Tsuna Sawada would never forget that night.
After school, those three “friends” called out to him, saying they were going to stay at school to play the Fox Spirit game and demanded—well, threatened—him to go buy them some snacks.
Not just any snacks—they specified exactly what they wanted, and Tsuna had to run two blocks to get them. Because he had quarreled with Mari the day before, she had gone home alone right after school. Without her there, he couldn’t summon the courage to refuse.
Tsuna ran the two blocks, stood in line forever, and finally got the snacks they demanded. On his way back, it even started to rain.
Amid flashes of lightning and rolling thunder, he ran back to the school, gasping for breath as he reached the entrance. He had thought that, since it was raining, the others might just go home on their own.
But as he approached the back door of the classroom, he saw Mari’s silhouette.
She was sitting at a desk with the three others, her back turned toward him.
The girl sitting opposite her, Girl A, asked: “Mari~ when are you going to tell that idiot the truth?”
Mari asked coldly, “Tell him what?”
“That you were only together as a prank, just to watch him look foolish,” Girl A said with a sly smile. “Or… could it be that you’ve actually started liking him?”
“….” Tsuna froze in place, drenched in rain.
“Huh?!” The silver-haired girl, still with her back to him, slammed the table and stood up, trying to overcompensate with a loud denial. “There’s no way I like him! A weak boy who’s like a rabbit? Absolutely impossible!”
“Really?” Girl B asked skeptically. “But you two are together all the time, so happy and sweet…”
Mari blushed and shot back, “He’s… just my servant! Isn’t it normal for a servant to follow their master around all day?”
Boy C scowled, jealousy dripping from his words: “I saw you holding hands the other day.”
Unlike her responses to the other two girls, Mari just rolled her eyes at him: “Your eyesight’s broken.”
Boy C: “……”
“Mari, I believe you. A noble lady like you would never do such a thing,” Girl A changed the topic. “So, it’s time to move on to the next part of our plan.”
“What plan?” Mari asked.
“Don’t you remember? We agreed: make that guy fall for you, then dump him in front of him, revealing the whole truth, so he sees himself as the ridiculous fool he really is.”
“……”
Mari stayed silent for a moment, lowering her head and finally murmuring, “I… I… maybe… we should just forget it…”
Seeing her struggle to keep it together, the trio burst into laughter, doubled over, tears of amusement streaming from their eyes.
“Mari, there’s no turning back now. Look behind you—see who’s here?”
Mari trembled, turning around in disbelief.
Her eyes met Tsuna’s at the doorway.
“….”
He should have stepped forward and stopped it.
He knew it was all a prank.
He knew Mari would never admit it.
But he couldn’t stop himself. He froze, holding his breath, and heard her say she “absolutely could never like him.”
His heart felt ripped apart.
It was as if two little people were fighting in his head.
One cried: “I knew it! I knew Mari could never like me!”
The other shook his shoulders: “Wake up! You know how she hides her feelings! She’s definitely not telling the truth!”
Tsuna stared at her back, each breath tasting bitter. Then she turned and met his gaze.
He was supposed to be the one hurt, but Mari’s reaction was even more extreme.
Her face went pale, her body swaying. Her pupils trembled; her eyes widened in disbelief.
Embarrassment, shame, regret, frustration, anger, despair… all poured out as tears. She looked like she was breaking.
“Mari…”
Tsuna called out, stunned. She covered her eyes with her arms and bolted from the classroom without looking back.
“Mari!”
Tsuna chased after her without thinking.
He had never run so fast. He caught up to her while going downstairs, reaching for her wrist, but she pushed him away.
“Don’t come near me!!”
She cried, stepping into the rain, leaving without looking back.
Tsuna, pushed away, lost all strength. He stood frozen, staring at her retreating figure, letting the rain soak his face.
He didn’t even know how he got home.
Soaked through, his mother immediately shoved him into the shower.
The rain outside pounded harder, drowning out all other sounds.
After bathing, he lay on his bed, staring at the ceiling.
It was so late—Mari must be asleep by now.
Tomorrow… he would get up early and wait for her, telling her he already knew everything! And even if it had been a prank, it didn’t matter—he had done it willingly. He didn’t blame her!
He pulled the blanket over his face, letting his hot tears soak it.
So… please, Mari… don’t leave him…
Imagining explaining the misunderstanding and reconciling with her, he slowly drifted to sleep.
Outside, a car passed, water splashing in the puddles, its headlights flickering across the ceiling.
Unaware in his sleep, Tsuna didn’t realize what he had missed.
The next morning, he woke eagerly, planning to arrive at Mari’s house earlier than usual.
