Hello everyone, Naintarlow here.
Cover: The newspaper club sitting in a newspaper office with Gin wearing a hat that had the label editor on it, shouting orders at the others. Tsukune was trying not to fall over, balancing a huge stack of documents in his hands, while Kurumu sat at a desk, looking like a typical secretary, sending heart-shaped glances to the black-haired teen. Yukari and Lambo were lounging around the water cooler, talking while each of them was holding a cup of water. Moka, in a beautiful suit, was sitting in front of a computer, shyly brushing a lock behind her ear, a picture standing next to the computer, sowing Ura Moka grinning. Next to her, Tsuna was leaning on her desk in causal clothes, holding up a camera, laughing at something.
Tsuna stared a little dumbly at the older teen standing before his door, eyebrow raised in obvious confusion.
"What do you mean I got mail?" he asked dumbly. It's not like the school had a real, usable address, something he knew should have raised a red flag in his head when he applied to the school. That was the reason his mother could not send the pack Reborn sent him but had to ask Lambo to do it, so the idea was more than suspicious to get mail out of nowhere.
The tall teen standing before him was a second year, a classmate of Gin if he was not mistaken. At first glance, unlike a large part of the school, he looked like a genuine, normal human. He had a thin frame, looked as if a larger wind could topple him over but he had a straight, confident posture. He had an average, freckled face, shoulder-length ginger hair that framed his face, and brown eyes. He lacked even that otherwordly beauty and charm that some monsters, like Moka, Kurumu, and even Gin displayed. He was just simply average. Instead of a school uniform, he wore some kind of post office uniform, similar to what he saw on TV once in an American show.
"This arrived yesterday evening for you." he explained with a polite smile as he held up a large package without the lightest strain on him."There are not a lot of people who got a post out here in school, but there some youkai clans who are too isolated or just see no point to invest in human inventions like the telephone, so they needed a way to reach their children. Also, in case a student needed something from home, there was a need for a way to send those items here and not to overwork the bus driver. Though it's not really advertised, large and old families aware of the system built by the headmaster and most people send it the same way they sent their applications to the school but it's get redirected to our office."
He looked very proud as he explained about this post system, something that Tsuna heard about for the first time since he came here. It didn't sit well with his inner mafioso that something significant like that escaped his attention when he surveyed the school and the various people in here.
"What office you are talking about." he asked, not making any effort to mask his curiosity as he took the box, surprised for a moment by its heavy weight. Thankfully he was also a bit stronger than his size and age would suggest but he soon decided to place it down next to him as he turned back to the older student.
"Well, the office of the post office club, of course." replied far too cheerfully the teen wearing a postman's uniform.
"Post office club? I don't even remember finding something like that on the after school activities club's day." he replied blandly, eying him with faint suspicion. He did make sure to take stock of every possible club for the sake of finding the sanest bunch where he could weather the storm that was called the youkai academy safely. Of course, in further inspection, the newspaper club was also not represented, save for their sensei's shameless plugs, though at that time they only had one member so that may be the reason.
"Of course, unlike other clubs, not everybody could join, but only those chosen after a series of trials." he started to explain passionately, a fist in front of his chest."The work of a youkai postman is perilous and synonymous with danger. Only those who are faster than the tentacles of a Kraken, stronger than the jaws of a dragon, more stubborn than an oni, and outsmart even a vampire can even hope to be chosen for the responsibility of handling the packages placed in our care. Many don't even survive their first assignments, their will, and life leaving them, their mission unfulfilled. Only those who have the wits of a kitsune, luck of a leprechaun, the stamina of a centaur and the tenacity of a mighty griffin could deliver their packages to their clients." he stated, flames of dedication surrounding him, Tsuna absently wished that someone like him never accesses the dying will flame. After a whole minute of continuing this tirade, he calmed down, as if a switch has been pulled in him, handing him a paper."Please, place your signature here."
A little bemused, Tsuna took it, carefully looked it over before placing his signature at the correct part. He handed the paper back and was about to say something when he caught a short 'have a nice day' before the postman in front of him disappeared. Leaning out of the door, he just caught him at the end of the corridor, waving cheerfully before he went down the staircase.
"That was fast." he mumbled in surprise, blinking once to make sure he saw what he saw. It was certainly almost as fast as Gin was during the full moon.
Closing his door, he decided to shelve the idea of looking into this post office club some other time. It could be useful one day if it was ever needed but right now he had no reason and had more important things on his plate. Nonetheless, it could prove to be of use.
"Now, let's see what have we got here." he murmured as he carefully examined the package that was sent to him.
The package was not so much large, more like it was wide and heavy. He surveyed it with great care, trying to find evidence of tampering but found none. His hyper intuition also didn't feel off in any way which was usually a great indicator if there was any danger to him. He remembered narrowly surviving an assassination attempt of a similar idea a year ago. He was sent a package that was filled with some kind of lethal air-borne poison. It was only thanks to his own hesitancy due to his intuition screaming in danger and Gokudera's expertise thanks to his sister's influence saved every one of them from death. Safe to say, after that he was a lot more careful and paranoid in every aspect of his life.
Finding nothing out of the ordinary, he finally turned to the most important information the sender of the mysterious box. There was no name that he found suspicious at first but easily realized the reason where he found the address it had been sent from. It was an Italian address, one belonging to a dummy corporate that was used as cover by the Cedef. That and the fact that he found nothing off about the package meant only one thing.
"You sure were busy, Lal Mirch." he murmured in awe, as he went to open the package, still cautious just to stay on the safe side.
He figured out quite early on that his Vongola Hyper Intuition did not react to every possible danger, especially those that had no ill-intent behind them. That was why, even when he had the Vongola ring and was the height of his power so to speak, he was still caught off-guard by Reborn's traps many times. His mentor did not mean to kill him but to teach him not to rely on his intuition to the exclusion of everything else, and he thought something similar could be easily expected from Lal Mirch too.
Still, it was remarkable. Lal mentioned that she would work in finding a method of communication but he thought it would be a lot more time before anything could be sent to him. Oh, he was sure that she was through enough that no one knew of what she sent, where she sent the package, or even who sent the package in the first place. She was after all working for a spy organization and she was not formerly part of the strongest seven for nothing.
Opening the package, he found no hidden surprise which was a thankful reprieve. It was one thing to expect it to be boobytrapped but even then he was in no mood for dodging deadly projectiles, outrun a bomb, or anything outrageous like that. Instead, he found a phone of all things, a small book, a thick dossier, and an expensive-looking watch, all wrapped in bubble foil. And below all of them, he found another slender box.
As he pulled out all the items he also found a short letter from the Arcobaleno that explained each of the items and their significance.
The phone was made to be able to call from the youkai world where his school was located and also be as untraceable and shielded from listening as it could be, using the best of technology available to Cedef and a little help from Verde. The phone was nothing special at first glance but he trusted Lal's word enough to know it would work as described. The phone contained Dino's number, Squalo's for some reason, and Lal's, though she warned him to only call her in emergencies since it was a little harder for her to stay under the radar if he constantly harassed her with inane questions.
