Tsuna came to in a blur. His mind was still groggy, and his body felt like one giant bruise, but he was alive, so at least he had that going for him. Actually, a giant bruise was probably an understatement, but the words to describe the agony he was feeling were missing.
Still, he had expected death. Not only because that fucking Thing shot him, but because he had pushed his body so far beyond what it could handle with Time Accel that he assumed every minor part of him would have dissolved into goop as his muscles broke down.
So just agony was the best-case scenario that he never dared to even hope for.
His eyes opened slowly, and he was greeted with the sight of the blue sky above him, the clouds floating softly and the sun beating down on him. For a brief moment he felt at peace staring at that sky, but the fucking baby ruined it by entering his vision and standing over him.
"Ciaossu," the child-like thing greeted him again with an easygoing nature that had Tsuna's mind spinning. It was so strange. He had tried to murder this Thing with everything he had, but the child did not even seem to mind his actions.
That disconnect almost stopped him from acting for a brief moment… almost.
His unbroken hand rushed toward the figure standing above him, rushing to impale the fucker, but Reborn only let out a chuckle as he dodged idly. Reborn then placed the gun that shot him directly against Tsuna's forehead and cocked it back.
That action caused Tsuna to freeze. It was a threat, and while it had not worked previously, there was a vital difference between then and now. Before, this Thing's attitude had been light and easygoing even as it shot him in the fucking head. This time an aura of sheer menace was screaming from the innocent-looking baby.
If before he felt like he had the attention of an apex predator on him, now it felt like he was facing a natural disaster that was going to consume him, and there was not a fucking thing he could do about it. The certainty of death and the pointlessness of even trying to fight against it.
This was not like when he was shot in the head and rebelled against that fate, if only to cave in this fucker's face. He could not muster the same amount of resolve no matter how much he struggled to try. It was infuriating, but it was just how it was.
The sun shines, the heavens cry, and Tsuna was going to die if he kept trying to fight. It was simply the truth.
"As much as I enjoy playing with you, Tsuna, you are only hurting yourself with your actions. You are a thousand years too early to even try to kill me," Reborn let out a scoff as he moved the pistol away from Tsuna's forehead.
When the gun moved away from his head, he felt his body collapse from the sudden tension leaving him. He took a deep breath to regulate himself again as the sheer menace faded like a dream. For a brief moment he contemplated striking against this creature again, but the amused, almost taunting look on the baby's face had him holding back.
For some strange reason this creature did not want him dead. So even if he wanted to kill it for messing with the sanctity of his mother's mind, he was just going to have to bide his time for now. He bit his lip in frustration, but he knew when he was beaten.
He looked over at Reborn with a deep frown as he recalled the last thing before he was knocked out. This creature had talked about the flames that burst from his body. Those flames were familiar to him; they were the very essence of his being that was locked behind that Seal, so those flames had a name and categories.
So Tsuna was right. He was supernatural in a sense; it was only that Seal that held him back. This creature was connected to those flames and had declared him a candidate for Vongola. That information was vital to the ignorant, but there was a speck of information that had wrath boiling underneath his skin.
This Thing spoke as if he knew his father. No, it was not just that this Thing knew his father; Reborn was familiar enough with him to call his father an idiot. Meaning his father was connected to the supernatural side of the world. It made sense; the supernatural part of him had to come from somewhere, and his mother was certainly a regular human.
So his father likely knew about these Flames, and it was likely he was FUCKING CONNECTED TO HIS SEAL. His father was a fucking deadbeat who was gone the majority of his life, but Tsuna knew his condition was not a recent thing. He felt like a dead man for as long as he remembered. Meaning the small amount of time he saw his father, that man could have seen that Seal.
There was little to no chance of that man remaining ignorant of something like that.
That fact felt like shards of glass being stabbed in his chest over and over again. It was a betrayal like no other, and he already had a shit opinion on that fucking deadbeat.
