Summary: The first time Tsuna was hit with a Dying Will Bullet, something strange happened. Text suddenly appeared in front of him: YOU HAVE DIED. RESPAWN Y/N? He should have chosen "no".

Pairings: Currently Gen, with one-sided Tsuna/Kyoko for the beginning, later possible one-sided All/Tsuna, and maybe eventual Tsuna/Male Character

Notes: I read Game of Life by exocara and it inspired me to write my own Video Game AU, because there aren't many in this fandom anyway. Hopefully this first chapter isn't too boring for everyone. It's a lot of setup, because I kind of like writing the logistics down.


It started with a baby and a bullet.

I regret… Tsuna thought as he died. His mind flashed to Kyoko, then his classmates, and then his poor mother. He regretted a lot of things, but nearly all of them stemmed from one thing.

I regret being Dame-Tsuna.

And then the world went grey.

Tsuna opened his eyes, blinked, and looked around. Was this the afterlife? He could see Reborn still staring at him, gun frozen in air. Across the street, a dog had its mouth open mid-bark. At the light, a car was stopped midway through the intersection.

He had just enough time to ponder if he had become a ghost, when there was a bright flash of light. He closed his eyes against it and when he opened them again, he saw giant white letters floating in front of him.

YOU HAVE DIED

RESPAWN: Y/N?

"Hie?"

The words blinked and then more words appeared under them.

THAT IS NOT A VALID ANSWER

Tsuna rubbed his eyes, pinched himself, vigorously shook his head, but the words didn't change. Everyone stayed frozen, waiting, it seemed, for him.

"Um, yes?"

The Y flickered and then both the words and the grey faded away.

Tsuna promptly fell over.

For a moment, all Tsuna heard was that dog barking, and then Reborn scoffed and let go of his gun. It transformed back into a chameleon which curled up on his shoulder and promptly went to sleep.

"Get up, Dame-Tsuna."

Tsuna opened his mouth, closed it, opened it again. "You shot me."

Reborn tugged at his hat. "Hurry up, Dame-Tsuna. If you're late, I'll shoot you again."

"Hie!"

Tsuna ran to school, Reborn hot on his heels. He took a moment to contemplate the baby following him. All he knew about the suit-wearing child was that he was supposed to be Tsuna's tutor and that he'd said he was the world's greatest hitman. Tsuna wouldn't believe him, except that a part of him—that strange voice in the back of his head that had gotten him out a few scraps, if not all of them—said to be cautious. There was more to the baby than met the eye.

As Tsuna approached the gate of Namimori Middle School, he saw Mochida leaning over Kyoko, one arm caging her against the side column. Kyoko was obviously uncomfortable, staring down at her bag as the kendo captain talked at her.

Tsuna slowed to a walk, barely noticing as Reborn hopped onto his shoulder. "It seems Dame-Tsuna has competition for the girl he likes."

Shaking his head, Tsuna replied, "Kyoko-chan should date someone better than me. I'm no good, after all. But Mochida-san isn't any good either." He scowled. "He's making her uncomfortable."

"Well then you should do something about it, Dame-Tsuna." Reborn kicked him in the head and jumped off his shoulder.

Right before Reborn hit the ground, the world froze again. Tsuna "eep'd" and looked around. Like before, everything had greyed out and all sound except what came from his mouth was muted.

A bright flash and then words appeared right over the heads of Kyoko and Mochida.

QUEST RECEIVED: Save Kyoko from Mochida

ACCEPT QUEST: Y/N?

Tsuna didn't know what was happening, why those words were appearing or what it meant. He wasn't stupid, of course. He'd never played video games before, but he knew enough to see the similarities.

He probably should be freaking out more, but he'd used up most of his energy dealing with the impossibility of having a baby tutor who, while he might not be a hitman like he'd claimed, at least knew more than most babies about how to use a gun. Finding out he was in some sort of reality-altering video game was just icing on top of a very strange, panic-inducing cake.

Tsuna looked at the frozen Kyoko. Even in monochrome, she was beautiful. She didn't deserve having to deal with Mochida's pawing. Tsuna knew he was useless, but if this weird video game thought he was good enough to be offered that quest, then he could do nothing but try to help her.

"Yes," Tsuna said, ignoring how his voice shook.

Like before, the Y flashed, but then new words appeared.

QUEST ACCEPTED

LOOK AT JOURNAL: Y/N?

"Yes," Tsuna said, hoping for some answers to the many questions he had.

A flash, and then a large orange book was suddenly in front of him. The front page said QUEST JOURNAL in bold black letters. Curious, Tsuna flipped a page.

