"...Mom," he said for what felt like the hundredth time that morning, a twitch forming in his left eye. "Don't you think you're exaggerating a little?" His mother's response was always the same, no matter what he said.
"Just be quiet, Tsu-kun. You'll ruin the surprise~"
The tic intensified. With no other option—unless he wanted to make his mother cry, earn a punishment, or start a fight—Tsuna retreated to his room, locked the door, and turned on his music player. Leon was a lifesaver, no doubt. He hadn't even remembered that the gadgets Spanner and the others had made for him existed at this time. He owed a huge thanks not only to the chameleon but also to them for including a music player in the whole thing.
"Are you leaving yet?" Tsuna couldn't help but ask, even though it didn't make sense for Leon to stay.
Leon simply seemed to smile at him, then leaped from Tsuna's head to his desk. If Leon were a normal chameleon, Tsuna would have been quite surprised by such an epic jump, but Leon was just epic. The chameleon seemed to laugh at him and began to make a small mess until…
"…And what's…?" Leon looked at him with his big yellow eyes and pressed a button with his tail. "…Headphones?" Tsuna wondered as he heard music, but his curiosity turned into pure joy when he heard more. "Oh my God, I love that song!"
Leon nodded, leaving the object for him to examine. He was no doubt amused to hear Tsuna humming along to the song. He launched himself into another mess, and it didn't take him more than two minutes to find another object.
From the pillow, Leon smiled, lazily opening one eye. He expected at least a chocolate or a cookie; he was hungry, and Tsuna knew all about good desserts. This was an excellent idea. The Tsuna of this time had started dabbling in music (what teenager didn't?), and this Tsuna was still young. Leon was almost certain he would like music, and it would be good entertainment, not to mention it would prevent him from killing anyone if he lost his temper (which was a high possibility, given that the "other movie" would be out soon). And he had to admit… it was good to see him so happy. The only bad thing was…
"Riyuu nante iranakkatte ano hi…" Tsuna hummed in a low voice, lying next to the chameleon.
…that he was a good singer. When his master found out, he'd be put in a movie, or maybe a competition, with the excuse that it would help him overcome his fears. Besides the fact that Tsuna wasn't going to let him sleep, this only made him wonder how many languages the boy knew. More than five, surely.
The only thing Leon didn't know was that Tsuna had the music turned up to a volume that… well, no one would hear easily. Tsuna really didn't want to know anything about what was happening downstairs, absolutely nothing. In fact, the poor boy didn't even know exactly why his mother was doing all this, but he had a pretty good idea, and that only made him more moody. Frankly, he couldn't blame her, but that didn't mean he was going to smile, support, and help her. Those days died a long, long time ago.
"Stop following me, you idiot!"
"But I'm not following you. We're just going in the same direction, with the same direction and the same magnitude." Yamamoto said with a huge smile. Tsuna was an incredible tutor.
"I can't believe…" Gokudera stopped himself from hitting a wall or blowing up the other guy. It was too irritating! "Wait a minute… who the hell taught you that?" It dawned on him almost immediately: Yamamoto was a complete failure at math, so it was illogical for him to know the definition of a vector.
"Ma ma… Would you believe me if I told you I learned it myself?" Yamamoto laughed a little at the look he received, which clearly said, "Not even when hell freezes over." "I guess not," he conceded. He was right; math wasn't his strong suit. "Tsuna taught me. He's a good teacher when he's not irritated, annoyed, and you're paying attention… and, of course, if he's in a good mood. Otherwise, he's a little devil…"
"…You're not going to stop me, are you, Yamamoto?" Tsuna said with a strange smile.
"Huh, sorry, I was listening to the noises downstairs. It seems that Dad brought Tuna…" He was cut off by a chilling laugh that made his hair stand on end. "T-Tsuna?"
"I see, I understand. No problem at all." The smile grew stranger with every moment. "You kidnapped me for this, and now you're not even stopping me. I think it's excellent, very well done, Yamamoto. I congratulate you." He applauded to emphasize the last part.
