So, this is my first fanfic. A KHR one! And a G27 pairing as well! Thanks to magnificent authors (SilentSnowDreamer's My Beloved and the sequel Never Let Go, CreekMyStyle27's How the Other Half Lives, and Sharia Sherenia's Dreams to Reality), I've realized how wonderful this pairing is. They have inspired me to write one of my own ^^

So I hope to meet the standards of those who have read those amazing fanfics with my half-hearted attempt at a G27 :) Feedback with reviews are helpful too.

Welcome to the first chapter of 'Ricordi Di Te', which roughly translated to 'Memories of You'

Ricordi Di Te

Chapter 1

Eluding Memories

"Tsunayoshi? Tsunayoshi, where are you?" Giotto called out, searching for his younger brother. That boy was just too good at hide and seek.

Inside the closet, little Tsunayoshi giggled. He had practiced playing with his parents while Giotto was at school, and it would take the two of them hours to find the small boy. It was his size that gave him his advantage; the boy could fit just about anywhere.

In the hallway, the older brother leaned against the wall, disheartened that he had lost yet again to Tsuna.

"Tsunayoshi, I'm done. You win."

The boy burst out of the closet, jumping in glee. "I win again!"

Giotto ruffled Tsuna's chocolate colored hair. "Yep, you win again. And do you know what you win?"

The boy looked at his brother with sparkling eyes. "What what what? Tell me, Giotto-nii!"

The blond knelt in front of Tsuna and he climbed onto his back and took him to the garden. "You get an hour's worth of free piggy-back rides each day for a week!"

Tsuna laughed gleefully and began yelling as Giotto ran around the garden, braying like a horse and obeying Tsuna's every command.

"I love you Giotto-nii!"

Giotto yelled something, but Tsuna couldn't quite hear him. "Eh? What did you say, Giotto-nii? Giotto? Giotto!..."

"…Sawada! Sawada Tsunayoshi, wake up this instant!" came the loud booming voice of his math teacher. Tsuna yelped and jumped out of his seat, earning him total humiliation in front of the entire class.

"If I catch you sleeping in this class once more Sawada, then it's extra homework for a month! Am I clear?"

"Y-yes sensei." He sat down, and while trying to actually pay attention, he was thinking about the dream he had.

Why was I even dreaming about Giotto-nii? It's not like I miss him or anything. We talk on the phone almost everyday. So…why?

Last year, Tsuna's older brother, Giotto, had been accepted into the University of Namimori, and had to relocate to the town, leaving his family behind. The two had been close for as long as he remembered, and they always kept in touch, be it by e-mail or calling one another. Nothing could keep them apart.

The bell rang, dismissing the student body from school. Tsuna quickly packed his belongings into his bag and hurried home. He remembered that his parents wanted him home early to discuss something with him, and besides, he wanted to call Giotto and ask him about the dream. It felt like there was a deeper meaning behind it.

As he rounded the corner of his street, his cell phone rang. Looking at the caller ID, he realized it was his mother, Nana.

"Hey Mom, I'm almost home."

"Oh, oh no! I-I need you to go and pick up some vegetables for dinner tonight. Would you do that for me please, Tsu-kun?" She sounded panicked.

"…O-okay, Mom, don't worry, you'll get them."

Tsuna thought he heard his mother burst into tears. "Oh thank you, thank you Tsu-kun! I love you so much, you know that right. Dad also loves you! Thank you! Well…goodbye!" she hung up. All Tsuna could do was stare at his phone.

"All I said was that I was gonna pick up some vegetables…"

OOOOOOO

A little after 5pm, Tsuna walked up to the front porch, a bag of groceries in his hand. Fingering around in his pocket for his keys, he realized that the front door had been left open a little. He sighed, sometimes his mother was such a klutz; burglars could break in.

The boy pushed open the door and froze in his tracks. He dropped the bagged groceries. Not bothering to take of his shoes in the entranceway, he stared in horror at the sight before him.

The hallway in completer and utter disarray. Cabinets were unturned, their contents spilled out onto the carpeted floor. His mother's precious vase lay in pieces at the base of the stairs. There had clearly been a struggle here, that much Tsuna could tell. And his parents had been home.

"Mom, Dad!" he called, his voice shaking heavily. He stepped into the hallway, avoiding the broken glass. The kitchen, that's where his parents normally were. Nana would be making dinner right about now, and Iemitsu would be taking a nap at the table. He peered around the corner to the kitchen, and almost automatically, he felt tears cascade down his pale cheeks.

The kitchen was in the same, if not worse, condition like the hallway. Crockery thrown askew, shattered glass and overturned furniture littered the ground. But the brunette could care less about the outcome of his house, but the fate of his parents.

Tsunayoshi came face-to-face with two bodies lying motionless on the floor in a pool of blood. Splattered blood decorated the adjacent walls, creating small pools of the liquid below. He couldn't bring himself to look at the bodies, but he could identify the shape of them clearly.

