The next morning, Tsuna woke up feeling unwell. A dull headache pulsed behind his eyes, and a wave of heat washed over him. He was probably sick. He'd spent too much time in the rain, and it was his own fault for lingering on that swing for so long. To make matters worse, he was still wearing yesterday's clothes. He had arrived home the previous night, relieved to find no one was around, and simply collapsed on his bed after shutting the door and tossing his dry backpack onto the floor. How his backpack had stayed dry while he hadn't was a question he could answer only because of his flames.
He didn't want to worry anyone more than he had to, especially not over something so silly. Still, in that moment, he had wanted the comfort of the rain so badly that he let himself get soaked—a foolish act, perhaps even more so than the first. Ignoring the burn in his throat and his worsening headache, he prepared for the day and left as quickly as he could without appearing rude. He had to make sure his mother didn't notice; otherwise, she wouldn't let him leave the house until he was better, and then she would fuss over him to prevent any relapse.
If he were being honest with himself, he didn't deserve such concern. She didn't deserve to have to take care of him, much less worry herself sick, and then worry everyone else, about a condition that meant nothing to him. He'd been sicker and more often, so this was, in reality, nothing at all. He especially didn't deserve their care after what he had done last night. No one had taken care of him in years, and he no longer needed them to. He could take care of himself. So he wouldn't let them notice. If they did, and if they insisted on taking care of him, it wouldn't be good for either of them. It would be bad for him because he would unintentionally make them feel bad and force them to remember things that were better left in the past. And it would be bad for them because of his own attitude.
Besides, he couldn't afford for those murderous idiots to realize he was sick. They would see it as an opportunity, and the problems would begin. Then he would be forced to kill just to prevent a massacre, because they wouldn't take anything seriously. They were a family that cared about nothing but power. They had done all kinds of things for that reason—many things, most of them atrocious. It was not a family that deserved respect, nor one to be proud of or admire. They were a family of rats, if you could even call them that. They even killed each other by proxy, a thought that made him feel sick just to consider. But he couldn't do much. First, it wasn't his time or place. Second, he couldn't do anything without starting a war.
And not only that—he was almost ashamed to admit it—he was afraid of that family, and especially of their boss. He was afraid they might threaten his family, that they would try to do something to a member of his family. It wouldn't be the first time. He didn't have to bow to their will alone; he had witnessed firsthand how leaders who had bowed to them met their end. It never ended well for any of them. Although they got what they wanted, the suffering still continued. The thing was, they not only stripped that family of everything, piece by piece, life by life, but... the boss was always the last to die, and everything they loved was destroyed before their eyes without them being able to do a single thing, because they had already lost the moment they bowed down.
Even though at this time the family was just emerging and those other families hadn't been torn apart from the inside out yet, there was nothing he could do. No one would listen to him, because no horror had yet occurred. Nono didn't want any war, just like many other families. At this time, he was just a mere teenager. What could he know? He was someone who wasn't even living within the mafia itself, someone with no experience and few ties. While it was true that in his own time they had given him their full attention, it was a little too late. Tsuna had no fighting spirit left. He killed and fought, yes, but his reason for fighting was quite small, especially if he couldn't even see them. Not to mention his physical condition. He also wouldn't have been able to make plans or even lead. With all his knowledge, it should be possible, but what could you ask of someone who had long since given up?
Tsuna sighed and trotted more smoothly across the rooftops. It was very early, but he had to hurry if he wanted to disappear. No one would want to see him today, that was for sure, so it was best to simply get out of the way, or at least out of their sight. Tsuna wasn't stupid. He wouldn't leave them alone knowing they could be in danger, even if they wished he would. He had done this for so long that it felt normal for him to watch over them from the shadows. Even if they didn't want him, he would always try to protect them. Monster or not, that wouldn't change. They were his family, and even if he no longer belonged, he would protect them. Maybe it was his way of repaying them for the happiness he had felt being with them, maybe it was because deep down he was unable to accept that they didn't love him, maybe it was because they were still his friends, his family in his heart even if the feeling wasn't reciprocated, or perhaps... he simply loved them so much that he would make sure they were okay until he couldn't take it anymore. Or even a combination of all those reasons; only he could say for sure.