Yamamoto broke out in a cold sweat. Heavens, if he puts it that way…
"You can't blame me, Tsuna. He's hungry—"
"I think it's fantastic," Tsuna cut him off. Out of nowhere, he pulled out a stack of papers and placed them in front of Yamamoto. "You have thirty minutes. If you don't finish the 666 questions by then, I'm afraid there will be a punishment."
"W-Wait, Tsuna, you're kidding, right?"
"I'll be back in a while. I'm going to take care of things downstairs, since you said he's hungry." He smiled in a way that Yamamoto knew meant he was doomed, and a chill ran through him. "Natsu will be your assistant while I'm gone. Any doubt, question, or suggestion, you can give to him."
The lion cub purred at his master's caresses, then looked Yamamoto straight in the eye, smiled, and took a bite out of the air. Yamamoto swallowed. Oh heavens…
"Questions?"
"Tsu—"
"I think it's excellent. You're a great student." With that, he left the room, leaving a teenager fearing for his life while a lion cub scratched the wood and bit his pants. Then he realized: 666 questions! He would finish them a—
"Gao!"
"Ouchhhhhhh!" He rubbed the bitten spot. "Okay, okay, I'm starting!" Those teeth were way too sharp…
"…Did you find out the hard way?" For some reason, Gokudera felt sorry for the other boy. Tsuna had made it very clear that he could be quite sadistic and, to a certain extent, cruel.
"It was my fault, I admit." Yamamoto scratched his head nervously. "He was absolutely right to be upset…" And he couldn't blame him for retaliating. "But I'll say it again: he's a good teacher."
"Of course!" Yamamoto laughed a little. What else could he do? "Juudaime is the best! An idiot like you would never be as—"
"Neither would you, my dear friend." He wasn't the only idiot here; they just took turns being perfect idiots. It was a shame Tsuna was the one who had to get involved with all of it.
"Who are you calling an idiot, you idiot?!" The bomber finally exploded, pulling out three sticks of dynamite and about to make the other boy swallow them.
"I don't think it's a good idea to use those fireworks now. Tsuna could kill us if he's happily sleeping…" It was a real possibility, and frankly, he didn't want to find out. "And he needs his rest. You know how colds are…" Terribly misleading.
As if he'd had a rope cut, Gokudera grimaced in disappointment and put away his dynamite, but not before giving a death glare to his companion, who only laughed. Neither of them bothered to knock on the door; it wasn't necessary at this point. They simply walked past, announcing their entrance—or at least that was their intention.
"Good afternoon, boys, welcome! Tsuna is upstairs if you want to go see him." With that, Nana continued to place food and decorations on the table, humming a strange, cheerful melody.
Not knowing what to say, think, or do in the face of what was in front of them, both boys just pretended not to see anything and went to see Tsuna. Even so, they couldn't help but wonder why so much food and so many decorations. If it was a visit, it must be a very special one.
"…It's locked." They looked at each other. Why was it locked? He had to know they were coming.
Filled with questions, they started to play games. After about five minutes, the door opened, revealing a rather happy Tsuna humming something.
"Oh, it's you." He smiled even wider. "Come on in, or do you want to stand there?"
"You don't have a fever…" Tsuna batted the hand away from his forehead and rolled his eyes.
"Mom didn't let me go to class today for some reason," he explained, sitting on the bed. "What do you want to do? Video games? Movies?"
Just then, a screech was heard outside the room, and Tsuna's smile faltered, allowing them to see that he was upset, but not at them. If they weren't curious about what was happening in the house before, they certainly were now.
"If I may ask, Juudaime…" Gokudera's curiosity was getting the better of him. "What is all your mother's dedication for…?"
"She only does that when my dad comes." He replied with an unfriendly look. "And no, I don't want to talk about it, and I don't want to know anything about it at all." He gave them a look that said, "It's an order."
"Ma ma… that explains why you locked the door." Apparently, this Tsuna didn't love his father very much… or maybe he was just very angry at him.
