He trusted his friends' even less. Tsuna was a bit odd and desensitized to their madness, but most of them were completely unhinged – usually in a good way, but crazy all the same.
In any case, he needed to introduce himself. "Hello." He greeted the new kid, Fuuta, with an open smile. "I'm Tsuna. I don't know if the others told you about me, but I sorta manage things in Caeruleus normally."
Fuuta looked back at him with stars in his eyes – metaphorical ones, this time. "I know about you! You're the number one person least likely to refuse a request and the number one most likely to help a kid in need and take them in!"
A chorus of snorts and barely hidden chortles sounded around them. Tsuna willfully ignored them; he wasn't that bad. "I- I see. If you say so…" He trailed off, looking for a full name.
"Fuuta de la Stella." Offered the little boy with a grin. "And I'm sure you are, because the ranking planet said so!"
This conversation was rapidly getting out of hand. "The ranking planet?" He had to ask. He dreaded the answer and the new nonsense it would bring so soon after he returned home, but he had to ask.
"Mmmh. They're the ones sending me information for my rankings." Fuuta beamed and showed him a random page of his book. Tsuna saw neat rows of names and ranks under the title 'People most likely to blow up the kitchen'. Hayato's name was 14th, not at the top, which was worrying on its own, but even more so when Tsuna realized that Fuuta had never met Hayato, let alone seen him 'cook'.
He glanced at Shoichi who replied with a nod and a grim expression. However they happened, the rankings were legit. Tsuna could guess why the smiling, harmless-looking little boy in front of him was actively wanted by criminals now, and the reason he had no more guardians to speak of.
Maybe it was time to show why he had apparently earned the top place in the rankings Fuuta had mentioned. "I see. Well then, Fuuta, you're welcome to stay with us for however long you want. And you don't have to rank anything for us in exchange. Only rank the things you want, but keep it in the back rooms if it makes things around you fly like earlier." Because at no point did he want the boy to think they only kept him for his talents, but he also didn't want him to feel the need to hide his abilities in the safety of the house.
Fuuta grinned at him, and only when the tension in his frame vanished did Tsuna notice it had been there to begin with. "I will, Tsuna-nii!" He used the same familiar name as Lambo and I-pin (making Tsuna melt a bit more, if that was possible) then he settled on the couch – that the others must have put back into place – to write on his book. Apparently, the ranking planet gave him data in bulk but he didn't need to make everything float to record it. Verde must have had a field day with that, although judging from how relaxed everyone was, the scientist hadn't attempted any in depth experiences on the kid.
Or so Tsuna figured, he didn't have the energy to ponder on it longer for now. The burst of adrenaline slowly faded from his system, leaving only the exhaustion of the long trip.
"We should put all our things out of the taxis first, then we'll call everyone and do introductions." He decided in a final effort to delay his report on Namimori. The ones that stayed in Italy had been mostly out of the loop on that front, and Tsuna had little idea of what had happened there in the meantime, besides taking Fuuta in. He needed to be up to date, fast.
Gods, he just wanted to go to bed already.
()()()()()()
Chapter 36: that learned of the ranking planet
Start from the beginning
