Tsuna absently kicked a rock along the road as he walked to school. He felt incredibly lonely without Nagi by his side, but she had left early that morning on her own.
He still wasn't sure how to feel about that.
"Really, are you still on this, Master? Why are you so concerned about this?" Luci's exasperated voice rang out in his mind, and Tsuna ignored her. She knew well why he was like this, even if she didn't agree with his feelings.
"Even without you opening a harem, I don't see why you are so conflicted about this," Luci continued with a put-upon sigh.
Tsuna just kicked the rock even farther.
"The whole of your conflict stems from Bianchi being the woman you are with in the future, and Nagi being the girl you currently have feelings for. That is what I am seeing here, but feel free to correct me if I am wrong."
Tsuna paused for a moment; it sounded like Luci was going to offer more advice. Her last input wasn't exactly the miracle he had been looking for, but he couldn't deny the truth in her words in certain aspects. So Tsuna waited for her to continue.
"Since that is the case, then you are being rather foolish, Master."
Luci let out another deep sigh in his mind.
"You seem to be putting far too much weight on this so-called future, ignoring how you currently feel because it might change, and because you don't want to hurt those close to you now by getting their hopes up."
Tsuna raised an eyebrow. She wasn't wrong, but he didn't understand her point. That just earned him another sigh.
"A millennial ruling over Hell, and now I'm dealing with a teenage boy. How the mighty have fallen. Truly, you are a fool, Master."
Tsuna bristled slightly but waited for her to start making sense.
"You are acting as if your life has some preordained destiny, as if your will and your own choices will only ever lead you to one outcome. You are falling into the same rhetoric that many fall into when faced with so-called prophecy or the strings of Fate."
Tsuna blinked in slight confusion. What was she talking about? He had verified proof that there was an entity called Fate from the Gacha. It was the thing that had given him his very first Golden Ticket.
He got the distinct impression Luci was rolling her eyes at him.
"I'm not denying the existence of higher-level beings and their influence on reality, but I am denying the hold Fate has on you. Father has given you humans the greatest and most cursed gift in the world: free will. All your choices and decisions are entirely yours. You can become a sinner or a saint, and that will always be up to you. If you do not like the Fate you are seeing, then simply change it."
Tsuna lowered his head and thought her words over. She might have been making light of the forces in this world, but… she was right. He had no reason to follow the path in front of him. If he wanted to change things, he could. He didn't have to love Bianchi just because Fate said so, and if he wanted to love Nagi, then he was completely and utterly free to do so.
He looked up, a weight lifted from his shoulders, a light smile rising on his face as he continued on his way to school.
"That is not going to solve your more beastly nature, Master, but I suppose you are not ready to listen to sound advice in that regard."
Tsuna twitched, but he chose to ignore that last bit. Surely she was overstating his lust. The giggling in his mind didn't make him feel all that confident about that.
"You reforming your own feeling is also not going to stop Bianchi from pursuing you either, that woman strikes me as the type to pursue love with everything she has."
He quickened his pace as if he was trying to run from the voice in his head.
"Bosssss!"
Tsuna blinked as he heard an excited yell near the gate. Hayato stood ramrod straight, and as soon as he saw Tsuna, he shouted with a wide, goofy smile.
Before Tsuna could say a word, Hayato rushed toward him with the energy of a golden retriever.
"Morning, Tenth! Did you have breakfast yet? Or should I go get you something to eat? I found a good spot nearby, but if you want something homemade, I can rush to the home ec room!"
Hayato rambled with seemingly endless energy. Tsuna quickly waved him off before the guy started making plans to blow up the school or something.
"I'm fine, I already had breakfast."
Before Tsuna could get another word out, Hayato bulldozed ahead again.
"Understood, Boss! Do you need anything else? Maybe you need your homework done, or do you need me to whack a guy?"
Hayato asked with a completely serious face, and Tsuna twitched again, his smile tightening just a bit.
"No, everything is fine. Just head to class."
Tsuna gave the order quickly, seeing that Hayato would just beg for more instructions otherwise. Hayato's eyes practically sparkled at being given an order, and he snapped a quick salute.
"Of course, Boss! I'll go secure the homeroom, not even a fly will be able to sneak in under my watch!"
