Chapter Thirty-Three

"For Tsuna-kun..." Koro-sensei trailed off while picking one paper for the brunet's codename. Everyone was attentive as he raised the paper. "'Sleepyhead'."

Tsuna stared at Koro-sensei who laughed amusedly. The class turned to him with chuckles too. He stared at the paper when the teacher made him see it before he turned to Hayami. "I don't sleep that much, Hayami-san."

The class snickered as Hayami looked undeterred. "Looking at you now, you look like one."

He can't help himself from reaching out for his hair and ruffled it. "Karma, I think I need to cut my hair."

The class went to laughter.

The class went on with the usual, but instead of calling each other by their names, they have to call each other with assigned 'codenames' those others picked for them. It's a new gimmick of the class. Except for Kimura though, who has to keep his first name 'Justice'.

Weird names were the topic of their morning. It's because everyone in the class discovered that Kimura's original first name is 'Justice' not 'Masayoshi', which they used often since he introduced himself like that and Koro-sensei calls him by that name. Apparently, he gets teased a lot in school because of his name that was bestowed to him by his parents who were police enforcers. So, he asked others to call him 'Masayoshi', the Japanese equivalence of his name when he entered middle school.

The situation was the same with Hazama who was named Kirara— which was a cute name, only to appear like a scary person after growing up in an adverse household. Karma, though, likes his name a lot since he accepted how weird his parents are in terms of naming things and doing things. And Tsuna wholeheartedly agrees that kids get their parents weirdness because Karma is evidence of that.

Koro-sensei, on the other hand, has 'grievances' with his name because his fellow teachers won't call him that. In Irina-sensei's and Karasuma-sensei's defenses though, it's embarrassing for a fully grown adult to call someone that.

"Na, Tsuna."

The brunet looked up from fixing his wristbands to see Karma's eyes sparkling. "Yes, Karma?"

"If you ever get children, what would you name them?" The redhead asked, causing the other boys to look over.

He thought about it for a sec before blinking his eyes to his friend. "How many kids?"

"Two." Karma said with two fingers raised.

"If you ever get them, what will you name them?" He asked back.

Karma hummed, not even pondering that the brunet had evaded his question. "The first born will be Sage, cause he'll be like a hermit and all wise. " Tsuna can almost hear the left out 'like you'. "Then the second is Creed, because he'll carry on his own principle and ideologies."

"That's just weird, Karma." Maehara pointed out while patting away his shirt off dirt. "If I get to have kids, I'll name them Aihime and Aihiko."

"But what if they're all boys?" Mimura thought aloud.

"Aihito." The blond answered with a cheeky grin. "He'll be like me with good looks."

"But not benevolent." Okajima teased and laughed with the others.

It caused Maehara to chase the teen.

The talk continued even when they went out of their changing room. Tsuna only listened while walking and standing beside Karma. As if knowing he evaded the question directed to him, Nagisa gave him a playful gaze that he dismissed. He's not guilty.

In P.E., they got instructed to 'hunt' down Karasuma-sensei. The teacher will call them by their codenames and try to shoot at the targets pasted on his front and back. Like Karma, Hayami and Chiba, he was given the sniper's position. He accepted the position with a grimace. On the plus side though, he doesn't need to move a lot and just stay on his spot.

While lying on his instructed spot, Tsuna tried to recall Reborn's sniping teaching to his counterpart in the parallel universe. Quite difficult cause for some reason, he feels... Out of the usual while the weather is pretty nice. It's like something feels just wrong and out of place. His intuition hasn't tinkered him like the usual too. Maybe subdued by the pain medication he needed to relieve his concussion with. Well, it has been a week since Itona's case, so it's more or less healed now given that Lussuria healed him little by little.

Speaking of Itona, the teen is easy to live with. He'll message Tsuna the things he wants to do and asks permission to do it. Tsuna will reply as much as he could. Sometimes, Tsuna will come back with the white head tinkering on his electronics in his workshop that Flan and Belphegor decided to put at the side of the window. The two enjoyed Itona's sarcastic and blunt remarks that they bought things for Itona when they noticed him lacking some equipments. There are times Tsuna stumble home with Itona watching late night shows with Koro-sensei cooking in the kitchen. They'll both greet him, and he will greet back. When he apologizes for making Koro-sensei and Itona eat late dinner, both will dismiss it and say it's fine since they sometimes forget too. He can't help feeling guilty about it anyway.

