Tsuna gave them a small, amused smile, gesturing with one hand toward the two unoccupied chairs before taking the menu. He looked at it curiously as he read. His friends sat down almost immediately, looking perplexed and lost, yet they couldn't hide their surprise at his clean and calm face. Only a small reddish shadow gave away what had happened not long ago.
It was obvious that Tsuna had used the time to get ready somewhere, but how did he erase almost all the evidence? It wasn't normal to cry that much without having red eyes for at least a day. Tsuna only had a faint reddish tint; he could easily say he'd just rubbed his eyes, and anyone would believe him. So, how the hell did he get rid of the results of his crying so quickly? Makeup? It couldn't be; it would be noticeable, and where would he get makeup? Did he even know how to use it? An illusion? Tsuna didn't know how to create illusions, as far as they knew. They had no possible explanation for this, which was probably why Tsuna seemed so amused by it all.
"I'll have this." "Something simple and small, I'm not hungry... There is no 'again'..." Tsuna complained mentally when he saw them looking at him with a mix of amusement and surprise. Even so, his friendly exterior wasn't affected by their gazes. "What are you two going to get?"
"…Eto, Juudaime…" Gokudera began, then looked at him with absolute admiration. "I didn't know you liked foreign food, Juudaime!"
Tsuna broke into a cold sweat. It wasn't that he liked it exactly, but…
"It's just semi-raw meat with some salad and rice," he said in a tone that indicated, "It's nothing special."
"I didn't know you were so open with food." Yamamoto said, not having expected this from all things. "I'm going to experiment too. What do you recommend, Tsuna?"
"Make your own decisions—"
"The one in the red section, probably, since you like sushi…" Tsuna muttered under his breath. The menu, for the most part, had Japanese food. There were few things out of the ordinary.
"But, Juudaime…" Why the hell was he ignored by his beloved boss?
"There are three Italian dishes in that area, Gokudera-kun." "It's not my fault that you're so easy to ignore after years of the same thing… It's more of a habit than anything now."
With that, he covered his face with the menu, feeling very embarrassed externally. Internally, he just sighed. Did they have to be so obvious? However, that didn't stop them from continuing to look at him with surprise and slight fear. Had Reborn already begun to teach him about the foods and customs of other countries? Or were they just lost? They felt like strangers to this Tsuna, yet he seemed to know them inside and out. This was too uncomfortable and terrifying for their health.
With a small apology, they took the menus and looked at them for themselves before ordering a dish each. Gokudera, not wanting to be left out, decided to experiment and chose a random dish, which was quite fun for Tsuna. The waitress attended to them at once and left with their orders. It was sad to think about, but only the two of them were inexperienced. It was funny that they believed he was too, but he wasn't going to correct their mistake. It was their own fault for not asking.
"Ma, ma, Tsuna… I didn't know you were so brave." If Tsuna didn't have so much respect for them, he would have said, "You idiot, who says this is my first time eating this?"
Tsuna only sighed in response. "I should have said that. You are the risky ones, not me, and you didn't even bother to ask. Let's see how they're going to take what they ordered… It's going to be so much fun to watch this." Unable to help but do so, Tsuna smiled an evil smile in his mind—a smile that, if seen, would have left many people fearing for their lives. However, being the respectful and calm person that he usually was, he only smiled a little and let the comment vanish into thin air.
Not long after, the dishes were served. As he ate, he couldn't take his eyes off them, patiently waiting for their fun to begin. And he was pleasantly rewarded. He almost fell out of his chair laughing when Yamamoto took the first bite of his fish. It tasted strange—so strange that he couldn't continue eating it. Gokudera, on the other hand, was also very funny. Unlike Yamamoto, who was eating fried shark without knowing it, he was eating lamb… well, the guts of a poor lamb with salad. He didn't know it was lamb, but none of that stopped him. His determination to prove himself to his boss prevented him, as did the fact that he had tried worse things. Still, none of that stopped Tsuna from laughing at both of them, making them feel like, "Oh heck… what was he laughing at? What is he hiding from us?" That almost mocking laugh wasn't encouraging them at all.
