Days of life

by thylas

One day, Tsunayoshi wakes up in the body of a (strange) child.

Hello everyone! It's nice to meet you! I hope you will appreciate this story.

This will be gen, which means that, apart from the cannon pairings, there won't be any pairing. So don't count on me to make some Riku x Sora, or Tsuna x Sora, or Tsuna x Kairi, or any other, because I won't do it.

Oh. My. Gosh. This. Was. So. Hard. To. Finish. I can't believe I actually did it. It's a miracle. Please mark this day as a festive day; it really is one. freaking. miracle. I can't believe it. Please let me bask in the feeling of finishing it… Aaah… *sigh dreamily*

I'm sorry if there are any typos. I beta-ed it myself, but I'm certainly not perfect, still learning English, and I prefer writing more over checking what I have already written – reading what I have already written makes me doubt myself anyway… So, if someone has free time, and is good at English, then… if you want, please become my beta. I would be eternally thankful. If you see any typo, please tell me, and I'll correct it/them.

This could stand as a one-shot, but while I was writing this, I got more and more ideas on a possible sequel… So, it's all up to you. Should I write a sequel or not? (I think I will write one either way, so… I'm just curious about what you think about it.)

[1]

Tsunayoshi's eyes fluttered open, latching on the swirling fan above him. He groaned, closing his eyelids again to keep the bright light from hurting his eyes, and rolled over to hide behind his pillow. Almost immediately, he flinched away from it; it was too hot to be close to any form of heating. Suddenly, he was grateful for the harsh wind the fan sent to his lying form. He was sure that the heat would have killed him through the night if it wasn't for its help.

Wait… His eyes snapped open again and planted themselves upon his ceiling, carefully watching the machine. Tsunayoshi never had a fan; Reborn wouldn't have approved of it – it was always to better to survive through the heat: he claimed that it would make him a better boss, but Tsunayoshi was sure it was just a discreet way of torturing him. How come he had one now? "Is it to confuse me?" Tsunayoshi muttered, before blinking in surprise. His hands slowly found their way to his throat, and, still blinking, he grasped it gently, feeling the smooth surface of his skin with the tips of his fingers. Nothing felt wrong, and yet… his voice sounded so wrong, so young and so… foreign. It wasn't Tsunayoshi's voice. "What?" he tried again, and this time, he was listening carefully. It only served to make the feeling of dread and fear deeper. It felt wrong, and at the same time, it felt so right.

Tsunayoshi closed his eyes – and his lips – and rolled over to hide his face in his pillow, this time not caring about the heat. His (somebody's) voice muffled by the mattress, he took a deep breath, and screamed. It felt good; liberating. He rolled away, looking around. "Where am I?" he asked quietly to himself. He didn't know this room. It was a miracle he only noticed it now; he was used to waking up in foreign rooms, it was part of Reborn's training, after all, and he usually noticed it sooner – with the help of his hyper intuition most of the times, but he still did.

It was a relatively small bedroom, still larger than Tsunayoshi's, but smaller than the kids' one – Lambo kept complaining about it. There was color everywhere; on the walls, on the maps on the ceiling, and on the clothes messily laid upon the bare floor. The bed was near a wide window which gave an open view upon a vast sea. There were some maps plastered on the walls, with "Destiny Islands" written upon most of them; on one of them, a small cross was drawn, with the small inscription of "Riku and I's treasure" at its side – Tsunayoshi's lips quirked up. At the opposite of the only door stood a desk, surprisingly clean, with bright yellow plushy stars hung above it. A single slip of paper was laid on the center, with a little box of colorful pencils; it seemed that whoever lived in this room had drawn something. Tsunayoshi, eternally curious, craned his neck to look at what it was, but even then, he couldn't understand what it was.

He got up, almost tripping over his own (?) two feet as he did. He slowly walked toward the desk, making a point of ignoring his smaller-than-before hands and the way-too-bright brown bangs tickling the back of his neck. Leaning on the chair next to him, he let his eyes trail over the whole drawing. It represented three stick figures. The first one, at the left, had an angry frown, but still smiled. It had long gray hair, and a yellow shirt. The second figure, in the middle, had red hair and a big smile. It wore a purple skirt. The third one, the one at the right, had spiky brown hair and wore a red clothe – Tsunayoshi could only guess what it was. The three figures were close to each other, and three names were written near their heads: Riku, Kairi and Sora. A star was drawn above the three, separated in three halves. He guessed it had a deep meaning, but he couldn't know; he had never seen this kind of symbol.