"If he comes, this won't save me, but it will." He nodded gently. "Anyway, what do you want to do? I'm the only one in the house besides my mom, so for God's sake, choose something good."
With that said, they had to obey. It was obvious that Tsuna wanted to forget about the whole thing, but knowing their fate, it wouldn't be for long. It wasn't that they were going to tell him; as funny as it was to see him upset and pouting, they were afraid that he would actually get angry at them, and they hadn't come for that. Almost an hour later…
"Hahahahaha…! Enough! Hahahahaha!" Tsuna could hardly breathe at this point.
"Do you give up?" Hey, you have to use every weapon at your disposal to win.
"Never!" He kept crying/laughing. They were bad, really mean to him.
"You said it." They could spend all day on this. Blam!
"…They deserve it…" Tsuna just hoped he hadn't hit him in a bad place. If he had planned it, it wouldn't have turned out so perfectly. Definitely not.
"My noble parts…" Yamamoto, the poor unfortunate, cried before falling to the ground in a fetal position.
Gokudera, feeling very lucky, offered his condolences to Yamamoto before saying to his dear boss, "Sometimes you're very drastic, Juudaime…" There were many other places he could have kicked. However, the answer he expected was not what he got.
"If I had planned it, it wouldn't have turned out so perfectly, believe me…" His chest hurt, his throat hurt, his head hurt, and even his foot hurt, no matter how strange that sounded. "I was thinking of asking Natsu for help… A good bite would have been ideal, but…"
"…You're very drastic, Juudaime," he repeated, a little amused.
"It's not my fault… my tongue hurts now…" Gokudera grimaced. They had turned him almost blue with so many tickles when the avenging kick of death appeared.
"It's your fault for not letting us win a single time." Then, he realized his mistake and bent down completely until he touched the floor with his nose. "Excuse my audacity…"
"And I was wondering if that part of you had finally gone on vacation…" Tsuna complained before turning on his headphones again. He didn't feel like listening to the thousand and one apologies from his self-proclaimed right hand.
If Yamamoto hadn't been in the world of "everything hurts," he would have laughed and started a good fight with the other guy. Instead, Gokudera was in shock for a second before apologizing again, this time for disappointing his Juudaime. Not that Tsuna had heard him; he was in his own little world, waiting for his body to recover from the assault and for Yamamoto to return to the land of the living, which might take a while. A good while.
Five minutes later, Gokudera realized he was being ignored and just sadly looked at Tsuna, not understanding why he was being ignored. At least, that was until he noticed certain details. Heavens, Tsuna could easily tear them to shreds now. He wouldn't even have to look for the gloves anymore; he was wearing them. He also had the headphones on, and if he wasn't mistaken, he was listening to music.
"Hmm?" Tsuna gave a low growl. He wasn't used to being poked with a finger… or anything, really.
"What are you listening to?" Again, curiosity killed the cat.
"Drawing Days," was the simple answer from the person who was looking at him with one eye, lazily. "Oh, it doesn't matter, change. Listen to the stereo~"
Gokudera broke out in a cold sweat and glanced sideways at the fallen warrior. He was practically dead. He was about to suggest to Tsuna that they play another game, something other than Mario Kart (Tsuna left them in the dust even though he did nothing but drive and dodge), when:
"Tsu-kun, come downstairs!" Nana called happily.
Tsuna grimaced but didn't move, nor did he give any indication of hearing her. A rather awkward silence formed, but Yamamoto was "happily" out of it.
"Juudaime…" It really wasn't his problem.
"If I don't go, Mom will get sad and worse. And if I go, I have to…" Blam! "Well, never mind. Can you make sure Yamamoto is okay while I…?"
"No problem, Juudaime!" Poor wall, though…
"Thank you, Gokudera-kun." He gave him a big smile before leaving the room.
When Gokudera heard the door close, he allowed himself to stare in near horror at the poor wall. If, as he had thought, Tsuna could now tear anyone to shreds even more easily and quickly than before, he wondered if Tsuna even felt the change at all. He had been in Hyper Dying Will Mode for only five seconds before returning to normal as if nothing had happened after venting his anger on the wall. Although, maybe he should be wondering how they were going to explain this to Reborn instead.
