Disclaimer: I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn

The Shadow Demon

"Talking"

'Thinking'

Chapter 2

Being a famed thief, Tsunayoshi Sawada was well off, even though he was only a fifteen year old with no parents. If one looked at the apartment he lived in, they would think his parents were rich and left him all their money. They would also think it was an apartment of any normal teenager that was left a lot of money by his deceased parents.

From his job as The Shadow Demon, he earned a lot of money since the Mafias were willing to pay so much for his services so he was able to buy a beautiful apartment to live in in Italy. His apartment consisted of a big kitchen, a living room with a white carpet and an off-white leather couch, loveseat, and a recliner chair. They were formed into a three sided square with a coffee table with the middle being glass in the center and the last part of the square being the wall where a flat screen television was mounted on the wall. Behind the loveseat was a lot of empty space since Tsuna had nothing he really wanted to buy. The wall behind it was all made of glass windows with a balcony. Under the television were a few game systems that were unhooked as Tsuna never felt like playing them.

And to think that was just his living room.

There was a beautiful bathroom and two bedrooms still. Though, the second bedroom was just a guest room that was never used since Tsuna never allowed anyone over. If they decided to snoop, they would find his work information and outfit he wore when he was working. That was a NO! He had no idea of what he would do if they found that. After all, this was Italy! Who knew who was involved in the underground society and who wasn't? So he didn't allow anyone over.

Despite being a well-known thief and completely responsible, let it be remembered that Tsunayoshi Sawada was still a fifteen year old boy who hated school and loved sleeping. He was still just a teenager. Maybe it was all because of his job that he was like this. Depending on the job he had, he would either steal in middle of the day (sometimes even leaving school early to do so) or stealing in the dead of night. And stealing in the dead of night left him exhausted so it sucked when it was a school night. So that left him getting his lunch and clothes ready for school the night before so he could have a bit of extra sleep in the morning.

Though, he was normally running late for school anyway. But add to the fact that he had a job the night before, well, let's just say, that in the past few years since he started his career, he has gotten much, much faster. Hasn't learned to just get his butt up in the morning, but he sure has gotten fast. He really should have chosen an apartment closer to his school.

Running a weary hand through his brown gravity defying hair, Tsuna yawned as he stumbled to the bathroom to get some cold water to the face to wake himself up. It was a good thing no one knew who he was or they would have probably found out he is not a morning person. That would be bad if that person hated him.

With cold water to the face, Tsuna found himself waking up some and able to look at himself in the mirror more clearly. His bright brown eyes stared back at him. Somehow, despite all the work he did with the Mafia, they were still full of innocence. Maybe it was because he didn't fully work with the Mafias. He got in, did his job, and got out. He never stuck around for anything else.

Besides the innocent eyes, nothing else about his appearance screamed that he was innocent. On his right cheek was an x shaped scar he got during one of his missions. A mission he did not wish to ever remember. It was one he messed up on and almost got killed. That was totally allowed since he was only twelve on that mission and still starting out. He was small, yet it was his size that allowed him to be really agile and flexible. Despite his size, he was strong and had muscles, though he chose to hide them under his clothes. No point in pointing it out to people. It was like having a neon sign on him saying 'hey look, I am strong so come and attack me'! Though, that was basically what his dying will would do too. Actually, dying will brought a whole new meaning to the neon sign!

Add to that that he sometimes found himself covered in bandages from his late night adventures. He often found himself working hard to keep all the bandages covered so as not to catch the attention of his classmates. It works most of the times, but sometimes he does get caught covered in bandages. It sure was a pain since he couldn't go to hospitals and couldn't show his face in the underground society. This found him treating his own wounds, which was horrible when the wounds were terrible. It hurt a lot. He briefly considered getting a Sun box weapon with healing attributes, but it would be difficult to do. It was hard enough getting his Sky box without drying attention to himself, but maybe that was because Sky flames were incredibly rare.

Since his school wasn't strict, he could wear whatever he desired to school. So he wore a long sleeve black shirt. It was a little baggy, but that was the best way to hide his muscles. He wore tan cargo pants with a black belt. Hidden under his shirt was a chain where there were multiple rings hanging from. Multiple because they were weak and would break easily when he used them for his Sky box which was in his pocket. It was just lucky that they weren't so weak that they broke after he used them once, unless he put too much power into them. He could at least get a few uses out of each of them before they broke into tiny little pieces to never be used again. Each of the rings had a Mammon chain (which were sold in the underground world) wrapped around them so the Millefiore wouldn't track them to him. He doubted they would track such weak rings, but it was a safety precaution. One could never be too careful.

