A/N: Thank you so much for your reviews! :) Sorry it took so long to update, Final Exams are just as hard from the teacher's side, haha~

-Also sorry if the formatting is a little strange, I was having some issues uploading. -sigh-

Disclaimer: I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn.


Chapter 9

"I'm not in the business. I am the business."

-Blade Runner (1982)


Tsch.

Tsch.

Hayato's eyes lingered on the scattered papers before once again drawing back to his fingers. His fingernails were clean and trimmed, his calloused grip the only indication of their violent nature. He had large hands, he thought; long-fingered and slender, pianist hands through and through. It was funny that he handled dynamite more than piano keys.

Tsch.

Funny in the way that most things in Hayato's life were funny, in that it wasn't at all.

Tsch.

Hayato paused in his ministrations, letting green eyes fall on the paper plane he held in his pianist (murderer) hands. For just a moment, he allowed the world in: the smell of smoke and blood in his apartment, the cold feel of the tile floor beneath him, the light caress of the breeze coming through his open window. His neighbor the floor below him was yelling; Hayato had never seen him, but heard enough from the arguments through the floorboards to glean that the couple suffered from an issue of infidelity.

With a flick of the wrist, Hayato sent his paper plane sailing. It hit the wall with a light tsch!, falling to the ground to join it's many comrades. Hayato would burn them all later; he'd already uploaded digital copies to his computer files. It was far easier to store them digitally rather than physically, especially these days.

But for now, he'd let out some of his built-up stress by playing around uselessly. Hayato didn't claim to have any hobbies, aside from UMA-hunting; but origami helped train dexterity, and one day he'd be able to get that paper plane trick down with enough practice.

Tsch.

Hayato could accomplish anything, with enough practice. He'd just have to train more.

Tsch.

Even though he was a kid, Hayato knew he couldn't slack off. Not now that he'd finally found someone worth following. The very thought of his new boss sent a warm trill down to his very bones, slackening his grip on his next paper plane. The edges he'd been about to fold fell back to reveal the contents.

Nezu Douhachirou's personal documents stared up at Hayato's ceiling. If Hayato's chosen boss had been anyone but Sawada Tsunayoshi, it would have been Nezu's corpse doing the same.

Fortunately for the former teacher, Hayato had followed Tsuna's example and did not try to eliminate threats in solely violent ways. Which was why Hayato had researched the man that had tried to separate him from the Vongola's heir, uncovering Nezu's deceptions and then passing the information along to the one authority in Namimori no one could fight.

Hayato folded the edges back down.

Of course Hayato understood. Sawada Tsunayoshi is an Omega.

Tsch. Hayato had thrown the paper plane; it fell amongst the others. Many of the documents were about Nezu Douhachirou, but not all; some other individuals had made the list.

Sawada Tsunayoshi is an Omega. The Vongola would never allow someone they believed weak to lead. The Secondo had staged a coup against the Primo for perceived weakness, after all.

Tsch. Not all the individuals Hayato had investigated were as overtly-corrupt as the Maths teacher had been. Some were actually considered upstanding members of society. Hayato had had to work a little harder on those.

Outside of Reborn, Hayato was the only mafioso to have contact with Sawada Tsunayoshi. He was the only mafioso period to have fought the Omega male – and what better way was there to truly get to know someone?

Tsch. So where there were no chinks in the armor, Hayato had made them. Having been made to do grunt work since he was young paid off here; nothing was easier than forging documents. Not all the lies Hayato had made reality were punishable by law, but socially – socially, he could crush just about anyone.

Tsuna had saved him. Tsuna had fought him, had saw exactly what Hayato was, knew exactly what Hayato could do, had experienced what Hayato would do – and he'd still rushed forward to save him. Tsuna had forgiven him for his arrogance, for his violence. It was sincerity. It was kindness.

It was weakness.

Tsch. Photoshopping pictures to show illicit affairs, rumors spread about possible theft, identity fraud, false debt collection – with enough variation and time, Hayato could eliminate the perceived threats in Namimori.

Hayato understood. Omega were less second-class citizens, more alike to property than people. The Vongola only saw Sawada Tsunayoshi as a means to an end. What use could the Vongola have for an Omega that spared those that tried to do them harm? Vongola bosses were not weak, naïve Omega that spared those that attacked them.

Hayato knew what Reborn expected of him, as a Beta. Hayato knew what Reborn was looking for, when he'd involved the Alpha Yamamoto Takeshi. Hayato knew what the Vongola expected of the Omega Sawada Tsunayoshi.

Hayato knew and understood all of what Vongola intended. And as long as the world remained as is, it would happen just as Reborn and the Vongola Ninthplanned. As a member of the strongest mafia famiglia in the world, all Hayato had to do was play his part.

