Story Title: The Choice
Rating: T
Summary: As middle school comes to an end, Tsuna and his family have to make a decision that would change their lives.
Paring: 27OC
Disclaimer: I do not own KHR D:
A/N: Hello my chickadees. Sorry it took a while to get this chapter out. School is starting in two weeks here where I live so my family is planning our last summer trip, doing school shopping, and registering for school so my computer is occupied by my momma bear to plan stuff. Now onward! To the chapter!
Chapter 7
Still in Tsuna's office~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tsuna slightly panicked when he saw his friend faint and almost fall off the chair she was on. He was relieved when Natsu, who walked out from behind his desk, caught her when he walked to investigate the new visitor. Tsuna got up from his chair and picked up Nerina's limp form from Natsu's back and set her on one of the couches in his office. He was barely able to sit back down on his chair before Reborn and his guardians entered his office.
"So… how did she EXTREMELY take it?" asked Ryohei.
Tsuna gestured to the couch Nerina was currently laying on and his guardians looked in the direction he was gesturing to. His guardians saw her unconscious form on the couch and had mixed expressions. Mukuro had a look of satisfaction on his face, Chrome looked at Mukuro with slight exasperation, Yamamoto and Gokudera had slight grimaces on his face, and Hibari and Reborn"s faces, as usual, didn't show much emotion. Tsuna was confused when he saw his guardians face until he heard their quiet conversation.
"Kufufufu pay up." Mukuro said as he gestured his hands too his rain and storm guardians. He watched as his two guardians slapped some bills on Mukuro's hand and comment "Damn, I thought she was just going to be speechless."
"Really guys." Tsuna said to his guardians with a deadpan face.
His guardians and Reborn took their usual places in his office. Reborn sat on one of chairs in front of his desk and Hibari stood against one of the walls away from the rest of his guardians who were sitting on the couches in the center of the office. They all had a light conversation with each other for a few minutes before they heard Nerina beginning to stir on the couch she was on.
"What happened?" they heard her groan.
"You fainted." Reborn said bluntly.
She looked around the room with wide eyes. She observed the scene for a few moments before commenting. "What's going on?"
"What's the last thing you remember?" Tsuna said to her softly, trying not to make her more alarmed then she already was and faint again.
She thought about it for a minute. "I was walking to my second job when the Ciro famiglia approached me. After that I remember waking up in- Oh my god! You're the Vongola Decimo!" She shouted in surprise, recalling what happened a few minutes before. She looked at Tsuna with wide eyes before looking at his guardians. "So you guys are his… closest subordinates?" They all nodded at her.
"The term we use is Guardians. They are directly under our don and help protect him and run the famiglia." Reborn informed her.
She looked at Reborn. "What position are you?"
"I'm the world's greatest hit man and Tsuna's tutor."
She studied Tsuna for a few seconds before smiling at him. "I guess that explains our treatment at the hotel." She commented referring to the complimentary stuff and overly polite treatment they received while at the hotel.
"You're taking this rather well." Reborn commented.
"Well… I know you guys mean no harm to me. Plus, when you make friends you wouldn't want them to know you're a mafia boss right away. They would try and take advantage of your connections." She said thoughtfully. "What am I doing here anyways?" she asked.
"In order for us to save you from the Ciro we had to induct you to our famiglia." Tsuna told her. "I'm sorry you didn't have a choice." He said guiltily.
"It's okay I'm glad to help friend, although I am going to need training."
"When you were in school you specialized in business management right?" Reborn asked her.
"Yes, I also specialized in music. I couldn't choose between the two."
"I have the perfect job for you then. You can begin training for your job tomorrow, and after you get settled into your job we can begin physically training you. Have you received any training before?"
"Only two weeks in self-defense and knife, after that I couldn't afford it anymore."
"Good I will begin to train you tomorrow." Reborn said as he got up to leave the room.
"Wait you're going to train her!" Tsuna exclaimed, recalling his own tort-training.
"Yes, got a problem with that Dame-Tsuna." Tsuna shook his head at the tone Reborn used.