"Tsuna…" He didn't stop laughing even with the call. "What are you laughing at?" Yamamoto was already too uncomfortable.
"I'm sorry, if I tell you you might go and throw up." The Japanese ate a lot of things, but… had he ever eaten shark? Probably not, and he wasn't sure if he wanted to know how Yamamoto would take it.
"Tsuna, tell me," Yamamoto said seriously, but that didn't stop him from laughing. Gokudera no longer had the mood to continue eating. Tsuna shook his head. This was getting more and more fun for him. "Tsuna!"
"…Do you know what you're eating? It's nothing lethal, I assure you…" If it wasn't lethal, what was it that had Tsuna laughing so much? "…Gokudera-kun is eating a dish made from the guts of a lamb, and you, dear friend, are eating fried shark… more specifically, part of a shark's back." Tsuna paused, and then almost purred: "It's tasty, isn't it? I'm laughing at your faces. It's nothing you've tasted before, so the expressions you're making are quite funny." That, and that he was cruel.
Gokudera grimaced. That explained certain things, but it wasn't bad. Yamamoto, on the other hand, hurriedly got up and disappeared into the restrooms. Without saying a word, Tsuna took a piece of his plate and brought it to his lips, chewed slowly, and then swallowed.
"Tell me, Gokudera-kun…" he purred, taking another piece. "Isn't this much better than yelling at him and complaining to him? I think it's much funnier, and he didn't do anything wrong either." He paused, almost laughing again. "And one more thing, Gokudera-kun… I'm the one who sets the limits, okay? While I appreciate your care, it's not your place to tell others what they can and can't do with me." A pause. "I hope you understand."
"I…" "I didn't mess it up… did I?… React, please react…" "I'm very sorry, Juudaime! I won't do it again!" Tsuna's prayers were answered, but…
"Hey, Gokudera-kun…" He had also gotten the attention of the entire restaurant. It wasn't that he cared, but he liked to eat in peace. "Everyone is watching us, could you please sit down?" "Before we get kicked out of here or blow up this place… The bill I made to the Ninth for this is already big enough; adding a whole restaurant to it would be rude."
"As ordered by Juudaime!" He left his kneeling position on the ground and sat down. Tsuna only sighed before switching his and Yamamoto's dishes. Shark was delicious in its own way, and Yamamoto… he didn't think he was going to eat it. It would also be sad to throw it away or leave it, not to mention rude.
Following Tsuna's example, Gokudera continued to eat, having more and more private fun the longer it took the baseball player to arrive. Tsuna, for his part, began to worry. Had he fallen down the toilet, or had he lost consciousness? After a few minutes, Yamamoto appeared only to turn green when he saw Tsuna calmly eating what was left on his plate. Being pious, Tsuna held back his laughter.
"Sit down and eat some of mine; the salad is good." With doubts, Yamamoto obeyed. "Maybe now they'll both bother to read carefully before ordering…" They both turned pale. They hadn't read everything, but how did Tsuna know that? "Still, this is delicious…"
Yamamoto turned green, and that earned a laugh from Tsuna. He didn't know why, but this seemed like some kind of revenge, and he was enjoying it to the fullest. They finished eating in about 10 minutes. Yamamoto ate almost nothing, and Tsuna deceptively little, but they didn't notice this small detail. Perhaps it was not his initial intention, but it was certainly something he appreciated: less trouble and questions for himself. They were probably too far removed from the events to analyze them carefully… well, their loss. That way, things would be simpler. However, even though it was due to his misery, Yamamoto was happy to have made Tsuna laugh. But he didn't plan to repeat it anytime soon. Tsuna would have to laugh at something else because he wasn't ordering anything without knowing the dish from now on.
"And now what do we do? I hope it's nothing that makes me sick…" "I don't want to throw up like that, at least… nor do I want you to make me throw up unintentionally, either."
