A/N: Thank you so much for the reviews, favs and follows! I'm seriously grateful- and I wasn't really expecting this. THANK YOU. *Gives teary bear hug*

Anyhow, we won't be seeing much of Tsuna's 'painting genius' side, but rather his introduction to Reborn. Hope the chapter's not too short? :D

"Ciaossu! I'm Reborn, the home tutor."

When Reborn said those lines, he was prepared for a lot of things. "You're a baby!", "Where are your parents, child?", "Aw, that's so cute!" or even- "Stop joking!" It was expected, of course, in the form he was cursed in. It was annoying- but it was still the harsh reality.

But the response he got was not in his list of valid replies.

Absolutely not.

As soon as he said those words, the brunet snapped toward him, his eyes widened in surprise. Reborn smirked; maybe he'd also have some 'fun' with this one. At least the kid knew which one to respect.

Then, two things happened. He watched the blood drain from his face, and Tsuna took a wobbly step back to almost stumble on top of his mother. His shaking was barely disguised; his mouth resembling a gaping fish, and whatever words he tried to speak came out as a jumble.

"You- you-"

Reborn cocked an eyebrow. Now, that was definitely interesting. "Me?"

"A-A-Araw-"

Is he trying to say Arrow?

But before he could ask about the meaning of the word or say even anything, Tsuna collapsed on the hardwood floor, drawing a gasp from Nana who instantly sped to his side. Her face wide with concern, she started shaking him. "Tsu-kun! Tsu-kun! What's wrong!?"

The raven's eyes widened a fraction. What the…?

He would have to ask Iemitsu whatever the hell that was about.

.

Nana seemed to be an expert in treating people as she carried Tsuna bridal style onto a couch and laid him down tenderly. Checking his breath, heartbeat and pulse one-after-another, she sighed in relief to see they all were normal. She then turned to Reborn, and he half-expected her to snap at him.

But she did none of these, rather, smiled warmly, and said as to reassure him, "Tsu-kun is just tired, you know?" She laughed slightly, "He's been staying up late recently, so it's perhaps the exhaustion. I'll just let him rest… your name is Reborn, right?" She pronounced the name with some difficulty. But at least she did pronounce it correctly.

Reborn simply nodded; his face neutral, and hiding any internal turmoil from the outside world.

"Do you want to eat something?" Reborn tilted his head to the side, thinking. He didn't exactly mind free food- but after this episode… he shook his head in denial.

"No, thank you."

Nana seemed kind-of disheartened being rejected, but brightened up the next second. "I don't think Tsu-kun wouldn't mind you- do you want to-"

With the speed of lightning, the left arm of none other than Tsunayoshi Sawada clamped down on his mother's hand.

"No."

Both turned back in surprise. Tsuna had woken up sometime they were talking, the color on his skin somewhat returning. But his eyes…

They were the shade of burning amber instead of the normal brown; fear, yet determination shining through them. They were so painfully similar to the Hyper Dying Will Mode.

"No, mom. No." He spoke again, stressing each syllable. Reborn noted that Nana didn't seem the least alarmed at his behavior, nor became angry, but just nodded along as it was a daily thing. But that could be her nature, too- given what he had seen past those moments. He would have to observe.

"If you say so, Tsu-kun." His mother softly rubbed his hand, and gave the same comforting smile that had been directed to Reborn moments before. Tsuna visibly relaxed, and straightened himself up in his sit only to glance at Reborn once again. The brunet's eyes widened once more; something akin to fear flashed through his irises for a split second.

But he didn't faint this time, not again.

"I-I'm going to school, mom." He said, haste obvious in voice.

"But, Tsu-kun- how about resting-"

"I'll be fine." Tsuna smiled. Reborn could definitely see the resemblance between the two. He leaned forward as if hugging her, mumbling something inaudible in her ears before he got an 'okay' in reply. Reborn narrowed his eyes. What were they talking about?

Getting up and picking up his backpack from the floor as he stuffed the bento inside, Tsuna announced his departure to his mother.

He slung his back on the left shoulder and sprinted forward, all the while avoiding Reborn as a plague.

The raven growled inwardly, waiting for the moment when he'd trip, and Reborn could smirk in victory. (Ahh… just like that idiot Dino). But that instant never came, Tsuna gracefully crossing the little stump before the door before he thrust the door back in a bang!

