A/N: Thanks for all the reviews, favorites, and follows!

Warning: Trigger warning for child sexual abuse. Implied in flashback and narrative format. I wouldn't add anymore warning on future chapters because all of it will be the same implied flashback or narrative format. And first chapter already contains all of the warnings needed for this story.

November 18, 2016: This chapter was betaed by Pure Red Crane.

Disclaimer: I don't own Katekyo Hitman Reborn! So no suing..!


Chapter 4

He spared a sidelong glance at the evil baby sitting across the table. They were in a restaurant ten minutes away from the motel.

He actually wanted to face palm because the crazy baby snatched one of his toasted bread again. But when he loudly protested, Reborn just answered that early birds get to eat first, or something along those lines, which didn't make sense because he was the one paying for their meal. Anyway, since he didn't want to get another headache from Reborn's antics, he let the baby do as he pleased. It wasn't like he had much of an appetite.

Letting his mind wander, he thoroughly thought about all the information he had gathered since this morning as he idly looked around the restaurant, or more specifically, the people going in and out of the establishment.

First of all, his father, Iemitsu, was involved with the Mafia. Based on the baby's explanation this morning after he shot his bathroom door, leaving the doorknob unhinged, he just knew that the owner of that motel would ask for compensation, Iemitsu was a high ranking individual in the Mafia world, so that confirms that his father's enemies were the reason for his Mother's…death. That connection didn't sit well with him because Mafia was the kind of world he definitely didn't want to be a part of. It was the bane of his miseries. Those people in the Mafia were…are all cold blooded and lying bastards. Iemitsu was a prime sample of that.

His mother is a wonderful person. His mother was always smiling at him, petting his fluffy hair, comforting him when he asked where his father was and during those times, he felt his mother hugging him tighter. Now that he thought about it, his mother might or might not have known about the Mafia, but she must have suspected something, yet she still accepted that Iemitsu would prioritize his work over his family. It was sad. He always wanted to make his Mother smile, to make her happy, and the reason she was hurting was because of Iemitsu, who was rarely home. He disliked his father for hurting his mother when he realizes that. Tsuna hated his father when he told Iemitsu that he was the reason his mother died. At the back of his mind, there was guilt. Now that he finally realized that a Mafioso must have killed his mother, it struck him that the Mafia must be a dark world who loved messing with people's lives. His mother died because of it…That was why he wanted no part in that world. That world stole his mother from him and his life was a mess because of it – he didn't acknowledge that he had a part in messing his own life.

He was going to be a Mafia Boss? The Vongola's Tenth Boss and he…He vehemently shook his head to get rid of such thought that sent a pang of something on his heart.

He wasn't going to be a Mafiaso. Never. He would never ever become a Mafia Boss – the worst kind of all, because a Boss was akin to being someone like Iemitsu, someone with power, a conniving lying bastard who prioritizes work over family – because anything related to the Mafia was the reason he didn't have a mother. He wouldn't become someone like the one who stole his mother's life.

Reborn, the self-proclaimed World Greatest Hitman would be helping him in his studies, or more like bully him into studying. He didn't even want to think about Reborn training him on being a Mafia Boss because he was not going to be one. He would keep arguing about that. Of course, it wasn't helping that Reborn was sprouting something along the line of it being his destiny or something along those cliché lines he heard on those annoying television series. He was not going to be a Mafia Boss, period, end of discussion. However, Reborn, the crazy baby Mafioso, never listened to him before and he just knew it was going to be a problem for him.

Over all, everything was all about the Mafia and it was a pain in the ass. Reborn was a harbinger of chaos too.

He let out a sigh from all his musing as he slumped on his seat. He should definitely run away from the baby, the bringer of his miseries – despite feeling a bit grateful that Reborn told him about the Mafia because Iemitsu was a coward - and maybe do something…if only he could run away from him, that is.

Reborn had already thwarted his plans twice! How the hell did Reborn keep popping from the most unlikely places, like the small window at the back of the public restroom, or magically appearing from a secret passage inside the wall on some alleyway he was running into. It was definitely lost to him. Reborn was definitely a harbinger of chaos who planned on ruining his life. And if all Mafioso was like him, he would likely go insane.

