#KHR reborn

[yarrayora]

please don't actually wear it

[rebo-chan]

Do you guys ever think about Reborn's relationship with the Mafia....?

Do you guys ever think about how he's risen to the top. (how did he get there? What do you do to earn the title of world's greatest hitman?) How he's seen to be cautious and wise beyond his years? How he's entirely self sufficient without a family to be affiliated to?

Do you ever think about how hes survived in a place like this entirely alone and has taken it upon himself to tutor future mafia bosses? Why? Why make the effort? What is he trying to change?

Do you ever think about how he never seems frightened as his students when their enemies are cruel? How used to it he is? How it doesn't frighten him, but rather exhausts him? Do you ever notice the pride in his face when Tsuna chooses to be kind and forgiving? Have you ever noticed how he notices Yamamoto's capabilities as a hitman and tells him to do his best to keep his carefree smile?

Have you ever noticed how he cautions against Tsuna too easily forgetting about what Mukuro has done to them? (To keep his guard up against someone who's intentions are not clear?)

Have you ever noticed how he smiles in resignation and isn't surprised that he's going to die to complete someone else's revenge scheme? How he expected that his curse would never allow for anything more than a dog's death? Caught in the crossfires of someone else's problem? How he figures that if it's going to happen anyway, he might as well do something with the time left in him? Leave his mark somewhere? Do you ever wonder when exactly Reborn took up teaching the younger Mafia bosses?

No, really. Do you guys ever think about Reborn's relationship with the Mafia?

[einsatzzz]

"Having my friends by my side is the greatest gift I could ever ask for.. 🥹"

Posting here my contribution for the KHR Cupsleeve Event: A Flaming Reunion! I got to draw the cupsleeve art that features the Vongola Family for this one 🥰🥰🥰 (1/2)

[zombu7]

Reborn x Skull , RSK

[dreaming-hibi]

Everyone seems to forget that Tsuna is affected not by one but by TWO "bad" parents. In this essay I will bring down both Iemitsu and Nana.

Iemitsu is considered a bad parent because Tsuna himself says so, and we gotta trust what the victim says. If Tsuna claims his father is a deadbeat father, than that's what his father is. Iemitsu might be a respected chief, an understanding mentor and a loving husband, there is no denying he fulfills those roles wonderfully well however, he falls short on his role as a father and that's the role Tsuna most needs out of him. Tsuna doesn't need his father to be a respected chief or an understanding mentor or a loving husband, he needs his father to be a father first and foremost. Instead, Iemitsu tells Nana to claim he was dead/missing. And she did (and I'll be coming back to this later). Now, not only did Tsuna have to live with the fact that his father up and left the house, he had to live with the fact that his father was also, very likely, dead.

Iemitsu-father was dead to Tsuna for two years, the boy had definitely come to terms with it by the start of the series. Except, Iemitsu wasn't dead at all. While it's treated as a comedy skit in the manga, the absolute rollercoaster of emotion Tsuna must have felt at that moment is unimaginable. "I lived with my mom and dad but then my dad started leaving for work until one day he stopped coming home, and then my mom told he was missing but he actually wasn't... oh, and he involved me in some dangerous mafia business", try explaining that to a therapist.

Offenses committed by Iemitsu:

Leave his son without an explanation while his son was at a vulnerable age (Tsuna was at least old enough to remember his dad leaving the house)

Telling his wife to write him off as dead/missing because "It's more romantic that way" (I haven't seen the episode in years but I just checked and that's exactly what he said, wtf)

Appearing in his son's life after being "dead" for years without a reasonable explanation (and no, claiming that he was doing that to protect his family is not an explanation, that's an excuse)

Appearing in his son's life only after he got said son involved in the mafia business

Disappearing as soon as everything is over and not being heard of again until he wants to

Acting like a father when he killed that role himself

I can understand the first offense, after all, Tsuna was a small boy when Iemitsu left. "You were a child, there was no need for you to know" is something adults repeatedly say when they refuse to elaborate on why they kept a child in the dark; and that's something I understand, I don't condone it but I do understand it. But Tsuna was clearly at an age where he could remember his dad leaving, he was at an age where he was emotionally grown-up enough to see his father leaving the house as being the same as being abandoned.

