Ameily: Thank you, and I will see what I can do!
Guest: Thank you, and I think I can do that!
Alright, this chapter is thanks to Dman4869 and BoyishBlue! I hope you two like it!
I don't own KHR.
"Has anything caught your eye yet?" Giotto asked as he looked down on Tsuna with a patient smile. Tsuna looked around once more before sighing.
"No," he admitted with a slightly frustrated pout. It was in the middle of August or more importantly, about a week away from Asari's birthday. So while Asari was off on a day-long mission, Tsuna, his siblings, and some of the Vongola guardians were in the street market to shop for gifts.
While they had just started shopping and still had plenty of time before the day was out, Tsuna thought he would have at least found some possible options by now. Tsuna also wanted to make sure that the guardian's birthday was special. Not only because he was Takeshi's cousin, but also because he had helped them all out so much ever since they arrived at the mansion.
"Don't worry, we'll find something," Giotto assured him as he gave Tsuna's hand a comforting squeeze. "It also helps that he isn't picky at all."
"Really? That's good," Tsuna replied, honestly feeling a bit relieved. Sure, he still wanted to get something special for him but at least he wouldn't have to account for some particular tastes.
Then he thought of another problem.
"Wait, what if I get him something that he already has?" Tsuna asked as he felt some more worry settle in.
"Don't worry, that's why I'm here," Giotto told him with a warm smile though Tsuna could read him well enough to know that he was holding back a laugh. "While I admit I don't think I know absolutely every item that Asari has in his possession, what I do know should be helpful enough. And worst case scenario, Asari would just have two of something, which isn't a bad thing. It just means that he has a back-up!"
"...I haven't thought of it like that," Tsuna mused, as unfamiliar people bustled and moved past them, the rest of their family having split up as soon as they had arrived at the market.
"Most people don't," Giotto informed as he looked back up at the crowd. "Now, let's see if-"
Then suddenly, his face grew pale, very pale.
"Giotto? What's wrong?" Tsuna asked as dread and no small amount of fear and concern crawled up his spine. Tsuna didn't need intuition to know that Giotto's intuition has warned him of something.
Though to get this kind of reaction from him, it had to be really horrible.
"Tsuna," Giotto said as his eyes darted all around him, his hold on Tsuna's hand growing protectively tight. "If there one thing you want to remember, it's that there are three kinds of people in this world. The people who love you, the people who don't care for you, and-"
"Oh my gosh! It's him! It's Giotto!" Tsuna turned his head at the high-pitched squealing and saw a trio of young women that Tsuna could easily tell wore too much makeup, even from this distance. "Wait, is that his son?!"
"And the people who you just need to run the heck away from," Giotto continued. "Like so!"
Then in one smooth motion, Giotto bent down, picked Tsuna up, and ran through the crowd like a demon was on their heels.
"Giotto! Primo! Wait up! Wait for us!" screamed the women as they instantly gave chase. Tsuna looked at them from over Giotto's shoulder, not sure if he felt more scared or confused.
"Who are they?" Tsuna asked as he slightly tightened his grip on Giotto.
"...Extreme fangirls," Giotto answered with a shudder as he dodged a man with a big loaf of bread and a bag of pasta. Before Tsuna could ask him more, he accidentally made direct eye-contact with one of the women. The bright blonde lady's neon orange lips then turned upwards into the kind of smile one wears when they are presented a juicy steak. Tsuna whimpered as he quickly looked away while tightening his grip on Giotto.
Never mind, he didn't want to know.
"G! It's Code Neon! I repeat, it's Code Neon! Warn the others!" Giotto warned his right-hand man through his cell phone as he continued to run, his other arm still securely around Tsuna.
"Oh crap!" Tsuna heard G through the phone. "Primo-"
Whatever G said next, Tsuna couldn't hear as suddenly, a lady with neon green literally dove out from between a stall selling handbags and another selling ties.
"Primo!" the lady screeched with a predatory grin that was somehow worse than Kyoya's and Mukuro's predatory grins combined as she flew almost straight at them. "I wanna meet your cute son!"
"No," Giotto said simply as he swiftly jumped backwards, avoiding the crazy lady successfully. However, this caused the women behind them to almost catch up with them.
"Oh my gosh, that is his son! It has to be, they look too much alike!" crooned the lady with the neon orange lipstick.
"Aw, he's such a cutie!" Tsuna looked to his right and saw to his horror that there were even more crazy fangirls, some of which looked too old to be drooling like that.
