Notes: I've decided to start a new update schedule where I only work on one fanfiction at a time and this isn't on the list for the near future. However, I was literally one scene from being done with this chapter and I had a little extra time so I decided to finish and post it for you guys. So I hope it tides you over for a while until this story gets on my update schedule.
Tsuna woke up promptly at 7, which confused him until he saw the text.
A GOOD NIGHT'S REST restores the character's HEALTH and ENERGY to full.
That was super useful. He actually felt totally awake for once and stretched before getting ready for school.
As he ate breakfast (his mom quite surprised to see him up already but happy), Reborn sat across from him. "Today, a new transfer student will join your school," Reborn said.
"Um, okay?"
"He has a Storm Flame. You should make him part of your Family."
Tsuna eyed Reborn, suspicious. "And how do you know that?"
Reborn sipped his coffee. "I just do."
What a useless answer. Tsuna sighed. That Home Tutor ability wasn't perfect, it seemed.
"You will also be asked to join in the Volleyball Tournament today," Reborn continued. "As some of the players fell sick yesterday and they are short-handed."
"But I'm not good at sports! They won't ask me."
"We'll see."
Tsuna ended up heading to school with plenty of time to spare. He watched out for more thugs, but this close to school (and Hibari) they were scarce and he ran into none.
In class, Tsuna sat in his usual seat toward the back. He was actually pretty eager for class to start so he could turn in his homework, but first his homeroom teacher had to announce the transfer student.
As the door opened to admit the new person, Tsuna saw Hyper Intuition Senses Danger! and squeaked.
The new student was fairly tall with silver hair and green eyes. Tsuna could see all the girls and some of the guys in the class fall in love immediately, but he was struck by the hateful sneer on the transfer's face.
As the student introduced himself, more text appeared.
Gokudera Hayato has been added to Enemy Characters.
Tsuna called up the Main Menu so he could panic without being watched. He took a couple minutes calming himself down and then went to the Enemies section and clicked on the newest addition.
GOKUDERA HAYATO
LEVEL: 6
HEALTH: 40
ENERGY: 25
FLAME TYPE: Storm
ABILITIES:
- ?
RELATIONSHIP:
- Friendship 0/25
- Romance (LOCKED)
- Respect 0/25
- Rapport (LOCKED)
- Aggression 25/25
- Hostility 0/25
… Back to Enemies
Tsuna took a couple calming breaths. Okay, so Gokudera was Level 6 but he'd defeated Level 5 Mochida… he could do it!
It was interesting (and panic-inducing, but he ignored that) to note that Hostility was unlocked. Since Aggression was maxed out, did that mean he had to max out Respect to get to Rapport? That was a crazy amount of work.
Tsuna closed out of the menu. He flinched back as Gokudera approached and kicked his desk, but it didn't start a battle so he let out a sigh of relief and focused on class.
Tsuna turned in all his homework and got the +5 Intelligence, as well as compliments from his teachers for getting a tutor. It brought his Intelligence up to 7, which made him feel pretty great. Meanwhile, Gokudera continued to glare at him. He shivered against the unpleasant sensation. He wasn't sure how he would get Gokudera to respect him if that was what Reborn was aiming for.
At lunch, a couple students approached his desk, led by Yamamoto.
Yamamoto Takeshi has been added to Neutral Characters.
"Yo, Sawada," Yamamoto said. "We saw your fight with Mochida yesterday. You did awesome!"
"T-thanks."
"Thing is, we're having a Volleyball Tournament today, but some of are teammates weren't able to make it. Think you could help us out?"
QUEST RECEIVED: Win Volleyball Mini-Game 3 Times
ACCEPT QUEST: Y/N?
"Yes," Tsuna said, and then "yes" again to looking at his journal.
QUEST: Win Volleyball Mini-Game 3 Times
SUMMARY: Yamamoto Takeshi and the other Volleyball players need another teammate for their Volleyball Tournament.
QUEST OBJECTIVE: Compete in and win the Volleyball Mini-Game at least 3 times.