ツナ 「オレと母さんを残して ずっと家を空けてたあんな奴に・・・」

Tsuna uses the word 残す (nokosu) which means "to leave (behind)", which often carries a sense of forgetfulness, as though the act of leaving something behind was done because the person forgot about. "He left behind my mom and me" = "He forgot about us and left". And then he goes on to say "That guy (derogative) was always away from home", which further drives the point that Tsuna has some strong resentment towards his father for leaving without being heard of.

The second offense is, in my humble opinion, bullshit. The japanese use this particular word 「ロマン」 (roman) which is many times translated as "romantic", but which is used to describe a feeling of "pursuing impossible dreams or ideals which deeply define a character". This particular word is mostly used by japanese men to describe a feeling of longing for impossible dreams and ideals that women just cannot understand.

.

.

See what I mean?

Nana (I'm coming for you so sit tight) is so japanese in her essence that she's a woman who is attracted by the idea of a man chasing his impossible dreams (a man who is living the roman), and Iemitsu feeds on that by telling her to write him off as gone and "as becoming one with the stars", because that's more romantic than telling your kid his dad will be doing construction work. A husband and a wife who very obviously love each other and who both think living by their ideals is a much higher priority than their responsibility towards the child they brought into the world. The third offense shows how different Iemitsu and Tsuna are. Iemitsu claims he was keeping his family in the dark because that was how he protected them (through ignorance), and that's bullshit and Tsuna shows us exactly why, like a 100 or so chapters later. During the Future Arc, Tsuna was made to choice between telling his friends the whole truth or keeping them in the dark for their own safety (like Iemitsu). Tsuna decides to say the truth, because he knows what it means and what it feels like to be kept in the dark, especially regarding something that concerns the person directly. Tsuna made that decision because he had been in a similar position.

The fourth offense is perhaps there to show how incapable of being a father Iemitsu is. Iemitsu reappears in Tsuna's life only after Tsuna becomes involved with the mafia, because that's what Iemitsu is good at: the mafia. Perhaps Iemitsu was more involved in the mafia than he was in a normal family situation, which is why he lacks as a father, because he very simply doesn't know how to be a father. He can train, mentor and support Tsuna in the mafia way because that's what he knows how to do, however, that's not what Tsuna needs nor wants. Tsuna needed a father, but that father wrote himself off (so Tsuna unknowingly got another father and this one refuses to leave him alone) and Tsuna had to come to terms with the fact that he didn't have a father to depend on. And that's where the conflict between Tsuna and Iemitsu comes from: Iemitsu trying to act like a dad to the son he had educated to think of him as dead.

To Tsuna the situation must be something like this: his dad gave him up for adoption and now keeps coming back, trying to act like a dad because now the two of them shared the same hobby.

Sorry, Iemitsu, Tsuna found himself a better dad! Although you succeeded in ruining the dad-role for him, so now he's left with some complicated feelings towards Reborn, whom he sees as a figure he can depend on but whom he cannot call "dad" in fear it might end up like it did with you.

His fifth offense ties in with his fourth. Iemitsu only appears when there is something about the mafia going on and then disappears as soon as the situation is no longer related to the mafia. He only tries to act like a father to Tsuna when the mafia is involved, and that is absolute bullshit because that boy needs a father even outside of the mafia.

And finally his last and most important offense: how Iemitsu killed the image of a father in Tsuna's head.

At hearing the news that his father will be back home, after 2 years, Tsuna's shocked reaction is treated more as a joke than a legitimate emotion someone might have towards the sudden undeadness of a father. Nana, his own mother, even goes as far as belittling him and his intelligence when she says (more explicitly in the anime): "Aww Tsuna, you actually believed that story about his disappearance?" and then "How do you think we pay for your school expenses and food, if he were really gone?"

Iemitsu intentionally killed the existence known as "dad" in Tsuna's head, and Nana helped. Tsuna started the series convinced he no longer had a dad, which is why he ended up depending on Reborn, because Reborn was the first authoritative figure that called him a loser to his face while also believing Tsuna was much more than that. Reborn appeared exactly as the kind of figure Tsuna didn't know he needed in his life.

Though both Reborn and Iemitsu are there because of the mafia, Reborn stays for more than just the mafia, and Tsuna can see that. Iemitsu only interacts with Tsuna when the mafia is involved, while Reborn is there for him regardless of whether or not the mafia is involved. Reborn was sent there to make Tsuna the next boss, yet all Reborn did was make this loser of a kid get some confidence in himself and make some friends. Between a tutor whose intentions he knows (he's there to make him boss but somehow he's also trying to make him into a better person) and a dad whose intentions he doesn't know (he tries to teach him this mafia thing he really doesn't want to be involved in), Tsuna's heart chose the one figure he didn't know he always wanted in his life.

