Ern Estine 13624: Thank you and here you go.

SakuraKoi: Nice idea, but Tsuna dropped out in middle school. And she's never asked anyone to tutor her. So she's street-smart and battle-smart, but she has a middle school level of knowledge. That will change as this story goes on.

Guest: You sure know how to flatter someone, don't you? And as for Tsuna completely losing her temper…well, I'm planning to put it in there somehow. Maybe a…dispute…between Hibari and Mukuro that went too far? Who knows?

Okay so far for the poll:

Hibari Kyoya: 2. Makes sense. I see some 1827 shippers here.

No one: 1. Also makes sense. It's been two months since Mika died, so…

Suguro Ryuji: 1. Which is…kind of weird, since Tsuna's only impression of him's probably 'That guy with the bleached hair' but whatever! They're going to be interacting in this chapter so no worries!

Please enter in more votes so I can start planning out the pairing!

As a side note that is probably going to be irrelevant to the plot of this story, the definite pairings are 8059 and 6996.

I don't own Blue Exorcist or Katekyo Hitman Reborn.


One-sided Rivalry

"Sawada-san, pay attention." Tsuna blinked and looked up at the teacher, who was standing in front of her, book in hand.

"…Sorry." Her gaze dropped back down to the workbook. It was mostly understandable, but some of the kanji were too complicated for her to read. She would have to ask Ieyasu later.

"The hell's with her? Why is she even here?" Tsuna heard someone mutter from behind her. Turning her head, she saw the speaker, the boy with partly bleached hair, glaring at her. He's been doing that every class. She sighed, turning back to face the front. He's the type that Kyoya would have gladly bitten to death, with that hair and attitude.

Her gaze drifted down to her workbook. She could almost imagine Hayato next to her, reading glasses on, scribbling furiously for the report that would be due in three days. Takeshi would be on her other side, watching Hayato with a fond expression. Ryohei would be shouting in the distance, dragging an unwilling Lambo along on one of his extreme jogs. Kyoya would be sitting on the windowsill, eyes closed and listening to Hibird sing. Mukuro would alternate between trying to goad Kyoya into a fight and trying to get her angry, with Chrome attempting to get him to stop.

Tsuna sighed again. She really missed Vongola.


"Now then, I'll be handing back the results of your tests." Ieyasu told everyone during Demon Pharmacology class. He then began calling out names.

"I'm sure I've done okay on this one!" Shiemi told Tsuna cheerfully. "It's my specialty, after all!"

Tsuna forced a smile. "I'm sure you did."

Shiemi gave her a concerned look. "Tsuna-chan, are you alright? Your hands are shaking."

Looking down and seeing that Shiemi was right, Tsuna clasped her hands together and squeezed tightly, trying to stop the trembling. "I'm absolutely fine. No need to worry."

But she recalled the taunts and jeers of her former classmates back in middle school, how they laughed louder whenever she was handed back a test that she failed. She remembered the bullying that happened, because it was okay if the victim was Dame-Tsuna. It was why she decided to drop out of school. And now here she was again.

She heard Shiemi getting up to get her test back, and the lecture that came after.

"Sawada-san!" Well, at least no one here knew her at all back then. Tsuna slowly got up from her seat and made her way to her brother. Her fingers shook again as she took the piece of paper, and stilled when she saw the number at the top.

60.

"You passed. Barely, but you passed." Ieyasu smiled as he watched Tsuna slowly grin at the test. "However, I will be expecting better of you next time. Got it?"

"Loud and clear!" Tsuna chirped. She almost skipped back to her seat. That's right, she wasn't Dame-Tsuna anymore. She was going to become an exorcist, not trying to survive high school.

As the guy with the striped hair walked past, he scoffed at the test that Tsuna had set down. "Sixty percent? Surprisingly good for someone like you."

Tsuna bristled. "Someone like me? What are you trying to say?" The guy smugly showed off his ninety eight percent to her.

"I'm saying…"He said the words slowly, like she couldn't understand him. "…that I'm planning on seriously studying to become an exorcist. Everyone here's here because they're seriously planning on becoming exorcists!" His voice rose with each sentence, until he was nearly shouting at her. "And people like you who don't give their all should just leave!"

Shiemi gave a small gasp.

"Oh yeah!?" Tsuna shot back. "And what gives you the right to say that?! I'm working towards becoming an exorcist just as much as you guys are!"