The small book was actually a weathered, old journal written by none other than Daniella, the Vongola's Eight Generation boss. At first, Tsuna had no idea why Lal sent it to him, why did she risk since it was doubtlessly some kind of priceless artifact of the Vongola, but as he read into it, he understood.
Daniella when she became a boss, faced a lot of opposition because of her gender, her age, and her decision to participate, albeit in the shadows, in World War Two. She had a small-scale Mafia civil war at her hands, and she wrote a lot of information from those times, what to look for, what tactics worked, and so on. She intended it for her descendants so they could fight a lot wiser if a similar situation occurred during their reign as the leader of Vongola. Doubtless, Lal thought that if the civil war brewing behind the scenes became reality he would be involved without a doubt and he needed an edge for himself, hence the journal.
The dossier had most of the information he heard from Lal and Dino when they last met, with a little more detail and a few more disappearances and suspicious movement that happened since that time. Thankfully no one he knew personally disappeared but it didn't help things. He knew what it meant, they wanted him ready and informed so he could make the correct course of action if it came to war.
Part of him wanted to resent them for it, for dragging him back to that dark world, but he couldn't. It was he who chose to use the dying will on Tsukune, it was he who approached them for help. He knew that even without Dino and Lal encouraging it, there was no escape for him. He was still the descendant of Vongola Primo, a possible heir, an obstacle in Massino's eyes. And who knew what many other famiglias would do to have the blood of Vongola under their control? He knew it was the correct course of action, but that didn't mean he liked that fact.
The other box contained a very new and dangerous-looking sniper rifle of all things, with a small note from Lal about never being too prepared. Tsuna felt a sweatdrop form on his hand, while Reborn tutored him in the use of a limited amount of small firearms, he never touched a sniper rifle, especially of this caliber in his life. Not to mention, at the core he still preferred close combat where he could use his abilities to the maximum. With a shrug he hid the rifle under his bed, thinking maybe it could come in hand someday.
His eyes went to the last item he got, the watch. At a further inspection, he found the emblem of the Cavallone family engraved on its back, which meant it came from Dino and he was overcome with a curious feeling of peace just by holding it. He felt his tense shoulder relax a little, but not enough to dull his instincts. It was caused by the watch and he also felt dying will flames when he stopped and concentrated. His eyes quickly moved back to the letter, searching for an explanation.
He finally found at the end, where the handwriting changed, showing it was written by the Cavallone boss.
"Tsuna, the watch is made of flame-conducting metal and was filled by my sky flames before I sent it to you with Lal Mirch. If you remember, my flames had also a large amount of Sun flames in them, making them a very good healing flame. I sent it to you in the hopes that my flames' harmony factor along with the sun's activation would connect with your flames and would help your body fighting off the poison until we can find a final cure. I have no idea how successful it will be since we have little information about the poison or about the dying will flames in general and I don't want to tip off anyone by searching around the Vongola. Please stay safe, little brother."
The young descendant of Vongola Primo looked on the watch his eyes for once betraying the many emotions running within him. Embarrassment at having to depend on others' help, happy to know he had those he could depend on thick and thin, and hope that maybe his body will not fail before he can be cured. He knew he could not pour into words how much it meant for his unofficial older brother to go so far from him, but he had a feeling the Bucking Horse knew very well, he was always good at reading him since they started out so similar.
"Thank you." he murmured reverently to the empty room, gently holding the watch before he placed it on his right wrist.
The effect was small but noticeable. His body seemed less tense as if it was fighting less against itself and even his flames responded positively, probably recognizing the familiar sky flame. Natsu gave a loud purr from his ring, causing a rare, soft smile to touch his face.
"I know buddy." he said to his long-time partner as he began to put away the rest of the items Lal sent him, pocketing the phone in case he needed it."It's nice to know we are not as alone as we thought."
A moment later he was closing the door to his room, a half-asleep Lambo trying to escape his grip in a futile manner, and went in the direction of Tsukune's room to wake up the black-haired human teen. If he was not mistaken he promised both of them extra training for trying to eavesdrop on him and Moka.
-0-
With a grunt, Tsuna raised his arms, barely able to block the kick sent to his midsection. He feared for a moment that his arms would break from the sheer power of the kick but thankfully he was only pushed away, almost losing his balance in the process.
Haiji smirked in challenge at the former mafioso before he rushed at him again, not letting Tsuna get any breathing room. He had to rely on his intuition and reflexes to the maximum just to able to dodge the numerous punches sent his way, several of them grazing him despite his best efforts.
Both of them wore traditional karate gis, and they even had a small gathering of spectators viewing their spar, the few early risers of the karate club who decided for once to join their captain on his morning training.
They were a sight to behold that much was true. Though Tsuna stayed mostly on the defensive through their spar with Haiji charging ahead as some unstoppable juggernaut, yet he had a hard time scoring a clean hit on the slippery brunette. The few times Tsuna attacked, his strikes were precise and went through the tall teen's defenses before he could even notice.
Despite the different styles they used, in terms of damage, they were somewhat equal which meant the spar, in essence, became a battle of attrition which Tsuna started to slowly lose. While he was stronger than he looked his endurance was still not on the level of Haiji who was an abnormal stamina freak even among most youkai which meant if he wanted to win he needed to change tactics.
Suddenly stopping his retreat, Tsuna tilted his head to the side, a powerful punch went through the place it had been a moment ago. At the same time, he moved forward, getting close to Haiji, not wanting to give him time to continue his assault.
The older teen's eyes widened a little at the sudden risky attack but he was already moving to counter that but that was exactly what Tsuna was waiting for. Grabbing the retreating arm he used it and all of his leg strength to jump up and over the large karate club captain, using his leverage and weight on his arm to unbalance him as he sailed over him and landed behind. Not pausing for a moment, he turned with his whole body, lashing out with his right hand, putting his whole weight into the attack for the maximum punching strength.
Everyone watched in awe, believing that there was no way for Haiji to block that attack. Yet, the large teen showed that it wasn't just brute strength that earned him the title of karate club captain. He twisted his body, his hand lashing out and blocking Tsuna's fist just before it made contact with his face.
The two fighters and everyone else just stood still for a long moment. Tsuna met the older man's eyes, both of them trying to get their breathing back in control, sweat running down both of their faces. Then the moment was over and they both smirked at each other before stepping away and giving a traditional bow to the other, ending their spar.
As the other members crowded around them to praise them and talk excitedly with each other about the fight they witnessed, Haiji experimentally clenched and unclenched his fist, showing that while he may have blocked the last attack it was able to hurt him. Tsuna meanwhile rolled his shoulders, trying to ignore the tired protests from his body. The older teen could punch like Ryohei, maybe even stronger, and even a glancing hit could deliver a large amount of damage.
"As expected of you Sawada, no hesitation and no holding back." Haiji said laughing as he stepped next to the smaller teen, patting his shoulder in praise and almost sending him to the ground by the sheer power behind it.
"You are one to talk about holding back." he grumbled as he straightened out, though there was a small smirk on his face."Still, it was fun, been a while since we have a spar like this."
