Chapter Text
Sawada Tsunayoshi would probably be the first to agree that teenagers make stupid decisions sometimes, but since he was Dame-Tsuna, he was also the one to make the stupidest decision. Well, he couldn’t exactly bring himself to regret making that decision, so he just rolled with whatever came now.
Middle school was quite rough for him. In fact, it was so rough that Tsuna did something so crazy it just somehow worked. Iemitsu… was an interesting father figure to say the least. He might have been the love of his mother’s life, but he was often pathetically drunk in front of him.
So… Tsuna decided to take advantage of that and book two tickets instead of one when the man was trying to book a flight back. The said grown up adult was rubbing his face at his shoe having fallen off the sofa while keeping on calling him tuna fishie. It could be understood that his no good genes were probably inherited. There was no one wearing those shoes. Tsuna was sitting cross legged on the sofa, partly watching this play and partly booking his ticket out of the hellish school.
The next morning, the man didn’t realize there was a stowaway in his car’s trunk- nor did he realize that the stowaway took a spot between his luggages in the trolley. Nor did he realize that somehow he was clearing through the customs without moving a single finger after he kept moaning about headaches into his fingers the whole time. Tsuna just played the duckling the whole time around.
He also didn’t realize that his wallet had no cash because the brunette took it for himself.
Thus, when the flight landed at Italy, Tsuna left a totally unaware Iemitsu to his own devices and wandered to who knows where. But it wasn’t like the money would actually support him for a long time, so the runaway decided to open up his own business… and got the cheapest place the money could offer.
Which ended up being a shoplet in god knows where, in a place which was… shady… to put it lightly. The place was pretty much cleared out and with minimal cooking devices and a counter, his budget was bust. It was in some random corner of an alley and it would be a miracle if any customers would survive, let alone visit his shop…
So his first customer ended up being a person who was all bloodied up, panting against the door, having temporarily entered the place to escape from his pursuers.
…But Tsuna didn’t give a shit at this point.
Because… the maintenance expenses for the shop was killing him.
And he was also kinda banged up, courtesy of his ‘friends’ at Namimori.
So, mustering up his brightest smile, he welcomed his first customer.
“Welcome to my cosy little shop? Would you like a cup of tea to go? You’re my first ever customer, so you can have it- on me!”
And then if this dude lingered around, he could buy some food to eat and then Tsuna might not be in the red. If he liked the hospitality, he could bring more people in here.
In fact, Tsuna wouldn’t complain if the guys searching for this dude found him here and decided to make an impromptu shoot off- as long as they all decide to take his tea and snacks after or before that. He was just desperate at this point.
Then with enthusiasm on his heels, he began to fill the good stuff in the teapot, the kind that was ripped off from his mother’s recipes…
And realized that there was no teacups. There were no plates either. No cutlery too. No tables and chairs either.
When Tsuna looked at the dude awkwardly while wondering whether he should go on all fours and become a stool, lamenting about human hands being poor retainers of liquid… the dude seemed to also go crazy and move his gun towards him.
Then Tsuna decided to one up him and pour the tea into the barrel…
And then the man sipped the tea from the barrel…
And then… complimented his tea making skills.
It was then that Tsuna thought that he was completely done with his life.
After Tsuna accepted the fact that his customers are bonkers, he truly began to accept the oddballs that would start to visit his shop while giving absolutely no f*cks.
Like maybe, the lady who brought a baby in a fedora into the shop and ordering an expresso and a cup of tea. Which then followed with the baby reaching out for the expresso cup and Tsuna asking him if he wanted seconds.
After he saw the baby down the entire shot with just a look of surprise, Tsuna finally registered the fact that he actually served coffee to a one year old. The lady looked at his dawning horror with schadenfreude as he, with that look of horror, served Reborn a second and third shot- purely on instinct.
“Child prodigies sure start young nowadays…” was the only utterance he could muster after hearing the kid brainstorm with the lady.
Maybe it was the fault of the first impression he gave when the shop opened, but his patrons seemed like nothing but the shadiest of people. It only made Tsuna feel more and more jealous about his mom’s air headedness when the topics they broached made him break out in cold sweat.
