(07/12/2014) - metric system

Salve !

This is L. Ilovu writing ~ So this... is the first story held by this account. It's actually a translation, but you can leave reviews (you will leave reviews, right?) as if L. was the actual author. Not that I want to steal the credits, but it's more that Y. was the original author, so she'll see the reviews, too! :)

Also, don't be shy, we also reply to the anonymous reviews ! (At least, L. does :D)

Well, L. won't bore you any longer, here's the disclaimer and the story !

Disclaimer

Katekyo Hitman Reborn belongs to Akira Amano

The Solitude's Flame ( La Flamme de la Solitude )'s original idea belongs to Y.

L. was given the right to translate!

This chapter has been corrected by Red Pure Crane

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The next chapter should get out in two weeks! (21/12/2014 - metric system)

(: Enjoy :)

Just like every morning, Tsuna woke up just before he would be late at school. He barely got the time to take a quick shower, but he promised himself, just like every morning, to dip into a real good bath when he got back. He devoured his breakfast in a flash. With his school material roughly placed in his schoolbag, he ran towards the door, yelling "itekimasu" as he immediately ran out the exit. The brunet feebly tried to tie his tie on the road, last toast falling between his lips. As he just gulped it down, he arrived at the corner of the street, where Gokudera and Yamamoto took the time to wait for him. They did this every morning, even though they could get scolded by some teachers that were unhappy with their late arrival or get caught by a disciplinary committee member, or worse, by their leader, a usual traumatizing experience.

Getting called Dame-Tsuna by some of his classmates was another usual occasion. They liked to torment him frequently, but only when his friends, who were way more charismatic and popular than him, weren't around. It was a must for each and every single one of his days.

This day, they profited from his need to buy something before catching up with his friends because he had forgotten his bento for the nth time. They took the time to mock him a little bit and steal some of the little food he had before abandoning him and putting their lunch break to good use.

Not wanting to make his friends wait any longer, and lacking enough money to buy anything else, Tsuna didn't have any other choice than to go to the roof-top, where his friends were waiting.

Well, it was another event not-so-surprising of his student's life, an event he wasn't even shocked about anymore. He had resigned.

However, his companion's reactions were always the exact opposite of his: indignation and outrage.

"Those bastards!" Gokudera fumed after hearing what happened to Tsuna, "They'll pay for this!"

The main victim replied to this with temperance. He was used to it, after all. No matter how many times the silver-head went and scolded them for the bullying they did, it never changed. They always came back as soon as his two protectors looked away, and he would have to endure their wrath even more. It often was worse when Gokudera went to avenge him…

"But," Yamamoto started once the hot-tempered one of the group calmed down, "Tsuna, you do know that even when you forget your lunch, we can share with you."

Oh, yes, he knew that very well. Actually, he was currently profiting from their kindness.

Nonetheless, he said, "Yes, but…I can't rely on you guys every single time! Especially you, Yamamoto, you need energy for your baseball training."

"Oh, I'm alright, you know. My father always insists on making my bentos, but he always puts too much in them. I could give some to everyone in class and I'd still have some left~"

"Yeah…Whatever, I can't say when they'll come back, but I won't stop living and depend too much on you just because of them. Well, let's not talk about this anymore, it's done anyway."

Won't stop living because of them…Tsuna would be really happy if he could manage that. But, even though he was used to the mockery, he kept on shaking each time he had to walk through school alone. Normally, he had to be Gokudera and Yamamoto's shadow, and he knew that if he dared to step out of their influence zone, something would go wrong, depending on the circumstances. Nonetheless, since he always got along with his will to not rely too much on the others. For whom he estimated to be a heavy burden already, he sometimes had to take the risk.

And even though his friends were aware of this, they still went with his wish, forgetting this awful topic to concentrate on happier subjects.

"Oh! Juudaime!" Gokudera exclaimed, all leftover of anger suppressed. "We should try to invoke spirits!"

"Huh?" the brunet gasped, not able to reply anything else.

"Haha~ Sounds fun~ Let's do it!"

"I wasn't talking to you, baseball idiot! Your cosmic moron energy will shoo away the spirits without any doubt, as usual."

