A/N: It feels so long ago since I updated anything… but again, it also feels like yesterday since I updated… okay, let's stop before it gets confusing. Anyway, this story will probably multi-chapter. So… enjoy! :D
P.s. this has been edited. Why? Because it's way too… urr, cheesy? I mean… well, about that, will be explained in the A/N on the bottom of the story. So, yeah. Hope you like this version too! XD
Disclaimer: I don't own KHR
Summary: It all started with simplicity. Nobody questioned about the accident happened years ago. But it was about to make a dark entry to the world, especially a certain blonde and brunette. And the worst penalty was not just about death— it's another love snatched away. GiottoxFem27! AU
Warning: fem27, AU, minor OCs
Starting: the Stranger and the Friend
"We sometimes encounter people, even perfect strangers, who begin to interest us at first sight, somehow suddenly, all at once, before a word has been spoken."
- Fyodor Dostoevsky
Italy…
If there's anything Giotto wanted more, it was the safety and peace for others. Never in his mind that this time, he's going to meet his other half; it was just an ordinary day when Giotto visited the small town. He was supposed to meet his best friend, Cozarto, there but it seemed that Cozarto's unexpectedly run a bit late.
Giotto, however, wouldn't mind to wait. He enjoyed his time as he watched the children play tag nearby and hear their laughter. On the same time, everything in town seemed to move; everything and everyone's working on their usual happy schedule. He heard the sound of footsteps, the buzzing of people, and smelled the delicious fragrance from the stores. He smiled even more when he saw Paolo, one of his acquaintances, paused from his work and waved at him.
Now, he was about to raise his hand and wave back… if only there's not a forceful thump on his back.
He noticed a soft 'ooph' from behind him and promptly turned on his heels. The blond was rather surprised to see a brunette sitting on the ground, with her long hair tangled and messy, and lastly, to see her barefooted. He wanted to cock an eyebrow in bewilderment but all he did was offer a hand for the girl.
"Are you alright?" he asked gently. Her head went upward and for the first time, he saw her face. It wasn't someone he knew before, so she must've been a foreigner? After all, he has lived around the town for quite some time. Meanwhile, there's a hint of red spreading across her face.
"A-ah… sorry," she nervously take his hand. He tugged her hand carefully and with his help, she had gracefully stood on her two feet once again. As she dusting herself, he noted how petite she is. "Sorry about bumping into you… I-I didn't know where I was going."
"Umm, it's alright," Giotto answered hesitantly. At a temporary pause, he frowned, "Are you okay?"
"Huh?"
"You look very pale… and why're you running around barefooted?" Giotto raised an eyebrow when his eyes noticed her dirty feet from all the running on soil and roads. She looked as if she remembered something and turned to check if there's anything (or anyone) behind her.
"Well… you see… there's this and that…" she sheepishly rubbed the back of her head after confirming there's nothing (or no one) in sight. Giotto didn't press further, although a tint of worry and alarm still lingers. He merely nodded.
"… If you don't mind, you can rest at my place. Ah, I mean my grandpa's," Giotto smiled. He's worried about her anxious and bewildered state, obviously. A smile immediately formed on her face and there's a happy aura forming around her.
"R-really? I-I mean…" her eyebrows formed a troubled look. "Well, I kinda bumped on you, and it'll be bad if I trouble you even further."
"Hmm," Giotto rubbed his cheek absentmindedly as he looked upwards. "Well, I was the one who invited you so I don't have any problem. My grandparents loved to have visitors too."
"Hooh…" she smiled. Her eyes widened the next second, though, "Oh! I haven't introduced myself yet! I'm Tsunahime, but since it's long and I'm not a royalty like a princess… you can just call me Tsuna for short."
Giotto cocked an eyebrow in amusement. He nodded, "I'm Giotto. Nice to meet you."
"Ah! You are…" Tsuna squint her eyes.
"There you are!" a voice bellowed from a distance. Tsuna shivered visibly which startled Giotto a bit. He looked at the source of the sound; a middle-aged woman in a tight vintage purple dress with a matching hat and heels, pointing her finger at the supposedly brunette. Giotto recognized the woman. 'If I'm not mistaken she is…'
"M-Madam Rosee!" Tsuna almost squeaked when she turned around and confirmed her suspicion.
"Hm?" Giotto looked confused for a second before he understood what happened. His inner-chibi knocked a fist to his palm.
"Come back here girl! We're not done with the fitting!" she shouted as she started to march toward the pair. Giotto glanced at Tsuna and he was surprised to see how pale she was. She instantly turned her direction.
"S-sorry, Giotto-san, I would love to visit your grandpa but-" she glanced back from the shoulder. The older woman sped up as she neared. "I'll have to excuse myself. I'll… I'll see you later!"
She almost shrieked at the last part before she dashed away, leaving Giotto speechless. In a few moments he heard another series of pants. Turned out to be Madam Rosee, who by age and body, already couldn't match the younger girl's speed.
"My gosh— that girl!" she said crossly as she stopped the chase, trying to catch her breath. Giotto, thinking a way of helping Tsuna, plastered a smile on his face.
