Hi!
So this is OPTION B for "What do you think should replace 'The Sky Project'?"
This is what you voted for, a sort-of rewrite of KHR, but with 'interesting' conditions.
Yes, yes, the title, right... let's just say I have a knack for weird names.
'Tsuna can run, but he can never hide, for even the sky casts a shadow.'
NOTE: No pairings, really slight gore, hints of child neglect.
Enjoy!
If life were a jukebox, Sawada Tsunayoshi's would definitely be screeching now.
"I'm not…your kid?"
"Spare him, please!"
"NINTH!"
"DAD!"
"Run while you still can!"
"Kill that trash!"
And the most recent, "Where are you running, Da-me Tsu-na…?"
On a stormy night, two fates were decided.
"WHAT?" A man whose blonde hair stood up in short spikes grabbed the doctor's front coat.
"Sawada Iemitsu-san, please calm down." The man in the white coat pleaded, trying his best to remain calm in the face of the enraged man.
The man drooped his head down after his glare started to fade into an expression of anguish. "Mind…repeating that again?"
A drop of cold sweat ran down the doctor's forehead. "W-well, due to complications, your son, Sawada Tsunayoshi, has passed away."
Iemitsu's released his grip on the doctor and slumped against the wall, quiet sobs emitted from his hunched figure. The doctor bowed his head and walked away with a shivering nurse.
Slowly, the broken man got up, footfalls padding up the stairs softly. He opened the bedroom door a crack.
On the bed, his wife, Nana, hugged a bandaged little toddler to her chest, tears dampening his blonde hair.
Nana often hugged Tsuna, there was nothing strange about that. Only-
-the little boy was dead cold.
[In another place, at the same time]
"COME OUT, SAWADA IEYATSU! WE KNOW YOU'RE IN THERE!"
Yells that almost overpowered the heavy rainstorms outside echoed with the sounds of fists barraging against the door.
"Shit…And Lavina, Tsuyoshi, Ryoko, Hibari are unreachable now." Ieyatsu cursed under his breath.
"Ieyatsu-sama, what shall we do?" His companion asked, crouching behind the storage boxes with the brown-haired man.
"Fidelis, it seems this is the end. Take Tsunayoshi and run to Namimori." Ieyatsu instructed. Fidelis' expression grew into one of horror.
"But, Ieyatsu-sama, surely you don't mean to-"
"There's no time. They already got Hanari." He looked remorseful. "Go see my cousin, Fidelis. Take this note with you too." Ieyatsu thrust the sleeping boy and a letter sealed with a gold clam sticker into Fidelis' arms.
"Ieyatsu-sama…you…" Fidelis teared up.
The wooden double doors burst in from downstairs, snapping Ieyatsu back into action.
"GO! NOW FIDELIS! TO THE SAWADA HOUSEHOLD!"
[The Sawada household, time unknown]
"Nana." Iemitsu pushed the cup of tea towards his wife, "That's enough. It's been two days and you haven't eaten or drunk a single cup of water."
Nana, his usually sunnily cheerful wife, didn't say anything. Nor did she make any attempt to pick up the cup.
"Nana, whether we like it or not, we will have to arrange the procedures soon. It's for Tsuna's sake."
The soft chime of the doorbell broke through the thick silence.
Neither made a move to get up and answer the door.
Then they heard wails coming from outside. It had been raining ever since the day Tsuna died, and they still felt as gloomy as ever.
"Dear, I'll go get the door." Nana finally said.
She stood up and walked towards the door, and it was then that Iemitsu realized how much weight his wife lost in just two days.
He heard a gasp and ran towards her.
On their doorstep, a man was sprawled on the doormat, covered in scrapes and cuts and knife wounds. He was bleeding out, the rain washing reddish water over their porch.
But that wasn't just it. In his outstretched hands lay a crying bundle, one fidgeting to struggle free of the silk wrapped around his face.
Nana reached down to take the bundle from his arms and pulled off the hood. It was a bawling little boy who looked slightly younger than Tsunayoshi, with teary big brown eyes and spiky brown hair.