As the nth one-way argument began between the two, Tsuna took the time to understand what Gokudera was talking about. It wasn't really hard. Each time his face would brighten with sparkles, it was about mystery and occult. Speaking of sparkles and mysteries, there still was this weird nickname the silver head called him, 'Juudaime.' It was the only secret that Gokudera didn't want to illuminate, even though the small brunet kept pestering him about it. The later was feeling pretty down concerning his friend's passion. He was usually caught up in crappy situations because of it. Take last month for example, when he had dragged them to Kokuyo-Land's abandoned amusement park for a test of bravery created to find some ghosts. And, even though they didn't meet any ghosts –according to Gokudera, because of Yamamoto– the mere thought of this memory was making him shiver in fright. He was so scared of getting lost in the dark.

"Uhm, I don't see why not…but why now in peculiar?" he asked anyway. Of course, his 'why not' was purely rhetorical. He really didn't want to do it, but he knew it was hard to go against his friend's flow. Moreover, he didn't want to hurt him, so he would do it with him. Besides, he wouldn't have the strength to say no. As usual.

But, his question was straight from the heart. Gokudera often talked about trying this experience one day, but he never really proposed it. Tsunayoshi was curious to know what was responsible of this sudden perk of interest.

"Well," His face heated up. "I finally convinced my sister to show us how to do it! I know she's pretty good at these kinds of things, but she never wanted to do it with me…"

Ah, Bianchi…She didn't seem to share his brother's taste when it came to enigmas and supernatural, but it was true that she had some knowledge in occult. Sometimes, even though he didn't ask anything, she bugged the brunet about reading his future in cards to predict any kind of bad things that could happen to him…Her prediction didn't have any difficulties coming true, considering how his life was.

As Gokudera continued to rant about how lucky they were, the door leading to the rooftop opened and a small figure shyly made her way to the outside with ease. It was Chrome, the fourth member of their small group. Ever since she befriended Tsuna, even though she was kind of discreet and aloof, she sometimes joined them. She too, was one of the favorite victims of the bullies in school, and that brought them closer. When she became part of the group, not long after she was transferred from the next town's school, she was immediately adopted by Yamamoto and, surprisingly, Gokudera, who had a hard time with girls because of the freaky fangirls that always followed him. It was good to know that her strange pineapple shaped hair, the eye-patch with a skull on her right eye and her little apartment with a spooky enough aura to be called a haunted house really helped the silver head accept her.

Noticing their small circle against the fence, she quickly went up to them and sat next to them.

"Sorry, the teacher wanted to talk to me after class…" she said to explain her lateness.

Yamamoto assured her that it wasn't a problem. She then asked what the discussion she just interrupted was about. Gokudera was more than happy to inform her of what it was and proposed that she join in too, pretending her aura would abort the bad influence of the 'Yakyuu-baka'.

She hesitated for a second before nodding, muttering a small "okay" that wasn't that astonishing. If she was usually as cowardly as Tsuna, when it came to occult, or everything that would make a normally formed human shake out of mere fear, she proved to be very calm and assured.

Tsuna sighed, seeing that everything was settled and that he was probably the only one to question the idea. It was going to be another bumpy ride…

Well, he supposed that this too, was usual.

The next weekend was dedicatedto what they finally agreed to. Nevertheless, as the night took over the sky, when Tsuna got into his living room with everyone, he convulsed a little bit.

When exactly had he allowed this to take place at his house?!

…And then, he remembered. He already had asked the question, when the others waltzed in.

"Weeeeell," Yamamoto had said, embarrassed. "If it had been at my house, my father would have been grumpy because I didn't take that time to help him at the restaurant…"

"I don't want bad entities in my house." Bianchi objected next.

And when the turn came to Chrome…No, it was best if it didn't take place at her apartment. It would have been even scarier!

"Mah, don't worry, Juudaime," Gokudera tentatively tried, hoping to free him from fear as he still didn't seem convinced. "Nothing can go wrong here, I'm sure of it! This place has a good aura."

Finding his friend ever so full of happiness, Tsuna couldn't help being sceptic. A good aura? Where did that came from? Wasn't it just a bluff for him to accept the deal?

"Moreover, your mother isn't there," Yamamoto said, taking cover for the silver head. "We won't be disturbed like this."

Taking notice of that at the same time as the others, the brunet froze. Yeah, it was true. Where the heck did she go? She usually didn't go out at night without saying anything…

A nervous cough pulled him out of his thoughts. He looked up to Gokudera. The silver haired teen, feeling suddenly observed, seemed to be strangely embarrassed.