When Reborn left Tsuna and his guardians looked at her and gave her looks of pity. They all have received some of his "training" and still has nightmares about it, especially Tsuna since he still receives it. "What?" she asked them.
Time Skip to the Beginning of December~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Damn it Mukuro! Why on earth would you mentally traumatize half of the mafia famiglia we're trying to negotiate with?!" Nerina scolded him over the phone.
"They said my hair looked like a pineapple." He replied with an irritated tone.
"…"
"…"
"I swear it's like you and Hibari are having a competition on who can cause the most damage. Tsuna is going to be pissed when he finds out."
"Kufufufu that's why I called you. He's less angry when you tell him."
"Is that why you all call me when you destroy stuff?"
"Kufufufu looks like my ride is here. I'll be back by tomorrow."
"Yeah yeah." She sighed as she hanged up the phone. She rubbed her temples before looking towards Tsuna's desk.
In the past two and a half months she has been training to be his secretary. Her training from Reborn consists of schooling (like everyone else but she's behind), management, learning various languages, and by next week with a long Jumonji Yari. After getting physically in shape enough, Reborn said they would begin awakening her flames. Since she began her training to be a part of Vongola, her friendship with Tsuna and his friends have grown. For the first time since her parent's death, she actually felt at home and happy. She was no longer stressed or threatened (outside of training), and was enjoying spending all day with her friends whom were quickly becoming family. She never felt more content in her life.
She was currently sitting in her desk that was positioned to the left of Tsuna's facing one of the book-shelved walls. She threw the small bouncing ball she uses to get his attention when he gets too immersed in his paperwork. The ball hit his arm and rolled on the floor. He looked up from his paper work and smiled at her. "Mukuro is coming back tomorrow." His smile turned into a frown.
"He's early, did something happen?"
"He mentally traumatized half the famiglia for saying his head looked like a pineapple." She told him.
Tsuna sighed and rubbed his face with his hands. "What am I going to do with him?"
Nerina smiled lightly at Tsuna. She looked back to her work and found a small sticky note beneath some papers. She quickly scanned the note before remembering the message. She looked back at Tsuna who was still thinking about the damage control he has to do. "Oh yeah, Tsuna." He looked back at her. "Your mother called and said she wanted to visit with the kids for their winter break. She also said she wanted to bring along Haru and Kyoko." Personally, she was excited. From the stories she's heard from Tsuna and his guardians she's only meet Dino and Enma personally. The rest she's only talked to briefly over the phone when they called. So she was excited to meet more of his close friends.
"Is anything major planned during then?" she checked his calendar.
"No, just a meeting with Dino and Enma."
"Okay I'll call her later." She nodded. "Are you almost done?" he asked her.
"Yeah, just a few more sheets of paper work and I'll be done. You?"
"Same, maybe we can eat dinner with everyone today." He commented.
Usually when they don't finish their paperwork in time, they would have to eat in the office to finish it in time. They went back to work, and after a few minutes she felt something nudging her leg. She looked down and saw Natsu trying to give her back her bouncing ball. She smiled and pet his head as a thank you and grabbed the ball from his mouth then continued her work.
Three weeks later~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Nerina sighed in content as she walked out of the training room after her training session with Reborn. She was slowly getting accustomed to the soreness that she always felt after her training. She was currently drying her wet hair (she showered) and walked in the direction of the kitchen for lunch. She opened the door to the kitchen bumped into someone. She looked down and saw small boy who looked around the age of six with an afro and a cow printed shirt with horns. The small boy looked up at her and ask rather rudely "Who are you?"
She was about to answer when she heard a little girl's voice. "Lambo don't be rude!" She looked up slightly to see a little girl with a braid in a Chinese styled outfit next to a ten year old blond boy. She bent down to be leveled with the children.
"Hello. I'm Nerina. Who are you?" she said in a kind voice.
"I'm Fuuta, that's I-Pin and Lambo." The older kid told her pointing to the other kids when saying their names.
"Nice to meet you. Are you guys looking for Tsuna?" She asked them. The kids perked up a little when she mentioned Tsuna.
"Yes, do you know where he is? We got lost." She looked at the time on her cell phone (which she got when she started living here).
"Yes, I can take you to him if you want."
