Chapter Two: Poisons And Gunshots

Ever since his family moved in Japan, Reborn was used to getting suspicion and dislike from authorities like teachers. His defying attitude ticked them. They weren't used to a student or any child talking back to them and seeing through their mistakes. They never liked it when he flat-out told their mistakes in front of the class.

They called him names, treating him like a child and he always found himself the pleasure of embarrassing them as a payment. What he hated most was being treated as a child. Ever since he was born, he had been taught properly to live like an independent Italian citizen. Nothing about him was a child.

Being a full Italian didn't help the treatment he had received. Some were wary of having an outsider in the class and some were just intrigued, wanting to get to know the foreigner in class. He wasn't alone in the attention. Bianchi, his classmate and one of the few people he could tolerate, was the same way though the latter hadn't done anything troublesome except for minor outbursts and poison cooking.

In a way, he was a lot more similar to the girl's younger half brother. That Hayato was more likely to bomb at his teachers more than once in a week. They were after all different than most children, not just in nationality or blood. They were both geniuses, might even be smarter than some teachers.

However, that was where their similarities end. Reborn wasn't the type to dwell on what other people think unlike the younger boy. He simply took pleasure in proving them wrong. It was something like his past time until his parents finally decided to get back to Italy. Japan didn't seem all that appealing to him.

Everyday was just boring to death.

'What I would give for something interesting,' was the constant thought of the black-haired boy. He sighed deeply as he ignored whatever his teacher was talking about in front.

"It's boring, isn't it?" Bianchi smiled faintly, catching his attention. The other was pretty amusing to watch and to talk to that Reborn didn't ignore her like the others. "Do you want to hear something more interesting?"

It was obvious for the boy to see her crush on him but if she wasn't doing anything, then Reborn would gladly ignore the fact. He wasn't going get attached in someone living in Japan when he wanted to go back to Italy. He would simply act natural and used the girl's attraction for his benefit.

"Sure. Beats listening to boring lectures," the black-haired boy smirked, causing her to blush. It was amusing to say the least. The other was the type to be indifferent to anyone but Reborn was the only exception to it. He wondered if he could get other people to do his bidding with his looks. It seemed to be a rather tempting thought.

After all, he knew that he was what people would call "handsome" or "bishounen" despite being only twelve-years-old so using his looks was something he should do.

"You know, my brother, right?" a disinterest suddenly came to him. It's a pity but it seemed like it was just the usual complaints about her brother and their strain relationship. Bemused, he thought that it was still better than the lesson. "For some reason, he came back from school with a smile and even talked to me."

"Heh," he let out a small smirk. Now, that was an interesting truth. He was rather curious to the reason why the boy had a change of heart. "I see. Well, he must have had a good day."

The pink-haired girl giggled lightly at that, implying that she was watching her younger brother. "No, it was actually his worst day in school," her eyes softened slightly and became starstruck. "But then, there was this substitute teacher. I believed that his name was Sawada Tsunayoshi-sensei. I think it's love!"

Chuckling at the other's antics, the Italian boy figured out that the reason wouldn't be love. He was not a fool to think that some thirty-something teacher managed to charm an elementary kid. Bianchi just thought of love as the most wonderful thing and it was one of the things he found amusing of the other. Still, he wanted to know what was so special of that Sawada teacher.

He'd like to meet the unfamiliar educator for his curiosity. He was curious if he would be 'charmed' by the other. Of course, there was no way that it was possible but it did give him something to work with his boredom.

'I mean, I hate teachers,' Reborn shrugged, his lips curving up with mischievous intent. 'This Sawada wouldn't make a difference.'

Famous words for someone, who also fell hard for the oblivious teacher...

. .27R.

Of all the things he considered, Sawada Tsunayoshi was nothing like them. Reborn had figured that the person, who could tame that wild brother of Bianchi, would be a strong person worthy of respect but all he could see was a rather wimpy young man with a baby face. It might be underestimating the other since he only had gotten a glimpse of the teacher once when he was in the middle of his usual 'correcting' his teacher in the hallway.

"He ranks the worst academic teacher in the campus," Reborn raised an eyebrow at the ranking he had received from Fuuta, his classmate known to be Ranking Prince for his ability to accurately rank a person. "But he's the best teacher overall?"

