A little later than I would have liked, but here's the newest chapter of Mafia x Vampire.
Thank you, everyone, for the support, it means a lot there are people who like my stories.
Enanza: Thank you for pointing out those small mistakes. I go over a chapter at least four times before posting it, but still, there are a few typos. And don't start me with autocorrect. I swear that thing only exists to give me headaches.
I really liked your question, because they tend to give me new and exciting ideas when I stop to ponder other factors. I hope this makes sense?
Yes, they will awaken them later, much later in the story, but it will take them time. Until then Tsuna continues to drop hints for you guys. Poor Tsukune has been eternally friend-zoned, I don't envy him at all. Sooner or later he has to figure this out.
They will meet the other members of the tenth generation in time, the first meeting happening in this chapter. For the bullying let's just stay Dame-Tsuna will be back.
If there are still typos let me know and I will correct them. Onto the story.
Chapter 3: Let's survive the after-school clubs
"It's...it's really alright? Tsukune?" asked a shyly blushing Moka. She was nervously toying with her hair, eying the boy in front of her with want.
"Ye-Yeah." stuttered out a red as tomato Tsukune. He was sweating like there was no tomorrow but was able to steel himself and began to lean closer to Moka.
"I'm so happy. This is my first time too..." murmured the pink-haired girl as she also leaned closer in an almost hypnotizing manner.
Eying the lush, pink lips practically beckoning him, Tsukune couldn't help but rejoice at the fact he is about to get his first kiss. And from such a cute girl as Moka. They were close enough that he could feel her hot breath on his skin and he closed his eyes awaiting the kiss...only to swallow a mouthful of smoke she blew at him.
-0-
*cough* *cough*
Coughing heavily, Tsukune sat up, eyes and throat burning from the smoke around him. It was so thick, he couldn't see anything around him.
"Oh? You're awake." came from a voice to his left.
With tears in his eyes, Tsukune tried to look at who spoke and involuntarily let out a shriek so loud that even the dead awoke in a two-mile radius. Stepping out of the cloud of smoke was a figure looking as if he was left here after World War Two. Wearing the uniform of the American army, complete with a helmet, a gas mask, and a very real looking machine gun. Desperate to get away, the boy tried to crawl back but soon found himself next to a wall.
"It was a little stronger than I anticipated if I'm honest." commented the soldier airily, ignoring the teen. He stepped next to him and opened a window, letting the smoke out gradually.
As the room he was in slowly came into view, the human boy was shocked to recognize his dorm room. Looking down confirmed, he was on his futon, where he fell asleep. This made the presence of the stranger and the gas all the more troubling.
"Who are you?" asked Tsukune, internally face-palming at turning the armed man's attention to him.
The man turned to him, pointing the gun at the panicking teen. The blank lenses of the gas mask made the soldier appear even more intimidating. Thankfully when the last of the smoke left, but Tsukune's throat and eyes were still burning, the man bolstered the weapon to his shoulder and began to take off his mask and helmet. As the helmet came off the black-haired boy was shocked to find very familiar spiky brown hair.
"Tsuna-san?" Tsukune could gawk as he recognized his enigmatic classmate."What's going on? What was that?"
The other teen gave him a look like he just asked a very idiotic question.
"It was tear gas." he told him with a straight face as if it was completely obvious.
If Tsukune was in an anime he would have hilariously faceplanted hearing that. Of course, it was not obvious. Who in their right mind would wake up surrounded by smoke that burned his eyes and calmly stated 'Oh it' s just a little tear gas nothing to worry about.'?
"How did you have tear gas? And what's with that getup?" he asked in the end.
For his questions, he got another look that told him Tsuna felt he was especially slow.
"We are in a dormitory. In a place where we are cut off from most of civilization. We are in a male dormitory. If you know the right people and able to pay the price for it you could have virtually anything in a few minutes." he looked out the window, completely disregarding the black-haired teen."Anyway, I came to wake you up. We are almost late for school. Moka is waiting for us downstairs. Get up and get ready."Tsuna barked out, suddenly acting like a drill sergeant.
"Why couldn't Moka-san wake me up?" lamented Tsukune as he got up and began to get dressed.
"Oh, she volunteered, but I told her I would do it."
"You should have let Moka-San wake me up." cried out Tsukune comically, anime tears falling from his eyes as he imagined the gentle vampire in his room.
"Should I let Kurumu in as well?" asked Tsuna, relishing in the shudder that ran through the other teen. Both of them knew that the Succubus would take the chance to make her destined one hers in every way. "Glad that you understand. Now hurry up, we will be waiting." he said as he left the room, leaving a bewildered Tsukune behind.
-0-
"Good morning Tsukune." greeted Kurumu cheerily. Tsukune's answer was a tired grunt. His appearance was a bit frazzled, he dressed in a hurry.