"I could just gobble him up! Right after you of course Giotto dear!" cried a lady with neon blue eyeliner.
"Hie!" cried Tsuna as he dug his face into the crook of Giotto's neck.
What were they going to do them?! Were they really going to eat them up?!
"Ladies," Giotto said as Tsuna felt a comforting hand on the back of his head. "It is...nice to see you all again but-"
Then suddenly, a pair of hands grabbed Tsuna around his chest and began to effortlessly tear him out of Giotto's hold.
However, Tsuna wasn't afraid. Instead he felt safe and warm before he even opened his eyes to see the person who was now holding him.
"Excuse me ladies, but I'm afraid that we must be going. This is too much excitement for a young boy such as him," Reborn explained as he placed Tsuna on the top of his shoulders. Then without waiting for a response, Reborn swiftly turned around and left Giotto behind in the midst of the terrifying fangirls.
"Wait, Reborn, what about Giotto?!" Tsuna exclaimed, both concerned for his dear doppelganger and confused on why the women weren't chasing them. He then bent over in a way that gave him a clear view at Reborn's face and what he saw made his eyes go wide a little. While Reborn's voice had been calm and his face was currently more or less neutral, his eyes were a different matter.
Because even though they were one shade lighter than pure black, Tsuna could clearly see the residing anger that was in them.
No wonder the fangirls didn't chase them.
"He'll be fine, think of this as a part of his training," Reborn answered as he situated his fedora, Tsuna having knocked it a little by accident.
"Training? He's still training?" Tsuna asked as he straightened up to look back, only to find that he couldn't see Giotto or any of the women wearing neon make-up.
"No one is ever truly done with training, even me," Reborn confessed as he swiftly walked through the crowd like he was the only one on the street. "We will always have new lessons to learn. Giotto's right now is how to get away from fangirls that doesn't just involve running or yelling Code Neon. You will probably have to learn this one day too, but not right now. You're too little."
And while a small part of him wanted to protest and say that he wasn't that little, that he had actually grown a bit in the last few months, Tsuna didn't say anything as he pondered on Reborn's words. After a few seconds, Tsuna finally turned back around, having decided that Reborn was right, that Giotto would be okay.
Besides, worst case scenario, Giotto could just headbutt them to submission.
"I thought you were going to stay home because you had better things you needed to do," Tsuna said, feeling much calmer now.
"Maybe I changed my mind, maybe I had planned to come later and see how many of your gifts for Asari I could pickpocket," Reborn answered nonchalantly. "Speaking of which, have you got something for him yet?"
"No," Tsuna sighed, choosing to ignore Reborn's latest idea of a chaotic prank.
"Well, you better hurry, you only have a few hours. And who knows if you will have another chance like this to shop for him," Reborn replied in such a way that Tsuna could tell without looking at him that he was smirking.
"I know, I know," Tsuna grumbled as he looked around. All around them were stalls selling a variety of items, and people happily buying those items. But he couldn't see anything that he felt like would be perfect for Asari. He brieftly wondered if the others had any luck yet when he realized something.
"Do you think the others are safe? From the fangirls I mean," Tsuna asked as he worriedly looked around the market, but he couldn't see any of his siblings or his adult family members. He wasn't sure how many fangirls they were after all.
"What does your intuition tell you?" Tsuna's mouth opened slightly in surprise at the question before he considered it while closing his eyes.
"...I don't think they're in danger," Tsuna eventually answered as he opened his eyes, noting how he had almost the exact same feeling when he had first woken up in the Vongola mansion.
"Then I say there is probably nothing to worry about," Reborn replied with a nod. "Trust in your intuition and trust that the guardians will look after your siblings competently."
Tsuna nodded, knowing that Reborn was right and knowing with a certainty that their guardians would do anything in their power to keep his siblings safe. Besides, they could just make sure to keep an eye out for them while they shopped.
It was then that Tsuna realized that Reborn had yet to take Tsuna off his shoulders, or even suggest in some way that Tsuna should get off. Instead, his hand was firmly holding one of Tsuna's legs while his other hand was hanging by his side, probably ready in case he needed to shoot somebody.
Tsuna had always thought that Reborn was the kind of person that was averse to hugs or that kind of physical contact but maybe he was wrong.
