If Reborn had been (sadistically) expecting some sort of dramatic, over-the-top reaction from Tsuna, he would have been sorely disappointed.
"Eh? A kid? Why is there a kid here?"
Snapping out of his admiration-filled trance for his mate's eyes (theywerereallyprettyokaywhattheheckie) and body freezing up at those words, Reborn stared at the bruised up boy lying the floor because what the fuck. Does this idiot really not know who he was? His own soulmate?
"Um, hey, kid. How did you get here? Are you lost? Where are your parents?"
Apparently not.
"Dame-Tsuna," he heard himself growl out, an invisible tick starting to form on his jaw, making him twitch slightly. "Don't tell me that you really have no idea who I am?" This was unbelievable. Reborn could just about say that he was offended that his mate, however suitable he might be as a Sky, was dense enough to miss out on the timers on his arms counting down and have the guts to not know who he was.
"Hey! How did you know that name?" the brunet shouted indignantly, face going a delightful shade of red in embarrassment. "And I really don't know who you are! You're the one that appeared out of nowhere in my home!"
Though Reborn thought that it had looked cute, he figured that the current problem at hand was much more important (and insulting to him) than that pout his mate had on. And of course, it was a problem that had to be corrected. Immediately.
Jumping up, he aimed a powerful kick at an unsuspecting Tsuna's head, sending the boy flying head first towards the adjacent wall. "Word gets around, Dame-Tsuna," the baby hitman replied with a smirk as he landed, not even wincing at the resounding crash and watched as the stunned boy slid down the wall in pain. This counted as a small retribution, anyways. "Though, I never quite imagined you to be so thickheaded as to forget about an encounter with a soulmate."
The spiky-haired brunet had gotten back up at this point, eyes wide and teary with shock and pain, and looked as if he was about to say something when Nana came hurrying down the stairs, looking worried.
"Tsu-kun!" she cried, voice a slightly scolding tone, concerned eyes focusing on her only son. "What was that noise? Did you fall again? That sounded like an-oh!" Stopping short as she spotted Reborn, she shifted her attention to the supposedly lost child immediately.
"Ara, who's kid is this?" Before either of them could answer, Nana proceeded to walk towards Reborn with a bright smile on her face, all traces of worry gone from her face as she crouched to face him at eye-level. "Hello," she greeted politely, still smiling kindly. "What's your name? Are you lost? How did you get here, little boy?"
'And this must be Sawada Nana, huh?' Giving the woman a subtle once-over, Reborn thinks that he could see, if only a little, where Tsuna had gotten his looks from.
"Ciaossu," the hitman greeted after a moment, tilting his fedora in respect. "I apologize for the intrusion, Sawada-san. I am Reborn, the home tutor that was hired just this morning. I look forward to work with you and your son, so please take good care of me."
/
While Reborn was busy being polite and cozying up to a very amused and taken Nana, Tsuna was in the background, looking and feeling very much spooked and taken-aback at the sudden turn of events that morning. But at Reborn's sudden glance his way, he managed to snap out of his daze and gather the courage to interrupt because just as this could easily be one of the top 'What The Fuck' moments in his life, he wanted answers.
Because who the fuck had abnormally strong babies with chameleons on their heads kicking them into the wall in the morning before proceeding to insinuate that they were that person's soulmate, of all things, only for that person to find out later on that that said baby was going to end up their home tutor?
Noone, that's who. Well, except for him, apparently.
"H-Hold up!" Tsuna shouted suddenly, drawing the attention of the other two, but most importantly Reborn's. "Reborn, was it? Look, what did you mean by that when you said that you're my soulmate? Because it's simply impossible; you're just a baby, you know?"
'Albeit a very violent baby,' he thought, shifting uncomfortably at the sudden glare that he was shot.
"Dame-Tsuna," Reborn sounded incredibly condescending, making Tsuna feel thoroughly chastised all of a sudden. "Maybe if you had cared to look at your timers every night before you sleep, you would have noticed that there was one that was on its way to being zeroed as of yesterday. But as you haven't, judging by the insulting way you reacted to me just now, you definitely wouldn't have known that I am your mate if I hadn't pointed it out."
Silence reigned for a good one minute before Tsuna, face lighted the same color as his mother's apron, moved to quickly shift his pajama sleeves up before hastily tearing off the armbands covering his numerous timers. This prompted a raised eyebrow from Reborn, but thankfully, he didn't say anything, only choosing to be startled when he saw exactly how many timers the other had decorating his arms like small barcodes.
