Heya! What's happenin', boys and girls? This here's the first chapter for my new story, Fiamma delle Tenebre. Katekyo Hitman Reborn has always been one of my favorite series (it being the second manga I ever read, second to Bleach) and I had all of these ideas buzzing around in my head, so I decided to write them down, and this is what came out first. Enjoy!
"Wake up, no-good Tsuna!"
Once again, Tsunayoshi Sawada woke up with a gun pointed at his forehead. He never really did get used to it, and with a yelp he pulled his cushion over his head. "Stop shaking. You have to get to school." Reborn said as he threw Tsuna's bag into his face.
Five moments later, Tsuna was standing next to his bed. He sighed, not looking forward to the next day in his long life as a failure. It had only been two days since they got back from the future, and everything had returned to normal. Walking downstairs he heard Gokudera's voice from the kitchen saying: "Is the 10th ready y-ARRGH..." Tsuna knew what that sound meant. Gokudera had seen Bianchi's uncovered face, and his stomach had turned as usual. Still, it scared him every time, and within a moment he was crouching next to Gokudera, who soon regained his conscience.
"Oh, 10th! Good morning!" Tsuna's best friend said. "Oh, I-" Just when Tsuna tried to answer he was interrupted by a kick to the face by Reborn. "Get going Tsuna, you'll be late."
Tsuna looked at the clock and saw that he had overslept. "I've already made lunch for you, Tsu-kun." his mother said, handing him a small paper bag with bread. Tsuna thanked her and he and Gokudera left for school.
After a short walk, Ryohei came running out of an alley, a panicked expression on his face. "What's up, lawnhead?" Gokudera asked. Ryohei turned around and shouted (as usual) "Hey, Tsuna, Octopus head! We gotta hurry, or we'll be late to the extreme!"
When they arrived at the school, they saw a boy about their age riding a skateboard on the school yard. He was wearing a black beanie, and a small toothpick stuck out of his wide grin. Gokudera whistled. "Hibari won't be happy with that. Skating on school terrain and wearing headgear." Ryohei nodded in agreement. "He's gonna get beat up."
Like magic, Hibari appeared from one of the school doors and lunged at the skating boy with his tonfa. The kid just grinned even wider and jumped off his skateboard, dodged Hibari's strike with a sidestep, and stepped back onto his skateboard, which had rolled through Hibari's legs. Tsuna's jaw dropped at the ease with which the boy had dodged the blow.
"Yo, no need for violence." the skater said, turning his board around, stopping it and flipping it into his hand. He tucked it under his arm as he said: "Although I have to admit, you're good. Name's Storno. You must be the Hibari Kyoya I've heard so much about from my brother."
"Your brother?" Hibari said, his face stern as ever. Storno laughed, a merry, but somewhat mocking sound. "He never told you he had a brother, did he? It's Dino! Dino's my brother!" he said, still grinning. When Hibari didn't react, Storno raised an eyebrow. "You know, 10th Generation Chiavarone, guy with the whip, turtle and an annoying habit of turning into a klutz without any of his pals? That one."
Hibari was silent for a moment then said: "I'll bite you to death." and charged at the unarmed Storno. Tsuna was baffled when Storno blocked a blow that could shatter concrete with his arm. "Yo, what'd I say about violence?" Storno said, jumping away from the Discipline Committee's chairman. "I'm no violent person. What's the big problem with a guy just trying to ride his board?"
"You broke the Namimori Middle School rules, and I, as the chairman of the Namimori Middle School Discipline Committee, will not tolerate it." Hibari said. "That headgear is not allowed either."
Storno sighed loudly. "My beanie? Man, that's my pride and joy. You don't take away a man's beanie!" he said. 'He sure loves his beanie...' Tsuna thought. Then it struck him. If Storno was Dino's brother, that meant he was mafia too. He had to interrupt this. Without thinking, he jumped in between Storno and Hibari.
"H-Hibari-san! Please stop!" Tsuna said, trying to break up the fight. A moment later he realized he had got himself into something that could kill him. Hibari said: "Oh. The herbivore. Move it, or I'll bite you to death too."
Tsuna was shaking, but stood his ground. Then, he was pushed aside by a firm hand. "No, Vongola. This is something between him and me. Besides, he's your Guardian, and yet he insulted you." Storno was standing next to him, his face stern, the grin gone. "I'm gonna teach this bad-mouthed punk his place. We'll see who get's bitten to d-" He was interrupted by his phone ringing.
He pulled it out and said: "'Sup? Yeah, Storno here. No, Dino doesn't know yet." He was quiet for a second. "Man, knowing him he'll find out soon enough anyway. Yeah, I found him. Do I need to bring him in?" Again, silence. Then he sighed. "Fine, I'm on my way."
He pressed a button on his phone and put it away again. "Sorry, Kyoya-kun, but we'll have to continue another time. Things to do, places to be. Tell ya what, tomorrow I'll leave my skateboard, as long as I can keep my beanie on." Hibari glared at him. "Aww, c'mon! Me without beanie is like you without your tonfas, or your bad attitude!" Storno said, his face filled with mock desperation. Hibari was still glaring as he said: "Fine. I have more important business to attend to than a punk with a beanie obsession. I'll bite you to death later."