"Tsuna-nii!" He heard a call, looked sideways, but did not see any of his siblings. If his two friends hadn't stopped like him, he would have wondered if he was imagining things… No, not at all, he wasn't imagining things.
Yamamoto and Gokudera froze in place. They weren't supposed to be here, at least not yet. Had they changed the plans without telling them anything? Improvisation, as well as the original plan, would have not only different results, but none that they could expect. Even so, they both followed Tsuna, who addressed the others when he located the call. Gokudera was in a bad mood and Yamamoto was greeting happily, while Tsuna simply greeted them and reciprocated the hugs upon their arrival. After the greetings and questions from both groups—some discreet so that Tsuna would not find out, without them knowing that for Tsuna they were not so discreet—they went to the shooting galleries. When they arrived, they began to play the various games. Tsuna was the only one who didn't want to play and only limited himself to observing and cheering them on. The same was true for the other games that followed in the next few hours.
"I don't deserve to be Juudaime's right-hand man…!" Tsuna sighed deeply and massaged his temples for who knows how many times. "How could Tsunayoshi-sama bear this? I want to kill him. This is the nineteenth time he has said that, and I'm not counting the other whining… and for something so…."
"You only missed two arrows; it's not a big deal…" Tsuna thought. "...Fool…."
"How can you say that, Juudaime? I missed two out of five!" "And here we go again… what a broken record… God…" "I handle a bow! I can't miss! I must have perfect aim so that nothing happens to Juudaime…" "Don't tell me… I didn't know, just like I didn't know that almost all these games are rigged," he thought sarcastically, unable to help himself.
He sighed mentally before getting up. Without saying anything else, he couldn't stand anyone in his family crying, and least of all Gokudera-san, because he tends to settle down on whatever it was that made him cry. And it was usually something so stupid that it caused him to hit him with a metal bat, or something like that, on the head. And frankly, it was worse when he did it for something like this—something so insignificant, something that had to be fixed and improved. In addition, he didn't miss any shots. What happened was that the game was fixed so that it was like that and he didn't win the highest score. As well as the vast majority of these games, everything was rigged, and anyone could realize it if they wanted to, but of course… not Gokudera, despite being very smart. And remembering that only increased his desire to hit him or rub his face on the ground.
Unable to take that stupid whining anymore, he got up, surprising everyone at that moment. Before they opened their mouths, he cut them off with:
"I'll be back in a moment." "Or not, only Gokudera-san will tell me what the ground tastes like…"
And without further ado, he left his almost whole dinner, and the rest were disturbed and slightly shocked. It wasn't as if he cared at that moment. Without really thinking about it, he walked at a fast pace and mingled with the people on his way. He didn't want to be followed by anyone at that time, absolutely no one. From one moment to the next, he stopped to see the prizes of different games, until a small hair clip with engraved skull designs caught his attention. It was perfect for Gokudera. It only cost 300 points, which was very easy to achieve. And so he killed two birds with one stone, no pun intended.
"Sir, one game, please." Somehow, he managed to sound friendly, something he appreciated. He didn't want to be found yet.
"That'll be 2.50." The owner of the gallery replied lazily.
Without a word, he handed him the money and was given a toy gun with reluctance. The salesman didn't notice a small detail that would have told him that he had just made a serious mistake due to his lack of interest. What didn't he see? A small, sinister smile. Just that. Internally, Tsuna was laughing at something that was sure to happen, but he couldn't ruin the surprise, could he? Before the start bell rang, Tsuna moved at least two meters further away from the shooting distance. "...This will be fun..."