Nice going, Tsuna!

I bring this conversation between Tsuna and Iemitsu, which I think further shows the conflict between them.

ツナ 「帰ってこなかったあんたが オレの何が知っている!!」

家光 「お前は愛する母さんとの間に生まれた 俺の息子だ」

Tsuna: "What could you possibly understand about me?! If you're never home!" Iemitsu: "You are my son, born between me and the woman I love."

In what is a typical parent cliche, Iemitsu claims he knows Tsuna solely based on the fact that Tsuna is his son. This is a psychological trap which many parents seem to fall for: a belief that they will always know their children best because it is their children (and that their children might not know themselves because they are still children). Iemitsu fails to acknowledge that Tsuna is his own person and that he might not want to live by his ideals. As to why parents do this? Well, ego, most likely. A parent thinks themselves a god because they created a child, and refuse to acknowledge the fact that their child is just another person they will have to learn to know.

Now, Sawada Nana. The amount of information on this woman is so little that she might as well be of little influence to the plot, expect she's not!

Let's start from the beginning. Nana is described as being kind, but her kindness seems to only go so far, as she will and does ignore things she does not want to deal with. Reborn kicks her son in front of her? She leaves them alone. Her son keeps coming home with mysterious injuries? She ignores it.

Again, all of these are treated as comedy, and Nana is just like any other anime/manga mother. She appears as a 1-dimensional character with no other role than to be there for every other character that isn't her son.

Nana, like Iemitsu, does the bare minimum for Tsuna as a mother. She does provide him with meals and a roof, however she completely neglects the emotional support the boy very obviously needs. There are instances in which she even belittles his feelings (such as when Tsuna was freaking out over his father's appearance and she proceeded to laugh and point out his naiveness at believing her lie).

What kind of freaking mother makes fun of their son for believing something they said?

Certainly not a good one!

And lastly, it was Nana who allowed and helped Iemitsu in being a bad father. Tsuna holds his mother in high respect because he believes Iemitsu abandoned her too, and that is why it is easier for him to forgive her and not his father. However, it was through Nana's emotional neglect that Iemitsu ended up ruining the image of a father in Tsuna's head — her passiveness is what allowed Tsuna to grow into the weak-willed character we meet in the beginning of the series.

In conclusion, both Iemitsu and Nana are to blame for Tsuna's loser behavior. So, if we're gonna talk about how bad of a father Iemitsu is, we should acknowledge the fact that Tsuna has a mother who allowed all of that to happen.

You're welcome to step up and shoot me, I'm open to constructive criticism!

[hopeswriting]

tsuna and gokudera’s dynamic is “no one’s ever found me worth standing by my side no matter what to the very end” and “no one’s ever found me worth accepting me just the way i am, and as i am now in spite of my many flaws and shortcomings”

tsuna and yamamoto’s dynamic is “everyone always makes me pay the price for every single one of my mistake, no matter how little and insignificant” and “everyone always expects me to be perfect at being who they want me to be, and i’m afraid they’ll find me worthless if i mess up even once”

tsuna and lambo’s dynamic is “no one ever cares that i’m just a child” and “everyone always punishes and rejects me for acting like the child i am”

tsuna and ryohei’s dynamic is “no one’s ever found me worth taking under their wing, looking after, paving the way for me and making sure it’s safe for me to follow after them” and “as the one who needs to be relied on, as the protector, the example, the older one, no one’s ever looked after me and took care of me on the same grounds as i do for them”

tsuna and hibari’s dynamic is “i’ve never had anything to put my faith in, knowing that it wouldn’t so much as shake and would never fail me even in the face of the end of the world” and “i’ve never had to learn that even my strength can fail me, but there can be strength in weakness too, in letting others help me make up for that weakness, and i can grow even stronger for it”

tsuna and mukuro’s dynamic is “no one’s ever thought me worth allowing me my childhood and made me grow up too soon” and “no one ever cared that i was never allowed to be a child, and i’ll never stand for that fate to be allowed to go on unpunished any longer”

tsuna and chrome’s dynamic is “i’ve always been less than what people want me to be, have always been not enough to meet their expectations of me” and “i’ve always been so worthless in everyone’s eyes, no one’s ever expected anything of me”

(tsuna and reborn’s dynamic is “no one’s ever put faith in what i can become, in what i can be right now, and in me in spite of my many flaws and shortcomings” and “i’m never going to let anyone inside my heart ever again, and no one will bother trying to get inside anyway being the way i am now”)

do you get it?

