Title: Crimson Spiral

Warning: Implication of rape / child prostitution / child abuse are mentioned. I am maintaining this as rated T for Teen and Up. And also there is no character bashing in here they all just have poor communication skills. This chapter is the first chapter or you could take this as the prologue because it contains the foundation of this story and gibberish trash that I should get out before I start the story properly. See a/n below for more information/clarification.

'Thoughts' – for thought

"Dialogue" – for dialogue

Emphasis – for emphasis

(anything enclosed here) – is flashbacks/memories/illusions/sudden remembrance/whatever you call it and it is all base on that character's pov so misinterpretation is a given.

November 11, 2016: This chapter is now Beta'ed by Pure Red Crane (The first ever beta-reader I asked for help. Thank you. *insert smiley*)

Disclaimer: I don't own Katekyo Hitman Reborn! So please read and review please!

~Crimson Spiral~

Chapter 1

He was Sawada Tsunayoshi, but everyone called him Dame-Tsuna.

("Dame-Tsuna tripped on his feet again!"

Laughs.

"Just how many brain cells does he have?"

Another laugh.

"Silly question! Of course it's none! He is Dame-Tsuna, after all!"

More jeering and laughter.)

("Dame-Tsuna is even afraid of a Chihuahua!"

Snickers.

"Seriously? A Chihuahua? He really is dame!"

Laughter.

"I know, right?!"

More laughter.)

("Hey, did you hear?"

"Hear what?"

Snickers.

"Dame-Tsuna got 5 again on another quiz!"

More snickers.

"There really isn't anything Dame-Tsuna can do...Oh wait, there is one!" Raised eyebrows. After a second, the one who said those words finally answered their silent question. "Dame-Tsuna is always good at being dame!"

Then laughter.

"That's mean, but you're right!"

More laughter.)

He was Dame-Tsuna. He was always no good with everything he does. His life sucked. He had no friends. He had no father because his father was working as an oil construction worker around the world, so he was rarely at home. He only had his mother and he was content with that. His mother was…is loving and kind and she was all he needed. He was happy with it, even if other children pushed him around for not having a father and for being no good. He was Dame-Tsuna. He accepted that and Nana, his mother, his parent, was a constant in his life. Nana was his mother and was always with him. His mother always loved him, despite all his faults, despite his existence being a continuing disappointment. She was with him until…

("No! Not Tsu-kun! Please, not my son!"

Trembling lips, a quivering shivering body pressed against him. A blindfold took away his sight, hands tied together.

"Take me! Take me instead! Please, spare my Tsu-kun!"

A tight hold embracing him.

"Not my son! Please!"

A scream, then a cold hand gripped him, forcing him away from his mother.

"Mom!" he screamed and thrashed, not caring about his attacker, only focusing on the warmth of his mother, even if he couldn't see anything through the blindfold on his eyes. "Let me go! Mom! Mom!"

"Tsu-kun!" his mother yelled. Then the cold hand on him vanished. And his mother's warmth spread on him once again.

"Mom...Mom..." He sobbed.

"Shh...Shh...It'll be alright, Tsu-kun. I won't let them hurt you." He sobbed more. His mother slowly let him go and he felt his mother unknot his blindfold, his mother's hand trembling from the action.

Then he heard a bang and the blindfold started to slip off a little – it still wasn't enough to see anything, but he could process two horrible actions: his mother's fragile hand slowly let him go and the warm body pressed onto him before falling sideways with a thud. The warmth was gone.

"...Mom?" Growing palpable silence became dawning horror. The blindfold on him came completely undone and then he only saw one thing. His mother's prawn body was lying on her side in an uncomfortable position and the blood staining the floor ran down her right temple down, making a gory mess of a red puddle.

"MOM!")

…She wasn't here anymore.

His mother died, killed when he was only ten years old. He didn't know why, but knew his always-gone father was the reason. Their attacker wanted to extract revenge on his father, so he wanted to kill them. It was his father's fault that his mother died. Iemitsu told him, but a part of him still felt guilty because he was there when it happened and he wasn't able to protect his mother. It is his fault, but Iemitsu said it wasn't, so he shifted the blame on his father.

