Summary: With the curse removed at last, what Reborn didn't expect was to find himself at another timeline when he woke up from his sleep. And why was dame Tsuna as a baby? Where were they? AT (Alternate Timeline) right after the final chapter of the manga.
I also had help from my beta: momorona as well as her Italian translations. So er, enjoy?
Rating: T might change to M in later chapters
Disclaimer: Only the plot of this is my idea
CHAPTER 1
Pitter-patter. Pitter-patter.
The soft sound of raindrops hitting against the windows roused Reborn awake. Heavy eyelids cracked open, revealing obsidian orbs before they blinked sleep away. It was probably sometime early in the morning, he mused, half asleep. But from years of experience as a well-known hitman that he became aware, his senses sharp to his surroundings. Something was not right. And if he could describe it, it would most likely be something along the line of 'out of place'. So the moment Reborn had opened his eyes, what he first saw was not Tsuna's room. Even with the lack of light in the dim space, he could make out the layout here. Just by the faint outlines highlighted by the slowly growing sun told him many things by sight alone.
Well-worn rough cobble stones decorated the surface of the room, floors and ceiling. At the sides along the walls, dark rosewood furniture stood free from dust. Each furnishing was heavily decorated with delicate and precise Victorian wood carving, well-coated with a smooth wood polish. And the single bed he was currently laid on, had plain cotton white sheets covering his person, keeping him warm. No mess, no adolescent's used dirty laundry thrown all over the place, no failed test papers sticking out of unsuccessfully hidden locations, no nothing.
Reborn knew for sure that he was no longer in Japan.
But the moment he sat up in bed, the hitman froze and stared down at his lap. There were two things which ran through his head the moment Reborn was force to take note of. Endless questions would occur later once his mind managed to register the sight before him. Now, what he saw wasn't an infant's body and limbs he had been cursed with for years as an Arcobaleno. They were toned and well-developed, telling of an adult body that the man had missed greatly. Reborn could have felt as though the curse had never taken place, or even ruined the first couple of years of his life stuck as an infant, but it was foolish thinking, to be ignorant of what had already happened rather than to accept it. Hadn't he been doing fine until now? So why should this tempt him into assuming his past had all been a bad dream? There was just no way Reborn could change his own past even if he was given a choice.
He stared down at his own physical self, stunned but for a short moment. There was also his black suit on him but it was surprisingly old fashioned in design, he noted.
His attention was immediately caught by the single movement that had rolled off him —probably from him sitting up— and would had fallen off the bed if the hitman hadn't stopped it with his large hand. There, laid on the man's lap by his little back was a young toddler, appearing no older than a year, fifteen months at most, Reborn estimated. Black obsidian eyes stared at the child-like features on the latter's chubby, baby fat face, that familiar brown fluffy mane of hair, and the very same look his dame student would have given him whenever the boy was scared. And rather than facing a fourteen year old teenager, Tsunayoshi was now a toddler.
It would be understandable if he had been hit by that idiot Lambo's Ten Year Bazooka. But still, this didn't explain how his dame student would end up outside of Japan at this time and age. The report that Sawada Iemitsu had given him a couple of years ago indicated that his son would be under his mother's care since birth. And judging from the furniture's designs in this room, it appeared to be not of the actual timeline where Reborn was in as well. So if it was somehow the doings of the bazooka, which had probably been malfunctioned, then pray tell how was it that he himself appeared as an adult instead than an infant? And besides, it was unheard of for the machine to send two people from different time periods consecutively!
The soft sounds of sniffling could be heard clearly in the silent room, the tell-tale sign that Tsuna was about to cry —most likely from being startled from his sleep earlier. Reborn had a feeling that if he didn't do anything soon, it would be difficult to get the toddler to calm down lest make thinking difficult if he wanted to figure out the main problem. Threats would surely be out of the option here. It just wouldn't do any good in such a situation as this.
Large teary brown eyes stared back up at him, his lower pink lip protruding out of a trembling pout.
Sniff.