CONTENTS

MAIN QUESTS

SIDE QUESTS

COMPLETED QUESTS

… Back to Main Menu

"Huh," Tsuna murmured. He tried to flip a page, but they wouldn't flip. Frowning, he flipped backwards. The title page appeared again. He flipped back to the second page.

"Completed Quests," Tsuna said aloud, but nothing happened. He scratched his head, and then cautiously touched the words instead. They flickered and then the book began to flip pages on its own, landing on a page that said:

COMPLETED QUESTS

MAIN QUESTS

- Meet the Tutor

SIDE QUESTS

Empty

… Back to Journal Contents

Curious, Tsuna touched Meet the Tutor. The journal pages flipped by themself, landing on a new page.

QUEST: Meet the Tutor

SUMMARY: In order for Sawada Tsunayoshi to learn of his destiny, Timoteo sent a tutor to train his young potential heir.

QUEST OBJECTIVE: Be introduced to Reborn.

QUEST REWARD: 100 XP, Reborn becomes an Allied Character.

COMPLETED: October 7, 2006 at 7:35 AM

… Back to Completed Quests

Who was Timoteo? The summary brought up more questions than it answered, really.

Tsuna touched the Back to Completed Quests button.

COMPLETED QUESTS

MAIN QUESTS

- Meet the Tutor

SIDE QUESTS

Empty

… Back to Journal Contents

Tsuna clicked the last button and the book flipped to the second page. He clicked Main Quests.

MAIN QUESTS

VONGOLA DECIMO

- Unlock Dying Will Mode

… Back to Journal Contents

He tried to click Vongola Decimo, but nothing happened. Then, he clicked Unlock Dying Will Mode. The journal flipped to the correct page.

QUEST: Unlock Dying Will Mode

SUMMARY: As the first step to unlocking his Flames, Sawada Tsunayoshi must enter DYING WILL MODE.

QUEST OBJECTIVE: Be hit by a DYING WILL BULLET or ingest a DYING WILL PILL and activate ability DYING WILL MODE.

QUEST REWARD: 200 XP, Ability Unlocked: DYING WILL MODE.

… Back to Main Quests

"A bullet!" Tsuna yelled as he read the summary. He took a couple breaths to calm himself down. The nice thing about this game thing was that he had as much time to think as he wanted. He wondered if the bullet he was hit with earlier was a Dying Will Bullet. What was the different between that and a regular bullet? Did it hurt more or less?

Shaking his head, Tsuna re-read the summary. He wondered what his Flames were and why they were capitalized. Obviously they were important, but other than that he had nothing.

Sighing, Tsuna hit Back to Main Quests from the bottom of the page and then Back to Contents. Then he hit Side Quests. Like he'd guessed, Save Kyoko from Mochida was there. He clicked it.

QUEST: Save Kyoko from Mochida

SUMMARY: Mochida Kensuke is bothering Sasagawa Kyoko.

QUEST OBJECTIVE: Confront Mochida Kensuke.

QUEST REWARD: 100 XP, Sasagawa Kyoko Friendship +1, Mochida Kensuke Respect +1 Aggression +7.

… Back to Side Quests

"Eep!" Tsuna squealed, looking at Aggression. Then again… Respect, huh? And gaining a little toward maybe being friends with Kyoko-chan!

Curiously, Tsuna clicked on the bolded Sasagawa Kyoko. The journal closed and vanished. A white screen appeared in its place. Taking up the entire left side was a full picture of Kyoko. She wore a cute pink dress and a lovely smile. On the right of the screen read:

SASAGAWA KYOKO

LEVEL: 1

HEALTH: 5

ENERGY: 5

FLAME TYPE: Mist

ABILITIES:

- ?

RELATIONSHIP:

- Friendship 0/25

- Romance (LOCKED)

- Respect 0/25

- Rapport (LOCKED)

- Aggression 0/25

- Hostility (LOCKED)

… Back to Neutrals

Tsuna winced at the zeros under Relationship, but was then distracted by Flame Type. Was that related to the Flames in his Dying Will quest? Why would Kyoko have them? What did Mist mean?

He hit the button for Back to Neutral and the screen changed.

NEUTRAL CHARACTERS

- Sasagawa Kyoko

- Mochida Kensuke

… Back to Characters

Shrugging, he hit Mochida's name. Mochida's picture was of him in his kendo outfit, complete with a wooden sword held in both hands.

MOCHIDA KENSUKE

LEVEL: 5

HEALTH: 25

ENERGY: 20

FLAME TYPE: Lightning

ABILITIES:

- ?

RELATIONSHIP:

- Friendship 0/25

- Romance (LOCKED)

- Respect 0/25

- Rapport (LOCKED)

- Aggression 5/25

- Hostility (LOCKED)

… Back to Neutrals

Lightning, huh? He wondered why the Flame Type things were all related to weather. He clicked Back to Neutrals then, at the bottom of that screen, Back to Characters.