QUEST REWARD: 300 XP, Yamamoto Takeshi Friendship +3.
BONUS REWARD: For all athletic characters present, Respect +1.
… Back to Side Quests
Tsuna clicked the bolded Volleyball Mini-Game and suddenly he found himself at the gym. He looked around and saw that most of his grade was watching, including the glaring Gokudera. Surrounding him were his new teammates. He glanced down and noticed he was wearing gym clothes.
VOLLEYBALL MINI-GAME
To win the game, get through three rounds of play.
ROUND 1: Hit back 3 volleyballs without letting 3 touch the ground.
START!
Tsuna squeaked and frantically rushed forward to deflect the volleyballs coming over the net. The other team was a faceless entity and he noticed that it seemed like his teammates were playing their own mini-game, of sorts. He was on his own with the volleyballs coming over into his section.
Tsuna didn't even get one ball over the net before three hit the ground. He flinched.
ROUND 1 FAILED
REPLAY: Y/N?
Tsuna chose yes and tried again. This time, he managed to make it past Round 1, but Round 2 was even faster and required 5 volleyballs to be hit back. He failed it and had to start back over at Round 1.
It took Tsuna countless of tries, but finally he managed to defeat Round 3, hit 10 volleyballs across the net without 3 touching the ground, and won the game.
GAME WON
50 XP GAINED
PLAY AGAIN: Y/N?
"Yes," Tsuna said, more confident this time.
He failed a few more times, but won his second game, then his third. A total of 150 experience points and he'd done it! Tsuna grinned and declined to play again.
QUEST COMPLETED: Win Volleyball Mini-Game 3 Times
300 XP Gained
Yamamoto Takeshi Friendship +3, Respect +1
Mochida Kensuke Respect +1
Tsuna blinked. He vaguely remembered seeing Mochida in the crowd. He supposed he and Yamamoto both counted as athletic characters, though it seemed that new transfer didn't unfortunately.
SAWADA TSUNAYOSHI HAS LEVELED UP
LEVEL: 3
+7 HEALTH
+7 ENERGY
+4 STAT POINTS
Tsuna cheered. He quickly checked out his Status page.
STATUS
SAWADA TSUNAYOSHI
LEVEL: 3 (1450 XP to Next Level)
HEALTH: 15/15
ENERGY: 15/15
STATS:
- ATTACK: 1 (+1-3)
- DEFENSE: 1 (+3)
- MOVEMENT: 5 (-1)
- INTELLIGENCE: 7
- CHARM: 1
FLAME TYPE: Sky
ABILITIES:
- VONGOLA HYPER INTUITION (Rank 1)
- DYING WILL MODE
… Back to Main Menu
He added two of his new stats into Charm, because he'd need that if he wanted to get those Guardians. Then added one to Attack and one to Defense. So now he stats read:
STATS:
- ATTACK: 2 (+1-3)
- DEFENSE: 2 (+3)
- MOVEMENT: 5 (-1)
- INTELLIGENCE: 7
- CHARM: 3
Tsuna closed out the menu and returned to the real world. He was back in his school clothes and several classmates were congratulating him on the Volleyball win. He glowed under the praise, internally snickering as he remembered how many times he failed before finally winning the games.
The crowd dispersed. Tsuna waved at Yamamoto as he headed off, presumably for baseball practice. "Thanks for the game, Yamamoto-san. Maybe we can do it again sometime?" It was an easy way to gain some XP after all.
Looking surprised, Yamamoto waved back and Friendship +1 appeared over his shoulder. "Yeah, sounds fun." Yamamoto's face quickly became the usual blank smile. Tsuna lowered his hand, just now seeing something off about it. Before he could think to say anything, Yamamoto left.
Hyper Intuition Senses Danger!
Tsuna turned in time to see Gokudera stalk toward him. "You are not fit to be Vongola Decimo!" Gokudera growled. "I am a much better candidate! I'll defeat you and show them!"
The scenery changed into the familiar battle arena, though this one had his school as a backdrop setting.