"Agreed, though it would have been even more interesting to fight with our full power don't you think?" Haiji asked, laughing loudly. "Still, if you joined our karate club we would spar much more frequently." he offered. It was something they did every time, Haiji offering a spot on his club and Tsuna instantly denying him, saying he would rather remain in the newspaper club.
"Thank you but no." as usual he denied the invitation, turning around and walking toward the dresser room. "It's nice to let a little steam lose from time to time but I'm no battle junkie like you." he told him without turning around.
"Now that's something I don't believe." but nonetheless Haiji let him go, turning to his club members with a predatory grin."Now, since I'm warmed up quite nicely, it's time to train seriously. Who wants to go first?" Tsuna wisely decided to completely ignore the screams of agony coming from the dojo.
A few minutes later, after he showered and dressed up in the school uniform, Tsuna waved Haiji goodbye as he carefully maneuvered around the broken bodies of the karate club members and went to pick up Tsukune and Lambo.
Before he went to the karate club's dojo to spar, he left them at the clearing they usually trained at with a new, improved, and deadlier obstacle course for them to go through since he promised them extra training and it wouldn't do to make a liar out of himself.
He did not have to fear that they did not do their share of work without his supervision. Lambo, knew very well how he would react if he decided to try and skip it, so with a healthy fear of him ingrained into the young kid, he would run through as instructed. Tsukune, on the other hand, may not have the fear of God put into him, but he was serious enough about wanting to become stronger that he would do it without a doubt even if he cried and screamed all the way. He was a pretty dependable guy in that sense.
When he finally arrived he raised an eyebrow as he looked around. It looked as if several bombs went off in the clearing, making the place almost unrecognizable, full of larger and smaller craters that gave off ominous-looking smoke. Lambo was sitting next to a tree, knees were drawn close to his chest, his eyes unseeing. He was muttering to himself, swaying in place. Tsukune was next to the largest crater, facedown, ash covering his whole body. The only evidence he was still alive was the occasional twitch of his body.
"You guys went farther than I thought." he said as he surveyed their surroundings, impressed."And I didn't even warn you about the mines that I put up yesterday. Nice work." Tsukune began to say something but it was muffled because he seemingly didn't even have the strength to lift his head."You say something Tsukune?" Tsuna went even as far as to poke him in the ribs with his foot, enjoying his student's pain.
Suddenly the black-haired teen got up as if he wasn't even injured in the first place, grabbing the surprised Tsuna's collar and began to shake him as tears poured out of his face that was full of ash and dirt.
"Why? Why did we have to go through that hell? We almost died several times, we should have died. What was the point of that death trap!" he demanded, continuing shaking Tsuna despite his expression turning from surprised to annoyed.
He would have continued if Tsuna suddenly hadn't grabbed his hand forcefully, the shock making him lose his grip on the brown-haired teen's collar. He made to take a step back but Tsuna didn't let go of him, forcing him to look at him.
"You are alive aren't you? I don't see what the fuss is about. Your injuries are looking worse than they actually are." eyes wide, Tsukune began to pat himself down and found he was in a better shape than he thought. He didn't know it, but Tsuna was sure it was his slowly awakening dying will flames that were hard at work. "If this course was so hard why didn't you use the dying will pills? I made sure you had enough on you before leaving you here, so why didn't you use the one thing you had access to?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.
Tsukune only gaped in shock at him, the idea obviously never entered his head. After a moment he closed his mouth and looked again at Tsuna, his brows furrowed in confusion.
"But, you didn't, you didn't say I could use it." he stuttered out in the end but only managed to further annoy his trainer.
"So what? I never told you not to use it." he countered before he made an annoyed sound and turned away from him."Do you think I'll always be around to tell you when to use your damned power? Think again. You entered the dying will state enough times to be aware of its effect, its constraints, and its weaknesses. After that, it's up to you, to know when to use it, when your normal body is enough and when it isn't. So don't go complain to me when you don't use that thing in your head called a brain." he ranted angrily, before turning to Lambo who was still in shock."Lambo!"
Hearing his name, the young boy quickly jumped up, hands reflexively grabbing a grenade from his person. He turned to Tsuna and while the annoyed expression on his face did not promise anything good, he was still not an enemy so he slowly lowered the weapon.
"I didn't do it. I don't know anything about chocolate pudding and what happened to the pool." he cried out in defense, babbling on as sweat appeared on his face. Tsuna felt his eye twitch as he cut him off.
"I don't care as long as whatever you did won't come back to me." he said, fighting the urge to massage his head. "More importantly, why didn't you use Gyudon? You are perfectly capable of summoning him and his defensive abilities far surpass your own." he scolded him, the young Bovino in response pulling on his necklace which had the lightning bull's animal ring stringed on.
"I didn't think." Lambo muttered, his head lowered, and tears visible in his eyes. He was always a crybaby but Tsuna also found that nowadays he really tried hard when he asked something of him, so it stood to reason that Lambo didn't like disappointing him.
Reaching forward, he patted Lambo's head who sniffed but in the end calmed down. He turned to Tsukune who also wore a complicated expression.
"Well, that's fine. Just do better next time." He began to walk away, lazily waving with his hand, telling them to follow him."Come on, we should hurry if we want to arrive at class on time."
Tsukune and Lambo shared a dumbfounded look at the quick change in behavior from their friend before hurrying after Tsuna.
They had had yet to leave the forest surrounding the school when Tsuna stopped suddenly, turning to the black-haired teen with a serious look, addressing him.
"Tsukune, from now on I can help you a little, give you direction but you are at the point where I can't fight your battles for you. If you want to move forward, you have to find the resolution in yourself, because if you can't, death will be your smallest problem." his words had their intended effect, in unnerving Tsukune. Tsuna turned back to the path they followed, gesturing the others not to fall behind.
-0-
"Now that I think about it, the newspaper deadline is two days away, right?" a freshly showered Tsukune asked as he, Tsuna, and Moka walked into homeroom.
Things between Moka and Tsuna while still not perfect were moving in the right direction. Moka sometimes still acted hesitant and wary, Tsuna made a less than usual effort to talk to others but they were doing slightly better after their talk yesterday.
He was happy that slowly their normal dynamic is getting back but part of him desperately wanted to talk to either of them about what they were talking about. At Kurumu's urging, and because of his curiosity they tried to eavesdrop on the talk between them but they were too far away and Kurumu and Yukari began to argue with each other, making him hear even less. Worse, after some time Lambo intentionally began to make noise as if he didn't want them to learn anything of what Tsuna and Moka were talking about.
He only caught a few words, like something about Moka's sister, Tsuna's past, there was something about an ancestor and maybe middle school? Unfortunately, he heard very little and without context, it meant very little but he also had a healthy caution against angering Tsuna or Inner Moka so he stayed silent and tried to enjoy the slightly less tense atmosphere.
"You are right and unfortunately we have a lot of work if we want it to be complete in time with the addition of the results of the full investigation into the activities of Ishigami-sensei." Moka stated, sending a gentle smile at Tsukune, who immediately blushed and looked away. He may be trying to get over his crush at Moka and be a friend to her but she was still a very beautiful girl and he was a hormonal teenager."It would have helped if we weren't in a rush to complete it at the last minute."