A few minutes later, Tsuna handed the pistol back to a very pale and trembling merchant, frightened and terrified to the bone, staring wildly at the small pistol in his hands and at Tsuna in disbelief at what he had just seen. Tsuna smiled sweetly. He had done it slowly to avoid this, a second between shots. He didn't miss any of the shots and took less than 15 seconds each game, 10 in total, which was very slow in his humble opinion. The frightened merchant gave him the requested prizes immediately without a word. However, he was in trouble; he still had points to use. He already had the hair clip. He looked for a moment, contemplating what he could choose, and then he saw a small keychain pendant in the shape of a yellow bird, very similar to Hibird. "Perfect for young Hibari-san," he thought immediately when he saw him, so he chose it too, but he still had points left. This was followed not long after by a giant pink plush doll because he found nothing else to choose from. It was a teddy bear with a heart in its hands. He didn't care how strange he would look carrying that thing. He would give it to one of the girls or to his mother. Thank God it wasn't heavy, or else…
"Well, at least the poor man can rest easy," he murmured, amused to himself. He had played until he was satisfied; the poor man had put up with it much better.
As he walked back, he saw a crying little girl not far from where he was. So, being curious and very soft on children, he went over to see what was going on. To his surprise, the girl's mother could not calm her down no matter what she did or told her.
"What's wrong, little girl?" he asked, unable to stop himself, while kneeling and crouching to her height. She couldn't be more than six years old.
"I can't win anything in any game!" she cried out loud, unable to stop. Tsuna grimaced sympathetically. He could never win anything at his age either.
"Then you won't have to cry anymore, because I'll give you…" a pause to create suspense, "…this!" The girl looked at the stuffed animal with big eyes, stopping her crying.
"Seriously?" she asked quietly, timidly.
"Yes, you just have to promise me that you will take good care of it." Children were easy to deal with, and a lot of fun to be with.
"Thank you, thank you very much! I promise I will take good care of it!" Externally, Tsuna only gave her the doll and ruffled her hair slightly, making her laugh. However, internally he felt very cheated.
"Oh, thank you very much, dear. I don't know how I will be able to repay you…" The mother thanked him, relieved that her daughter had stopped crying.
Tsuna was hugged tightly before he stood up. He smiled a little before reciprocating the embrace. When she let go of him, she gave him a big smile, and he stroked her hair before getting up and saying goodbye. He took a few steps before stopping and looking at them one last time. The little girl's smile was so big and bright that it could be a sun at that moment. However, Tsuna felt very cheated, really cheated, because…
"Gifts are not paid, nor do you have to, Chrome," he muttered in a low voice before finally leaving.
He was sure she heard him if the sound of a falling trident wasn't a clear indication of it. However, she left as fast as she could after that. He didn't want to hear anything that could lead to an argument over something silly or trivial in the near future. Besides, he was upset about being scammed like that, so he could unintentionally sound cruel, and no one deserved that treatment. Just as he didn't think it was fair for her to think that he had to pay for a simple gift. Gifts were not paid for, and he did not like it in the least that they tried to do so. It only overwhelmed him with more sadness and annoyance than he was carrying at this moment.
"Welcome back, Tsu-kun." It was the welcome he received when he arrived. "Wow, I've been spotted right away…"
"Thank you, Kyoko-chan…" "Be polite, be polite… I don't need another discharge of anger. I may have traumatized a merchant, but I shouldn't traumatize anyone else today if possible."
He approached his spot while responding to the greetings given to him by his entire family, at least the one that was present at that moment. Although he could not help but notice curiously that everyone suddenly seemed much happier than when he left. Strange, but he could live with it. He slowly sat down in his place and was surprised to see his food completely intact and covered with a semi-transparent plate. "Is it so important that I eat or something? I can't hold anything else in my stomach for today… It will be better for me to put it aside, so at least they will understand." No one said anything when they saw him push his plate forward carefully. Rather, he had eaten a lot for what they now knew.
"Gokudera-kun… I hope you don't mind, but I brought you this…" "Amazing… he is still lamenting—Wow… next time I won't give him anything straight up. How the hell did he cheer up so quickly?"
