(The numerous Japanese lines on this chapter have been edited out that several readers have been complaining about. I didn't change anything else other than that, so it's pretty much the same only the Japanese words have been deleted except those selective words that I know won't be much bother from any of you. I hope this would elevate your convenience in reading. ^^)
A/N: Minna-sama, Arigatou! Thank you so much for all that read my fic (wipes off fake tears)! I'm so happy to know that someone actually reads this…
Anyway, thank you doremishine itsuko, kirino tsuki, skymori and valk for making my fic part of your favorite list. I love you guyz! Muack!
Doremishine itsuko- Sorry I forgot to mention that the Shimon family will appear in later chapters because I still don't have their famiglia's full info…. So no Enma-kun yet… (Pouts)… though I really like that cute emo boy… So once I have the information I need and I found the right time for them to appear in this fic… tadadadan… Enma-kun appears… tee hee
Skymori- lol.. I was thinking the same thing about Dino giving Tsuna a push when I was writing that chapter… and thanks for the support XD
ZiaLiaLis- lol… sorry about those… but I already edited the last chapter…lol
…Gosh… I'm making Tsuna so emo… but its needed for my story to work…
Hibari's going to be in this chapter. Kamikorosu!
Shouichi Irie is here too… XD… Please R&R.
The following day, Tsuna woke up early on his own. He looked around for his tutor, but he was nowhere in sight.
Maybe it's better this way; he thought and readied himself for school. He took a bath, changed into his uniform and took his bag. He went downstairs and looked at the clock.
I think I'd be at school early today; he greeted his mother and ate his breakfast quietly before heading out. But not far away to his destination, a certain teen with a messy maroon hair and big round glasses caught his eye.
Irie-san? He recognized the teen however he wasn't alone. There were two high school students bullying the said person.
What the? his mind screamed in alarm. He searched for his pills and gloves but he only found the latter. He cursed in his mind while trying to think of ways to help his friend, Mou! I can't just stand here. I have to do something. But what?
...
I have to calm down first, he breathed in deeply and let it out slowly. He did that a few times so he could settle down his emotions, I can't just rash in there, but I can't just stand here and watch as well.
He bit his lower lip before marching his way to the group, I've faced Mukuro… Xanxus… Byakuran and other enemies before but I did that in my Dying-Will-Mode or the Hyper-will-mode. So now what should I do?
"You should thank us that we're taking your lunch money… at least with that, it won't be useless," said the taller bully in a tone that disgusts and angers him.
"Just give it to us now!" the other spitted to the ground before tightening his grip to the boy's shirt.
"Please stop," the poor teen plead.
"Hmm…? What's that? You're disobeying us now?" the taller guy said with a mocking face.
"Oi… You should leave Irie-san alone," Tsuna said in a cool voice which surprised the three as well as him.
"Tch. What are you gonna do little boy? Make us laugh to death?" the two bullies laughed at the other's statement while turning their get-lost-or-I'll-beat-you-up look on him.
Darn it…! Where's Reborn when you need him? He clenched his fist into a ball.
"Scram brat!" one of them said and punched Irie's gut.
"Maro… I'll take care of this other brat. You can just sit there and relax. We're going to have a bonus here," the taller guy said while making a cracking sound out of his fists.
"Tch. Just do it fast," the guy called Maro answered.
"Run… just leave me alone," Irie coughed as he limply tried to stand straight.
"Be quiet squirt. My friend, Izumi, would take care of that pest while you should just stay here and be quiet," Maro smiled cruelly and gave Irie another punch on his side.
Irie fell unconscious to the ground. Tsuna clenched his fists even more. He tried so hard to suppress his anger.
"What's wrong, brat? Feeling scared already…?" Izumi pouted before laughed mockingly at him.
"Hurry up, Izumi," Maro leaned on the wall while lighting a cigarette on his mouth.
"Fine," Izumi said and turned his attention back to Tsuna, "Stay still."
Tsuna was taking a glance at Irie when Izumi have punched him on his jaw. He was sent a meter away by his opponent. Having already received more vital damage from Reborn before that punch didn't take much of an effect on him.
He straightened himself and rubbed his jaw.
