Sawada Tsunayoshi finally tracked down that rich kid Suzuki. He stuffed him in a sack and beat him mercilessly, fury in every strike.
Suzuki ended up looking like a pig.
That night was dark, and Suzuki, still in the sack, couldn’t see who had beaten him. He thought Dazai Osamu had hired a killer to silence him. Crying and pleading, he swore never to harass Amemiya—or any woman—again.
By the time Suzuki realized he wasn’t dead, only beaten into a mess, he even felt grateful to Dazai and the Mafia at the port. But that’s another story.
Before leaving Yokohama, Sawada Tsunayoshi did one more thing.
He asked Reborn and his father to donate scholarships to Mari’s university under the name of an overseas charity, secretly ensuring that Mari Amemiya would receive one of them.
The funding came from Tsunayoshi’s own pocket money saved over the years, gifts from the Ninth Generation and other elders, and advances on his future salary.
He knew that Mari’s boyfriend, Dazai Osamu, was working undercover for the Mafia and had no official income. He couldn’t even support himself, let alone Mari.
Directly giving her the money would expose Tsunayoshi’s identity—and Mari would never accept it anyway—so he helped her indirectly.
He just wanted her to be happy.
Even if Reborn mocked him, calling him a coward and a sentimental fool, he didn’t mind.
Because Reborn wasn’t wrong.
At eighteen, Sawada Tsunayoshi left Japan with his guardians to inherit the Vongola family in Italy.
He faced countless difficulties and impossible problems, felt lost, confused, and disheartened many times. But he gradually realized that as the family boss, showing emotions openly would unsettle everyone.
So he learned to hide his feelings.
Step by step, pretending, performing—he transformed from the lost boy he once was into a mature leader.
Over the years, many people tried to introduce him to women, and countless women tried to find ways to catch his attention.
He rejected them all.
Having met someone truly remarkable in his youth, he could never imagine anyone else making his heart race like her.
The Vongola boss became so strictly reserved that rumors started spreading that he disliked women and liked men. Naturally, more men came to try their luck…
Tsunayoshi had to clarify that he had a girlfriend studying in Japan, which finally put the rumors to rest.
He didn’t feel like he was lying—after all, he and Mari had never broken up.
Thanks to the scholarship, Mari’s university would send updates every year, reassuring him that she was doing well.
But after Mari graduated at 22, his financial support stopped, and he lost his source of news about her.
He knew she had graduated, joined a large company, and left shortly after—switching jobs several times—but only vague details reached him.
When his assistant asked whether to have the Japanese branch continue gathering information on Mari, Tsunayoshi refused.
It was time to let go completely.
His twenty-fourth birthday was special—not because of the birthday party in Vongola or liaising with allied families, but because it always reminded him of what he thought ten years ago.
Ten years ago, he believed that a decade later, he would still be with Mari.
Not just ten years—he wanted her by his side every birthday for the rest of his life.
Yet the only birthday they ever spent together was that one ten years ago.
The promises of youth seemed laughable, like a fairy tale.
Tsunayoshi packed his feelings and descended the spiral staircase as the party officially began.
He thought he was hallucinating again.
Among the dense crowd, he saw Mari.
She wore a dress as beautiful as a butterfly, nervously turning away and hiding her face with a folding fan.
Her silver hair, like silk, swayed with her movements, reflecting the lights like rippling water.
It stirred his heart.
Was this another hallucination?
Despite his doubts, Tsunayoshi instinctively pursued her.
He grabbed her wrist—slender, trembling, yet warm.
She was really here—this wasn’t a hallucination!
Mari was the new heir of the Phoenix family!
Tsunayoshi scolded himself for stopping his information-gathering for two years—he would have known this immediately otherwise.
As he had expected, Mari clearly didn’t want to see him.
Her expression was embarrassed and sad, her words biting with sarcasm, and she avoided his gaze.
What she didn’t know was that he already regretted everything.
He regretted not confessing to her when he visited Yokohama at eighteen.
When he found out she hadn’t broken up with that man, he was so jealous he blurted that he also had a fiancée.
At twenty-four, Tsunayoshi felt like a villain.
After realizing she had accidentally taken a drug meant for him, he took her away before her family arrived.
Initially, it was just worry and a desire to protect her.
But then he realized his true feelings.
He played along, feigning innocence, drawing her in, claiming her.
All the desires he had hidden for years—existing only in his imagination, dreams, and illusions—became real that night.
Even knowing she had a lover, even knowing she didn’t want to see him, even knowing she would hate him when she woke up…
He didn’t want to hold back anymore.
He spent ten years convincing himself to let her go.
But she barged back into his world, undoing all his decisions and resolve.
It was Mari’s fault—it was her doing.
She came to him, didn’t she?
So, sorry, Mari.
This time, he truly wouldn’t let go.
