Thank you, everyone, for the support, I'm very proud to present you with the second chapter of Mafia X Vampire.
As for the always very welcome reviews.
Enanza: Thanks for the review, I try to answer a few questions for you.
The new forms of rings is a nice idea. I already planned a different route to later show why Tsuna is the real Decimo, but you gave me a few new ideas. Did everyone abandon him? Who knows. I try to show this from his point of view, so he might not know some facts. The guardians will show up later, and there will be a variety between them. He will fight against some of them, alongside some of them and some will just be there for the kicks. I plan to give the dying will back to Tsuna later in the story but it will have to wait for now. For now, the mafia takes a back seat but I plan a whole arc in the story focused on them.
Angron: Will Tsuna become a vampire? Not even I know that yet, we will find out. The plan is for Tsukune to become more involved with the mafia later, not necessarily the Vongola. The only one from the original harem I don't pair with Tsukune is Moka, the others will remain with him, at least that's the plan for now. The Triads will have their place in the story, and conflict is not out of question, but it will be much later.
That's it for the author's note, now for the chapter.
Ch 2 Succubus hiding in the mist
'The other day I definitely felt dying will flames or something close to it. What does it mean, I wonder?'
Sawada Tsuna was deep in thought as he jogged around the creepy forest next to the academy. It was already a week into the school year and thankfully there were no supernatural incidents aside from that one with Saizo. It seemed that while students heard about the brute's loss, there were so many versions of it around, no one had a clear picture of what happened. Tsuna was completely fine with that.
Other than a few instances of students and Nekonome-sensei failing to stay in their human form, everything was perfectly normal. The classes were the same as back in Namimori. And while Tsukune still freaked out at random things, Tsuna became completely used to it. (Deep inside in a dark corner of his mind Tsuna wept.)
Without a conscious decision, he began to jog every morning to stay in shape. Tsuna also planned to work out in the afternoon, but decided to properly acclimatize to this school for monsters first.
"Help. I feel so weak" a voice cried out, bringing Tsuna back to reality.
In front of him, at the side of the road was a female student bracing herself next to a tree, trying to stand up. She had shoulder-length cyan colored hair and Tsuna recalled seeing her in his class, but was unable to recall a name. His inherently good nature took control before he could stop himself to assess the situation and went closer to the girl.
"Are you alright? What happened?" Tsuna asked as he stopped next to her, offering a hand to help her stand.
"Thank you, my chest began to hurt suddenly," she exclaimed turning towards him.
Ignoring his hand, she practically leaped at Tsuna, putting all of her weight on the unsuspecting boy. He took a step back, trying not to topple backward as he looked questioningly at her. She simply stared deeply into his eyes, as he looked at the purple irises a strange feeling began to overcame and -
With a harsh cry, the girl collided with a tree, landing in a heap. She looked up accusingly, but words were stuck in her mouth. Standing before her Tsuna stared at her with harsh eyes, body tensing as he prepared to fight. He took a few more steps back, wanting to get as much distance as he safely could in case she tried anything.
"I don't take kindly to illusions," he growled.
He may be near powerless without his dying will, but that doesn't mean he was helpless. He used Moka in the past week to learn more about various monsters. From what the girl told him most monsters tend to specialize in one field. It meant that against an illusionist there wasn't a large chance of physical attacks. Thanks to his Vongola Hyper Intuition he could hold his own against the girl if it comes to it. Hopefully.
The girl only let out a shocked gasp as she stared down the plain-looking boy who suddenly looked fierce and dangerous. After a few seconds while she made no other move Tsuna slightly relaxed his body.
"Play your tricks at someone else," he said at last and began to leave. All the while he still kept an eye on the girl, who gave no visible reaction.
Tsuna let out a suffering sigh as he exited the forest. So much for a peaceful day.
-0-
Tsuna went back to the dorms to shower and change. After he was ready he went down to meet Moka and Tsukune, the three of them usually walked together to class.
Though from the looks of it, today would be different. The former mafia boss just reached the duo in time to see Tsukune march away angrily. Which, thinking about it, he seemed to do a lot.
"I'm not your food!" he exclaimed, leaving Moka with Tsuna and the nearby students who looked over curiously.
Tsuna held back a sigh, the idea of turning back and going to sleep became more and more tempting. All he asked for was a simple day, but of course not.
He looked over to the girl who wore a crestfallen expression on her face and cursed Tsukune under his breath. It was too early for this.