Tsuna, on the other hand, stood at the side in a perfectly ironed uniform., whistling innocently. He ignored the other boy's pathetic attempt to burn a hole in him with his gaze alone. After facing the likes of Hibari, Xanxus and most importantly Reborn, this poor imitation of intimidation barely registered to the former mafia boss.
He was pulled out of his thoughts when a finger poked his face. Looking to the side, he met with the adorable sight of an angrily pouting Moka. She was blushing very prettily as she tried to glare daggers at him. Tsuna wouldn't have thought he would ever meet someone more adorable than Kyoko, but he stands corrected.
"What did you to Tsukune-San?" even her voice reinforced her adorable image. Tsuna felt a part that he buried deep down, the stuttering, crushing Dame-Tsuna almost make an appearance, but the iron control that Reborn has beaten into him helped force it back. Barely,
"Nothing. I just woke him up." he answered her innocently, but from the look on her face, Moka didn't believe him. And from the stare he felt coming from the rosary on her neck, the other Moka was also not too impressed with his acting."School starts in a few minutes, we should get going." he tried to change a subject not too subtly.
The vampire stared at him for a second, letting him sweat in nervousness before she decided to let it go. Turning towards Kurumu she reminded her they need to get going.
As the four hurried to school, Moka and Tsukune tried to converse with each other, while Kurumu tried to shift the latter's attention to her. Tsuna was walking a few steps behind them, staring at Tsukune seriously.
'I had doubts,' he thought' but seeing the girls' behavior with and without him in the picture, I'm sure.' he gave a sigh of long-suffering as he started to walk faster to join the others.' It's gonna get much worse, isn't it?'
None of them noticed a small figure peeking out from behind a tree.
-0-
"Starting today all of you will be doing club activities after class." told Nekonome-sensei cheerily to their class after everyone took their seat.
The students replied with various amounts of excitement. While some didn't find it interesting, most of the class perked upon hearing it. Moka looked fairly interested, while Tsukune looked gobsmacked. Tsuna was uninterested and was trying to find a way to skip the whole thing. In his mind, when he thought of a club he was only reminded of Hibari's disciplinary committee or even worse Ryohei's boxing club. Add that they were in a school for monsters and the things happened until now and Tsuna had a right to feel wary.
"We'll get a deeper understanding of humans by experiencing human-made activities." Nekonome-sensei continued to talk while Tsuna revisited some of his traumas. "To transform into humans perfectly, we must have a clear understanding of humans."
"Sensei, wouldn't that mean that you would get an F at human transformation?" asking a quite brave student, laughing to himself.
The reason he was laughing was, while she was explaining a fluffy cat tail was peeking out from under her skirt and swinging rapidly. Normally she looked like any other human, but when she became too excited her ears and tail tended to come out and ruin the whole blending into the human world part of the school.
Nekonome-sensei stared blankly at her tail before she looked up at the student who made the observation. Tsuna was able to catch the subtle act of claws slowly replacing her nails and before anyone could react with a cry she was slashing the face of the poor student with no holding back.
As the guy was flailing around with a blood-stained face, the others laughed at his misfortune. Even Tsuna gave a small smile at the comical byplay. He knew enough about injuries and he liked to think that he knew his teacher's character well enough after only a few weeks that it was nothing serious. Still, he couldn't help but comment.
"Clawing other people's faces is not really something humans do." he added with a small smile. In response, Nekonome-sensei began to slash at his face too, but he was able to avoid them with careful maneuvering of his head.
The class laughed merrily at the comedy, while Moka and Tsukune stared at him in amazement.
"Everyone will participate in club activities." their teacher stated merrily, acting like nothing happened after she gave up at catching the brown-haired teen."Be sure to visit the newspaper club, which I'm the advisor of."
-0-
"Wow." Tsukune breathed in awe as the three of them stepped out of class.
The hallways were filled to the brim with various stalls advertising school clubs and curious students who were walking around. The three of them began to look around together, but soon Tsuna was separated from both of them. Not feeling the energy to try to look for them in this whirling sea of students, he browsed around, trying to find a club that didn't creep him out instantly. There were a lot of different clubs, but even the most innocuous was as far from what should be considered normal that it was almost hilarious. Almost.
Tsuna's instincts flared up and he did an improvised backflip to avoid the tentacles of a huge man-eating plant that the Gardening club planted to gather interest for them. Instead, it tried to eat anyone and anything it came in contact with. Before the former mafioso could breathe a sigh of relief, he had to roll out of the way of an out-of-control jackhammer courtesy of the Construction club.
He took refuge next to the wall and he observed the insanity around him, while tried to avoid the worst of it. He should have been more worried, but the sad truth was that the whole thing reminded him too much of the mafia to mind, only these guys didn't try to kill him with intent. They probably didn't notice him while almost ending him several times.