Tsunayoshi took one last look at the drawing, and looked around again, hoping that a mirror was nearby. By luck, a small mirror was hung onto the closet's door. Tsunayoshi blinked at his reflection. The boy in front of him looked (a little) like Tsunayoshi. He had brown hair, not the same brown as Tsunayoshi's; it was more bright, more wood and sand than dirt. The boy had blue eyes, blue like the sky, or maybe the ocean; no, it was the blue of a stormy, cloudy sky. He wasn't exactly pale per se, but he didn't have any tan, though Tsunayoshi could see an imperceptible tan line at the limit between his knees and his ankles, and between his wrists and his elbows. It seemed that whoever this boy was, he spent a lot of time under the sun.

"Sora?" a distant voice made itself known. He blinked; was the person calling the boy from the drawing or were they calling the sky? "Sora? Are you going to meet up with Riku soon?" Sora and Riku: the two boys from the drawing, Tsunayoshi realized. He guessed that he was Sora. Tsunayoshi hesitated, he just wanted to curl up in his blankets and wait until everything went back to normal, but he couldn't do it. People – those who knew Sora – would notice that something was wrong. He was sure that if he followed his wants, something would go wrong, that was what his intuition told him. His intuition also told him, prodded him to go see that Riku person. For once, Tsunayoshi just wanted to ignore his intuition. "Sora?"

"A-ah, yes!" he hurriedly yelled back. When a short silence followed, he continued. "I'm going!" Rushing to the closet once again, he quickly dressed up in the only outfit that seemed to fit his height. It consisted of a shirt, a jacket and shorts; the whole thing was red and black. He put on socks, and huffed a little. He was ready for this… maybe.

[2]

Tsunayoshi forced a smile upon his face, waving at the retreating back of Sora's parents. He didn't understand how they could leave their son all alone on an island like that, but he guessed that it was a different culture and education; still, he didn't approve of it. He turned around, and took a look at the island. He was on the beach; the sand was a clear yellow, bordering on the white, and some trees – coconuts he guessed – were growing in between the sand and the dirt of the main part of the island. Looking up, he could see some cottages built near the center, where large and strong trees were growing, casting long shadows and creating an exotic atmosphere. There were bits and bits of planks of wood on the trees and on some of the houses; it seemed that it was used as reinforcement.

He took a few steps forward, and stumbled in the sand. It felt strange, he hadn't been to the beach many times – only two times, and it was with Reborn and the others. He looked down, marveling at the movements of the sand under his weight. It looked like one special part the training area of the Vongola base; the ground was made of a weird substance that followed the movements of the one walking on it – he was sure that it was Verde's creation. It had helped Tsunayoshi greatly, thanks to that he could fight in every kind of environments. Straightening, he grinned when he managed to stop stumbling.

"Sora?"

Startled – how come anyone managed to sneak up on him? –, he looked up. In front of him, a young boy stood. He looked a little older than Sora, but younger than Tsunayoshi; something in between ten and fourteen. He had long grey hair and cold blue eyes. Tsunayoshi struggled to pin a name on the boy, and after a few seconds of silence, said the first name that came to mind – all the way prying to whoever was up there that he was right.

"Riku?" He was sure the uncertainty he felt had seeped in his voice, because the boy frowned; or maybe, it was only because Tsunayoshi had guessed the wrong name. He didn't get any complain, so he guessed that his uncertainties were unfounded, and that he had, in fact, guessed right. "Hey." Riku didn't answer, just continued to frown pensively. "W-what's wrong?" Tsunayoshi couldn't believe he had just stuttered – it had been a long time since he had done that; Reborn would have killed him if he was here (Tsunayoshi shivered, gaining a raised eyebrow for the action).