"You know," he began, attracting Moka's attention " for a guy who is supposed to lay low and not draw attention, Tsukune always ends up in the middle of something."
Moka turned towards him, eyes conveying the uncertainty she certainly felt. She soon covered it with a bright smile, almost blinding Tsuna with its brightness.
"Good morning, Tsuna-kun." greeted the girl enthusiastically.
"Ah, good morning." answered a little disoriented Tsuna. He wasn't sure how but he saw sparkles in the background. He shook his head, trying to clear it. "I wouldn't worry about Tsukune, though. This whole 'monsters are real' deal is still new to him. Give him time to feel at ease."
Moka gave a grateful smile to him and they began to walk toward the school. They remained in comfortable silence until Moka suddenly stopped in front of the school building. Her face took on a red hue and she absently began to play with her hair.
" Um, Tsuna-kun, Can I... I mean.." the girl trailed off uncertainly, but the boy understood what she wanted.
Withholding a sigh at the thought of how absurd his life has become, Tsuna led Moka a little to the side so they wouldn't block the way of other students and subtly offered his neck.
"Go ahead," he said, earning a cheer from the pink-haired girl. "But please don't drink too much, I would avoid another fainting episode if I could."
With permission given, Moka began to carefully drink his blood. While the school provided blood for the vampire girl, Moka drank from him as much she could get away. According to her, his blood was much tastier and warmer than the blood bags she was given. She could also sustain herself for a short while with tomato juice if it comes to it.
A few days ago the girl got carried away, because of that, Tsuna spent that whole day in the infirmary thanks to blood loss. After that, he threatened her that if she didn't show restraint, she wouldn't get any more blood from him. Surprisingly the threat of withholding his blood worked.
A few seconds passed before Moka released him, licking away the last drops of blood without conscious thought. Tsuna desperately tried to not acknowledge how intimate the whole scene looked from the outside. It worked with very little success.
"Your blood is delicious as always, thank you Tsuna-kun." Moka gave him a cute smile, unintentionally flustering the former mafia boss.
"Let's just go to class."
-0-
Turns out Math in a monster school is just as much a headache-inducing nightmare for Tsuna as it was back in Nanimori. And that's not even mentioning the teacher who was acting like some kind of dominatrix.
As the class slowly began to disperse, he held his head down, trying to avoid the teacher's gaze who was already spouting about 'tutoring' to those who struggled in class. It was creeping out his intuition.
From the corner of his eyes, the brown-haired boy saw Tsukune leave the classroom in a hurry. It could be because of their teacher or the little disagreement he had with Moka earlier, but Tsuna did not agree with that. Tsukune was a guy who wore his heart on his sleeve and not one to hold a grudge (he used to be like that too). He should have already approached Moka to apologize, yet he didn't.
Something was off with the only other human on the campus. He arrived in class after everyone else, which was strange that he took off before Moka and Tsuna. His whole mannerisms also seemed just a little wrong to him.
Tsuna also caught sight of the pink-haired vampire walking after Tsukune, probably wanting to set things right with him. He had to withhold a sigh at all the drama that was going on here, as he slowly trailed after Moka. It was clear that Tsukune had some sort of crush on the girl, but unless he read her wrong Moka was simply overly affectionate with her friend, probably caused by a lonely childhood.
The sad fact was that he was not sure if he preferred this teenage soap opera to the various shenanigans of the mafia.
Falling into step with Moka, they soon found Tsukune. Curiously he and a bunch of other male students were gathered around the same blue-haired girl that Tsuna met earlier in the morning. 'Well, at least this probably exclaims why Tsukune felt off.' though Tsuna 'looks like this school's version of Mukoro showed herself .'
He was broken from his wanderings when the girl caught sight of them. She left her admirers behind as she confidently stepped in front of Moka.
"You are Akashiya Moka, right? Rumor says that you are a vampire." She went on, not letting the surprised vampire answer. "I'm Kurono Kurumu, a Succubus." said the girl with obvious pride.
"Isn't it against school rules to reveal what you are?" Moka tried diplomatically but was ignored.
"I won't let you get in the way of my plan." stated Kurumo, pointing an accusing finger at Moka."At the start of the year, I should have been the number one idol of the school. Yet all the boys are dreaming about is you. This is unacceptable!"
The two of them stared at the succubus totally clueless, earning an angry pout from her. Getting fed up with their complete lack of reaction she decided to elaborate.
