Drabbles and parts of stories I may or may not ever get around to actually writing. With notes.
The question comes out of nowhere.
"Hey, Reborn, can you introduce me to your friend sometime? The man from the Representation Battles."
Reborn pauses, hand halfway to blowing Tsuna off to kingdom come, and aptly says, "No," and explodes one of the underpowered bombs in Tsuna's face, "Don't think you can distract me, Loser-Tsuna. The answer was 8x."
"Ow!" Tsuna cries, uselessly crossing his arms over his face. It's already blackened with soot, hair permed into a windblown spike. "I'm not!" he complains, faithfully reattempting the problem – and yes it's 8x, "It just occurred to me. He really helped out during the Representation Battles – I wanted to thank him."
Tsuna says this with such honest goodwill that Reborn takes a moment to soak up the boy's gratitude before brusquely saying, "I'll be sure to convey that to him. Now answer question thirty-three."
Tsuna whines that he wants to tell the man himself, and Reborn hides a smirk.
Message received, Loser-student his.
I'm surprised people don't make fun of Tsuna not recognizing Reborn's adult form more? Like, dude, that's my favorite part. Imagine all the time travel shenanigans you can have with that! Tsuna meeting Reborn way back when and calling him "Reborn's friend." Assuming maybe "Reborn" is some kind of code name for insane world-best hitmen.
Speaking of.
Tsuna is pretty certain that he's some decades in the past, but Reborn's friend looks as old as he'd seen him way back when (in the future) he was in middle school.
"So, what's your name?" Tsuna asks, first thing.
The man glares, "None of your business."
Tsuna's Italian isn't the best, (he's hardly gotten through how to greet people and ordering food off menus in restaurants with Gokudera's patient tutelage) but whatever the man just said doesn't sound like a name.
"None-of-your-business?" Tsuna tries, the long word getting tangled under his tongue. Maybe he's been spoiled, knowing Italian people with simpler names like Dino and Basil.
The man levels Tsuna with such an affronted look that Tsuna grimaces.
Darn it, when's the bazooka's effects going to wear off?
Yeah I'm not touching that kind of plot device again. I already have one going with the other story.
Also language barriers. I don't know what the fandom consensus on Tsuna learning Italian is, but knowing No-Good Tsuna, it'd take a bit. A lot a bit.
But aHAHA what if Tsuna's language teacher was someone less patient than say, Gokudera.
Someone like Xanxus.
Xanxus decides that if he's going to deal with his. His. Loss to one Sawada Tsunayoshi over the Ring Battles some three years ago, Sawada is going to have to change his. Everything.
There is no way Xanxus is going to admit to losing to someone as soft as the brat.
He starts by volunteering to be Sawada's Italian language tutor.
(Why no one, other than the brat's Guardians, thinks to stop him, Xanxus isn't sure, but chalks it up to his intimidating demeanor and not the indulgent smile the old fart gave him when he suggested the idea.)
And then the outcome:
Xanxus looks up as Vongola Decimo walks into the room and greets causally, too casually, "Piss off, fucker."
Not missing a beat, despite the round of startled twitches that flies around the room, Sawada Tsunayoshi, replies, "Fuck you too, Asshole," with a smile that could possibly work as its own light bulb. (Xanxus has to look away a bit.)
Vongola Nono goes down with a choke, and Xanxus laughs.
Tsuna tried so hard to learn Italian, but now he's going to have to unlearn it. Sorry, kid.
Tsuna drinks Americano.
Because Real Mafioso (which he is Not) drink their coffee black and Tsuna can't handle how strong espresso is.
Reborn is sure to remind Tsuna of how pathetic he is every time they go for coffee. Which they do often. Because while Nana is the best cook on this side of the planet, she doesn't quite know how to brew coffee. And Reborn demands that Tsuna learns how to drink coffee before they go off to Italy one of these days.
(Reborn has never given Tsuna a definite date, and it's been at least a year since he started threatening him. Tsuna suspects he'll just wake up one day on an airplane and makes certain that he has a rudimentary Japanese to Italian dictionary on him at all times. For reference.)
They've always drunk tea at home anyways.
I had a cup of Americano this morning and I couldn't finish it. It just kept getting more bitter the more I drank it, and I don't want to know the people who can drink straight up shots of espresso without cream or sugar. They're probably Mafioso.