They also were very generous with their tips- maybe because the first customer found his service so hilarious that he brought his pals to have a tea party with guns. It had even become a mainstay regular item that the patrons would keep ordering for their kicks.
“One of these days, I swear, I’ll be getting a bullet through my head before I finish pouring that tea out.”
In fact, one of the regulars for the drink turned out to be that toddler the lady brought. He seemed so amused by the tale behind the special that he began ordering it every other day.
“You know, I’ve been your regular for quite some time. You should consider it an honor, since it’s rare for me to stick around.”
“I’m always happy for your patronage.”
“I already heard one interesting story, so tell me about others, Tsunayoshi-kun.”
Did he ever tell his name to this kid? He couldn’t even afford a nameplate.
“Gotta say, master. You’ve got your priorities in a weird order. You started with supplies, then went to the furniture after making bank and now you’re going with the decoration?
It’s beautiful, but I think you might want to make yourself legal and this shop legal too. Most owners like to get away from the current clients.”
“Huh? It got decorated after your friend’s suggestions. I really got to thank her for that-”
“Aria got into an interior decoration craze with her kid coming into the family. So what do you think?
There’s no right or wrong answers.”
“You mean, if it’s a wrong answer, I won’t even realize it after I get shot?”
“Ding ding ding, Tsunayoshi. As expected from my pupil.”
“Since when did I become your student?”
“The moment you asked me for advice for making good coffee. If there’s one thing you have, it’s good sense.”
At that moment, the door opened with his companion coming inside with a rebuttal.
“You became his favorite the moment you chose him for learning about coffee.”
“I show a lot of care for my students.”
“Sometimes I wish you would show less. But I’m curious too. What do you think of the decorations?”
The shady little shop of his looked like sunshine at first glance now. There was a hanging garden, mahogany wooden floors and ceiling, vases of flowers and odd trinkets which were out of place and would definitely classify as something the cat dragged in.
He was dragged along in Aria’s shopping frenzy and ended up blowing his entire profit in it.
“I think… it’s beautiful enough that I want my mom to come stay here for a while.”
“So you’re saving up for her ticket?”
“Yeah. I don’t think she’d come though. But it’ll be great if she can make it any time later.”
“Why wouldn’t she come?”
It seemed like the search for her runaway son would come to an end.
“I do send letters. She thinks that Iemitsu brought me along for a new school life.
…I, uh… actually couldn’t handle middle school back then so I broke down in front of her. She said that I could hang in there and things will get better.
I guess, after seeing both of us missing, she must have thought that dad babied me with this one.
Now she replies that we should visit her more. But even if I come back, I think she’d just be disappointed. Dad… doesn’t really come home much. And uh, I didn’t exactly come here with him.
She probably won’t come here because if she does, dad won’t have anyone waiting for him when he returns.
The place looks real swell right now. I think if my mom ever gets tired of waiting, I want her to know, there’s at least one person who’s waiting for her instead.”
“… You know what? That’s not even my full ability. I can make this place even more gorgeous, leave it to me Tsunayoshi-kun!
I’m going to knock you off your socks.”
“Tsunayoshi. If this is a home for your mama, you need to make sure it can properly welcome her. So, tell me every last detail. Let’s see just how much you know about her.”
“That’s right. We have to fill it with her favourites.”
“But you can’t be too partial too. Since we’re helping you out so much, you got to put the things which are our favorites too.”
“Let’s see just how much you have paid attention. This will be on the test. Let’s see just how much you care about the regular patrons.
If you do well, I’ll put another floor in this shop, so that you can put more of the stuff here.”
“You guys want to make my shop your new home?!”
“Don’t say it like we’re squatting here, Tsunayoshi~”
“It’s going to be fun, Tsunayoshi-kun~ We’ll have sleepovers every night~”
“You guys… Just go home already!”
“You’ll never get rid of us, Tsunayoshi~”
“We’re best friends already, Tsunayoshi-kun~”
It looks like this time, the budget for his mom’s ticket is gone. Tsuna looked at the duo in front of him with exasperation as a smile bloomed on his face.
Maybe he chose the worst decisions he could make, but still, all in all, it seemed like a great decision.