"Here I am, Mom," he managed to say with a smile to his mother, though he didn't know how.
"Look who's here, Tsu-kun!" Nana might be a ray of sunshine right now, but not for Tsuna.
"Tuna-fish—"
"Go away, old man." He dodged the hug and tripped his father. No, no, and no. That man wasn't going to touch him that easily, whether in the past, present, or future. "Good afternoon, Grandpa. How was the trip, and to what do I owe the honor of seeing you here?" he asked with a simple smile. He was happy to see him; he hadn't in years, but he wasn't very comfortable either.
"…It was comfortable, I must say." The Ninth took his eyes off the father crying about how cruel his "Tuna-fish" was. "And drop the formalities, come here."
"H-Hey!" Tsuna complained, but he still returned the hug. "I missed you, Grandpa…" he confessed in a low voice, but the old man still heard him.
Timothy felt a little bad for the boy in his arms. Primo had told him a lot of things, but he couldn't let the others present see anything strange. In a way, he wasn't surprised. The first thing he was going to do when Tsuna took office was to go far away from the mansion and enjoy his last years in peace. He wouldn't go to the mansion unless it was for something extremely urgent. And so, he wasn't surprised: Tsuna must have been too busy to visit him, and if he didn't visit either, it made a lot of sense. The only thing, for now, that he didn't understand was why Tsuna treated his father like that. Shouldn't he love him more than his grandfather?
"Give your father a hug."
"First, I'd rather be dead." The bitter response was combined with a laser-like glare that could make anyone freeze and cry for their mother.
"…Oh dear, what did I do wrong?"
"I'm not an idiot, old fish. My name is Tsunayoshi, TSUNA." If looks could kill, Iemitsu would have been burned to ashes in his grave. "Leave Mom out of this business, understand?"
Almost frightened, Timothy stroked Tsuna's hair in an attempt to calm him. Tsuna was tense and seemed ready to start a vicious fight with his father. The Tsuna he knew didn't hate his father, but he didn't show much affection either—he was more… neutral, likely because he'd gone so long without seeing him and had lived alone with his mother. Timothy had told Iemitsu several times in the past: if he didn't want his relationship with his son to be a mere formality, he had to visit him and spend time with him.
"And another thing: DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT GETTING DRUNK." Both men swallowed. Heavens, what anger. "Any mess you make, you clean up yourself, do you hear me?"
"Ara ara, Tsu-kun, don't you think you're being a little…"
"No. I'm tired, Mom. Tired of the fact that every time he comes, it's only for a few days, he gets drunk, and you have to clean up all his messes. I'm tired of having to put up with all the weird talks he likes to have with me when he's drunk, and I'm tired of being called 'Tuna-fish.' I am not a fish." He redirected his gaze to the speechless man. "Take Mom on a date at the very least. A good date. I don't care if it takes all day." The authoritarian and annoying tone carried a hidden threat.
"Tsu-kun—"
"No. You have your rules; I have mine, and he'll have to obey whether he wants to or not. I'm the man of this house." This left even Nana speechless. "You may be my mother, and I respect you, but understand that I only want the best for you, and if that means going against you, I'll gladly do it."
Timothy almost laughed; he more or less understood what was happening. Tsuna resented his father for not only doing a poor job as a father but also as a husband. It made a lot of sense. Tsuna has always had his mother, and no one else. The biggest difference was that this Tsuna was older and a Mafia boss; he wasn't going to sit idly by. Well, Timothy had told Iemitsu this would happen. Tsuna was simply throwing the consequences in his face.
"I'm going to the kitchen. If I find any beer or alcoholic beverage, it's going to disappear," he promised with a wicked and annoyed smile.
"I don't know whether to laugh or feel sorry for you," said an amused voice from out of nowhere. "Tsuna's been in a bad mood since we arrived because he knew you were coming…" Gokudera was quite impressed, even though he never thought Tsuna would do something like that. Tsuna really cared about his mother, and boy, did he have courage.
