Authors' Note:
Hello, nice to meet you all. This is a collaboration between Melo and Pisces (now Jay and Redvry), and we hope you will enjoy the first chapter. This is our first fanfiction, so constructive criticisms are much appreciated.
To avoid confusion, Yoshi is a made up character. Tsuna belongs to Akira Amano. We did make Tsuna have a different personality than the original KHR, because based on Tsuna's background in this story, it makes more sense.
This story is un-betaed. We just try our best to check each other. Thank you!
-Melo-Pisces
Disclaimer: KHR belongs to Akira Amano. We only thought of the plot. Any similarities between another story and this one are purely coincidental.
Warnings: Cursing. OOC.
This is a thought.
"This is speaking."
EDIT-1/4/19: Minor grammar and major dialogue changes. Plot is the same.
Chapter 1: The Double Contract
Silence.
It was too quiet. Even if it was late in the night. It was way too quiet.
They were currently on a job. Apparently, the other party's leader wanted to meet during the middle of the night. He could understand secrecy and what not. What he couldn't understand was why in the slum? Gokudera suddenly came to a stop when he heard a snap. He scrutinized the surrounding until he came across a smiling Yamamoto. A smiling Yamamoto with one foot on a twig. Seriously?
"Sorry! My foot slipped, haha."
On a twig? Gokudera thought. Out of all the people, just how did I end up with this idiot?
The said idiot at that moment decided to hand him something. "Hey, you want a hot dog, hahaha?"
Gokudera stared, clearly not amused by the question. Is he really offering me a hot dog here of all places? Ignoring the fact of how Yamamoto even got his hands on the food in the first place, he asked: "do you realize we are on a job right now?"
Yamamoto laughed. "But the hot dog was getting cold."
Gokudera felt a vein popped. "I don't fucking care. Throw that thing awa-"
A shot was fired, missing Gokudera's head by a mere centimeter. Gokudera's eyes immediately snapped up, looking for the source of the firepower. Why was it so dark? Why couldn't the night just be brightened up by a sparkling UFO or something? Another shot was fired, pulling Gokudera from his thoughts to the figure who fired the shot. He couldn't see the person well, but a small shiny insignia gave the figure's identity away. Well, now he knows why they chose the slum. A third shot went off from a different location. The enemies were prepared. Well…SHIT.
Gokudera and Yamamoto ran down the slum and into one of the many alleyways. They had been running for at least an hour, but the enemies did not cease their attacks. After a couple minutes of silence, Gokudera poked his head out of the alleyway.
"Hahaha, did we finally lose them?"
"Shut the fuck up for god's sake! What if the enemies find us?!"
Steps were heard. Too late, thought Gokudera. He swore that Yamamoto was trying to get them killed.
A shadow appeared within their sight. Preparing to throw his dynamites, Gokudera felt someone pulled him from behind and moved him closer to the back of the alleyway. Thinking it was Yamamoto, Gokudera remained focus on the enemy's shadow. He waited until the shadow disappeared and footsteps no longer lingered before he turned to Yamamoto. "What the fuck are you doing?"
"Mah mah Gokudera, it wasn't me this time."
That was when Gokudera realized there was a third body presented. Gokudera was about to open his mouth, when the stranger's hand covered it, successfully shushing him.
"Quiet. They will find us. If you want to get out of here alive, follow me," the stranger whispered.
Gokudera yanked the hand away from his mouth. "And who the fuck do you think you are? Who are you anyway?"
The stranger sighed and walked out of the alleyway.
"Hey! Stop! What makes you think we would follow you!?" Gokudera called out to the stranger.
"I think it's best if we do," replied Yamamoto.
"Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!?"
The trio walked in silence for what seemed like an eternity. Gokudera was losing his patience. Fast. "Hey. When will we be ther-" The stranger suddenly came to a halt, making Gokudera walk right into him. "Why you sto-"
"The exit is to the right. You should know your way after another minute walk." The figure lifted his hand and pointed to the exit.
Gokudera swore that people just couldn't let him finish speaking for once today. Was it that hard to not interrupt me?
The stranger began to head back from where they came from.
"Wait!" yelled Gokudera. "How will we know you aren't tricking us!? What if you're working with one of them?"