It was chaos in the mornings when he realized that he was running late for school. But this was the type of chaos that he loved. It was safe and peaceful chaos. It was a real relief to him after nights of working and getting chased by angered Mafiosos. Now that was chaos he didn't always enjoy, but he would miss it if it suddenly disappeared from his life. He had grown so accustomed to it that it would feel like a piece of him was missing if it suddenly stopped.

The moment he stepped foot into his classroom, the bell rang causing Tsuna to sigh in relief. He had made it just in time.

"That is the latest you have ever arrived, Tsunayoshi." A sarcastic voice asked.

Tsuna glared at his evil teacher before walking over to his desk. He plopped down into it without a word to the rude man he had for a teacher. He didn't see what it mattered if he was late or not. It was just homeroom.

"Hey Tsunayoshi," A kind voice whispered in his ear when their teacher started roll call.

The young boy turned to look at his neighbor. His neighbor was tall, much taller than Tsuna, though he never paid attention to height. He had slightly spiky black hair and incredibly kind light brown eyes that were always full of happiness, though Tsuna wasn't fooled. This boy couldn't fool him with his act. He wasn't always happy and cheerful. That grin of his sometimes looked too forced, but Tsuna never called him out on it. It wasn't his business to get involved in his affairs. His name was Takeshi Yamamoto, who was sixteen.

Like Tsuna, he was from Japan. In fact, they both came from the same city and school. The only difference is that Tsuna moved here to escape life after his parents were killed (plus most of his jobs involved Mafias and it was easier to be somewhere where they were a lot of Mafias, which Japan didn't have) and Takeshi came here when he was ten, though he never specified why. Tsuna knew it wasn't because of his dad, since he was still alive with his sushi shop in Japan. For some reason, Takeshi stopped playing baseball when he came here. That just screamed suspicious since he loved baseball. As suspicious as it was, Tsuna did not pry. They all had their own secrets.

Tsuna turned his eyes back to the teacher, but whispered back, "What is it, Takeshi?"

"Are you okay?"

Now that caught Tsuna's attention and he had to look at the boy in confusion. "Of course. Why? Do I look like there is something wrong?"

Takeshi shook his head. "No, it's just that you were really later than usual today. I just thought that something might be wrong."

"Oh," Tsuna mumbled. "No, there is nothing wrong. I just had a long night. Couldn't sleep, you know?"

Takeshi nodded his head in understanding while Tsuna turned back to the teacher with a sigh. Long night indeed. He spent half the night trying to evade the Diavolo Incubo [1] without fighting them. He managed to escape them without fighting, but he didn't come out unscratched. One of his pursuers had a scythe with storm flames which sliced into his arm while he was running. After that, Tsuna had to use his Sky box which was a little lion that he called Natsu. Natsu transformed into a cloak that would nullify attacks. Sometimes Tsuna would have Natsu transform into a cloak and use him on missions, but if he was low on rings, he would only use him in emergencies.

So he spent half the night trying to escape, then he spent an hour stitching his arm up before passing out on the couch. He was just too tried to go to his room. It was lucky he woke up to get to school at all! His only alarm was in his room. Good thing it was loud or he would have stayed on that couch all day.

As it was, maybe it was a bad idea to come to school that day. It was normal for him to fall asleep during class after a late night journey, but his teachers always woke him up by yelling, throwing something as his head, whacking a ruling on his desk. In fact, he thought they were getting quite creative in their ways to wake him up now.

But today, after only five minutes of his first class, he found his head connected with the day. He thought nothing of it when his eyes slid shut with the last thing he saw being Yamamoto staring at him in amusement. All he did was smile a silly smile when darkness took him from his consciousness.

*The Shadow*

"I'm sorry to hear that."

Tsuna opened the door slightly to see what was going on in the living room. There has been arguing going on down here for a while now and his curiosity finally won over his fear. It was surprising to see his mother and father both in the living room talking with a tall man with spiky white hair. Under his right eye was a purple crown that was upside down with three spikes. He had never seen that man before and by the arguing he was hearing, though words he could not make out, they didn't sound like they were friends.

