In Another Life
Summary: Tsuna's a good student, a decent athlete, and an excellent friend. His twin brother, not so much. Where Tsuna is respected and admired, Ietsugu faces only scorn and condescension. Where Tsuna forgives and forgets, Ietsugu holds on tightly to his grudges. Where Tsuna is praised and sought after, Ietsugu is left behind in the dust. But Tsuna is also the best brother in the world and has never once looked down on his twin. Despite Ietsugu's reluctance and apathy, Tsuna has never given up on getting his brother to understand algebra or earn a passing grade in history. Their bond remains strong against all the odds. But when the Mafia comes knocking at their door, things will never be the same again. Twin fic, undecided pairings at the moment.
A/N: One of the most popular tropes in the KHR fandom is "Tsuna has a twin, who is usually evil", which I love. And it's always Tsuna breaking out of his shell to proclaim himself the rightful Decimo in face of the violent, malicious brother.
Of course, there are also twists on this trope, in which Tsuna's twin is kind and decent, but it's a much rarer phenomenon. So it got me thinking. How would Tsuna change if his twin was even more "dame" than Tsuna himself?
Would Tsuna really let the bullies pick on his twin? Highly unlikely, in my opinion. Canon's shown that Tsuna's at his strongest when he has something to protect. Now that he has someone to protect, there's no way Tsuna would be able to accept his own uselessness. I believe part of his poor reputation was due to the fact that Tsuna was pretty apathetic and indifferent; he wasn't very angry or resentful, but he didn't have a burning desire to prove everyone wrong either.
But if it's for one of his loved ones, Tsuna would move heaven and earth and face down space aliens without wavering. So if Tsuna's twin needs protection, Tsuna would do everything he could to provide that protection. And as kids, the only way to shield against cruel remarks and teasing is to improve one's social capital. Tsuna would force himself to improve in everything so that he could stand up to his brother's bullies and make them listen to him.
And that changes a lot of things, because Tsuna would no longer be the Dame-Tsuna that Reborn would have expected as his second student.
And that's how this fic was spawned.
In another life, Sawada Tsunayoshi could have been known as "Dame-Tsuna", the weak, useless, pitiful boy who failed at everything he did, a bully's wet dream, a favored scapegoat.
He'd have grown up eventually. How could he not, when he was dragged kicking and screaming towards adulthood and responsibility and an unavoidable destiny by a fedora wearing, coffee drinking baby who claimed to be the world's greatest hitman?
He'd have done what was necessary to save his family and the world, no matter how much he hated it. He'd have made the hard decisions, the ones no one else could or would make, because he was the Boss. He'd have been admired by those who once scorned him, praised by those who initially disregarded him, worshiped by those who once tried to kill him.
But he'd have still felt so alone. Because deep down, he was still the cowering, pathetic, worthless child that he'd always been. Ten years of bullying, spiteful remarks, and neglect left their toll on a person, and not even someone like Reborn could erase that taint away completely.
And even as he accepted the mantle of Vongola Decimo, he would have forever been reluctant to let the weight of his duties settle upon his frail shoulders. Everyone would look up to him and he could never falter because no one remembered Dame-Tsuna anymore, even if that's who he still was, buried deep beneath the layers of experience and training and sophistication.
He'd have been miserable and no one would have ever known.
Because it would have been too little too late for the Mafia to come bursting into a lonely boy's life and change it for the better.
But fortunately for Tsuna, in this life there was one major difference.
You see, in another life, Tsuna had never been motivated to improve himself until he had people gunning after him and friends and family to protect. Tsuna was never the kind of person to get better for his own sake; it had to be on behalf of someone else or nothing would have made the boy get his lazy bum off the couch.
In this life, Tsuna had someone to protect from the very beginning: his twin brother.
Nana loved her sons dearly but occasionally she couldn't help but guiltily wish that Ietsugu was a bit more like his older twin.
"Su-kun," Nana began. "I just received another phone call from the principle of your school. It seems that you've missed several days of classes this month!"
"Ietsugu-nii?" Tsuna turned to look at his brother. "You told me you were going to stop skipping school!"
Two pairs of teary brown eyes stared at Ietsugu, who fidgeted under the collective disappointment and sad, puppy eyed looks.
"Sorry," he mumbled, playing idly with the remaining peas on his plate.
He hated it when he made his mother and brother sad, but school was just so hard and boring and his latest manga had been calling his name. It's not like he knew what the sensei was droning on and on about, anyway. If he really needed to know this stuff, he could just ask Tsuna.