[katzkinder]

Reborn is this weird paradox amongst the arcos where he has the MOST relationships cultivated but not a single one of them goes deeper than a puddle on his end until suddenly you reach the drop off point and you look back and see that you are no longer splashing in something shallow but there’s a giant gulf at your back and you’re lost at sea

You get no warning for where or when this point is. You don’t even notice it happening most of the time

Most people, when it comes to Reborn, have the good sense to keep their head above the water after they reach the point of no return. They see the shadows of something large swimming beneath them and ignore it, because it’s a dangerous game of that shadow being something harmless which might be interested in helping them continue to float along or being something that will hurt them if they try to touch it

Tsuna, a patented idiot: I’m gonna go diving actually

And you see, Tsuna notices those shadows swimming far beneath him. Tsuna notices, but it’s to his detriment because he hasn’t learned how to hold his breath long enough to check what’s safe and what isn’t and what he needs to take his time with

Bianchi is one of the rare people who took that time with Reborn, and he sincerely loves her for it. She gets away with a LOT of crap when it comes to him he wouldn’t tolerate from anyone else

And sometimes, very rarely, Reborn will send out a bird. Something large and flashy which blocks out the sun, something like appearing in front of Tsuna as an adult during the representative battles, and yes it's ridiculous that his idiot student doesn't notice a damn thing, but why would he? Why would he notices the world above him going dark?

He doesn’t think Reborn will ever make anything easy for him lol

So why would he look up?

[khr-guilded-cage]

“Can Kill God But Thinks They Can’t”: Tsuna

“Can’t Kill God But Thinks They Can”: Reborn

“Accidentally Killed God in a Wendy’s Parking Lot At 3 am”: Skull

[lightofthedeep]

In celebration of the dub news !!

[knarkyy]

god once in a blue moon i remember my oldest and most persistent hyperfixation AND I JUST NEED to let it out

so here

[ketchup-chup]

What Mammon sees logging into Twitter

[yarrayora]

dont say stuff like that when you look like a one year old!!!! actually dont say stuff like that when you look like an adult either!

[rebo-chan]

IMPORTANT CHARACTER ANALYSIS UNDER THE CUT. DO NOT IGNORE, YOU DO NOT WANT TO MISS THIS.

OKAY SO WE ALL KNOW THAT TSUNA LIKES SALISBURY STEAK FROM THE DATABOOKS AND ANIME, AND WE KNOW THAT REBORN LIKES ESPRESSO.. BUT IS THAT THE TRUTH? Is that what these young lads consumed throughout the series? What do they like to eat? What do we BEAR WITNESS TO THEM SHOVING INTO THEIR MOUTHS? With this question in mind, I embarked on a quest with my good friend @ketchup-chup TO DOCUMENT WHAT TSUNA AND REBORN ACTUALLY EAT. Have you been deceived to believe that Reborn doesn't like sweets? If so, you're in for a FUCKING treat. Some things we discovered during this is that Tsuna just is SO bad with eating. HE EATS SO LITTLE. I WOULD GO CHAPTERS UPON CHAPTERS WITH HIM NOT EATING ANYTHING. All while REBORN SHOVED HIS FUCKING FACE WITH FOOD TO THE POINT WHERE WE HAD TO ADD IN RULES FOR HIM.

You see the frame on the left? You see the difference in plates between Tsuna and Reborn? This is the best way I can symbolize what this was like before we begin.

Okay, before I begin, here are some ground rules:

We only did the daily life MANGA chapters, chapter 1-61 because nobody has any real time to calculate the distance of Byakuran's ash to see if any landed in Tsuna's mouth. That being said, I am sure that if we did Reborn would continue to be a fucking menace. We did not include any anime scenes, because we just could not realistically watch the entire daily life anime. This also does not include any 'food' we see in openings like the strawberry jam toast from Boys and Girls, or the soda he is drinking in Dive to World. Same goes for endings.

Reborn ate so much that for @ketchup-chup's sanity, we included only the things that he was actually shoving in his mouth. So, the list you're about to see, there WAS more and we cut it for our sanity's sake. Tsuna was eating so LITTLE, we did the exact opposite where everytime a food was even SPOTTED NEAR HIM, I snatched up into my list.