"I plan to make every male in the school my slave with my charm. The youkai academy harem transformation plan." At the end of her speech, Kurumo made a seductive pose, causing many nearby students to pass out in nosebleed. "I have to come to defeat you by stealing away Aono Tsukune from you and showing everyone I am better than you."
Moka stared at her, completely at loss for words. She had no idea where this apparent rivalry came from, but she didn't like anyone using her friends. Meanwhile, Tsuna's only fleeting thought was that at least this once it wasn't about world domination.
Their attention was pulled away when Tsukune walked closer to them, looking very confused.
"Moka-san" he began but was cut off when Kurumo embraced him, smothering his red face into her cleavage.
"Oh Tsukune, thank you for helping me earlier. I don't know what would have happened to me without you." she gushed, trying to annoy the vampire.
Said vampire sent her the nastiest glare she could give, which considering the generally sunny disposition of the girl was surprisingly scary. When she failed to intimidate Kurumo, she tried to warn Tsukune.
" Tsukune! She's tricking you. Hurry up and get that girl off you. Kurumu isn't your friend."
The boy tried to speak, but Kurumu decided to up her acting performance. She seemed to lose the power in her legs, hanging unto Tsukune with a death grip. All the while she 'cried' in sadness.
"How awful. How can you say it to me? I feel so dizzy, we have got to go to the infirmary."
While some, mostly the unaware peanut gallery, bought the act, Tsuna wasn't impressed. He would rate her acting closer to Haru's acting than any actual semblance of skill.
Unfortunately, the kind boy made the mistake of looking into the succubus' eyes. From where he stood Tsuna was able to see as Tsukune fell under the spell, his eyes glazing over. 'More like hypnosis than the body stealing Mukuro favored.' concluded the former mafia boss 'Unnatural, robotic movements and small twitches of the body showing slight resistance.'
Moka didn't notice any of that, instead, she continued to warm Tsukune in vain.
"Please, believe in me. That girl is dangerous, she is trying to use you."
Tsukune turned towards her at last, but he was fully under the succubus' spell.
"Aren't you the one who wants to eat me, Moka-san?" he said in a robotic, dead voice.
The vampire reeled back as if she was struck, tears gathering in her eyes. She tried to hold it back, but with a soft cry she turned around and stormed off, leaving behind a confused Tsukune. Kurumu began to smile in victory when she the narrowed glare that Tsuna was sending her, causing the succubus to shudder in slight fear and hide behind her hypnotized fanboys.
With a grunt the brown-haired teen simply left them, calmly walking in the direction Moka ran.
-0-
Tsuna found Moka sitting outside, on the stairs in front of the school's entrance. She was looking down on the ground in obvious depression. The girl reminded him of Chrome at times, who despite sharing her body with Mukuro usually couldn't hurt a fly. Tsuna was about to walk up to her, reassure that Tsukune is still her friend when his body froze.
Didn't his friends, his family choose to leave him when he needed them the most? For Tsuna, it was not his father's betrayal or losing the position of Decimo that truly hurt him. It was his friends. They went through so much, yet when he called out for them to help, they didn't come. He suddenly became nobody once again. Helpless, friendless Dame-Tsuna.
After all of this, how can he be so sure that Tsukune is his friend? Or Moka for that matter? He knew them for only a week. They wouldn't even be so close if not for Moka's personality and insistence to do everything together. Why should he care what happens? In the end, they would simply leave him, like all the others.
While Tsuna fought with his existential crisis, Moka had an interesting conversation with her rosary. By the time the boy emerged from his thoughts the vampire stood up, with a rekindled fire in her eyes.
"Let's save Tsukune, Tsuna-kun!" she declared, her previous sadness left behind.
"What-?" that was all he could get out before Moka grabbed his arm and with her strength began to pull the boy after her.
He could have resisted. He could have told her that they are not friends and leave him alone. But he couldn't. Maybe deep down there was still a lonely kid, who wanted to be not alone. Maybe the mafia didn't manage to harden him as much as he tried to show. Maybe he is still number one on Futa's list of unable to refuse a request. No matter the reason, Tsuna let himself be dragged, trying to keep up with the anxious vampire.
-0-
The two of them found Tsukune at the infirmary along with Kurumu. The girl was embracing him, or to be precise, she was pressing his face into her cleavage. Because of the scene they found or because of her indignation Moka's face was beat red as she began to march towards them.