Tsch. The paper planes composed of various school faculty members' and local government officers' private files lay scattered about Hayato's floor. Hayato knew, after all, that change must always begin at home; Namimori was home now, and so it would have to start there.

Because for Hayato, loyalty had to be earned – and once earned, it was everything.

And Sawada Tsunayoshi had earned his loyalty first.


Breakfast was starting to become quite crowded at the Sawada home.

Tsuna knew why Gokudera came, of course – the silver-haired boy had been personally invited to come eat meals at the Sawada residence, given his poor diet choices. Gokudera seemed to subsist mostly on instant noodles and take-out, to the concern of Tsuna's mother, so she preferred the Beta boy came over to eat.

Reborn was, of course, a live-in tutor, and free board and meals were part of his payment. Tsuna didn't mind the hitman's presence too much during this time, and nowadays, Nana wasn't quite so tense around Tsuna's tutor; she'd even started providing snacks and stocked Reborn's favorite coffee.

Yamamoto wasn't over quite as consistently as Gokudera, as he tended to go straight to school on the mornings he had early baseball practice or when he decided to eat breakfast with his father. He still came over often enough that Nana no longer showed any surprise when he turned up, although Tsuna was guaranteed a clamorous breakfast once Gokudera caught sight of the baseball player.

Lambo was the newest addition, and the only people he seemed to like were Tsuna and his mother. Tsuna had easily won the child over with candy, which Tsuna had given him generously in bids to keep the child quiet as he studied or struggled to survive Reborn's training. This didn't mean Lambo was docile in the least, and could be counted on to destroy at least one piece of furniture a day. Tsuna was becoming distressingly desensitized to explosions.

Thus, a morning as quiet as this one was rare. Yamamoto had messaged saying he had baseball practice and wouldn't be making it to breakfast – why the boy even bothered to report to Tsuna in the first place was a mystery – and so only Gokudera was on his way, although through the rote of experience Tsuna knew it'd take the dynamite-wielding boy another 15 minutes to get to Tsuna's home.

So Tsuna got to enjoy entering the kitchen only to Lambo's rapid gunfire, just before Reborn pitched the child out the window. Tsuna paused briefly to make sure Lambo survived the landing, then took his customary seat at the table and greeted his mother with a smile.

"If you go to school with bed-hair, Hibari will kill you," was Reborn's morning greeting.

Tsuna shot up, disgruntled expression in place. "Why would Hibari-san care about the state of my hair? The Disciplinary Committee only checks uniforms!" Tsuna shot back, but nevertheless retreated to the bathroom to comb fingers through his unruly fringe.

Only once Tsuna was reasonably sure Hibari didn't have grounds to bite him to death for any number of reasons did Tsuna leave the bathroom, just as the doorbell rang. Tsuna was rather relieved; if Gokudera was here, he tended to be too distracting that Tsuna didn't have to field Reborn's offhand insults.

Tsuna opened the door with a smile.

"Italian Pizza Delivery~!" the Beta woman on the other side greeted.

Tsuna's Intuition flared to life at the look in those drooping green eyes, long strands of blossom-pink hair kept out of the way by a white visor. He took an instinctive step back, words fumbling out of his mouth in a shameful high squeak. "W-Wrong house," he managed out.

"It's a delivery of Clam Pizza!" the woman stated, sultry smile in place.

Tsuna wanted to know if she really thought this disguise would work. "It's 7 in the morning," Tsuna choked out. "And what pizza place allows their delivery person to wear miniskirts and expose their tattoos?!"

"So you found me out, Vongola Tenth," the woman mused, although her smile never dropped. She stepped further into the house, manicured nails on the edge of the lid of the pizza box. "You're not half-bad."

Were you even trying?! Tsuna wondered.

To Tsuna's mounting horror, the Beta girl whipped out a gas mask and put it on. "Enjoy!" came out muffled from beneath it, and then she opened the pizza box.

Tsuna was struck by overwhelming nausea.

This lasted all of five seconds, just as a bright purple grenade landed atop the glowing foodstuff held in the girl's hands and exploded it into a miniature hail of fire. Tsuna pulled enough of his senses back to stumble away, toppling into the kitchen to curious glances from the two occupants.

Tsuna wondered what it meant of his life, for his mother to not do much more than blink at him and smile – as if her child crawling into the kitchen was an everyday occurrence. Wait, it is, Tsuna thought, idly crushing the burning tips of his hair that had been caught in the fire between two fingers.

"That reminds me," Reborn started. "Bianchi is in town."

"And what the hell does that mean?!" Tsuna replied in a harried tone, picking himself up from the floor. Lambo came flying in from the kitchen door at this moment with a high-pitched scream, fat tears and snot running down his face. Tsuna caught the cow-child full in the face, knocked once more to the ground as the pink-haired girl entered the room.