Tsuna inwardly cried. He wouldn't be getting peace from now on. He couldn't even get away from that baby Mafioso. He also idly wondered if all mafia babies were like him…He shuddered from his horrible thoughts. 'I don't want to deal with any of this!'

He decided that he should go back to his room and sleep, but the infant Reborn had other plans for him.

"We're going back to Namimori, Dame-Tsuna." Reborn declared. The instant those words left the raven's lips, he sat up straight on his chair, knocking it back harshly, startling everyone in the restaurant, but he didn't pay it any attention. His gaze was glued on the baby in front of him. Reborn was still drinking without any care in this world, as if his attention was something to be dismissed. It made him slightly irritated because he was getting tired of always being dismissed.

"I am not going back there." he said after he managed to compose himself while reigning down his irritation.

Reborn didn't answer him, but he did look up at the brunet with those same calculating eyes. It unnerved Tsuna. Earlier, it was suffocating him, now that gaze was judging him. It felt like Reborn was looking at him, gauging his inner thoughts. Reborn looked at him and all Tsuna could think about was the Mafiababy taking all the answers he could get from his eyes alone. Thus he looked away with a forced huff, turning on his pelvis as he arranged the chair to its previous position and sat down on it. Through it all, he didn't say a word, letting the silence descend on them, yet he could still feel the lingering gaze on him and it made him fidget. It felt like Reborn was learning all of his secrets just by looking at him and it scared him.

Tsuna nervously looked around the restaurant, trying to shake off the uncomfortable feelings. He saw a few customers shooting their table with confusion and idle curiosity, which made him sigh once again. It was embarrassing that they saw him shooting off from his chair while talking to a baby. He ducked his head in embarrassment.

After a few more minutes, he decided that he should just go back to his room. Paying the waitress, he slowly went back to his merry way.

He idly took his time in walking, sometimes kicking cans he passes by, sometimes looking around for few establishments like the mini groceries across the street or glancing at the car passing by then to the people walking. He gradually relaxed at the normal sceneries and the normal booming voice of Tokyo.

Only for it to be disrupted when he accidentally bumped into someone. It was a man wearing a work office suit with dark brown hair.

Good thing he managed not to fall on his butt, hard.

He yelped under his breath at the suddenness of his fall and he lifted his head to look up at who bumped into him. His eyes momentarily widened at the familiarity of that person's face and body build. And he sent a small prayer that this man would take his startled appearance as an effect of his fall instead of familiarity.

A helping hand reached down for him, and a familiar deep voice rang out. "Let me help you."

With eyes still wide open, the helping hand in front of him grasped his arm and pulled him up. His eyes dimmed with emotion and he slightly flinched at the touch. Hopefully, the man didn't notice his body's weird reaction.

When the man deemed him steady, the man unclasped his hand on his arm and let go before patting his arm in feather-light touches. That disgusting motion made him sick.

"Are you okay, kid?" the man asked with a worried face. Tsuna could feel the lingering look the man gave him. It made his heart beat faster, and not in a good way. He immediately nodded his head.

"Y-Yes." he said it with a sweet nervous smile, but to him, it looked forced. He wasn't meeting the man's gaze as well, enforcing his shy image.

The man looked at him appreciatively, but to Tsuna it looked like the man was assessing him. He just knew it would end up with lots of screaming and begging on his part.

He batted his eyelashes in a captivating way that made him look more innocent, the way that made everyone fall into his trap. But today was not a good day. Tsuna wasn't in the mood for this man. He was the sole person in his list of must get away from. However, he wouldn't show his dislike because he had brown hair right now. He wasn't blond.

"Thanks for the help, Ojii-san."[1] Tsuna said without stuttering, but his voice was soft like a whisper. He tilted his head slightly downward in a timid way, his hand fidgeting at his shirt while looking at the man with stars gleaming in his eyes. His lips pursed downward into a small cute frown. The teenager parted his lips in a deliberate slow motion and said in a sweet innocent voice. "But I got to go now, Ojii-san." He peered at him with a slightly teary-eyed look, but the way his eyes twinkled still remained.