The foods will be listed in order as they were spotted in the series as we went through, but as sometimes they are doubled up on later. (As in a character for example had coffee once, then coffee again in a later chapter will be written as Coffee x2)

That's all! So, let's get started!

Sawada Tsunayoshi: Pocky Milk Italian Pasta Water x8 Chips x2 Lollipop x2 Poison Cooking x3 Rice balls x2 (the second time he had this, he fucking spit it out..) Soda x5 (his third soda was in one of harus pictures at the end of the chapter<3) Soumen noodles Sushi x2 (Two separate pieces of Sushi within two frames of each other that looked different lol...) Rice x3 (Rice in a bowl!) One bite of cake (This agitated me because there was a separate frame of Reborn with his own cake, that looked demolished in comparison to Tsunas measly one bite... OTL) Ramen Coffee x2 Instant Ramen 2 WATERMELON RINDS (IN THE SAME SCENE!! HE ATE TWO!!) Juice It should be said before I move onto Reborn, that the "ramen" entry was this:

That's 61 chapters worth of Tsuna's food. :) As you can see he really likes water. Water and one bite of cake :)<3

Reborn:

Fish Coffee x7 Italian Pasta Tea x3 (Second entry of this was him having his own tea ceremony of this) Watermelon x2 Cold Soba noodles Popsicle x7 Hot pot Kimchi Soumen Juice x2 Beer Sushi x2 Tuna Water x3 Cake x2 (First was the one he devoured that I mentioned further above, second was his wedding cake with Bianchi) Rice Mochi (For the mochi making competition, he was taste testing) Soup (Probably miso judging by it, but he sure was slurping it) Cookie Barbeque Soda

An honorable mention that the lovely ketchup didn't include because he didn't actually eat it, but I spotted in digging through chapters of Tsuna starving himself: a smoothie/milkshake(?) and a icecream sundae. Here you can look at it yourself~

Also, yes the popsicle was included in the count of FUCKING popsicles he's CONSUMED.

To do a recap:

Tsuna ate 39 things by the start of kokuyo, subtracting the RAMEN gokudera dropped on him and the spit out rice ball and i wish i coULD HALF HIS FUCKING ONE BITE CAKE THATS NOT REAL FOOD TSUNA. Tsuna really consumed 36.5 items (37 if you count the one bite of cake but whatever..) Also, if you subtract the poison cooking, he's sitting at 33.5 (34 *grumbles*).

Reborn ate 39 items, including the honorable mention he had 41 items. Bearing in mind, we cut out so much of Reborn just showing up near food or holding onto it. Tsuna, meanwhile was counted for existing near food. Gathering nutrients through photo-fucking-synthesis. The anime feeds Tsuna SO much more, I can name 5 items off the top of my memory that he ate in daily life that just aren't counted from the manga. Please don't be fooled by the fact they start out with the same number till we started subtracting, MOST OF TSUNAS IS HIS WATER COUNT. If you IGNORE ALL THE DRINKS HE HAS, MANS IS SITTING AT 17, WHILE IF YOU REMOVE REBORNS DRINKS HE GOES DOWN TO 25. (Its mostly his love for espresso bringing down his number, MEANWHILE FOR TSUNA ITS HIS FUCKING WATER COUNT??)

Now that our statistical analysis that NO one told us to do has been completed. What can we learn from it about our characters favorite food preferences? Well, Tsuna is SO well hydrated. We love a water-stanning king. Besides that, he's mostly eating snacks with his lollipops, chips, and his enjoyment of drinking soda. (He drinks fast food soda the most, with 3 of those submissions being him sipping from a container with a straw. The last two are from a can and a bottle specifically.) Meanwhile, we can believe Reborn when he says he likes coffee, but ALSO he fucking?? loves?? popiscles?? it's unreal??? there were so many popsicles??? He LOVES SWEETS.. sad to say but he just fucking lied to Luce in the fillers about not liking sweets. It's Tsuna, if anyone, that doesn't like sweets with his one bite of cake. HOLD ON ACTUALLY FUCK THIS IM SHOWING YOU GUYS THE CAKE DILEMMA ME AND KETCHCUP WERE STARING AT.

YOU SEE THAT LITTLE CAKE THATS BEING CUT OUT OF FRAME? THATS IT. THATS THE EXTENT OT TSUNAS BITE. MEANWHILE, HERES REBORNS.

THAT THING IS ALMOST GONE. YALL ARE SEEING THIS RIGHT??

