Chapter Forty-Eight
Tsuna bobbed his head to the beat while mentally following it with the lyrics. He can't help getting the last song syndrome on it. Jirou- No. Kyouka had finished the lyrics just this morning and they're practicing it. The song is really heart felt that he feels bad to sing it. The lady deserves to sing this on her own. She really pour out her heart in it.
His eyes were going to look up when he noticed his watch. His lips quirked a little at the memory. He had been using the watch for days now. Ever since their little exchange, they became closer. For some reason (he will never ask how), Reborn got a hold of what he's going to do in their performance. So every night, he's asked to sing lullabies to the grown up man. Of course he'll indulge. Reborn is adorable whenever he tries not to sleep. As much as he spoils the other, he's being spoiled too.
He moved his eyes to the door when it opened. A flaming cat came skidding and looked left and right, as if searching for someone. Tsuna called out Natsu's name, and before he knew it, he's falling because a full grown lion jumped on him. He laughed when he felt Dark Shadow on his back, and Denki and Katsuki holding his shoulders. Natsu 'gao'-ed guiltily at Momo's reprimand while Kyouka patted the lion's manes.
All of the members of the band asked him to call them in their names after they noticed him calling Katsuki, well, Katsuki. He doesn't know how much he lit up at the permission.
"Thanks." He laughed after getting settled again. He hugged the lion tightly. "I missed you too, Natsu."
"Gao." The lion howled burying his head to the brunet's chest.
"We'll be together soon. I promise. Just keep Eri-chan safe, yeah? And Dad too."
"Gao." The big cat saluted, making him smile brighter.
"Guys?" He called out to the five. "Can I excuse myself for a little while? It's feeding time for Natsu."
"Yeah. Good idea. We should take some break too." Denki agreed before looking at Katsuki. "Is it alright, Bakugou?"
"Yeah yeah." The blond waved off.
Tsuna took the paper bag beside him and let Natsu lead the way. The lion opened the door wider for them and they get to see his Dad waiting at the end of the steps. Black eyed softened at the sight of him. He smiled back as they descended. He presented his gift to the man. Shouta looked down to the paper bag before taking it.
It's Shouta's birthday. If they aren't here, busy with the Culture Festival, Tsuna will be planning for the man's birthday. It feels a little different. To not cook, or wait for his Dad to come home with Hizashi. He'll miss it. He'll miss their days. But it's still nice that Shouta came with Mirio and Eri. What he heard, the two will rope up Izuku to tour the girl around so she won't get cultured shock after being isolated for so long. He suggested to Nezu that his little lion can stay with Eri as long as she wants him since both of them have sky harmonizing effects, which calms the receiver.
Natsu 'gao'-ed softly to get their attentions before leading the way again. Tsuna complied as his Dad follows. They went for the grasses. He sat down and Natsu laid on his left lap as he let his hand manifest his flames. The lion happily ate.
"It never gets old." His Dad commented and plopped down beside him.
"What? Feeding Natsu?" He asked.
"No. Receiving gifts from you." The man inspected the bag. "I wonder what it contains. Eyedrops again?"
He cracked up, earning an amused smirk.
Shouta took the first small box and opened it. He peered at the brunet with exasperated deadpan. "Really?"
He snickered, hiding his face to Natsu's body. "What? I like it when you have your hair tied up."
"Really?" He peered at his Dad who lifted the set of ties he bought as a gag. The man looks surprised with his confession. "I didn't know."
"It's the reason why I made you buy those hair clips and ties back when I was eight!" He reached up with his free hand and touched the man's wavy unkempt hair. "I like it when it's down, or done. It just suits you, Dad." He giggled like a kid when red crept to the man's pale face. "Get the other ones."
"You have three gifts for me again? You did that last year too." Shouta took the second box as Natsu stood up. "Ah. You're going to Eri?"
The lion 'gao'-ed softly and bumped his head to his Dad's chest before turning to his small form and disappeared in a flash.
"That's what you usually do." The hero hummed while opening the gift. "You'll say goodbye and suddenly disappear to do his job. Natsu does mirror you." Then he picked up the black sweater, leather gloves and black neck warmer.
"It's getting cold, so I figured you'll need that." He hummed. "I'm still figuring out how to make shirt with a turtle neck, so you have to bear with that first."