"Cannot be helped." said Tsuna as he walked in front of them with what could be almost called spring in his steps."We had a lot of tests during the last week and even if Nekonome-sensei would have liked it otherwise, our school work is still more important than our club activities. Well, Tsukune has to work twice hard if he wants to pick up the slack." he mentioned with a small grin, pointing at the suddenly pale teen.
"Wait, why just me?" the young teen cried out in dismay, but it only caused Tsuna to smirk and Moka to giggle at the funny situation.
They would have continued chatting with each other but when they reached their desks, all three of them were surprised to find a letter within an envelope decorated with hearts resting on Tsuna's desk.
"What's this?" the young mafioso murmured as he carefully picked up the letter, only finding his name on it.
Unfortunately for Tsuna, Moka being one of the most popular girls in the class and the school, her arrival turned enough attention in their way that others also began to notice this new development.
"No way!" a student of average looks who sat two seats behind Tsuna gasped as he also noticed the letter. "Sawada got a love letter." he announced to the class, everyone immediately converging on Tsuna who was getting increasingly annoyed by the sudden attention.
"That's not fair. He already has the attention of hotties like Moka-chan and Kurumu-chan and he even got a love letter. He's not even that good-looking. Popular guys should just die." cried out a less than handsome boy, tears falling from his eyes as he glared daggers at the brunette.
"Maybe it's a love letter from Moka-san? That would be so romantic." a girl squealed as she talked with her friends, Moka who overheard her began to resemble a tomato as she gaped at them.
"Leave some girls for us, you bastard." one of the less popular guys mumbled as he slumped at his desk."I want a girlfriend too."
Tsukune couldn't help but smile at the fact that once it was not him in an embarrassing situation but Tsuna, a part of him feeling it was heavenly retribution for all he did. Turning to Moka he addressed her with a light-hearted tone.
"Tsuna-san is popular that's for sure, isn't he, Moka...-san?" he asked, halting at the end as he finally looked at the pink-haired vampire properly.
Her head was lowered and there was a too sweet to be genuine smile on her face. Worse, some kind of black aura surrounded her, the sight of it sending off every instinct in every male around her, telling them to run as far away as they can. The only exception seemed to be Tsuna who chose to ignore the chatter around him as he observed the letter, though he had yet to open it.
"Yes, Tsuna-kun sure is popular. I wonder who could be trying to confess in such a lame manner." she said with a dark chuckle, turning to Tsuna who finally looked up and raised an eyebrow in question.
"What's the matter with you?" he asked from the girl, completely missing the whole thing. Tsukune fought the urge to gape, Tsuna was usually noticed many things, things he didn't but for some reason, he couldn't see the clear signs of danger around Moka.
Before either Moka could answer or Tsukune could think of a way to avert the coming disaster, Nekonome-sensei entered the classroom, telling everyone to take their seats and reminding the members of the newspaper club they had to work hard after class to meet the deadline, much to their chagrin. Tsuna simply shrugged, deciding it was not worth trying to understand what went in the head of a girl. He placed the letter into his bag, intending to later read it in private to find out what it had been truly about. Tsukune and Moka followed suit, taking their seats, soon the whole class calming down.
None of them noticed someone watching them in a speculative way, not even Tsuna who usually didn't let his guard down even in class. She was a little shorter than Kurumu, with a small stature but a bust that was almost the size of Moka's. She had short brown hair with green highlights that she wore in a messy bob hairstyle and green eyes. The most noticeable thing about her was that both of her hands were bandaged up until her elbow, and looked like they went through a lot. Other than that she had a small tattoo on her neck, only a few lines visible, barely peeking over her collar.
She had a predatory glint on her eyes as the former boss candidate of Vongola answered a question by the teacher in a bored monotone, unaware of an enemy so close. The plan was put into motion.
-0-
"Tsukune-kun! Did you miss me?" chirped Kurumu as she glomped the still easy to surprise teen. It practically became a routine between them, Kurumu jumping on Tsukune whenever she saw him, pushing his face into her chest, almost suffocating him, and preventing him to greet her back.
"Moka-nee, Tsuna-nii, how was your day?" greeted them with a big hug Yukari, who was walking and arguing with the succubus before they noticed the three of them walking in their direction.
It was after classes, all of them heading to the direction of the newspaper club's room to work all afternoon on their papers, so they could meet their deadline. For once, the core of their club didn't meet up at lunch since Kurumu was held back by her teacher because of her low scores and Yukari was asked to tutor a few of her classmates and she spent the lunch break with them, helping them, so if they ignore the early morning walk to the school this was the first time all of them could meet up.
"Yo." Tsuna greeted her, looking a little distracted as he was deep in thought, his mind still thinking about the letter he got earlier today. He was never in a position to receive a love letter, so he had no idea what he should do with it. Coupled with him being a human, the lies around him, the possible danger from the mafia world, and even the poison still in his body, he doubted he was what others called a catch. That's not even taking into account that the letter was possibly a trap to lure him away.
"What's wrong Moka-nee?" Yukari asked, leaning a little away, and looked at the vampire with furrowed brows. Like Tsuna, she greeted her a little half-heartedly, but the pout she still wore on her face was much more obvious.
Neither teens answered her, though both of them were aware of the current issue between them. The timing was not good since they only just began to mend their friendship after Tsuna began to open ever so slightly to her. In the end, it was Tsukune who answered after he was finally managed to escape the clutches of Kurumu,
"Tsuna-san got a love letter today." he said, though immediately hid behind Kurumu when the brown-haired teen shot him a venomous glare.
"Really, a love letter?" the succubus asked with a raised eyebrow, looking a little bewildered."How cliche is that? Did she also ask you to meet her after school behind the school building?"
"No, you can't!" Yukari ignored her words and immediately began to wail on Tsuna, hugging him around the waist."You can't let just some kind of hussy seduce you like that and stand between you and Moka-nee. You are supposed to date her and marry her and give me little nieces and nephews." she said, quickly moving away from the entire point. Both Kurumu and Tsukune sweatdropped at the fact that the witch already had the life of her two friends planned out.
Moka blushed at her words, looking away, absently twirling her fingers. She didn't understand why she was bothered by Tsuna getting a love letter and possibly gaining a girlfriend, let alone why Yukari's words embarrassed her. Tsuna was a dear friend of hers, even despite the doubts she began to feel after her sister's letter, nothing more even if she liked to be around him and his blood was so addictive.
"Geez, that little kid already thought of everything, didn't she." Ura giggled inside the seal, further shocking Omote, who wasn't used to hear such open displays of emotion from her other half."I have to admit, despite finding that little group of yours a little annoying most of the time, they can be hilarious."
Omote could not say back anything, only looking at the ground, trying to will it to swallow her whole. Tsuna similarly felt like things were slipping out of his control, pinching the edge of his nose, before grabbing Yukari and giving her a noogie, her hat falling during the process.
"No, let me go!" she complained, trying to break free of his grip, but physical strength was not one of her better characteristics, the former mafioso easily holding her up and off the ground with only one hand.