Tsuna quietly walked away, while keeping out an eye for a club that he felt wouldn't shorten his life flat out ignored crazy clubs like the Beheading club, the Acupuncture club, or the Digestation club. And the sooner he forgot even the memory of the S&M club, the better.
He wandered aimlessly until he found the exhibition of a martial arts club, karate if he was not mistaken. He wouldn't have given it much thought, but his attention was grabbed by one of the demonstrators. He saw a tall, intimidating man with broad shoulders and short grey hair. He was wearing a formal white karate gi with a black belt wrapped around his waist. He was shouting with enthusiasm and was breaking large blocks of cement with even greater vigor. As he watched him, Tsuna thought he heard someone somewhere cry out 'extreme!' and did the only logical thing.
'Nope'. he said to himself as he walked away as fast as he could.'Time to find out what trouble Tsukune ended in.'
-0-
Kurumu hurriedly left class and tried to find her way through the hallways in hopes that she could find her destined one and join a club together. She slowly began to fantasize about her time with Tsukune, late-night rendezvous and in the end, he would forget about Moka and realize that they were always meant to be.
"Kya! What a cutie!"
She woke up from her daydreaming when she noticed a large group of girls gathering around. As she walked closer, she saw they were surrounding a small kid, cooing and awing at him.
-0-
Tsuna found them at the swimming pool, at the place of the Swimming club's exhibit. As he looked around, Tsuna supposed he could see why almost half of the male population was here. All the members of the club were extraordinarily gorgeous, though from what he saw it was some kind of standard for the large part of the monster population. He even caught sight of Tsukune in the pool, he was given a lot of attention from a black-haired, busty girl, but given their encounters up until now, Tsuna was not sure how lucky the other boy was. As he surveyed the pool he also saw Moka sitting next to the pool, morosely staring at the water.
"If you stare at it too hard, it would catch fire, you know?" commented the former mafia boss casually as he sat down next to the vampire.
"Tsuna-kun? Where were you?" Moka looked up in wonder before an angry pout appeared on her face."You're here for the swimming club's girls, too?"
Tsuna blinked at that, an amused smile growing on his face.
"I couldn't find you guys so I looked around the clubs. I can't swim for the life of me.." he confessed, earning a confused head tilt from the girl."I was just looking for you two."
Moka stared at him for a while, before with a mute nod she went back to staring daggers at the water and Tsukune. Tsuna scratched the back of his neck, feeling a little awkward.
"I'm guessing coming here was Tsukune's idea, not yours." he didn't wait for her to answer, quite sure about the reasons the black-haired boy wanted to swim."If it is something you don't want or can't do, you should just tell him, instead of brooding on silence."
"But..."Moka tried to object, but he continued to speak.
"You shouldn't lie for his sake. Between friends, honesty is the most important." he told her, while subtly keeping an eye on the pool, his bad feeling becoming stronger.
"But you never tell us anything about yourself." replied the vampire, causing Tsuna to let out a sigh. He eyed the depressed girl for a while, then he decided that it wouldn't hurt to talk a little about himself.
"During middle school, our P.E teacher threatened that any boy who couldn't swim would have to take classes with the girls, so they would be publicly humiliated." he began his story and he saw Moka look at him in interest. "So my friends tried to teach me to swim. We went to the local swimming pool in the middle of the summer to help me learn. It was a complete disaster." he chuckled to himself as he remembered those happier times."One of my friends tried to teach me the theory behind it, but he went too much detail, and all it achieved that my head was spinning. The other was a baseball player and tried to tell me how he swam, but he was just making strange sounds that I couldn't decipher their meanings. In the end, everyone tried various methods and failed, and we were banned from the pool for life. I still ended up with the girls' lesson, but we had fun." Tsuna had a wistful look on his face as he looked at the glistening water and simply relived old memories.
"You never talked about any friends before." commented Moka softly, not wanting to disturb him.
"Those who are closest to you, they could leave the biggest wounds." said Tsuna cryptically, staring back at Moka.
The vampire wasn't sure what to say, but she was touched that he decided to confide in her. No matter how much he joked with her and Tsukune, Tsuna always remained a mystery, even an outsider sometimes.
Of course, because of how the universe works, their small moment was quickly broken up.
"Tsuna-san? When did you come here?" asked Tsukune who swam to the edge of the pool to talk to his friends, with barely masked jealousy in his tone.
"Hey, just arrived. I was looking for you two after I couldn't find you anywhere." replied flippantly the former mafioso, deciding to ignore the jealousy. He once had a crush on a girl too, after all, he could give Tsukune some slack.
"Oh, my, hello there." greeted him kindly the president of the swimming club, Ichinose Tamao. She had been with Tsukune and decided to come after him, eying the new boy with thinly veiled hunger."Are you here to join the swimming club?"
It escaped both of the boys' notice, but Moka glared at her as she caught her eying Tsuna.
