A/N:
It's been a while. I've been busy with life and other stuff as well but I have came back with another chapter. Truth be told, I think this story is quite short but its about 8000+ words so maybe that's because it's the same scenery or something.
But anyway, hopefully you guys like and enjoy this and leave a vote and comment what you think of it so far.
Have a great day and night everyone!
-----
Time seemed to freeze when their eyes locked together, taking in her features as he unconsciously tried to compare them to his dream.
Although the dream happened a long time ago and he barely even remembered what it had shown him, Tsuna knew that they were both the same person. It could explain how familiar she felt to him.
"You... I saw you in my dream," Tsuna said slowly.
The woman, whose confusion was lightly expressed through her unique eyes lacking pupils, only a misty shade of lavender that faded to dark purple the higher it went, blinked in surprise at that statement.
It did not occur to Tsuna that it sounded strange to the others, and that what he meant was not the same as what she thought in mind, or him.
"Stay back, you bastard! How dare you confess such things and let Tamayo-sama's innocent ears hear such depraved words!" A young man with dull light green to black hair popped out from behind her and began to make his way to Tsuna to jab his finger at his chest.
"H-huh?" Tsuna stammered, taken aback at the aggressive interference of another person. A quick scan of his angry features instantly reminded him of the other person in his dream.
However, Tsuna did not prioritize that first, not when his mind carefully processed what the young man had said. His cheeks immediately went red, finally understanding how wrong that sounded.
In his embarrassment, Tsuna flailed his arms panickily as though to wipe away the line of thought the man came up with.
"Oh! Oh no no no! That's not what I meant! As a matter of fact, you were in my dream too!" Tsuna quickly added the last part in an attempt to diffuse the situation.
The man was about to open his mouth only to find himself stopping halfway, followed by round eyes.
Suddenly, his face contorted into a mix of confusion, flustered, and mad at the same time, a rather unique combination that made an equally red-faced Tsuna stutter in response because he knew the other misunderstood him once more.
"What do you mean by that!?" He pointed at him exaggeratedly, bristling like a cat does.
"H-hieee!" Tsuna couldn't help but revert himself back to a 14-year-old. Sweat started to form rapidly now that he garnered the surrounding attention. How on earth was he going to explain this!?
"L-look, you've misunderstood me. It's not that kind of dream! It's complicated. You're..." Tsuna trailed off and blinked, looking closely into the man's eyes, which narrowed in response.
Now that Tsuna thought of it, those pupils of his were slitted like a cat's. Despite people possessing unique coloring and pupils, Tsuna hadn't stumbled upon someone with such eyes except for a certain kind.
"...a demon?" he whispered.
Tsuna watched as an alarmed expression rippled across their faces in an instant. The man stretched his arm out as if to cover Tamayo's figure from view, an even more ferocious glare directed at him with a hint of wariness.
This reaction prompted Tsuna to shut his mouth tight.
'Both of them are demons,' Tsuna corrected himself inwardly. 'But why did I dream of them? They must be important.'
"Tch, let's get out of here, Tamayo-sama. I'll distract him," the man said through gritted teeth. His eyes darted around the crowd that started to form around them, whispering.
The woman cast a worried look toward him. "I won't leave you alone here, Yushiro."
Yushiro would have gripped his chest and screamed with joy at her thoughtfulness, but this was not the moment.
"What's going on here!?" a person who closely resembled a police officer in this era made his way through the crowd and was face-to-face with the three of them.
Tsuna saw something light up in Yushiro's eyes, and Yushiro began to point at him and yell in distress, "Officer, this person is bothering us. Go and apprehend him immediately!"
"Hieeee!?"
"What? This young man?" The officer turned to look at Tsuna with disbelief and said something, but Tsuna didn't focus on what he said nor did he even look at him because they both ran away!
Well, he didn't actually see them run away, but the man was using some kind of talisman with a drawing that resembled an eye that made them both disappear right before his eyes.
"Huh? Where did they go?" The officer looked around.
Oh, only Tsuna saw what happened.
Tsuna gasped lightly when he realized something. Shoot. He needs to chase after them or else he doesn't know when he can find them again! Those people must hold some clue about the Kamado siblings.
With that said, Tsuna went to chase after them, not before leaving a hasty short explanation to the officer. "Excuse me, officer. It's a misunderstanding. I'll be going now!"
"H-hey, wait!"
Leaving dust in his wake, Tsuna began to weave himself through the crowd, mindful not to bump into them.
During his stay here, Tsuna occasionally fought demons and put them to rest. This, in turn, made Tsuna learn new things about demons in every encounter.
First of all, if Tsuna is not mistaken, the Blood Demon Art has traces of Dying Will Flames.
He didn't notice it at first because he's used to being surrounded by Dying Will Flames and the fighting that comes with it. That was his norm, and he's ashamed and a bit horrified to say that he didn't question it.