"I was so hoping that you would decide to help me. It is too bad, Iemitsu." The white haired guy replied. "Are you sure there is no way to change your mind?"

"There isn't." Tsuna's dad said firmly.

"Too bad." The white haired man turned away from his parents and motioned to the man that had come with him. "I really hoped to have someone with your strength on my side."

It was like his heart stopped when he saw the man suddenly pull out a box and lit his ring with red flames. Just what was this? He has never seen anything like this before. Though he's never seen it before, he immediately knew it was bad. It wasn't just his parents' look of horror, but something inside of him was telling him this was incredibly dangerous.

In a flash the man put his flame on one side of the box before pointing it at his parents. Iemitsu immediately stood in front of his wife with his hand diving into his pocket to pull out his own box.

It was too late though.

He had no idea what this was. How the hell could a giant tiger just suddenly appear from a box?

Iemitsu went to light his own box with his flame, but the tiger jumped at him before he could. He could have jumped to avoided it, but then his wife would be left unprotected.

Tsuna could only stare in horror as blood splattered the walls. He couldn't even bring himself to open his mouth to scream in horror, but his mother could. She was screaming bloody murder while Tsuna could only collapse to his knees in horror as the tiger turned to her.

Oh my god.

What was this? What the hell was this?

Tsuna shot up from the bed he was on, eyes wide with fear and almost screaming out loud. No matter how much he tried, he just couldn't forget that night. He was constantly reminded of those two men that ended his peaceful and oblivious life. When he entered the underground society as a thief he learned just who that man was. The leader of Millefiore was Byakuran. He was the one that cause the death of his parents.

Running a hand through his hair, Tsuna sighed and shook his head to get rid of their faces. He didn't want to remember him. Remembering him was the way to remember his parents being killed by them, and if he remembered that, then he would surely hunt down the Millefiore for revenge. He didn't want to do that. Revenge wasn't in his nature!

"Bad thoughts, bad thoughts," Tsuna grumbled to himself, knocking his fist against his head. "No, not going to happen."

Sighing, Tsuna finally took the moment to look around. To his horror he found himself in the infirmary! He avoided any place with people with a medical license. He couldn't be here! Desperately, he looked down at himself. His shirt was still on so no one knew about his arm wound. Then he checked that he still had his rings and box. When he found them in their correct places, he sighed in relief. He wasn't sure how he got here, but at least no one took his stuff. It meant he was still safe.

Still, it was strange to find himself in the infirmary. He remembered falling asleep in class, but he does that all the time, and never once did he find himself in the infirmary. In fact, he always found himself being woken up quite quickly by irate teacher or a worried Takeshi.

Shrugging it off, Tsuna jumped off the bed and wandered back to his class, hoping that Kyoya Hibari wouldn't catch him out of class. Hibari was an eighteen year old from Japan like him and Takeshi. Despite not being in Japan, he couldn't find it in himself to call the boy by his first name. It was him after all. In Japan, he was the head of his own Disciplinary Committee. And for whatever reason, he moved to Italy when he was twelve. If that wasn't strange enough, his Disciplinary Committee members followed him. Really, what did all of their parents think about this? How could they be that loyal to him?

As a child Tsuna was scared of Hibari, but after all these years he toughened up and could face up to him without fear. That just made him a target for Hibari. He called him a Carnivore and loved to fight with him. Tsuna didn't complain much because it was good training, though he still wished Hibari would stop attacking him at random times or because of some stupid reason.

Quietly, Tsuna slipped in the back door of the classroom so he wouldn't interrupt the teacher and went over to his desk. As he sat down, Takeshi looked at him with a smile before writing something down and tossing it to Tsuna.

Feeling better?

Yeah, I feel more awake at least. Why was I in the infirmary? Usual the teachers just wake me up.

Tsuna looked up at the teacher that barely noticed his arrival to class. The teacher was facing the board as he was writing a problem down so he took this chance to toss the note to Takeshi. He wasn't exactly friends with the other boy, but they were nice to each other and talked once in a while, though not much since each was busy with their own things.

Ms. Mina tried to wake you when you fell asleep in science, but you wouldn't wake up no matter how hard she tried. She was worried so she had me take you to the infirmary. You know, you're heavier than you look.