Reborn tutted at the sight. He made a grab for the too-large T-shirt Tsuna was wearing, and picked the little brunet easily by the back of the clothing single-handedly. The sudden action caused poor Tsuna to squeak softly in surprise, wide-eyed as small limbs flailed in midair. Tiny hands tried to gain hold of anything he could reach, terrified of the sudden height —even though it wasn't that high off of Reborn's lap at all. This simple gesture itself wouldn't have done much to anyone, or so the hitman thought. He merely brought his young charge up to eye-level and continued to peer at the other, his own face unreadable. And the more the man continued to observe him, he soon realised there was no recognition from those brown eyes.
Nothing at all.
He sighed. "...you're already such a handful, dame Tsuna."
"Uguu..." There was another sniff in response. Tiny hands decided to hold onto Reborn's face as that was the only thing the toddler could reach. Slightly startled, that gesture itself made the man stiffen and he withdrew himself away from the other shortly.
"First, I'll have to find out the current situation here that we're stuck in. And later, I'll have to think up on what to do with you." Sharp obsidian eyes gazed around the room, finding for any clues that could give him a heads up. He continued, even without looking back at the toddler.
Leon is nowhere to be found as well. Perhaps he wasn't pulled along in this?
"And I know for sure that you don't belong here either."
Tossing the plain covers off his legs, Reborn got off the bed still carrying the sniffling Tsuna with him by the back of the too-large T-shirt. However, before the man could take another step towards the nearest wooden table filled with drawers, the toddler started to cry again. Small arms and legs started to flail and kick about as endless fat tears ran down the chubby face. And moments later, little Tsuna's nose became red from all the crying. Reborn could see that he was upset about something but from what, he wasn't able to tell.
The hitman paused in his search to look back at the toddler, bringing him up to eye-level again. "Che, dame Tsuna," He started to shake him a little, barely using much strength with his hand. "Stop crying."
But poor little Tsuna continued to cry harder, finding it uncomfortable with the way he was being carried. And with Reborn's full height, the young brunet was even more terrified. It was just too high up! But the hitman wasn't able to comprehend that with just the noise and tears. A toddler's way of thinking was completely different than a child's or an adult's. So Reborn found it hard to understand what was wrong. It was even starting to get out of hand with the noise and all. To whoever might be living nearby would be able to hear Tsuna's crying. And one thing was for sure, there was a high possibility that before Reborn woke to find himself here, that no record of a baby ever reside in this room with his parents before now. It would get complicated if the neighbours started to get nosy or even call the police about this matter. No way would he allow the citizens to wander into here.
Reborn tutted.
The man turned around and lightly 'dumped' his young charge on the bed, letting the crying little brunet slightly land onto his butt. The sudden action caused the toddler to bounce a bit on the mattress, cushioning him; the plain covers appeared like some makeshift nest around him. The abruptness of the release made Tsuna blink, ceased his crying and sniffed. His large brown eyes were now red and puffy as he peered back up towards Reborn with a hiccup. Seeing that there was no more crying involved, the hitman ran a hand through his unruly dark locks while his other took hold of his fallen fedora by the nightstand. He wore his trademark fashion accessory on his head and turned back to the actual matter at hand. Maybe there were some documents in there, indicating whoever lived here?
With that in mind, Reborn strode back towards the wooden table again and started his investigation, a candle lit with a matchstick for light source. Pointless papers and articles were placed aside onto the furniture's top surface, neatly stacked. So while the hitman was preoccupied, Tsuna had actually been watching him the entire time in silence. There were a few occasional soft hiccups here and there; his curiosity over the man had gained his interest. Large brown eyes followed every movement Reborn made while the toddler observed, fascinated. Soon enough, it was a few minutes later that he watched Reborn empty every single drawer there was on it. But what the man found through his first search was the very date that was today.
It was based off Italy's daily newspaper, printed:
21 May 1780
That was certainly too far into the past they had gotten in. Reborn himself wasn't even born yet. And if he referred to what he had known about Vongola's history, it should probably be sometime around Primo's generation. Yet, it still didn't explain much on their current situation. Ugh. Tsuna tilted his fluffy head to the side in question at the adult's silent ponderings.
"Questo è senza scopo*." Reborn clicked his tongue, displeased.
