Title: Imaginary Friend

By: Metamorcy

Pairing: None, Parental!Reborn, Child!Tsuna

Summary: Tsuna pouted as his family made fun of his imaginary friend, it wasn't his fault they couldn't see him. It wasn't his fault that they couldn't see the tall man with a fedora that was behind them watching everything with those sharp dangerous looking eyes of his.

Disclaimer: Seriously? Don't own, just the idea

A/N: I'm so glad that you guys like this, wasn't expecting it to get so popular!

Beta'ed by WhiteAngel128 and saphire644


Chapter 2

Reborn sighed, running a hand through his spiky hair as he looked toward the Sawada household from a distance. He hadn't meant to come back, but his curiosity about the child kept his mind occupied throughout the day. After all, it was rare for a human to actually see him when he didn't want anyone to.

Now, Reborn wasn't a demon or anything like that, he was more of an immortal being that existed on Earth to keep the order of the world. He and seven others were known as the Arcobaleno, beings who have lived for ages. Well, it might be eight considering the last was a failure but still continued to live among them. Either way, they contained supernatural abilities to help protect themselves and the world, keeping the balance when it was needed. But he didn't care much for his role, there hadn't been anything going on for decades and he doubted that would change anytime soon. So he just existed along with everyone else, wandering the Earth continuously, and rarely allowed his attention to stay on one thing, knowing it would disappear within a few years.

Still, humans were not allowed to see him unless he allowed it. This was normally meant to prevent questions based on their un-aging appearance. Still, Tsuna, a child, an average human child, could see him despite his attempt of remaining invisible and even interacted. It just left him surprised. Reborn, of course, immediately did some background checking on the family, but found nothing all that noteworthy. The husband, Iemitsu, who was never home, was working in a famous company called Vongola as the external adviser and rarely ever visited the family. Nana, the wife, remained home all day and placed more attention towards the older sons due to their demanding personalities. She unintentionally ignored the younger seeing as the two eldest would be taking over the company later in life when Tsuna would just be living as a normal citizen, shadowed by his older brothers.

Giotto, who would become the CEO of Vongola in the future, was the eldest by four years and was known for his grades and popularity in school. He was slightly arrogant, but kindhearted when it came to everyone he knew and enjoyed lending a helping hand when needed. He had a tendency to dote on the youngest brother whenever possible, but that became rare when he started his studies in the higher grades and began to hang out with his closest friends, who would most likely become his guardians later in life.

Natsu, being older than Tsuna by one year, was exactly the same as Giotto in personality. He excelled more in sports than the eldest and seemed to lack in the grades department, but it didn't matter. The external position of Vongola that he would be inheriting was more on brawn than brains to an extent. They were both well-known in the school, but Tsuna…

Tsuna was the opposite in everything: useless, easily overlooked, poor in his academics, everything that one could think so lowly of. He was clumsy in nature and overly feminine-looking compared to the older brothers. To Reborn, it also meant that Tsuna was being outshined by his own family members. It was too clear to see and far too obvious. The brunet was expected to exceed his brothers, or to do just as much as them. But in the end, he failed every time. And there was nothing the brunet could do but take in the scolds, taunts, and many other insults that were thrown his way.

However, despite all that, Reborn was still interested and made his way towards the house by jumping over the rooftops. It wasn't as if anyone would see him after all. He remained invisible to everyone's eyes and his abilities allowed him to move however he wanted with ease. Before, he had been lucky that no one had seen him carrying Tsuna or else it would have looked odd to their eyes, considering the fact that he was concealed.

It was only a few days ago they had met and once dinner was over; he had made sure to leave with the intention of never coming back. He didn't want to get any closer to the brunet than necessary. And yet, despite taking jobs of heading to different places, he made sure to pass by the household once a day. It was very time and energy consuming to make himself appear back in Namimori through the use of his powers, but never once did he think badly about it. Reborn found himself watching to see if the child's light was on in the bedroom during the night and if it was, he would stay there until he saw it turn off. If it was during the day, he would observe Tsuna during class or on his way to or from school. Reborn didn't understand why he felt so interested in the child; it was as if the boy was drawing out a sort of protective sensation from him.

