Name: Sawada Tsunayoshi
Age: Five
Status: In Shock
(Because you understand)
'What kind of 'reason to live' is this? These aren't my guardians. They never were in the first place!'
"Calm down, moron. I'm not cruel enough to psychologically torture you with that. I put you there for a reason, you know." Sessu slammed down the gray scythe he was holding, and a large crack formed. A red eye glared through for a moment, before a clawed hand pulled the edges back together.
"Why, then? Why did you bring me here?" Tsuna asked desperately. "Why couldn't you just let me be? Just let me bleed out and go to wherever dead people go?"
"Because you understand."
"What?"
"You understand hopelessness and grief. You understand loneliness and depression. You understand what it's like to be afraid of living, and afraid of dying. You understand how much damage a single word can do, and how useless they are when it matters most. You understand how wasteful others can be, and you understand how to use that. They teach you to treasure what you have.
"The memories I gave you teach you the opposite. They teach you hope and friendship. They teach how to hold out a hand and overcome your fear. They teach you to live, and to keep living. They teach you how to turn a hopeless situation around into something worth fighting for. They teach you how to break through with more than words, and how to understand others. They teach you sacrifice without waste, and unshakeable resolution. They teach you to believe in others, even when you only have the tiniest thread of trust to go on. They teach you to live.
"While what you learned to understand makes you hopeless, and the memories I gave you make you careless, together they can teach you caution and resolve. That is why I picked you."
The arrogant figure who insulted Tsuna was gone during that monologue, and the violet eyes flashed. "You need to protect this world, this Decimo, and keep him alive, or the cost will be more than you can imagine.
"Twenty-five years, Decimo. Twenty-five years to save your friends. Twenty-five years to learn how to put someone you envy and possibly hate above your own well-being. Twenty-five years to become who you could have been, who you might be, who you must be.
"All you need to do is protect Akamine Daiki."
"To protect…" Tsuna whispered, covering his face in tiny hands. "To protect him? Why?"
"I am Sessu, the sixth. I am the sixth angel, the sixth demon, the sixth soul. I exist solely for the protection of the mortal worlds. The guy you'll be meeting soon is Esru, the tenth. His job is the protection of time. He's in there somewhere, probably still deciding who he wants to possess. He's picky like that. You probably won't see him 'til you're ten or so. Most likely, he'll be a boy with spiky black hair and tiny irises." He grinned and pulled a door out of thin air. The cold façade was gone like it had never been there.
"Spiky black hair and tiny irises…?" Tsuna could only think of one person who matched that description. "Ah! Wait, you didn't answer my question!" But Sessu was already gone.
(You understand hopelessness and grief)
Tsuna woke up to his mother shaking him. "Tsu-kun! We're going to bring a cake to Akemi-chan. Do you remember Akemi-chan? The nice lady who helped you when you were lost yesterday?"
Tsuna nodded. "Yes. I remember Akamine-san."
Nana beamed at him. "That's good, Tsu-kun. You need to thank her for helping when you were lost!"
Tsuna dressed himself in jeans and an orange sweatshirt with a large black twenty-seven on it. His excitable mother cooed over him as they walked, patting down his hair vainly and pinching his cheeks until they were like apples. Tsuna just kept his head down. He didn't want to see the person who had taken his place again.
Nana chattered the whole way, and Tsuna learned the following things about the Akamine household: It had originally consisted of Akamine Akemi, Akamine Ryota, and Akamine Daiki, their son. Recently, it had the added additions of Lambo, I-Pin, Reborn, and Fuuta. Bianchi, Hayato, Takeshi, Ryohei, Haru, and Basil were constantly in-and-out.
Apparently, Ryota and Iemitsu had met through work. According to Nana, they had met while Iemitsu was managing traffic by the building that Ryota worked at, and they had both gone to get coffee at the same shop. However, there had only been one cup of coffee left, so Iemitsu had given it to Ryota, and they'd become friends. Tsuna could have pointed out that Ryota worked in Italy, and Iemitsu was supposed to be in South America during that timeframe.
They finally made it to the Akamine house. "Ring the doorbell, Tsu-kun!" Tsuna made small circles in the dirt by the door. "Tsu-kun!"
Tsuna grudgingly reached up and rang the doorbell, standing on his tiptoes. The door was opened by Fuuta, who smiled sweetly at Nana. "Hello, Sawada-san. Akemi-san is out shopping, but you can come in."
"Oh, is that so?" Nana asked cheerfully. "Then is it okay if we wait in the living room?"
Tsuna hid behind his mother, not wanting to see the familiar faces, but Fuuta mistook it for shyness and grabbed his hand. "It's okay! The Akamine household is ranked number six out of one million, twelve thousand, five hundred and twenty three households in Japan that are safe for kids!"
Tsuna was dragged into the living room, where he came face to face with Ryohei, who was on the floor playing horse with Lambo. "Oh! Hello to the extreme!"
Tsuna shrieked in surprise and leapt backwards, crashing into something his size. "Owie!"