REKSHNS anyway! Reborn's more of a curious soul with his food, trying a bunch of stuff that he wouldn't normally eat. Meanwhile Tsuna plays it mostly safe with snacks and mostly Japanese food. AGAIN, no one asked us to do this and while we are absolutely hysterical as I type this up, if you have any questions about specifics please feel free to ask SDKJGN this is IMPORANT!! CHARACTER ANALYSIS!!! CLEARLY!!!

Thanks for reading this far HELP ME. This was funny as hell to dig through and perhaps we may look through the last arcs if we feel like it, or do other characters. (I've noticed Gokudera is a good eater!)

See you next post~

[einsatzzz]

smol bday sketch for these cuties 💖🥰

[stormsthatrage]

Have an angsty KHR AU (Playing fast and loose with flame lore and characterization. Also, I haven't figured out what the 10th Gen Guardians are doing during all this, but whatever it is, it involves So Many miscommunications.)

The AU:

Tsuna doesn't want to be a mafia boss. He hates the violence, he hates the danger, he hates knowing that if he messes up, it can get people killed.

But no one really listens to him. Not even Reborn, who just sees Tsuna's whole "I don't want to be a mafia boss" thing as a sort of juvenile rebellion phase.

(But it's not. Every time one of Tsuna's people comes home hurt, every time Tsuna has to inflict harm on the battlefield, every time Tsuna is exposed to the casual cruelty of the underworld, it damages something inside of him. It scars his soul. He hates it. He does not want to be a mafia boss.)

And then Timoteo's health declines. (These next two paragraphs were heavily inspired by Break These Chains on Me by Luki on AO3.) Tsuna, knowing his time is running out and absolutely desperate, tries to make plans to get tf out. Maybe he signs up for civilian university. Maybe he makes plans to travel. Maybe he tries to create a fake identity to just run. And Tsuna, who has learned to rely on and trust Reborn -- after everything, how could he not -- confides in him about these plans.

And Reborn -- who has never really understood why Tsuna hates the mafia -- thinks this is one last (highly irritating) attempt at a teenage rebellion. It's not entirely unexpected, what with the weight of being Don Vongola looming over Tsuna's shoulders. And so, in a true Disappointed Reborn fashion, he responds with a harsh but effective lesson. He plays along with Tsuna's escape plans for a bit, and then. And then. It's the day Tsuna plans to vanish, and Reborn sits Tsuna down at the table, with Xanxus and Timoteo, and tells Tsuna if he doesn't fall in line Bad Things are gonna happen to his people.

(Reborn does not intend this to be an actual threat. It's supposed to be a slap on the wrist. A sort of, "Yeah, you're a teenager, but you need to start conducting yourself more seriously, knock it off before I actually get mad." Sure, Vongola is threatening to kidnap Tsuna's mom, but the kidnappers are just going to take her out for tea and cake and a spa night, and when Tsuna shows up to rescue her she'll be fine. The real punishment will be the physical path to go get her -- Reborn has an Embarrassing Obstacle Course TM planned.

And so on, for all of Tsuna's precious ones.

Reborn does not consider that Tsuna might actually believe the severity of the threats. After all they've been through, after all they've done for each other, Reborn knows Tsuna would never believe that Reborn could actually hurt Tsuna's people.)

But Tsuna. Well, Tsuna's on a different page. This life is killing him, slowly, and when Reborn tells him that he never intended to help Tsuna escape, it hits Tsuna like a full-on betrayal. And while mere minutes before, Tsuna knew that Reborn would never even dream of harming Tsuna's people, Tsuna no longer can trust this. Tsuna fully and absolutely believes that Reborn's threats are real, and that there will be permanent consequences if he doesn't comply.

It gets worse.

Tsuna thought Reborn actually cared about him. Reborn had, slowly but inevitably, become something like a father to Tsuna. But in that moment, Tsuna realizes that he actually was just a job all along.

And Xanxus. Tsuna also thought Xanxus cared about him. He thought they had come to an understanding. He thought they were starting to become brothers, of a sort -- bonded by battle and trauma and shared responsibilities, by nights complaining to each other over dinner or over the phone. And as Tsuna sits across from them, hearing his people threatened and knowing he is, in fact, going to be forced to Italy, he comes to believe that none of that new brotherhood was real.

And Tsuna realizes he has no choice. He never had a choice. He will end up in Italy, as Don Vongola, no matter how much it is going to kill him inside.

