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Chapter 1. Beginnings part 1

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Tsunayoshi

Tsuna knew he was screwed on the day he fell in love with Hibari Kyoya's younger sister.

He, of course, didn't realize it at the time. No one really just realizes the day you fall in love—you just notice one day that you are in love. Because love is complex. Something beyond human understanding and can only be grasped through the sheer experience of it.

Tsuna had no real experience with love before, so the subtle signs just flew past his shoulders. Whether it be the increased beating of his heart or the sweatiness of his palms, love was something that Tsuna did not expect.

When he thought of love, Tsuna thought of Kyoko (his only real connection to the feeling). It was through Kyoko that Tsuna fell madly infatuated with. Short ginger hair, innocent doe eyes, a smile that glowed with her aura. The girl practically had it all. It didn't help that Kyoko was the school idol, leaving Tsuna little to no chance for her.

Tsuna liked to think he loved her, and perhaps he did. But the love he thought he gave away had always been reserved for someone else.


He had first met her when he was eleven.

It was summer and this year's festival was being held. Tsuna honestly didn't want to go. He could think of better places than going outside and risk being seen. To risk being bullied.

For most of his life Tsuna has been deemed useless, a waste of space, dame. And for a long time Tsuna thought he was just as useless as the rumours has said he would be. He wasn't very good at any sports, couldn't really understand English, and pretty much flunked every other school subject. Tsuna felt worthless, and often felt bad for his mother who had to take care of him.

So Tsuna did all the little things that would made his mother happy. Whether it be to go to the grocery store for her, or clean around a bit. Just the little things to make it seem like it was worth all of it—that he was worth all of it. One of the little things just so happened to be to go to this year's festival.

And so the brunette appeared, but made sure to keep his presence hidden. The sun had almost completely disappeared, leaving an abundance of shadows for Tsuna to hide in, but Tsuna wasn't that worried. This year's festival was crowded with people, giving the boy lots of opportunity to mingle among the majority as a way of camouflage.

The eleven-year old made his way around the stall, stopping every now and then to purchase food. This year's takoyaki smelled especially delicious. Tsuna went to buy some when they came.

"Hey, isn't that Dame-Tsuna?"

Tsuna swallowed. He made sure to look relaxed in the hopes not to raise the bullies suspicion. Quickly, he paid for his food and made his way to the opposite direction when a plump hand gripped onto Tsuna's slim shoulder.

"Thought you could escape us Tsuna?"

Making his signature shriek, Tsuna turned around to see his usual entourage of bullies. The three bullies flocked together as a pack, large bodies standing tall to further intimidate their victim. They wore casual clothing, but there was nothing casual in their intentions.

It was either fight or flight. Since there wasn't any real chance for Tsuna to fight, it left only one option. With every ounce of confidence the skinny eleven-year old had, he shoved his piping hot takoyaki into one of the bully's face.

The bully screamed from the hot contact, stunning his company. Tsuna took his distraction as a success and started to run away. He zipped his way past people in haste. The brunette wasn't going to be bullied. Not today. He was going to have fun, just like his mother said to.

Tsuna could feel his lungs burning. His scrawny legs were being pushed to the limit from the access running. One would think that being chased all the time would help Tsuna gain some sort of stamina, but in reality, it didn't do Tsuna much.

In his rush, Tsuna found himself accidentally bumping into a little girl. The little girl fell down from the collision, and Tsuna could see the moisture making it up to her brown eyes, but the increasing form of the bullies left no time for apologies.

With great haste, Tsuna made his way far. Far away from the bullies. Far away from the torture. Away to the temple.


Usually, Tsuna was fine with going to the temple. During most days it was quiet, secluded, and even relaxing.

However it was night time, replacing the relaxing aura of the temple into a more supernatural glow. The brunette realized the increasing lack of light during his trek up to salvation and the clouds in the sky left little room for moon light giving even less visual for Tsuna. The dense trees welcomed the eleven-year old in an ominous way and the tall grass would often tickle Tsuna's bare ankles.

Despite being uncomfortable and fully freaked out, Tsuna finally made it to the temple. He noticed odd presence of people. Usually there would have been teenagers who looking for some "alone time" at the temple or the usual groups of children looking for something supernatural. But when Tsuna got to the place it was just quiet and empty.

The skinny boy made his way behind the relic of a temple and rested for a second. He didn't hear from the bullies so far and he hoped that he would be able to wait them out from here.

"Are you hiding too?"

Tsuna shrieked at the sudden voice. He whipped his head to see a young girl standing beside him. She was dressed for the festival (cherry blossom patterned yukata and all), and had outrageously long black hair. What really irked Tsuna the most what the fox mask covering half of the girl's face that oddly reminded him of the ANBU masks in Naruto. The whole getup scared the shit out of the boy.

It was then when Tsuna realized, this was why there wasn't any people at the temple. There was a spirit here and this spirit was going to devour his soul.

Tsuna straighten abruptly and pointed a shaky finger at the girl, "G-ghost!"