"Oh, Ietsugu-kun, you can't go through life like this!" Nana said.
Ietsugu rolled his eyes discretely as his airheaded mother went off on another one of her mild lectures about "living life to the fullest", which always somehow devolved into sighing dreamily into the distance about their deadbeat father.
"-getting a home tutor!" Nana finished with a brilliant smile.
"Home tutor?" Ietsugu repeated blankly. He looked over at his brother, who was staring thoughtfully at the flyer that Nana had apparently found in their mailbox today.
"Hmm, this flyer seems a little weird," Tsuna started, but quickly backtracked at their mother's pout. "But if Kaa-san thinks it's okay, then I'm okay with it too! And I could use a tutor for English…"
"Oh, but Tsu-kun doesn't need a tutor," Nana chirped. "Your grades are in the top 10% of your class! This tutor is for Su-kun! I'm not saying you have to be as smart and successful as your brother, but your grades could use some improvement. And this home tutor promises to make you into the greatest leader of your generation! And there's no fee as well; he simply requests room and board for the duration of his tutoring!"
Ietsugu sighed in frustration. There went his dull, peaceful life. It was no use dissuading their mother when she had her heart set on something; not even Tsuna, who was the master of bulldozing his way over objections with a polite manner and heart-stopping smile, could do anything.
It was much easier to just humor her and get it over with so he could go back to his manga reading and spending what little time Tsuna had to spare playing video games with his twin.
"Kaa-san, Ietsugu-nii is smart too! He just needs the right motivation to push him," Tsuna protested.
Ietsugu slipped away from the dinner table before Tsuna began the oft-repeated speech on "Why Ietsugu-nii is awesome!".
It was a thing Tsuna did, standing up for Ietsugu against the bullies, the teachers, his own friends, even against their mother. Ietsugu had just shrugged helplessly when whispers of "Dame-Sugu" began spreading a few years ago, but Tsuna had gone still and calm and very, very quiet. A few weeks later, bullies no longer came within 100 meters of him, and more than once he'd spotted Tsuna handing a bento to the Demon Prefect.
When their mother had slipped and called Ietsugu useless, Ietsugu had blinked and easily pushed down the twinge of hurt, but Tsuna had burst into tears and wouldn't stop pouting at Nana for the next month or so, even if she had apologized almost immediately, appalled at herself.
Tsuna had always ever been Ietsugu's shield against everyone else, and the only person who seemed to believe in Ietsugu wholeheartedly.
Ietsugu loved his brother more than anything in the world, but he had a hard time understanding Tsuna. He knew, shamefully, that if the twins had been in opposite positions, if Ietsugu was the popular one and Tsuna was the loser, then Ietsugu wouldn't ever be even half as good a brother to Tsuna as Tsuna was to him.
Tsuna had never bowed to peer pressure, practically snarling when their classmates would encourage him to stop associating with his "loser brother". Some learned quickly enough not to say anything bad about Ietsugu in Tsuna's presence, but most of the others were either incredibly dense or highly persistent.
"You're my brother. If my 'friends' can't accept that, then they weren't my friends in the first place. Besides, I don't want to be friends with the kind of person who judges others based on stupid stuff!" Tsuna proclaimed when Ietsugu once broached the subject.
Tsuna had a protective streak and a steel core of loyalty that dumfounded Ietsugu even as it left him in awe. He was just the useless spare and Tsuna was the bright, shining star, and he had long gotten used to it.
Ietsugu knew he was a horrible brother to feel a simmering resentment and kernel of jealousy at Tsuna the favored twin, the popular brother, when Tsuna would never, ever turn his back on him. But he was no saint; it was a hard life, living in his twin's shadow, even if he made no move to walk out of it despite countless opportunities.
"Don't worry so much about the tutor, Su-nii," Tsuna said, clapping a hand on his shoulder.
His brother's sudden presence startled him out of his darker thoughts, and any lingering envy dissipated in the face of his brother's calming, accepting presence.
He smiled to himself as they made their way up the stairs to his room, tuning out Tsuna's chatter about how the tutor was such a good idea, how he'd be so helpful, and simply basked in his twin's unconditional support.
Ending notes: Following the naming scheme of the Sawada family, Ietsugu is named after the seventh shogun of the Tokugawa Dynasty. He was three when he became the ruler and six when he died.
Also, this did not go the way I wanted it to go. Ietsugu just sort of took over the fic and the POV and wouldn't leave.
Fair warning, I have no idea where this fic is headed. Probably somewhere crazy. I dunno.