"Hie! I'm sorry!" Tsuna spun to see…an angel!
Sasagawa Kyoko stood there in all her glory, standing just below Tsuna in height, with her warm brown eyes and ginger hair. Best of all, she was obviously around Tsuna's age!
"H-hello. I-I'm Sa-Sawada Tsu-Tsunayoshi," he stuttered bowing clumsily.
"Hewwo! I is Sasagawa Kyoko!" However, Ryohei corrected her.
"Kyoko, it is 'I am' to the extreme!"
"Sowwy. I am to the extweme Sasagawa Kyoko!" Tsuna gaped at the display. Sasagawa Kyoko… the girl he'd loved in both lives. The only real similarity between them.
In Tsuna's original life, Kyoko had been an untouchable figure, the only person who showed him kindness. Even though it had gotten him more beatings, he accepted the kindness desperately. She had moved away after high school, and he never saw her again.
In his new memories, she'd become a real friend. Tsuna saw her flaws and her perfections, and still loved her. Even when she married someone else, he had loved her. When she had been manipulated into betrayal, he had loved her. Tsuna could forgive Kyoko anytime, anywhere, anything.
And here she was again, smiling as if none of that had ever happened. And it hadn't, for her. Tsuna felt his eyes water, and tears began to spill over. Kyoko's smile changed into a worried frown. "Awe you okay?"
Tsuna rubbed at his eyes, and smiled, a breathtaking smile that took Kyoko's breath away. "I'm happy. I'm really happy."
"Che." Tsuna noticed Hayato and Takeshi on the couch, and more tears fell. In his emotionally unguarded moment, it was like the whole world was pressing in and trying to break his joy at seeing that he wasn't the only one. Kyoko was here. Nothing could make him unhappy now.
Except, maybe, a kick to the head by Reborn.
"Ah! Reborn, he's just a kid! Don't do that! He's not even mafia!" And Akamine Daiki, of course. At the sight of them, and the pain from the kick, he burst into fresh, unhappy tears.
A gentle hand lifted him into the air, away from Reborn. When he looked up, Tsuna saw Daiki peering at him worriedly. "Are you okay, Tsuna-kun? Did Reborn hit you hard?"
Tsuna childishly pushed him away with his small hands, frantically wiping all signs of weakness from his eyes. "Put me down!"
"Look at that, Baka Daiki. Even kids hate you." Reborn snarked, jumping onto Takeshi's shoulder. Reborn looked almost exactly the same as Tsuna remembered, with curly sideburns, orange striped hat, and deep black eyes. He looked older than Tsuna remembered, but Tsuna brushed it off as his imagination.
Nana finally came in, carrying the dog tags that Tsuna's father had given him for his birthday. "Tsu-kun, you should be more careful. You dropped Daddy's present!" Tsuna obediently took the tags from her and clasped them around his neck, before burying his head into her leg to finish calming down. "Tsu-kun? Is something wrong?" He shook his head and pulled away, making a beeline for Kyoko.
"I'm sorry. Friends?" Tsuna asked, holding his hand out. Kyoko looked at it for a moment, before clasping it in her own with a grin.
"Okay!"
(You understand loneliness and depression)
Tsuna had automatically assumed that because the Vongola was in this world, everything would happen like it had. He couldn't be more wrong.
Just a month after meeting the Akamines, his mother was diagnosed cancer, just like in his original world. Tsuna was forced to watch yet again as his mother wasted away, eventually losing the strength to even take care of Tsuna.
An emergency in the Vongola kept his father's visits short, and Tsuna almost never saw him as Iemitsu was always with Nana. Though Tsuna couldn't forgive his first father, he forgave this version of Iemitsu for his caring. Tsuna was, luckily, able to take care of himself.
When Akemi came over to visit, and saw the state Nana was in, she had her checked into the Namimori hospital. Nana protested, but Akemi was firm, and said she would take care of Tsuna. The little boy, however, refused vehemently, insisting that he stay in the hospital with his mother.
Then came the day when Tsuna woke up to the sound of a never-ending beep.
(You understand what it's like to be afraid of living, and afraid of dying.)
Name: Sawada Nana
Age: 24
Status: Newly Deceased
(You understand how much damage a single word can do, and how useless they are when it matters most)
A/N: Thanks to Aria Styles, GodsPromiseToMan, HKTM, Ice-Snow Witch, Killer Panda01, Otaku Del Cielo, RikiRenaH42, Ryter's Return, Smally, StarsSky01, SteamRaven, Taira-keimei, The Neo Productions, Toumei Ai, elishakanzen, happytth, silent-insaneminako, tatsuki1988, and umbreonblue for following!
Thanks to 07Eve, Dionvion, KuroShiroNeko-chan, Mia Heartnet, Toumei Ai, happytth, tatsuki1988, and umbreonblue for favoriting.
Thanks to Toumei Ai, RandomS, and Slytherin'sBlackUnicorn for reviewing!