Updated: June 18th, 2015
Edited: Sept. 9th, 2016
Summary
Tsuna was sick and tired of the war that reined their land for 5 years now. When it got too personal, he snapped. Now he's out to end a war that should have ended a long time ago; unintentionally bring back a bloodline that was thought to have been lost. Not to mention unraveling mysteries that shrouds his past.
Disclaimer: I do not own KHR
Narrator
"Dialogue"
'Thinking'
Dream
Chapter 1 - Hands of the Clock goes Tick, Tock
Sawada Tsunayoshi could still remember that day as if it were yesterday; the day this blood war began 5 years ago. It was when he was only 9 years old, still very much innocent and naive (although many would later protest that he is still very much so).
He remembered the sounds of guns and bombs going off in the distant. He remembered his father telling them that he may never come back when he went off to join the army. He remembered how his mother cried when she found out her family had died after they got separated from them in all of the chaos going on at that time. He remembered when his Mother couldn't take it anymore and took everything they owned and moved from place to place until they later settled down in a rural town. He remembered the pain, destruction, and death this bloody war has caused while they were traveling around the country.
He somewhat remembered the time he and his mother had to leave the village to pick up some herbs and medicine from another village three years ago since his mother was the village's healer. The village they went to was being invaded while they were still there, which forced them to stay in that village for two whole years since it was too dangerous to walk outside. Oddly enough, Tsuna found that he couldn't really remember his two-year stay there. His mom said it was normal since that experience was so traumatic for him that he subconsciously locked those memories away.
There were a few times that Tsuna had thoughts about following his father's footsteps; joining the army to end this war. However, he decided against it when he saw how much his mother was suffering because of the death of her family and his departure. He knew his mother wouldn't be able to handle it if he left her too.
Tsuna would have continued to be a normal citizen (probably, you can never be certain when it comes to Tsuna,) if only that attack didn't happen. If only the people who died weren't killed. If only he wasn't forced to watch the people he cared about get raped before they died and then he himself almost got raped and killed.
(Later on, his enemies would curse the fools who attacked his village, whom inevitably caused Tsuna to officially join this war.)
It all started off with a bad feeling. Then all of a sudden fire was everywhere. Buildings were burning, people were screaming. The scent of gunpowder filled the air as more gunshots and bombs went off, causing more chaos and panic to set off among the people of the village.
"Mom? Mom?!" Tsuna yelled at the top of his lungs as he searched among the people who were stampeding around him. "Where are you?!"
"Tsu-kun! Run away!" He heard his mother screech.
He quickly whirled around to find where his mother's voice came from. As soon as he saw her, he saw red. Enemy soldiers were surrounding her as she was shaking in fear.
His body moved towards her as if it were on autopilot. He heard shouts of surprise as he knocked one of the soldiers out with a strike to the back of his head with a stick of wood.
Go to the left.
Tsuna hears a voice whispering lightly into his ear. He listens to it only to see that he narrowly escaped having a bullet to the head.
Duck.
Tsuna listens once again and dodges a sword that was about to decapitate him.
Kick in a sweeping motion in a complete circle around you.
Tsuna stayed in a crouching position before sticking his leg out and putting his hands on the ground to stabilize himself. He proceeded to kick, causing the soldiers that were approaching him to have their legs swept from beneath them.
Jump.
Twirl.
Punch.
Block.
Tsuna listened to all of the instructions, trusting it completely since it hadn't failed him yet.
Knock them out.
He proceeded to whack the other soldiers who were close to him and his mother pretty hard. He could have sworn he heard one of their bones snap. He began to feel sick to his stomach thinking about it so he pushed those thoughts to the back of his mind to deal with those feelings he felt later; when they were safe.
Stop.
Don't move.
He was slightly puzzled at this but stopped. He began to think why since there wasn't anyone coming or aiming at him. Plus, he needed to get his mother to safety.
He was soon snapped out of his reverence by a gunshot. He turned his attention to the man who was now holding his mom as a hostage with one of his hands pointing a gun to the air, moving it towards her head.
"Don't move, boy, or she gets it." The man he had punched in the jaw said threateningly.
"Mom!" Tsuna yelled.