"Ma ma, I hope they didn't buy a lot of alcohol."
"Hmmmm… I'll keep this one." Everyone was shocked. Seriously? Tsuna couldn't—
"What? It's not my fault that they brought punch." Tsuna shrugged. "The rest is gone, too, don't worry," he assured his mother, who looked like she was about to faint. "And you… no alcohol in the house, or any foreign objects." He then turned to Gokudera with a smile and handed him the glass. "Do you want some? It's delicious."
And so, as stupidly bizarre as it was, the meeting began. Tsuna talked animatedly with Nono and his friends, avoiding and ignoring his father, and helping his mother whenever he could. It was almost funny to see Tsuna with Nono; Tsuna was genuinely happy to see him, even if you could tell he was a little wary. But that was to be expected: a Mafia boss wouldn't just come to visit for no reason.
"I wonder who that is…" Tsuna murmured, getting up to open the door before his mother, who was still unable to fully digest what had happened to her "cute Tsu-kun."
Out of everyone's sight, Tsuna's smile dropped for a moment, replaced by a dark look. I didn't think I'd have to see that man, he complained internally. Bad father, bad husband… He remembered all the times he'd seen his mother sad or crying during his childhood, even if he couldn't recall everything clearly. And yet he wants to be welcomed with open arms, as if nothing happened. Tsuna knew very well the dangers and limitations of Mafia life. Oh, of course he knew. But even with all that, he also knew that his father could have done a little more for them. Not only that, it was his fault that he'd been chosen as the Tenth Vongola, without a word, without a question—just as an obligation.
He could forgive all that and more. He wasn't a bad person, after all, and he had helped many, directly and indirectly. What Tsuna doubted he could ever forgive was making his mother cry so many times, getting her hopes up, and then leaving her alone without even visiting. For him, it didn't matter so much. He was just a useless child, and he understood that his father might not have wanted anything to do with him because of that. He couldn't blame him for wanting a better son. But he couldn't understand why his mother had to suffer for it too.
"Hello, brat." An annoyed man greeted him, refraining from calling the person in front of him "mini-trash" for obvious reasons.
"Xanxus-nii!"
When Xanxus showed up in the dining room, where everyone was gathered, he did so with a Tsuna smiling from ear to ear and hugging him like a teddy bear. This left the newcomers stunned. Honestly, Xanxus didn't like being anyone's teddy bear, but Tsuna was much stronger (and more sadistic) than him, so he wasn't going to bother pushing him away. Plus, the brat was just being affectionate. He wasn't going to kill him, was he?
"How can my Tuna-fish hug this guy and not me?" Iemitsu cried. "Xanxus is the one who threatened him, wounded him, almost killed his own father—"
"Because he's my dumb uncle," the boy explained with an even bigger smile, hugging his "uncle" even tighter. "Legally, he's my uncle if Nono is my grandfather, right? But I prefer him as my older brother… he's not old enough to be my uncle, is he, Xanxus-nii?"
Xanxus was sure that if the boy had been able to purr, he would have done it loudly. Nono, still surprised, looked at Xanxus for an explanation, but the other boss was as "unavailable information" as he was. They had to admit, though, legally Tsuna was right.
"And where are the others? Were you alone, Xanxus-nii?"
"They're coming in a while." I wanted a quiet moment before it all went to hell… Unable to help himself, he ruffled Tsuna's hair, earning a small laugh from him.
"But Tuna—"
"How many times do I have to tell you, you old idiot?!" Xanxus blinked, while the rest, except for Iemitsu, grimaced, almost knowing that this was going to happen. Even Nana knew. "I'm not a fish! My name is Tsunayoshi! Call me that or don't call me at all." He hissed, super annoyed. How many times had I said that—wait a minute…
"Brat?"
Someone pass him a stick to see if he'll react…
"…We look like Maka and Spirit from Soul Eater." A vein on Tsuna's forehead pulsed. "I'll clamp down on you if you call me 'Tuna' again, okay?" He gave him an almost maniacal smile that only Yamamoto didn't flinch at.