The man paused before saying something. "Ah, yes. Take care, kid." During that pause, he immediately identified that the man looks disappointed for missing a chance, but it was gone the next moment.

"You take care, too." Tsuna replied with a soft smile gracing his features. "Maybe next time." He immediately ran away among the crowd, losing the man's sight on his back.

(He was just learning how to seduce older men. He thought that older men were easier to fool, so how did it end up with him being man-handled? He didn't look like Dame-Tsuna at all. He have blond hair now, so why did this man hurt him like back in Namimori? He didn't understand. Why was it still the same here in Tokyo?

But he saw the difference later that night. In that same dark narrow alley, a tall, tanned, and drunk man with slicked dark brown hair and colored sharp eyes pinned him to the wall, telling him how beautiful, lovely, and mesmerizing he looked. It felt wrong, horrible even yet…the man repeatedly done it with him twice, thrice on that same night. He actually forgot how he was able to go back to his Nee-chan's place the next day.)

He met that man when he was 10. He was only learning how to seduce older men during that time. At first he wanted to learn, not because of money, but for the thrill of fooling around with other people. When he was learning how to seduce someone, every time he managed to successfully seduce, he always ran away after that because they would have that creepy look on their face. It made him uncomfortable, but he didn't stop. He didn't know why he didn't, even when his gut was telling him not to do it anymore. Then he met that man with dark brown slicked hair, and he was confident he would be able to run if that man would give him one of those same creepy leering looks.

But the man didn't look at him like that. He stared at him in wonder, as if he was a mesmerizing thing. Honestly, he didn't know those looks were more dangerous than the leering he received. He didn't even think that his uncomfortable gut feeling was a sign that the man was dangerous. And he only realized it when the man manhandled him like a precious puppet while controlling him on a tight leash.

It was a one night thing and, during that night, he learned that seducing men will always come to that.

He begged, pleaded not to be hurt, but the man kept talking about creepy, disturbing things he wanted to forget. When it was finished the first time, he thought he was free. How wrong he was. He wasn't free at all. It was merely a break for more to come. The man practically dragged him somewhere and taught him a lot of perverted things, whispering vile words like how this was their dirty little secret and the same could be said about the third time. That was when he passed out. He didn't even know how he was able to keep up with the man. Maybe it was the result of his stubborn nature. He woke up the next day with a large sum of money on the desk and a note of until next time, which he ripped apart into tiny bits upon landing his gaze on that wrenched thing.

But that night was a wake-up call. Seducing men always ended up with sex, and now that he was thirteen, he knew from experience that seducing men was a form of control. Since that night, seducing men became a thrilling game of prey and predator with money as an extra incentive. During those three agonizing years, he didn't even notice that it wasn't what he really wanted and his heart was breaking for doing those things. He didn't even think that his mother would definitely be against it as he was caught up in all his guilt.

He closed his eyes when the flashback of his first time resurfaced in his mind. The bathroom door was opened and he was kneeling on the tiles miserably, his hand clutching his knees, digging his fingernails against his skin in a way to cope. He took one shuddering breath and exhaled shakily. When he deemed himself calm, he slowly got up and stared at the mirror, looking at his image. His face was pale. 'I guess the stress is finally getting to me.'

Such an honest thought laced with meanings he still hadn't realized. He didn't even comprehend that it wasn't stress about the Mafia.

He also didn't notice that Reborn was observing him in a contemplative silence, his black onyx eyes searching for information, drilling the image of Tsuna's pitiable self at the back of his mind. A silent promise was clear in his beady eyes, 'I will unveil all your secrets, Tsunayoshi Sawada.'

To be continued…


A/N: Please leave a review~ *insert begging puppy look here*

[1] Ojii-san, it means Mister in this case because that guy is a stranger. Ojii-san could also mean uncle when you are talking with a family member. I am not really sure of my vocabulary since I'm not good in Japanese.