Tsuna fell into bed, exhausted yet again. He had been training hard with Reborn all afternoon and his body was half destroyed. Between being thrown into cliff faces by Basil, being forced to climb said cliff-faces by Reborn, and then being sent through Colonello's obstacle course of pain he was completely worn out.
"Ow ow ow…. I hurt everywhere! This is all your fault." Tsuna rolled over and covered his head with his pillow. "Arrrrgh! Mm mfr ghmph fgrowt mpmf rmbrm!"
"I'm sorry, what was that, Tsuna?" Reborn landed on the bed next to Tsuna's pillow-covered face.
"I said—I'M NEVER GOING TO FORGET THIS REBORN!" Tsuna threw the pillow halfheartedly at the baby who was now magically on the other end of his bed.
"Of course not, what would be the point of training if you forgot it afterwards, Dame-Tsuna?" Reborn smirked. "Now get to bed, you have school in the morning and after school I've arranged for a special tutor for the next portion of your training."
"Wh-What? More training already? Who did you get this time? If it's Lal again I may as well jump off a cliff now, it would save me the trouble!" Tsuna grabbed the pillow from the end of his bed and covered his face in it again, yelling into it in a combination of frustration and exhaustion.
"Get to bed, Dame-Tsuna. I dislike having to tell you these things twice." Reborn smirked at him as Leon turned into a .45 calibre pistol, a silent threat.
"Wah! I'm going, I'm going!" Tsuna cried out pathetically. Reborn flicked the light switch off. "Hey, Reborn! I haven't changed into my pajamas yet!"
"Get changed in the dark or don't get changed at all, Dame-Tsuna." Reborn hid his smile behind the shadow of his hat, made even darker in the dim room. He shut the door behind him as he left.
Tsuna sighed and pulled his shirt off, falling face first onto his bed. He would shower in the morning, he was too tired to do anything but sleep.
Around midnight, Tsuna had already been snoring for two hours. His door cracked open and Reborn walked in, the light from the hall making his shadow taller and longer. Briefly, Reborn paused, reminiscing what it was like being an adult. He vaguely missed the mobility and respect that he had had before but it was so far in the past it was almost a forgotten memory. His head twitched slightly, making Leon jump. This was the closest to violent head-shaking to clear his thoughts that would ever be expressed by the baby hitman.
He quickly jumped out of the light of the doorway into the room. Walking slowly so he didn't wake Tsuna, (regardless of how heavy a sleeper he was, it was always better to be safe) Reborn sat down gently on the headboard of Tsuna's bed.
Holding his yellow Sun Pacifier in both of his tiny hands, a soft light began to glow, illuminating the room. Leon crawled down his back and settled himself on the headboard next to Reborn, bathing in the light as if it were a heat lamp.
With the darkness of the room lifted by the light of the tiny pacifier, Reborn could see every scratch on Tsuna's bare back, every bruise and potentially cracked rib. He sighed deeply, almost remorsefully and glanced at Leon, who opened one eye and seemed to smile at him in encouragement.
Reborn bowed his head in concentration. The yellow light washed over Tsuna's sleeping body. The cuts in his back slowly closed up and the bruises began to fade. Tsuna's skin glowed as if it had a glowstick underneath it as Reborn concentrated on healing his one broken rib. Only one today, maybe Tsuna was actually getting better.
The light dimmed but did not go out as Reborn sighed and sat back against the wall. His eyes scrunched together in a mild expression of discomfort as he felt his one or two days' worth of growth shrink back into his tiny, now exhausted, body.
He'd need that espresso in the morning. He'd gotten used to drinking espresso instead of using his pacifier to get energy on the hopeful chance that he might go through a period where he wouldn't need to use his power at all and might even grow a few inches. Sure the Arcobaleno grew up faster than ordinary children but at the rate Tsuna was learning, or rather wasn't, he wouldn't see that growth any time in the near future. He really had never minded espresso. It was one of his favorite drinks, but he just felt that it was a weakness to be so dependent on it.
"How did she manage it?" Reborn murmured to himself, referring to the Sky Arcobaleno. Both Luce and Aria had managed to not use their power long enough to have children. It was a mystery to him. He seemed to need his power more often than not these days.
Reborn glanced back down at Tsuna who was now sprawled out on his bed, sleeping more comfortably now without physical pain. He smiled and leaned his head back once again. The light from his pacifier grew and dimmed with his breathing, healing up the last remaining injuries on his student.
Two teenagers walked down the street in front of the Sawada residence on their way home from a party.
"Haha look at that. Dame-Tsuna sure has a bright nightlight!"
"Yeah, he'll always be useless. Will he ever grow up?"
Both boys laughed as they continued walking.
"Dame-Tsuna, one day you'll prove to the rest of the world that you really are worth all of this and more," Reborn spoke softly again.
He yawned as he climbed down to the floor and walked out of the room. He'd need a couple naps tomorrow, he could tell already.
The next morning Tsuna was woken abruptly by being pulled by the toes off his bed and promptly hit over the head with a green Leon-esque hammer.
"Get up, Dame-Tsuna. You'll be late for school." Reborn smirked. "You have ten minutes to be in class before I let Hibari do whatever he wants to you."
"Aaaah! Reborn! Why didn't you wake me up sooner!" Tsuna looked at the clock and ran to his closet to change.
"Stinky Tsuna, you need a shower. Go. Now." Reborn was standing in front of his closet.
"Aaaah! You're right! Kyoko-chan will be there! I can't smell bad!" Tsuna grabbed his hair and ran to the bathroom.
Reborn heard Tsuna's girly scream as the water came on too cold and grinned. He grabbed Tsuna's favorite outfit and folded it on the end of his bed and walked downstairs to put some bread in the toaster for Tsuna's breakfast, still chuckling that Tsuna had to take a shower with the water heater mysteriously turned off.
He sat out of sight on top of the cupboard as he listened to Tsuna fall on his face on the level above.
"Tsuna is putting on his pants."
He heard another thud, this one slightly more solid.
"He dropped his textbook on the floor instead of into his backpack."
He listened for the familiar slip-THUD as Tsuna turned the corner to go down the stairs and ran into the wall on his pants that dragged a bit too long.
"Watch the last step." Reborn muttered to himself as Tsuna missed it and fell on his face, backpack spreading out over the front entryway.
"Aaaah! I'm gonna be so late!" Tsuna yelled as he stuffed papers into his backpack haphazardly as he skidded around the corner and grabbed the toast just as it popped up.
"Ah! Hot, hot, too hot!" He bounced the toast in his hands to cool it. Reborn glanced down, he had timed it perfectly, as usual.
"Thanks mom! You're the best!" Tsuna yelled over his shoulder as he ran out the door.
"No problem, honey. Have a nice day at school!" Tsuna's mom yelled, a little confused, from where she was hanging laundry on the back porch.
Reborn jumped down from the cupboard and grabbed the last piece of homework that Tsuna had missed when he had dropped his backpack. "Hmm, I bet I could make him run a lap around the school to get this back for his class after lunch." Reborn smiled as he folded the paper and put it in his pocket, walking out the door to follow Tsuna to school again. "Even though he only did the second half of the homework wrong, it's still worth a full lap, I think."