Even though he tried not to be obvious, Tsuna had been watched for a while now. After all, he was the next head of the Vongola family. If he were killed, Vongola would descend into chaos and become an easy target. Without a doubt, Reborn already knew, but Tsuna was grateful that the Sun Arcobaleno hadn't tried to unite the family. That would only bring him more problems, especially now. Still, it was better to maintain a "normal" profile and avoid trouble—at least more trouble than usual. Strangely, the streets were almost deserted. Tsuna wasn't sure if it was because of the time or something else, but it was still a little... disconcerting. Maybe he had gotten too used to the city's activity, and that was a bad thing. He had to leave sooner or later, but what did it matter at this point anyway?
Tsuna jumped gently, landing on the ground without a sound, like a cat stalking its prey. He looked around for a moment, ignoring his discomfort. It was a bit strange to see everything so… empty, but he didn't worry too much. It was very early, so no one was running around to avoid being bitten to death by a certain prefect. Plus, it was perfect. He could "disappear" without any problem or delay—the exact reason he had left so early. However, as soon as he stepped through the door to one of the high school buildings, a cold hand touched his forehead out of nowhere, making him jump slightly in surprise. Even though he had believed no one would be there, he still looked up, only to find none other than Hibari, who seemed annoyed for some reason, though not at him.
"Omnivore…" Hibari pulled his hand away and restrained himself from running out to bite certain idiotic herbivores to death. "Sick people aren't allowed to enter. Go home."
Hibari was no fool, and he wasn't vengeful towards Tsuna, no matter what others might think. If anything, he was happy to have found a good opponent, but he would never tell anyone that. The prefect was upset, very upset. He had given those herbivores a chance to make amends, but apparently... their fear was much stronger than their common sense. They were nothing more than silly herbivores, after all. The worst part was that he couldn't do anything about it except bite them to death. He had seen it, yes, but he had not acted or made his presence known, and he highly doubted the Omnivore would take it well to know that. Besides, it would be a matter of time before those two herbivores did something foolish again. Was it so difficult to see that the Omnivore was precisely an omnivore? That is, both a herbivore and a carnivore at the same time? He wouldn't always be passive and defensive as they seemed to believe. He was also a carnivore; he would also attack and be aggressive... especially when faced with a threat, either against himself, his pack, or his territory.
Frankly, it was stupid that they didn't see that, that they didn't see that their friend was very different from them even though he looked as harmless as a rabbit. This was one of the reasons he kept to himself; dealing with idiotic and weak herbivores was a headache, not to mention that they were also pathetic cowards. And yet... he made an exception, just for this Omnivore. But maybe it was time to explain to them with his fists the true meaning of "omnivore" because they obviously didn't know. And surely they didn't even know what had happened because of their idiocy or the fact that they were all (unfortunately) on very, very thin ice. From what he had seen yesterday, they were dealing with someone who was both different from and too similar to the person they all knew. He was so different that he wouldn't think twice about pulling out his claws to kill, yet so similar that his reasons for doing so were the same as always. How hard was that to realize?
"I have something important to do today. I can't miss it. I'm sorry to disobey your orders, Hibari-san." Tsuna gave a slight smile at the prefect's concern, who didn't even blink.
Surprisingly, Hibari seemed to understand and walked away, simply saying, "Hmph." Tsuna could only smile wider—not entirely happy, but nostalgic. Hibari had always been the guardian who understood him the most, and he helped him when he only believed he needed it and was doing well. Apparently, despite the time that had passed, this Hibari was still able to do the same. To Tsuna, Hibari was a person of great depth and understanding, but he didn't have much patience and didn't express himself much, so it was somewhat difficult to understand him, especially when he didn't want to be understood. He also loved to fight, but that was quite obvious, although he was happiest fighting someone more or less his equal or much stronger than him—something quite difficult to achieve in a city as quiet (if the mafia didn't stick their noses in it, of course) as Namimori.
