Summary: It was a cold winter's day when Sawada Tsunayoshi slipped on the ice and plummeted into the half-frozen river. And died. Only to be hailed by the town as a 'miracle boy' fifteen minutes later. But he wasn't the only one back from the spirit world. He'd dragged someone into the living world. Someone sinister and residing in his own body.
A/N: I just ate champagne grapes ^^
*cricket cricket*
Eh, yeah. I have nothing more to say. (and sadly, no life either)
Beta: English-illliterate
Dedicated: to every single KHR fanfic writer. Heh.
Disclaimer: Disclaimed. There.
Chapter One: Death and Rebirth
It was cold. The small boy shivered, lifted his face from the floor and spat out a mixture of saliva, dirt and snow. The bullies jeered, their own noses red from the stinging cold, scarfs fluttering wildly in the gusty wind. 'I wish,' Tsuna thought bitterly, 'that they get strangled and die.' Then, of course, he felt bad at the malicious path his inner thoughts took and looked back down at the small hollow his face had made getting smashed in the icy, slushy heap of snow.
A snowball smacked into the back of his head, crumbling at the impact, and forced him back into the powdery white, choking and spluttering as some went down the wrong pipe.
Classmates laughed as well, this time.
"Look, Dame-Tsuna can't even swallow snow properly!"
"No, he was trying to breathe it and die, right, Dame-Tsuna?"
"Hah! Baka Dame-Tsuna can't even off himself! What a failure!"
Tsuna bit his bottom lip and pushed himself into a sitting position, tears escaping from the corners of his eyes, leaving cold trails as they dripped off his chin onto the snow.
"Go on! Cry!"
The poor brunet trembled, teeth aching as he gritted them as hard as he could, locking his jaws so as to prevent a single noise escaping his mouth.
A stone hit the ground near him, but he refused to look up, staring at the tear-blurred white speckled with brown bits of dirt and soil that was the slowly-melting carpet of snow seeping into his winter pants.
"Come on! Let's help Dame-Tsuna kill himself!"
Another stone.
"Yeah!"
Something bounced off his arm after hitting it with a bruising force. Tsuna made no move to defend himself.
"Die-"
"What are you herbivores doing? I'll bite you to death for crowding!"
Sounds of metal hitting flesh, pained yells and indignant protests.
"SHIT! It's Hibari-gyah!"
"Dammit! Don't hit me, I'm goi-argh!"
"OW! FU-"
"Run, Run!"
Silence reigned. Tsuna didn't move.
"Tch."
A hand stuck itself under his nose.
"...weak...Here, herbiv-"
Tsuna slapped the proffered hand away with shocking force, ignoring the fact he'd just hit HIBARI. Chest heaving with still-silent sobs and river of tears turning into a waterfall, the soaking brunet dashed away half-blindly, tripping in the thick, crunchy snow.
He desperately ran headlong out the gates and collided with Nana.
"Tsu-kun? What's the matter?"
"..."
His sobs reduced to sniffles as he sought refuge in his mother's soft warm arms.
"Nothing." He wiped at his face, voice nasal; nose dripping and blocked.
"You're all wet!" Nana produced a tissue and Tsuna blew.
"...I tripped." He used his one, sole, overused excuse.
"Be more careful Tsu-kun!" Nana lovingly admonished, care glimmering in her liquid brown eyes as she gazed at her son.
The boy nodded wearily, sodden hair flopping, usual soft spikes drooping. They linked hands and headed home.
The powdery piles of snow crunched under their feet and Tsuna clung to his mother chanting 'don't fall, don't fall' under his breath.
Their footsteps clacked as they slowly ascended the cold stone bridge that arched above a half-frozen river, shiny ice in some parts and still, black waters in others. Tsuna released Nana's hand as he stepped off the bridge, releasing a sigh of relief at not having tripped once.
Jinxed it.
The moment he stepped onto pavement, his feet hit ice and he was flying backwards, arms cartwheeling, scream rising from his throat.
Tsuna hit the thin, half-frozen river with a painful-sounding bodily thump. The ice cracked under both his weight and the impact and Nana could only watch in frozen horror as her son plunged into the black frigid water.
"Tsuna!" She screamed, running wildly to where the river had swallowed her son. She plunged her arms in, scrabbling frantically for her son. "Oh gods, Tsuna, no!"