And worse: the people he has come to love clearly do not love him back. If they did, they would not be doing this to him. And sitting at that kitchen table, seeing the disappointment in Reborn and Xanxus' eyes, he knows that he is never going to be enough.

But he knows, he knows, that he isn't going to survive Italy without having them in his life supporting him. Because even if they don't love him, he does, truly, love them.

And he comes to the conclusion that if he remains as he is -- weak, useless Tsuna -- not only will he inevitably lose them, but he just flat out won't survive the life stretching out (long, so long, and so so desolate) before him.

So he uses his flames.

He images the mafia boss that they want him to be (as he perceives it). He thinks about all the characteristics they must want him to have, all the things they expect him to want, and he conjures an image of this better Tsuna in his mind. And then he harmonizes with it, becomes one with this false image of himself.

But it doesn't work, not all the way. There are still bits of him, the original, weak, disappointing Tsuna left. He can feel it, in the dread at the thought of the life before him. In the shocked-hurt he feels at this betrayal. In the agony of knowing that they don't care about him, they never cared about him, they only care about his title.

So he puts those bits of himself in ice.

And suddenly, the years ahead don't seem so bad. Suddenly, the betrayal seems reasonable -- after all, wasn't he acting so silly, so juvenile, trying to escape like that. Suddenly, it doesn't matter that they don't love him back -- of course they don't, why would they love him? -- all that matters is he loves them. As long as he keeps himself in check, and matches their expectations, nothing is wrong.

Tsuna looks at them, sitting across the table, and complies with their demands.

Reborn does, for a moment, think that it happens a bit too easily. There's none of the usual screeching, no dragging of the heels, no protests. Right then, Reborn fully expects it to boil over at some point in the future. (He thinks, maybe, that Tsuna is playing along now, but will have a teenagery-protest again as it gets closer to the time they leave for Italy.)

(It never happens.)

Reborn thinks, merely, that Tsuna has put on the mantle of maturity. It's a little ahead of schedule of what he was expecting, but then again, Tsuna has always exceeded expectations.

Time passes. Timoteo's health declines. He dies. Tsuna goes to Italy, and becomes a mafia boss.

(It's a golden age. Tsuna is just as compassionate and selfless and determined as Reborn always knew he would be. There is a peace, unlike anything the underworld has ever seen, because of his rule.

This peace is a result of the core of Tsuna peeking out. It always would have happened.)

It's five years into Tsuna's reign before people begin to realize that something is really, really wrong with Tsuna.

They do figure it out, eventually. And when they do, when they realize what happened and what caused it, it breaks them, just as much as they broke Tsuna all those years ago.

[analviel]

Xanxus' mother: Your father is someone very important, I will bring you to meet him, and this is totally not because I'm about to die and never to be seen in the story ever again, and here's a keepsake from my favourite thing, for you to hold on to and ponder over alcohol.

Xanxus:...

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Timoteo: Hello, child. I am absolutely your father. I am the boss of the undisputed most powerful mafia family of the world and starting now, you will be living with me, I will provide you with the best of everything, you will grow under the best tutors and a silent weight of expectations, you will never want for anything except my attention and acknowledgement as I hold you at arms length, and make you feel like you're always on the verge of failing a test you don't know the details of.

Enrico: Hi, I am your eldest brother that will actually be taking care of you and who will provide the majority of your emotional needs, I will see past your feral cat behaviour and be undaunted in reaching out to the scared but fiercely loyal person you truly are.

Massimo: I am the temperamental second brother who will always loose his cool with the slightest provocation but have and will continue to throw fists with those who question your place, especially the ones in all those stuffy parties and galas we are required to attend all the time.

Federico: I am the cool, perfectionist older brother that will hold you at arms length like our father but secretly want to approach and just do not know how to, and we also might have gotten on the wrong foot, but I eventually help you in your studies and adapting to our noble- er, high class mafia life since our eldest brother is too busy with preparing to inherit father's position and I wish to lighten his responsibilities.

Xanxus: Hi-

Enrico: I will die and upend the life you know so far, your Great tragedy but only a precursor to the secret that will crush your heart and trigger your downfall as you question your identity and purpose.

Massimo: I will also die.

Federico: So will I. If only you can regress to a time we are all alive and you can do it all over again. But it's not this plot.

Enrico:...... Maybe.

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Xanxus: So the Academy -that only accepts mafia-born or mafia-sponsored students- are having a tournament, and the parents and alumni are allowed to watch the spectacle.

