[EDIT: Sept 9th/2018. Fixed it up a bit. The only reason I'm not scrapping this to rewrite it because I wouldn't have the dying will to finish it. There's still potential in this if I can fix it up, which I am doing. My other fic... was hopeless. And crappy.]
THANK YOU TO: Natsu Yuuki general zargon, Blazin'Blue, Guest, Freaky4eve, aperez09, XxShadowfangXx, Guest, Demon Hound, SomeRandomPerson, Kuroi Rin, Sceonn, sympatheticassassin, Krysta, and Gentle Snow.
GUEST: I agree about the Flame thing too, it's fun to write. Although keeping him from blowing through enemies and making scenes interesting is difficult. His first real challenging fight (aside from Hibari, Nobu and another) will be Xanxus. Fighting the Varia boss will bring more out of him than ever before.
To the other Guest and SomeRandomPerson: Thanks for commenting! :) As for updating other stories... well all but one are permanently dead, and that one is on hiatus because my Muses rebel against thinking too much on ATLA whenever I open the window ((barely have 400 words down for ch 20 D: ))
sympatheticassassin: I think I pouted when I found your PM disabled. Well, I'll say this: Tsuna doesn't outright reject it because of what his Intuition is telling him, and because of how his friends support him, and because one voice speaks up against Reborn saying Tsuna would sooner change or stop the mafia than become the boss of a bloody group like the Vongola. There are a number of ways for Tsuna to make his own path in this fic, and part of that is undermining some of the Nono's strongest alliances because of what that old man did.
Krysta: I imagine Hibari looking at Iemitsu like one would a cockroach while outside walking. Disgusted and put off, but not driven to kill it because it's not worth the effort. I'll say this, when Iemitsu returns during the Ring Battle arc he's not going to be meeting the wife he still sort of had the last time he visited. As for Hibari's reaction to Tsuna's pack growing... well. As long as the boy keeps them in line, you know? xD
x-X-x-X-x
"It is better to be violent if there is violence in our hearts than to put on the cloak of non-violence to cover impotence." ~ Mahatma Ghandi.
Now and again Tsuna's Intuition acted up for things and people unrelated to him. When it did he followed where it lead because he usually found someone needing help of some kind, and that person would now-and-again help him in some way, usually to find a teacher to help stop bullying, or even help him with classwork at lunch as repayment.
Why break a benificial cycle, right?
On a terribly rainy day in June after school, on one of the few days where Piero did not meet him on the way home, he was hit with a nagging feeling far more insistent than usual and he soon found the normally cheerful and ever-smiling Yamamoto Takeshi. He was sitting in on a bench in an empty park with his umbrella laid across his lap, and the hunched over, shaking posture of someone completely defeated made Tsuna want to give him a big hug. To compromise on that Nana-ish impulse Tsuna walked over and potentially sacrificed his health to hold his umbrella above Yamamoto's head. When the budding baseball star lifted his face Tsuna's worry increased at the nearly empty expression.
"You shouldn't be out here in the rain, Yamamoto-san. You'll get sick."
Rich but dulled brown eyes blinked as a bit of life entered them, but he still did not smile. "Dame-Tsuna? You're getting soaked. Why are you walking around in the rain?"
"I-I had a feeling. Now... um, if you don't want to go home you could... warm up at my place."
Yamamoto's eyes gained a bit more life as he really looked at the short boy getting soaked to the bone to shield him from a bit of rain when he was already drenched. He'd seen him running around getting chased by groups of bullies for as long as he could remember, but Tsuna never asked for help; he simply accepted what was thrown at him and rolled with the punches. He always seemed so alone until Kyoko and Hana began eating lunch with him, then he started smiling at school. Yamamoto didn't really watch Tsuna often, but he could see a difference between how the student body sees him and how he really appears to be, at least in this instance.
"Yeah... I'd like that, Tsuna. Thanks."