CHARACTERS

ACTIVE PARTY

ALLIES

ENEMIES

NEUTRALS

… Back to Main Menu

He clicked Active Party which gave him an empty screen.

ACTIVE PARTY

Empty

… Back to Characters

Then he clicked Allies.

ALLIED CHARACTERS

- Reborn

- Timoteo

… Back to Characters

He clicked Timoteo first. He remembered that name from the Meet the Tutor quest. The screen had a place for a picture on the left, but it was just a black outline. He pouted, then read the information.

TIMOTEO

LEVEL: 75

HEALTH: 3,000

ENERGY: 1,000

FLAME TYPE: Sky

ABILITIES:

- VONGOLA NONO

- ?

RELATIONSHIP:

- Friendship 5/25

- Romance (N/A)

- Respect 0/25

- Rapport (N/A)

- Aggression 0/25

- Hostility (LOCKED)

PLACE IN PARTY (N/A)

… Back to Allies

So this Timoteo had something to do with Vongola? What did Nono mean? For that matter, what did Decimo mean? Wasn't that in his Main Quest title?

But, wow, this Timoteo person was really high level. Even Mochida, who was captain of the kendo team, was only level 5!

Tsuna clicked Back to Allies and then Reborn. The picture on the left was Reborn wearing his suit and with his chameleon sitting on hat.

REBORN

LEVEL: 100

HEALTH: 5,000

ENERGY: 1,000

FLAME TYPE: Sun

ABILITIES:

- LEON THE CHAMELEON

- ?

RELATIONSHIP:

- Friendship 0/25

- Romance (LOCKED)

- Respect 0/25

- Rapport (LOCKED)

- Aggression 15/25

- Hostility (LOCKED)

PLACE IN PARTY (LOCKED)

… Back to Allies

"Level 100!" Tsuna gaped. No wonder Reborn was so scary. But how could a baby get to be so high level? Had his mother taken steroids while she was pregnant or something?

He groaned as he saw the Aggression level. No wonder Reborn was willing to shoot him, even if he was supposed to be his tutor. He suppose he should be happy Reborn was in his Allies section, not the Enemies section. Speaking of that, Tsuna hit Back to Allies and Back to Characters, then Enemies.

ENEMY CHARACTERS

Empty

… Back to Characters

He wiped imaginary sweat off his forehead and hit Back to Characters. He stared at the screen for a moment and wondered why there were so few people listed. Only Reborn, Timoteo, Kyoko, and Mochida. Where were his other classmates? His mom?

But wait, all those people had been listed under one of his quests. Maybe that was why. He wondered how he went about receiving a quest from other people.

Tsuna hit the button Back to Main Menu.

MAIN MENU

STATUS

CHARACTERS

INVENTORY

JOURNAL

EXIT MENU

He'd already checked out the Characters and Journal sections, so he clicked on Inventory.

On the left of the new screen was a full picture of him, wearing only his boxers. Above his head was a tab that read TSUNA. That was the only tab. Superimposed over his boxer-clad image was:

CURRENTLY EQUIPPED

HEAD: Empty

SHOULDERS: Empty

TORSO: Empty

LEGS: Empty

FEET: Empty

LEFT HAND: Empty

RIGHT HAND: Empty

OTHER: Empty

In the right section there were four tabs: EQUIPMENT, CONSUMABLES, MISCELLANEOUS, and KEY ITEMS.

The Equipment tab was currently open.

EQUIPMENT

Empty

AVAILABLE SLOTS: 25

… Back to Main Menu

Tsuna hit the tabs for Consumables, Miscellaneous, and Key Items, but they were all empty and had 25 open slots.

Sighing, Tsuna went back to the Main Menu and then the last category, Status.

STATUS

SAWADA TSUNAYOSHI

LEVEL: 1 (400 XP to Next Level)

HEALTH: 5/5

ENERGY: 5/5

STATS:

- ATTACK: 0

- DEFENSE: 0

- MOVEMENT: 5

- INTELLIGENCE: 0

- CHARM: 1

FLAME TYPE: Sky

ABILITIES:

- VONGOLA HYPER INTUITION (Rank 1)

… Back to Main Menu

Tsuna deliberately ignore the Stats (0 for Intelligence? Ouch.) He hit the Hyper Intuition ability, hoping for more information about what this Vongola thing was. A pop-up screen appeared in front of it.

VONGOLA HYPER INTUITION

ABILITY TYPE: Passive

SUMMARY: A born trait only available to those who have the blood of the Vongola.