"Shouldn't I be the one asking that?" he heard the boy mutter, but before he could answer to that, the boy continued. "You're late." Tsunayoshi flinched at the accusation – once again, he was sure that if Reborn had been there, he would have killed him for this. "Kairi will get mad, you know." Tsunayoshi guessed it was supposed to be a carefree comment, but it only served to make his hyper intuition blare warnings in his head. Whoever this Kairi was – he guessed they were Sora's friend, since it was the name on Sora's stick figures drawing – they were dangerous, or at least, dangerous enough to make a Mafia boss in-training shiver in fear. He offered a rigid nod, which amused Riku, is the smirk was any telling. "Hopefully, she won't be too mad, considering you actually managed to finish your tasks yesterday." It was supposed to be a joke – there was a hidden meaning, of that he was sure – but Tsunayoshi couldn't tell what it was. Just to stay polite, he offered a weak smile. It made Riku deflate, before the boy's face blanked and he smirked again – though this time it was more forced than anything.

Absently, Tsunayoshi frowned. This kid either had some issues of self-confidence, or this body's owner was depressed and his friends were trying to make him laugh with everything they had… Or Tsunayoshi was analyzing this too deeply. No, it couldn't be that. He was sure that there was something wrong, even his intuition was telling him that.

He snapped out of his thoughts to see Riku looking at him silently, almost as if he was waiting for something. Impulsively, Tsunayoshi blurted out, "I hope so. Last time was enough; I don't want her mad at me again." As soon as this left his lips, he wished he could take it back. He had no idea if what he said was true, and— anyway, where had this come from? He didn't know anything about Kairi's personality, for all he knew, Riku could have been messing with him, and Kairi would never be mad at him. His worries flew away when Riku's smirk turned a little more truthful – and simple happiness began to radiate in small waves from the boy. Going along with the flow, Tsunayoshi continued. "Let's get going. She'll be even madder if we're any more time late." He smiled again, this time trying to hide the awkwardness of the situation – or at least, the situation was awkward for him. Riku nodded, and, thankfully, began to walk forward. He glanced back when Tsunayoshi didn't follow immediately.

Shuffling on his feet, he walked in Riku's steps; and if Riku noticed the curious glances Tsunayoshi kept throwing him, he didn't mention it.

[3]

"Sora!" Tsunayoshi flinched at the sudden shout, and looked up to see a girl sitting on a cliff above them. "You're late!" He didn't need to be reminded, he thought wryly, and winced slightly when he saw the angry frown on the girl's face. He guessed this was Kairi.

"Sorry, Kairi," he said simply. Immediately, the girl stopped in her ranting, and looked at him weirdly. He shifted under her stare, trying to decipher the emotion passing through her eyes. He absently wondered if he had done something wrong. Maybe she wasn't Kairi, or maybe she hated being apologized to, and he had just insulted her by saying that – a second later, as he looked back on what he just thought, he blinked at his own stupidity; if anyone asked, it was because of the nervousness. After a long minute of silence, he grew too uncomfortable, and he forced out a small call, "Are you alright?" The girl blinked, and nodded slowly.

"Yeah," she said. She was still looking at him oddly. It seemed that she was trying to understand something – something hard he guessed, if she hadn't managed to do it in one full minute. "Yeah," she repeated, even if it was useless; just to reassure herself that she was fine. She directed her stare to Riku, who had stayed silent through the whole thing. "How about… How about we don't work on the raft today?" Riku raised an eyebrow at her, and threw a glance at Tsunayoshi, who only blinked back at him, not understanding what they meant. "You know… We could just… hang out," she ended lamely, a small frown slowly forming on her features. Riku nodded, after thinking a bit.

They waited for Kairi to walk down, and headed to the tree they usually hang out around. Riku threw a glance at Kairi when he noticed Sora's hesitance, as if he didn't know where to go, and she nodded slightly. He risked another glance at Sora. The usually cheerful boy was strangely calm today; peaceful, more mature maybe – he couldn't really tell. It felt like he was with a stranger—no, that wasn't it. It didn't feel like a stranger, it felt like… Like Sora was only partly-stranger; Riku knew one part of him, but not the other part. He could sense that Kairi had felt it too. They reached the tree, and Riku jumped on it, sitting down and facing Sora and Kairi. She followed his lead, sitting down next to him and balancing her feet; she looked a little weirded out and nervous – for whatever reason, he couldn't tell. Sora looked at them in hesitance, his eyes flickering between them and the tree, but didn't join them. He shifted on his feet and looked up at them, looking almost resigned. Riku saw Kairi glance at him, and he nodded.