Ordinary…that was all he could use to explain Tsuna. And yet he didn't understand why he wanted to see the child once more. Soon, the raven landed onto the rooftop of the house he had been looking out for and made his way around to look into the said window. He spotted Tsuna on the ground of his bedroom, looking over some homework and was clearly struggling on the material. Reborn almost chuckled at the confused expression and finally decided to go ahead and get this over with. Knocking on the glass, he watched as Tsuna jumped up in surprise and twisted towards him. There was a momentary startled expression before happiness shone through, his expression lighting up like a light bulb. Immediately, Tsuna ran up to the window and unlocked it, letting Reborn into the room.

"Reborn! You're back!" Tsuna grinned, "I-I thought that you l-left…"

The adult just smirked and leaned over. "I was just passing by and thought I could pay a visit."

"Yay!" The brunet reached over to grasp onto the older man, not wanting the other to leave anytime soon. His short arms and tiny hands could barely get around the older man, but it didn't matter. He was just glad that the raven was here. However, the moment Reborn went over to his homework, there was a fearful look in those eyes. "U-Umm…"

The adult didn't pay any attention to the other and looked over the simple math problems with an eyebrow raised. It seemed like the information he had collected was correct, Tsuna really didn't know anything. He couldn't even answer something like this. "All of these answers are wrong."

"Eh?"

"Everything is wrong, do it again," Reborn jabbed the sheets towards the brunet, eyes narrowed darkly as if daring the other to fight back. But Tsuna didn't. He grasped the papers clumsily and stared at the numbers, trying to work his brain around the formula. However, he didn't understand anything; everything just looked so foreign to him. And so, he just stared and stared and eventually handed it back in an effort to let the other know he didn't get it. Reborn sighed and smacked Tsuna on top of his head lightly. "Looks like you're going to suf-I mean need some tutoring."

He grinned evilly, almost breaking out into laughter at the rapidly paling expression of the brunet. Tsuna shivered fearfully and gulped, wondering what he had gotten himself into.


"Hmm, it seems you've managed to do well on your homework for once," The teacher examined over the paper carefully before shrugging his shoulders. He suspected that the older brothers had helped out; it wouldn't be too surprising considering how smart they were. But he didn't see any other handwriting besides Tsuna's scribbling that would have given that away. "Who helped you? Was it your brothers? Or your mother?"

"Reborn helped me." Tsuna blushed, glad that he had finally managed to pass a paper for once. He was going to have to say 'thank you' to Reborn later on for all the help he had given.

"Reborn?"

"My friend."

The teacher tilted his head at that. "A friend? What type of friend?"

Tsuna hummed to himself, not sure on how to reply to that. He wasn't sure either. He didn't know much on Reborn after all. "Don't know."

"How old is this friend?"

"Don't know."

The teacher just sighed and decided it wasn't worth asking about anymore. It wasn't as if Tsuna was really that important compared to the rest of the students in the class. The child was just one among thirty others. While, the teacher turned away, the brunet tucked away the paper so that he could show Reborn how proud he was of his accomplishment. It was only because of Reborn's harsh evil torturing (tutoring) that he was able to get this far. Tsuna smiled brightly to himself, feeling so excited, and once the bell rang to release him from school, he didn't hesitate to run all the way back home.

However, the moment he entered the house, Tsuna hesitated. He wasn't sure if Reborn would be in his house in the first place. Still, he went in, ignoring his mother, who was at the kitchen, cooking up something that would most likely be used later today for his older brothers and their friends, and went straight to his room. Hesitantly, he peeked inside, hoping to see the familiar fedora-wearing man.

But his hopes were crushed when he saw that the place was empty. Tsuna pouted, his fingers hanging limply onto the doorknob and sighed heavily. Looks like his first friend was gone again and so soon.

