Chapter 2: Transcendental Being
Bell dragged the unconscious Tsuna through the ruined church doors, struggling slightly under the extra weight.
"Hey, Bell! Welcome ho—wait, what happened!?"
A young woman with a youthful face and black hair tied into twin-tails rushed out to greet him, but her cheerful expression shattered the moment she saw the boy slung over his shoulder. This was Hestia, the Goddess who lived with Bell.
"W-What exactly is the situation here, Bell!?"
"He was collapsed out front! His life doesn't seem to be in danger, but he's completely out cold!"
"R-Right! Get him on the sofa, quickly!"
"Y-Yes, Goddess!"
Following Hestia's urgent instructions, Bell carefully laid Tsuna down on the worn-out cushions.
"I think I still have that potion Miach gave me... Here it is!"
Hestia rummaged through a nearby drawer and pulled out a small glass vial filled with a glowing blue liquid. She popped the cork and carefully dripped the potion over the boy's visible bruises and scrapes. The moment the liquid made contact, the injured flesh knitted itself back together before their eyes.
"Phew... That should take care of the worst of it."
"Yeah... But why was he passed out in front of our church?"
"Who knows? More importantly, we need to figure out who he is."
Without a second of hesitation, Hestia grabbed the school bag Tsuna had dropped and began to rummage through it.
"G-Goddess! You can't just snoop through his things without asking!"
"This kid was passed out in the streets, Bell. For all we know, his family or his Familia are out there worried sick about him right now."
"W-Well... I guess you have a point..."
Bell tried to stop her from invading the boy's privacy, but Hestia's logic was sound enough that he couldn't completely disagree. Hestia unceremoniously dumped the contents of the bag onto a nearby table.
"What in the world is this?"
"I have no idea."
Hestia held up a smartphone and a pair of headphones. Both of them stared at the strange, sleek devices in complete bewilderment. Shrugging, she set them aside and pulled out the next item.
"A book?"
She grabbed one of the textbooks and flipped it open, her brow furrowing as she scanned the pages.
"This isn't Koine... and it's not Hieroglyphs either. What kind of writing is this?"
"You can't read it either, Goddess!?"
"Not a single letter. What about you, Bell?"
Hinged on the slight hope that Bell might recognize it, she held the open textbook out to him.
"I have no clue... Actually, I've never seen anything like this before in my life."
He stared intensely at the Japanese characters, but it was completely alien to him. Realizing it was a dead end, Hestia swapped it for another book from the pile.
"Whoa... What is this!?"
The next one she grabbed was a geography textbook. As she flipped through the glossy pages, her eyes widened in profound shock.
"What's wrong, Goddess?"
"Look at this, Bell!"
"W-What in the...?"
Hestia shoved the open book toward him. Bell gasped, instantly understanding her sheer astonishment. The pages were filled with incredibly vivid images of towering glass skyscrapers, sprawling concrete cities, and landscapes unlike anything they had ever seen.
"W-What is all this...? I've never seen anything like these buildings..."
"Right? But that's not even the craziest part. Look at the pictures themselves."
"What do you mean?"
"The images of the buildings and the people. They're far too intricate and realistic to just be paintings. It looks exactly like someone perfectly captured a slice of reality and plastered it onto the paper."
"Now that you mention it..."
Completely unfamiliar with the concept of photography, Hestia and Bell were deeply unsettled by the hyper-realistic images. They continued to pore over the geography textbook, completely engrossed.
Suddenly, a quiet groan broke the silence.
"U-Ugh...?"
"Goddess!"
"It looks like he's waking up."
Tsuna slowly stirred, his eyes fluttering open. Bell and Hestia let out a collective sigh of relief.
"Are you feeling okay?" Bell asked gently.
"U-Umm... where am I?"
"You're in my home. You were passed out on the ground right in front of the door."
"Passed out? I was?"
"Yeah. Do you think you can sit up?"
"Y-Yeah..."
Still horribly confused about his situation, Tsuna slowly pushed himself up into a sitting position.
"Here. Drink this."
"Thank you."
Bell handed him a cup of water he had prepared earlier. Tsuna took it gratefully and gulped it down, soothing his dry throat.
"Well then. Sorry to bombard you right after you wake up, but do you mind telling us a bit about yourself?" Hestia asked.
"Oh, sure."
"First off, what's your name?"
"Sawada Tsunayoshi."
"Sawada Tsunayoshi-kun, huh? Oh, right, we haven't introduced ourselves yet. My name is Hestia. I'm the head of this Familia. And this boy here is Bell Cranel. He's the one and only member of my Familia."
Familia?
Tsuna immediately latched onto the strange terminology. They hadn't said Familia in the Italian mafia sense, but used it as a proper noun.