"Ma ma, don't worry, Tsuna. We'll make sure you don't have to go through the same thing as Maka," the baseball player assured him, knowing what had just gone through his friend's head. He couldn't blame him, only support him. "Sir, just call him Tsunayoshi if you want to avoid a fight with him. I can assure you that you won't win."
"…Okay," said the man, still crying.
"I have a question, and it's not about the parent-child relationship." Gokudera said. He couldn't blame Tsuna, either. He had watched several episodes of Soul Eater when he was bored. "How did you suddenly get along so well with Xanxus?"
Tsuna hadn't seen that coming; he didn't even think about it. He had believed their relationship would remain formal.
"Mom, would you mind going out with Dad for a while? Let me take you on your well-deserved date at once, don't you think? I'll take care of the house, don't worry."
"But—"
"Come on, darling. Thank you so much, Tsu-kun." She kissed him on the cheek and dragged her husband out the door. She understood that Tsuna wanted to talk to them alone, and she needed to have a good, long talk with her husband.
Tsuna smiled slightly, then the smile vanished. He looked at them, pushed Xanxus into a chair, and sat on another chair separate from them. His posture was that of a powerful leader, one who screamed, "Be careful." They wondered if Tsuna even realized it, or if it was just natural from years of practice they didn't even know how many there really were.
"Why shouldn't I get along with him? He's a good person," Tsuna said, his tone changing from anger to curiosity. "He's part of the family, just like you. Therefore, I have to give him a chance despite all the disasters and mistakes he's made with me and with many other things." He paused. "You, who sealed my flames believing it was for the best—I'm still not sure that was a good idea, Grandpa." He turned to Xanxus. "And you, who tried to kill me and my friends for this." He took the ring off his finger and played with it, as if it were worthless. "A ring that is worth absolutely nothing compared to what family is worth…"
"…" What the hell could they say to that?
"Among other details and more… why shouldn't I get along with Xanxus-nii? Everyone deserves a second chance, everyone." He sentenced with an almost lethal look, returning the ring to its place. Then, he smiled like a child who had just won a toy. "He's also soft to hug!"
Gokudera choked on a piece of chicken. Yamamoto just blinked several times. Xanxus looked like he wanted to kill him, and his grandfather… his grandfather put a hand to his forehead and laughed. What else could he do?
"I'm not your bao-brat pillow!" he quickly corrected himself when he saw Tsuna's eyes glow in defiance. Oh lord, no… I am not going to go through that again.
"I didn't say you are." But it doesn't mean you aren't. It's your own fault, Xanxus-nii, he thought with an amused smile.
"What happened to you this time, brat? You look like you've been partying for three days straight." It wasn't a lie; he looked horrible with those dark circles.
"Very funny…" Tsuna murmured, without looking up from his paperwork. He was going to finish, and frankly, he wished there were more. That way he wouldn't have to go to sleep. "Hey!" he exclaimed in surprise and fear.
"To bed, dwarf."
"But I haven't finished."
"I don't give a damn. To bed, I said." Without another word, the Varia boss took the Tenth Vongola to his room as if he were a sack of potatoes. Once there, he tossed him onto the bed, tactfully enough that he wouldn't fall out of it (unaware that the bed was bigger than anything else in the room). "Sleep. Now." He emphasized the word "now," using the most frightening look he had in his arsenal.
Tsuna looked at him for a moment as if he was going to say something, but in the end, he just turned his back on him. Xanxus grunted slightly after a few minutes. If this boy thought he was going to trick him… he was years away from achieving it.
"W-What—"
"Shut up, mini-trash, and go to sleep at once." If Tsuna really believed he was fooling anyone, he needed glasses.