Gokudera Hayato (lvl 6) - HEALTH 40/40
Sawada Tsunayoshi (lvl 3) - HEALTH 15/15, ENERGY 15/15
Tsuna winced. He really hoped Reborn would shoot him with a Dying Will Bullet because he wasn't sure he'd be able to win without it.
BATTLE START IN…
5…
4…
3…
2…
1…
GO!
Tsuna readied his shinai and decided to be the first to attack for once. He struck forward and managed to hit Gokudera. 4. However, it only took 1 away from Gokudera's Health… meaning Gokudera had 3 in Defense.
Gokudera Hayato (lvl 6) - HEALTH 39/40
This was going to be a long battle.
"You call that a hit? Now it's my turn," Gokudera taunted. He pulled… was that dynamite!? He pulled dynamite out from his vest and threw them in the air. Tsuna managed to dodge them, but the ground of the area he'd been smoked black with the remnants. He squealed.
"Take that, and that!" Gokudera yelled, throwing more dynamite. Tsuna continued to dodge, but he wasn't able to get close to land another hit and he knew his Movement advantage wouldn't last forever.
Gokudera Hayato uses DOUBLE BOMBS!
"Here, Dame-Tsuna!" Reborn, savior Reborn, yelled from the sidelines.
YOU HAVE BEEN HIT WITH A DYING WILL BULLET
ACTIVATE DYING WILL MODE: Y/N?
"Yes!" Tsuna yelled.
Tsuna didn't remember much after that. He remembered reaching forward and slashing out the wicks of the dynamites with his shinai. He remembered hitting Gokudera several times. He remembered Gokudera using another move, one that hurt him as well as Tsuna.
And then the battle was over and he'd won with HEALTH 3/15.
BATTLE WON
500 XP Gained
Gokudera Hayato Respect +10
Gokudera Hayato is now a Neutral Character
As the real world returned, he saw Gokudera bow in front of him. The male was obviously hurt, his clothes singed and his fingers bruised, but he knelt on the ground.
"You have defeated me! I was wrong. You are more worthy of being Vongola Decimo than I am. My life is in your hands."
Tsuna blinked. "What?"
"When an unaffiliated mafioso is defeated, his life is forfeit to the one who defeated him," Reborn explained from the sidelines. "What will you do, Dame-Tsuna?"
Tsuna glared at his tutor, before turning to Gokudera. He offered him a hand. "You shouldn't just throw away your life like that. But… if you want to, you can join my Family?"
Aggression -25. Hostility is now LOCKED.
Gokudera gaped and then began to cry. "Your generosity knows no bounds! I will gladly join your Family! I will serve you for the rest of my life, Tenth!"
Gokudera Hayato is now an Allied Character. Respect +5. Rapport is now UNLOCKED.
Tsuna winced. "Don't call me that. I'm not Vongola Decimo yet. And anyway, if you want to be in my Family, you better start calling me Tsuna. I wouldn't want my Storm Guardian to call me something so formal."
Gokudera gaped. "You'd… you'd want me…"
"With how, uh, passionated you are, you'll probably be great at it," Tsuna said honestly.
Rapport + 1.
Gokudera's tears streamed more freely down his face. "Thank you, Tenth– Tsuna-sama. Thank you!"
PROMOTE GOKUDERA HAYATO to STORM GUARDIAN: Y/N?
"Yes."
QUEST COMPLETED: Get a Storm Guardian
1,000 XP Gained
Gokudera Hayato Ability Activated: STORM GUARDIAN
Gokudera Hayato Rapport +10
SAWADA TSUNAYOSHI HAS LEVELED UP
LEVEL: 4
+5 HEALTH
+3 ENERGY
+4 STAT POINTS
Tsuna grinned and divided his stat points so now his status page looked like this:
STATUS
SAWADA TSUNAYOSHI
LEVEL: 4 (1950 XP to Next Level)
HEALTH: 20/20
ENERGY: 18/18
STATS:
- ATTACK: 4 (+1-3)
- DEFENSE: 3 (+3)
- MOVEMENT: 5 (-1)
- INTELLIGENCE: 7
- CHARM: 4
FLAME TYPE: Sky
ABILITIES:
- VONGOLA HYPER INTUITION (Rank 1)
- DYING WILL MODE
… Back to Main Menu
He went to Allies and check out his newest member.