"Sora," Kairi began softly. "Is there anything wrong?" Sora stiffened, but immediately relaxed again. For half a second, he had looked like a deer caught in headlights. "You don't look well today," she continued when he didn't answer. "Are you sick perhaps?" And now, Sora looked guilty, refusing to meet her stare. Now that she was looking at him more carefully, she noticed his almost-strange appearance – what had set her off at the beginning. Instead of his usually sky blue eyes, an orange tint had infiltrated his iris, circling around his pupil in a weird glow. She was sure it hadn't been there before—she would know, what with the long minutes she had spent staring at Sora's eyes; they were so beautiful, sparkling, bright and joyous. And now— and now, they had changed. Sora had changed – too much for her, she thought. It was too sudden, too outside-like for her; she didn't know how to respond to this. Of course, Sora still was her friend, and he always would be, but… she was afraid. Would he forever stay like this? She liked the old Sora; the one who so obviously loved her, who was always desperate for her attention; the Sora who thought of Riku as a rival, and still loved him like a brother – and even more. Kairi shook herself out of her own thoughts, deciding that it wouldn't help thinking about it now.

She sighed, and, casting one last glance at Sora, reached for his hand to pull him at them. "Well, I guess we can't force it out of you if you really don't want to say it," she said, and found comfort in the guiltiness on his face; at least, he knew that hurt her – and Riku of course. Speaking of Riku, he was staring unblinkingly at Sora, stubbornly not shifting his gaze—he surely was worried about his friend. Kairi smiled reassuringly at Sora, and he relaxed. She let go of his hand, and stretched, clearly indicating that the subject was over. Continuing to balance her feet, she looked at Riku and Sora, "What are we going to do today?"

The both of them relaxed, their mind already reeling at what they could do. Kairi smiled to herself, glad to know that at least that still was the same.

[4]

Hey, Sora.

He stirred, his eyelids fluttering, but didn't wake up.

Hey!

He groaned, rolling over to keep the voice away.

Hey! Wake up, sleepyhead!

He gasped and shot up, ready to receive Reborn's punishment for not waking up when he asked for him to. He blinked the sleepiness out of his eyes, and looked up… only to see Kairi's surprised face. She was looking down at him, probably confused about his previous panic. He ignored her, getting up and dusting the sand off his clothes, skin and hair.

He couldn't believe it. How…? It hadn't been a nightmare, it hadn't been a dream; it had been reality. Tsunayoshi was in the body of little boy, in a foreign world, with foreign people worrying about him. He couldn't believe it. When he had laid down on the sand, along with this body's owner friends, he hadn't wanted to wake up here again. He didn't want this world, didn't want this body. Tsunayoshi wanted to go back home, to curl up in his bed in his house, with his mother and Reborn and all of his friends downstairs. In the morning, he would wake up just in time to please Reborn, and would rush to his friends to go to school, and then they would get in troubles again, and would sort it out together, as usual.

It hadn't happened.

This wasn't a nightmare, he reminded himself, this was reality.

He felt like crying—his eyes already burning with the want to shed a few tears.

Taking a deep breath, Tsunayoshi turned to Kairi – the poor girl hadn't done anything against him, after all –; and offered her – what he hoped was – a reassuring smile. She uncertainly returned it, and – for whatever reason – didn't bother asking him about his little breakdown. Grateful, he gave another smile. "You finally woke up!" she exclaimed, looking relieved for some reason. Behind her, Riku was looking at him, staring unblinkingly. Tsunayoshi tilted his head in question and nodded. "We were trying to wake you up for one good minute." More lightly, she said, "You're such a sleepyhead." She giggled, but it sounded forced. Suddenly, her eyes were shinning with concern, and Tsunayoshi felt guilty for worrying her.

"Sorry about that," he apologized, deflating a little when the concern on her face amplified. Inwardly, he frowned; everything he had done until now had only served to worry both of the children further—he just couldn't seem to get anything right. But what could he possibly do about it? He didn't know this Sora-boy's personality, and the two weren't giving him any hint about it. He could always pretend not feeling well, but it seemed that that girl – Kairi – had already assumed that, and since she didn't bother mentioning it… Maybe that Sora-boy often was sick? He inwardly sighed, sensing his hyper intuition's response to that deduction – a clear no.

