san, huh? Well, I'm glad to hear you two are okay! Is this where you live? You'd best get inside. The sun is starting to set." Officer Yamamoto intones, and Tsuna wonders what's up with this guy and the dark. Is there some kind of curfew set in Neo Venice?

"Oh, no this isn't… uh." Tsuna fumbles.

Basil comes to the rescue, "Ah, no, Sawada-dono and I were simply waiting for a friend. It seems they're a no-show. If you'll excuse us, officer…." The other man starts gently urging Tsuna away, and Tsuna follows, all too happy to comply.

Officer Yamamoto blinks, "Oh, alright. Also, Sawada-san?" The man stops them, hand catching Tsuna's elbow. The officer leans in conspiratorially, "Please do be careful. The Grudge Monster is still around nearby. I would suggest you stay indoors during sundown for the time being."

While Tsuna gapes at him, Officer Yamamoto grins cheerfully and waves them off, "Have a good night, guys!"

Basil nearly frog marches Tsuna a whole two blocks away before he says, "I would be careful of the police in this neighborhood, Sawada-dono. Very few are honest, and most are corrupt. It would take but a coin for them to turn against us." Tsuna swallows thickly at Basil's low tone. "If I may ask, Sawada-dono, what did the man say to you?"

Ah, right. He'd been meaning to ask someone. "Uh, he was talking about Grudge Monsters…? Do you know what they are – Basil-kun?"

The man turns sheet white in a flash, much to Tsuna's alarm. Basil seems to deliberate with himself for a long moment before answering, "Yes… I do. Please stay away from that officer in the future, Sawada-dono. Those who deal with such monsters only bring bad luck."

Basil refuses to say any more on the subject, and Tsuna frowns.

Just what is up with this place, really?


The apartment Dino finds for Tsuna is very nice.

The top story above a small bakery, with an overlooking view of the canal nearby. "It's the best place to escape from in an emergency," Dino says, and Tsuna very quickly loses interest in his window view.

The rest of the apartment is very cozy - as per its name, Neo Venice, despite the old looking architecture overlaying most of the city, is only a decade old at most. Built nearby the previous Venice, which perished tragically in an earthquake some years before, Neo Venice was constructed with the old one in mind - similar old Europe architecture and all. As such, Tsuna's apartment is fairly newly built too - and lavishly decorated besides.

It makes him incredibly homesick.

Unfortunately, it'd be something like four in the morning in Japan if he called now, and Tsuna isn't so much a wimp he'd wake his mom just because he missed her. Yet.

Which is why, of course, he hangs halfway out his window like a lump, sighing deeply. Leftover pasta from last night's dinner in one hand, and a cheap plastic fork in the other, Tsuna vaguely considers digging out some chopsticks from his luggage before deciding not to. He can't start unpacking. He still needs to ask Dino to get him tickets back to Japan. He is not going to live here as a gangster. Definitely no.

Tsuna thinks he hears a low growling, and he yelps, his perilous grip on his cheap styrofoam plate slipping, sending the food splattering onto the ground below. Like outside, below. "Oh no," Tsuna whispers, horrified. He sticks his head out, swiveling to check for any monster cat things on fire, and decides the coast is clear. He doesn't want his first offense to be littering of all things. Tsuna grabs a coat and runs outside, fork still in hand.


As it turns out, someone else is already feasting on Tsuna's upturned dinner.

A green-gray feline eye flicks towards Tsuna's steadily approaching form before focusing back on the pasta. It's a small cat, gray, with the oddest leopard-like spots dotting its back. Tsuna doesn't know too much about cats, but he's pretty certain domestic ones don't have that kind of pattern.

The stray - Tsuna's pretty certain it's a stray, no collar and rank smell and all - doesn't even look at Tsuna as he crouches down nearby. It must have been starving. It growls a little when Tsuna reaches out to retrieve his plate, but settles down as Tsuna coos to it, "It's fine - I'm just gonna take my plate - see? Keep eating."

Tsuna watches the cat, thinking. He doesn't remember there being any kind of no-pet rule in the apartment - unless the couple running the bakery downstairs had some issue with it, surely they wouldn't mind a small cat? It looks so small and starved and - Tsuna can't just let it suffer outside, can he?

The cat, now almost comically bloated, having eaten all of Tsuna's leftovers, blinks lazily at Tsuna. "Hey, uh, you want to come home with me? I live right here," Tsuna says, pointing upwards at his open window with his fork. "Pasta's probably not the best for you…. I can go buy some cat food or something in the morning. How about it?"

