Disclaimer- I own nothing!
Warnings- Everything from the last chapter loves. With the addition of, 'I have no Beta' So apologies in advance for any mistakes made.
Authors Note- Hi everybody, thank you so much to everyone who reviewed, followed and favourited. It means so much to me and I really hope that you like this new chapter, enjoy!
Chapter 2: The demon and the boy who forgot to die.
Tsuna and religion had always had a difficult relationship. On one hand, being the accidental philosophical child that he was (even if he was oblivious to it all) the idea of a higher power was highly debatable, romantic and poetic. One single person could spout lyrical text about god and the paths to spiritual acceptance and the lot and Tsuna would listen with rapt interest because beliefs of others was rather artistic in sense and Tsuna appreciated art. Unfortunately, Tsuna also appreciated science, so, on the other hand, Tsuna couldn't make himself buy into the whole over sized oven for diabolical souls and Hawaii of gold for those who were good little children.
What Tsuna did know though, was that if these places did exist- given that the math was right and proper testing had been involved- then Tsuna, would go to neither of those places. For all that he was, Tsuna believed that he did not exist entirely. He walked through life believing he could not effect something and in turn, nothing could effect him. Some would call Tsuna apathetic and in some cases that may be true but Tsuna simply believed that his emotions were simply dulled.
There were times when he wished he could simply feel more. He would look around and watch as those surrounding him laughed, cried and got angry and wish he could feel the same way, but he didn't. Maybe it was the way he was made, maybe it was how he was raised, to never have expectations and so no powerful type of emotion ever took him.
Tsuna smiled and he knew what content felt like, he experienced it often. But there were times when he'd look around and feel confusion because all these children were laughing, tears forming in their eyes, hands clutching their stomachs as if their lives depended on it, and he couldn't help but wonder, what feeling caused that?
Tsuna knew what fondness was, his books all in pristine condition were an example of that. But it wasn't the same, it wasn't the same as when that one blonde boy would look up at his older brother and smile and his eyes would shimmer and there was just something untouchable between them. A bond, warmth flowing between them and the older boy would look down at the blonde and just, know. Or when those two girls who had only known each other for three months now, would glance at each other, a strange gleam entering their eyes and they would start laughing because no words were needed, they understood each other. Like when his caretaker would watch Ienari and there was this small subtle warmth that Tsuna could sense. Because Tsuna never connected with people, not even his books, he didn't know what it was like to want to protect something with his everything.
And Tsuna knew what annoyance was, but could never understand anger. Because although there were people who trod on his books, he never felt anger, only annoyance. Something that could be brushed off in the moment that it took to pick up the book, dust it off and let his eye catch the words of a new sentence.
Tsuna had read a library or two worth of books in his small life time and a constant subject in many books was; Humanity. What was it that made us human? He wasn't arrogant enough to say that he knew, it was a question that had been asked since the first scholar looked out at society with all it's wrong and corrupt ways coupled with it's loving families and innocent smiles, all those years ago. That scholar and many others saw the same species with so many different faces and labeled some monsters and others human.
But what made a human? Free will, perseverance and emotion. Those were common enough answers, humans were never meant to be slaves, they were out dominated by many predators and yet here they stand these many years later, evolving, always moving forward and always passionate, sympathizing and moral. If these thing were what made a human, then Tsuna wasn't sure he was one.
And if it was true, there were others who said that monsters aren't born but created. But Tsuna couldn't remember a time when he wasn't like this, when he wasn't so dead. Maybe, Tsuna had died at birth, had taken one breath and died but his heart forgot to stop beating and his lungs forgot to stop taking in air, they forgot he was supposed to be dead so he grew up, dead but still moving. Maybe, somewhere deep down inside there was a part of him that wanted to live and through sheer will his organs functioned to bend his subconscious need. Tsuna had though about many times but it didn't stop what was reality- Tsuna was dead. So dead. So very, very, dead.
But not now.
Not now.
Not now when he felt so alive, so on the verge of death. It felt as if he were dying, but this was the closest he had ever felt to truly existing in the world.
Pain flared in all his muscles as he lurched to the side only to have metal clip his head causing his vision to blur but Tsuna didn't care, it was amazing. His lungs burned from his heavy panting, they felt on the verge of collapsing and the older boy now standing above him grinned down at him like the predator he was, tonfa at Tsuna's throat. And god damn, Tsuna grinned straight back before kicking wildly like an animal trying to escape his cage.
An errant elbow clocked the Hibari in the back of his knee slightly loosening his stance and giving Tsuna a moment to roll away, vision swimming and a piercing bells ringing in his ears. He wasn't going to survive this, he knew, he didn't have the physical capabilities needed to take this boy down but at this moment he really didn't care. He wanted to fight, the metallic taste in his mouth spurring him on.