"I'll pass." Tsuna answered coldly. If it was him back in middle school he would have blushed like a tomato, but Reborn was nothing if not thorough. He even trained him to be able to resist girls seducing him, thus using him for their own means. "I'm allergic to water. And fish." he subtly glared at her, recognizing her for a small fish fashioning herself as a predator. And he spent too much time with Hibari.
"A pity."Ichinose commented before she turned her attention back to Tsukune.
But that was the point where Moka lost the last of her patience and rounded on the clueless boy.
"Stop it already! When it comes down to it, you just wanted to join the swimming club because you wanted to get closer to the girls, didn't you?" her outburst shocked both Tsuna and Tsukune, neither saw her this worked up before."I've had enough I'm leaving." with that, she began to walk away.
"Wait!" cried out Tsukune as he tried to get out of the pool. "Please understand, I just really wanted to swim with you..." he was cut off when Tsuna stepped into his view, giving the black-haired boy a sideways glance.
"Did you ask her what she wanted to do? Did you ask her why she didn't want to swim? Think about it." told him Tsuna, while Moka left. With another glance at the pool, not missing the stare he got from the girls for some reason, he went to follow the vampire leaving Tsukune in the water.
She didn't go very far, she was sitting next to the school building's wall. Her head was bowed, but Tsuna still could spot a few stray tears, while her rosary almost angrily glowed, indicating that the other Moka was talking to her.
"No...No" she was shaking her head in denial to something, not noticing that the brown-haired boy stopped next to her. "I'm sick of this body. Why can't I be like everyone else? I'm weird. I want to swim with Tsuna and Tsukune too. I want to be with my friends." her tears at that point began to fall.
"Didn't I tell you I'm not swimming? And yes, you are pretty weird." he commented as he slid down next to her, ignoring her hurt stare. "But I prefer you weird. A good weird. Trust me, normal is overrated. At least around you guys, I'm entertained." he raised his hand and without conscious thought he gently swiped away Moka's tears, not noticing her now blushing face."So what if you are unable to swim? We will find something to do, something all of us could enjoy. But to do that you have to tell us. Does water have some bad effects on your body?" Tsuna asked, having some kind of idea based on her reactions.
"Ye-Yes." she stammered out, beat red. Finally realizing how close they were Tsuna also became red and pulled his back and looked away in embarrassment."Vampires are weak against water, it drains the supernatural energy from our bodies, paralyzing us."
"See? I didn't know that, and neither is Tsukune. You seem to forget that you are friends with two clueless humans. Just as in this school you learn about the human world and culture, if we want our friendship to work, you have to teach us about the supernatural, so Tsukune won't do something thoughtless again, like wanting to get you into the pool."His embarrassment didn't die down, because Moka hugged his arm to her and rested her head on his shoulder basking in her friend's presence. Wisely he didn't comment on it, and they rested there for a few minutes to allow the vampire to calm down.
"Can you promise to stay my friend? I...I do not want to be alone. Never again. This warmth...I want to cherish it forever." she said tentatively after a long silence, unaware of how intimate the entire screen looked from the outside.
Tsuna closed his eyes in thought, remembering a kind girl similar to Moka who promised to stay by his side. But in the end, he too was left alone. As much as he liked Moka and Tsukune, as much as he liked to know that people liked him for him, with no connection to the mafia, the betrayals he suffered still weighed heavily in him.
"I want to, a large part of me desperately wants to make that promise." he told her, looking directly in the pink-haired girl's eyes."But I can't, not without sounding insincere. My past...Those closest to me let me down, and I just can't...I can't go through that again."
Moka eyed him seriously for a long moment and Tsuna thought she would get angry and leave. Instead, she smiled at him, momentarily taking the former mafioso's breath away.
"Then I guess, I have to stay until you can make that promise Tsuna-kun!" she declared with confidence, Tsuna feeling a strange whiplash from the emotional jumps of the last few minutes.
They stayed silent for a short while, one smiling happily, reassured thanks to her friend, the other simply staring ahead blankly, completely lost just what happened just now. In the end, Tsuna decided to not so subtly change the subject.
"Why don't we take off your rosary?" he asked her, causing Moka to turn to him in question.
"Why?" she asked simply, cutely tilting her head. Tsuna felt his face redden as the thought registered in his mind, deciding to be extra cautious in checking his food from now on since he must have eaten something poisonous. That's the only explanation.
"Well, you had a tiring day, so you should rest for a while. And from the glow of your rosary, the other Moka looks like she wants to say a few things herself." Indeed the rosary was glowing and even moving erratically, strangely reminiscent of his Vongola Box before he was able to open it. Moka looked down curiously, nodding in agreement after she presumably talked to her other half."Also, we left Tsukune with a bunch of monsters. Without us, he tends to run into trouble fairly quickly, so we should hurry because from what I saw before we left, those girls either gonna eat him, or rape him."He hummed a little absentmindedly, not noticing the horrified look on the vampire's face." Don't know which could be worse."
