This time it's an OP!Tsuna fic. What do you guys believe is the best category to label this fic? Quite a few of them won't have anything to do with Persona. Please remember to leave feedback.

A Flame Too Bright

Chapter 1: A Pupil from Japan

It was a late evening in Namimori and a teen was returning home from a trip to the grocery store. This teenager was Tsunayoshi Sawada, age 13. He was a slim teen, with a slightly tan complexion, who stood at a height of 157 cm. His hair was a rich brown as was his eyes.

His mother, Nana Sawada, had sent him to the store to pick up a few items for dinner. He was more than happy to help her. He was always a bit of a Momma's boy.

Turning a corner, he came up to a group of older teens that were loitering around. Hearing him, they turned to face him, sneers on their faces, an attempt to look intimidating Tsuna was sure. Sighing from the soon to be annoyance, the male Sawada continued his walk home.

As he was walking by, the head thug got in his way. This caused Tsuna to bump him on the shoulder. The delinquent looked affronted. "Hey kid, I think I broke a bone because of you. How are you going to compensate me!?" The guy's groupies started to snicker around.

'Great one of those kinds. I need to hurry up to Mom. She's waiting on me!' Tsuna thought, already losing patience on the thugs' little act. Didn't they have something productive to do?

Annoyed, he looked the leader in the eye and responded to his demand. "Look I told my Mom I would pick up some things for dinner. At this rate I'm going to keep her waiting. I don't even have any cash for you guys to take. I spent the last of it on groceries."

This comment got all the delinquents laughing. "Ah, you have to do a good job for mommy? Well since you're broke, why don't you take your beating and be on your way?" On cue they attacked.

Tsuna threw his bags into the air. Seeing the leader coming up, he grabbed his clenched fist. The leader cried as he felt his hands get crushed by the younger teen. With a huff, the male Sawada lifted the leader high up and flung him against his group, repeatedly. In a few seconds all of them were on the ground moaning from the beat down.

He was just in time to catch the groceries he bought.' I hope I haven't kept Mom waiting too long.' The dutiful son worried. He picked up the pace and disappears in a gust of wind.

)( Line Break )(

It was an early Monday morning and Tsuna hated it. 'Screw school. I'm sleeping in.' He thought lazily. His bed just felt too great.

*Knock knock*

Hating the sound of the knocking, he tried to drown the sound out with a pillow over his head. The door slowly opened and he saw the smiling face of his girlfriend, Kyoko Sasagawa. As usual, she looked, in his humble opinion, cute in her Namimori Junior High School uniform. He felt his face flushing in embarrassment.

"Tsu-chan are you ready to go?" She asked cheerfully. Looking at the bed, she was unsurprised to see that he had made no efforts to get ready. This had become routine for her since they had started dating. If left alone, she felt Tsuna would just lounge all day. That boy.

Opening the door wider, she walked near bed to shake him up. Before she reaches him, he grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her down into the bed. He snuggled his head into her hair and wrapped his arms around her waist.

"Muu, Tsu-chan stop it. We have to get to class and you're making my uniform wrinkly." She protested unconvincingly. Her boyfriend's playfulness was one of the things she loved about him. She felt rather comfortable too. Turning she looked up to see his face. Cheeks getting warm she leaned in for a soft kiss.

*Snap*

The mood was then interrupted by the sound of a camera shutter. An embarrassed couple turned to see who it was. Holding a camera, there was a young looking woman with short brown hair and similar chocolate eyes as Tsuna. The culprit was Tsuna's mother Nana Sawada. Putting away the camera, she giggled and said "You two make such a cute couple, Tsu-chan and Kyoko-chan. Tsu-chan hurry up and get ready."

Reluctantly, Tsuna released his girlfriend. Kyoko got up and straightened her uniform before exiting the door to wait for Tsuna downstairs.

Once Tsuna got up, Nana waves her hand to grab his attention. "Oh, my Tsu-kun you're living live feeling 'It's Great to be alive' aren't you. I'm so happy for you. Oh, and a home tutor is coming today."

Tsuna raised an eyebrow and asked "A home tutor. For what subject?"

"There was an interesting flyer in the mailbox. It says 'Will raise your kid to be the new leader of the next generation. Grade and subject doesn't matter. Reborn.' Isn't it great? Such an interesting promotion. Doesn't it sound exciting?" asked the Sawada matron. Her son could use the help in school. He was such a bright boy, she wondered why he wasn't excelling in school.

"Ciaossu.", The mother and son pair looked below to the new voice. It was a baby with curly sideburns. He was wearing a high class Italian suit and hat with a chameleon on the rim.

"Hello, where are your parents little boy?"