Sorry for the trouble.

It wasn't any trouble. Though, if you weren't feeling well, you should have stayed home.

Not sick.

No, but you were really pale and had red eyes when you came in. How much sleep did you get?

Good question. Maybe an hour or two. Though I felt really restless even when I was asleep. I felt like I was only half-asleep.

So an hour of terrible sleep? It's better to just wake up and get out of bed if that was the case. No sleep is better than that restless sleep. Restless sleep just makes you more tired and your body to feel like lead.

Sounds about right. It's so surprising that was able to get myself here on time.

Barely on time.

Still on time.

But just barely.

Do you really want to argue about this?

I'm not arguing. I'm just saying you barely made it on time.

What does it matter? I was still on time.

It doesn't matter. I'm just pointing out that if you left your house just a second later than you did today, you would have been late.

Well, I'm sorry that we don't all have someone to drive us to school in the morning.

Would you like a ride in the morning?

Now you're just being sarcastic.

How did you know I get a ride?

It's not just you. You 'Sword freak', 'Octopus-head' Gokudera, the insanely EXTREME 'Turf-head' Ryohei, somewhat childish 'stupid cow' Lambo, that creepy junior 'pineapple head' Mukoro, and surprising the crowd hating 'Skylark' Hibari all come in the same car. What? Do you guys live together in some harem or something?

Tsuna snickered when he heard Takeshi spluttering at what he wrote. He couldn't face the boy or he would break into a mischievous grin. It was already hard enough to keep from laughing at the boy. Seeing his face would actually make it really hard.

NO! We do not live in one of those. And how the hell do you know that we all come together AND how do you know all those nicknames?

I have my sources. And nicknames? Really? They sound more like you guys are throwing insults around, bad ones at that.

Tsunayoshi!

It's not hard to figure out. I've spoken to Enma before and since he gets here way before me he said that he constantly sees you guys dropped off together. Unsurprisingly, he said that it is usually Hibari out of the car first and he always gets out from the front seat. Probably less crowded, right? As for the nicknames, you guys are so loud when you are arguing. I wouldn't be surprised if the whole school….no…all of Italy knew about those nicknames.

I'm not loud. The others are, well not Hibari and Mukoro. They actually express themselves in the way of fighting. I didn't know you were friends with Enma.

I'm not. I just talk to him once in a while like I do with you.

Oh, well, who are you friends with? I never see you with anyone. You are always off by yourself, even during lunch.

Tsuna looked at Takeshi with a raised brow. The older boy looked confused and mouthed, "What?" at him.

Are you stalking me now? There is no other way you could know I'm alone during lunch.

I am not stalking you. I have my sources.

Hibari?

How'd you guess?

He's the only one I see during lunch as he loves to spend that time trying to kill me.

Come now, Tsunayoshi. He's not trying to kill you. He just likes fighting.

No, he likes to bite people to death.

True. If Hibari is trying to kill you during lunch, how do you find time to eat?

Quite simple. I run, eat quickly, and get ready for the tonfas that are coming for my head.

Does that happen every day?

Almost, why?

Tsuna looked over at Takeshi as he tossed the note back and was surprised to see him frowning at something. When the older boy saw him looking, he gave him a smile, though Tsuna could easily tell that it was a fake.

It's nothing.

Whatever.

Takeshi slid the note into his book so the teacher wouldn't see that he and Tsuna weren't paying attention to the lesson, though it would probably show on their next test.

As the bell rang for lunch, Tsuna stood up, but didn't get to walk away since a boy with silver-grey hair and green eyes stalked up to him. He wore black cargo pants with a silver chain looped between two belt loops to make a 'u'. He also wore a red long sleeve hoodie with a black jacket that was left unbuttoned over it. Most of the time he could be found with a cigarette, though not always lit. Though he was often irritated by those around him, the boy was extremely loyal to those he liked and thought deserved loyalty. His name was Hayato Gokudera, a sixteen, almost seventeen, year old that seemed like a real delinquent. And yet, he was really smart. He was even top of the class.

"Yes Hayato?" Tsuna asked.

Hayato shoved a bunch of papers into Tsuna's hands. "All the notes you missed while you were sleeping and notes for math class which you and Takeshi decided not to pay attention to. Copy them all during lunch and return them."

