8. Mafia Valentine (1/2)

disclaimer: i don't own any of akira-sensei's characters. though this plot is mine.

valentine's day is said to be the day of giving and love. it's said to be a day of cupid hearts and romantic dates with the one you adore. for tsuna, valentine's is a day full of bittersweet chocolate.

being a high school student is a painstaking, serious business. it means projects and deadlines and cramming nights for an upcoming exam on a major subject. top all that with teenage drama and the whole picture is a disaster.

not that tsuna is unfamiliar with all the trouble coming his way since the very entity of chaos is his tutor.

"tsuna-sama!!!" a shrill voice echoed through the hallway full of wondering students who immediately zeroed on tsuna's location by the lockers, making the

unet cringe at the unwanted attention. "tsuna-sama, i want your approval for this!" the voice continued.

"not again." tsuna groaned, visibly frustrated at the familiar scene of the boisterous female who wanted to get on his good graces for something he's not even aware of.

well, heisaware since intel gathering is a lesson drilled to him by reborn, but that doesn't mean he has to like what he discovers!

felicia "feli" rossworth, an alias for the primary heiress of the near extinct members of the once famed rothschild mafia group, said to be the richest of the underground families a long time ago. she's young, kind, decisive in decision-making, and has quite the ingenious mind once she sets her heart into conquering something.

said something happens to be him and he can't even push her away or deny her any attention when she's not doing anything drastic to have him. at least, that's to his screwed up standards from being surrounded with things ranging from bizarre to downright ridiculous.

i mean, who would have known that lambo could pull out a bazooka from his afro? that hayato could hide an almost infinite number of bombs somewhere under his clothes? or that kyoya could talk to any species of bird? or even that puberty could wack out teenagers with hormones and sexual fantasies that he shudders to think of?

so yes, tsuna would gladly bury, forget, and never remind himself of that lunacy he had stumbled upon while he was held hostage at gunpoint by reborn who was smirking like the red-horned fiend that he is.

indeed, we are wholeheartedly going to bury the research papers of tsuna's discovery of the star-struck miss rothschild about her being the founder of the whispered budding mafia cult of admirers, all dedicated to him, and that she had created a shrine in his honor and name, sculpted by the greatest sculptors from greece and painted in a life-sized image by a famous painter from france.

"tsuna-sama!" feli smiled as she gaze at him, her height only reaching his neckline even with the 2-inch heels she wore as was regulated by the academy – thank heavens for small mercies of puberty – and thus led her to peer at him under her thick lashes. "tsuna-sama, i need you to come with me!"

aah. here's the familiar push and pull of attention that tsuna loathed the most. in fact, the

unet likes to think that he's no doormat when he can help it, thank you very much. of course, that's taking his famiglia out of the picture.

"but–" he started, excuse on the tip of his tongue like burning acid. he never really like spouting lies even when reborn threatened to submerged him under the boiling river of amazon.

"hmp! no buts this time, tsuna-sama! you promised me that last year!" feli's delicate doll face scrunched up in disapproval when it dawned to tsuna that yes, he did promise her something last year.

realizing his blunder, tsuna stiffled the groan that threatened to spill from his lips, instead it came out as a cough as if to clear his throat. taking a deep

eath, caramel eyes closed to center himself and remind him not to lash out in a fit of tantrum, he closed his locker with a bang showing how he disliked whatever is supposed to happen.

'patience, tsuna. patience is the key to avoid any blood from spilling,' he grudgingly told himself in a repeating mantra while the little blighter of an heiress only flashed him a beaming smile that nearly rivaled kyoko's gentle sunshine face. nearly.

"come on, tsuna-sama! i've rounded all of my girls this time. i even got al capone's heir to attend for you!" the teen happily quipped as she proceeded to drag tsuna away from the school grounds, purposely ignoring hayato's enrage calls as takeshi held the bomber from throwing bombs around, and continued to chatter as she pushed tsuna to her parked aston martin one-77.

tsuna sighed at the mentally calculated price of her vehicle which he could have used to build a more efficient home for his family and famiglia.

his heart ached a little whenever he remembers the underground parking lot of the vongola mansion housing a fortune that are being thrown around for car maintenance and the repairs each one costs after a member would return it in its damaged glory.