"Thanks." His Dad softly said before glancing at him. "What's the last one then?"
He took the wireless headset from his neck and passed it to Shouta. "You'll need this."
The hero looked at it weirdly before taking it. Just then, a 'ping' was heard. Black eyes suspiciously glanced at him as his Dad took out his own phone. He waited for a reaction. He grinned when the brows furrowed in question before the man put on the wireless headset and tapped something on his phone. The grin grew wider when his Dad blinked in surprise before putting both of his hands to his ears and closed his eyes.
It's a playlist. A playlist of him singing sixteen songs that are either purely Japanese or some songs he translated from other language to Japanese. He's not really someone who would sing. He will usually hum, or just sings along lowly, so no one would hear him. And his Dad had been trying to catch him offguard while singing his head off on a song he really likes. It rarely happens for him to sing outright nor get caught doing it (hyper intuition at its finest). All he knew, he doesn't have a good voice. He doesn't have one even in his old world. So when Katsuki made him volunteer, he was super reluctant because he never had any proper training or was confident to his voice.
(He didn't know, that whenever he's humming inside his office, either one or two of his guardians and some staffs would hear him and they'll stay just to listen.)
(He doesn't know, that it's one of the things that his tutor loves about him.)
(He doesn't remember how all of the kids, from the child Lambo to the latest child he held in his arms before he died, want him to sing lullabies to them because they love how he sings.)
(He just doesn't know.)
But with Katsuki's unconditional (and unknowing) support (forceful and angry bouts) in there practices and Kyouka's vocal tips, he was able to have more confidence to record something. Since he knew he's too nervous to do it outright, he'll do it when he knew he's going to sing a full song while doing his homework or just having fun reading. It's good there are minus one songs out there to be used in karaokes.
He waited for his Dad to open his eyes. He can't really stop the blush from forming in his cheeks with how serious and earnest Shouta look while listening to his recordings. He wonders what will happen if his Dad discovers that he's going to sing at the Culture Festival. He smiled when those eyes opened and they gazed at him immediately.
"How is it?" He asked, unsure. "Are they bad? I mean I understand if they are because we have our own taste in music and sound. It's not like I'm saying I'm not confident with them. I'm just-"
He found himself being gathered into a hug. He melted and hugged back, closing his eyes as he buried his face to his Dad's shoulder.
"It's incredible." Shouta whispered. "I feel so special. Thank you, Tsuna."
"Argh." He groaned as his heart skipped some beats at the words. "I wanna cry."
His Dad laughed. "Why so? You're not the one who received a gift like this."
"Because you said you feel special because of them. I should've done them years ago." He pouted as he hugged his Dad tighter. "Happy birthday, Dad. I'll pull Nemuri-nee and Uncle Hizashi later to the hospital to celebrate with us."
"I'll agree on that this time."
He chuckled. "Thanks God then. Ah. I'll introduce Reborn to them too. At least they know him when he suddenly pops up in the Culture Festival or he accompanies me somewhere and they'll go suspicious on him."
"Now that I think about it, do you know what will your hitman give me?"
He looked up to his watch before chuckling. "Maybe."
He immediately pulled away when he felt those hand around his back get spread over his body. He couldn't get away that fast when the capture weapon caught him while his Dad cachinnated like a madman and started to tickle him.
They spent his entire break on tickle war until he got called out by his bandmates while Eri, Mirio and Izuku came back to get his Dad. The two coughed to hide embarrassment for being caught only to laugh again. He picked up Eri and whispered to her to greet Shouta happy birthday later. The girl looked at him curiously that he only retaliated with a smile. Red eyes sparkled in trust. He liked it.
When he came to the hospital that evening, he laughed at his Dad disgruntled expression. Apparently, as what Reborn told him, Eri greeted his Dad like he told her so, then asked him what's the meaning of birthday. It all ran down to when is her birthday. Shouta had to get the child's file to know when it is. In a sense, all of them discovered that the girl's birthday is on December twenty-first. Reborn already thought of what to gift. The father and son let him think before introducing him to Hizashi and Nemuri who arrived on time, carrying light booze and the cake.
Thanks God Reborn didn't flirt with Nemuri though. He'll really throttle the hitman if he did.