The girl looked behind her in surprise. "Where?!" She gravitated her way closer to Tsuna, small hands clutched on the boy's blue hoodie.

Tsuna felt the blood rushing onto his face. He had never been this close to a girl (spirit? female-spirit?)—hell, most girls didn't even want to be in a two metre radius near him. This type of physical contact was way beyond the young boy's comprehension.

"You! You're the ghost!"

The black haired stranger tilted her hair in confusion. Her grey eyes staring at Tsuna intently behind her mask. "Me?" She pointed at herself, "I'm the ghost?"

Tsuna nodded fanatically, he spiked up brown hair flowing with his movements. "Yes!"

"I am not a ghost," replied the girl in an unamused tone. She stepped back away from Tsuna's personal space (much to his delight) and gave a confident pose. "I am human, thank you very much."

"Prove it," said Tsuna. He still felt wary of the girl. Her sudden appearance—her sudden contact—with him made Tsuna feel extremely anxious. He knew better than to trust people so easily.

The girl moved into a thinking pose—arms crossed, chin down—before she shrugged. "How do you suppose I prove myself?" she asked. "Do you want me to strip a little?"

Tsuna fell his entire face heat up. He could tell by her voice that the girl was joking, but the thought of it has long been imprinted into his head. "No! No."

"I guess we're at a stalemate, huh?"

The two fell into an awkward silence, more awkward on Tsuna's part than the mystery girl. If anything she was enjoying his company more than she should.

After a good few minutes, the fox girl broke the silence. "My name's Kairi," she grabbed a pouch tied to her side, opened it, and offered a cookie Tsuna's way, "What's yours?"

"Sawada Tsunayoshi."

Kairi's lips formed a firm line. "That's a mouthful."

"Don't I know it?" Tsuna felt his mind wander to the numerous times people got his name wrong and shuddered. He took a bite from the offered cookie and replied back. "Just call me Tsuna. It's easier for the both of us."

In a sudden spark of an idea, Kairi's posture straightened. "I know! I call you Yoshi!"

Tsuna frowned in return. "No."

"Come on!" She tugged the ends of Tsuna's sleeve. "You'll be like the coolest dinosaur around."

"No," Tsuna said firmly, hoping to get his point across.

"What about Yo-kun?"

"No!"

"Tuna?"

"That one's even worse!"

Kairi sighed. She rested her chin on her knees, giving Tsuna an unimpressed look. "You're no fun."

The two felt the awkwardness slowly leave, and a more casual atmosphere replaced it. It was then that Tsuna started to learn more about Kairi. He learned that she loves anime just as much as he did and that she really admired people like Naruto. In contrast, Kairi learned that Tsuna was constantly being bullied, which only added to her annoyance.

"Impossible!"

Tsuna looked at Kairi quizzically. The cookies had long been eaten, leaving only the bag and the crumbs as remains. "What's impossible?"

"I refuse to think that people bully you!"

"It's not that hard to believe. I mean, just look at me!"

"Yes! That is exactly what I did! I looked at you and saw a great person."

Tsuna felt his ears reddened. It wasn't exactly every day that someone compliments him, especially for a girl he barely knew.

Feeling uncomfortable, Tsuna changed the topic. "So why are you wearing a mask?" asked Tsuna. He was genuinely curious upon his acquaintance's ordeal.

Kairi's pale hand touched the clay mask on her face, instantly forgetting their earlier conversation. "Oh, this old thing? I actually forgot I even had it on."

Tsuna felt himself sweat drop, but still urged her to continue.

"Well I'm hiding you see." Kairi's gaze drifted to the moon. "My family is protective of me. They don't like me going out a lot, so I snuck out with this mask to go to the festival." She gave a cheeky smile Tsuna's way. "It's a pretty good disguise isn't it?"

"I guess." Tsuna didn't really know how Kairi looked like without it, so he wasn't quick to judge.

Kairi's smile faltered for a sad frown. "I don't have a lot of friends—or any friends, really—because of my family. I love them a lot, but I get lonely, ya know?"

The sad thing was that Tsuna did know. He knew quite well to feel isolated from everybody. It was like there was a thin line dividing him from the rest of the world. It was good to know that he wasn't alone on the other side.

Kairi took a deep breath, before smiling at Tsuna. "I'm glad that I got to escape though! I got to have my first friend!"

In an instant, Tsuna felt his heart stop. Friend? The word was practically foreign to him. Friends were something out of his reach. Something that wasn't given to useless people. So why did Kairi just say that they were friends? They only met each other for fifteen minutes. Fifteenth minutes! In that short amount of time he made a friend. Dame-Tsuna made a friend, and it was the best feeling in the world.

"Yeah. Friends."

"And because we are friends, I think it's only right to take this silly thing off."