RANK 1: User has a 1/10 chance of sensing nearby danger.

RANK 2: ?

… Close

Tsuna frowned. He supposed he could sometimes tell when something or someone was dangerous to him, but he'd thought that was normal or, if not, just something he'd learned from being bullied. He didn't know how to feel about it being something he'd inherited. But again, what was Vongola?

With everything on the menu explored, Tsuna pondered what to do next. He should close the menu and return to the real world, but if he did that then he'd need to confront Mochida. Which would probably get him beat up, considering the Aggression increase.

But… he had accepted the quest. And he couldn't leave Kyoko stranded there. And if he died, he supposed he'd just respawn, so that wasn't so bad.

"Okay," Tsuna said. "I can do this." He went back to the Main Menu and then hit the last button to exit it.

The screen blinked away and then the grey faded. Suddenly the world was back in focus and Tsuna had to take a second to re-adjust.

But Mochida was only a couple yards in front of him, sleazily grinning at Kyoko, and he had to do something. So he stepped forward.

"Um, excuse me?"

Kyoko glanced at him, but Mochida was saying something about his last kendo win and didn't notice.

Tsuna cleared his throat and said again, "Excuse me!"

Not only did Mochida stop and look at him, so too did several of the other students walking to class. Tsuna winced, but powered on. "Mochida-san, I don't think Kyoko-chan wants to go out with you. At the very least, you should give her a chance to answer."

"What did you say?" Mochida said, stepping away from Kyoko and toward Tsuna.

"I said, you should give Sasagawa-san a chance to tell you her answer," Tsuna replied.

"I'm pretty sure you just called her Kyoko-chan. Is that right? Do you like her, Dame-Tsuna?" Mochida laughed and several of the watching students joined in.

"I didn't say–" Tsuna began, but Mochida interrupted him.

"Why would Kyoko even look at a freak like you when she could have me?"

Tsuna looked from the laughing spectators to Reborn to Kyoko. She had a frown on her face, so different from her usual expression, and it was enough for Tsuna to gather his meager courage.

"Mochida-san, give Kyoko a chance to answer you!"

Just above Mochida's right shoulder, a small string of text appeared reading: Hyper Intuition Senses Danger!

"I don't need Kyoko to answer me, her answer is obviously a yes," Mochida growled. "And you need to be shown your place!"

The world froze and greyed out.

QUEST COMPLETED: Save Kyoko from Mochida

100 XP Gained

Sasagawa Kyoko Friendship +1

Mochida Kensuke Respect +1 Aggression +7

The words slowly faded and were replaced.

QUEST RECEIVED: Show Mochida the Error of His Ways

ACCEPT QUEST: Y/N?

"Eep!"

THAT IS NOT A VALID ANSWER

"I know, I know."

THAT IS NOT A VALID ANSWER

"Ugh!"

THAT IS NOT A VALID ANSWER

Tsuna threw his hands up in the air. He considered the quest. On one hand, he had a feeling Mochida was going to attack him regardless of whether he accepted the quest or not. On the other hand… that sounded dangerous.

He wished he could see the quest summary before accepting. That was frustrating.

Should he do it? For Kyoko?

Well, accepting it and failing was no worse than just not accepting it, right?

"Yes," Tsuna said.

QUEST ACCEPTED

LOOK AT JOURNAL: Y/N?

"Yes."

His journal appeared. Tsuna quickly clicked to the right page.

SIDE QUESTS

- Show Mochida the Error of His Ways

… Back to Journal Contents

He clicked on the quest.

QUEST: Show Mochida the Error of His Ways

SUMMARY: Mochida Kensuke has been treating women poorly.

QUEST OBJECTIVE: Teach Mochida Kensuke that he is wrong and show him a better way to treat women.

QUEST REWARD: 500 XP, Mochida Kensuke Friendship +1, Respect +5, Aggression -5.

BONUS REWARD: For all female characters present, Friendship +5, Respect +5.

… Back to Side Quests

Oh, apparently it wasn't a fighting quest. Well, Tsuna had no idea how he would show Mochida a better way to treat women but he didn't think there was a time limit on quests so he'd figure it out.

Tsuna hit all the buttons to get to Exit Menu and returned to the real world.

Just in time to remember that his Hyper Intuition had sensed danger.

"You and me, after school in the gym," Mochida said. "Be there, Dame-Tsuna. Or else."

With that, Mochida turned around and stalked to class. Tsuna was left shaking in place, already terrified of what was coming. He knew he wouldn't be able to skip, or some of Mochida's lackeys on the kendo team would drag him there—though not without beating him up first. No, he'd have to go and face his humiliation.

He could still respawn, he reminded himself. He wouldn't die permanently. That had to count for something, right?

