May 2007

Sawada Tsunayoshi

6 years old

Tsuna was six when he first met the emerald eyed girl. He thought she lived a few houses away from him, but they didn't have the same class or electives at school. He saw her for the first time when he was five. She passed his house on her way to school, and would smile and wave at him as she walked by. Her hair falling in ebony waves around her shoulders that swayed with her each step. As she disappeared from his view, he would hesitatingly wave back. It wasn't until he was six that he met her though.

Tsuna bit his lip as he ran outside. School was finished and the students had left for their clubs. He didn't want to catch the bullies' attention so he left as soon as the halls were clear. As the five year old left the school yard, he saw a slightly familiar girl sitting by the wall. Stumbling, he fell to the ground and the girl's emerald green eyes blinked away tears in her startled shock.

Amber brown met emerald green.

"You're silly Sawada-san." she whispered, her soft voice heavy with hidden emotion as she forced a smile on her face.

Tsuna blushed to the roots of his hair and the girl began giggling with true laughter. Tsuna smiled, despite his blush and got up to sit next to her.

Everyday after school since, Tsuna found her standing at the gate. The first time bullies followed him out of the school, Kuro-chan wasn't happy. He thought he would remember it forever.

Tsuna stole a peek behind him as he neared the school gates. Three upperclassmen had joined the original two that had chased him out of his classroom. He looked ahead, and wanted to cry. Sweet, and gentle, Kuro-chan stood at the gate waiting for him. Her eyes widened in shock as she saw him. His ruffled jacket, and his bag in his arms. The strap broken and missing. Before he could tell her to run, Tsuna watched as her emerald eyes narrowed. Having spot a forming bruise on Tsuna's wrist. As he past her, she stepped in between him and the group of ten year olds, with an odd looking wooden staff in her hand. She struck the taller boys behind their knees, spinning around to hit the falling boys upside the head with the crystal end of her staff. It was quick and the five boys were down, and most likely unconscious.

"Sawada-kun!" She said cheerfully as she turned to face him.

"I wanted to ask if you'd like to take some self defense classes with me?"

Tsuna could only nod numbly at the cheerfully scary girl.

Days became a week as Tsuna joined Kuro-chan in her self defense, and Martial Arts classes. He found himself enjoying the time he spent with her, he even followed her to her dance classes. He learned Kuro-chan's parents, dead as they were, had a bad man after them when they were alive. The man and his friends were looking for Kuro-chan for revenge. She was learning how to fight to protect herself and her friends from her family's enemies. Tsuna wanted to fight with Kuro-chan, instead of hiding behind her, so he joined her in her training.

Weeks passed as Kuro-chan taught Tsuna how to meditate. It was difficult for the brown haired boy, but Kuro-chan's calm, steady confidence was reassuring. When he finally calmed down, he found being in the room, lit only by flickering candlelight, and the soothing scent of burning lavender, time seemed to mean little. They sat in comforting silence for what could've been days or years, as peace and safety filled the peaceful duo.

Ayame-chan joined him when he did homework, helping him and answering his questions. He watched as his grades improved, steadily throughout the year. Ayame's smile, and gentle,

"I knew you could do it." when he showed her, his 100% end of year test score filled him with joy.

Tsuna watched as Ayame sparred against her Senpai, one using a Staff, the other a sword, but neither used magic. He had just learned Ayame wasn't completely human, and even if it was shocking, she was still his best friend. Magic, he learned, was an energy much like a human's life source, in that it was the source of a Magus' life and could be trained as the Magus wished. Unlike the human life source, which no one could explain to him, Magic was harder to classify.

"My magic is four colored, normally magic has a single color depending on the person, two if they were born with a magic Gift or Talent. I have four colors in my magic, and that would be bad enough, but the types of magic the colors represent clash and make it unstable." Ayame explained as they walked to his home.

"What do you mean unstable?" he asked.

Ayame bit her lip as she thought of how to explain it.

As they entered the yard, Ayame smiled. She ran inside,slipped off her shoes, and asked Mama for a bowl of water and a glass of vegetable oil.

"I'll be right back." Ayame said as she put her shoes back on and ran outside.

Tsuna watched her exit with wide eyes, and waited by the door for her. She returned five minutes later with a two liter of soda and a pack of mint candies. She took her newly bought goods outside to the back yard, and Tsuna followed with the glass of oil. His mama brought the bowl of water, and they sat all four items onto the picnic table.

"So to answer your question, I'll demonstrate. Let us start with the water and the oil," Ayame started. Tsuna watched as his friend emptied the glass of oil into the bowl of water. The oil stayed above the water, separate from it, just on the surface.

"Silver and Gold colored magic doesn't mix at all. They'll always remain two different substances, like the oil and the water. With no chance of mixing the two types of magic won't work together to create spells." Ayame explained.

When Tsuna nodded his understanding, she checked the soda and opened the mint pack. She opened the soda, dropped a mint in, then quickly pulled Tsuna away from the table. Tsuna watched wide eyed as the soda exploded out of the bottle.

"Red and Green colored magic are like the mint in the soda. One will make the other explode if put together for a spell. Like with Silver and Gold magic, if the two magics can't work together a person can't create spells. By themselves, the magic is fine, red with gold, or red with silver work, as does green and gold and green and silver." She frowned, repeated herself quietly, then nodded, sure she had said it correctly.

"Using red with green or gold with silver just won't work." Ayame explained simply. Tsuna sat next to her on the porch, as she continued to explain.

"My Staff helps me focus my magic and, with the clear crystal on top, I can control which of the four colors I mix. When I get older my magic will grow, and I'll get a longer staff with a larger crystal. It will help, but it's no fix. My magic will always be fighting itself and it'll only get worse." Ayame explained.

"How so?"

Tsuna could almost feel her fear as she whispered in reply.

"I don't know."

Uncertainty had never felt so terrifying.