"Reborn!" she squealed, pulling off her face mask to reveal a besotted expression. Tsuna picked Lambo off him, not bothering to pull the crying child off his lap so that he could eye the unfolding scene in curiosity.

"Everyone that tries to kill me knows you," Tsuna grumbled, shooting Reborn a scathing look. The hitman sipped his espresso without a twitch.

"Ciaossu, Bianchi," Reborn said, beady eyes on the girl as her own green irises welled up in tears.

"Oh, Reborn-chan's friend has come to visit? How nice!" Nana laughed cheerily. Tsuna envied her oblivious nature and adaptable composure.

"Reborn," Bianchi started, moving closer as a blush dusted her cheeks. "Just as I thought – this life really doesn't suit you. It's too peaceful... You belong to a world of darkness and blood!"

Tsuna tuned out immediately as the girl went on about whatever bloody misadventures she'd shared with the baby hitman, with the same tone a sane person would use to describe a romantic date. Of course Reborn would have some crazy assassin girlfriend; Tsuna just hadn't expected a chemical attack. And what kind of assassin posed as a pizza deliveryman, of all things?

"...I see! You can't come back because of him," Bianchi's exclamation brought Tsuna back. The pink-haired girl was glaring down at him. "Unless the Vongola Tenth dies, Reborn won't be free!"

Tsuna stared at her. "...you can have him," Tsuna offered, motioning to his tutor. Reborn shot at his feet without looking away from his drink.

"Reborn, when he's dead," Bianchi declared, wiping away her tears. "I'll come back for you!"

Bianchi disappeared out the door, only the smoking remnants of her previous assassination plot and a silent kitchen left in her wake. A generous pause later as the past few moments' events sunk in, and then Tsuna slowly turned accusing eyes onto Reborn.

Reborn met his gaze boredly. "You're going to be late, dame-Tsuna," he stated.

Tsuna shrieked as he finally realized the time, pelting out of the kitchen and up the stairs to grab his things. Nana had finished boxing up the boy's lunch, along with two extra bentou boxes; after she'd discovered Yamamoto's father had been packing additional food for Tsuna and Gokudera, she thought she should do the same. This meant that lunchtime for the three boys consisted of either a Yamamoto Tsuyoshi sushi meal or Sawada Nana homemade meal.

Reborn watched the humming matriarch of the Sawada home in consideration. "Mama," he began after a moment. Nana turned around to smile at him, a silent cue to continue. "You must be tired from doing so much housework. Why doesn't Tsuna help you cook?"

Nana eyed him, then burst into giggles.

"Reborn-chan," she managed out between laughs. "Tsu-kun can't cook!"


Tending to the home was an Omega's duty. This included menial house chores, such as cleaning and doing the laundry, as well as cooking; their Mate was the breadwinner, which left the Omega to keep the home tidy and cook the meals. In couples that did not have an Omega partner, it was acceptable for the Beta to assume the role of homemaker, and generally this fell to female Betas over male Betas.

Schools took this to heart, and it shown no more clearly than in Home Economics. For Namimori Junior High, Home Ec was an elective course; students could either attend Home Ec or Art/Music Appreciation. Alphas and Beta males were generally pushed into the latter category; Omega and Beta females into the former. Although the electives were presented as a choice, students had to be granted acceptance by the teachers leading the class, which filtered them out appropriately.

This was how Tsuna found himself in Home Ec, despite having no ability to cook or desire to learn. He'd much rather be in Art/Music Appreciation; apparently, they spent most of the time listening to random snippets of music and goofing around. Tsuna spent most of Home Ec watching his more competent peers cook or wasting ingredients in his attempts at doing the same.

Asai-sensei, the Beta teacher of Home Ec, had already given up on Tsuna months ago and now just pretended not to see him in class. In the event he was grouped up with others, his groupmates did most of the work. When it came down to individual work, Tsuna either failed horribly or failed not-too-horribly.

Even then, Tsuna understood the general principle of it all. He may abhor the reasoning behind his school putting him in Home Ec, but even he realized that cooking should be considered a basic survival skill. He couldn't live off instant noodles and takeout for the rest of his life. This was why he tried not to step on any toes in class and even made attempts at cooking.

Reborn, as he always did, had to mess everything up.

"At the suggestion of the genius Reboyama-sensei," Asai-sensei fairly gushed at the front of the class, producing a picture of said genius which was really just Reborn with a fake moustache and chef's hat. "Today we'll be making onigiri!"

They were supposed to be learning about different traditional Western dishes today. Why had they suddenly gone to onigiri? Tsuna eyed his tutor, dressed – of all things - as a large wooden spoon.

"A mafia boss should be able to make something as easy as onigiri," Reborn stated.

Tsuna glared down at him. "How are onigiri related in any way to being a mafia boss?" he hissed back.

