Chapter 1: First Impression
Shortly after Reborn arrived at the Sawada household, he started to realize that something was amiss.
It wasn't that Iemitsu's files on his son were inaccurate. Most of the information in the file lined up properly with the facts he got from observing one Sawada Tsunayoshi: the boy was every bit the klutzy, good-for-nothing teenager he was described to be with his non-existent social life and abysmal performance at school. It seemed like the Seal that Nono and Iemitsu put on him was firmly in place too since whatever residue of Dying Will Flame he could feel from Tsuna was feeble and flickering weakly as the boy struggled to go through with daily life like a functional human being.
How troublesome! Reborn thought to himself. He had initially hoped that he would not need to resort to Dying Will bullets. The bullets are unpredictable and there was always the chance that the one who got hit did not possess any regret and never woke up from the shot; also, the Skull Disease was humiliating and extremely hard to cure.
He did not have to use any when he was Dino's tutor. The man's clumsiness came from his sheltered lifestyle and misguided education. Reborn had successfully tortu-trained that out of him after a few months. After that, coercing his former student's full potential out was only a matter of time.
In Sawada Tsunayoshi's case, it was not as simple. The teenager's chance at having a normal life, considering he had the blood of one of the greatest Sky in the history he might even shine bright, had been sabotaged by his own father, who Sealed away what could be seen as the biggest past of one's soul- the Dying Will Flame. At such a young age, getting sealed equaled stunning the child's growth both physically and mentally. Inevitably, little Tsunayoshi seemed to grow up dysfunctional and unbalanced in both the physical sense and emotional sense. His daily life consisted of going to school, trying and failing to even get one question right, avoiding bullies and at the end of the day, coming home to his mom.
Seeing the small teenager in such a state brought much hackles to Reborn as he recalled how much he wanted to shoot Iemitsu when he first read about the goddamned Seal. Yet the idiot in question still insisted that he wanted 'an alive and no-good son rather than a dead one'. Reborn then understood why good old Nono had agreed to such a request from his external advisor. At that time, two of Nono's sons were already dead and Nono must have sympathized with his external advisor over prioritized his son's survival. The only legitimate heirs left were his youngest and the little Sawada Tsunayoshi. Xanxus, of course, was out of question since he was adopted and the Vongola Rings only recognized those that shared the Vongola's blood.
Back to the matter at hands, he watched the young teenager that he need to make into a decent mafia boss stumbling at least twice on the short trip to his school, chased around the neighborhood by a chihuahua and got his lunch box taken by his bullies- Reborn was going to teach the brainless thugs a lesson later. What puzzled him was how the boy picked himself up after each hiccup, never complaining even once. Every single time, the boy calmly kept his head held high with the lights never dimming in his chocolate eyes.
Leading a life as he did, Reborn did not expect the boy to still hold such a spirit and the fight in him excited Reborn. Maybe, just maybe, his job this time would turn out to be not as difficult as he had feared initially.
He then observed the interaction of his soon-to-be student with everyone around them, or rather the lack thereof. The brunet never made an actual effort to talk to anyone he encountered throughout the day. He kept to himself at school and came straight home from school, never dilly dallying anywhere. He patched himself up after a beat up, bought his food when his lunch box was taken away, stayed silent when being scolded by the teachers. He never asked for help or bothered anyone, even when the bullying got too much, he opted to skip school and accepted being bitten to death by Hibari Kyoya- the keeper of orders in their school, later. Any attempt to rouse him up (by his bullies) or include him in any kind of activity (by the school idol- Sasagawa Kyoko) was bluntly and rudely brushed away.
This attitude needed to change. He still had to find a full set of Guardians after all.
The only one he saw the boy truly made an effort to get close to was his mom.
From what he observed, the boy loved to spend time with his mother, most of his free time of the day was to help his mom around the house and run errands for her. Which was pretty unusual for a growing teenager boy his age. It wasn't necessarily a bad thing though, a teenager boy having homemaking skills and being close to one parent, just unexpected. The boy didn't seem like a mama boy to Reborn, which would be really annoying. He just had a lot of love for his mom. In that case, Reborn could imagine that Tsunayoshi would probably not be the biggest fan of his dad, with the man being absent for most of his life and all.
Reborn did not expect an easy job, but he liked to be properly informed. The files he got on the boy were accurate but evidently not enough. He guessed he just had to wing it as they came then.
Knocking on the door to Sawada household, he sort of expected Sawada Nana to be the one who opened the door, but instead it was his future student who appeared in front of him.
"Huh? Hello?" The boy looked extremely confused seeing a baby in a suit on his porch.
"Ciaossu! I'm Reborn, the home tutor. I have sent the flier beforehand."
"Who is it, Tsu-kun?" A feminine voice asked from inside the house, probably belonging to the mother.
"It's the home tutor!" The boy answered over his shoulder, he still looked a little baffled but trying his best to keep a polite front.
"Ara, the tutor has come already? That's fast! Invite him in, Tsu-kun!"
"Ugh… Come in, please. I'm Tsuna, nice to meet you."
'Polite little boy. Now that's a good start.'
"Oh my, you are really young. Are you sure you can teach Tsu-kun?" Sawada Nana was a bubbly woman with warm brown eyes and brown hair. Her son- Sawada Tsunayoshi bore a striking resemblance to her. Which was something Reborn was secretly glad for, he did not enjoy having to teach a mini-Iemitsu at all.
"I assure you I have all the needed experiences and certificates to educate Tsunayoshi to become the leader of the next generation."
The boy's expression was a little odd as he heard Reborn's claims. He did not look as confused anymore, a little bit skeptical but the most part was that he didn't seem to not believe Reborn's words. Most people would find a baby posing as a tutor was extremely unbelievable, after all.
He noticed Tsuna paid a lot of attention to the Pacifier around his neck, too. It wasn't that he was uncomfortable, he got a lot of looks being who he was- the Sun Arcobaleno and greatest hitman in the world. He was truly famous in the Underworld. But the look from his soon-to-be student made Reborn think that the boy might not be as oblivious about the Mafia as he initially expected.
