Summary: A sort-of fusion between Hana Yori Dango and Reborn. Sawada Tsunayoshi, a commoner, is pressured into going to Namimori Academy by his less-than-wealthy family. All he wants to do is to keep a low profile and stay out of everybody's way. But then a talking baby with some magical bullets comes along, and everything goes to hell. GokuTsuna AU
Disclaimer: I own neither Reborn nor Hana Yori Dango.
A/N: Alas, the most recent Korean adaptation of Hanadan has inspired me. I say this is a sort-of fusion because, while the basic premise, and some of the plot, is similar to that of Hanadan, everything is going to be modified to account for the fact that a) the characters are themselves, and not the folks from Hanadan, b) I still want to incorporate the mafia and cracky weaponry of Reborn! (but not necessarily all of them), c) the main relationship is homosexual, which I will not try to sweep under the carpet or ignore. In other words, if you're expecting a retelling of Hanadan with the names just replaced with those of Reborn characters, you've come to the wrong place.
Oh yeah: for the sake of convenience, the Dying Will Bullet doesn't cause a person to lose his clothing in this fic.
Warnings: Slash, het, language, violence. (Yes, thar shall be some het.)
Extra note: Unbetaed. If you spot any errors, please feel free to tell me.
Other pairings to look out for, as of this chapter: One-sided Tsuna/Kyoko, Longchamp/girls, and Hibari/Namimori.
Bombs Over Flowers
Chapter One: The Baby with the Gun
Sawada Tsunayoshi was not rich, athletic, or all that much of an academic. He had no ambition, and was a shy, passive person by nature. In spite of this, one day, just before his final week of middle school, his mother had announced (in that cheerful way she announced everything) that he was to attend Namimori Academy--an elite school designed for the upper crust of Japanese society.
"B-but where are you going to get the money to send me there?"
His mother had smiled and said, "Your father and I will take care of it. Don't worry."
Tsuna had waved his hands in front of his face. "I don't mind going to a normal high school. Really! I'll even study as hard as I can to do well on the entrance exams." What he didn't say was: Dad's never here. Why does he get a say in where I go to school?
"We've already enrolled you, Tsu-kun." And then she had served him another helping of curry, as if that was the end of the discussion. Tsuna wanted to ask why; he wanted to protest. But he knew it would do no good. His mother was good-natured, and he had never seen her really become angry at anything, but she had a stubbornness about her--a will that was only fueled by her optimism. It made it difficult to argue with her, because it just made him feel guilty.
That's how Tsuna ended up in a school designed to educate the elites of society, populated by the heirs and heiresses to multi-national corporations, and the children of celebrities. Tsuna knew that he was no elite, and, unfortunately for him, so did everybody else. But he kept to himself, and didn't make any trouble. It had worked for him in middle school, and it seemed to work at Namimori Academy. The problem was that trouble had a way of finding people at Namimori, because of a certain group of boys and their Red Notes.
"Ah!" squealed one of ring-leader girls, pointing a perfectly manicured nail in the direction of three figures swaggering into the school cafeteria. "It's F3!"
The students, including Tsuna himself, made a path for the three boys to come through. At the helm was Romano Hayato, heir apparent to the famed Romano corporation. He was a tall boy with chin-length silver hair. His gait was that of a predator on the prowl, and he had a perpetual scowl on his face, which only seemed to go away when he was smirking. In spite of the menace that practically seemed to ooze out of Romano's very being, Tsuna could see that he was, simply put, devastatingly handsome. In a way, this made him even more frightening. Flanking him on the right was Hibari Kyoya, the only son of two notable politicians. He was the only one of the three that actually bothered to wear the school uniform. In contrast to Romano, Hibari was aloof and haughty. But no less menacing, and, from the horror stories Tsuna had overheard, no less violent. Naito Longchamp--future head of the infamous Tomasu family, the family which purportedly ran the Japanese underworld-- flanked Romano on his left. Unlike his two companions, he was happy pretty much all the time (to the point of being manic, even). And although he didn't actively participate in F3's antics, he did nothing to stop them.
These boys' families contributed so much money to Namimori that the three of them could do pretty much anything they wanted. And they took full advantage of this privilege.
Tsuna hurried over to a vacant table once the hubbub had died down, unwrapping the bento his mother had prepared. Sighing a little, he started to eat, trying to ignore that sneers that people threw his way as they passed him to get to their own tables. It didn't really make him angry--just nervous. Tsuna lived in fear of the day when their sneers would turn into outright violence, of the day when he would receive a Red Note of his own. Because Tsuna had a tendency to be clumsy and put his foot in mouth, he figured that it was only a matter of time.
Tsuna had reason to fear the Red Note.