As Hibari walked away, Storno said: "Yo, thanks, Vongola. Say, I have a friend who needs to meet you. He's at my bro's place." Tsuna said: "Err... I'd love to, but I have school now and stuff..." Storno waved his comments away. "They've already arranged all that. Come on, mafia business awaits." The skater turned around and started walking. After two steps he stopped and said: "You may want to take those two Guardians of yours along, in case we meet trouble."
Ryohei yelped. "I can't! I have to arrange something for the boxing club! It's important to the extreme!" Storno shrugged. "Okay, one Guardian is good too. See ya." Ryohei dashed off into the school without another word.
"Trouble?" Tsuna said, not looking forward to Storno's 'mafia business'. Storno started walking again and said: "Nah. Inheritance stuff. Reborn told you, didn't he? Your Inheritance Ceremony is coming up, and there are many who would see you six feet underground before that. I'm here to make sure that won't happen. Oh, of course! I haven't introduced myself. I am Storno, Cloud Keeper of the Conoscenza Family." He held up his hand. A large ring set with a purple stone shaped like a four-pointed star was resting on his middle finger. A second ring was on his ring finger. It was smaller, and a clear white stone was set in it, and this one, too, was shaped like a four-pointed star.
"C-Conoscenza!" Gokudera suddenly shouted. "You're one of the Keepers of the Vongola Archives?"
Storno grinned again. "Don't look like it, do I? Even so, I'm an expert on anything Cloud Flame-related. I'm taking you to my boss, Yamashita Katsumi, and his Storm Keeper, Lance Dougall."
"What are you talking about? I don't get it." Tsuna said. Storno laughed. "Don't worry. Katsumi's gonna clear it all up for ya." he said with a cryptic smile.
A few moments later, they arrived at the Chiaviarone family building. Storno violently kicked open the door and yelled: "Boss! Lance! Dino-bro! I've brought the Vongola with me!"
Seconds later, Dino came walking through the door, followed by Romario, and two young men Tsuna didn't recognize. "Storno!" Dino said. "I haven't heard from you in months. At least tell me when you're around here!" Storno grinned at his brother and said: "Sorry, bro. Important business."
"Tsuna, may I introduce you to Yamashita Katsumi," He pointed at the first young man, who was about Hibari's age. He had raven-black hair and gray, almost white eyes. "And Lance Dougall." He indicated the second young man, who was the same age as Katsumi. His blond hair was swept backwards, except for a few bangs which were hanging in front of his green eyes.
Katsumi grinned. "Sawada Tsunayoshi. How nice to finally meet you! My name is Katsumi, and I'm the Tenth Generation Conoscenza boss. You know, even though my future self knew you well, you're still quite the mystery to me."
"F-future me?" Tsuna said, wondering how this young man knew about their exploits in the future. "You know of everything that happened?"
Katsumi laughed loudly. "Reborn didn't tell you? I could've expected that. Allow me to start at the beginning. The Conoscenza are a family of librarians and archivists. We are the caretakers of the Vongola Archives, the greatest collection of books, memoirs, letters, reports et cetera in the world. The Conoscenza boss is chosen from the smartest people in the Vongola and their allied families. I was a member of Dino's Chiavarone family before he became the boss. The family was a mess, so I was happy to take on the role. After I became boss, I traveled the world for a year, as is our tradition. During my travels, I picked up my Keepers, the smartest people I could find. I already knew Storno and his well-hidden intelligence," Storno faked embarrassment as he said: "Aww, Boss, no need to say that." Katsumi grinned and continued: "And I met my friend Lance here in Sydney, Australia. He was a low-ranking member of the Vongola's Australian branch, but he saved my butt after a rival family found out the freshly-appointed Conoscenza boss was present there. My other four Keepers are wandering around town right now, but you'll meet them later."
"Okay, but that still doesn't explain your knowledge of the future." Gokudera said. Lance grinned and said: "When you were fighting the Real Six Funeral Wreaths, we were at a location near the destroyed Vongola base in Italy. The Millefiore had discovered the Archives' location and had mounted an attack, which we successfully fended off. At that moment, you defeated Byakuran, a fact we were very much aware of thanks to the Varia, with whom we closely cooperate as two independent Vongola organizations. But back to the point. After you defeated Byakuran, Uni decided that we, too, should know of what happened, so that we can prevent it ever happening again. Next thing I know, I wake up in the middle of the night with images of box flames and everything. Knowledge people in this era shouldn't possess. After we found out what it was, we gathered all our memories and stashed them in the Archive."
Tsuna smiled, thinking back to Uni. He silently thanked her for thinking of everything. "But, what are your other Keepers doing right now?" he asked, fearing they would stir up trouble.
Katsumi said: "They are seeking out their respective Guardians. You'll meet them soon, don't worry."
Okay, first Chapter's done. It's a little short, but that's because this is just an intro, of course! What, you didn't think this was all, right? No worries, I'm already busting my ass on the second chapter. By the way. Conoscenza means knowledge. We already know the Sky Boss, Storm Keeper and the Cloud Keeper. Next chapter will feature the remaining Keepers and their corresponding Guardians, plus some old friends. I've tried to make my new characters as original as possible, and I think it worked out perfectly with the first 'really' introduced character, Storno. By the way, Storno means starling in Italian. I made it so that it matches with Hibari, whose name means skylark. Well, see ya soon!
PS: Western names are written in western style, first name-surname and Japanese vice-versa as is Japanese custom.