"Okay then, what about the fee-"
"Well, your husband has taken care of it. He was an old acquaintance of mine, actually. I only need food and lodging."
Just as Reborn expected, the boy's face immediately darkened when he mentioned Iemitsu, his absent father.
"Oh, Iemitsu sent you? That's wonderful! I guess that settled then?" The woman smiled brightly then turned to her son who now had an incredibly gloomy aura around him. "Tsu-kun, can you show Reborn-kun around the house? That would be really helpful."
"Mom, I'm gonna be late for school." The young teen sighed but still gestured for Reborn to follow him. Then he paused a little, bending down with his hands holding out, a clear invitation for the infant to settle in his arms "Come on, Reborn. I will show you to the guest room."
The little hitman stared at the offer arms incredulously, but hopped in anyway. His future student then lifted him up with care and carried him carefully upstairs.
"No need to prepare for another room. I need to stay in yours so that I can watch over you. "
The other boy raised an eyebrow at this request. "Really, wouldn't you prefer some privacy? Okay then."
Tsuna then brought him to his own room. The hitman hopped off from Tsuna's arms and landed gracefully on the carpeted floor. He looked around his new student's room with skeptical eyes. The room overall looked… quaint, with plain furniture and empty beige walls. It was clean and neat, this did not come as a surprise to Reborn, but the fact that it lacked … personality was rather concerning. Boys this age normally owned mangas, video games, or at least some posters on the wall, some own books or even porn magazines. However, from what he observed, the brunet only had the bare necessity in his room.
Shaking his head lightly, Reborn thought to himself 'Well, at least I don't need to think about his student having too many distractions.'
"Did Iemitsu really send you?" The boy asked out of nowhere, Reborn had almost forgotten his existence in the room.
"No, not really. I was truly your father's acquaintance. But me coming here to teach you is a favor I did for an old friend of mine, completely unrelated to your father."
"Great, because if you are really sent by him, I'm afraid I have to send you packing."
Reborn arched one of his tiny eyebrows. "How come?"
"Well, nothing good comes from my father. The last time he came home, I…" The teen shook his head softly, not wanting to finish the sentence "Anyways, forget it. I'm actually surprised that he was still alive though."
"That idiot is hard to kill. He is like a scarafaggio."
Out of the blue, the boy bursted out laughing. Reborn was stunned, seeing such carefree reaction coming from the boy whose calmness and perpetual indifference seemed to be his default expression. And what's more, his tingling bell-like laughter woke up something within the hitman's gut that had fallen into a deep sleep a long time ago, ever since he became an Arcobaleno.
Wiping away the tears of mirth from his eyes, the boy settled himself on the carpet.
"Okay, I'm done laughing now. What are you actually here for, Reborn?"
"You'd better prepare yourself, Sawada Tsunayoshi. Because what I'm going to reveal to you next, I got a feeling that you're not gonna like it."
"Do you have any regrets, Tsuna?" Reborn asked the other boy on the way to the brunet's school. After the painstaking explanation on how the brunet became the only legitimated candidate of being the next boss of the most powerful Mafia Famiglia, the boy's only response was that he was going to be late for school.
"What brings this up, Reborn?"
"Nothing, just curious. If you had to die tomorrow, what would be your regret?"
"Hm… How do I put this? I… always live like tomorrow I will die, Reborn. How do you know that one will not just keel over and die at any time?"
"That's such a morbid thought, Tsuna."
"But it makes sense, doesn't it? That's why I always make sure that if I die, I die with a smile. So I don't think I really have any regrets, Reborn."
"Refusing to get close to anyone does not make one live without regret. You're going about it the wrong way. That's not an adequate attitude for a future mafia boss, Tsuna."
The boy laughed airily, this time the laughter only served to piss the hitman off.
"What's so funny?" He asked dangerously.
"I do believe you and your little story, but it doesn't mean I will just bend and do whatever you want, Reborn. I'm not going to be a mafia boss."
"We shall see."
The teenager only gave him a rueful smile in return.
The next turn, both of them ran to a familiar face. It was a pretty girl wearing Namimori middle's uniform with short auburn hair and light colored eyes. As soon as Tsuna's and her eyes met, her ear turned a barely noticeable shade of red.
"Sawa- Sawada-kun!"
"Good morning, Sasagawa-san." The boy calmly greeted, and Reborn arched one of his eyebrows on the odd behaviors of both teenagers. Well, he clearly did not expect the school idol to even notice his no-good student to even exist, let alone stuttered in his presence.
"I- Well- Oh, is this your little brother? He's so cute!"
"No, he is the son of an acquaintance. Well, Sasagawa-san, it's nice seeing you here and all, but I really need to get going now. I have cleaning duty today, so…"
"Oh right, sorry for holding you up. Uhm, see you later, Sawada-kun."
And Tsuna left immediately without even glancing back, once.
"That was harsh, Dame-Tsuna. I don't take you for someone to be so cold to ladies."
"It's not nice to string other people along. I'd rather be rude and straightforward then give somebody false hope."
"So it's true that the school idol has feelings for you."
"'Feelings' is a strong word. I would say it's a temporary infatuation. It will go away once she's grown older."
"You are only 14 yourself."
The brunet shrugged, and this nonchalant attitude of his tempted Reborn very much to shoot the only heir left of Vongola.
Suddenly his to-be-student froze in his tracks, his eyes turned glassy and unseeing.
"Tsuna?" Reborn called in worry, jumping onto the brunet's shoulder to better observe his student's face. He had his hand alight with Sun Flame, ready to intervene if the need arose.
As fast as they came, the light in his eyes returned and his irises dilated then shrunk as though to adjust his sight to the sudden light. The boy swayed, bringing his hand up to massage his forehead, his eyes squinted in evident pain.
"What was that, Dame-Tsuna?"
The boy startled a little, realizing how close Reborn suddenly was to his face.