Since then, his father never came back, which didn't make any actual difference. He was then left alone in Namimori. All because he made his father go away, shooing anyone that was trying to force him to live with them because his father said so, or declining his father's half-hearted effort of making him go to Italy with him.

("It was your fault Mom died!" he screamed at his father and he punched him in the face albeit weakly and shakily. "Mom died because of you!" he repeated, yet those words were also directed at himself. It was his fault his mother died. "Go away and never come back!")

It had been three years since then. Three years of loneliness. Three years since he last saw his dear mother. And three years of knowing that some people were observing him and he just knew it was his father's doing. Maybe it was a way of knowing if he was still alive and breathing.

But he was small and before it all happened (before his mother's…), he was already very agile for his age, which was needed for running away from bullies. He could outrun those people spying on him. One summer, for the first time and after a month since his mother's death, the ten year old brunet did it. He tried to run. The chase had been sloppy and he was almost caught and brought back home until he decided to run away from Namimori to Tokyo.

After all these years, his father still asked him – on the phone – where he went, where he kept running away to, but he was tightlipped about it, and his father couldn't do anything about it.

No one knew what he was doing in Tokyo. Idiot father didn't know even when he hired those spies on him. Anyway, he was alone, so he should just do what he wanted in his life. His mother once told him to do what he wanted without any regret. So he was damn going to do what he desired, but a part of his mind, a great part of his heart, knew that it wasn't really what he wanted.

He just hadn't realized it yet.

When he ran away from Namimori to Tokyo, he managed to shake off the spies. He didn't know what he was actually there for. He just wanted to run away from anything, to forget the pitying glances and the jeering of his schoolmates. He ran away to Tokyo with the few clothes in his backpack and enough money for his expenses, but without any plan whatsoever on what he would do once he arrived. However, upon arriving, he was afraid of the strangers who looked at him with confusion, curiosity and wariness. There were a lot of people walking around and he didn't know where to go. So he ran on the nearest alley and hid. That was when he saw a lady on that same alley.

("What are you doing here?" The woman - no the lady, she seemed to be in her early 20's – walked towards him like a predator, just like his bullies. The lady's voice was loud and she sounded angry. It made him whimper and back away into the wall.

The lady stared at him and then scowled, "Che. A small fry." She stopped walking towards him and instead walked to the opposite wall, leaning against it as if she owned the place.

He remained silent, waiting for the lady to hurt him, but minutes passed by and it didn't happen. Feeling baffled by it, he nervously asked in a small voice, "W-Why won't you…h-hurt me?"

She glared at him, making him cower. "It's no fun to hurt a small fry like you." Her words were dismissive. And the silence stretched even more.

He stares at the lady with a frightened look, but he slowly walked towards her, not even knowing why he was compelled to talk with the lady. She just felt familiar…Ah! She had the same brown color of hair. The locks were long hair, pulled upward into a bun. With the same beautiful face with sharp knowing brown eyes, she looks like his…mother, but still vastly different in the way she held herself. It made it easy to overlook any resemblance.

"T-That's good to hear then…" he stuttered once again, his eyes darting from the wall to the people walking outside the alley and then back to the person leaning on the wall.

"What is it, brat?" she scowled in annoyance when he kept throwing glances towards her and glared at him in irritation, making him squeak in fear.

"N-N-Nothing..!"

The lady glared at him and then grumbled under her breath, but he could still hear it. "Weird kid." But it wasn't laced with hate, only annoyance and that was even better than the usual taunting and jeering his bullies always gave him. The lady walked towards him, making him look at her with wide, startled eyes, and then she grabbed his arm harshly. He tried to shake off the hold, albeit weakly because she might hurt him if he struggled to much.

"W-W-Wha…?"

She dragged him by the arm. "You're coming with me, runaway brat." And he let her drag him, even if he was frightened, because the lady's voice made him feel warm in a strange way.)

He learned lots when he went there and it wasn't all pleasant, but it was better than Namimori. No one looked at him twice in that place and he could have his own fun too.