Second, dying will flame can only be activated when one has regret and resolve that's strong enough to be "reborn" when near-death experience. However, this is very rare, unlike the underworld, who have ways to coax the flames out.
So therefore, demons, in conclusion, are actually at some point near death. That must be it. There couldn't be any other explanation that demons can use dying will flame. The super strength can be from the Cloud Flame, the quick healing from the Sun, and so on.
The man that Tsuna is currently chasing after, Yushiro, showed some signs of possessing Mist Flame.
Invisible? Check.
No presence detected? Double check.
Blending with the crowd? Triple check.
He doesn't know what kind of flame the woman possessed, but Tsuna bets that it's also a Mist Flame. They somehow kind of reminded him of Mukuro and Chrome in a way.
He felt a bit sad because he missed them. He missed his home despite the chaos he found himself in. But anyway, putting that aside, tracking them both will be easy. All Tsuna had to do is just sense the Mist Flame lingering behind like some sort of breadcrumbs for him to follow.
-
"Tamayo-sama, are you alright?" Yushiro fretted over his one-sided love who appeared to be troubled by something after double-checking the talisman he put on her clinic.
"Yes, I'm fine, Yushiro. It's just that..." Tamayo trailed off, brows squinted in worry. "How does he know?"
Yushiro clicked his tongue inwardly, feeling his anger for that man grow for troubling her.
"Don't worry, Tamayo-sama. This place is safe. That demon slayer will never find us here. It would look like a dead-end alley and walls to his eyes."
"No."
Yushiro widened his eye at the surprisingly firm tone. As if noticing it, Tamayo said with a lighter tone this time. "No. Not a demon slayer. He does not possess a Nichirin. But something tells me he's not a normal person either."
"What do you mean, Tamayo-sama?"
Yushiro looked confused, but Tamayo herself doesn't know how to answer that. Something about that person is very odd, but at the same time, he strikes a chord within her.
"He looks familiar," she finally settled with as she didn't know how to decide the feelings bubbling in her heart.
"Familiar?" he echoed out. The man squinted his brows as if he tried to play back every memory starting from his new life, trying to find a face that most resembled the person they saw earlier.
Spiky long brown hair, amber eyes, and a rather androgynous face. He's not that pretty compared to Tamayo-sama, so it should be easy to find such a face in his memories.
However, nothing comes up after a quick look into his memories so that must have been the time before Tamayo-sama met him.
After moments of thinking, Yushiro began nodding to himself and said, "It must be the descendant of someone that Tamayo-sama met before."
"...That could be it," Tamayo nodded after a while, loosening the tension on her shoulders that she didn't realize she had. Yushiro smiled triumphantly when she agreed with his thought.
She then let out a quiet sigh and sat down to form a seiza position by the table. Yushiro had been with her for as long as he can remember. He knew that something bothersome is still hanging in her mind.
Yushiro sat by the table as well before immediately asking her while looking at any shift in her expression attentively, ready to go at her beck and call.
"What worries you, Tamayo-sama?"
She didn't answer that quickly, in favor of thinking for a while. Yushiro didn't rush her, so he waited patiently for her, knowing that she would reply to him any moment now.
"That person mentioned about seeing us both in his dream." Upon saying that, a displeased scowl took over Yushiro's face.
"Don't listen to him, Tamayo-sama! He's nothing more than a pervert! You shouldn't worry about it at all!"
A single sweat formed on Tamayo's temple at his outburst, though it did bring a small smile to her lips. "I don't think that's what he meant, Yushiro. He said it so himself."
"But even so..." Yushiro wanted to protest more, but Tamayo-sama is always correct, so he shut his mouth instead.
Before Tamayo could even continue, Yushiro's expression turned horrified, which caused Tamayo to become serious at the sudden change in expression. Then, his pupils dilated, and his head snapped towards the door as if he dreaded something, someone going through.
"Stay back, Tamayo-sama!" he jumped in front of her with open arms, trying to protect her from whoever would pass through the door.
"Yushiro, who–?" her words were interrupted as a series of knockings caught their attention all at once.
"Excuse me? I'm sorry for startling you, but can we talk for a moment?" a voice that unmistakably belonged to that brown-haired man reached their ears.
Tamayo's eyes widened at the unexpected guest, finally understanding why Yushiro reacted like that.
'How did he see through the illusion Yushiro puts up?' was what she thought of while Yushiro started to warn him.
Yushiro's ability is powerful enough to fool humans and demons alike, but somehow, this person managed to find this place and walk through effortlessly?
Is he even a human in the first place? He managed to find out they were demons in the first meeting, after all, and not to mention, even though he knew what they are, he still came here with bare hands.
"I assure you I won't harm you or anything. I just wanted to talk, please," the brown-haired man pleaded from behind the door.
Yushiro merely scoffed at his intention, mostly because they both are demons. If anything, it's him that's going to get hurt since he doesn't have a Nichirin, and Yushiro also doesn't believe that he comes here to talk only.
