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

Explanation about that man in chapter 4 that have dark brown hair and eyes (the one Tsuna accidently met and run away from) : His relationship with Tsuna is that of a prey and predator in which Tsuna was the prey. That man and the other man in the flashback after that encounter is the same so that man claimed (manhandled, sexually assaulted, sexually abused, toyed) Tsuna first when he was only 10. I'm sorry that their relationship wasn't clear so here is the clarification.

December 21&22, 2016: Betaed by Pure Red Crane

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

Chapter 6

("MOM!" Tsuna screamed, anguish layering his voice. His mother, his lovely and kind mother... Why was she lying down? Why was her head leaking with so much… blood?

"Mom…!" he screamed again with hoarse voice. The tiny brunet ran toward his mother. Why was there so much blood? Why was his mother bleeding?

"Mom!" Tsuna sobbed as he buried his face on her chest, crying and screaming for help, for someone to help his mother, for his mother to wake up. He didn't notice that he had slipped into the dark abyss of unconsciousness.)

Instead of being greeted by a white ceiling, or even the color red, Tsuna was greeted by black beady onyx eyes staring down at him in an unnerving fashion – not blinking, only staring at him as if he was some kind of specimen. Wait, wasn't that...?

He stared unblinking when his mind couldn't process the information staring at his face.

Silence descended, his mind coming up blank, and then it was disrupted by the girlish shrieking of a startled young boy. Reborn was staring down at him in a creepy way. The brunet was promptly flung towards the wall. The shrieking seized in an instant and was replaced by a groan and a hiss of pain.

"I..." He gulped down, 'Don't know how it came to this...' He inwardly cried a river of tears as his body protested at the abuse he just suffered from so early in the morning. He was confused as to why he just woke up and saw that Mafia baby being creepy...He shuddered. 'That's just plain creepy.' He gulped down to ease his parched throat.

Tsuna gingerly rubbed his head in a soothing manner while he got up from his sprawled position on the floor. The brunet made his way to the bathroom in autopilot, ignoring everything and anything because he wasn't in the mood to deal with tedious matters like crazy Mafia babies, and don't forget the green chameleon shape shifting into a weapon or those powerful kick. He still thought that Reborn was some kind of super baby.


He pressed his palm against the edge of the sink. The sound of water running from the faucet against the sink was inaudible to his ears. All he could hear was his garbled heaving of acid. Tears were produced at the edge of his eyes due to heaving and his other hand clutched his empty stomach, scraping his nails against his very skin.

'Mom.'

Frustrated tears filled his eyes and his retching slowly dimmed. When the sound of the running water finally became loud to his ears and his retching stopped, Tsuna reached for his palm. He took a shuddering breath to calm his nerves. He looked at his hand, palm filled with water. The boy took a mouthful of tap water from it, rinsing his mouth while tasting the acidicity. He wanted the taste gone. So he repeated the action, taking more water.

It took a minute of rinsing until the acidic taste left his mouth, though it still had that slightly bitter taste. It likely wouldn't disappear until he managed to eat something or brush his teeth. He took another breath with his eyes closed and opened his eyes as he exhaled.

The sound of running water filled his ears, and the yellowish acidic bile from the sink was washed away long ago. His face felt sticky, so he pressed both his palm on the faucet. When there was enough tap water, he washed his face with it.

Tsuna moved without thinking. He washed his face with water, pressing his fingers on his cheeks, checking to see if it was still sticky with sweat and tears. He then washed his face with fragrant soap and rinsed his face. The teen also brushed his teeth to get rid of the acidic taste in his mouth, replacing it with minty freshness. He also took a cold bath.

He left the bathroom, his body feeling refreshed and his mind like a mush.

The brunet changed into his uniform. When he headed downstairs, he slipped on his footing. At least it happened when he was three steps away from the ground floor, or he would have fallen all the way down, but he managed to escape that embarrassment. With a blink, Tsuna made his way to the kitchen.

'So today is June 21 and on...' Tsuna's lips curled upward into a self-depreciating smile.

The student made their breakfast. He was tempted to make a breakfast only for himself and not acknowledge Reborn's presence, but that would be really rude and his mother loved children, so he made Reborn's share of breakfast too. Their breakfast was a silent one. Tsuna was yawning from time to time and Reborn seemed fine with not engaging in any conversation with him. Either way, silence was very much accepted.