"Nothing, just suddenly feel dizzy."
"Don't lie. If you have any medical problems I need to know immediately as your tutor."
The boy sighed, and turned to his tutor a bit awkwardly due to the close proximity. He said.
"Don't be so alarmed! I just had a weak constitution and was bound to dizzy spells from time to time. My mom even took me to the doctor once and that's what he told me."
Reborn squinted his eyes, he still had the suspicion that Tsuna wasn't telling the whole truth. Not to mention, he could not shake the sneaking feeling that this was not the first time he witnessed something like this, and could not help but think of an old acquaintance that possessed the ability to see the future. Reborn recalled how every time she used her gift of clairvoyance, she had the same symptoms his student had just now: temporary loss of sense, disorientation and headaches.
But Reborn quickly shook off that thought though. From what he knew, the curse of Sky Arcobaleno was passed from mother to daughter, like how Luce passed her Pacifier to Aria. And he knew for a fact that before passing away, Aria had given birth to a little girl. That girl was most definitely the newest Arcobaleno.
And if Tsuna happened to be an Arcobaleno, his Pacifier should have reacted by now.
With that possibility eliminated, Reborn narrowed it down to his student having some kind of unknown medical condition that he would have to keep an eye on. Luckily, the most famous mafia doctor- Shamal- owed him a favor, and Reborn would have to call in that favor sooner than he originally expected.
"On second thought, I shall not go to class today."
"Why? You said you were fine. And as your tutor, you think I would let you skip class for no good reason?"
He muttered under his breath, "I'd rather avoid the series of problematic events that's going to occur today."
Tsuna didn't even need to look to know that his self-proclaimed tutor was pointing a gun at his head.
"A good boss does not run from his problems."
"Really, Reborn? Shooting the only heir on day one? What is the Ninth gonna say?"
"Nono hired me to teach you. How I teach you is entirely up to me. Now go die, Dame- Tsuna."
BANG!
At point blank range, there was practically no time at all before the bullet entered his skull and cut off his life for good. Yet in the millisecond between life and death, a million different thoughts ran across his head, and one prominent thought made itself known in the front of his mind.
If only-
His body hit the ground with a thud and stayed unmoving for approximately two seconds, but it felt like two eternities to Reborn. He had bet everything on this bullet, the special Dying Will Bullet designed by Vongola Primo himself to awaken one's inner Flame- the embodiment of their hidden strength and resolution. If he lost this bet, Reborn did not dare to think of the consequences of having the only heir die on his watch.
Especially with the Seal put on his person since young, the Dying Will Bullet was the safest bet he was willing to take, even if Tsuna himself had claimed that he lived without any regret, Reborn trusted his own judgment.
"REBORN! TEACH MOCHIDA TO RESPECT WOMEN WITH MY DYING WILL!"
With that, his student tore off from the restrictions that were called the clothes and dashed away leaving the trail of dust in his wake.
Reborn smirked and blew away the smoke of his gun.
"See, Dame-Tsuna? Nobody lives without regret."
At the end of that disastrous school day, Tsuna had somehow managed to snag up a few new package deals: Mochida for being able to beat up him in his own game while half naked; Sasagawa Kyoko for defending her from Mochida's unwanted advances, and Kurokawa Hana for, apparently, not being a monkey. Tsuna wailed and sobbed in his own head, wishing that he had stayed home from the start while glaring at his home tutor who seemed all too delighted and happy about his new 'Family acquired".
And from the moment Tsuna gave in to Reborn's unrelenting demands to connect to new people, his life picked up a new pace.
He had to admit, Reborn was really persistent about getting his ways. Somehow in the span of a few short months, Tsuna had managed to gather for himself a group of friends, Guardians, as Reborn would call. And now, they were all all looking forward to the Ring Battles, in which they would have to fight for their life and the rights to inherit Vongola Famiglia- the biggest mafia organization in the world.
This was not what he had expected, at all.
He was used to being alone, had resigned himself to a lifestyle where no one would have to mourn for him once his life expired.
He supposed he could have been more adamant on his stand of not creating new relationships and connections, not preparing himself for any future position, not taking part in any fight for anyone or any reason.
But he couldn't help it. He was bored, and curious too. Curious on how having a connection to another human being other than his mom could feel like.
And Reborn's brand of chaos was also a way to kill time too, that was the excuse he used to reassure himself. As long as he didn't let himself get attached, it would be fine, he reminded himself over and over again.
He had tried to resist in the beginning, but eventually just gave up and went along with whatever Reborn had in plan for him.
First came Gokudera, then Yamamoto. Then Sasagawa Ryohei. Somehow, Reborn managed to rope Hibari- the Hibari Kyoya, along too. Then Lambo came barreling into his life like a cannonball, bringing with him his own brand of troubles, namely the Ten-year-bazooka. Then his mom all but adopted the other mafia associates, some of them were still children, but children from the mafia, regardless. Bianchi- Reborn's enthusiastic fourth lover somehow chose to stay at his house, too. Sometimes after that, Sasagawa Kyoko- Ryohei's little sister and the school idol and Miura Haru- an oddball from a private school nearby got dragged along for the drive.
The small house that used to belong to only the two of them, now was always filled with noise, be it laughter or yelling, or maybe the sound of fighting and explosions. But he did not dislike it, though.
And Reborn, the damned baby seemed to be completely at home in the middle of all the chaos that he was actually the source of. No sooner did he become the hitman's official student did he realize that the baby was the actual devil in disguise. The infantile hitman relished in the fact that he was making Tsuna's life hell and even had the nerves to call all the torture sessions he gave the poor brunet tutoring. His mother, ditzy as ever, always failed to see that she had invited home the reincarnation of satan and let him freely use her son as his personal sandbag.
And he was getting used to it, too.
The boy had detested Reborn at first, seeing that the hitman had come and turned his peaceful (and boring) life upside down. However, Tsuna was horrified to find that, slowly but surely, he began to feel fond of the Arcobaleno.
