Disclaimer: Not mine.
AN: A reviewer asked me how could a five-six year old could fit in somebody's hoodie and the answer is that the idea was that all of Tsuna's students were chibis in kindergarten, about the same size as the Arcobaleno in the canon.
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Chapter 3:
It was a sleek Armani suit and a pair of gleaming Ferrelli leather shoes that stepped off the luxury jet plane and onto the land of the rising sun. Broad shoulders flexed and shifted in fatigue underneath the silk yellow collared shirt, obviously tailor-made to suit his towering size. He loosened the striped black necktie and took the proffered suitcase from the flight attendant. He gave her an amused smirk and, naturally, she blushed and stuttered.
He set off, down the walled and carpeted walkway, a flat tiny blackberry already in hand, as he called his secretary to cancel this month's appointments as he had other business to attend to. He clicked it shut, unmindful of the woman who began to stammer at him about the importance of—.
Pathetic.
He hated those kinds of people. Indecisive, shy, nervous, hesitant idiots.
In his world, it was do or die.
And here, here he was on the other side of the world to do his job.
He took out a picture of a smiling Tsuna from his pocket and grinned down at it. Like a shark.
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"And the grouchy Dog ate up all of the muffins, nom nom nom," Tsuna-chan said while his left hand, swallowed up by the bright hand-made sock puppet of a voracious puppy, pretended to devour the play-doh muffins made by the class who sat around their teacher in Story Time.
"He bit them to death," said an awestruck Hiba-chan.
Tsuna-chan flinched and hoped to god that Hiba-chan would soon forget that catchphrase that his student had gotten from the DiscoveryKids video he'd shown them last week.
"My muffins were the best, though, right Tsuna-sensei? All I had to do was watch Bianchi-neesan and do the 'xact opposite," crowed Goku-chan, tiny chest swelled in pride.
"They were all very good, right Dog-san?" and Tsuna nodded the hand-puppy at Goku-chan who squealed and tried to kiss the black snout of the puppy in wonderment. Yama-chan, who sat next to him, grabbed his collar to stop his ever excitable friend. Tsuna sighed in relief at another averted dog-pile and smiled at Yama-chan in gratitude, who responded with a Happy Smile Takeshi Style, eyes closed up in sunny little arcs, mouth up to his ears in a beaming grin.
Goku-chan growled at him. Yama-chan let go, his hands in the air, palm outwards, fingers wriggling, no trouble here.
And here, Hiba-chan sat down again, canary printed umbrella being folded and withdrawn as the disruption to the classroom peace was over. Ryohei-kun had grabbed Muku-chan's camouflage green shirt too before he could lunge for the doggie puppet himself. Lambo-chan, closest to their teacher, was drooling on Tsuna-chan's left knee, thinking at the puppet: Candy? Lambo-chan would like some candy, Doggie-san. And Tsuna-chan exhaled, thinking: Thank you, God or Buddha or whoever's up there, for letting me have another day of no bandages and boo boo kisses being handed out.
The kindergarten dismissal bell rang and they all stood up.
He ushered his children to collect their projects and their bags and their coats. The various parents and guardians would be coming in to collect them now. So Tsuna-chan buttoned up Goku-chan's mismatched buttons, tied up Ryohei-kun's untied shoestrings, and gave goodbye hair ruffles to the unwilling Hiba-chan and Muku-chan. Lambo-chan collected his bai-bai kiss and Yama-chan's scarf was pulled on more snugly on him.
And then Dr. Shamal came in, for Goku-chan and Yama-chan because the two lived next to each other and as a favor to his friend, Tsuyoshi Yamamoto. Goku-chan turned up his scrunched nose at the old pervert and swore to himself he would beat up the distateful guy one day. Yama-chan laughed at his friend's face. They left, after Dr. Shamal tried to flirt with Tsuna-chan and whose lab coat was consequently pulled on violently by Goku-chan.
Kusakabe-san came for his nephew Hiba-chan and apologized once again to Tsuna-chan for any trouble his nephew might have given the kind, caring sensei—
"Let's go, Uncle. I'm hungry for some meat." And they left too.