"Dear, there's a note."
Iemitsu's eyes narrowed when he saw the golden clam seal.
He popped it open.
"To my dear cousin Iemitsu,
If you have received this, it means I am no longer alive. This boy is Tsunayoshi, my only son. I know it will be strange for your Tsunayoshi to have a brother almost his age with the exact same name, but I am counting on you to take care of him from here on out. Fidelis shall take care of any other extra needs. It seems they have caught up to my family. I am well aware that you wanted nothing to do with Primo's legacy, and being born with the sun flame instead of the sky, you were excused to rid yourself of these ties and live your life peacefully in Namimori. Fear not, I am not asking you to reinvolve yourself with the Vongola's kingdom, but I plead of you to take care of Tsunayoshi. He's our last hope.
-Sawada Ieyatsu
"Dear, this boy…"
"Yes. He's part of the Vongola's royal bloodline. In other words, the Vongola prince."
"What did Ieyatsu want you to do, dear?"
"To take care of this boy."
"Oh." She shivered, and stood closer to her husband, cradling the crying child in her arms by instinct.
A moment passed in silence as Iemitsu bent down to confirm the man's death.
"What do we do, dear?"
"We'll have to babysit him. For now, anyway." He turned to get his gloves and dispose of the body.
"And Nana?"
"Yes?" His eyes held a sorrowful glint.
"Remember, that child is not our Tsunayoshi."
[Italy, Vongola Palace, time unknown]
"Massimo…you couldn't have…" The man, around 55, gasped in utter horror, taking a few steps back.
"But I did, Padre. I am deeply saddened, but I had to do this. Ieyatsu may have been planning an uprising." Massimo said, his head of black hair bowed.
"And…you killed the original prince, Tsunayoshi?"
"I merely sent a family tips that Ieyatsu was alive and living in Japan, Fukuoka, and they did the rest."
"But, did you?"
"Yes, Padre. The potentially dangerous heir, Sawada Tsunayoshi, aged two, has been confirmed dead by hospital records in Japan."
This proved to be a little too much for the Vongola Nono, Timoteo, who fell back into the support of the cushioned sofa.
"Vongola Nono!"
[Ten years later]
"You got praised for good effort? Such a small achievement and you were acting so stuck-up? Dame-Tsuna!" A tall boy with freckles towered over the crumpled boy's body, kicking him for the third time.
Raucous peals of laughter echoed in the brown-haired boy's ears as he tried to block out the pain shooting up his spine. Today's beating was rather extensive.
"Hey, I heard he has designs on Sasagawa Kyoko. This loser was drooling and staring at her all morning!" One of the faceless bullies added.
"Sasagawa Kyoko? The school's beauty? She's so out of your league, trash. You must be getting over-confident."
"Huh! And I heard he's so pathetic his own dad walked out on him and never came back!"
Tsuna's brown eyes flashed.
"So that's why no one comes on parent visitation day for him!"
"Your life is so cheap, Dame-Tsuna. Don't you think we should teach him where he stands?" One of them smiled, an idea coming into his head.
He picked up the fruit knife left on the table from home economics class.
The rest got the message, and hands started toward the sprawled boy's pants.
"W-wait…Wait! What are you going to do? NO, STOP!"
[Later that night]
It hurt. The cloth of his pants felt rough against his wounds. Tsuna placed a hand on the bathroom mirror as he leaned inwards, eyes hollow and reflecting none of the light in his room. Well, not that there was any light in his room but the evening's blue glow.
He trudged towards his bed and buried himself in the blankets, not bothering to wake his mom for dinner.
He lay there, in the intermission between consciousness and unconsciousness. Brain activity, close to zero.
"I want to die."
So was his only thought.
But what he really longed for was warmth.
Time set for Meltdown: ?:00:00
And there we go, the first chapter of the story some of you voted for. Sorry I changed the title thrice.
Thanks for reading and please review, I really need your input for the first three chapters.