30 minutes later Tsuna had a shivering Yamamoto standing inside and by the front door to protect the wooden floors from more water abuse. Tsuna had rushed off as soon as they made it inside and he returned with a big and fluffy towel that he then went on tip-toes to easily wrap around Yamamoto's shoulders. He had his own equally fluffy towel around himself, but on the shorter boy it looked a bit oversized. Tsuna looked Yamamoto over before he asked him to wait, then the young Sawada headed upstairs to find some old pajama's of Iemitsu's that would somewhat fit. He just had to cut a good chunk of the legs off. After changing into his own fluffiest pair he hurried back down and tripped, tumbling down with a loud yelp.
"You okay, Tsuna?" Yamamoto bent down and pulled the boy up, with a concerned face. "That was a bad fall, you could have hurt herself."
Tsuna pretended he did not feel like a human shaped tomato and muttered a thanks. "A-anyway, here. They'll be big on you but at least you'll be warm."
"Thanks." Yamamoto flashed a small but warm smile. "You're a great guy, Tsuna."
"Uh, wh-wha... c-come with me, you can change in the bathroom!" Tsuna forced down how flustered Yamamoto made him, and guided him to the downstairs area and promptly fled to the kitchen where he rubbed at his red cheeks. There, leaning against the counter, he called out, "I'm gonna make us some tea!"
Tsuna took the muffled answer as 'please and thank you' and put water in the pumpkin themed kettle, grabbed two bags of green tea, and pulled out the jar of dark wildflower honey from where he hid it under the sink.
Yamamoto shuffled into the kitchen not long after and sat down at the dining table. He had a smile on his face, different from the genuine tilt to his lips he had just a minute ago. It was so forced and looked like it hurt, and more than that Tsuna could only wonder why Yamamoto looked like his world had shattered around him. He appeared lost and a bit confused, and Tsuna was trying to separate what his Intuition was telling him and what he was seeing. The only thing he knew for sure was that this guy shouldn't be alone, he needed to be around someone, anyone, even the Health Hazard of Namimori Elementary.
Neither of them spoke for a time. With water boiling on the counter and the mugs already prepped with a tea bag, Tsuna sat rigidly in his seat to keep from fidgeting and watched his hands twist in his lap so he wouldn't try to stare a hole through Yamamoto in search of the whyfor. Once he heard the water begin bubbling in the kettle Tsuna hopped up and took it off so he wouldn't hear the annoying ding! at the end. He poured the water with a mildly shaky grip as his mind raced to come up with a reason for Yamamoto's misery. He placed the mug in front of the young baseball player and laid a spoon on top, then gestured to the honey.
"Um... my mama..." The boy flinched and Tsuna's stomach sank. "Sh-she used all the sugar in making cookies t-today. If you want sweet t-tea you'll m-make do with honey."
Yamamoto nodded and placed two tablespoons in and Tsuna did the same, foregoing his usual habit of putting perhaps too much in. The gentle clinking of spoons chased away the silenced and mixed with the pounding rain striking the kitchen window. Tsuna felt like he embodied nervous energy at the moment, it was a trial and a half not fidgeting with his spoon or hands.
Looking to avoid channeling his inner 'mom-tendencies', as they couldn't be based on anything paternal, Tsuna stood and fetched the cookie tin from the counter and placed exactly six fat crescent shaped chocolate treats on a plate to put between them. Yamamoto said his thanks and nibbled listlessly on one, dropping that fake smile completely. Patience is what Tsuna forced himself to exercise then, and it was both easy and difficult when faced with Yamamoto looking like he needed a thousand of his mama's warm hugs.
"I know you wanna ask," he said after two cookies. His eyes remained on the tea in his hand, and Tsuna tried not to perk up in worried interest. "She's gone. My... my mom is gone."
Tsuna felt like the air had grown too thin in the kitchen. Judging from his raw pain gone is not strong enough a word, she was probably dead. Thinking of his own mama dying left Tsuna struggling against a panic attack and he dug his thumb nail into the sensitive skin of his wrist to keep from overreacting.
Yamamoto didn't need No Good Tsuna, he needed the boy Tsuna could be on occasion. The one that saved Hana and Kyoko and leads little packs of bullies to Hibari as 'sacrifices' to the carnivore. Tsuna breathed deep, held it, and released a shaky sigh before he stood and tried to convince himself that rejection is normal and that the worst Yamamoto could do is beat him up, which he judged to be as likely as Piero giving birth to parakeets. So Tsuna stood up and shuffled his feet until he stood beside Yamamoto, then he tapped the boy's shoulder.