…
In the Phoenix family mansion, in the boss’s bedroom:
Tsunayoshi sat by the bed, staring at the silver-haired woman silently crying in her sleep.
He gently wiped her tears with a handkerchief.
He picked up a jade-green bracelet that had fallen to the floor—a gift from him.
Why it fell? He chose to think it was just accidental.
He put the bracelet on Mari’s wrist.
It seemed to have a sleep-inducing effect; her furrowed brows relaxed in her sleep.
Late at night, he reluctantly withdrew his gaze and left the Phoenix mansion.
Back at his Vongola residence, after washing up, he lay on the bed they had once shared, unable to sleep.
Actually, he had been sleepless since the night before, only dozing off near dawn.
With such a heavy workload, continuing this insomnia could be fatal.
He took out a box from his bedside drawer—inside was a bracelet identical to Mari’s.
Not only were they the same design, but they came from the same jade stone. There were only these two bracelets in existence.
Although it was a byproduct of a recent Vongola tech experiment, its meaning was special, and it supposedly helped with relaxation and sleep. Tsunayoshi had kept both.
“Dreaming”—
was a good name.
He sincerely hoped to dream of her tonight.
He wore the bracelet and closed his tired eyes.
…
Mari gradually realized she was dreaming.
In the dream, she returned to the rainy night at fourteen when she left the Sawa family.
She sat in her father’s car, watching the Sawada house disappear into the distance, hopeless.
This wasn’t the first dream like this, but it was the first time she was fully aware in it.
She looked at her father in the driver’s seat and was shocked—his face had a huge “X.”
Had she forgotten her father’s appearance after so many years?
“Dad, stop the car,” Mari said firmly. “You can leave if you want, but I’m going back.”
Her dream-father stopped immediately. Mari opened the door and jumped out.
She ran back without hesitation.
Time in the dream shifted rapidly. By the time she reached Bisei Middle School, it was morning.
She saw Tsunayoshi and another girl, both with large “X” marks on their faces.
Tsunayoshi said to the girl: “I like you, please go out with me!!”
The girl neither agreed nor refused and shyly ran away.
Mari stood there, stunned.
She knew it was a dream, all imagined from reality—but her heart still ached.
It hurt so much, like her heart was being torn apart.
Even in a dream, why did it feel so real? Couldn’t it just make her happy for once?
Perhaps her prayers worked—Tsunayoshi, marked with an “X,” came over and gently wiped her tears.
“What’s wrong, Mari? Why are you crying?”
“….”
Her body trembled at his touch.
Why? Why…?
Why is he so gentle with her even in a dream…?
“I’m not crying!” Mari stubbornly wiped her tears. “These are tears of joy! I’m happy for you, you idiot!”
“That’s great, Mari. I knew you’d understand me.”
Tsunayoshi, with the “X” on his face, spoke in a cheeky, almost bad-boy tone:
“Mari, it’s weird. We’ve practiced dating so long, and I’m experienced, so why hasn’t she said yes?”
Mari forgot she was dreaming, eyes wide, body shaking.
“So you agreed to be my boyfriend just to practice dating? And then go be with someone else?!”
“Exactly. You’re the same, Mari,” said the “X”-marked Tsunayoshi. “You just wanted to tease me and make me your follower.”
“….”
Yes.
They were both tricksters. No one owed anyone anything, and no one could blame the other.
“Mari, please. We’re friends, right? Help me figure out how to win over the one I like!” The boy shamelessly pleaded.
“You should’ve told me sooner,” Mari said coldly. “Those past few months don’t count as dating.”
“Huh?” The “X”-marked boy was dumbfounded. “So I didn’t gain any experience? No wonder she didn’t say yes…”
“Please, Mari! For my happiness, keep practicing dating with me!”
“You’ll say yes, right, Mari?”
“….”
Mari lowered her head, trembling.
It’s just a dream.
Just a dream…
So no one would ever know.
She lifted her head, scornfully, and said: “Fine. Considering how pitiful you are, I’ll reluctantly agree.”
“That’s great, Mari! So, what do we do next?” The boy’s excited voice rang.
Even knowing it was a dream, Mari’s face flushed.
She looked away, unable to meet his eyes.
“Idiot. Normally, couples hold hands first. Let’s start with that.”
Mari reached out her hand.
But there was no response.
What the…? Isn’t this a dream? Just because she hadn’t done this in real life, the dream froze?
“Didn’t you say we’re practicing dating? Stop standing there!” Mari said, annoyed.
She was shocked to see the “X” on the boy’s face vanish.
He became the boy she remembered.
At that moment, his warm brown eyes gazed at her, dark and unreadable.
What was happening?
Why did the “X” disappear, and why did his aura change?
She even felt like running away.
Just as she pulled back her hand, the boy grabbed it, interlacing their fingers.
His wrist moved slightly, pulling her close. His other hand rested on her shoulder.
His voice low, with a rolling throat, smiling:
“Alright, Mari.”