Manga Chapter 27

The limo cut through the streets of Namimori in utter silence, the type so prevailing that it seemed to absorb all sound around it. Reborn sat beside Dino in the cabin with his eyes closed and his arms crossed, deep in thought while Dino's mind was oddly still as he stared into the tinted partition before dragging his eyes down to his hand opposite Reborn and watched his trembling fingers. Clenching his hand tightly and releasing in turns did nothing to stop his shaking.

The driver stopped the car in the underground parking lot of the hotel and Dino got out with Reborn hopping on his shoulder a moment later. Forcing his body to move through the open hallways, Dino could only grit his teeth and focus on putting one foot in front of the other. As they reached the top suite, one of Dino's men welcomed them in with a hospitable smile before offering "Vino? From home?"

Dino nearly muttered a prayer of thanks when his voice didn't crack "Brady." There was a waver to his voice that made the other man's smile drop as he quickly grabbed the bottle and poured a glass, one which disappeared down Dino's throat in a single motion. A second glass was poured before Dino turned to Reborn and held up his glass as an offer.

The hitman hopped off his student's shoulder "No, thank you." Allowing himself a small sigh, Reborn addressed the other man in the room with a command "Step out. Dino and I need to discuss something in private." The man complied but only after Dino nodded.

Having settled himself on one of the paired couches, Dino watched Reborn hop over the coffee table to the other couch and asked bluntly "What the hell is Tsunayoshi Sawada?" Prompted by Reborn's silence, Dino continued "I've been the target of Xanxus' anger and fought Squalo but what happened back there…I've never felt like goddamned prey."

"Sawada is a…unique entity." Tiny hands wove their fingers together and settled on crossed legs as Reborn tried to answer the question "I will tell you what I know, which isn't much." Staring at the beginning was easier than Reborn expected "When Vongola Ottavo took the throne she started a project to find Primo's line, which you know Nana hails directly from. When he found her, Nono decided that having Nana involved would reinforce the unity of the famiglia and he inducted her as one of his advisors. The idea was that she would stay in Italy for some time then return to Japan."

Dino asked mechanically "But she never left?"

Reborn rubbed his face "No, we were told that she had already settled her affairs in Japan. We were told that she spoke to Tsuna about joining the Mafia-we were told he was 15 and decided not to come of his own accord." There was disgust in his voice as he repeated the lies they were given. "After that, it was less than a year before she was deeply integrated into the leadership, then Nono's three biological sons died and Xanxus led his coup. Nono was staggered by his loss and retired which meant that Nana stepped in and became Decima. Shortly after that, Nana forbid surveillance on her son because it could draw attention to a vulnerable civilian."

As the third glass of brady started to relax him with its warmth, Dino asked "That doesn't explain him though. That only brings more questions like who raised him?"

"I don't know." Reborn answered honestly. "What I've been able to find don't extend far enough back and it's something I haven't been able to pry out of him. What I can say for certain is that whoever helped him in the beginning didn't do so for long, a few years at most, and then he was forced to be independent and support himself financially-which is where you come in."

Dino nodded before gesturing to a folder on the table "That's the information we were able to get." Both of them staired at the plain manilla but neither made any move to open it for several seconds with Reborn reluctantly reaching out for the information. Dino started hesitantly "You were right, the Hibari clan controls the underground through the Momokyokai group, allowing them to work almost unhindered. In return for their blessing, the Momokyokai keep any undesirable organizations out of the area."

Holding the still unopened file, Reborn commented "And hold the monopoly on illegal activities in the city."

Dino nodded, now almost unsure "Until recently. It seems that several police officers snuck behind their superiors in order to "purge" the group. These officers took several high-ranking members into custody." Tapping his whip against his thigh in a show of nerves, Dino added "The Hibari clan has come down on the police, and these officers specifically, very harshly. I was able to speak to one of the men in prison about Tsuna though, it seems that the Hibaris knew that Tsuna was on his own and ordered the group to find him a position-the Momokyokai didn't have any problem with that since they liked to use children as runners…from what I understand it's about police suspicion. Anyway, that was how Tsuna started with the group and they constructed his run in with his other job. I would suspect that Tsuna didn't even know that he was working for a shell company."

Reborn read the final page with a slight down tilt of the lips "So the Momokyokai dissolved most of their businesses in order to avoid detection until the Hibaris dealt with the police. And Tsuna lost both his jobs in the process."

"As much as I hate to say it, I think the situation was almost engineered to make him lose his job. If the police had gotten more information, then Tsuna could have been arrested, if the Momokyokai hadn't lost anyone than the higher-ups in the police force would have gotten involved, and if the Hibari clan had stepped in then the entire town would have shut down."

Agreeing with his former student, Reborn only said "This is helpful but doesn't solve the problem of what to do next."

