Title: Imaginary Friend

By: Metamorcy

Pairing: None, parental!Reborn, child!Tsuna

Summary: Tsuna pouted as his family made fun of his imaginary friend, it wasn't his fault they couldn't see him. It wasn't his fault that they couldn't see the tall man with a fedora that was behind them watching everything with those sharp dangerous looking eyes of his.

Disclaimer: Seriously? Don't own, just the idea.

A/N: Here's the next chapter! Anyway, just got Pokemon White 2 and I've been playing it like mad. Hopefully, it won't interfere with my updates...maybe.

Beta'ed by WhiteAngel128 and Ankou13


Chapter 8

Reborn quickly made his way through the school dressed in his usual attire, fedora included. The students and teachers that were in the hallway threw him a few odd looks but he ignored them since he only had one thing on his mind. Considering the way he was dressed, the adult obviously appeared quite out of place while everyone else was in a casual sort of formal wear and the students in their everyday garb. After all, his yellow button-up shirt and black suit stood out among the bright colors of the school and people present. His fedora was in its usual spot upon his head with a few strands of hair poking out, he was also missing his tie having decided that it would be best to leave it at home. Some of the teachers immediately swooned over him, noticing his good looks instantly, and attempted to slip closer for some details on the mysterious man, flirting like there was nothing wrong. Luckily, the smarter ones immediately backed down, knowing very well that a man would only be here in a school if he had a child, thus destroying their chances of getting a date.

The hitman spotted the two older Sawada siblings, Giotto and Natsu, in their respective classrooms. They were both hanging out with their close friends without a care in the world, chattering up their group members with a bright smile. He shook his head at the sight of them, watching the children as they continued to laugh and run around happily. For a moment, he noticed the two boys glancing towards him out of the corner and instantly narrowed his eyes in return, watching as they shivered at the sight of him before snapping their heads away. Smirking to himself, he continued to make his way towards the nurse's office and slid open the door with a loud squeak. After peering inside, he noticed that the place was empty, voided of human presence.

'That's odd. Guess she thought I would take longer to appear.' After closing the door behind him, he walked into the room and wandered over to the only bed with the drawn curtains around it. He pulled it open and spotted the person he was searching for hidden within. Tsuna was nestled deep into the bed, his face bright red and his breathing ragged as if there was something pushing down upon his chest. It was clear as day that he was sick and most likely running a fever, sweat visible on his cheeks. Reborn sighed angrily to himself; he should have noticed it this morning. Pulling the curtains further back, he stalked forward and gently sat down on the edge of the bed, placing the back of his hand against Tsuna's forehead while pushing some bangs aside. The brunet's temperature was as he expected: hot.

That little touch stirred the sleeping child, his eyes fluttering open tiredly as if struggling to remain awake. It took a few seconds for those exhausted honey-colored orbs to focus, peering over at Reborn's face, and he immediately brightened up with a smile. "Reborn…"

"Hey, how are you feeling?"

"Terrible," Tsuna coughed soon after and rolled over so that he could look at the adult easier. "Why are you here?"

"I've come to pick you up. Also, I'm now your father."

"Eh?"

"Nana wasn't home and unless I was a close relative to you, I couldn't pick you up. So I told them I was your father."

Tsuna tilted his head at that and beamed again, crawling closer to the other so that he could curl around the adult and rest his head against his lap. He buried his face against Reborn's abdomen, enjoying the warmth. "My father… Thank you."

Reborn just smiled at the adorable sight, chuckling in amusement as he watched the child. He stroked the sweat-soaked hair softly as he listened to the soft breathing, knowing that the brunet had fallen asleep upon settling in.

A few minutes later, the door swung open just as the school bell rang with the nurse sauntering in, her heels clanked against the tiled floor and the ends of her lab coat fluttering behind. She detected him immediately upon entering and stepped closer, taking notice of the position he was in. Her eyes drifted over the man carefully before glancing towards the sleeping child who had a smile on his face, completely peaceful. She noticed how he was wrapped carefully around Reborn as if he were some sort of lifeline. "I take it that you're Reborn?"

"Chaos," He spoke his greeting, tilting his fedora downwards, before continuing, "Yes, that's correct."

"I see, alright then. I have some papers I need you to fill out before you can take Tsunayoshi home. Here," The nurse handed the papers over on a wooden clipboard, Reborn taking hold of it immediately. He glanced over what needed to be signed and could tell from a glance that they were just safety and insurance policies so that the school wouldn't be blamed if anything were to happen. He quickly began to fill it out, signing his name at the very bottom with little hesitation. Reborn knew very well that if something were to happen, his name would instantly show up upon the records. Of course, the Sawada residence only knew him as the imaginary friend of Tsuna and would most likely wave it off without a second thought. They weren't exactly the smartest people around. When Reborn finished, he handed the papers back all a while keeping Tsuna balanced on his lap. "Alright, looks like everything is properly filled out. You can take Tsunayoshi home with you. Do you have a car?"