Too eager, he tumbled down the stairs and landed in the living room… where a baby in a black suit was waiting.
“CIAOS (Hello), I’m your home tutor, Reborn,” the baby said.
Who lets a kid run around like that, playing cosplay?
Tsuna argued with the strange baby, grabbed a piece of bread, and mumbled, “Mom! I’m off to school!”
From the kitchen, Nana peeked out: “Tsuna, why are you leaving so early?”
“I need to see Mari before she runs off!” he replied, hurriedly changing shoes.
Nana was surprised: “Ah, did you make Mari angry? She’s a good girl, you have to learn to cherish her.”
“I know, Mom!”
Tsuna ran out with his backpack, when suddenly the baby jumped onto his head!
When did you even get up here?!
Tsuna tried to shake him off, but got beaten at his own game.
He could only cry in defeat, thinking he’d deal with Mari first and then everything else.
Yet, even arriving way earlier than usual, Mari didn’t show.
Knocking and calling out went unanswered.
Tsuna had to shamelessly go back home, asking Nana for Mari’s spare key under the pretext of worrying she was sick.
Opening the door, Mari’s house was empty.
The living room was messy, but that was normal. Nothing else seemed unusual. No one was in her rooms.
His shoulders slumped. He came so early, yet still missed Mari—how early had she left?
On his way to school, the violent baby Reborn’s voice echoed above him:
“So… you like that girl Mari.”
“Don’t shout!” Tsuna blushed, glancing around to see if anyone heard. “If someone finds out, it’ll cause trouble for Mari!”
“Pathetic,” Reborn mocked. “Have you thought about confessing? If you don’t, someone else will steal her away.”
Tsuna turned pale, chest burning with embarrassment and anger: “No way! Mari could never be with anyone else!”
“Why not?” Reborn sneered. “You’re too cowardly to confess—how can you stop someone else from confessing to her?”
Tsuna fell silent, staring at the ground.
“I know… I know…”
But he was a coward. Though he sensed Mari’s feelings, he wasn’t sure.
Did she like him, or hate him?
If she liked him, was it as a friend or as a lover?
If it was friendship, or even hatred, confessing would be rejected. Then Mari would never speak to him again, and his long-held fantasies would be destroyed.
He looked utterly dejected.
Reborn jumped down, the lizard on his hat turning into a black gun.
“Looks like it’s my turn. Die once, and you’ll understand.”
“…Eh? What are you doing?!”
In shock, Tsuna watched as Reborn aimed at his forehead and pulled the trigger.
A red bullet shot out, transforming into a red streak that hit Tsuna.
Falling heavily to the ground, he regretted everything.
Why hadn’t he confessed to Mari before dying?
He could have confessed if he had tried!
His body hit the floor, eyes dull, losing focus.
But regret and frustration fueled a strange power—Deadly Flame—erupting from his body!
The intense heat tore his clothes apart, igniting his forehead, and Tsuna rose from the ground with renewed determination.
“Revive!!”
“I’ll confess to Mari, even if it kills me!!”
Wearing only blue boxers, fire on his forehead, face twisted, he ran toward the school.
“Mari, where are you?!!”
He sprinted down the streets, collided with trucks, drifted into the school, leapt along walls into classrooms—everywhere causing boys to cheer and girls to scream.
Yet, no matter where he searched—on the way to school, the gates, classrooms, hallways, nurse’s office, staff rooms, science lab, music room, playground, back hill, girls’ bathroom—he could not find Mari!
“Mari! Mari! Mari!”
Just as his all-out search was about to end, he saw Kyoko Sasagawa at the classroom door.
She froze, shocked.
Kyoko!
Though Mari never admitted it, Tsuna knew Kyoko was Mari’s only friend besides himself!
“Kyoko!” he shouted, grabbing her shoulder. “I need—” He stopped mid-sentence.
His Deadly Flame-powered sprint ended.
The fire on his forehead went out; his eyes cleared. He stared down at himself in just boxers.
The silence was deafening.
Kyoko, finally realizing the situation, screamed and ran: “Ah! A pervert!!”
Soon, the story of the first-year “useless Tsuna” running naked through the school to confess to Kyoko spread across the campus.
Kyoko’s admirers challenged him.
Other students were confused—wasn’t he always chasing Amamiya? Why suddenly Kyoko? But as busybodies, they didn’t care much.
Tsuna felt like the world had collapsed.
If Mari misunderstood and saw him confessing to Kyoko naked at school, she’d never, ever speak to him again!
But Tsuna later learned he had already lost the chance to make Mari angry at him.
Because Mari had left for good.
She had left last night without saying goodbye, and he had no idea where she went or why.
Since then, she had completely disappeared from his world.