"How do you know my father?" Tsuna questioned coldly with narrowed eyes and the wrath he was feeling boiling underneath his skin. He still wanted to bide his time slightly, but this was something he wanted to know no, something he desperately needed to know.
Reborn raised an eyebrow and looked at him with those big wide eyes. A silence settled between the two of them before the impassive look on its face cracked slightly as an amused smile broke free.
"I'm afraid I can't say, but since that idiot turned in such a shit report, I'm not feeling really generous with him right now," Reborn spoke out with a smirk. The creature could not tell him what he wanted to know, but he was all but confirming their connection by hinting at it.
Tsuna gritted his teeth and added another fucking asshole to his list of punch-on-sight. That list only had this creature and his father on it, but it was important to keep track of these things.
"Fine. What the fuck do you want? You're not here to kill me; that much I can guess," Tsuna spat out as he started to rise from his position on the ground. He winced as his body rebelled against that action but managed to rise anyway.
The baby smirked at him again in its infuriating smug way.
"I already told you, Tsuna. I'm your home tutor. It's just that instead of teaching you math, I'm going to teach you how to run a criminal enterprise and the skills needed to dome whoever you want excluding me, of course," Reborn spoke out idly, as if this topic was not completely and utterly absurd.
Tsuna gave Reborn a flat look.
"I don't suppose you are going to take no for an answer and fuck off to wherever you came from," Tsuna spat back at the baby. Reborn just looked at him with an amused, mocking smile.
"Nope. You are not the holder of this contract; you're just the target. If you want me to fuck off, then grow up and make your mark in the underworld. It should not take too long. You've got the killer instinct the mafia needs, and you are willing to destroy every fiber of yourself if it means reaching your goals. Although you need to learn to hold back that instinct, even animals know when they are outmatched," Reborn commented idly, and Tsuna clicked his tongue and looked away from Reborn.
Of course Tsuna knew he was outmatched. He knew it the very second he caught sight of Reborn, but this monster fucked with his mother's mind, so he had decided nothing else mattered. It was better to die against this monster than have his mother dragged into the web it was weaving.
Tsuna was the supernatural one, after all. Although now that he knew his father was also connected to this, he doubted if his death was enough to keep his mother out of this game.
"Fine. I'll learn under you, but if you mess with my mother's head again, deal off," Tsuna spoke out harshly as he glared at Reborn.
The baby snorted and gave him a mocking look.
"Losers don't get to dictate terms," the child spoke out idly, that same mocking smile dancing across its face. Tsuna glared at him with every speck of resolve he had.
"True, but if you cross that line again, I will kill you or die trying. I don't expect to live through the attempt, but me dying means you failed this contract. You might not care, but I'm not going to give you the satisfaction of fulfilling that contract," Tsuna spoke out coldly, his eyes near empty as he showed his resolve.
That small voice that guided all of his actions told him Reborn took pride in fulfilling all contracts he was under. That, and this particular contract was not something he could weasel out of.
Both of them stared at each other for a good long moment before Reborn smirked at Tsuna again.
"You really do have what it takes to thrive in the mafia. Alright. Those terms are acceptable. You are going to have to figure out how to explain this to your mother then," Reborn shrugged as if this small concession did not mean a thing to him.
Relief spread throughout Tsuna. He did not like this Thing, but he knew that Reborn would keep its word. So his mother was safe from this creature's manipulations. He could only hope to god he grew strong enough that other threats would not come rushing in with new threats.
Although he doubted that hope would work out for him. Fate seemed to have it out for him even if they appeared to pity the situation he found himself in.
"You keep mentioning the Mafia. Why is that? What connection does it have with me?" Tsuna asked with narrowed eyes.
Reborn let out a chuckle and smirked at him.
"You were destined to be a part of the mafia from the day you were born. You have blood ties to the direct lineage of the first head of the Vongola Family. Your line was an offshoot that was treated as a spare, but the main line had all of its heirs taken care of, meaning you are the last heir to the Vongola name," Reborn commented lightly while pointing directly at Tsuna.