"Hm? I'm Reborn, the home tutor for your son. I have come early as a service." The now named Reborn smoothly replied.

"Wow and so young too."

"My real job is the world's greatest hitman and I am to be your home mafia tutor. I will prepare you to take the mantle of Tenth boss of the Vongola. " Reborn informed Tsuna. For better effect, he pulled out two machine guns.

Taking the revelation in stride Tsuna confirmed, "So you're an infant assassin that was sent to groom me into a mafia boss."

"Yes."

"How... unusual." An odd manic smile formed on his lips. Reborn's instincts were telling him he had picked up a troublesome student.

'At least he isn't in denial.' Reborn approvingly thinks. As fun as it was to beat reality into his students, it took so much of his time.

"I'll see you two downstairs in a moment. I need to change. We can talk later." Nodding, his mother and tutor leave the room. He quickly changes into his uniform and goes downstairs in minutes.

He reaches the dining room to find Kyoko squealing over Reborn. "How cute. You have a little suit and everything. Why are you wearing one?"

"Because I'm in the mafia." The tutor responds smoothly.

"Waaah. How cool!" Hearing Tsuna, she turns to him to ask. "Who's this? Is he a relative?"

"He's my tutor."

Before she could respond he looked at his watch and exclaimed, "We're going to be late! I can't deal with Kyoya today." He stuffed some bread in mouth and chugged down some juice. Seeing his packed lunch, he placed it in his bag and kisses his mother on the cheek. "See you Mom, love you." She wavesd him goodbye. Reborn decided to tag along.

Once the trio were outside, Tsuna abruptly took Reborn and placed him on his head. He warned the hitman, "This is going to be a bumpy trip hold on. If you fall, I'm not going back." Amused the hitman nodded and prepared himself. He then turned to Kyoko and surprised her by lifting her up bridal style.

Kyoko became very shy at the action. No matter how many times she experienced it, she seemed to get really embarrassed by how easily her boyfriend could do things like this. Not that she was complaining. Understanding what she was thinking, Tsuna smiles and crouches down. With ease, he leapt high into the air and begins hopping from roof to roof at a quickening pace.

Reborn was impressed.

Near the school gates he saw Hana and decides to drop next to her. She was of course startled. "Kyoko! Control your boyfriend. I swear sometimes he can be just as much of a monkey as all the other boys." She complained, causing her friends to chuckle lightly.

Looking above his head, Hana saw Reborn and blanched. "You have a crying brat with you? Why is he coming to school with you?"

Reborn answered for his pupil, "Ciaossu. I am the world's greatest hitman, Reborn. I came all the way from Italy to teach Tsuna the ways of a mafia boss." He then proceeded to jump off of Tsuna's head and continued the trip on foot.

Hana was not amused. She had known Tsuna long enough to completely believe this story. Chaos followed him like a moth to flame. Honestly, she wondered why she didn't see this coming. This wouldn't be the first outrageous thing he had been involved with.

She still remembered the robbery incident when they were ten. Some armed burglars had made base in a store they had been wandering through. Apparently the burglars had robbed the bank near the store and wanted to use hostages to get out of town clear. Like any sane children, her and Kyoko had been keen on listening to the criminals. It all went to hell when Tsuna had spoken.

"How... unusual."

She still questioned the events that happened next. Tsuna had brazenly and happily walked up to the criminals, all the while they had guns pointed at him. One moment Tsuna was there, the next a blotted outline of a person was walking towards the crooks. There were dark holes where his mouth and eyes should've been. His hands outstretched as the crooks opened fire. All the bullets simply fell to the ground and the crooks were on their knees screaming in horror. The next second everything was back to normal. She didn't know what he did and liked it that way.

So mafia babies? Why not?

"Let me guess, he was unusual, so you like him." Hana questioned. She sighed when, he nodded. Well, maybe it was time for her to get over her brat issues. Reborn was going to be around for a while.

"Um, Tsu-chan you can let me down now." Kyoko meekly pointed out. Tsuna had every intention of carrying her to school. Hana, on the other hand, had been too busy trying to repress memories. With a soft tsk, she was put back on her feet. The group continued their trip to school.

)( Line Break )(

Kensuke Mochida was the president of the school's Kendo Club. With his skills, he had brought a number of championships to Namimori Jr. High. That success had in turn gave him popularity with the ladies. At a snap of his fingers, he could pick up any chick. Except one.

Kyoko Sasagawa, the school idol. All of his smooth moves flew right over her. Couldn't she see, he was the only one suitable for her. He knew the reason it was that Tsunayoshi kid. That guy was always hanging around her, that scum. She was too good to be spending time with his type. It didn't matter, because today was the day he would woo her and ask her out.