"I-I know we're not even friends, Yamamoto-san, b-but, I know that hugs can help, a-at least a bit."
Yamamoto's expression went from an empty sort of polite interest to something more alive. He looked away and turned his tea on the table as he seemed to deliberate for what felt like minutes long seconds, then he stood and shyly opened his arms for his shorter schoolmate.
Forcing back all reservations on hugging people not his mama, Tsuna did not hesitate and tried to give the sort of hug he would have for her whenever she felt so lonely from Iemitsu never being there. Tsuna gently stroked Yamamoto's back and listened to the boy's strong heartbeat as it kicked up in speed enough to be noticeable. Yamamoto's arms twitched and slowly moved to rest against Tsuna's back, and briefly the latter marveled at how it felt to hug someone less soft than his mother. Immediately Tsuna wanted to hit himself for thinking of that when Yamamoto, whose arms were tightening and beginning to shake, was obviously suffering.
He felt Yamamoto's chin rest on his head, and given how the other was nearly seven inches taller than his pathetic four feet four inches it was easy to use Tsuna as a chin-rest. He kept rubbing the taller boy's back, intent on giving him some comfort before his mama came home and unintentionally rubbed salt into the wound. When hot tears soaked into his hair and touched his scalp Tsuna nearly jumped in surprise before he tightened his hold on the baseball enthusiast.
Minutes later Yamamoto let go and stepped back, rubbing at eyes and looking off to the side with a red face sporting an embarrassed pout. Tsuna patted his arm and sat down before grabbing his own towel and scrubbing at his hair almost violently. When he was done he noticed Yamamoto watching him with curious eyes no longer looking quite so empty and broken. In fact, as Tsuna removed the towel and shook his head, he watched Yamamoto grin slightly and release a weak laugh.
"You look like a a human fluff ball, Tsuna."
"Oh, well thanks, that's exactly what I need to hear," Tsuna said with a little grin.
"It's cute! Don't be offended!" Yamamoto said this with a small and genuine smile and Tsuna felt on top of the world for having put it there.
Later that evening, after his mamma came back from a Yoga class with a few groceries, she greeted Yamamoto with the same warmth, minus the hug, as for her son. As predicted Yamamoto closed off (just a bit) at the arrival the Sawada matriarch, but he did not run away. When he finally called his father at Nana's insistence, the boy'd father scolded him for before he was let off with a warning. Nana later drove Yamamoto home in her green Nissan Terrano Regulus but not before Yamamoro promised Tsuna he'd hang out with him at lunch.
In this way Tsuna gained a friend he otherwise would have had to wait years for, and life was getting more and more enjoyable as he grew close to Hana, Kyoko and the school's baseball star. Finding that pretty much the entire student body appeared baffled over his becoming good friends with Yamamoto on top of Hana and Kyoko as well was entertaining.
The day Tsuna helped his new friend was also when he began calling his mother madre instead. Part of the reason he kept to himself was that it sounded more mature to him. It was also a way to stay connected to the Italian he doesn't have much occasion to use.
His madre went along with it, content as long as he still acknowledged her as his mama.
o o o
Tsuna could not put his finger on why but he appeared to attract the worst sort of attention more often than not.
Having two girls as his best friends made for a few awkward instances, like when Hana took amusement from embarrassing Tsuna on shopping trips. The incident where she wanted to see how red his face could get after dragging him to a clothes shop to pick out a training bra is one example. Still, aside from nearly passing out seven times in the last two dozen trips, most of which he secretly enjoyed, Tsuna wouldn't give up his friendship with them for anything.
He wasn't sure how he saw Kyoko, who was so sweet and compasssionate as to challenge his mother's big heart, but he knew she was very important to him. Ryohei himself had declared Tsuna to be his brother after having a rigorous spar with him and loved dragging the diminutive Sawada out on runs around town whenever he could. Hana, as sarcastic and sharp tongued as she could be, was a sensible-minded presence Tsuna came to admire and enjoy, especially when they shared the same thoughts on certain idiots in school (such as Mochida-senpai and others who enjoyed tormenting him).