"Tsu-kun!" His mom screeched as Tsuna felt one of the guards put a cloth over his nose and mouth, forcing him to breathe the strange substance that was on the cloth in.
Strangely enough, whatever that was on the cloth didn't have any effect on him, seeing as after a little bit of struggling against his captor, he managed to get away from him and knock him out. When he glanced back towards his mom, he saw that her face was still full of fear as he felt something hard connect with his head. As he fell to the ground unconscious, Tsuna couldn't help but notice that the man who was holding his mother hostage had this look of disbelief written on his face.
'What... What is this?!' Tsuna thought to himself as he saw numerous dead bodies littering the ground, some of which belonged to the enemy.
'Is an invasion going on?!' Tsuna thought as he looked around, taking in the destruction that happened.
Tsuna was about to go to look if there were any survivors that he could try to save before he completely stopped in his tracks when his eyes locked on to a familiar person's back. The back he was so accustomed to seeing in mirrors.
The person turned around and Tsuna immediately noted that they were dressed to fight. What Tsuna noticed next scared him to the core. The person... it was himself, albeit his eyes had an orange-ish gold hue to them.
'What the hell is going on?!' Tsuna thought.
As the darkness began to cover up the scene that was right before him, Tsuna shouted out, "Wait! Who are you? Why do you look exactly like me?!"
His questions were left unanswered as everything turned black.
Tsuna woke up on the floor with a pounding headache. When Tsuna tried opening his eyes, he found that there was some sort of liquid running down over one of his eyes so he moved one of his hands to wipe it off. However in doing so he found out that someone bound both of his hands together, so he had to move both of his arms to wipe his eye.
Tsuna blinked a few times before staring at the red that was now staining his dirty white shirt.
'What happened?' Tsuna wondered as he pushed himself up into a sitting position. Judging by the lighting and walls, he was in a cellar-like environment.
"I see you're up now, boy." Tsuna heard a man say behind him. He felt oddly tense when he heard that voice; it was as if he knows that person, however not in a good way.
Tsuna turned his head around as he subtly tried to get his hands out of the ropes that were binding them only to look at the sick and disgusting scene in front of him.
His mom and two best friends, Haru and Kyoko were there. His mother and Kyoko were still alive... But Haru, on the other hand, was dead. She had been raped and then killed.
Tsuna felt sick to his stomach. He wanted to throw up so bad; but held it in since this wasn't the place or time to be doing that.
Sometimes Tsuna wondered since when did he have such control over his emotions? All he knows is that whatever happened while he and his mom were in the village two years ago changed him - for the better or for the worst, he doesn't know.
"Ts-Tsu-Tsuna..." Kyoko stuttered, tears streaming from her eyes.
Tsuna then noticed that one of the men grabbed her arm and was dragging her to the group of men that were surrounding Haru's body.
"Kyoko!" Tsuna yelled, immediately pushing himself to his feet and kicked the guy where the sun does not shine. Hard. The man released Kyoko and fell to the ground.
Tsuna grabbed Kyoko and moved her behind him, however not before she took a knife the man had on his person to cut the ropes that were restraining Tsuna's hands.
"Restrain them, men!" He heard the man yell.
It happened so quick that Tsuna couldn't react. The door that was behind them burst open and before Tsuna knew, two soldiers were holding him by his arms so securely that he was unable to move. In the corner of his eye, Tsuna could saw that Kyoko too was restrained by a soldier.
"What do you want?" Tsuna demanded.
"Do I need to remind you that you have caused me many problems in the past and that you have something I want, boy." The man with a checkered mask said. "Or should I call you Tsuna? That is your name, is it not?"
Tsuna glared at the man and gritted his teeth, "Don't say my name." Tsuna said angrily.
"Tsuna it is then." The man with a checkered mask chuckled before suddenly stopping as he saw the slight confusion in Tsuna's face. A frown marred his face, "Boy, have you truly forgotten? Or are you just pretending to not know?" He asked.
"Pray tell, what exactly might have I forgotten?" Tsuna all but growled out, glaring at the man with a checkered mask through the bangs that were covering his eyes.
The man with a checkered mask moved towards Tsuna and grabbed Tsuna by the chin, tilting Tsuna's face up so that he could get a better view of his eyes. Tsuna defiantly stared back.