Damn it! I should concentrate more or else there'll be two of us in the dumpsters. His opponent grinned at him and aimed another punch but this time around he evaded it with the help of his intuition. However, once he evaded, Izumi have gotten his other fist onto his side, making him drop his bag.
Alright… calm down and observe his movement. Though my latter fights were all in my hyper-will-mode, I was still the one who fought and no one else, Tsuna looked at his opponent with determined eyes and made Izumi flinch in awhile. Soon enough, Izumi's body moved to land a kick on him. Tsuna grabbed the guy's leg before punching Izumi in the face with his free hand. Izumi resisted on his grip and tried to punch him. As his intuition instructed him, he let go of Izumi's leg and moved backward to avoid the punch which made his opponent fall out of balance.
I didn't know I could do that… Tsuna blinked and stared at his opponent lying on the ground.
"Oi, Izumi! You're getting yourself beat up by a kid," Maro spat as the said person got to his feet and spitted blood out of his mouth.
"What're you talking about, Maro? I was just playing around with the kid," Izumi said.
There's no way I could win by just evading, he thought to himself, but what should I do?
Weakness, his intuition screamed.
That's right, he smiled inwardly before waiting patiently for his opponent's next attack.
Izumi charged him with a punch. He simply avoided it as if he was a skilled fighter while glancing at his opponent's overly long-sized legs. He smirked. This made Izumi get pissed and moved for a right hook. Tsuna have seen this and ducked. While at it, he kicked the side of Izumi's knees from below and sent Izumi on his knees. Then, he suddenly noticed another's presence on his back. He glanced at his back and sees Maro swinging a metal pole to his head. He barely dodged this.
"Dirty bastards," he said underneath his breath. He gritted his teeth as Maro and Izumi have teamed up on him.
The two circled on him. Tsuna kept glancing on them simultaneously so he could see if any of them makes a move for an attack. Then, Izumi stopped on his track and motioned yet another punch on him. He evaded this but this gave Maro a chance to hit him from behind.
Tsuna coughed blood as he knelt on the ground. Maro was going to give him another blow when he heard a thud from behind Maro.
"What the hell-" Izumi's eyes widened in surprise and anger. Maro fell to the ground and a certain prefect was revealed holding his tonfas.
"An assault to a Namimori Middle School student must be punished. Kamikorosu (1)," Hibari made his stance and glanced at Tsuna, "Oi, herbivore. Get up. Homeroom class is about to start. If you get there late, kamikorosu."
Tsuna smiled and mouthed a thank you but the prefect only gave him look of annoyance. Tsuna shook his head and wiped the blood out of his mouth as Hibari finished off Izumi. He went to aid the unconscious Irie and lifted him into a piggy back ride.
"I have to get Irie-san to a hospital," he said, indirectly asking permission from Hibari.
"Hmph. Weak herbivores," Hibari said and turned to leave. Tsuna took this as an approval before giving Hibari another thank you. Hibari didn't respond and left him.
He took a glance at the now beat up bullies lying on the ground.
I can't just leave them like this, he thought and sighed. He dragged the two in a corner before sighing. He took his bag and Irie's on one hand as the other supported the sleeping body of Irie on his back.
They'll just wake up later on, he told himself as he glanced at the thugs before heading to the direction of the hospital.
Reborn smirked as he watched his student's retreating back. He was going to shot Tsuna with a Rebuke Bullet when Tsuna first got punched however when he saw the determined look on his face he stopped. He planned to just observe in a moment to know what his student will do then shot him with the bullet when he's down on the ground… but to his surprise, Tsuna fought. For the first time without any outside help. He felt proud for his student's improvement though he wouldn't admit it to anyone.
Hmph. Finally, he's starting to stop being a wimp, he told himself, But… he still got hit. He still needs to learn more.
Tsuna sighed as he got out of the hospital. He waited until he was sure that Irie's alright.
He glanced at this phone's time. Then, he heaved a sigh, It's nearly the last subject already. Maybe I should just wait until lunch break. He paused then shook his head, Everyone's probably worried now, especially after what I did yesterday.
He felt guilty right after he realized how he treated everyone so coldly when he came back to their house the day before.
"…You can't turn your back now…"
Tsuna jerked up, remembering Dino's words on him.