"A-Ah…Concerning that…"

"Hayato told me that Tsuna's mama always came to serve tea when people were home," Bianchi explained. "As it would have bothered us, I decided to get her out."

The resident of the house quickly got scared. What happened to his mother? He had to admit that the tone was so calm and logical that the young woman had nothing to reassure him. It was as if she found it normal to shoo someone away from their own home so she could be more comfortable.

"So," she continued, not caring in the slightest for her host, "When I caught up with her this afternoon, I slipped a ticket for a free night massage in her bag. She seemed to be pleased with it. It should occupy her for quite a long time."

A ticket for…? Tsuna didn't know if he had to be comforted by the fact that it was 'only' a ticket, or if he had to worry about his interlocutor's methods. Did she just imply she had been following his mother? She sure didn't meet her by chance, she obviously prepared everything beforehand.

When they cleared that up, the preparations for the evening were finished. When the light was shut off and the candles lit, the brunet could feel his fear coming back stronger than ever before. What would they do if something went wrong? No, even if everything went fine, he would remain traumatized for his whole life. He didn't really know if he believed these things or not, but yeah, when in doubt, it was better to be wary…

"Well, let's begin," said Bianchi, making the small brunet's panic reach its peak.

As they took their places around the small table in the living room, around the circle of letters and symbols they drew, Tsuna observed his friends' faces. Gokudera was all excited, Yamamoto was smiling, and Chrome seemed to be a little stiff, but with a will burning in her eyes. As for Bianchi, she seemed as bored as ever.

The pink haired woman put a little glass in the center of the table and began her explanation.

"We'll begin with an anonymous invocation. It'll be easier to get results. Put your fingers on the glass, without forcing, you just have to be in contact with it. Don't think about anything and especially no one in peculiar. Simply concentrate on getting in contact. When you feel ready, call the spirit, one after the other. Chrome, you'll begin. You seem calmer than the others."

"Okay." the young girl nodded, not stuttering for once. Her cheeks reddened a little bit from the sudden honor of beginning that befell on her, not because she was scared of what was going to come.

"But, Aneki, won't you participate?" Gokudera asked. The eldest of the group didn't move a bit as all of them were in place.

"I'll join you when I feel something come. With you four alone, it should be sufficient to begin," she retorted, merciless. No one tried to put her decision in question and they began to concentrate.

Tsuna closed his eyes, out of instinct. Trying to use the situation to empty his spirit of all doubt, he focused on what he had to do, minutely following the words of their guide. He hoped that by doing this, his thoughts wouldn't wander off.

But, no matter what he did, he couldn't calm down. Next to him, Chrome took a deep breath, breaking the silence and ready to talk to…the stranger. Her voice was perfectly measured as she talked, showing that she had completely devoted herself to her task, unlike him, who barely followed the events. A short moment passed before Gokudera took his turn to talk, and then, Yamamoto. Both of them were also really serious, even though they were laughing and getting joyfully nervous a few minutes ago.

Now, it was his turn, but he couldn't do anything, tetanized, throat constricted. There, he surprised himself. The brunet was hoping for something to come, an entity, anything, just as long as he didn't have to open his mouth and explode under pressure.

His cry of help came a few seconds later, but not the way he wished it. He was still pondering the good and the bad of it.

"Stop," Bianchi cut, still as calm as before, even though her intervention alarmed everyone.

"Wh-What is it, Aneki?" Gokudera asked for all of them.

The elder made a head gesture, signifying they could let go of the glass. Chrome sighed in relief, probably seeing a meaning that everything was okay, but it didn't relieve Tsuna. This interruption coming out of nowhere, just when he had to talk, had him scared to the core. What? Why did she make them stop right in the middle of it? Nothing happened yet!

But the lack of activity was actually what was bothering the young lady. "Nothing," she explained, tranquil, not affected by their sudden stress. "It's just that it wasn't working. As it began, I thought it wouldn't have worked."

There again, no one put her words in question, no one objected to the fact that she had deduced that in a few minutes of observation, minutes where absolutely nothing had happened, where everything was identical to the moment everything began. They were simply waiting for her to explain a little bit more as to why it didn't work. But she didn't. Instead, she put a finger on the glass and a…a smirk drew itself on her lips.