GOKUDERA HAYATO
LEVEL: 6
HEALTH: 40
ENERGY: 25
FLAME TYPE: Storm
ABILITIES:
- SMOKIN' BOMB
- STORM GUARDIAN
- DOUBLE BOMBS
- TRIPLE BOMBS
RELATIONSHIP:
- Friendship 0/25
- Romance (LOCKED)
- Respect 15/25
- Rapport 11/25
- Aggression 0/25
- Hostility (LOCKED)
PLACE IN PARTY?
… Back to Allies
Tsuna hit Place in Party and suddenly he could see even more information.
GOKUDERA HAYATO
LEVEL: 6 (4,000 XP to Next Level)
HEALTH: 1/40
ENERGY: 0/25
STATS:
- ATTACK: 7 (+4-8)
- DEFENSE: 3
- MOVEMENT: 4
- INTELLIGENCE: 15
- CHARM: 0
FLAME TYPE: Storm
ABILITIES:
- SMOKIN' BOMB
- STORM GUARDIAN
- DOUBLE BOMBS (Rank 1)
- TRIPLE BOMBS (Rank 1)
RELATIONSHIP:
- Friendship 0/25
- Romance (LOCKED)
- Respect 15/25
- Rapport 11/25
- Aggression 0/25
- Hostility (LOCKED)
INACTIVATE?
… Back to Active Party
Wow, Gokudera sure was smart. Tsuna hoped his new party member would be healed tomorrow after a good night's rest.
He clicked through Gokudera's abilities.
SMOKIN' BOMB
ABILITY TYPE: Passive
SUMMARY: This character gets a 200 percent boosted ATTACK when using BOMB-type weapons.
… Close
STORM GUARDIAN
ABILITY TYPE: Passive
SUMMARY: This character gets a 300 percent boosted ATTACK when fighting alongside his or her Sky.
… Close
Gokudera had a total of 500 percent boosted Attack as long as they were fighting together? That was as much a Tsuna got from Dying Will Mode! He was suddenly glad he hadn't gotten hit by those bombs before the bullet. Even with only 200 percent boosted, Gokudera would have done nearly all of his Health.
Tsuna clicked the last two abilities.
DOUBLE BOMBS
ABILITY TYPE: Combat (PHYSICAL)
SUMMARY: This ability is an attack. It can only be used if the character has a BOMB-type weapon equipped.
RANK 1: When used, this ability adds 4-6 damage to the character's ATTACK for the next strike. It costs 5 ENERGY.
RANK 2: ?
… Close
TRIPLE BOMBS
ABILITY TYPE: Combat (PHYSICAL)
SUMMARY: This ability is an attack. It can only be used if the character has a BOMB-type weapon equipped.
RANK 1: When used, this ability adds 15 damage to the character's ATTACK for the next strike. However, the character also hits themself. It costs 15 ENERGY.
RANK 2: ?
… Close
Ouch, that Triple Bomb ability hurt. But hey, now Tsuna knew what Energy was used for. He wondered how he could go about getting a cool move like that. He didn't have any fighting abilities, other than Dying Will Mode but that didn't count.
Tsuna closed out the window and headed over to the Inventory. Like his new 7 points in Intelligence had let him guess, Gokudera was now a tab in the Currently Equipped next to Tsuna. He checked on it.
CURRENTLY EQUIPPED - GOKUDERA
HEAD: Empty
SHOULDERS: Empty
TORSO: PLAIN VEST
LEGS: RIPPED JEANS
FEET: OLD SHOES
LEFT HAND: DYNAMITE
RIGHT HAND: DYNAMITE
OTHER: LIGHTER
The dynamite, unlike Tsuna's shinai, looked like two separate weapons. Gokudera had one equipped in each hand. He clicked on one of them.