Christmas break had come. Another school break. And it looked like the cold weather was a good thing for what he would do in Tokyo once again. Lots of people didn't have school or work, so many people to fool and to have fun with.

In Tokyo, he wasn't Dame-Tsuna. He was Tsuna, just Tsuna.

He didn't trip on air most of the time, but sometimes his clumsiness still reared its ugly head. He didn't get bullied by anyone too. He still had his fluffy gravity-defying hair, but he dyed it blond. His once caramel colored eyes glowed into a bright, captivating orange hue. He was wearing an orange shirt with a 27 logo on its front, a stripe of brown running along it. An orange and red scarf was wrapped on his neck and he wore a brown stylish, neat and clean jacket. He was wearing fitted pants and a silver chain attached on his belt. And he had a smirk plastered on his lips. Overall, he looked quite different from his normal always-bullied self.

He was currently walking around the streets like any civilian during break, but he had a different purpose. He discreetly observed his surrounding and the people on it as he walked. The way he walked, the way his shoulder stood tall with pride and the way his back didn't staunch, it was different from his dame self, which was good since tripping on air wasn't fun at all and that would be off looking for any available playmates, though sometimes being a tad bit clumsy had its uses. Clumsy equaled innocence and that factor was endearing for a few playmates with their certain fetishes.

He turned another corner towards an alley and that was where he accidentally knocked someone over. His dame self had finally reared its head once again, but it was a good coincidence based on the feeling he got.

A hand was on his arm, preventing him from falling. With an apology automatically ready on his lips, he immediately lifted his chin a bit when another hand held his hand steady. "Ahh…I'm sorry." Apology slip passed his lips, along with a puff of white. The man's hand on his arm let go when he deemed the brunet steady enough, but he felt the man's hand linger a bit longer before completely letting go.

The man looked at him appreciatively, discreetly assessing his worth, but he could feel his eyes on him so the discreetly part wasn't really true.

Because of the cold weather, his cheeks had that pinkish color, enhancing his cuteness. To add more effect on his image, his other hand reached for his scarf as if to lift it towards his chin, but instead, he discreetly lowered it, making his pale milky white neck visible: a bold move which would be interpreted by this man as please bite me. The man's gaze lingered on his neck, surely thinking of doing more pleasurable things. 'Ahh. Caught already.'

He exhaled once again, another puff leaving his plump shivering lips, and he stared at the person before him in a timid manner, eyes lowered to enforce his innocent image, eyelashes fluttering, and there was still growing pink tinging on his cheeks. The man looked at him with a daze in his eyes and by now, the man had stopped his discreet gazes. Instead, he looked at him with certain hunger in his eyes.

"I'm sorry too." The hold on his hand remained. He could feel the warmth of the person's hand on his cold hand. A pause, then he looked up at the person's eyes. He made himself look confused, but his eyes glowed brightly with a hint of mischievousness. The person before him stood still, looking at his eyes, now captivated by the glowing bright orange hue while their hands were still in the same hold. It looked like the man was smitten.

The person smiled at him and a decision had been made. "As an apology, let me take you to dinner." The hand on him tightened its hold, a way of telling him not to refuse his offer. He looked at the person before him and glanced at their connected hands. He looked once again at the person's face, and smiled.

"I would love to." As the brunet smiled and his eyes glowed even brighter, nervousness and confusion were completely replaced by playfulness evident on his smirk.

Finally, it was time to have fun.

("T-Teach me."

Silence. Then a loud voice.

"Why should I teach you, brat!?" The lady before him angrily spat.

"P-Please...teach me!" he stuttered at first, but he said it in a determined voice. The lady before him continued to glare at him.

"You damn brat!" The lady was about to whack him on the head, but he still continued staring at her with a determined pair of eyes, causing her to look away. She kicked away the chair next him before stomping her way out.

"W-Wait..!" He grabbed her arm, but he was strongly shaken off and he fell on his butt. Seconds later, she loudly shut the door with a loud bang.

He remained silent as he thought of what to do. It took him a few minutes of contemplating, his gut feeling protesting followed by nervous bubbling from his stomach before he came into a sound decision, or a reckless decision, at that moment. "If she won't teach me...then...I'll learn it by myself.")