White teeth flashed as Tsuna rushed forward blindly to attack the dark haired boy only to be sent flying back with a thwack, like a fly not worth his time. Tsuna hit the wall and slid down it's white surface with a groan. He could feel warm liquid running down the side of his face and on his back but he couldn't see it through the haze in his eyes. He couldn't hear a thing and it wouldn't be long until his adrenalin made him numb, unable to feel any of the hits being made on his body.
Left. Something whispered, the voice like poisoned honey, smooth, soft, sweet and deadly. Left! It hissed again and with what ever energy he had Tsuna swerved to the left, his hearing coming back to him again so he could make out the crash of the wall as the older boys weapon made contact with it, right in the place Tsuna's head had been.
Get up. Now! Tsuna lurched to his feet disorientated but not quickly enough as hard steel rammed into his rib cage breaking what he assumed to be three ribs with sickening cracks, his hearing cutting out again with a vicious scream before nothing but silence. It was dark, silent and warm as calm descended on him, the thrill of battle gone. The honeyed poison slowly spreading around in his veins like an all encompassing balm until he felt his chaotic thoughts center on one thing; getting out alive.
Tsuna felt like a puppet on strings, his body not his own as his vision swam one more before coming into focus as his eyes flew open. It was still silent as his legs readjusted themselves and his arms came forward in half formed fists, one kept at level with his neck the other placed out and at level with his middle. Like an outside spectator of the fight Tsuna watched as Hibari quirked a brow before quickly rising to the challenge and Tsuna promptly fell asleep.
When Tsuna woke up, he sure as the mighty supposed Hell- or seven Hells depending on your religious out look- wasn't on the floor. He was standing opposite to a slightly ruffled Hibari Kyoya who grinned at him, teeth gleaming and holy Rah, was that scary or what? His body hurt and he was sure it wasn't normal for his arm to look like a broken flamingos neck. Still, Tsuna could feel his bored calm return to him and with all his lack of self preservation he smiled at the skylark, the picture of pure innocence and asked, "Does this make us friends?"
The hiss of metal was his answer but Tsuna didn't speak bird and so he naturally assumed that, yes, he and Hibari Kyoya, were friends. Not that he would tell anyone because that brought to much attention to himself. But it was the thought that counts.
Limping home Tsuna ignored all the pain he had in his body, recently, due to a combination of bullies and leading them into traps, had taken a moment to say 'hey, we're constantly being beaten up, let's get better at enduring it.' Not that he was complaining, it certainly made things easier for him. Especially since Kyoya had declared they would be having play dates from now on and by play dates, Tsuna meant rounds of let's beat Tsuna up until he passes out and wakes up minutes later to a seriously demented and puffing bird. Tsuna had, of course, read book on friendship and a common theme among them were the acceptance of the odd quirks of a friend. So if Kyoya- who had tried to kill him for addressing him by his given name- wanted to be a wannabe demon with an obsession with eating habits, Tsuna generously allowed him to. Though he doubted the Hibari seriously only ate meat.
Not only that Tsuna could- he couldn't see him- but felt his new friend stalking him through the streets to the house of his caretaker and two-faced brother. No seriously, Tsuna had considered the fact his brother was so happy chappy on the outside world before he returned to his mother and brother and suddenly he was back to being a certified jerk. Of course there weren't actual certificates for jerks, but politicians were a close second. He didn't really care what Ienari chose for his future career as long as he didn't follow in his sires footsteps and become a male stripper. Tsuna wouldn't let his younger brother ruin himself like that, it was his duty as the wise figure in Ienari's life. One he was obligated to fill.
Not once did Tsuna think that maybe the Hibari following him was only there to find out where his prey dwelt or to murder him and his family in their sleep, friends didn't do that. Hibari Kyoya was just making sure he got home safely, how nice of him.
Tsuna skipped up the path to his home and without bothering to knock- it was his cave, why knock?- he moved silently through the hallways until he came across his caretaker humming quietly while swaying side to side, her back facing him and obviously cooking.
"Tsu-kun? It's almost pitch black outside, what took you so long?" His care taker turned to look at him, her lips parting in mild shock at his twisted arm and the welts that peppered his skin before she smiled brightly, "Oh, Tsu-kun, did you fall again?"
Surprise flitted through his body. "Yes. I did." His mind went back to when he was sliding down a wall and fell to the ground. Perhaps his caretaker wasn't so oblivious after all. For a second he thought her mind would jump to some odd conclusion like, Tsuna being bullied by a demon of a child. While Kyoya-chan was indeed a demon of pure wrath- as a friend he would one day tell him so- he was no mere child, nor was he bulling Tsuna, just playing, like friends should.
None the less, he thought he should praise his caretaker for not jumping to stupid conclusions like he thought she would. Walking forward he gave her knee, the only place his short body could reach, two quick pats, "Well done Caretaker, well done."