The stranger turned around and scoffed, "Yes, I spent all this time taking you to an exit. I'm most definitely working for them."
Gokudera gasped when the moonlight illuminated the stranger's face. He couldn't believe it! Why is my respectable Tenth here!? "B-boss…?" When the stranger didn't react, Gokudera began again, unsure of the situation. "Wha-"
"Yo! What's up, Yoshi!? Why are you here?" Yamamoto swung his arm around the stranger's shoulder, cutting Gokudera off.
"Yoshi? I have no idea who that is. If you don't trust me, then find a way out yourselves," the stranger snapped and shot a glare at Gokudera. "Now if you would excuse me," he continued while removing Yamamoto's arm from his shoulder. With that, he left the two standing in the night. Without knowing what else to do, the guardians made their way back to the Vongola mansion.
The head butler informed Gokudera and Yamamoto of their summons to their boss's office as they walked in through the entrance. They thanked the butler.
"Hahaha, it's kinda weird to see Yoshi after that. It's like we just part ways with him a while back."
Gokudera rolled his eyes and decided to ignore him. The boss was the boss. No one was going to replace him. He had no idea what nonsense this idiot was sprouting.
When they reached the door, they gave a knock and heard a "come in". Once inside the room, they were greeted by their boss and his tutor, Reborn.
"How was the meeting?" asked Yoshi.
"It was a trap to eliminate us," Gokudera replied, keeping his anger down at the thought of the enemies. There was no way he would show his bad side to the respectable Tenth. He continued to tell his boss and Reborn everything that happened during the mission. About the enemy. About the slum. About the stranger who saved them.
"So what you are saying is... someone out there in the slums…looks like me," Yoshi summarized after Gokudera was done.
"Yes, that's correct, Tenth."
"Well, I say we get rid of him."
"Well, I say we thank him."
Yoshi and Reborn said at the same time.
"WHAT!?" Yoshi exclaimed unbelievably.
"I said we should thank him."
"And why would we do that? Isn't having someone who looks like me a bad thing? I mean, what if the enemies of Vongola find him and use him?"
"Which is why we should thank him immediately and get him to join us."
Yoshi huffed. "Why would we want this thin-this person to join us?"
"You'll see."
Gokudera and Yamamoto spent their next days back at the slum, trying to convince the stranger, whose name appeared to be Tsuna, to join Vongola for a thank you dinner. The result? Tsuna rejected their offer. Every. Single. Time. But they were not discouraged, not that they can with Reborn behind their backs with a threatening gaze. And a gun.
"Yo Tsuna! You should really come to dinner with us. It will be lots and lots of fun! There will be a ton of food too, haha," Yamamoto said enthusiastically.
Gokudera smacked him behind the head. "IDIOT! He's not a 4-year-old." Gokudera turned to Tsuna. "You should let us properly thank you already. It's just dinner."
"You have already thanked me for the past week. I don't have to come to dinner too do I?"
"You don't understand. Our boss insists that you do."
Tsuna just stared. Just when are these two going to stop bothering me? They are being a nuisance. He liked his time alone, and these two were making it next to impossible. Tsuna couldn't help but sigh when he realized he probably won't have his alone-time again until he agrees to attend the unnecessary "fun" thank you dinner party of annoyance and waste of time. "If I attend the party, will you two stop coming here every day?"
"What? But we are frien-" Yamamoto started but Gokudera finished, "Of course we will stop."
At the Vongola mansion, Yoshi threw a tantrum. "Like I said, I don't understand why we are trying so hard to get this-this thing to join us!"
Reborn, although disliked the tenth candidate's attitude, refrained himself from kicking him in the stomach for once. "You need him for your own protection. If he acts as your double, everything will go much smoother."
"Why would I need a double? I'm the boss. No one is going to change that."
"You are one of the chosen candidates to the boss," corrected Reborn.
"I will be the boss in a year anyways!"
Reborn kicked Yoshi in the stomach, sending him flying across the room. "You are one of the chosen candidates. You won't be the boss if you are dead." He walked out of the room, leaving an angry and crouching Yoshi.
Vongola and Tsuna ate their meals in silence. So much for a "fun" dinner party.