As Tsuna ran his eyes over printed skin, searching frantically for proof that the baby was indeed his mate, Nana had decided that it was better for her to leave them alone in favor of helping her Tsu-kun prepare his uniform. At least when they were done, Tsuna would be able to get to school on time without any more delays. Plus, it looked like Reborn had something to tell her son, anyways, judging by the impatient and somewhat wary gaze he held for him.
Tsuna, on the other hand, had searched each and every inch of his skin before finally finding it. On the area right below his elbow of his left arm were a set of numbers that had zeroed, proof of what the baby had said about him being his mate.
'Well, shit. No wonder he kicked me,'
"Finally found it, you brat?" Sucking his teeth, Reborn walked over to the stilled teen and started to inspect his arms, whistling lowly as he counted a total of twenty timers. "Oi, Dame-Tsuna," he called, pinching the small brunet for attention. When he got it, he pointed to the three neat rows of zeroed timers in curiosity. "Who're these three people?"
Turning his head to face the other way, Tsuna tried to hide the small dusting of pink on his cheeks. Oh, the baby has already seen him embarrassed, but for some reason, it felt necessary to hide from Reborn's piercing gaze. "They're my schoolmates." He muttered, blushing further. "I just met them recently, too."
"Really?" This piqued his interest. Maybe…
"Well, mind telling me who these people are and how you met them?"
"W-well, you're one of my soulmates, and you're going to have to meet them eventually so I don't see why not." But although he said this, he was still hesitant in telling Reborn everything. Why, though, he didn't know, but the buzzing in the back of his mind was back and it made him a little wary of Reborn's intentions.
So Tsuna decided to tell him a little bit of what happened instead. He'd learnt to not take that buzzing in his head for granted any more, anyways.
"Let's see... Well, one of them is Yamamoto Takeshi, and he's from my year and is in the same class as I am. He's… he's just become very dear to me. The other is Hibari Kyoya, the prefect in my school that likes to 'bite people to death' whenever they break the school rules. Ah, and I met my third soulmate, Sasagawa Ryohei, on the same day I met Hibari-san, too. It's really a long story."
The hitman hummed, before filing those names away into the back of his mind, reminding himself to do some extra bit of surveillance on these three and a background search on each of them later on. They could be potential Guardians, after all.
"Hey, Reborn?"
"What is it?" The kid was avoiding eye contact.
"Um… I hope that this won't offend you, but…"
"What is it, Dame-Tsuna? Spit it out. A good Boss should never hesitate on what he wants to say."
"Boss? But- but I'm not a Boss-"
"Hurry up and spit it out, Dame-Tsuna."
Twitching a little at the commanding tone, Tsuna tried to gather his words once again. "W-well, since you're my soulmate and all, I know I'm required to…um… d-do some… soulmate-y things with you-"
'Jesus fuck. 'Soulmate-y things'? Really, Dame-Tsuna? How embarrassing can you get? He's a child! A GODDAMNED CHILD SO FUCKING HELL JUST SAY THAT YOU DON'T WANT TO BE CHARGED WITH PEDOPHILIA ALREADY!'
Tsuna thinks that his subconscious was getting a little too sassy and sarcastic lately.
"-but um… I just, I wouldn't be able to do it, you see?"
"What the ever-loving fuck are you talking about, Dame-Tsuna?" Honestly, watching the younger boy squirm and trip over his words was cute and all, but over time it just got annoying. And as funny as it was playing with him, Reborn's facial muscles were threatening to twitch and cringe at how bad Tsuna was handling this already.
"I'm saying I don't want to go to jail, Reborn."
There, that deadpanned tone was much better. See? He knew he had it in him.
Snorting, Reborn turned away and lowered his fedora just enough to cast a shadow over his eyes. "You shouldn't be the one saying that, Dame-Tsuna." Before Tsuna could ask what he meant by that and could he stop being so vague please thank you very much, Reborn jumped up onto his head, getting comfortable in that surprisingly soft nest of hair. "Well, we'll talk later. But for now, you have to get to school or you'll be late. Mama's already gotten your clothes ready."
"'Mama'? What on Earth-"And as if just registering what was said, Tsuna jumped up, panicking. "Holy shit." He whispered, face paling rapidly. "Hibari-san is going to kill me."
/
"Omnivore, where have you been?"
Shivering at the frightening tone Hibari was using, Tsuna took a step back before attempting to explain himself. "W-wait, Hibari-san! I have a very valid reason so please don't bite me!" Despite being crippled, he had no doubts that the prefect would be able to take him down without even breaking a sweat. Besides, the glint on that tonfa did not look friendly at all.