If he's not a demon slayer, then he must be one of those powerful demons that have a tracking ability.
Yushiro cursed at his own incompetence. If he had learned of this before, he would have asked Tamayo-sama to run away out of this place quickly.
He was about to retort back when Tamayo grabbed his shoulder for his attention and said, "Let him in."
He jolted. Did he hear that right? He swiveled his head behind to make eye contact with her. Just a look at her hardened gaze prompted him to call out her name in shock.
"Tamayo-sama!"
-
Tsuna was glad to find where they went. Funny enough, seeing how they disguised the whole house as walls and alleys just proved his point even further that he has Mist Flame.
It is a great fit if Tsuna must say so, but for him, it is easy to dispel this illusion. His training with the Mist Arcobaleno, Mammon, and his Mist guardian, Mukuro and Chrome, is not child's play.
He doesn't need to use his flame to burn away the illusion. Simply knowing the difference between truth and lie is enough to make it falter and useless.
He easily moved past the mist barrier, feeling it reach out to his Sky Flame hesitantly as though it doesn't know how to react to his presence.
Tsuna could also feel that he's being watched from somewhere, so Tsuna merely walked in with a bit of confidence, knowing that they already knew that he's coming.
He knocked on the door because being polite comes first. He had already ruined his first impression, so he hopes this one will fix it.
"Excuse me? I'm sorry for startling you, but can we talk for a moment?"
There's shuffling from behind the door. Tsuna remained as patient as he can even as the man throws warnings at him. Tsuna is going to work this out because he's not leaving empty-handed!
It goes back and forth for a short brief moment until he heard him shouting a name that must belong to the woman. There were mutterings inside. Tsuna tried not to listen in too much, but it's hard not to.
Learning that he will be getting inside soon, he waits innocently by the door until they loudly announce he can enter the premise or something.
He still felt being watched though, so he looked around instead, trying to find what caused it until he saw the talisman sticking on top of the door.
'It's the same as the one he used to mask their presence.'
Tsuna gave an awkward wave at it as though it was a security camera back home.
It does not respond as expected, but Tsuna is alright with that, so he opted to wait even longer.
The door finally creaked open, slowly and surely. His piercing lavender eye peeked through from between the crack.
"Tch, as long as you don't do anything, we won't do anything to you..." the man said. Tsuna could hear the clear bitterness in his voice.
"Yes, of course. I'm not looking up for a fight any sooner." he nodded to himself, assuringly he really didn't want to fight.
And also, these demons seem like very decent people that are not hell-bent on killing people judging by their behavior earlier.
'But do they kill people?'
His intuition answered, and Tsuna let out a thoughtful hum. One of them used to kill and the other does not. Tsuna, however, did not feel angry at the latter. The keyword is used. Whatever the reason is, the latter had decided to stop, and that's enough for him.
Something tells him that he understands why.
The door opened wider, and the first thing that greeted him was the man glaring at him with his whole being, seemingly to warn him of his position here.
Tsuna answered with a sheepish smile while he entered the room. His eyes scanned the room in an instant, a habit drilled into him. He took note of the books placed perfectly on the shelf, the lights, and the small decorations placed around the room. It looked very homely and nothing that screamed demons living here. It's just a normal place like humans.
'that makes sense. demons used to be humans but i havent seen demons acting very human like them so they must be a special case.' tsuna deduced to himself.
His wandering eyes finally directed his gaze to the woman who was standing not too far away from him. Yushiro took his place beside her, watching his every movement. Not that Tsuna minded.
"Ah, thank you for inviting me in," Tsuna smiled disarmingly, hoping to let down their guard. Maybe he did cheat a little bit by using his Sky Flame. Just a little bit though. He's not risking them questioning what he did.
It appeared they both succeeded in loosening some tension on their shoulders. Tamayo's wary expression slowly eased down to being calm, but Tsuna is fully aware that they had not yet let down her guard.
Yushiro's glare bore into him, not even bothering to disguise his hostility at all. Seeing this display, a sweat formed on Tsuna's cheek as he let out a string of nervous chuckles.
"Don't you dare show any unsightly behavior or else," he hissed.
"Yushiro! Don't threaten him."
"Understood!"
Seeing this, it reminded Tsuna of Hayato. And by extension, it reminded him of the rest of the family. Now with no important things to do, Tsuna found himself missing his home and his family.
It's been a few weeks ever since he's here, and it was strange to be so far apart from them with no solid evidence that he's able to go home soon. Sure, they're so destructive and clingy and cause so many paperwork for him that Tsuna wanted to go on a vacation for a whole month straight away from them.
But this. This is different.
He tried his best to fill in the void by distracting himself with the inn and putting demons to rest. It works a bit, but it would be inevitable that one day he will crave to be by their sides.
Unknowingly, a melancholy smile replaced his expression that both of them didn't fail to notice.
