Tsuna (4 (5))
Tsuna's first friend that wasn't ancient and actually human, was Yamamoto Takeshi.
They met at Takeshi's mother's funeral.
Takeshi was mourning, incredibly sad, and lonely despite his father's best efforts to be there for him.
Yamamoto Tsuyoshi was a brilliant man, even with his prior occupation. But he was still human and also weighed down by his own grief.
And Takeshi, standing there and clutching his stick of incense, just didn't understand.
Why did everyone around him say 'you should smile, that's what your mother would want!' when, really, he just wanted to do the exact opposite?
She wasn't around to scold him for sneaking out with her favourite baseball and subsequently break their neighbour's window, immediately take him out to play and eat ice-cream and whisper in his ear, bright and cheerful, about how old crotchety Yamanaka needed more fun in his life. She wasn't around to help him steal slices of dad's sushi behind his back and giggle as his dad made a show of searching for them, hiding in their pillow fortress.
What was the point of smiling when the source was gone?
In one world, Takeshi would come to the conclusion that it was so no one needed to worry about him and eventually learn to bury his grief under a wide grin, developing a festering habit as his motto became 'grin and bear it' until the strain of social cues and baseball became too much.
In this world, a wondering wizard provided him with an answer.
"There's lots of types of smiles, and I think you just lost one of them; the one you share with your mama."
Takeshi blinked at the kid in a dark navy with a star pattern robe with wide sleeves, a gnarled old staff, pointy hat and long fake beard that trailed almost to his feet. He looked almost ridiculous, if it weren't for the bright amber eyes staring right into his. "You still have other smiles though, and you'll make new ones, when you encounter other things to be happy about."
"What if I don't?"
The wizard tilted his head, his pointy hat slid over an eye in the process. "I'll make them." A wide smile could be seen behind the fake beard. "Tsuna will make things for you to be happy about!"
Takeshi felt his eyes sting and he quickly scrubbed an arm over them even as a small hand came to rest firmly on his shoulder.
Then, soft as the slightest breeze, "...I miss her."
Tsuyoshi wondered where the little wizard came from, but as his son moved to clutch the other child in a desperate hug, shoulders shuddering in a way Tsuyoshi had been trying to coax out of him since his wife's death, he couldn't help but feel a little magic was at work here.
Tsuna hugged his new friend just as fiercely and smiled as he pressed a finger against the tip of Takeshi's incense, releasing a steady stream of smokey wisteria scent.