The larger body lying protectively over the smaller one had larger muscles and broader shoulders. And blond hair like Giotto's. Iemitsu, Tsuna's father. The smaller body with his hair color had more curves to it; a woman's figure. His mother, Nana.

Nana and Iemitsu were gone.

The feeling in his knees completely gone, the boy leaned against the doorframe. His hands automatically found their way to his throat, gasping in air to fill his lungs and endless tears stung his eyes.

This is a dream, this is all a dream. It can't be happening, not to us, not to us.

Tsuna closed his eyes, desperately believing in the magical words he spoke, hoping that by some miracle he would find his mother at the stove cooking something delicious and his father snoring at the dining table.

That was not the reality that awaited him when he opened his eyes. That horrific scene before him had not changed. Oh how he wanted to hold his parents in a tight embrace, to feel their warmth, and not have to stare at their cold lifeless eyes any longer. Tsuna could only huddle himself into a small ball in the doorway and sob silently, calling for the mother and father he no longer had.

"What the hell? I don't get this at all," a voice said from upstairs. "They said they had no kids, but this room clearly has stuff that only kids use; clothes, textbooks, the whole shebang."

"That is true," a deeper voice replied. "If they did have children, wouldn't there be family photos everywhere?"

Tsuna froze. He wasn't alone in the house; complete strangers were just upstairs. Dangerous strangers who had killed his parents. More than anything, he wanted to yell and scream at these mystery men; he wanted to know why they had to die. He wanted to punch them and kick them, to make them feel the pain his parents had felt in the moments before their departure, but the boy had no strength. No way to attack or defend himself. Long ago, Iemitsu had taught him a valuable lesson:

"A wise man lives to fight another day."

And that was what Sawada Tsunayoshi was going to do. He had to leave, to escape from these men, before they were alerted of his presence. Finding the strength in his legs to stand, he staggered past the corpses and put his hand on the doorknob to the backdoor. Sparing one last glance at his parents in silent prayer, Tsuna exited through the door and shut it silently. Upon his exit, he burst into a sprint around to the front of the house and to the front gate.

"Hey, brat! What the hell are you doing here, huh!" The voice came from the front door. Tsuna had left it wide open. It only made him run faster.

"Stop, dammit! Hey, is that the kid we're looking for?"

"Who cares about that? He could have seen the bodies! Just get him!" the other yelled, and the two men soon gave chase.

Tsuna's legs felt like lead weights, weighing him down with each step he took. He was in a dangerous situation, running away from murderers. And his vision was clouding. Unusually enough, the main street was completely deserted, as if the citizens had predicted the chain of events to unfold.

"This shouldn't be happening!" he sobbed. "This only happens in movies! So why is it happening to us!" Tsuna could feel himself losing speed. It would only be a matter of time before they would catch up to him.

The brunette suddenly felt a stinging pain on his cheek. He swatted at it, not sure if it was an annoying insect, but when he looked at his hand he could see the sticky red liquid that oozed from the cut. Something had grazed him.

"Fuck, my arm!" one man screamed. Tsuna chanced a look behind him; through hazy eyes he saw the smaller man on the ground, clutching his arm, and the other clawing around in his jacket to search for a weapon to defend himself with. This was his chance to escape. As soon as he spun around, he gasped.

Another man was in front of him, and just like the other two, was wearing a dark business suit. The only difference was a fedora perched smartly on his head and the gun he carried.

"I suggest you stop chasing this boy; he is of great importance to the Vongola Family, and to our boss. Get in my way again and the next one goes in your skull." The fedora-wearing man cocked his gun, preparing to fire.

The injured man staggered to his feet. "Shit, that fedora! And that gun! No way, you're-"

"Crap, we can't handle him! Run!" Like dogs, they turned tail and ran from this mystery man.

He couldn't take it anymore, he just couldn't. His heart had shattered into a million pieces, his head was pounding and he could barely see anymore, all in the time span of ten minutes. He was physically, mentally and emotionally spent. Tsuna would have been content to just collapse in the middle of the road, but was instead surprised to find an arm wrapped around his middle and another on his back.

The stranger picked up Tsuna and cradled him in his arms. "No boy should have to go through this alone, it's too cruel. But I promise you won't be alone anymore."

Tsuna was struggling to keep his eyes open; they were just too heavy. "W-who…are you?"

"An ally."

"Help…go back…a-and help my…parents…please."

The man shook his head. "I can't."

He had long given up the fight to hold back the tears that fell endlessly. "I'm begging you…please…please…" Soon after, he also lost the fight with his consciousness and surrendered to fatigue and heartbreak.

In these moments, a black car rolled up next to them, and the man climbed in with the boy still in his arms.

"Poor kid, he had to go through all that alone," the driver commented. "…Well, where to now, Reborn-sama?"

Reborn tilted his fedora up with his finger. "He won't be alone anymore. We're headed to Namimori. And step on it."