Tsuna had lashed out, grabbing her wrist, silently telling her to stay put. Maybe because of his past experiences, but he needed to see the true personality Tsukune possessed. To see if he can break the illusion, if he has the willpower to fight, before letting Moka help him, or get involved himself. Whatever showed on his face was enough for the vampire, a little begrudgingly decided to wait.
"Ku-Kurumu-san." at the dazed voice of Tsukune, both of them snapped their heads toward him, seeing the succubus about to kiss him.
Alarm showed on the pink-haired girl's face, and Tsuna also grimaced as he subtly pulled out a gun. He did not have much experience with the supernatural yet, but when a deceptively beautiful monster girl abruptly wanted to kiss you, it did not take a genius to see, it wouldn't end well.
Both of them were ready to intervene when the unpredictable happened. The up until now pretty motionless Tsukune leaned forward, not to kiss Kurumu, but to embrace her, successfully avoiding the kiss. Moka and Tsuna watched on confused, allowing things to play out.
"I'm sorry, I can't." said Tsukune to the shocked girl."There is someone I don't want to betray"
"It can't be…why?" murmured the succubus, pushing away the black-haired boy."Is she so much better than me?" she cried out, enraged.
She slowly began to change. Now that he looked for it, Tsuna was able to feel it. Just like when Moka transformed last time, energy very similar to the dying will flame could be felt from the monster let go of her human form, though the amount was nowhere near to what he felt from the vampire.
Kuruno Kurumu slowly changed before their eyes. Her ears grow sharper, resembling the ears of an elf, two bat wings emerged from her back, along with a long black tail. Her nails also grew, becoming deadly looking weapons. With a swap of her wings, Kurumu left the ground, hovering before a scare Tsukune.
"I'm going to destroy everyone that has anything to do with her," she yelled and began to charge toward the boy, claws pointed to strike.
"Stop it!" cried Moka as she ran into the room. With a grunt she collided with the surprised succubus, her supernatural strength sending the cyan-haired girl flying off in a conveniently open window. Moka, on the other hand, was caught by Tsuna, the deceptively strong boy able to catch her without much struggle.
"Moka-san? Tsuna-san? What's going on?" asked Tsukune completely bewildered.
"You know, just saving you from getting your brain sucked out or something like that," replied Tsuna nonchalantly, helping Moka find her footing. The vampire ignores his witty comeback and looked at the black-haired boy in apology.
"I'm sorry you got wrapped in this, Tsukune. This girl is a succubus. It seems she wants revenge on me and to get it, she targeted you." she told him, before turning towards the window. "Run while there's still time, you two."
With that she went to the window, preparing to jump out. Tsuna was about to call out to her, because vampire or not, he knew from experience that jumping out of the second floor is not pleasant when he caught sight of the object in his left hand. It was a very familiar rosary.
"What is that?" asked Tsukune, who also noticed the rosary in the former mafia boss' hand.
Just as he was about to answer, two things happened in quick succession. Kurumu came back flying, stopping before the window with an enraged expression on her face. At the same time, Moka's body released a wave of energy, while she slowly changed. Her hair became a beautiful silver, her eyes changed to slitted red irises, and her body for the lack of a better term filled out.
Tsuna watched on with narrowed eyes as he once again sensed dying will flames among whatever energy the monsters tended to release. While Kurumu's felt like the ever-elusive mist, Moka's was the drifting cloud, that cannot be bound. If he wasn't mistaken, the sheer intensity of her dying will rival that of Hibari's.
"No way! What a powerful looking swirl of supernatural energy." yelled out a shocked Kurumu, desperately trying not to be blown away by the mere winds of Moka's energy.
As her transformation slowly finished Tsuna couldn't help but comment.
"You know, for a supposed seal which no one before was able to unlock, this thing comes off way too easily," he said with a grin, completely dismissing the succubus as a threat.
The released side of Moka only gave him a fiery glare at his smart-ass comment, before she turned her bored gaze towards Kurumu. Meanwhile, Tsukune looked at the scene in front of him in confusion.
"Is that really Moka-san?" he needed to ask. While last time he saw her for a moment, that whole incident was too strange for him, to believe everything that happened, really happened.
"Yes, or at least the vampire side of her. She is a different personality compared to her sealed self," explained Tsuna.
Their conversation was cut short when Kurumu made her presence known.