Reborn launched himself at Tsuna's face, the wooden face of his spoon costume practically pistol whipping Tsuna across the head. Everyone in class pretended not to notice the Omega collapse to the ground with a small shriek, clearly well-trained in the art of avoidance after a week and a half of pretending not to notice how Tsuna affected the likes of Gokudera and Yamamoto.

Asai-sensei's expression dropped a bit, before a flash of terror came across her face and she resolutely continued her instructions. All the teachers in Namimori Junior High had been appraised of the 'Sawada situation', as it was being referred to; namely, they were told to ignore any strangeness about the previously docile Omega boy. Any issues with his behavior were never to be addressed, and if they as teachers had any problem with that – they could take their concerns to the head of the Disciplinary Committee himself.

Naturally, no one had any such suicidal inclinations and instead vowed to pretend everything was normal. This included Asai-sensei pretending not to notice Sawada arguing with a wooden spoon.


Nana hummed as she carried the overly-filled laundry basket down the hall, having finished folding another load of clothes. It was her own clothes this time, now smelling vaguely of the lavender-scented detergent she used for the wash. She found the smell calming, and the false scent of it tended to soothe Tsuna because then it became harder to detect his own and – now – even Reborn's or Lambo's scents.

Her home was livelier lately. It was the type of environment she'd yearned for, once upon a time – when she'd wanted a big family, wanted possibly a dozen kids she could love and raise and nurture. Reality had changed such dreams, and Nana had buried such notions years ago as she watched her child almost die on a cold hospital bed.

But now here she was, making food for four children and the number only continued to grow. Lambo was a delight; all the energy and wild imagination of a child, with a gung-ho attitude that produced interesting reactions in Tsuna. Her lovely son had always been on the quieter side, beaten down by one aspect of society or another, but only Lambo had been able to pull out such a look of fond exasperation on Tsuna's face. Nana intended to spoil the cow-print child sweet for that reason alone.

Yamamoto and Gokudera were another two mouths to feed. While neither lived in the Sawada home, they were over often enough to become common fixtures. Nana was not stupid nor blind, which she'd have to be not to see how the two absolutely adored her son. Gokudera may look like a teenage gangster, but his manners were extremely polite and his eagerness reminded her of a really adorable puppy. Yamamoto had been a spot of concern for her – an Alpha boy, of all people, trailing after Tsuna! But the athletic teen was polite and always smiling, and he never made any overtures that Tsuna found uncomfortable.

And it was Tsuna's response to these new additions that Nana watched most closely. Tsuna, who complained when Lambo got too noisy but played with him whenever he was free; Tsuna, who shuffled awkwardly as Gokudera degenerated into university-level science ramblings but made sure he ate a proper breakfast, lunch, and dinner; Tsuna, who chastised Yamamoto when he tried to start a game of catch with a still not quite healed arm but offered to cheer for him at his next school game.

Tsuna, who watched Reborn's every move with caution but allowed himself to be taught.

Reborn was an Alpha, Nana knew – and he was also not a child. There were many things in this world Nana could not understand, and in her daily life, knew better than to dwell on them. Reborn happened to be one of those things. She may never know the full story behind the baby in the suit who had come to tutor her child.

But that did not mean she could not theorize.

She knew it was unlikely to ever be confirmed, and that was okay. Being married to Iemitsu had taught Nana many things, and among those hard life lessons was that she may never have all the answers. Iemitsu used to tell her that she could have her suspicions, but that she should keep them close to herself until they were inarguably confirmed.

Nana understood the reasoning. Suspicions and assumptions made up quite a bit of her life, and confirmations very little. It's why she could always give Reborn an airy smile even as she carefully observed the developing relationship between her son and his tutor.

Nana entered her bedroom, not surprised to find Lambo rummaging through her things. The little Alpha child was a bit of an airhead, misplacing his various explosive toys here and there. Nana didn't mind, settingthe laundry basket down on her bed.

"What are you looking for, Lambo-chan?" she asked.

The boy turned a sulking expression her way, and Nana valiantly contained a giggle. Children were adorable. "The Great Lambo cannot find his grenade launcher," he reported to her. "I bet that evil mastermind Reborn hid it, fearing my wrath!"

Nana nodded good-naturedly. "I'll keep an eye out for it," she promised the boy.

Leaving the room and Lambo to his own devices, Nana went back downstairs. Lambo's toys were always brightly colored so she wasn't sure how he'd managed to lose them, but Reborn did often send the poor child flying – often crashing into neighboring homes and yards. The Sakaki housewife had stormed into Nana's yard just a few days ago, carrying Lambo by his collar and practically shoving him into Tsuna's face while loudly reprimanding him for his lax watch of the child.