"Tsuna-kun!" cried out Moka, causing him to sheepishly chuckle.
"Sorry." he apologized, before grabbing the rosary and taking it off with an ease that still surprised him. As the vampire's true self was released and her energy as well the faint impression of cloud flames poured out, he wondered if he was able to unseal her because of him being a sky. Even when they went to the future, the harmony factor of the dying will flame of the sky was something of an unknown.
The silver-haired Moka stood up with a grace that only a predator could have. Tsuna followed suit, by the time he straightened out the vampire stepped very close to him, eying his neck with an interesting gaze. He wasn't surprised by it, her other half tended to get hungry and suck his blood at the most inappropriate times. Still, he tried not to show the slight discomfort he felt, because this Moka was always different, he always had a hard time anticipating her. Almost as if even his fabled Vongola Hyper Intuition was unable to get a read on her.
He wasn't able to fool her, because Moka flashed him a mocking smirk before leaning back and regarding him a bit more seriously.
"Why did you want to release me? Truthfully." she added when it looked like, he was about to repeat what he said to her other self.
"You are more level-headed." at her questioning glance, he scratched the back of his head sheepishly."The other you tend to react more based on emotion than logic. I wouldn't be surprised if she tried to jump into the pool to try to save Tsukune. And I could use the back-up if things get out of control." all he got from her was a raised eyebrow, but no real objection, so taking it as her agreeing, Tsuna turned around and began to walk in the direction of the pool. A moment later Moka joined him, a small frown on her face.
"I'm not going into the water. That boy isn't worth it." she told him, Tsuna only giving a simple nod to show he heard her.
Sometimes it surprised him how different the two sides of Moka were, like day and night. He could still see similarities in their personalities, but it could be still jarring. For a moment he wondered if people experienced similar when he was in dying will mode, more than aware how different he was in and out of it back then. Nowadays, he wasn't sure how much truly remained of the Sawada Tsunayoshi who encountered Reborn for the first time.
"Why do you use others to fight for you? I know you are stronger than you look, yet you always hit Tsukune with those bullets of yours instead of yourself." wondered out loud the vampire at his side. Her tone light, still Tsuna knew he better answer or risk angering her.
"The current me is unable to use most of my powers." he answered in a short while after he straightened out his thoughts. He respected her enough to be a little honest."The only thing that still works is the dying will bullet and even then it's with varying intensity. It's safer to use it on Tsukune." he pulled out his gun, checking the bullets in it. After they came back from the future, Reborn insisted that Tsuna learn to use and also keep a gun on him all the time. The study sessions that followed whenever he forgot to reload bullets in it, still gives him nightmares. "And usually it's him that is the middle of the trouble, so he should be the one getting out of it."
Moka simply hummed in response, letting go of the subject. Soon they arrived at the pool, the panicked cries of various male students reaching their ears. Sharing a look with each other, the two of them hurried in to assess the situation.
It was chaos. Students struggled against each other, trying to get out of the pool, becoming easy prey for the girls of the swimming pool. Tsuna had to blink in astonishment when he saw one of them bite a slower guy and draining away his life energy, causing him to age rapidly into an old man.
"Well, at least when you bite me, you only take my blood." he commented glibly, trying to mask his uneasiness. Moka didn't dignify it with a response.
"They are mermaids." she told him, casually observing all that's happening in the pool. "They a little dangerous in the water, no threats outside of it." she looked at the other end of the pool and scoffed lightly."And of course, that fool is in the middle of it."
Tsuna also looked over and immediately spotted Tsukune. Poor guy was surrounded by the mermaids, with the captain, Ichinose keeping him in her grasp. And from the way her mouth was widened to an impossible size, she planned to eat him in one piece.
"Guess it's time for the dying will." he muttered as he quickly took aim and fired a bullet at Tsukune. Ichinose released the human in her grasp, surprised at th sound of a gunshot. She turned towards the two standing at the edge of the pool, but before she could do anything a roar from Tsukune caught her attention.
"Reborn! Avoid being eaten as if I were to die! he roared out before with a swing he pushed away from the mermaids around him. To give him a more even fighting chance, Tsuna fired two more bullets, this time into his heels, causing his ankles to rotate at high speed enabling him to swim around the same speed the mermaids do. Thus started a comical chase of Tsukune and the mermaids.
The only one who didn't go after the human was Ichinose who instead glared at Moka and Tsuna who silently watched the show.
"So the vampire returned. Afraid of getting wet?" sneered the captain at Moka, but the silver-haired girl hadn't even looked as if she heard anything.
"I would never understand this bullet of yours." she murmured instead to the human at her side who give a small chuckle.
"Yeah, the whole stripping and roaring part is why I avoid using it on myself." he looked at the struggling Tsukune a little fondly, remembering the incidents he ended up thanks to Rebor and his friends.
