in lieu of flames ; a collection of Tsuna-centric drabbles and one-shots.
warnings: hints of 27/All, occasional x-overs, fluctuating genre-drabbles will hop around from angsty crap to crappy comedy
0000. Sinking
( Tsuna is floating. He is warm here, comfortable here.
( Tsuna doesn't really know where here is, but he knows he doesn't want to leave.
( Flames the color of the setting sun protect him; he is safe.
( Something dark approaches and then...
[ cold, cold, cold why am I so cold ]
( ...his flames are stolen.
[ sealed not stolen; not there's much of a difference. ]
( Tsuna is sinking. He is cold here, suffocating here.
( Tsuna doesn't really know where here is, but knows he'd rather be someplace else.
[ he doesn't belong here; here where it's always always cold. ]
"Tsunayoshi, wake up!"
Tsuna sinks to the bottom. )
"Tsunayoshi!"
prompt :: replace dame with [ adjective ]
0001. Listless Tsuna
list·less :: ( of a person or their manner ) lacking energy or enthusiasm
"Hiee-" Tsuna wakes abruptly, with a light jerk, to the sound of a ruler slamming onto his desk.
"Welcome back to the land of the living Sawada. Seeing as you find my lesson boring enough to sleep through, why don't you answer the first problem on the board hm?"
Sluggishly, Tsuna blinks the sleep out of his eyes and squints up at the board. Blurry white letters stare back at him.
"I am waiting, Sawada."
"Uhm... twenty-seven?"
"Very good Sawada, except this is english not math."
"Ah." Squinting harder, Tsuna turns his gaze back onto the board. After an intentionally drawn out beat, Tsuna shifts his chin from his right palm to his left and sighs, "I don't know the answer."
A handful of students snicker, the others simply too used to Tsuna's antics to even bother reacting.
"Detention Sawada. Again."
Tsuna shivers mid-shrug, his gaze pinned on the open window beside his seat. Narrowing his eyes, he mentally wills the window to close—it doesn't. Tsuna releases another heavy sigh, not bothered enough to get up and close the window manually. A cool breeze reaches into the window and brushes against Tsuna's cheeks. He sneezes.
( "The cold always makes me tired, isn't it the same for you?"
"Well yeah, but it's the middle of summer, why are you still cold?" )
"There he goes again," they say.
"Listless Tsuna," he's called.
( Silently, Tsuna thinks that if only had those warm orange flames to keep him warm, he probably wouldn't be so tired all the time. )
Comically large eyes of his classmates, stare incredulously as Tsuna attempts to become one with his clothing, his face half hidden beneath the collar of his sweater.
Tsuna's teacher ignores him with a practiced ease, his face filled with a resigned exasperation.
"Just close the window if you're cold Sawada."
"This is fine," he replies, his monotoned voice muffled beneath the thick cloth of his sweater.
Sigh.
Tsuna has always been cold.
0003. Silent Tsuna
si·lent :: ( of a person ) not speaking
"Mama, why are kids so mean?"
"Eh? Are the kids being mean to you at school Tsu-kun?"
"A little."
"Well, Tsu-kun, let me tell you this, in this lifetime you'll meet all sorts of people. There are billions of people in the world and therefore, some people are bound to be bad apples. If that's the case it's best not to waste time on them, in fact, it's best not to talk to them at all. Your words are precious and those who don't bother to listen to them, don't deserve to hear them at all."
"Hey Dame Tsuna, I'm low on cash, think you can lend me some?"
Tsuna stares up at the older boy with a steady, straightforward gaze. Said older boy holds back a shudder.
( What terrifying eyes you have )
"Well?"
Tsuna shrugs and walks away.
Your words are precious, some people don't deserve to hear them at all.
Tsuna was six when he first stopped speaking to his classmates.
"Oi, I am not done talking to you, Dame Tsuna!"
A large foot collides painfully with Tsuna's back, throwing him forward, his face slamming against the asphalt
"Well if you're not going to pay up." The older boy lifts his foot from Tsuna's back, prompting a pained wheeze from the young boy which then turns into a pained cry when the same foot rams into Tsuna's stomach.
"Why don't you try begging, Silent Tsuna," he jeers, "maybe then I'll let you go."
Not worth it not worth it not worth it not-
"Herbivore. I'll bite you to death."
( your words are precious and just as some people don't deserve to hear them, some people do )
Tsuna stares with a dazed expression as Kyoya bashes his nameless bullies head in.
"Little animal," Kyoya greets sharply, his eyes narrowing.
( but Tsuna has been silent for so long that he isn't sure if he can speak anymore )
Tsuna stares up at Kyoya and smiles between the blood in his teeth. Thanks.
Kyoya rolls his eyes, "you're always causing trouble. Next time, I'll bite you to death." Tsuna's smile doesn't waver, Kyoya had said the same thing the last time.
When Tsuna lurches forward, unable to hold himself upright, arms that catch him are warm.
Thank you thank you thank you, he mouths, because his voice is too scared to sound out the pronunciation.
( What's the use of speaking when nobody listens anyways?
