The Final Boss
Summary: /Tsuna's world is turned upside-down when his life becomes a video game. Or maybe that's just because 'he' isn't really a boy anymore?/ "Hieeeeee!? What do you mean the male character isn't unlocked yet?" VideoGame!fem!Tsuna
Disclaimer: Katekyo Hitman Reborn belongs to Akira Amano. 'Nuff said.
Beta'd by: the wonderful Winter's Light
Main Quest: Part Pre-Reborn
Chapter 4: Scary Mothers and Baseball Jargon
.
.
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You have slept in your bed! HP and FP are fully restored!
"... The sky is still dark outside. Please go away?"
You have slept in your bed! HP and FP are fully restored!
"..."
Groaning, Tsuna forced himself to sit up before feebly attempting to wave the flashing neon-coloured windows away. It was way too early for magical floating screens. In fact, after his horrible adventure the day before, Tsuna needed a few more hours of sleep before he could even think about facing another day of such craziness.
...
Yup, a few more hours of sleep sounded just about right. Tunnelling back into his cocoon of blankets, Tsuna breathed out slowly as he waited for his consciousness to fade and for the lovely phenomenon of sleep to claim him once more...
...
...
...
Except it didn't.
Letting out a hiss of frustration, Tsuna sat back up and rubbed his eyes. The notice screen that had unfortunately popped up was true to its words; Tsuna didn't feel tired at all. In fact, even the pain from his bruises had dulled to a near unnoticeable annoyance. Sighing in resignation, Tsuna got out of bed and began to get ready for the day.
Brushing his teeth, Tsuna made his way around his room and tried to tidy up, grabbing his backpack as he did so. After he was done with freshening up, Tsuna grabbed his uniform and started to shrug out of his pyjamas.
"Cross-dress," Tsuna said as soon as he was in his uniform. Once again, his image changed slightly into a boy's, hiding his feminine face and body.
'Cross-dress''s level has risen by 1.
Tsuna blinked before shrugging. Well, he had been using the skill all day yesterday, so it was only natural for it to level up so quickly.
Lifting his backpack, Tsuna made his way downstairs. He wasn't an amazing cook like Nana, but some French toast was definitely something doable. After all, Tsuna almost never got up so early before so his mother would definitely be―
"Ah, Tsu-chan!" Nana's head poked out of the kitchen before the woman smiled brightly. "Just in time, breakfast is ready!"
―still ... asleep.
...
Tsuna was baffled. Was his mother always up so early?
Quietly shuffling in to take a seat at the dining table, Tsuna stared blankly at the miso soup, rice, and fish. The sun was just barely rising outside! Why was his mother awake at a time like that?
Soft giggling snapped Tsuna out of his daze and he looked up to see his mother smiling at him. "Don't worry your fluffy little head about it, Tsu-chan," Nana said with a smile. When Tsuna had just gaped at her, Nana tapped the side of her head as she beamed. "Mother's intuition."
Tsuna blinked a few more times in bafflement before shrugging it off. Giving a quick thanks to his mother for the breakfast, Tsuna dug in.
As always, it was absolutely delicious.
Tsuna gnawed on a shrimp, sighing wistfully. Even his ditzy and air-headed mother was a master at something. Sometimes, Tsuna wished that he could cook as well as Nana too―
Quest Train Alert!
[Part 1: Stumbling Upon the Path of the Kitchen Goddess]
'No one is born a great cook, but one learns by doing'. Max out Basic Cooking skill!
Completion Reward: +100 EXP, +5 REP with Sawada Nana
[Y/N]
Tsuna gaped as he stared at the new window. It looked completely different. It was sparkly and bigger than the ones he usually got while smaller than the window he had gotten for his dungeon. But ... was the 'no' button actually greyed out?
"Tsu-chan?" Nana asked worriedly as Tsuna's face paled. Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, Tsuna inconspicuously muttered a quiet 'yes'. Immediately, more sparkles (Was that a game thing?) appeared around his mother as the woman shrieked before embracing him.
...
"U-Umm ... ?"
Needless to say, Tsuna was befuddled to the extreme.
"Tsu-chan!" Nana cried excitedly. "I'm so happy that you want to learn how to cook! We can finally have some mother-daughter bonding time now!"