Strangely, Tsuna was sometimes defined as the other side of the coin, the opposite of Hibari. The reason was a bit off depending on the point of view, and it was something Tsuna had rarely said out loud. Even if he had, he would have most likely been laughed at. The reason was that while Hibari needed to see and hear to understand what was going on (even if it was only for a few seconds), he didn't need to speak to make himself understood. On the other hand, Tsuna only needed to feel (he blamed Hyper Intuition for that) to understand what was happening, and he needed to speak, and often, to make himself understood. And many times, no one understood him, or maybe it was just that no one wanted to. However, Tsuna highly doubted that was true with his past self, although he didn't remember well enough to say for sure. Tsuna continued on his way like a true ghost, even though the place was almost deserted.
A few hours later, the boys could officially say that rehearsals were boring. Anyone would fall asleep in them. They now understood why Hana was almost always more annoyed than usual with this job; it must have been exhausting to have to lead a group that wasn't even trying. Tsuna smiled sadly as he saw the boys perform. They had improved a lot; it seemed much more natural. It had only taken what happened yesterday for them to finally do it right. Well, at least that mistake had served a good purpose.
"Good job," Kyoko half-congratulated, as she was somewhat worried about Tsuna and the boys. They didn't seem very happy today, so she didn't ask them.
"Thank you," was all Yamamoto said, while Gokudera didn't even pay attention to her.
"You can rest, you've done enough for today," Hana said with an unfriendly face, then lowered her voice to a murmur. "I haven't seen Sawada all day…" In other words, she hadn't seen her assistant and test dummy all day, and she had things for him to do. "Has anyone seen Sawada?" she shouted to be heard over the group of monkeys who wouldn't stop talking.
No one gave a positive answer, at least not those who bothered to answer. Gokudera and Yamamoto just looked at each other. They hadn't seen Tsuna since he left in the rain yesterday. Had he gotten sick? If so, why hadn't the baby told them anything?
"Gao."
Although, if something had happened, they would have found out anyway. They still couldn't avoid him forever, but it was so hard... Wait a minute, was that a meow?
"Gao."
Sure enough, it was a meow. They looked down and saw Natsu, who had apparently been there for a while, waiting to be noticed. He looked sad and very angry, but with a face that said they had made a mistake—as if they had screwed up badly and hadn't noticed. But why? With the fury that could be seen in him, he should be attacking them or trying to kill them, but he hadn't drawn a single claw. However, if looks could kill… Besides, what kind of mistake could they have made? If anyone was making a mistake, it must have been him. Well... Tsuna wasn't Tsuna, and he, it seemed, hadn't noticed. However, if Natsu was here, that meant that...
"Hello, little one…" The "little one" only showed them his teeth. Yamamoto swallowed nervously but continued, "Could you take us to Tsuna?"
Natsu grunted and shook his head.
"Juudaime didn't tell you to do that… or did he…?"
"Really?" He tried to sound optimistic, but even if he didn't truly want to see him, it hurt to think that Tsuna didn't want to see them. It was a hypocritical thought, he knew.
This time, Natsu nodded his head seriously. Tsuna didn't… he didn't want me to take them to him… he didn't want to be found… he didn't want to see them…
"Then...?" Then why are you here? was what he wanted to ask, but…
Natsu gave them a furious look, then raised a paw and moved it from side to side, perfectly simulating a human wave. Both boys looked at each other, confused. Did Tsuna just want to greet them? They really doubted it. Then, Natsu lowered his paw to his face and acted as if he were wiping away tears that hadn't been shed, all while still showing a murderous face that was somewhat chilling. And finally, against all his desire to sink his fangs into both idiots, Natsu bowed. From the little they understood, Tsuna just wanted to tell them that he was very sorry. He was sorry for what happened, but he didn't have the courage to tell them himself.