Twice now Yamamoto tagged along on the shopping trips. He explained, while chuckling at how Piero all but sat on Tsuna's head, that his father said that coming along would be good 'training' for whenever he got a lover, whatever that is. Tsuna and Hana were both amused, the latter more so, at how innocent and naive Yamamoto could be, never mind that she and he did not entirely understand what "lovers" meant yet either. They only knew it had something to do with marriage and happy parents.
Over the months Tsuna grew closer to Yamamoto and one day forced his tongue to form "Takeshi" for the first time (after repeated requests for him to do so). Seeing the glow of happiness and hearing it in the laughter that followed, convinced Tsuna to try and not be so twitchy about using peoples first names if they wanted him to. Takeshi's sunshine-like grin had made Tsuna's entire day and not even Hana pinching his cheek had killed the little smile playing on his lips.
Back to to attracting the worst sort of attention...
Takeshi was practicing ball with friends while Tsuna went with the girls to wander the mall and, for him, mainly window-shop. He had a personal issue with using the generous allowance he always received from his madre, and he thought the money was 'dirty' as it came from his blood-father, but when he noticed Kyoko or Hana looking at something longingly he had no problems using the money to get that thing if it isn't too expensive. He quickly came to learn that neither girl wanted him spending so much on them even if he really wanted to. He countered that by treating himself and them, and Hana didn't badger him quite so much.
It's all about compromise. Even if it's a weird one where he had to buy something nice for himself too.
The mall crawling was fun that day. Now and then he would be bumped into and shoved into stuff by students that remembered him 'sacrificing' them to Hibari, and the one time he was separated from the girls he made sure to find them before Kyoko noticed he was missing. Hana, however, noticed and tugged him close while ordering him to carry her bags; the pinched look on her face told him it was a ruse to keep him right beside her. Clearly she was aware that Tsuna had a lot of 'enemies' outside of school and the fact that she seemed to be intent on keeping him safe and with her and Kyoko made Tsuna feel warm and happy.
After two hours of window-shopping and occasionally buying things here and there for his madre, himself, and Hana and Kyoko, they decided that two full bags on each of their arms was enough and it was time to go home. Tsuna insisted on taking one of their bags since he easily put his stuff in the sports duffel he took everywhere.
As it was a comfortable day the girls decided to take a detour and walk through the park on their way to Hana's house (the closest of the three). In the middle of the green and forested park Tsuna became aware of an insistent prickling chill crawling over his body, and right as he let out a sharp call of Hana's name, intending to tell her to grab Kyoko and run, he felt pain burst in the back of his head and then there was darkness. When he awoke he found himself stuck in a fog of pain that made the bliss of sleep highly tempting.
"Tsuna-kun!" Kyoko? His brain sputtered and struggled through the pain tangling his thoughts.
"Tsuna-monkey! W-wake up!"
At their voices Tsuna jerked and made a muffled moan behind the grimy tasting mass in his mouth. As he left the mind-numbing daze he became painfully aware of his legs and arm being bound on top of there being a cloth shoved into his mouth. For a minute Tsuna found himself tense and feeling nauseatingly scared as he relived the terror of that time in the alleyway. Kyoko whimpering snapped him out of it and he twisted around, heedless of the muscles and bruises screaming for him to stop contorting himself.
There stood four delinquents, four familiar jackasses that seemed to make it their mission to ensure Tsuna's time at school was as miserable as possible. Three times a week, for the last four months, he had tricked them into Hibari's waiting jaws and it seemed that they had finally gotten sick of falling for the same old thing each time. As they began saying things he paid no attention to he took in how Hana and Kyoko were tied to the same tree, completely bound in rope and with their clothes ripped and dirtied. A delinquent (named Yoichi Shuu, he had to remember that) had Kyoko's jaw gripped in one hand hard enough to dig his fingers into her soft flesh. He had the gall to grin lecherously at her fearful face. Hana was struggling desperately against the ropes securing her and Kyoko's hands above their heads, the look on that dark brunette's face promised more than pain for the pervert, it promised separation from certain body parts.