Before Tsuna could get a sense of what was happening, his mother dragged him out of his seat and marched him straight to the kitchen, setting him in front of a bowl of rice. Tsuna blinked.
"I'll first teach you how to make some onigiri!" Nana exclaimed cheerfully as she immediately moulded a goop of rice into a perfect triangle. Tsuna blinked before attempting to copy.
Active skill, 'Basic Cooking', LV 1, has been created!
Alas, No-Good Tsuna strikes again. His onigiri literally fell apart in his hands. Tsuna grimaced before taking a peek at his mother, who continued to smile radiantly.
...
A bit too radiantly. Gulping slightly, Tsuna immediately tried again.
"How did a hour pass so quickly ... ?" Tsuna muttered to himself as he walked to school. His bento for the day was now packed with the onigiri he had made himself. And he meant completely by himself. Nana had refused to let him use her pre-seasoned rice after he had gotten the hang of moulding it, so he had to make his own.
In addition, his mother refused to let him go until he could season the rice perfectly. Now, Tsuna was quite sure that even the top students in the home economics class couldn't compare with his onigiri. Who knew Nana was such a perfectionist when it came to cooking? His Basic Cooking skill literally levelled up to LV 6! And it had only been Tsuna's first attempt at cooking!
"Hey, Tsuna!" The sound of rushed footsteps filled Tsuna's ears before someone stepped up beside him.
Tsuna looked up and blinked. Hazel eyes and a big grin greeted him. "Y-Yamamoto-san?"
"'Morning Tsuna," Yamamoto smiled as he threw his arm around Tsuna's shoulders. Smiling back faintly after his initial jump of surprise, Tsuna nodded his head in response.
"Good m-morning, Yamamoto-san." In all honesty, Tsuna was more than a bit surprised to see the taller boy. Although they lived close by, Yamamoto was always at the school early to practice baseball while Tsuna was always late. In fact, this was the first time he saw Yamamoto walking.
"D-Don't you have b-baseball practice, Yamamoto-san?" Tsuna asked as he cocked his head to the side.
Yamamoto beamed at the word 'baseball' before deflating slightly.
"It was cancelled for the day," the baseball genius explained. Bouncing back to his usual grin, Yamamoto held up a large bento. "But I still woke up early! So I used the time to make some sushi. I did say I'll treat you, right Tsuna?"
Tsuna blinked in surprise before he gaped. "Y-Yamamoto-san! Y-You didn't have to!"
"Maa, maa, Tsuna, you didn't have to share your lunch with me either," Yamamoto said with a smile, making Tsuna sputter more. "Besides, I already made enough for the both of us! It'll be a waste if you don't have some ..."
Tsuna looked down shyly at his own bento. He had only brought his own onigiri for lunch today so the variety of sushi would definitely be appreciated...
"I have baseball practice for the first half of lunch," Yamamoto continued, somehow sounding simultaneously regretful and happy at the same time. "But we can eat together afterwards?"
Tsuna felt his face turning red at the expectant look on his classmate's face. No-Good Tsuna eating lunch with the ever so popular Yamamoto? Was it all a trick to get his guard down?
But ...
Eating lunch with someone who didn't want to steal it or dump it on his head ... it was surreal. How long had it been since he had actually ate lunch with someone? And Yamamoto seemed sincere, plus, Tsuna knew he wasn't a bad person.
"Okay," Tsuna said shyly, ducking his head to hide his growing smile. "Thank you very much Y-Yamamoto-san."
Yamamoto immediately brightened at Tsuna's answer. "Great!" He said as they crossed the school gates. "I'll meet you in the closet again!"
+5 REP with Yamamoto Takeshi!
And then Yamamoto was off, jogging off to the field to presumingly meet his baseball team. Tsuna felt his smile grow brighter as giddiness filled his chest. His reputation with Yamamoto just went up! Didn't that mean that his bond with his classmate was growing stronger? Yamamoto was on neutral grounds with him, but that just meant that the popular boy didn't hate him like the rest of the school.
Could they ... even become friends? Tsuna beamed at the thought as he walked into the school building and made his way to his classroom. He couldn't wait for lunchtime―
...
"Wait. Why are we meeting in my closet again?"