"Thank you so much, Juudaime!" If Tsuna had not been surprised by such a sudden change in attitude, Gokudera would have been stepped on or injured in some way. "I am not worthy of such a gift from you!" "Really… he does not learn…"
He sighed and breathed slowly before massaging his temples in slight frustration. He felt the looks of all the people close to him who heard the commotion. Who wouldn't notice with such a show? Not only the inclination of respect, but the loud exclamation as well. Although none of that mattered to him in the least, it was bothering him that Gokudera treated him with such devotion. Maybe it was because of the time he hadn't lived through something like that. It was certainly uncomfortable, or maybe because he was just a human, and didn't deserve so much devotion, let alone a murderer. And the way his family was looking at him made him believe that his emotions were too much on the surface for his liking, so he forced a small smile and…
"Gokudera-kun, could you please sit down and eat? I'm glad you like my gift, but this is not necessary…" "The gift was to get rid of his depression, not for this!" he thought almost regretfully.
Gokudera, feeling the small wave of anger coming from his chief's somewhat softened voice, said nothing and was content to just nod his head and obey. He wasn't the only one to notice the change, as Lambo swallowed his imminent "I want something too." He didn't think he would get anything right now. Who knows, maybe later he could try, but now it didn't seem like a good idea. It was something strange, the others thought. He got upset with it when he had never done it before, but if they felt it and saw it briefly, they didn't want to know what it would be like when it didn't have limiters or something that triggered their total fury. If with that small sample it was terrifying, they didn't want to know what it would be like when he really got angry. Although, what exactly had bothered him? They didn't understand what had happened. However, everyone made a mental note: never make Tsuna angry.
The rest of those who witnessed what had just happened broke out in a cold sweat and focused on forgetting what they had just seen and going back to what they were doing, too scared to look again. However, to everyone's great relief, especially the normal people who had no idea about anything, Tsuna quickly calmed down and patiently waited for the others to get out of there and fell asleep in the process, much to the dismay of his family, who still did not understand how he fell asleep so easily and so deep as a rock. Almost nothing woke him up. It was so unreal. There must have been something hidden in it. Even with all those thoughts, they decided to leave him alone for a while. Let him fly as much as he wanted in those clouds. There was no problem with that, and if they woke him up now, he would be bored with nothing else to do but wait.
"Yay!" Bounce, bounce. "Wake up, Tsuna-nii, wake up!" he said cheerfully, excited and unable to contain himself.
Although externally Tsuna did not seem affected, he had woken up as soon as he felt Lambo jump on his head, but he did not move so fast, pretending to be asleep while Lambo bounced on top of his head as if it were a trampoline, trying to lift him. To be honest, he wasn't that impressed that Lambo did that, but he did find it weird not to hear anyone from his family, which was something… abnormal would be the best word to describe it, at least at this time. So, finally yielding to his curiosity, he opened his eyes and raised his head slowly in a sleepy way, not wanting to raise more suspicion than necessary, and not to make Lambo fall. He didn't feel like wiping crocodile tears.
"Hhmm…" He feigned a yawn. It had to be believable. "What's going on?" The more believable it could be, the less trouble that way, or so he thought.
"Oh no," Tsuna thought in horror. "Thank God I decided to wake up now," he continued with a bit of relief, unable to take his eyes off something shiny and specific closer than he wished. "I'll pretend I didn't see the bucket of water that they're hiding behind their backs… so painfully obvious." As if reading his thoughts, the bucket was covertly discarded for most. Tsuna was one of the few who saw everything, and because he had woken up, his family was looking at him with different expressions such as happiness and surprise. "Ignore the looks and pretend that you didn't see or realize what they were going to do," he said to himself, trying to stay calm and not confront them. Why? He reacted badly if he was rudely awakened and did not want them to fall victim to that small detail that could easily be fatal. Tsuna sighed deeply. "They are really crazy… Omitting what could have happened, at this time of night the air becomes cold, wetting someone in these conditions means getting sick for sure, if not worse… that, from the beautiful view…"
"Let's go on the Tsuna-nii roller coaster!" Lambo shouted, very excited, using his head as a trampoline one last time, falling on the ground and running to annoy Gokudera again.
