"So there was this one time when Reborn was teaching me on camping, which was really more like a wilderness survival thing since he left me with nothing but the clothes on my back and my whip. And I had to survive against Enzo who had been dumped in an ocean," Dino told Tsuna excitedly, complete with flailing arms to prove his point. (Not that he had any point to actually prove.)
After Hari left to talk to his mother, Dino seemed to be uncomfortable with the awkward silence that lingered in the air. (Then later, he would realize that the older blond was uncomfortable with any sort of silence.) So he suddenly spoke up, "So you're also Reborn's student?" to which Tsuna nodded.
"So you know!" he said excitedly, lunging over the table and knocking the glasses in the process, to reach out to Tsuna with a manic gleam in his eyes. "Finally, there is someone in this world who understands!" he crowed happily before sitting beside Tsuna to share stories about their experiences with Reborn. (Well, more like Dino sharing his own experience while Tsuna just nodded along.)
So for the past few hours, Dino has been painting an image of an evil sadistic demonic Spartan hell spawn, which to him is an accurate depiction of Reborn for all the training and torture the baby put Dino through. And though Reborn never shown Tsuna this side of him, he had no doubt that the Reborn Dino was describing and the Reborn he knew were one and the same.
What confused Tsuna, though, was how Dino was relating his experiences with a fond and loving tone, not of fear or anger or anything negative. As if, despite the hell (Dino's words) Reborn put him through, he still saw Reborn as someone he respected and loved.
To Tsuna, Dino was odd. Despite how clumsy he seemed to be (or really was, he wasn't sure), he also moved with fluid grace. Despite how open and affable he seemed to be, he was also cautious, glancing about every few minutes with sharp observant eyes. Despite how talkative he was, eager to share all his tutelage under Reborn, he also gave time for Tsuna to respond if he so wished; but he didn't so Dino just talked over the silence as if it never existed in the first place. Despite how different he looked from Reborn, there was something in how he acted or talked that reminded him of Reborn - strong, confident, and mysterious (though thankfully not as enigmatic as Reborn himself).
Before Dino could finish his tale about his camping trip which involved surviving on a deserted island with a destructive turtle and Reborn as company, Hari finally came back. He honestly looked worse for wear (maybe because he's had less sleep than anyone in the house), but tried to hide it with a beaming smile as he enthusiastically dragged in Sasagawa-buchou and Mochida.
"GOOD MORNING TO THE EXTREME, SAWADA!" Sasagawa-buchou greeted him with his usual energy and volume and everyone, except Hari (who didn't seem to be fazed by anything) and Tsuna (who was used to his captain's speaking volume), winced at his greeting.
"Must you be so loud," Mochida grumbled flatly, not even phrasing it as a question, as if he was resigned with Sasagawa-buchou's mannerisms. (And he should be since they were year mates, if not classmates.)
"Look who came to drop by!" Hari said happily as he ushered both boys into his house. "How are you feeling, Tsuna-kun? And Dino, what in Merlin's name happened to your clothes?" he said as he rushed to Dino and tutted as his state of dress. His clothes were covered with hot chocolate and pieces of ceramics after he jumped over the table.
"I was just clumsy?" Dino answered with an embarrassed chuckle and Hari shook his head as he waved his hand. As if by magic, the stains on Dino's clothes were gone and the broken ceramics in the kitchen were gone.
"Of course, Dino," Hari said with an amused grin and a roll of his eyes before turning to Tsuna. "And you haven't answered my question, Tsuna-kun. How are you feeling? Tired? Hungry? Hurt?" he asked as he slowly approached Tsuna (which was the complete opposite on how he approached Dino).
"I'm fine," he answered and before Hari could respond, Mochida moved to Tsuna's personal space and looked at him.
"You look like shit, Sawada," he said bluntly and Sasagawa-buchou moved closer as well.
"He is extremely right, Sawada! You look extremely terrible!" the Boxing Club captain said after looking at Sawada for a moment, solemn and serious.
Tsuna just looked at them in silent shock because Sasagawa-buchou and Mochida just agreed on something, which honestly baffled him. They should have nothing in common and yet they were here, agreeing on Tsuna's condition.
In fact, they shouldn't even be in the same space without arguing since they were both impulsive and prone to violence yet they were also opposites. Mochida was pining after Sasagawa-chan and openly disliked Kurokawa while Sasagawa-buchou was very protective of both girls. That alone should pit them against each other. Also, Sasagawa-buchou's loud and boisterous nature grated on Mochida's aloof yet caustic disposition.
He couldn't understand and that made his head hurt.