Tsuna drummed his finger on his thigh as he took another look at the clock. Thirty minutes left of math class. After agreeing to eat lunch with Yamamoto, Tsuna could barely pay attention in class. It certainly didn't help him with his studies, though the extra Intelligence points were trying their best in vain to make up for it.
"Sawada!" Tsuna jolted in his seat as his math teacher barked his name. Looking up shyly, he saw his teacher point to a problem on the blackboard.
Oh no ...
"Pay attention in class! Now, come up and answer question number four." His teacher said, holding out a piece of chalk.
Daily Quest Alert!
[Quest: Number and Variable Soup]
Your teacher asked you to solve a problem on the board! Go up and straighten out those numbers within three minutes!
Completion Reward: +150 EXP, +5 REP with everyone in the class
Completion Failure: -2 REP with everyone in class
[Y/N]
Another one of those quests that didn't allow you to back out! Hissing out an inaudible yes, Tsuna trembled before getting up and slowly making his way to the front of the classroom.
The noise in the classroom exploded as he began to walk forward.
"Teacher," a delinquent said. "Why are you asking No-Good Tsuna?"
A bully laughed. "He'll just trip over his feet just trying to get to the board!"
Girls started to giggle while boys laughed cruelly and Tsuna wanted nothing more than for the floor to swallow him up. A quick glance at Yamamoto showed him sleeping behind his textbook. Tsuna didn't know whether to be happy that Yamamoto wasn't just ignoring the mean jeers, or sad that he had no help ...
Go left!
Tsuna almost jumped at the small window that suddenly popped up before adhering to what it said. Immediately, another window popped up after it.
'Observe' sensed malicious presence from the right.
A spit-ball landed in the place Tsuna was just at. Tsuna blinked in surprise as some of the bullies snorted and muttered a few 'lucky's.
... Tsuna hate to admit it, but sometimes, the game was quite helpful. Reaching the board, a timer appeared and Tsuna hastily took the chalk offered before looking over to the question.
4x + 3 = 6x - 7
Tsuna bit his lip as he stared at the problem, trying to make sense of it. It was basic algebra, right? Well, if he moved 4x to the right side and - 7 to the left ...
+1 INT!
Stiffening a bit in surprise, Tsuna took a deep breath before relaxing. Confidence slightly bolstered by another increase in his Intelligence, he began to write down his solution while praying to his Intelligence points that it would be correct and that he wouldn't be the target of jeering.
+ 3 + 7 = 6x - 4x
+ 10 = 2x
x = 5
Staring at his feet nervously, Tsuna handed back the chalk as he waited for the verdict. Weirdly enough, the class fell silent.
"... It's correct, Sawada," his math teacher said with a touch of a surprise. "Good job, you can sit down now."
Quest Completed!
[Quest: Number and Variable Soup]
You solved the problem on the board correctly!
Completion Awarded: +150 EXP, +5 EXP with everyone in the classroom
Bonus Award: +50 EXP (+50 EXP per minute left on timer)
Lifting up to stare at his teacher in shock, Tsuna numbly made his way back to his seat whilst ignoring the shocked muttering from his classmates. It was the first time he had gotten an answer right in front of his whole class - and he hadn't even guessed! In addition, to think his teacher would praise him ... Though that was why Tsuna liked his math teacher, despite hating the subject. His math teacher was quite fair, and never called him No-Good.
Briiiing.
Blinking, Tsuna glanced at the clock and was surprised to see that it was finally lunchtime. Now it was the hard part; getting out of the room without any bullies following him. Grabbing his lunch, Tsuna carefully and inconspicuously sneaked his way to the door, before bolting down the halls and rushing to his safe haven.
+1 AGI!
Was it rather sad that a closet was his safe haven? Tsuna would have made the roof his lunch spot, but the rumours of how the Demon Prefect of Namimori frequented it scared him away. And plus, the closet wasn't all that bad. It was clean and quite large. The kind and old janitor had once allowed Tsuna into it at lunchtime after shooing away some bullies who were picking on him. After getting to know each other, the school janitor had gotten rather fond of Tsuna and even gave him the keys to the room!