"Thank you." She smiled at the children and started to lead them down the hall.
"So where's the others." She asked them.
"Tsuna's dad took them somewhere and we got lost." Fuuta told her.
She looked back at the younger kids and saw then getting side tracked from the various decorations in the hall. She paused and waited for them to catch up. When they caught up to her and Fuuta she picked up the younger kids and carried them while she walked. The kids didn't show or voice any complaints and let her carry her, already used to being carried round by the girls. She made small talk with the children while she led them Tsuna's office. When they arrived at the office she knocked on the doors and was called in. She opened the doors and walked in. "Look who I found." She said as she walked in. When she entered the room she saw all of her friends and two other girls inside the office lounging on the couches and chairs. She set down the two children and let them explore the room.
"Tsuna-nii!" The kids cheered when they saw Tsuna.
She watched as Tsuna greeted the kids. She looked at the two girls. "You must be Kyoko and Haru. Nice to meet you." She greeted them.
"Hello." They both said at the same time.
"Where's Tsuna's mother?" She asked after looking for the older woman.
"She left with my dad to spend some time with him. You can meet her when she gets back." Tsuna told her.
The group continued to spend time catching up with each other. Nerina was happy that she was getting along with the other girls. While she was really good friends with Chrome, she was happy to make other friends. They continued to talk to each other until Reborn came and reminded her and Tsuna that they still had paper work to finish. They agreed to meet up again after dinner to hang out more before they go to bed for the night.
Omake: Late night conversations.
A week after Nerina joins.
Nerina laid wide awake in her new room, unable to fall asleep despite the late hour. Like it had been with her previous apartment, it would take at least another week in able to feel comfortable enough in her new environment to sleep a full night with dreams. She tossed and turned on her bed a few more times before getting up from bed. She put her robe on (which she found very comfortable) and walked into the hall. When she stepped into the hall she heard the sound of doors opening. She looked down the hall to the doors that led to Tsuna's room and saw them close. She waited until she heard his footsteps came closer.
"Couldn't sleep too?" She asked Tsuna.
"Yeah." He replied.
"I was going to go make some hot tea in the kitchen. Would you like some too?" she asked him walking towards the kitchen.
He nodded to her and they walked to the kitchen in silence, trying not to disturb the others as they passed their rooms. When they made it to the kitchen, Nerina started to make the tea while Tsuna sat at the small table in the kitchen. Nernia set the kettle on the fire and joined him on the table.
"So why couldn't you sleep?" Tsuna asked her.
"Still adjusting. It takes me a while to be able to sleep in a new environment. What about you?"
He shrugged. "Sometimes I just can't fall asleep at night. So I take a walk then go to bed."
The kettle went off and Nerina got up to prepare their tea. She set his cup down in front of him and sat down with her own, playing with the tea bag while it soaked in the hot water. "What was it like for you when you first moved here?"
"It wasn't that bad for me. Sure I felt homesick for the first month, but I wanted to come because I wanted to change my life."
"Why?"
"When I lived in Japan I was nicknamed Dame-Tsuna."
"What does that mean? I've heard Reborn call you that sometimes."
"It basically means no-good."
"That's mean."
"Yeah. In Japan I was really clumsy and I didn't do well in school so people started calling me that because I failed at a lot of stuff. So when it came to going on to high school I didn't get accepted, but Nono gave me the opportunity to come here and be properly trained on how to be a boss."
"Your old peers will be shocked when they find out your actually going to be rich and very influential."
"They probably won't know about the mafia."
"Yeah but aren't you technically going to inherit the Vongolia's cover company."
"Oh yeah. But I'm technically not running it, the CEDEF is. I'm glad they are too, I don't want to run a company."
"Yet you want to run the number one mafia famiglia in the world." She teased him.
He looked her straight in the eyes with a serious face. "They have more paper work then we do."
They continued talking to each other well past their finished teas. They only went back up to bed when Nerina fell asleep on the table in the middle of their conversation and Tsuna carried her back to bed. When they left the kitchen Reborn walked out the shadows with a smirk/smile on his face.
A/N: Till next chapter my chickadees!
