DISCLAIMER: Katekyo Hitman Reborn doesn't belong to me~ If it did, I wouldn't be writing fanfics on it now would I?
WARNINGS: OOC characters (especially Tsuna), some language, and a bit of shounen-ai? (more like perverted Mukuro and Byakuran). I think that's about it… Maybe some violence too but that's common in the anime, they ARE the mafia after all.
(A/N: So to clear some things up, Tsu-kun will be Tsuki and Tsu-chan is Tsuna. Tsuki is NOT HDWM!Tsuna, he's an OC (kinda). Just in case people get confused. And yeah, this is going to be different from the anime… They live in a different house… I don't know how that happened but since I wrote it that way, I just left it. I'm not really good at writing but I just felt like this was a good idea so I wrote this. I hope you all like it and if there are any mistakes or anything, don't hesitate to tell me alright? Thank you very much for clicking on this though! Please enjoy~)
Prologue:
Two loud cries pierced through the quiet, dark night of the hospital. A brunette woman with chocolate brown eyes, wearing a blue hospital gown awoke immediately. She carefully pulled herself up, out of bed, and made her way slowly towards the two cribs nearby as she didn't want to strain herself too much. After all, she just gave birth to two energetic twin boys not too long ago, she's bound to be tired. But she has to go see what her babies are crying about, what kind of mother would she be if she ignored their needs? (Oh the irony). The doctor, the nurse, and Iemitsu have just stepped out for a quick chat about the babies and her condition so there was no one else around at the moment. She stumbled to the crib stationed across the room from the bed she slept in. When she reached it, she carefully lifted up her eldest son and cooed, "What's wrong, Tsu-kun? Are you hungry? Let Mama feed you~" The woman, Sawada Nana, glanced at her younger son and said, "Gomen Tsu-chan, Mama will feed you after I feed Tsu-kun." As if understanding her words, 'Tsu-chan' stopped crying. Although small sniffles were heard, that soon stopped altogether. The younger instead chose to stare quietly at his mother as she fed his elder brother. This surprised Nana. She didn't expect him to understand her and thought he would keep crying even if she said that, like all babies do when they're hungry. D-does he understand me? No…. That's not possible. It's just a coincidence. Yeah a coincidence, that's it! He must've been curious about me so he stopped crying! Nana thought...Oh how naive she was.
Chapter 1:
Five Years later:
A brunette with chocolate brown eyes sat in a white swing chair that was hanging in a garden with all kinds of flowers and trees around, reading a Greek mythology book. There was an identical orange swing chair hanging right next to his. "Tsu-chaaaaan~ Lunch is ready~" a female voice called out from the beige three-story house. Hearing his Mama calling him, Sawada Tsunayoshi - 'Tsu-chan' as his family calls him, or just 'Tsuna' - closed his book and got off his chair. He then quietly walked into the kitchen, taking his precious book with him.
"Mama… I'm here…" He whispered softly and attempted to smile at his mother, Sawada Nana. According to Nana, children are supposed to be cheerful so they smile all the time, which makes them 'cute'. Apparently Tsuna is not a 'normal' child because he doesn't like smiling when he knows he's not actually happy about anything and that's almost never. The problem is, he wants his mother to love him. He wants her attention, he needs her attention for once. That's why he always tries to smile in front of her but his smiles always seemed so forced that he feels disgusted with himself.
"Mou~ Tsu-chan, you don't have to force yourself to smile. Don't worry, Tsu-kun will smile your part too~ Talking about Tsu-kun, Tsuuuuuu-kuuuuuuun~ Where are you? It's time for lunch~" She walked upstairs to get her eldest son to wake up.
Yeah, let him do my part. Let him steal away all your attention, like always. Why do you only care about him so much? How about me? I heard the youngest is always the spoiled one, but how come it's not true for me? I'm the younger one so why? Why? Why? ...No…. I shouldn't think about such depressing things. I have to calm down… Tsuna's eyes darkened for a moment but he closed them so no one will notice. When he opened them again after a second, they were back to their usual 'brightness'. He sat himself down at the table and put his book down beside him.