Ichinose tired of being ignored gave a battle cry and followed the most foolish course of action. She launched herself out of the pool, flying towards Moka who still didn't look in her direction.
"I'll get rid of you for good." she roared at the vampire, forgetting that out of the water she was the one with a disadvantage.
"To take the bait and being caught so simply, you have to be a fish." Moka stated disinterestedly, kicking the mermaid in the face, knocking her out instantly."Know your place." Moka hissed lowly as a little water still reached her, mostly landing on her legs and face.
"You alright?" asked Tsuna a little worried, while still keeping an eye on the pool. Thankfully most of the students were able to get out with Tsukune swimming around like a madman, but aside from Ichinose all the other mermaids were up and hungry."Now how to deal with these guys..."
Just then a new figure arrived, drawing their attention.
"Moka! Tsuna! What's going on?" Kurumu ran towards them, a little out of breath, looking worried. "Where is Tsukune-kun?" she came to a halt when she spied her destined one in the pool, the strange fire once again on his forehead.
Tsuna absently looked at her, when he saw the other figure calmly walking next to her. His whole posture stiffened in surprise, feeling the up until now repressed feelings of anger and hurt coming up to the surface.
"You?" his voice had a menacing quality to it, that even he was shocked to hear. Moka and Kurumu stared at him in surprise, confused by the change.
"Long time no see, Boss."
The figure was a teen a few years older than Tsuna. He had short, messy black hair with a few braids in it, his right eye was closed for some reason, his outfit consisted of a black jacket with a cowhide pattern collar, which is somewhat opened and left the upper half of his chest out. He was also wearing a necklace with a bull pendant, beige pants, and most strangely sandals. He had a lazy air around him, but with a hard to miss hardness beneath the surface.
"Lambo. What are you doing here?" asked Tsuna harshly from his previous lightning guardian's ten years later version. At 17, Lambo was a little taller than Tsuna, who had a growth spurt in the last few years.
"Where did that little kid go?" wondered Kurumu, who probably met the younger Lambo, not this one.
"Probably my younger self was frightened by something, so he switched places with me from ten years later." Lambo answered Tsuna, completely ignoring the succubus much to her chagrin. He looked towards the pool and spied Tsukune still swimming with his dying will. "The dying will bullet. That sure takes me back." he reminisced for a moment before turning towards Tsuna with a small smile." You need help with this, Boss?"
"I'm not your boss. Not anymore." replied the former mafioso harshly.
"Not right now. But the future is never set in stone." said Lambo mysteriously, further confusing the two listening girls."So, what will it be?"
Tsuna looked over at Tsukune. The kid was holding up alright, but there were still too many mermaids on his heels and sooner or later the dying will bullet will wear off. And since Moka did not feel like jumping into the water to save the human, their options were limited,
"Do it." he said after a long moment. He didn't even notice that his gun was trained on his former guardian only becoming aware of this fact after he lowered it. It wouldn't have mattered anyway, only dying will bullets were in the gun.
"On it." Lambo said with a small smile. He stepped to the edge of the pool and swept his hair away, revealing two small horns on the side of his head. Tsuna was unsure if he had them there the entire time or just gotten that good in stealthily putting it on, either way from the looks of it the older Lambo was aware of the supernatural world and probably this school to some extent.
The brown-haired teen tried to ignore the glare that Moka was sending him, no doubt angered because he left her out of the loop. Compared to that, ignoring Kurumu's insistent questions was much easier.
"Thunder set!" Lambo roared out as lightning crackled overhead, a bolt hitting him directly. Kurumu cried in fright, but Tsuna saw clearly that all of the electricity was stored in his horns. With his horns powered up, Lambo lowered his head before thrusting it out in the direction of the pool."Electrico Cornata!" As the accumulated electricity began to fly at the mermaids, Tsuna had to blink in amazement. That technique's greatest weakness was its short-range. The 25-year-old Lambo was able to use it as a ranged attack, but he didn't think even the 17 years old version of his lightning guardian could use that.
The moment the electricity made connect with the water, the whole pool was electrified. Kurumu took a step back in fright, but Lambo, Moka, and Tsuna remained where they were. All of the mermaids cried out in pain, while Tsukune roared in defiance, thanks to the dying will mode able to shrug off the electric attack for the time being.
"What was that?" Moka tried not to look a little impressed by the attack, but Tsuna saw through her. Truth to be told, even he was a little impressed when he saw the 25-year-old version of Lambo fight. Lambo looked over at Moka and his eyes widened suddenly, even paled a little.
"Aren't you the boss' w-„ his words were cut off when pink smoke engulfed his form, causing the others, save for Tsuna, to blink in bewilderment.
