Author's note: Hi hi, minna-san! I'm so flustered and fluffy from your reviews so here's the next chapter. And don't worry, I'll continue this (with my dying will, though school is more than enough to kill me). But as the weeks go by, I might be update a little bit slower pace (cause thesis, that's why) but I'll still update. I already have the ending in mind and it's yet to be transferred to paper (or in this case, Microsoft Word). Again, thank you for your reviews. Please do continue to let me know what you think, what you want to happen, your constructive criticisms, or if you just want to say hi, please do leave a review.
DISCLAIMER: I do not own KHR. If I do, I wouldn't be sitting in the food court of the mall to upload this chapter.
The morning sun shone beautifully over Namimory. Yet, for a certain brunette, it doesn't seem to be the case. His gut has been uneasy ever since he woke up (he can wake up fine on his own now that his body clock has been tor-trained by Reborn). Shrugging the feeling off, he went to the bathroom to prepare himself for school and afterwards downstairs for breakfast.
"Good morning, Mom," the brunette greeted his mother who was currently putting food on the table.
"Good morning, Lambo, I-pin, and Fuuta too," Tsuna greeted the other occupants of the table which got a chorus of responds from the mentioned kids.
"Good morning, Tsu-kun," his mother greeted back, putting a plate in front of her son, "Now, eat up. You don't want to be late for school."
"Yeah. Thank you. By the way, where's Reborn?" he asked as he as helping himself with the food.
"Reborn-kun said he had business to take care of so he had to leave early," Nana said, with hand on her chin.
"Ah, I see," Tsuna said. He looked around the table as he ate. Lambo no longer caused a ruckus during meal times since he's now a "big boy" as he and I-pin are now elementary students. I-pin ate quietly, while Fuuta ate and made small talk with the two kids. The three of them are wearing Namimory Elementary School's uniform.
"Are, you three are dressed so early today. Is something up?" Tsuna said, looking at the three of them.
"We just want to be ready early, Tsuna-nii," Fuuta said, smiling at his brother figure.
"You didn't get in trouble again, have you, Lambo?" the brunette said, eyeing the said cow. Over the course of two years, Lambo matured. He no longer fought during meal times and the amount of temper tantrums he throws are lesser as compared to before. But he has yet to overcome his "embarrassment tantrums", that is, when Lambo gets embarrassed, he resorts to violence.
"Lambo-san has been very good the past few days, Tsuna-nii. Lambo-san didn't do anything wrong. We just want to be early today," Lambo said, taking a defensive stance.
"I-pin, Fuuta, is he telling the truth?" Tsuna said, looking at the two kids.
"Yes, Tsuna-san. Lambo's telling the truth. We just want to be early today because Lambo wants to see his crush," I-pin said, answering for her and Fuuta. In the two years that went by, I-pin's Japanese has been more and more coherent with the help of Haru and Kyoko teaching her the language.
"Wha- I-pin! That was supposed to be a secret!" Lambo said, his face now a dark shade of red. Tsuna laughed at the revelation and the expression Lambo made.
"Tsuna/Tsuna-sama," the familiar voices of his Rain and Storm guardian can be heard outside the Sawada residence. It took Gokudera a lot of convincing and pleading for Tsuna to get the bomber to call him by his name but he succeeded nonetheless (being called"Tsuna-sama" is better than "Jyuudaime", in Tsuna's opinion).
"Well, I better go. Fuuta, take care of Lambo and I-pin. Lambo, don't ogle too much over "Kasagi-chan"," Tsuna said, slinging his bag on his shoulder.
"Wha-how did-when did-Wha?" Lambo stuttered ad his face turned an even darker shade of red.
"Intuition," Tsuna said, laughing at Lambo, "Mom, I'm off"
"Take care, Tsu-kun," his mom, said, seeing his son to the door, "Ara, good morning, Yamamoto-kun, Gokudera-kun."
"Good morning, Sawada-san," the two greeted back. Turning to Tsuna, Yamamoto said, "Shall we, Tsuna?"
"Let's go. We're off," Tsuna said, closing the gate behind him as he leave.
"Take care," his mom said, waving to the three teens.
As they were walking towards Namimory High School (which is just another building inside the compound of Namimory Middle School), with Yamamoto talking about random things and Gokudera fending the "baseball idiot" off, Tsuna's gut feeling from earlier came back, only this time, it's stronger. Noticing the brunette's discomfort, the two of them turned to their boss.
"Tsuna-sama, what's wrong? Are you feeling sick? Is the baseball idiot's useless talking bothering you?" his ever so loyal right hand man and Storm guardian said, eyes filled with worry and concern.