Kyoko stepped forward and Tsuna suddenly remembered that she'd been there to watch him make a fool of himself trying to help her. But she was smiling now and that was nice to see. "Thanks, Tsuna-kun," she said. "I'm sorry for getting you mixed up in my troubles."

"It was my fault," Tsuna replied. "Not that I would choose differently! He shouldn't talk to you like that." He blushed and looked at the ground. "That's just what I think."

He glanced up in time to see Kyoko give him an even brighter smile. Text appeared over her shoulder: Friendship +1. Tsuna smiled back in response to both hers and the words. Maybe getting beat up by Mochida wouldn't be so bad, not if it meant the two points toward a friendship with Kyoko.

This whole game thing was pretty useful, actually. It was nice to have visible proof of doing something right for once.

The bell for class rang and they had to rush else risk being seen by the Head of the Disciplinary Committee. Tsuna didn't know what level Hibari was, but he doubted it was low.

Tsuna forgot about Reborn until midway through class, but he figured someone at Level 100 would be able to take care of himself, so he decided not to worry too much. He had a more important thing to worry about after all—and the time for it was rapidly approaching.

After class, he dragged his feet to the gym. Like he'd feared, the area was full of spectators. He sighed and timidly turned to face Mochida.

The fellow middle schooler explained they would be having a kendo duel. He gestured for one of his lackeys to hand Tsuna a shinai—a practice kendo sword—and some kendo armor. As the boy gave the stuff over, smirking too wide for Tsuna not to suspect some sort of trick, the sword and armor disappeared in a flash of light and words appeared in the space they had been.

ITEM(S) RECEIVED

CHECK INVENTORY: Y/N?

"Yes," Tsuna said and the world greyed out.

In the Inventory section, there were five new items in grids under the Equipment tab.

EQUIPMENT

BASIC SHINAI

BASIC KENDO CHEST GUARD

BASIC KENDO HELMET

BASIC KENDO SHOULDER PADS

BASIC KENDO LEG GUARDS

AVAILABLE SLOTS: 20

… Back to Main Menu

Tsuna clicked on the first item and a pop-up screen appeared.

BASIC SHINAI

ITEM LEVEL: 1

ITEM TYPE: Two-Handed Weapon (SWORD)

DAMAGE: 1-3 (PHYSICAL)

EQUIP: Y/N?

… Close

Tsuna equipped the shinai and suddenly that picture of him on the right in his boxers was holding the shinai.

"Cool," Tsuna said. He looked at the other pieces.

BASIC KENDO CHEST GUARD

ITEM LEVEL: 1

ITEM TYPE: Torso

ARMOR: +2 DEFENSE, -1 MOVEMENT

EQUIP: Y/N?

… Close

Tsuna was all for the extra defense, but the minus to movement… he supposed that was why the kendo lackey had been grinning. The armor must be restricting or heavy or something. He scowled, betting Mochida's armor fit him just fine.

Tsuna decided not to equip the chest guard just yet and instead looked at the next item.

BASIC KENDO HELMET

ITEM LEVEL: 1

ITEM TYPE: Head

ARMOR: +1 DEFENSE, -1 MOVEMENT

EQUIP: Y/N?

… Close

This one had negative movement too! And only 1 for defense. That definitely wasn't worth it. The next item was:

BASIC KENDO SHOULDER PADS

ITEM LEVEL: 1

ITEM TYPE: Shoulders

ARMOR: +1 DEFENSE, -1 MOVEMENT

EQUIP: Y/N?

… Close

Just as bad as the helmet. There was just one more item. He clicked on it.

BASIC KENDO LEG GUARDS

ITEM LEVEL: 1

ITEM TYPE: Torso

ARMOR: +1 DEFENSE, -1 MOVEMENT

EQUIP: Y/N?

… Close

Scratching his head, Tsuna clicked all the way back to the menu and then onto Status. He looked at his Stats for a moment. He only had five in Movement. He clicked on the stat, hoping for more information. He was in luck. A pop-up menu declared:

MOVEMENT

IN COMBAT: This stat gives the character a chance to dodge incoming attacks instead of taking a hit. Conversely, characters with higher movement than their opponent are more likely to land a hit.

OUT OF COMBAT: This stat increases a character's walking and running speed as well as the speed they complete activities.

… Close

Tsuna closed the pop-up and pressed for more information on Defense.

DEFENSE

IN COMBAT ONLY: This stat allows the character to take more damage without being hurt. When a character is hit, the amount of the Defense stat takes away from the damage. Whatever amount is remaining gets subtracted from the Health of the character.

… Close

Pondering that, Tsuna looked at Attack.