After a moment of debating what was happening, Tsuna hugged him and snuggled into his arms shyly. Xanxus said nothing, just hugged him back and ran his fingers along his back. After a few minutes, Xanxus stopped and sighed deeply before saying to the unconscious boy:
"…I don't know your reasons, but by refusing to sleep, you're not helping anyone, idiot." But in the end, Xanxus couldn't do a thing. He was just visiting, and only God knew how long Tsuna had been doing this. He would have to have another talk with his guardians.
"Ma ma, do you want some juice? Because I do," Yamamoto interrupted. He felt like a rabbit in the middle of a tiger and a lion: a rather angry tiger who was about to gouge out the lion's eyes while the lion only played with the tiger in a friendly way.
"That makes two," said the old man.
"What about you, Juudaime?" Gokudera almost made a face, because now that he thought about it, Tsuna was like the king of the house, and one with enough experience that he shouldn't have. To think he would behave as always in the presence of his father… it was like bringing another lion to the cage; there would be war. And it wasn't that he was comparing his prized boss to a lion, not at all, but it made perfect sense considering Natsu was a lion.
"I just want to hug Xanxus-nii to death," the boy joked, making a vein burst on the other man's forehead. "Jokes aside… anything would be fine, Gokudera-kun." He then looked at his grandfather. "Is that really what brings you here? Does it have anything to do with what happened these days? If so… I don't want to talk about—"
"Brat, if we had come to talk about it, you'd be chained up by now." That issue was not the reason for this visit.
"I'll be honest… I'm escaping from paperwork and also to see how you are. I don't want to talk about business, problems, or anything like that, at least for today," the old man complained.
Tsuna broke out in a cold sweat, then laughed until he couldn't. He could understand his grandfather perfectly.
"So, brat… spit it out. How do you know how to summon your flames without help and use the properties of the Sun's Flame?" The laughter died on the spot.
"…This brat of yours certainly has his moments," a red-haired boy whistled, smiling because of the fun of it all.
"He's a good boy," Primo muttered. A weight had fallen from his shoulders the moment he saw Tsuna hug his grandfather, and now he was extremely relieved to see him act almost as he used to—on one of his bad days, in those moments when he tried to assure his family that everything was fine, or when he had a friendly fight with one of them.
"Good boy?" Lampo joked. "More like a wolf in sheep's clothing if you ask me. Well… more specifically, an omnivore, as Alaude says, and the guy with the little bird."
"Hmph," Alaude agreed from a corner.
"It's quite normal. He's having fun," G. said. "And he's done worse. He was more like a kid with big toys, courtesy of a certain Arcobaleno. As long as they don't make some bad comment, bad move, insinuation, whatever, everything will be fine, nufufufu…"
"I hate to admit it, but that guy is almost bipolar now," G. said. "It's not the boy's fault. He's happy and everything, but when he remembers something from the last years of his life (something quite frequent), he becomes badly depressed."
"By the way, Giotto, you gave the old man over there a good punishment," Asari said with a mischievous smile.
However, all the smiles soon disappeared, replaced by worried looks. While it was true that Giotto cared a lot about Tsuna, he wasn't the only one, and not just because Giotto was his friend. The boy was simply too good and loving for his own good, and perhaps that was what had him in such a sad situation now.
"He'll be fine, you'll see," Asari tried to reassure him, placing a hand on his shoulder in an attempt to comfort him. But that didn't seem to have much effect; it only made the blonde nod and sit down for a moment.
Perhaps the person who cared most about that child was Giotto, because he had not seen any other human being who suffered so much and tried to help and comfort his descendant all these years, even though he knew that most of his attempts would remain just that: attempts. The other creature that seemed to rival Giotto was Natsu, and maybe even surpassed the blond. But Natsu shared many similarities with Tsuna; they were connected in more ways than one and had been almost the only company Tsuna had in recent years. Perhaps it was a cruel thing to think about, but Natsu felt what Tsuna felt, so it was probably almost a self-consolation to the relationship that Natsu and Tsuna had over the years.
"Che, the boy is not alone, Giotto-sama," G. said aloud without even looking, an almost confident smile on his face.
For the first time in what seemed like years, Giotto shared the smile.
"You're right… he's no longer alone."