"You just daydream in every class!" If they could, they would have gotten into a fight. But they had to be held back, the striped hair guy by his friends and Tsuna by Ieyasu. "I've never seen you pay attention before!"

"Just because you don't see me pay attention doesn't mean I'm not!" It was then that the bell rang.

"That's all the time we have for today!" Ieyasu cut in. Tsuna glared at the striped hair guy before yanking herself out of Ieyasu's grip, gathering her stuff, and stomping out of the classroom.


"What's up with that guy?" Tsuna grumbled. She, along with Ieyasu and Shiemi, were resting on the steps of a fountain.

"Suguro Ryuji?" At Tsuna's nod, Ieyasu continued. "He's a prodigy. He's attending the academy on a scholarship like me." He laughed. "It was rather surprising to see you get…what did you call it?"

"Annoyed-angry?" Tsuna suggested.

"Yeah, annoyed-angry."

Tsuna sighed. "Well, he reminded me of Hayato before we became friends, so…"

Shiemi looked confused. "Annoyed-angry? Hayato?"

Ieyasu took up the explaining. "Nee-chan has a bunch of different levels of angry. There's annoyed-angry, which is what happened back in the classroom. There's nice-angry." He shivered, recalling the day that they exorcised the spirit that was leeching off of Shiemi. "And there's angry-angry. It hardly ever happens, but when it does…well, I've only heard horror stories." His eyes flicked down to his watch. "I need to go to my next class now, so if you'll excuse me…"

Soon, it was just Tsuna and Shiemi sitting together in awkward silence.

"Tsuna-chan…"

Tsuna glanced over at Shiemi. "Yeah?"

"I…don't really belong here, do I?"

"What? Of course you belong here!" Tsuna started.

Shiemi interrupted her, moving over to where she sat. "Tsuna-chan, do you have any friends?"

Tsuna blinked, pausing in surprise. "What?"

Shiemi moved closer, getting a little too into Tsuna's personal space. "T-tsuna-chan, w-would you b-be-"

"Well, well, well! Look who's having a fine time of it!" An annoyingly familiar voice spoke up from behind her.

Tsuna slowly turned, groaning when she saw the striped hair boy, Suguro Reiji, standing there with his two friends. "Having a fine time of what?"

Suguro laughed mockingly. "So who's the girlie? She your girlfriend?" He sneered. "Ya come to one of the few schools of exorcism and you bring your girl along? Well, aren't you taking things easy…"

Tsuna gaped. "What in the world…it's not like that!"

"What then, she your friend?"

"So what if she is?" Tsuna shot back. "It's not like you ever go anywhere without those lackeys of yours! What, you can't defend yourself without having backup?!"

The pink haired boy who came with Suguro started to laugh.

"What's so funny?!" Suguro yelled.

"Well, it's kind of true, y'know?" The pink haired boy, answered.

Suguro and Tsuna started glaring at each other.

There was a chirping of a bird. A very familiar bird.

Tsuna blinked, recognizing the school anthem that this particular bird always sang. And if she listened carefully, she could hear a faint whooshing that was getting louder and louder. Well-honed instincts prevailing, Tsuna reached out a hand and grabbed the weapon that would have given Suguro a concussion at the very least had it connected. She stared at the object in her hand.

A tonfa.

Intuition flaring up, she quickly shoved Suguro out of the way, ignoring his indignant squawk and the surprised shouts of his friends, and used the tonfa to block yet another tonfa, this one held by a very familiar person.

"…Kyoya." Tsuna smirked. It felt so long since she last saw him. "What brings you here?"

His steely grey eyes trailed over to where Shiemi should be. Tsuna looked over as well. In a very startled Shiemi's hands rested a yellow puffball, proudly singing.

"Who the hell's this dude?! How did he get in here!?" Suguro shouted.

"Kyoya's just here to get Hibird, nothing serious." Tsuna answered, handing the tonfa back to Kyoya. She took it as a good sign that he didn't try to get her to spar with him right now. Her gaze was drawn to the red armband that decorated the sleeve of his uniform. "You're the disciplinary committee leader of the academy? Really?"

"Did you expect anything less, omnivore?" He tossed her something red and small.

Tsuna looked at the words embroidered on the cloth. "No, but I wasn't expecting you to do it this fast." She sighed. "And of course you're going to make me join too."