The cat stills, only its tail flicking, as though it's seriously considering Tsuna's proposal. An Italian cat that understands Japanese. It's kind of a novelty. "Hm?" Tsuna says, tone encouraging, but the cat stands up, growls shortly and walks off without a look back.

Tsuna sighs. He should have known, really.

"Oh! Hello again, Sawada-san."

Tsuna looks up. And screams a bit.

"O-o-officer!" Tsuna stutters, Basil's warnings still close at mind.

"Those who deal with such monsters only bring bad luck."

But what exactly are these monsters supposed to be? Grudge Monsters. And exactly what kind of grudge would monsters have anyways?

Officer Yamamoto grins down at Tsuna, "What are you doing out so late, Sawada-san?"

Tsuna stutters, fluttering his styrofoam plate at the officer's face, "U-uhm, I dropped my dinner?" So he came down to pick it up like a good working visa immigrant. No breaking of the law here, no sir.

Officer Yamamoto's smile turns confused, "Dinner…?"

"Er, yeah, I live right here." Tsuna admits, and then grimaces. Telling a police officer his home address, yes a great idea. He's terrible at this being an illegal member of society thing. All the better to quit while he's ahead.

"Ah, I see!" The officer nods. "Taking in the view?"

"Something like that, aha…." Tsuna awkwardly stands up, plate clutched in front of him like a flimsy shield.

Officer Yamamoto's shoulders droop slightly at Tsuna's skittish fear, and Tsuna pauses. This really isn't fair to the officer. Basil is a Mafioso! Surely his words were tinged slightly because of his position? Sure the man had… sprouted… wings… but there was probably some kind of reasonable explanation! Surely. Hopefully.

"Uh, Yamamoto-keiji, would you like to come in?" Tsuna asks before he can lose confidence. "I need to remake my dinner anyways, so if you'd like to join me? There's a bakery right here. So I mean uh if you're not busy or anything…?"

Officer Yamamoto blinks, bewildered at Tsuna for a long moment, before closing his eyes. He sniffs the air experimentally like a dog. Fact checking Tsuna's claim of a bakery?

Finally the man opens his eyes and grins at Tsuna, "Well, it looks like I've lost my tail on my suspect anyways. I won't get another chance until tomorrow. So, dinner?"

"Y-yeah!" Tsuna agrees, fumbling for his packet of semi-ill-gotten money.

In between dinner and talking about their shared Japanese heritage, Tsuna completely forgets to ask Officer Yamamoto about Grudge Monsters. At the very least he'd gotten the first proper conversation since he'd arrived in Italy. No words about dead fathers or the mafia or Tsuna's unlikely survival rate at all.

It's with a light heart that Tsuna sends the officer off into the night. Maybe this "escaping the illegal side of life" thing won't be too hard like this.

All he needs are some nice, normal friends.


Tsuna doesn't mention his dinner with Officer Yamamoto to Basil or the others. Probably best not to talk about law enforcement with mafia members, really.

Tsuna also tries to talk to Dino about his "I don't want to be a Mafioso" problem, but is promptly talked over and otherwise ignored. Tsuna briefly considers that this may be on purpose, but then Dino sends him a smile so full of honest good will, it makes him doubt.

And then doubt that doubt as Dino immediately turns to one of his men and discusses how best to bribe the city mayor into letting up on port taxes.

Time. Tsuna needs time. He'll earn enough to buy that return ticket and then bail out of there.

At the very least, his door-greeting job pays well. Even if it's in suspiciously unmarked white envelopes with nothing but cash.


Tsuna is prepared this time.

A whole bag of kibble in his arms, Tsuna crouches, staring the gray cat down. He scoots a plate of the food and a bowl of water towards it cautiously and retreats, waddling backwards to give the cat space.

The cat stares at the food, at Tsuna, at the food again, and makes the oddest face at Tsuna.

"Pasta isn't good for you, you know." Tsuna tells it, frowning. "It might taste good, but it's really not something you should be eating."

Despite Tsuna's lecturing, the cat continues staring at Tsuna balefully.

"It's the expensive brand?" Tsuna tries.

The cat deems the food a short whiff, before it grimaces and turns away.

"You're awfully spoilt for a stray." Tsuna says, pouting. He wonders if stores take refunds for opened packages of pet feed. Probably not. The cat hisses at him as though sneering at Tsuna for his monetary set back and flees.

Tsuna sighs. Pasta it is.

"Sawada-san?"