Tsuna looked from the papers to Hayato, eyes going wide. "All of these? But this will take forever. I won't finish my lunch. I bet I won't even get to eat because of all these notes!"

"Shouldn't have fallen asleep in class then, Tsunayoshi." Hayato said, giving him an amused smirk. Like Takeshi, he was an acquaintance of Tsuna's because apparently, he only made acquaintances, not friends. [2]

When Tsuna first moved here at nine years old, he and Hayato had a rocky start. Hayato ran away from home at eight years old and was picked up by someone else, though he refused to tell anyone who was taking care of him now. Because of his past, he didn't trust easily until Tsuna arrived. They got into many arguments because of Hayato's cold and uncaring attitude. It was almost like he didn't care about his own life. That angered Tsuna. After seeing his parents murdered, he thought everyone should value their lives and those who they care for. They got into a fight, which ended with them both greatly injured because of Hayato's dynamite.

Let's just say when they woke up in the hospital, Tsuna got into a huge argument with Hayato about everything which led to a long discussion on philosophy and life. Tsuna never mentioned his past and Hayato never mentioned his. It was a silent agreement between them not to bring it up. That same week, Tsuna got a letter from Hayato's guardian thanking him for helping Hayato to change.

Since that day, Hayato was loyal to Tsuna by helping him whenever he needed, whether it be giving him notes that he missed when he slept in class or missed school or when Tsuna needed help studying. They were acquaintances and nothing more. Tsuna made that clear when Hayato declared to help him whenever he needed it.

That didn't stop the boys from teasing each other when they could. They and Takeshi took any moment they could to tease or insult each other. More often than not, Hayato and Tsuna got into petty arguments with Takeshi trying to get them to stop. Though, if anyone asked, they would swear that they were simply fooling around when they argued, because as Tsuna would declare, he doesn't argue with his acquaintances.

"It's not my fault that class is so boring." Tsuna retorted.

Takeshi laughed. "I have to wonder how you are ranked number two in our class."

"That's only possible because I tutor him. Without me he'd be an utter failure. You have no idea how hard it was to get his grades up." Hayato said, smirking as he ducked to the side to avoid a kick.

"Ma, ma, Tsunayoshi, no fighting in the classroom." Takeshi scolded, grabbing the smaller boy's arms to keep him from getting to Hayato.

Tsuna tilted his head back and batted innocent eyes at the older boy. "But Hayato is being mean."

Redness crept into Takeshi's cheeks as he turned away to avoid looking at the smaller boy. "Don't do that, Tsunayoshi." [3]

Honestly confused, Tsuna blinked at him. "Do what?"

"Sometimes I wonder about you," Takeshi mumbled, releasing the boy.

"Huh?"

Hayato snickered from where he was standing by the window on the other side of the classroom. "He means he doesn't understand how you can be so cute and innocent still if you are a fighter as you claim to be."

Tsuna's eye twitched. "Don't call me cute." He snapped. "I'm not cute."

"Awww, is someone's pride hurt?" Takeshi teased.

Crossing his arms, Tsuna turned his head swiftly so he wouldn't have to look at them. "You guys are teaming up on me…..I guess it is fair. That is the only way you two could win at anything."

"Oi! Sawada!" Two boys growled dangerously. "Are you saying I'm weak?"

"In a battle of wits, sure are." Tsuna retorted before hightailing it out of there with the notes he had to copy during lunch. A small smile crossed his lips as he ran out of the school to spend lunch outside. He really was glad he came to Italy. He had a lot more fun here than he ever did in Namimori. Maybe it was because he changed, but it didn't matter. All that matter was that he had fun with his life as a child until he had a job as The Shadow Demon and he had to act like an adult that he wasn't.

A/N: Just so you all know, I'm thinking about writing a prequel to this story to get a deeper look at what happened from the moment Tsuna's parents died till he reaches high school, which means I would touch more on how Tsuna met Hayato, Takeshi, Lambo, and so on. Tell me what you think of the idea and I will most likely write it because it sounds fun.

[1] Diavolo Incubo- Italian for Devil's Nightmare

[2] The idea of being acquaintances rather than friends actually comes from my mom who once told me that one of my older brothers said that in high school he didn't have friends, but acquaintances. It amused me greatly.

[3] This isn't yaoi. Takeshi wasn't blushing because of a crush. Don't even suggest it.

Please Review!