ATTACK

IN COMBAT ONLY: This stat shows the default amount of damage a character will do in battle. When a weapon is equipped, its damage stat is added to the character's Attack stat.

… Close

Without the shinai, Tsuna could literally do no damage in battle. He supposed that made sense considering past experience, but it still hurt to hear. With the shinai, at least he could do one to three. But… what was Mochida's Defense? And didn't Mochida have 25 Health points?

It was official, he was doomed.

Sighing, Tsuna went back to his Inventory. He had to decide if the negative Movement stat was worth the added Defense. He had no idea how high Mochida's Movement stat was either, but considering he was several levels higher… it seemed a better idea to try to dodge hits then take the damage. Still, the chest guard had a better Defense rating than the other armor pieces. He equipped the chest guard and left the others in his inventory.

CURRENTLY EQUIPPED

HEAD: Empty

SHOULDERS: Empty

TORSO: BASIC KENDO CHEST GUARD

LEGS: Empty

FEET: Empty

LEFT HAND: BASIC SHINAI

RIGHT HAND: BASIC SHINAI

OTHER: Empty

His inventory picture looked rather funny wearing boxers, a chest guard, and holding a shinai… but it would have to do.

Curious, Tsuna went back to his Status page. Now it read:

STATUS

SAWADA TSUNAYOSHI

LEVEL: 1 (300 XP to Next Level)

HEALTH: 5/5

ENERGY: 5/5

STATS:

- ATTACK: 0 (+1-3)

- DEFENSE: 0 (+2)

- MOVEMENT: 5 (-1)

- INTELLIGENCE: 0

- CHARM: 1

FLAME TYPE: Sky

ABILITIES:

- VONGOLA HYPER INTUITION (Rank 1)

… Back to Main Menu

Well, that was at least better than before.

Tsuna exited the menu and readied himself. As the world started up again, he realized he had no idea how to change into the picture with the sword and the chest guard. Luckily, he didn't have to worry about it long, for Mochida's kendo lackey announced the battle start and suddenly Tsuna saw the world change.

He was still in the gym, but instead of standing in the middle of a crowd, now Tsuna and Mochida were standing in a perfect circle. Surrounding them was a dark mass of people outlines, but without any discernible faces. Over Mochida's head, text appeared along with a long bar.

Mochida Kensuke (lvl 5) it read. Beside the bar was 25/25. Tsuna supposed that was his Health. He looked around and saw that his own Health was shown in a similar bar to his left, expect it only read 5/5. Next to his red Health bar was a green Energy bar that read, also 5/5.

The other strange thing was that Mochida had magically changed into his kendo gear. He wore a full set of armor and a had a nicer looking shinai than the one Tsuna was holding. Tsuna, on the other hand, was embarrassed to notice he wore exactly what was shown in his Inventory picture: meaning he had no pants on, only boxers.

Mochida didn't seem to notice, though. Nor was he looking at the strange situation with their surroundings. Instead, he just stood in place, shinai stretched in front of him, ready for battle.

And then text appeared between them.

BATTLE START IN…

5…

4…

3…

2…

1…

GO!

Suddenly intense music filled the air. Tsuna "eep'd" and frantically looked around to see where it was coming from. He looked back at Mochida just in time to see the kendo captain approached with his sword raised. Tsuna lifted his own sword up, but not in time to block. Mochida's sword hit Tsuna square in the shoulder and he reeled backwards.

A large number 5 appeared between them. Tsuna looked to his left and saw that his Health had dropped down by 3 points, so it was now 2/5. He realized quickly the 5 was the amount of damage Mochida had done. With his 2 points of Defense subtracted… he still couldn't take another hit like that.

Mochida swung again, but this time Tsuna managed to dodge. He supposed it was smart of him to have kept the amount toward Movement. Except, he still need to land a hit on Mochida and hope to do at least a little damage.

Swallowed, Tsuna rushed forward. Mochida didn't even try to dodge, making Tsuna wonder if the kendo captain even had any points in his Movement stat.

A smaller number 2 appeared between them. Tsuna looked hopefully at Mochida's Health, but it didn't go down at all.

Backing up, Tsuna considered Mochida's armor. Even if it was the exact same as what his had been… that still meant Mochida had at least 5 points in Defense.

There was literally no way for him to damage Mochida.

Tsuna contemplated just standing still so Mochida could hit him and get this torture over with, but just then something appeared in the sidelines. He blinked and looked to see Reborn appear from the faceless crowd.

"Here, Dame-Tsuna!" the baby said, pulling the trigger on his gun.

Tsuna didn't have time dodge (or was it that he didn't have enough Movement to counteract the Movement of a Level 100?) He was hit by the bullet.

The world went grey.