("…You…Idiot!" The lady slapped him on the cheek. It stung, but the pain was incomparable to the overall soreness he could feel on every tip of his nerves.

"I-I'm sorry..." he stammered out shakily, even when he only said it automatically.

"You know you aren't very sorry." she muttered angrily in annoyance.

"I-I-I'm really sorry..!" he stuttered, albeit shakily because of the pain. He didn't want her to be angry at him anymore, but she made her displeasure known by tightening the bandage on his arm more than necessary. It made him wince from time to time.

There was silence as she helped him before she concluded under her breath, "Not at all.")

When Christmas break was over, he came back to Namimori and went back on his every day excuse of a life.

He might have changed when he went to Tokyo, but it didn't change the fact that he was still Dame-Tsuna.

Dame-Tsuna would always be Dame-Tsuna, no matter what he did, especially because of what he does.

To be continued…

A/N: Kindly leave a review *inserts smiley*

Timeline: 10 yrs old – when Nana died. Let's conclude that she died near his 10th summer break and on summer break Tsuna ran away to Tokyo, met the lady who looks like his mother then got into bad business. Present time is Christmas break when Tsuna is 13 and Reborn will arrive in June 18-19, according to Metamorcy's post in tumblr. And also Japan's summer break starts on July 20 till the end of August (it was 6 weeks) and it wouldn't be shorter since it is Namimori not somewhere in Hokkaido. Also.. I'm not very sure but in this story Tokyo is one bus away from Namimori but let's say the travel time is long like 5 hours or somewhere around that time maybe lesser time.

Reasoning behind this Tsuna: Tsuna is alone for three years, he refuse any help because all of it is half-hearted (to me). He is guilty because of his Mom's death, he wanted to run away from the pitying glances, the hateful looks and when he did. He found a way to cope and there he met the lady (who will remain nameless and would be referred as nee-chan) and the way he found was through seduction then from there it changed. He wanted punishment and he is being punished (you know what I meant by this) every school break he have. Let's just say he is being paid so we could conclude it is a win-win situation (base on Tsuna's current mental state because he doesn't care, he only wanted punishment, you see.) Anyway, at first it was to prove that he could actually do something and yes he somewhat learned how to seduce but he paid hefty for it. And from then, he changed.

Reasoning behind this Iemitsu: Iemitsu is guilty because his wife was killed because of his involvement in the Mafia. He hated himself and he told his son that the man who killed his wife is someone who wanted revenge, it was the truth but he didn't say that it was because of his involvement in the Mafia. Iemitsu tries to help his son but his son brushes it all off and since he is guilty, let's just say he is letting his guilt eat him away. He didn't contact his family when Nana was still alive but he calls his son since Nana died because his son is living alone. Also Iemitsu is wallowing in guilt so he is letting his son go and do as he please. He doesn't know his son's endeavor despite his people observing his son. Because his son is slippery af when he goes to Tokyo, added that he doesn't want to know about it because he have no right in his son's life so his men were just there, silently observing Tsuna, report to Iemitsu about his son, and protect his son from evident harm while not knowing that Tsuna was doing bad business while in Tokyo. Iemitsu believes that his son isn't up to no-good so the possibility that Tsuna doing illegal things is not in his mind, he see Tsuna as an innocent child which leads to further complication because obviously if he had investigated enough he would know about his son's endeavour.

This Nana: Nana is an angel who sacrificed her life for her son. She loves his son dearly, she doesn't ridicule him even when in a teasing tone which canon!Nana is not. This Nana isn't disappointed in her son and she also loves her husband greatly that it was painful but she still loves him more than the pain she felt.

The lady/Nee-chan (my very own OC, relevant to keep the story going because I need someone for that position): She is Nana look-alike and Tsuna noticed that. But she have sharp eyes, longer hair tied in a bun and a scowl on her face but she is sometimes kind to Tsuna, and sometimes impatient angry lady. Either way, that is her personality. She is only a supporting character, ignore her for all I care.

Finally Reborn: He is a Spartan tutor and had his own way of helping this Tsuna. He would be an important figure in this story.