Hypothesis 0: Resolution
Part 1: Standardised Beginnings
...
Living is simple
While not living is much more difficult
Look, even if I don't cherish it
My life is already too much for me to handle
Too late.
Was it too late?
It was too late.
He couldn't do anything.
He couldn't see.
He couldn't hear.
He couldn't think.
Could he breathe?
He couldn't breathe.
That person.
He didn't succeed in the end.
Because that person...
If...I could restart again...
Another world...another life...
Would he still be next to me?
If you stood outside the Concilio, right in the center of the parade square, and if you concentrated hard, you would be able to hear a shrill sound going off in almost all directions.
That would be the standardised school bell, ringing at the standardised time, across every standardised school in the country.
It rang at exactly 2 PM sharp, Monday to Friday, every week without fail. There were no public holidays -they were unheard of. Everyone deserved a fair share of food, and everyone deserved to work their fair share to get it. Taking breaks could not be afforded, not if the country strived to prosper and grow. Work hard, they said. Work hard for the next generation to enjoy this equality you all enjoy.
It was 2 PM. Every student across the whole nation was packing up their things, happily chatting with classmates as they got ready to go home. And there sat Sawada Tsunayoshi, blatantly ignoring the shrill sound of the bell and staring out the window, head resting on one hand. It looked almost peaceful, really, and very out-of-character. One who knew him would say that Tsunayoshi was normally not so contemplative, so serene, so...
Asleep?
Dame-Tsuna had fallen asleep. And he was drooling all over his desk, for the matter. Some students who had happened to glance in his direction snickered and nudged their friends, and this started a domino effect that had everyone holding back their giggles and teasing poor, sleeping dame-Tsuna. Who, unfortunately, had just started to snore at that exact same moment, causing the whole class to lose it and burst into raucous peals of laughter.
He woke up with a jolt, jumping up and leaping almost a foot into the air. This, of course, sent the whole class into another fit of laughter, and by the time that ended Tsuna's face was already a deep cherry red, blushing like there was no tomorrow.
"Pfft..dame-Tsuna really doesn't change, huh?"
"Dame is dame after all."
"He's a great source of entertainment, though."
"Aww, c'mon guys, don't be so mean."
"What're you talking 'bout, Kyoko-chan? Everyone knows that guy's useless. Is he even gonna bother sitting for the Leaving Examination next week? We all know he's gonna fail epically and become a cashier or cleaner or something."
"Ah, well..."
Tsuna couldn't even feel downcast as Kyoko stumbled, obviously unable to provide an intelligent retort to that. Because really, even he had to agree with all that they said. When all was said and done, dame-Tsuna was dame-Tsuna; he had done nothing in his miserable fourteen years of life to disprove that, and had just furthered it with his boundless uselessness.
With a sigh of resignation, he stuffed all his homework messily into his bag(he was so going to regret it later when he started sorting out the thirty loose sheets of work he had from each individual class) and struggled his way out of the classroom. No one bothered to move for him-still too busy laughing, Tsuna thought glumly-and he had to push and shove some people out of the way just to reach the entrance.
Where he just had to trip on his own shoelaces and crash into the door, sending his bag flying open and all thirty, miserable sheets of work fluttering to the floor, fanning out almost everywhere it could possibly land in a four metre radius.
There was a split second of utter silence before the jeers and laughter started again, by which time Tsuna had already struggled to his feet, crushed five out of thirty worksheets into his hand, grabbed his practically empty school bag and was just about halfway out the door.
Tsuna was good at running, really, but only when it came to escaping. He was out the door and at the school gates in practically twenty seconds flat, and he was barely even panting.
Around him, students were walking out in pairs, groups, chatting and laughing with each other as they exited the school. There were occasional glances aimed at him, expected whispers and mutters about him.
"Sawada Tsunayoshi?"
"Ah, dame-Tsuna?"
"The one who Mochida totally trashed?"
"Pfft-haha, that was funny, wasn't it?"
