Tsuna was fuming; the answers he was seeking were so close that he could taste them. He had every right to those answers; he was supposedly the heir of this family. His word should be the law as far as the midget was concerned.
The only person above him in the hierarchy would be the current head.
Tsuna let out a bitter laugh; he supposed that should have been an answer in its own way. It was clear that the Seal binding him was not just connected to Vongola; it might as well have its name carved into it.
He was going to give Reborn that week to give him an answer that would satisfy him, if only because he could see that Reborn really did think what happened to him was a tragedy.
But if that toddler kept its mouth shut at the end of this, then he would get answers differently.
He had a name. Timoteo. Reborn probably never thought Tsuna actually knew Italian, but he heard that quiet curse from him. He could use that name to track down the idiot responsible and carve out the answers himself.
He would probably find it difficult to do it himself, but Luci was a card that no one knew about. Tsuna would like to see the moron hide from Satan herself.
Dark thoughts ran through his head, plans and plots to torture the asshole who did this to him. Likely not even having death as an escape, surely Luci had a way of toying with souls.
He was so lost in his thoughts that he did not even notice the door to his room opening for a moment. Then a weak throb in his chest had him looking up from his murderous dreams.
Nagi stood at the door frame, looking at Tsuna with worry and complete nervous energy about her. She was shaking slightly, and there was a tremble to her lips. Her lone eye was watering as she stared at him with pain.
She was rubbing her hands together nervously.
That sight caused the throbbing in Tsuna's chest to increase even more.
She was blaming herself for his current mood. She had no idea what happened to make this happen, but she was absolutely certain she was at fault. She wanted to bolt, to run, but she would shatter into little pieces if she ran from this place.
So she stood here instead, not knowing what to do other than watch helplessly as the ball dropped.
The wrath boiling in his gut calmed in an instant, and he scrambled to face Nagi with a nervous energy himself. He walked forward and tried to reach for her, but she flinched away from his touch.
That had him cursing himself quietly as he let out a soft smile at the girl, trying to show her he was not upset anymore.
"I'm not mad at you, Nagi-chan. You are just as wonderful as you were before. I was just upset about something I learned." Tsuna spoke out quickly.
She was still shaking, and it looked like she was lost in her own mind in this moment.
Tsuna hesitated for a moment before closing the distance and pulling her into a deep hug. Again, she flinched at his touch, and she tried to escape his grasp for a moment, but as his reassurances started to spill from his lips, she slowly started to calm down.
It was a long process. Her trembling form struck tiny shards of guilt into his chest.
"Nagi-chan, just breathe. In and out. Everything is fine, you are fine, I am fine, nothing happened, you are not at fault, I promise you, Nagi-chan. So please stop blaming yourself."
He whispered those same words over and over again until they reached her.
The trembling halted slowly as she melted into his embrace. Her head rested in his chest, and her arms wrapped themselves around him as well, instead of sitting helplessly against her.
"Sorry," she murmured.
Her head still buried in his chest, Tsuna felt some of the tension he was holding release.
"I don't want to hear sorry, Nagi-chan. You did nothing wrong, so please don't apologize for things not your fault."
Tsuna rubbed circles on her back in a calming fashion.
She looked up and bit her lip as she stared at him.
"I jumped to conclusions without asking, I made you worried, I wet your shirt, I'm such an idiot."
The words spilled out of her in a ramble.
Her eyes quivering and the self-loathing seemed almost overwhelming as she stared at him. Instead of answering those words, he pulled her deeper into the hug for a moment.
"None of that is a problem, and don't call yourself an idiot. Please, you are a good girl, Nagi-chan." He muttered softly.
"You are my friend, Nagi-chan, one of the very rare few. You are precious to me. So if you ever have doubts about yourself or our relationship, please don't. I would search the whole damn world if you slipped out of my sight." Tsuna continued.
Hearing his words, she froze; a different set of nerves started to bubble in her gut, but she suppressed them with everything she had.
"Kaa-san says dinner is ready." She squeaked out and tried to escape his arms.
For a moment, he thought about holding her still, but seeing the darker thoughts out of her mind at the moment, he let go.
She stumbled out of his arms and ran down the stairs, not bothering to look back at Tsuna, who was watching her with a soft smile.
He then let out a chuckle. She was already calling his mother Kaa-san. He knew his mother had an infectious energy about her, and the girl needed all the affection she could get.
That interaction had his mood somewhat stable.
He was still mad and was likely to explode if the culprit of his suffering showed up, but he liked this better. Anger is so very easy; it burns so bright, but it hurts, it tastes bitter, and twists his thoughts into something he never wanted.
If he dove into the pits of that never-ending well, he would find it harder and harder to pull himself out. An angry boy could not help Nagi; he would not be able to help the scars littering her emotions, nor would he want to.
So Tsuna never wanted to drown in those feelings.
He walked down the stairs and went towards the dining room. His mother was seated at the table, looking at Nagi with a sly smile as the girl in question fidgeted in her chair.