"Are you guys acquaintances of Reborn by any chance?"
Despite the odd phrasing, he couldn't shake the suspicion that these two might be mafia associates tied to his Spartan tutor.
"Reborn?" x2
They don't know him?
Bell and Hestia stared at him blankly, clearly never having heard the name before. Tsuna blinked, entirely perplexed by their genuine confusion.
"Is this Reborn person a friend of yours?" Hestia asked.
"Well... he's more like my teacher... He just knows a ton of weird people all over the place, so I figured maybe..."
"Sorry, but the name doesn't ring a bell. What does he look like?"
"Umm... He wears a black fedora, has a yellow pacifier around his neck, and he's a baby..."
"A-A baby!?" x2
The description was so wildly unexpected that both Bell and Hestia shouted in unison.
He isn't... lying...
As utterly ridiculous as the story sounded, Hestia's divine intuition told her that Tsuna believed every word he was saying.
"Goddess... Do you think the hit to his head messed with his memories...?" Bell whispered anxiously.
"The thing is... he's not lying."
"Ehh!? Really!?"
"Yeah... I thought it was a load of nonsense too, but... he's telling the truth."
Tsuna watched the two of them whisper furiously to each other, feeling more out of place by the second.
"U-Umm..."
"Ah, sorry about that," Hestia said, turning back to him. "Unfortunately, neither of us has any idea who this Reborn person is."
"I see..."
"Don't look so down! I can always ask around and see if any of my acquaintances know anything."
"Eh... but..."
"No buts! Extending a helping hand to lost children is simply what a God does!"
"A... God...?"
Hestia puffed out her chest and placed a hand over her heart, looking incredibly proud of herself. Tsuna, on the other hand, was slightly weirded out by this teenager shamelessly calling herself a deity.
Is she actually crazy...?
He knew it was rude to think that about someone who just saved him, but he couldn't stop himself from looking at her like she was a massive suspicious weirdo.
"What's with that look? You're staring at me like I'm completely insane for calling myself a God!"
"N-No I'm not..."
"Don't look away from me!"
Tsuna tried to play dumb when she accurately read his mind, but Hestia wasn't letting him off the hook.
"I know we're a dirt-poor Familia with only Bell-kun in it, and it might not look like much! But I swear to you, I am a bona fide God!"
"R-Right..."
"Stop looking at me like that! I'm really a God! You have to believe me!"
"Whoa!?"
"P-Please calm down! He just woke up!"
Tears pricked the corners of Hestia's eyes as she grabbed Tsuna by the collar and began violently shaking him back and forth. Bell frantically intervened, trying to pry the indignant Goddess off their guest.
Seriously, what is wrong with this person!?
Tsuna felt like he was losing his mind. With Bell acting as a mediator, Hestia finally managed to regain some semblance of composure.
"Umm... Tsunayoshi-san? It might sound crazy, but she really is a Goddess."
Eh!? Even he's spouting this nonsense!?
Bell earnestly tried to defend Hestia's honor, but having the seemingly normal boy back up her delusional claims only shocked Tsuna further.
"It's no use, Bell-kun. No matter what we say, he clearly doesn't believe I'm a deity."
Realizing she wasn't getting through to him, Hestia immediately began to pout like a petulant child.
"Of course I don't! How could anyone believe that!? There's no such thing as Gods in this world!"
"...!?" x2
The moment the words left Tsuna's mouth, Bell and Hestia froze, their eyes widening in pure shock.
"Tsunayoshi-kun! Did you just say that Gods don't exist in this world!? Do you truly believe that!?"
"W-What's with the sudden intensity...!?"
"Just answer the question!"
"Y-Yes, I meant it... If Gods actually existed, it would be a massive global uproar..."
He isn't lying... Does this boy really not know of our existence!?
Intimidated by Hestia's sudden overwhelming presence, Tsuna answered honestly. Hearing his genuine conviction, Hestia was left reeling in disbelief.
What exactly is going on here? We're in Orario. It's impossible for him not to know about Gods... Amnesia? No, if that were the case, he wouldn't remember that Reborn person either...
She racked her brain, trying to figure out why this boy was completely oblivious to the fundamental reality of their world. Suddenly, her eyes landed on the geography textbook resting on the table.
W-Wait. Could it be!?
She remembered the bizarre, otherworldly landscapes and the hyper-realistic images they had seen just moments ago. All the puzzle pieces slammed into place.
"I see... that would completely explain Tsunayoshi-kun's story..."
"Goddess? Did you figure something out?" Bell asked, tilting his head.
"Tsunayoshi-kun," Hestia said, locking eyes with him. "There is a very high probability that you came here from another world."
"Huh...!?"