Pale hands made their way to the white fox mask. In a swift motion, the mask was gone revealing a young face. Piercing grey eyes stared at Tsuna in a familiar notion that made him shudder, and the boy could have sworn that it looked almost worried. A narrow nose was raised high in a sophisticated gesture. Tsuna guessed that Kairi might have been of upper class considering the way she carried herself.

Before Tsuna even had the chance to stop himself, he opened his mouth. "You're pretty."

The statement lead both parties to flush a brilliant red. Eyes looked elsewhere as Tsuna fidgeted awkwardly from his spot. What is wrong with me, he thought. This was the brunette's first friend. He did not want to destroy his new friendship so soon.

"Thanks."

Tsuna whipped his head to Kairi. She still kept her gaze on the ground—a small grin on her face. He couldn't help but mirror her smile.

Before Tsuna could reply, a black blur made its way behind Kairi—a large pale hand grasped the girl's thin shoulders. Although it was night, Tsuna could recognize that face anywhere. Black hair perfectly trimmed, white shirt formally tucked into the matching black pants, grey eyes narrowed to parallel the scowl on his face. Hibari Kyoya in the flesh has appeared, and he was not happy. Not one bit.

"Ah, Kyo-ni. You found me already."

Kyo-ni! Tsuna felt himself swallow in fear. In an instant, everything made sense. The familiar grey eyes. The overprotective demeanor that Hibari seemed to ooze. It didn't take an idiot to see the familial resemblances. Tsuna would have continued to deny it, if not hearing from Kairi herself. Despite looked similar, their personalities were polar opposites. They boy couldn't help but wonder how each party ended up this way.

"Kairi." Hibari's voice echoed in the air. It was as sharp as Tsuna remembered, but there seemed to lack a sense of chill that the intimidating thirteen-year old was known for. "You have been misbehaving."

Kairi's brows narrowed. She looked absolutely livid. "Misbehaving?! Excuse me—"

"You are excused." Tsuna sweat dropped. This was probably the infamous "sibling quarrels" that he heard so much about, but didn't really experience for himself seeing as he was an only child.

"Don't tell me to 'be excused'!" Kairi ripped herself from her grasp and stood tall in front of her brother. "If anything, you should be excused."

Hibari's eyes softened, almost in pity. "You know my orders. You know the rules."

"Yes. You and father seem to constantly want to repeat it to my face."

"We will stop once you actually start to listen."

"'We'? Don't joke Kyo-ni! It's always father deciding what to do. It's always father restricts me from seeing the world!"

The two sibling continues to argue. Each second seem to continue to rile them up. It has gotten to the point where the two sibling switched to a completely different language, which Tsuna assumed was Mandarin or Cantonese.

Tsuna thought about stopping the fight. He honestly did. But the two sibling were arguing against each other like a pair of starving lions over food. It was not pretty.

"It's time to leave, Kairi."

The statement seemed to spark something in both Tsuna and Kairi, leaving a quiet hum in the area. The festival has long since been over, leaving most people packed up for home. Even the insects seemed to quiet down, as if sensing the tension in the air.

"No." The tension seemed to thicken from Kairi's answer, leaving an angry older brother and a terrified Tsuna.

"What did you say?"

"I said no." Kairi crossed her arms and looked her brother in the eye. "I'm done doing what father says."

In one swift action, Hibari grabbed Kairi into his arms and carried the petite girl on his shoulders like a rice sack. Kairi immediately started to protest by thrashing, but Hibari would have none and held his place.

"Let me go!"

"We are going home," Hibari spoke every word slowly in malice, causing Kairi to be limp.

Tsuna wanted to intervene. He saw his friend crumbing on the shoulders of her older brother and he did nothing. He couldn't do anything. Because he was Dame-Tsuna. A person who stood no chance against Hibari Kyoya—a prodigy in every field and an absolute monster with his tonfas. He wasn't strong. Not like Naruto. Not like Hibari. Not even for Kairi.

The brunette felt even guiltier when he heard a sob from Kairi.

Narrowed eyes from the male Hibari made its direction to Tsuna. "Do you have anything to say?"

Tsuna could feel the sweat building up on his forehead. Hibari was only looking at him, and he could still feel the weight of his stare. Seeing Hibari waiting for an answer, Tsuna shook his head and watched as his first friend drift away in the arms of her brother.


A/N: Here it is folks, my first ff.

I've been procrastinating on this for so long-keeping all my ideas in my head-but now I finally have a story going! I am so proud of myself. I would appreciate any critical review and overall thoughts on how my story is going. Do you love it? Hate it? I don't expect anyone or everyone to review, but I always appreciate any sort of feedback.

If anyone has any questions for me, don't be afraid to ask. I want to be connected with my readers and I want to make sure they are following the story correctly. If something seems confusing I will clarify it and edit the story so it won't happen again.

Also, if anyone notices anything that may be wrong in canon (besides my OC's existence) that I have written, please say something. I'm only human and I make my own fair share of mistakes. This probably won't happen in this chapter, but for later on. This goes the same way for any grammar mistakes.

Remember to Fav and Follow!

-Angelic Bliss