"I apologize for being rude. We are merely...startled," Tamayo said slowly, unsure how to break the sudden silence.
Tsuna snapped to reality at his hyper intuition confirming her words as truth even though he didn't ask for it. He nodded distractedly and offered a sheepish smile in return. He shouldn't be doing that, what will Reborn say?
"That was partly my fault. Apologies for that. I was just, well, relieved and also shocked to see you both," Tsuna reined in a nervous laugh at the gaze they shot at him.
Answering his own question from before, Reborn will shoot him if he so much shows weakness at this display, so with that being said, Tsuna instinctively composed himself and put on a warm smile.
"We started off on the wrong foot. I would like us to start fresh and smooth things out. My name is Tsunayoshi. You may call me Tsuna for short," he bowed for good measurement and also because it is polite.
Tsuna barely saw Tamayo nodded hesitantly. If she was curious why he didn't say his full name, she didn't show it on her face. Instead, she did the same thing just as he did.
"Likewise, you may refer to me as Tamayo. That child is called Yushiro. I hope you both can get along and please sit down."
Casting a short glance at the "child" while sitting down, Yushiro scowled at him. Tsuna respectfully retracted his gaze to meet with hers.
"You said you came here to talk. Are you willing to answer some of our questions?" Tamayo's calming voice sounded pleasant and yet guarded.
"Yes, of course," Tsuna agreed without a second thought. He can pretty much guess what they're wondering about, but does Tsuna know how to explain? Definitely not, but he'll stick to the truth so it should be fine.
"Earlier, you mentioned about seeing us in your dream. What do you mean by that and how did you know we are demons?"
Tsuna brushed his finger against his own cheek lightly, casting a glance at Yushiro's way, specifically towards his eyes. They are still slitted.
"I'm not sure how to explain this since I don't know what it means, but you both are one of the people to appear in my dream, and Yushiro's eyes kinda give away that he's a demon."
"...I see. You are very observant. Yushiro tends to drop his disguise when he's experiencing strong emotions. Although slitted pupils are common for most demons, some may not possess these characteristics."
Yushiro jumped, "My ability is still flawed, but I will improve myself, Tamayo-sama. But you shouldn't just tell an outsider that!"
Tamayo lightly gasped and covered her mouth as though she couldn't believe what she had done. She had been letting down her guard that easily in front of him in just a few seconds.
Could it be because of how very familiar he is to her that she unconsciously talked like old friends? Or maybe it's because he has such a calming aura she felt like she could spill everything to him?
Looking at the man closely before her, nothing about him reminded her of any person she met all those years. None at all.
Except one person strangely stood out amongst her memories.
A man with a paper mask covering the lower half of the face, exposing only his bright, tranquil orange eyes that seemed to gaze through her very soul on the day she was released from that accursed man's curse.
She dispelled the image away from her mind, focusing on the reality. They were not the same person. The man before her, Tsunayoshi, does not possess such eyes that make your breath stuck in your throat nor does he possess a certain wisdom and wistful looks.
She gathered herself immediately and attempted to direct into another topic. "My apologies, then if I may inquire more about the dream? You mentioned we are one of the people you've seen."
Tsuna perked up, "Ah, right, this is something I want to talk about. You see, I had a dream a few weeks ago that leads me here. It showed me this town along with you both. The rest are the Kamado siblings, and I really need to find them. Have you by chance met them?"
Before Tsuna even had time to wait for them to respond, his intuition just straight up answered it for him, much to Tsuna's dismay.
Remind him again why he's here.
"You guys never met them, huh?" Tsuna wilted and gave a wry smile.
"...No, we haven't," Yushiro confirmed while squinting at him.
Right, it must have appeared suspicious in their eyes.
"Well, I really need to find them on behalf of someone who cares about them. I would be glad if you can keep an eye on them," said Tsuna.
Apparently, that is the wrong thing to say because Yushiro quickly yelled at him, "How dare you're asking Tamayo-sama to do your task after stepping your foot in this place!"
"Yushiro, it is a simple request, and we invited him in. Stop that."
"Yes, I understand." Yushiro immediately sat down and made a neutral face.
Tamayo continued the conversation, asking what do they look like and so on, and Tsuna answered each question with details he can remember from that dream alone. He hasn't seen them face to face after all.
"You are not a demon slayer, yes?" she suddenly asked.
Tsuna blinked, wondering why she had come up with such a question. Well, she isn't wrong, but still, Tsuna still had no idea what they looked like or so on. He's pretty sure he looked civilian enough.
"I'm not. Although I've heard of that term before, I still do not know what it means."
Tamayo nodded in understanding and began to explain as best as she could while Tsuna listened dutifully, committing each word into his head.
'I was right. It is indeed an organization created to slay demons. But if that's the case, then why...?"
"How do you know this?" he tilted his head quizzically. How does a demon like them know how the organization works?
Yushiro scowled fiercely, "Watch your tone when you're talking to Tamayo-sama."
