My world was dark. There is no color, no light, just hazy shapes in shades of grey. That's how I navigated my life until I met him.
I can't recall the day, nor exactly when it was, but I do know what happened, even though it was a long time ago. I was wandering 'round the town -the babysitter my parents hired wasn't all that good- when I saw a brilliant orange eruption come from the backyard of one of the nearby houses. I didn't know what that orange was at that time but I knew that it was definitely unusual. I rushed over to the house, climbed it's fence- not really thinking about how that was probably illegal- and went into the backyard. The orange was so blinding that I couldn't tell what was causing it, all I knew was that it was on the ground and crying. It took longer than I'd like to admit for me to realize it was a human and, from the voice, couldn't have been more than a child. A bunch of adults had come running by then and were, logically, upset. I would be too if my child's crying could wake the dead and was radiating light. It took the oldest adult going over and doing something to seal the orange into a tiny ball inside the shining person to get the child to finally stop. I could tell then that the person was a boy, around my age awhich that time. The adults thought that I was the one who had caused, whatever that situation was, and were demanding for me to explain. I tried telling them what had happened, but none of them believed me. So, my parents were called up, I got scolded from both groups of adults even after they found out that I wan't guilty, my babysitter got fired, and I learned the orange boy's name was Sawada Tsunayoshi.
Ever since that day I've noticed the bo- Sawada's presence around more often. We went to the same elementary school, arrived at the same time and went in the same entrance but only greeted each other after that incident in his backyard. We were in the same class, though we sat at different tables and I only vaguely remember talking to him once. Heck, our houses were in a straight line from one another, though they were a few blocks away. I'm honestly amazed that I had never even seen the kid before then. Though, don't misunderstand, it wasn't like I had sought him out or something like that, he was the only one who'd I'd seen that had color like that. It's not hard to find a ball of bright orange in a sea of hazy blacks and grays, the fact that the brunette was- and still is, to be honest- a giant trouble magnet helped. The kid was a klutzy and a wimp, because of this Sawada was bullied by pretty much everyone he had ever met, even some he didn't. Even I had only recognized who he was after hearing his nickname 'Dame-Tsuna'. Everyone in our school had heard of useless Dame-Tsuna, never once had I heard of someone our age calling him Sawada or even Tsunayoshi. After a while I got upset at the treatment of the boy and decided to do something about it.
I protected the boy when he was getting beat up... and ultimately got beat up as well. In my defense they were like thirteen, what was a grade schooler with zero fighting experience supposed to do against that? Regardless, in the end I went home covered in bruises but earned some admiration from the kid. Oh, also my parents freaked out and demanded I learn self-defense, so I know started learning Aikido from that point on. The lessons helped a lot and I eventually became able to defend against the bullies/strong and fast enough to grab Sawada and book it if things turned south. Unknowingly that had appointed me as the kid's friend and guardian. It's not like I don't want to be but I'd still like to know before getting jumped by a bunch of bullies on a regular basis.
After a while Tsunayoshi wormed himself into my heart and I decided to stick around him. If only for the sake that he didn't get himself killed due to his own clumsiness or something similar.
"Tsunayoshi." I glanced down at the boy who had- at some point in time- taken residence at my table from over the edge of my book.
"Don't call me that." He demanded, or as well as he could, the kid wasn't intimidating in the slightest.
"Sawada-san, then." I suppose I was getting ahead of myself, calling him by his first name.
"Not that either!" I looked back at my book, it was about the greatest musicians of all time. It was pretty complex, though. It was draining just reading a chapter and I kept on losing my place.
"What then?"
"I don't know, but not Sawada and not Tsunayoshi." He's pouting, I don't need to see it to tell that he's pouting.
"Bob, then." The newly named Bob laughed.
"Not that either!"
"Then what do you want me to call you?"
"I don't know, it's up to you." I can feel him laying his head on the table, sadly. I reach out and stroke his head, still reading.
"What book are you even reading? It looks weird." Tsunayoshi looks at the page I was on.
"That's because it's in another language."
"Woah, you know other languages!"
"Ja aber nicht viel, sind ich Einige dieser Wörter wirklich wirklich Komplex, und ich kenne nicht was das Heck Sie meinen. So, schreibe ich Sie auf und übersetze Sie in Klasse, so aussehe ich dass, dass schenke ich Beachtung."
"So cool." I laugh at that. It's not that impressive when you hear it everyday.
"...What's it about?"
"Music."
"Oh."
"Bruno then."
"Eh?"
"It means protection or protector, since I seem to need to keep helping you and all." Also it means brown which is his hair and eye color.
"That would fit you better though." I notice he doesn't deny the fact though.
I have a few other suggestions, but each got shot down. Finally, I just threw out something stupid. "Tsutsu then."
Surprisingly there was no argument against this.
"Okay Tsutsu."
For as long as I could I clung to that monochromatic world. Even now I still reach out for that brilliant Light.
Note: Translation - Yeah a bit, some of the words are really really complex and I don't know what the heck they mean. So, I write down and translate them in class so I look like I'm paying attention. (Or at least that's what I hope it translates to, I'm still learning the language myself)
A.N.: I am alive! That's it for the first chapter! I've had this as an idea for a while and I've finally typed it out! I kind of sped through the main character and Tsuna's relationship so I might go back and add more at a later date. If you read If at First You Don't Succeed, that should be updating within the next couple of days, and if you don't you should go check it out. That's all for now, stay beautiful you beautiful people!