Enrico: Look at that silver-haired sword-wielding boy taking down his opponents and quickly advancing through the brackets, he is strong and quick and decisive and seems like someone that will swear his life, specifically his arm, to someone that impress him by their ambition and steady belief in themselves.

Massimo: He's really good.

Xanxus:.... I suppose.

Federico: Let me introduce to you to Dino Cavallone, who is your peer and share many similarities with you, including the fact that he cannot look away from the rabid silver-haired swordsman. I encourage you to attend the tea parties he hosts though I know you will not actually do so.

Dino: I am from a doomed and disgraced family but I will raise it to yet unprecedented greatness, so you will take note of me but will otherwise ignore me.

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Mammon: I am a mysterious hidden ace character of unknown age but at least older than your father and appear in the form of an avatar of cuteness, I was only briefly mentioned in the original story but am actually more than meets the eye and since you amuse me I will stay around you and watch over you and drop random helpful tips while also needling you, for my amusement, all the while demanding tribute be paid to me by chocolate and money, and inevitably get attached to you. And don't worry, no one else can see me if I don't want them to, and I speak to you through telepathy so you can ask me secret favors. Also my powers are currently limited due to reasons, so I may choose to hold back at certain times to help you grow and save it for truly life-threatening moments. And sometimes impart to you emotional lessons that help you mature.

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Bel: I am the token little brother figure to be both cute and not so secretly scary.

Lussuria: I'm always all out to make you look the best in those stuffy parties you are required to attend.

Levi: I am the overly loyal butler henchman.

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Squalo: So you are actually adopted and have no claim to the inheritance of Vongola, and because of your previous actions have essentially been disowned by Don Vongola, and left with practically nothing, while the legitimate heir, the one considered over you who'd been raised to fit this position, is actually a no good civilian who knows nothing of this world and stutters and stumbles over his feet. This is unfair and I, as your loyal friend who has stayed with you and waited for you all this time, will help you reclaim your rightful place, use me as the sword of your will and I will do anything to get you where you want as long as you want it, even at the cost of my sanity and morals.

Xanxus: You don't have sanity or morals.

Squalo: Fine, then my other arm. Happy, fuckface?

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Reborn, for some reason holding a handbag in the crook of his arm: Stay away from, Viper. You don't know them, you don't know what's best for them.

Fon: *standing silently behind Reborn and handing him an envelope.*

Reborn, sliding the envelope on the table between them: You don't need me to explain. We've tolerated you long enough but now that we're free, Viper no longer needs to be held back by you so they can meet a proper Sky.

Xanxus: No. That's not for you to decide. Not for us. Mammon can be whatever they want to be, and follow whoever they want to.

Reborn: *cocks his -water?- gun*.

Mammon: *stops Reborn with a tendril wrapped around his wrist* Muu, what is the meaning of this.

Fon: We only want to do what's best for you, Viper.

Reborn: He's not good enough.

Mammon: No one is good enough for you.

Reborn: Well, obviously. We've preciously and carefully raised you and you'll just settle with this?

Mammon: You don't know him. You don't know what he's done for me, you have no idea what we've been through.

Reborn: But-

Mammon: It's true he's not what you envisioned, but I don't care, he's fine just the way he is.

Mammon: Also, it's Mammon. Let's go. Boss. *grabs Xanxus by the hand and storms out of the Mafialand Cafe they tracked them down to*

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Xanxus: Oppa- I mean, fuck! Squalo come here dammit!

Squalo: What? Did you lose your favourite branded set of clothes again?

Xanxus: No.

Squalo: Do you want the chefs to prepare a meal with your favourite wine?

Xanxus: No- Oi, listen. Don't you think something's weird with my life.

Squalo: Yeah. After all if you were anyone else, you'd probably be dead at this point.

Xanxus: No I don't mean the mafia part. Hmmmmmmm.....

Squalo: Well, I mean it is strange that after a life altering incident you've eventually settled in this quiet and peaceful-

*Bang! Goddamit get back here Bel! Mammon stop him!*

Squalo: -out of the way place and not concern yourself with the heart of the chaotic events, doing what you excel at. Which is killing.

Xanxus: You're right, nothing's weird.

Extra:

Xanxus to Tsuna: Ah, so you're the main character- I mean the true heir of the Vongola, and I also see you have your own Avatar of cuteness.

Tsuna: Please don't call him that.

Reborn: He says it how he sees it.

Kind of got carried away but you see it, right? Can't stop thinking about that post saying Xanxus is the villainess in manhwas.