"Please stop, Yushiro," Tanayo replied firmly.
"Assuming you have met many demons, you must have noticed how different we are from them. I had modified my body so that I am free of his curse. I no longer have the same body as before."
Then, her tone changed slightly, barely visible, but Tsuna heard it just fine. He could hear it tinted with anger and resentment when she spoke of the past and the man that turned her into a demon, but there were signs of gratefulness when she spoke of her savior who is a demon slayer that happened to tell her everything about the organization.
It took Tsuna a few moments to process the big info. Even though her story is a bit vague, Tsuna found it easy to understand as though he was watching that take place right before his eyes, but he couldn't make sense of why.
"You're a doctor, right? Have you made any progress with the cure?" he asked her that instead. Tsuna's brain stuttered for a second. Hold on, there's something wrong with his question.
"How do you know that?" Yushiro cut in with an alarmed expression.
"What?"
"Tamayo-sama didn't mention she's a doctor. How do you know that?" he growled out.
Yes, it's this one! How does he automatically know she's a doctor? Could it be his intuition?
"Oh, intuition," he answered with certainty. The intuition pinged it as false. That's weird, but he already said it so there's no going back.
Tamayo seemed to believe it, much to Tsuna's relief. He instinctively smiled when Yushiro directed a look of disbelief and disdain at him.
"What kind of excuse is that? You can't be serious."
Tsuna could only laugh nervously while reclining slowly when Yushiro started to get closer, his face scowled even further.
A quick reprimand from Tamayo prompted him to back to the usual position obediently, saying that they couldn't be careless.
Tsuna chuckled lightly at the sight before giving attention to Tamayo, much to Yushiro's displeasure.
"Indeed, I am a doctor. Unfortunately, with my current stage, I have made no progress in making the cure. I lacked the main ingredient to research it," she replied somberly, somehow picking up that the cure that Tsuna spoke of is about turning demons to humans.
Tsuna perked up. Does this mean, if there's a cure, he will no longer need to put demons to rest?
"Then could I help?" he said with bright eyes, hoping that she says yes. A loud 'tch' from Yushiro prompted him to turn his gaze away.
"Your help is appreciated; however, this is a rather cruel and burdensome task. Demon slayer or not, I fear that you may not survive."
Okay. It can't be that bad.
"What's the main ingredient?"
"It's the Demon King's blood."
"......"
Tamayo continued, explaining how there's a way to fetch his blood that doesn't necessarily have to be from him himself. She explained that there's an existence of an organization called the Upper Moon and Lower Moon demons under the direct command of the Demon King. The latter being the strongest, second to Muzan due to given more portion of blood by the Demon King.
The more she explained, the more dead inside Tsuna felt. He resisted the urge to sigh loudly. Turned out the demons he met all this time are just small fry!
Sure, Tsuna is strong, and his flame has an advantage over them, but he had no idea how strong the Demon King and the Upper and Lower Moons are. He would probably die before he can use his flame. Just thinking about it makes his head hurt.
"That is a very hard task," Tsuna agreed, suddenly not feeling confident even though he literally saved the future, defeated the Vindice who are stronger than the current Arcobaleno, dubbed the strongest seven in the world, and took the mantle of the Vongola boss at the age of 14.
In his defense, he had friends and allies looking after his back.
Tamayo's expression shifted subtly, taking a more resigned and downcast tone that Tsuna regretted for saying that.
"I- uh, I could try," Tsuna could already feel Yushiro glaring deep into him, threatening to set him ablaze with his eyes alone.
"It's alright. I understand how difficult it is," she interrupted gently with a soft smile. "You are a wonderful person, Tsuna–" Yushiro's glare intensified, "–for trying to help, but I'd rather not you lose your life. We will wait until an opportunity arises or find some other ways."
An uncomfortable feeling settled in his heart at the sight. It was clear to see that she is upset and frustrated, hidden behind a sorrowful facade. However, for Tsuna, her feelings are just as clear as the sky is blue.
He could see it by the slight fold between the brows, the fist that trembled underneath her sleeve, and her eyes that seemed to play back the past over and over again. All the lives she had taken and saved.
Tsuna's lips parted slightly, almost absorbed. She had lost everything to the Demon King and wanted to end him the moment she was set free of his curse and spared by that demon slayer.
She had been waiting for hundreds of years with no progress of making a cure and no signs of that man's end. And now, she was forced to wait once more.
Despite all of these, she's not giving up. She had a goal and she wanted to see it through until the very end.
Tsuna finally understood her resolve. He had seen her struggle and the pain of losing loved ones and the innocents and acknowledged it.
"I accept your resolve. I will help you with my dying will," Tsuna spoke with unwavering assurance.
Tamayo felt her breath caught in her throat when she looked at his eyes. The color of amber, one that evoked the feelings of time frozen in place, capturing a moment in history and preserving it for eternity.
