nothing to love

There weren’t many things to love about Sawada Tsunayoshi.

Or at least, that’s what Tsuna always told himself.

He wasn’t very smart, or athletic, or charitable, or a million other things that likeable and lovable people always seemed to be. No, beneath his scrawny exterior lay a lazy, unmotivated, and useless person. So he understood perfectly—even though it did hurt quite a bit—why most people ditched him after they got to know him.

A useless, no good, waste of space.

So when Reborn entered his life, along with all the other trigger-happy people that seemed to follow him at every step, Tsuna expected them to leave shortly after discovering just what a pathetic loser he really was.

(Besides, him becoming a mafia boss? Whatever deities existed out there must have really hated his guts. Or maybe they hated the mafia's guts and that’s why they appointed him to a high position with such a prestigious and influential family.)

Surprisingly, Reborn didn’t leave. In fact, the acrobaleno became stubborn and was deadset on becoming a permanent part of Tsuna's life, no matter how much Tsuna pleaded with him to leave him in the beginning. Maybe Reborn had seen something in him worth polishing—that or he just really, really loved to piss Tsuna off.

What was even more surprising was that no one else left either.

(Well, okay, maybe some did leave for a while—like Mukuro, Byakuran, and Xanxus to name a few—but they always seemed to come back and stubbornly tie their lives and fates in with his, something that Tsuna wasn’t really sure how to feel about at times.)

Gokudera didn’t leave. Yamamoto didn’t either. Kyoko, Haru, Ryohei, Chrome, Fuuta, I-pin, Lambo—hell, even Bianchi and Hibari of all people stayed with him, all becoming another part of his (begrudgingly) dear family.

Sometimes, when the days were quiet and he was left with too much time on his hands, Tsuna asked them why they continued to hang out with him, continued to be his friend and family. After all, who would ever want someone like “No-good Tsuna” as a constant presence in their lives?

To which of course, he was met with a lot of very loud and very explosive shouts of disagreement.

“Tenth, how could you even say that?! Don’t worry, I always have a list of reasons on hand just in case a situation like this happened!”

“...Tsuna, do you really think that about yourself? That's not good...ah! Let’s go play at the arcade for a bit to cheer you up haha!”

“Hm...you have this thing about you that just happens to extremely draw people in!”

“THE GREAT LAMBO DOESN’T HAVE TO EXPLAIN HIMSELF TO YOU! BE HONORED HE CHOSE YOU! DUMB TSUNA!”

“...hn, it's a secret.”

“Kufu, I’m mostly around to see your inevitable downfall Sawada Tsunayoshi.”

“Hehe... The boss…is a very kind person and warm person.”

“Looks like we need another lesson in self-confidence, no-good Tsuna.”

Afterwards, Tsuna always found himself feeling warmer on the inside with a small smile on his face, because while he might not have any special qualities that the outside world would find worth loving, at least now he realized that his family would always hold him dear.