Shuffling into the closet, Tsuna closed the door and locked it with a soft 'click'. Plopping down onto the ground, Tsuna stretched out his limbs before opening his bento. He was rather hungry so he could start his lunch, right? He had half an hour before his classmate got there anyway.
Munching on one of his perfect onigiri's, Tsuna let out a small sigh of bliss and satisfaction. It tasted heavenly. Almost better than his mother's onigiris ... though Tsuna really didn't dare to say that in his mother's face. Who knew such a dazzling smile could have so many different ... and dark ... meanings?
Lunch passed slowly like that. Tsuna spent his time huddled on the floor, munching on onigiris while absent-mindedly sorting through the homework he had gotten that day. Time passed quite quickly like that, and before Tsuna knew it the warning bell for clubs rang. Smiling slightly, Tsuna set down his bento and waited for his classmate.
He waited.
And waited.
And waited.
...
Slowly, as the minutes ticked by, Tsuna felt his smile fade away from his face. Did Yamamoto ... forget? Even though the teen himself was the one who had invited him? Oh, but who was Tsuna kidding? Who would have wanted to spend lunch with him? He was No-Good Tsuna, for crying out loud. Yamamoto must have been laughing his head off at how easily Tsuna was fooled by him.
Sighing softly at his own stupidity and making a mental note to avoid Yamamoto the next time he saw him, Tsuna reluctantly packed up his half-eaten bento before making his way to the door. Unlocking it, Tsuna stepped back to grab his forgotten backpack when―
BANG!
Whipping around in fright, Tsuna stared with wide eyes at the panting baseball star, who was leaning on his knees and gulping in precious air. Still panting, Yamamoto looked up and gave Tsuna a sheepish grin.
"Sorry Tsuna, I didn't think I'd be this late," Shuffling in and closing the door, Yamamoto stared at him expectantly when Tsuna failed to respond.
... In all honesty, Tsuna was trying to find some hiding spots where his bullies could jump out and yell surprise. Yamamoto was only there to make him let down his guard, right?
"Tsuna?" The smile on Yamamoto's face faded as he realized that his classmate wasn't responding. Walking over to Tsuna, Yamamoto shuffled his feet awkwardly as he looked down.
"I mean it, I'm sorry. My team wanted to try my sushi and I couldn't refuse ... But I still saved some for you!" The taller boy said, brightening at his last words and looking hopefully at Tsuna. With a sigh (there was nowhere for bullies to hide and Yamamoto definitely looked sincere), Tsuna plopped himself down after locking the door.
"It's f-fine, Yamamoto-san. I j-just thought that you forgot ..." He trailed off as he got out his bento box again.
Yamamoto looked surprised. "I was the one who asked you to eat lunch with me, of course I wouldn't forget! Yamamoto exclaimed, before pausing. "Were you going to leave?"
"..." Tsuna looked down. If Yamamoto was a few minutes later, he would have long been gone.
"Oh ..." Yamamoto said in a uncharacteristically small voice, before he fished out a smaller bento box. "Don't worry Tsuna, I wouldn't have held it against you. I was pretty late," Yamamoto said sheepishly.
Tsuna blinked before smiling slightly. Yamamoto brightened at his friend's face and opened his bento box in a flourish. Delectable-looking sushi filled Tsuna's eyes.
"W-Wow!" Tsuna said, eyes wide with surprise.
Yamamoto chuckled. "It's not as good as my Old Man's, but I hope you're still like it!"
Tentatively picking up a piece of sushi with the chopsticks Yamamoto provided, Tsuna plopped it into his mouth. His taste buds immediately exploded.
"It tastes h-heavenly," Tsuna said in all honesty.
Yamamoto smiled and rubbed the back of his head. "Thanks, that means a lot to me," the taller teen beamed as Tsuna took another piece of sushi.
Someone's stomach rumbled.
Tsuna blinked in surprise and looked up at his companion. Talk about déjà vu. Yamamoto smiled sheepishly once more, but Tsuna had the feeling that his smile was more forced than before.
'Observe''s Level has risen by 1!
"... My team really liked my sushi," Yamamoto reluctantly explained when Tsuna only continued to stare at him. Tsuna immediately felt angry on Yamamoto's behalf. His team took Yamamoto's lunch and left him to starve? What kind of friends were they?