"Don't tell me that you didn't have a choice back then, because there was a choice. You could have said no and left them, leading your life to running and hiding... But you didn't."
Tsuna shook his head, dismissing his thought aside.
"I have to move now if I want to catch our last subject this morning,"
He made his way to their school. However, instead of going to the front gate, he decided to make his way on the back since the gate should be guarded by prefects. So, he climbed up on the wall and glanced left and right to see if there's anyone around. When he concluded that its clear, he jumped down.
Thug!
"Itte (2)," he muttered in a low voice. He fell down on his back, not much to his surprise. Normally, people won't be able to move after awhile with a hard fall like that, however he got used to getting beat up in different ways that this didn't affected him much at all.
Sneaking on the hallways, he made sure that no one sees him. He took a deep breath when he arrived at the door of their classroom before opening it.
Everyone turned their attention to him. All have weird looks on their faces. Tsuna shrugged them off and made his way to his desk, thankful that there was no teacher around to scold him. When he thought everyone will go back to their business, he noticed an awkward silence that was built around the room.
"Juudaime (3)!" Gokudera stood up from his desk, just got out from his latter trance, and went to Tsuna's direction.
"Yoh, Tsuna," Yamamoto grinned, oblivious of the tensed air around them.
"Juudaime, where have you been? I was so worried," Gokudera asked with a worried look his face.
"Ah… Sorry about that, Gokudera-kun… Yamamoto-kun," he started with a smile, "Something came up and I just can't let it pass."
"Is that so? I see," Gokudera nodded, buying his excuse, "I understand, Juudaime."
The room's atmosphere began to lighten up after this comment and his classmate's went back to their held chatters.
"So what was it that came up that you can't let it pass?" Yamamoto pasked, curiousity growing.
"Oh, uh... its was nothing," Tsuna nervously laughed and waved his hands to dismiss the topic, "Ne~ Why is sensei (4) still not here?"
"Dunno," Yamamoto raised both his shoulders, signaling that he really has no idea.
"Yonemura-sensei said they have a faculty meeting Tsuna-kun," Kyoko answered from behind.
"Ah… Kyoko-chan," he said with a nervous smile, "Thanks."
"Your welcome," Kyoko smiled, making his face warm up a bit.
"Wait… If it's our free period right now then why is everyone still here?" he asked curiously.
"The Disciplinary Committee forbid us to," Hana said standing next to Kyoko.
"I see," he muttered in a soft voice.
"Tsuna-kun…" Kyoko called.
"…hmm?"
"Sensei also said that we're going to have a test tomorrow,"
"Eh?"
"Oi, Kyoko," Hana snorted, "Let's get away from these monkeys already. I can't take it anymore."
"Hai," Kyoko nodded with a smile, thinking that Hana's insult was only a joke, "See yah later, Tsuna-kun."
"Ne~ let's go have lunch at the rooftop. I'm sure Hibari-san won't mind it now that it's just a few minutes until lunch," Yamamoto suggested with a goofy grin.
"Shut up, yakyu-baka (5)! I'm the only one who can invite Juudaime," Gokudera scowled.
"Anou sa…. Gokudera-kun, it's fine," Tsuna waved his hand to calm his dynamite expert friend.
"Juudaime," Gokudera said with puppy dog eyes. Tsuna only sweat-dropped over his friend's overrated loyalty.
"Let's g-"
Before he could even finish his sentence, the door of their classroom suddenly opened. Everyone turned their attention to the newly arrival and found the D.C. Chairman walking straight to Tsuna's direction.
His classmates' froze and fell silent. They watched the Chairman made his way to their so-called no-good classmate.
"H-Hibari-san," he gulped with a sweat forming on his forehead, Masaka(19)… It's about this morning. But I didn't do anything to upset him… right?
"Sawada Tsunayoshi," Hibari said in his usual monotone.
"Hiii," he squeaked, "W-What is it, Hibari-san?"
"Tch," Hibari motioned to get something. Everyone instantly thought that he's going to take out his tonfas and bite Tsuna to death. Gokudera even got his dynamites ready. However, it never came. The D.C. Chairman only placed something on his desk, "That herbivore you helped… He left his phone lying around."
