Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveller, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
-The Road Not Taken, Robert Frost
Hayato stared at the clean streets of Japan. It was the first time he set foot on his mother's homeland, and it was all thanks to his foster parents – the kind people who took him in after he ran away from home.
And now, at the age of twenty-one, after having graduated from the University of Salerno as top of his batch, he finally earned enough money to go abroad and visit Japan.
He didn't know why his feet dragged him from the capital of Tokyo to a small town called Namimori, as if something was pulling him into the mysterious town. In a few minutes, he found himself sitting inside a small café, ordering a cup of coffee.
"You're not from here, are you?" a soft voice asked him. Hayato looked up and saw a young man with brown gravity-defying hair and mesmerizing brown eyes.
His senses were tingling, as if he knew that this man was dangerous. "Why the hell do you care?" he growled, trying to scare the man away.
The man merely chuckled and shook his head before placing a cup of coffee on the glass table. "My name's Sawada Tsunayoshi by the way, you can call me Tsuna," Hayato wondered if the man was an idiot- giving his full name to a stranger like him... "Enjoy your coffee!" he grinned at him before disappearing behind the kitchen doors.
Gokudera (he decided to keep his biological mother's last name, after confronting his foster parents) Hayato sighed, taking a sip from his coffee. He blinked twice, realising how the flavour of the drink lived up to his tastes.
The second time he met Sawada Tsunayoshi was when he went back to Salerno, Italy. He saw the brunette sitting on a park bench. Unlike in the café in Namimori, he was now wearing a pinstripe suit, thus making him look more respectable.
"What the hell are you doing here?" he asked, a bit suspicious of the man.
"Ah! It's you! From the café back then!" Gokudera twitched when he heard how the suspicious man addressed him. "I don't know your name yet, so…" the man scratched his head sheepishly.
'Did he read my mind or something?' Gokudera wondered before setting his books down on the bench.
"Arashi…" the foreign word escaped Tsunayoshi's lips.
(Arashi = Storm)
"Excuse me?" the silver-ette looked at Tsunayoshi in confusion. What did he mean with Arashi?
The brunette shook his head, "It's nothing… I just… remembered something, 'is all."
"Decimo-sama!" a tall man with long seaweed green hair rushed towards the brunette. "I've searched everywhere for you! I thought… I thought I had failed as your right-hand!" he cried, not noticing the other presence that was there.
Tsunayoshi sweatdropped. "I'm fine, Nino-kun…"
Gokudera couldn't help but wonder about Sawada Tsunayoshi's identity. Being addressed as 'Decimo' and having a 'right-hand-man' reminded him of a boss from a mafia… but Tsunayoshi didn't look like one. He lacked height (he was short for his age). He lacked the aura. And he lacked the confidence.
"Who's the old man, Decimo-sama?" 'Nino' asked before protectively shielding his precious boss.
"He's just a… an acquaintance, Nino-kun." Tsunayoshi asked him to lower his guard. "He's of no danger."
Nino sniffed at him, "He smells like that woman, Decimo-sama…"
"Are you a dog? Sniffing people like that…" Gokudera couldn't help but ask. The man was getting on his nerves, for some reason.
"I don't care about your opinion, old man," the green haired man glared at the silverette.
Tsunayoshi coughed, noticing how heavy the atmosphere was.
"Ah! I'm sorry Decimo-sama!" Nino bowed at him, breaking contact with Gokudera. "I've signalled the baseball idiot to bring the car here. We can return back to base then."
Gokudera swore, if this 'Nino' was a hybrid dog, his tail would be wagging back and forth.
When a black Rolls Royce appeared by the fountain, Tsunayoshi stood up. "Well then, I'll see you another time, ne?"
"Gokudera Hayato…"
"Eh?" Tsunayoshi blinked twice.
"My name's Gokudera Hayato." The half-Italian told him.
Tsunayoshi smiled and nodded at him before he entered the black vehicle.
Nino, on the other hand, snorted at him. "Stay out of the Decimo's way would 'ya? He doesn't need another storm, especially with Bianchi around."
Gokudera froze as he heard that name.
Bianchi.
He closed his eyes and clenched his fists, shuddering when he remembered how his sister tried to 'poison' him with her un-edible food.
The third time their roads crossed with each other was when he spent a week in Venice (being a freelancer had its perks).
Sawada Tsunayoshi was with a weird suit-and-fedora-wearing-baby.
"Ah, Gokudera-san, nice meeting you here," the young man smiled at him once again, but this time, his smile lacked the same shine than before.
Gokudera merely nodded, not knowing how to address the child, standing on the brunette's shoulders.
"You shouldn't associate with him, Dame-Tsuna… He'll just strain the relationship with the Grigio Famiglia," the baby whispered.
Tsunayoshi sighed, "I know, Reborn…"
"You have ten minutes with him," the baby told him before jumping off his shoulders, walking away.
"Well then, care to join me for a walk, Gokudera-san?" he asked.
Gokudera didn't think twice with joining him for a walk. He felt like it was the last time he was going to meet this mysterious man.
In a matter of ten minutes, Tsunayoshi had told him everything. How he became the Vongola's tenth boss. How he had already met his half-sister. How he noticed the 'storm' flames from him, when they first met. He told him about the Grigio Famiglia, and how he knew about Gokudera's relationship with them. And how they were never going to meet again.
Tsunayoshi saw his Storm and Rain Guardians waiting for him. He knew it was time to return to his home.
"If… our roads had crossed paths earlier…," Gokudera started, "would we have become friends?"
Tsunayoshi smiled at him. "Maybe we would have."
And with that last meeting, Gokudera had never seen Tsunayoshi ever again. All he could do was wonder… wonder how different things would've been if he had chosen a different path. How different things would've been if he had met the Vongola Decimo earlier.
Author's Note: Yay! Finally, a plot bunny! So, if I may explain a few things… Gokudera ran away from home after finding out that his biological mother had died. He was found by a couple who took him in. He graduated from college with honors, and he became a freelancer… He did not have a specific job, he just did whatever job somebody offered him (after all, he is a genius).
"Nino" is an OC I made up. He's Tsuna's Storm Guardian (since Gokudera is out of the picture).
Hope that can explain a bit of the one-shot. ^w^. Until next time.