"You're obviously not fine," Reborn said with a brief flare of irritation as he took of his disguise (which was just a piece of cloth that looked like the wall). Everyone, except Hari (who always knew where everyone was in his house) and Tsuna (who knew that Reborn has been watching him and Dino ever since Hari left), was shocked at his sudden appearance.
Reborn gave a long look at Hari, who nodded in return. With a snap of his wrists, paper shaped like little people appeared in Hari's hands. "Please help me out," he said as the paper people came to life, just like magic.
"Should you be using them?" Reborn noted and Hari shrugged.
"It doesn't take much to control them," he answered back as he sat down and took the proffered mug from one of the little paper men. "Thank you," he said to one of them, who nodded before returning to the countertops, preparing breakfast like the others.
"And good morning~!" Hari said, turning to the entrance of the kitchen/dining area, where a brunet who seemed to be in his late thirties and a white-haired teen stood. Both of them looked wary and vigilant, despite their sleep-rumpled appearance. They must have woken up when Reborn's irritation spiked earlier. (They must be really sensitive and really paranoid.)
"Good morning, Mister Lupin," the older man spoke up, nodding his head, while the teen just huffed and looked away.
"It's Harry, Romario," Hari admonished the older man, who looked contrite even though it was weird to see a teenager scold a man who looked twice his age. "Would you and Hayato like to sit down? Breakfast will be served soon," he offered as he gestured to the seats. "In fact, all of you should sit down. I'm pretty sure both of you haven't eaten breakfast yet," he said, pointedly looking at Sasagawa-buchou and Mochida.
Sasagawa-buchou took a seat immediately with a "THANK YOU TO THE EXTREME!" Mochida and Hayato sulked at the edges of the room. "That wasn't a suggestion," Reborn said ominously, glaring at both teens. Both of them immediately took their own seats without further protest.
"What are those?" Dino pointed out, referring to the paper men which were setting the table.
"They're called shikigami in Japan," Hari answered as he sipped his own cup of tea, refilled by one of the shikigami. "They're basically summoned spirits that currently inhabiting the paper cut outs. Any sorcerer or magician can summon them, but it takes a lot of practice and experience to control them" he continued and it seemed that his explanation was more for Hayato, who looked more excited with each passing word.
"So it would be unwise for anyone to eat them, would it?" Romario suddenly spoke up, his voice quiet and polite.
"Yeah," Hari said unsurely. "But why would anyone-" he would have asked but was interrupted by Dino's shout of "ENZO!"
A small turtle was currently eating one of the shikigami, which was valiantly trying to save itself. If Tsuna wasn't mistaken, this was Dino's pet turtle which turned into a giant monster when wet.
"Oh! You named him Enzo? What a cute name for a cute turtle," Hari cooed as he banished the spirit inhabiting the paper man with a wave of his hand and reached out to pet the turtle.
"I'm sorry for Enzo. And wait, you know Enzo?" Dino suddenly asked.
"Well, yeah. I made him," Hari answered before frowning. "Well, not really made him because Enzo is alive. So I sort of, gave him life?"
"So you gave birth to a turtle?" Mochida scoffed.
"Of course not. I mean, I'm male and I can't give birth to animals," Hari explained but Mochida still looked doubtful.
"But you're a wizard. You've got magic," Mochida pointed out and Hari shrugged.
"Magic doesn't work that way," he answered back then grinned at the Kendo Club captain. "You've got a disturbing mind," he noted with an amused tone.
"I EXTREMELY DON'T UNDERSTAND!" Sasagawa-buchou suddenly spoke up and Tsuna inwardly agreed with him. But judging by the disgusted and disturbed expression on everyone (with the exception of Harry, which should be a given by now, and Mochida, who seemed pleased at their green faces), maybe it was better for him not to understand. Even Reborn looked disturbed, but his expression was mostly blank except for the frown on his face and Leon rubbing against his face comfortingly.
After Enzo has eaten the rest of the paper, he started chewing on a pair of pink shades that were placed inside a jacket that rested on Dino's shoulders. "Don't eat that! That's Harry's!" he scolded his turtle as he took away the glasses and wiped them on his jacket before offering them to Harry. "Sorry for Enzo. Again. And here you go."
"Thank you," Hari said as he was about take the glasses but then Reborn said, "Don't."
Hari and Reborn exchanged a look and another silent conversation took place, much to everyone's confusion.
"Why?" Hari asked with a grin and Reborn frowned in reply.
"Because that stupid clumsy student of mine is too weak," he answered, placing emphasis on the negative and Dino just laughed at Reborn's words. But Tsuna clearly heard Reborn saying "student of mine" with a hint of possessiveness and protectiveness.
