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Disclaimer: khr isn't mine but the story is
Chapter 1
Through the looking glass
Namimori highschool had just begun and Sawada Tsunayoshi felt like he was in a bubble. It was so unlike his unruly past, he might even have considered it boisterous. As per usual, violet eyes scanned the room to observe his endearing classmate's behaviors, habits, and idiosyncrasies. It was a habit that he was forced to cultivate, even though it was no longer required. His presence had become akin to a living ghost. Nobody wanted to get into trouble... not after what happened in Namimori middle school.
Tsunayoshi was a short, scrawny brunette who had been Namimori's favorite doormat/bobo doll/punching bag etc. call him what you may. The only reason why they stopped because of a prank that went too far three months back.
The little brunette had been renown as dame-Tsuna. He hasn't graduated out of it, but he hadn't been called out explicitly with that moniker until now. He had earned it through his endeavors every single day up until then. He was horrible at sports, grades and socializing. He himself would agree to the evaluation.
'But at least it's better than now.'
There used to be a lonesome lily in a vase at his desk that used to counter the smell of his shoes that would have been retrieved from the dumpster for his morning classes. The fragrance used to counter the stench of his shoes making him feel grateful for its presence, regardless of the connotation that it held.
Now, like a broken and used toy, he was left to his own devices as his classmates regained their senses from the little fright in middle school. They had then collectively, implicitly decided that the whole bullying thing...? It wasn't worth it. Not when they needed to work for their future jobs and universities. Not when their school behaviors and classmate interactions would be evaluated for their character and personality report.
Tsuna felt conflicted. He liked the peace and the new doors that opened with his new eyes, but he also felt lost. He didn't need to think up plans to escape quickly and efficiently. His stuffed medical cabinet and spare notebooks and textbooks that took up his entire allowance had no place or use. He couldn't even mimic his classmates to strike new connections because his eyes refused to meet another's and his stutter made his speech irrelevant and uselessly long. His skin felt like there was something missing and he couldn't calm down. He actually meant it when he told that nothing interesting and worthwhile happened at school for the day.
On the other hand, his brain could wander far and beyond giving him the excuse to day-dream and ponder on his recent dreams. His beautiful dreams showed him a fantasy where he had been a badass mafia boss that seemed to overflow with charisma. It showed him what could have been if things were different. His alter ego's smiles were infectious and he was always surrounded by a cast of wacky characters that seemed to be extremely supportive of each other... almost like a family. That Sawada Tsunayoshi was... uh... friends with that Hibari Kyoya. He felt his eyes pop out when he saw how friendly Yamamoto and the Sasagawa siblings were with him.
The jock in his world gave him smiles that did not reach his eyes and he had been stuck in an unrequited love with Sasagawa Kyoko. The boxer here probably didn't even have the time to acknowledge his presence, maybe he didn't even know that he existed. He was also pretty sure he was the bane of Hibari's existence... well maybe not that extreme, but he could be considered an existence that warranted nothing but annoyance. Honestly, sleep was the best thing that could ever happen to him right now, especially since the stinging wounds wouldn't keep him up all night. There was one thing that bugged him though. It was when he saw a person with the same eyes that he had. The guy went by the name Byakuran Gesso and he had this unnerving part of him that stared right into the depths of Tsuna's eyes until he panicked and woke up.
He'd sometimes think what was the difference between himself and the supposed boss of Vongola. He wondered what were the circumstances that gave him that poise and that reliability. Physically, the other was only slightly taller and had auburn eyes that turned gold when the other was speaking about his convictions. He had always felt like an unwelcome guest when Byakuran Gesso stared right at him. It felt unfair when the donor of his eyes gave him a message that it was meant specifically for him. But he could digress-this was his reality.
He had heard that people spend a third of their life sleeping, so at least he can spend time in that warm atmosphere during that period. He figured that was the most his life could give him.
If there was a single turning point in one's life, he figured his' was when his classmates were playing mock fights with the mops in the janitor's closet. He had been roped with the kids having clean-up duty. They weren't taking it seriously, adding an arbitrary amount of bleach in the mop's cleaning solution refill bucket. There was no one supervising them and he had been standing in a corner wringing excess water from his mop. Then one of the student's mop brushed against the other's hip thereby provoking him and one thing led to another, finally resulting in an all-out mop war. After some time, one of the two realized that the only one who was left dry from the fight was dame-Tsuna and took the bucket and hollered out to him.
Now that Tsuna thought about it, it was also kind of his fault. He had this really bad habit of opening his eyes to their full extent - he read that people do this to extract all light for complete information from the environment. Well, as a natural progression of events, the cleaning solution bucket had been thrust right upon his face making his world darken suddenly- and the next thing he realized, his eyes felt like it was on fire and the world was extremely noisy. There were clamor and clattering of objects and footsteps in the narrow closet room, his head felt like it was spinning really fast and heating up quickly. He was terrified about what had suddenly transpired and his thoughts were zipping quickly into different directions. The last thing he remembered was hitting his head onto something metallic... and then nothing.
He woke up to a pitch dark world and sounds of sobbing. He heard his dad speaking in a somber voice and his mom's sweet voice turning hysterical. There was the ever-present smell of antibiotics that he was familiar with and something was obstructing his arm movement. The bed he was lying upon felt uncomfortable and he couldn't bring himself to interrupt the frantic discussions happening right in front of him. He felt like he had opened his eyes, but there was no change from the blackness he'd been seeing until then.
...Well on the bright side, it was a long-awaited family reunion. At least now his mom wouldn't be yearning for the return of their family's wayward father. Who knew what he was doing where? Looks like he did something good for once.
It turned out that his classmate's shenanigans left him blind. The people who told him that seemed frantic, sympathetic, furious or worried. It didn't particularly affect his life. It didn't particularly debilitate him more than he felt usually. It felt like he was in a limbo and was given a break for once.
His parents on the other hand scurried and scampered left and right to find a cure for him. He wondered what exactly were they so worried about? He was dame-Tsuna so he could not sink deeper than he already was. Things would not change if he lost or regained his vision. His father changed that thought of his by telling him albeit, a bit lost that he found an eye donor. He mentioned that the donor wanted to return a favor so he decided to do this and that the other was going to die anyway so his eyes wouldn't be of much use to him. It was a strange story. If the brunette had helped someone out, he would have pinned it up on his walls... figuratively. So he let it slide, thinking it was the crazy final thoughts of a dying man.
After that, things went smoothly. He underwent surgery, tests, and rehab to get used to his new eyes. Things only changed when he came back to school. His surroundings stared silently at him when he sat in his seat and made the selfish decision to leave him alone. They let him rest in peace.