DYNAMITE
ITEM LEVEL: 5
ITEM TYPE: One-Handed Weapon (BOMB)
DAMAGE: 2-4 (PHYSICAL)
UNEQUIP: Y/N?
… Close
Wow, that was pretty awesome. He clicked on the item in the Other category next.
LIGHTER
ITEM LEVEL: 1
ITEM TYPE: Support
USE: This item allows BOMB-type items to be lit. BOMB-type items cannot be used unless this or a similar item is equipped.
UNEQUIP: Y/N?
… Close
Oh, that was good to know. Tsuna clicked on the stuff Gokudera was wearing then.
PLAIN VEST
ITEM LEVEL: 1
ITEM TYPE: Torso
ARMOR: +0 DEFENSE
UNEQUIP: Y/N?
… Close
RIPPED JEANS
ITEM LEVEL: 1
ITEM TYPE: Legs
ARMOR: +0 DEFENSE
UNEQUIP: Y/N?
… Close
OLD SHOES
ITEM LEVEL: 1
ITEM TYPE: Feet
ARMOR: +0 MOVEMENT
UNEQUIP: Y/N?
… Close
That was… totally useless. Okay. Well, at least Gokudera wasn't fighting in his boxers. Tsuna considered his equipment and ended up giving Gokudera his Kendo Chest Guard. It decreased his Movement speed, but at least it upped his low Defense. Honestly, Gokudera's Defense was the same as his, and Gokudera was two levels higher!
With the Kendo Chest Guard, Gokudera's stats now looked like this:
GOKUDERA HAYATO
LEVEL: 6 (4,000 XP to Next Level)
HEALTH: 1/40
ENERGY: 0/25
STATS:
- ATTACK: 7 (+4-8)
- DEFENSE: 3 (+2)
- MOVEMENT: 4 (-1)
- INTELLIGENCE: 15
- CHARM: 0
Tsuna exited out of the menu and came back to the real world.
Gokudera was blubbering, there was really no other word for it. "I'll be the best Guardian you could ask for, Tenth, I promise!"
Tsuna shook his head. "Tsuna. Tsuna."
"Right, Tsuna-sama, sorry, Tsuna-sama."
Close enough, Tsuna thought. "Anyway, I really should get home before my mom starts to worry…"
"Of course, Tsuna-sama. I shall accompany you to see you safely to your residence."
Tsuna almost snorted. "Gokudera-kun, you're barely standing. We're both exhausted after that fight. Why don't you go home and rest? I'm sure I'll be fine."
Remove Gokudera Hayato from Active Party: Y/N?
Tsuna blinked. "What? No?" He liked being able to see Gokudera's stats and abilities. It was useful information.
"I must insist I accompany you, Tsuna-sama," Gokudera said stubbornly.
"Not today, Gokudera," Tsuna said. He hoped he wouldn't run into any trouble on the way home—his Health was only barely higher than Gokudera's—but Gokudera would literally die from one hit so he needed to go rest or eat or something.
Remove Gokudera Hayato from Active Party: Y/N?
Oh, Tsuna got it now. "Yes," he said this time.
Gokudera slumped. "If Tsuna-sama insists," he said moodily.
"I'll see you at school tomorrow, okay?"
Gokudera nodded. Tsuna waved goodbye and headed off toward his house. He barely registered Reborn jumping up to ride on his shoulder. He got home without incident and only just finished his dinner before he collapsed on his bed and went to sleep.
The next morning, Tsuna woke up well-rested and completely healed. As he headed downstairs for breakfast, he looked out the window and saw, to his surprise, that Gokudera was leaning against the mailbox. Shaking his head, Tsuna headed to the kitchen. Reborn was already sitting at the table chowing down on food.
"Mom," Tsuna began. "Is it okay if my friend joins us for breakfast?"
"Tsu-kun has a friend?" Nana asked. Her eyes widened with happiness. "Of course, Tsu-kun!"
Tsuna hid his wince and avoided Reborn's gaze before heading to the front door. Outside, Gokudera looked up as he approached.
