Cultural notes: In Japanese, there are levels of formality. Depending on how close you are with that person and/or the status of you vs that person, you speak differently. For example, kimi vs anata for "you". Kimi is more familiar but if you use it for an elder or a stranger, it's rude. Anata is more formal (but still p rude. it is best to use the name or the status). Another example would be arigato vs arigato gozaimasu

If you use formal/polite speech for people that are close to you, it's kind of like you're making yourself distant.

So basically, Tsuna uses keigo everywhere, except with his mother.

Chapter 2: Acquaintances

Tsuna was her friend and if anyone said otherwise, Kyoko would… Kyoko would… Well, probably be sad or something. And then sic her brother on them so that they could learn the true meaning of friendship and belonging.

It didn't matter if Tsuna only addressed her by her surname, or that he only used polite speech, or that he rarely initiated contact with her, or that he hardly made eye contact. When Hana wasn't around, Kyoko would talk to Tsuna and she could tell that Tsuna enjoyed their little conversations, and so that was that.

"And then my brother punched a hole in the punching bag! It was the third punching bag he broke this month!" Kyoko told Tsuna animatedly and considered it a success when he let a small laugh escape his lips.

There was a lull in conversation and Tsuna was fidgeting with his pencil.

"Sasagawa-san," he started, making Kyoko instantly snap to attention. Tsuna was initiating!

"If you have any problems, you can always come to me," Tsuna said. "You can use me as a sounding board, for advice, or even as a scapegoat. I don't mind."

While Kyoko was a bit alarmed at what Tsuna said – a scapegoat! Why would she use him as a scapegoat? – she didn't show it nor did she refuse Tsuna's help, afraid that if she did, all the progress she went through to make Tsuna open up would be lost.

"I'll keep that in mind," Kyoko replied, and Tsuna nodded.

-o-

(I don't want to get involved with anyone, I don't want to drag them into the bloody world of the mafia.)

But I am too selfish to turn people away.

This is the least I could do for her.)

-o-

Reborn's file on Tsunayoshi said very little. There was nothing remarkable about him which was, in itself, something remarkable. He did not participate in any clubs, scored firmly in the average for his tests, and was incredibly passive and distantly polite to the one friend he had. Reborn would have written Tsunayoshi off as a person with no life but it was clear that his social isolation was self-imposed and that was worrying.

Could Tsunayoshi be one of those people who distanced themselves from humanity? Because they thought themselves better than it? That probably wasn't it; Tsunayoshi had never shown any disdain for the people around him, and he treated his mother with love.

Reborn couldn't make any assumptions.

He would just have to see how Tsunayoshi reacted to having a 'child' as his home tutor.

-o-

I sat in my room, doing my homework. There wasn't much else I did after school. Perhaps after this I could maybe take a walk or see if there was anything I could help my mother with.

"Tsu-kun! A home tutor is coming today!" my mother's voice was the only warning I got before she walked into my room. A held in a sigh. It seemed that what I should do for today had been decided for me. I didn't really get why she always wanted to get a home tutor for me; sending me to group tuition would be just as fine and, not to mention, much cheaper. And—

Wait. Did she just say that a home tutor was coming? As in, she had already hired him?

"Why didn't you ask me first?" The words came tumbling out of my mouth without my permission, laced with hurt and betrayal. My mother either didn't notice it or pretended not to.

"Your father recommended it to me," she continued talking. "He said that it would be good for you!"

The rest of my mother's words faded into background static as a foreign-familiar feelings built up in my chest, all but making it hard for me to breathe as molten lava filled my lungs and burned in my throat. For the first time in what seemed to be a lifetime, I felt… anger. Burning how fiery rage coursed through my veins, followed almost immediately by the sting of harsh cold ice.

(How dare he, how dare he? How dare he be absent from my life and then, for his own convenience, decide to butt in and control my decisions like he's entitled to? What if I don't want a home tutor? What if I don't need a home tutor? What would you do then, father?

What makes him think that he has the right to, just, decide these things for me? I don't want to do well in school! I don't want to be a mafia boss! I don't want to be part of the mafia? What makes you think you have the right to be absent from my life for seventeen years only to show up when I decide to make my career choice? I want to be a teacher, not an office worker in your stupid company. I don't care if I'll earn more there, I want to provide children with the care and love that you never did for us, so just back—)

BACK!

I snapped back to attention just as my body decided to follow my instincts and throw itself backwards. I saw a black blur in front of my and knew that if I had been a second slower, it would definitely have smashed into my jaw and make me enter a world of pain. The black blur did a somersault in the air and landed on the ground.

It was a child. An honest to god, two-year old child who was wearing a black suit and black fedora. His pitch black, soulless, eyes stared into mind and I couldn't help but get the impression that he found me lacking. I quickly broke eye contact, repressing the urge to shiver. Those eyes were not the eyes of a child.

Katekyo Hitman Reborn. It appears that the not-baby in front of me was Reborn. My new home tutor. The milestone in my life that signified a rite of passage.

The story had begun.

-o-

Mochida had asked to meet Kyoko at the park after school. Thinking nothing of it, Kyoko agreed.

"Please go out with me, Kyoko!" Mochida said. He was holding a bunch of flowers in his hands and Kyoko could see that he had spent quite a fair bit of money on them. His eyes were shut tightly in nervousness and Kyoko's mind was totally, utterly, blank as to how to reject him nicely. She decided to go with the oblivious route.

"Haha, that's a funny joke, Mochida-senpai!" she said, smiling with forceful brightness. "But—"

"It's not a joke, Kyoko. I really like you."

