Disclaimer. Oh yeah. And the title might change later on.
Tsukimi
'Ne, Tsu-kun. Do you like Tsukimi?'
'Yes Mama. Can we come here next year?'
'Sure Tsu-kun. Let me tell you a story of the Man on the Moon.'
'But Mama, how can someone be on the moon?'
'Silly Tsu-kun. He was sent there. Do you know what he must do every single day? He must chop down a tree that would always grow back at the next swing. Since he can't chop it down, he lives there for all eternity.'
'He must be really lonely, Mama.'
'Oh no Tsu-kun. He has many friends living with him.'
'Tell me about them, Mama!'
'I'll tell you next year, 'kay? One story for each year.'
'Aw Mama, I can't wait that long!'
'Be patient, Tsu-kun. You should be patient to hear what comes next next year.'
'Fine...'
'That's a good boy.'
The evidence was all on the hard asphalt. Blood was everywhere and there was a silence except from the punctual shallow gasps and begging for help. A mother with gashes on her head and body holding a child crying from bleeding eyes lay on the street. A car was crashed into a light pole with nothing but a bloody hand falling from the broken window. Pedestrians would shuffle by uncomfortably as if late for their work. The light from the pole would flash on and off, like a horror movie gone wrong.
A boy holding hands with a younger child walked by the wreckage. They were obviously not brothers, for one who looked as if he were high school student with European roots while the other looked like an elementary student with Japanese roots. The older boy stopped to have the younger boy stop in succession.
He stared at the mother and child at the side of the road and then to the uncaring pedestrians then back to the accident. Sirens could be heard from far off, then disappear at an unknown turn as if not caring for these three.
The two stood there, not knowing what to do until the younger stepped out onto the wet street, his feet splashing in the puddle of old rain water and fresh blood. The older went to his side to stop him. But he still went on.
The blacked haired boy kneeled beside the child, now free from the mother's protective hug. The boy's face was stricken with sticky blood, his eyes closed shut from the great gashes adorn his eyes and face. His tears would sting his wounds and the saltiness would mix with the metallic liquid.
The elementary school student touched the boy's sleeve to make him flinch and cry some more.
"M...a...Ma...Ma..ma...?" he whispered, his voice only a breath. Despair lingered in the voice, just as death lingered in the air around them.
The older boy would look at his friend with pitiful eyes, the message created silently. The boy sobbed harder, only to be received by sharp pain.
"Mama...it...hurts..." he whimpered quietly. "Make it stop..."
The blond looked to his mother, blood dripping from her open scalp and limbs; she must've taken much of the blow from the impact with the car.
Sirens came and went, until finally one did not disappear. Paramedics ran to the victims, pulling them from cars and lifting them up ever so gently. Life supporters were attached as they all drove to the hospital in their own solitary ambulances.
The boy and his friend held hands once again, and began their silent trek to the building.
He could hear the beeping of the monitor and the IV stuck in his arm, giving him his much needed fluids. He could hear the rustling of people out in the halls and the hushed whispers around him. He could smell the crisp hospital air around him and the warm soft sheets enveloping him. He could hear the wheels of the carts and beds from doctors rushing to the ER and he could feel his bandages wrapping his arms.
But all he saw was black.
His hands reached to his face, involuntarily flinching from the opening of wounds. Upon his face he felt soft gauze taped down to his eyes, his face covered in bandages at random spots. His forehead was bound from a roll of bandages, ruffling his hair.
Someone was cutting an apple beside him. He could hear the sound of the knife cutting through the crisp flesh of the fruit.
"Ma...ma?" he asked, warily.
Silence.
Tears streamed from his closed eyes as he felt the face, the eyes, the nose, the mouth, the ears, the hair. But it was different. The nose was broader more stern, the eyebrows were knitted together, the mouth was twisted to a frown, and the hair was puffier – like a boy's.
He spoke. "No."
"Where's Mommy?!" the boy demanded. "I want Mommy! –" He was interrupted by a cold sensation on his lips from the fruit. Unwillingly, he ate it, slowly munching on it as his tears made it salty.
"I'm...Kyouya. Hibari Kyouya. What's your name?"
"Tsuna...Sawada Tsunayoshi...Where's Mommy?" he demanded again.
Still a silence.
"Is...Mommy okay?"
Another slice.
"Is...she here?" Tsuna asked, choosing his words carefully.
"...Yeah."
"Is she...hurt?"
The constant beeping of the monitor rang loudly in the cold silence.
"...Yeah."
The brown haired boy did not respond.
"Hibari...?"
"Yeah?"
"Will she be okay?"
Kyouya was surprised of this boy's calm reaction. He and his mother were just in an accident!
"I don't know."
The monitor beeped more.
The next morning, Tsuna woke up again, unsure of what was going on. He could only see from one eye, and nothing more, for his left eye was covered with a medical eye patch. His other eye was still adorned with healing cuts and scratches, once large bloody gashes. His head hurt like hell as he dizzily looked around the room.
How did I get here?
Beside him was a boy with black hair and an elementary student's uniform sleeping soundly on a chair leaning on an older boy with blond hair in a highschool uniform.
He poked the younger boy, as he was nearest to him. The boy shifted in his sleep, resulting in the loud clacking of a plate filled with uneaten overripe apple slices fell on the floor. The boy jumped in surprise from the noise and drowsily sitting up, allowing the older boy to slump over in his seat.
"Who are you?" Tsuna asked. The boy's eyes widened in shock.
Silence.
"Who are you?" he repeated. "Why am I here?"
"You don't remember?"
Tsuna shifted slightly in his bed. "Remember what? What is there to remember? Why can't I see from one eye?"
The blond snored.
"You...were in an accident."
"I was? Then who are you? Do I know you?"
"I'm...Hibari Kyouya. This isn't some sick joke you made up is it?"
Tsuna looked at Hibari innocently from his one eye. "I don't know. I don't remember anything. Why am I here? Is it because I was in an accident?"
Hibari didn't respond. Tsuna didn't remember a thing.
"He has amnesia." The doctor blatantly said to the blond. "And since he has no family, we aren't sure what to do. Well, he does have family...it's just that his mother is in a coma and his father is missing. We don't know what to do. It would be too troublesome to all of a sudden send him off to foster care or an orphanage when he has no idea what is going on."
"He could live with us."
"But Dino-san! First he's not kin, second you barely know him – you met him from the accident by pure coincidence – and thirdly, he still has family somewhere. He has to have at least one relative somewhere."
"We're all orphans. Kyouya and I barely knew each other when we first moved in together."
"Y-yes that's true. But you guys are related in some way."
"So? I can tell you Tsuna and I am related in some way if you look back far enough."
The doctor knew he lost. And since no suitable guardian had showed up for the past week, there was no point in fighting with this man.
"Okay Dino-san. You win. But at least let him recover from the accident. And be sure to come up with a story to tell him when he asks."
A story...
Easy enough. Tsuna was only in kindergarten. Just saying that evil bunnies plotting to overtake the world would suffice for him.
And that was what Dino did.
The next day, Tsuna was wheeled out of the hospital into a waiting car to escort them back to Dino's house. He was still bandaged head to toe, the gauzy cloth wrapped delicately around his head and the eye patch still covering his left eye.
This is actually one of the longest chapters I've ever written...and the most thorough...
