Mafia X Vampire

Chapter 8: Shadows of the past - Tsuna

He could have refused the mystery his old teacher presented him with. He doubted he owed Reborn enough after everything, the backstabbing of the mafia no longer involved him. Yet, here he was, spending almost all of his time stressing over a memory card Reborn sent to him.

Tsuna walked back to his desk when his eyes caught a small, worn photo next to one of his school books. He picked up, a slightly bitter smile on his face. It showed him, along with his former guardians, Haru, Kyoko, I-pin, Futa, Bianchi, Dino, and Reborn all standing under an enormous castle made of snow, smiling brightly. Even the elusive Hibari was there, scowling a few feet away from them, along with Chrome who looked very uncomfortable. The Tsuna on the picture didn't seem to be much younger, if he remembered right it was about a month before the inheritance ceremony that changed everything.

The good old days.

With a sigh he placed the picture back where it was before he began to get ready for the upcoming school day, wanting to do something productive during the day.

-0-

"What's wrong with Tsukune-kun? Will he be alright?" Kurumu asked worriedly, fretting over his shoulder. She had tears in her eyes, her hair that always looked flawless was out of its usual ponytail and looked disheveled. Her clothes also had a lot of dirt on them, for once the usually fashionable girl cared little for her appearance. Tsukune lay on Tsuna's futon, clad in only his boxer, unconscious. His breathing was labored but slowly getting under control, sweat gathering at his forehead.

Tsuna refrained from snapping back at her, understanding her worries. He was thankful at least that Moka who was also in his room tried to remain calm, even as she paced back and forth in worry. Yukari was at the kitchen, wetting an unused handkerchief while Lambo only blinked sleepily, woken up by the commotion.

He was about to head into the school when Kurumu burst into his room carrying an unconscious Tsukune, looking scared out of her mind. According to her Tsukune was training by himself, before suddenly fainting. He was unresponsive to her attempts to wake him up, prompting her to take him back to the dorms, hoping the others could help. Luckily, that girl was much stronger than she looked.

"Here you go, Tsuna-nii." the young witch said softly as she handed him the handkerchief. By chance she and Moka encountered Kurumu on the way, helping her bring up the unconscious teen to Tsuna's room. Thankfully very few people were awake at this hour so they didn't encounter anyone, otherwise, the sight of 3 girls carrying a sleeping boy to another boy's room would have been something to see.

"Thank you." he thanked her with a brief smile, before putting the handkerchief to Tsukune's forehead. He was by no means an expert, but Reborn did beat a handful of useful and less useful skills into him in the name of preparation of boss training. It ranged from basic first aid, citing a boss should be able to look after their subordinates to juggling since a boss should have the ability to entertain their guests.

He shook his head, trying to ward off his wandering thoughts, before focusing once again on Tsukune. From what little he could determine, he seemed to be alright for the most part, with his body temperature the only thing slightly elevated, hence the wet handkerchief. His pulse and breathing were steady, he was a little paler than he should have been but it looked more like exhaustion than anything else.

He looked up from where he was kneeling next to Tsukune, meeting the anxious gazes of the girls. He tried to give them a smile, to try and calm them down a little but had little success. With a quiet groan, he stood up, stretching his sore muscles.

"He seems to be alright save for a low fever." he told them, making Moka and Kurumu practically to sag in relief. Despite this, his face turned serious as he stared at the succubus."Can you tell me what exactly happened? What was Tsukune doing before collapsing?" he asked her. He was well aware thanks to his constant training what were Tsukune's current limits and he didn't think it was simple overworking this time. That meant he needed all the information he could get.