"Honestly, is it too hard to admit-" Hari said exasperatedly, but seeing the warmth in his eyes, he also heard what Reborn truly meant.
"Yes," Reborn interrupted him, obviously not wanting Hari to finish what he was about to say.
Hari didn't bother responding other than rolling his eyes as he took the glasses from Dino's hands. Then he flicked his left hand, producing a wooden stick - a magic wand. He muttered under his breath, his eyes glazed and glowing, looking more like a shade of golden-hazel than their usual chocolate brown color against the pink of the shades.
"Here you go!" he said cheerfully, offering the glasses back to Dino, who took them despite his confusion thanks to Reborn's prompting glare.
"Thank you?" he said because he knew his manners.
"You're very welcome. And as you saw, since Reborn asked nicely ("When did he ask?" Mochida muttered and Ryohei extremely - and loudly - agreed.), I'm giving you these pair of glasses. They're indestructible so you don't have to worry about your clumsiness accidentally breaking them. And you may wear them whenever you wish, but always remember to keep them on your body at all times," he said seriously and Dino immediately nodded.
"If you need to contact Reborn or I, just say our names while wearing these glasses. We'll respond immediately, rest assured. Also, if you're in a sticky situation and you need to escape with your men, wear these glasses while your men are holding onto you then say 'Marauder's cub'. ("Really, Harry?" Reborn commented.) You and your men will be teleported to the basement of this house. So do you have any questions?"
Dino looked shocked for a moment, looking at Hari, the glasses in his hands, then at Reborn, before grinning and putting it on. "How do I look?"
"Looks good, Boss," Romario said, giving Dino two thumbs up.
"Like an idiot," Reborn and Mochida said simultaneously and Romario immediately glared at Mochida. It seemed that he was very protective and loyal to Dino.
"It's all right, Romario," Dino said, trying to placate the older man.
"THAT WASN'T VERY NICE TO THE EXTREME, MOCHIDA! DINO LOOKS EXTREME!" Sasagawa-buchou added.
"Who the fuck cares about what you think?" Mochida growled at the boxer to his side.
"Boys, enough of that. It's time for breakfast," Harry said, giving them both a stern glare. Sasagawa-buchou just grinned at Hari while Mochida glared back.
"It's time for breakfast," Reborn repeated and the air was suddenly harder to breathe in.
"Reborn, stop that. How will they be able to eat if you're trying to scare them?" Harry, who was the only person unfazed by Reborn's temper, told Reborn off.
"I'm not trying," Reborn said almost petulantly but the air lightened anyway.
"Well, time to eat. Itadakimasu!" Hari said and everyone followed the suit before digging in.
Tsuna has never eaten in a table filled with people who didn't outright hate him or ignore him. Though all of them had their own conversations, Tsuna never felt left out since either Dino would continue one of his tales (and Reborn would shoot at him, claiming that Dino was embellishing his story but Tsuna felt that Reborn didn't want Dino to scare Tsuna with his horror stories), Hari would dote on him and ensure that he was eating enough, his senpai would suddenly include him in one of their arguments just because, or Reborn would give him odd looks and nudge him when his headache would become unbearable.
The only one who didn't interact with him was Hayato, but then the white-haired teen didn't interact with anyone on the table. Even Romario, Leon, and Enzo interacted with him; the older man sharing his own experiences in Dino's tale while the animals would either steal Tsuna's food or nudge him at Reborn's insistence.
It was fun, for lack of better word. (Only if his head didn't hurt every few minutes.)
After breakfast, there were only the three of them - Reborn, Hayato, and Tsuna - left. Harry left with Dino and Romario, apparating them back to Italy; while Reborn all but forced the two captains out to go to school.
("You're not getting rid of us that easily," Mochida swore and Sasagawa-buchou stood beside Mochida in a show of solidarity, nodding solemnly at the brunet's words, before they finally left, but not without getting shot at a few times.)
"Your first lesson starts when Harry comes back," Reborn addressed Hayato, who looked excited at first before looking sullen.
"Why?" he asked angrily.
"Because he's going to be your teacher."
"What!?" Hayato said, getting up to glare at Reborn, but Reborn just evenly looked at the angry white-haired teen. "You said you can teach me how to be a wizard!"
"I did. I can. But I'm not a wizard," he said, sounding really bitter. "And since you haven't had any formal training, it's much better if a wizard taught you."
Hayato was about to retort but then Reborn pointed Leon, which turned into a gun, at him and asked, "Do you have any problems?"
"No," he bit out before stomping to the front door.
"In case you forgot, you can't leave since Harry brought you here so you don't have anything but the clothes on your back. And I assure you, you can't escape because I will not allow you to steal or do anything remotely criminal while you are here in Japan," Reborn warned him and Hayato just swore loudly before stomping to his room and locking himself in.