"Then stop with these ridiculous notions of yours." he said with a huff before letting her go, giving a glare to the far too amused pair of Tsukune and Kurumu, wondering when he mellowed out so much. He thought the betrayal of the Vongola and his father hardened him, made him so paranoid and untrusting that he would rather keep his distance from others, yet here he was, with this little group worming their way into his heart. "Also, it's not like I was going to accept this confession anyway." he added before he began to walk, forcing the others to hurry after him.
"Really?" neck almost hurting from the sudden movement, Moka immediately turned her face to Tsuna with unusual intensity in her gaze. In response, the teen just gave a sigh and deadpanned after Yukari and Kurumu also repeated the question.
"Do I look like an idiot?" he asked them with a raised eyebrow."It's almost guaranteed to be a trap of some kind. We are after all in Youkai Academy where trouble always seems to follow us. Just think about the day the clubs advertised themselves or when we first encountered you." he said, pointing at the witch and succubus who looked away in embarrassment."By this point, it's a simple survival instinct to expect the worst from everyone."
"But what if it's a real confession." Moka found herself asking without thinking about it, blushing when Tsuna stopped and looked at her.
"I will simply tell her I'm not interested. I don't make excuses for who I am and what I am like and I don't feel like having a relationship with someone that just watched me afar instead of trying to befriend me." there were some unsaid reasons too, the both of them aware of it. He had many secrets surrounding him, that he was hesitant or unwilling to tell even his closest friends here, so he wouldn't do for someone he just met.
"That's a shame." Kurumu said with a melodramatic sigh as her shoulders slumped forward. "It would have been more interesting if you already had your eye on someone else, someone you couldn't be with because of social status, or maybe you had a sweetheart back at home, waiting for you." she immediately brightened as she attached herself to Tsukune, who was barely able to keep standing."Oh, well, more romance for me and Tsukune-kun, then."
"You have a way too active imagination." Tsuna said with a sweatdrop.
"So you won't even hear the writer of the letter out?" Yukari asked after looking between Moka and Tsuna uncertainly as they neared the room of their club.
"I will, after the club activities. She apparently knows I'm busy with the newspaper club and asked to meet after. If she is sincere I will gently reject her if she is not, well," he gave them a smirk that freaked all of them out, his hand moving to play with Natsu ring, his partner silently agreeing with him."I will be on my guard."
This topic was finally laid to rest as they reached the clubroom, Gin already waiting for them, sitting at the teacher's desk, leaning back the seat, and resting his legs on the top of the desk. He looked up impatiently as Tsuna who was walking in the front of their group opened the door and stepped in.
"About time you got here." the older student greeted them with a glare, waving them in."We have a lot of work to do, we don't have time for you to do dally around." he scolded them as they all piled in, taking their seats at their desk, where already the needed equipment was waiting for them.
"Then shouldn't you work instead of just ordering us around like a rundown mangaka?" Tsuna snapped back in reflex as he took his seat, sending a challenging smirk to the werewolf.
"The relationship between Gin-senpai and Tsuna-nii is like a dog and a cat, constantly fighting." Yukari murmured in awe as she watched as the two of them start to trade barbs.
„That's a very accurate description." Tsukune agreed with a small smile. Considering that Gin was a werewolf and Tsuna had his partner, Natsu who was some kind of lion cub it fit all too well. Though it reminded the black-haired teen that Tsuna has yet to explain what Natsu was exactly, save for the broadest terms, saying they were connected by his own dying will flames.
"Enough chit-chat, let's get to work." Gin declared, slamming his hands on his desk as he finally stopped arguing.
"Let's do our best, everyone." Moka chimed in a smile, the others echoing her thoughts save for Tsuna who only wore an amused expression and got to work. After all, they had a lot to do.
-0-
"I can't take this." Kurumu complained as she stretched her arms above her, her back already hurting from leaning over their desks which were pushed into one big one for all afternoon. Though privately, Yukari grumbled that the succubus back hurt more because of those inflated balloons she calls her chest.
She was not the only one exhausted, the others were in similar states. Even Lambo, who joined them a little later and was coerced in helping out a little by Tsuna and Moka, one ordering him, the other offering him sweets, was already sleeping on one of the desks, drool coming out of his mouth. Moka, the one who was the most enthusiastic out of all of them and the one who tried to keep up their spirits was also too tired to do anything else than staring at the paper in front of her, trying to will it to finish itself.
"Who would have thought making a newspaper was so hard." Yukari commented as she gathered a few of the papers in her hands, her hat off her head and smart-looking glasses on her face for some reason."In the first place, it's hard to make time for it when coupled with our continued education, let alone when we are in a hurry because of the deadline."
"Please spare me the sob stories until we are finally done with all the work." Gin grumbled as he took a paper from Tsukune, looking over it, his right eyebrow twitching in agitation. "And why am I even working with you? My job should be to look over your work." he demanded, after being coerced into joining their little circle and doing actual work, instead of drinking coffee and ordering the others to work faster like a proper editor.
"Because if you don't take your part in it, I'm gonna inform the school administration and most importantly, the female members of various sport and martial arts clubs of your favorite peeking spots and I will also send Haiji after you, saying you want an all-out spar with him." Tsuna informed him with a wicked smirk as the werewolf shuddered at the simple thought of it happening to him, enjoying the sight."Ah, blackmail, what a wonderful invention of humanity. Really, where would the world be without it?" he asked, wiping away a mock tear from his eye.
The others shared a look between them, for a moment uncertain if they should speak about the morality of blackmailing their upperclassman. Then they thought how much work they had to do if Gin didn't help out at all and decided to throw away their morals at least until they finished with the newspaper.
"You heartless traitors." Gin cried out, tears pouring out of his eyes as he saw them figuratively throw him into the fire.
"Let's look this way, the more we can finish today, the less work we have for tomorrow and the day after." Moka said with a large smile, trying to keep the others' spirits up even if she also was tired and a little grumpy.
"Well, as long as I'm with my beloved then no matter what I will be fine." Kurumu said with a dreamy look on her face as she latched onto said teen, flustering him and making him drop the paper in his hands. Moka began to look annoyed as Kurumu began to nuzzle her face into Tsukune's chest.
"Please do try to stay focused." the vampire ground out, her smile turning strained as the succubus continued to ignore her. Tsukune looked like a deer caught in a headlight, his head rapidly turning between the two women."Kurumu-chan, are you even listening to me?"
"I'm not letting you steal Tsukune away from me." she declared as she let go of her destined one in favor of stepping close to Moka, inadvertently pushing their breasts together that was an instant ko for Gin who was flung back with a geyser of blood coming from his nose. "He may have chosen you over me on his birthday but I won't accept it. I won't lose to you Akashiya Moka and prove to Tsukune my love for him." she whispered to her with a resolute look in her eyes as Moka began to get flustered by her words.
"I don't, I mean me and Tsukune, that is, it's not the point." Moka murmured with a light blush dusting her cheeks completely caught off-guard by the accusation. Kurumu was about to give a victorious smirk when both of them got a firm karate chop to their heads.