He watched with pitying eyes as she giggled and ruffled his hair as if he were the one that had made progress this day. Tsuna shook his head ruefully, poor caretaker, poor, poor caretaker. She would never understand the workings of the world. Without him, his caretaker would surely perish, some one needed to guide this poor oblivious creature and wasn't going to be the male stripper, that was for sure. Giving her one last affectionate pat- for caretakers required much love and affection- he told her he would wait for dinner in his room.
"Okay Tsu-kun. Have fun." She exclaimed with a happy smile. Another reason to pity his poor caretaker, rooms were no fun. They were places you slept in, places you read in, not have fun. Not that she understood that, misguided creature she was. Sympathy crept along his spine and Tsuna was determined to love and care for his caretaker. For no one in the world cared for him like his caretaker- it was her job after all- but who was there to care for his caretaker? Not the male stripper, his sire, he was always away on his naked expeditions and Ienari was busy training to be a politician. It was up to Tsuna, he'd have to read up on taking care of Caretakers.
Climbing the stairs to his bedroom, he quietly entered and flopped on the bed after locking the door. Tsuna peeped at the shadow that was cast against his white lace curtains and smiled, "Kyoya-chan, did you want to come in?"
His curtains parted as the dark haired boy leaped in the room with the grace of a stalking tiger, but in this case it was a demon bird and his equally weird friend. "We are not friends, herbivore. I did not give you permission to call me by my given name." He hissed, metal claws already come out to play.
Tsuna smiled benevolently, "Of course not Demon-sama." He said knowing full well that the skylark was not very good at showing his feelings. Clearly Kyoya-chan was overwhelmed by the sheer intensity of his love for his first friend but didn't know how to go about this wonderful friendship. Tsuna would have to- discreetly- give him a book on the ways of friendship.
Grey eyes narrowed on his form, scanning him before landing on his arm, "Your mother. She did not mention your injury, your arm is clearly dislocated." The Hibari's voice was low for a child his age, dropping even more so in that one sentence. It reminded Tsuna of the one that he'd heard in his own head, like dangerous, poisoned honey, only more rough. In it Tsuna could hear a silent accusation, of what he didn't know and for some reason that made him squirm slightly.
"You mean the Caretaker?" Tsuna asked in confusion before his eyes widened in comprehension. Kyoya-chan had caught on to the slowness of his caretaker, clearly, he too could notice her pitiable situation and so Tsuna began to explain, "Yes, she is a lovable thing but so easily sidetracked. Don't worry Kyoya-chan, I'm taking very good care of her. She requires much attention, who knows what she'll do if I take my eyes off her for too long. You know she married a male stripper? This of course, resulting in Ienari and I's birth. Poor thing, she just doesn't understand how the world works. Fear not though, I'm working on her."
A low rumbling sound came from his best demon friend that originated somewhere in his throat or chest, Tsuna couldn't tell. "You're serious." Grey eyes stared into caramel brown, searching for something, the rumbling increased when he apparently found it, "You're serious. Herbivore, this woman is supposed to take care of you, not the other way round." He growled, not even mentioning the use of his first name.
Tsuna cocked his head to the side with a frown. "She does take care of me, she feeds me."
Kyoya-chan took a step forward, his knees lightly touching his own as he glared down at him, "Mothers are supposed to do more than feed their children. They're supposed to care for them, emotionally. They're supposed to heal every injury, cry over the ones they can't, ask about your day, hug you and love you, no matter what."
Tsuna could feel his lips parting at the description of what sounded like a perfect being. Kyoya-chan was describing a goddess, he must be, something so compassionate. Tsuna couldn't say he wanted one of these mothers, he'd been looking for one sure, but he'd never truly wanted one. Never. Not once. For how could someone want something the had never fully comprehended? Still, some thing clicked in Tsuna's mind as he repeated his friends words over in his mind, "Mother? You misunderstand Kyoya-chan, I don't have a mother. Never have, I just have the Caretaker downstairs." Pausing he smiled again, "Do you have a Mother? They sound wonderful."
The skylark's eyes burned through his smile making Tsuna want to drop it but he kept it on, it would feel weird to be without it, "Yes. Once." His voice was odd, it lost it's gravelly tone and bordered on a whine of a lost puppy. A demon puppy, but a puppy.
Tsuna despite his lack of social skills understood that his demon friend had lost his mother and was sad about it. Tsuna couldn't really comprehend losing a mother, he didn't have one but they sounded like brilliant creatures of light and it would be an infinite shame to have had such a wonderful being and losing it. So Tsuna gave neither a smile nor comforting pat like he would with his caretaker, for he didn't understand but simply did what he could, be Tsuna. Half dead, half robot Tsuna. "Hey Kyoya-chan could you put my arm back in place?"
