Me: Sorry for the late update, I've been busy with college and midterms and such, so I hope you can forgive me!
The next few days were just a mixture of humiliation, paranoia and fear. Tsuna was not impressed with Leon (a fact he kept solely to himself, lest he got castrated). It wasn't even the fact that the gun would be shot at him 24/7. It was more of the feeling that the creepy lizard was watching him. There were also the bullets that Reborn would threaten him with periodically, by never actually shot him with. When he asked the tiny Hitman why, the only answer he got was, 'Dame-Tsuna, I'm not going to explain everything to you. Figure it out.' It was at that point that he just gave up, not wanting to deal with his tutor.
Tsuna hated training. He doubted it was even really training. All the fucking baby did was point a gun at him and instructed him to run for his life. Not only that, but he was forced to go to school. Every. Day. His teachers were mildly surprised about this, commenting here and there, but overall ignoring him in favor for the other students. He couldn't care less, and he would have slept in class if he couldn't feel his devil tutor's eyes on the back of his skull for half the day.
He mourned his once peaceful life as he went through another set of math problems. He didn't know why his tutor insisted on giving him harder problems than was necessary, but he supposed it was because the baby wanted him to be the best. Either way, the problems were simple . . .well . . .simpler than usual. He still got most wrong just to be safe.
Tsuna tapped his pencil against the sheet of problems, brow furrowed in frustration. It wasn't the math that was bothering him (though, if he were being honest with himself, this particular set was a deal more challenging than what he was used to) What bothered him at the moment was the unsettling rise in abilities that he had gained.
He wasn't as stupid as he led people to believe. (Okay, he was oblivious at times, but that was mostly due to a mixture of ignorance and inexperience.) He knew that sudden bursts of growth like this didn't happen without a little prompting. A growth spurt maybe? Possibly him just growing up in general? Either way, he was going to let it go. He had no explanation and he doubted he would find one. Still . . .why did he feel so . . .lonely thinking about it?
Shaking his head, the teenager looked back down to his problems, writing out another one in his notebook. His hand was cramping with the amount of writing he had been doing for the past few days, trying to make it look like he was paying attention in class. He made sure to glance up to the board to ensure that the teacher wouldn't give him a hard time.
He didn't really like Nezu-sensei, even if the man had graduated from Tokyo University. He was also the only teacher who didn't enjoy Tsuna's steadily increasing grades. Nezu would often claim that he was cheating, or that there was an error in the corrections. It had even gone as far as him creating mistakes on Tsuna's paper.
Today, the class had earned a transfer student. Gokudera Hayato. From Italy. Yeah, Italy. Where the Mafia is from. One guess as to why he's here. Even with Tsuna's obliviousness, he could tell that this person was here either as an assassin, bodyguard or part of Reborn's spartan training. From the distaste the silver-haired boy had shown him, he guessed it was either training or killing. Oh wait, the brunet thought to himself as yet another test was passed out, that's two guesses. The thirteen-year-old wondered when the voice in his head became so sarcastic.
The bell resonated throughout the school, signaling break time. Tsuna got up, yawning before heading out to the vending machines for a snack. He had just rounded the corner when he bumped into three thugs, all who were smirking and not wearing their uniform correctly. They also smelled heavily of cigarettes, Tsuna vaguely wondered how they got in the school unharmed with Hibari on the loose.
"Oi, oi, oi what do we have here?" The three thugs circled him like a hawk, beady eyes glaring into his skull as they sized him up as prey. "A little lost bunny."
On any other day, Tsuna would have kept his head down and take the small beating they offered with no complaint. Today however, he was hungry from missing breakfast (thanks to a certain tutor of his), tired because he couldn't sleep and anxious because of the new kid. So when the thug's hand reached out to grab the front of his shirt, the brunet stepped back, letting meaty fingers miss the fabric by a centimeter and making him stumble. The shock of all three of them allowed Tsuna to dance around them with an unusual display of grace before running around the corner and up the closest wall.
He watched as they shouted after him and ran passed his wall in an attempt to catch what would've been their new victim. He waited a full minute before jumping down the wall, staring down the way they went. Wincing at the thought of the beating he would receive later, Tsuna turned around to head back to the safety of the classroom, only to come face to face with a vaguely interested Hibari.
Tsuna didn't even bother to explain himself, it was common knowledge that getting Hibari's attention was a bad thing, even if you didn't do anything wrong. Instead he ran the opposite direction going around the corner, only to come to a pair of glaring green eyes. Today just really wasn't his day.
Gokudera Hayato seemed to just ooze hatred and loathing as he took in the sight of the little brunet in front of him. Tsuna himself was unamused as Reborn popped up out of nowhere, demanding that he fight.
"Dame-Tsuna, this is Smoking Bomb Hayato, your first opponent." The baby looked so damn smug with that smirk.
"So if I kill this wimp, I'll get the Vongola position?" The silver-haired boy inquired.