He was not the type to use other people's assumption but he had heard good things of the Ranking Prince. He had thought that it was better to not waste time in gathering information himself and just asked the other yet if this was the answer, he was already second guessing his previous idea.

"Tsuna-nii is an interesting person like that," the brown-haired boy smiled excitedly, unafraid of him, who was infamous for being a sadist. He pulled out a picture of Sawada and an unknown woman. "He's not that smart but he teaches his students well. Actually, he's the first to contradict my rankings."

The raven head still had his doubts in that. 'I can't trust his judgement. He's calling him brother so that might be bias,' he thought as he stared unblinking at the brunet in the picture, not realizing the peculiar glances that the other had given him.

"What's with the sudden interest in Tsuna-nii, Reborn-san?" Fuuta asked curiously though the taller boy noticed the hidden knowledge in his eyes.

"You could say that I'm curious," Reborn stared blankly, not one to admit that he had no idea why the other was looking like that. Contrary to belief, he couldn't read people's mind. He was just good at noticing and understanding people. "Do you have anything to say?"

"Well, Tsuna-nii likes to spend his time in the library," the boy put away his book. "You might see something you like if you go there."

The dark-haired boy didn't take that kind of baits but he was curious of the growing puzzle named as Sawada Tsunayoshi. He decided to go to the library and he once again was questioning his sanity in following the Ranking Prince's advice. The library was empty except for a few students.

He had planned to torment his classmate for fooling him when he caught an odd sight. One of his classmates, Lal Mirch, sat on the chair and faced the teacher he was looking for, Tsuna. Colonello, her childhood friend, unusually scowled at the teacher while sitting next to the girl.

He knew his classmates well and he was certain that Lal Mirch didn't like to interact with any adult authorities and that her childhood friend was friendly to some extent. To see her with a teacher was a surprise but it wasn't the thing that made him stop and stare bemusedly.

'She's blushing,' he observed from the distance. 'She's totally blushing. That explains why the puppy is scowling but why is she blushing? Don't tell me she has a crush on that Sawada teacher...That's impossible. '

The younger boy's crush on Lal wasn't surprising or unexpected. Colonello and Lal Mirch grew up together and they couldn't be separated by anything except for class. Reborn had thought that his classmate had liked the other as well. He guessed that he was wrong if she was blushing at someone else.

Honey-brown eyes trailed to where he was watching, causing him to raise an eyebrow. It was the first time someone could easily spot him when he didn't want to be seen. With growing interest, he walked towards the occupied table.

He smirked naughtily when the two students took notice of him and instantly glared. It was always satisfying to know the effects he had on other people, no matter the gender or age. 'Though this guy seemed different,' his eyes locked on the only confused adult, feeling his lip curved wider. 'Guess that Ranking Prince was right after all...'

"What are you doing here, Reborn?" Colonello snapped almost growlingly. "Shouldn't you be with your fangirl or embarrassing poor students and teachers instead of loitering around?"

It seemed like he was carrying a grudge against the other and Reborn couldn't really blame him. After all, he had easily beaten the younger boy in the shooting competition last month. He had also destroyed the guy's collection of personal guns due to some random fights.

"Bianchi isn't my fangirl," he left out that the girl was good repellent of fangirls and continued, still wearing the same smirk. "And I am embarrassing poor students and teacher right now, an idiot, a wimp and a classmate."

There was a visible twitch. "I'm not an idiot!" the blond retorted, glaring daggers to the taller male. "And pick somebody else to fool around with!"

"Ah, but I didn't I even said a word about the idiot being you," he widened his smirk and people could just see the devil horns and tail sprouting. "That means you think that you're an idiot, right?"

At the corner of his eyes, he saw that the Sawada and Lal were ignoring what was happening. It was an achievement in itself since his classmate wasn't known to sitting quiet in situation like this. He had thought that the other would try to smack them to submission. She must really want to concentrate at the teacher instead.

"Where are you looking at, Dame-Sensei?" the violent student glared at the older man, who nervously stopped looking at the two boys arguing. "You asked me to show you what you need to improve in your teaching so listen up! I won't repeat myself."

"Sorry," he muttered softly and Reborn raised an eyebrow again, hearing the unusually childish voice and seeing the small blush of the girl. There really was something going on with these two and he wanted to figure it all out. It's interesting to note the nickname she used as well. "I'll focus now."