It started when he had to fight a prison escapee and his co. The prisoner was called Mukuro Rokudo- who was futilely trying to destroy the Mafia by possessing his body- the soon-to-be boss of Vongola. He couldn't say that he did not sympathize at all with Mukuro's point of view since he kind of loathed the Mafia, too (and Giotto, the ancestor who was responsible for him getting dragged into the Mafia lifestyle, he was completely fine being a civilian, thank you). But the way Mukuro took advantage of people and innocent children to achieve his goal left a bad taste in his mouth. What was the difference between Mukuro and the Mafia anyway if the methods they used were practically the same?
And on that day, the teenager felt deeply the actual weight of the 'Vongola Decimo' moniker.
When Reborn came to him, his stand on the whole conversation about him being the only heir left of a long standing Mafia family was skeptical: He knew Reborn wasn't lying but never really took the hitman's words seriously. He had his own reasons, of course, but mostly he just thought that Reborn would be like the others, eventually giving up on him once he realized how much of a deadass and waste of time Tsuna was. So Tsuna just let the infantile hitman do whatever he pleased and waited, waited until the man decided enough was enough and left, like his own father. He got nothing better to do, anyway, and was ready to entertain the hitman and himself for however long he had. It did not help either that the hitman's methods were extremely questionable by repeatedly and unrelentingly putting the poor teenager through undesirable circumstances with that Dying Will Bullets of his. Tsuna then recalled all the blurry memories of himself running around the town half naked and screaming nonsense thoughts and wishes the teen had no idea he possessed, that made him halfwant to hit his head somewhere and gave himself amnesia. It felt as if Tsuna's sufferings were only for Reborn's own amusement and pleasure, and none for the teen's sake at all.
But during the whole battle with Mukuro Rokudo, he saw with his own eyes how serious Reborn was in teaching him for the position he was to inherit someday. The gloves Reborn's pet Leon made for him- his very own weapon- was a steady weight on his always cold hands, spreading warmth across his body and somehow created a crack on the shield around his heart. It was the proof that despite still calling him no-good and all, Reborn had an unexplainable trust in him and unbreakable belief that Tsuna would be able to pull through any hardship he had to face.
And he saw that Reborn was here to stay and would not go anywhere anytime soon.
Everything went spiraling from that point onward.
He started to understand how his future position, whether he assumed it eventually or not, had the power to affect thousands of fates, and he needed to get himself together fast before any of his decisions brought harm to others. Didn't matter that he had chosen a life of solitude, hell would freeze over before he let anybody get hurt because of him.
And with that, he started to really pay attention to Reborn's words and advice. He started to train himself a little more seriously, fighted a little harder, spent a little more time with his new found friends. He started to enjoy his life a little more, all thanks to Reborn who persistently brought new sources of joy into his life.
With every day he spent in Reborn's constant presence, something much more started to blossom in his heart whenever he looked at his tutor. Pure and innocent admiration at first, then came the possessiveness and jealousy whenever Bianchi clung to his tutor and showered him with affection. He was extremely confused, seeing that this something he never felt before could affect him so much. The warmth spreaded through his chest whenever the Arcobaleno spoke to him, the butterflies in his stomach once Reborn looked at him with those beady eyes, he was not able to define it at all, the weird feelings he had for his infantile teacher who had somehow wormed into his shielded heart.
If Tsuna had a choice, he would just throw the goddamn rings to Xanxus and call it a day.
But given how Xanxus himself repeatedly tried to murder him and his friends, he got a feeling that Xanxus wasn't one for a peaceful approach. He clearly enjoyed taking the damn things with force instead of trying to negotiate like a normal person.
Well, finnnnne! Tsuna had been itching for a fight anyway. He had had the urges to destroy something ever since his dumbass father decided to show his idiotic face at the house and lounging around drunk and half naked in the middle of the day.
Tsuna happily took training as the excuse to avoid being home as much as possible, even if he passed out from exhaustion, he'd rather slept on the hard cold ground of the forest than going home to sleep on his admittedly very comfortable bed but only a thin wall apart from the bastard's thunder-like snorings.
He knew he was making his mother sad, butting heads with his father like this. But he also knew that his mother would be even sadder if she knew he was hurting, forcing himself to interact with his father.
"This is getting out of hand." Reborn commented when he once again huddled himself under a tree to sleep for the night. "You need proper rest, Dame-Tsuna! At this rate you can't even survive against Xanxus let alone hoping to win! You are just sabotaging yourself over a childish resentment towards your father!"
"Sabotaging myself? Hey, Reborn." Tsuna peered at him from his nest under the tree "Do you know when was the last time my father was home?"
"…"
"I was 4. He came home, called me some stupid nickname that I had previously asked him not to, then spun me around as though I was a ragdoll. I was so scared, and all the spinning hurt my arms really bad, yet he never stopped. He brought another man with him, too and showed me off to that old man, saying that I was his pride and joy when he didn't even know how old I was. His boss, he said. The old man looked kind, sounded kind, but do you know what he had done to me?"
"Well, I was a relatively normal boy before that day, a physically active one who learned well and had many friends. And after whatever he did to me, my world started to dull and darken. I can no longer understand anything people say as easily as before, I got tired easily and got sick too often to be called normal, and I no longer felt warm no matter how many layers I wore. It was like everything was frozen up here" he pointed to his head "and in here" and then his chest.
"My life had turned upside down from that point onward. And I will never forget about it, about the ones who were responsible for my miserable childhood."
"Sabotage myself? Wasn't my life already ruined the moment my father let that man lay his hand on me?"
"Do you know how I felt when he showed up with Basil in tow and called him his apprentice. I personally have nothing against Basil, but do you think my father is being fair to me and my mother, who he had abandoned for years?"
"My mother is lonely and has cried herself to sleep everyday for years. Years! Can you imagine that?"
"So excuse me for being a little 'childish' refusing to stay under the same roof with that man, Reborn. I let him into the house because I know it makes my mother happy, but it doesn't mean I have to force myself to put up with his presence too."