(The hitman did attempt, but when he noticed the cautious glances from the brunet, he backed down.)
(He likes making his 'little boss' a little happy.)
The days passed by until the day of the Culture Festival arrived. They had one last practice on the stage the evening before, and it did well. He had to run for the hospital to catch dinner with his Dad and Reborn though. That night, he had troubles sleeping out of anxiety, instead of excitement, unlike his classmates. Reborn glared at him a lot of times, so he resorted to reading his manga on the phone until he fell asleep. He woke up at four-thirty to do his usual routine.
Tsuna took a deep breath with his eyes closed, and slowly let it out to calm his heart. He hadn't felt that kind of nervousness for awhile. He's used to facing the crowd and giving small speeches for events and parties. He had been at those for like half of his life. At least in the speeches, if he forgets his lines, he can do some ad-libs. In this kind of performance though, no. So he really really feels the sweating of his hands that are slowly getting cold and the anxiety of thinking what will be the worst thing that could happen.
"Shit." He cussed as his heart beat went faster instead of calming down.
"I didn't peg you to be a foul mouth." Reborn hummed from the full body mirror. He's fixing his dress shirt. "Nervous?"
"Dying." He corrected before biting his lower lip in unease.
"You're just thinking too much." His hitman commented before knocking on his head. "You'll do fine."
"But what if I went off-tune or my voice cracked?" He worries, not minding the gesture awhile ago. "Or my voice doesn't sound that nice because I'm too nervous to sing?"
Reborn sighed, making him do some whining. "If it will make you feel better, your Dad is going to watch with Yamada and Kayama."
"For the record, I never sing to them." He informed. "Dad won't mind, but uncle and nee-san..." Cue a grimace.
"I'm gonna watch too." He gaped at the other. "Don't look at me like that."
"But I thought you're going to Italy?" Then his intuition spiked a little, causing him to frown.
"My flight is on twelve. I have time and I wanna see you sing live." Then Reborn stood in front of him. "Just think about singing to me and your Dad, Tsuna. Besides, I heard you gave a playlist of you singing to Aizawa. Just think that you're presenting for the family."
His intuition spiked again, stronger this time. "Reborn."
"Hm?"
He took the other's hand and stared at those onyx eyes. "Don't go." He squeezed it. "Please."
"Don't go...?"
"Italy." He clarified, wincing when his intuition throbbed at the name. "My intuition doesn't like it. It's like something bad will happen if you go."
"I'll be fine." The man assured with a smirk. "I'm the world's greatest hitman."
Tsuna squeezed the hand. "If anything, and I mean anything, happens, call me." His eyes bled orange. "You're mine. If you get hurt, those who hurt you will pay. You're not allowed to die on my watch, Reborn, if you don't want half of this world to burn to mourn for you."
"You just love confessing me." The man teased before squeezing back. "I'll be careful, I promise."
He smiled, feeling a little calmer. "Okay." Then he closed his eyes.
"What are you doing?"
Tsuna thought of what he'll do, why he'll do it, and how he will do it. As he strengthened his resolve, he didn't see how Reborn smiled at the sky flames dancing around his own, but dormant, flames. He doesn't know how it feels nice, and warm and protective for the hitman. So possessive and protective of him. Just like how he perceived Tsuna be.
Onyx eyes watched as those eyes opened and orange ones stared at him with unbreakable resolve. So determined to do what he wants. Reborn squeezed the hand holding his. Even though Tsuna is now determined to sing, he's not someone who won't get nervous. This is the problem the hitman can't solve personally. Reborn bet Aizawa is getting worried too. He doesn't know what will Tsuna do in their performance, but the man is pretty sensitive to Tsuna's flames. Maybe because of the exposure and growing up with the brunet?
"Where will you be?" Tsuna asked, unsure again.
"At the back, probably near your Dad." Reborn answered while letting his hand go.
"Oh. Okay. I'll probably see you." He assured himself, anxiety over their performance is coming back. "I think I need to go. They'll probably need me on something."
"I can already hear them chattering downstairs." The other hummed while putting his hat on his head.
He gave him a deadpan as the man put his combat headphone around his neck. "That's three levels down, Reborn."