He blinked as he remembered what Lussuria told them (it was only Karma and Itona though). If ever he felt dizzy or vomiting, call anyone in Varia that they want to bother. It can't be helped. Tsuna did vomit a few times during those 'resting days', and Xanxus was the usual one to get up and help him whenever the former notices him getting up. The Varia Commander fell in the 'uncle' role so fittingly that their relationship felt so natural between them. No one even points it out, as if it was a normal occurrence between them. Maybe that's the thing. Tsuna noticed it and he can't seem to wrap his head around it for a while.

"Sleepyhead. Come in, Sleepyhead." Kataoka's voice rang out.

He turned to his phone beside him. He reached out for it and pressed it to his ear. "Sleepyhead here, over."

"In position? Over."

"In position." He answered as he rolled to his stomach to see his gun. "Is target on the move? Over."

"Yes. Target has started moving. Wait for signal, over."

"Roger." He said and went on his back again.

"Oi, Sleepyhead, don't tell me you're on cloud watching." He heard Karma question him.

"I am, Mister Know-It-All." He answered while still staring ahead. "And don't use this line to scold me. We're in Class."

"And you're on cloud watching." The other jabbed back.

Tsuna blinked. "Hayami-san must be right. I feel like sleeping."

The class chuckled.

"Everyone, concentrate." They all went quiet after Kataoka's chiding.

The line went quiet for awhile with occasional updates on what's their current position and who is with who. When Tsuna's intuition asked him to get ready, he rolled to his stomach and went to position. Honestly, he hadn't tried shooting a sniper since the school year started. He's more comfortable with handguns since they're easy to maneuver, unlike sniper guns and M16s. Maybe because his counterpart was more used to handheld ones?

Yeah. Maybe.

(His counterpart was good at any gun though.)

(Right after the representative battle, when Reborn realized that his counterpart was absorbing anything he teaches (albeit the whining) and understands them after a good demonstration, he went in his excited way to teach anything to the mafia boss.)

(It's impeccable how his counterpart can still recall what was taught to him years ago when Reborn tested him out of the blue.)

"Baseball Freak! Baseball Freak! Do you see any movements from the target?!" Sousuke's voice rang out from his phone.

"Nothing yet, Artsy Bean Pole." Sugino answered. "Straight Lace (Karasuma-sensei) is hiding near a lone pine tree. Poor Committee Member's (Isogai) group will close in on Straight Lace from behind through the marsh. Tsundere Sniper (Hayami) is prepared to snipe."

Tsuna waited. Knowing Karasuma-sensei, he'll probably-

"Naive, you two!" He heard Karasuma-sensei scold the two. "How are you going to let the target slip through your entrapment?! Especially you, Womanizing Bastard Guy (Maehara)! Always carry your gun at a height where you can shoot!"

"Shit, don't let him get away! Mushroom Director! Flouncy Stag-Beetle! He went that way!" Maehara shouted for Mimura and Kurahashi.

"Leave it to us- Ah! He changed direction!" Kurahashi yelled.

"Home-base! Loofa! Rolling Riser!" Isogai shouted for Taisei, Takuya and Itona.

It took seconds for Tsuna to hear Ryouma's signature victory laugh. It means he was able to shot Karasuma-sensei.

"But not good enough! If you only get one shot against me, you'll never hit that guy!" Karasuma-sensei riled up. "Poison Glasses (Okuda)! Forever Zero (Kayano)! If I can see where you're shooting from, I can obviously dodge it!"

"Kuh- He noticed us!" Kayano shouted. "We're counting on you, Stern Lecture (Kataoka)!"

"Ok! Let's go Gyaru English (Nakamura) and Gender (Nagisa)!" Kataoka called out.

Tsuna shallowly breathed as Karasuma-sensei flew over his hiding spot. Adjusting his gun and putting it on automatic, he went to aim. Well, Karma is the one who is holding the other escape route, Chiba center, Hayama on south, and him on the other end. The north is given to Kimura who will be the end attack.