"Remember my name, Checkerface?" Checkerface said, looking for any sort of recognition from Tsuna after hearing his name only to come up with nothing.
"Let go of my son! He's not the one you're looking for!" Tsuna's mom yelled. The man made a noise of annoyance before ignoring her.
"I don't know what sorcery was used that caused you to look as if you hadn't aged a day, but I know you are him. You look exactly like him." Checkerface growled out. "Oh well. Looks like I'll have to force it out of you, boy."
Checkerface then turned his attention to the group of men who killed Haru. "You can have the woman if you want now, men." He said.
Tsuna's eyes widened.
"NO!" He yelled, "MOM!" Tsuna couldn't do anything though. So in the end, he closed his eyes shut and turned his head to the side, trying to ignore his mother's screaming.
"Oh ho? That woman's your mom? That makes everything much more interesting." Checkerface said before grabbing Tsuna's face and forcing it to face the direction of his mother.
"Open your eyes, boy. Or else your pretty little friend will be next." He said.
Tsuna heard Kyoko sob as he willingly opened his eyes. Tsuna felt tears fall from his own eyes silently as he was forced to watch his own mother get raped repeatedly in disgust before they finally killed her. Tsuna felt his chin get grabbed once again and his head being forced to face the man again. Tsuna's eyes glared into the man's eyes.
"Are you satisfied now?" Tsuna gritted out, tears of anger and frustration now forming in his eyes. Checkerface continued to gaze at Tsuna.
"No, not yet," Checkerface replied. "You still haven't admitted it."
"How can I admit that I am someone I'm not?! If you want information or something from this person you're talking about, how would I know or even have whatever you want if I'm not that person?!" Tsuna shouted.
"See? You're denying it, you're lying." Checkerface said. "Hmm… was watching your mother not enough? Maybe we should try your little friend there." Checkerface continued.
"NO!" Tsuna said, jerking his chin out of the man's grasp before biting down on Checkerface's fingers as hard as he could.
Tsuna suddenly released Checkerface's fingers from his mouth and began to see dark spots invade his vision as the man whacked him on the side of his head with his other hand.
"Now you've done it, boy." Checkerface growled. "I was saving you for last, to spare your little friend from watching but I've changed my mind now. Normally I would just kill the boys but since you have such a beautiful face, it would be a waste to do that." He said.
"Thank you for volunteering to take your friend's place." Checkerface said.
That was the only warning Tsuna got before Tsuna felt the soldiers release his arms only to find himself with his back against the ground and Checkerface on top of him, pinning his hands above his head.
Tsuna began to struggle to try to get out of Checkerface's grasp. He was feeling more and more disgusted the more and more Checkerface touched him after he tore his shirt right down the middle. However, when Checkerface told Tsuna that after this, no one was going to stop him from getting Kyoko, something within Tsuna snapped.
Tsuna felt something stir within him as Checkerface suddenly stopped what he was doing and stared at him in surprise. Tsuna used that moment of surprise to his advantage to kick Checkerface off of him.
Tsuna then hastily began to wipe his lips with his sleeve before taking deep breaths to calm himself. He couldn't afford to act brashly like before otherwise he would get himself and Kyoko raped. Unbeknownst to Tsuna, his eyes turned from their normal honey brown colour to an orange shade.
"Boy…" Checkerface growled, "why… how do you have those eyes?"
Tsuna stayed silent.
"ANSWER ME!" Checkerface yelled. "Why is it so similar to that man yet so different?! Why do you look just like that boy, as if he had not aged despite the years that have passed by?!"
Tsuna just flinched when Checkerface yelled, choosing to remain silent once again.
Checkerface gritted his teeth. "I can't afford to have you live any longer." Checkerface said as black flames appeared above his hand.
Tsuna didn't know why, but the moment he saw that flame, his entire body was frozen with fear. He couldn't move even after Checkerface molded it into a spear and threw it towards it. He could only watch as it came closer and closer. Tsuna only closed his eyes when it was a few feet away from him.
Tsuna squeezed his eyes shut, bracing himself for the pain; the pain that never came. Tsuna opened his eyes a bit to peak and see what happened only to see Kyoko in front of him, facing him with a black spear pierced through her.