Was it just her imagination, or did Kyoya just crack the tiniest of smiles? "I expect you to be there tomorrow morning." With that, he left, followed by Hibird.

Tsuna sighed, stuffing the armband in her pocket to deal with later. Turning around, she raised an eyebrow at the shocked faces of four people. "What?"


"This is nothing compared to one of Kyoya's sparring sessions!" Tsuna screamed as she ran around the pit that served as PE exercise, easily outpacing Suguro and the froglike demon that was chasing them. That's when she felt a hit connecting with her back. Quick thinking got her into a forward roll and she easily recovered and continued running.

Suguro, on the other hand, was the one who had kicked Tsuna. Once he landed, he lost his balance and stumbled.

The teacher quickly pulled the lever that would keep the demon from injuring the boy, ensuring his safety. "What are you playing at?!" He yelled down into the pit. "Are you trying to kill yourselves?!"

Tsuna, out of breath, leaned forward and placed her hands on her knees. "What…was that…for?" She gasped out.

"I didn't want to lose to you, even if it killed me!" He answered back.

Tsuna angrily spat out. "Well, tough luck, idiot, but there are some things you can't beat me in!"

"What was that!?" He tried to throw a punch that Tsuna would have easily dodged, but was held back by his friends.

"Suguro-kun!" The teacher yelled. "Come with me for a moment."

Tsuna watched as Suguro and the teacher went to the other side of the pit for their conversation. "What's wrong with him?"

"Forgive him for that, alright?" The pink haired boy spoke up. "Bon takes everything seriously, so he can get really worked up over small things like this.

Tsuna turned to him, even more confused now. Was Bon a nickname? And more importantly… "…What's your name again?"

The boy recoiled as if he was punched. "How could you not know me?"

"Ah, um…"

"Well, that's fine. I'm Shima Renzo. And he," Shima gestured to the boy next to him. "…is Miwa Konekomaru."

"I see." Tsuna nodded. "I'm Sawada Tsunahime. So why is Suguro-kun so serious about everything?"

"Well, you see, he wants to defeat Satan." Shima chuckled quietly. "Crazy, right?"

Tsuna bit her lip. Was defeating Satan such a laughable goal?

Konekomaru took up the explaining after giving Shima a look. "All Bon wants to do is to rebuild our temple that was ruined during the Blue Night."

The Blue Night. Tsuna vaguely remembered that from one of the books that Ieyasu gave her. Apparently, one night fifteen years ago, Satan murdered a huge number of clergymen. "So that means, your temple too?"

Konekomaru nodded. "The only survivor was Bon's father, who's now the temple's Ossama. Everyone was creeped out by how so many priests died in one night that they stopped visiting the temple, and now it's called the 'Cursed Temple'."

Tsuna clenched her hands. Hearing this only made her desire to defeat Satan even stronger. Just then, as Suguro and the teacher came back, the teacher suddenly have to leave because of 'serious matters'. So everyone got to take a break after being warned to not approach the Leaper, a demon that can read thoughts.

Suguro was fuming. "They call that a teacher? I thought that True Cross Academy was a sacred place of learning of people who took their studies seriously! And don't get me started on the students!" He glowered at Tsuna.

Tsuna tried not to rise to the bait. "You don't know me if you think that I don't take this seriously."

"It's obvious from the way you act in class!"

"Bon, you're acting pretty immature." Shima cut in, trying to calm him down. Konekomaru agreed with him.

"You two stay out of this!" Suguro paused as a thought occurred to him. "Why don't you prove to me that you're serious about becoming an exorcist, then?"

Tsuna frowned. "What?" She had a bad feeling about this…

"That guy." Suguro pointed at the Leaper. "If you can touch the Leaper and make it back without being attacked, then you win. Since it attacks if it feels any agitating thoughts, like anger, sadness, fear, if you stay calm, then you won't get attacked. If you're going to become an exorcist, then something like this won't be a problem. Of course, I'll do it too, and I'll win. So how about it?"

The bad feeling she had swelled. Tsuna looked at the Leaper, considering her options. She could keep a handle on her emotions most of the time, so she was fairly certain that she could do it. Still, if the Leaper attacked, she wouldn't be able to defend herself very well. She had no idea how her bare fists would impact a demon. And above all else, her intuition was usually accurate. So… "No."

Suguro looked shocked. "What!?"