"Are you having a stomach ache? Your face is all scrunched up," Yamamoto said, trying to keep the mood light but concern is evident in his eyes.
"No, I'm fine, thank you. But I can't shake off the feeling that something is going to happen today. Like something unpleasant is going to happen," Tsuna said, knitting his eyebrows. It didn't help knowing the fact that the hitman was not currently in his sight, rather, Reborn's absence added to his uneasiness. The hitman's absence almost always bring trouble (almost since Reborn has a job to take care of as an assassin of the Ninth. But most of the time, his absence bring trouble since the hitman love preparing "surprises" for his student).
"What is it, Tsuna-sama? Are you sensing an attack from assassins?" Gokudera said, taking a vigilant scan of the perimeter for any suspicious people.
"Maa, maa. It could be just Tsuna forgetting to do his homework, ne, Tsuna?" his rain asked, grinning down at the brunette. Yamamoto really live up to his role: the rain that washes away conflict (or in Tsuna's current predicament, uneasiness).
Tsuna smiled at Yamamoto and said, "Yeah. Yeah that might just be it. I'm just being a little bit paranoid." Then his face turned a different shade of horror as Yamamoto's words finally sunk down on his brain.
Forgetting to do his homework. Homework. HOMEWORK. By this time now, Tsuna's face is an indescribable mix of horror, shock, anger, and various other variations of horror.
"Oi, Tsuna, what's wrong? You look really pale." Yamamoto said, concern lining his eyes as he looks at the brunette.
"Homework." Tsuna barely managed to choke out the word as he gasped for air. He had been so busy with the request letters that he forgot to do his homework. The fact that the homework was given a week to be accomplished didn't help Tsuna more than the fact that when a certain hitman/tor-tutor finds out… Well, he can't think of what will happen to him.
"That's okay, Tsuna-sama. You can copy from my homework." Gokudera, ever-so loyal to his boss, presented. Tsuna almost, ALMOST, gave in to the thought but his fear of a certain torturer (yes, Reborn would definitely torture him mercilessly if Tsuna dared to copy so much as an item) kept him from saying so. Reborn has his pride as a tutor.
"No, I can't do that, Hayato-kun. Reborn will have my head in a platter if I dared to copy even an item." Tsuna said, shivering at the thought that Reborn would actually do that. "And besides, I have to keep pretending to have low grades so this slip might actually help."
The two knew what Tsuna meant. Tsuna, when they entered high school, explained to them that he has to keep his "Dame-Tsuna" act despite how much better he got at academics and sports. When the hitman heard this, he really wanted to chop his student's head off. Nobody dared to mess with the hitman's hard work, intentional or not. But before Reborn could transform Leon into a guillotine, Tsuna explained his odd request (out of fear for his life).
"Some Mafiosi know that you're in Japan, tutoring the next Vongola heir," Tsuna desperately attempted. One look at the hitman's features indicated that he was out for blood. Heir or no heir, no one is to throw his efforts to waste (and with Tsuna, a huge amount of effort was exerted and Reborn's not going to throw that all away).
"So? Your point being?" Reborn said, giving up the guillotine in favor of his gun. He could just shoot the damn kid. He can feel his fingers itching for the trigger.
"It would suddenly be weird if the dame of Namimory suddenly excelled in school. The mafiosi might suspect something and they might make the correct suspicion. "Tsuna said, looking at his tutor pleadingly, begging for Reborn's understanding. Reborn understood what his student meant but that doesn't mean he accepts it.
"And? Namimory isn't the only place in Japan." Reborn said, still pointing his gun at his student.
"I know but we should take into account that there are mafiosi who are willing to sell information. Who knows that maybe information regarding the fact that the Vongola Tenth heir and his location has been sold. And who knows what the information could possibly contain. And even if there is a lack of information, there is still the chance that Mafiosi will find me by chance." Tsuna explained, his gaze becoming more solid.
"And? Don't you trust your guardians enough to take care of the mess? Don't you trust Vongola to take care of the mess?" Reborn said. Despite saying that, he already knew what his student was going to say and that there will be nothing to change his student's mind.
"I do. I trust all of you. But, I just can't risk anything anymore. I don't want to have a repeat of what happened in the future. Not with what happened with the Giagolo familigia. I don't want to involve innocent people anymore. I don't want… I don't want…" At this point, Tsuna's breath became shaky as if he's on the verge of crying. Getting annoyed by his student's display, he transformed Leon into a mallet and hit his whimpering student with it.
