This Student Life

A/N: A lot of this chapter was written many months ago, hence the outdated memes.

Semester Break

Reborn left for Italy on his 'annual leave' two days later. For the first time in a very long time, Tsuna had free time. No incomplete assignments. No Reborn hovering over his shoulder like a helicopter mum. And most importantly, no one to stop him from bingeing on Netflix until his eyeballs fell out.

Between working at heARTbox and continuing his mandatory training in Reborn's absence, Tsuna spent most of the first week glued to his computer. Yamamoto and Gokudera were rarely online these days, with the former busy settling into his new dorm and the latter occupied with an academic conference in Russia. Lambo, on the other hand, seemed to live inside the nightclubs, perpetually #munted and #living my best life!

On the second week, Tsuna finally pulled himself together. Inspired by the latest show he'd binged on Netflix, he began to de-clutter his room and throw out anything and everything in his life that did not spark joy. By the end of the first day, there were five bags stuffed full of exam papers, foreign policy notes, empty pizza boxes, unwanted clothes and everything Iemitsu-related.

Theoretically he could've thrown out Iemitsu too. Shitty relatives certainly did not spark joy. His father was heavily involved in organised crime, and a quick call to a national security hotline could probably have Sawada Iemitsu blacklisted from ever returning to Japan. He knew it was wishful thinking though - CEDEF undoubtedly had corrupted officials within the Immigration Bureau, and Iemitsu could always return under a fake identity.

Nonetheless, Tsuna was pleased with his progress. He whistled happily as he shredded a family photo and sprinkled it on top of his exams. Iemitsu's tradie boots vanished into the donations bag. His father's gross underwear and socks went into the 'burn' bag along with Tsuna's puke-stained bedsheet toga and his old towel, which Bianchi and Lambo had obscenely tainted.

Finally, Tsuna snapped a selfie in front of the heap of bags and sent it to Reborn. "University does not spark joy. Maybe I should throw out my Bachelor of Unemployment too," he messaged to his tutor.

Reborn's reply was instantaneous. "Does being broke spark joy?" he pointed out.

Tsuna sighed. He really couldn't argue with that. "You're no fun," he texted back. Then he tossed the bags downstairs and admired the newfound cleanliness in his room. The windows were sparkling. The view outside was like watching a video in 1080p HD. He even welcomed the odd combined smells of Dettol, Windex and bleach.

Something white in his periphery caught his attention. A scrunched up paper ball was wedged in the gap between the bottom drawer and the floor. Tsuna yanked it out with great difficulty and unfolded it to reveal an invitation: "You are cordially invited to the Namimori Middle School Class Reunion!"

Tsuna stared at the words for a long moment. He had completely forgotten about it. Now he remembered that it had appeared in the mail about a month ago, and the cold anger that had twisted in his stomach. Middle school brought nothing but flashbacks of relentless bullying, and a vehement hatred for his teachers who had joined in. It was an insult to send him an invitation five years later, as if none of it had happened.

A voice at the back of Tsuna's head argued that not being invited would have stung even more. And...people could change in five years, right? Tsuna had changed too - he wasn't really No-Good Tsuna anymore. Only Reborn could call him that when he failed to meet his tutor's high standards. But Tsuna had gotten into university on his own merits, and with Reborn's help, he was actually passing his courses and on track to graduate.

Despite the painful memories, Tsuna often dreamed of going back to school. To fix it all, now that he was armed with the grim maturity of a university student and his mafia boss training. His classmates probably had similar dreams of changing the past. Adulthood was full of uncertainty, and it was much easier to wish for could-have-beens than to push through unfamiliar and unknown territory.

With another sigh, Tsuna pocketed the invitation and returned to tidying his house. He would attend the reunion next week. Perhaps it was time to finally confront his past and let it go.

One thing Tsuna had learnt whilst working in retail was how to sell something - and most importantly, how to sell himself.

And while whoring himself out to Renato Sinclair the sugar daddy didn't sound too bad, selling himself merely meant convincing others that he was worthy, by tailoring himself to their interests. It usually involved portraying an illusion of success and happiness. Everyone was broken at some level, some more than others, but it had no place in society - after all, nobody wanted a faulty cog in the machine.

Tonight, Tsuna had a mission and a role to play. He attended the Namimori Middle School reunion dressed for polite company, with his chin up and back straight. He had declined Gokudera's offer of a lift in his silver Maserati. His friend had crashed his Ferrari during a fit of road rage a few days after returning from Moscow. That, and because Tsuna didn't want to flex that badly.

The turnout wasn't quite as big as he'd expected, with no more than a dozen guests. They were back in the same old classroom, with the same chalkboard, furniture and School Conduct Rules stuck to the walls. The desks were pushed together to form one large table at the centre, holding sushi platters, snacks and drinks. Party balloons and streamers decorated the room in a simple and tacky fashion.

Tsuna set down a bottle of champagne. Another guest had brought the glasses. There was boring small talk about university and work, with some subtle bragging here and there, and Tsuna listened with the trained politeness and patience of a retail employee. No one seemed to recognise him yet, or make a fuss if they had. He was surprised to discover that he couldn't remember most of their faces or names either.

"Good evening, my esteemed former colleagues. I just returned from studying in America," a former classmate said, while sipping some of Tsuna's champagne. He had very noticeable wrinkles and dark bags under his beady eyes. His shoulders were also sagging. "I went to Yale to study Business Management. I look forward to taking over my father's company as its president by the end of the year."