The scene had been especially interesting to Nana: Lambo, who had been crying loudly at the rough treatment; Tsuna, who had registered Sakaki's actions with a faint frown; Gokudera, who had picked up on the Omega's irritation and glared at the middle-aged woman, lit cigarette between his lips and a stick of dynamite in his hand.

Sakaki had quickly backed off with stuttering apologies, fleeing without a backwards glance. Nana now had to leave the neighborhood bulletin on the woman's gate as she dashed into her house and locked the door when any of the Sawada household meandered past.

Nana courteously pretended not to be amused by it. Sakaki used to rail the hardest against her about Nana's refusal to find Tsuna an Alpha surrogate, once causing a scene at a nearby grocery store. Nana had kept then 11-year-old Tsuna behind her at the time, mostly shielding him from view as their neighbor lectured her about proper Omega rearing.

Oh, Nana was reminded, entering the kitchen and spotting the calendar tacked onto the wall. Tsu-kun's doctor's appointment is soon. She'd have to prep the home, and occupy Lambo and Reborn so that Tsuna could have his privacy. It was nice having the doctor come see them rather than the other way around, but now with more people in the home, Tsuna may be more stressed.

"Mama! Mama!" Lambo's piping voice called out excitedly, and Nana could hear thumping, tiny footsteps quickly making their way down the stairs. She couldn't help a smile; Lambo's natural exuberance was just so endearing. "The Great Lambo has made a huge discovery!"

"Oh, did you find your grenade launcher?" Nana asked, just as the child sprinted into the kitchen. Her eyes caught on what he held between his small hands, heart momentarily stopping.

Honestly, her children were going to be the death of her. Nothing but a constant parade of shocks.

"A treasure box," Lambo snickered, holding up the shiny metal box. It was plain, closer in size to a small gift box, firmly shut and locked with a miniature coded padlock. There was nothing distinctly remarkable about it, and the padlock was the kind that could be easily removed with enough time and effort.

That was fine, though. Nana hadn't needed an impossible lock, just a guarantee that the box wouldn't open because she had accidentally dropped it.

"Lambo-chan," Nana started gently, moving forward to pull the box from Lambo's hands. "This is Mama's treasure. I'm afraid you can't keep it."

Lambo's bottom lip wobbled dangerously, pretty green eyes filling with tears. "But the great Lambo found it," he said, although all his fight had left him. This was the effect she had on children, Nana suspected; she was the Mama, and her word was law within her home. Even the rambunctious Lambo understood that.

"You did, and I'm very impressed," Nana said, still smiling. It was impressive; she'd kept the box under the floorboards of her bedroom near her bedside, just as Iemitsu had taught her. She hadn't asked him why he had taught her such a trick, in just the same way she never peered at what he kept hidden under the floorboards near his side of the bed.

Marriage was all about compromise.

"Mama's treasure is a secret, Lambo-chan," Nana continued, crouching down to be more level with the child. Her smile turned conspiratorial, her words playful. "Now it's a secret between you and me."

Lambo blinked wide, innocent eyes at her. "Our secret?" he echoed.

"That's right!" Nana giggled. "And because Lambo-chan is such a good boy, I know he will definitely keep this secret and not tell anyone!"

Lambo nodded a bit hesitantly, evidently still put out he would not get the 'treasure'. Nana's smile was blinding – children really were adorable.

"But you know what, Lambo-chan?" Nana said, rising back to full height. "I have an even better treasure."

Lambo's eyes flicked from her smiling face, to the box, then back to her face. His expression was curious and eager, as she'd hoped.

"I've hidden it in Lambo-chan's favorite place," Nana winked. "Mama thinks you deserve it, so she bought you a whooooole lot!"

Lambo's face lit up, and he pivoted to go dashing back out of the kitchen with a cheery squeal. Nana made a mental note to clean up in Tsuna's room – Lambo's favorite place – once the boy found the stash of grape candy her son kept hidden in his desk drawer.

Nana turned the metal box over in her hand, the light thunking sound of the object inside barely audible in an otherwise quiet kitchen. Lambo was now safely distracted upstairs, and both her son and his tutor were out – at Tsuna's school, she suspected of the latter. She had time to herself for now.

She hadn't seen the metal box in years.

She'd thought about it every single day.


Reborn was not amused.

"Well," Tsuna hedged out hesitantly, chagrined smile affixed firmly to his face. "This is definitely one of my better attempts. It's even the right color this time!"

"It's grey," Reborn retorted, voice alarmingly droll.

Tsuna's onigiri was held between them; three mostly-rounded shapes of rice, seaweed partially disintegrated into the grossly moist grain. Tsuna's best guess was that he'd cooked the rice too soft, resulting more in porridge-quality grain rather than the appropriate stickiness needed for onigiri. Even though he'd opted for shredded salmon for the filling, some of the fish could be seen every time the shape of the onigiri began to fall apart.