"… I see." Reborn answered after a while, "I won't force you to go home. But for the remainder of the ring battle, I want you to stay at Dino's hotel."
"I know you will see things my way." The teenager grinned cheekily, and Reborn had to question himself why he had given in to Tsuna so easily.
Has I gone too soft? Reborn asked no one in particular but seeing Tsuna curled into a small ball for warmth under the tree and slept peacefully, he hurled all the questions behind and jumped to join Tsuna in his little self made cocoon. He settled down beside Tsuna's fluffy head and used his Sun Flame to warm both of them up. The boy's face relaxed immediately and he let out a little content smile in his sleep, snuggling even closer to the source of warmth that was his tutor. Reborn stared hard at his student's face, pleased that the Flame that was mostly used to hurt and kill others was at least able to bring some form of warmth to the boy's life.
He wished with all his might that this broken but still extremely strong boy would be able to survive the Mafia in the upcoming years.
Yet his hope was completely thrashed in the Lightning Ring Battle.
"Tsuna-nii…" the forlorn look on the 26-year-old Lambo when he frantically searched for the brunet among the crowd watching from the side was more than enough answer to all of Reborn's questions "Why? Why did you never tell us? We could have-"
"Could have done what, exactly?" Tsuna cut in the middle of the older man's words, apparently knowing what precisely the older Lambo was talking about. But the indication of Lambo's words gave Reborn a fresh fear about his student's apparent fate. And he didn't like the fact that the brunet himself seemed to know whatever future had in plan for him and had accepted it too.
The 26-year-old man stayed silent and gave him a miserable look.
"If only we had more time… I-I don't-"
"Focus on your opponent, Lambo. Fight and win! I promise we will see each other again."
"Yeah- yeah! Right, I'm at the Ring battle! I will win, so that I can be able to watch fireworks with you- you guys again."
And he did win but the 6-year-old Lambo suffered some serious damage from Levi's sneak attack. But Tsuna somehow had been able to save the little boy from his demise by interfering in the battle. His eyes burned bright with determination once the Lambo was secured in his arms.
"Never again." He swore "I will not anybody get hurt over something as stupid as the position of Vongola Decimo."
Reborn liked it, the fire in his student's eyes. But not the fact that he would eventually get himself killed over it.
He wasn't present for the Cloud Ring Battle, opting to train himself instead. He had infinite trust in Hibari, it seemed to Reborn. Hibari also had some grudging respect toward his student for some reasons, and listened to Tsuna to some extent. The CEDEF was also absent as well, as they were busy trying to rescue Nono at the Headquarters.
"How fruitless." Tsuna commented to Reborn, "He wasn't there in Italy."
"How do you know that?" Reborn asked suspiciously, eyeing the boy who successfully entered the Hyper Dying Mode once more without Reborn wasting another Bullet on him.
"I have my way."
Toward the very swift end of the Battle, Tsuna showed up at the field, and coldly watched Hibari cut Gola Mosca into half and a man, completely restrained in a straight jacket and connected to the Gola Mosca through various kinds of cables, fell out from the inside of the machine.
"Ninth?" Dino exclaimed incredulously.
Tsuna approached the fallen man eventually out of pity, but he dodged the wrinkled hand with a small Flame that was trying to touch his forehead.
"So you do know about the Seal, Tsunayoshi-kun…"
Tsuna didn't dain to give the man who had made his life miserable an answer, he touched the man's chest with a hand blazing the purest, warmest Sky Flame.
The effects were immediate: the man breathed easier, and color slowly returned to his old, wrinkled face.
"Tsunayoshi-kun-"
"Save it, I don't want to hear." And he returned to his place beside Reborn. He watched with an impassive expression as Xanxus raged on like a fool about how Tsuna's Cloud Guardian had killed the Ninth and as his son he had to avenge him. To which Tsuna only replied.
"Bring it on, Xanxus."
The Sky Ring battle ended swiftly with victory belonging to Tsuna and his friends- who had learned to work together to overcome the challenges the Cervello had put up. Xanxus was a strong opponent with much more experience, but it was proved that as flawed as Tsuna was, his lack in experience was made up with the strength of his Will and resolve. And it had surprised Reborn once again of how strong his student was under all that unassuming shell of his. He did not waver even when his stamina failed him and Xanxus's Mist Guardian snuck attacked him and stole all of the Rings.
"Xanxus, it's pointless! The Ring will not accept you." Tsuna told him earnestly "It isn't worth it, this position. Stop being stubborn and spare yourself from further pain and humiliation!"
"Shut the fuck up!" Xanxus thundered, as Mammon hovered the Sky Ring at the tip of his middle finger. "What the hell do you know about me?"
"I know enough that the Ring would reject your blood the moment you put it on, because it only recognized the blood that belonged to Vongola!"
Xanxus seethed and put it on anyway.
Tsuna didn't speak a word as Xanxus howled in pain and writhing on the floor. The older man spit out a mouthful of blood, his eyes clouded from pain and anger. The Ring then detached itself from the older man's finger and fell and rolled to a stop right in front of Tsuna.
"What's going on?" Dino asked and the others looked at each other in shock and confusion.
"Isn't it obvious?" Reborn responded, his eyes shrouded in the shadow of his fedora. How does Tsuna know? "Xanxus does not share the Ninth's blood. Therefore the Ring did not recognize him as a potential candidate."
The teenager picked it up, and kneeled down beside Xanxus' fallen form. Mammon tried to stop him, but with a glare from Xanxus himself, the Arcobaleno wisely retreated. Tsuna put a gentle hand on the man's scarred face and lit his Flame. The scars slowly receded much to everyone's bewilderment.
"Even you little trash pity me now." Xanxus said with defeat in his voice.
"No, I'm not. You are strong both in mind and strength. You don't need a goddamn Ring to prove it, Xanxus."
And he bent down, whispered for only Xanxus's ears to hear.