"Tsuna-sama!" Gokudera said, just shy of yelling. "Good morning!"
"Hi, Gokudera," Tsuna said. "Wanna come in and have some food before we walk to school? My mom's a really good cook and there's always extras."
Gokudera looked stunned. Friendship +1 appeared over his shoulder. "I would be honored, Tsuna-sama," he said.
Tsuna dragged him inside before he could continue. Like Tsuna had predicted, Nana gushed over the boy—especially once Gokudera had bowed low and thanked her for allowing him to be there. Tsuna sat down at the table and ate—he didn't need the health or energy but that didn't mean he wasn't hungry.
As Tsuna finished his meal, he headed into his menu and added Gokudera back to his Active Party. They were in the same class in school, so there was no reason not to until it was time to head home agan.
Curious, Tsuna checked Gokudera's status. He frowned as he saw that Gokudera's health was only 10/40. Had he not gotten a good night sleep?
Tsuna exited out of the menu and forced some more of his mom's food on his new friend. By the time they were heading to school, Gokudera's health was back at full.
They got to school without incident—the Disciplinary Committee really did scare off the Namimori Thugs from being too close to the school. At school, Tsuna discovered that the teachers didn't ask him for anymore homework—apparently he really did only have to do the Homework Challenger once a week?—and so the day passed.
After school, Tsuna was just about to head home—taking Gokudera off his Active Party—when he saw Yamamoto practicing his swings. Curious, Tsuna checked Yamamoto in his Characters section.
YAMAMOTO TAKESHI
LEVEL: 5
HEALTH: 25
ENERGY: 20
FLAME TYPE: Rain
ABILITIES:
- ?
RELATIONSHIP:
- Friendship 4/25
- Romance (LOCKED)
- Respect 1/25
- Rapport (LOCKED)
- Aggression 0/25
- Hostility (LOCKED)
… Back to Neutrals
His friendship with Yamamoto was already pretty high, considering they hadn't really talked before. He wondered if he could increase it.
"Hi, Yamamoto," Tsuna said, walking up to the baseball player. "What are you doing?"
"Oh, hi, Tsuna," Yamamoto replied, seeming surprised Tsuna was talking to him. Besides them, Tsuna noticed Gokudera frown. "I'm just practicing for the game this weekend." He took another swing with the bat, the wind whistling from the force of it.
"Awesome," Tsuna said. "I usually have to help my mom out with chores on the weekends, but if I finish early I can try to come and watch?" He'd never really been interested in doing so before, but he hoped that it might help increase his friendship with Yamamoto.
Yamamoto grinned. "That'd be cool! Do you like baseball?"
Tsuna shrugged. "I've never really tried playing it, but it seems fun." He'd been horribly uncoordinated before the game thing happened so he'd really avoided all sports. He was cautiously optimistic now, though, that he might actually be able to play the game if it ever came up. The Volleyball Mini-Game had been pretty fun. "But wait, if there's a game this weekend, why aren't the rest of the team practicing with you?"
"Coach gave us today off to rest."
Tsuna frowned. "Why aren't you, then?"
Yamamoto lowered his bat for the first time during the conversation. "I can't just take a day off! I'm the ace player. The team's counting on me to play my best. I can't let my skills get rusty."
"That's stupid," Gokudera spoke. "You're kind of an idiot, huh?"
"Gokudera!" Tsuna shouted. "That was rude!"
Gokudera flushed and looked away. Tsuna paused, not expecting the teen to actually back down. He glanced over at Yamamoto and found that same dark look he'd seen early on his face.
"What's stupid about not wanting to let my team down?" Yamamoto said. There was a note of anger in his voice that Tsuna was surprised to hear. Yamamoto had always seemed like such an easy-going guy.
"You'll let them down more if you hurt yourself," Gokudera said. He huffed and looked away, obviously trying to control himself from saying anything else rude.
"What do you mean, Gokudera?" Tsuna asked. "Yamamoto's not doing anything dangerous."