Hayato shouted before rushing off to "secure" their classroom. Once again, Tsuna felt himself twitch. Hayato wasn't exactly subtle; he was pretty sure the school thought he was a gang leader now, with Hayato as his first recruit.
They weren't entirely wrong, but the scale of their assumptions was far too small, and Tsuna wasn't about to correct them.
So he ignored the whispered conversations around him. Instead, he looked around for Hibari; he didn't want to be ambushed at the gate again. Sure, he had broken both of that guy's arms, but Tsuna doubted that would hold him back for long.
A quick glance told him Hibari was nowhere to be seen. The guy's minions must be holding him back. They were probably getting the shit beaten out of them for that, but Tsuna could respect their loyalty.
"THERE YOU ARE!!!"
An even louder voice rang out, and Tsuna nearly jumped. He turned to see the somewhat familiar figure of Kyoko's brother rushing toward him, white hair bouncing, eyes sparkling.
"I HEARD ABOUT YOUR GREAT FEAT, KOHAI! YOU SHOULD HONE THAT TALENT AND EXTREMELY JOIN THE BOXING CLUB!!"
Ryohei shouted as he grabbed Tsuna's hands and shook them violently.
Tsuna almost regretted sending Hayato away.
He offered a tight smile. "Sorry, I don't quite understand, Senpai."
Ryohei paused, then released him and began shadowboxing in front of him.
"I HEARD YOU DEFEATED HIBARI! WITH TALENT LIKE THAT, YOU NEED TO BURN EXTREMELY IN THE BOXING CLUB TO TRULY SHINE!"
Tsuna blinked. He didn't really feel like joining the boxing club, and dealing with someone this energetic sounded exhausting, but he did need to fight martial artists for tickets, even if they were just bronze ones.
Before he could respond, Ryohei's head was smacked down, forcing him into an apologetic bow.
"I'm sorry about my brother, Tsuna-kun. Just ignore him."
Kyoko smiled apologetically, clearly used to reining him in.
Tsuna's smile softened into something more genuine. "It's fine, Kyoko-chan. I needed sparring partners anyway."
Kyoko winced slightly.
"FANTASTIC! THEN I WILL EXTREMELY SPAR WITH YOU, UNTIL YOU EXTREMELY JOIN THE BOXING CLUB!"
Ryohei burst out again, slipping free of Kyoko's grip. Tsuna took a small step back, reconsidering his life choices.
[Feat Achieved! Gain a positive impression with the character Ryohei Sasagawa!]
[Received one Silver Ticket!]
On second thought… what was a little noise compared to sweet, sweet tickets? Most people only gave bronze ones. That made Ryohei someone important.
So Tsuna smiled.
Ryohei looked ready to start sparring right there, but Kyoko pinched his side.
"Tsuna-kun agreed to spar with you, Oni-chan, but you need to go to class first. You can only spar after school."
Ryohei drooped, then immediately perked back up.
"THEN I WILL EXTREMELY GO TO CLASS, AND EXTREMELY WAIT FOR SCHOOL TO END!"
He sprinted off. That guy may be loud, but the earnest way he went about things was at least somewhat nice.
Once he was gone, Kyoko spoke again. "Sorry about Oni-san. He just gets excited."
Tsuna chuckled. "It's fine. He's helping me out, after all."
Kyoko smiled, then studied him for a moment.
"Are you alright, Tsuna-kun? I heard from Hana-chan that you were sick?"
She asked with concern that he was so used to hearing bleeding from every single word.
"I'm alright," he said with a reassuring smile.
She looked at him a moment longer before accepting it, though she still seemed a bit worried.
"How about we head to class? I want to make a habit of arriving on time."
He joked lightly as they walked together. She laughed and followed.
As they passed the field, Tsuna spotted Yamamoto pitching over and over again. He frowned slightly. The guy was pushing himself too hard; his body was wearing down, but he seemed determined to run himself ragged.
Tsuna shook his head and looked away. If the guy wanted to ruin himself, that was his business. The worst that should have happened was a sprained wrist and the idiot being forced to actually rest for a couple of weeks.
Nothing to worry about.
…Even if he felt a strange twinge as he walked on.