"tsuna-sama, are you even listening?" feli pouted as she steered and plowed through the traffic. looking at the crowd of unhappy patrol cars tailing them, tsuna could honestly say that he's happy he's not the one to fix her mess later on.

"ahh. sorry, feli. i zoned out a bit there." he flashed her an apologetic smile which made her pause and slowly turn front as she was reduced into a blushing mess, her face akin to an apple from seeing the

unet's megawatt smile no matter how forced it appears. she didn't even attempt to retort back, afraid that she'll stutter and embarass herself.

tsuna could only chuckle and pat her head, amused at her cute display.

after a few minutes of silence, one maintained as her car swerved in sharp curves and complicated drifts not suitable for the car's groaning engine, feli peaked at tsuna who watched the passing view with mild interest, no longer unperturbed with the secret lurch in his stomach as he struggled to keep his lunch where it should be.

"tsuna-sama," she started, eliciting a hum from the still nauseous

unet who tried not to look green in the face. feli didn't even notice anything. "why don't you just accept my proposal for you? you know my famiglia would be more than happy for a joint union with each other." she pouted as they finally came to a halt as they had reached their destination.

gulping down the bile and quiet irritation, tsuna smiled thinly at her, assuring, knowing, and apologetic once more. "you know i can't do that, feli. the heart isn't something you could just teach to love immediately. it's nurtured by time and understanding and experience." a bitter laugh got forced out as he noticed how the other had gripped her skirt. "you'll find someone that's good for you someday." he said, patting her head once more before opening his side of the door, just in time to hear something he wished he never heard.

"vongola! i demand you kill yourself right now! how dare you sully my sister's mind with your naked images!!!" the heir of al capone shouted as she trudged towards their direction, making tsuna shut the door and look feli dead in the eye.

"i retract whatever i said last year. take me back now. i'll be more grateful to deal with my tutor than an irate older

other."

truly, tsuna's valentine's day can never be peaceful with how he's always sought out by various mafia heiresses and threatened by mafia heirs.

kindness could cure a heart's ache for something else. it's a cure for loneliness, for grief, for depression, and stress. so much like a soothing balm on feverish skin, a single act of kindness could change your life or someone else's.

"do you want one?" takeshi laughed as he showed tsuna another batch of his own gaggle of chocolates that got crushed in the small space of his locker. "i mean, i know you have a lot in your bag," he paused, looking at the near-bursting appearance of tsuna's school bag, "but you could always have mine." he giddily said as he dismissed the way tsuna's face turned a bit green from even thinking of more chocolate.

"no, takeshi. just...no."tsuna rubbed his temples, trying to stop the

ewing headache as to how he'll distribute, or dispose, of the nightmare treats he's been given as they walked back to their classroom.

"maa, maa," takeshi only gave him a good-natured laugh, clapping his shoulder as if tsuna just told the century's biggest joke. "we could just have the girls melt all of this together and let them make something more with it." he suggested to the despairing

unet.

tsuna sighed, already having the problem incinerated in his mind and willingly tossing it to the very back of his daily problems.

he'd never thought there would come a day when he'll rue the occurrence of girls looking at his direction like he's some sort of deity who blessed their lives.

"i'll have to see first how much hayato got this year before we do something about it." tsuna told him tiredly, waving the baseball player to his desk, before gliding towards his...he paused, mind seemingly blank upon seeing where his table should have been.

there stood on top of the table are boxes of chocolates of all kinds and shapes and colors, all neatly stacked on top of each other that immediately filled up the small desk, he could hear the metaphorical groaning of the sturdy furniture as he backed away from the evil...desserts.

'there seemed to be more than even last year!' the

unet mentally wailed as he watched the wrapped chocolates that towered near the ceiling.'how am i supposed to see what's on the board at this rate?!'

glancing at takeshi, he saw the pile of similarly wrapped boxes that the baseball player happily arranged to create a mini-fort and even color coded everything as if nothing's wrong with his own tower of it!

"it's alright, tsuna." the

unet whispered to himself as he inched closer to his table, acting cautiously as if the pile of monstrosity would swallow him alive. "it's fine. you've survived more dangerous adventures than dying of diabetes. you'll just have to find a way to–"

"umm, tsuna-sama," a voice hesitantly called from behind him making tsuna whirl around to face his classmate? underclassman? the blushing – dear heavens, please not another one – teenager fidgeted as she held out a...a box of letters?