Gokudera scowled and seemed to war with himself internally, before he threw up his hands. "Of course he is! Why do you think your coach gave you the day off? Your body needs rest to recover or you risk injuring yourself." He paused and looked away again. "Or, at least, that's what I've been told."
Tsuna could tell the little speech had brought up some painful memories for Gokudera and he wasn't sure what to do about it. He looked at Yamamoto again and found the teen had realized it too.
"You think so?" Yamamoto said after a long, awkward pause. "You think I'll hurt myself if I keep going?" The idea seemed to really upset him.
Tsuna wanted to reassure Yamamoto, but he also didn't want to contradict Gokudera after what had just happened. "Maybe you should rest today like your coach said," he hedged. "You can go back to practicing hard tomorrow?"
"Yeah." Yamamoto's shoulders slumped. "I guess."
Tsuna ran a hand through his hair. This conversation hadn't gone like he'd wanted. "Um, do you want to, maybe, hang out with Gokudera and I for a little while? We can go to the arcade or get some food or something?"
Friendship +1. "I'd really like that."
Yamamoto headed to the locker room to change and put up his bat. Tsuna looked at Gokudera, who was frowning again. "Is that okay with you, Gokudera?" he asked hesitantly. "I'd really like to try to get Yamamoto to be my friend, but if you don't want me to, I won't." There'd be other people to increase friendship with.
"My opinion doesn't matter, Tsuna-sama. You're the boss," Gokudera said.
"Of course your opinion matters. Your my friend." He cast around for some way to make it clear to Gokudera. "And my Guardian. That's a big deal, right? We're supposed to be, uh, really close, right?"
Gokudera began to tear up. Friendship +1 bounced around his shoulders. "Of course, Tsuna-sama!" he said. "And I will always support your decisions. If you want to grow our Family by adding the baseball idiot, I will definitely help."
"Woah, I didn't say anything about adding Yamamoto to the Family!" Tsuna protested, though now that Gokudera had mentioned it… the athlete probably was a good fighter.
Reborn suddenly jumped between them. Tsuna squealed. "Yo," the tutor said. "Yamamoto Takeshi is the most likely to succeed at being your Rain Guardian. Make him part of your Family. Or else."
QUEST RECEIVED: Make Yamamoto Takeshi an Allied Character
ACCEPT QUEST: Y/N?
"Oh, why not?" Tsuna said.
THAT IS NOT A VALID ANSWER
Tsuna scowled. "Yes," he said firmly.
The world returned. Yamamoto jogged back to them. "Ready to go?"
Tsuna smiled and nodded. "Let's go have some fun."
They walked to the arcade together. At the arcade, Tsuna and Yamamoto introduced Gokudera to some exclusively Japanese arcade games, meanwhile Gokudera taught them tricks on how to win with some international games. By the time it was dark outside, Tsuna had laughed more times than he could ever remember doing so and his Friendship with Gokudera and Yamamoto had grown significantly. He was now at 7 Friendship with Gokudera and 10 with Yamamoto.
They left the arcade and Tsuna turned to the two of them. "Thank you. I've never done this before and I just… thanks, both of you."
Respect +1 appeared over Yamamoto's shoulder. "I'm glad too, Tsuna. Thanks for inviting me."
"I'll hang out with you any time you want, Tsuna-sama," Gokudera added. "And I guess the baseball idiot wasn't so bad."
Yamamoto laughed and swung an arm over Gokudera's shoulders.
Tsuna felt his heart beat fast in his chest looking at the two of them. He wanted… "Will you do this again with us sometime, Yamamoto? It's just, I don't have many friends, but I think you'd be a great one."
Yamamoto stilled and under his arm Gokudera cocked his head. "You'd be useful to have around," Gokudera added. "You should feel honored that Tsuna wants to invite you to join us."
"Join you?" Yamamoto asked, sounding faint.
"Join our Family," Gokudera said before Tsuna could stop him.
But it was too late now so Tsuna just stepped forward and smiled up at Yamamoto. "Will you?"