The demon puppy returned to being a demon bird and with gentleness Tsuna didn't know his new best friend had, he placed one small hand his bruised shoulder and with the other he gripped the arm that looked like a broken flamingo and all while staring in his eyes he gave a twist and pull before popping it back in place. Tsuna winced slightly but was quick to throw the pain from his mind and with his perfectly perfect arm he reached to grasp his birds hand, flipping it over and expecting the callouses that ran along his palm before the hand was ripped from him.
Tsuna ignored the startled look from the dark haired boy and giggled, "Does this mean I can call you Kyoya-chan?" Kyoya-chan opened his mouth, the tip of a sharp canine barring itself to him before grey eyes darted to his arm- that although put back in place, still looked like a absolutely useless limb- and his lips clamped down on themselves, the sound of teeth grinding against teeth loud in the quiet room.
He wasn't so sure of it, but Tsuna was sure that his demon boy just had just grown a conscious, this was a big leap in their relationship. Kyoya-chan just stood up and moved towards the window, "Go see a doctor, Herbivore." He said, which was a first because Tsuna simply assumed that the Hibari just growled everything. He supposed it was the closest thing to acceptance and an apology as he was going to get.
He liked that, Tsuna wasn't so humany as other people being half dead and all, so he didn't really understand a lot of social requirements. He played along, made sure to do what his books told him to but he never could understand. His books told him this was essential, emotion was important and though Tsuna had emotion, sometimes he couldn't comprehend them, didn't know how to express them, he'd never been taught how. No one ever had time for him but looking at Kyoya-chan Tsuna smiled because, neither did the skylark.
So they would be good un-humany friends together.
The demon and the dead boy.
As it were, Tsuna did not go to a doctor. He didn't even go to school, the next morning he had woken up, flitted down the stairs at a high speed and tracked down his caretaker and flippantly told his misguided carer that he would not be attending school for the next three days. Ienari had thrown a tantrum but his good little caretaker had sternly told him that the family needed at least one doctor in the family. This amused Tsuna because clearly, Ienari was to be a politician. On the other hand it seemed that his caretaker was finally coming to understand that he was not to be forced into situations he didn't want to be in- namely first grade. Either that or she had just given up on him, which was fine by him. See, she was learning already.
Now, Tsuna didn't just go taking days off school because he felt like it, though to be honest he was far beyond it. But today he needed to get to the bottom of his psychosis. Yesterday he had heard a voice inside his head that had quite possibly taken over his body while he was asleep. He wasn't exactly a psychologist but that kind of thing was probably not good. Probably.
So now Tsuna sat with his eyes closed and his legs folded beneath him, attempting to put himself in a meditative trance. Clearing his mind was a hard thing for him considering his thoughts ran faster than most but eventually he managed to achieve nothing but white noise in his head. The humming was a relaxing sound, like static on a T.V and classical music combined to be nothing more than a low murmur. He knew nothing but white and black his own conscious moved in and out of his head until he finally centered himself in his psyche.
Trying to expand his hearing range, Tsuna listened out for any oddities in his mind like a different personality that had zero intelligence, a penchant for blondes, turning green, and pure violence. Okay, so maybe he'd taken that from somewhere else but the possibility was there. Still there was nothing out of order, all was white, just like it should be, everything was Tsuna. Yet as he called into his mind, he felt something call back and a string, nothing but a single thread as thin as cotton in hyperspace rushed out toward him. It was a bright orange, but it belonged in all this white, so whatever it was, it wasn't a personality that wasn't his own. It wasn't even the invention of his own mind, he knew this because it wasn't white like the rest of his mind.
Hello. It purred and Tsuna was startled to find that the was the same as his own yet lower in pitch and flowing. He watched as the thread wriggled around his blank minds-cape and noticed that the voice that spoke in his head, was nothing more than his own imagination. The thread had burst with emotion, and he had automatically translated it into words. The thread was pure animalistic instinct, a lie detector and mind reader.
This made a lot of sense to him, yesterday when playing with Kyoya-chan, he followed the voice's instructions but how did it know when to turn and dodge? How did a lion know when to spring for it's prey? Instinct, that's all it was. Tsuna could feel himself have a moment of both relief and disappointment. On one hand, he wasn't insane but on the other hand, he wasn't insane. It would have been pretty cool to be insane.
With effort he reached out mentally to grasp at the orange thread, only for it to send him in a playful frenzy and suddenly Tsuna was playing tag with a piece of string in his own head.
You can't catch me! He translated the emotions quickly into words and Tsuna smiled. He never lost a game.
Dark grey eyes watched the statue like form that hadn't moved in four hours, waiting for something to happen with surprising patience. Suddenly smaller boy twitched, his lips parting to speak, "I'm coming after you, you piece of ugly orange cotton!"