YOU HAVE BEEN HIT WITH A DYING WILL BULLET

ACTIVATE DYING WILL MODE: Y/N?

"Yes."

The rest of the battle was a blur. He remembered feeling power flow through him. He remembered that his next hits with the shinai did 10 damage each. He remembered that Mochida couldn't lay a hit on him, he was too fast.

And then the battle was over and the power flowed away like sand through his fingers. Mochida was on the ground, his Health bar showing 0/25.

In the space between then, more text appeared.

BATTLE WON

200 XP Gained

Mochida Kensuke Respect +5

The arena began to fade away, but before the real world could return, the usual menu grey asserted itself.

QUEST COMPLETED: Unlock Dying Will Mode

200 XP Gained

Ability Unlocked: DYING WILL MODE

A ding sounded and the screen shifted:

SAWADA TSUNAYOSHI HAS LEVELED UP

LEVEL: 2

+3 HEALTH

+3 ENERGY

+3 STAT POINTS

The screen shifted to show his Status page, the level up information still hovering to the left of it. He was happy about the increase in Health, though he still wasn't sure what Energy did. And three Stat points? But his Stats looked the same… oh, he wondered if he had to choose where they went.

Tsuna pondered that for a moment. Should he increase his natural Attack? Or maybe his Intelligence or Charm?

Wait, he still didn't know what those two did. He clicked Intelligence first.

INTELLIGENCE

IN COMBAT: This stat allows the character to predict their opponent's next move if the opponent's Intelligence is lower.

OUT OF COMBAT: This stat allows the character to perform better at school and work.

… Close

Well, that second part was rather obvious. No wonder his was 0. He was Dame-Tsuna. Wait though… did that mean if he increased his Intelligence, he might start doing better on quizzes and tests? That was amazing!

He was tempted to just put all three in Intelligence immediately, but refrained himself. He checked Charm next.

CHARM

IN COMBAT: This stat gives the character a greater chance of being rewarded with Respect points after a battle and decreases the chance of added Aggression points.

OUT OF COMBAT: This stat increases the chance of the character being rewarded with Friendship or Respect points from conversation or other activities.

… Close

That sounded useful too. It was all useful, really. If he increased his Defense, then maybe he'd take less damage from bullies too. He also needed to increase his Attack if he wanted to do any damage.

With only 3 points to spend, Tsuna ended up deciding on just boosting his three stats at 0. If he managed to gain another couple levels, he'd start increasing Movement and Charm, but first he just needed to buff his weaknesses. Now his stats read:

STATUS

SAWADA TSUNAYOSHI

LEVEL: 2 (650 XP to Next Level)

HEALTH: 8/8

ENERGY: 8/8

STATS:

- ATTACK: 1 (+1-3)

- DEFENSE: 1 (+2)

- MOVEMENT: 5 (-1)

- INTELLIGENCE: 1

- CHARM: 1

FLAME TYPE: Sky

ABILITIES:

- VONGOLA HYPER INTUITION (Rank 1)

- DYING WILL MODE

… Back to Main Menu

Tsuna clicked on Dying Will Mode. It gave him a pop-up screen with this information:

DYING WILL MODE

ABILITY TYPE: Combat Special

SUMMARY: This ability is available to anyone with Dying Will Flames. It requires a DYING WILL BULLET or a DYING WILL PILL and only lasts for the duration of a single battle. The ability gives the user 500 percent boosted ATTACK, DEFENSE, and MOVEMENT, but the character loses control of their actions and attacks on auto-pilot until the battle ends.

… Close

No wonder he'd been able to win. Even with only 1-3 in Attack, 500 percent boosted meant he'd done 5-15 damage a hit.

Tsuna blinked, realizing he'd done basic math in his head. That point towards Intelligence was already kicking in!

Tsuna closed the menu. As the real world returned, he looked around for where Reborn went, but the baby was nowhere to be seen. He scowled, hoping he'd be able to get his answers soon. Why did Reborn have Dying Will Bullets? Why did unlocking that ability have anything to do with this mysterious Main Quest?

Tsuna realized the crowd was silent. He looked around and saw that most of the spectators had their mouth open in shock. "I can't believe Dame-Tsuna defeat Mochida!" he heard someone whisper to their friend.

He wondered what everyone else had seen. Had they seen the arena battle? Or something else? Did the game just make everyone think battling like that was normal?

Mochida groaned and got to his feet. Tsuna stepped forward, suddenly worried. He'd completely destroyed Mochida's Health! He didn't like the guy, but he didn't want to really hurt him that badly either.

Before he could offer aid, Mochida's kendo lackey's came forward and helped him stand.

"You defeated me," Mochida said. He looked exhausted, but he was alive at least. "I suppose you are worthy of the prize of Kyoko."