The Red Note was F3's ultimate tool for retribution against those who had slighted them--no matter how small that slight may be. Tsuna had once seen a boy get a Red Note for just looking at Romano the wrong way. Tsuna would never forget the look of sheer horror on the boy's face as he had opened his locker and seen the Red Note hanging from the top of it, almost innocently. It had taken just a few moments for people to notice the thing, and then the boy had been dragged, kicking and screaming, to the foyer at the school's entrance, where Romano and his posse had been waiting. Although Tsuna had lacked the stomach to watch it himself, he could remember how that boy had looked for weeks after the Note incident: two black eyes and a swollen lip, a wince every time he sat down at his desk. And even then, the boy was still pelted with eggs and other unsavory items on a regular basis. Just thinking about it made Tsuna shiver.
Why the hell am I staying at this hellhole of a school? He thought, chewing slowly on a rice ball. However much it pained him to admit it, though, he was stuck here for another four years. There was no escape.
"Tsuna...kun?" asked a female voice. That was odd, thought Tsuna, swallowing. He could swear that he'd heard that voice somewhere before.
He looked up to see who was talking to him, and found himself faced with somebody he had been sure he would never see again. His heart skipped a beat as he took in that heart-shaped face-- the silky, shoulder-length hair, the warm brown eyes. "K-Kyoko-san?" he asked, not quite believing it.
Kyoko smiled at him. "You and I went to elementary school together, right? You sat next to me in fourth grade."
Tsuna nodded, feeling his cheeks heat. He had harbored an enormous crush on Sasagawa Kyoko ever since the first day he had met her. Even now, years after he had last seen her face, he could feel his heart accelerating inside of his chest from the sight of her smile. "Why are you here?" he asked, immediately slapping a hand over his mouth and grimacing. How could he be so rude? "I mean--what brings you Namimori?"
Kyoko didn't seem to notice his mistake, and took the liberty of sitting next to him, taking out a bento of her own. "My father sold his investments in real estate before the bubble burst, and now we suddenly have money to spare. Ryohei--my big brother, I don't know if you remember him--has finally been able to pursue his dream of becoming a boxer. And Father decided it was a good idea to send me here." The last part was said with less enthusiasm than the rest of it. "How did you end up here, Tsuna-kun?"
"My parents are crazy," he said, before he could stop himself.
Kyoko laughed. "Don't worry--I know the feeling. But at least I've finally found a familiar face. Let's be friends, Tsuna-kun."
Tsuna's blush deepened, and he felt a pleasant warmth expanding in his chest. Kyoko wanted to be his friend! He smiled a little and nodded, saying, "It'll be good to have somebody who understands what real people have to go through."
Kyoko laughed again. "I agree."
Tsuna went home that day with a skip in his step. His house was a good half hour away from the school by bus; a fairly large house, which his father had inherited when Tsuna's grandfather had passed away. He sometimes wished that his parents would just sell the damn thing, since only he and his mother seemed to live in it. That way, he wouldn't feel like his mother was always pinching pennies for the sake of sending him to a school he hated.
He cried out "I'm home!" as he walked through the front door, and immediately felt a chill run down his spine. Why did he have the feeling that something terrible was about to happen? Grimacing, Tsuna walked into the kitchen, putting his backpack down next to the table in the center of it. His mother was by the stove, cooking something which smelled good. But he couldn't find it in himself to look forward to it--his good mood had been completely ruined by the feeling of foreboding that was churning away in his stomach.
"Welcome home," said his mother, turning around to give him a smile. "I have a surprise for you!"
Just then, Tsuna felt like he was being watched, and another chill ran down his spine. He turned around reluctantly, and found himself face to face with a...baby? He rubbed his eyes to make sure he wasn't hallucinating. And yes, it was definitely a baby. A foreigner baby dressed up in a designer suit, a black hat tilted stylishly atop its head.
Tsuna blinked.
"Ciaossu," said the baby.
"I'd like you to meet your new home tutor," said his mother. "His name is Reborn."
Tsuna wanted to say something, but all he could muster was what sounded like a cross between a whine and a gurgle.
"I'm here to whip you into shape," said Reborn. Tsuna noticed what looked like a chameleon walking along the rim of the baby's hat.
His mother nodded. "Your grades have been falling, Tsu-kun. Reborn will help you to achieve your true potential."
"Our first lesson starts today," said Reborn. "Go up to your bedroom so we can begin."
Tsuna couldn't find it in himself to protest, still reeling from the fact that there was a talking baby standing in front of him. He trudged weakly up to his room, and awaited his 'lesson'.
___
It turned out the Tsuna's 'lesson' had less to do with improving his grades, and more to do with about two hundred push-ups. Reborn had insisted that the exercise would be good for Tsuna's blood flow, which would in turn make him do better in his schoolwork. But Tsuna was having trouble thinking, on account of the burning pain that had begun to take over his entire body. To make matters worse, Reborn had hit Tsuna with a blunt object whenever he dared to take a break.