"Y-You should eat this then," Tsuna said firmly, gesturing to the sushi Yamamoto had saved.
The boy immediately shook his head, looking affronted. "I made that for you. I told you I'll treat you to sushi!"
Tsuna frowned as both boys started to argue. No matter what he said, Yamamoto refused to eat the food he had prepared. But the poor older boy was clearly still hungry ...
"Then in that case, w-we can switch," Tsuna said as an idea struck him. Opening his own bento, Tsuna offered the onigiri he had made. "I made these for lunch and I s-still have a lot left."
Once again, like the first time they met each other, Tsuna was subjected to a searching look. Staring back firmly (Tsuna wasn't going to budge on something like this!), Tsuna pushed his bento box to Yamamoto before crossing his arms defiantly. Slowly, Yamamoto relaxed before he grabbed the offered lunch.
"Maa, maa, this doesn't really count as paying you back," Yamamoto said jokingly. "But gee, thanks Tsuna!"
+15 REP with Yamamoto Takeshi!
Tsuna smiled brightly at the window and watched as Yamamoto picked up an onigiri and stuffed it into his mouth. Watching with bated breath, Tsuna mentally chuckled when Yamamoto's eyes widened in surprise.
"Wow Tsuna! This tastes amazing. You made it?" Yamamoto said as he happily took another bite.
Tsuna nodded. "My mother taught me. And Y-Yamamoto-san is more amazing, making this sushi," Tsuna said, pointing to the sushi he was currently eating.
Yamamoto grinned. "Ha ha ha, your mother? Cool! My dad taught me how to make sushi." With another look of bliss as he stuffed another onigiri into his mouth, Yamamoto immediately started to chat with Tsuna.
"So the ball went whoosh, and I was like, huaaaaaa, and then the pitcher came and was like―"
Tsuna discreetly smiled. Meals were nice when you got to eat it with company.
Tsuna stretched out his legs as he secured a water bottle on his hip. He was getting ready to go for a run.
... No, he wasn't kidding. No-Good Tsuna was going out for a jog. Tsuna swore his mother had smiled flowers and sparkles into existence when he told her his plans to exercise.
After his terrible attempt at his first dungeon, Tsuna swore he would try and raise his stats a bit. After all, despite all the random and annoying windows popping up, the game was helping him out. He was getting better at school work and he was making friends. His mother also smiled more.
... All in all, he felt happier.
Tsuna set off at a slow pace as he started to jog around his neighbourhood. Closing his eyes to enjoy the slight breeze ruffling his hair, Tsuna let out a relaxed sigh. Everything felt soothing and Tsuna felt at peace ...
"EXTREMEEEEEE!"
... But of course, Tsuna never was suppose to feel at peace. The Chatelier's Principle stated that if one side of the system depleted, stress had to be added to restore it. Obviously, there had to be a set amount of craziness in Tsuna's life.
Somebody jogged up beside him and Tsuna reluctantly turned his head to see an older teen with shocking white hair. There was a white bandage on his nose, but it was his eyes that reminded Tsuna of ...
"Kyoko's older brother?" Tsuna blurted out in surprise.
The white head pumped his fists into the air. "Yes, Kyoko is my younger sister! I am Sasagawa Ryohei! It's EXTREMELY nice to meet you!"
Tsuna blinked, his ears practically ringing from his fellow jogger's introduction. "I'm Sawada Tsunayoshi, b-but you can call me Tsuna, S-Sasagawa-senpai."
They jogged around the curved path (+1 VIT!) and Tsuna watched with growing alarm as the older boy shook his head furiously. "Call me onii-san, Sawada! You are quite EXTREME! Join the boxing club to the EXTREME!"
Tsuna blinked. What ... ?
You have established a bond with Sasagawa Ryohei!
+100 REP!
Ryohei beamed an ultra bright grin. "Let's run together, to the EXTREME!" With that, Ryohei grabbed Tsuna's arm and started ... running like crazy.
...
"Hieeeeeee!"
A baby with a black fedora smirked. After following his new student around for the day, he was quite pleased with what he had saw. Sure, the boy was rather wimpy, but it was nothing a few rounds of target practice couldn't fix.