"Adult Game Protagonist (Chiba)! Always assume that the target is vigilant of your shooting!" Karasuma-sensei called out, heard from the phone while Tsuna saw how the teacher raised a piece of wood to block Chiba's assault.

Tsuna didn't move his finger for the trigger though, when Kimura jumped down and aimed his two guns on Karasuma-sensei. It was point blank, so it was impossible to dodge. In any case, he didn't reveal his spot after one win against Karasuma-sensei. They have thirty-five minutes to go before the class finishes up.

Needless to say, Tsuna was able to familiarize himself with the gun when he was given a chance to fire. The kick was good. He fumbled a bit with the aiming, but he was able to hit Karasuma-sensei a lot of times in those last minutes. And it feels nice. It's like he wants to explore the other types and versions of guns available for them to use, not that they're using real bullets anyway.

But at the end of the day, Koro-sensei made Kimura comfortable with his name. Explaining how it will be nice for the teen's name to be printed on the newspaper and be praised with how fitting his name is to put 'Justice' to the world after being one of the people who had killed Koro-sensei. That names aren't special because of their meanings, but more on the persons who carry them. That they don't make a person, since they are the remains of the footprints taken by the peoples who walks in their paths. It was a good kind of encouragement, minus the killing part.

Never the killing part.

It was the last class of the day when four out of five of his work managers messaged him that he's excused for the week. He couldn't ask why, especially after receiving Manager Ota's message, telling him to go directly to the convenient store. He tried to feel his intuition's opinion about this, but there was just this unsettling silence. So, he asked Itona to go home alone, then told Karma that something was off so the redhead can just go and have fun with Nagisa, Sugino and Kayano. Karma nodded along but made him swear (because Akabane likes to break his promise most of the time, but not when he is swearing) to call if something does come up. He said yes.

When he got to the convenient store, there were intimidating people lurking outside the store with three black cars parked to the side. Tsuna felt his gut churn badly as he walked through the men, undetected. The only indication that he came in was when the door's bell jingled. He came in with Manager Ota by the counter while talking to Manager Hariko and Manager Miwa. All three turned to him and straightened up.

"He's dying, isn't he?" He started off, causing all of them to stare at him. "It's the only reason why he'll seek me out. As an old man's dying wish of some sort."

"Will you come though?" Ota asked, arms crossed. "I'm technically against it."

"Ota." Hariko chided. Ota huffed and looked away. Hariko turned to Tsuna. "We just wanted to convey, but we won't force you to come."

"You do have your own will. The family won't do anything if you don't want to come, Tsunayoshi." Miwa added.

Tsuna licked his dry lips in quick contemplation. "I'll just make some phone calls. Do I need to stay in there?"

The three glanced at each other before Miwa nodded to him. "A week or two. The doctor said he won't last long."

"Karma is so gonna kill me." He uttered before pulling out his flip phone. "I'm gonna take a carton of milk. I'll pay it at the counter after I call Karma."

"Akabane will probably understand." Hariko tried to console.

"It's not that." He grimaced as he walked for the refrigerators. "He doesn't know I have connections with Yakuza, and through you." He proceeded to contact the redhead. It only took two rings for the latter to pick up. "Karma?"

"Yes, Tsuna?" The other sounded a little worried.

"I'm just keeping my promise, so uh..." He crouched down to see the milks. "I need to go somewhere probably a little far from here. Remember the old man I've mentioned to you sometimes that took me in when I was seven?"

"When you were orphaned? Why? Did something happen to him?"

"Yes. And I needed to go cause he sought me out?" He grimaced. "His men are picking me up."

"By means of men, it means?"

"Uhm." He took three medium sized milk boxes with different flavors. "He's a Yakuza boss."

Silence. "Wow, Tsuna. You never fail to impress me."

"Is that sarcastic since you're angry that I omitted this again or just plainly amazed that I'm affiliated with so many things that you just can't wrap your head around it?" He asked as he stood up and closed the fridge.

"Just amazed. Unlike the other things, I respect the reason why you don't want to talk about this. It is quite sensitive on your part personally and logically."