"A mafia boss doesn't whimper." Reborn said. Deep inside the hitman, he was proud of his student. Proud that he has grown into what he had always hoped for his student to be (though there's still lots of work to be done, he can see it. He can see the makings of a great boss).
"Alright, Dame-Tsuna. This time, I will honor your request. But make sure that you manage to get passing marks from time to time and make sure that during our study sessions, you'll show me that you understand every single detail I teach you. Are we clear?" Reborn said, with Leon now taking the shape of the gun again. Guns work better for him when threatening people. His student glowed with the hitman's response and nodded. Reborn wouldn't say it out loud but he has a soft spot for the boy (especially after the Representative battle. He saw Tsuna in a different light when his weakling student of his came up with the plan to save him and the other Arcobaleno from their horrible fate and the fact that his student was determined to become an Arcobaleno himself should his plan fail) and spoiled him once in a while (but not too much. The ex-Arcobaleno still has his pride, thank you very much).
"Be prepared for today's training. I'll be sure to go out of my way to make it especially harder for you." Or maybe we could pass off the previous statements as being an illusion.
Tsuna shuddered upon remembering the torture-session-disguised-as-training that he went through after that talk. He wasn't sure that time that he'll be able to come back alive after that.
"EXTREME SPRINT!" said-screamed by a gruff voice not far behind them. They need not turn around to see who the idiot is (as Gokudera like to phrase it). The signature 'extreme', the signature loud voice, those were enough to conclude that the idiot is no other than Sasagawa Ryohei, the tenth generation Sun Guardian.
"OH! EXTREME MORNING TO YOU, SAWADA, YAMAMOTO, OCTOPUS HEAD!" the older Sasagawa practically screamed in their faces. Gokudera concluded that the boxer got hit one too many times in the head that caused said boxer to become the idiot that's currently standing in front of them. But that doesn't mean he allows the idiot to be an idiot, not in front of his beloved Tsuna-sama.
"OI! LAWN HEAD! SHOW SOME RESPECT TO TSUNA-SAMA!" Gokudera screamed, matching the boxer' volume. Not far from behind the boxer, four girls can be seen running towards them.
"Mou, onii-chan. You don't have to run so fast." The younger Sasagawa said, finally reaching them. At the sight of the girl, Tsuna turned beet red. Even if he had managed to ask Sasagawa Kyoko out on a date (on the expense of his life and his tutor's constant interference, which the teen secretly appreciates because he can never make a move on his own), that doesn't mean he'll get over the fact that he's head over heels for the girl.
"G-good morning, Kyoko-chan, Haru, Hana-san, Chrome." The young soon-to-be-don said, looking at the new arrivals, garnering various responses such as "Good morning Tsuna-kun", "Good morning, Tsuna-san", "Good morning, monkey" and "Good morning, boss". Haru had transferred in their school when they turned high school. That way, Reborn had said, it will be easier to keep an eye on Tsuna's 'subordinates' (Tsuna prefers the term 'friends', though).
"Should we walk to school now or are you monkeys just gonna stand here in the street and do monkey tricks?" Kurokawa Hana said, crossing her arms. Before Gokudera could reply to the insult, Tsuna looked at his watch and screamed.
"Let's go! There's only 5 minutes left before school starts." Tsuna said as he and the others ran towards Namimory Middle School, all thoughts about having an unpleasant premonition replaced by fear of being bitten to death by a certain prefect.
Meanwhile, in Italy
"Have you tracked the whereabouts of Vongola's heir?" a gruff voice said as a lean figure entered the room. The lean man smiled at the figure behind the desk.
"The heir is a student in Namimory, Japan, though where he exactly studies would have to come in with another payment option" The man teased, grinning from ear to ear.
"Don't mess with me right now. Where is the Vongola heir?" the man behind the desk growled.
"My, my. Such impatience, Don Guido. He's a student of Namimory High School, though what he looks like, what his name is, what his year level and section is, we do not know. Vongola has a rather tight mouth when it comes to their information, let alone their heir." The man said, crossing his arms. The man behind the desk smiled, though rather darkly.
"That's enough information. We can just blow off the entire school if that means the Decimo will come out of his hole." The man said, his smile still in place. "I still owe him a favor from last time."
"I expect another 30% added to my current payment." The lean man said, turning to leave the room to which the man behind the desk just huffed in response. Information in the mafia does not come cheap, after all. Especially when it comes to anything concerning Vongola and its heir.
Author's note: Ara, I wonder who the bad guys are? Hmm... Well, we'll see. Please do leave a review and let me know what you think. If there are inconsistencies, please let me know and I'll be more than happy to correct them. Ciao ciao~!