Grabbing their heads, more in reflex than in actual hurt, both girls looked up who attacked them. Almost looming over them, even though he was only a little taller than Moka, Tsuna looked at them in a deadpanned stare, his hands held up, ready to give out a new round of chops.
"Are you quite done with the melodrama?" he asked with a raised eyebrow, while Yukari began to rouse their president back to life."We have work to do, so if you could continue it after, it would be appreciated."
The worst thing was he didn't raise his voice, didn't do anything threatening save for the rather gentle hits. It was more like disapproving, making the two girls feeling like little children who got caught trying to steal from the cookie jar. Without a word both of them took their seats and began to work quietly, much to the surprise of the others.
"Scary." murmured Tsukene to himself, not wanting to draw any attention to himself.
Unknown to them, as they went back to work, someone was keeping a close eye on them, on the cyan-haired succubus in particular.
-0-
"There you are my beloved." a squeaky voice said with adoration as a young boy sitting on the branch of a distant tree, looking through a camera. "You are as beautiful as always, I cannot wait for our time together." he said with a lewd tone.
He was average in looks with brown, almost shoulder-length hair that was parted into two parts in front of his face and a little creepy smile on his face. His eyes were almost closed, he seemed to constantly squint and for some reason, he was constantly sweating even though it was getting quite cold. He wore the school uniform and like Tsuna and his friends, was a first-year, member of the photographer club as evidenced by the camera he was holding. His name is Kano Nagare and he is gonna get what he wanted.
He was in love with his goddess, the moment he first laid his eyes on her, the first pose she made for him to eternalize. She was perfect in every way, in every measurement and he could barely stop himself from drooling even just imagining her in various outfits. But he bid his time, watching from afar, her promise burned into his mind, waiting for the perfect opportunity. An opportunity he was provided with a silver platter.
"If you are done perving then get down and do your part before I got bored and kill you." a bored voice into his observations, but the killing intent hiding behind it made him shudder and rather than complain, decided to follow the speaker's direction, lowering his camera and jumping down from the tree.
Standing before him was a rather small young man who stood out even more with his dark skin and silver hair. His hair was short and spiky, with two larger spikes forming shapes resembling horns on the top of his head. He had black eyes and an ugly-looking, vertical scar just next to his right eye, giving him an even more menacing look, accompanied by a frown. Despite not looking much physically, his appearance never failed to bring a shiver to Nagare's spine.
"I understood." he murmured, even as he grit his teeth and seethed inside, wanting nothing more than killing that little upstart ordering him around.
He was aware that he was not a very strong monster, he didn't have the protection of anyone but he had something that very few had. Blackmail. Thanks to his abilities and hobby, he had enough dirt in enough stronger people that he felt safe, no one who had a reason was able to cross him thanks to his well-placed 'reminders'.
It was not the case with this brat and the bitch he was accompanied by. They cornered him, caught him off-guard while he was admiring Kurumu-chan. He had no blackmail on either of them, and the few men he sent after them for threatening him were easily defeated. He had no choice but to do what they said, especially when it was revealed he would get the girl he was watching for himself, so long as he did what they required of him.
He loathed being commanded like that, yet his survival instincts and the promise of the reward pacified him for the time being, making him play along with their little plan. But it didn't mean bygones were bygones. He would do his part but he will be watching, waiting for the time for them to lower their guard, to screw up and he will be there taking revenge. After all, it needed only a little carelessness for his poison gas to overwhelm and paralyze them. The brat would die quickly, but the other, the girl, he could see himself playing with her for a time, she wasn't on Kurumu-chan's level but she wasn't bad-looking at all.
It took all of his effort to stop the lecherous smirk taking over his face but apparently he was not as successful because the brat who was going by the name Shikaku though for some reason Nagare felt it was not his own, sneered at him, giving him a stare full of killing intent.
"I don't care what kind of perversions you have, you screw this up, you are dead. Got it?" he asked with a growl.
Nagare gulped and nodded before he walked away, to put his plan into action. Nonetheless, he swore not to forget the humiliation these people gave him and to take his revenge when his chance finally appeared.
-0-
"I can't feel my fingers." Tsukune mumbled as he dropped the pen from his hand as he leaned back on his chair, completely spent.
The others were in similar states of absolute exhaustion since they worked all of the afternoon, trying to complete as much of the work as possible. Still, even with Gin and Lambo helping out and all of them working hard, they had a lot left for tomorrow, much to their chagrin.
"Grape candy...The great Lambo-sama deserves the mountain of grape candy." Lambo, who fell asleep for a second time talked in his sleep, drooling on his desk, thankfully away from the important papers.
Their monotone suffering was broken momentarily when the door to the clubroom opened, a certain feline teacher stepping in with a large smile, holding a small bag.
"Is everyone working hard? I brought snacks." she said as she looked over them proudly, seeing them furiously working together.
"Nekonome-sensei, welcome." Gin welcomed him, sipping from the coffee he got for himself as a short break, while the others echoed the greeting, though did not look up from their work.
"How is work going? I see you made a lot of progress." she said kindly. handing over the small bag to Tsukune.
He opened it, shocked to find raw fish instead of any normal snack. He was about to make note of it when Yukari and Moka's rapid shake of head deterred him. It was well-known that if you point out any overly cat-like characteristics to her, Nekonome-sensei tended to act two ways. Either would she act oblivious as if it was natural or get mad and try to claw up your face, a fact many of their classmates learned. It was just easier to get along with her.
"Thank you, Nekonome-sensei." Tsuna thanked her with a diplomatic smile.
"Ah, before I forget." she said, pulling out a small letter that she promptly handed to Kurumu. "This letter was left before the door, it seems to be addressed to you." she gained a wistful look on her face."It's so romantic. I remembered during my time in school when all those boys practically fought over themselves to try and date me." she trailed off as she began to mumble to herself.
Tsuna simply looked away from their sensei, who was in the middle of some kind of daydream. She was a typical ditzy airhead so he doubted there were too many boys fighting over her or he had the youkai world pegged wrong. Instead, he watched Kurumu from the corner of his eyes, something telling him that the letter she was given was more than any of them thought.
The others went back to work, wanting to finish as much as they can, or simply not caring about the letter in the case of Lambo and Gin as Kurumu opened the letter with a light, confused frown on her face. So it was only Tsuna who caught her eyes widening in shock as she pulled out some kind of picture, paling rapidly as whatever it meant reached her.
Panicking she thrust the letter and its contents into a nearby toolbox, nervously fidgeting in place, biting her lips. It was something that disturbed her, Tsuna was sure of that, and for a moment he thought about looking into it, but soon discarded the thought. For the time being, he had a lot on his plate, as long as nothing was really wrong, there was no need to involve himself. Unfortunately for the succubus, her strange behavior was noticed by one more person.
"What's wrong Kurumu-chan?" Tsukune asked kindly, noticing her nervous demeanor. He stepped next to her, about to place a hand on her shoulder when to his surprise the cyan-haired girl flinched and stepped away from him, wrapping her arms around herself.