"Don't mess around me, there is no way I could lose!" she cried out in false bravado. It was clear to Tsuna, the difference in their strength and he was sure she knew it as well but was too prideful to back down. "Us succubi seek a destined encounter among the men we tempt. In order to keep our small species from dying out, we must carefully pick one man out of many to be our destined one."
With a strong flap of her wings, Kurumu began to charge Moka, nails readied to pierce the vampire, who simply stood in the window, without any outward reaction.
"You got in the way of that, Akashiya Moka! I can't let you get away with this, no matter what," she yelled before she reached Moka and slashed with her lengthened nails.
Unfortunately for her, the silver-haired woman caught her wrist lazily, stopping her altogether. She stared at the shocked succubus with a mocking smirk on her face.
"So what are you going to do?" she asked as Kurumu uselessly thrashed around, trying to escape her grip. "You can't let me do this, so you bear your fangs against me? Frail, egoistical woman." her eyes suddenly sharpened, the energy once again began pouring out of her."Know your place!" with that she hurled out Kurumu out the window, the succubus creating a huge crater on the ground when she landed.
'Brutal' thought Tsuna as he saw Moka jump out of the window, not letting her opponent escape. Based on the pained cries from Kurumu, the vampire was not in a very merciful mood.
"Come on, slowpoke. Better hurry down," he told Tsukune, causing the boy to blink at him bewildered before with a mute nod began to run after him.
As they ran towards the entrance of the school building, Tsuna absentmindedly mused on the quirks of users of cloud flame. Maybe it was the company he had, but he began to see a trend. Hibari always told his enemy that he would bite them to death, from Reborn he also knew that the first generation cloud guardian Alaude had a similar phrase. Moka seemed to follow this tendency with her telling her opponents to know their place.
His musings were cut short when the two humans stepped out of the building, just in time to see Kurumu brutally slammed into a tree. As the girl groaned in pain, it was revealed that Moka was holding her long tail, using her as some kind of ragdoll. Tsuna had to hide a wince when she picked up Kurumu and slammed her into the ground again, the succubus unable to defend herself in any form.
"That's too much. Shouldn't we stop this?" asked Tsukune fearfully, as he never saw this side of Moka. Tsuna only glanced briefly at the black-haired teen, before returning his gaze to the ongoing battle.
"Did you forget that this girl hypnotized you? Tried to use you against Moka? She is the enemy, plain and simple. She was the one who attacked us, she should suffer the consequences." stated Tsuna coldly, but deep down he also felt uneasy. But the Mafia taught him not to show weakness.
"I know that, but Moka won. Kurumu can't fight anymore." cried out Tsukune, flinching when a cry came from Kurumu, the vampire continuing her vicious beating.
"Than you are a fool." Tsuna said back, causing Tsukune to look at him in disbelief. "Spare an enemy, without making sure they can't fight back and the first chance they get, they betray you. In case you forgot her hypnosis is useless against me and Moka, but you on the other hand? Do you want to attack me or even Moka as one of her puppets?"
Tsukune couldn't say anything in defense. He gritted his teeth, clenched his fist as he tried to ignore the pained cries coming from the girl who used him.
"I know all of that. Even so…I can't let her do this!" he stated with determination. Tsuna helped him or not, he just couldn't sit still and let this continue. He would stop Moka alone if he had to.
"The same kind of fool, that I was, huh?" murmured Tsuna so softly, nobody heard him. Back then he was the very same. He forgave and helped a lot of his enemies, trusting them to do the right thing. He may have had his intuition to help him, but still, he was called a fool to show mercy. Yet he still did, except for the rare exceptions. Unconsciously, his grip on his gun tightened.
"I believe deep down, Kurumu-san is not a bad person. Neither is Moka-san. Because of that, I will stop them." yelled out Tsukune his resolution as he began to walk towards the fighting girls. But Tsuna's voice stopped him.
"Are you ready to take the leap?" the black-haired boy looked back, the other human smirking at him with a dangerous look in his eyes. "There is no backing down after this, you know. You are about to step into a world of darkness and you must stick to your decision." seeing the resolute look in his eyes, Tsuna's smirk widened. "Then let me give you one last piece of advice. Never falter, keep going forward. Gather your resolution, let your will guide you" at that he suddenly pressed his gun to a shocked Tsukune's forehead. "and die!" with that Tsuna pressed the trigger.