Fifteen minutes later, Nana walked back into the room along with a boy who looks almost identical to Tsuna. Almost. The only difference being their hair and eye colors. Tsuna has chocolate brown hair and equally brown eyes while the other boy has blonde hair and lighter brown eyes. This is the Sawadas' eldest son, Sawada Tsukiyoshi or more commonly known as Tsu-kun by his parents and Tsuki by his friends.
"Ohayo, Tsu-chan~" Tsuki smiled Tsuna but unknown to him, Tsuna grimaced inwardly.
"O-ohayo, n-nii-san," Tsuna stuttered. Now don't be mistaken, Tsuna isn't that shy or such a scaredy-cat that he would stutter even when greeting his own brother, oh no. He just didn't want to say it correctly right away. He didn't want to call Tsuki 'nii-san' and it wouldn't do him any good if he was found out so early in the game. He was trying to keep a low profile around Tsuki so this is worth it.
"Saa~ Tsu-kun, let's eat. I made spaghetti today. Ah! Tsu-chan too…." Nana put two plates of spaghetti on the rectangular, glass dining table then walked back into the kitchen to get another plate for Tsuna. When she came back, they expressed their gratitude for the food and ate. Tsuki kept smiling brightly and chatting about random things with Nana while Tsuna just ate quietly, feeling left out as usual.
Attention hog… Your smiles are so fake, I don't know how the others can't tell that you're just acting. Stupid phony… Tsuna mumbled inwardly, although no emotion showed on his face. "I'm done Mama…."
"Eh? Oh…. Alright, you can go play or whatever you want to do now…. Run along now," Nana dismissed Tsuna then returned to talking with her cheerful, eldest son.
"Yeah, Tsu-chan, since you're done eating, why don't you go back to reading that book of yours? You looked like you were enjoying it," Tsuki said mockingly. Tsuna just ignored him and nodded. Although other people don't think much of it, the twins actually have grudges against each other and Tsuki never passes up a chance to show it. After all, what's he got to lose in showing his distaste for his brother when he's offered a chance?
"I'll be outside then…." Nana didn't seem to care as she laughed happily with her beloved older son. Tsuna just turned to walk back towards his favorite reading spot, the white swing chair in the middle of the garden. He stayed there until it became too dark to continue reading outside so he went upstairs to his room on the second floor, across from Tsuki's. He continued his reading there until dinnertime when Nana called for him and told him his father was home with a few 'friends'. Closing his book once again, Tsuna placed it on his desk and walked back downstairs, turning off the light on his way out. When he arrived in the dining room, it was practically full of adults in black suits. The only exception being Tsuki, Tsuna, Nana, and Sawada Iemitsu, his father.
"Oh! Tsuna! There you are! Come here, I want to introduce you to a few people!" Iemitsu shouted as soon as he spotted Tsuna. Now that all the attention was given to him, Tsuna felt… accomplished in some way. Obeying his father, Tsunayoshi silently went to stand by his father's side while both he and Tsukiyoshi were introduced to the people in black suits. There were five people in total. One of them was an old man with gray hair and the same light brown eyes as his father. He was introduced first.
His name was Timoteo and he was Iemitsu's boss, but somehow, the twins ended calling him 'Grandpa'. Tsuki just started calling him that and he insisted that Tsuna does the same. Everybody else after this was a blur to little Tsuna. Probably because all he did after Timoteo's introduction was stare at the old man. The man stared back at some point and they made a connection of some sort, though that 'connection' was broken when Tsuna looked away. Timoteo found this strange but the others were too immersed in chatting with the more cheerful and outgoing older son of Iemitsu to notice.