"Nothing, there's nothing wrong." she tried to make a convincing smile, but it fell flat. She looked around, not knowing what to do when she spotted the open door. "Sorry, I remembered I had something to do urgently, so I'll be taking off, ok?" she asked hastily, even as she grabbed her stuff and made a beeline to outside."Take care of the rest for me." without waiting for an answer she left, hurrying toward a certain tree behind the school.
"But what about the deadline?" Tsukune asked the thin air, completely stupified. The others also gave surprised blinks, not knowing what gotten into the succubus.
"Something happened to Kurumu-chan?" Nekonome-sensei who remained to chat and encourage her students asked obviously, head tilted in confusion.
Moka opened her mouth to say something but she was distracted when Tsuna stood up and began to gather his belongings. At her and the others' questioning look, he rolled his eyes.
"We worked most of the afternoon, we wouldn't accomplish much after that, only tire ourselves out. I have a meeting I have to go to, so let's continue it tomorrow." he said, referring to the love letter he got earlier today. He still felt a little apprehensive about that but decided to bite the metaphorical bullet and see what awaited him. No matter the outcome, he would be ready."See you guys tomorrow." with one last wave he left as well, heading toward the meeting spot, behind the cafeteria.
It was quite an interesting spot. Out of place enough that even if they met in the middle of the day not many people would pay attention, but still close enough to more busy spots that if something happened like a fight broke out or similar, it would be noticed easily. It was as if his mysterious admirer was almost as paranoid as him, something that didn't bode well.
So busy was he thinking that an important detail was unnoticed by him. A very familiar werewolf was watching him with narrowed eyes, following him from the shadows.
-0-
Tsuna arrived at the meeting spot leisurely, since he still had time and found that someone was already there. A girl was sitting on a tree branch, humming to herself some kind of slow tune with her eyes closed, looking for all intents of purposes at peace.
The former mafioso stopped, just within her hearing range, not making any move to turn attention to himself, instead deciding to obverse the girl. She had brown hair with green highlights in it. She was also very developed despite her short stature. She was vaguely familiar, Tsuna was almost positive she was a classmate of his, though not one he interacted with at all, to the point he wasn't even sure of her name.
He liked to think that after the tutelage of the likes of Reborn, he was pretty stealthy but he only took a step closer to the girl when her eyes suddenly snapped open, bright green eyes peering at him. At the same moment, a jolt ran through Tsuna, making him tense up as he suddenly found himself on guard. The girl was dangerous, he didn't need his hyper intuition practically screaming to tell him that.
"You're here. I'm so glad." the girl said with open joy, that would have fooled him if he wasn't already suspicious of her. Thanks to that, he saw her right hand tensing for a moment and caught the brief spike of killing intent aimed at him, causing him to quietly curse. So much for things ending up peaceful.
She jumped down from the branch, somersaulting, showing how well-built her body was, landing in front of him without any difficulty. She dusted her skirt down, before turning to him, her smile seemingly never leaving her face.
He watched her with narrowed eyes, assessing her. She looked harmless at first glance but no one was who they showed themselves, that was the truth both the mafia and the youkai taught him. The bandages on her hands looked worn, she was probably some kind of martial artist, a close-range fighter to be sure. Thankfully he had his dying will pills on him but he was unsure how long would he fare with his current condition.
"I don't like beating around the bush, but I'm pretty sure it's not a confession." he addressed her as he stared her down with his patented boss glare. A flicker of uncertainty showed in the girl's eyes before it disappeared so fast, he thought he imagined it."What do you want from me?"
The unknown girl pouted at him and he would have found it cute if he wasn't sure it was mostly an act and he will have to fight her as soon as they stopped talking.
"Huw rude, dismissing the feeling of a young maiden without batting an eyelash." she said in mock-sadness before she gave him a rather dark grin as she took a few steps closer to him. Tsuna did not back down but tensed, readying himself for a possible fight."Is that how the Vongola teaches its heirs how to treat a lady, mister former heir." she asked with a small giggle.
'So she is from the mafia. That complicates things.' he thought as he forced himself to stay calm. It would have been better if it were some youkai with a grudge or something like that, as much as youkai are physically better than humans, he had enough tricks up his sleeve to at least get away. But with someone from the mafia, it's better to assume that most of his abilities are well-known.
"Ara, what a scary face." the girl giggled at him, not at all intimidated by him, not that he was surprised by it. She seemed confident and currently, she held all the cards, so it was not completely unwarranted. "But where are my manners? Please call me Mei of the Todd family, it's an honor to meet you Sawada Tsunayoshi-kun." she gave a deep bow but never took her eyes off of him, which glinted with mischief.
This last bit of information revealed by Mei managed to throw Tsuna further off. The Todd family sounded vaguely familiar to him but other than that sense of familiarity nothing came to his mind, which was bad. Reborn made him learn as much as he could about any major family in case he ever encountered them alone. Wha was worrying no information came to his mind about that particular family, which meant he had no idea about their motives or their modus operandi.
He felt Natsu softly growl from his ring, making him subtly relax a fraction. It felt good to know that even though he was a lot weaker without the hyper dying will, he was not defenseless and he wasn't alone.
At his lack of reaction, Mei straightened up and pouted up at him while pointing a finger at him in annoyance.
"What's with this reaction?" she demanded, stomping the ground angrily. Tsuna noted that the ground was slightly cracked after a few stomps, confirming his decision to not engage her in close combat if possible."You should be shocked, encountering the member of the famous Todd Famiglia, shaking in your boots at the thought of crossing me and swooning at my ethereal beauty."
Feeling a headache incoming, Tsuna lamented the fact that ever since he first met Reborn, his life was full of stranger and stranger people. His guardians, the Varia, so many people connected to the mafia but even his current friends weren't excluded. He really wanted, for once, just once, to meet someone relatively normal.
"Ignoring all of that," he began, disregarding her little tirade, much to her dismay." you still haven't answered. What do you, the Todd, want from me? And how did you get into this school? As I understood it's a little hard to enroll as a human." that he and Tsukune was live exceptions to the rule was left unsaid. Hopefully, Mei and her accomplices, since he doubted she was alone, knew only of him and not Tsukune. Or Lambo for that matter.
In response Mei began to giggle, placing a hand over her mouth to muffle the sounds but it did a very poor job. It did nothing but increased Tsuna's annoyance and impatience.
"You are wrong on several accounts former Vongola Decimo-san." she was baiting him, trying to rile him up with the constant reminder of his former position. Thankfully, he had better self-control than to play her game but it did not mean his patience was limitless."First of all, despite what you think, I am not a human, indeed you belong to this school a lot less than me." she smirked as his eyes narrowed, pleased to elicit a reaction from him.
This did complicate matters, Tsuna thought as he kept his eyes on her. If she was a monster, anticipating her moves would be a lot harder since the abilities youkai showed up until now were diverse, maybe even more than the different applications of the dying will flame. Add to that she was probably familiar with his own fighting style, placing him at even more of a disadvantage. He knew that some youkai worked in mafia families, but he thought he wouldn't encounter one so soon.