Reborn jumped out of the window hurriedly- one hand grasping the fedora tightly so it wouldn't fly away- to chase after the boy. His lips tugged downwards in a frown.

Damn.

It didn't take much time to catch up with him, and Reborn jumped on top of the brunet's shoulder. Tsuna didn't stop or even gasp a little, but just gave him a mere passing glance as he continued to move forward. Reborn eagerly waited for a question, a word, a sentence- anything from the brunet so he could teach that brat a lesson. It was annoying to him- stepping so freaking down, but it was the fault of him to act so strangely.

Truth to be told, he was… taken aback.

He would never ever mutter it out loud, given his life on line -and he hated to admit it; even to himself, but that was the truth. He never expected this out of every scenario he had thought about. That darned Iemitsu- he never wrote anything about this in the profile Reborn had received.

But he supposed that was expected from him when he hadn't visited his family for over six years.

Bastard.

They had been walking quite a long time now, and Reborn could see the outline of Nami-middle in distance. It was no good, if Tsuna didn't talk, he would have to-

"What do you want?" Tsuna said at last, surprising the raven slightly. But it all was masked deep behind his neutral façade not a second after.

"I already said it- I'm going to tutor you. And I'm going to tutor you to become the tenth mafia boss of the most influential mafia family- Vongola."

That made Tsuna screech to a halt.

Reborn blinked, curious as to what his reply would be. It better be satisfying. Tsuna simply shook his head, declining, and continued walking, though Reborn could certainly notice the slight shaking of his body and those slightly bigger than normal eyes.

"I-I refuse."

"You can't refuse."

"Why not?"

"Why not take it?" Reborn retorted right back.

"That's none of your business."

"I'm your tutor, so of course it's my business."

"I never agreed to be your student."

"You don't have a choice."

Tsuna didn't reply to that, and sighed softly. Reborn wondered if that meant his student's defeat. "No."

"What?"

"It doesn't mean I've agreed to your plans. It means that it's pointless to discuss with you." Tsuna said as if reading his mind. And that was supposed to be my line, you brat.

Reborn scowled inwardly (again), thinking why his student had so much nerve to speak up against him- and aimed a straight kick toward his forehead. A visible boom! Resounded through the street, the pedestrians turned to the duo concernedly. Tsuna didn't budge from his spot, sneakers digging into the road, his hands curled in a ball as his eyelids snapped shut. His whole body was shaking in barely suppressed pain.

It's alright, Tsuna. I'm here, right? A familiar voice whispered at the back of his mind, filling him with much-needed warmth and he felt the pain lessen oh-so-little.

I-I know. It hurts so much! And he's-

It's okay. He's much more powerful than those bullies, I can tell... But you haven't to worry. Just loosen up your body, inhale and exhale. It'll be gone in moments, okay?

I'll… try.

Tsuna opened his eyes, ignoring the stars in his vision as he took a deep breath and released it in perfect synchronization- and continued on as if performing a ritual. The pain soon subsided to a dull throb, and he felt normal enough. He took little steps; when that brought lesser protests from his neck, soon broke into a jog. Reborn frowned, jumping on time to land on his shoulder perfectly.

The brunet didn't wince even once.

He didn't like this personality of his student.

After a minute or so, they found themselves in front of the gates of Nami-middle. Reborn had already been there the day before when he spied on Tsuna, and it looked like any other middle schools of Japan- Series of buildings lined together in a straight row, interconnected with each other and a long wall surrounding them from all sides except the front. He heard the brunet mutter something about being on time as he took a look at the giant clock drilled on the main building.

"Are you still going to sit on my shoulder?" Tsuna asked softly as he shifted his body weight from one foot to other, awkwardly craning his neck to look at the hitman.

"And if I am?"

"Just remember that Hibari-san doesn't like unknown people who aren't part of the school community step in- baby or otherwise."

Reborn smirked. "We'll see about that. By the way, your class is about to start."

His eyes widening momentarily, he snapped around to see that Reborn was, indeed correct, and he had misjudged the time; dashing straight for the class with a speed that could put Usain Bolt to shame. And later on, how much he tried to pretend that crash on the way was involuntary and couldn't be avoided, Reborn wouldn't stop smirking.