They were now replaced with the color of a sky when the sun rises. The color that evokes the feeling of hope and promises of a new beginning.
His eyes were sharp and calm, they had lost all the innocence they once possessed, and yet they were warm and full of security, comforting her all at once.
Oh. Oh.
No wonder he looks familiar.
Tamayo had seen those eyes before, although everything was almost hazy. That man's eyes glowed like hope and salvation, along with that demon slayer's existence. It was bright, and it was as if his eyes were the sun itself.
But compared to his, who are more full of regret and sorrowful, this one is burning with determination.
She looked up in a daze, and the corner of her lips curled upward, fully trusting his words. She couldn't find any other reason not to trust him.
-
Tsuna left the clinic after saying "see you later" to the two of them. In return for helping her, Tamayo had gifted him a pouch filled with wisteria flowers and a short description of its ability to weaken and repel demons.
He finally headed back to the inn while cradling the pouch, pondering how he should find the Upper and Lower Moons since no one knew where their fortress was. It was not until he took a shower and rested for the night that he began to think back to the conversation earlier.
"My intuition is getting strong, huh..." he murmured to himself.
After all, how did he know what happened to her more detailed than what she told him?
He dismissed the thought and closed his eyes to sleep.
-
Tsuna still lived at the inn, still hoping to see the Kamado siblings during his stay here. He also felt a bit at ease now that he had requested Tamayo and Yushiro to act as his eyes to keep a lookout for them. More eyes are better than one pair.
They hadn't met more frequently after that, mostly probably because they are busy. She had a clinic, after all, and Tsuna himself had the inn to look after, even though his job mostly involved greeting guests and sometimes entertaining them.
And if not this, he would walk around Asakusa to spot for demons hiding in the dark with the help of his intuition. The number of demons he fought almost every day slowly dwindled, and it wouldn't be long until it reached zero.
He hoped that when it does, the demons would take it as a sign that someone powerful is here and not to bother anyone from here. Only then would Tsuna be at ease when he moves out when there are no signs of the siblings' arrival here.
So today, like usual, he went out to find some demons. He walked around so many times he knew which shops were in that area or how many alleys with twists and turns were right next to him. In fact, if he blindfolded himself, he could say with confidence that he would be able to walk back to the inn.
Tsuna's expression turned wry, "This is Reborn's doing. I can't believe his torture- training works. That's the greatest hitman for you."
If it were the Tsuna from before, he wouldn't have done this at all. Content with just admiring the shops and so on. But ever since he became a mafia boss, Reborn had beaten-trained him to observe his surroundings and etched it into his mind.
That training consisted of a huge maze placed out of nowhere followed by assassins chasing him through it. The maze had no exit, and the only way to get out was to solve a critical thinking puzzle that would give him a key, and he had to find where the chest was which contained a telephone to call for his guardian to send a helicopter.
Did he mention that the chest is buried, and he has to solve another impossible puzzle to reveal its location while getting chased by assassins?
"Dame Tsuna, stealth and memorizing your surroundings are important. In the underworld, if you fail these, you'll be dead before you know it."
"Hieee! But I'm up against assassins! I'll die!"
"Exactly. If you want to live, then get better, Dame Tsuna. Do it with your dying will."
"HIEEE!!"
He unwillingly shivered at the memories, shaking it off from his mind with a few shakes of his head. There's no use in getting distracted; the enemies will take advantage of it.
Suddenly, Tsuna came to a stop. His head turned sharply in a certain direction like a certain owl locking onto its target. Somewhere close by, his intuition nudged him to walk there and see.
'Go and look.'
'Go straight, right, right, left, by the vendor. Go further. Stand still and look.'
Tsuna was alarmed by how urgent it felt like; he had not given a chance to think it over as the headache was getting worse, urging him to be faster and look.
"What are you trying to show me?" Tsuna groaned, his fingers gripping his head, feeling weak momentarily as the pain assaulted him.
It grew unbearable in response, almost making him whine in pain, and get this, Tsuna already had high pain tolerance due to Reborn. How awful is that?
Seeing that there's no choice to lessen the pain other than doing what it wanted, he finally heeded the intuition's demand and stepped out of the alley.
It must be important if it wanted him to be there. He knew it's not someone asking for some help. The intuition does not react like this. At first, Tsuna thought it must be the Kamado siblings but quickly dismissed it. His heart felt quite heavy as though he's dreading to meet them.
'–Stand still and look.'
His feet came to a stop at once, finding himself surrounded again by the crowds that were always bustling in Asakusa. It was just a normal scenery for that place.
'Look.'
His head throbbed once more, reminding him what he was supposed to do, but Tsuna was at a loss. He knew he had to look, but look at what? What even was he supposed to look at?
'Look, look, look.'
Tsuna swiveled his head left and right, the headache enough to make him feel a bit frustrated, distracting him from focusing on his surroundings. Nevertheless, he tried to find what intuition wanted him to.