A green chameleon climbed onto his hat and soundlessly, the baby jumped off from the fence to head back to his hotel.
It was almost time for him to meet his new student.
... Loading ...
Additional Special Event
"―so the judge went blahhh and I was like, guaaa! But then coach was maooo'ing and the ball suddenly went whooosh―"
Briiing.
Yamamoto blinked as the bell rang, hands halfway through another gesture. Tsuna thanked the gods for ending lunchtime; who knew listening to babble was so hard? Listening to Yamamoto talk about his precious baseball was literally as hard as listening to the teacher in math class! Despite being happy that he was eating with someone, Tsuna already had a pounding headache!
... However, the company was still very much appreciated. Headache or not, having someone with him during lunch made the meal more amusing than something that was done in necessity.
"Wow, time passed quickly!" Yamamoto said as he tidied up Tsuna's bento box. Tsuna did the same with the empty sushi lunch box before standing up and bowing slightly. He looked up with a beaming smile.
"T-Thank you so much for eating lunch with me, Y-Yamamoto-san!"
'Moe''s Level has risen by 1!
... Tsuna resisted the urge to facepalm.
On the other hand, Yamamoto laughed nervously after he stared speechlessly for a few seconds. Rubbing his head sheepishly, Yamamoto smiled back.
"No problem Tsuna! But hey, that was super cool! How did you make those sparkles appear?"
...
The urge was too great. Tsuna facepalmed.
[Status]
Name: Sawada Tsunayoshi
Class: No-Good
LV: 3 (3750 EXP to next level)
Affiliation: Namimori
HP: 210
FP: 200
STR: 5
VIT: 3
DEX: 3
INT: 6
LUK: 3
AGI: 7
Status: ? (?) ? (?)
Point: 0
Sawada Tsunayoshi is a student of Namimori Middle School. She is often bullied and is nicknamed 'No-Good Tsuna' because of her sheer clumsiness. However, Tsuna has a interesting future in store for her ...
[Skills]
Bag Slap LV 1 (Active Skill); Bitch slap with your bag, hieeeee; EXP: 41.03%
Basic Cooking LV 6 (Active Skill); Make delicious basic meals; EXP: 24.55%
Continuous Strike LV 2 (Active Skill); Strike at an opponent continuously. Only applicable when a weapon is equipped. EXP: 23.12%
Cross-dress LV 2 (Active Skill); Create a subtle illusion to change yourself into the opposite gender; EXP: 03.65%
Dazzling Rays LV 1 (Active Skill); Smile your opponents into oblivion!; EXP: 00.21%
Endurance LV 1 (Passive Skill); Endure the painnnnn; EXP: 50.23%
Moe LV 2 (Passive Skill); Charm people with your overwhelming cuteness; EXP: 65.32%
Observe LV 4 (Active Skill); Find target's information through observation; EXP: 01.85%
Reading LV 4 (Passive Skill); Reading skills; EXP: 73.34%
Writing LV 5 (Passive Skill); Writing skills; EXP: 63.52%
\Reputation Levels/
Hibari Kyouya: Neutral―110/1000
Sasagawa Ryohei: Neutral―200/1000
Sawada Nana: Friendly―650/1000
Yamamoto Takeshi: Neutral―970/1000
AN: Er, I lied. Daily Life Arc starts next chapter. Anyway, apologies for the last chapter, I had been way too stressed when I wrote it. I've been going back to clean it up so there should be less parentheses and italics now...On the other hand, thank you for all the reviews, favourites, and follows! It's all very appreciated. Please send in suggestions for the plot and the Daily Life Arc, what I should keep/change, etc! I had a plot when I first started this story, but I, er, forgot to write it down. And after a terribly stressful test week, I forgot the rest of my plot, hahaha...Yeah. Any suggestions would be 100% helpful.
Cross-posting this on AO3 for your reading convenience! Though updates there will be behind updates here at FF.
Guest Review Replies:
Guest: Wow, that's basically all my main stories, haha! I'm happy to announce that I'm almost done the next chapter for both my Naruto and HxH story, so you should get to see it by the end of the month~ Thank you for supporting me!
Guest: Oh LMAO, skill for bashing his head on hard surfaces. Well, I guess that's what the Endurance skill is for, right?