A crowded, shadowed corner of his heart is where Tsuna kept all the darker, violent feelings brought on by Lucifer, and they seemed to nest in his chest. Bitter loneliness and other unpleasant emotions brought on by his school life and social flops, as well as status, only exacerbated that rotting core. For years that part of his heart has festered and grown, and it became what Tsuna took to calling his Rage Monster. This slumbering demon, as much as Tsuna denies it to himself, is as much a part of him as his love for his mother, his friends, and his hobbies.
Seeing Kyoko in that position, with Hana beginning to cry as she struggled and cursed, it made Tsuna snap in much the same way as his mother. His static swelled and flooded his every limb until he was fit to burst, and the energy pressed through his flesh to zero in on the ropes he wanted gone, gone, gone. Something sizzled in the air that suddenly smelled of ozone, but the sound was masked by the idiots talking loudly and stating all the nasty things they planned to do to him and his friends, and the smell of burning rope and grass went unnoticed until it was too late.
"Hey, Daichi, do you smell something - GUK!"
Tsuna had made his move as soon as he felt free to, and cut off the words of the closest delinquent with a punch to his solar plexus. Taller than Tsuna by half a foot, and probably weighing 50 pounds more, the young Sky's fist sent him went flying into the bushes roughly thirteen feet away where he stayed down. Tsuna spared a second to remove the foul gag from his mouth and moved right on to the next three.
Hardly any time passed before they were taken down with an open palm hit to one guy's chest and a knife hand strike to a vulnerable side of the other, but before he could turn toward the last bastard his Intuition turned cold and he barely moved in time to receive a switchblade to the shoulder. Hana and Kyoko screamed and Tsuna swiftly elbowed the big leader and watched with cold eyes as he flew back and hit the ground unconscious due to the pain of what might have been a broken rib.
Tsuna tugged the blade out and ignored the weeping wound in favor of cutting a hysterical Kyoko free and releasing Hana. As Kyoko hugged herself and tried to calm down, Hana stood and viciously kicked the knife wielding male between the legs and stomped toward a nearby bush to pull out all their bags. With Tsuna's duffle in hand she forced him to sit still so she could treat him.
All throughout Hana's careful first aid, treatment extending to facial wounds he wasn't aware of until then, Tsuna kept his senses sharp for any changes that would indicate any one of the delinquents returning to the conscious world. All were soundly knocked out, however, and once Hana deemed him suitably treated he pulled out his cellphone from the duffel and called the police, followed swiftly by a text to Hibari. Predictably Hibari arrived first and found Tsuna (bloodied sleeve, covered in dirt, scrapes and liberal darkening bruises everywhere that skin was visible, split lip, split cheek) in a condition that left him Quite Unimpressed.
Tsuna, in the middle of tying up the last delinquent fetched from the bush, meeped and froze at the sight of Hibari advancing on him with a steel tonfa in hand. Hana stepped between them and crossed her arms, looking up at Hibari with hard resolve on her face.
"I don't see why you should hit Tsuna, Hibari-san," she said quietly, exercising that wonderful sensibility Tsuna was valuing in her more and more. "Yes, he was taken by surprise and knocked out, but seconds after he awoke he escaped his confinement and beat them in well under 30 seconds by my estimation."
Hibari narrowed his eyes on her before sliding them toward Tsuna, who watched their interaction with sharp eyes clearly saying he was ready to jump between him and the female herbivore of his 'pack'. When Tsuna nodded stiffly and waved the blood smeared knife in a nervous greeting Hibari rose an eyebrow and put away his weapon. Hana immediately went back to Kyoko's side. Hibari pulled out handcuffs with a worrisome nonchalance that said he did this quite often, and then he patiently arranged the four delinquents and cuffed them in a way that tangled the chains and their arms together.
Tsuna dusted off his pants, fetched the shopping bags and his duffel, and moved them away from the distressing scene, then he guided Kyoko to a tree just outside of the crime scene and helped Hana comfort her. Ten minutes later the police arrived, a group of them storming the park to find them, and after seeing Tsuna standing by the four unconscious older boys they went and handcuffed him, assuming he was the culprit. Though he found this highly infuriating (and terrifying on a new level), Tsuna was not surprised given his amazing luck.