"So how's the food? I hope it is to your liking," said Reborn.
"It's fine."
"I see."
The meal continued in silence. Tsuna noted to himself to never take Yamamoto's definition of fun seriously ever again.
The maids cleared the plates when they finished their food.
"To cut straight to the point. We would like you to join us," Reborn said once the maids left the room.
"Aren't I already here?"
"Oh, you don't know who we are?" Reborn stated more than asked. "I thought you knew since you happened to save two of our guardians. My apologies."
Yoshi snorted. "We are Vongola, the Vongola. How do you not know who we are you dimwi-" A shot was fired, cutting Yoshi off. "What was that for, Reborn!? You could've killed me!"
"Good."
Tsuna stared unfazed at the scene as if it was the most natural thing in the world. Vongola huh. If I knew they were part of Vongola, I wouldn't have interfered. We want nothing to do with the mafia. "Vongola as in clams? I heard they were quite good cooked as soup. I never knew you people were clams wannabe."
Yoshi snorted again. The rest of Vongola snickered with the exception of Reborn, who was evaluating Tsuna with his critical eyes.
"You know what I'm talking about," Reborn said when the excessive voices died down. "You didn't think we invited you only to say thank you did you?"
"No, of course not. There will be no reason for one of the top mafias to invite someone so desperately to a dinner party, even if I did save two of the guardians."
"See! I knew we should've gotten rid-" Yoshi began.
Reborn fired another shot while keeping his eye on Tsuna.
"Rebo-" whined Yoshi.
"You are quite informed," stated Reborn completely disregarding Yoshi.
Tsuna shrugged. "And Vongola is quite famous. You mafias like to visit the slums after all with your deals and whatnots. The question is why would Vongola want me here."
"Straightforward I see."
"Well, this is my business."
"We want you to become Yoshi's double for a year."
"So I can die in his place if things go wrong?"
"Of course not. We will protect you like we are protecting Yoshi."
"Then just protect him. Why would you go so far to protect a double? If it's as safe as you deem it to be, then just protect him to begin with."
"We are not obligated to inform you of why we want a double for Yoshi. But consider carefully. You have no future as of now. Is it truly wise to pass this opportunity?"
Tsuna flinched. Of course, he knew he had no future, or at least not a clear one, but that didn't mean he wanted to live as someone's double. Moreover, they didn't want anything to do with the mafia. Will they be happy if Tsuna ends up in one, Vongola nonetheless?
"If you become Yoshi's double for a year, we will offer you a future. A future out of the slums. We promise you that with the Vongola's name on the line," Reborn continued.
To live in the slums potentially forever? Tsuna wanted out. There were people he cared about, and he couldn't bear to see them suffer in that place for the rest of their lives. "I have some conditions of my own," Tsuna said, leaning slightly forward.
"What would those be?"
"One: I can visit the slums whenever I want without monitoring. Two: when this is all over, I want Vongola to help evolve the slums. Let the people there have futures."
Yoshi slammed his hands on the table. "Do you think we are running a charit-"
Reborn fired once again. "Two is fine. One, however, would be difficult."
"You can shoot me if you deemed I betrayed Vongola, Reborn," Tsuna said unwaveringly.
Reborn looked straight into Tsuna's eyes. He wasn't sure what made him feel so…comfortable for the lack of better words. So trusted. There was something about Tsuna that made people feel like they could give him everything they had and not have to worry about it.
"Sign this contract, and it's a deal."
A piece of paper slid across the table.
It is only for one year, thought Tsuna. Only one year.
Reborn left the dining room first, followed by the guardians one after another. Tsuna and Yoshi were left behind.
"So what did you want me to stay for?" questioned Tsuna.
"I never told you to stay."
"Oh really?" Tsuna got up to leave. "Anyone who received those kinds of comments during a thank you party would assume you wanted a face to face confrontation."
Yoshi's lips curled into a small smile. "Of course not, my dear double." His words brimmed with a sickening sweetness. He rose from his seat and walked towards the dining room door. Yoshi paused at the entrance way with his hand on the handle.
"Remember, you are my double, a shadow and nothing more." With that, he opened the door and disappeared into the halls, leaving Tsuna with the echo of his steps.