"Eh?" he asked in surprise, "Irie-san's phone?"
"Hmph," Hibari left their classroom as everyone breathed out that they've been holding.
Tsuna picked up the phone on his desk and flipped it open, That's right. I wasn't able to find Irie-san's phone on his bag awhile ago that's why I wasn't able to contact his family. I should bring this to him later.
"Irie-san?" Yamamoto asked, "Shouichi Irie-san?"
"Uh-huh… I helped Irie-san this morning. I brought him to the hospital. I was going to call his family but I wasn't able to find his phone," he nodded and took the phone to his pocket.
"That four-eyes! He brought trouble to Juudaime! Must I blow him up?" Gokudera took out his dynamites.
"No, Gokudera-kun," he sighed in relief as he was able to calm his friend down, once more.
"I think the faculty will be having their meeting for most of the day so let's just bring that back to Irie-san," Yamamoto said.
He nodded and got up. The three went out of the classroom and made their way to the hospital. As they entered the room, they found Irie sleeping on the bed. He went his way beside the bed while Gokudera inspected for anything dangerous in the room and Yamamoto just made a goofy smile with both his hands behind his neck.
"The area has been checked, Juudaime. It's safe," Gokudera saluted looking as if a soldier giving his report to his superior.
"Hn…" Irie motioned, slowly waking up.
Tsuna took the phone out and placed it on the bed-side table while Irie finally opened his eyes.
"Careful," he hurriedly went to aid.
"Ariga-" but before Irie could finish his sentence and took a look at him, he screamed as if scared to die.
"Irie-san?" he raised his eyebrow in question.
"Y-You're…! You're that guy with those crazy people!" Irie gasped.
"Eh?" he looked at Irie with a puzzled look.
"Oi! Don't talk to Juudaime like that! Be grateful he wasted his precious time to bring you here," Gokudera grunted.
"Gokudera-kun, you're scaring him," Tsuna hushed his friend as Yamamoto only laughed.
"Wait… You're the one that saved me this morning," Irie went into realization, just being able to remember the event that happened awhile ago.
Tsuna nodded and placed the basket of fruits on the table that they bought before going to the hospital.
"Ah! Sorry! Please forgive me!" Irie bowed his head slightly.
"No, it's nothing," he smiled. Irie turned his attention to his phone," Sorry. I wasn't able to call your family awhile ago because I wasn't able to find it until Hibari-san handed it to me."
"No, its fine," Irie shook his head," But… anou… How did you know my name? I haven't introduced myself yet and I believe we haven't met yet, either."
Oh no! I forgot about that, he panicked.
"We met you on the future,"
They turned their attention to the last speaker who's sitting on the chair beside the bed.
"Eek!" Irie squeaked, "My f-future self…? How did that happen?"
"Mou! Reborn! You can't just say things like that," Tsuna said with eyes wide open.
"Shut up, dame-Tsuna," Reborn pointed a gun at him and Irie squeaked. Then, Reborn lowered it with a sigh.
"By the way, you forgot these," Reborn threw the deathperation pills to him. Tsuna mouthed a silent thank you while Irie gave them a confused look.
"You're going to be part of Tsuna's famiglia," Reborn said and pointed his Leon gun to Irie.
"Oi!" Tsuna protested but Reborn ignored him.
"You're going to be a good asset to Tsuna's famiglia plus Tsuna saved you so you owe him," Reborn continued.
Yamamoto laughed, "He's going to play with us, too?"
"It's not a game, yakyu-baka!" Gokudera spat as Yamamoto continued to laugh.
"Famiglia?" Irie finally asked.
"Tsuna is the Tenth generation mafia boss of the Vongola Famiglia," Reborn said, "It's the biggest and most powerful famiglia. The Mafia bourgeoisie (6)."
"Reborn! I-" Reborn shut Tsuna up with a sharp look in his eyes.
"Don't tell me you're still saying that," Tsuna fell silent, "Remember what we talked about with Dino."
Tsuna stared at the floor, feeling nothing. He could sense the disappointment in his tutor. He gritted his teeth and shadowed his face with his bangs.
"Juudaime?" "Tsuna?" his friends said in unison, both with worry written all over their face.
Tsuna noticed this and beamed them a fake smile, "I'm fine."