There.
He finally saw it.
Tsuna felt himself freeze in place once more, eyes blown wide open when slitted red plum eyes gazed back. It was a demon, but the aura he gave out was different compared to the rest. The moment ended quickly when the intuition blared out loud in his head like sirens.
'RUN.'
Tsuna gasped and staggered slightly in pain. He was also taken aback at what the intuition just told him. It wanted him to come here and look, and now it wanted him to leave!?
He gritted his teeth when the pain intensified, as though it told him to shut up and follow what he said. Of course, Tsuna would heed it; there's no way he would stay here. He's just upset that the intuition treated him like this.
Tsuna tried to gather himself up just in time to see the man making his way to him, albeit slowly. He knew for sure that the only reason that demon is slow is because there are obstacles between them, which is the people.
Nothing good will come for sure just by looking at his eyes, which are dangerously trained on him. Tsuna felt chills down his spine. It's not as bad as his ex-enemies, but still, there's chills, and that's not a good sign, especially if his hyper intuition is backing it up.
Tsuna didn't hesitate this time. He turned around and dashed his way out of the crowd, even going as far as to make himself invisible by using mist flame when he passed through the alley.
Tsuna didn't stop, fueled by adrenaline; he ran until he arrived at the inn and slammed the door open like a maniac. In doing so, it frightened the owner into yelling and dropping the plates, but the plates didn't exactly drop since Tsuna instinctively caught them all one by one before shoving them into his hand.
"Tsuna-san, you scared me! And thanks, by the way," the owner of the inn, Hiraku, rubbed behind his head. He then took a double take at Tsuna, who appeared to be in a rush, and raised his brows questioningly, "Uh, did something happen?"
Hiraku became more confused as Tsuna ran to his room. Tsuna's behavior was so out of character that it worried him, so he followed him to his room, fidgeting by the door while he peeked in.
He took note that Tsuna began to gather a few objects such as a rather heavy-looking pouch that must be filled with currency judging by the jingles, a worn-out orange haori that he first came in and–
"Wait, you're going somewhere?"
"I-I have to leave!"
Hiraku looked even more confused, "What's going on? Why are you leaving?"
"I... I'm sorry. There is something important I have to do," was Tsuna's reply.
A thought suddenly crossed his mind for a second. Demons have enhanced senses of smell, and he has been here for a while now. Surely, his scent still lingered all over this place, and that demon will definitely track it here. Even if Tsuna is long gone, it's uncertain if the people here are safe.
Tsuna couldn't bear the thought that people die because of him; however, the intuition impulsed in his head, reminded him that he needed to leave ASAP.
Could he apply the mist flame here? Hide them from view just like what Yushiro did?
It's possible, but it wouldn't last long enough to keep them safe. Additionally, Tsuna would have to explain about his flame and so on, which will definitely make them involved, and that's risky. Tsuna doesn't trust all of them to keep their mouths shut.
Shoot, he's talking like a mafia now.
Tsuna groaned before wincing. The headache is getting stronger now. He has to make a decision quickly. Sure, he can stay and fight him, but something tells him that it's not the right time.
Suddenly, Tsuna is reminded of the wisteria flower that Tamayo graciously gave him so that he is safe from being attacked by demons.
Tsuna brightened up and immediately found said item. Upon fishing out the item, Tsuna untied the strings to reveal the flower grounded finely into powder.
He could try to scatter it all over the inn, but the amount is too little to cover it all, and he's a bit unsure if the effect is still the same if the powder is applied the same amount as salt to a food.
Unless...
Tsuna turned around to hide it from Hiraku's view and began to coat it with a little bit of Sun and Cloud flame. The Sun flame, whose attribute is activation, will increase the efficiency of the poison. That means, this wisteria powder is three times more deadly. If it served as a demon repellent and weakened them, then this one will no doubt cripple them.
The Cloud flame is propagation; with this flame, he can cover all of the area with the powder. The powder is enough to protect a small house, but with this effect, it's enough to reach all over the inn. Well, the exteriors of the inn, since people can't touch it. It is poisonous to humans as well.
He then let the flames stealthily spread out and attached to the outside of the inn like paint. Tsuna tried to even it out carefully, not too much nor too little, just enough for Tsuna to not use more flame.
Tsuna sighed in relief. It might not last long, but the effect will already be dispersed and stay there for a while. A perfect protective ward.
For more security, he added a Storm flame. Disintegration. As the name suggests, it's a flame that decays and tears apart everything. For obvious reasons, he didn't mix it together since that would just contradict the other flames.
This one will serve as a protection for people just in case by disintegrating the poison if they accidentally touched it.
He huffed, feeling his energy drained a little bit for using three flames that are not his main at once with no special gloves on.
Tsuna finally handed him the pouch, almost aggressive, and said seriously through the wave of fatigue, "Keep it close to you and don't touch the powder with bare hands or breathe it in. It's harmful, but it will protect you."