"No." Tsuna repeated. "If I fail, then I'll get killed. And then I wouldn't be able to fulfill my ambitions. I'm not an idiot."

Suguro gritted his teeth. "You're just scared! Well, I'm going to do it! And I'll prove that I'm the better exorcist!" He leaped and slid down the sides of the pit, walking steadily towards the leaper. "I'm the one who's going to defeat Satan!"

Someone laughed. It was a dark haired girl who Tsuna didn't know the name of yet. "Defeat Satan? What is he, a kid?"

A look of complete dread crossed Tsuna's face, and she practically flew down into the pit. Of all the times for her intuition to be right. The Leaper was going to attack, she had to get there before…!

Her fist slammed into the demon's side, knocking it a few feet away from her and more importantly, Suguro. It got up again, preparing to attack once more, and looked deep into her eyes. For a moment, her eyes flashed orange in her determination to protect Suguro, and the Leaper quivered, bowing to her. The knuckles of the hand that had punched the demon started to bleed, due to its rough skin. Tsuna was caught up in an adrenaline rush, however, and did not notice the pain.

"Are you a complete idiot?!" Tsuna yelled at the boy who reminded her so much of Hayato now. "Don't put yourself in danger like that! And," She jabbed a finger from her injured hand at Suguro. "I'm the one who's going to defeat Satan!"

Looking completely baffled, then regaining what composure he had, Suguro yelled back. "You're the idiot here! Were you trying to get yourself killed?! And don't go around stealing other people's ambitions!"

Oh man, this guy really gets on Tsuna's nerves. "I'm not going to let anyone die on my watch, not if I can help it! And I'm not stealing anyone's ambitions!"

Ieyasu watched the two argue while hiding in the shadows. Lowering his loaded gun, he observed what he could of Tsuna's injury. She's going to have to get that treated later.

"Still," He muttered to himself. "To be able to punch a Leaper away…and to have the power of Satan…she'll be much harder to handle than you think, sir Mephisto Pheles…"


Tsuna made sure she woke up extra early the next day and quickly changed. Kyoya didn't like late arrivals, after all. Entering the kitchen and prepping her and Ieyasu's bentos for the day, she rubbed at the bandage covering her latest trophy. Setting Ieyasu's bento down onto his desk, she scribbled down a quick note about where she's going and that coffee is in the thermos right next to the bento. Casting a glance at the still slumbering Ieyasu, she silently thanked him for treating her injury again. Looking around to make sure she didn't forget anything, she spotted her new armband and quickly slipped it on. She opened the door as quietly as she can and left.

Once outside, she walked the familiar path to the academy area of True Cross Academy. Taking out a map and glancing at it every once in a while to make sure she was going the right way, Tsuna eventually arrived at what should be the disciplinary committee room. Gripping the doorknob tightly, she turned it and stepped inside.

"What took you so long, Jyuudaime?"

A grin made its way onto Tsuna's face as she spotted all of the Vongola members inside. There was Kyoya, resting at the president's desk with Hibird near him as always. Chrome and Mukuro lounged together on a sofa, while Takashi and Hayato did the same on another one. Ryohei was meditating in a corner, something he rarely does. Lambo sat next to a bowl of candy, probably grape flavored, popping one of them into his mouth.

"Sorry, got held up on the way here." She answered back happily. She chatted with all of them, describing her recent adventures in great detail, and listening to what happened to the others as well. Before they all knew it, the morning bell had rung.

Tsuna clapped her hands together once. "Now then…" She shared a knowing glance with Kyoya, the leader of Vongola with the leader of the disciplinary committee, "Let's go punish some troublesome students."

"Yeah!"


Ossama means Chief Priest.

If I remember correctly, cram school usually happens in the afternoon, after school is over. So, it is reasonable for Tsuna to be able to attend both.

As a note, everyone in Vongola usually refer to each other with their first names.

Annoyed-angry, cold-angry, and angry-angry are Tsuna's three forms of angry. The first one happened with Suguro, and could be compared to Dying Will Mode in KHR. You know, the mode that burns off almost all their clothes? Yeah, that one. Cold-angry is a bit of what happened with Ieyasu in the last chapter. Compare it to Hyper Dying Will Mode, where the user is completely calm. Angry-angry only happened a handful of times, and each time was very disastrous for the people involved.

And please vote in the poll so I get a definite pairing to work with before everything goes off the deep end, please!