Glaring at the brunet, Hibari grunted before letting his arms fall to his side, deciding to let the little animal speak for once. This could count as a favor repaid in full after the delicious meal yesterday, anyways. "You have thirty seconds to explain yourself, omnivore, and it better be good."
"Thirty seconds?! But-"
"Twenty-eight seconds."
And so Tsuna launched himself into the spiel of explaining the events that morning, summarizing as much as he could so that Hibari wouldn't kill him for wasting his time and good graces. Throughout his explanation, however, he couldn't help but notice Kyoya's eyes flickering to the side for a moment before focusing on him once more. Though curious, he didn't dare ask as he really didn't feel like getting bitten today, especially with Reborn hiding somewhere, watching him. Luckily enough, Hibari had only demanded that he meet the hitman soon and that he arrive early next time, saying something about carnivores in his territory before walking off, coat billowing dramatically behind him in the wind.
Tsuna had almost scoffed at that, because aside from the fact that Reborn was his soulmate, he was only a baby pretending to be his tutor. What was so carnivorous about that?
(He had promptly ignored the fact that Reborn had also single handedly kicked his ass against the wall that morning, deeming it to be some sort of fluke or hallucination.)
/
Ryohei was on his way to the boy's restroom when he spotted a shadow flashing through the tree leaves, and briefly wondered if he was hallucinating. Of course, as any curious young teenager would, he had headed towards the window to peer out at the said tree before squinting at the leaves in question and straining his ears to hear any sign of rustling.
Eyes raking the tree from top to bottom and finding nothing as a result, Ryohei had leaned back and scratched his head before figuring that maybe he was too tired from his extreme activities that morning. He'd woken up at 5a.m, 1 hour earlier than usual before starting his jog around town, after all.
"Maa, I guess I should start listening to Kyoko and tone down a little if I'm starting to imagine things now." Shrugging, the boxer turned back around, throwing the event from his mind as he proceeded once more towards men's laboratory, never once spotting a glinting pair of pitch black eyes watching him from the shadows before disappearing completely.
/
If he were to think about it, everyone has had those days where simply being around people could send them into a bad mood as fast as Hibari could smell a bunch of crowding teenagers in his school. But being irritated was something Yamamoto just did not do and yet…
Here he was.
Irritated as all heck, with suddenly annoying teammates and fans cheering and yelling at him from the sidelines, causing such a ruckus and headache for him instead of the usual (rather egoistic) thrilling adrenaline that was supposed to be coursing through his veins. And when Yamamoto couldn't even bring himself to figure out why he was like that in the first place, it only served to make him doubly pissed. Which also made him pissed. Shortly, it was like a never-ending circle of pissy Yamamoto thoughts running through his wired mind.
The prickling sensation of being watched didn't help his mood much, either.
('Don't be idiotic. There are tons of people watching you already, so what's one more?')
Wiping his brow, Takeshi tried once more to breathe, to calm his too-sensitive nerves and to focus. Focus on the ball. The baseball.
The sound of the ball being loaded and the weight of the all-too-familiar baseball bat in his hands.
His muscles being pulled and straining and he lifted the bat up and got ready to swing.
The strangely satisfying 'whoosh' the ball made when it was spat out of the machine.
The thundering crack as he hit the ball and sent it flying, making him feel the thrill of baseball once more-
A pair of piercing, pitch black eyes that looked far too sharp and dangerous to be coming from a baby.
(There. Someone's there.)
…
No. He was gone.
The crowd was cheering louder, gasping, hollering, but Yamamoto didn't care. His mind was screaming at him, irritation suddenly gone, replaced with sudden chills up his spine. 'Gone! Danger! HIDE! Danger!' his mind screamed, alarms in his head going off and his hair rising on his skin. 'Hide?' the dazed boy wonders from the rush of sudden adrenaline. 'But why? He's not even here, and I don't even know who it is.'
And Takeshi thinks that if he should ever meet that person again, he would have reason to be afraid. Though for now, he reckons that he should stick to carrying his bat with him everywhere he goes.