"That's wonderful news, Matsuda-san! I also studied in America. I study Law and went to Harvard University," Kurokawa joined in, slyly leaving out the fact that she studied law at a second-rate university and only went to Harvard as part of a self-funded excursion to learn about diversity and foreign cultures.

"You're amazing, Hana-chan," another girl praised in response. Tsuna recognised her as the classmate who had passionately accused him of plagiarising her Moral Studies essay, when he clearly hadn't because her handwriting was illegible. "I'm also becoming a lawyer! My father is a senior legal consultant at Deloitte and I'm currently a paralegal there while I finish my studies."

"I have been working for a multi-billion dollar American company," Mochida announced, puffing out his chest as he emerged from the doorway with a large platter of cheeseburgers and fries. "I manage financial transactions and contributed to earning $50 billion for the US economy."

Tsuna smiled, showing teeth. "Hey Mochida, I saw you working at the McDonalds restaurant at a train station last week." And it had made him feel so giddy seeing his past tormentor in an ugly fast food uniform. Then Tsuna realised working at McDonalds was perfectly respectable, no offence to McDonalds employees, and he felt like a huge asshole.

"McDonalds is an American multi-billion dollar company!" Mochida protested, but with a large grin.

Five years ago, his classmates would have gripped the juicy news and milked it for all it was worth. Or perhaps they would have defended Mochida since he was popular, and ganged up on Tsuna for his petty attack. Now they rolled their eyes and moved on. It was more fun talking about themselves.

Tsuna released a breath he didn't know he was holding. His heart had been racing too, and he'd almost thrown up. The past is the past, he reminded himself. He'd subconsciously been sizing his former upperclassman up. It was interesting how much his imagination had warped his memories over time. In reality, Tsuna could easily flip Mochida and his cronies over like beef patties, and the bullies that had haunted his childhood had nothing on Reborn in the fear department.

It was time to let it all go. Acknowledge that things had been awful in the past, but focus on the future ahead. Tsuna poured Mochida a glass of champagne and helped himself to one of the greasy cheeseburgers. There was a brief exchange of polite thanks, nothing more, and they moved on.

"So, like, I've been studying in Australia and I went to Africa last year to feed the poor and sick children," Sasaki said, fanning herself with a stack of anti-vaccination pamphlets she had been handing out earlier. "They were like, so poor and sick. Those poor things. Now I'm like, so woke."

"I interned with the United Nations in Geneva. I want to be a politician like my father. Last night I had dinner with the Prime Minister-"

"Well I have an IQ of 163-"

"I'm the Emperor's second cousin twice removed-"

"My great, great grandparents were oppressed-"

"They call me a friendly man. A just man. A reasonable man," Tsuna offered sagely when it was his turn, like the Godfather he was supposed to become. But vaguely enough that he wasn't breaking the Omerta. Or so he hoped.

Suddenly the door slammed open. Champagne glasses dropped from startled hands and shattered across the floor. There was a flash of blond hair and a horse burst into the room, tearing the wooden door off its hinges and ripping off a page of the School Conduct Rules. Hibari Kyouya stormed inside a second later, ravenous for blood.

"Hay all! The name's Dino. So, I just got out of rehab," a blond guy announced happily on top of the horse, almost naked and completely uninjured. He petted the animal fondly between the ears, ducking to dodge a tonfa strike. The other tonfa went through the horse's tail. The horse snorted and gave Hibari a tremendous kick, sending the still-ungraduated prefect crashing into a stack of chairs.

Then Dino stretched his arms, his tiny shirt exposing more skin. It looked like he'd stolen a cop's uniform and had the misfortune of it being too small. A few former classmates tried to conceal their blushing behind their anti-vax pamphlets. Meanwhile, Tsuna couldn't stop staring.

"I will bite you to death," Hibari threatened as he picked himself up, his eyes glowering with molten fury.

Dino slowly ran a hand over his muscled torso. "That's pretty kinky," he said coyly, cocking his head sideways. "I usually prefer being whipped while being bound by leather straps, but I'll do anything for my fans."

"Pervert, you are violating the dress code," Hibari accused. He gestured at the School Conduct Rules with a tonfa, except the first page was missing and the second page was hanging limply from the bottom left corner. "And you are committing trespass. Pervert," he repeated for emphasis.

"Well, they do call me the Trojan Horse," Dino replied with a wink. He put on a straw cowboy hat and posed. "Entering through that back door is what I do best."

Soon the windows outside the classroom were flooded with red and blue lights. Police sirens blared outside the windows, and then the lockdown alarm blasted through the school's PA system. Several of Tsuna's former classmates were on their phones, speaking in urgent whispers whilst glancing worriedly at the horse. Tsuna gripped the edge of his seat, ready to smash out an emergency exit.

Dino gaped at the chaos outside, his mouth forming a perfect O. "Fuck, the paparazzi are here," he muttered. They're a nightmare to deal with. No time to be horsing around!"

A black limousine parked beside the police cars. Men in black suits climbed out and rushed into the classroom. Two men restrained the horse, who joyfully munched on a carrot they had stuffed into its mouth. Two more kept Hibari at bay. Another, who was wearing rectangular sunglasses, proceeded to remove Dino from the horse.

"Hay! Hay! Do you even know who I am? I'm Dino Cavallone, a celebrity! Get your paparazzi hands off me!" the blond shrieked.

"Neigh, boss. You need to get off your high horse."

"Romario! You traitor-" Dino screamed as he was dragged away by the man with sunglasses, yelling profanities and something about his Gucci cowboy hat.

"I sincerely apologise for the disruption," Romario said calmly, turning around and bowing his head to the class. "Please understand that Mr Cavallone is a little...unstable."