Tsuna noticed that Reborn was not around. Figures. The toddler was probably busy getting to the bottom of this in his own way.
His mother shifted her attention from Nagi to Tsuna, and the sly smile on her face grew even brighter.
"You really know how to pick them, Tsu-kun. Nagi-chan is just so adorable." She spoke brightly.
Her hands reached across the table and pinched Nagi's cheek lightly.
Again, Nagi looked like she did not know how to handle that, but a small part of her clearly enjoyed the attention.
"She really is."
Tsuna let out a warm chuckle at that as he took his seat as well.
Nagi blushed at that, and his mother winked at him with a smirk on her face.
"You learning to sweet-talk now, Tsu-kun?" His mother teased.
Tsuna rolled his eyes and smiled softly at Nagi.
"No, I was just saying the truth. Nagi is a gem, a truly adorable one."
The weight and conviction in his tone had the girl near bright red, and his mother let out a laugh of her own. Her eyes were shining as she looked at Tsuna and Nagi, slyly giving Tsuna a thumbs up out of Nagi's vision.
Dinner went on like that, Tsuna and his mother taking turns teasing Nagi. The blush on the girl's face never left the entire time, but a small, happy smile never left her face either.
Time passed, and he started to worry that Luci was not going to keep her promise. He was already plotting out a situation to have Nagi stay anyway, but he held off on it.
Nagi was not exactly in a hurry to leave.
Thankfully, a ringing came from Nagi. She paused in confusion before she fumbled towards the pocket of her blazer, which she had taken off.
She pulled out a cell phone. She flipped it open and hesitated for a moment before answering.
"Um, who is this?" she questioned with some anxiety.
She listened for a brief moment, nodding along to a conversation only she was privy to.
She then paused her nodding, her eye widening slightly, and nervous energy started to bleed from her.
"Wait, hold on a second?" she shot out with more energy than he expected from her.
She paused again as the voice on the other end spoke out.
"No, I understand that, but what am…" She started, only to stop as she listened to something else.
She hung her head in defeat, and she bit her lip, eventually letting the hand holding the phone slip away from the position as she clearly finished her call.
He had an inkling of what happened, but he exchanged looks with his equally worried mother. She gestured for him to breach the topic, and he nodded.
"What's the matter, Nagi-chan?" Tsuna asked slowly.
Again, she appeared lost in her own world for a moment before his words registered. She then looked up and saw the worried looks on both Tsuna and Nana.
She bit her lip and hesitated before she explained.
"My home was involved in a crash," she spoke out with a worried frown.
Tsuna blinked at that. He expected a lot of things, but Luci having a car crash into her home was not one of them.
"Are your parents okay?" His mother asked with worry clear in her tone.
Nagi blinked at that question as if not sure how the two were related, before she shook her head lightly.
"They are on a business trip; it was just me there." She explained lightly, her tone still worried.
"I'm just trying to figure out where I am going to stay." She muttered to herself, seemingly shrinking in on herself.
Tsuna was prepared to make an offer but waited a moment as his mother gave Nagi an odd look.
"You could call your parents; I'm sure they can make arrangements for you, Nagi-chan." His mother spoke out with that same odd look.
Nagi flinched at that and lowered her head, staring at her cell phone with a bitter look.
"They never answered my calls before; I doubt that is going to change now." She spoke out in a stilted way.
A frown bloomed on Nana's face, and Tsuna clenched his fists.
"I'm sorry, I can't stay any longer. I got to figure this out," Nagi spoke out, picking up her blazer and trembling slightly.
Before she could rush out, Tsuna grasped her shoulder.
"Wait, if you need a place to stay, here is fine. We have a guest room." Tsuna spoke out before turning towards his mother. "That's fine, right?" He asked his mother, who paused for a moment before nodding and smiling brightly at Nagi to reassure her.
"Of course, Nagi-chan is welcome to stay as long as she wants." Nana offered, and Tsuna relaxed.
He knew the easiest part of this was having his mother agree. He then turned back to Nagi, who froze and was trembling again.
She lowered her head and did not look at them.
"I don't want to be a burden; don't worry, I can figure it out." She spoke out quietly.
The words sounded false to even her.
Tsuna frowned deeply and was tempted to hug her again.
"You are not a burden, Nagi-chan. You are precious to me, remember?" Tsuna asked softly, and she trembled again.
Hearing those words, his mother blinked and gave her son an odd look but settled on a sly grin.
Nagi lowered her head, trembling. Not saying a word, but not going to leave either. He knew it would just take one more push.
"My home is your home as far as I'm concerned, Nagi-chan. You will always have a place by my side." He spoke out softly.
That did it; she stopped trembling and looked up at him. Her eye was bright and quivering. She hesitated slightly before lowering her head and walking towards him, and holding onto his sleeve.
"Okay," she muttered quietly, not looking at anyone in the room.
Tsuna smiled brightly at that.
[Feat Achieved! Become the crush of Nagi/Chrome Dokuro. (How the heck?)]
[Received One Advantage Gold Ticket.]
Wait, what!?