She pulled her hands out and wrenched her soaked gloves from numbing fingers and attacked the gaping hole again. "Tsuna! Tsuna!" Her fingers grabbed cloth. She pulled. She grabbed his other arm. Pulled more.
"Tsuna, oh my god Tsuna!" She hugged the dripping brunet, water soaking into her front, dark patches on cream-coloured coat. "Please say something!"
No answer. Not even a breath. More tears flowed from Nana's eyes, blurring her sight as she gathered her son into her arms. Something was terribly wrong. Tsuna was cold, colder than winter, his skin was white, bloodless, and his lips were blue.
He was not breathing.
With a desperate scream Nana dashed for the nearest house for help and they were soon speeding at breakneck speed for the hospital. She clutched Tsuna's limp, unresponsive hand and cried.
He had to be okay. Her Tsuna HAD to be okay.
Sobs wrecked her body as she leaned over her son, asking him to wake up.
...where am I? Tsuna opened his eyes and blinked.
Everywhere around him, was black.
Slowly, like bubbles in a fizzy drink, white peppered his vision, nearly blinding him.
The last thing that he remembered was falling into the river. He peered downward, and caught sight of his mother, crying hysterically as she clutched his lifeless hand as they sped to the hospital. But honestly, he couldn't bring himself to care. All he felt was numb.
You should go back, you know
Feet stopped beside him as someone his height peered down at Nana with him.
You're not supposed to be here
Tsuna shrugged and turned away, towards the brighter light. He stepped forward.
Hands gripped his shoulders and spun him to face someone all too familiar.
You're dead
He looked at his mirror image and nodded his head.
I know
The other him looked frustrated.
You have to go back
He glanced at Nana again, who kissed his forehead, still crying, before the doctors and nurses wheeled him into the operating room.
Tsuna frowned and strained in the other him's impossibly strong and stubborn grip to look for that warm pure light.
Look
The other him shook him again.
Don't you regret anything?
He struggled to remember. Nana. His mom. Iemitsu. The father who was never home. The bullies. Who deserved a taste of their own medicine. Friends. He wanted but never had.
Good
There was a push on his back and he felt like he was falling, and closed his eyes.
"Mrs Sawada," Nana looked up and leapt to her feet, grasping the doctor's hand, pleading. "Tsuna is okay, right? Is he alright?"
One look at the doctor's face sent her heart crumbling.
"Mrs Sawada," he began, taking a breath. "I'm afraid-" the operation room's door slammed open.
"Doctor! Quick, he's breathing!"
There was a flurry of activity and Nana found herself collapsing onto her chair.
'Please,' she prayed, a spark of hope flaring to life in her chest. 'Please.'
'Please let my Tsunayoshi be okay.'
'BEEEEEEP' Tsuna frowned. What an annoying sound to be waking up to.
'Beeeeeeep Beeeeeeep' As the intervals between each of the beeps shortened, he became aware of other sounds as well.
Machines whirred. People talked in fast, urgent tones. He twitched his arms. Something was attached to him. His frown deepened. A constant throbbing attacked his head and he groaned. The voices froze before becoming all the more urgent.
"Doctor! Quick, he's breathing!" He wondered why the sound seemed so distant and took the very first breath since he had lived. For the second time.
He could feel experienced hands examining him, machines bleeping as they were checked and restarted, fingers feeling for his pulse, heard a sigh of relief when finding it strong and steady.
Tsuna struggled to open his eyes and only got his eyelids up enough to see blinding lights. His voice slurred, his lips still felt numb.
"My head hurts."
Then he fell asleep.
The doctor exited the operating room again, but this time he was smiling, face filled with shock.
"Mrs Sawada, your son, Tsunayoshi, is alive. He'll be fine."
Nana let tears flow, hiccupping in relief. "Thank god!"
"Thank god indeed," the doctor mused, "His heart had definitely stopped and damage to his brain was rather severe. But he will make full recovery. He is a miracle child!"
A/N: I seriously have nothing to say (except go check out BABYMETAL) so E-i is gonna do this part.
E-I: Hey… Uh… I feel like I'm intruding, but etErnal-chan is a very good author with nice and interesting plot ideas, so please support her with your reviews.
etErnal: Goku-chan…. That's like, advertising myself on my own fic- hey you're on my right side!
E-I: I'm so happy you're actually acknowledging me, Seph-chan! And I think it's okay, because I'm the one advertising you, and it's all true. You're an awesome writer!
etErnal: That's nice Haya-chan.