What if…. Timoteo thought. "Tsunayoshi-kun, can I talk to you for a moment?" The older man smiled gently at the child he was talking to. Tsuna looked to his father for permission but it didn't seem like he noticed anything so Tsuna took it to his own accord and agreed. They went to his room to talk so they wouldn't be disrupted by those noisy adults cooing at 'the cuteness of Tsukiyoshi' downstairs. "Tsunayoshi-kun, I have a few questions for you if you don't mind answering me." He received a hesitant nod as an indication to continue. "What would you do if you had to fight with your brother to the death to protect your friends and family? Would you fight with him or not?"*
"I don't have any friends…"
"And why is that?"
"Because I'm Dame-Tsuna. I fail at everything I do."
"That's not true, you are a smart boy. Look, you're reading mythology at such a young age! Not many at your age are able to read, let alone understand mythology." Timoteo picked up Tsuna's book from his desk.
"I don't understand most of it. I just like looking at the pictures…" He lied. There actually aren't too many pictures, but he's betting that 'Grandpa' wouldn't actually look through it.
"I see….Well then, that's all I wanted to know. Thank you for answering my questions, Tsunayoshi-kun. Let's get back to dinner before there's no more food left." He stood back up and motioned for Tsuna to walk with him back downstairs. Hmm… This boy is unsuitable to be the Vongola Decimo… His brother is the kind I know will benefit the Vongola in the long run. I guess I will have to see, hmm. Timoteo was so deep in thought while he was walking that he didn't notice Tsuna was also thinking very hard.
What does he want by asking me that question? 'If I would protect them or not', huh? What does he think I'll do? Just stand by and do nothing? Of course I'd try not to fight him. But if I had to, I would. I never liked him anyways… But that doesn't mean I'd actually hurt him… He is my brother after all. Plus, I wouldn't want Mama to be upset because of that. While the two were deep in their thoughts, they have already arrived at the dining room and heading towards the table. As Timoteo took his seat, he glanced and Iemitsu then shook his head. Noticing who the Ninth came in with and understanding what he meant, Iemitsu turned to his beloved wife, silencing everybody in the room.
"My beloved Nana, I have an announcement to make."
"What is it, dear?"
"I'm going to take our darling son, Tsukiyoshi, with me to Italy." He kept a straight face and his eyes held seriousness. Nana's eyes widened.
"Eh? I-I see… When will you leave?" Nana was being surprisingly calm about this, like she somehow knew this would happen.
"Tomorrow…"
"I see… Well then, I guess I should go pack up for him." It was like that that Tsuki left Japan for Italy at age five. It wasn't until both twins were thirteen that he came back to live. The problem was, he came back all different. He no longer acted like he was the good kid unless in front of strangers and his so called friends, he was his real self at home now. No longer did he want to hog all of Nana's attention for himself, to make Tsuna's life a living hell. Now, he wants to make his life a real living hell by turning everyone on him. Not that Tsuna had any friends to begin with, but never did they bother him except for calling him 'Dame-Tsuna'. They would just leave him alone but now, they actually bully him to the extent of beating him up.
In the past eight years, Tsuki wasn't the only one who changed. Tsuna's silky hair grew much longer, it reached his hips. He covers his face with his long, chocolate bangs now. You could say he looked fragile and shy, even though he really isn't. He still acts like he knows nothing and tries to stay away from everybody. Everything else didn't change until two years after Tsuki left, when they were both seven years old. They say curiosity killed the cat but in Tsuna's case, it revived him. It was all because of his curiosity that he became how he is now. If he were not curious about Tsuki and his father, he would not have been introduced into the mafia world by the boss of the biggest enemy Famiglia of the Vongola, Byakuran - also known as the Millefiore boss and holder of the Sky Mare Ring - and a few of his other friends as well.
