A Thousand Thanks

They were on two sides of the spectrum, he and Reborn.

Fiddling with the Vongola ring, Tsuna tapped his pen against the desk as his vision blurred out of focus the more he delved into his thoughts. He was only fifteen, still a little stupid, still a little ignorant, but he was aware of the difference between he and his tutor - how could he not, when it was twenty feet wide and decorated with flashing neon lights that changed colors as quickly as Gokudera's temper?

He was fifteen, still a kid with a little too much on his shoulders than what an average teen should have, but he knew. Reborn was dark and cruel and embodied perfection. He was mafia on two feet wearing a fedora. He was Tsuna's future smirking back at him whenever he brought out his mallet.

But Reborn was also kindness and diligence and the best tutor Tsuna had ever had. He stuck around even when his job was done; he came back with a ridiculous title change for Tsuna when he complained about being Decimo, and even though Tsuna had only felt indignant then, he appreciated the effort afterward. Reborn threatened him enough about leaving his sorry behind if he didn't straighten out his priorities, but they were empty threats because he knew Tsuna would get it together. Reborn believed in him.

Honestly, despite their ups and downs, that was all Tsuna could ever ask from him.

"What are you thinking about, Tsuna?"

Tsuna jumped, eyes flicking over to his window where Reborn was climbing through. Since breaking the curse, Reborn hadn't changed much, but what change that did happen was celebrated with a small tilt of lips and grateful leniency on his tutor's end.

He stretched his arms as Reborn leaped onto his desk with a single jump. The hitman glanced up at him, curiosity flickering behind the black of his eyes. Tsuna smiled. "Nothing, Reborn."

"Liar," his tutor immediately retorted. Even so, he settled down across from him and pointed a finger at his homework. "That's wrong."

"What? I checked it three times!"

Reborn huffed. "Well, check it three more times. It's wrong."

"But I- argh!" Tsuna glared at the algebra problem printed on his worksheet and searched for any possible mistakes he could have made in the process of solving it. When he couldn't find any, he decided to just do it all over again to save himself from a headache. Engrossed as he was, checking his math and comparing it to his previous attempt, he almost didn't hear Reborn murmur something underneath his breath just loud enough for him to catch.

"Grazie."

Tsuna blinked. He looked up to see Reborn as passive as ever. "Did you say something?"

"No." His hand inched towards Leon, who sat around his shoulders this time around. "Do your homework, Tsuna. I expect it to be perfect when I check it later."

"But- "

"A mafia Boss doesn't complain." A pause. Then, "A mafia Boss shouldn't need someone to tell them not to complain, either."

"I'm not a mafia Boss yet!" Tsuna said, waving his arms as he backed his chair away from Reborn, the glint in onyx eyes promising pain Tsuna didn't want to subject himself to.

"You will be. That's all that matters."

"I don't want to be a mafia Boss, Reborn!"

"Then I'll make you," Reborn said. He tipped the brim of his fedora over his eyes. "I'll make you become Vongola Decimo and stick to you like a parasite until the day you die to make sure you don't back out like a coward. I'll be there to see you be the greatest Boss Vogola ever had because I won't let my student be anything but." He smirked, sending a frightening chill down Tsuna's spine. "Get used to having me around, Tsuna."

Before he could adamantly reject Reborn's solution - threat - the hitman hopped off the desk and strode out the room without listening to Tsuna's half-formed, garbled string of refusals trailing after him.

He didn't realize until later that Reborn had basically promised to stay with him even after he became Decimo. The thought, strangely enough, made his heart swell.

They were different, a free-lance hitman and a no-good kid, but it didn't change the fact that they became Family somewhere along the way.