As Tsukune's lifeless body dropped to the ground, the former mafioso debated with himself if he was doing the right thing. While the last time could be explained as some kind of hallucination on the black-haired teen's part, this time there is no escape. He had to involve him with the mafia, the omerta must be upheld. When the dying will flame appeared on Tsukune's forehead and he stood up, Tsuna shrugged to himself. He was always one to follow his gut rather than his mind, this time would be no different.
-0-
Kurumu once again landed on the ground with a painful thud. She stopped fighting a while ago, instead, she tried to get away from that monster, without success. Tears gathered in her eyes as she looked at the dark figure slowly walking towards her. Moka never lost that mocking grin of hers the entire fight, but now she looked bored.
"Naive little girl." Kurumu desperately tried to get out of the crater, but her body refused to move as the vampire stepped closer. "I'll make it so you can never stand up to me." But before she could reach her a figure dropped in between them.
It was Tsukune, who fully entered the dying will state. His clothes save for his underwear were missing, and an orange fire was lit on his forehead. He faced Moka with an enraged expression, crutching protectively in front of Kurumu.
"I'll protect Kurumu with my dying will!" he roared out in challenge. Kurumu dazedly uttered his name before unconsciousness claimed her at last.
Moka seeing this tsked in annoyance. She turned the full force of her glare against Tsukune who stood before her defiantly.
"You dare to stand against me, Aono Tsukune?" she asked, but her answer was just a simple roar from the dying will user. "So be it. Know your place, fool!" with that she charged Tsukune.
Tsukune likewise ran towards her, fist raised for a punch without any strategy. Moka simply planned to catch that weak excuse of a punch, before giving the human who dared to stand before her the beating of his life. But before they reached each other, three shots rang out.
Moka widened her eyes as she saw three bullets hit Tsukune in the shoulder, elbow, and forearm in quick succession. This caused his whole left arm to be suddenly enlarged. Feeling cautious after seeing the strange transformation, the vampire decided to dodge the punch instead by jumping back.
Her eyes widened, even more, when the punch landed on the ground with a force she was sure that the human body was unable to produce. Where Tsukune punched the ground a large crater was created with a web of cracks further breaking up the ground. Tsukune stood back up, finding it a little difficult to stand straight with his large left arm.
"What's the meaning of this, Sawada Tsunayoshi?" hissed out the silver-haired girl looking to the side. Tsuna stood not far from them, his gun lowered but still slightly smoking after his last shot. He shot a small grin at her.
"Isn't this enough? You had your fun, she knows you are not one to anger. After that beatdown, I doubt she would be brave enough to stay in the same room as you, let alone try to oppose you. So why don't we call it a day?" he stepped closer to her, showing her the rosary. "If you went further, it would force unneeded attention in mine and Tsukune's way. Call it self-preservation." he finally reached her, holding up the rosary for her to take.
"Hmph, "Moka grunted as she took the rosary out of his hand, stepping very close to the boy. She did not miss the slight sweat on his brow even as he tried to look unaffected by her."Guess your blood is good enough to keep you around. But mark my words." with that she leaned towards his ear, enjoying his discomfort. "One day, I will force you to show me your full power. That's a promise." with that she placed back the rosary to its place, once again sealing her power and her dominant personality away.
Sneaking an arm around her waist, Tsuna held the now pink-haired vampire while she slowly fell asleep on him. As he steadied her, from the corner of his eyes caught the sight of Tsukune, still standing protectively before Kurumu returning to normal as the dying will flame died on his forehead. He looked around dumbfounded, first noting that the fight seemed to have ended and second the state of his undress. With a yelp, Tsukune tried to cover himself, blushing like a maiden, before looking at Tsuna, full of questions.
"Please be a little patient Tsukune." interrupted the brown-haired teen while slowly positioned Moka's body to carry her in bridal style. "First, would you get Kurumu into the infirmary? She doesn't look too good. Then come to my room, hopefully, Moka would be up by then, so I only need to explain things once." with that he began to walk away, leaving the strangely deserted clearing.
Tsukune looked after them, trying to understand what happened when he remembered a piece of very crucial information.
"What happened to my clothes?"
-0-
"Here you go."
"Thank you, Tsuna-kun."
Moka accepted the cup of green tea with a smile as the teen sat down next to her. Right now, she, Tsuna, and Tsukune were in Tsuna's room in the dormitory. They sat around the only table in the boy's room, with Tsuna and Tsukune sitting in front of each other and Moka between them. All of them had a cup of steaming green tea before them. Tsuna visibly shuddered when he recalled that he was taught that a mafia boss should always be ready to offer sufficient hospitality to his guests.
