Disclaimer: Katekyo Hitman Reborn! belongs to Amano Akira. This is a work of fanfiction.
Warning: This contains child abuse, prostitution, language, drug addiction, etc. This is rated M for a reason.
Inspired By: Like Toy Soldiers by Eminem (focusing on the chorus mostly)
TOY SOLDIERS
We all fall down.
.
.
.
step by step
The year was 1870, somewhere around the middle of the Victorian Era, the reign of England's Queen Victoria. During this time, many problems were solved, but many also ignited. Such problems as prostitution were solved but many such as child abuse or child labor, and complicated diseases/injuries were set aflame.
Sawada Tsunayoshi was a child of good fortune, having nothing to do with any of these problems. However, no one was perfect. No one would ever have a completely peaceful life without strife.
Tsuna, as most called him, struggled with depression. This was brought on by teasing by other children his age, and problems with his parents. His father was never home, a different excuse was told to his mother by him every time. Tsuna did not want to be under the impression that his father was perhaps committing the sin of adultery, but he didn't know what to think.
He'd heard from kids at school that there were ways with dealing with depression. Just one consumption of the stuff and you'd be at peace.
Anti-depressants they called them. Little white pills filled with a substance that could supposedly take all of your troubles away. It seemed like a good idea at the time. One pill and peace forever?
Tsuna tried it.
Addiction set in almost immediately.
Gokudera Hayato was always a smart child.
The Victorian Era fascinated him, and he was pleased to live out his years in it. Of course, he knew almost nothing about Queen Victoria, but the outfits, people, and just the plain English culture was enough for him to believe her a great person. The traditional viewing of everything was simply breathtaking.
Hayato was born to a talented young woman, a piano player, and a rich, intelligent young man. He was born to be a genius. With his luck and brains, he believed that he could get anything he wanted, anyone he wanted...
But, no matter how smart he was, he would never win the love of his father. Perhaps, if his mother had not perished, his father would be a little nicer to him, give him more breaks, feed him more.
This was not the case.
In fact, it seemed as the days passed, his father got angrier and angrier. With his father's daily anger, it seemed like the problems that tore them apart increased and Hayato's life was filled with many days in which he almost starved to death. The only thing keeping him alive was the food he saved from previous meals and sure will power.
Hayato was the epitome of a child labor worker, with no way out.
The sport of baseball was supposedly introduced in the 18th century. It's popularity escalated in the 19th century, exactly about 30 years before the start of the Victorian Era. England was the first country to introduce the sport, with hints of French help. Eventually, the Americans picked up the sport and American children embraced it, as well as the rest of the world.
Yamamoto Takeshi was one of the many children who enjoyed the sport.
Since he was really little, he loved holding the baseball and bat in his hands. The smooth feeling of it comforted him, and he took out most of his emotions using baseball. At first, he played with neighborhood children, getting together with them on weekends. At first, they accepted him into their games, called him one of the best.
At first.
When Takeshi turned 9 years old, a violent fight with a neighborhood kid (one he tried to avoid), rendered his ability to lift his right arm completely useless. His shoulder had literally been torn at the ligaments, the nerve endings had slowly fizzled and died eventually. There was no way he could ever play any sport again, especially baseball. His shoulder and arm were too weak to support the swing.
During the Victorian Era, children started out small jobs such as chimney sweeping when they were the age of 5. This was the start of the child labor age, as some people called it. Many children did not live past 25 years old later in life, because of the terrible conditions they were to work in. Many children contracted diseases or received injuries.
Lambo was always a playful child.
His parents were successful pieces in the government. Therefore when Lambo reached the age of 5, he was not required to start the job of chimney sweeping. He stayed home most days and played games with the servants. His parents were almost never home, as they were always busy tending to other devices. Lambo was lonely most of the time.
The accident happened maybe a week after he had turned 5.
It took his parents' lives.
Immediately after, the government took custody of Lambo. He was made to work in the chimneys with many other kids his age. Most of them had several injuries over their bodies, and this plagued Lambo to no end.
The brooms used were tall things, many times would a child hit themselves with it accidentally, trying to sweep ashes. The broom towered over Lambo and usually he was very careful to not hit any part of his body unlike his fellow children. However, Lambo had never been a lucky child, and suffered greatly due to this.
One day, Lambo was accidentally hit in the upper portion of his neck. The impact was strong enough to knock him to his feet. As he gathered up his strength to get up, the pain was too much for him. He lay painfully awake, paralyzed on the floor, yet fully aware that he would be paralyzed for the rest of his life.