Hiraku fumbled with the pouch that was given to him unexpectedly. His confusion grew at Tsuna's even more weird behavior.
"Be careful. I'll be leaving now."
Without waiting for his response, Tsuna went past him and rushed straight to the door.
"H-Huh!? Wait!" He immediately chased after Tsuna's fleeting shadow. And by the time he was outside, Tsuna was already out of sight, blending with the crowd.
Hiraku was upset by this but figured out that maybe he saw the Kamado siblings and tried to chase after them.
With a pouch held gratefully in hand, he yelled out. "I don't know what's going on, but thanks and be careful! I'll make sure to keep the inn going for you!"
A sheepish laugh escaped him followed by a flustered face when he noticed the curious glances aiming at him. He decided to return to the inn, feeling a bit strange at the current atmosphere, but he felt somehow safe and protected.
"Must be Tsuna, he is their mascot and their lucky charm after all!"
"I heard shufflings from here. What's with the noise?" one of the staff that's coming from upstairs asked.
He contemplated whether he should tell her then decided that it was for the best seeing as how most of the staff here are due to Tsuna. He admitted that Tsuna is really great at finding people. They're all such nice people too.
"Tsuna is not going to work here anymore. I think he found the people he's looking for and went with them."
"Whaat!?" she gasped, completely off guard by that statement.
As if it was a signal, a few staff came out from different directions. Some burst the door wide open while some just dashed out of the rooms judging by the stomps from above.
All possessed distraught expressions at the news and began to cry out.
"Noo, Tsu-chan! We haven't said goodbye yet!"
"I already missed him!"
"Ah, I can't see his pretty face anymore."
"Why did he leave? That's so sudden, isn't it?"
"Could it be I disappointed him so much he couldn't bear it?"
He sweat-dropped at each of the staff's laments, hoping to cheer them up, he said, "I'm sure he will be back again. So let's keep the inn running in good condition for him!"
Thankfully, his employees were easily comforted so he watched happily as they slowly dispersed to do their own work.
As for Tsuna, he is still running. He doesn't know where he's going, but he already left Asakusa a few minutes ago and now running aimlessly in the woods.
The headache finally disappeared after that, and he can finally heave out in relief and halt his running. He took his time to rest by the tree trunks, laying down gracelessly and closed his eyes. Fatigue and headache are not a very nice combo.
He managed to say goodbye to the owner, but he didn't have the time to say goodbye to the other staff as well as Tamayo and Yushiro. But then again, he had a feeling that it wouldn't do anything but bringing trouble to them both, but still, he regret not being able to say goodbye or something.
And now that he left the area where he could potentially meet the siblings along with no signs of returning back there any sooner, Tsuna is feeling a bit lost, a bit unsure where he should go now.
Well, there's nothing he could do about it. It's a good thing that he asked Tamayo and Yushiro to keep an eye out for them. Maybe one day, they will finally be able to meet.
Though there's still something that troubled him. He's not very sure of the fate of people there that are not under his protection. He sure hopes they are no harm coming to them.
He would have turned back to make sure, but his intuition warned him not to, followed by assurance that they all will be protected.
Tsuna certainly trusts his intuition despite giving him the trouble so he heeded it a bit reluctantly. Now that he has no other lead, Tsuna can only continue to walk aimlessly, hoping to find another village or a town to ask whether they had seen the Kamado siblings or maybe some clues to find the upper and lower moons demons?
Or maybe he should rest first? Gather his energy and think carefully before making his way deep into the woods. He wouldn't find him here, right?
The intuition said nothing, so it's safe to say that no one is after him, so Tsuna takes a short nap instead.
Unbeknownst to him, plenty events had unfolded the moment he left.
The town, even though Tsuna had roamed and purged any demons hiding in there, soon will be infested with new powerful demons fixed on finding Tsuna to be presented to their progenitor, the demon king.
The plan was not that easy to execute like many had thought. Tsuna had underestimated how great his ability is.
Those who entered and left the inn received a 'blessing'. A protection 'barrier' that's effective enough to deter any surrounding demons about a few meters away, no matter how powerful they are.
The inn is an establishment that's thriving due to Tsuna's help, even without him there, guests will continue to come and go.
In short, almost all of the population of Asakusa has a protection barrier, making it useless for demons to approach them. If demon slayers learned of this, the whole place would be dubbed as the most safest place next to Ubayashiki estate and Swordsmith's village if it weren't for one thing.
The demon king is still here, barely unfazed by everything, and is currently on a hunt.
-----
A/N:
Tsuna: oh no, I messed up my first impression. I will go straight to their very well disguised hideout, tresspass it and state my intention to talk properly. (vongola style)
Yushiro: Is he a demon? A demon slayer!??
-
Tsuna with beauty that considered otherworldly in this era and oblivious about it: 🧍
Yushiro: His looks are outstanding but not in a good way.