A little over two years ago, I published my first Katekyo Hitman Reborn fic. I've written a lot more since then, but you always hold your first fic in a fandom close to you. maybe.

Chapter 1: Birth

-o-

The day Sawada Tsunayoshi came into her world was one of the happiest days of her life.

Nana had always wanted to be a mother, and now she was.

It was a little difficult to take care of her Tsu-kun, especially considering that her husband had to go back to work immediately after Tsu-kun's birth, but she managed. Tsu-kun was sometimes fussy and cried for hours on end, but other times he was very quiet and well behaved.

He mostly just slept a lot, though.

-o-

(I don't know. I'm tired. I'm scared. I want to be alone. I want that person to come back. I want to be alone again. I'm sleepy. I want to sleep.)

-o-

When Tsu-kun reached the one year old mark, Nana started to notice that something was off about him. It wasn't bad or anything; Tsu-kun was just different. He never talked at all when she was nearby, but, when he was unaware of her presence, she could hear him repeat words over and over, not stopping until he had finally pronounced the word as well as he could without teeth.

Nana invited her friends over every now and then. They cooed over Tsu-kun, talking about how cute a baby he was and interacting with him. From their interactions, Nana could see Tsu-kun observing the people talking to him carefully and when he did something that made them laugh, he would carefully attempt the same action.

When they were tired of interacting with him, he would choose a toy that didn't make any sound and situate himself somewhere close to them. Nana tried to test somethings, once giving him a toy with a bell on it. She had observed that when she and her friends said certain things, like his name or the names of other people or locations, the sound of the bell became muted and less frequent. Another time, she placed Tsu-kun somewhere farther away, out of hearing range of their conversation, and she would watch him slowly and inconspicuously make his way back to Nana. If she hadn't been looking out for it, she would have definitely missed it. It was confirmed.

Her Tsu-kun was a shy, budding genius!

-o-

(I can't believe I died. Actually, no, I can't believe I remembered my past life. Shouldn't I be a blank slate? Why did I have to go through this again?)

(Namimori, huh? Why does it sound so familiar? Why does my name sound so…)

-o-

Nana felt that she ought to start reading to her child. It would be good to cultivate Tsu-kun's mind from the start so that he could be happy in life.

"…and they lived happily ever after. The end!" Nana finished. Tsu-kun was clumsily touching the words with his hands, tapping on the more complicated kanji. Nana smiled and pointed to the first kanji, reading out the pronunciation. Tsu-kun paused for a moment before cautiously plopping his hand on that kanji again. Nana repeated it and Tsu-kun moved onto the next kanji. This process repeated until they got to the end of the book. And then, Tsu-kun spoke his first words he's ever said to her.

"Mama, awigago," he said hesitantly. Before his expression could morph into a scowl at his inability to pronounce arigato, Nana scooped him up into a hug.

"No problem, Tsu-kun!"

-o-

(She thinks I'm a genius. I feel so bad. I'm an impostor. I… I…)

(…I can't be a burden to her.)

-o-

Tsu-kun followed her around like a shadow, toddling with uneasy steps and falling down more often than now. However, every time he fell, he just picked himself up silently and continued walking. Nana felt a mixture of pride and sadness. Tsu-kun was so independent, it was almost like he didn't need her at all.

Nana wondered if he would one day leave her behind, just like Iemitsu did.

-o-

(I am five years old when father comes back. Funny; I thought I didn't have a father. I had never seen him around before.

My education is progressing smoothly. I have near impeccable pronunciation after all my teeth had grown in.

It had been a painful process.

My Japanese is progressing along smoothly and I can read a lot of kanji. I can answer math questions for people at least twice my age. My science is good, but it will be better. English is my second best, right after math. It kind of makes sense, considering that English had been one of the languages I needed to know back then.

It was kind of ironic, though. In my past life, my father had not been there for us either. Not for my mother, not for me, not for my brother. I didn't hate him, however, similar to how I don't hate my father of now.

I mean, how can you hate someone you do not love?)

-o-

Iemitsu had come back with an old man whom he had introduced as his boss. Timoteo was his name. Nana had wanted to tell Iemitsu all about their darling, genius Tsu-kun but the presence of Timoteo zipped her mouth shut. Why should she tell a total stranger about her precious child? She wanted to keep his progress between herself and Iemitsu only. Family only.

And besides, she didn't really like the old man that much.

They were conversing about this and that when a loud crack filled the air, followed by a slam of something heavy hitting the earth. Nana leapt out of her seat, heart in her throat, and she was the first to dash out of the house to check on Tsu-kun.