How do you learn to speak again after six consecutive years of silence? )
"It's fine," Kyoya says as if he knows what Tsuna's thinking. He probably does too.
Thank you thank you thank you.
"Stupid little animal."
0004. Shameless Tsuna
shame·less :: ( of a person or their conduct ) characterized by or showing a lack of shame.
Tsuna stared down at his magazine with only a vague interest. Flipping through the pages in a leisure pace, he ignored the pointed stares and his teacher's indignant gaze.
"Sawada," she snapped, "put that away!"
Tsuna turned his languid gaze on her and then turned back to his magazine. Class hadn't stared yet, it wasn't any of her business what he read anyways. Eyes trailing over the half naked women in his magazine, he sighed and wished he wasn't so bored.
"There goes Shameless Tsuna again, how does he even get his hands on those kinds of magazines?"
"Who knows, but he'll get you one if you ask nicely." Slap. "Oniisan! That's horrible!"
Tsuna's gaze wavered when the sound of the seat beside him being pulled back reached his ears.
"Hey, you're Shameless Tsuna right?"
Tsuna's turned his head to the side, eyeing the person beside him.
"Ah, you're the baseball kid," Tsuna replied in a monotoned drone.
"Ha-ha, is that what they call me? My names Yamamoto Takeshi, by the way."
Tsuna grunted his reply and turned back to his magazine, no longer all that interested.
"Hey Tsuna, I was wondering, since you're always reading those magazines with such a disinterested stare, what's your type?"
If Tsuna thought the question was odd, he didn't say so.
"Take-chan, let me tell you a secret."
Takeshi's smile didn't waver at the nickname, if anything he looked even happier.
"I'm actually, asexual."
0005. Otaku Tsuna or Shounen Manga Hero Tsuna
o·ta·ku :: ( in japan ) term for people with obsessive interests, commonly the anime and manga fandom.
Sawada Nana was not your average (conventional) stay-at-home house-wife. She was a little bit strange, a little bit ditzy, and she hardly ever heard form her husband, never mind seeing him in person. Even so, no one could really accuse her of being a terrible mother.
Sawada Nana was not as stupid as she acted even if her absent minded behavior was only kind of an act. She knew her husband was not all that he said he was, construction workers didn't need to be so far away from home for so long of time, nor did they need to lie to their children (I am going to become a star!) while they lied to their wife (construction worker my ass). Still, she loved him and loved the roses he sent her every month.
Nana was a daydreamer and a romantic. As such, she often read shojo manga to her son each night before he went to bed.
"Ara, Tsu-kun this is what happens when you lie to your significant other, another man will swoop in and she'll let herself get stolen because she knows she deserves so much better."
Okay, maybe she was a little bitter, but at least she still had her Tsu-kun.
"Don't worry mama, I'd never leave you! I love you more than anything!"
"Ho-ho Tsu-kun, that makes me very happy to hear."
Eventually, of course, Tsuna found his way to the shōnen section and it was then he decided he wanted to become a hero, just like that robot pirate totally-not-a-ninja Naroto Uzukima. (haha copyright, what)
When Reborn arrived in Namimori and explained to Tsuna that he was there to train him to become a mafia boss, he had been silently surprised by his students, ehem, enthusiasm.
"Uwa! So cool? So a mafia boss huh? I guess I can still be a good guy even if I work in the mafia!"
"Wow that salamander can turn into a gun?" "Oooh, so it's a chameleon-der?"
"Hiee! Wait don't shoot me! I thought I was going to be your precious genin- I mean student! There's no such thing as ninjas! Naroto Uzukima belonging to Kishimeat-o Masasasa! Don't sue me!"
yeah that's it.
0006. Escape Artist Tsuna
- Where Tsuna has secondary, but still potent, cloud flames for some reason.
From the moment Tsuna learned to crawl, Tsuna had always been known to escape.
He first learned to climb out of his crib at age two, crawled through the door the moment anyone opened it, and then taught himself how to crawl over the baby gate by the age of three. By the age of five, Nana learned to let her Tsu-kun be, while sad that he was such an independent child, he always came back to her in the end and that was enough for her.
When Reborn arrived in Namimori to find his wayward student nowhere in sight, he cursed Iemitsu through the ground, and then set off to search for him. He definitely wouldn't assassinate the child for making him look like an idiot when he arrived at the Sawada house only to ask to see a child who hadn't even been home in a month. This wasn't actually an assassination mission, but damned if he didn't wish it was.
Fucking Iemitsu doesn't even know where the fuck his fucking son was.
Conveniently, Reborn found Tsuna sleeping on the roof of Namimori, a few feet away from Hibari Kyoya. For some reason, that none of the other students could understand, the moment Tsuna and Kyoya had first locked eyes on one another, they came to something of an understanding and decided they didn't hate (liked) each other even if they often didn't even see each other for weeks on end.
( I don't flock with herbivores. )
( I won't promise not to leave your side. )
"Tsunayoshi Sawada."
"Yes?"
"I am Reborn, your new home tutor."