Irritation flooded Tsuna's veins. Adrenaline followed, making the boy's mind process through his vocabulary to try and find a suitable word to tell them both. "Fottiti!" He spat, earning raised eyebrows from both of them. In fact, Gokudera's mouth looked like it was hanging open slightly.
Reborn look mildly surprised, but mostly annoyed for some reason. "Where did you learn that, Dame-Tsuna?" His tone sounded almost accusatory. The silverette seemed to get the message and pulled out something that suspiciously looked like dynamite.
Tsuna, however, didn't pick this up and only rolled his eyes. "The first thing you learn of any language is the swear words. You deaf? Or did you want me to repeat it in Japanese? Go fuck yourself!" His patience had snapped and he really wasn't in the mood for dealing with a fight right now, especially one he didn't want to be apart of. "I'm tired, at school against my will, hungry, annoyedand, ohyeah, at school against my will! So excuse me for not wanting to deal with your bullshit right now Reborn." The boy turned his head to Gokudera, obviously displeased with him as well. "And you! Why do you want to be the tenth generation Vongola boss anyway? It's an annoying and frankly a stupid career choice that's probably only filled with killing and paper-pushing. You know what? You can take it because I'm not interested!"
It was an explosion that woke him up from his ranting and spurred him into jumping to his left. He looked at the burnt ground, blinking a few times to make sure that he wasn't hallucinating. "Once again, Dame-Tsuna. If you don't fight you will die."
'Fuck that. Fuck that from fucking fucksville of Fuckington.' Now, Tsuna wasn't usually one to swear, even inside his mind. But that particular line seemed to echo at him. Almost like he had heard it from someone else before. So now, when he found himself particularly frustrated, he would catch himself repeating that line under his breath or loudly in his head.
Reborn, who was able to read minds, was probably hearing this at the exact moment. Which was why Tsuna kept repeating it in his head. He wanted the Hitman to know just how upset he was.
No, scratch that. He was not upset. He was livid, horrified and annoyed that such a thing was happening to him.
He ran up the side of a low school wall, using whatever strength he had to climb up it. An explosion was heard behind him, shaking him a bit, but he ignored it in favor of climbing up to a windowsill. He then went sideways, dodging explosives as he went from window to window.
"Stop dodging like a coward!" yelled out Gokudera, obviously peeved with Tsuna's choice of escape.
Almost missing a step, Tsuna stumbled slightly before scrambling down the wall, narrowly avoiding his death in the process. I'm not good enough at climbing yet, he thought to himself, reaching ground level before sprinting around a corner and into a dead end. Shit! Today really wasn't his lucky day.
"Double bomb-" a voice said in barely conceived rage. The next moment, a barrage of dynamite came crashing on Tsuna's head. Caramel eyes widened in dismay as he frantically looked for a way out. Seeing none, the boy began to panic. He watched as the dynamite was falling, almost like it was in slow-motion. A distant voice whispered in his ear as everything else was put aside as background noise.
'Remember to use your instincts. Thinking before executing takes too long, let your subconscious do that for you. That's the point of training. Making sure that these move are practically instinct.'
The brunette sprang into action. Grabbing a handful of dynamite before putting his hand over the flames. He ignored the sting that came with putting out fire with his bare hands and continued with the next handful. It wasn't long until he came up to the last dynamite, although it was too late to put it out. Instead, Tsuna through it high above his head, praying that it didn't damage any of the surrounding buildings.
"Che- Triple Bomb!" Before he had time to rest, the thirteen-year old boy was rushed into action again, stamping out the flames he spotted.
He was so into his task that he didn't notice how the dynamite was never actually close enough to cause damage. In fact, he instead was putting out the explosives around his supposed opponent. Gokudera and Reborn, however, had noticed the entire thing. Gokudera with growing admiration and Reborn with satisfaction, if not a slight glint of suspicion in his black eyes.
When it was all done, Tsuna was on his knees, breathing heavily. He looked at his severely burnt hands and winced at the bubbling white skin and red blisters that had already formed. Still, the boy knew that it looked worse than it actually was.
"I'M SO SORRY!" Blinking in shock, Tsuna looked down at the kneeling figure in front of him. He wondered what was going on, seeing as how the figure was Gokudera and he didn't think this suited him image. "I was wrong! You are worthy to be the tenth generation head of Vongola! Please accept me as your subordinate!"
The brunette could feel a headache forming. This . . .was just what he didn't need. Sighing the boy looked up at the clear-blue sky, pondering what kind of life decisions he made that must have lead him to this. "Gokudera-kun, please don't bow to me." He said, his tone laced in weariness. "I don't even want to be Vongola Decimo, so I don't need a subordinate." If he hadn't been paying any attention, Tsuna would have missed the hidden devastation on the silver-haired boy's face. "But-" He spout out, not sure how to continue without hurting the other's feelings. "I could . . .use a friend?"
This seemed to be the right answer, as Gokudera immediately perked up. "Yes, Tenth!"
"And stop calling me 'Tenth'!"
"Yes, Tenth!"
Tsuna groaned as he put his head in his hands. This was going to be a long week.