Boxing, as well as baseball, was another early sport. Boxing, however, originated in 688, before the coming of Jesus Christ. It's country of origin was Greece, used mostly in the Olympics, but quickly developed in other countries. The origination of modern boxing started in England, also around the Victorian Era.
Sasagawa Ryohei was known for boxing.
He enjoyed the sport more than others did, trying his best in every competition, no matter how serious it was. After all, boxing was a serious sport, one of the most likely to get hurt in, since it was directly a combat sport. Ryohei wasn't scared of the statistics though. He believed that he would be able to win every battle, as long as he willed it to happen.
The only battle he couldn't win was the battle that involved his younger sister, Kyoko. Kyoko was diagnosed with an unknown disease from the moment she was born.
This is what pushed Ryohei to want to become a doctor. To save Kyoko. To finally do something in his sister's life that meant something, besides boxing all day and then visiting her when he was done. He would finally be able to do something good for mankind, also. Instead of destruction, he wanted to build something up. Life.
No matter how much he tried though, Kyoko's condition worsened every day.
There were many traditional schools in the Victorian Era. The poor schools had one room on the inside, an illusion of elegance on the outside. The rich schools were elegant in the inside and the out, with spiraling decorations and magnificent castle walls of many colors. No illusions were needed to cause the presence of elegance in these schools.
Hibari Kyouya ruled the richest school of all time.
His father was a feared man in the world, a man of high importance in the government, and held a great political spot. He was easily one of the most richest men in the country. Kyouya was not far from his position. Kyouya was feared by every student attending the school and had power over everyone there, including the instructors. He ruled with his tonfas at his side. He was powerful, just like his father.
But, no matter how powerful he was, that didn't stop his father from being stronger.
Kyouya tried to please his father in every way.
It was never enough.
Kyouya came to school with a new injury almost every day, caused by his father.
This is why he must be strong.
To one day defeat this man of power that he calls father.
Prostitution was a serious problem by the time the Victorian Era arrived. By this time, there were men, women, and sadly, children who were hired as prostitutes, just for the ownership of money. Just to get by in the world. It was most likely to find child prostitutes around than adult ones, especially since children were worked the most during this time.
Twins were the most popular.
Rokudou Mukuro and Dokurou Nagi, or Chrome as clients were supposed to call her, were twins. They took on different last names at first in an attempt to separate from each other. Perhaps if they separated and met up eventually, they'd be able to leave this horrible life. Of course, they were found within days and Chrome was forced to take on her original last name once again, Rokudou.
No matter the client, Mukuro protected Chrome throughout the filthy act, trying (in possible vain) to keep her fragile virginity intact. For years, he had succeeded in doing this and Chrome had mostly no contact with clients unless directly asked for something. She was still pure in some way and kept a distance when her older brother was protecting her, even though it pained her greatly to do so.
Their parents had dropped them into this meaningless, empty life.
And there was no way to escape it.
Author's Note: Yes, this will be a very morbid story. It depends on the course of the story if the ending will be happy or not. Most likely, the eight will come together and act as a family to rid themselves of their former lives. Some of them will have more problems than the others.
There won't be any romance in this fanfic, just mostly Hurt/Comfort, Angst, Family, etc. If there's romance in the end, it (once again) depends on the course of the story. I would prefer het pairings (Tsuna/Kyoko, for example) for this one, but I have nothing against writing yaoi and yuri as long as the original story line is followed.
Note: This is (if you haven't guessed) set in the Victorian Era in England. I chose the year 1870 because its pretty much the middle of the era. (The actual middle year was 1869. I got a good laugh out of that, like the obsessed little fangirl I am. -shot- I didn't choose it because people would have took it the same way I did. Which wasn't too good.)
The instances mentioned here are actual things that were going on around the Victorian Era. It is reported that during the Era, there was an influx of many things such as prostitution, forced labor, drug addiction, etc. All reports involved mostly children, as rights for children had low expectations of coming to pass.
So, as a recap -
Sawada Tsunayoshi - struggles with depression, becomes addicted to anti-depressants
Gokudera Hayato - subject to a life of harsh child labor and starvation
Yamamoto Takeshi - forced to give up life dream due to serious injury
Lambo - paralyzed from the neck down
Sasagawa Ryohei - gave up boxing to become doctor, sister's condition worsening gradually
Hibari Kyouya - abused by father, struggles to become stronger
Rokudou Mukuro - subject to a life of prostitution, tries to protect his sister's purity
Dokurou Chrome/Nagi - subject to a life of prostitution, struggles with progressing depression
step by step
Step by step, our problems may increase or decrease.