The young boy then looked around as they continued to move through the street market. Reborn was more or less walking with the same swift speed though there were now some intervals where he would slow down in front of a stall, presumably so that Tsuna could have time to look at the items.
It was during one of these intervals that something finally caught Tsuna's eye.
"There! That's it!" Tsuna exclaimed happily as he pointed at the small object wrapped in clear packaging. The stall was another tie stand but this one also sold tie clips as well as other similar accessories. The item that caught Tsuna's eye was a silver tie clip shaped as a long, narrow sword facing sideways.
It was just screaming to be given to Asari.
"A bear tie clip? I guess Asari can be a furious as a bear sometimes," Reborn mused as he reached for the clip that laid right beside the sword one.
"No! The sword one!" Tsuna corrected hurriedly.
"Oh I see my mistake. You want the Italian flag one," Reborn said as he reached for a clip that was on the far end of the table. "Asari does like Italy."
Okay, now Reborn was just messing with him.
"Reborn..." Tsuna replied, annoyed and hoping he wouldn't have to say more in order to get Reborn to stop. Luckily, Reborn just chuckled as he changed directions and grabbed the preferred tie clip.
"We would like to buy this please," Reborn requested as he held up the clip to the lady running the stall.
"Of course," the lady said with a bright, wide smile. Reborn then bought the tie clip, and without any further ado, walked away with their purchase.
"You owe me now," Reborn said as he reached up to give the clip to Tsuna.
"Th-wait. You mean money?" Tsuna asked as he held Asari's gift gently yet securely.
"Of course, I'm not made out of cash you know," Reborn clarified as they continued to walk through the market, though where they were going now Tsuna had no idea.
"Oh uh...I don't have any money," Tsuna replied truthfully as he tried to anxiously figure out how he was going to get the money. Maybe he could offer to do chores around the mansion for a small price? Wait, what was the price for the clip again?!
"Well, that's a shame, I guess then I will just have to accept another form of payment."
"Uh, like what?" Tsuna asked, feeling especially wary as he leaned over sideways so he could have a better look at Reborn's face. The adult didn't reply and his face was practically blank, causing butterflies to soar in Tsuna's stomach.
"Often when people get attracted to others' flames, they feel a sudden set of emotions. My payment is a honest answer to what you felt when you first met me."
"Oh," Tsuna said, surprised that this was all Reborn wanted but relieved because the answer was an easy one.
"Well, I don't know if I would call them emotions exactly but your flames felt safe and warm to me." Reborn, who had been glancing up at Tsuna, instantly pulled his fedora over his eyes.
But now before Tsuna could see how wide they were getting.
"Safe and warm?" Reborn repeated, his voice very even.
"Yeah," Tsuna confirmed as he straightened back up again. "It's also why I didn't scream when you pulled me away from Giotto. I knew it was you before I even looked at you."
Reborn suddenly stopped walking in the middle of the street. While numerous people bustled by them, Tsuna felt tempted to look down to see Reborn's face and in the end decided not to.
After all, not only was Reborn still pulling his fedora over his eyes, but Tsuna instinctively knew that it wouldn't be right.
After a few moments of silence, Reborn began walking again.
"Well, I could tell that was indeed an honest answer," Reborn finally replied as he moved his fedora back up again. "So as a reward for being so straightforward, I will let you meet my gun."
"Wait wha-" Reborn then lifted his free arm to near Tsuna's eye level, giving the boy a clear view of a giant pair of eyes. Tsuna's own eyes grew wide as a green lizard then crawled out from beneath Reborn's sleeve, blinking slowly as he looked straight at Tsuna.
"His name is Leon, he's a shape-shifting chameleon and my partner. He can turn into just about anything, like guns and kunai," Reborn explained as Leon continued to stare at Tsuna, perched safely on Reborn's hand.
"Can...Can I hold him?" Tsuna asked as he reached out his hand tentatively towards the chameleon.
Reborn then grunted in approval, resulting in Tsuna to hold his hand out all the way. Leon then jumped without hesitation onto Tsuna's waiting fingers. The next few mintues were full of Tsuna cooing while petting the chameleon, and giggling when Leon licked his nose.
This shopping trip turned out to be very successful after all.
Reborn was just mostly curious when he asked Tsuna, looks like he got a bit more than he bargained for. And yes, he is very protective of his partner. So take from that what you will.
So how did you guys like it? Please leave a review on the way out and I will update shortly. Until then, stay safe, sane, and healthy! Have a good day/night and see ya!