Six Years Ago (From the Present):
It was a sunny Friday afternoon and Tsuna decided to walk the long way home from school. His dad was visiting that day so he didn't want to be home so early just to be neglected again. He was just walking peacefully when he bumped into a white haired stranger. This stranger didn't seem that much older than him but was definitely creepier. Even so, Tsuna wasn't even a tiny bit scared of this stranger. Instead of feeling fear, he felt a sense of familiarity from the older child. Like he had known the other for a long time. Tsuna was sure he never met the other in the seven years he lived, but he still couldn't shake off that feeling that the older was like family to him. He actually doesn't even know how a real family is supposed to feel like, he just knows this is the word to describe that warm feeling filling up in his chest when he's in the presence of this strange person. It may be that 'intuition' thing he's been having ever since he was a baby. He had heard his dad talking about it before, something about 'Primo' and 'Hyper Intuition'. Iemitsu and his 'friends' were discussing that in the living room. They said that both of the blonde's children had very weak Hyper Intuition or something like that. They didn't know Tsuna's was actually really strong just that the child refused to show it.
A creepy laughter brought Tsuna back from his thoughts, "Kufufu~ What do we have here? The marshmallow and a cute kid? Don't tell me you're going to kidnap the poor thing, Byakuran~" An indigo, pineapple haired kid appeared out of nowhere, right next to Tsuna. Now, normal people would be surprised but Tsuna wasn't exactly a normal kid - considering he is the more intelligent one of the twins. So Tsuna just stared at the pineapple kid's hair and almost laughed out loud. Key word: almost. He didn't want to upset someone he just met. He doesn't have any friends already; he doesn't want to lose these potential ones. He may regret later when they reject him just because they can't see who he really is, but it's worth a try. Besides, his Intuition told him they would be different.
"Mukuro-kun, what are you doing here? I'd have thought Kyoya-kun would attack you the moment you stepped onto his turf," the 'marshmallow' teased.
"Kufufufu~ I could say the same for you, Byakuran-kun," Mukuro teased back. The two seemingly glared at each other before Mukuro noticed the brunette still standing there, staring at them. "And who is this little one?" He asked, hands motioning to Tsuna.
"I don't know either~ I just bumped into him and was about to ask when you so rudely interrupted us~"
"Well then, what's your name, little one?" Tsuna blinked. He had blocked out the conversation between the two but he heard Mukuro's question, which snapped him out of his stupor.
"Eh? Um…. It's Sawada, Tsunayoshi… I prefer being called Tsuna but you can call me whatever you want."
"Heeh. Nice to meet you Tsu-chan~" at this, Tsuna blushed. Nobody ever called him that except for his family and he never thought anyone else would ever call him that. "As I thought! Tsu-chan is so adorable~" Tsuna was promptly glomped by Byakuran.
"Hiiii!"
"Kufufufu~ the marshmallow wants to keep Tsunayoshi-kun all to himself, does he?"
Then, another voice suddenly interrupted them, "Herbivores, you will all be bitten to death for crowding."
Please read:
Aaaaaand~ That's that~ How do you like it? I hope it's ok~ I might not be able to update every day but I think every two weeks or so will be fine~ I'm not sure though. I'm also working on another story for KHR, so I might not be able to update much and I'm still thinking about what to write next. Weeeell~ PLEASE REVIEW! I'd like to know what you think about this to motivate me to write faster and more. Also, I think I made a few mistakes here and there so please tell me! I'd like to know so I can correct them. Thank you very much for reading~ I hope you liked it!
*I don't even know what prompted Timoteo ask a five year-old a question like that, but the idea here is that Timoteo found Tsuna unsuitable based on his answers. I'm trying to put some blame on him for being stupid and expecting a fine-year-old to understand the world that even adults can't fully comprehend. Also, for thinking Tsuna is a loner at this age and therefore unable to gather his guardians is also one point against him.
3/24/12: Well... I just edited this but I'm not sure if I got everything so please tell me if I didn't. I'm not that good at writing but at least I tried, right? :)
Edited again: 11/21/15
-Amaya Ishimoto~