The sight he saw made him go red. Kyoko, his Kyoko, was laughing it up with that scum Tsunayoshi. This ended today. He marched up to the group and pointed at Tsuna. "Tsunayoshi! I challenge you to a kendo match for Kyoko Sasagawa, today after school in the gym!"

'Hell No!' Thought Tsuna furiously. This piece of trash did not do what he thought he did. He was treating his Kyoko as some sort of prize. Who did he think he was! He wasn't going to wait for any 'match', he was going teach this brat a lesson right now.

Before he could make the first strike, Reborn spoke "Accept his challenge. As a mafia boss, you can't have riff raff opposing you." Mochida took that as an acceptance and took off. Tsuna decided, Mochida was going to burn.

'Good. This is a perfect opportunity to see where he stands.' Thought the infant hitman.

To the side, Tsuna and Hana were having a difficult time controlling their anger. Who Kyoko hanged out with was none of his business. One could almost taste the tension.

As quick as it came, it vanished as Kyoko smiled at him. Not expecting a smile, he questioned her. "Aren't you upset about Mochida? He just literally put you up as a prize. "

"I know and I dislike it too. But I believe in you. You've always been good at resolving situations like this. I'll be cheering for you." She explained. Tsuna felt rather warm from the amount of faith. He still felt that she was still being rather nonchalant about the whole thing, though. Then again she had a point, they was no way he was going to lose to somebody as weak as Mochida.

"You? Lose to him? What a joke. I can't wait to see the look on that monkey's face, so don't mess this up."

"Yes ma'am" The male Sawada sounded off and the three began their walk to class. Looking around Tsuna realized that Reborn had disappeared. 'I didn't even hear him. He's good.'

)( Line Break )(

Tsuna was in his seat, looking out the window. Today, the teacher was returning their test scores. He was finally called up. Going to the front of the class, the teacher gives him his test. A big red 72 was seen on the top of the paper. The teacher was suspicious. Which was fair, Tsuna typically scores just above the twenties. Fortunately, Kyoko and Hana were willing to give him some tutoring for the test.

Frankly Tsuna saw school as a hassle. He simply couldn't bring himself to care too much about it. If it wasn't for the fact that it would've disappointed Kyoko, he probably wouldn't have done so well on this test either.

Sitting down, he turned to Kyoko and Hana and showed off his test paper. The former rolled her eyes and the latter smiled encouragingly. That smile made all that time worth it.

Deciding to address the presence he noticed earlier, he turned around and waved at a tree branch that Reborn was occupying.

)( Line Break )(

Reborn saw his student wave and smirked. Cheeky brat. So he was aware that he was being spied on? Good, that kind of skill was necessary as a mafia boss. Removing the binoculars, he noticed that Tsuna wasn't at his desk.

*Creak*

Turning around, Reborn saw the wayward student leaning on the bark of the tree, on a branch near his. Immediately, his instincts honed by years on his profession told him to eliminate Tsuna. He was a threat. How? He still had to find out. And what method did he use to not only discover his location, but also to appear here as well?

"Really working hard, huh? An infant assassin and a master in reconnaissance? You are too much fun! I think I'm going to enjoy being mentored by you, Reborn. I guess I see you at the match."

When Reborn blinked, Tsuna was no longer standing on the branch. He turned around to see Tsuna waving at him from his seat in the classroom. Reborn would never admit, even at the threat of torture and death, but a teenager had not only caught him off guard, but had a presence that made him sweat. No matter, he will finish his mission and make him a mafia boss.

)( Line Break )(

School had ended and Mochida was in the gym dressed in his kendo gear. He was smirking to himself proudly. There was no way he could lose. Tsuna was a complete newbie in kendo. Mochida even began to think of date plans with Kyoko.

A lot of the first years were observing the match. Many girls swoon that Mochida was protecting the school idol from Tsuna's grasps. Other males were waiting to see the awesome award winning kendo skills of Mochida.

"Ha. It looks like Tsunayoshi was too much of a coward to face me. I guess I'll win this match by forfeit." He bragged, smirking broadly. A familiar voice interrupted his boasting.

"What are you talking about? I'm right here."

Mochida, and the rest of the audience, were shocked to find Tsuna right behind him. They wondered when and how long did he get there.

"Well glad to see you're man enough to take your beating. Gear up." The Kendo captain ordered. Members of the club brought Tsuna his bamboo blade and protective gear. Unbeknownst to the audience, Tsuna's gear was 5 time the weight of standard gear. Mochida also had the judge agree to not give Tsuna any points. He was confident in his victory. "Since you're a rookie at this, you win if you score once against me. Aren't I generous?"