It was, from the perspective, a very unfortunate thing that Lambo had not seen Tsuna's reaction to his words, but…
"Russian… Mountain?" Tsuna's mind let out some sparks, and he began to break out in a cold sweat. His family, without realizing it, continued what they were doing, finishing paying to go to the next game.
"Of course!" exclaimed Fuuta in a very good spirit. "Who goes to an amusement park and doesn't ride the roller coaster?" The tone said the answer very well: "No one who was sane."
Tsuna really wanted to tell him that he should use his gifts and find out instead of asking, but because he wasn't so upset that he didn't care about anyone's reaction, he kept quiet. That didn't mean that he wasn't dying to tell him that, and to run away like a soul carrying the devil. They would ride it on the day when hell would freeze over in their time, but he couldn't say it now. What he was sure of was that it would take a lot of effort because of his own free will, he would not go.
"We'd better go to the house of screaming first, what do you say?" "Thank you so much, Kyoko-chan," on the outside, he just nodded and began to leave, making Kyoko laugh and at the same time wonder where the Tsuna who hated the screaming house had gone.
"Hey, wait for us, Tsuna!" Wait for us? Of course, he didn't seem to tell them, since he accelerated his pace as if it were not with him.
Apart from cruelly ignoring them, Tsuna entered the screaming house first, without them. With no other choice, they decided to follow him. What the hell had happened in such a short time? Did he get upset? Why did he ignore them? They wanted to ask that and more, but Tsuna wasn't present. Without any of them noticing, Tsuna was right behind, listening to every comment with a slightly bitter face. He knew that it was up to his personality to come that way, but what better way to ensure his fun than to see everything in the front row? He had come before so that they would not see him and be able to see and hear his screams. To be honest, maybe it was a bad idea. He didn't know that mere teenagers could complain so much or that Gokudera had so many dynamics. It was almost sad that he didn't have his lighter, courtesy of him (a loan without permission), the almost was due to a very peculiar reason. He didn't want to have to pay for an amusement park or have to rescue anyone from the explosions! But Gokudera never seemed to think about the consequences, so he had to resort to the loan without permission. And it was laughable to hear him complain and wish the thief dead. Maybe it was time to give him a little heart attack?
"…you bastard, just wait until I put all this in your mouth and explode like the rat you are…" he continued to say aloud. Tsuna could almost see smoke coming out of his ears.
"Ma, ma, aren't you exaggerating a little?" How could he do all that to someone who didn't even know who he was? It could have fallen out of his pocket without him knowing! And he could be blaming someone else without knowing.
"I'm totally sure, idiot." Yamamoto really wanted to stop him. The girls and boys were there too.
"And how do you plan to make me swallow so much dynamite…" Gokudera became as white as a wall when he heard the voice. The others jumped from fright, not only from the unexpected but from who the voice was. "Gokudera-kun?" Tsuna finished innocently right behind them, spinning them to see him subconsciously.
"Juudai—"
"Gaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh!" A woman was heard screaming terrifyingly behind them, making them scream and make a mess trying to escape. The brave few were victims of the cowards, being brought to the ground thanks to them and perhaps stepped on as well.
Unable to help himself, Tsuna laughed, seeing the mess, the pale faces, hearing the screams, and watching them jump. He was not at all affected by the emaciated ghost monster, which approached him to try to scare him, without any result. "Success, oh God, how funny! Why didn't I ever do this before?" he thought happily as he laughed and laughed. His family wasn't as happy as he was when they calmed down, but they let him be. It was just a little joke, right?
"…Boy, you had it planned, Tsuna." Yamamoto commented. It was a good plan, or a very good coincidence, maybe even both.
"Well, I didn't know it would be so satisfying…" he commented, stopping laughing but still smiling amused. "Shall we continue? This is just the beginning…" a roar sounded at the end, confirming what was said.