Yamamoto shuddered and Tsuna nearly frowned. Why was this so surprising to him? Didn't Yamamoto have tons of friends.
But there was a glint of tears in Yamamoto's eyes as he said, "Okay, yes. I'll be your friend." Yamamoto Takeshi is now an Allied Character.
"Our Family," Tsuna corrected, because it felt right to say.
The world froze on Yamamoto's stunned, happy, true smile.
QUEST COMPLETED: Make Yamamoto Takeshi an Allied Character
400 XP Gained
Yamamoto Takeshi Friendship +1, Reborn Respect +1
"You guys headed home? I'll walk with you if you want?" Yamamoto offered.
Add Yamamoto Takeshi to Active Party: Y/N?
"Yes."
Tsuna checked out Yamamoto's stats and equipment.
YAMAMOTO TAKESHI
LEVEL: 5 (3,000 XP)
HEALTH: 25/25
ENERGY: 20/20
FLAME TYPE: Rain
STATS:
- ATTACK: 10 (+5)
- DEFENSE: 5
- MOVEMENT: 3
- INTELLIGENCE: 0
- CHARM: 5
ABILITIES:
- NATURAL SWORDSMAN
RELATIONSHIP:
- Friendship 11/25
- Romance (LOCKED)
- Respect 2/25
- Rapport (LOCKED)
- Aggression 0/25
Hostility (LOCKED)INACTIVATE?
… Back to Active Party
Wow, Yamamoto was strong! Tsuna supposed that made sense. Ouch, though that Intelligence was the same as Tsuna's used to be. His Charm was good though, which made sense considering how many fans Yamamoto had around school.
He checked Yamamoto's ability.
NATURAL SWORDSMAN
ABILITY TYPE: Passive
SUMMARY: This character gets a 200 percent boosted ATTACK when using SWORD-type weapons.
… Close
Wow, that was really interesting. He needed to get Yamamoto a sword… unless he already had one? He checked the equipment.
CURRENTLY EQUIPPED - YAMAMOTO
HEAD: Empty
SHOULDERS: Empty
TORSO: PLAIN VEST
LEGS: RIPPED JEANS
FEET: OLD SHOES
LEFT HAND: SIMPLE BAT
RIGHT HAND: SIMPLE BAT
OTHER: Empty
That's funny. Some of Yamamoto's items were the same as Gokudera's. Tsuna wondered if that was just the basic 0 stat items. He wondered why, if that was the case, he hadn't been given ripped jeans and a plain vest to wear instead of boxers. Sighing, he checked Yamamoto's weapon.
SIMPLE BAT
ITEM LEVEL: 1
ITEM TYPE: Two-Handed Weapon (CLUB)
DAMAGE: 1-3 (PHYSICAL)
UNEQUIP: Y/N?
… Close
It was basically the same weapon as Tsuna's shinai, but not a sword. Tsuna hummed and switched them. So now he had the bat and Yamamoto had the shinai.
BASIC SHINAI
ITEM LEVEL: 1
ITEM TYPE: Two-Handed Weapon (SWORD)
DAMAGE: 1-3 (PHYSICAL)
UNEQUIP: Y/N?
… Close
Tsuna grinned, feeling successful. Now Yamamoto would get the bonus because of his ability and it didn't matter for Tsuna since he didn't seem to have any bonus ability based on weapon type. He considered giving Yamamoto one of the kendo guards, but his Defense was better than Gokudera's and Tsuna didn't want to take away from his Movement skill.
"Let's head home," Tsuna said as he close out of the menu.
Gokudera and Yamamoto agreed and got into step beside him. Tsuna looked up at the moon in the sky and smiled. He had two new friends—new party members—and the tools to keep them. He was more grateful for the game his life had become than he had been for anything else before. Things were really looking up.
A shiver went up his back and Tsuna turned sharply to look down an alleyway. Hyper Intuition Senses Danger!
A large thug, bigger and meaner than the low-life ones he'd fought off before, stepped out of the shadows. He cracked his knuckles and grinned.
Tsuna let out a soft, "meep!"