Tsuna had no idea why the rice was grey. Maybe he shouldn't have tried adding sauce? Then he'd started adding salt and sugar in an attempt to balance it out, but now there was this strange grainy quality to the onigiri…

"Come on," Kaneda called out from the front of the class. "The guys are really excited for this!"

It was common for the goods produced in Home Ec to be given to their classmates in Art/Music Appreciation. Given that all of Tsuna's attempts at cooking never actually produced solid results, this would be the first time he'd actually be able to present something.

this will definitely kill someone, Tsuna thought, taking his plate of onigiri and looking down at it in consideration.

"Dame-Tsuna," Reborn intoned, and Tsuna's intuition rang the warning bells. "Your new assignment is to get someone to eat your onigiri."

Tsuna eyed him in horror. "Reborn, they'll die!" he screeched.

Reborn's flat gaze was that of sadistic expectation.

Tsuna could not hope to argue his point, ushered out by his classmates and back to their original classroom. Most of them avoided looking at him and his creation, but Tsuna could not fault them for that; it was actually kind of eerie that his onigiri didn't have a smell.

Thus it was a shock when the visible gap between himself and his peers was breached. Sasagawa Kyoko, holding her own perfectly-made onigiri, was smiling at him brightly. "Oh, yours look so interesting, Sawada-kun!" she greeted, looking at his onigiri with excitement.

Sasagawa Kyoko was pure, unadulterated sunshine. As a Beta, she didn't have a scent, but her aura was soothing and her every smile was like a bright, sunny day. It was no surprise to any who saw her that she was universally popular in their school. Tsuna never really interacted with her directly, nothing more than morning greetings in the classroom. She was genuinely nice and very pretty, but Tsuna had never entertained the idea of getting to know his classmates.

This had changed a bit, after Reborn entered his life. After Yamamoto, Tsuna found himself regarding his classmates with more open eyes instead of writing them off as quickly as he had before. So now, instead of acknowledging Sasagawa Kyoko's comment with a shrug as he would have done in the past, he actually put forth a bit more effort.

Tsuna smiled. "I guess it's like a test of courage?" he suggested in vague self-deprecation. It would take a whole lot of bravery to swallow the abomination, Tsuna figured.

Kyoko giggled, flushing a pretty pink. "That sounds fun! Maybe I'll try one too!"

Tsuna did not want to be responsible for accidentally poisoning the school idol. "I think it'd be best if you didn't," he replied hollowly.

Their group entered their classroom to the sound of enthusiastic cheers. Tsuna found great comfort in Gokudera's thoroughly unimpressed look, practically making a beeline to the unenthusiastic Beta. The moment Gokudera caught sight of him, however, the silver-haired youth shot to his feet with a blinding smile.

"Tenth! Thank you for your hard work!" Gokudera greeted boisterously.

Tsuna stubbornly refused to acknowledge the horrible silence that followed Gokudera's exclamation, followed by a hurried and awkward rush to drown out the atmosphere with meaningless chatter. Recently, his classmates had taken a peculiar attitude in regards to Tsuna and his friends: pretend nothing was happening.

It was…not very successful.

"Oh wow, Tsuna!" Yamamoto grinned, eyeing Tsuna's onigiri. There was another class-wide flinch. "What funny looking onigiri!"

"Shut your mouth, baseball-freak!" Gokudera yelled, roughly shoving the taller boy out of the way. Tsuna really wondered what the two were like when he wasn't around. How was anyone still alive in Art/Music Appreciation?

"It's fine, Gokudera-kun," Tsuna demurred, setting his plate down on the desk. "They really are funny-looking." Who will even dare to try them? Tsuna mused, agonized over Reborn's new assignment. He couldn't help but sigh over it.

Yamamoto cocked his head, curious. "What's up, Tsuna?" he asked.

"Reborn said I have to get someone to eat them," Tsuna replied tiredly. He'll probably kick my ass if no one does, but seriously, who would-

"Reborn-san said that?" Gokudera blinked. "That's easy enough, Tenth! As your right-hand, I will happily receive them!"

Tsuna stared at the bomb-happy boy. "….Gokudera-kun," he started gingerly. Oh god, this wasn't a mafia-related thing, was it? How could Tsuna talk Gokudera out of accidental food poisoning without hurting his feelings?

Murota, from a couple rows over, was watching them with a disgruntled expression. "An Alpha should be eating Sawada's food," was the barely-audible grumble. He seemed to be indicating Yamamoto with everything but words.

Naturally, Gokudera flared up. "Tenth's homemade food is wasted on this baseball-idiot!"

Yamamoto frowned. "Tsuna can give food to whoever he wants," he spoke up, tone mediating. His scent was as calming as ever, but there was something else more reminiscent of Hibari in the way Yamamoto was smiling at Murota. He looked down at Tsuna's plate of onigiri in consideration. "There are three though, so we can both have one, Gokudera," Yamamoto offered peaceably.