Someone shook his shoulder, and he glanced up to see the girl looking over him with worried eyes. "Sora?" she called quietly. Tsunayoshi cursed himself for losing himself in his own thoughts and nodded to show he was listening.

"Sorry Kairi," he simply said. "I got lost in my own thoughts," he explained. She nodded, worried lines still pulling over her features. "What were you saying?" The boy in the back was frowning, looking at him—Tsunayoshi could feel the concern seeping from the boy, even if he tried to hide it.

"Ah…" Kairi sighed, and let her hand fall off his shoulder. He worried he had done something wrong, but she continued before he could pursue his thoughts. "It's getting late," she gestured to the darkening sky. "Your parents are probably waiting for you now." He nodded, but feeling she still had something to say, waited for her to continue. "Sora… You… Are you…?" She hesitated, looking torn between saying what was on her mind and just shutting up. "I'll see you tomorrow," she finally decided on saying. "I-… I hope you'll feel better then." Ah, there it was, the implication that she knew something was wrong, but couldn't say what it was exactly.

Tsunayoshi nodded, smiling at her reassuringly. "Yeah. I'll see you tomorrow Kairi." She smiled back at him. He turned to Riku, and gave another smile. "You too, Riku." Just before he turned around to walk away, he saw the surprise on the boy's face. Uh—it seemed that the Sora-boy wasn't as openly friendly to Riku as he was to Kairi. Weird, from what Tsunayoshi had seen in Sora's room, he considered Riku's feelings more than Kairi's… if all the drawing of the grey-haired stick figure was of any proof – he had counted a total of seventeen of them; in comparison, the red-haired stick figure with the skirt had been drawn nine times. Maybe Riku and Sora had had strong bond before, and it had disappeared with time? He couldn't know.

Shaking himself out of his troubling thoughts – he was doing that way too much, Reborn would be furious –, Tsunayoshi walked to where Sora's house was.

The end of the day was near.

Strangely, Tsunayoshi found no comfort in that thought.

[5]

It was the end of the day.

Tsunayoshi still found no comfort in the thought.

He was laying in Sora's bed, trying to relax and just fall asleep, but he couldn't; not when there was a risk, a possibility, that he would wake up in the same bed the next day, that he would wake up in the same world, on the same island, in the same house, in the same room, in the same sheets, in the same body—he just… couldn't force himself to fall asleep. Turning in his sheets, Tsunayoshi sighed, resting his cheeks against the cold pillow. There was no use worrying about it, there was no use struggling not to fall asleep; one day or another, he eventually would fall asleep, whether he wanted it or not. He didn't have a choice.

Sighing again, he turned, searching for another part of the pillow that would be cold – the one he was on was already hot and burning. He screwed his eyes shut, and begged for sleep to take him—even if for one, false, reassuring moment of peace and slumber.

[6]

The next time Tsunayoshi came to consciousness, he wasn't in Sora's bedroom anymore. He wasn't in Sora's body, but he wasn't in his own body either. In fact, he didn't have a body at all; he just… He just was. It was a weird feeling, just like the Dying Will Flames ghosting over his skin, or the happiness of being around his friends. It filled him whole, gave him a reason to be, and pushed him forward. It was… It was… a weird, but good feeling.

He looked around, surprised to see himself standing on stained glass. There was Sora, Kairi and Riku, and two other people he didn't recognize – a duck (?) and a… dog? He shook his head in confusion. He didn't know the relation between the two strangers and the three kids, but he guessed it was something important – especially if it was him who was dreaming about it.

"Hello," a voice greeted.

Tsunayoshi's head snapped up – did he even have a head? He guessed he did – and he stared at the boy in front of him, staring. It was Sora, definitely. Remembering his good manners, he gave a smile and a slight bow. "Hello," he greeted softly. "I'm guessing you are Sora? I'm Sawada Tsunayoshi. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

"Yeah, I'm Sora," the boy answered off-handedly. "Nice to meet you." He crossed his arms behind his head, looking thoughtful. "Do you know why you're in my body?" It wasn't an accusation, but Tsunayoshi still winced, and shot him an apologetic look that he waved off.