Of course Tsuna was quite aware of the situation. He simply DIDN'T CARE. This whole duel was a farce and he wanted to end it quickly. He nonchalantly voiced his opinion, "How typical." In a few minutes he had the gear on and got into a battle stance.

The judge looked at both combatants and started the match. "Match Begin!"

*BAM*

As swiftly as the match started, Mochida was airborne and flipped thrice. He fell headfirst into the ground. Everybody blinked in surprise at how quickly Tsuna had moved. The male Sawada merely went back to the beginning position.

Despite the clear point, the judge didn't raise his flag. Mochida strained to get back up. Angered now he went in for an attack.

*BAM*

Once again he found himself headfirst into the ground. Still the judge did not raise his flag. Members of the crowd started booing. A vocal Hana began muttering about a cheating monkey needing to stand down.

What happened next would go down in Namimori Jr. High's history as the most outrageous, bizarre Kendo match ever. Tsuna began swaying side to side and right before the audience's eyes, there were seven Tsunas. Each wielded his bamboo blade differently. On some unseen cue they attacked.

*Bam*

*Bam*

*Bam*

*Bam*

*Bam*

*Bam*

*Bam*

Over and over they slammed their blades on Mochida's helmet. With each hit, they became faster and faster, until the only thing that could be seen was Mochida recoiling from the strength of the blows.

At last they slamming stopped. Tsuna walked away. For a few moments Mochida just stood eerily still. Then his helmet and bamboo blade splintered and broke apart, and he fell unconscious. When Tsuna looked at the judge, he nervously lifted his flag and announced Tsuna the winner.

Before any reactions could be made, a familiar and frightening person made presence known.

"You herbivores are crowding." The Head of the Discipline Committee, Kyoya Hibari, growled impatiently. "Leave the area, or I will bite you all to death."

The effect was almost instantaneous, all the students ran out of the school in fear of Kyoya's wraith. Even the Kendo members took the effort to drag Mochida away. All but Tsuna and company.

Looking at the stragglers he stared intently on Tsuna. The two of them had a bit of history. According to Tsuna, they were the best of friends. This Kyoya Hibari would have to beg to differ. Since he first met Tsuna, he knew he was just like him, a full blown carnivore. At their first meeting, Kyoya had demanded a fight.

The collateral damage had been monumental. Trees were uprooted, concrete smashed, and grass aflame. Enjoyable times. It had frustrated him to no ends that he barely managed to land solid hits against his fellow carnivore. Out of sheer stubbornness, he kept getting back up despite his injuries so he could land at least one hit. Succeeding, he passed out and would later find himself in the hospital. Since then, they have had numerous battles.

He had yet to win.

Now, he was having an internal battle. Does he plunge into yet another battle and feel alive? He shook his head, decision made. Kyoya wasn't in the mood to repair the school after fixing it up from their recent confrontation.

"School is over. Leave now, carnivore." He smirked and walked away.

"Good seeing you. Hope we fight again soon. You're getting better. You should visit again, Mom's been wondering what happened to you." Tsuna exclaims excitingly. The prefect merely waved his hands dismissively, not willing to deal with the madness that was Tsuna.

Saying his bit, he turned towards Kyoko. He broke into a manic smile, one of which she knew too well. He dashed to her and place her in a bone-crushing hug. Getting a firm hold on her, he began spinning around with her in his arms. His girlfriend couldn't contain her laughter. Hana shook her head and Reborn simply pulled down his hat and smirked.

The two leaned and kissed. It was a deep but gentle kiss between the two. Breaking off the kiss Kyoko was once again smiling. "I knew you could do it, Tsuna. I never doubted you." Tsuna blushed, he was always rather shy about the amount of trust she placed in him. Besides his mother, this unconditional trust was unusual.

With the moment, the group leave campus. Tsuna walks Hana and Kyoko home and after saying their goodbyes, he strolls away , humming. Looking down towards Reborn, he starts to lift him up. "Let's go Reborn. I didn't tell Mom I would be late and I don't want to worry her. Same deal as this morning." He placed the tutor on his head and leaped from roof to roof.

)( Line Break )(

Later that night, Reborn was up looking over his files on Tsuna. Not a single thing in the files hinted about his capabilities. Strength, stamina, intelligence, everything pointed to mediocrity at best. No more importantly, there was that aura around him that was concerning. It wasn't noticeable when he was in normal situations, especially around his mother and girlfriend, but when he fought, the only thing he could describe was repressed madness. The more he concentrated at the aura, the more confused he got. Whatever it was, it wasn't merely dying will flame, no this aura was almost sentient.

Smirking he leaned back on his hammock, this would be interesting at the very least. 'If Iemitsu doesn't know, then he can find out himself.' He had a feeling that Tsuna was going to be his most interesting pupil.