She almost screamed when she saw fire, fire, surrounding Tsu-kun. Her son looked up at her with wide eyes and the fire immediately vanished. Her husband came after that, followed by Timoteo. Tsu-kun had redirected his gaze back to his hands, staring at them blankly, as if he did not know what to do.

"What happened?" Iemitsu asked.

"Tsu-kun fell out of the tree, I think, and there was—" Nana had been about to tell Iemitsu about the fire but Tsu-kun's head snapped up again and he stared at Nana with wide eyes, full of desperation and terror. Nana found the words changing in her mouth, and what came out was: "There was a miracle! Tsu-kun didn't get injured very badly." She wasn't lying.

"Ah I see," Iemitsu chuckled. He walked over to Tsu-kun to pick him up. "Be more careful, Tsuna-fish! You wouldn't want to get hurt, would you?"

Tsu-kun hesitated, and then shook his head. Nana had never heard him talk to anyone ever since he had caught sight of Timoteo. Or more specifically, his floral shirt. Honestly, Nana never knew why Tsu-kun seemed so wary around old men in suits or floral shirts.

-o-

(These things don't happen! You don't just, one doesn't just, things don't just…

Except, they had.

I never really watched anime, unless it was with my younger brother. As such, I usually didn't remember details of the shows that well but, how could I have forgotten?

Colorful fire and the mafia. My brother loves – loved, my traitorous mind corrected, he's not here anymore – that anime. It was the only one he would not move on from, ever since he had watched it when he was twelve, up to right now – then – when he's twenty years old. Even the day before I had died, he still had been talking about it.

[and that was kind of ironic, considering that i had—]

Sawada Tsunayoshi, the person whose body I had stolen, was going to be a mafia boss. Dragged kicking or screaming, there was no choice for him.

There was no choice for me.

Suddenly, being seen as a genius wasn't something I wanted anymore.)

-o-

Nana was worried. After that visit, Tsu-kun had withdrawn into himself. He no longer attempted the academic questions with glee, he no longer asked Nana to borrow for him books that were above his reading level, he no longer expressed himself.

Nowadays, he spent more time locked up in his room than anything, only coming out when she called for him or when it was time to eat. Nana couldn't help but miss the animated, precocious child he had once been, the Tsu-kun who followed her around everywhere, the Tsu-kun who was unafraid to show the world who he truly was.

Nana couldn't help but feel that it was Iemitsu's fault for bringing Timoteo into the house. Nana couldn't help but resent him for it.

-o-

My name is… well, it doesn't really matter what my name is anymore. All that matters is that I reside in the body of one Sawada Tsunayoshi after dying one sunny Saturday morning.

I didn't recall much about my death, just that little tidbit. I couldn't even remember how I died.

I had been in my mid-twenties when I passed on, which was pretty sad. I didn't regret much, though. I just didn't want to leave my brother behind. He would be fine, though.

(He had to be.)

But now, but now, knowing that I was to be a mafia boss when I reached fourteen, I…

(I don't want to be a mafia boss.)

It filled me with fear.

(Because, the cause of my death had been…)

-o-

Tsu-kun wasn't bad at studies, but they weren't good at it either.

Tsu-kun didn't hate his life, but he didn't like it either.

Tsu-kun wasn't sad, but he wasn't happy either.

Nana did not know what to do. Nearly nine years had passed since the incident and Tsu-kun had only gotten quieter and quieter, until he was all but wallpaper. In fact, the only time he ever smiled was when he did things with Nana. Otherwise, he would have the same, melancholic introspective expression on his face.

He didn't have friends, he didn't have hobbies, he didn't have goals, he didn't have passion.

Nana could still remember the day before the visit. They were talking about jobs and Tsuna had so proudly said that he wanted to be a teacher when he grew up so that he could make a difference in the lives of people. He had fire in his eyes back then, fire in his eyes and determination in his heart.

Nana knew that the fire was still in there, somewhere. She just needed someone to bring it out.

Clutching the flyer in her hand, she dialed the number written on it. The phone rang once before it was picked up.

"Ciaossu."

Author's notes

So, right. My first rewrite. I've been planning to do this for a long time, but I just didn't know how to do it. It probably won't always be mostly in third person point of view (aka, it will probably be mostly 1st person so that Tsuna's thoughts can be articulated more). And hopefully be more interesting for people?

Tsuna's background is more formulated in this one and, while his past life is not that important to plot, I would hint to it. It would be interesting to see if you could piece together who he had been in his past life.

You will recognise some lines here as lines from the original RRR. That will continue because, well, this is a rewrite. I'll put in some of the original lines to keep the story.

Thank you for supporting me for so long! And thank you to those who found me with RRR and stuck with me through everything else!

p.s. Tsuna's a really creepy child. If it were anyone other than Nana, they would probably be freaked out by him.