/
Reborn was amused and though he'd never admit it, he was just a tiny bit impressed. For being just a bunch of civilian brats, they really had some sharp senses, huh? Leon flicked his tongue and rumbled, seemingly disapproving of his master's way of testing the Vongola heir's future Guardians. At this, the hitman scoffed and eyeballed his pet. "They're not to be soft, you ridiculous lizard. A Guardian must always be aware of their surroundings in order to protect the Boss, and if they had failed even just that…" Trailing off, Reborn sat down on the branch of a tree he'd chosen in favor of spying on the baseball kid, leaning forwards before staring at the shaken figure of the said kid.
Maybe he'd went too far with the small bit of leaked Killing Intent.
"Although I must say that those three did pretty well in spotting me, eh?" Scratching Leon's head, he hummed in slight satisfaction. "Especially that kid, Yamamoto Takeshi. That boy's got some natural instinct of an assassin. Maybe I could put that to use…"
As he mused, Reborn wondered if it would be all too soon to call in that favor he had hidden away in Italy. Shaking his head, the baby glanced at the sky before looking back at his Sky's potential Rain Guardian. 'No, it'd be best if the boy were to come now. It'd be bad to leave him alone for a long period of time unsupervised, after all. I'd hate to have his sister being annoying afterwards.' Having made up his mind, he murmured a small command, feeling the lizard in his hand transform into a small, green phone.
'Besides,' Reborn thought, searching for the number he wanted. 'This could help Tsuna in his training to become Boss and maybe that boy would be able to find something in Tsuna, too. God knows he needs it anyways.'
Reborn was still watching Yamamoto pack his things when the dial tone clicked, signaling that the other person had picked up.
"Chi cazzo è questo e come avete avuto il mio numero?" Really, this child should learn how to curb that temper of his soon before he got into serious trouble. Not that it was any of Reborn's business, of course.
Choosing to speak in Japanese instead, Reborn teased him. "Feisty as ever, aren't you?"
"Bastard!" Ouch. Eardrums. Though, the Arcobaleno was tempted to snicker at how fast the other had switched his choice in language, if only just to curse him out. "I'd better have an answer in five seconds before I find you and blow your ass up I swear to God-"
"Shut up, brat. You're either really stupid or suicidal to have the guts to threaten the Greatest Hitman in the world, huh?" What could he say? He really loved playing around with his sla-students.
The quiet on the other end was somewhat priceless, as usual. "Re-Reborn-san?" came a fearful whisper from the other side of the phone. "I-Is that really you, Reborn-san?"
"It is." Somehow, after hearing that meek tone, bullying the other didn't seem as fun anymore. Sighing, he cut off the boy's sudden onslaught of apologies with a growl. "Stop apologizing, brat. A good Guardian must always own up to his or her actions and back up what they say. Though apologizing is good, learn to man up a little."
(Like he was one to talk.)
"That is sending so many mixed messages, Reborn-san… And 'Guardian'? Reborn-san, what are you talking about? You know that I'm not a Guardian so if this is some kind of silly prank-"
"A 'prank', Gokudera? Do you really think that I would call you up via Leon just to play a stupid prank on you? That I have that much free time as that I would call you just to joke about Guardianship as if it weren't important to you? That I would stoop so low as to shit on your dreams?"
"N-no…"
Reborn grunted. "Thought so. Now, let me explain before you jump to any conclusions, you little shit."
/
The bell had rung, finally signaling the long-awaited time of temporary freedom for students from the hell that they call classes. Which, in Sawada Tsunayoshi's case, was practically true.
The whole morning had consisted of him being tripped and pushed around by the usual bullies; though it was much more subtle than usual, it still happened. Not only that, there was the usual hateful whispering, snickering and mocking behind his back, but Tsuna wasn't as worried about that as he was about the teachers calling him out just to 'make an example out of him', apparently.
Right. Like he'd be buying any of their bullshit any time soon.
Yamamoto was worried, of course. He had seen the scratches and scuffle marks on his pants where he'd fallen, and was about to go 'confront' some people when Tsuna managed to talk him into quelling his anger for the time being because really, he didn't need anyone getting hurt on his behalf.
Takeshi hadn't seemed to understand when he'd explained this to him, but he had promised, so Tsuna didn't really dwell much on that topic afterwards.
"Hey Tsuna, wanna go to the roof and have lunch there instead? I can't eat with all these people around me, ya know? It's too noisy. Oh, we can get Onii-san and Hibari-san to join us, too, if you want. Though I think Hibari-san is already there. It's usually his favorite go-to spot in the school, you know? I figured we could all go there and talk while we eat."
Which basically translated into: "Can we get the fuck out of here before I lose my cool and kill everyone here with a rusty knife? Also, you need to tell us who's picking on you so we can beat the shit out of them afterwards and not tell you about it because you're too cute to be worrying about scum like them."