Tsuna sighed in relief as he walked for the counter. "I'll probably call you later to explain it properly."

"You won't be home?"

He almost paused at the term. "Yeah. I won't be... Home for a week or so. But I'll keep you updated. Same with Itona and Koro-sensei."

"Okay."

He put the milks on the counter and swiftly pulled out his wallet with one hand to get some cash out. Ota put two bars of nutritional bars as he rang them on. "Give Nagisa some heads up too. So, he won't feel left out."

"What about Xanxus? Varia in general?"

"I'll inform him later too." He answered as he put the money on the smooth metal and put his wallet away. "My priorities are you, Koro-sensei and Itona right now."

"Do you want me to inform Itona? You can follow up after you talked with Koro-sensei."

"Will that be okay?" He asked as he took the small plastic bag that contains his purchases and followed Miwa out of the store, with Ota and Hariko in tow. "Won't he feel bad that I didn't inform him personally?"

"Tsuna, you'll follow up. So like Nagisa, at least he had a heads up of why you had to go."

He went inside the car where Ota is the driver, Hariko on the passenger's and he's with Miwa at the backseat. "Okay okay. Thank you, Karma."

"No problem."

Tsuna looked up when the call ended as the car started off and started to drive after all men lurking around the store went to their perspective vehicles. "Why are we in one car?"

"Because we want to." Ota answered as he pulled away from the parking space.

"Right." He responded while dialing Koro-sensei's number. "I only bought three milks and I tend to drink all of them. So... No sharing."

"Don't worry, Tsunayoshi." Miwa assured while Hariko chuckled from his spot. "Hariko had us covered."

His brows furrowed. "I hope that's not beer because I don't want to ride a car with a drunk driver."

"They're juice." Hariko grinned while Ota grumbled. "He wanted beer though."

"I'll tell you on Wamuro-san." He threatened playfully.

"I dare you, Kid." Ota said, baring his teeth on the brunet as they glared at each other with the use of the rearview mirror. The other two chuckled.

"Hello? Tsuna-kun?" The familiar cheerful voice called out for him from the other line.

"Ah. Koro-sensei." He focused. "I'm calling since I might not be..." He contemplated for a little. "I might not be home later. I have some business to take care of. I'll probably send a letter of apology for being absent with the use of someone tomorrow. I'm sorry in advance."

A second of silence. "How many days?"

"It will probably a week or two, according to my companions." He answered.

"Where will it be?"

"Maebashi, Gunma." He eyed the three who are clearly listening. Nosy. "The Kurogane Yakuza headquarters."

"You know them?"

He hummed. "Personally, yes."

"Alright. I will wait for the letter of absence. However, if you are in danger, I'm only a call away, Tsuna-kun."

Tsuna breathed a sigh and smiled a little. "Yes, Sensei. Please do take care of Itona."

"I will, I will." The teacher snickered.

"Bye, Koro-sensei." He bid.

"Yes. Bye bye, Tsuna-kun."

Before he went to contact Itona, he opened up one of milk and sipped little by little as he dialed.

"Hello, Tsuna?"

"Itona, I won't be home later, so keep yourself safe and the apartment safe. Don't let anyone in except if it's our usual visitors, alright?"

"What am I? A kid?"

"Yes." He answered without a beat. "You forget to feed yourself sometimes, so yes."

"Fine. You'll be back, right?"

"A week or two." Then he remembered. "Ah. If someone asks you if you know me, tell them no. Alright?"

"O-kay. If you say so."

"Alright. Thank you."

"Bye."

He closed the phone shut and slid it to his bag then regarded the three. "Can't this go any faster?"

Ota grinned. "Well, I thought you'll never ask."


Tsuna let the man waiting by the gates to open the door for him. He slid out with his school bag in shoulder and looked at Hariko who went out of his own volition. The restaurant manager smiled at him, more of grimaced. When Miwa stood beside him, a step behind with Ota behind them, he already knows. So, with an impassive face of their stupidity, he stepped up and let the rows of men from all sides welcome them with a synchronized bow. He walked in, not minding them, straight for the designated guide. They could've done this quietly, so why do they have to announce his arrival?