Natsu stood up suddenly, and with one last murderous look, he rushed to the nearest window and jumped out.
"Hey, wait—"
"...Too late." That lion cub was their only clue, and they had already lost it.
However, even if he had heard them, he would not have followed their requests. He would not betray his master's wishes, and if he returned, it would only be to show them how displeased he was with them. After a while in silence, the boys understood (or thought they understood) why he had given them that face at first: they had made the mistake of not following him. He had been left alone, and only God knew what had been going on in his head all that time. They were foolish in a way. Tsuna would have to have a good reason for what he did; he always did. But Tsuna wasn't Tsuna. If he were, they were truly idiots—so, so stupid as to doubt their friend in those critical moments and leave him to his fate. But as they had said before, that was only possible if their friend was the real Tsuna, and not an impostor. Why Natsu couldn't see that was beyond them.
"Hey, guys…"
Yamamoto and Gokudera stopped in their tracks. Wasn't Hana supposed to be on her break?
"Kyoko gave me some information that might interest you," Hana said, her voice flat. If only she knew that this information would not be used for what she believed.
Silence.
"Sawada joined this squad, and… there are no reports that he has left it. However, no one knows where he is."
Silence filled the air again.
"Thanks a lot," Gokudera said, his voice curt.
"Anything, as long as my assistant is here." With that, Hana returned to her place. It was typical of her not to show her true emotions; she was an expert at it.
So "Tsuna" was here, and he had surely been watching them. But that was the least of their worries. How long had they been with an imposter without realizing it?
Natsu's Perspective
Unlike what anyone might believe, Natsu knew exactly who his master was and precisely when his master had "changed." It was hard not to notice, as they shared a special connection. He didn't know the full story, the reasons, or the how, but he could understand that something bad had happened. The differences were minimal to others, but glaring to him. The most important was the aura. His master used to have a calm, fearful, and nervous aura most of the time, but when he got serious, usually preparing to fight, his aura would transform into one of calm, authority, and strength—even comfort at times. Since his master "changed," that last aura was the most common, though it was now laced with a sadness and despair if you looked closely.
Another minimal but remarkable difference was his way of acting. Before, he was extremely nervous, fearful, and calm (if no one bothered him), and too serious and calculating in fights. Now, he was much calmer, more calculating, and extremely patient. However, while this might seem too different, it wasn't. Natsu could still see, feel, and even smell the usual nervousness, fear, and insecurity beneath that layer of control. One pretty remarkable thing was his newfound enjoyment of fun and his sudden irritability—something he hadn't been able to show before because they never let him. But that didn't mean it wasn't there in the first place. All the differences were like that in Natsu's eyes; they had always been there, but they weren't very noticeable beneath the fear and insecurities, which were still present. But after ten years and being a great boss, who wouldn't gain security and freedom? Who wouldn't learn to play friendly with his subordinates? Who wouldn't learn to act like a predator or simple prey when needed?
Perhaps only Natsu could see it because of the closeness they shared. However, he was angry and sorry that they didn't. Didn't they claim to be his friends, his family? Weren't they able to recognize him no matter how he looked or acted? Apparently not. While it was true that his master had not made the best decision in wanting to kill his aggressors, that was still not an excuse. This was a cruel world and sometimes you had to be just as cruel. His master was also a predator; he had to demonstrate his strength and how far he would go before the other families, or he would be seen as a joke and gain more assassins behind him. Besides, they had already killed! And so had her master. What difference did it make now? Natsu couldn't see the logic. His master had the same reasons in mind even after so long.
He wouldn't admit it to anyone, but he was extremely tired of trying to make his precious master happy and comforted. Before, he didn't know the reason, but since yesterday, he knew who the culprits were. And even so, he couldn't understand. Did they want their master to be a cute and sweet bunny forever? If so, they were stupid. His master was stronger than them and he was also the next head of a mafia family. There was no place to be a cute, sweet rabbit all the time. Rather, it was lucky that, despite never being anything like a cute and sweet rabbit, his heart was made of honey. And apparently, only he, a lion cub, was able to see that. Woe to his master if his whole family was so brutally stupid.