Tsuna looks up, still pouting. It's Officer Yamamoto. This is perhaps rather suspect. "Officer…?" Tsuna says, tone rising in question.

Officer Yamamoto seems as surprised to find him squatting under his window again. "That'd be me. What are you doing here, Sawada-san?"

Tsuna makes a face and stands up, holding out his bag of cat food. "I was trying to feed one of the strays around here, but apparently it doesn't eat cat food." Tsuna explains, dryly. Maybe a local pet shelter will take it.

Officer Yamamoto's eyebrows rise a bit. "A cat that doesn't eat cat food?"

"I think it's spoiled." Tsuna says, exasperated. "Maybe one too many human leftover dishes? I thought this stuff was supposed to taste good to them, but I suppose not."

"Well, I suppose we learn something new everyday." Officer Yamamoto laughs. "Maybe the cat's not a cat." The man suggests, his tone very serious for a moment before dissolving into giggles again.

A cat that isn't a cat…? Tsuna frowns. "Like what? A demon person that turns into a cat?" Sounds like something out of a folk tale.

Officer Yamamoto stares Tsuna down, and only then does Tsuna remember that the man had wings the first time he'd seen him. The immediate question catches in Tsuna's throat, and he flaps his mouth once before closing it with an audible clack.

Well this certainly turned awkward fast.

"Sawada-san – " Officer Yamamoto says as Tsuna starts, "Yamamoto-keiji – " and they both stop, blinking stupidly at each other.

"Er, please go first, Yamamoto-keiji," Tsuna offers.

The man seems to struggle with himself for a moment before finally he says, "I guess I've been meaning to talk with you about that time for a while anyways. Are you busy right now?"

Tsuna shakes his head. Officer Yamamoto grins a little uncertainly at him. "Then let's go."

Before Tsuna can ask where, the man's back erupts in a whirlwind of black feathers. Tsuna yelps, hiding his face with his arms, but a strong hand catches his wrist. Officer Yamamoto flashes Tsuna a smile, and then flips him into his arms.

Tsuna screeches, undignified, as the world falls out from below and the officer soars into the sky.


"Sorry," Officer Yamamoto says, face miserable. "I didn't mean to scare you so badly, Sawada-san."

Tsuna, still wound tightly around the bag of cat kibble, unfreezes enough to wave the man down a bit. "N-no, I'll be good in. In a bit." In a year. "J-just please give me some warning next time." Tsuna's never had a thing about heights before, but looking out at Neo Venice from one of the highest rooftops, he feels dizzy realizing the ground is so far below him.

It occurs to Tsuna belatedly that if Officer Yamamoto turns out to be some monster thing like that Grudge Monster that had attacked him at the station, there's no escape now. Well, he's never claimed to have great foresight.

Officer Yamamoto plops down next to Tsuna, his wings held aloft. "Sorry," the man says again. "I wasn't sure if you would run away if I warned you before hand."

Tsuna stares at him. What is this? A kidnapping? "… I wouldn't have run." Tsuna says, mulishly. He might have screamed a little bit, but it wasn't as though he hadn't shrieked the whole first half of the flight to the rooftop anyways. Tsuna was really tired of this, "ask for forgiveness rather than permission" thing everyone was doing. It seemed something of a Neo Venetian trait, unfortunately.

Officer Yamamoto doesn't look convinced, but nods at Tsuna anyways. He offers a tentative smile. "Better I ask next time?"

"Definitely." Tsuna agrees. He sort-of understands his words belay an understanding of there being a next time, but that's okay. Officer Yamamoto hasn't tried to eat him yet. This may show to be a positive pattern.

Tsuna wants it to be a positive pattern. He's had very few friends so far in his life and the offer is turning out to be fairly easy company. Despite having wings and waving around glowing blue swords at furry, flame-bleeding Grudge Monsters.

He rather thinks it's a testament to how friendly the other man is.

"So, uh," Officer Yamamoto starts, fidgeting. "I guess I should start by reintroducing myself." Black wings flutter as the man takes a deep breath. "My name is Yamamoto Takeshi," the man says. "I'm part of the military police division that hunts Grudge Monsters in Neo Venice. And." Officer Yamamoto pauses.

"And?" Tsuna urges supportively.

"And…." The man pauses again, the subject obviously difficult on him. "I died. Three years ago."

Tsuna stops breathing as Officer Yamamoto matches eyes with him, the previously golden irises glowing faintly blue.

"I'm also a Grudge Monster."


I've managed to casually write 20k+ of this so haha. Ha. It's okay. It's a relatively short story. Yeah. Yeah...