What did surprise him was that Hibari had remained at the park just out of sight. The raven haired boy appeared moments after Tsuna cried out in protest and Hana stormed over threatening to sue the police department for arresting a minor who only defended himself. The reaction was damn near instant: Hibari stalked right up to Tsuna and glared at the policeman pinning the boy to a tree, and as though the Horseman of Death itself had appeared the uniformed officer paled and looked faint as he rapidly removed the cuffs and fled at a fast walk. Satisfied that he was in no danger, Hana squinted at Hibari before walking back to Kyoko. The Skylark grabbed Tsuna's hand and ignored the boy's squeak as he carefully inspected one of two slim wrists covered in darkening bruises and slightly bloody friction burns.
"Stop being a contradiction," Hibari said with a slight glare. Tsuna, not understanding his upperclassmen one bit, did not move an inch as the older boy brushed his thumb across the angry red welts on his wrist. "Strong one moment and then nothing but a rabbit the next... Nothing like a momonga."
"S-sorry, Hibari-senpai... Um, wh-what am I, then?"
Hibari dropped Tsuna's wrist like it burned him and was quiet for a long moment. "The honey badger is notoriously tough for a small carnivore and is known for going against creatures several times its size. It is a mouthful, however, so... Anaguma you are."
That said, he walked off to talk to some officers leaving Tsuna's jaw dropped and his mind struggling to understand what just happened.
Once the police (and the paramedics) did their job Tsuna was forced into a police vehicle by Hana and Kyoko because neither girl would let him try to walk home alone after that. Once the girls were dropped off and he was four blocks from home Tsuna begged out of the drive so he wouldn't worry his mother too much. The moment he set foot in the door he was being smothered against his mother's chest as she cried and made him promise to take a cab home from the mall for at least a few months. She had gotten a call from a woman named Hibari Mitsuko, but Tsuna quickly forgot the name.
This incident drove Tsuna to practice harder and enhance himself with more static in the Tsukinode Dojo. As a result this lead him to being taken on as the sole student of the dojo master, one strange Karibachi Nobu.
Quirky is the perfect word to describe the martial arts master. Ignoring his personal style he is a youthful looking and well built 6'3" young adult who would make a lot of women (and some men) swoon should he wear normal clothing. Most days Nobu favored rich gold, cherry red, neon green or white colored contacts - and Tsuna, after many months, still couldn't say what his real eye color was. His hair was always in a soft mohawk-with-tail of black with natural wine purple roots, the styles ranged between braided or slicked back. As for the man's clothes, well, he clearly doesn't care about what others think because he tends to wear short and colorful robes or custom made vests all with with a cutesy pattern of an animal that, seven out of ten times, are duckies. The man has a white doodled on sports visor he goes nowhere without.
Being Nobu's sole student began as alarming and remained a test on Tsuna's patience as the cheerful, slightly maniacal, young adult had a proclivity for talking about random (normally inappropriate) and distracting stuff in the middle of teaching Tsuna some new forms or sparring with the boy. Inappropriate meaning fond reminiscence of past lovers in places like Hawaii, Spain and Russia, or pestering the poor boy about his lack of love life at the tender age of eleven. More often than not Nobu spun wild tales about wrestling bears, sharks, and a damn kracken, and climbing to the top of Mount Everest and diving deep into the Great Blue Hole of a country called Belize and meeting sexy merpeople. For a time Tsuna enjoyed how challenging and tough training under Nobu was, but that notion was felt before the man decided Tsuna was good enough to be his protege and thusly...
"Trained for real." How ominous does that sound?
Being given the 'best' training meant Tsuna was made to wear these weird skin colored form and fitting suits each day. The long sleeved shirt and leggings all had absolutely no right weighing five pounds each! On top of wearing the weighted clothes under his exercise outfit while running through kata as usual, he had to go on hour long uphill hikes around a mountain and perform maddening amounts of isometric exercise where he had to sit or stand for minutes at a time with his muscles contracted in a certain way. At least Nobu was kind enough to put on a movie at those times. When Tsuna became accustomed to one weight it would go up two or three pounds and after a month Nobu was back to pushing him hard in physical training and stamina, testing him on his memory of the forms and testing his reflexes in slightly sadistic ways (such as seeing if Tsuna can move fast enough to avoid a wet willy, a boot to the butt, a rock forehead, or more often a pie to the face).