"Except I'm not," Tsuna spoke out coldly, his frigid expression growing even colder as he glared at Reborn. The baby only let out a light chuckle and waited for Tsuna to say his piece.
"You said my blood is the reason I have a connection to the Vongola Family. That means there are two connections in which that blood could have come from: my father or my mother. And considering how you somehow know that idiot, my father is likely to be the source of that blood. So why are you messing with my life when that idiot no doubt has the same blood?" Tsuna spoke out coldly.
He knew he was doomed to be involved with this Vongola Family even if his father became the heir to the Vongola, but he needed to know why the idiot was not qualified and why this monster was here now instead of leaving him to grow in peace.
"Smart. Smarter than expected. Well, let's just say your father had to swear off his rights to inheritance when he joined a certain faction of the family. He probably never thought he would be in position to inherit since the main family was so stable, or maybe the lazy idiot just did not want to deal with the hassle. Either way, he can't inherit because of certain oaths he made," Reborn explained. That tiny smirk never left his face.
Tsuna cursed his deadbeat father but accepted that reasoning. It was not like he could argue against it; Reborn clearly knew far more about this world than he did.
Maybe he would have feared inheriting a Mafia Family at one point. The fear from the underworld and the feeling of endless self-doubt would have scared him like nothing else, but that point had long since passed.
Tsuna was more than confident he could grow strong enough to rule the Vongola family in any way he wished. His moral compass would not like being tied to a crime family, but might made right, and he could shut down any operations he felt disdainful of when he grew.
[Feat Achieved! Learn about your status!]
[Received one Bronze Ticket.]
Another ticket appeared in his hands, and he idly played with it. He took a look at Reborn to see if he noticed it, since this creature was clearly a part of the supernatural world, but he just stared at him blankly. Maybe he did notice but did not deem it worth commenting, but it looked like his ability ran on a set of rules that was above even supernatural creatures.
He continued to play with the ticket as he tried to figure out what happened to the Gold Ticket he earned from before. As soon as he thought about it, the Bronze Ticket in his hands shifted into a gold one. He blinked at that but thought about the Bronze Ticket again; this time gold shifted to bronze.
It appeared that if he did not immediately rip the ticket, they went somewhere else, and he could summon them with but a thought.
He wondered why that was but shrugged it off. He then ripped the bronze ticket. He was worried about an item appearing before Reborn, but figured Reborn was used to seeing supernatural shit.
[Sweat]
|Trash Ability|
Allows you to sweat on command, either stopping sweating or sweating to supernatural levels to cool your body down.
He blinked at that ability and frowned. Waste of a ticket. Why in god's name would he want to sweat on command? He took out the gold ticket and hesitated. What if he got another trash ability?
That hesitation faded after a moment. Things would happen eventually, so he might as well see what he got.
[Shock Absorption]
|Rare Ability|
Your body absorbs kinetic energy like a sponge, reducing the effectiveness of physical attacks against you.
Tsuna relaxed as he caught sight of that. He was really gearing up to be a monster of close combat at this rate. Two more Abilites and he will be able to equip this and Time Accel at the same time. He tested this new ability by slotting it.
"Hmmm, the scent of danger on you just spiked. You realized something?" Reborn commented from the side, his eyes examining him as if trying to read what changed in him.
Tsuna blinked at that but realized Reborn thought he had an epiphany from the fight between them. Again he frowned as his ability to read intentions from people was much stronger than he expected. Shock Absorption apparently was more of a threat to Reborn than Time Accel.
He then shrugged at Reborn.
"Something like that," Tsuna spoke out with a sharp grin. They may have reached a peace treaty for now, but he was eventually going to get revenge for Reborn messing with his mother's mind.
It was probably not going to be killing the creature before him, but he would end up beating him up for the sake of sending a message. He just needed to gather enough tickets to reach that strength.
How strong could a baby be anyway?