"I'll try again with you," she said innocently. "We'll see…"

She obviously had an idea in her head, but she also obviously didn't want to tell them what it was before they followed every word she said. Thus, they had to resign themselves and put back their fingers on the glass.

They had to repeat the exact same maneuver…at least, ten times, each try being rewarded by a failure. In the end, the clock was ticking time away and Bianchi decided that it was time to end the session. Gokudera felt sorry for the mess up, not understanding how it could've turned out like this. He was persuaded that, if his sister helped, it would work. It was why he had asked her green light before doing anything! He let his bottle of anger spill onto Yamamoto, blaming him as the culprit. The baseball player took in the accusations, laughing like always.

Even though the atmosphere and the chatting became a little bit more ordinary and calming, Tsuna still couldn't let go of his eternal fear.

Actually, he didn't partake in impression his friends had on the events.

He hadn't say anything about the evening, making himself small in a corner and becoming like a distant spectator of the scene, deep in thought and doubt.

What bothered him was that he was convinced that something had really happened.

Maybe it was because he was too stressed since he didn't notice his strange feeling before. As time passed in the somewhat still moment, he let his guard down. He slowly began to shut out the constant groaning of the others, going deep inside himself. Instinctively, he said "no" each time the glass wouldn't budge, "this is no good" each time they got interrupted, "it's not that" each time someone wondered if there really was a spirit wanting to talk to them here and when they concluded that none would come.

And then, in the end, he had something akin to a confirmation. When the ultimate call was aborted, when everyone had drawn their fingers back, he felt it. The glass made a small, very small shiver as he was ready to pull his hand away. He was sure it wasn't an external movement. He was the only one still in contact with the glass.

Nevertheless, this time, just like the other time, he kept it to himself, still hesitating on the veracity of his idea. It was true after all. He was the only one thinking this, while the other four were obvious to his unease. He could still be trapped within his imagination because of fear…

Trying to convince himself that this hypothesis was the right one, he concentrated back on the present reality, vaguely understanding that Bianchi was going to cook them a "consolation meal" and Gokudera was way more scared by this than any spirit and quickly followed her. Yamamoto suddenly disappeared into the bathroom, leaving him alone with Chrome.

In front this situation, he wondered if it would be better to share his doubts with someone before burying them indefinitely. The young girl was surely the most susceptible to take his say seriously. Besides, she was a bit more warmed up than him when it came to occult. He decided to give it a try. "Um…Chrome?"

She turned her sole violet eye towards him, making him hesitate for a moment, but he convinced himself he would do this.

"You…Well, I know it didn't work, but…didn't you feel anything during the…invocation?"

Chrome frowned, not expecting the question, but she guessed that Tsuna had to have a good reason to ask it. Nevertheless, she didn't have any pertinent reply to give him.

"No," she said, unsure of herself, but sincere. "Why?"

"Huh…Nothing," he quickly replied. It was probably just his imagination.

"I think…" she continued, wanting to help. "W-Well, I mean, if you have any questions, you should probably talk about it to Bianchi-san."

Talk about that to Bianchi…? No, Tsuna certainly wouldn't do that. Even though Chrome was admitting she didn't feel anything, there was no reason for the others to reply any differently. He didn't want to pass for some paranoid guy.

"I-I…No, I think it's just me. I might have been under too much stress hahahahahaha…."

His nervous laugh didn't reassure his friend, but she didn't say anything, respecting his decision. As for the brunet…he would have to deal with his own thoughts.

A few days later, his thoughts still lingered. Even worse, they were gaining in power and size as time passed. He was obsessed with what he felt that night. It made him unable to sleep, and if he did, it was an awful dream. He could hear a weird laugh in the shadows of his room. He usually threw glances over his shoulder. The teen was almost sure he was being followed, being watched. But there was never anything there, at home or behind him. As weird as it was, he still felt uneasy every day, frequently shivering and constantly weak or sick without any reason.

One day, another sign showed up. His bullies, who strangely become more invading lately and who he had designated as his stalkers to make up a rational explanation as to what was happening to him, had cornered him in a dead-end of thealley way. They seemed resolves to finish their deal with him. One of them had a baseball bat in his hand, tapping it ferociously on the ground. Their faces were decorated by carnassial smirks, leaving no doubt in their intention.