They sat in silence for a few moments before Tsukune had enough.
"Tsuna-san, just before with Kurumu and a week ago with Saizo what happened to me? What did you do?" exclaimed the black-haired boy, his patience almost non-existent at this point.
In answer, the other human in the room calmly finished his drink before he pulled out a bullet from his pocket and put it on the table. The bullet was completely ordinary save for the symbol of a small fire on the casing. The other two leaned forward in curiosity.
"It's called the dying will bullet," explained Tsuna in response to their questioning looks.
"Dying will?" Tsukune felt as if he heard that phrase, but he wasn't sure.
The former mafia boss closed his eyes in thought, trying to think of a simple way of explaining.
"Just like there is a hidden society of monsters, there exists another in the human world. And no," he cut off Tsukune who opened his mouth to ask." I'm not going to tell anything about them. I'm breaking enough rules by simply hinting at their existence. In short, these bullets are one of their secrets. When you are shot with this bullet and die, if you have a big enough regret in you, something you wanted to do before you died, it would revive you to accomplish that goal. The Dying Will Bullet turns all of the internal person's safety switches off and in exchange for risking their life, they are able to harness great strength. From what I saw, you can even stand against some monsters, though" he gave a side glance to Moka, the girl so focused on his explanation that she didn't notice." it would be useless against stronger opponents."
The other two taken the information in quietly, before Tsukune asked a very relevant question.
„But what happened to my clothes?"
In response, Tsuna only shrugged his shoulder.
"Who knows." At that, the black-haired boy couldn't help but faceplant comically into the ground.
"Does that mean you will use these to help out if something happens?" asked Tsukune after regaining his wits.
"I could, but I won't." came the answer, the other boy's face unusually cold. "For one thing, it could generate too much attention which I don't need and frankly, I simply don't feel like doing it." the two gaped at the heartless response before the three descended into silence.
After that Moka and Tsukune asked a few more questions while Tsuna proceeded to ignore said questions. As evening neared, all of them went to their rooms, thinking about what they learned that day.
-0-
"Good morning!" greeted a cheerful voice.
Tsuna and Moka wore the same deadpan expression as they witnessed Kurunu trying to suffocate Tsukune using her chest. It was the morning after their confrontation with the Succubus. The trio once again began to the school building after Moka drank her daily intake of blood provided by Tsuna. But on their way, they encountered a familiar face.
Even the usually vigilant Tsuna was caught off guard when Kuruno Kurunu appeared out of nowhere and assaulted Tsukune by stuffing the black-haired boy's face into her generous bosom. She seemed to up well enough, there was no trace of the injuries she suffered the day before. But strangely enough, the former mafia felt that she was no longer an enemy.
"I don't know whether to laugh or cry," he said at last after watching Tsukune flail around for about a minute.
That seemed to pull Moka out of her shock. With red cheeks she dragged Kurumu off of Tsukune, granting the boy a much-needed gulp of air. Then she turned to the surprisingly docile succubus.
"What are you doing here?" she asked Kurumu. The girl in response simply stood up, dusting off her clothes.
"Remember when I said I was searching for my life's one and only destined one." she started to say, while a blush overtook her features. Moka and Tsukune gave a nod at that, though for the latter the memory was quite hazy."I've decided…It's Tsukune."
'Talk about a turnaround. 'thought Tsuna as he couldn't help but let out a small laugh. Tsukune on the other hand dumbly pointed at himself in complete disbelief.
Kurumu began to act more like a shy maiden. She couldn't properly meet the gaze of her new affection, instead, she tried to hide her blushing face.
"Oh Tsukune, you risked your life to protect me and I had fallen in love with you." At that, she finally looked at the shocked teen in the eye and said."Let's get married!"
Tsukune, probably guided by a deeply buried instinct of man, proceeded to run away from that out of nowhere confession, with Kurumu at his heels declaring her love. The students who witnessed all of this looked on with jealousy especially when Moka joined the chase wanting to help her friend. On the other hand, Tsuna calmly walked after them, hands in his pockets, and carelessly whistling a tune.
'Normal is overrated. Insanity like that is more what I'm used to.' were the thoughts of the former mafia boss, a small smile on his face. A part of him believing, hoping that this time will be different. That he won't be abandoned by those he calls friends.