"What's with the smoke?" asked Kurumu, coughing a little from the after effect of the ten-year bazooka. The smoke dispersed, revealing the younger, 7 years old Lambo. He still had an afro, similar to what he had as a small child, but it was smaller and looking closer to his adult version's hairstyle. He wasn't wearing anything cow-themed, instead, he wore a small version of the school's uniform for whatever reason. He didn't appear to notice the others, munching happily on a cookie."Hey, this is the kid I found in the school. He was looking for Tsuna." said Kurumu, feeling a little lost on what's happening.
At hearing Tsuna's name, Lambo looked up curiously, zeroing on the former mafia boss instantly. He quickly gulped down the last of the cookie, before launching himself at the bewildered teen.
"Tsuna-nii!" he cried out in relief. "It was so scary! There were a lot of strange people, and I even saw a ghost. Then I used the bazooka and met a scary lady who gave me cookies." he babbled on to his shirt, much to Tsuna's exasperation.
"Lambo." he sighed a little fondly as the cries of Lambo subdued. The young boy was one of the few he didn't feel betrayed by, in his own way he even stayed with him after the inheritance ceremony. And no matter how annoying he could be, he grows on you after a while. A long while."What are you doing here?"
Before he could answer a loud slap diverted their attention. Tsukune who was smoking just a little was finally was able to get out of the pool only to run into the vampire side of Moka, who quickly slapped him, quite gently for her., though it still caused the raven-haired teen to fall on his side.
"What are you doing to Tsukune-kun?" Kurumu was instantly at his side, checking his injuries in worry. Moka ignored her as she talked to Tsukune.
"The other Moka cried." she told them solemnly, causing Tsukune to sit up in alarm. Tsuna remained silent with Lambo watching from his side, curious as to what would happen. "Due to her inferiority complex over being different from others, she blamed herself for not being able to swim. She always had to live with being hurt in the human society like that. Men like you who unable to think about anything but themselves have no right to come near me. Stay out of my sight Tsukune." With that Moka turned away from him walked towards Tsuna.
When she reached him, he stopped her, giving her a searching look.
"Are you alright?" he asked, referring to the water she came in contact with. Moka didn't say anything for a moment, visibly struggling to admit any kind of weakness on her part before she gave in,
"I will be alright. It was just a little water, I would be fine after a day." she told him quietly.
Tsuna nodded, reassured that she was fine. With one last look at a still shocked Tsukune, he grabbed Lambo around his neck, eliciting a loud 'Gyupaa!' from the young boy.
"Come on Lambo," he told the struggling kid."let's walk Moka back to her room then we will talk about what are you doing here." Moka didn't give any reaction to that, but let them tag along as they left the pool, leaving Kurumu and Tsukune behind.
-0-
Like anyone who stayed even for a short while with Lambo, Tsuna always had a stash of candy on him, to bribe the most of the time annoying child. Even now, he gave Lambo a grape candy, his favorite to help him calm down and talk.
They were sitting in the small kitchen of Moka's room after they escorted her back. Unlike the boy's dormitory, girls had a larger living space, along with a bathroom and a small kitchen. And like the rest of the school, things were pretty lax. Nobody batted an eye when they saw a boy carrying a sleeping girl in his arms in the girl's dormitory.
Moka had fallen asleep as soon as the rosary was back in its place and her vampire powers were sealed looked paler than usual, probably the effect of the water, and a little worryingly light to Tsuna who was becoming used to carry her unconscious form in his arms. If this goes on, his conscience would force him to make sure she was eating properly, which meant more frequent Tsuna snacktimes. Why would he think that his life could ever be normal?
Shaking his head slightly, to chase away these thoughts, he turned towards the Bovino kid sitting before him, happily munching away on his candy. Tsuna decided to stay here for a little while, in case Moka wakes up and needs help. While they waited, it was the perfect time to get some answers.
"Lambo," he spoke up softly, gaining the young hitman's attention." why have you come to my new school?"
Lambo didn't answer immediately, instead, he was busy chewing his candy, but Tsuna was patient. Over the years, he got used to the child's antics, and if you knew him well enough, he was not such a bad company. Relatively.
"Mama sent me on an errand." he said, at last, looking proud for himself."Baka-Reborn sent you some stuff and Mam asked me to come and give it to you."
"Stuff? What stuff?" Tsuna narrowed his eyes in suspicion at hearing his former tutor's name. He was out of the mafia, a nobody, what was the strongest hitman wanted to do with him still?
"Here, I have it with me." Lambo took off the school bag from his back, something Tsuna only now noticed, and scowled inwardly because of it. He was being sloppy, and he could hear Reborn mocking him in his head for it.
Lambo gave the bag to him, Tsuna quickly (and carefully) checked its contents. First, was a bottle of dying will pills, which Tsuna had to admit came right on time, he was running low on bullets, keeping Tsukune alive was a tough job. After that came a familiar pair of white mittens with a 27 on each of them. He didn't know where it could have gone, but he couldn't find it when he packed for school. There was also a note in the bag from Reborn. He quickly glanced at it and frowned at what was written in it.