Thankfully, Tsuna, being as oblivious as his mother, hadn't picked up on that translation and had accepted it for what it had seemed to be: an invitation to have lunch on the roof. So off they went to find the oldest of the two Sasagawas, which wasn't too hard at all anyways because one would need to be deaf and blind to not notice the very loud and bright presence the other had.
Well, inviting the white-haired boxer had turned out to be easy as the request was accepted almost immediately, with Ryohei claiming that any extreme time spent with his mate was time well-spent.
Of course, a too-humble Tsuna hadn't agreed to that statement, but Takeshi (obviously) had.
They continued on to the roof after that, following Yamamoto's hunch that the prefect was already there. "Say, Tsuna," the boxer had said after a moment, turning to him with a curious look in his eyes. "Kyoko told me that you were the one that made that delicious bento yesterday. Is that true?"
"It is," replied Tsuna, slight hesitation and embarrassment tinging his voice. "I'd thought I'd try searching and asking around for what kind of food each of you liked personally just for fun, but after finding out that you guys had less than healthy habits, I did my best to prepare them as a sort of nutritious yet filling meal so you guys don't have to go starving until recess."
"It worked, I think, but since I couldn't find any information on what you'd specifically like, I made do with the idea of sandwiches. I hope you enjoyed them anyways, Onii-san."
Aside from the booming praises and the tinkling sound of laughter that filled the hall immediately after Tsuna had finished his small explanation, nothing else was heard from the trio as they made their way to the roof.
"Has he told you two?"
It was the first sentence that Hibari had spoken since the moment they'd arrived and frankly, they didn't know if they should be glad that the prefect had spoken to them at all or be wary of the question being asked itself. They decided to go with the latter.
"Who was supposed to tell us what, Hibari-san?" asked Yamamoto bravely.
"Tsunayoshi. He met another soulmate this morning,"
Accompanying that sudden, totally unexpected reveal was the sound of chopsticks clattering noisily to the floor as Yamamoto and Ryohei both looked at a gawking, red-faced Tsuna in surprise, jaws dropping open in shock. Ryohei's sudden energetic shout of "That's EXTREME, Tsuna!" only served to make the said brunet go redder, but bless that boy for trying.
"So the omnivore didn't tell you, then." Was it him, or did Hibari sound like he was gloating? Fortunately, the glare Takeshi sent the smirking prefect was missed only by Tsuna, but Ryohei had caught it and had looked on in interest. "That does means I was the first to know, doesn't it?"
'Oh,' Ryohei had thought, excitement sparking. 'It's an extreme competition.'
"Yeah, well, only because you forced it out of me," grumbled the first-year softly, but definitely loud enough to be heard by the rest of them. The grin on Takeshi's face then was absolutely lethal.
"Yeah, Number 2," Hibari twitched, and if looks could kill, the other boy would have already been buried six feet under and then some. However, Takeshi only brushed it off, already quickly getting used to the glares. "It's not nice to force people, you know?"
"Herbivore…" the skylark growled, and the tell-tale silvery glint of a tonfa appeared. "I'll bite you to death."
And such was the scene to where Reborn came to witness a laughing Yamamoto Takeshi being chased on the roof by one bloodthirsty Hibari Kyoya while Sasagawa Ryohei cheered the both of them on, hollering something about a 'manly competition' with Sawada Tsunayoshi sitting in the back, calling out once in a while to make sure no one was about to get hurt before resuming his role of a confused, worried yet happy audience.
'Really,' Reborn mused from the shadows yet once again, taking in the entire scene. 'You've got quite the Family there, huh, Tsuna? And you're not even a complete set yet.' Focusing onyx eyes on light, golden-brown ones, the hitman smirked.
"Oh, how I do look forward to spending time with you in the future, my dearest Sky."
SO!
Here I am with the new chapter, and I'm really sorry for making you wait. Truthfully, I wanted to post something earlier but I kinda got blocked from my muse and I think its because I work her too much nowadays. But she's back now so no worries.
Anyways, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter as much as you guys did with the previous ones and as usual, thank you guys so much for the lovely comments because they're really part of the main reason why I keep writing. :D You guys are already awesome for keeping someone as lazy as I am motivated enough to complete a story so yeah there's that and I'm embarrassed now so I'll stop.
Also, Yhaelle-chii! Good luck on your preliminary exams, yeah? Wish ya all the best :DDD
Have a nice day/night!