"I have devil ears." The man smirked, and before Tsuna knew it, his sight got blocked. He brought his hands to touch the hat. It was the fedora Reborn gifted him. "If you feel any nervous later, wear that. My confidence might get transferred to you."
He eyed Reborn gratefully with a smile. "Thank you."
"Now go. I'll be back in time of your perfomance. I'll be at the cafe near here to get my daily dose of espresso." The other shooed.
He nodded as he backpedalled for the door. "Right. I hope your daily dose of Tsuna got filled up too."
He went out with a laugh after that comment because the hitman donned a scandalized look. He ran for the elevator while snickering. He suddenly remembered how his Dad looked so scandalized twelve years ago. Oh. That happened a lot of times too. Whenever he says some things that will make his Dad look at him like he said something that shouldn't be said.
Stepping out of the elevator, he came upon his classmates getting ready. He waved at Mina who greeted him cheerfully. He praised how good they looked, she, Uraraka and Asui. Same with the boys. He slid beside Fumikage who greeted him and noticed his fedora. He grinned and patted his hat.
"Ready?" Momo queried to him, eyeing his fedora.
"Dying." He answered and raised his shaky hand. He was going to open his mouth again to say something when his intuition spiked. "Fuck."
"Tsuna?" Fumikage called out in worry.
He closed his eyes in pain and surveyed around. It's definitely not his Dad, cause his intuition will kick him to move. Maybe one of his classmates? "Who's missing?"
"Midoriya." Shouto answered after entertaining Mina who was reviewing the staging. "He said he's going to buy ropes. Aoyama is waiting for him."
"He's not back yet." Yuuga informed.
Tsuna looked at the clock before pulling out his mittens and putting on his headphones. "I'll get him."
"Huh?" They all blurted, making him smile.
"It's fine. I'm just worried. It's better to get him now than wait, right?" He moved for the door, putting his fedora on Katsuki as he passed by. "We'll be back in a jiffy. I promise."
"But you don't have a permit." Tokoyami pointed out, which he shrugs at. His classmate only shook his head.
"Don't get kidnapped!" The blond shouted as he opened the door.
"I won't!" He answered back before closing the door as he activated his flames.
He flew off, propelling himself to the air. He maneuvered himself to go where his intuition is pinpointing him. He scanned the ground and the air to see where Izuku is. His brows furrowed when he saw some cellophane by the sidewalk. He touched down to get those cellophone and see what it's inside. Some ropes and some ingredients with apples and sticks with it. Eri did say something about apple candy that the boys recommended to her. Maybe no one is going to sell that kind of candy so Izuku wanted to make one?
He sighed and gathered the cellophane and started to run for the area where he is being pointed, somewhere in the forest and near the academy. He can see some signs of scuffle on the way there though. Just what did Izuku get in to?
When arrived at the forest, he trusted his intuition to guide him where until he heard some shouting. He dropped the bag somewhere safe and jogged for the place until he saw someone getting tossed. His eyes widened at the child that was about to hit the ground, so he moved. It was a girl, with pigtails, wearing this fancy clothes with a bowtie and her eyes are black rimmed. She's teary.
"Are you okay?" He asked to the girl who stared at him.
"Tsuna?!" He looked up to see a scratched Izuku and an equally battered man. "W-What are you doing here?"
"I'm searching for you." He responded as he carried the girl in his arms as he stood up. "What are you doing?"
Green eyes glanced at the gentleman. "T-This is... He was going to pull a prank on UA."
Orange eyes looked down to the girl. "Is that true?"
"Y-Yes." The lady answered.
"Are you with him?"
"Y-Yes."
He turned to the gentleman. "You are?"
"My name is Gentle Criminal, that girl is La Brava." The man answered, eyeing him and the girl cautiously.
"Okay, Gentle-san," He sighed and glanced at his time. "our performance is within minutes. Your plan got jeopardized too, I have La Brava as a hostage, will you still go on?"
Izuku's eyes widened as the man went still.
"We don't want that, right?" He questioned as he put La Brava down. The girl staggered back, confused. "I don't like seeing kids cry and get hurt. They don't deserve it." He pulled out his handkerchief and wiped off the tears and dirt on the girl's face. "Take care of yourself and Gentle-san, alright? You have a good future ahead of you if you know what you're getting yourself in to."
"T-Tsuna." Izuku called.