He shook his head. "No, I don't know." He hesitated, but his hyper intuition pushed him to continue. "It's possible that we exchanged body. Did you go to my body?" Sora shook his head. "Then maybe my… soul was transported to your body." Sora looked at him in surprise, and shrugged. "I don't know why, though." There was a tense silence, and Tsunayoshi fought his old Dame-side from surfacing again.

Suddenly, Sora sighed and sat down loudly, crossing his legs. "So, it looks like we've got some time before waking up," he motioned for Tsunayoshi to sit down. "Let's get to know each other, 'kay?" He looked as nervous, if not more, as Tsunayoshi felt. They smiled to each other, and Tsunayoshi nodded. "So? What happened while you were there?" He mentally reviewed the whole day, took a deep breath, and told the boy about the slow and atrocious day.

It felt like he would meet this boy again.

Tsunayoshi was quite pleased with the thought.

[+1]

"Riku." He turned to face her; she was looking at Sora's growingly-smaller back with a wistful sadness. "Do you think he'll be alright?" She looked at him in the eyes, silently pleading him to answer with a resonating yes.

"I don't know," he said, instead. It was the truth, he didn't know. This was the first time it ever happened. Who knew what was going on in Sora's mind?—if even he, Sora's best friend since their early childhood, didn't know about this, then how could anyone do?

Kairi didn't say anything for a long time, gazing at the never-ending sea. "Did you see it?" she finally asked. "That expression… He looked so," she hesitated, "afraid." He nodded. He didn't like this, but it was the truth. For a moment, when Sora had woken up, he had looked afraid, scared out of his mind. As if he had woken up from a nightmare, only to find himself in another, worse nightmare. He never thought Sora would do this face, especially in front of Kairi. "And earlier," she continued, "he looked… confused." She breathed in, and looked down at her balancing feet. "It was as if… as if he didn't recognize me."

Riku closed his eyes. "I know," he admitted. "He had the same reaction with me." With a light shrug, he added. "He hesitated when saying my name."

"Yeah, he hesitated when he called me too." Her voice was soft, quiet. She looked resigned. "I hope he'll get better tomorrow. I… I don't want to see him like this again." Her red hair was spread by the wind, shielding her face from any prying eyes. "I want to see him smile again." Feeling it was more to herself than to him, he didn't comment. Suddenly, Kairi jumped down from where she was sitting, giving Riku a wide, if strained, smile. "Let's go. It's getting chilly."

He nodded, trying to ignore the worry spreading through him—as if he would worry for such an idiot!

[+2]

"Oh," Sora gave them a wide smile, waving at them energetically. "Hey Kairi, Riku!" He jumped to join them, looking happier than ever. He noticed their wide eyes, and gave them a questioning look. "Hm? What's wrong? Guys?"

Kairi was the first to answer – not that Riku had planned on doing so. "S-Sora?" She sounded almost wary, unbelieving. "Are you… Are you alright?" She sent a discreet glance toward Riku, who shrugged; he too didn't know.

"Yeah!" he exclaimed. "Why do you ask?"

"W-well," Kairi stuttered, still a little unsure. "Yesterday you were so…" she trailed off, blinking at him. She couldn't believe her eyes. Where had the strange, worrying Sora of the day before gone? It wasn't that she hated the current Sora, but, it had been so surprising and sudden, Kairi had worried something severe and grave had happened to her friend.

"Ah!" He gave a little shout of understanding. "Don't worry about that," he scratched the back of his head. "I was just… I met a guy, and he was so… interesting…" he trailed off. It was clear to anyone with a brain that it was a pathetic excuse. To her merit, Kairi took it in stride.

She nodded, looking almost understanding. "I see." Her smile turned sad again. "Will you… Will you tell us when you're ready?" Sora looked surprised for half a second, before his expression turned more serious, and he nodded. After a few seconds of staring intently at Kairi, he relaxed again and smiled, crossing his arms behind his head. He turned toward Riku.

"So? I bet I can get to cove faster than you!" he threw.

Riku smirked. "You're on."