"What are you doing?"

Tsuna blinked, eyes wide with shock and yet happiness began to flood throughout his large orbs. He spun around, almost giving himself whiplash, and grinned, peering up towards the familiar person he had been originally looking for. "Reborn!"

The man raised an eyebrow at that and shook his head, stepping into the room. He had wandered off to do a quick job given by the Arcobaleno boss before coming back just before Tsuna arrived home. Using that free time, Reborn had done a quick investigation of all the rooms, making sure to further fill his information out on the setting he was in. Still, it was clear on one thing: Tsuna was definitely, no doubt, ignored. Giotto and Natsu's bedrooms were overly decorated with trophies, posters, books, and their beds were more defined. But Tsuna's room looked so empty, the white walls obvious to Reborn's eyes, with toys and clothes that were obviously hand-me-downs, and a bed with covers that looked poor in state. It was pitiful…and yet, Tsuna never once thought badly about his situation. Reborn could tell easily, the brunet was happy. It might not be high on the end, but it was there.

When he sat down to lean against the bed, he didn't mind when Tsuna plopped down at his side to lean against him. "What is it?"

"I-I thought you were going to leave again," The brunet almost felt like he was going to tear up, but resisted. "I-I'm glad you stayed."

Reborn felt like his heart throbbed at those words, tilting his fedora downwards to hide his expression. Such a cute child. Shaking his head, he reached over to knock the boy over the head. "Well, be glad I did."

Tsuna took the physical attack with glee, not minding at all, and turned around to search through his oversized bag. He pulled out a piece of paper, the same one he had worked on last night, and shoved it in front of Reborn. "Look! I did well! It's thanks to Reborn!"

"Oh? So you managed to pass. You understand the material, yes?"

"Yeah!"

"Good," Reborn momentarily turned away, wondering for a second why he suddenly felt so…proud of Tsuna's accomplishment. Shaking his head, he turned his attention back to the child. "Do you have any homework assigned for you today?"

The brunet flinched, but reluctantly nodded his head, pulling out the papers from his bag. It was some reading this time and many of the words looked really long from his point of view. He scrunched up his face, not understanding a single thing like usual, and peered up at the adult desperately for help. Reborn leaned over to get a better look and smirked, knowing he would be able to have some fun for the day.

"Alright, let's finish these up first and then you can play or do whatever you want." The raven gently snatched the sheets, quickly reviewing them over, before placing it onto the small table that is in the center of the room. He searched around for a pencil, holding it out for Tsuna to take once he got one.

The brunet stared at the scene before him, tilting his head slightly in confusion. Never once did he ever have someone help him with his homework before, not like this anyway. His older brothers had tried, but they too had their own to be concerned with and Nana was far too busy with the household work. And eventually, he fell behind in class. "R-Reborn?"

"Hm?"

"A-Are we friends?" Tsuna's chubby cheeks darkened in color slightly, embarrassed at having to ask. He wasn't sure after all.

Reborn snorted and tapped the brunet over the head. "If that's what you want to believe, then do so. Now do your homework or I'll have to punish you."

"Hiiee!" Rushing forward, Tsuna grabbed the pencil and began writing, trying to zoom through his papers. Though about a few minutes in, his eyes drifted up to the older man and smiled brightly. Reborn, of course, caught the grin and raised his eyebrow up slightly in confusion, wondering what the other was thinking about before knocking him on the head. He made a small mutter of 'don't waste time' and watched in satisfaction when Tsuna went back to work.

Placing his elbow against the table, the Arcobaleno used it as a pedestal for his chin and leaned over. Thoughts of why he was still here flooded his brain, but in the end, he knew it wasn't too bad staying with the child. A little bit of help in the homework wasn't going to harm anyone, right? Reborn narrowed his eyes slightly when he saw Tsuna write an incorrect word and immediately pointed it out with a light flick to the forehead.

Yeah, there wasn't any harm in just giving a little help.


Hope you enjoy this