"Shh, don't say it so loud, you'll embarrass him."
Tsuna felt himself go red again as he listened to their conversation. It had been a total misunderstanding. He had so not been trying to confess to Kyoko-even if he did like her, he actually had a sense of self-preservation for God's sake! But Mochida had refused to look at it logically, resulting in Tsuna having to run around the school in his boxers during lunch time. Inevitably, his schoolmates didn't seem to be forgetting about that humiliating incident anytime soon.
Quickening his pace so as to avoid having to listen in to this sort of thing(the classic theory of if you hear and see no evil, there is no evil), he blazed through the body of students mingling around the gates and practically left a trail of dust behind as he went on auto-pilot mode, legs walking through the park and along his usual route without being told.
Tsuna really wouldn't go to school if it wasn't compulsory. Well, at least education was free, so he didn't have to pay through his teeth to subject himself to a daily living hell. Still, even if it was free, he couldn't really see the point. He was dame-Tsuna, after all, and God knows he definitely wouldn't do well in anything as remotely important as the Leaving Examination, so they should just wise up and give him a job already. At least that way he could support their economy as a humble street sweeper or something just as useless, rather than go to school and waste manpower (by driving all the teachers insane with his inability to get anything higher than a C).
He frowned as he walked along leisurely. No, of course he should be thankful. Other countries didn't have such a good system after all; he should be grateful that he could even go to school at all, grateful that every citizen was equal; that a socio-economic spectrum didn't even exist, much less decide your path in life.
He should be grateful that the Concilio was there, to ensure everything went smoothly.
Tsuna passed by the building every day, at 7 PM in the morning and 2.30 PM in the afternoon, give or take (it depended on whether the bullies managed to chase him down before he had time to make a break for it). A large block of marble spanning almost thirty hectares of land, chipped all around to create windows, roofs, pillars, doors, balconies. It was nothing short of grand, yet had an understated feeling air about it, unnoticeable enough to escape being an outright facade.
Despite the blatant grandeur of the building, no one had ever been inside and gotten a look into the premises; no one but members of the Concilio, that is, and even seeing one of them would probably be harder to do than climbing up to the moon using a rope ladder-basically, it was impossible. And would probably get you killed faster than you could say "oops". Which was exactly why no one had attempted it yet. That, and of course, the trust and loyalty all citizens had to them; they were the founders of this country, its leaders, the ones who ran it and ensured it prospered, and it was an honour to be allowed to provide for the nation at all by them.
So of course Tsuna wouldn't protest. He would swallow his complaints, take the Examination and do his best in his allocated occupation like a normal, hard working, honourable member of society.
When all was said and done, dame-Tsuna was still dame-Tsuna. But he did have a sense of self-preservation, at least.
And in a society built on honour and equality, to complain, to even hint at the want for a better life, a different life, was the same as slashing a razor sharp blade across both your wrists.
fin.
Based on two songs: the first is Headphone Actor by Jin ft. IA, which I do not recommend you listen to if you like spoilers as my plot is largely based on it. Second is 3331 by Nanou ft. Hatsune Miku, which was the source of the lyrics above in bold, and on which key ideas of the story is based on. Not plot, mind you, ideas, so you are free to go listen to it. Both are amazing songs, and I definitely do not own such marvelous works of art. If you want to listen to them, there should be links on my profile (eventually. They'll be up tomorrow I guess, due to my laziness...you can youtube it ._.)
This was a plot bunny I just had to grab, even though I'm currently writing another multi-chap fic at the moment. Updates will probably be weekly and alternating (eg. Week 1- this story, Week 2- that story, etc.) I'm looking at roughly 10 chapters for this, though, so I'll probably finish this by year end.
First chapter is pretty boring, just setting the scene, so I'm not exactly expecting a good response. Even so, I hope all of you R&R, if only to tell me how to improve :)
Just to clarify, fin. means the end of a chapter and the end means the end of the story.
Thank you for reading :D