"Excuse me, Madam Rosee," Giotto greeted politely. "Would you mind me asking, is there a problem?"
"Oh my, what a lovely boy!" Madam Rosee smiled back, feeling happy to meet such a polite man around and more importantly, someone who actually cared why she's running for eternity, draining her own life. She sighed in distress, "Geez, that girl won't just stay still. We were preparing for her dress and she keeps running off."
'Is that so?' Giotto chuckled mentally. But what he did, in reality, was keeping another smile as he asked, "For what the dress for, if I may ask?"
"Hmph!" the Madam sighed heavily and crossed her arms in front of her chest. "It's for the town festival."
"Ah," Giotto now was getting all the dots connected together.
"It would save our time if only she has the appropriate dress, but she didn't—and now we have to make one for her," the look on the adult's face twisted into an annoyed one as if she wanted to break something. "And whenever we show her a dress, she never agreed to it! Always picking the most normal and simplest clothes; doesn't she know how important the festival is, geez!"
"Well… I could understand that…" he tried to sympathize with her to calm her down. It was quite a big deal, alright, the festival that is. He understood the importance of the event and why she's so exasperated. The festival is a once-every-year event in order to have a gathering with the whole townspeople, and give thanks for everything they have and got throughout the year. It's almost like New Years, but feels more familial and intimate. It was very normal, too, for all the people to dress the best that they could. To many, especially the elders and the teens, it was a very important and romantic event.
Not that Giotto ever thought about the romantic part though.
"Honestly! We're running out of time and all we do is running around every crook and cranny of this town, trying to catch that kid!" she huffed. Giotto sweat-dropped.
"Then… how about this?" Giotto smiled and pointed a finger. "I'll help you get her back…" he said and paused. "But only if she may stop when she has enough at the fitting process."
"… Hmm… you're pretty sneaky for a good-looking boy, aren't you?" she raised an eyebrow and put a hand on her waist. Giotto sweat-dropped at the remark; he honestly didn't get what she meant by that. Anyway, with this, Madam Rosee wouldn't get irritated for chasing Tsuna, and the latter, too, doesn't need to endure something she hated for longer than she's able to. The elder sighed loudly, "… Fine. It's better than keep running pointlessly. Besides, I don't think I could handle another argument with her."
Giotto wore a victorious smile. "You can count on me."
An hour later…
After searching for the brunette in a short hour, he managed to find the girl, hiding on some trees. It wondered Giotto how the girl could get up there, but they did say people when cornered could unleash some mysterious power… And so here they were on their way back, with Tsuna leading the way, after losing from Giotto's persuasion.
Tsuna walked with gloomy aura around her. She kept pouting and she dragged her feet every step. She's certainly not happy with what awaits her, so why would she agree to the blonde beside her? Was it because he looked so sure; or because of his promise; or because of his eyes and smile? Her inner-chibi waved it off furiously. No, absolutely not the last one. Anyway, she's not happy in this condition. Said blonde sweat dropped from her glare-like stare and managed a smile.
"Relax, Madam Rosee has promised that she'll let you go if you've had enough for the day," he told the brunette. She frowned and stared back at the road, the gloomy feeling around her still not retreating.
"Hmm, but honestly she's pretty strong-headed… I doubt that she'll ever let me go before I got my dress properly… You know, I've been escaping for almost three-and-a-half times," Tsuna said absentmindedly.
"A half?" Giotto mused.
"Yeah. I made it out from the house but before I reach anywhere there are a few employees she set to ambush me; how sneaky!" Tsuna exclaimed. Giotto chuckled.
"Well, looks like you won't escape easily this time, but don't worry," Giotto ensured, prompting her to cock an eyebrow suspiciously. "I will accompany you until you get it done for the day."
"Eh! Really?" Tsuna gaped.
"Yup," he replied casually. "It's only natural right? Since I was the one who convince you and Madam Rosee to share the mutual promise."
"Hooh…" her lips formed an 'o'. It has intrigued her why this teen in front of her has been helping her a lot, despite being strangers hours ago. "That sounds very reassuring… But would it be okay? Don't you also have other business you have to attend to? This could take a whole day, you know?"
"Don't worry, I'm prepared for that. And besides, I'm not that busy anyway," he chuckled a bit. Seeing that he's relaxed and sensing that he's not lying (probably), she nodded.
"Okay, if you say so… thank you," she paused as a smile once again made its way to her face. "Say, now I understand why you're so famous."
"Mm?" that definitely caught the blond off guard as he looked at her with interest and surprise.
"I mean, the girls that I met in the shop talks about you so often! Giotto this, Giotto that… ah, all the good things of course," she laughed. Giotto, too, laughed softly.
"What's with that?" he asked with humor.
"Umm, well… I only heard some of it and it's not like I intend to eavesdrop in the first place, so I only heard bits of bits…" she mumbled and rubbed the back of her head sheepishly.
"Hmm…" Giotto paused. "If you don't mind me asking, why don't you invite a friend to accompany you picking an outfit? It would be easier if you have another girl's opinion, wouldn't it? There are some things that others understand better after all."