"K-Kyoko…" Tsuna wavered.
Kyoko attempted to smile at Tsuna; however the pain was too much for her so she ended up showing Tsuna a half-smile half-grimace before she began to fall forward. Before Tsuna knew it, he was already running to catch Kyoko before she hit the ground and cradled her in his arms.
"Tsu-Tsuna…" Kyoko said before she coughed up blood.
"Why, Kyoko… why?" Tsuna asked.
"I… I just wanted to repay you. For everything you did for me, for saving me, helping me, being my best friend. I have no regrets." Kyoko said, her voice beginning to sound weaker and weaker as her eyes began to lose their life.
"Bu-but…! What about your brother? Didn't you say that you wanted to see him again?!" Tsuna asked desperately.
"I did…" Kyoko admitted. "But only to make sure that he was ok. He always used to pick fights with everyone he thought were extreme;" Kyoko joked a bit, "though now that I think about it, he'll be ok. He was always so strong, so he'd be able to fight off whatever trouble he gets himself into this time."
"Kyoko…" Tsuna said, unable to say anything else.
"Tsuna… don't look for revenge, please." Kyoko said. "'An eye for an eye will make the whole world go blind', isn't that how the saying goes?"
Tsuna nodded, "I promise." Tsuna swore.
Kyoko smiled slightly, "I'll see you on the other side Tsuna, with Haru and your mom too. Don't forget-" Kyoko whispered, closing her eyes when she was finished. As soon as she did close her eyes, her body began to crumble apart until there was nothing left but clothes.
"Hmm… That little friend of yours was a miko*, boy?" Checkerface said.
"Shut up you bastard, like I'd tell you!" Tsuna yelled.
"Oh? You're upset that they died, aren't you. Well, it's no one's fault but yours own, for not being strong enough." Checkerface said. "That won't matter anymore, since you'll be seeing them soon. Men, attack him!"
It was only thanks to pure instinct that Tsuna managed to dodge the first attack. Tsuna whirled on his foot and kicked the man in his face, sending him into the wall with enough force to knock him out. Tsuna then jumped back as two other men tried to tackle him, resulting in them colliding into each other – a double K.O.
Tsuna proceeded to lure the rest of the men close to him, making sure that with every attack he dodges, it always hits another person. Tsuna was so focused on his fight that he forgot to keep an eye on Checkerface, which proved to be a fatal mistake seeing as Tsuna soon found himself flying into a post by a powerful kick to the stomach. Tsuna could feel splinters entering his back when he collided into the post with enough force to cause it to break.
Before Tsuna knew it, Checkerface was already on top of him again, his knee digging into his back to force him to the ground while he was holding his arm straight up behind him.
"Always be aware of your surroundings, boy." Checkerface said as he twisted Tsuna's arm the wrong way then he pushed. A loud *SNAP* could be heard before Tsuna's vision momentarily failed him as he felt excruciating pain.
Tsuna bit his lip to prevent himself from screaming. But even that didn't help him when Checkerface jerked his arm, as if adding salt to the wound.
Tsuna just wasn't fast enough to stop the scream that escaped his lips while he was trying to keep himself awake since if he passes out, it means his death. Tsuna could've sworn he saw a smug look stretch across Checkerface's face. Checkerface then engulfed his hand in black flames and grabbed Tsuna's neck with it. He watched as Tsuna's face slowly began to show that he was in pain and that that pain was growing.
Tsuna was pretty sure that Checkerface would have continued torturing him had it not been for the pair of teens who came bursting in.
"Shit…" Tsuna heard Checkerface curse. "I can't let people know about me yet." He said as his body began to disappear into black haze.
"-OME OVER HERE! There's a survivor! Are you ok?!" Tsuna heard one of the teens ask as they ran towards him.
'I'm ok.' Was what Tsuna wanted to tell him, however, his voice failed him as his eyes blurred and he fell into the comforting arms of unconsciousness.
*Translations:
Miko – Priestess
Ok, in this story, a Miko is a flame user who has devoted themselves to God and Nature. They perform numeral rituals to keep the balance within nature and give offerings to God to prevent disasters from occurring.