"Irie-san, sorry but… I've got to go. I remembered that I forgot that I have to something to do. I already stored my number on your phone so you could call me if you need something, bye," Tsuna walked out of the room with a glum expression. His two friends hesitantly followed him but he didn't allowed them to. He sped his pace to lose the two. He hid himself on the rooftop of Nami-chu once he got the two out of sight.
He took his usual spot and sat down, leaning against the wall.
"Oi, what are you doing here herbivore?"
Tsuna looked at the Head prefect, who's glaring at him intensely from the other side of the roof.
"Shouldn't you be patrolling the school grounds right now, Hibari-san?" he asked and looked away.
"I'll do what I want," the prefect answered, "Lunch break is over in a minute. You should go to your class now or I'll bite you to death."
"I'll do what I want," Tsuna copied Hibari's answer.
"Hmph. Acting so tough now, herbivore?" Hibari lifted his tonfas and got to his fighting stance, "You're not that bad at fighting this morning. It's good enough to pass my time."
Tsuna didn't answer. He didn't move. He only stared onto space.
Hibari sensed the gloomy atmosphere around him and backed his weapon. He frowned and went to lean on the other side of the wall with his hands crossed on his chest.
"It's not worth my time to be wasted on biting a worthless herbivore to death who won't even run," Hibari said in his usual tone.
"Hibari~ Hibari~" a small canary chirped and landed on the prefect's shoulder. There was a moment of silence between the two.
"Hibari-san… Why did you decided to become a prefect? Or even be the Head of the Disciplinary Committee."Tsuna said, breaking off the silence.
"What kind of question is that, herbivore?" Hibari said without looking at him.
"I don't know," he looked at the ground, not expecting a reply from the said person.
Hibari raised his eyebrow then sighed, "I want to bestow discipline to everyone."
Tsuna looked up to his conversant and saw the raven haired prefect walking to the door.
"I'll bite all the herbivores who'd dare to break the peace. If I won't do it, then no one else would. And being the head prefect gives me the power to do so," Hibari reached for the door knob and turned it open, "You did the same thing twice, didn't you?"
Tsuna's eyes opened wide but the other only smirked.
"Like a worthless herbivore… you'd only fight if you'd feel in danger. You'll only fight if you'll see the enemy coming for you. However, if you fell prey to the enemy, no one else would protect your herd. You won't be able to escape. If you stay only in your so called safe zone, soon enough the enemy will break down those weak fences," Hibari opened the door, "You have a weak fence around your herd. You should build a bigger and better stronghold so the worse won't easily happen."
Hibari paused and looked directly into his eyes.
"Do you want me to become the Vongola boss, Hibari-san?" he asked.
"Why? Do you want to?"
"I… don't know,"
If he was asked the same question a year ago, he'd immediately say no but right now he had no idea.
"It doesn't matter to me if you do become those herbivores' boss. However… you're proven to be capable of protecting them. They already think of you as their boss because they were able to witness your strength. Turn your back at them now and you'll regret it for the rest of your life," Hibari smirked once more, "Take the role, herbivore and take the power to protect them or you'll really regret it."
Hibari then left him.
"Thank you… Hibari," he mumbled in a soft voice. He looked up to the sky, looking at the clouds. Then, he smiled.
Reborn watched from afar as Tsuna and Hibari talk.
"He may be aloof and cannot be binded… still he's part of the family… assisting from an independent standpoint, "Reborn said with a soft smile under the brim of his fedora. Then, he got serious and gazed at his student, "Tsuna… what will it take for you to stop denying your duty to your family? I know you've already accepted to be their boss somewhere inside you but why do you keep on denying it?"
R I I I I I I I I I I I N G ! ! !
Reborn took his Leon phone and answered the caller. Then his eyes widened in surprise, "What. The."
He looked at the phone as the caller ended the call.
A/N: So sorry for making Tsuna so EMOish and is Hibari OOC?
1 Kamikorosu- I'll bite you to death
2 Itte- ouch
3 Juudaime- tenth
4 sensei- teacher
5 yakyu-baka- baseball freak
6 Mafia bourgeoisie- in Italy this refers to the richest and most powerful classes in the mafia