Tsuna didn't know that Reborn was discreetly observing and studying him with unfathomable black eyes. The baby was searching and dissecting every sign, every move, every facial expression, and the way Tsuna's eyes flash with emotions. Reborn could now easily distinguish when he knew what to look for. And along the way, Reborn sees.


Going to school had never been a good time, especially when it was always so early. Tsuna loved sleeping more than anything and he couldn't sleep through the whole morning or he would be late and then bitten to death. And that wasn't good. Despite not really minding the pain, even if he kept complaining about it, that didn't mean he liked getting hit by Hibari's tonfas. Those bloody pieces of metal hurt and Hibari had a terrifying aura that just screamed I'll bite you to death. That always makes him shriek. On another note, now that he had experienced Reborn's beatings, the brunet could see the likeliness between the two and it was horrifying thought.

Still, Tsuna could say that this morning was the same as all his mornings, normal and monotonous, aside from his nightmares, which usually hit him around this month, and more on the next. He also still got chased by a bulldog with its leash unbound, not a Chihuahua. He wasn't afraid of little dogs now. He still managed to trip on a pebble on the road, some days he saved himself from falling at the last second, other days he would fall hard.

Everything was the same, nothing worthy had happened or had grabbed his attention. Tsuna wouldn't think about the nightmare. He wouldn't, he won't.

Tsuna heard the distinct clank of heels hitting on the road, walking in the same direction as him. He caught the familiar sight of short orange hair and the familiar face of a certain school idol and classmate. When Sasagawa Kyoko saw him, her eyes lightened and she greeted him with a polite smile and greeting. "Good morning, Sawada-san."

Such kind words were unbefitting for a lowly scum such as himself. Tsuna could already imagine those sneering angry words directed at him by everyone on school campus. He inwardly sighed. It was a good thing this exchange happened without any witness.

"G-Good morning too, Sasagawa-san." he tentatively answered with an embarrassed blush marring on his cheeks and a nervous stutter. Sasagawa just had a bright disposition that he couldn't help but compare with his... He inwardly shook that train of thought.

After they exchanged greetings, Kyoko continued on her merry way as Tsuna lagged behind. He didn't want to be seen walking with the school idol. It would be a big blow on his reputation.

Unlike him, Sasagawa Kyoko was the school campus idol. She was polite and kind. She didn't call him Dame-Tsuna. Instead, she would have that displeased glint in her eyes and pursed lips. Tsuna appreciated that she wasn't the same as the other students. He would secretly glance her way to see if she would also laugh at him. She wouldn't. The fellow teen would just stare as if she wanted to chastise her many lots of friends until one of her friends gave her a look, telling her not to do anything. She was a good girl. At least her friends knew that her kindness knew no bounds and would tell her to let it go. Tsuna would feel somewhat relaxed to escape mortal peril. He knew that if Kyoko voiced her thoughts, his bullying would only escalate. That wouldn't help him at all.


School was the same. When he arrived late, Hibari had bitten him to death for not only being late, but for skipping classes those previous days. Tsuna's teacher merely gave him a cursory glance when he arrived limping and sporting visible sets of bruises. His classmates snickered at his unfortunate accident as usual.

Tsuna's classes went the same: got called out in the middle of the class to answer nonsensical questions, wasn't able to answer correctly, resulting in annoyance from his teachers, followed by tirade of words describing his incompetency and how it was a waste of time to even call him out during class, classmates snickering silently on their seats. During all this, the brunet bore it all in stride, blocking everything that was said, not paying attention at all and let his sleepiness dull his mind. He even felt like sleeping with eyes open as he paid no attention to everything.

His lunch break was relatively fine. Tsuna managed to get away from his bullies before they could snatch his money, no matter how minimal it was, and he hastily ate lunch. His afternoon classes were the same as his morning classes. The brunet zoned out everything.

When the bell rang, signalling end of school, Tsuna immediately ran away, nervously gripping his sling bag in a tight grip. It wasn't like he was paranoid. He just thought that his things might stumble from his bag and picking it up would be time consuming, which would most likely end with him being pushed by the crowd.

Tsuna almost made it safely to the gate until he was yanked by the arm. He inwardly cursed.

"Dame-Tsuna," An arm rested on Tsuna's shoulder. He slightly flinched at that action. It was as if they were friends, but it wasn't. "Leaving already? You only just got back. Why don't you treat us at the arcade?" It didn't feel like a question. Tsuna tried to scoot away from the heavy hold, but failed, so he prompted for verbal rejection.