In front of them, the feeble teen was shaking like never before, discovering all over again the visceral fear he had when they approached him. They had been mocking and bullying him so much that he got used to it, but even so, he still got scared whenever they wanted to attack him. But the time of the small rackets and gentles pushes seemed to be over. It was a level further.

"So, Dame-Tsuna," one of them said. "Spacing out, lately? You forgot about us or what?"

Huh? Ah, right, he was spacing out, lately. That meant he must have been enduring his bullying more passively than usual. He didn't even remember what kind of tricks they had done to him since lately, he was more occupied with threats way scarier than theirs. That was why they were more aggressive today. Since he wasn't reacting as much to their bullying, they were trying something new.

"Watch out," another exclaimed, "If you're in lala-land too much, you could stumble on something!" To prove his words, he gave a hard kick behind the knees of his victim, who fell down limply, cheek against the dirt.

Seeing him in such a miserable situation seemed to please them as they began to laugh loudly, but they weren't fully satisfied yet. After some more hurtful words accompanied with hits, the one holding the baseball bat walked up to the small brunet. The circle of gangsters closed up on Tsuna, fully covering him with their shadows. If his eyes saw for one second the sunrays over them, it would only be because he was watching out, terrorized by the idea that the ascension of the weapon would soon fall down on him. The others followed the leader's calculated slowness to be sure to finish the brunet, physically and mentally, barking their encouraging words and their exalted yells to the executioner.

Eventually, the hit came down as fast as an arrow. During the ever so small interval separating him from pain, the small brunet prayed that he would black out, or even die, so he wouldn't have to endure anything more.

Nevertheless, the baseball bat didn't even caress him. He felt the breath of the killer over his back. Suddenly, it was over. Around him, no joyful yells were heard, only silence. A lack of voice that was probably as terrified and surprised as his.

Thus, he dared open his eyes, looking up a little bit…and widened them under surprise.

A bit of the baseball bat was lying down on the ground, not so far away from his face And as he should have felt relieved, the situation remained alarming…But for different reasons.

He stayed on the ground, petrified by the invisible thing that had just saved him and ignoring all of his mental signals yelling at him that he had to run. The brunet barely noticed his bullies losing their smiles and their proudness. Stuttering something about the fact that Tsuna must have been a monster, they didn't stay much longer next to their 'cursed' victim. The bullies quickly backed up before following their survival instincts and running without asking any more questions. But Tsuna didn't notice this detail. His eyes were still eyeing the broken part of the baseball bat, shaking so much anyone could have believed he was spasming. He only snapped out of this state when he saw the worried face of Gokudera appearing before him.

"Juudaime! A-Are you okay?!"

The silver haired boy tried to help the brunet back on his feet, but it was useless. Tsuna couldn't keep himself straight. With the help of Yamamoto, they helped him get away out of the alley, waiting for the shock to pass and for him to explain what happened.

"What happened?" the baseball player wondered, as the explanation was taking its sweet time to come out of Tsuna's mouth. He glanced at the broken item on the ground and frowned. "Tsuna?"

"Third year students…broke by itself…" Tsuna managed to say through the shock. His friends' presence was the only thing allowing him to recover a little bit from his emotional turmoil. The brunet felt so weak, he could black out. And the physical pain he was still feeling didn't have much to do with his lack of strength, he was sure of it.

"…Those bastards tried to attack you again?" Gokudera sneered, getting angry on the only part he understood from Tsuna's words. Actually, when he heard that, he didn't even bother listening to what came after.

Yamamoto, on the other hand, seemed to understand a little bit more about what happened after hearing what his friend said, but he couldn't believe it.

"You're saying that the baseball bat broke by itself? It's not possible, even when I hit with all my might, I never managed to do that." Yamamoto was known for his great power in baseball. So if he can't do it, no one can. "Moreover…if they beat you that hard…"

The following words didn't find any voice. If they did beat him that hard, Tsuna would have broken long before their weapon, for sure.

"No, they…didn't hit me." the brunet lied. "It broke before that."

Before his companions could understand the statement –the baseball bat broke as if it was magic– Tsuna got away from their supporting arms, stumbling a little bit. Showing his back to them, he said in a monotone voice. "Sorry, I'm not feeling so good. I'll go home."

And he stumbled away, leaving his bewildered friends behind him.