"They seem really close," the black-haired boy thought aloud for the sake of seeing the younger boy's reaction. He felt his lip curved up broadly when the other scowled in jealousy at the observation. "It's interesting that you have a wimpy teacher for a rival in getting Lal."

"I don't like Lal!" Colonello denied with a big blush and he looked away. "And if I were to have a rival, he wouldn't be a wimp. He'll be someone interesting and different from other people we met. He's nice, too. He'll even give you advice when you need it even if it was to beat him and..."

"Are you sure that you aren't also in love with that Sawada?"

Because he was certainly seeing a pattern here, Reborn didn't understand what was so great with the teacher that it seemed like students kept on falling for him. He seriously wanted to know more about this person, who seemed more than how he looked.

"WHAT?!" the blond stared at the older boy like he was insane to ask something like that though there was an even larger blush on his face. "Why would I like that guy? He's my rival! Plus he's an idiot, seducing younger students left to right!"

"Is that jealousy I hear?" the dark-eyed boy mocked teasingly. "Does that mean Lal's now your rival?"

"Shut up, Reborn!"

The loud shout caused the two others to glance in their way. Colonello wondered if his face was as red as tomato because it certainly seemed that way. He glared at the older student, who pretended to be innocent when he's nothing like that. He was so going to get the sadist from this.

"Stop making a fool out of Colonello, Reborn," the only girl commanded, taking pity to her childhood friend. "This is a library. If you two are going to be noisy, take your fight somewhere else."

"Wait, that's not what you should be saying, Lal-chan!" the Sawada scolded firmly and Reborn noted with interest that his honey-brown eyes slightly flashed orange. "You should say that they shouldn't fight in the first place."

'Lal-chan? And a blush again?' he thought again as he tried hard not to laugh out loud. He had a title to keep, after all. 'This is definitely the most entertaining part of my school life. For the first time of my life, I want to be a teacher's student...if only to keep on experiencing interesting and hilarious times in studying.'

His murky eyes narrowed inwardly when his trail of thoughts continued, 'Though, this guy...this 'Dame-Sensei' actually seems like a leader when he spoke a while ago. Interesting...'

"Whatever," Lal turned away from those genuine eyes, trying to hide her little blush. "I just want them to shut up. We still have a lot to cover..."

"Sensei, what are you two doing?" Reborn asked politely, pretending to be a normal student. The two other students, who were already familiar with him and his sadism, frowned in distaste and opened their mouths to comment or insult but it was lost on the teacher's reply.

"Lal-chan is helping me with my teachings," the Sawada man smiled sheepishly, seemingly ashamed at his own situation but was expecting it. "Colonello-kun had mentioned about my teaching being too soft that students don't listen to me. He told me that I had to man up and then, I thought of improving myself. I met Lal-chan in the library and she helped me with it."

That was not something the dark-haired boy had thought of. This man was truly surprising him in many ways and he couldn't stop his lip to curve up even a little.

"Oh, then let me help as well," he offered innocently, hiding sadistic thoughts that came with his statement and like a naive lamb, the older man took the wolf's bait. His dark eyes took delight in seeing the horror from the other students and he thought amusingly, 'How gullible, Dame-Tsuna.'

"I accept! Thank you for offering," Tsuna smiled as bright as the sun and failed to notice that his intuition was acting up. "You're Reborn-kun, right?"

"Yes, that's correctly," said student answered gracefully and mockingly bowed his head with a slight grin. "And it's my pleasure, Sensei."

. .27R.

Contrary to what Lal and Colonello thought, he hadn't started his usual attics the next time he met Sawada in the same place. Reborn was more contented to just watch love comedy routine of the three than to take actions, which would satisfy his sadistic heart.

It was simply easy to mock and tease the older man with truthful comments and remark. He truly took pleasure in seeing the latter flushed deeply in embarrassment. There was plainly something endearing about it. Of course, since it was already like that, he had decided to just go with his plan and just mess with the guy.

However, for reasons he never knew, Tsunayoshi merely did nothing about them and had kept on smiling like his usual self even if there was now some little caution in his eyes. He felt really insulted yet also oddly pleased with it.

Though it wasn't surprising when the brunet finally had the courage to ask why Reborn was teasing him after a few days of doing it.

"You took your sweet time in asking this, Sensei," the student smirked dangerously and widened his smirk when honey-brown orbs watched him fearfully. "Mind enlighteningly me the reason why you're only asking now after all this time?"