But before he could continue for the next search in this room, there was the sound of growling from behind that broke the silence. The hitman paused, turning his head to look towards Tsuna —who squeaked softly, startled at the sudden attention towards him. He watched as the toddler fidgeted under his stare, little eyebrows were furrowed as tiny hands tugged at the covers beneath him. Perhaps the investigation could wait after they had their breakfast. With that thought in mind, Reborn headed back over to the bed, picked his young charge by the same way again and strode out of the room. There were some futile struggles from Tsuna's part, not liking the discomfort the man gave him once more.
"Ugu!"
"Oi, dame Tsuna, quit squirming."
Instead of receiving an intelligible response, there were some gurgling sounds coming from the toddler's mouth. But none of it made any sense to the hitman. Reborn soon had them passed by a small yet spacious living room, the only furniture there were a simple old fashioned radio and an arm chair. Nothing more, nothing less. Simple, but empty. It was as though the resident of this place had barely lived in it. And yet, he felt this was very much like his days back when he was working as a famous hitman.
"Stop it or you're going to hurt y—"
Alas, the waterworks started again as Tsuna's wailing cut his words off. Damn, how was it that someone so young could cry so much? And the longer the toddler carried on, Reborn felt a headache settling snugly in his head. If only if Leon was here, he could just have his partner transform into earplugs for him or something. Luce was also out of the question. There was no way Reborn could ask her for information on toddlers. He knew she had experience with her own daughter, Aria. But it was impossible now since she wasn't around yet. It was common sense on that answer, whereby being stuck in this situation with Tsuna. And if Luce was here now, the young mother would probably be around Tsuna's age. Too young, let alone recognise him.
But from what he remembered, Reborn had actually seen Luce looking after little Aria when he was visiting her —except it was only long enough to witness the child being fed from a milk bottle. Child rearing was the last thing on his mind, being as an assassin in the Mafia World and all. During that time, the hitman had better things to pay attention to and matters to handle. That much was what Reborn knew, and now he was currently faced with a predicament he did not know how to handle. He inhaled deeply and sighed. It wasn't the same as when he was stuck in an infant body. The hitman still had the thoughts and mentality of his actual age, sometimes making use of his curse to hide his presence better, taking advantage of an unfortunate stature.
But now... what was he to do with this problem?
Tsuna cried even harder, tiny hands trying to grasp for the only adult with him. Reborn had to actually pause in his steps by the narrow hallway, a few feet away from the kitchen. He could already see what the toddler wanted but just... why? What did dame Tsuna even want from him, a killer no less of all people? There was nothing oh so particular about a hitman that a toddler wanted. And despite his unanswered questions, he mentally winced at the sheer volume from such a small mouth. Okay, maybe he shouldn't ignore the little brunet's cries or else the hitman would go deaf soon. Also, the neighbours would probably have heard all those noises by now. So much for wanting to keep their presence hidden from the world outside.
Tch.
Reborn decided to place the little upset brunet onto the dining table after entering the kitchen. Maybe Tsuna didn't like to be carried? And the moment the toddler was being released again, unsurprisingly to Reborn, he watched as the other ceased crying right away. He merely stared down at Tsuna, his face unreadable, confusion evident in his dark orbs.
Witnessing his young charge's odd behaviour made the hitman questioned himself almost in frustration. Just what did dame Tsuna want from him?
Questo è senza scopo – 'This is pointless'
A/N: My very first story so please bear with me on this. Hopefully it doesn't bore you out or something with the way I wrote through the process. Oh and I hope the story doesn't appear too complicated to understand. D'X
Now, before anyone gets the wrong idea (like child abuse, etc.) as the story progress, I should give you all a heads up on this. My idea of this story is make their unpredictable circumstances, relationships between each other, etc. to be as realistic as I am able to in this. So no 'snap of the fingers' of help coming right away or at that instance, etc. sort of thing. There needs to be some experience in unfortunate difficulties along the way as they progress. Oh and the answers of all the mysteries would soon come along shortly as the chapters goes on.
Reviews would be nice on any constructive criticism and comments. They would help me greatly in improving my story as I get used to this.