"Also, please understand I'm not here under the Todd's orders. Indeed, it was merely a coincidence that I realized who you were, probably wouldn't have if you weren't hanging around the school 'idols'." she continued, probably to keep him off balance. Worst, he wasn't sure what she was playing. If she wanted to attack him, she would have ambushed him, but here she was chattering away."Not like there is much left of the Todd family after you almost ruined us when you stole the ranking prince from us." she stated, her tone quickly turning venomous as she glared daggers at him but made no move to attack him just yet.
Now that she mentioned it, he began to remember something. Stole the ranking prince? Weren't the Todd family the ones who were hunting Futa when he first found him. They were a pain in the behind back then but in retrospect, they were no serious threat. To be truthful he kind of forgot about them and what happened to them, since they were a minor and isolated family. Maybe the isolation has something to do with working with youkai? It's one thing to employ youkai but a lot of the traditionalist old farts who still held power in the mafia would probably not see it in a good light.
"Is that what you are after? Revenge?" he asked a moment later, his body tensing, ready to move the slightest indication. Still, his intuition did not indicate he will have to fight. There was danger, yes, Mei was a definite danger but it did not look it will end in a fight right now.
He was once again surprised when Mei lost her angry look and began to laugh, going so far as to hold her stomach as she hunched over. This conservation was getting a little tiring for him.
"No, no, you got it wrong. Revenge? What could it accomplish besides a lot of work for nothing?" she asked when she calmed down but she didn't wait for his answer, continuing without pause."Now, if we are talking about doing something that gives me profit, that it's really a different matter. Pleasure and business work well together, after all." she gave him a look that may be meant to come off as seductive but it only further put Tsuna on his guard.
He was tired and wary of her speaking in circles, not answering his questions directly. What did she want? Did she mean to attack him? Then why all the theatrics? Did she want something else? What could she hope to gain, he had almost nothing. These questions ran circles in his head the entire time and he had enough.
"Get out with it already." he snapped out, losing his patience. He never had much patience for the politics of the mafia, really any kind of machinations, and it didn't change.
Instantly Mei stopped, putting on a neutral expression that did nothing to stop the dangerous vibes coming from her. Tsuna for a moment thought she was gonna charge at him but then she shrugged her shoulders.
"Have it your way, Vongola-san. I propose a trade, to stop me from informing any other interested parties of your current whereabouts. It's simple, don't you think? Get me what I want, and your life will remain peaceful."
"And what is that you want?" he asked back with narrowed eyes.
"The Vongola's most prized secret, the dying will bullets." she explained with a triumphant expression."That power, along with my youkai powers would make me stronger than anyone else in the mafia world, no one would able to stop me. And don't try to lie that you don't have anyone. I was keeping an eye on you and your little group of friends, so I know you have access to them." she grinned when he audibly cursed under his breath.
He tried to stay under the radar as much as he was able but being friends with a very beautiful vampire with split personalities and a human who seems to attract trouble is not very healthy. Still, he had no idea there was anyone on campus, other than him, Lambo, the bus driver, and the headmaster who had connections to the mafia world, so admittedly, he had gotten careless.
"And what if I refuse?" he asked, body tensing as he pulled out his hand from his pocket, holding a dying will pill. While he was not very enthusiastic about his chances, he wasn't about to just give up.
In response Mei simply just laughed once again, looking at him as if he was an idiot for even thinking about refusing.
"You don't want to do that, Tsunayoshi-kun." she stated with a smug smirk."From what I know you are a tricky opponent to face, that's why I would prefer to simply milk you for all you are worth instead of fighting you directly, but I doubt you could best me. You didn't use your powers directly in the school, either because by choice or because you simply can't. Either way, my job would be easier." her smirk turned cruel as she continued."But I don't even have to attack you directly. Don't you care about your little friends? The human that follows you around like a puppy, the Bovino brat, that stuck up witch, or that little vampire trollop friend of yours? Who do you want me to target? Can you keep all of them safe, all the time?"
Tsuna gritted his teeth, staying silent. It was true that his friends were vulnerable in that sense, especially since he has no idea what kind of powers she has. She may as well have some kind of subtle power that they would never notice being used until it was too late.
There was something that felt off to him. No matter how confident she was in her powers, targeting his friends, and the theory he wasn't able to use his full powers, that ploy was too bold for one person. He was sure she was not working alone, which made things a lot harder. He had no idea how many other people are involved, so he once again found himself strapped into a corner.
He was able to avoid he was getting careless, gotten used to these peaceful days with Moka and the others and he had acted less paranoid. If Reborn was here, he would scold him for going soft.
"Well, no need to make you guess if I have a perfect target at hand, right?" she started to say, as she held up a picture that shown Kurumu of all people."It's so unfortunate that your little succubus friend of yours is currently away from your other buddies and spending time with a friend of mine for the foreseeable future." she gave a mocking smirk to him as she threw the picture in his way."Hopefully, nothing bad happens to her."
Tsuna stayed silent for a long moment, admitting that he was completely overplayed. It was a very, very small consolation to have confirmation that she was not working alone. The question was, how many of them were there?
"I understand." he agreed in the end, despite his reluctance, seeing no other way out. At least for the time being.
"See, it's not hard at all." Mei giggled and began to hop from one leg to the other in some sort of victory dance."And to show we are not entirely unreasonable, let's see, tomorrow around the same time we will make the exchange, what do you say? Just some of the most prized bullets for your anonymity and safety, easy right?" she asked before turning serious a moment later, making Tsuna somewhat even more wary by her quick turnarounds."And before you think of anything funny, we make sure to entertain poor Kurumu-chan until we seal the deal so let's keep it between us, okay?"
He could do nothing but reluctantly nod, he was completely out of moves. Though he didn't plan to involve the others in the first place, since they could easily keep an eye on them in case he tried to get their help. That meant he was alone, as usual.
Before he could respond, suddenly Mei was right in front of him, kissing his cheek with a mischievous glint in her eyes. Instinctively he jumped back, even as a bit of red appeared on his face. She was fast, he was barely able to detect her moving and couldn't react in time.
Seeing his look, the girl laughed to herself, placing her hands behind her head in a carefree way before she turned around and began to walk away without bothering to look at the former mafioso.
"See you around, former Vongola Decimo-sama." she called back mockingly before disappearing.
Tsuna stayed in that place, staring ahead with a blank expression, thinking furiously at the situation he found himself in. He didn't like it all, he was backed into a corner, outgunned, and apparently outsmarted. The girl, Mei alone was someone who could be hard to handle in his reduced dying will state, and thanks to the poison in his body and without hyper dying will his options were severely limited.
A soft growl came from Natsu's ring, causing Tsuna to let out a small smile and pat it affectionally.
"I know buddy, we are in a really bad spot." he said to his partner before looking up at the sky and a determined look showed on his face."But we are not out of tricks just yet."
"Man, why did I have to stumble into something troublesome," a certain upperclassman with his heightened senses was able to stay unnoticed by both Tsuna and Mei complained as he walked away, hands in his pockets. Though he didn't hear everything and what he did hear, there were some parts he didn't understand what they meant, he got the gist of it."Now I can't even walk away, knowing one of my kouhais in trouble." he gave a roguish smirk to himself as he ran a hand through his long hair."It's quite tiring being a dependable senpai."