"It's fine." He assured as Gentle gathered the girl in his arms. "He'll surrender." He pulled out another hankie and wiped off the blood on the greenet's face. "You're so careless sometimes, Izuku."
"I'm sorry."
He sighed before giving a smile and let his hand glow yellow. "We have an hour till showtime, let's heal you three for a bit, yeah?"
"But the things I bought-"
"I got them safe." He said as he assisted the teen down, eyeing the two persons at his peripheral. It's never bad to be cautious. "Relax for a bit. You're going to dance later." Then he breathed out. "And maybe, talk it out with Gentle-san?" The aforementioned man perked up. "We don't need to do things in a battle all the time. It will traumatize the child."
"Gentle," Izuku started off, taking his advice.
"Incoming call from Dad." The voice on his headphones said as he listened to the talk between the two.
"Receive." He uttered as he went for Gentle after healing La Brava. The line connected. "Hey Dad."
"Where are you? Did you find Midoriya? All Might has been calling him, then called me when he heard you went out to get him." Shouta worriedly asked from the other side.
"I got him." Green eyes turned to him. "We're busy for a bit. Izuku forgot his phone. We'll be on time. Don't worry."
"Okay. I'll tell your classmates."
"Awesome. Thanks, Dad." He bid before the line cuts. He smiled at La Brava who looked up to him. "Yup?"
"Thank you." The little girl expressed while glancing at him from watching Gentle getting healed. Tsuna can relate to the worry.
"No problem." He answered as he heals some of the cuts on Gentle's face. "Izuku, the bags are on my right, seven trees away from the tree here."
"Oh." The greenet voiced and stood up. "Nothing was gone?"
"None. I checked the receipt too." He answered as he retracted his hands while the teen ran off to get the cellophane. "Pain anywhere?"
"You're the vigilante." The man said instead, before chuckling in resignation. "I should've known."
He hummed, agreeing with the unvoiced thoughts. "It's just that you're unfortunate to run to Izuku."
"You'll still catch me if we enter UA." Honest eyes stared at him as Tsuna perked up. "No one can go pass from the vigilante's senses, as what they have said. This is an evidence."
"We're just trying to make a jaded kid smile, Gentle-san." He explained as he stood up and looked at Hound Dog and five clones of Ectoplasm closing in. "We cannot afford for this festival to end without her learning how to smile. It's what Izuku wanted to tell you. It's what we want you to realize."
"Tsuna! I got the cellophane!" Izuku informed while emerging from the bushes, and looked at the two teachers with wide eyes.
"Sawada, Midoriya." Ectoplasm called, utterly surprised.
Tsuna let Izuku do the talking. He sadly gazed at Gentle and La Brava as they get escorted by Hound Dog, La Brava was really crying while Gentle looked so defeated. They were running late too, but he was thankful that he got the plastics though. They thanked Ectoplasm's clone for escorting them before ushering Izuku to change with Yuuga. The blond looked at him worriedly, but he smiled gently before moving to go to his bandmates.
Katsuki's the first one to welcome him. The blond put his fedora on his head and told him to relax. He pulled off his mitten and brought down his headphones with a grateful smile and an apology for taking their time. They went for the stage. Before the others took their spots, Shouto gave him a good luck, and 'let's do it with our plus ultra Dying Wills', followed by the others. He chuckled, feeling his nerves, that came back, ebbing away.
"Tsuna?" He hummed in response to Izuku's call, eyeing the greenet who look guilty. "I'm sorry, to what happened."
He smiled and reached out to ruffle the curly hair. "Just be really careful next time. When in trouble, try to reach out, yeah?" He rested his forehead on the other who stared back at him. "But you did well, Izuku. Congrats on your new technique. Tell me if you need help on your apple candy. Eri-chan is anticipating it. She was really excited when she told me about it."
He pulled back when Izuku nodded.
"Plus Ultra?" He asked.
"With our Dying Wills." The greenet nodded, determined.
He laughed and let the teen go to his spot for the dance. He arranged the mic and its stand in front of him. Kyouka asked him if he's ready. It took a minute for him to answer. He thought of Hizashi, Nemuri, Hitoshi, Reborn, and his Dad. His heart swelled up with pride and warmth, flames burning at his stomach.
He smiled. "Yup. Ready."