Gulping heavily, the teacher looked away to hide his blush and muttered quietly, "Well, I thought that I maybe I have done something to make you grudge...or that I did something to someone you care for...I thought that I should guess the reason before asking."

The black-haired teen almost chuckled out loud. To think like that, there was really something about the man that made him relax and cause him amusement. Despite being known for deceit and deception, he wasn't going to lie to himself. He truly found himself having a soft spot for the man.

Unfortunately for the brunet, he had different ways of showing his affections and his feeling might be growing as time passed by.

He supposed that it all started when the strange teacher had defended him after he was being fraud by some of his classmates. He didn't honestly care about the sentiments and he would gladly admit his involvement but his foolish classmates brought it up to teach him a lesson for acting superior. His ego didn't like it though he wasn't stupid to try and defend himself. It would cause him more humiliation on his part.

He had been thinking of ways to get revenge from his classmates when Sawada had coincidentally appeared with confidence he never seen before. He could remember strongly how narrowed caramel eyes glanced sharply at his teacher and how the small teacher harshly verified the truth.

It was truly a sight to behold and recalling this memory always made his lip curved up in pleasure. His classmates had even gotten what they deserved while his teacher seemed to almost piss himself and he didn't have to do anything. The free show was more than welcome in his life and he thanked it all to the brunet teacher.

His curiosity couldn't be stated and he gained more questions than answers after many encounters. He slowly fell for the older man. Of course, he didn't like admitting it to anyone, much less Dame-Tsuna himself but it didn't change the fact that the teacher would be his.

Getting back to present...

"Ah, Sensei, I was merely curious about you. Please don't be too considerate of my thoughts, sensei," Reborn teasingly leaned forward, acknowledging that the other wasn't that tall and given a few years, he would dominate the height difference. "Or I may be falling in love~"

"R-reborn-kun!" there went the furious blush, which the twelve-year-old student was waiting for. He noticed with glee that the redness seemed to have covered the whole now.

He smirked devilishly and pushed his luck. "Sensei, call me Reborn...," he softly whispered in the teacher's ear and breathed softly, causing the other figure to shiver unconsciously. "After all, we're really close with each other, aren't we, Sensei?"

Tsunayoshi moved backward but his shaking legs gave up, causing him to lose balance and to fall on the floor. "P-personal s-space!" he squeaked in embarrassment, staring at the smirking boy with wide mortified eyes and mumbled incomprehensively, "Oh kami...not you, too...a joke, right? No way, right? This is not happening again...not a pedophile...students can't like teachers that way and just...Kami, why?!"

"Tsk, tsk, tsk," the raven head shook his head and faked his confusion. "You're really perverted, sensei. Of course, I was talking about our closeness as student and teacher, not like what you're thinking!"

The older man sighed in relief and lost his guard, "Right, you're exactly right. There's nothing but a student-teacher relationship and maybe companionship or friendship even...That's all."

"Sorry about that, Reborn-kun," he smiled sheepishly and walked towards the student, ignoring his intuition again. He stopped his advancement when his caramel hues saw an innocent-looking gun in the student's hand. He cursed in his head for forgetting that the younger boy was a sadist.

"Just call me Reborn, Sensei," Reborn smiled, trying to look childlike when his hand aimed the gun in a threatening way. "You can do that, right?"

"Y-yeah, Reborn," Tsuna didn't even thought for a second if the gun was real or not. Many children these days seemed to be carrying weapons in school that he didn't ask anymore.

The student smirked in triumph, his ego growing as he knew that he was the first person, who the other called without honorific. Without further to do, he had taken advantage of the low guard and had pecked the man's lip.

"See you later, Dame-Tsuna," he widened his smirk and left the gaping brunet in the library. He licked his lip in satisfaction but he was not contented by all means. His dark eyes sparked in interest. He still had many plans installed to get closer to the teacher.

Firstly, he had to have Sawada Tsunayoshi be his teacher. 'Now, who's the lucky teacher to be sacrificed?' he thought sadistically and many, who had seen him, prayed for whoever he was thinking of.

. .27R.

Having the brunet as his substitute teacher was easy enough and he took pleasure in tor-talking to one of his teachers so that it would be possible. Now, controlling his emotions at the sight of some of his classmates falling for the oblivious teacher wasn't.