One of the reasons why he was able to find his 'origin' was because he wanted to find the old man's identity. Kurogane Shoji is the Yakuza boss of Kurogane-kai of Gunma Prefecture. He has been a boss for all his life (except when he was in training, but same difference) and very close with Lady Shouyo's family in Tokyo. He has three sons and two daughters, all legible to be the next boss of the family.

Well, except when he saved another child from the streets after trying to pull a prank on his children and wanting to breathe from all the works. It honestly took Tsuna years to conceptualize the reason why the old man left him that time. Probably when he was turning thirteen, after discovering everything. But before that, Tsuna had accepted that he was never meant to be loved, and his emotions are not worth a thing for anyone in the world.

He realized that the reason the old man didn't take him in was the fact that he has children. They will feel threatened of Tsuna's presence beside the old man. Another is they are technically Yakuza. Having Tsuna beside the old man will paint the brunet as a target for any enemy their family has. In a sense, he was abandoned for his own safety. And Tsuna didn't dare reach out because of his insecurities and so the old man's efforts won't go to waste.

But he is thankful too, that Lady Shouyo came up with the idea of having some of old man's swords as his own guardians and let him work regardless of his young age. Too bad they'll only know his own reason of not seeking out the old man once the person himself ask for it.

"This way, Sawada-sama." The guide said as he opened the door and let them in the foyer.

There were maids in there who put slippers for the four of them.

"What's your name?" He asked to the man who was guiding them.

"Ueda Fuuyu." The man answered.

"If I call you Ueda-san, will you call me Sawada-san?" He asked as he toed his shoes off and slipped on the provided footwear.

"Sir?"

"If I call you Ueda-san, will you call me Sawada-san?" He repeated as he took his phones out from his bag, stared its contents before zipping it completely then passed it to the maid who asked him for it. He turned to Miwa. "If I see one displaced item in my bag, you'll be paying a hundred and thousand yen."

Miwa stared at him before nodding. "Alright."

He turned to Ueda who looked perplexed. "As much as I am in rank with them, I don't appreciate being respected like I can step on you. Let's treat each other like equals."

"But I need permission from-"

"Permission granted." He waved off before nodding to the path. "Now, where were we, Ueda-san?"

There was a shine of respect in those eyes that looked away from him to officially guide him. "This way, Sawada-san."

Tsuna quietly followed Ueda to where their destination should be. He noticed men stationed by the walls, guarding. Must be because the head of the house is close to death. Not that the heirs needed to quicken the death of the old man. Internal conflict, perhaps? Maybe the old man hasn't named his heir yet. Ek. That will be hard. Unless he tends to give his decision over the matter on his dying breath. Too dramatic.

They went to too many corridors. If he wasn't used to his counterpart's Hibari Kyouya's house, he would've thought that they're lost or something. Well. It can't be helped that the compound is that big. Tsuna even saw the gardens, some ponds and other sight to see in the compound. The brunet doesn't know much about the old man's wife, but without even thinking about it, the great lady must have died already. If not, Tsuna won't meet the old man in the first place. That being said though, Tsuna doubts it that the old man has concubines. Japanese people are some kind of loyal to their partners.

Tsuna looked at the door they stopped by. He looked back to the three who went on their knees and bowed as Ueda did.

"Boss, Sawada-san has arrived." Ueda said.

It didn't take long for the door to open and someone came flying out. Brown eyes went orange as they trained their gaze on the incoming knife. Anticipating this since his intuition knocked on him, he caught the arm and did a good arm throw using the momentum. He used that small second of pain impact and gasp to roll the body, lock the arm and use the hand holding the knife to point the said sharp object to the assailant's neck.

"K-Kid-"

"Tsunayoshi-"

"Sawada-"

"One wrong move and I'll let you slit your own throat yourself." He informed, not minding the trembling struggle of the man to remove him. Tsuna let him go and stood up, patting himself of dust before he walked for the room. "Excuse me."

"What happened?" A weak grumpy voice was heard from the old man lying on a futon in the middle of the room. "Kaen?"

"It has been a long time, Shoji-jii-san." He greeted.

"Ah." The old man uttered as if relieved. "The lucky rope has arrived."