"If anything, you should be glad that the Vongola Ring skips you over. That thing is a curse in itself. It takes much more than it actually gives."
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY THAT, TRASH?" Xanxus growled from his spot on the ground, ony to be given a shrug from the brunet.
Tsuna stood up, not bothering to answer him: he seemed to be doing a lot of that lately. He turned to the pink haired twin hovering nearby and said.
"Cervello, announce the result."
The two women jolted from their shock at the outcome of the battle and soon regained their posture. Together, they announced.
"It's decided. Sawada Tsunayoshi-sama and his friends are the rightful owners of the Vongola Rings."
His friends and the other observers almost burst in joy over their victory.
With a solemn expression, the official Vongola heir put the proof of his inheritance on his finger.
Everyone held their breath, half scared that the Ring would reject the brunet as violently as it did Xanxus. But eventually, nothing exciting happened, the teenager's eyes only flashed orange at the contact and that was it.
What they didn't expect was that the boy's eyes also soon rolled to the back of his head, and he dropped like a stone to the ground. Everyone panicked and ran to the brunet, Dino was the first to reach him and lifted him to his arms. Reborn was the next to hop to his students' side. After examining him carefully, the Arcobaleno concluded.
"He's fine. He's only drained. A few days of rest would bring him back to his feet soon."
Everyone let off a relieved sigh as though a weight was lifted from their chests, but from the bottom of his mind, Reborn couldn't shake off the feeling that something was wrong. Tsuna's reaction to putting on the Ring was too severe, and he had never heard of any similar symptoms from the previous bosses of Vongola. He vowed himself to look into it soon and had Shamal do a full check up on his student as soon as possible.
Later, at the party they held to celebrate their victory, Reborn was surprised that both Yamamoto and Gokudera expressed concerns over Tsuna's future after the things had transpired during Lambo's Lightning Ring battle.
"Reborn-san, do you think that maybe Tenth might have… perished in 20-year-later Stupid cow's future?" Gokudera approached him when the party around them was going on full-swing. Yamamoto followed closely behind.
"He'll probably be fine right? Kid?" Yamamoto asked, hopefully as though Reborn had all the answers they wanted, but sadly didn't. Reborn simply didn't know how to respond to the teenager's questions. Because he himself didn't know either.
He told the two agitated teenagers, "Train and become stronger, then maybe you might be able to protect your boss and friend. That's all I can say."
"I see, Reborn-san. I will try my best."
"I have to train much harder then, to be able to protect the one who has saved my life, isn't it?"
And with this thought, both of them gave a silent promise to always protect the slumbering brunet upstairs.
Reborn wasn't as positive. There were too many unknown factors and secrets surrounding the brunet that the Arcobaleno had yet been able to decipher. The most suspicious fact about his student was about how he always seemed to know. And it worried him, since in the Mafia, the cost of knowledge wasn't cheap, and often paid with a tremendous amount of money, blood or even lives. Reborn could only hope that the bad feeling he had stayed, a feeling.
In the morning of October the 13th, Sawada Tsunayoshi woke up on his bed, feeling like death warmed over.
He was tempted to take the day off from school and sleep it away like every other year when he got sick around this period of time, but the sound of Gokudera and Yamamoto's bickerings from the front of his house made him rethink his choice. Right, he wasn't alone anymore. If he skipped class for no reason, his friends would fret over him and he definitely wanted to avoid that. That was why he decided to suck it up, dragged himself out of bed and treaded slowly down the stair fly.
Downstairs in the kitchen, his two friends had already situated themselves at the table enjoying breakfast served by his mother, who happily skipped around the table and laid out dish after dish of food. The mini sized hitman then revealed to Tsuna and his friends that today was actually his birthday. Needless to say, his mother- who loved parties where she got the chance to feed a ton of people, and all his friends sans Hibari scrambled to prepare a huge party to celebrate Reborn's big day.
Tsuna also got swept along with the hype since this was the first time he was invited to an actual birthday party and promptly forgot about his poor state of health. He was sort of happy for his mom too as he knew how she relished on occasions like this, but with only the two of them around and Tsuna had practically no friends before, throwing a party was next to impossible.
They headed to the school together and left immediately when the bell rang to prepare for the surprise party. School was draining and Tsuna for several occasions felt as if he was about to pass out from exhaustion but the anticipation and all the excitement kept him going through the day. Luckily, the preparation process did not take a lot of time with the united effort of Tsuna and his friends. By 6 in the evening, everything was already laid out beautifully in the Sawada's living room waiting for the main character of the party to turn up. The boys had put all the yellow and orange decorations up in the living room and the girls helped Tsuna's mom cook up a huge feast. Tsuna, though, had disappeared off somewhere and returned with a box just before the party began. Putting away the box in the fridge, he assumed his favorite spot by the fireplace in the living room and waited for Reborn to arrive with the others.
At 6:30, the birthday hitman finally showed up in front of the living room and threw the door open like he owned the place. He did not look surprised at all as the occupants of the room jumped out and yelled 'SURPRISE?' at him, but amused and seemed to enjoy the non-surprise regardless as he kept smiling in that eerie way of his throughout the chorus of Happy birthday sung to him. All of them enjoyed the delicious food prepared by Nana and then held a small contest 'Vongola style' as the hitman had dubbed, where Reborn got to rate their birthday presents for him. Tsuna had somehow won 100 points with his body aching all over after the magic performance he and Gokudera teamed up to make. Despite that, he endured the pain and the exhaustion trying to enjoy the rest of the night with his friend.
However, by 10 o'clock the brunet felt that could no longer keep up his healthy pretense anymore as he started to see dark spots in front of his eyes. The dizziness came next and he tried his best to keep himself from keeling over on the spot. Needless to say Nana's mother's instinct was ringing alarm on her son's ailment as the woman kept glancing worriedly at him over her shoulder.