"But-" Tsuna spoke up, realizing with a dawning sort of dread that he wasn't going to have a hard time finding people to eat his onigiri – he was going to have a hard time convincing his foolhardy friends not to do something so obviously hazardous.

"Hana-chan," Kakei whimpered from across the classroom. "If they eat that, they're going to die!"

"Good," Kurokawa Hana snorted out, chewing on Kyoko's onigiri and refusing to look in Tsuna's direction.

Both Gokudera and Yamamoto were reaching for Tsuna's onigiri now. Tsuna despaired over how abysmal their survival instincts must be – surely every warning bell must be going off just looking at Tsuna's food! Even Tsuna's intuition was screaming at him at this point!

Before he could talk himself out of it, Tsuna smacked both boys' hands away from the plate of food. Hurt attempted to filter out onto both Gokudera's and Yamamoto's faces, but it was aborted as Tsuna scooped all three onigiri and practically shoved it into his own mouth.

…Mud was more palatable.

Tsuna choked a bit, but at the sight of his friends' wide eyes, stubbornly chewed through and swallowed his own abysmal creations. The onigiri, if it could even be called that, slid down his throat like sludge; an unpleasant after-taste, like seaweed left out in the sun, hung in his throat even after Tsuna swallowed the last bite.

Silence engulfed the classroom.

Tsuna raised one hand to his mouth. "….I think I'm going to throw up," he wheezed out.

Several people shrieked as Tsuna keeled over.

Unnoticed in a corner as the classroom devolved into chaos, Bianchi was left holding a plate of her own Poison Special Onigiri, eyeing the fallen Omega in wonder.


"I understand now," Bianchi said, tears glistening in her eyes.

Reborn stared at her, knowing what was coming next but still not really wanting to hear it. Hearing it meant acknowledging it, acknowledging it meant dealing with it, dealing with it meant coming face to face with the issue he'd been putting off for days now.

"He saved Hayato," Bianchi continued on, emotionally touched. Reborn felt the strain behind his eyes grow exponentially at the sight. "His poison cooking skills need a lot of work, but anyone who protects his family so daringly will become an admirable boss!"

Reborn had just wanted Tsuna to learn how to cook. That was it; no poison cooking, no accidental assassinations. Tsuna's abysmal cooking skills were just another hurdle to work on, and Reborn had only given Tsuna an assignment because he wanted to see who in Tsuna's immediate circle would be willing to even dare try the clearly lethal onigiri.

Gokudera had an instant reaction to any scent of food poisoning courtesy of Bianchi, and Yamamoto had natural instincts and a baseball game coming up. Both should have known better!

Reborn had expected Bianchi to slip in some assassination attempts throughout the school day, of course, and had been interested in seeing how Yamamoto and possibly Hibari reacted to it. She hadn't even gotten a chance, though, because Tsuna had poisoned himself with his own damn cooking.

Bianchi apparently found that to be a good thing.

"My heart yearns for you every day, Reborn," Bianchi said, hand over her chest. "Which is why I'll be staying here from now on. I can help tutor your student in poison cooking. Anything to help you!"

"Bianchi," Reborn started delicately. "Tsuna will not be an assassin."

"He'll be the Tenth Vongola Boss," Bianchi nodded, wiping tears from her eyes, expression becoming determined. It was painfully obvious to Reborn she had no idea what Reborn was trying to imply; for a Beta female that had been raised since a young age to be an assassin, it was not a surprise Bianchi did not understand what Reborn's real mission was.

But still, she should have figured it out easily enough. Sawada Tsunayoshi was an Omega, for god's sakes.

Reborn glanced behind himself, where Tsuna lay sprawled out on his bed. Reborn had Yamamoto carry the slight boy home; Gokudera would have happily done so, but when Bianchi made herself visible in Tsuna's homeroom, the dynamite-wielder collapsed into a phantom-pained heap. Yamamoto had thankfully made himself useful, carrying both Tsuna and Gokudera back to the Sawada residence, earning himself more than his fair share of swooning fans and terrified looks from onlookers who recognized just who exactly the baseball player was lugging around.

It was not lost on Reborn just what exactly was happening at Namimori Junior High. Why exactly the Disciplinary Committee was involved with Tsuna was a mystery, but getting a straight answer out of Hibari Kyouya would be nigh-impossible. Reborn wasn't going to even waste his time trying to beat answers out of a kid, even if the kid in question essentially ruled over an entire town.

"REBORN!" The bedroom door slammed open as Lambo vaulted inside. On the bed, Tsuna's lax expression became a pained grimace, slowly coming back to consciousness at the ruckus. "PREPARE TO DIE!"