Dino swirled his fourth glass of brandy and suggested "I think it would be good for Tsuna and I to speak on different…more relaxed terms." Reborn looked at Dino with his emotionless black eyes, but the message was loud and clear "Look, I know things didn't go great this time and part of that was because I had no idea that he would react so defensively. If I can talk to him as one unwilling heir to another, then maybe I can get him to warm up a bit or at least get him to understand that he doesn't need to fight me."

Reborn mulled the idea over and found a certain merit to it, albeit one with slim chances "Alright, that seems possible. I'll give you some information that might help." Dino leaned in knowing that whatever Reborn said, the hitman would have a reason "Do not mess with the house, Tsuna spends a lot of time and energy on keeping it repaired-damage angers him. Do not mention the Vongola or his parents, for obvious reasons. Do not mention any variation of subordinates. And be straightforward with him."

Dino nodded with a plan already forming in his head.

After school the next day, Dino was waiting by the gate for Tsuna who he greeted with a warm smile. Tsuna gave him a look of absolute indifference as he waved off the two boys following him without stopping and tossed back a bland "What do you want Dino?"

Keeping pace easily, Dino replied cheerfully "I wanted to talk with you. I know we didn't get off on the best foot but I think that if we get to know each other, things might be better."

"Be my guest" was the tepid response.

Not allowing his cheer to dim, Dino prodded "Aw, don't be like that."

Tsuna stopped and turned before looking at Dino with a gaze that could best be described as 'unimpressed' "Alright, look. I know you're trying for some comradery crap but our situations are different." At the stunned looked on the older boy's face, Tsuna rolled his eyes and continued walking "It's not hard to figure out. Reborn called you here to help train me after all."

Dino's mouth opened with a half-formed retort but Reborn's words from the previous night bounced around his head. Instead, Dino nodded "Alright, I can see how you would figure that out, not like it was a secret, and you are right. Now the question is how do you think we're different? From where I'm standing, neither of us want/wanted to be the head of our famiglias but don't really have a choice. We both got attached to the calamity that is Reborn and now we're both bosses, as much as we didn't want to be."

Tsuna wheeled on him in an instant "You're looking at it from a limited perspective, so limited I would call it forced." Tsuna's face made it obvious that he was leashing his emotions tightly, but which emotions was a mystery "Okay, so neither of us want to be bosses. The difference was that you were given things by the mafia. It took almost everything away from me. It gave you and your family money, respect, and power. You grew up with an understanding of what the mafia was and your place in it."

Dino read the look on the younger boy's face before agreeing "That is true…"

"For me, the mafia was something that took away my parents, took away my family. It took my childhood. The only thing I have left is a house that's always on the brink of falling apart." There was a shift and Tsunayoshi took on an almost pleading tone "Dino, I only have what little I have in spite of the mafia-something that I didn't even know existed. It is a damn hard thing to scrape by with absolutely nothing, but I did, and I can tell you that no child should ever have to fight like I did." Although it looked like he had more to say, Tsuna clamped his jaw shut tightly, blinked away the misting in his eyes and turned back to continue down the sidewalk.

Standing slack-jawed, Dino felt infinitely foolish for assuming that he could reach Tsuna that easily. Tsuna was a boy who had made his way through a world that was intentionally cruel, one that wanted to see him suffer and fail. Tsuna had survived all this as well as he could even if that meant doing things that brought him to the brink.

Sighing softly, Dino moved to a nearby bench and nearly collapsed on it while waiting for the inevitable impact on his shoulder. Instead, Reborn walked closer before jumping on the bench and staring forward without blinking. It was a silence that said many things, that Reborn had expected things to go poorly, that Dino felt foolish. After some time, Dino stood up and spoke dully "I'd like to talk to you tomorrow. Maybe we can find…somewhere to go from there."

Reborn nodded "I think that might be best," there was a pause "I hadn't expected things to go that poorly."

Dino grunted as he stood "If you hadn't, there was no way I could've." Reborn couldn't tell if that was meant to be comforting or a rebuke. He decided to say nothing as his former student shuffled back to his hotel with hands limply in his pockets.

As distasteful as it was to admit, Reborn found himself failing to think of where to go next with his newest student. After such disastrous attempts to build rapport between Dino and Tsuna, it would be ill-advised to push boy right now. Then, almost as a sign, Leon crawled down from the brim of Reborn's fedora and stared at his partner's face. Cradling the lizard, Reborn nodded "I think that's a good place to start."

The next day as Tsuna was returning from school, he could feel the snarl building in the back of his throat as he looked through the window to see several black-suited men in his house. Defeat made his shoulders drop as he continued into the house and made eye contact with Dino who smiled back uncomfortably before Reborn cleared his throat meaningfully. Turning to his tutor, Reborn spoke almost guardedly "Why don't you go put your things away and then we can talk? I think your input on this would be…valuable."