Are you feeling okay? His mother mouthed to him. He gave a reassuring smile to her and gestured upstairs with his hand, signing to his mother he was going up to his room to rest. Not wanting to ruin everybody else's fun, he quietly ascended the second floor without alerting anyone, and disappeared into his room just before the heart of the party- the birthday cake- came out. As soon as the door to his room clicked shut, the boy collapsed on his bed and passed out before his head even touched the pillow.
Meanwhile downstairs, the party was at its peak when Nana brought out the beautifully decorated two-layer chocolate cake with mocha frosting and a mini figurine of Reborn himself made from fondant on top.
"Oh my god, the cake is so pretty!" Kyoko and Haru both gushed over how beautiful the cake looked and couldn't help but admire the hard work put into it. Nana then put in a small candle so that Reborn could blow the candle and made his birthday wish. After that, Nana cut the cakes into many smaller slices so the partygoers could enjoy. She watched proudly as her son's friends dug in immediately with such enthusiasm as though they were starving and not at all just stuffed themselves with her homecook food earlier.
"Mamma." Reborn- the birthday boy sat on his own high chair and was also helping himself to a big slide of cake. He actually looked quite content and happy, which made her really glad. "This cake tastes absolutely divine! Thank you for having made all of this, mamma."
"Aww, I'm really flattered, Reborn-kun. But I can not take all the credits, though. I had help from our wonderful girls. And Tsu-kun, too. Tsu-kun was the one who baked the cake himself."
"…I didn't know Tsuna could bake." The slight widening of his beady eyes was the only sign that the hitman was surprised. How adorable! Nana thought. If only Tsuna got to see his reaction.
"Actually, Tsu-kun is really good in the kitchen. He is just too shy to show off his skills! Tsu-kun must have liked Reborn-kun a lot ne?"
"Did he, now?" Reborn looked doubtful, recalling all his student's reactions and words from the moment they met until now, and his memories told him so far that brunet felt nothing but indignation toward him. Yet his student's mother was giggling like crazy and insisted that the boy liked him enough to even make him a cake for his birthday.
"It's just how Tsu-kun is. He has this habit of never revealing his genuine feelings. But I can feel it though, that he is grateful to have you here."
Reborn discreetly stopped himself from letting his real smile crack through the indifferent surface he had built.
"Speaking of Tsuna, I haven't seen him anywhere for a while now. Does Maman know where he is?"
"Oh, Tsu-kun hasn't felt well since morning so I have sent him to rest. Don't bother him, okay Reborn-kun?"
"Tsuna's sick? I… didn't notice…"
"Don't blame yourself, Reborn-kun. Tsu-kun is used to hiding his illness from everyone. I only know because he always got really sick around this time every other year." The woman patted Reborn's head gently. "Sadly, he had to spend his last two birthdays in hospital so I had hoped this year would be different since he has made so many new friends recently."
"When's Tsuna's birthday, mamma?"
"It's… tomorrow actually, one day after yours." The woman sighed regretfully, "It seems like he will not get to celebrate his birthday this year either. I'm going to check up on him, okay? From my previous experiences, he was usually confined to bed for at least a couple of days after an episode like this. So enjoy your party for Tsu-kun too, Reborn-kun ne!"
Yet the infant hitman tagged along anyway to check on his student's state. It wasn't that he cared, as the tutor of the future Vongola Decimo, it was his responsibility to make sure his student was sound and ready in both the physical and mental state. And the boy's health naturally fell under the categories he as a teacher needed to cover. He just wanted to make sure the boy's illness would not interfere with his job.
The woman opened the door to her son's room carefully so as not to make a too loud noise as she knew her son was prone to headaches when he was sick.
"Tsu-kun?"
A low groan answered her from the lump on her son's bed. A pair of hazy fever-bright eyes peeked out from underneath the covers as his voice weakly called for his mom.
"Mom… It's cold! But I feel so hot too…"
"Oh Tsu-kun! It seems like you're running a fever-" Touching her son's burning forehead with a light frown, she said, "-and a high one too. Do you think you can keep down some pills, Tsu-kun?"
"...Well, I can try?"
"Good boy!" The woman patted her son's fluffy head and turned to address the boy's tutor. "I will go and fetch Tsu-kun his medicines and water. Can you watch over him for me for a moment, Reborn-kun?"
"Of course, mamma. Don't worry, he is in safe hands." And Reborn actually meant it.
After Nana left, Reborn immediately hopped on his student's bed beside his slumbering form. The boy looked extremely uncomfortable sweating and trembling under the covers while taking in short gasps of congested breath. He seemed to be in pain too since his eyebrow knitted together in a strained frown and beads of sweat painted his hairline. His skin was ghastly pale with an unhealthy flush adorned his cheeks and his normally fluffy hair limp and matted with sweat.
Reborn had no idea how the boy's state had deteriorated this fast when the boy seemed fine this morning, only a bit pale. Laying a hand on the brunet's head, he frowned at the heat emitted from the boy. With a fever this high, no wonder the last few times the boy got himself admitted to the hospital. He half wanted to beat himself up a few more times for not noticing the boy was ill earlier. Had he known, he would not let it escalate to this point. Reborn's Sun Flame with its Activation characteristics would be able to help reinforce the antibodies in Tsuna's body to fight against whatever brought him down if it was used at the right time. In this state though, more Sun Flame only served to make whatever he catched worse.
"...Is that you, Reborn?"
The boy opened his hazy eyes and looked at the blurry images that were his tutor. His hand clumsily poked out from the cover to pat lightly at Reborn's fedora-covered head. "...Happy birthday, Reborn. Did you enjoy the cake?"
"It's good."
The boy beamed at his response, and Reborn frowned at how the boy's gaze was off, as he looked to somewhere far behind the hitman instead of directly at him.
"That's great! It took me ages to figure out the mocha frosting. I had to remake it thrice until it was the right consistency and flavor I wanted… Hope I did not get any germs into the cake though. I don't want anybody to catch my bugs."
"Idiot Tsuna! Why spend so much effort when you are already too sick?"