Reborn had been reasonably successful at tutoring Tsuna in various school subjects. With the proper motivation – i.e. a gun to the back of the head – Tsuna became quite diligent with his schoolwork. He even now had study sessions with Gokudera and Yamamoto, which Reborn was still trying to figure out if that counted as a victory for himself or not.

Reborn absently deflected the gunfire with a Leon Shield, then grabbed the rocket launcher from the hands of the Bovino wannabe assassin, firing it at him and sending the child flying out the open bedroom window.

A proper Omega didn't have study sessions with Alphas, after all, but Yamamoto was a prospective Mate and natural hitman. Then again, proper Alphas didn't offer to submit to Omegas, even if the Omega in question did jump off a roof to save them.

Somewhere along the way in tutoring Tsuna to be a valuable Omega mate, Reborn had hit a snag. Tsuna was turning into a valuable Omega mate: he'd have decent grades once Reborn was through with him and now every prospective mate Reborn had identified so far was showing interest in Tsuna.

But it wasn't working out quite how Reborn had expected. Yamamoto's and Hibari's interactions with Reborn's student were proof enough of that.

Tsuna sat up in his bed with a groan. "Wh…What happened? And what is this taste in my mouth?"

Reborn's lips twitched.

Who'd have thought tutoring an Omega could be so entertaining?


Lambo came to with a certain grogginess, features pinched into a disgruntled expression. Shards of glass from where he'd crashed through the window were stuck in his hair, so he stood up on wobbly feet and shook out what he could. He would have started bawling from the myriad of small scratches and light bruising, but the air was- different here. Where ever 'here' was, it was nothing like the Sawada home: most of the light had been choked out by thick curtains, and the air was stifled in an unpleasant smell.

"…Mama?" Lambo called out hesitantly into the dark.

There was no kind voice in answer, but there were footsteps. A sweetness swung into the air, barely detectable under the omnipresent stench, but enough so that Lambo felt himself relax minutely; the smell reminded him vaguely of Tsuna, although it was different, like comparing lollipops to jelly chews.

"…you came in through the window," came a quiet voice. It was softer than even Tsuna's voice when the older boy became scary. Lambo wasn't afraid of it, though, especially as the speaker finally stepped into view.

A boy around Tsuna's age, with wild curls of red hair that framed white-rimmed glasses. He was vastly different from Tsuna, though; his posture was more curled over, thin arms wrapped around himself, his sweet scent so much stronger that it drowned out the overhanging stench when he finally came within a meter of Lambo.

"Who're you?" Lambo demanded of the other male.

The redhead curled more into himself. The bandages wrapped around his arms loosened at the movement, unspooling to reveal heavily bruised arms. The sweet scent sharpened, but Lambo could not understand it; more than anything, the blood soaking into the bandages caught his attention.

What was this?

"The window's broken," the redhead whimpered. "He's going to be so mad. You have to leave."

The older male reached out to Lambo. The last of the bandages fell away, revealing a myriad of marks that made no sense to young Lambo.

"Come on," the redhead urged. "I'll take you home."

Lambo's brows furrowed. "What's wrong with you?" he asked with the ignorant curiosity of a child not understanding what exactly they were looking at. The redhead followed Lambo's wide-eyed gaze to his own mess of injuries, a weak, bitter smile coming to his lips.

The older male rested one hand on his own throat, where his Alpha's Mark branded him in clear view.

"It's not me that's the problem," Irie Shouichi murmured.


End Chapter 9


A/N: Daily Life Arc has a few more chapters, because there's just so many damn characters introduced, holy shit.

But yeah, Tsuna is not going to be the only Omega in this story. He is also not going to be the only BAMF&Furious Omega in this story. Everyone's angry, it's just taking awhile to see that LMAO.

Notes on Gokudera Hayato:

-Yes, Gokudera was the one to give the Nezu documents to Hibari. You'll see what he does with the rest of his research as the story progresses.

-Gokudera's character and history will be further expanded on, but like canon, it will take awhile. His character arc was one of the longest for the side characters, after all. Just know that he did grow up in the mafia and it wasn't exactly a positive experience.

Notes on First and Second Genders:

-Obviously sexism exists here. It is also intersectional; for example, Alpha Males generally have more social advantages than Alpha Females. Beta Males and Beta Females are 'secondary' to Alphas, so while they may not enjoy the same advantages their Alpha counterparts do, the fact is they are the builk of the population so they fill out a lot of societal positions. Generally, Beta Males fare better in the workforce than Beta Females, but the disparity isn't as huge as it is between non-Omegas and Omegas. Omega Females fare better than Omega Males, but both have the shortest end of the shittiest stick.

Notes on Irie Shouichi:

-I love Irie.

-Omega Age of Consent is based on Presentation, not their actual age. This is very important when it comes to Irie. And even though I'm the one writing it, it makes me furious.

Please be kind and drop a review. :)