All worry Tsuna had held for Mochida promptly disappeared. "Kyoko-chan isn't a prize! People can't be prizes!"

Mochida blinked. "You're weird, Dame-Tsuna. Women are trophies. You aim for the biggest and brightest and fight for it and then you win."

"That's stupid!" Tsuna shot back. "Women are people just like anyone else. They have the same feelings we do. How would you feel if someone decided that you were the prize of some stupid fight without your say so? How would you feel if someone just decided they were dating you and didn't even ask? Women aren't trophies or prizes or whatever." He pulled at his hair, frustrated. He'd seen his mother cry at night, seen her dragged down by the weight of being the trophy wife to a man who was never home and had to gall to so obviously lie about where he was and what he was doing. If there was one thing he knew he was right on, it was that there was no difference between men and women—not with things like respect and feelings.

Mochida was staring at him. For that matter, so too was the crowd. Tsuna flushed and clamped his mouth shut.

Then Kyoko stepped forward, followed by her best friend Kurokawa Hana. Hana nodded at Tsuna and above her shoulder, Tsuna saw the words Kurokawa Hana has been added to Neutral Characters.

"Tsuna-kun is right, Mochida-san," Kyoko said. "I'm not a prize and I don't want to be won. I think you're great at kendo, but I don't want to date you."

Mochida gaped, closed his mouth, gaped some more, and then slowly shook off his helpers. He turned to Kyoko, took a deep breath, and bowed. "I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable. That was never my intention." Then he turned to Tsuna. "Thanks for telling me that, Sawada. I guess I needed to hear it."

QUEST COMPLETED: Show Mochida the Error of His Ways

500 XP Gained

Mochida Kensuke Friendship +1, Respect +5, Aggression -5

Sasagawa Kyoko Friendship +5, Respect +5

Kurokawa Hana Friendship +5, Respect +5

Tsuna grinned as the world went back to normal. "I'm just glad you understand now, Mochida-san," he said.

Mochida nodded and let his lackeys help him limp away. Tsuna turned to Kyoko and Hana. Kyoko smiled at him. "Thank you, Tsuna-kun."

Tsuna blushed. "You're welcome," he mumbled.

Hana snorted. "I guess you're not so bad, Sawada." She shook her head. "Let's go, Kyoko."

Kyoko nodded and they left.

Later, on his way home, Tsuna wondered how to get back into the menu. He wanted to look at the Characters page. He scratched his head and shrugged. It'd look stupid if he was wrong, but he might as well try. "Main Menu," he said aloud.

The word greyed and the menu appeared. He pumped a fist in the air, pleased with his success. He pressed Characters and then Neutrals, then on the three names there.

SASAGAWA KYOKO

LEVEL: 1

HEALTH: 5

ENERGY: 5

FLAME TYPE: Mist

ABILITIES:

- ?

RELATIONSHIP:

- Friendship 7/25

- Romance (LOCKED)

- Respect 5/25

- Rapport (LOCKED)

- Aggression 0/25

- Hostility (LOCKED)

… Back to Neutrals

He was up to 7 in friendship with Kyoko already! He wondered how to unlock the Romance section. Maybe if he continued to increase Friendship and Respect?

MOCHIDA KENSUKE

LEVEL: 5

HEALTH: 25

ENERGY: 20

FLAME TYPE: Lightning

ABILITIES:

- KENDO COMBO STRIKE

- CAPTAIN OF THE KENDO TEAM

RELATIONSHIP:

- Friendship 1/25

- Romance (LOCKED)

- Respect 11/25

- Rapport (LOCKED)

- Aggression 7/25

- Hostility (LOCKED)

… Back to Neutrals

He could see one of Mochida's Abilities now? Kendo Combo Strike? He didn't remember that being used… then again he had been in Dying Will Mode so he barely remembered the battle. And Captain of the Kendo Team? He wondered if that was an active ability or a passive one like his Hyper Intuition.

He went back to the Neutral Characters page then clicked on the newest member.

KUROKAWA HANA

LEVEL: 3

HEALTH: 15

ENERGY: 15

FLAME TYPE: Rain

ABILITIES:

- ?

RELATIONSHIP:

- Friendship 5/25

- Romance (LOCKED)

- Respect 5/25

- Rapport (LOCKED)

- Aggression 0/25

- Hostility (LOCKED)

… Back to Neutrals

Huh, Hana was already Level 3? Well, she was pretty strong, he supposed. But hey, he was well on his way to actually being friends were her too. And everyone knew that if Hana didn't like and respect you, you could actually get nowhere with Kyoko. Hana was scarily protective of her best friend.

Nodding, Tsuna closed the menu and finished walking home.