The first time Tsuna agreed to a fourteen hour long Training Day on a Sunday he regretted it more than damn near anything. He had to be carried home by a cheerfully whistling Nobu who, after greeting Nana, got free dinner and dessert, and proceeded to snoop around Tsuna's room as he talked to the boy about all the wonderful training he had planned if Tsuna was willing to embrace the 'true essence of a warrior' for the sake of his friends and family. Tsuna, boneless from all of his screaming muscles, could only watch and complain as the man snooped, but after hearing the last of Nobu's proposal Tsuna wanted to curse him to using that exact wording. Not that he would have done anything different if given the choice, but still.
It was becoming quite clear to Tsuna that so far there was little he wouldn't do for his friends and, by association, his own happiness. He would walk through the fires of the Western idea of hell for them and more, and somewhere deep inside Tsuna knew that he should be a bit disturbed at how strongly he felt for 'his' people. It couldn't be normal and certainly felt strange when he brought himself to thinking about it, as the devotion and affection he felt for 'his' people, his big family, brought to mind the dramatic bonds found in manga, novels and other media make-believe.
Tsuna decided that he had to adapt more. Strange things will happen, bad things will happen, and most likely to him and his own, so that means he can't let it get to him too much. If he hesitates at the wrong moment it could mean someone gets hurt.
o o o
He never forgot what those three delinquents who hurt Hana and Kyoko. Tsuna was a patient boy, but first he explained to his madre why and how he wanted to get revenge on the ones who really hurt Kyoko and Hana. His mother happily agreed to help.
Four chocolate truffles that looked delicious contained a filling made from the hottest wasabi available and combined with powdered ghost pepper. Each were placed on the desks of these known bullies and a few of the more tormented kids understood his plain message of 'point at chocolate make retching noise', so they did not touch it. Surprisingly the plan worked perfectly!
All four delinquents were sent to the school infirmary for vomiting or screaming in class, then assigned detention for eating while the teacher was lecturing.
x-X-x-X-x
OMAKE
Expanding the Pack
When Tsuna started up his own pack of people to watch over and protect Kyoya hadn't been pleased for a reason he could not put his finger on at first.
He talked to his mother Mitsuko, as he was wont to do because she never judged him without reasoning and advice given. She was blunt and said he didn't like sharing what he felt was "his", but his Momonga-turned-Anaguma deserved to live as free as any little forest creature and so Kyoya curbed his possessive desire and commended Tsuna's efforts instead.
The girls were good for him too, at least, as Kurokawa saw to tutoring Tsuna in school which, unfortunately or luckily, only raised his average by three or five points usually. Kyoko often took care of his Anaguma, first by feeding him and then treating his wounds from school time clumsiness and bullies. That Kurokawa stood up to him, the 'demon' of Namimori who dealt brutally with the filth in his beloved town, was worth a few grains of respect. Granted, not enough to acknowledgment her yet, he didn't like that she challenged his desire to teach the lesson that being caught and beaten up like a rabbit is forbidden.
Ryohei was the most irritating part of Tsuna's pack and Kyoya refused to share air-space with the buffoon. At the boxer's present level he wasn't much of a challenge and only served to increase headaches, so Kyoya told Tsuna to control his yappy chihuahua or he would do it for him. At the very least Kyoya acknowledged that comic relief was needed for other people, and his Anaguma was fond of laughing so he did not say much to protest the inclusion of Ryohei into his small carnivore's pack.
Then came Yamamoto Takeshi. The boy was seemingly simple-minded, strong, and highly athletic with sharp instincts. Much sharper than Ryohei and therefore much more worthy of being a part of Tsuna's pack. Kyoya was a bit more tolerant of Yamamoto and went so far as to give the boy advice concerning the Anaguma's habits. Yamamoto took to heart Kyoya's warning to keep an eye on Tsuna when he could because as strong as his Anaguma was, Tsuna tended to get hurt and bleed. Far too much for a carnivore. That was a habit Kyoya was wondering on how to break him of.
It chafed a bit, sharing Tsuna with others Kyoya deemed not entirely worthy. But the Cloud trusted his mother and would avoid smothering Tsuna the way he would hate in turn.