"Remember Kokuyo" was all that was on the note. He tried to think through what it could mean. Assuming it was truly from Reborn it's safe to say it was referring to something only a few of them understand in case someone else got their hands on the note.
Kokuyo should refer to Mukuro and his gang but this was too obvious, especially with the word remember. It would suggest a past event, but what happened in Kokyou? Their first fight against Mukuro! Tsuna's eyes widened in realization and he tried to recall what would be so significant that he needed to remember. They fought against first Ken, M.M, Birds and...and Lancia who they thought was Mukuro! Was that it? Maybe Mukuro once again using another as his 'face'? But why would it have anything with him? Maybe Mukuro once again is targeting him for some reason?
'Or maybe I'm just grasping at straws.' he thought bitterly and angrily crumpled the note. 'I'm no longer his student or minion. I don't have anything to do with the mafia and its string of betrayals.' He was about to give the bag back to Lambo when he spied one last item. Pulling it out of the bag, his eyes widened in disbelief as he found the lucky charm that he got from Kyoko so long ago.
He had no idea how Reborn found this. He remembered very clearly when he threw it into the river near his house in a fit of frustration after he came back from the inheritance ceremony, feeling alone and vulnerable, after he learned that Yamamoto and Kyoko were dating since about a month ago in secret, from Hana of all people. He didn't want to look at that reminder anymore, and now seeing it once again, conflicting emotions arose once again. In the end, he simply put it into the bag again, before handing it back to Lambo.
Lambo looked a little scared, probably more of his thoughts showed on his face than he wanted to. Giving the young boy a reassuring smile, he gently patted his head.
"Thank you, Lambo, you did good work." Lambo smiled happily at that and even Tsuna felt a little lighter. Even if he was a hitman, Lambo was still so innocent in most things that just by being near him helped forget the scars the mafia put on him."When are you going home?"
"I don't know." he tilted his head in confusion, trying to recall how he got here. "I wanted to try to go to you when I found this scary bus driver who took me here and told me where to find you. Then a lot of girls were there and then that one knew you and told me to go with her..." he began to babble and soon Tsuna ignored him as he thought the situation through.
There was no way Lambo was here by coincidence. No matter how lax the school handled internal matters, keeping the school hidden by the human world was their first priority. It could have been explained as a coincidence when it was only him and Tsukune, humans in this academy, but now Lambo just was lucky enough to find a bus driver to bring him here. No, it was no coincidence at all. Whoever brought them here was most probably aware of his and Lambo's mafia connections for sure and had some plan involving them. But what, he had no idea.
He looked over in the direction of his young guardian, lost in thought. He was at a disadvantage. No idea what the other side planned, he wasn't even sure who he was dealing with. The only thing he could do was wait and keep his eyes open, no matter how much he disliked waiting for the inevitable. And as Tsuna made up his mind, he tried to ignore the little voice in the back of his head that reminded him that he was thinking like a proper mafia boss.
Giving a glance to the direction Moka was resting, he stood up, prompting Lambo to do the same.
"Come on, Lambo." he began to walk towards the door, after checking on Moka one last time."Moka will sleep for a while, so time to go.
"Where are we going?" asked the young boy curiously as they began to leave the girl's dormitory.
"Back to my room. Then we will see when you can go back home." he told him simply.
When they left, they met Tsukune of all people. He was back in his school uniform, managing to look embarrassed, ashamed, and brooding all at once. If Tsuna was not deep in thought because of the possible implications of Reborn's note and Lambo's presence he would have found it funny. Instead, he only raised an eyebrow in question.
"You know that this is not the boy's dormitory, right?" he asked with a false smile, covering up his worries.
The boy only nodded in answer, constantly looking down to his feet, not meeting the other teen's gaze.
"I wanted to see Moka-san." he told him after a few moments in a low, subdued voice.
"She's sleeping. According to the other Moka, she should be fine by tomorrow, or the day after the latest." said Tuna, and began his alk to his room once again, Lambo on his heels, but stopped when Tsukune's voice rang out.
"Please train me."
Tsuna turned back, blinking in confusion as Tsukune was bowing before him, his body achieving a perfect ninety degrees. Lambo looked like he wanted to comment on it, but a hand on his head made him fall silent. The former mafia boss regarded Tsukune for a moment, deciding to hear him out.
„I...I want to be stronger. I want to go to school with Moka, with you, I don't want to be a burden. Please, teach me how to use the dying will." he said sincerely, looking up and meeting the brown-haired teen's eyes.
Tsuna searched his eyes for something and after a few moments, he apparently found it. He gave a nod, mostly to himself before a grin appeared on his face that sent shivers down on Tsukune's spine. He had a feeling that sooner or later he would regret asking for help. Tsuna turned to the child curiously standing next to him.
"Lambo, how many grenades you have on you?" The regret came sooner than expected.