"Ah no, I'll be carrying him home. We don't live very far from the school," Reborn immediately shook the child awake, watching those tired eyes blink open. There were a few grumbles from Tsuna as he moved closer to lean against the long legs before finally rolling around to face upward. "Tsuna, I'm going to carry you home. I'll need you to raise your arms up for me."

"You're going to carry me? Really?" Tsuna's eyes sparkled for a moment, pushing himself up to sit, and held his arms out towards the other, unable to hide his excitement.

"Yes, really. Now hang on," Reborn leaned down and lifted the boy up, cradling his arms around Tsuna's bottom as leverage. The tiny limbs spread around Reborn's broad shoulders with Tsuna's head resting at the crook of his neck and the brunet buried his face into the soft spot, letting out a content sigh. The hitman snorted in response. "Don't get clingy."

"I'm not clingy." A pout followed.

"Says the one who's clinging to me."

"Heeyyyy, that's mean!"

Reborn chuckled fondly and pushed Tsuna further up to prevent any sliding, tightening his grasp. His eyes turned to the nurse and nodded his head. "I'll be going now. Could you hold the door open for me?"

"Sure, no problem," As the nurse stepped closer to the door, she peeked back with an amused expression. "You know, you didn't really look much of a father when I first saw you." Reborn raised an eyebrow at that, almost tempted to laugh. "But the way you handle him and everything made me change my opinion. Though, you still don't dress like a father."

"I know," The hitman was almost tempted to shake his head, not wanting to place any suspicion on his actions. "I'm a businessman after all. Though, Tsuna is a good kid, he deserves better."

The nurse just smiled, watching as the pair exited the office, before settling down at her desk to continue with what paperwork she had. The hallways were empty by the time Reborn reentered, the children back in their classrooms with the teacher in front preaching about one thing or another. It wasn't worth much for the two to peek in, but they could hear the various voices echoing out into the empty hallway. Tsuna tightened his hold on Reborn, burying his face further into the neck, and made a loud sniffle before coughing. The hitman waited for a moment until the fit died down, rubbing the child on the back gently to help calm him, before moving on. Within moments, they went out the front doors towards the school gates and continued on with little disruption, no one bothering to stop or question the two. It was a peaceful day, nice and sunny with a few calm breezes every few minutes. When they made it back to the house, Nana was still absent, the place empty and silent compared to the usual craziness of the Sawada's. Reborn made his way up the stairs after locking the house up, tossing Tsuna's shoes to the side at the entry hallway, and opened the door to the child's bedroom. He placed him down onto the large bed with a gentleness that didn't belong to his personality. Tsuna blinked at the postural shift before burying his face into the soft pillow, his cheeks still a deep rosy red.

"Get some rest. I'll take care of everything," Reborn yanked the covers up from underneath the child, maneuvering some limbs to make that possible, and smiled softly. His fingers ran through the soft strands, enjoying the texture, before pulling away as he tucked the child in. Tsuna's school backpack was left abandoned on the floor and his fedora and jacket were placed neatly on a chair, keeping it straight and out of view. Soon after, the brunet sighed contently, closing his eyes as he got comfortable. Reborn chuckled again. "I'll be back with something for you to eat alright?"

The tiny brunet just smiled softly, muttering words of thanks under his breath, and slowly began to drift off as sleepiness took over his tired body. Reborn shook his head at the cute display and made his way out of the bedroom towards the kitchen, keeping his footsteps silent as a just in case. However, a quick look around the first floor alerted him that Nana still hadn't shown up and just as he expected, she would be gone for another few hours, giving him plenty of time to cook something up for the brunet. He was no expert, but he could make decently good food, nothing like Nana though. 'Probably should make something simple, something easy for Tsuna to digest while sleeping.'

Opening the cabinets, he began to gather the ingredients and a pot for what he had in mind, making sure that he had everything in place. He reached up momentarily to twirl one of his sideburns, letting it twist around his forefinger before it sprung back into place. 'Better get started.'

Within thirty minutes, Reborn had a medium-sized bowl of chicken noodle soup resting on a plate with some shredded lettuce floating at the top, nothing too heavy. He made sure to clean up after himself, not wanting to leave any evidence behind, and slowly made his way up to the second floor. It didn't take much effort to wake Tsuna up to eat, watching as the child eagerly swallowed the food. Reborn could only smirk, watching in amusement, and only moved when he had to take the empty dish aside, placing it onto the nightstand to be put away later. His fingers went through Tsuna's hair gently, knowing very well he was soothing the child. "Now get some rest, you'll need it to recover quickly."

"Okay!" Tsuna flopped back down onto their shared bed, snuggling into the covers happily now that he was content and full. "Thanks, Reborn. For everything."

"It's fine," The adult just continued to rub the top of Tsuna's head before flicking his bangs aside to get a better view of the face. "Let me know if you need anything. In the meantime, I'll see if I can find you some medicine."

The child pouted at the thought of medication, grimacing, but didn't say anything and smiled soon after as he watched Reborn leave the room. His eyes fluttered momentarily as he stared at the open door, wishing for the other to come back soon. 'Reborn… as my father…' He rolled over, closing his eyes. 'That would be nice.'


We're finally getting somewhere!