Tsuna's Internal Conflict
"I'm so sorry, it was never my intention for them to see that or anything like it, and even less for them to think I'm their Tsuna… I'm so sorry," Tsuna thought. He never wanted to commit any killings (successful or not) in this time, but it wasn't something he was okay with, even though it was now second nature to him.
"I'm really nothing but useless and good for nothing. I shouldn't even be in this time, ruining things!" If he could have cried, he would have. "Why, why do I always have to ruin everything? Now Tsunayoshi-sama will have problems for free because of me… I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry…" He felt it with all his strength, but his tears had run out, and he could only feel regret. Especially seeing that neither of them seemed concerned about his absence.
He opened the door. There was no one around, so he closed it with the same silence with which he had opened it. The rooftop would always be his place to rest, at least mentally, because few people used to go there and he had good memories of the place. But for the moment, it was the perfect place for a fight. He didn't think they had the courage to follow him after running away so scared yesterday, but he couldn't be sure of anything. A few minutes later, Tsuna could only sigh tiredly. This time he was more tired than yesterday, by a factor of three or more, and his body felt somewhat weak. But he was still being underestimated. Depressed or not, Tsuna hated not being taken seriously, and he would make them understand even if he had to speak Chinese. Tsuna was not only upset and depressed, but tired, so he would get them out of here as fast as he could, even if he had to kill them. After all, he was already doomed, so why not kill them and leave his past self without bullies for a long time?
"Agggggrrrr…"
"Only 27… hmm, there will be too much noise… Tsk, I'll have to finish quickly," he thought, almost amused. But he was so depressed and tired that he didn't see them as anything more than a nuisance. Before Tsuna knew it, he had only three left, but his body wasn't taking much stress and his head was spinning. The fever had surely gone up, but he had no way of knowing at that moment. From one moment to the next, Tsuna felt a cold edge on his neck, but before he could do anything, a tonfa was in its place.
"Herbivores…" The prefect almost growled. How dare they do this in his school? "Attacking a student and carrying weapons inside these facilities is strictly forbidden." He didn't even know why he was saying it, maybe just to give the Omnivore time to catch his breath. "I'll bite them to death."
For some strange and inexplicable reason, Tsuna felt his lips form a small smile without his consent, and then he panted a little faster than before. Tsuna closed his eyes and continued the fight. He was suddenly very nauseous. Maybe it was a bad idea to stop, even for just a brief moment. Not to mention that his head hurt as if someone was hitting him with a hammer and not a toy. It reminded him of Reborn waking him up. But that was not the problem. The problem was that even in those conditions, he could make them see hell if he wanted to, but it was no longer necessary because Hibari would take care of them and give them a good beating that he doubted they would ever forget. Of that, he was more than sure. That, and if he left nothing for the prefect, he would be the next one to be bitten to death.
"Boss, are you feeling well?" a female voice said next to him, giving Tsuna a little fright until he recognized who it was.
"I'm fine, don't worry." What was she doing here? Had Reborn already called them?
In the end, Tsuna decided not to ask her anything. Chrome wasn't the type of person who could appear just like that without a reason. Plus, they were still on the battlefield, and it would only worsen the mood. Little was as if he had something to talk about or wanted to. As best he could, he got up, observing that Hibari had already finished with everyone. He had bitten them hard in a very short time, which was a relief for him because then he could leave without worries. Out of nowhere, once again a cold hand landed on his forehead before he could advance to the exit. He already knew who it belonged to; there was no need to ask or see.
"Tsk… the fever has increased." Foolish omnivore, the prefect thought, holding back the urge to bite him to death.
"I am fine," he just said before stepping aside and continuing on his way.