"W-well…" she laughed nervously. "It was a bit complicated."
"…?" Giotto was a bit puzzled but didn't press further, especially after seeing the troubled look on her face. "Well, an option is only an option. Though, I hope you don't mind to hear a boy's opinion instead. I don't know if I could be any help though, in picking a dress for a girl."
Tsuna wanted to reply, thinking that what he just said was pretty funny, but was won by a childish voice.
"TSUNA-NEE~!"
Both Tsuna and Giotto turned to look whose voice it belongs to. Turned out, they were greeted by a group of children in distance; all of them looked younger than ten years old. Giotto recognized the place; it was one of the local orphanages wasn't it? But why…
His eyes diverted back as he noticed one of them running and immediately lunged herself to Tsuna, who almost caught unbalanced. "You're back!"
"Yup," she hugged the little girl back. "Thanks to a certain someone."
Giotto sweat-dropped, knowing that she's pointing an unseen finger at him. The little girl, curious as any five-year olds would, asked with her big, sparkling eyes, "Who?"
"Ah! My, you really brought her back!" an unbelieving voice was heard soon after. Tsuna groaned in her mind as she recognized the voice.
"Madam Rosee," Tsuna in a monotone voice when she saw the madam walked toward them with a frown on her face.
"You, young lady," she pointed sharply as soon as she stood in front of the brunette. "Next time I will hire some bodyguards if you try to run off again."
Tsuna pouted and her eyes looked elsewhere. Giotto find this quite amusing; despite she being a petite girl, he was sure that she's around the same age as him, and honestly, it's the first time that he has seen someone so… childish? But he meant it in a good way. He found her company to be interesting and fun, after all.
Suddenly Madam Rosee jerked Tsuna's arm, prompting a flinch from the brunette. "Now let's get to business; we don't have all day," she said. "And now we're having a time crisis because you keep running off."
Tsuna, as she's being dragged away, looked back at Giotto, as if demanding his words. Giotto smiled reassuringly and nodded before he said, "Excuse me Madam, if I may, could I accompany Tsuna? Who knows if I could be of any help?"
"My, of course," her black eyes showed happiness and relief. Really, has she been that hard on the woman? Tsuna thought, somewhat felt guilty. She didn't want to trouble the older woman, but the way Madam Rosee pushed tons of dresses and fabrics into her room every day just wearing her out. The Madam added, "It would also help to prevent her escaping."
Tsuna sweat dropped while Giotto stifled a chuckle. That's not what he promised but… A smile pursed on his lips, "Thank you Madam."
Meanwhile…
An old man typed furiously on the keyboard, his eyes glued on the screen. One would imagine why he hasn't gone blind. Suddenly a wicked grin came across his face, as if he has won a world-level trophy.
"Yes, yes…" he chanted evilly. "Now it's only a matter of time… before I got to annihilate the cursed town…" his grin went wider when the picture of a certain brunette popped on the screen. "And destroy the girl."
His grey eyes gleamed dangerously as his snicker turned into a laughter; echoing in the dark tunnels, as if marking the prologue of the dark.
A/N: Alright, that's about it for the first chapter. I'm guessing this fic gonna be around five chapters… give or take hehe. Anyway, about the edited part: so, basically I've edited most of the conversation. Why? Because in the previous version, everything moves like… Giotto and Tsuna have known each other for quite some time and have been in a romantic relationship. BUT, in the plot, they just met, so that's quite… abrupt. I mean, in the previous version, Tsuna has cried already as she told Giotto about her past (parents and all), and then from the first time she bumped into Giotto, Giotto already see her romantically (cute, angelic, him feeling a bit nervous around her, etcetera, etcetera). So, in this version, everything flows as if they are still friends only (duh), which is more casual and normal and light. So that's pretty much summed it up.
Anyway, thanks for all the support of this fic! Can't do it without you guys! *huggles*
Questions (frequently asked by readers or I will if I'm one):
Q: Oh no… another multi-chapter…
A: *gulp* I will try to update it not so long… I hope
Q: Age?
A: Tsuna somewhere around… 17-18 while Giotto's… hmm… 19-20. I know, I know, this is different from the cannon
Q: Madam Rosee?
A: a designer, a boutique owner, anything related to that. She's not playing major anyway
Q: So… Tsuna live in an orphanage?
A: yup. In Italy. Same old twist huh? Hahaha
Q: Tsuna felt kinda… OOC here?
A: I hope not. But I think Tsuna can be… pretty stubborn about things she really dislikes. And as a girl, her expression of that is by pouting, etc.
Q: Why the little girl called Tsuna as "Tsuna-nee" when they're Italian?
A: This is also one of the edited part. You'll see more details of this case in the next chapter :3
Q: Aaah, how exaggerating! It's just a dress-fitting! Is it something worth running away from?
A: Yes… maybe? Because perhaps Madam Rosee has forced the dressed too much on Tsuna and so she decided to… get away from it. Must be to an extreme point of dislike LOL.
Q: By the way… what happened to Cozart?
A: will be told on the next chap