And then Chrome-san and Kyoko-san and Haru-san came in to pick up their respective little brothers, Muku-chan, Ryohei-kun, and Lambo-chan. And then they were gone too.
And Tsuna stood in the middle of his classroom and smiled in relief at a day that has passed peacefully. Afternoon clouds lazed through the windows against a backdrop of a blue blue sky, their shadows moving on the floor. And Tsuna began to close up the windows and lock them one by one.
"Tsuna-sensei…?"
Tsuna turned around and there, hiding behind the door like some rejected puppy, Xanxus-kun stood.
"Come in, come in. I'm sorry but my classroom's a bit of a mess. Xanxus...?"
His student from last year slunk in, shame and worry and fury warring in his tiny tanned face. Tsuna tried not to sigh, oh no…
Xanxus-kun stopped in front of him and began to sulk at him.
Tsuna sighed internally and began to wrap the scarf around Xanxus-kun more cozily and waited for his usually taciturn student to start talking.
"…Is it true?"
The teacher tucked the last end of the scarf more firmly and patted it. "What's true?"
"VOOIII, buchou-samaaaa~"
Xanxus-kun scowled even more and Tsuna pinched his cheeks into a smiley position. The furrows between his ex-student's eyebrows deepened even more. "It'll get stuck like that, Xanxus-kun."
"It's my stupid butler again."
Tsuna hid a chuckle and, indeed, Squalo-san burst into the room, leather trench coat awhirl.
"There you are, buchou-sama! We have to get going, you're father needs you at his business dinner—"
"Is it true, sensei?" persisted his little interrogator.
"What's true? You kind of have to tell me these things, Xanxus-kun—" said Tsuna.
"That you have a boyfriend! Who's a Mafia!" and here Xanxus-kun stomped his foot onto Squalo-san's expensive dress shoes.
"YEOWCH!"
Tsuna blushed in embarassment, "Y-you shouldn't do that, Xanxus-kun. That must've hurt Squalo-san a lot."
"You're changing the subject!" accused Xanxus.
"Buchou-sama, (you cocky little bastard) let me do this-"
"I heard that! Useless butler!"
"STOP!"
And here both Squalo-san and Xanxus-kun quit their argument and turned towards him obediently. That kind of voice you never disobeyed, not unless you wanted a Time Out.
"No more cursing Squalo-san and you, Xanxus-kun, no more name-calling. Xanxus-kun, I really don't think you should be asking me about these kinds of things—"
"Buchou-sama's worried about you, stupid rabbit."
"Don't call him that!" glared Xanxus at his moronic minion.
Tsuna inhaled and the two quietened down again. "…All right. Reborn-san isn't in the mafia, so you have nothing to worry about—"
"It is true that you have a boyfriend!" cackled Squalo-san.
Xanxus clenched his hands and looked up, a to-the-death-resolution in his eyes. "Would you like me to give him an accident?"
"Wha-what! Xanxus-kun, don't do anything rash! It's just an arranged marriage, for kami's sake, nothing to get angry about." said Tsuna waving his arms around to calm down the kid. Or so violent about. Tsuna really hoped Xanxus-kun was just kidding around. He bit his lip, thinking: After all, Xanxus-kun here might be the actual one to have any connections to the mafia. I mean, 'buchou-sama'?
"…Explain." Said Xanxus.
"Aaah, an arranged marriage just means that my parents and his parents thought we might be compatible, or good together, and so they fixed a date for me and Reborn to get together and meet each other. Nothing is really set, Xanxus-kun, so you don't have to worry about me. I'm an adult after all," and Tsuna puffed his chest out to get a laugh out of Xanxus-kun.
"…and what about the roses and gifts?" said the ever grim kid. Tsuna really thought Xanxus-kun should lighten up but then again…That pinched pouting face is really kind of cute…
Even Squalo-san was listening and watching avidly. It was like a soap opera or something that that stupid Lussuria always watched.
"Umm, that was just Reborn-san being polite and courteous to me…"
And Squalo-san's cell rang, oh shit, buchou-sama, we really have to go, and so saying he grabbed Xanxus-kun and hauled him over his shoulder and ran off. Tsuna's stop cursing! trailed after them.