"Why?" Tsuna couldn't help but ask.
"Because Harry will be good for him. I cannot be what he needs," he answered, looking at the closed door with a resigned sigh. And Tsuna could hear the silent I cannot be what Tsuna needs.
(And wasn't it odd to hear Reborn to be anything but confident?)
"You're wrong!" Tsuna said vehemently, shocking Reborn with his outburst.
"What?" Reborn asked, looking at Tsuna, who fidgeted at his attention.
"You- you're everything I need and want you to be. You teach me and train me and take care of me in your own way. Even if Hari wasn't around, then you would still do the same because you're the best. Even Dino says so. Even if you've put him through hell, he still looks up to you and wants to be like you because you're the best. Just because you think you can't make Hayato into the best wizard he can be because you can't use your magic right now, then it would make sense that Hari would teach him. But you're my tutor and you are everything I need you to be."
Tsuna rambled, knowing that he barely made sense but he couldn't let his confident and amazing tutor belittle himself (despite his current size). But he looked at Reborn, willing for the hitman to understand what he's trying to say. That he knew Reborn was uncomfortable with the whole situation but he was trying to help Tsuna, that he was the first person to help Tsuna by looking for someone who can take care of Tsuna because there were some things that he couldn't do himself. But he tried, and that was more than what others were willing to do for him.
And Reborn looked at him in return, eyes minutely wide in shock at Tsuna's rant. Then Tsuna could see the whirlwind of emotion in those black eyes, the shock and insecurity giving way to fondness and something that Tsuna couldn't figure out because his headache was too painful.
Then the pounding in his head was gone. He opened his eyes (When did he close them?) and realized that he was lying sideways on the ground. He must have fallen after the headache. Then he looked up and saw Reborn looking down on him, a worried frown on his face and hints of purple in his spiky hair.
Then he finally noticed that Reborn wasn't wearing his fedora.
"What?" he asked weakly as he moved his hand to touch the fedora.
"Don't take that off," Reborn said sharply as Tsuna felt Leon flick his tail at his hand. "My hat has Occlumency shields, which would help dampen your hyper-intuition, which was released when the seal was broken and I assume was the cause of your headaches."
And Tsuna didn't understand a single thing he said. But he did understand that the hat was special and Reborn lent it to him. "But what about you?"
"I don't need my hat to defend my mind. I'm the world's greatest hitman after all," he said arrogantly and part of Tsuna was eased that his confidence was back. But that didn't ease his worry because the hat was a form of protection and Reborn just gave it up for Tsuna, leaving him practically defenseless.
"Can you teach me? How to defend my mind, too?" he asked, not noticing that it was the first time he wanted to learn something without any prompting.
Reborn looked pleased at Tsuna's question. (And he noted that the purple tinge turned to brown against the light.) "Of course, I'm your tutor after all."
To See - end.
okay. this took me too long. xc i already had a draft for the following chapters but by now, i should realize that my plans rarely work when it comes to my fics. xp
and is it just me or are the chapters growing in length? xp
anyway, also i'm kinda sorry for not replying yet to your reviews. i'll get to them soon. and for not posting the interlude. school hates me and so does the chapter. i'm like 60% done with it but it just won't let me finish it. but you can expect it this week, most definitely, most likely around wed-fri.
to KK, thanks for your review once more and replying to your questions was no problem. anyone who reviews is allowed to ask questions when i don't make sense at all. and i don't need to go overboard, neglect is bad enough, though not many understand that and so they prefer writing abuse becuase it's easier to depict. and i welcome your personal opinion, that's the point of the review isn't it? anyway, i'm glad that you're taking her side, which is kinda the point. x3
to Grayfia, thanks for your review. and well, harry already knew a lot of tsuna's situation, having gone through it himself in his childhood (hence the title) but yes, the talk helped him know more of tsuna. and well, harry is old enough to have a lot of self-control, besides reborn is his kid, he has to have the patience of a saint to raise him. and in her defence, she only shied away from tsuna once, the rest of the time, it was tsuna who avoided her (which was mostly for her benefit). and i'm glad you like how harry as a parent is depicted. x3
to Guest (and if you don't mind, kindly leave a name next time?), thank you for your review. no need to apologize. i'm just glad to hear you're enjoying it. you're welcome, but it really should be me who should be thanking you. x3
to Pineapple King, thanks for your review and your hearts. x3 and yes, harry is a big softie like reborn, but only when it comes to his family. when it comes to others, he's scary as a mama bear. xDD
so seriously, what do you people think because this was really unplanned and i need to get this out now because school. xp