In his dreams, Tsuna could still hear the baby's adorable, deceptively innocent voice saying, "Going to give up again, No-Good Tsuna?"
He woke up in agony.
And remained in agony as he grabbed a quick breakfast, rode the bus to school, and walked past the shuffling rich people to get to his class. He did his best to pay attention, but ended up falling asleep during English. He was awoken by the bell which signaled lunchtime. He walked to the cafeteria in a daze, and caught sight of Kyoko waiting for him. Suddenly, he felt the tiniest bit better.
They sat down together, and pulled out their respective bentos. "You look a bit under the weather, Tsuna-kun. Are you feeling alright?"
"I just had trouble sleeping," he replied. It wasn't like he could tell her about his abusive talking-baby tutor.
"I'm sorry to hear that. I'll get you some tea, okay?"
Tsuna smiled gratefully, but said, "You don't have to trouble yourself. I'll be fine."
Kyoko gave him a smile which, oddly enough, reminded him of his mother. "It's no trouble at all." She stood up before he could protest again, and walked over to the lone vending machine tucked away in a corner of the cafeteria (although it still had over-the-top prices, like everything else in Namimori). As she walked back holding a steaming cup of tea, though, somebody--probably one of the people who whispered about Tsuna behind his back--threw a piece of food at her. She managed to dodge it, but lost her footing in the process, stumbling directly into a person who was making his way to the stairs at the far side of the room. The tea came splashing out of her cup, landing messily on the person's designer jacket.
That person, to Tsuna's abject horror, was Romano Hayato.
"Oi," said Romano, scowling a little deeper.
"I'm so sorry!" said Kyoko, looking as horrified as Tsuna felt. "Please forgive me for being such a klutz. I'll pay for the cleaning costs."
Romano took off the soiled jacket and dumped it on the floor, leaving him nothing but a white tank top. "Cleaning costs? Don't insult me, you clumsy bitch."
"I'm sorry," she said again, looking close to tears. Tsuna felt panic set in, along with a healthy dose of anger. He clenched his fists and felt his own eyes sting in frustration; he was too much of a coward to do anything.
"Stop apologizing. It's annoying." Romano cocked his head to the side, snarling. "Why do you even think that I care if you're sorry?"
Tsuna could see where this was going. The thought that Kyoko would get a Red Note made him feel nauseous. But what could he possibly do? Even if he mustered the courage to stand up to Romano, he'd just end up being beaten down.
"Time for a lesson, No-Good Tsuna," said an eerily familiar, child-like voice. Tsuna figured that his fear was making him imagine things. But then he felt something warm hitting his forehead.
There was a sensation of falling, a realization of I'm going to die, and I never would have gotten to help the girl that I like. A switch flipped inside of his brain. A strange excitement buzzed through him, crackling along his skin like static electricity. With a clarity he had never before experienced, Tsuna knew exactly what it is that he had to do, and how.
"REBORN! I'LL STAND UP FOR KYOKO WITH MY DYING WILL!" He stormed over to Romano, grabbing the taller boy by the front of his tank top. "IT WAS AN ACCIDENT, YOU ASSHOLE! TRY AND SHOW A LITTLE BIT OF UNDERSTANDING!"
A look of insurmountable rage crossed over Romano's handsome features. "The hell, you fucking commoner! Let me go or you'll be sorry!"
Tsuna did let him go, but he didn't back down. "WHAT THE HELL DO YOU KNOW?! YOU THINK YOU'RE SO GREAT BECAUSE YOU'RE RICH, BUT YOU'RE NOTHING BUT A SPOILED BRAT!"
Romano lunged forward. "Fucker! I'll kill you!"
Tsuna dodged the punch, and used the opportunity to throw one of his own. It landed squarely on Romano's jaw, the force of it sending him flying several feet across the floor. And just like that, the strange resolve that had overtaken Tsuna died away, leaving him feeling confused and, more than anything, terrified.
What the hell did I just DO?!
Romano was pushing himself up, his expression unreadable. Tsuna could see blood dripping from the side of his mouth. "This isn't over," he said, wiping it away with the back of his hand. He then stalked out of the cafeteria, followed by his two subordinates. Longchamp didn't seem fazed, but Habiri glanced back at Tsuna, looking thoughtful.
The cafeteria was dead quiet as Tsuna returned to his table. He could feel the eyes of everybody trained on him like hawks tracking a single mouse. Because they knew, just like he did, that tomorrow his peaceful existence was going to come to an end.
He felt two delicate arms wrapping around him. "Thank you," said Kyoko, sniffling a little. "Thank you, Tsuna-kun."
Although no less fearful of what tomorrow would bring, Tsuna felt himself smile. Maybe, just maybe, it had been worth it. He hugged her back, the world outside of their embrace melting into insignificance.
Hidden out of sight, Reborn gave a smile of his own. "Tomorrow," he said, "the real training begins."