It was hard enough when he knew that Lal already had a crush on 'his' Dame-Sensei and that Fuuta was questionable on what kind of relationship he had with the older man. He was just glad that his classmates were too pathetic and stupid with exception for a few that Tsuna didn't notice the obvious attraction or didn't return the favor.

Just in case, he had guns ready for fire under his desk.

The innocent teacher seemed to have shiver and glance at his direction, causing him to smirk mischievously. The other still hadn't figure out if Reborn was joking or not about his feelings to him that the student was chuckling at the confusion.

He had thought that he had already gotten the message sent to the older man but it seemed that the kiss still wasn't enough. Oh well, he still had many up his sleeves though...

His dark eyes stared at the noticeable jealousy and anger in his female seatmate and felt his lips curve wider. It seemed like somebody was near her limits. He wondered what Bianchi would do to his teacher.

After all, he wasn't blind. He knew that it was Bianchi, who always chased the other girls that wanted to get close to him. He didn't really mind but he was curious to what she had planned for the teacher, who miraculously earned his 'good' attention. Of course, he would stop it if it had gone too far but a little amusement wouldn't hurt.

And he was right as always.

The pink-haired girl had first planned to let Tsunayoshi eat her poison food in Homeroom Class and she had easily succeeded without problem. She was simply waiting for the man to have a taste of her food and be gone from the world.

She didn't expect him to force a smile and to say that her dish was delicious even when everyone knew that it was a lie. She certainly did not blush from the rare compliment of her dish though Reborn would always comment otherwise and would show a picture of her blushing face, which Bianchi burned.

The black-haired student didn't dare bring up that the picture was still saved in his cellphone as blackmail material.

The second attempt was slightly more obvious than the first. It was a guilt trap and she had talked to the brunet about having a crush on someone and needing advice. Like a good teacher, Dame-Tsuna had taken the bait and had even assigned her to her crush but like a dame he was, he failed to realize who she was talking about and had paired Bianchi with her most hated boy, Shamal.

Reborn had even heard that the older man was rather proud of his matchmaking and was truly oblivious to the real situation, making him chuckle in amusement.

Of after that, Bianchi had tried many plans to make the brunet's life miserable but none had work. They had either no effect on the man or he had never noticed them.

It came to the point that she had used the direct approached and had talked about it face-to-face. "I won't let you have Reborn, you beast!" she had shouted, pointing her finger. "I will not allow you to come between me and my beloved!"

"Eh?" the older man visibly blinked in confusion and tried to calm the girl down. "Bianchi-chan, I'm not going to go in between you and Reborn. Really, you can have him."

"No, I won't be fooled! We're rivals, sensei and I won't lose!" she glared furiously and walked away. She didn't look at her way so she slipped due to a banana peel on the ground. She closed her eyes, waiting for the impact but she felt nothing, just strong arms keeping her in place.

"Are you okay, Bianchi-chan?" Tsuna asked in concern and said girl stared at those honey-brown eyes in interest. She felt her face heat up and she pushed herself off the teacher.

With face bright red, she pointed with shaking fingers. "Just cause you save doesn't mean anything, you hear! And you can't seduce me with this!" she scowled and left immediately. "I hate you, Sensei!"

Hidden in plain sights, Reborn chuckled to himself. He had never thought that Dame-Tsuna could also charm Bianchi and that she was tsundere. Things were really interesting and he had this fun before.

"That's another, eh, Sensei?" he approached the still confused teacher and smirked when he had gained the attention of those eyes, which he loved so much. "You really know how to seduce students."

"What are you talking about, Reborn?" he snapped and turned away with a blush. "You know, that's impossible. And what's your problem? It doesn't concern you right."

"Ah, but it is possible and it does concern me, Dame-Tsuna," he widened his smirk and slowly closed the distance between them "After all, I don't like other people touching what's mine and I can get very dangerous when jealous."

"What-"

"Sensei, sorry to crush your security and dreams but," he kissed the other harshly and only stopped when the other seemed to be having trouble breathing. His ego grew again when it seemed that his teacher was inexperienced like himself though he wouldn't admit his inexperience. "You're mine and I'll marry you."

A/N: I had fun in writing this and yes, we have a long chapter and it focused on Reborn with some other characters! Now, if Reborn is too OOC or mature for a 12 years old, then think of genius and I think that it kinda fits Reborn...? Anyway, I'm sorry for the long hiatus. I had a writer's block.