"Chief…"
"Omnivore…" Hibari warned, but Tsuna didn't care at the moment.
It was not the time to worry about something as insignificant as a fever. He would be fine. He had experienced much worse things than that to take something like this seriously. He only had to rest for a day or two and it would be as if nothing had happened, so there was no problem. In addition, his head hurt too much to even worry about himself. It was more important to get home without his friends seeing him and without seeing double or triple. He could control his stomach but not his eyesight, which was something depressing for him after so long in conditions similar to the current ones.
Hibari and Chrome were behind him; they didn't share his opinion. In fact, they believed that he was being an idiot to act the way he was, knowing he was sick. Strangely, Hibari was the one who stayed closest to Tsuna, at a moderate distance, his way of saying that he did not agree with what he was doing but respected him. The closer he would be to take care of everything if he relapsed, whether Tsuna wanted him to or not. Perhaps Tsuna did not see what was wrong with his actions today, but the others did and summed it up in a single word: vulnerability. In those conditions, Tsuna was much more vulnerable to anything that happened, and his health could decline further. And even knowing this, Tsuna continued with whatever he was doing instead of simply staying home to rest and recover.
The Rescue
Before anyone saw him coming, Tsuna fell from the stairs. He had walked almost all of them, but apparently, the fever had exceeded his limits and caused him to lose his strength momentarily. Even if Tsuna had seen it coming, he would have refused to say so and any help. Chrome couldn't grab him in time despite her efforts, and neither could Hibari. Both guardians tried as best they could to reach him as they saw him fall, as if he had fainted halfway down. Both only had to witness the blow that the boy was going to give himself against the stairs and the ground. It was a good height despite having traveled so far; he only had six steps left to go.
"Hmph, how disappointing…" was the only thing that Tsuna thought, who was barely conscious. He had lost the connection with his body once again. When there were a few milliseconds left before he hit the ground, Tsuna smiled slightly before closing his eyes. He had no way to save himself and he was very close to the bottom. To his surprise, and most likely that of the others, he crashed into someone's chest.
"Juudaime-e… Are you—For God's sake, you're burning…"
"Ah, it's just Gokudera-san… surely Yamamoto-san is nearby… surely they heard the gunshots, they shouldn't be here…" If Tsuna had been mentally okay at that moment, he would have started to panic due to worry: he was almost certain that they hated him, or at least didn't want to see him at the moment. Because of these lines of thought, and the fact that he was about to faint, his last thought was, "Why do I feel so warm and…?"
"You're very hot, we have to—"
"I am sorry…"
"Hey, it's not—O-Oe… Hell, he fainted…" Even so, Gokudera didn't stop hugging him, even if he was quite uncomfortable about it.
"The fever must have risen more," Hibari commented, giving them a glacial look.
"W-we have to lower it, and quickly," the baseball player murmured, understanding the comment and fearing for his life. But he did not understand why the prefect seemed to want to kill them.
"If he's sick, what the hell is Juudaime doing here?" Although he was not at all comfortable referring to the impostor as "Juudaime."
However, the figure in his arms did not respond, nor was he even conscious enough to hear him, and even if he had, they doubted that he would have given them an answer. As best he could, Gokudera carried him in his arms, trying not to show his anger and discomfort, and under the watchful eye of everyone present. But to his great surprise, Tsuna was as light as a feather; he weighed almost nothing. He had lost more weight than they thought. Gokudera ran a hand through his hair. It was wet with sweat, but that didn't matter to him (he was just checking how bad the fever was). His face was slightly pale with pink cheeks and nose, a sign that he was quite sick, as was the fact that he was struggling to breathe, and doing it faster and more shallowly. It wasn't good. It wasn't good at all.
"We are going to stabilize him in the infirmary, and then we take him home," Gokudera said. By "stabilize" he meant to lower his fever. "He has too high a temperature."