"I… I'm sorry, I don't feel the same way."

"But why?" Mochida sounded heartbroken. Kyoko's own heart ached and she wracked her brain for an answer that wasn't just a flat out 'because I don't like you in that way'. She didn't want to hurt Mochida, after all.

"If you have any problems, you can always come to me. You can use me as a sounding board, for advice, or even as a scapegoat. I don't mind."

"B-because I like Sawada Tsunayoshi from my class!" she blurted out before immediately slapping her hands over her mouth. Why had she said that? Why…

Before she could retract her words, however, Mochida's face fell and ran away. The flowers he bought from her were on the ground, beautiful flowers crushed and some of the petals gone from the drop.

Kyoko didn't feel that she was worthy enough to pick them up.

-o-

He had brought them to a small alleyway away from the road so that no one could overhear their conversation.

"Fight me."

"…sorry? Um, I didn't quite catch that."

"I said, fight me. A duel. One on one," Kensuke hissed out through gritted teeth. His pride was stinging and his heart was heavy. Sawada Tsunayoshi stood in front of him, eyes slightly wider than usual but otherwise there was no chance from the default, politely disinterested expression on his face. Kensuke couldn't help but feel it burn like salt against a wound. Did Sawada really think that little of him?

"Uh." Sawada brought a hand up to scratch the back of his head as he looked away. "Why?"

Kensuke felt his blood boil. Sawada was stalling. It was irritating.

"Because I want Sasagawa Kyoko. We'll fight and the winner gets her," he bit out curtly. He was about to continue but the words died in his throat when he saw Sawada's face.

As a rule, Sawada was only seen with a few expressions: polite disinterest, confusion, and hesitation. Never before had Kensuke seen this closed off look with cold eyes filled with barely hidden disdain.

"I refuse," Sawada said quietly. He didn't have to raise his voice for it to sound firm. Kensuke was suddenly filled with the urge to apologize but his pride was still hurting and Kensuke wanted Tsuna to hurt too.

"I hate you," Kensuke said. Sawada just nodded and turned away, about to walk out of the alley. His message was loud and clear. Kensuke wasn't worth the effort to reply. He wasn't worth the time. Just like how Kyoko preferred Sawada, like how they preferred…

"What… What do you have that I don't? Why do they always prefer someone else?" To his horror, Kensuke could hear his voice wavering and his eyes burning. He tried furiously to blink away the tears, but it didn't work. Through blurred vision, he could see Sawada turn around but he could not see the expression on Sawada's face. Kensuke furiously wiped away the tears, but they kept on rolling down his cheeks. In a last ditch effort to save the tattered ruins of his pride, Kensuke turned around, willing Sawada to just leave.

So, of course, Sawada didn't.

"Mochida-senpai." His voice was quiet, but it was different this time. No less firm, but with a soothing quality to it. There was a rustling sound before Sawada spoke again. "Mochida-senpai, please turn around."

Like hell Kensuke was going to do that.

Brown invaded his line of sight and Kensuke scowled when he was Sawada standing in front of him. Then, he abruptly stiffened up when Sawada wrapped his arms around him, rubbing his back and making a low humming noise.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Kensuke growled out between sobs. He tried to pull away but Sawada only tightened his grip. "Shut up! Leave me alone! Shit, you're just going to tell everyone that I cried, didn't you? You're just going to embarrass me further, right?"

"No, I'm not. I won't tell anyone, I promise. And besides, it's okay to cry." Something in Kensuke seemed to resonate in that moment, seemed to click, and he found himself clutching onto Tsuna and sobbing, letting all his bottled up frustrations out into the open and not being judged for it.

-o-

"Are you feeling better?" I asked Mochida after the sniffles died down. I felt him nod before I pulled away, making sure that I was smiling gently. I used the handkerchief in my hand to carefully wipe the tears off his face. The actions were familiar to me, exactly how I used to take care of the crying children in the child care center back in another life, another world. And, damn me for what I've done, Mochida was just a child. He was just a child, someone who didn't know any better. He wasn't an adult.

How could I have treated him in such a manner?

Shoving down my self-deprecating thoughts, I focused on the task at hand. Mochida.

"Would you like to talk about it, Mochida-kun?" Mochida seemed to hesitate for a moment, but he soon became aware as to where we were and shook his head. I didn't press it, but I offered him a listening ear whenever he wanted to talk.

Suddenly, the hairs on the back of my neck began to stand and I was hit with the strongest wave of foreboding I ever had in my entire lives so far. Quickly, I put myself between Mochida and the person standing at one of the entrances of the alleyway, hands in the air in the universal sign for surrender.

"You're late," Hibari Kyoya said flatly. I laughed nervously while trying to surreptitiously gesture to Mochida to leave.

"Well, you see," I stalled. Hibari didn't bother to listen as he took a step towards us. I could hear ominous piano music in my head.

"Latecomers will be bitten to death." And that was the cue to run.

I grabbed Mochida's arm and sprinted in the opposite direction of Hibari as fast as I could.

He still caught us, in the end.

Author's notes

I decided to add kind of a backstory for Mochida for reasons. I'm not sure if I want him to play a bigger part in this but hey why not.

Tsuna is unaware that he used "Mochida-kun". Teachers usually call their students' names with the suffix: –kun. Tsuna is horrible and he basically projects everywhere. He would probably patronize a lot of people, viewing them as children. Well, technically they are children to him, but it's not nice to be coddled.

Kyoko is a 14 year old child who doesn't want to hurt people. She's allowed to make the wrong decisions and she'll learn from them.