"I just want to show… how happy I was to have you …" The boy's illness seemed to take over again and his speech started to slur and become illegible, his eyes drooping down slowly with each word "...around…"
And he was back to the land of sleeping again. Reborn did not know what to make of the boy's first genuine confession he had heard ever since he came to know him. The warmth in his belly both from the delicious slice of cake he had earlier and the unknown and unnamed feeling he had was the glaring statement Reborn would very much like to ignore but failed to, anyway.
Shook his head a little to clear his head and chase away the unwanted thoughts, the hitman tried to focus on the matter beforehand. Reborn made a mental note to call Shamal over as soon as possible to check on his student. He had checked the boy's Flame earlier and did not at all like how unstable it felt. His Flame was all over the place and fluctuated wildly in the boy's already fragile body thanks to the Seal bestowed upon him by his own father. He had no doubt after another episode of this the boy's health would be wrecked even further and that fact terrified the normally level-headed hitman. If this kept going on he feared that the boy would not be able to last even one month once he was finally exposed to the Underworld. He needed to get to the bottom of the boy's illness as soon as possible if he still wanted an alive student to teach.
As predicted, Nana had to call an ambulance at 6 when her son's fever did not go down at all even after taking the fever-reducing medicines and the poor boy even started to show the early signs of a seizure.
Reborn's birthday party was luckily over at midnight but the group of friends had stayed over and slept in the living room anyway since it was already too late to go home. They were all woken up rudely by the shrill horn of the ambulance and looked around in bewilderment. The flustered state of their friend's mom and Reborn's serious expression did not help either as they watched the nurses load the brunet into the ambulance with bleary eyes, extremely confused as the brunet seemed absolutely fine last night.
"Tenth! Tenth's mama, what happened to the Tenth?" Gokudera was the first to regain his composure. "Is he okay? Oh my god, is he dying?" The remainders of the group stared at the woman in anticipation and fright.
"I- Well, Tsu-kun got sick and I need to accompany him to the hospital. C-could you be a dear and watch over the kids and the house for me for a while?"
"Of course but-"
Reborn out of nowhere kicked Gokudera in the head so hard that the boy tumbled from the force and said. "Idiot Gokudera, don't hold up mamma any longer, you guys can go visit Tsuna later in the hospital. Now scram! I will go with maman to the Namimori Center Hospital too."
'Don't worry!' was what Reborn actually meant to say to his student's friend 'I won't let anything happen to Tsuna.'
With that silent promise, the angsty teenagers finally settled.
"Roger that, Reborn-san!"
Waking up on his hospital bed extremely late on his very birthday feeling like hell was not a new experience for Tsuna, truthfully. His mother who fell asleep on the chair next to his bed was not a new sight, either, though it never failed to make him both feel better and worse at the same time.
But the sight of his friends scattered around the small hospital room in various states and positions of sleeping, however, was a new one.
I could get used to this. The boy thought to himself.
"Dame-Tsuna."
"Reborn…" Tsuna looked down to the infantile hitman who sat on a mini armchair beside his own bed, the dangerous expression on the hitman's face promised some serious pain and headache on the brunet's part.
The hitman then jumped on the boy's bed and swung his tiny fist toward Tsuna. Even though the boy sensed no immediate danger, he could not help but flinch at the oncoming fist knowing how much it would hurt if they actually connected with his face.
The fist stopped just in front of his face, as Reborn looked at him with those imploringly beady eyes and Tsuna found his heartbeats quicken.
"You gave all of us a fright, Dame-Tsuna. Don't you dare keep something like that from me again."
Reborn opened his tiny hand, revealing a trinket with a large blue gem in the middle attached to a small silver chain on his palm.
"What is it?"
"My birthday present. I had Shamal checked up on you and he found out the fluctuation of your Flame was the cause of you getting sick so often. So I had that trinket made and infused with Rain Flame and my Sun Flame to help stabilize yours. It won't cure you but it will help treat your symptoms."
"I- Thank you, Reborn." The boy looked shocked at first, but accepting and grateful the next, and finally a little shy and flustered. He gave Reborn a soft smile and the hitman decided that happiness was a good look on him. His eyes conveyed to Reborn just how sincere and earnest his thanks was. Reborn could help but get drawn to those orange tinted gazes, secretly wishing that his student would show more of this side, not necessarily to the others, but to him and him only. He failed to see, though, the quick flash of realization through the boy's chocolate brown eyes.
"Happy birthday, Dame-Tsuna. Don't ever forget that you are no longer alone now."
"Oh my god, Tsuna-san! You are awake!" The happy and bright voice of Haru, who just woke up from her nap, jostled the others out of their sleep. All of them looked at the brunet on the bed in tandem and the small hospital room almost burst open by all the noise and yellings from the boy's growing group of friends.
"Tsuna!"
"Tsuna-kun! Thank God, you worried us to death!"
"Do you feel better now, Tenth?"
"EXTREME! You shouldn't get sick on your birthday like that, Sawada!"
"Oh right! Why don't you tell us earlier that today is your birthday?"
"Look, Tsuna-nii. We saved you a slice of the cake from yesterday! I promise we did not let Bianchi-neesan touch it!"
The boy sweatdropped at their enthusiasm but at the same time, the warm feeling bubbling up in his chest made the pain receding gradually. Getting sick and suffering through it alone was no new concept to him but this time, his friend (and Reborn)'s appearance had surely ease his pain much more effectively than any kind of medicine.
"Isn't it great, Tsu-kun? You don't have to celebrate your birthday alone this year after all!"
Answering his mother with a shy smile of his own, the brunet watched as his friend enthusiastically made plans for another birthday party after he was released from the hospital to make up for the one he missed due to falling sick.
He quickly hid the trinket from Reborn into his pocket, though, and stole another glance at his tutor, who stared back at him coolly from under the shadow of his fedora with a small smirk. Even though he did have friends now, there was something else he would rather remain as his and his only.
Like the newfound feelings for his hitman tutor that he finally was able to put a definition to a few minutes ago.