"Hmph." Don't call me herbivore, Hibari thought irritably. "Here, herbivores…"
For once, they did not argue; there was no time for that. They followed Hibari as fast as they could to the infirmary without neglecting Tsuna and avoiding running into any students. If they did, they could disturb Tsuna unintentionally. In addition, it could delay them and cause an incident that could harm him even more physically, which could end in a great catastrophe, with Tsuna as a victim and probably the recipient of all the damage. Things were bad for him in these conditions, and they had no reason to aggravate them even more than they were (not yet, at least). For nothing in the world did they want to see their Tsuna in bad condition, so just seeing him in this state was depressing. And knowing that and how the situation could end and worsen, it was very obvious that they would fight with their teeth if necessary to prevent it, impostor or not.
"Lay him down here. I'll go get a cloth with water and some blankets. I'll be back," Gokudera said.
"I'll go get some medicine," Yamamoto offered.
"I'll find a thermometer," Chrome added.
"Hmph."
Quickly, everyone did what they said, although Hibari didn't need to say anything to make them understand that the rest would be left to them. However, he stayed near the infirmary with clear intentions of watching them, especially the boys. For some reason, Hibari seemed to have some problem with the two of them that they didn't know, and maybe didn't even want to know. On the other hand, Hibari did not stay there only for them, but also to bite anyone who came to bother. Which should not be technically possible, because they all had to be in their classes, and if they were adults then they had to be working on what they should be doing, because that is what they were paid for. However, practice was not equal to theory. The only reason this place respected the rules was because of the disciplinary committee, or more specifically, by Hibari. Even the director did what he ordered without complaint. Therefore, in general, the law and discipline was him. If people did not abide by the rules, he would bite them to death.
It was quite a challenge to make Tsuna swallow the medicines, which were few but necessary to reduce the fever. They placed a blanket over his body and a damp cloth on his forehead, which they had to change constantly because it heated up too quickly for their liking. That only meant that the fever was still amazingly high, and that was not good at all.
"40 degrees…" Yamamoto read on the thermometer. "Isn't 39 the temperature of a fever?"
"No… more than 37 degrees is the beginning of a fever."
Silence.
"Juudaime… literally… he's on fire."
"Gao."
They looked at the source of the sound. Natsu looked at them with the most murderous and furious look they had ever seen in their life from their master's stomach. Even while giving them that look, he curled up in that place. It was something extremely strange in their opinion. Why did Natsu defend this impostor so much? He was not Tsuna. Why didn't he realize that?
"Hmph…" Hibari almost smiled, pleased. More proof than that he couldn't have. "Herbivores, leave."
"Who—"
"Or I'll bite you to death," he said, showing his tonfas and placing himself in a fighting position.
With no other options and not wanting to start a fight with the prefect, both boys left. When they were outside, Hibari looked at the girl, who nodded obediently and walked out as well. Seeing this, Natsu changed his expression and looked at the prefect with curiosity and suspicion. The prefect smiled this time.
"From what I see, we both think that the Omnivore is the Omnivore." At this, the lion cub relaxed and nodded slowly. "Tell me, is he the Omnivore from another dimension or timeline?"
Because the usual Omnivore would not have been able to do anything to him without a present threat to the other herbivores. He did not have enough self-esteem to fight for himself, let alone defend himself. This one, on the other hand, had a rather strange self-esteem. He was even shorter than the other Tsuna, but at the same time, he showed more confidence in his abilities and radiated authority, just as he didn't seem to trust any of his family much, which was the complete opposite of the other Omnivore. He may not have seen all the facts, but he certainly knew where he stood, and he knew exactly what the Omnivore was.
Natsu only looked at him for a moment before sighing and nodding.
"Hmmm…" That explained the slight differences. It explained why he showed more of his true nature.
"Gao…"
It didn't take long for Hibari to understand the plea, and he simply said while patting his head:
"I don't care what happened, he's still the Omnivore."
This Omnivore knew them all pretty well, so… until he returned to where he should be, Hibari would take care of him, early or not, because… Isn't that what friends were for?