Tsuna buried his concern deep in the back of his mind even while nodding. Running on autopilot, Tsuna quickly found himself sitting across from Dino at the new kitchen table, curtesy of Reborn. Attempting and failing to keep the irritation out of his voice, the youngest of the group asked "So what did you want?"

Leon crawled down his partner to the table and the hitman gestured to the creature. In the ensuing silence, Tsuna truly studied the lizard which prompted Reborn's explanation "I want your thoughts on an animal companion."

Tsuna glanced up with confusion until Dino explained "In the Mafia, animal companions are considered a sign of power-a symbol that you have achieved real, lasting power. All skies-" Dino coughed harshly "Excuse me, all bosses of strength have one."

The 'skies' comment was either ignored or unheard as Tsuna replied "Is having a pet really that important? Why?"

Reborn felt his lips twitch up as Dino chuckled beside him "Not a pet. An animal companion is a fighter for the famiglia, sometimes indirectly but still a fighter. Leon can become almost any weapon and can even create some items as I need them. Part of why I asked Dino to come here today was to show you his companion."

Reborn nodded at Dino who reached into his jacket, which got an incredulous raised eyebrow from Tsuna, and pulled out a turtle. "Tsuna, meet Enzio the sponge snapping turtle."

"A turtle? You kept a snapping turtle in your jacket? You know what, no, I'm not even going to talk about how, just weird, dangerous and stupid that sounds."

Dino laughed as he sat Enzio on the table "Enzio is a very special turtle, most of the time he's very peaceful and just wants to be where it's warm, hence the jacket. However, like a sponge, he can grow if he gets wet and when he does his aggression grows as well-that's where you'll get to see the snapping part."

Tsuna shook his head "As fake as all this sounds, I'll bite. How big does he get?"

There was a slightly more serious tone from Dino "Big. With enough water he can grow to crush a house and display the sort of aggression that puts crocodiles to shame, literally anything that he can see, he will attack."

It was almost like a light went off in Tsuna's head and he turned to Reborn "You want me to get an animal companion." Crossing his wrists to make an 'X' Tsuna cut off the idea "I'm not going to a zoo and I'm not kidnapping any animals."

Even as Reborn snickered, he mentally scratched that idea out "More like I was going to ask what sort of animal you thought suited you."

Tsuna's first reaction was to give some half-assed answer but before he could speak, something stopped him, some stray thought that told him this might have repercussions. The others took his sitting back in the chair as him mulling it over and stayed silent. "I don't know. I never thought about owning an animal or fighting, let alone having an animal fight with me." there was a strange half-laugh "The closest I've ever gotten to thinking about me and animals is I got called a 'snake' one time working at the lawyer's office."

Shrugging off the answer, Dino amended "Not to say that this isn't important, but most of the time animal companions aren't really chosen. It's usually…circumstance."

With Leon climbing back up his body, Reborn agreed "Usually there's a connection. I owned Leon for a long time before he became my animal companion, when I was named the strongest, he gained his abilities and that's when he went from pet to companion."

Staring at Enzio, Tsuna wondered out loud "So this doesn't happen right away even if you find your animal?"

This time Reborn answered first "Not always. Several notable people within the Mafia made an animal their companion as soon as they met while others waited up to ten years for that transition to occur."

What Dino added sounded utterly insane but that was how this whole meeting was going "Reborn's right, sometimes animals are…created isn't the right word but it's the only one that fits, to be companions, like Leon gave birth to Enzio before I needed him."

Tsuna's brows crinkled in confusion "Wait, I thought Leon was male?" at Reborn's nod, he shook his head vigorously "You know what, never mind, don't even bother explaining that."

Reborn ordered "Dino, why don't you show Tsuna how Enzio grows with water? I think he'd feel more comfortable with all the impossibilities of this conversation with a little proof."

A grumbled "Yes, I would" made Dino chuckle as he got up to grab a glass of water.

Dino's warning of "I'd move your fingers" made Tsuna pull back. Dino dipped his own fingers into the water and allowed a few drops to land on Enzio's neck. Instantly, the turtle swelled, going from as wide as Dino's palm to his entire hand. The once peaceful turtled made a token snap at Tsuna before following Dino's hand until his owner picked him up by the edges of his shell.

With the proof in front of him, Tsuna closed his eyes tightly and rubbed his face with both hands "What the hell…" he whispered to himself. He stood up abruptly "I'm…I'm going to go to the store."

The near hazy look in his eyes warned Reborn of his inner turmoil "I'll go with you."

Everything was silent until they stepped out of the store and were rocked by an explosion that nearly pushed Tsuna off his feet. Regaining his balance, Tsuna saw the smoke and felt his heart clench "Please no" he begged as he sprinted back home.

I am so, so sorry that this took literal years to come out. While I never stopped writing a lot of things happened, both with this story and in real life. Everything I can think to say here sounds like an excuse and I don't want to blame anyone or anything for what happened. From the bottom of my heart, I am sorry that all you amazingly supportive people had to wait.