Summary: Iemitsu realizes, too little too late, that no matter how much he may brag about how adorable his son is, he lost the right to call himself a father years ago. And little Tsuna, tired of waiting for the dad that would never come home, has already found another father figure in the form of his ghostly ancestor by the name of Giotto. Angst. Giotto/Tsuna father-son fluff.
SkyGem: I know, I was supposed to update yesterday, wasn't I? But I didn't have enough time! I'm so sorry! I'll update whenever I can, okay? And that'll be next weekend, probably…sorry. Anyways, just enjoy this little story until then, okay? I was just in one of those hate-Iemitsu-for-abandoning-Tsu-chan moods, so I decided to write this. The concept of Giotto "haunting" (for lack of a better word) Tsuna is similar to one of my other fics, but since this scene will never appear there, I just decided to write a one-shot for it. I hope you like!
Disclaimer: I don't own KHR.
"Tsu-chan! Come downstairs! Papa has come home to see you!" Nana's cheerful voice rang through the house.
After having properly greeting his wife and gushing over how beautiful she had grown for well over five minutes, Iemitsu had remembered that he did, indeed, have a son, and inquired as to his whereabouts.
Now, the blond was waiting excitedly at the bottom of the stairs for his son to rush down the stairs and tackle him in a hug, just like he did every time Iemitsu came home.
Unfortunately for the CEDEF leader, though, that was not what happened.
Instead of enthusiastically greeting him like he usually did, little five-year-old Tsuna poked his head around a corner, looking down the flight of stairs at the person that his mother had called his papa.
Seeing a blond man that he only vaguely recognized as the weird man that sometimes came to their house for a few nights or sometimes even a week, the child's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. The brunet remembered his mother telling him sometimes that this man was his papa, but now Tsuna knew better; his real papa was in his room, waiting for him to come back so they could continue reading.
So with all the confidence of a child that knew he was right, Tsuna shook his head, pointing down at the stranger and saying, "That's not Tsu-kun's papa!"
And with that, the situation was dismissed from the child's mind as he turned to scurry back to his room, wanting to be back with his real papa and not sparing another thought to the silly man that thought he could trick Tsuna by pretending to be his papa.
And behind him, Iemitsu was staring at the spot where his son had been standing just moments ago, his expression shocked beyond belief.
Looking at his wife with watery eyes, he said in a voice resembling a dismayed child, "My own son doesn't even recognize me! What kind of a father am I?"
"Oh, don't worry about that," said Nana in her sweetest voice, "It's not that Tsu-kun doesn't recognize you. It's just that lately, he has a new imaginary friend that he calls papa. You just have to go upstairs and show him that you're his real father, and he'll be sure to greet you just like usual!"
"R-really?" asked Iemitsu, sniffing exaggeratedly.
"That's right!" encouraged his beautiful wife, making Iemitsu feel suddenly a hundred times more confident.
Taking a deep breath, Iemitsu nodded and turned to head up the stairs, his expression determined.
When he got to the door of his son's room, Iemitsu hesitated for just a moment to gather his courage before opening it.
When he entered the boy's room, though, the blond was met with a sight he definitely had not been expecting.
There was his son, staring avidly at a picture book with a smile that lit up his whole face, but that wasn't the unexpected part.
What was unexpected was the fact that Tsuna was sitting in the lap of a blond haired, blue eyed, almost transparent man, who was reading out the words to him.
At his entrance, both occupants of the room stared at him, their faces showing very different expressions.
Tsuna's face showed curiosity, and mild annoyance at the interruption, but the man's face show a kind of fierce protectiveness.
Iemitsu immediately recognized this man – how could he not recognize the founder of the Vongola? – and something inside him broke when he saw the accusation in his ancestors eyes.
What are you doing here? said the man's accusing glare. You abandoned my great-great-great grandson; you abandoned your own son in favour of the mafia. And now you just decide to come home and dote on him, as if that will make up for everything you haven't done. It's not that easy. Tsuna is a child; he doesn't understand all those complex excuses you've made for yourself. All he sees is the weird stranger that likes to call himself his father.
That's all you are to him.
Nothing more.
SkyGem: Yeah…I was kinda mean to Iemitsu, wasn't I? But please do leave a review and tell me what you thought anyways, ne? Ciao!