"Uhh... I-" He nervously gulped down when his throat clamped shut. "I n-need to go...home early."

There was mocking laughter. "There is no one waiting for you, Dame-Tsuna, so why don't we have some fun?"

There is no one waiting for you. There is no one waiting for you at home. There is no mother waiting for you at home.

He stilled at that statement.

When he came to himself, Tsuna was already being dragged somewhere by his three bullies. An arm pushed him into the alley, making him fall on the dirtied road. His empty wallet was thrown at his chest as if it was trash. His bag was ransacked, his things haphazardly thrown downward, and his empty bag was tossed at his face with a smack.

"Tch. There wasn't much money here." the guy who had grabbed him earlier said with an irritated voice.

"Yep. Besides being alone, Dame-Tsuna is also poor." another voice said, then he mockingly laughed.

"Let's go, Dame-Tsuna isn't worth beating." another voice said with a dismissing voice.

The first voice grumbled and, with a last look at him, kicked him in the legs before walking away with a huff.

Tsuna sat there, looking pathetic with his things scattered. He took a breath and stood, wiping off the dirt clinging to his pants. The brunet sighed resignedly when he saw his scattered, dirtied things and he dutifully picked them up, stuffing the objects inside his bag.

There was a small voice wishing that he had been beaten.


Dinner with Reborn was the same as breakfast. The silence between them was becoming normal. Tsuna thought it would continue until he slept, but Reborn, the crazy baby, had other plans, like threatening to shoot him if he didn't finish another stack of homework that had been created just for the student. Of course, when Tsuna pointed out that he wouldn't answer those questions, he was promptly kicked on the face. Seriously, why was he even tolerating this blatant show of abuse? 'Ahh, I forgot that the bullies didn't beat me. Now I want to be beaten. There's something wrong with me,' Tsuna mused. 'Nah, I'm just being a moody brooding young cute boy.' The brunet almost laughed aloud at his thoughts. That was when Reborn, being a spartan Mafia baby, shoot at him twice.

Those warning shots created bullet crates in his wall and... 'My home expense!'

"Reborn! Stop being mean and don't shoot the wall! Replacing those is expensive!" Tsuna yelled at Reborn with an angry huff, crossing his arms against his chest to look like a petulant child.

Reborn merely shrugged it off and drawled on, "You can afford it."

Tsuna glared at the baby, but before he could yell/question about why there were bullet holes, Reborn cocked his green gun at him.

At the end of that torture session he reluctantly agreed that he will finish the accursed stack of homeworks albeit with hard feelings and all because he doesn't have any choice plus Reborn was pointing a gun at him and he looks so intimidating at that moment.

It still didn't answer his question on whether or not if he should talk about what happened to his wall to have so many bullet holes.

'Damn it.' Tsuna internally cried as he tried and tried to answer the homework questions Reborn had given him, knowing that if he couldn't finish it, he would be beaten up.

But really, wasn't this what he wanted, to be beaten up, to forget the pain in his heart?


Tsuna closed his eyes, planning to sleep, but it eluded him. Instead, he opened his eyes and lifted his left hand as if reaching for something.

(He saw his small petite hands covered with blood.)

Then the image disappeared, replaced by his bloodless hand. He stared at it impassively, a slight twinge of something stayed rooted in his heart. When the brunet opened his eyes again, he stared at the ceiling with his hand resting on his stomach.

(There was a growl from a much older man. Then Tsuna saw himself, his slightly younger self covered with hand-like bruises. That older man gripped his younger self by the hair in a surely painful way. And his younger self groaned in pain, yet his eyes looked so dazed, blissfully sighing and making erotic looks as the man above inflicted pain and pleasure.)

He blinked and sighed. The image was something so normal that looking at it repeatedly became an annoyance. It slightly disturbed him how he could so easily imagine the acts that was inflicted to him. But he grew accustomed to it. The memory only gave him ghostly pain at the pit of his stomach now. Wait, why was he even thinking about that? There was no way it would help him fall asleep.

He shook his head to get rid of his previous memory.

There was a few weeks left until summer break. He would be able to have fun soon. He just had to wait, which he was pretty used to.

Silence descended, yet he still remained awake as he stared at the ceiling and thought morosely, 'I wonder what I should do on the anniversary.'

To be continued…

A/N: Kindly leave a review and criticism *inserts smiley here*

Timeline: It is only June 21 in this chapter.