"Home tutor? I didn't call for one."
"Your father did."
"Isn't he like dead?"
Reborn screamed.
Internally only of course.
"No, he's the CEFO of the Vongola, I'm here to turn you into a mafia boss."
"Mafia boss? I thought you were a tutor?"
"And I will be tutoring you to become a mafia boss."
"No thanks."
Smack. "Ow."
"You do not have a choice."
"Oh? Tell me more about why you think so," and so followed the vague, 'all the other candidates are dead, henceforth you are the only valid candidate' speech. Turning back to his student, Reborn felt a migraine coming on as he eyed the poorly made human-sized doll in front of him. Reborn eyes the note on the dolls forehead with a critical glare.
'If you want me as your mafia dude, you have to catch me first. =P'
"Dammit."
He hadn't even noticed his student slipping off.
'A young boy of five years old,' said his report.
'Who trips a lot and isn't very athletic,' said his report.
'Is super duper cute,' said his report.
He was really going to kill Ie-fucking-mitsu.
When he finally caught up to his student, the child was jumping out his bedroom window.
It took him another five hours to locate him.
He still couldn't actually catch him.
This, Reborn thought, is why clouds are the worst.
Actually, wasn't Tsuna supposed to be a sky?
0007. Silent Tsuna Part II
- A look from Kyoya's perspective, because he was extremely out of character in the first part.
The first time Kyoya had met his little animal, it had been cornered by a herd of herbivores playing at being carnivores. He hadn't even hesitated, before he jumped into the flock and bit them all to death with his tonfa's; the only carnivore in Namimori was him.
After he'd finished, metaphorically (read: violently), putting the herbivores in their place, he'd turned to the cowering animal and told him to get back to class least Kyoya decide to bite him to death too.
Jumping to his feet, the little animal scurried off to class and Kyoya's mind put the incident aside because he didn't flock with herbivores. But then it happened again, and again, and again, and Kyoya grew irritated, so he watched and observed. Watched the silent little herbivore head to school, get bullied during school, leave school, and then get bullied again as he left school.
This herbivore had no herd to follow. How funny.
Then one day Kyoya came across three stupid sheep beating up the rejected herbivore, again. Kyoya swept down and bit them all to death, as per usual, and then turned towards the little animal with his standard intimidating stare that only a Kyoya could pull off so effortlessly. Except the little animal didn't look up with him with his atypical smile, just lay there on the ground unmoving, chest rising in an uneven pattern.
Eye's noticeably wider than usual, Kyoya had picked up the animal and took him to the hospital, with a gaze sharp enough to cow even the strongest of men.
Kyoya hadn't really cared when he first noticed it happening, a rejected herbivore, well it was still a herbivore and therefore none of his business, but this time they'd gone a bit too far and Kyoya was irritated. Herbivore or not, the little animal was a citizen of Namimori and despite his love of discipline, that borderlined terrorizing, Namimori was his to protect and that included the little herbivore.
Staring down at the little animal, Kyoya reached out his hand and ruffled the mess it called hair.
Fluffy.
Well, Kyoya had been planning on adopting a pet anyways.
When the little animal's eyes opened and it came to face with Kyoya's own piercing gaze, it released a tiny 'hiee' and rolled off the side of the bed. It was the first noise he'd heard form the animal outside of pained grunts.
How cute. Kyoya had always liked fluffy animals.
0008. Shameless Tsuna is still Shameless
A boy blinked, another girl blushed, and Tsuna's teacher's palm met her forehead (repeatedly).
"Since when were you gay?" Takeshi joked as he glanced over Tsuna's shoulder at his newest magazine; male magazine.
"I've always had an open mind, when it comes to gender," Tsuna replied in a tone so dry, no one could tell he was also joking.
The two shared an amusing glance at their inside joke, completely (pretending to be) unaware of the eavesdropping ears.
That marked the day the fujoshis invaded Namimori.
"Sawada-san would actually make a pretty cute uke."
"Really? You mean Shameless Tsuna?"
"Well I mean he's always been pretty cute, I just never noticed because he was always reading those magazines in public."
Three set of blushing eyes turned in Tsuna's direction.
Large curious doe eyes framed with long dark eyelashes stared back at them.
"Something you need?"
"Kya-! You were right! Shameless Tsuna is a homose- cute!"
"Eh?"
"You think Yamamoto-kun and Sawada-kun might be-?"
Everyone died.
(Just kidding.)
0009. Silent Tsuna Kyoya, meets Shameless Tsuna
Kyoya's eye twitched as he stared down at the sight before him.
"You-" "Uwa, what a scary expression."
Kyoya's eye twitched again.
"Want one?" The not-his-little-animal-but-still-the-little-animal(what) asked, offering one of his distasteful magazines.
"For impersonating the little animal and tainting his(your) eyes with such garbage, I will bite you to death."
Tsuna was bitten to death for about a minute before a cloud of pink smoke took the scary demon away and replaced him with the usual one.
"Hey Kyo-chan want one?"
"I'll bite you to death." Oh right.
Kyoya would always be Kyoya after all.